Miniseries Series 1: W/U Control Part 2

Hi guys, and welcome back to the W/U Control Miniseries. Last week we discussed the theory of W/U Control. Today we're going to do a slight amount of theory, and then move into deckbuilding.

What are the four aspects that make up any blue-based control deck?

The answer is:

Card advantage, removal, finishers, and countermagic.

We're going to need all of these in our deck, so we're going to run through it element by element, discussing the different cards that might be good for each. Then, afterwards, we'll work out how many of each type we want, and then finally build the deck.

Card Advantage


Ior Ruin Expedition: This card from Zendikar is essentially a time-delayed 2-mana 2-card spell. The problem is, it's a terrible topdeck.Worth considering if there's a lack of other good options.

Jace Beleren: The best card advantage spell in Standard right now, by far.

Elspeth, Knight Errant: While it doesn't actually give us cards, it gives us fractions of a card every turn and stymies the opponent's attempts to kill her.

Divination: Unplayable.

Hindering Light: We won't be playing many creatures, so this card isn't really worth it.

Mind Spring: We absolutely need 2-3 of these in here. They can pull a game in your favor instantly.

Removal


Path to Exile: Absolutely. Best removal in the format, and an automatic 4-of.

Journey to Nowhere: Also good, takes care of most creatures permanently. It also doesn't trigger Cascade if it's broken, since the spell isn't being played. Add to the fact that Pulse costs more than it, and we have a good card.

Celestial Purge: Most decks nowadays with White are maindecking a couple of these, and I'm going to follow suit.

Oblivion Ring: Probably more of a sideboard card.

Finishers


Baneslayer Angel: Best creature in Standard, and the first choice for finisher.

Sphinx of Jwar Isle: A good choice, and can certainly close the game away.

Sphinx of Lost Truths: Card advantage, flying, and a beefy toughness. What's not to love?

Conqueror's Pledge: Not really playing to it's strengths in this kind of deck.

Countermagic


Flashfreeze: This card has targets against virtually all decks in the metagame right now. I think I'll try two.

Essence Scatter + Negate: Both good, situational, 2-mana counters. I think they make the cut: most decks in Standard have a nice balance between creatures and spells. Negate is slightly better though since it gets rid of cards that can't be stopped in other ways.

Offering to Asha: Too expensive.

Cancel: Also too expensive.

Mindbreak Trap: Essentially Double Negative, this card might be worth a sideboard option.

Other:


Day of Judgement: A hybrid of removal and card advantage. We'll want to play four.

Wall of Denial: Excellent for holding off big creatures. Hard to kill except with Gatekeeper.


Now we go on to the deckbuilding phase.

First we're going to want about 25 lands in this kind of deck, so that leaves us with 35 cards.

In today's Standard, I think we'll want about 6-7 finishers. Today's Control can't stall the game forever, so we want to stall it long enough to play our big cards.

IN: 4 Baneslayer Angel

4 of the finishers simply have to be Baneslayer. Baneslayer is that good.

IN: 2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
IN: 1 Sphinx of Lost Truths

I'm going to go with 7 finishers, and I'd like to have a 2-1 ratio since I think Jwar is better, but I'm not entirely sure.

28 slots remaining.

We'll now go with removal. I'd say we'd want about 10-12 pieces of removal, including Day of Judgement.

IN: 4 Day of Judgement
IN: 4 Path to Exile

Path and Day are both very good cards, and should be featured. Next, we'll want to add a couple of purges:

IN: 2 Celestial Purge

I'm going to leave the last piece of removal open, since I'm not sure how many I'll want. I'm going to base that on how many other cards I add to the deck.

18 slots left.

Now on to card advantage. We're going to want 3 Jaces, no question. 4 is too many, since you can only have one out. The fourth should go in the side.

IN: 3 Jace Beleren

We'll then want a couple of Mind Springs:

IN: 2 Mind Spring

And lastly, we want about 2-3 other card-advantage providers. The question is, what?

IN: 1 Mind Spring
IN: 1 Ior Ruin Expedition

Mind Spring is better than Ior Ruin, but 4 is too many, so I'll add one.

11 slots remaining.

