Pilfers can get out of hand real quick. Your opponent is forced to kill pilfers as they arise. All while dealing with guards and some select cards. The opponent won’t be able to control onslaught of important cards. A little control with kill cards like Brutal Ashlander, Leaflurker, and Paralyze coupled with some well placed guards throws a wrench in your opponent’s ability to control you. Cards such as Master Swordsmith and Praetorian Commander make the deck viable late game as well.

So here’s the rundown

Spotlight:
Brynjolf
Tel Vos Magister
Divine Fervor
Mages Guild Conjurer
Master Swordsmith
and the lady herself Dragonguard Outcast

Metas and Synergies:

Telvanni Arcanist, Goblin Skulk, and Dagi-raht Mystic fill your hand with a few select cards to activate Expertise on Renowned Instructor and most importantly Mages Guild Conjurer.
All while Rajhini Highwayman and Tome of Alteration provide a steady flow of cards in general.
If left unchecked Master Swordsmith beefs up Sixth House Amulet, guaranteeing that the wielder will get a ward. (which follows nicely into the next synergy)
Wardcrafter, Assassin’s Ritual, and a newly beefed up Sixth House Amulet can be given to Tel Vos Magister to reactivate his protection, Breton Conjurer to summon more Frost Atronachs, or just given to a random friendly creature if you happen to be in a pinch.
The typical, summon a bunch of recruits and beef them up is available using Scouting Patrol and then playing Legion Praefect. This effect is amplified with Divine Fervor in play.
Two similar synergies use recruits include Renowned Legate or Supreme Atromancer by summoning recruits to capitalize on their abilities.
Although all of the drains and pilfers can be greatly used on their own, Brynjolf milks one last benefit out them. Played well, he can give you enough magicka to cripple your opponent and ensure that they can’t get back up. Even Torval Crook alone is another way to load up on magicka.
Green-Touched Spriggan works well with drains. A minor threat but if left unchecked, not something they’ll want to deal with.
Because Dragonguard Outcast keeps cover, she makes a great bargaining chip. I place her in an empty/unused lane and then summon a card I actually want to keep on the board. I can keep my own card alive all while forcing my opponent from laying a high-health card to stand against my other, more powerful card.
Warclaw Mercenary always makes me laugh. I like to hide him behind some guards and watch the opponent spend all their resources to kill it so I can’t rally. If they don’t… I guess I get to rally my hand for free.
Besides general executes/kill cards, control comes in the form of drains (as seen earlier) and guards. Illusory Defenses work as great one-turn-delayers to get some ducks in a row. Outflank played on Scouting Patrol is great to have in your hand just in case you have a card on the board that you would rather like to keep. Legion Shield is also great for similar cases or for playing on cards that you just need to live a millisecond longer.
The other control combo is a selective one. Dres Tormentor combos using Winter’s Grasp to thin out your opponents to zero.

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All in all, my first truly Meta deck. Designed to keep your opponents guessing and always leaving options in your back pocket. Hope you like it. Let me know if you see improvements.