So obviously there's still more cards to be spoiled at this point in time so the deck is subject to change. I like the idea of still running Nyx-Fleece Ram while we've still got it. it just chumps so many things in the current meta. Also I'm thinking about removing AEthersprouts entirely so I can go up to 27 instead of 26 lands. The deck is so versatile and has so many removal options it's crazy. Still no good cantrips though... Here's hoping we get some soon!
I really think UW control should be running some number of the blue exile removal and the new white destroy an attacking or blocking red or black creature.
"Unfortunately, all of my test animals have died or escaped, so i shall be the final subject. I feel no fear. This is a momentous night."
--Laboratory notes, final entry
If GW Devotion really does take over, thanks to Mastery of the Unseen, I think creating Manifest creatures is a bad idea and Surge of Righteousness has no impact on them at all. Reality Shift is so-so as it is, though I have used it and it isn't worse than our other instant speed removal against a lot of Rx creatures. Most of the time you would prefer a 2/2 to Rabble, Stormbreath, Sarkhan, Mantis Rider, everything in RW, etc., but you have downgraded the threat, not eliminated it. That may or may not be enough.
I'm not against some Surge in the side, though.
Until then, I am stuck with Devouring Light main, despite not hitting SBD.
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
In my opinion it shouldn't. If they are bringing these in just to shoot Ojutai I am ok with it. G2-g3 against most decks that would have these ojutai would be boarded out anyway. Mardu, mono red, jund, jeskai are all decks I would board him out. Pla is just better against jeskai, mardu pla come in due to crackling doom. He is too slow against mono red and walkers trump him against jund.
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"Unfortunately, all of my test animals have died or escaped, so i shall be the final subject. I feel no fear. This is a momentous night."
--Laboratory notes, final entry
Turn 1 = Bloodsoaked Champion, Soldier of the pantheon or Mardu Woe-Reaper
Turn 2 = Chief of the Edge, Chief of the Scale, Battle Brawler, or Seeker of the Way
Turn 3 = Athreos, God of Passage, Arashin Foremost, or Blood Chin Fanatic
Turn 4 - WITHOUT playing a spell... This deck likely has either fatal damage on table - Or Athreos has come out turn 3:
Turn 5 - Presuming you have survived to this point; End Hostilites is practically mandatory turn 5; and you are tapping out to cast said spell. Life total is likely critical.
The same is true of most Aggro builds - let alone mid-range
Meta:
Your first question should be what removal is B/W Warriors packing? Utter End? Banishing Light? Heroes Downfall?
If your opponent is playing RED ... its called burn spells; and your ONLY defense is counterspells. Absolutely 100% of these are going to be directed at your life total.
Mirror Match: First person to play a win con spell triggers a counterspell war. Narset's ultimate is NOT a win condition on her own in the mirror.
Your opponent will untap... with you tapped out - expect a Banishing light.
This; and aggro decks in general seem to dictate the following to Blue/White Control in the 75
Main Deck:
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
1 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Prognostic Sphinx
4 End Hostilites (This is turn 5 or else)
4 Dissolve (Must protect win condition vs opponent removal or counterspell)
4 Banishing Light (Only removal usable both in mirror and in Meta Matchups)
3 Dig Thru Time
Turn 1 = Bloodsoaked Champion, Soldier of the pantheon or Mardu Woe-Reaper
Turn 2 = Chief of the Edge, Chief of the Scale, Battle Brawler, or Seeker of the Way
Turn 3 = Athreos, God of Passage, Arashin Foremost, or Blood Chin Fanatic
Turn 4 - WITHOUT playing a spell... This deck likely has either fatal damage on table - Or Athreos has come out turn 3:
Turn 5 - Presuming you have survived to this point; End Hostilites is practically mandatory turn 5; and you are tapping out to cast said spell. Life total is likely critical.
The same is true of most Aggro builds - let alone mid-range
Meta:
Your first question should be what removal is B/W Warriors packing? Utter End? Banishing Light? Heroes Downfall?
If your opponent is playing RED ... its called burn spells; and your ONLY defense is counterspells. Absolutely 100% of these are going to be directed at your life total.
Mirror Match: First person to play a win con spell triggers a counterspell war. Narset's ultimate is NOT a win condition on her own in the mirror.