That leaves us with 9-10 slots for Wall of Denial and countermagic. Based on that, I think we'll want about 6 counterspells. I don't like Essence Scatter since we'll have so many anti-creature cards, so:

IN: 4 Negate
IN: 2 Flashfreeze

Now we have 5 slots left. I think we'll want 4 Walls, since almost every deck plays quite a lot of creatures nowadays.

IN: 4 Wall of Denial

Which leaves us with our last card:

IN: 1 Journey to Nowhere

So let's look at the deck we have.

Lands (25)

2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
4 Glacial Fortress
8 Island
7 Plains
4 Sejiri Refuge

Creatures (11)

4 Baneslayer Angel
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
4 Wall of Denial

Spells (24)

2 Celestial Purge
4 Day of Judgement
2 Flashfreeze
1 Ior Ruin Expedition
3 Jace Beleren
1 Journey to Nowhere
3 Mind Spring
4 Negate
4 Path to Exile

Now, we'll need a sideboard.

My first step in a sideboard is adding extra copies of cards in the main that aren't 4-of's, and are situational.

IN: 1 Jace Beleren
IN: 1 Mind Spring
IN: 2 Celestial Purge
IN: 2 Flashfreeze

Next, we'll want some anti-Jund cards, since Jund is just dynamite at the moment. We have Celestial Purge and Flashfreeze, so we don't need too much.

IN: 3 Devout Lightcaster

Now some anti-control:

IN: 3 Luminarch Ascension

Which leaves us with three slots to go. For this, I'd like to use a catch-all Oblivion Ring.

IN: 3 Oblivion Ring.

So here's the final list:

Lands (25)

4 Glacial Fortress

9 Island

8 Plains

4 Sejiri Refuge

Creatures (11)

4 Baneslayer Angel

2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle

1 Sphinx of Lost Truths

4 Wall of Denial

Spells (24)

2 Celestial Purge

4 Day of Judgement

2 Flashfreeze

1 Ior Ruin Expedition

3 Jace Beleren

1 Journey to Nowhere

3 Mind Spring

4 Negate

4 Path to Exile

Sideboard (15)

2 Celestial Purge

3 Devout Lightcaster

2 Flashfreeze

1 Jace Beleren

3 Luminarch Ascension

1 Mind Spring

3 Oblivion Ring

And here's our (probably horrible) W/U Control list. I'll test it out tomorrow, and give you my thoughts! See you for the finale!

Miniseries Series 1: W/U Control Part 1

Welcome to the first installment of the Miniseries Series. The topic for this miniseries will be W/U Control. We'll be studying what makes it tick, then make and test a deck based on the concept. So let's get into the theory of W/U Control, shall we?

The Foundations


Control is a form of Magic deck that focuses on stopping any card the opponent plays, and then using a big finisher to seal things up. It's the exact opposite of Aggro, which aims to win before the deck sets up. Control isn't too powerful these days thanks to Cascade and it's barrage of card advantage, but it's worth a try anyway.

The reason W/U Control is popular is because blue has card advantage and counterspells while White can deal with all kinds of permanent except lands. Essentially it makes for a combination that's consistent and has very few holes.

Analysing Past W/U Control Decks


Arguably the most famous W/U control deck is a deck made by Zvi Mowshowitz, known as The Solution. In an aggro-filled metagame, he metagamed perfectly to come up with the following control deck that decimated the field.

60 cards 4  Coastal Tower 10  Island 10  Plains 24 lands 4  Crimson Acolyte 4  Galina's Knight 4  Meddling Mage 4  Stormscape Apprentice 4  Voice of All 20 creatures 4  Absorb 4  Exclude 4  Fact or Fiction 4  Repulse 16 other spells

Sideboard 2  Aura Blast 3  Crusading Knight 4  Disrupt 3  Gainsay 3  Pure Reflection 15 sideboard cards

So what can we learn from this?

The Metagamed Cards: Crimson Acolyte and Galina's Knight were certainly there for a very specific solution. The key here is that sometimes the metagame allows for such things.

Modern Application: Celestial Purge. Most Standard decks run targets for this card and some decks now run 2 maindeck.

The Cantrips: Exclude and Repulse were certainly there for a reason. The ability to stop something the opponent played and draw a card was excellent, even if it only stopped it temporarily. The deck could then draw into more answers.

