AZ88

Those are more control cards. I want this deck to be aggro.

I don't run more than 5 counters when it comes to control.

Since it's a budget deck I'd so go with it. It's not Sphinx's Revelation but it'll do.

To answer your first question: "How do you stop yourself going to time?"

I have 3 Elspeth for that reason. it depends on your decks set up. If you don't have 3 Elspeth then you should probably main deck an AEtherling. You also need good cards for filtering your deck out. 4x Sphinx's Revelation does just that. Divination and Quicken do that job also, same with Azorius Charm if you need card advantage. However nothing filters like Jace. Those cards all make sure you get answers you will be needing. If you don't have those then you need to tweak your deck around to work with what you have.

Second question: "Do you have a kind of system or mental check-list to ensure you can make the right playes fast enough?"

Very very good question. It's hard to know when/what to counter and honestly sometimes I make this mistakes. The mental list really depends on the deck I'm playing. A phrase I use when playing other control players is: "I was just fishing, and I caught a sucker."

I'm a victim of this as well. Fishing out a counter, play something you want to hit but if it doesn't it wont hurt. The control player counters, wasting it, then you play what you really really wanted to hit the board because it seals the win. A big mind game control players do though, is not tapping out. Seeing mana open for a control deck is trouble and can intimidate your opponent to hold off on playing something they would NEED to hit that turn.

It's really hard to tell when/what to counter, especially if you're playing against a very aggressive deck like Naya/Jund Midrage, Mono Blue Devotion, Or Mono Red/Boros Burn. Against those decks, one wrong move could mean a loss. The main goal of this deck is hold off until you can get Elspeth. Just because you have Elspeth on turn six doesn't mean you play her on turn six. If I'm playing against a deck with red in it I hold off on playing her the turn I can so I can have mana open to counter Stormbreath Dragon. If they don't drop the dragon then I can go ahead and play Elsepth. Red decks move quick and if I'm even comfortable enough to play Elspeth they've probably lost or I'm going to at least make them work for their win.

Control vs. control match ups are really a toss up imo. Game 1 is going to be a coin toss but depending on what you board in, the next round could be yours. You want to board in more counters against control and/or even Jace, Memory Adept because he tears control apart with his mill and puts them on a huge clock. I can tell you now though, against control, Azorius Charms are there strictly for a drawing engine. DO NOT counter something like Quicken or Divination. I've had people counter those spells and it cost them the match because they didn't have a counter for my win cons. Only thing you may want to counter is Sphinx's Revelation cause it gives SO MUCH card advantage. Usually though you want to keep your mana open to counter Elspeth, AEtherling, and most importantly Jace. Second round though, get ready for Pithing Needle. Yes, you want to counter that. Unless you have a Detention Sphere handy.

Selesnya can't really do much to Elsepth. Once she hits their deck slows down, unless they have Advent of the Wurm, which even then can only do so much. Voice of Resurgence isn't even THAT big of a deal. It's an annoyance but it doesn't kill the deck.

Monoblack is a hard deck to come against because they have the tool that hurts control: Thoughtseize. Your opponent knowing what you have hurts your strategy, not to mention they get to burn a card from your hand. Luckily you have Elixir of Immortality. It combos well with Sphinx's Revelation cause if you have to discard after drawing so much, you can just pop the Elixir and get your deck back. Not only that but it's a cushion. Instant 5 life is nothing bad at all. If you absolutely have to counter a Thoughtseize then by all means, do it. You really want to look out for Desecration Demon, Erebos, and Gray Merchant. The rats will be dealt with when you Supreme Verdict, and you have Detention Sphere as well. The card advantage they get with Underworld Connections could hurt you but I wouldn't counter it. If you have to then pop a Detention Sphere on it. Mutavault is hard to deal with but nothing is more satisfying then casting Quicken and then casting Supreme Verdict after your opponent swings with the world, including all 4 of his Mutavaults. I have used Pithing Needling to stop Mutavault as well. Just keep mana open to protect Elspeth against Hero's Downfall. If you're comfortable playing her turn six against this deck then do it. If she gets hit with Hero's Downfall then it's fine because your opponent used one to get rid of her, you have 2 left, and you have Elixir of Immortality. Any devotion deck you do want mana open for their god enchantments and big threats. Facing monoblack is not that much from monoblue.