Your opponent will untap... with you tapped out - expect a Banishing light.
This; and aggro decks in general seem to dictate the following to Blue/White Control in the 75
Main Deck:
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
1 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Prognostic Sphinx
4 End Hostilites (This is turn 5 or else)
4 Dissolve (Must protect win condition vs opponent removal or counterspell)
4 Banishing Light (Only removal usable both in mirror and in Meta Matchups)
3 Dig Thru Time
3 Narset, Transcendent
3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
24 Lands minimum - with fetchlands mandated
Pearl lake ancient is poor in a meta filled with aggro. It's really slow, can't stabalize a board and can be chumped until you find the burn out you need. Also, how is anyone having a burn spell that only works when Ojutai attacks, relevant? Also, the BWr Warriors deck is exactly the reason why we need early removal like the new destroy target black or red attacking creature and gain 2 life. To be fair, that deck is also why I suggest jeskai over straight uw to get anger out of the board.
I have been proxy'ing Anticipate and let me tell you, it is a life saver. The card draw and quality it provides in the early game was a major downside in early iterations of this deck. I can't praise it enough. Encase in Ice is better than Reality Shift as an answer to Stormbreath, giving you up to 8 solid answer alongside Disdainful Stroke. The white hoser, Surge of Righteousness is likely to have a home in the sideboard, replacing the inferior Pressure Point
@TheJord01
The problem with running a deck with things like Encase in Ice and Surge of Righteousness main is their inability to hit half the meta at any given moment. They are strictly sideboard. Now, it is tempting to drop Last Breath for 2 of each of those and just bring them in when you need them. You are also moving up to 4 effective anti-Red removal spells, which is relevant at the moment for more than one deck. However, what is your plan vs. UW Heroic or the possible mono-U devotion deck in the offing?
@Everyone
We had a lot of conversations around UWR when Khans came out and nothing was quite good enough. Maybe this is not true now. However, I think UWR is basically UW with 3 Lightning Strike and 3 Anger of the Gods and a bad manabase. In my build, I have moved to 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos with way better mana and actual lifegain and I think that is actually better in many cases, as a single Brimaz against aggro that isn't removed is a serious problem that stays on the board.
Probably going to stick with UB Control, but I wanted to see what I could do with the Jeskai Control shell. I used Andrew Cuneo's list as my jump off point:
Decided to center it on UR so I could facilitate Anger of the Gods. I'm not sure what the right balance between Lightning Strike and Roast is. I think Roast has to be the dominant spell since it kills Rhinoceri and Tasigurs. The real problem, mana wise, would be trying to bring in Brimaz out of the board.
I think Magma Spray is a very important card for UR along with Keranos, Sarkhan, and Chandra to make sure it kills. It deals with Manifested creatures, Rabblemaster, and especially Ashcloud Phoenix and I'd play it over Lightning Strike in this meta in control. Along with Anger and Glare, it makes the majority of the decks removal exile, which prevents shenanigans and avoids providing fuel for delve. It is also exceptionally cheap, which helps speed the deck up. You can Nullify T2, then keep mana up to counter another threat and play Magma Spray to answer a good curve on the draw. Roast is also exceptional.
I like playing Soulfire as my maindeck creature along with the burn spells. It is just large enough to delay against an early Hordeling Outburst or kill a Rabblemaster, and gaining life off your spells is very useful for stabilizing. Soulfire into Anger of the Gods happens relatively often, and deals very well with tokens or GW Devotion. Soulfire also bumps up the effectiveness of your early game removal, letting you spend 6 mana and Magma Spray to kill Stormbreath or counter a spell with no card loss.
Red also has more diverse threats. Keranos and Sarkhan are indestructible (Keranos is particularly difficult to deal with), Narset is Hexproof, PLA is uncounterable, Elspeth wins against non-evasive creatures, etc. You force your opponent to leave in excess removal, blanking their draws, or leave themselves defenseless against some your finishers. In control mirror matches the game essentially becomes a race to see which can play a threat through counter wars and removal and diversifying your threats is essential in those matchups (otherwise Elspeth is by far the best win condition).
