Mono Blue Rogue

Mono Blue Rogue
Format: Standard Legal John Paul Imperial
Main Deck Sideboard
Lands (23)
2 Faerie Conclave
2 Mutavault
1 Academy Ruins
18 Island

Creatures (19)
3 Sage of Epityr
4 Looter Il-Kor
4 Infiltrator Il-Kor
4 Pestermite
4 Dewdrop Spy

Spells (18)
4 Rune snag
4 Psionic Blast
4 Cryptic Command
3 Cloak and Dagger
3 Notorious Throng

3 Boomerang
3 Riptide Pilferer
4 Bottle Gnomes
3 Veilstone Amulet
2 Pongify

My first build had 3 Mothdust Changelings. They didn't offer much help since their flying ability requires another creature to activate so I replaced them with Sage of Epityr which is more useful even though they don't have the rogue creature type.

The deck acts like a faerie deck with 2 sets of flashy creatures in order to have open mana for counter. It's important to play the Cloak and Dagger as early as possible since it's the best protection for our creatures against "on-the-spot" removal. And since our creatures are more of the evasive type and have only 1 toughness, it would be useless if they'll just sit around and do nothing. We also have 4 Cryptic Commands to help us stall any devastating attacks. Also, use the Notorious Throng only when its prowl cost is attainable.

Round 1: Ramon Alivio playing Project R

Game 1: I just kept on attacking him with a few evasive creatures, namely Pestermite and an Infiltrator Il-Kor equipped with Cloak and Dagger and countered his Wrath of God.

Game 2: I had a good start, but Ramon's Riftwing Cloudskates and Aven Riftwatcher made it tough for my guys to get through. I was happy to get a creature with shadow on board and equipped with a Cloak and Dagger but Crovax, Ascendant Hero spoiled everything. I scooped.

Game 3: Same as game 1 but with a better finish, thanks to Notorious Throng's time walk ability which he didn't have a chance to react.

Record: 1-0
Matches: 2-1

Round 2: Aaron Araña playing Mannequin

Game 1: I played a turn two Cloak and Dagger and turn 3 Looter Il-Kor. We traded attacks with my equipped Il-Kor and his Phyrexian Ironfoot. I already had a Throng with six mana open, but I was hesitant because he always left two mana open and I thought he had a Rune Snag in hand. So I just kept the Throng, attacked with my creature and leave my mana open for counterspell. Even with 2 Ironfoots, he was still behind because he needs to untap it every turn which he wasn't able to do. It ended with a single Psionic Blast on his face when he was down to 3 life.

Game 2: It was a terrible match because I was stuck at 2 lands. It was even more disappointing because even though I was drawing an extra card every turn with the help of Looter Il-Kor, I wasn't still getting any lands. I just scooped after he bounced my third land with Venzer.

Game 3: I was able to beat him with an early Pestermite equipped with Cloak and Dagger and countered most of his threats. He played several Mannequins but I also got rid of his blocker with another Pestermite and Cryptic Command.

Record: 2-0
Matches: 4-2

Round 3: Mark Tubola playing Project R

Game 1: We both had a good start. I had a Looter Il-Kor out equipped with Cloak and Dagger, while Mark had 2 Aven Riftwatchers. His 2 Riftwatchers didn't bother me since my guy can get through him without a sweat and gave me card advantage through it's draw and discard ability. I sensed victory when I played a Sage of Epytir and saw 2 Notorious Throngs coming up. With six mana, I killed him with a bunch of evasive guys in three consecutive turns.

Game 2: I started with a suspended Infiltrator Il-Kor on turn two and an EOT(end of turn) Pestermite on turn three. It was a solid 5 damage but it ended quickly when Mark accelerated his way to six mana in turn four with the help of 2 mind stones and played Wrath of God with 2 mana open. I had a Rune Snag in hand but wasn't able to save my creatures. I just scooped when he got Crovax out.

Game 3: Same as the previous game, I started with a Cloak and Dagger and some creatures with shadow. I countered his Wrath of God which was his only answer to a 5/1 shadow with shroud. He had a Riftwatcher out but it wasn't enough to save him.

Record: 3-0
Matches: 6-3

Round 4: Jonathan Tabalina playing Project R Hybrid

I was hoping to rest at this moment knowing that I'm at 9 points and was 1 point away to make it to the top 8. But since there were only 3 of us with 9 points, and me being the lowest of the three, I was paired to athan who was at 6 points. So instead of drawing the game, we played.

Game 1: My starting hand was not good. I only had one land and a Sage of Epityr. I could get a second land with the sage but it was too risky. I mulligan down to 4 just to have 2 lands. I scooped after he played Wrath of God and killed my two creatures.

Game 2: I boarded in 2 Boomerangs in exchange for 1 Psionic Blast and 1 Epityr. Athan had a Magus of the Tabernacle which slowed our game play because of the mana restriction. He gained several times with Martyr of Sands and Reveillark. It was a tough race for me without the throng though I won the game.

Game 3: I can't remember the details of this match because we've played a lot of games using the same deck. All I can remember is that I bounced his Story Circle at the end of his turn and attacked him with my creatures and played Notorious Throng for the win.

Record: 4-0
Matches: 8-4

The deck can also fight against aggro. Cryptic command is there to even the race even if your way behind. The deck's only problem is too many on-the-spot removal. Any deck with more than 12 burn spell is definitely going to be a challenge.