Overview

Turbo-Fog is a control/prison deck. The goal is to establish a soft lock by recurring Spore Frog and/or Kami of False Hope with Abiding Grace, protected by a pair of Sterling Grove. Aegis of the Gods protects you from burn while Dawn Charm and Blessed Respite protect you when the shields are down.

The removal package is Out of Time to delay the opponent while you establish the lock while also tutorable by Sterling Grove and Angelic Ascension to remove utility creatures (e.g. Lurrus of the Dream Den) and Planeswalkers.

Utility cards are Fecundity and Tragic Poet. Fecundity is a powerful enchantment once you can sacrifice your creatures while never killing your opponent's creatures. Tragic Poet enables useful lines of play; the most notable is putting a card on top with Sterling Grove, then sacrificing Tragic Poet to recur Sterling Grove, drawing whatever you put on top with a Fecundity trigger, and finally getting the poet back with Abiding Grace at the end of the turn.

There are a few win conditions in the deck. The first plan is to present inevitability with a Heliod, God of the Sun and Castle Ardenvale by creating a creature token army; the second is slowly pinging the opponent to death with an unblockable 1/1 via Access Way (hopefully buffed by Pendlehaven); the third is turning your excess creatures into angels with Angelic Ascension and killing via combat; and the last, torturous win-con is by decking the opponent via turns by recycling your deck with Blessed Respite. Ideally, your opponent will concede once a win-con is on the table.

Basic Strategy

While Turbo-fog is a control deck, establishing critical pieces in the early game is important. Generally speaking, landing Abiding Grace early with one or two Kami of False Hope or Spore Frog will stonewall most decks. After that, you want to get Sterling Grove followed by Aegis of the Gods. Without Sterling Grove, Aegis of the Gods will almost certainly be removed. Which duo of cards is a higher priority will depend on the deck you're facing. After these permanents are set up, you should prioritize getting a second Sterling Grove to protect your first, then pursuing one of the win conditions in the deck.

Counterplay

Most decks will prey on Turbofog's elaborate setup period by trying to get combat damage in early when they can and trying to burn you out with noncombat damage later. In the mid and late game, they'll likely hold onto instant speed removal spells to try and blast through your Kami of False Hope and Spore Frogs at the end of your turn so they can swing in for lethal on yours. Enchantment removal is more prominent now than ever with Skyclave Apparition, Assassin's trophy, and Vindicate in the format, so expect for them to get targeted.

Sideboard

The Sideobard "Ins" are listed in the decklist. Unfortunately, the "Outs" are much harder to identify.

• Spore Frog, Kami of False Hope, Abiding Grace, and Sterling Grove are the core of the deck and should never be cut.
• Mistveil Plains always comes in post-board, replacing a Plains. It helps mitigate targeted grave-hate (e.g. Scavenging Ooze) and dodge Surgical Extraction effects.
• You should also either keep Blessed Respite or Heliod, God of Sun, but either can be cut if they clearly can't win the match.
• Versus decks with low creature counts, Out of Time followed by Dawn Charm can be replaced.
• Versus decks with low target-player effects, Aegis of the Gods can be cut.
• Stony Silence can come in soley to counter activated artifact hate cards like Relic of Progenitus or Mishra's Bauble.
• If a deck shows no high-impact utility creatures or Planeswalkers, Angelic Ascension can be cut. This isn't recommended until Game 3 when you have the most knowledge of the opponent's deck.
• If struggling for cuts, Tragic Poet is cuttable, but may slow down the deck.

Tips

• Don't be afraid to take a few small hits early. One Mantis Rider swinging doesn't necessitate a fog effect if you can't recur it yet.
• While it may seem foolish to play out multiple Kami of False Hope and Spore Frog, they are basically the only valid targets for removal spells. It's likely they'll get targeted, which could leave you open for attack. Keep a healthy amount on the battlefield unless you've seen cards like Blast Zone or Maelstrom Pulse.
• Don't get cocky and assume your opponent doesn't have a plan to get through your soft lock. If they're still playing, you should be too.
• This deck is designed to go forever. Do not turn the corner until you're as stable as possible. If it turns into a race, you will almost always lose.

  Advanced Tips

• Remember, Both Hall of Heliod's Generosity and Sterling Grove put their target on top of the deck, not in your hand. You must plan ahead and do it at the end of your opponent's turn or during your upkeep if you want to cast the card.
• Since you can sacrifice and recur Spore Frog and Kami of False Hope, be aware of their interactions with Out of Time and Blessed Respite. Most of the time, you can control whether they're contributing to the time counters on Out of Time or getting shuffled into your library.
• Blessed Respite must shuffle a graveyard into the library, so it can be used as main-deck grave-hate if necessary. Just remember at some point you may need to use it on yourself, so avoid casting all three on your opponent.
• Similarly, Blessed Respite occasionally is a "nonbo" with Tragic Poet. This is tricky to mitigate, so you'll have to assess the value of each line.
• If you've used Angelic Ascension on your own creatures, be careful attacking into your opponent's fliers. If Fecundity is on the battlefield, they can chump block to draw cards.
• Keep track of how many of your removal cards are in your graveyard when facing a creature-heavy opponent, it may be right to shuffle them into your deck with Blessed Respite to increase the odds of finding them.
• Don't use Angelic Ascension recklessly. Save it for utility creatures and planeswalkers. While a Tarmogoyf or Death's Shadow is scary to many decks, Liliana of the Veil is a far larger concern. Planeswalker "ultimates" are very real versus Turbo-fog.

>Maybeboard

• Helix Pinnacle is probably a better win-con than Heliod since it is only interactable by Solemnity, Back to Nature, and Karn Liberated's Ultimate
• Seal of Cleansing or Caustic Caterpillar as actual artifact/enchantment destruction could be useful over Stony Silence
• Tormod's Crypt may be needed for gravehate.