Landstill is one of the premier control decks in the Legacy format. It is a control deck that can easily be customized for specific environments. This has been proven across multiple environments in varied locations. This deck is one of the more forgiving control decks due to the fact that it has the ability to support board sweepers to get rid of any problem permanents that may land on the table.

Through the years Landstill has gone through many incarnations.

Landstill in its original form (from the old format) can be found here:
http://mtgthesource.com/cgi-bin....82;st=0

With the transition to the new format, it is only lacking Mana Drain, while a decent blow to the deck, still allowed it to function with the replacement Counterspell.

Shortly after the format had changed the deck was adjusted to accommodate the loss of Drain and added a new card that is tailored for the deck: Crucible of Worlds. These updates were discussed here:
http://mtgthesource.com/cgi-bin....=4;st=0

Onto the latest build. This deck has gone through many adjustments and variations to fit into the new environment. It has had to adjust for the transition of the meta due to the changes to the format in September. This is the build that will be discussed in this thread.


U/w Landstill (Geoff Smelski)

Removal:
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Wrath of God
3 Disenchant
3 Akroma's Vengance

Attack:
2 Decree of Justice
2 Eternal Dragon

Draw/Filter:
4 Brainstorm
4 Standstill
2 Fact or Fiction

Counters:
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will

Lands:
2 Plains
2 Islands
4 Tundra
4 Flooded Strands
4 Wasteland
4 Faerie Conclave
4 Mishra's Factory


Card discussion:

I will leave out the obvious (ie. Standstill, Manlands, Wasteland, STP, etc..) as they can be found in previous threads.

Fact or Fiction: Excellent and powerful draw. Fact or Fictions re-entering into the format was a good boost for control decks and any other deck that can afford to splash for it. It has the problem of being on the higher end of the mana curve for the deck making running a full set a nuisance at times. 2 in the maindeck has been a good number as drawing them in the first few turns can be quite cumbersome.

Wrath of God: With the format swaying towards agro decks, Wrath of God was a natural inclusion. One of its main advantages is that it allows you to let the opponent to overextend and then generate an extreme advantage by casting this sweeper.

Akroma’s Vengence: This may be the most controversial card in the maindeck. It has come into being, after agro started adjusting to Nevinyrral’s Disk by running artifact destruction spells. This sorcery sweeper can really be devastating to the opponent. When compared to Disk, it has the inherent disadvantage of being a turn slower, but it does, on the plus side, have the option of using the turn it is drawn.

Disenchant: I don’t need to explain this card too much as it is one of the best utility cards printed. It has a use against most decks in the format currently and is rarely dead. It is just another form of removal that this deck is highly dependant on.

Brainstorm: This is one of the best cards for its cost and effect. It doesn’t generate any card advantage, but the card quality that it allows for is outstanding. It will let you find the needed removal/counter that is appropriate for the situation. It also smoothes out a lot of early hands to make the early game go a lot better.

Decree of Justice: With the rise in popularity in this deck, Decree is an obvious choice for the mirror match. It is an amazing “surprise” blocker against a lot of decks as well. It has the disadvantage of being highly expensive to generate tokens, but it also serves as a late game win condition.

Eternal Dragon: A card I was very skeptical of at first, but after much testing I agreed that this card is well fit for the deck. Its main function in the deck is to help keep the mana base consistent by searching for lands (which it does nicely under Standstill), but it also has the option of becoming another late game finisher.

Cards not included:
Nevinyrral’s Disk: This is the card the original build of Landstill was based around. With the decks changes, Disk is a lot harder to protect for the turn that it is required to become active. Aggro decks have adjusted to prepair for a Disk hitting the table and getting rid of it before it is ready to blow. It did allow you the option of sweeping the board at instant speed when it was active, which is a noticeable loss, but it is out weighed with the replacement cards for disk (Vengence/Wrath)

Stifle: This card is an excellent hoser to certain combo decks and provides a lot of utility. It has a use against almost any deck in the format and is rarely dead. This card can still be used in various metagames as it is very good against many decks.

Crucible of Worlds: A highly accepted and used maindeck inclusion in a lot of Landstill builds. Crucible is excellent at providing a lot of utility with Wasteland/Fetchland/Manland recursion. It has a lot of uses in the mirror. It has recently hit the sideboard to accommodate room for maindeck Decree of Justice. This is a very debatable slot and I’m not saying that either is right or wrong, because they are both very viable options in the maindeck.

This build has proved it self in many tournaments and across many environments. You must keep in mind that Landstill is a very flexible deck and can be easily adjusted and tailored to specific environments. While this is a widely accepted build and is what can easily be played in an unexpected metagame, the deck still has many options to its arsenal.

Please discuss.