I haven’t been following Return to Ravnica Block Constructed well enough to know who to credit for the Dega (WBR) Control deck that has emerged as one of the most popular decks in the format. Magic Online user Royal won a Premiere Event with it, so I’m using that list, but it’s a deck that has several variations in the results of every Block Daily posted.
The deck looks a lot like Jund, except the good creatures that support the red and black removal in this format happen to be white instead of green (or, more to the point, Boros and Orzhov instead of Gruul and Golgari).
This deck uses Keyrunes to accelerate heavy-hitting creatures that also gain life, which supports the heavy amount of spot removal in beating the aggro decks, and a healthy number of Rakdos’s Returns to beat the midrange and control decks, with Slaughter Games out of the sideboard to beat Sphinx’s Revelation.
Spark Trooper looks out of place in a deck that’s not really trying to attack, but I guess lifelink is a big deal on a Ball Lightning, and this deck seems to be playing it as a split card, where either the damage or lifegain will be important in the matchup being played. If you’re not under too much pressure, you can always sit on it until Aurelia, the Warleader is in play to double its impact (if it lives through the first combat).
Royal's Dega Midrange
a:22:{i:0;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:11:"Blood Crypt";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:1;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:15:"Boros Guildgate";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:2;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:14:"Godless Shrine";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:3;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:8:"Mountain";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:4;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:16:"Orzhov Guildgate";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"1";}i:5;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:6:"Plains";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"1";}i:6;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:16:"Rakdos Guildgate";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:7;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:14:"Sacred Foundry";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:4:"land";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:8;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:22:"Aurelia, the Warleader";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:8:"creature";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"3";}i:9;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:14:"Boros Reckoner";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:8:"creature";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:10;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:22:"Obzedat, Ghost Council";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:8:"creature";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:11;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:13:"Spark Trooper";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:8:"creature";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:12;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:14:"Aurelia's Fury";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"instant";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"3";}i:13;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:9:"Dreadbore";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:14;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:15:"Mizzium Mortars";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:15;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:14:"Orzhov Keyrune";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:8:"artifact";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"1";}i:16;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:14:"Rakdos Keyrune";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:8:"artifact";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"4";}i:17;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:15:"Rakdos's Return";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";s:1:"3";}i:18;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:22:"High Priest of Penance";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:8:"creature";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}i:19;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:7:"Mugging";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}i:20;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:15:"Slaughter Games";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:7:"sorcery";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}i:21;O:8:"stdClass":3:{s:9:"card_meta";O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:5:"title";s:22:"Underworld Connections";s:22:"field_card_image_front";a:0:{}}s:4:"type";s:11:"enchantment";s:10:"deck_count";i:0;}}
