I've been told that a deck like this needs more shuffle-effect cards.
That is because Brainstorm is so much better in conjunction with something to shuffle away the two cards you put on the top of your library. Scalding Tarn, Misty Rainforest, Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse are some of the best options because you don't need to take out other non-Island cards. They slot straight into your mana base and as a secondary effect increase the quality of your draws later. I wouldn't recommend using other non-land shuffle effects as they will require you take out otherwise good cards for sub-par effects.
Nonetheless, I feel you need more draw. Counter Control requires you to be drawing as much, if not more, counter/control effects than your opponent can draw threats. Brainstorm and Ponder are fine for legacy, but your games will go longer and require your hand to be refilled several times. Cards that achieve this could include Fact or Fiction, Ancestral Vision, Aeon Chronicler, Deep Analysis, Muldrifter or Slithermuse.
Instead of just bouncing permanents, have you considered simple taking them? Control Magic and other similar cards could work well.
I seriously like your original decklist. Looks really cool to me. Further suggestion would just tweak it - not necesserily improve it. My friend usually plays his counters until he can get 6 lands and capsize each turn 1 permanent. But thats only if the low-mana bounce cards you use right now wouldnt prove themselfs. Its a more multiplayer card suggestion.
Nonetheless, I feel you need more draw. Counter Control requires you to be drawing as much, if not more, counter/control effects than your opponent can draw threats. Brainstorm and Ponder are fine for legacy, but your games will go longer and require your hand to be refilled several times. Cards that achieve this could include Fact or Fiction, Ancestral Vision, Aeon Chronicler, Deep Analysis, Muldrifter or Slithermuse.
Instead of just bouncing permanents, have you considered simple taking them? Control Magic and other similar cards could work well.
I seriously like your original decklist. Looks really cool to me. Further suggestion would just tweak it - not necesserily improve it. My friend usually plays his counters until he can get 6 lands and capsize each turn 1 permanent. But thats only if the low-mana bounce cards you use right now wouldnt prove themselfs. Its a more multiplayer card suggestion.
Thanks man. Do you have any suggestions or tweaks in mind for my decklist?
Volition Reins! That was the one on the tip of my tongue! Glad you found it It will provide you with that secondary win condition your initial deck required.
Not so sure on the 2/2 split between Fact and Visions. Good way to play test them for sure. Yet I think, in the end, you should go with 4x Fact or Fiction. The Fiction provides the immediate hand re-fill you need whilst the wait time on Visions can be excruciating. Especially when you are behind.
As for optimal number? Not sure. Though I do think having the 4 ponder may be too much redundancy. Drop two and consider having another 'threat' card. Sometimes it is easy to fill a counter deck with the counter magic and forget about having threats. When this happens you become purely reaction with little to no initiative. The card for this position that I can't stop thinking about Vedalken Shackles, but it is a steep monetary price to pay for. Maybe someone else has another card in mind that is more budget?
Love Casual Aspect's suggestion of Capsize. I would definitely consider a single somewhere in the mix.
I like Treachery over Volition Reins as it lets you untap five lands after you play it thus leaving your mana open for counters.
I'd definitely want some bounce, because if they play something while your tapped out and you can't counter it than your gonna want to bounce it so you have a chance to counter it. You have a ton of draw, I think you can lose the two Ancestral Vision for two spots of bounce.
Also, another card I'd consider over Volition Reins is Bribery, this card is just bananas if your opponents play stuff like Eldrazi.
Overall the deck is very solid.
Oh and forgot to mention there is actually a Primer, look at the top of the casual page for the Primers section, on mono blue control so check it out for sure.
Oh and if you have the money you may want to invest in some Vedalken Shackles they are nuts good in mono blue control, but run about $20 a piece.
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dunno about your budget, but
less finishers
2 sphinx and 2 volition should be great as finisher
you dont need 12 draw
you dont need 16 counter
drop 4 counter for 4 into the roil or 4 boomerang
drop 4 draw for 1 plumeveil, 2 vendilion clique (or other nice creature with the same mana) and 1 evacuation.
Also it looks like you have money and I forgot to mention it earlier, if your willing to truly spend cash to get a top tier deck than invest in four Cryptic Command they are wild good, but run like $15 each I think. If you do get them than lose either Spell Pierce or Deprive for them, whichever you didn't lose for the walls.
Also, are you going to play this in duals or in multiplayer?? If your playing multiplayer switch out the Vedalken Shackles / Volition Reins for Blatant Thievery this card is so so good it should be banned in big multiplayer games.
