I played 2 Gideon and 1 Tamiyo (all I had) in UW control at FNM, and it rocked the house every time it hit the table. Using Tamiyo to tap the biggest threat and having Gideon absorb the rest puts aggro in quicksand.
I have been toying around with MUC and UR control for a long time now and am sticking to 4x Treasure Hunt 4x Ponder 4x Halimar Depths as the best way to assure I get the cards I need. I don't buy the excuse that Ponder sucks because it takes the slot of a "business card." The capability to dig three deep and synergy with Depths and Hunt PLUS allowing you to shuffle make it business enough for me.
Aether Tradewinds is awesome in this deck returning their land and your spreading seas. 3UU, return a land, island another, draw a card? Sounds like tempo to me
Above is an idea for a deck that provides early beats to get an active Bloodchief Ascension, backs it up with solid removal/counters and finishes with a Mind Funeral for what's usually at least 14 damage. I'm not sure it's better than straight up Vampires, but I think it's a deck that could have explosive games and surprise wins. Something like...
Flayer Husk gives you a creature and artifact to sacrifice for one mana
It may be a little slow, but it comes back with vaults and will certaintly be active when you go off.
Just a thought..
4x Mind Funeral
4x Urge to Feed
4x Essence Scatter
4x Agony Warp
4x Sign In Blood
4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Vampire Hexmage
4x Gatekeeper of Malakir
4x Terramorphic Expanse
5x Island
13x Swamp
Above is an idea for a deck that provides early beats to get an active Bloodchief Ascension, backs it up with solid removal/counters and finishes with a Mind Funeral for what's usually at least 14 damage. I'm not sure it's better than straight up Vampires, but I think it's a deck that could have explosive games and surprise wins. Something like...
T1: land, ascension
T2: land, vamp
T3: land, vamp, swing
T4: land, removal, swing
T5: land, removal, swing
T6: Mind Funeral, game
thoughts on playability?