Mana is tight, but you don't need WW until turn 5. The most important early target is UU T2 for Nullify, which in some matchups is absolutely essential. RR by reliably by turn 4 is another target if you don't think you'll hit it turn 3 very often. The main difficulty for this deck is dealing with resolved planeswalkers, as they are almost all out of burn range and you don't have a ton of creatures. Ugin, Glare of Heresy, Banishing Light, and Perilous Vault are vital in some combination. I also like Fated Retribution in the side.
For card draw I've used 4X Anticipate, 3X Treasure Cruise, 2X Dragonlord's Prerogative along with Chandra and both versions of Narset. Treasure Cruise is usually slightly worse than Dig Through Time, but works better with Rebound and Soulfire Grand Master. I haven't found Ojutai's Command to be useful very often because it misses too many non-creature threats and doesn't have enough targets for its reanimation.
Dragonlord Dromoka is obivously a crippling card against us, but what does everyone think of a green splash to include her on our side? She wrecks the mirror, UB and mid range.
I have been proxy'ing Anticipate and let me tell you, it is a life saver. The card draw and quality it provides in the early game was a major downside in early iterations of this deck. I can't praise it enough. Encase in Ice is better than Reality Shift as an answer to Stormbreath, giving you up to 8 solid answer alongside Disdainful Stroke. The white hoser, Surge of Righteousness is likely to have a home in the sideboard, replacing the inferior Pressure Point
Yep, I was quite shocked to see Jim Davis, in his new article out today on Star City, basically say Anticipate is junk for UW control. In my mind it is an immediate replacement for Divination, which we were primarily playing to correct land deficiencies early. That said, Jim Davis also basically said NONE of the new cards spoiled were a fit for UW control as he has built it, so the article was a bit uninformative.
What do you guys think about myth realized? I mean it seems amazing in the paper, even not usseles in the topdeck, it may be good to have another way to use our mana (i don't really like the idea of playing a bunch of manifested cards ) maybe i am overreacting but this may be a great tool for us even when it can be killed by so many removal on the format
I think the card is better in tempo style decks than control decks. In modern that would be a deck like UWR Delver, in standard it probably means a deck with 12 cheap prowess creatures and removal/burn. For UW control in specific, it is hyper important to have UU turn two on the draw for Nullify. A plains on turn 1 opens you up to having a Rabblemaster on the board (or Courser, or Anafenza, or accelerated Siege Rhino) which can be too much pressure for this deck to overcome. Tempo decks tend to cycle through more cheap spells and can benefit more from a large vanilla creature.
Dragonlord Dromoka is obivously a crippling card against us, but what does everyone think of a green splash to include her on our side? She wrecks the mirror, UB and mid range.
I like her a lot, but the thing about pure control decks is that you're not really worried about being able to cast spells or your turn. The goal is to be casting spells during your opponent's turns, limiting, countering, and removing their options and permanents. The only spells we should be casting on our turn is our wincons. I mean, I'm not saying no to her, but Pearl Lake Ancient is just as good a finisher, has flash and prowess, and doesn't require us to add a third color to our deck. I could maybe see her replacing Prognostic Sphinx in my deck (previously posted in this thread) as a sideboard card, and running PLA mainboard.
@jar75
I'm not a huge fan of his list (No End Hostilities!?!?), but his manabase is really solid and as you picked up, with 4 Anticipate, you can drop to 26 lands. Unlike UW, Roast + Anger of the Gods allows you to run fewer or no Nullify main.
Probably going to stick with UB Control, but I wanted to see what I could do with the Jeskai Control shell. I used Andrew Cuneo's list as my jump off point:
Decided to center it on UR so I could facilitate Anger of the Gods. I'm not sure what the right balance between Lightning Strike and Roast is. I think Roast has to be the dominant spell since it kills Rhinoceri and Tasigurs. The real problem, mana wise, would be trying to bring in Brimaz out of the board.
I don't know man, the deck seems kinda all over the place. For starters, you have a lot of cards that require double mana of a particular color in their CMC. I'm not saying the mana base isn't there, but it's gonna be hard for you to cast the majority of your spells half the time on curve. This is especially true because many of the lands you're playing come in tapped.
Secondly, you're running a lot of one of's that you really want to be running two or three of's. What's the point of running a singleton Lightning Strike? Nyx-Fleece Ram? Soulfire Grandmaster? These are cards that are low enough on the curve for you to play multiple copies of them. You may not see a single copy of these cards in an entire game, and you have no way to tutor for any of them. Single copies of cards should only be run in a deck if they have a high CMC, but have a devastating effect once they resolve or lead to a faster turn clock.
