What Are The Top Decks In Modern – Lantern Control

Lantern control is an artifact heavy lockdown deck that aims to control the game by preventing the opponent from ever drawing a useful card. It does this by assembling the very simple lock of Lantern of Insight with Ghoulcaller’s Bell or Codex Shredder. Every turn you get to see what the opponent is about to draw and if you dont want them to have it – you make them bin it. To support this strategy it also plays Ensnaring Bridge to stop any lone creatures getting through, and Pithing Needle to stop any pesky abilities causing problems. Spellskite is also added to redirect any artifact removal from your key combo pieces onto itself. The deck also plays a convincing suite of control spells in Abrupt Decay, Pyrite Spellbomb, and Inquisition of Kozilek to stop any other cards that may cause problems. In order to find the combo quickly Ancient Stirrings and Gitaxian Probe is included.

Sideboarding Against This Deck

This deck is remarkably resilient. It may, at first glance, appear that the entire deck folds to artifact hate but this is not entirely true. Spellskite can stop simple 1-for-1 spells, and Welding Jar from the Lantern Control players sideboard can also provide added protection, as can their discard spells (Duress and Inquisition of Kozilek). Mass artifact removal seems promising but often requires so much mana that the Lantern Control player has the lock in effect well before you can cast any. Artifact removal with flashback like Ancient Grudge is fairly effective because it can be cast from the graveyard. Aggression can also work very well if the opponent fails to find an Ensnaring Bridge. Perhaps the most effective strategy is discard through Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize which can stop the opponent from ever assembling the Lantern of Insight and Codex Shredder lock.