Modern Application: There actually aren't that many good cantrips in Standard at the moment, so we need to gain card advantage through our spells, like Day of Judgement.

Fact or Fiction: One of the best cards ever in Standard, this card is a machine.

Modern Application: Mind Spring. With enough mana, this card can totally turn a game around.

The one thing this deck did NOT have was a big finisher: but against a field where the best decks all ran red, it was only a matter of time before Zvi's protection creatures made it through.

Lessons Learnt: A control deck should have answers, card advantage, and a way to close the game. It should have a way to gain tempo and gain incremental advantage over the opponent. The metagame is also important. In a more balanced metagame this deck might not do so well (though aggro decks were weaker back then).

The next deck we shall look at is an Extended deck: W/U Urzatron. This is also a more current deck, legal and active in Extended just a few months ago.

Maindeck:

Artifacts
4 Azorius Signet
2 Chalice Of The Void
2 Chrome Mox
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Tormod's Crypt

Artifact Creatures
2 Sundering Titan

Creatures
3 Exalted Angel
4 Meddling Mage

Instants
3 Condescend
3 Fact Or Fiction (Restricted in Vintage)
4 Thirst For Knowledge

Sorceries
2 Decree Of Justice
4 Wrath Of God

Lands
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Skycloud Expanse
4 Tolaria West
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower

Legendary Lands
1 Academy Ruins

Sideboard:
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Leyline Of The Void
3 Threads Of Disloyalty
3 Disenchant
2 Mindslaver
1 Academy Ruins

So what do we have here?

The Urzatron lands are the biggest thing. Rather than gain incremental card advantage, this deck seeks a Spell Burst lock: able to generate enough mana to continue to buy back Spell Burst repeatedly and stop the opponent from ever doing anything.

Modern Application: Standard doesn't really have a hard lock at the moment, unfortunately.

Big Spells: This deck operates under a paradigm that we have to in the new Standard: If you tap out, it doesn't matter if what you play is more powerful than whatever the opponent will play. Decree of Justice was usually Cycled, but Sundering Titan and Wrath of God fell under these categories.

Modern Application: Baneslayer Angel. Sphinx of Jwar Isle...they both operate under the tap-out theory.

Card Advantage: The deck ran lots of instant-speed card advantage: one of the reasons Control is fading today.

Modern Application: None

Lastly, we shall look at another Standard deck.

Threats 1 Yosei, the Morning Star 1 Keiga, the Tide Star 1 Debtor’s Knell 3 Jötun Grunt Card Drawing 3 Gifts Ungiven 3 Telling Time General Control 3 Counterbalance 4 Sensei's Divining Top  4 Hinder 3 Rewind

Control vs Aggro 4 Wrath of God 3 Cover of Winter 3 Condemn Land 4 Scrying Sheets 4 Boreal Shelf 4 Hallowed Fountain 2 Ghost Quarter 4 Snow-Covered Plains 6 Snow-Covered Island

Sideboard 3 Jester’s Cap 3 Pithing Needle 3 Jester’s Scepter 3 Evacuation 1 Jötun Grunt 2 Mouth of Ronom

This deck is from 2006's Standard. It features so many powerful cards that there's little wonder that it was so powerful.

Counterbalance: Naturally, this is so degenerate that it's even in Legacy (though in a format where few spells surpass 3 mana it is more powerful) and in Standard is just amazing. This is of course combined with Sensei's Divining Top which allowed a lot of free counterspells.

Modern Application: Unfortunately none.

Big Finishers: Keiga and Yosei were both great cards. They operated under the tap-out theory mentioned earlier. If your turn is better than their turn, you can tap out.

Cover of Winter: This card essentially stops all aggressive moves until you have complete control of the game. It was an amazing card. It truly is very very strong.

Modern Application: Luminarch Ascension. If you can get this to activate, you essentially win.

Gifts Ungiven: The card that made so many decks tick. You essentially got two of the four best spells in your deck. Absolute gold.

Modern Application: None.

So what have we learnt from our analysis?

We've learnt that control decks need either card advantage or card quality advantage to win.

We've learnt that control decks usually establish incremental advantages before taking complete control.

We've learnt that control decks can take as much time as they like to kill you.

