Article By: Urban Druid
Co-Authors include: Morgan Coke*, and Qwerty
Edited By: Goblinboy, Urban Druid, and Binary
*Morgan is also the original Concept Designer
Co-Authors include: Morgan Coke*, and Qwerty
Edited By: Goblinboy, Urban Druid, and Binary
*Morgan is also the original Concept Designer
Notice a theme there? Perhaps the word "control"? Well, this led me to wonder just what happened to the original grandaddy of control decks: Blue/White. The answer of course, is that Darksteel was printed and unleashed Arcbound Ravager and Skullclamp on the world shortly after Counterspell rotated out of the environment. It became pretty obvious that the times, they were a-changing.
Fast forward to March 20, 2005. Skullclamp? Banned. Affinity? Banned. New sets since Darksteel? Three. Obviously things have changed again. Blue now has multiple good counters, White has a decent secondary Wrath effect, and did I mention Affinity is gone? Actually, if you look at a very old U/W deck you might see it contained the following cards: Power Sink, Counterspell, Wrath of God, Swords to Plowshares, Disenchant, and Serra Angel. If you were to transfer the deck to today's environment, you could put together Condescend, Hinder, Wrath of God, Reciprocate, Terashi's Grasp, and Pristine Angel. With the exception of the Angels, the cards in the second group are obviously weaker, but they have the advantage of being playable in Standard, which is the format we're talking about today.
Here with me today are several other MTGS Writers who will discuss why U/W hasn't made an impact in this new, control oriented format, and what type of deck would need to be built to bring this archetype back, as well as what the new sets bring to the table.
First let's discuss the existence of U/W. The beginning, if you will, of how the deck came to be. Both Morgan_Coke and Qwerty will be doing a deck translation into today's T2 as well as detail the origins of the U/W archetype.
I should probably take a second to get into why U/W appeared in the first place, which also has a bearing on why it hasn't immediately popped up in the current metagame. Back in the old days before expansions came in blocks, there was a very limited card pool. Blue could counter stuff, and initially it had some burn with cards like Psionic Blast, but that got phased out pretty quickly and Blue was just left with counters. White at the time had an amazing suite of removal at its disposal, with Wrath of God, Swords to Plowshares, and Disenchant. White could easily kill anything that made it through the counters of the deck's Blue half. Fast-forward to today, and while Reciprocate is inferior to Swords, Wrath of God is still Wrath of God, and Terashi's Grasp is on a similar (read similar as: not as good but still playable) power level to Disenchant.
The main problem facing U/W is that most of the people who would normally be playing this deck are playing Mono Blue Control, for the simple reasons that it is: A) less subject to the power of Kiki-Titan, B) able to pack more countermagic and avoid mana screw issues, and C) already has some amazingly powerful forms of creature control in Vedalken Shackles and to a lesser extent, Bribery. Mono-Blue now has access to most of the card roles that were previously filled by White. Now here's Qwerty with some explanation and analysis of the "original" U/W control deck.
Qwerty
U/W control is one of the most defining forms of control to ever exist in Magic. To be more precise, CounterPost is the deck that every version of U/W control wants to be as good as. I will describe how one of my favorite control decks of all time worked.
For reference, here is Jon Finkel's "Counter Post." Since its conception, this has been used as a comparison for all other U/W control decks.
Counters
4 Counterspell
2 Dissipate
2 Force of Will
Other Denial
3 Disenchant
4 Abeyance
1 Gerrard's Wisdom
1 Political Trickery
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Wrath of God
Draw/Utilty
4 Impulse
4 Brainstorm
3 Browse
1 Soldevi Digger
Land
4 Adarkar Wastes
8 Island
2 Kjeldoran Outpost
4 Plains
4 Thawing Glaciers
Sideboard
1 Circle of Protection: Black
1 Disenchant
2 Disrupting Scepter
2 Dust to Dust
1 Gerrard's Wisdom
2 Karma
2 Political Trickery
2 Serrated Arrows
2 Sleight of Mind
Counters
4 Counterspell
2 Dissipate
2 Force of Will
Other Denial
3 Disenchant
4 Abeyance
1 Gerrard's Wisdom
1 Political Trickery
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Wrath of God
Draw/Utilty
4 Impulse
4 Brainstorm
3 Browse
1 Soldevi Digger
Land
4 Adarkar Wastes
8 Island
2 Kjeldoran Outpost
4 Plains
4 Thawing Glaciers
Sideboard
1 Circle of Protection: Black
1 Disenchant
2 Disrupting Scepter
2 Dust to Dust
1 Gerrard's Wisdom
2 Karma
2 Political Trickery
2 Serrated Arrows
2 Sleight of Mind
Eventually, after assuming control and putting several nails into the opposing player's coffin, CounterPost would lay a Kjeldoran Outpost and start to nibble away at the opponent. To support all this, it ran a heavy denial base of eight to ten counterspells, four Swords to Plowshares and two or three Disenchant to control singleton threats like Pillage, Ball Lightning, and Winter Orb.
Why was the deck good? Its win condition was a land that could be played when needed and almost the entirety of the rest of the deck was dedicated to controlling the board and drawing cards.
