Feb 12, 2012
It has been a while since I have taken a deck to the brewing table. Today I bring you a deck I have been messing around with to a surprising amount of success, and it should come to no surprise that is it a deck with strong elements of control to it.
After playing UB Control, Solar Flare and some Esper Control, I moved to UW Delver commonly called Mage-Blade. The switch was provoked by the sense that control was lacking a serious element which hindered its consistency and strength in the meta. With the release of Dark Ascension, I have been looking into a new approach to control in the meta game.
Before I share the list, I feel it is important to take a look at some of the key cards in the format which are pushing some of the top decks at the moment.
Now, these are not all the threats in the format, but they are some of the key cards that power decks with raw efficiency. It is important to keep these cards in mind when trying to provide cards in your list that intersect with the current decks of the format. Before we take a look at each of these pillars, let us review the decklist:
Planeswalkers (11) Spells (26) | Land (26) Sideboard (16) |
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At first glance, you might be wondering what happened to the Islands and Mana Leaks. To be blunt, they suck. It is hard to wrap your head around it, but once you do, it makes things a little easier. The reason I say they suck is that in a world of Delver of Secrets, Geist of Saint Traft and Moorland Haunt, cards like Mana Leak and Dissipate start becoming a burden. The format is quick right now, and can push through even after slight overextension. Control does not need to be reactive; it cannot afford to be reactive. Being proactive is your best approach to setting yourself up for the win and it can be achieved by intersecting these key cards rather than trying to flat out prevent the inevitable. This deck aims to take the bull by the horns and to control the way the game plays out by trading in the early game, which pays off by landing permanents that are historically challenging to deal with.
So now that we have a list, we are able to look at some of the cards and how they interact with the pillars of the format proposed earlier.
Of course, there are additional answers in the side to help boost these numbers, and I am sure you could pick them up at a glance. Even the last one might be more of a general list of answers to the cards surrounding it, not to mention the arsenal of walkers can also answer some of these situations, such as Liliana vs Geist of Saint Traft or Gideon Jura vs Delver of Secrets.
This deck offers a multitude of ways to meet the demands that these pillars bring to the format, and they can be more aggressive and consistent than counterspells a player might be too eager to use or too tight to use it when it needs to be used. Rather than waiting to answer specifics, you are looking to answer the up and coming problem taking a more proactive stance to controlling the flow of the game.
So now that we have answers, let us take a look at the more interesting part of this list; the Planeswalkers.
Each Planeswalker brings power to your board in way that can often be challenging for a player to answer. Combined with a multitude of ways to protect them, advantage with them is all but certain. Not only do most of them have a way to control the board, they each offer a devastating ability that can take over a game quickly and with a curve that can piece them together, they are great for protecting each other.
Moving on to the idea of the deck, you want to be matching and removing in the early game, setting you up to land powerful midgame cards that can protect you, themselves and ultimately provide a means of winning the game. This deck is great at forcing opponents to overextend, using Lingering Souls to produce blocker after blocker turns 3, 4 and sometimes 5, allowing you to get the most out of your sweepers. From here out it can be gravy, dealing with 1 or two creatures is easy with Gideon, Sorin, backup spot removal and tokens for days. Your goal is to hold back a sweeper and focus on lowering the card count in your opponent’s hand before firing off with it and it works well.
In closing, the short time I have been playing the list has provided me with enough insight to start taking the deck into developing as it has shown some strong potential. What will the final list look like?
Stay tuned as I cover development!
Neo
UPDATE
Here is an updated list
Planeswalkers (11) Creatures (2) Spells (25) | Land (26) Sideboard (16) |
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I would like to let everyone know the article was written last week and was not published as soon as I had hoped. I will have updated tweaks in the next day or two.
Some UW hardly have creature...only carry full counters along with Snapcaster also carry White Sun's Zenith. How you deal with it? It have Instant and acting finisher if you unable to deplete his/her life points. Suggestion...carry couple Ratchet Bomb to answer those babies or call it tokens
Very interesting this is close to what I was looking at for GP Baltimore - have you tried Tezz Gambit for card draw?
@ Tony, The list began using Gambit when I first started testing. I ended up cutting it as well as many other attempts to proliferate and draw. Truth is that I am finding it more cute than functional to be honest.
The deck can generate enough virtual advantage out of what it has to more than make up for the lack of draw and proliferation.
