Welcome Magic lovers!
Well, it's official: Standard ain't big enough for a card of this caliber.
That card is, of course, This Town Ain't Big Enough, the blue instant from Outlaws of Thunder Junction that debuted in the hands of team Sanctum of All at the World Championships in Las Vegas just a few short months ago, and which also may well be the best card in Standard at the moment.
Wait, really?
Yes! A quick glance at the last couple of weeks of Standard results from Magic Online and the Regional Championship Qualifier tournaments currently taking place across the globe shows Dimir aggro, Esper aggro, and Azorius aggro making up a whopping 36% of the metagame combined. This is in large part due to the strength of the two-card combo of Stormchaser's Talent and This Town Ain't Big Enough, which forms the backbone of the low-to-the-ground blue, white, and black decks.
When taking into account the Simic Terror and Temur Otters decks which also rely on the Talent-Town synergy, it features prominently in over 40% of the decks currently putting up results in Standard.
Requiring only two cards, which cost only one and two mana respectively while also sharing the same color, means it's trivially easy to jam this package into almost any deck in Standard, and has led to a bunch of different variations on the same theme: bouncing cheap permanents to keep generating value in order to snowball and eventually overwhelm the opponent.
But what would happen if the Talent-Town combo made its way into a control shell? Let’s find out.
The Plan
While 'draw-go' Azorius Control decks haven't made any waves since the last Standard rotation, there is one control shell that's well-positioned in the format at the moment, as its game against the red aggressive decks, as well as the blue-based tempo decks that make up the majority of the format, is actually quite respectable. That deck is Mono-white Control, based around the power of Caretaker's Talent.
The deck isn't anything new, so there's no need to do an in-depth breakdown here of how it plays out, suffice it to say that it has plenty of removal, board sweepers, and card advantage, while also passively gaining life. That makes it the perfect shell for Talent-Town, as it can make great use of the otter token from Stormchaser's Talent, while also doing an excellent job at surviving into the late-game in order to benefit from This Town Ain't Big Enough, which has a ton of great targets to bring back, from value cards like the aforementioned Stormchaser's Talent and Carrot Cake, to bangers like Beza, the Bounding Spring, or an impending Overlord of the Mistmoors,
The best target may actually be Temporary Lockdown, which happens to be very potent in the current Standard environment. In this Mono-white shell, it can sweep away the opponent's token and small threats, while also scooping up one's own Carrot Cake or Stormchaser's Talent for use later on. Bouncing one's own Temporary Lockdown, thereby giving the opponent back a measly Spyglass Siren or Novice Inspector late in the game, is nothing compared to the value of resetting a couple of the deck's Talents and/or Carrot Cakes later on, which often draw cards from Enduring Innocence or Caretaker's Talent when they enter the battlefield. Stormchaser's Talent also gets reset every time it goes under a lockdown, enabling the pilot to simply give the opponent back their small things temporarily while they level up the Talent, buy something back such as This Town Ain't Big Enough, then promptly replay Temporary Lockdown to sweep everything back under the rug.
Also, don't forget that Stormchaser's Talent can get a whole lot more than just This Town Ain't Big Enough from out of the graveyard. Rebuying Get Lost or Sunfall later in the game as the situation dictates is a perfectly reasonable, and powerful, play. Knowing that a full playset of This Town Ain't Big Enough is lurking either in the deck or graveyard means the pilot can rest easy, even if one or two Stormchaser's Talents have been spent, knowing that they'll certainly be able to either draw one or buy one back eventually in order to keep chaining spells.
Casting the same Get Lost over and over again from the graveyard against Domain Zur or the Mono-white mirror match, using only a couple of Stormchaser's Talent and one This Town Ain't Big Enough, feels like having a soft lock on the game.
The Talent-Town combo also functions perfectly well against the red aggressive decks like Gruul, Rakdos, and Mono-red, as the early otter from Stormchaser's Talent can block or trade in combat, while This Town Ain't Big Enough performs beautifully to reset a large Heartfire Hero or Urabrask's Forge, or even just to send a Slickshot Show-Off back to hand once it's been pumped a few times with combat tricks.
The Lands
The mana base in the deck is rock-solid, as there are plenty of excellent dual lands to choose from, as well as some powerful spell-land options.
With only nine Plains in the deck, Lay Down Arms isn't going to work, but there are still certainly enough basic lands to play a set of Floodfarm Verge. Remember, the blue mana isn't critically necessary to have available on the first couple of turns, as the deck wants to primarily cast white spells early.
Restless Anchorage is a nice addition to the deck, as it not only applies pressure post-Sunfall, but it also generates the critical tokens necessary to power Caretaker's Talent and Enduring Innocence.
Fountainport and Demolition Field need no explanation here, as they've been staples of the Mono-white Control shell since its inception. Playing too many colorless lands can be awkward, which is why the deck is currently running a three-two split.
Sunken Citadel is still a great land in this deck, powering up the spell-lands like Fountainport and Demolition Field. It can also provide a nice discount when activating Restless Anchorage, which always helps.
The Sideboard
Having access to blue allows the deck to really shore up its mirror match with Mono-white Control, as well as its matchup against Domain Zur. This is due to the pair of Jace, the Perfected Mind lurking in the sideboard, which are incredible in long, drawn-out matches, providing a great way to slam the door shut on a match regardless of the opponent's life total.
Wilt-leaf Liege is a new addition which comes in against any deck running Hopeless Nightmare, such as Dimir or Esper bounce, or even Liliana of the Veil, which is ticking up in popularity among Golgari Midrange players.
Elspeth's Smite and the fourth Beza, the Bounding Spring come in against decks running basic Mountain, while the fourth Temporary Lockdown can be swapped in against any aggressive deck, from Gruul and Mono-red, to Jeskai Convoke or the Dimir/Esper bounce decks.
Exorcise is there as an answer to anything from Enduring Curiosity to Urabrask's Forge in the aggro and midrange decks, to Leyline Binding and Caretaker's Talent against the other late-game decks.
Conclusion
The power of the Talent-Town combo is undeniable, and in the Mono-white Control shell it really feels like a strong addition. The flexibility and power of This Town Ain't Big Enough, backed by the inevitability of Stormchaser's Talent, allows the deck to cover almost any angle the opponent dares attack from, and when backed by an engine as formidable as Caretaker's Talent, it's nigh-unstoppable.
Give the Azorius Talent Town deck a run at your next event!