Other than these issues, I think the deck may work. Perilous Vault isn't really needed in this deck. End Hostilities costs 4 mana less and it does almost the exact same thing as Vault. I'd run maybe one of these at most, but no more than that.
Anticipate is a necessity, even if it is not an old school-powered draw spell. 1U, instant speed, look at three to get a land, in a format with fetch lands, where the bottom of your deck will cycle (especially in UW where we can run up to 8 fetch lands!)
Narset Transcendent is a tap-out, but no one says you have to run it turn 4. Also, the simple fact that he misses the outrageous value of it's ultimate against decks like Abzan and RW, not just control, boggles me. Ultimate this and your wincons become unstoppable. It might be slightly better in UWR or Esper, but I think it has a place in UW for sure. Unanswered, it has the ability to take over a game.
I'm not a huge fan of Ojutai's Command and he's right that it isn't Cryptic Command, and I think he hits on some of it's flaws, but that doesn't make it bad tech in such a creature-heavy, slow format.
Anticipate is a necessity, even if it is not an old school-powered draw spell. 1U, instant speed, look at three to get a land, in a format with fetch lands, where the bottom of your deck will cycle (especially in UW where we can run up to 8 fetch lands!)
Narset Transcendent is a tap-out, but no one says you have to run it turn 4. Also, the simple fact that he misses the outrageous value of it's ultimate against decks like Abzan and RW, not just control, boggles me. Ultimate this and your wincons become unstoppable. It might be slightly better in UWR or Esper, but I think it has a place in UW for sure. Unanswered, it has the ability to take over a game.
I'm not a huge fan of Ojutai's Command and he's right that it isn't Cryptic Command, and I think he hits on some of it's flaws, but that doesn't make it bad tech in such a creature-heavy, slow format.
Agreed in all points. I'm getting full value from Command in my list as well as I run 1 copy of Soulfire Grand Master main, after sideboard, arashin cleric's / Soulfire grand masters come in vs appropriate matchups.
I have been proxy'ing Anticipate and let me tell you, it is a life saver. The card draw and quality it provides in the early game was a major downside in early iterations of this deck. I can't praise it enough. Encase in Ice is better than Reality Shift as an answer to Stormbreath, giving you up to 8 solid answer alongside Disdainful Stroke. The white hoser, Surge of Righteousness is likely to have a home in the sideboard, replacing the inferior Pressure Point
Yep, I was quite shocked to see Jim Davis, in his new article out today on Star City, basically say Anticipate is junk for UW control. In my mind it is an immediate replacement for Divination, which we were primarily playing to correct land deficiencies early. That said, Jim Davis also basically said NONE of the new cards spoiled were a fit for UW control as he has built it, so the article was a bit uninformative.
Just read the article and realized that it may not have been UW that got crushed, but him... He seems to not know how to play UW control.
I've been playing with a jeskai list on untapped and am liking it a lot so far. I have copies of soulfire grand master mainboard, so the command has more than 2 modes. I think its also important to remember that 4 life can help you stabilize. I think a lot of people are forgetting that. Access to lightning strike and roast is pretty strong and lightning strike makes narset a bit better of a fit for this deck.
I've tested myth made reality, and there's no denying its strength. Still not much space for it mainboard since elspeth is just a far superior win condition, but I could see it being the deck's premier win condition after rotation. It also seems incredibly strong in the UB control matchup, as they have NO way of interacting with enchantments
I agree that narset is a little overrated. Whiffing with her sucks. Even with as many temples as we have. I've already lost a couple games where she is my only perm and I cant make it through a land pocket and just have to draw all the lands while I get ping'd to death.