So join me tomorrow as we build a W/U Control deck from scratch in Standard, and then Thursday we'll see how it fares!

Editor's Note: Due to the miniseries' schedule, Fetch A Shockland will be going up on Friday, not Thursday.

See you tomorrow!

Tournament Report: August Week 4

Welcome back to Magic: The Blogging! People have expressed interest in the tournament reports, so I'm bringing them back. I didn't draft today, but I did have some interesting games.

2 weeks beforehand, my teammate Jeremy lost the GSS Jund list I was playing, so I had to make a new deck. Here's what I made, totally off the cuff, with the thirty dollars + trades available (and I had Maelstrom Pulse already)

Lands (24)

4 Savage Lands
4 Vivid Crag
3 Vivid Marsh
2 Crumbling Necropolis
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
2 Graven Cairns
2 Jungle Shrine
2 Twilight Mire
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Swamp

Creatures (17)

4 Anathemancer
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Boggart Ram-Gang (lack of card availability)
3 Kitchen Finks (lack of card availability)
4 Putrid Leech
1 Vithian Renegades

Spells(19)

4 Bituminous Blast
4 Jund Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Sign in Blood

I didn't have time to build a sideboard, so I was going to have to play pretty tightly. Round One loomed.

Round 1 vs. Elf Combo / Synergy

I mulligan to 6, and he mulligans to 3. Ouch. He plays a Llanowar Elves, and I play Lightning Bolt. Normally I wouldn't, but I'm taking the chance he's stuck on one. He is. I play Sign in Blood. (18) We play Land-Go (Go for him, no lands) and then I play Bloodbraid Elf into a blank Anathemancer and swing (17). He plays Nettle Sentinel. I swing for 5 (12) and pass. He plays Heritage Druid. I swing for 5 (7) and play Sign in Blood. (16) He plays Nettle Sentinel, and pass. I swing, he blocks Bloodbraid Elf and lets Anathemancer through. I double Jund Charm to pump it to a 6/6 and win.

Game 2  I mulligan to five. He plays 2 Elvish Visionaries and I play Sign in Blood. He plays Elvish Harbinger. I play Putrid Leech, Lightning Bolt the Harbinger, and pass. He plays Jagged-Scar Archers. I swing, and pump (16) and kill the Archers. I play a Gray Ogre Anathemancer and pass. He plays Bramblewood Paragon. I Lightning Bolt, then Bituminous Blast into Vithian Renegades, coming up with a blank. He plays Coat of Arms and another Paragon. He doesn't swing, and next turn I bolt a 3/3 Visionary, and swing with Vithian Renegades. Paragon blocks. I play Putrid Leech and pass. Next turn I swing (14) and hit (12) and pass. He passes, I EOT Jund Charm Anathemancer. I swing (12, 4), then next turn swing for the win.

I later find out that he's a fairly new player, who was lent Elf Combo by a friend. I give him some tips (mainly to be more aggressive) and move on to Round 2.

1-0.

Round 2 vs. Esper Jank

Game 1 I mull to 6, and he plays Mistvein Borderpost. Next turn a Fieldmist Borderpost. I play Putrid Leech, and he plays Master of Etherium. I Maelstrom Pulse it, and swing. (18, 16). I pass. He plays two Borderposts. I swing and Jund Charm + pump the Putrid Leech. (16, 10) I Sign in Blood (14) and pass. He plays Etherium Sculptor, I Bloodbraid Elf into Lightning Bolt and earn the concession.

Game 2 He plays Etherium Sculptor. I Bolt it. He plays Esper Charm to draw two. I play Anathemancer for two. (18). He Crystallises it. I pass. He plays Gwafa Hazid, Profiteer. I play Bloodbraid Elf into Lightning Bolt, killing Gwafa, and swing for 3 (15). He plays Levitation. I play Bloodbraid Elf into Maelstrom Pulse, killing Levitation. I swing for 6. (9). He plays Crystallisation on Bloodbraid Elf and Court Homunculus. I swing, and Court Homunculus blocks. I use Jund Charm on Bloodbraid Elf. I play Putrid Leech, and pass.

He plays Mistvein Borderpost and passes. I swing, Etherium Sculptor blocks. I Jund Charm Putrid Leech and pump. (18, 3). He draws and plays Magister Sphinx (18,10). I Anathamancer for 2. He plays Court Homunculus, and swings with the Sphinx. (13, 8). I Bolt Court Homunculus, and swing for the win.

