One of the most interesting cards to come out of Eldritch Moon is Take Inventory. This is very reminiscent of Accumulated Knowledge, with the exception that it's a sorcery rather than an instant. The big difference is that there's no Intuition or Brainstorm to pair this card with. Without that kind of enabler, will Take Inventory see substantial Standard play? Sure, the fringe Blue prison deck that already plays Pore Over the Pages and the like probably wants this, but what about a more traditional control deck? Shaheen Soorani won't let you down.

Esper Control ? Eldritch Moon Standard | Shaheen Soorani

• Creatures (4)
• 2 Fleshbag Marauder
• 1 Emrakul, the Promised End
• 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
• 3 Narset Transcendent
• 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 1 Sorin, Grim Nemesis

• Spells (24)
• 1 Anguished Unmaking
• 3 Grasp of Darkness
• 3 Ultimate Price
• 4 Oath of Jace
• 2 Dark Petition
• 3 Languish
• 2 Ruinous Path
• 4 Take Inventory
• 2 Transgress the Mind

• Lands (26)
• 2 Island
• 1 Plains
• 5 Swamp
• 4 Choked Estuary
• 4 Evolving Wilds
• 3 Prairie Stream
• 3 Shambling Vent
• 4 Sunken Hollow

Buy This Deck

This is the same kind of Superfriends-style control deck we saw at the beginning of the previous format. The core engine of the deck is still cheap removal backed by powerful Planeswalkers. Narset serves to both help dig towards additional Planeswalkers and allow you to double up on removal spells to protect your board presence as it develops. Jace, Ob Nixilis, and Sorin all serve the purpose of drawing extra cards and killing threatening creatures. The idea is that once you've assembled a squad of two or more Planeswalkers, they'll be able to protect one another while generating overwhelming quantities of card advantage. This is especially true when you have access to a Dark Petition toolbox of removal spells and Planeswalkers to ensure that you can find the appropriate effect for any situation.

The big difference between this build and previous iterations is that you have a real card advantage engine outside of Planeswalkers. Rather than having to lean on counterspells, Shaheen has elected to play Take Inventory in conjunction with Oath of Jace. This interaction seems innocuous, but is actually a really big deal for decks looking to play Take Inventory. Whereas the cost of casting the first Accumulated Knowledge is very low because it's an instant, committing two mana on your turn to cycle the first Take Inventory is a very real cost. The ability to get the first copy into your graveyard at minimal cost makes a big difference in how playable the card is.

All told, this shell has a lot going for it. The real question is whether Eldritch Moon Standard is a format in which you can take a turn off to set up your Take Inventory engine. If so, then this seems like a fantastic deck. You have efficient removal, powerful Planeswalkers, and a great mechanism of churning through your deck to make sure you always have another answer. However, if the format is predominantly aggressive and doesn't give you time to cast Oath of Jace and Take Inventory, then this clunky control deck may just get run over.