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4 Azorius Guildmage
4 Loxodon Gatekeeper
4 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
3 Spelltithe Enforcer
4 Mana Leak
4 Exhaustion
3 Plumes of Peace
4 Icy Manipulator
3 Dream Leash
4 Azorius Signet

4 Plains
4 Island
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Azorius Chancery
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Prahv, Spires of Order

Loxdown.

Description of deck by it's author (quoted):
We all know that the Azorius was the first Guild to put a Lion into space, but did you know that they are looking to put an Elephant there as well? At least, that's what I've heard. That's what the sources in my head tell me. Apparently, Azorius law-mage Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, he of the hovering throne-of-justice, has been seen congregating (mostly at dusk) with a pair of be-trunked co-conspirators. Who are these shadowy figures? None other than the Loxodon Gatekeeper, who controls the flow through various passages, gastrointestinal and otherwise, and Spelltithe Enforcer, whose Orzhov-flavour we are conveniently overlooking for the sake of this article. I wonder what those three could be up to …

Grand Arbiter Augustin IV (hereafter known as Arby) is the love-child of Pearl Medallion and Sapphire Medallion. And Sphere of Resistance. And Hurloon Minotaur. That's a lot of mommies and daddies. The tale of how he went from being the only son of three inanimate objects and an out-of-print bull-person to being the Grand Arbiter of all of Ravnica is an inspiring one. I'm sure that Matt Cavotta is giving you all the details over at Taste the Magic. Right now, I'm more concerned with the deckbuilding possibilities he offers. The aspect of Arby that I'm going to focus on is the Sphere of Resistance ability.

You might think that one extra mana is peanuts, but when you combine it with the aforementioned elephantine duo, peanuts will be hard to come by. Arby's taxing and Spelltithe Enforcer's tithe-enforcing will slow your opponent's spell-casting down to a crawl. Throw in some Icy Manipulators and your opponent might not be able to cast spells at all. For the spells that they do cast, you have Mana Leak. Azorius Guildmage, Loxodon Gatekeeper, and Icy Manipulator ensure that creatures on the other side of board will usually be turned sideways and nowhere near the Red Zone. I hate to kick people when they are down (not really), but while your opponent's creatures are tapped, you might as well make sure that they never untap again (with Plumes of Peace) or just steal them outright (with Dream Leash). Exhaustion can buy you the turn you need to find a Plumes of Peace or Dream Leash, and Plumes, Icy Manipulator, and Azorius Guildmage can set up a devastating Exhaustion. Your opponent's stuff will be born tapped, live a tapped life, and die tapped.

There are many other cards that could fit into this deck, but the deck only has so much room. Droning Bureaucrats would be very in-theme and could be very powerful, especially if you face a lot of weenie decks and Selesnya-flavoured token swarms. This might also be my best opportunity to fit in a few copies of the beloved activated-ability thwarter, Suppression Field. What could be more fun than suppressing your opponent with a field? Suppressing him with two fields. In a similar vein, Ghostly Prison's mana-taxing could make your opponent have to decide between attacking and playing spells. You could even take a page out of the tournament player's book and add four copies of Annex and some more Dream Leashes. With so much of their mana on your side of the table, it'd be hard for your opponents to keep up with their Elephant taxes. Sakashima the Impostor might be worth trying, as a way of doubling up on your Arbiters.

In Extended, I'd try Glowrider. If you go even further back, you could try the uber-fun Rishadan Port and Sphere of Resistance. Ah, good times.

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by Chris Millar @ www.wizards.com

CONTROL: Loxodon Gatekeeper - Spelltithe Enforcer / Arby!

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