Plymouth Rock
B/G/u Gifts Rock with Veteran Explorers

// Lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Scrubland
3 Swamp
4 Windswept Heath
2 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Bayou
1 Island
1 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
3 Polluted Delta
3 Forest

// Creatures
4 Veteran Explorer
1 Ravenous Baloth
1 Grave-Shell Scarab
2 Eternal Witness
1 Genesis
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Shriekmaw
1 Gigapede

// Spells
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Gifts Ungiven
2 Thoughtseize
3 Hymn to Tourach
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Damnation
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Haunting Echoes
1 Smallpox

// Sideboard
SB: 2 Krosan Grip
SB: 4 Extirpate
SB: 3 Engineered Plague
SB: 1 Plains
SB: 4 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 1 Zur's Weirding

Veteran Explorer {G}
Creature — Human Soldier
When Veteran Explorer is put into a graveyard from play, each player may search his or her library for up to two basic land cards and put them into play. Then each player who searched his or her library this way shuffles it. 1/1

Quote Originally Posted by TheInfamousBearAssassin
The recurring theme you'll notice in good control lists, and this is true of any format, is that they run control, not simply so they can say they're playing control, but to get to the late game. The late game is the heart and soul of a control deck. Why? Most decks aren't prepared for it. Goblins has SCG, and Threshold sometimes has Mystic Enforcer or Fledgeling Dragon, but that's about it, and compared to the bombs a good control deck wants to have at it's fingertips, like anything starting with "Decree of", these aren't that amazing. The late game is an ocean, a good control deck is a shark, and most poor mother fuckers can't even swim. A control deck that doesn't have ways to dominate the late game is a control deck that should not exist.
Why should I play this deck?

Seriously the best reason I can give you is that this deck can beat anything. 9 Discard spells, 9 Removal spells, 8 beefy creatures, the utility of Gifts, recursion of answers in Stronghold, Ruins, and Witness, and the innovation that makes this deck different from any deck seen before, Veteran Explorer... As the quote at the beginning of this primer correctly states control decks exist for the late game. So what defines the late game? Not turn count but rather game state. If it's turn 2 and you have 4 lands in play and your opponent has no hand, welcome to the instant late game. Cabal Therapy + Veteran Explorer makes this possible allowing for some of the most broken turn 2 plays this side of storm combo. Turn 1 Explorer, turn 2 Cabal Therapy, flashback, get 2 lands, Hymn? Smallpox? Explosives? Tarmogoyf? Sure why not? Please don't take that to mean that this deck relies on popping off an Explorer to win because your discard/removal package is almost 1/3 of the deck making it quite easy to make it to the mid/late game on your own time, Gifts is another card people might get confused by, seems like people see it and assume the deck revolves around it when in fact it's just another tool, not the centerpiece. This deck is hard to pilot and requires vast amounts of knowledge of Legacy to play optimally, but that being said it rewards your skill by giving you a strong game against most of the meta.


Card Analysis

Lands - 24 lands may seem low for a control deck but you have to take into account that Veteran Explorer can chump or be sacced for 2 untapped basics. Colored mana is occasionally an issue but you have a virtual 15 green sources and 16 black sources so you are rarely denied the mana you need to a crippling extent. As for the Scrubland that has more to do with the COP:Red sideboard then the coincidental synergy with Explosives. To put it plainly Burn is probably your worst match-up and that's what the COPs are there for because Burn exists in abundance where I play but if you are blessed to be in a Burn light meta then It'd be a basic Swamp and 5 SB spots would be put to much better use and I'd be much happier, then again if you are netdecking sideboard strats from an international Legacy website you probably don't have the skills to pilot this deck.

Academy Ruins - Recurring Explosives is hot against the best deck in the format and thats all there is to say about that.

Volrath's Stronghold - Recurs threats and Shriekmaws, Genesis #2/3.

Veteran Explorer - Awesome. Few decks are as well equipped as you to take advantage of the sudden land explosion especially after a little discard. It's all about the late game people.

Ravenous Baloth - Singleton, just not what he used to be but still a solid drop. He's good beats and recurring life gain if needed making him a solid Gifts pickup.

Grave-Shell Scarab - Hard to kill, solid beater, unswordsable, puts the game in late game.

Eternal Witness - Solid in Gifts, recurs threats/answers, yeah synergy with Gifts...

Genesis - Gifts is in this deck.

Tarmogoyf - Best creature in the game, beats all except other Goyfs, comes down early, auto-include.

Shriekmaw - Genesis or Stronghold with this dude is just stupid good. He kills 90% of relevant creatures and dodges Counterbalance.

Gigapede - Self recurring beats. When you need to apply the pressure Gifting in Gigapede and Scarab is solid.

Cabal Therapy - Best discard in the format in the right deck, this is one of those decks. Awards knowledge of Legacy by raping your opponents hand and of course the insane swing you get by flashbacking Explorer.

Gifts Ungiven - Toolbox time, between this and Therapy this deck is not for amateurs. I'm not gonna list off Gifts stacks like you might expect because simply put there are thousands and depending on exact game state I can't tell you what to Gifts for. This swings the game like no other.

Thoughtseize - Good ol' retard proof discard, can't beat that. Also sets you up for Therapy.

Hymn to Tourach - Destroys opponents hand setting you up to take advantage of superior threats.

Pernicious Deed - Control deck + Bayous = Auto-include.

Damnation - One for Gifts stacks but solid none the less.

Engineered Explosives - Nukes pretty much any relevant threat and can be recurred.

Haunting Echoes - "Hey whats up turn 10?"
"Not much oh, um, Haunting Echoes."
(Initiate scoop phase.)

Smallpox - Solid removal, one for Giftage, marginal synergy with Explorer.



Sideboard - I'll get to that later, still not a finished product.

Match-up Analysis - Later.