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Battle of Wits
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Battle Of Wits

Battle of Wits Combo

Featured list~$14725Liga Alicante 2025 6ª Jornada @ Alicante (Spain)

Overview

"This control deck runs an oversized library purely to turn Battle of Wits into an instant win, then bends its whole game plan toward resolving it. Academy Rector and Enlightened Tutor assemble the engine while Intuition, Quiet Speculation, Deep Analysis, and Cunning Wish bury opponents in card advantage. Birds of Paradise accelerates, and Meddling Mage, Duress, and Cabal Therapy strip away the answers before the combo lands."

Game Plan

Battle of Wits is a combo deck built around a single alternative win condition, and every other card exists to assemble, protect, or accelerate that enchantment into play. The early turns are spent deploying mana through Birds of Paradise, Utopia Tree, and Wall of Roots while stripping the opponent's answers with Duress, Cabal Therapy, and Mesmeric Fiend. Once the hand is sufficiently clear, the deck converts a creature into a tutor: Academy Rector dies to Altar of Dementia or Carrion Feeder and searches Battle of Wits directly from the library, while Pattern of Rebirth on any expendable body finds Academy Rector in a chain. Enlightened Tutor, Intuition, and Merchant Scroll function as the instant-speed search layer, letting the deck find whichever piece is missing and set up the kill turn.

The backup plan runs through Survival of the Fittest, which cycles Squee, Goblin Nabob to fuel continuous tutoring and can assemble a Volrath's Shapeshifter plus Phyrexian Devourer kill by placing the Devourer into the graveyard and using the Shapeshifter's continuous copy ability to activate the Devourer's power-boosting trigger until damage is lethal. Cunning Wish reaches the sideboard at instant speed for silver bullets, and Deep Analysis with Quiet Speculation restock the hand and graveyard as needed to sustain the long game. Meddling Mage locks out the most dangerous answers once the combo is within reach, turning a fragile midgame into a decisive closing window.

Key Cards

Core engine & flex

Sample Decklists

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Pere Lloret

TCG
CH

Mainboard (232)232-card deck

$14400
Instant (26)
$1695
Sorcery (28)
$309
Artifact (12)
$4752
Enchantment (20)
$1646

Sideboard (15)

$325
Est. Total$14725

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Nolan Blackwelder

Nolan Blackwelder

TCG
CH

Mainboard (254)254-card deck

$14070
Sorcery (32)
$460
Artifact (8)
$4602

Sideboard (15)

$254
Est. Total$14325

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Event @ Köln (Germany)
5th PlaceMar 12, 2026
Michael Schleker

Michael Schleker

TCG
CH

Mainboard (240)240-card deck

$3814
Creature (21)
$634
Instant (69)
$1703
3Absorb
$11.52WUU
4Counterspell
$9.76UU
4Cunning Wish
$34.562U
1Disenchant
$0.181W
1Fiery Temper
$0.481RR
4Fire // Ice
$8.921R1U
4Impulse
$11.321U
3Incinerate
$1.051R
4Intuition
$13972U
4Mana Leak
$3.441U
4Memory Lapse
$3.321U
4Opt
$4.72U
4Prohibit
$1.201U
Sorcery (30)
$217
4Burning Wish
$36.401R
3Concentrate
$0.722UU
4Gamble
$110R
4Portent
$1.72U
3Wrath of God
$34.412WW
Artifact (8)
$3.40
Enchantment (11)
$18.14

Sideboard (15)

$279
Est. Total$4093

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Archetype Anatomy

Based on 12 decks with known dates(13 total)2025-03-15 to 2026-06-11

Mana Base

Average95.2lands
Median94lands
Range90101lands
Spells-35.2avg non-land
Based on 12 decks (All-time)

fringe Cards(<30%)

25%
4.0x
25%
4.0x
25%
4.0x
25%
4.0x
25%
4.0x
25%
3.7x
25%
3.7x
25%
1.0x
25%
1.0x
25%
1.0x
17%
4.0x
17%
3.0x
17%
3.0x
17%
1.0x
17%
1.0x
8%
4.0x
8%
4.0x
8%
4.0x
8%
4.0x
8%
4.0x
8%
4.0x
8%
2.0x
8%
1.0x
8%
1.0x
8%
1.0x

Sideboard Anatomy

core Sideboard Options(>80%)

Academy Rector
82%
1.0x
Phyrexian Tower
82%
1.0x

flex Sideboard Options(30-80%)

Orim'S Chant
73.1%
1.0x
Swords To Plowshares
73.1%
1.0x
Monk Realist
72.7%
1.0x
Xantid Swarm
65.2%
1.0x
Enlightened Tutor
63.7%
1.0x
Mask Of The Mimic
63.7%
1.0x
Worldly Tutor
54.4%
1.0x
Crumble
46.9%
1.0x
Erase
46.9%
1.0x
Phyrexian Devourer
46.4%
1.0x
Gilded Drake
44.6%
1.0x
Uktabi Orangutan
34.5%
1.0x

fringe Sideboard Options(<30%)

Abeyance
28.5%
1.0x
Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
28.5%
1.0x
Meddling Mage
26.2%
1.0x
Naturalize
26.2%
1.0x
Crop Rotation
25.9%
1.0x
Gemstone Mine
25.9%
1.0x
Chain Of Vapor
18.7%
1.0x
Flametongue Kavu
18.3%
1.0x
Genesis
18.3%
1.0x
Auramancer
18.2%
1.0x
Disenchant
18%
1.0x
Fact Or Fiction
18%
1.0x
Renewed Faith
18%
1.0x
Glacial Chasm
16.8%
1.0x
Weathered Wayfarer
16.8%
1.0x
Thornscape Battlemage
12.3%
1.0x
Forsaken City
9.4%
1.0x
Heroes' Reunion
9.4%
1.0x
Masticore
9.4%
1.0x
Ray Of Revelation
9.4%
1.0x
Annul
9.4%
1.0x
Coffin Purge
9.4%
1.0x
Fling
9.4%
1.0x
Tsabo'S Decree
9.3%
1.0x
Tranquil Domain
9.3%
1.0x
Reclaim
9.3%
1.0x
Ghastly Demise
9.3%
1.0x
Intuition
9.3%
1.0x
Argivian Find
9.3%
1.0x
Capsize
9.3%
1.0x
Ebony Charm
9.3%
1.0x
Forbid
9.3%
1.0x
Hibernation
9.3%
1.0x
Dust Bowl
8.9%
1.0x
Goblin Pyromancer
8.9%
1.0x
Intrepid Hero
8.9%
1.0x
Spike Feeder
8.9%
1.0x
Spike Weaver
8.9%
1.0x
Tarnished Citadel
8.9%
1.0x
Blue Elemental Blast
8.6%
1.0x
Concentrate
8.6%
1.0x
Decree Of Justice
8.6%
1.0x
Meltdown
8.6%
1.0x
Pyroclasm
8.6%
1.0x
Red Elemental Blast
8.6%
1.0x
Replenish
8.6%
1.0x
Sacred Nectar
8.6%
1.0x
Shock
8.6%
1.0x
Stroke Of Genius
8.6%
1.0x
Teferi'S Response
8.6%
1.0x
Wrath Of God
8.6%
1.0x

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