Standard: Beanstalk Control (Bant) - Deck Tech and Sideboard Guide

Standard has access to one of the best interactions in Magic currently, which, by the way, was hit with recent bans due to its power in certain formats. I'm talking about Up the Beanstalk and Leyline Binding.

Leyline Binding has the Domain ability, which reduces its mana value and can easily be enabled thanks to the triomes present in the format. Up the Beanstalk, in turn, perfectly matches Leyline, because it creates value when a threat is removed from the board.

Beanstalk and Leyline are the basis of Bant Control, and it is with these two cards in mind that I reached the list below.

The idea behind this deck is abusing draws with Beanstalk, controlling the board with removals and creating extra value with spells that have 5 or higher value. The spells that have X in their mana value interact better with this list's goal, which is why I included cards that are not that popular, such as Syncopate.

Win Conditions and Play Style

This deck is mostly an Azorius deck splashed to Green to access some cards. Nissa, Ascended Animist is one of them, only one copy included, bringing interesting abilities that might serve us well in several situations.

The Wandering Emperor is still one of the best planeswalkers in this format at the moment, and there are no reasons to not use it.

Teferi, Temporal Pilgrim, from The Brothers War, barely sees play, and I must admit he is nothing more than a weaker version of Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. However, in this list, he brings a very interesting versatility, matching Beanstalk and becoming a very powerful finisher.

Regarding play style, I chose a build with more removals than counters because of the strong presence of Cavern of Souls in the format, and because there are several impactful threats present in the current metagame.

Most decks use cards such as Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or Wedding Announcement, and this is why having an efficient removal package became much more relevant for Control decks that can't access discard strategies.

Removals

As we're already talking about removals, let's dive a little deeper into this part of our strategy.

Leyline is the main removal in this deck, and can be enabled as early as turn 2, for instance. However, as I mentioned before, an efficient and versatile removal package is very important for this strategy.

Unstable Glyphbridge was one of the cards that stood out the most to me in the previews season, but this card still hasn't found its place in the format yet because of the strong presence of Sunfall and other global removals. However, I believe there is space for this card, and I have been feeling satisfied with the train of thought it provides in this deck acting as a removal, and, later on, as a possible finisher that applies a stax effect on the opponent.

Glass Casket and The Mightstone and Weakstone are in this list only to enable Glyphbridge's Craft, and they fulfill their role well. Lay Down Arms matches our mana base, which is filled with plains, and Get Lost is everything it seems to be and more. March of Otherworldly Light is still a powerful card and goes well with Beanstalk.

Support Spells

The Celestus is a card that plays its part well and can help you if you're a bit behind in the game. Memory Deluge is a mandatory card in any blue Control deck in Standard, and Syncopate, even though it doesn't seem like it, goes really well with this list.

Mana Base and Mulligan

Our mana base doesn't innovate much, but I tried creating a base solid enough to support our splashes and enable Leyline without further issues. I also tried to keep a certain speed to work with interactions on your opponent's turn.

I like Mirrex, because it provides an alternative way to win the game, and Restless Anchorage falls in this same category. Demolition Field has been quite interesting to deal with the opponent's manlands.

In your ideal starting hand, you won't want too many heavy spells, because you need to interact in the first few turns to survive, and, at the same time, you'll need to keep a certain fluidity regarding how the game progresses. You can have all the Beanstalk you want, but avoid greedy hands and focus on this deck's strategy.

Our sideboard comes really close to what's being used for 5C Ramp decks and other Beanstalk Piles in the format.

Chrome Host Seedshark is an excellent card that could even be maindecked, but I'd rather only bring it to the mirror and against other Control decks.

Obstinate Baloth is a very good card against Aggro decks, particularly Mono-Red, but its ability also makes it great against Black-based decks.

Jace, the Perfected Mind is another card that helps against Control decks.

Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines is an insane hate against decks that work with numerous ETB effects.

Temporary Lockdown and Elspeth's Smite are here to complement our removal package, just like Knockout Blow, and Negate and Disdainful Stroke are here to help against blue decks in general.

Vs. Esper Midrange

This is a tough matchup. Your opponent has a lot of interaction and can put on pressure quite quickly. Our game plan will be to try to win through value, removing our opponent's main threats at the same time we lay the land to place our own threats on the board.

Post-side, we can access more counters and Jace, which might work as an alternative win con by milling our opponent.

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Vs. Atraxa Ramp

This matchup is very close to a mirror, in which your opponent will play with a Beanstalk build focused on ramping and playing several threats on the board. Counter the ramp spells and lock down your opponent's game plan. Be careful with Atraxa, Grand Unifier, because it can turn the game against you even when it is removed.

Post-side, we can access Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, which can disable the opponent's deck.

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Vs. Mono-Red Aggro

Mono-Red is a fast and efficient Aggro deck, so I consider this matchup a bit unfavorable to us. Our strategy will be to hold off the threats on the first few turns and keep ourselves alive until our opponent runs out of gas, so we can then drown them in value. Our global removals work really well in this game and counters also help. Post-side, we bring even more removals and some life gain.

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Vs. Mono-White Humans

This is another Aggro deck which is quite fast and efficient, but I consider this matchup a bit easier than the previous one. Mono-White doesn't have creatures with Haste nor Burn, so we have a bit more space to work with our game plan.

That being said, follow the same strategy we used against Mono-Red - remove the threats and keep yourself alive until you can control the flow of the game completely.

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Vs. Rakdos Ramp

Rakdos Ramp is a deck that wants to speed up the mana curve with artifacts and like so place threats like Etali, Primal Conqueror or Breach the Multiverse on the board. Keep an eye out for these problematic cards, and everything will go well. Your opponent will have a lot of removal, but most of them will end up dead in their hand.

Post-side, it is likely we'll have to deal with discard strategies, which can disrupt us quite a bit.

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Up the Beanstalk is one of the most fun cards in the format nowadays, to the point it can even be somewhat unfair. Beanstalk Control is a very different deck than what we normally see being played in Standard, but it can bring good results if you master it.

Another article is finished. Leave your questions and suggestions down below in the comment section, and I'll try to answer all. See you next time!