Urban Druid
Now, obviously, with all that banter you're probably wondering where the decklists are... In due time my friend. Now as you've seen there are lots and lots of cards in todays environment that take on the role that older cards like Disenchant left behind. Lets take a look at where to start when putting a deck like this together.
Next up is White's forte in U/W: Removal! Lucky for us we have a nice collection of mass and targeted removal available to us. Oblivion Stone, Wrath of God, and Final Judgment should all be the first cards considered for these slots. Next on the list is the Blue instant Evacuation, a personal favorite. Its instant speed and near removal effect give it great priority on my list, as it should for yours too. In the sector of targeted removal we have a decent showing for White, at least decent considering what Wizards has been giving us. Both Reciprocate and Terashi's Verdict are good choices... however the Verdict is definitely not a maindeck card. It's really only useful for games two and three against WW, MGA, and the mana-curve focused Sligh builds.
The unifying theme of this deck that ties it to every other U/W deck is the solid few cards we call hard counters! In the past blue really only had two major counters for T2: Counterspell and Force Spike. But since 8th we've lost those two staples and had to make do with what we had. Luckily we are finaly starting to see some decent counters in the form of Hinder, Condescend, Mana Leak, Rewind, and the reprinting of Quash! All of these are MD-worthy, but remember, you've got a 60-card limit so try to keep it on the down low. A suggested counter mix would most likely consist of:
4 Condescend
4 Mana Leak
3 Hinder
1 Quash
Another aspect of a deck such as U/W control is mana. Mana is like money; you can never have enough. Chrome Mox, Wayfarer's Bauble, and Talisman of Progress are going to make sure we have enough! Chrome Mox is a player preference. I run it because I tend to have luck with them. Others don't run them for the same reason. However, it's all up to you. However if you decide against Chrome Mox, or just can't afford a playset, the Wayfarer's Bauble and Talisman are both very good ideas regardless of your play style, especially if you play Thirst for Knowledge.
There are also other more obscure cards that definately made my "Could Be" list. For example Shining Shoal is a great utility spell against aggressive decks. Slaver would be another worthwhile addition to the deck. All in all U/W should prove to be a powerful deck, regardless of what tier it finds itself in.
Ah! Alas, the decklists you've all been waiting for! Below is the deck I've been testing for a time. Also included is Morgan's take on the deck and a short synopsis of his card decisions.
First my list: It's a list I've been testing for a while, and so far the real bulk of the deck is doing well. Only a few more tweaks should be occuring and that's mainly meta hate...But with Saviors so close, I'm certain more changes will be made within the months to come.
| U/W Wake Me Up When September EndsMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Creatures 4 Pristine Angel 3 Solemn Simulacrum Removal 4 Wrath of God 2 Final Judgment 2 Oblivion Stone 3 Terashi's Grasp Counter 4 Condescend 4 Mana Leak 3 Hinder | Utility 3 Thirst for Knowledge 3 Vedalken Shackles 4 Talisman of Progress Land 4 City of Brass 10 Islands 7 Plains | Sideboard: 3 Quash 2 Sacred Ground 2 Hibernation 3 Pulse of the Fields 2 Worship 3 Platinum Angel |
Morgan_Coke
Well, now that you've seen the other version of how this deck could be built, including the ideal original version of it, I'll weigh in with the approach I took to it.
| DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Win Conditions 2 Genju of the Fields 2 Genju of the Falls Counters 4 Hinder 4 Condescend 2 Mana Leak Removal 3 Terashi's Grasp 3 Reciprocate 4 Wrath of God 2 Final Judgement | Utility 4 Thirst for Knowledge 4 Wayfarer's Bauble 2 Pulse of the Fields Mana 4 Stalking Stones 11 Plains 9 Island | Sideboard 1 Pulse of the Fields 1 Terashi's Grasp 3 Ghostly Prison 3 Bribery 3 Sacred Ground 4 Last Word |
This deck is very heavy on removal, which means it gets to skimp a bit on countermagic. If, for example, you have a Terashi's Grasp in hand, then it's usually OK to let that artifact or enchantment resolve and just destroy it with the Grasp.
If it's not immediately obvious, this deck is heavily geared to beat MUC in the main, with the board mostly set up to deal with Ponza, Tooth and Nail, and Mono Green. A lot of this deck is based off of the old CounterPost decks, (helpfully included above by Qwerty) with the land-based win conditions being uncounterable and leaving enough room to include more control elements. On a final note, there are four Condescends and two Mana Leaks in this deck because I like Condescend much more than I like Mana Leak, however, your results and methods may vary.
Granted, none of the lists presented here in this article, with the obvious exception of Counter-Post, are really tournament tuned, slim, efficient power monstrosities. Rather, they are listed as jumping off points that emphasize the several different ways that U/W can be built in Standard today (pre-Saviors).
As it stands, U/W is just a blip on the radar of Standard. But with dedication, playtesting, and a solid knowledge of the deck, anyone can make a tournament-worthy U/W deck. Not only have we given you a base to start from, but a good bit of needed information vital to the creation and successful playing of the deck. Good luck, have fun, and control, control, control.
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