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4 Flooded Strand
3 Island
5 Plains
3 Polluted Delta
3 Radiant Fountain
4 Temple of Enlightenment
4 Tranquil Cove
CREATURES
1 Prognostic Sphinx
PLANESWALKERS
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Narset Transcendent
1 Jace's Ingenuity
4 Anticipate
2 Devouring Light
3 Dig Through Time
3 Disdainful Stroke
4 Dissolve
2 Last Breath
2 Nullify
1 Ojutai's Command
4 End Hostilities
2 Banishing Light
1 AEtherspouts
2 Surge of Righteousness
2 Encase in Ice
3 Nyx-Fleece Ram
2 Erase
1 Fated Retribution
2 Negate
2 Mirror Mockery
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
So obviously there's still more cards to be spoiled at this point in time so the deck is subject to change. I like the idea of still running Nyx-Fleece Ram while we've still got it. it just chumps so many things in the current meta. Also I'm thinking about removing AEthersprouts entirely so I can go up to 27 instead of 26 lands. The deck is so versatile and has so many removal options it's crazy. Still no good cantrips though... Here's hoping we get some soon!
1x AEtherspouts
1x Dragonlord's Prerogative
4x Anticipate
2x Devouring Light
3x Dig Through Time
2x Disdainful Stroke
4x Dissolve
2x Last Breath
2x Nullify
1x Ojutai's Command
2x Banishing Light
3x End Hostilities
2x Narset Transcendent
4x Flooded Strand
5x Island
1x Mystic Monastery
3x Plains
2x Polluted Delta
4x Radiant Fountain
4x Temple of Enlightenment
4x Tranquil Cove
1x AEtherspouts
3x Surge of Righteousness
2x Encase in Ice
1x Disdainful Stroke
1x End Hostilities
2x Erase
1x Fated Retribution
3x Negate
1x Pearl Lake Ancient
Updated List and Sideboard I dropped 1 Last breath for Dragonlord's Prerogative to test, got rid of arashin cleric out of the board for enemy color hate cards. Still testing Dragonlord Ojutai, but Pearl Lake Ancient might just be better.
--Laboratory notes, final entry
I'm not against some Surge in the side, though.
Until then, I am stuck with Devouring Light main, despite not hitting SBD.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
--Laboratory notes, final entry
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Turn 1 = Bloodsoaked Champion, Soldier of the pantheon or Mardu Woe-Reaper
Turn 2 = Chief of the Edge, Chief of the Scale, Battle Brawler, or Seeker of the Way
Turn 3 = Athreos, God of Passage, Arashin Foremost, or Blood Chin Fanatic
Turn 4 - WITHOUT playing a spell... This deck likely has either fatal damage on table - Or Athreos has come out turn 3:
Turn 5 - Presuming you have survived to this point; End Hostilites is practically mandatory turn 5; and you are tapping out to cast said spell. Life total is likely critical.
The same is true of most Aggro builds - let alone mid-range
Meta:
Your first question should be what removal is B/W Warriors packing? Utter End? Banishing Light? Heroes Downfall?
If your opponent is playing RED ... its called burn spells; and your ONLY defense is counterspells. Absolutely 100% of these are going to be directed at your life total.
Mirror Match: First person to play a win con spell triggers a counterspell war. Narset's ultimate is NOT a win condition on her own in the mirror.
Your opponent will untap... with you tapped out - expect a Banishing light.
This; and aggro decks in general seem to dictate the following to Blue/White Control in the 75
Main Deck:
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
1 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Prognostic Sphinx
4 End Hostilites (This is turn 5 or else)
4 Dissolve (Must protect win condition vs opponent removal or counterspell)
4 Banishing Light (Only removal usable both in mirror and in Meta Matchups)
3 Dig Thru Time
3 Narset, Transcendent
3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
24 Lands minimum - with fetchlands mandated
Pearl lake ancient is poor in a meta filled with aggro. It's really slow, can't stabalize a board and can be chumped until you find the burn out you need. Also, how is anyone having a burn spell that only works when Ojutai attacks, relevant? Also, the BWr Warriors deck is exactly the reason why we need early removal like the new destroy target black or red attacking creature and gain 2 life. To be fair, that deck is also why I suggest jeskai over straight uw to get anger out of the board.
The problem with running a deck with things like Encase in Ice and Surge of Righteousness main is their inability to hit half the meta at any given moment. They are strictly sideboard. Now, it is tempting to drop Last Breath for 2 of each of those and just bring them in when you need them. You are also moving up to 4 effective anti-Red removal spells, which is relevant at the moment for more than one deck. However, what is your plan vs. UW Heroic or the possible mono-U devotion deck in the offing?
