Commander Brew 1: BfZ Month - Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper

Just a quick note, this is a commander deck brew, these will differ from the actual decks as they will include cards that I do not own. The most obvious difference will be a lack of a section for testing, in addition they will tend to be less in-depth overall. Now on with the brew!

I attack with my Island, my Plains and my Hallowed Fountain.

Merfolk and Allies. When you say these words to Magic: The Gathering players it counjuers up images of these guys:

In essence these cards are Tribal. They synergise with other cards that share creature types and when you build a deck they become very fast, aggressive decks that try to end game as quickly as possible. So when you heard that there is going to be a Legendary creature with the type 'Merfolk Ally' you think. "Man this is probably going to be a 3CMC guy that will be able to meld these two creature types together to make an awesome aggro deck". 

Well, nevermind, I guess not.

Ever since Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper was spoiled with the other Battle for Zendikar cards he piqued my interest for the exact reason that he doesn't fit into either of these deck archetypes. Then it hit me how well he synergises with, not merfolk, not allies, but manlands. He turns these manlands into innate 3/3's that then get hugely valuable buffs from their activatable abilties. For example Celestial Colonnade's ability becomes this creature gains +4/+4, flying and vigilance and Faerie Conclave get's +2/1 and flying giving you two strong finishers in just your landbase.

This deck, like most in its colours becomes a control deck that focuses on getting an advantage and then never giving up the tempo, this is achieved through of a combination of pretection spells such as God's Willing, Apostle's Blessing and Valorous Stance as well as counter magic all of which keep your man lands alive whilst continuously pumping them through Noyan Dar's ability.

His ability his complimented by the new mechanic introduced in Battle for Zendikar, Awaken. This allows you to cast a spell whilst also putting counters onto a land for a varying amount of extra mana. The uses of these spells are everything from a counter spell to a spell that gives you an extra turn.

Ontop of the protection spells and the counter magic there are other ways of protecting land, one of these is an enchantment called Terra Eternal that makes all lands indestructible. This is important as it means that you can use your lands to block or attack with alot less worries, this card has a CMC of 3 but on the higher end of the curve there is Avacyn, Angel of Hope, an 8 CMC flier with vigilance that makes all permenants you control indestructible. This includes lands giving you the benefits of Terra Eternal  as well as giving Noyan Dar protection from board wipes or non-exile-based removal. Keeping Noyan Dar is vitally important as he is the engine that can keep churning out win conditions as long as you are using instants and sorceries.

 
Here is the Decklist:

General:

Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper

Creatures:

Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
Grand Abolisher
Halimar Tidecaller
Sea Gate Oracle
Phyrexian Metamorph 
Master of Waves
Archaeomancer
Dragonlord Ojutai 
Diluvian Primordial
Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

Instants and Sorceries:

Brainstorm
Ponder
Preordain
Rapid Hybridization
Pongify
Clutch of Currents
Condemn
Path to Exile
Swords to Plowshares
Revoke Existence
Cyclonic Rift
Arcane Denial 
Mana Leak
Memory Lapse
Horribly Awry
Anticipate 
Counterspell
Spell Shrivel
Sheer Drop
Oblation
Dissipate
Capsize
Scatter to the Winds
Wing Shards 
Comeuppance
Return to Dust
Wrath of God
Cryptic Command
Planar Outburst
Scour from Existence
Dig Through Time
Blue Sun's Zenith

Artifacts:

Sensei's Divining Top
Sol Ring
Scroll Rack
Sword of Feast and Famine
Sword of Ice and Fire
Thran Dynamo

Planeswalkers:

Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Jace, Architect of Thought
Narset Transcendent
Jace, Memory Adept 
Karn, Liberated
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
  

Enchantments:

Land Tax
Blind Obedience
Oblivion Ring
Statis Snare
Detention Sphere 

Land:

Celestial Colonnade
Mutavault
Forbidding Watchtower
Faerie Conclave
Stalking Stones
Blinkmoth Nexus
Inkmoth Nexus
Dread Sanctuary 
Flooded Strand
Hallowed Fountain
Glacial Fortress
Sejiri Refuge
Tranquil Cover
Temple of Enlightenment
Prairie Stream
Tundra
Adarkar Wastes
Command Tower
Seat of the Synod
Anicent Den 
Darksteel Citadel
9x Islands
8x Plains

Well, there's the deck. As always thanks for reading, leave any feed back and if you want me to brew for a specific commander let me know.

How to Improve

I have had some comments on how to improve this deck and as I get more I will add them here. 
The first of these recommendations was Isochron Scepter as it allows the repeated use of any of the 2CMC or less instants which, when used trigger Noyan Dar's ability meaning more and more counters on land. This is good as it allows the deck to get the highest possible amount of value from these cards. I would most likely remove Clutch of Currents because whilst it is a good pseudo-removal spell (and it has awaken which has strong synergy with Noyan Dar) I feel like Isochron Scepter does alot more work in a wider Variety of situations.

In:

Out: