BG Control in MPDC 33.05

If you've been paying attention at all to the recent Standard Pauper events, you should be aware that one deck is consistently running the field against all comers. This week, it captured four of the eight Top 4 spots between the two tournaments, taking 1st place in both events. And to cap it all off, AfroDwarf earned his trophy without losing a single match; in fact, he only lost 2 games between the five rounds he played. I'm of course talking about BG Control. Let's take a look at AfroDwarf's list:

BG Control

1st place in MPDC 33.05

Creatures 4 Elvish Visionary 4 Vulturous Aven 3 Byway Courier 3 Quilled Wolf 2 Dutiful Attendant 2 Nantuko Husk 2 Ruin Processor 2 Sanitarium Skeleton 22 cards Other Spells 4 Complete Disregard 4 Oblivion Strike 4 Pulse of Murasa 2 Grasp of Darkness 14 cards

Lands 10 Forest 8 Swamp 4 Evolving Wilds 2 Mortuary Mire 24 cards Sideboard 4 Duress 3 Watcher in the Web 2 Mire's Malice 2 Caustic Caterpillar 2 Dead Weight 1 Gravepurge 1 Ruin Processor 15 cards

Like many decks in the format right now, this is taking advantage of the very strong Lifegain and Graveyard recursion strategies tied to Pulse of Murasa, which also happens to synergize quite well with the sacrifice-enabled card draw and pump from Vulturous Aven and Nantuko Husk respectively. Elvish Visionary, Dutiful Attendant, Sanitarium Skeleton, and even Byway Courier in a pinch are excellent sacrifice targets, essentially allowing you to recoup the card lost in the exchange. It also plays 10 different removal spells, with two copies of Dead Weight to bring in from the Sideboard as well. Quilled Wolf and Ruin Processor are great end-game cards, and even Nantuko Husk can function in that same role as a finisher. And with Duress to deal with opposing spells, Caustic Caterpillar to deal with Artifacts and Enchantments, Mire's Malice for additional card advantage, and Watcher in the Web to shore up defenses, the deck has plenty of strong options in the Sideboard.

I haven't played much with or against this deck, so I'd love to hear from you about your experiences with this deck. What are the keys to the matchup? Which archetypes have the best chance of beating it? What changes, if any, would you make to this list? Let me know in the comments below.