@Everyone
We had a lot of conversations around UWR when Khans came out and nothing was quite good enough. Maybe this is not true now. However, I think UWR is basically UW with 3 Lightning Strike and 3 Anger of the Gods and a bad manabase. In my build, I have moved to 3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos with way better mana and actual lifegain and I think that is actually better in many cases, as a single Brimaz against aggro that isn't removed is a serious problem that stays on the board.
4 Anticipate
4 Dig Through Time
Counter 8
4 Dissolve
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Nullify
Sweepers 6
3 End Hostilities
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Lightning Strike
3 Banishing Light
Planeswalkers 4
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Narset Transcendent
Creatures 1
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
2 Surge of Righteousness
2 Encase in Ice
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Erase
1 Fated Retribution
4 Negate
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
2 Soulfire Grand Master
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
4x Flooded Strand
2x Island
4x Mystic Monastery
2x Plains
4x Shivan Reef
2x Swiftwater Cliffs
2x Temple of Enlightenment
4x Temple of Epiphany
2x Temple of Triumph
Sorcery (6)
3x Anger of the Gods
3x Roast
4x Anticipate
4x Dig Through Time
4x Dissolve
2x Jace's Ingenuity
1x Lightning Strike
2x Negate
3x Nullify
2x Ojutai's Command
Planeswalker (5)
3x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1x Nyx-Fleece Ram
2x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3x Disdainful Stroke
2x Erase
1x Fated Retribution
1x Glare of Heresy
1x Negate
1x Pearl Lake Ancient
2x Perilous Vault
1x Roast
1x Soulfire Grand Master
Decided to center it on UR so I could facilitate Anger of the Gods. I'm not sure what the right balance between Lightning Strike and Roast is. I think Roast has to be the dominant spell since it kills Rhinoceri and Tasigurs. The real problem, mana wise, would be trying to bring in Brimaz out of the board.
UR Blue-Red Control
Modern:
UBR Grixis Control
UWR Jeskai Control
I like playing Soulfire as my maindeck creature along with the burn spells. It is just large enough to delay against an early Hordeling Outburst or kill a Rabblemaster, and gaining life off your spells is very useful for stabilizing. Soulfire into Anger of the Gods happens relatively often, and deals very well with tokens or GW Devotion. Soulfire also bumps up the effectiveness of your early game removal, letting you spend 6 mana and Magma Spray to kill Stormbreath or counter a spell with no card loss.
Red also has more diverse threats. Keranos and Sarkhan are indestructible (Keranos is particularly difficult to deal with), Narset is Hexproof, PLA is uncounterable, Elspeth wins against non-evasive creatures, etc. You force your opponent to leave in excess removal, blanking their draws, or leave themselves defenseless against some your finishers. In control mirror matches the game essentially becomes a race to see which can play a threat through counter wars and removal and diversifying your threats is essential in those matchups (otherwise Elspeth is by far the best win condition).
Mana is tight, but you don't need WW until turn 5. The most important early target is UU T2 for Nullify, which in some matchups is absolutely essential. RR by reliably by turn 4 is another target if you don't think you'll hit it turn 3 very often. The main difficulty for this deck is dealing with resolved planeswalkers, as they are almost all out of burn range and you don't have a ton of creatures. Ugin, Glare of Heresy, Banishing Light, and Perilous Vault are vital in some combination. I also like Fated Retribution in the side.
For card draw I've used 4X Anticipate, 3X Treasure Cruise, 2X Dragonlord's Prerogative along with Chandra and both versions of Narset. Treasure Cruise is usually slightly worse than Dig Through Time, but works better with Rebound and Soulfire Grand Master. I haven't found Ojutai's Command to be useful very often because it misses too many non-creature threats and doesn't have enough targets for its reanimation.
Yep, I was quite shocked to see Jim Davis, in his new article out today on Star City, basically say Anticipate is junk for UW control. In my mind it is an immediate replacement for Divination, which we were primarily playing to correct land deficiencies early. That said, Jim Davis also basically said NONE of the new cards spoiled were a fit for UW control as he has built it, so the article was a bit uninformative.
