BWG Planeswalker Control

This is a deck I have been working on for a month now but it’s not completely optimized yet and I would like to get feedback from more players then just the good players at my local store.

Decklist
Lands-24
4 x verdant catacombs
4 x marsh flats
4 x mishra’s factory
2 x bayou
2 x scrubland
2 x savannah
1 x overgrown tomb
1 x godless shrine
1 x temple garden
1 x plains
1 x swamp
1 x forest

Spells-31
4 x thoughtseize
4 x vindicate
4 x swords to plowshares
4 x innocent blood
4 x pernicious deed
4 x hymn to tourach
3 x phyrexian arena
2 x sensei’s divining top
2 x maelstrom pulse

Planeswalkers-5
3 x elspeth, knight-errant
2 x garruk wildspeaker

Card Choices

Vindicate – for single removal hits anything including annoying manlands

Swords to Plowshares- best single removal for creature nothing else to say

Innocent Blood- additional creature removal and since I have no creatures except recurring tokens it’s very effective

Maelstrom Pulse- additional removal for anything that’s not a land also helps with multiple copy removal i.e. multiple ghostly prisons from stax

Phyrexian Arena-gives card advantage and is harder to remove than bob

Pernicious Deed-board sweeper that leaves any planeswalker untouched

Sensei’s Divining Top-card filter nothing else to say

Thoughtseize-specifically here for combo and control and it removes problem cards and stalls combo decks

Elixir of Immortality-gives life after stabilizing and helps in the combo/burn matchup as well as allowing recursion of destruction spells

Elspeth, Knight-Errant-best planeswalker for the deck colors, gives blockers/attackers and indestructibility to my permanents

Garruk Wildspeaker-gives decent sided blockers/attackers, gives trample for the win and allows the play of multiple destruction spells by untapping lands

Sorin Markov-an alt win con in case the deck can’t attack

Other Cards Currently Being Tested

Dueling Grounds-good at stopping multiple creatures from attacking

Dark Confidant-another card advantage engine, faster than phyrexian arena and also an attacker/blocker

Lotus Cobra-gives mana acceleration and can also attack/block

Engineered Explosives-more removal and great against merfolk/zoo/combo(empty the warrens)

Inquisition of Kozilek-more discard from problematic cards also good against most aggro decks instead of duress which isn’t

Deck Strategy

The strategy behind this deck is to control the board with single removal as well as mass removal to clear the way for the planeswalkers to take over the game. The use of pernicious deed doesn’t hit the walkers so you have the ability to blow up the whole board and leave just your walkers left on the table.

1st Tournament Result
51 player black lotus tournament
Round One – mono blue Merfolk
Game 1- Constant removal of creatures and stabilized at 4 life. Elspeth and Garruk hit the board with elixir. I gain life and have continuous blockers and eventually just fly over head.
Game 2- I board in choke. Some removal to start the game and a turn 3 choke and it was basically GG from there.
1-0 (2-0)

Round Two – UBGW Landstill
Game 1- he cleared his hand countering my early spells then he landed a jace which I vindicated. That was followed by another jace which was hit by a maelstrom pulse. Then I drop garruk and bash him with a 3/3 beast token.
Game 2- I vindicate a mishra’s factory and he extirpates vindicate. Then lands a jace on turn 4 but because the first round took 40-45 mins we end up going to time and draw the game
2-0 (3-0-1)

Round Three- ANT
Game 1- he tendrils me on turn 3 and I didn’t leave a land open to use my elixir though I think he would have hit storm 13 anyway.
Game 2- I board in leyline of sanctity and duress. Sanctity stalls him a couple extra turns but a long storm count with echoing truth ended with me dying to tendrils
2-1 (3-2-1)

Round Four- Deadguy Ale
Game 1- lots of early destruction on both sides that turns into a draw and pass until I stick a walker and win.
Game 2- the exact same as game one with the same result
3-1 (5-2-1)

Round Five- BGW Junk/Dark Horizons
Game 1- he continually has me discard things while I kept destroying his creatures until he sticks a knight and even after cracking an elixir for health and to recur my destruction spells I couldn’t find one in my three turn clock.
Game 2- starts and finishes the exact same way and I will chalk this up to bad luck.
3-2 (5-4-1)

Round Six- Countertop Dreadstill
Game 1- He drops a turn two dreadnaught and I double innocent blood on turn two to get rid of it. After some draw and passing I stick a planeswalker and it’s on to game 2.
Game 2- I board in choke. He lands a turn two dreadnaught again and I only have one removal and it gets countered so its on to game 3.
Game 3- he lands counter balance and then a dreadnaught. I get rid of the dreadnaught and stabilize with garruk only to see another dreadnaught hit the board and I was dead 2 turns later.
3-3 (6-6-1)

Overall I was happy with the performance since I had never tried it before at a tournament and after round 4 I was in 5th place until I 0-2 the last two rounds but I ended up in 19th place of a 51 person tournament.

Why are there no 2-drops? Hymn to Tourach is fantastic, easily one of the best black cards in the game. Trade out Elixir of Immortality for Hmyn. Why is Sorin even in the deck if his first two abilities only affect life totals, which don't seem very relevant if you've survived long enough to hit 6 mana? Even Gideon would be better in this slot. He can kill creatures, give you time to stabilize and swing for 6.

I would consider adding a singleton Loam. It allows for an amazing end game, and can sometimes just pull you out of shit you normally wouldn't be able to (such as a wastelock).

Also, I agree, you need some Hymns, also, have you tried Sakura Tribe Elder? I know it sounds like shit, but it stalls a turn against aggro, and puts you up a land which is extremely useful when you want to be casting 4 drops and Deeds. If you do add them, you can take out the Shocklands for basics.

the players at my local store also suggested to add hymn into the deck which I definitely will do by dropping the elixirs out as well as the sorin which I had already dropped from my list after the tournament because he seemed like a win more.

as for sakura-tribe elder, I havent tested him at all so I'll give him a shot I already can replace the overgrown tomb with a 3rd bayou and the godless shrine with a 3rd scrubland as I have just acquired them and make the temple garden a fourth basic land

loam is an awesome idea and I knew when writing this someone would suggest it with my use of mishra's factory and as you pointed out, as an out to wastelock which is nice since my meta has a stax player

After some more testing here is the updated list for the deck

Lands-23
4x verdant catacombs
4x marsh flats
4x wasteland
2x bayou
2x scrubland
2x savannah
2x nantuko monastery
1x swamp
1x plains
1x forest

Creatures-4
4x dark confidant

Spells-29
4x thoughtseize
4x hymn to tourach
3x inquisition of kozilek
4x vindicate
3x maelstrom pulse
3x sensei’s divining top
3x pernicious deed
4x swords to plowshares
1x life from the loam

Planeswalker-4
2x garruk wildspeaker
2x elspeth, knight-errant

Sideboard
4x extirpate
2x path to exile
2x diabolic edict
3x relic of progenitus
4x open slot
Current possibilities for the open slot
Ethersworn canonist
Leyline of sanctity
Choke
Pithing needle
Cop: red

@greenpoe I did include hymn to tourach it's a house in combo and control and with the addition of wasteland if it hits one land I can easily win games with land destruction

@lorddotm I did include life from the loam to bring back nantuko monastery and now to bring back wastelands in the mid-late game to completely lock out the opponent. As for sakura-tride elder it as interesting to test but with extra basic lands it is easy for this deck to get color screwed out of the third color that is needed so it's better to leave it out

currently im worried about burn decks and zoo coming back with price of progress so im thinking of making my open board slot for burn/zoo matchups