2-0

Match 3 vs. R/G Fat Guys

This is a Warp World deck, but with more big R/G creatures and no Warp World. It still has Siege-Gang commander and acceleration though.

I start off with Sign in Blood (18, 20). He plays Farhaven Elf. I play Putrid Leech. He plays Spellbreaker Behemoth. I swing. Farhaven Elf blocks. He swings, and I double Bolt the Behemoth to kill it. I then swing. (16,16)  He plays Broodmate Dragon. I EOT Bituminous Blast into a Sign in Blood, then Bituminous Blast on my turn into a Sign in Blood. I swing (10, 12) He plays Bogardan Hellkite and knocks me to 5. (5,12) I use Lightning Bolt and Bituminous Blast into Putrid Leech, and swing without pumping. (5,10). He plays Dragon Broodmother. I Bloodbraid Elf into Anathemancer for 2 (5, 8) and swing. He blocks a Leech with the 1/1 dragon and Bloodbraid Elf with the Broodmother. I Jund Charm so the Elf and Dragon trade. (5, 6) He draws and concedes.

Game 2. This is an incredible game for me, where I play very well and get a generous dollop of luck. He plays Fertile Ground. I play Putrid Leech. He plays Trace of Abundance. I'm stuck on 2, and remark that there are worse hands to be stuck on 2 at as I play my second Leech.  I swing. (18, 16). He plays Baneslayer Angel. I play my third land, swing, and then close my eyes and say 'Baneslayer Angel has first strike and lifelink, doesn't it?' He asks if I'm attacking with both, I sigh and say yes. He blocks one, I Jund Charm and pump it to kill Baneslayer Angel! Yes! I pump the other as well. (14, 17). He plays a Cloudthresher. (12, 15) I swing again, with the 4/4 Leech.. (10, 9). Cloudthresher attacks, and I pump my 2/2 and Lightning Bolt the Cloudthresher. (8, 9) He plays Broodmate Dragon.

He has lethal damage on the table. Flying no less. I draw Jund Charm, and grin with confidence. I swing, and he blocks with a Broodmate Dragon. I Jund Charm again (two bluffs!). He swings (4, 9) and plays Siege-Gang Commander. At this point, only Jund Charm can save me and even then Broodmate Dragon'll have me, but I draw Bloodbraid Elf, play it, CASCADE INTO JUND CHARM, wipe out his team, and swing for the win. Prodigious amounts of luck and skill won me that game which I really shouldn't have won, but I guess my bluffing has improved.

I move into the final round.

3-0.

Round 4 vs. Kithkin.

I bolt his initial Stalwart, and get stuck on 2 land. He plays another Stalwart and Knight of the White Orchid, then plays Forge-Tender and Honor of the Pure next turn. I get crushed.

Game 2 He plays Goldmeadow Stalwart and swings. He plays another Stalwart, then Honor of the Pure next turn and swings. (12) Here I make my mistake. I should Maelstrom Pulse his Honor of the Pure (you know, as I recommend in my OWN PRIMER) but instead I Pulse both his Stalwarts. He plays Spectral Procession, I Jund Charm. He plays Wizened Cenn and Figure of Destiny (3/3's). I play Putrid Leech. He plays more 3/3's and kills me. I die with a Jund Charm in hand.

If I'd Pulsed Honor of the Pure, it might have gone something like this:

I Pulse his Honor of the Pure. He swings for 4 (8) then plays Spectral Procession. I play Jund Charm. He plays Wizened Cenn and Figure of Destiny (both 2/2's). I play Putrid Leech. He plays more 2/2's, and I Jund Charm.

I might not have WON the game, but it was a blunder on my part nonetheless. The only good part about that game is finding out how right I was that Pulsing Honor of the Pure is the right move in this matchup.

3-1.

I come third, win a few boosters, and head home happy. 3-1's a good result, and now I know for next time. I also found my Sable Stags (2 so far) and Firespouts, so next week I should have a sideboard. I'll keep tweaking the deck for the rotation, and get a fully-powered Jund deck soon enough.

Until next time, may you follow your own advice.