I think the card is better in tempo style decks than control decks. In modern that would be a deck like UWR Delver, in standard it probably means a deck with 12 cheap prowess creatures and removal/burn. For UW control in specific, it is hyper important to have UU turn two on the draw for Nullify. A plains on turn 1 opens you up to having a Rabblemaster on the board (or Courser, or Anafenza, or accelerated Siege Rhino) which can be too much pressure for this deck to overcome. Tempo decks tend to cycle through more cheap spells and can benefit more from a large vanilla creature.
I like her a lot, but the thing about pure control decks is that you're not really worried about being able to cast spells or your turn. The goal is to be casting spells during your opponent's turns, limiting, countering, and removing their options and permanents. The only spells we should be casting on our turn is our wincons. I mean, I'm not saying no to her, but Pearl Lake Ancient is just as good a finisher, has flash and prowess, and doesn't require us to add a third color to our deck. I could maybe see her replacing Prognostic Sphinx in my deck (previously posted in this thread) as a sideboard card, and running PLA mainboard.
I'm not a huge fan of his list (No End Hostilities!?!?), but his manabase is really solid and as you picked up, with 4 Anticipate, you can drop to 26 lands. Unlike UW, Roast + Anger of the Gods allows you to run fewer or no Nullify main.
4x Flooded Strand
3x Island
4x Mystic Monastery
2x Plains
4x Shivan Reef
4x Temple of Enlightenment
4x Temple of Epiphany
1x Temple of Triumph
Draw 8
4 Anticipate
4 Dig Through Time
4 Dissolve
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Negate
Sweepers 6
3 End Hostilities
3 Anger of the Gods
Targeted Removal 6
3 Roast
3 Banishing Light
Tech 1
1 Ojutai's Command
Planeswalkers 5
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Narset Transcendent
1 Keranos, God of Storms
3 Encase in Ice
2 Negate
2 Erase
2 Soulfire Grand Master
2 Jace's Ingenuity
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Fated Retribution
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
I don't know man, the deck seems kinda all over the place. For starters, you have a lot of cards that require double mana of a particular color in their CMC. I'm not saying the mana base isn't there, but it's gonna be hard for you to cast the majority of your spells half the time on curve. This is especially true because many of the lands you're playing come in tapped.
Secondly, you're running a lot of one of's that you really want to be running two or three of's. What's the point of running a singleton Lightning Strike? Nyx-Fleece Ram? Soulfire Grandmaster? These are cards that are low enough on the curve for you to play multiple copies of them. You may not see a single copy of these cards in an entire game, and you have no way to tutor for any of them. Single copies of cards should only be run in a deck if they have a high CMC, but have a devastating effect once they resolve or lead to a faster turn clock.
Other than these issues, I think the deck may work. Perilous Vault isn't really needed in this deck. End Hostilities costs 4 mana less and it does almost the exact same thing as Vault. I'd run maybe one of these at most, but no more than that.
Anticipate is a necessity, even if it is not an old school-powered draw spell. 1U, instant speed, look at three to get a land, in a format with fetch lands, where the bottom of your deck will cycle (especially in UW where we can run up to 8 fetch lands!)
Narset Transcendent is a tap-out, but no one says you have to run it turn 4. Also, the simple fact that he misses the outrageous value of it's ultimate against decks like Abzan and RW, not just control, boggles me. Ultimate this and your wincons become unstoppable. It might be slightly better in UWR or Esper, but I think it has a place in UW for sure. Unanswered, it has the ability to take over a game.
I'm not a huge fan of Ojutai's Command and he's right that it isn't Cryptic Command, and I think he hits on some of it's flaws, but that doesn't make it bad tech in such a creature-heavy, slow format.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Agreed in all points. I'm getting full value from Command in my list as well as I run 1 copy of Soulfire Grand Master main, after sideboard, arashin cleric's / Soulfire grand masters come in vs appropriate matchups.
Just read the article and realized that it may not have been UW that got crushed, but him... He seems to not know how to play UW control.
I've tested myth made reality, and there's no denying its strength. Still not much space for it mainboard since elspeth is just a far superior win condition, but I could see it being the deck's premier win condition after rotation. It also seems incredibly strong in the UB control matchup, as they have NO way of interacting with enchantments
I agree that narset is a little overrated. Whiffing with her sucks. Even with as many temples as we have. I've already lost a couple games where she is my only perm and I cant make it through a land pocket and just have to draw all the lands while I get ping'd to death.