Midrange is probably the most frustrating for me because midrange decks have SO MANY THREATS! What to counter and when is the hardest against these decks and side boarding is even harder. Luckily most midrange you see is Naya/Jund. DO NOT let Xenagos, either the god enchantment or planeswalker, hit. He helps their deck too much and if you can't deal with him, the game is probably theirs. Domri gives could card advantage but I don't know if I'd counter him. I'd Detention Sphere him for sure. Garruk needs to be countered. These decks have so many threats and you need to be careful on what to counter when facing them. It depends on what else you have in your hand though. I hope this helped and sorry it was so long.

Man..lol if you lived close I'd hook ya up. I have like 30 Azorius Charm.

It's a good combo but he's only a 1/1. He'll get burned instantly. All those creature slots you have could be replaced with spot removal cards or some form of bounce back. I'm also wondering why you don't have Azorius Charm in here.

Anytime. Anything to help a fellow control player. Especially a new one.

Ahhh ok gotcha. I kinda want to make a budget control deck now cause I'm wondering how I'd make one. Kinda makes sense then. If you need something to look at for control ideas mine did fairly well at FNM.

http://www.mtgvault.com/az88/decks/standard-azorius-control/
Fair warning: It's not budget, but I traded for all the cards and/or got them in packs. Didn't have to buy any of them but that is just luck. Let me know if you need help with anything.

The creatures do have a way of ruining your opponents tempo, which control does a lot of but most control decks hardly run any creatures. If any. I don't run any myself. Was this meant to be a budget deck?

Umm not sure if this is a budget deck or not but you have a lot of creatures for it to be control.

Well first off you're deck is over 60 cards which would kinda ruin your consistency with spells. With only 4 mana dorks I'm not sure how having 10 three drops would work out. Not to mention those dorks can only pump out green mana. I'd add in Sylvan Caryatid. I'm not seeing Brimaz doing much for you in this deck. He's a good card but Naya is meant to be quick and very aggressive and that WW in his mana cost is going to slow you down with your current set up. I wouldn't run Assemble the Legion at all in the main deck but if you're going to do it I wouldn't run 3 of them. Not even 2. I'd run 1 and that'd be it. Voice of Resurgence is a great card, especially against control but even then when I play against it I don't mind it too much. Someone made a decent point to me earlier that Voice isn't as aggressive as most people think. It's a good card, an annoyance, but nothing that will hinder your opponent too bad. Try subbing it out for Fleecemane Lion or Scavenging Ooze.

Check out my Naya Midrange deck. It's pretty aggressive.

http://www.mtgvault.com/az88/decks/naya-midrange/

Lol I usually play control of some kind. I love control decks, it's what I played when I first started and I really haven't stopped since, and this has been since 08. Every so often I'll run something different if I can get the cards for it but I'm not good at playing decks like this, usually because I don't really know how to play them.

Ok I love the idea of Assemble in the board. I'll make room for it. Don't get me wrong, I was debating on Voice, Ooze, or Fleecemane Lion. I couldn't decide so I just stuck with Voice because...well, it's Voice. I'll try Ooze and Fleecemane both. See which one works better or which one I like better.

Agreed. Scry lands are nice but almost half of your lands are scry. It'll slow you down. I'd also get rid of Gideon because he isn't as effective as he looks on paper, Ajani does more for the deck but I can understand why you'd want to keep Elspeth. I'd drop one of them and tbh I'd drop Elspeth. Finally I'd drop Xenagos and add in the Xenagos god card.

If you don't have any Elsepth at all then bring in more control slots or add in AEtherling. I'd go two AEtherling and 1 Fated Retribution. Try that out. Elspeth is really good though and is a must in this deck. If you don't have her then get her.

I did think about putting Cyclonic Rift in here I just didn't find room for it. I like it's combo with Reap Intellect but it doesn't do much against a lot of decks and it's also very situational. I dropped a Thoughtseize for Read the Bones.

Yea that might work. Thoughtseize is nice but late game when your opponent has a lot on the board you're going to either want a board wipe or removal of some kind.

Well you can never have too many kill spells. I like Izzet Charm because it gives you a draw engine besides Jace and Read the Bones. Maybe Thoughtseize, do you really need that as a 4 of? Hell you might not even need Hero's Downfall and Dreadbore as a 4 of.

Yea that might be a good move. I'm also trying to find room for Anger of the Gods and/or Mizzium Mortars in the main deck. Control of any kind needs a board wipe to stabilize against aggro.