I'm a Johnny

I'm a total Magic: the Gathering "Johnny."  I believe that the decks you choose to play say something about your character and I also believe that deck construction is a form of artistic expression.  I respect all sorts of Magic deck archetypes, but I have a special place in my heart for mid-range control decks with a high level of card synergy, lots of little "gears" that interlock and articulate in ways most folks wouldn't understand until they stepped back and saw the whole "clock."

Unfortunately (for me), 3 Standard decks I've built, tweaked, and loved over the last 16 months all have core cards rotating out of Standard in about 10 weeks, so this is their last hurrah.  I wanted to do a sort of "deck-tech" on each of them before (Return to) Ravnica.  Each Deck-Tech will have a list of cards in the deck, the objective/style of play, and a card-by-card breakdown.  I haven't included a sideboard (because I figure that's all dependent on your local meta), but would love to hear your ideas and substitutions.

I hope you enjoy the decks... I'd appreciate any constructive criticism or if you have any questions, please leave me a comment.  If you build or play any of 'em, I'd love to know how they worked for you!  With that, here's a few notes on my deck-building style:

When I build decks, I keep a few numbers in mind:
-at least 24 Land for any deck that has a 4-drop that it needs to hit
-10 copies of a type of card if I really want it in my opening hand (76+%)
-7 copies of a type of card if I want a good chance of having it in my opening hand (60%)
-at least 3 copies of a type of card if I want to draw it during a game (31% opening hand, 52% by turn 7)
-2 copies of a card if it's good enough to make the deck; 1 copy if I can tutor for it

Untap, Upkeep, Draw,
-Phil