Heavy play testing vs. Kibler/PV ramp titan deck and I'm having a hard time stopping the Inkmoths. Huntmasters are pains, but I haven't lost to physical damage yet. About 50% win rate game one.
Hey neo haven't seen you around since mtgsalvation forums, glad to see that your here and that you have a very nice deck design. I honestly cannot wait to test this out against the delver decks and WRR at my shop. Very great post and information btw.
Hey guy's, this article was late. Hence it does not cover anything that went down at the PT or SCG last weekend. I Should have a revised article with tweaks, tips and so forth on Monday, up to date with next weeks SCG event to help keep up with the meta.
@George, White Sun's in the SB along with Extraction and Increasing Devotion. Basically, you are trying to force things through against draw go. I have not played much draw go these days but I hope to give it a whirl and cover some of it soon.
@Chard, Inkmoth should not be terrible for you. You have answers in Tragic Slip, Doom Blade, Lingering Souls and Curse of Death's Hold. It should get you there against the Inkmoth problem I really have not had a problem with Inkmoth. Perhaps flex with your plays a bit and re-prioritize the match a bit more. Not saying you are playing wrong, but carefully examining your plays could help here to pick up on what works and what does not a bit better.
@Dominati, hey man. It has been a while. Hope all is well. I should be posting weekly or close to it, so make sure you visit regularly. There are some great lists by other writers here.
I have been playing against delver a bit lately. The match is not terrible, and I feel BW is definitely a favorite. Traft can be a real pain though and you have to keep him in mind when looking at your starting hand. Pay attention to your curve and think about how the general line of play is going to go down (both you and him) If you hand looks good for the first 3 turns you are more than likely going to have a smooth run at taking it down, even if the game moves differently than you had planned for.
I hope to shed some light on various matches and re-tune the deck for Monday's article, it will give you an updated list along with recommendations on how to be prepared for the week to come.
Thanks for the comments everyone, keep 'em coming :)
I really like this deck. I'm playing Esper control atm but I've found what you said to be correct; counters suck in this format and are WAY too slow. The cards that end up killing us are small beaters like Delver and Strangleroot. I'm definitely going to sleeve this up.
Im really liking this deck. Cant wait for your updated list so i can start hunting down the cards im missing and try it out at FNM.
Sorry that there was not a new article today guys. I have it written up, but I finished it up a bit late, as I went off on a different tangent while writing it. I promise there will be an updated article next Monday for everyone. For those interested in the list that was going to be in this weeks article here is the main 60:
PLANESWALKERS (10)
3 Liliana of the Veil
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Elspeth Tirel
2 Gideon Jura
1 Karn Liberated
CREATURES (2)
1 Grave Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
SPELLS (23)
3 Despise
3 Tragic Slip
2 Doomblade
3 Pristine Talisman
4 Lingering Souls
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Tribute to Hunger
3 Day of Judgment
1 Batterskull
LAND (25)
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Evolving Wilds
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Vault of the Archangel
7 Swamp
7 Plains
How do you feel about this deck dealing Tempered Steel and WaP now that you've removed Distress?
I love the 02/21 list. I'm going to try it with -1 Wurmcoil Engine, +1 Sun Titan. I wanted to run 2 Ratchet Bombs over the 2 Oblivion Rings in the maindeck, but I changed my mind and moved them to my sideboard. Speaking of which:
3 Celestial Purge
2 Curse of Death's Hold
1 Paraselene
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Revoke Existence
2 Surgical Extraction
2 White Sun's Zenith
Any suggested SB to go with your latest list Neo? Thanks.
I am curious as to how this handles up against very quick aggro decks such as RDW and the token decks that are showing up everywhere (at least at my local shops). I have been testing out solar flare and those decks seem to devastate late game control decks, almost to the point to make them non-playable in aggro heavy meta's.
I had a fairly easy time against TSteel, UB Zombies and RDW. Lingering Souls is perfect for drawing out an opponent right smack into a DoJ. Your follow up can easily trump what they can do at that point.
The deck has a very rough time against counter heavy control though... I am still working on figuring it out.
What about Bloodline Keeper out of the side for the control match-up? With Sorin making vampire tokens it would help to flip it sooner. Right now it is just an idea but I do plan on trying it out tonight and seeing how it works against a counter heavy deck. Ill get back to you and let you know if it was a valid strategy or what the rest of my playtest group comes up with.
New article has been submitted to the editor everyone. Hope you stay tuned and I am sorry for the delay.