In this deck, well in most decks, Fact or Fiction is gonna be better. Boomerang v Echoing Truth is a harder one though, I'd say if you play against a lot of aggro than Echoing Truth is better but if you play against control or combo than Boomerang is better.
Also, if you really want to go bananas on spending money (or if this deck is for online play) than add two more fetch lands to the deck as six shuffling effects is the usual norm.
Come to think of it I'm just gonna post my mono blue control deck.
The stars of the deck are Cryptic command, vedalken shackles and brainstorm+fetches
thats over 15$ EACH!!!
Every muc i tried was getting pummeled by aggro /wasnt good enough
(wizards/normal muc/mill control/combo muc) and surprisingly the mill one was the best ....
I really wanna make the deck and the one rchrhds posted is pretty good( i can make some nice changes) but so expensive P.P
I think that counters that cantrip are a start to make a pretty good muc
also capsize is great in long games, im gonna check muc primer but that stuff is expensive aswell
Sorry for hijacking the thread but my point is that Mono blue NEEDS money else its crap :L
(while i was typing it got moved to MUC primer so i didnt hijack anything , yey. )
using (not to advertise for any shop) magic.cardinfo's middle price rounded roughly for a total of 26.10$. Fitting even Bleiweiss' old BOABs budget.
Opt is new to the thread. It does an ok impression of Preordain at instant speed (one less card to look at), if one is dead-set on having an instant cantrip over Ponder or the aforementioned Preordain.
Horrornick: Like Blutsau showed MUC can be done on the cheap really easily (I'd play more walls than Blut did because I see aggro and tribal so much but the deck Blut showed is a fine example of budget MUC).
Mono Blue Mill Control can be done on a budget as well if your interested in going that route.
Mesmeric Orb actually does a better job of mill than probably anything else out there, and don't worry about milling yourself you won't run out of cards before they do because you will be hitting them via Hedron Crab.
That mill deck there is just about the same price as Blut's MUC deck, it's gonna run you between $25 and $30 depending on where you get your cards. Honestly you can build great decks on the cheap (PM me if you want some more) you just have to know how to build them and what cards serve as alternatives to more expensive cards.
For example: Dismiss is an alternative to Cryptic Command (yes it's not as good but it is a counter and a cantrip)
Also if your playing multiplayer remember that Blatant Thievery equals awesomeness. This card is so good I can't say enough about it in multiplayer, especially if your playing at a huge table.
How about posting a list?
The lock is certainly interesting, but I wouldn't call the result MUC.
Mist has anti-synergy with creatures of your own, and I don't see what use Medallion should have (note that it can't reduce Mist's ability's cost to 0 *?*).
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I don't see the lockdown here. It won't lock down a deck with more than 1 color, nor would it lock down a creatureless deck, nor a deck that will kill you before you can get mana web and pendrell mist into play. You also have to pay pendrell mist for your own creatures.
On saphhire medallion: sapphire medallion is only useful if you're playing several spells per turn every turn. If you're playing just one or two spells a turn (which is the case for most decks, but especially MUC), an extra land drop (and therefore, draw spells) would be better.
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"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
I play an absolutely non-budget/non-casual MUC list, mostly because I take my beloved MUC to tournaments, and because I've already invested in blue cards heavily when i played vintage/standard(mirrodin-kamigawa).
However, that doesn't mean my MUC didn't have nice casual cards before it got to the build it is right now.
Here's a few suggestions for those getting absolutely pummeled by aggro.
Mark of Eviction is an incredibly efficient board controler. It's a 1 mana recurring unsummon. It doesn't provide card disadvantage (due to is recurrability) and can deal with the nastiest creature your opponent has. It has a slight problem that it activates on YOUR upkeep, but it definately slows down your opponent
Propaganda isn't a very expensive card either. It's probably one of the most efficient aggro speed bumps. Your opponent will either have a choice of playing a creature, or attacking with his army. If he attacks, you can just use your mana to draw cards/bounce. If he plays, you can just counter and not get attacked. Mark of eviction surely works nice with propaganda, since you will be bouncing a creature (or more with multiple evictions) every upkeep, so they will always have to choose between playing the bounced creatures or attacking with the ones on the board already.
Wall of Kelp is also an incredibly cheap card that can significantly slow down your opponent. While a 0/3 for UU is not a great card by itself, he can spawn a 0/1 blocker every end of turn when you have leftover mana. I used to run this guy as a 1 or 2 of. Untill i got my hands on a set of...
Wall of tears or Wall of Frost; both are one of aggro's worst nightmare. Wall of frost wasn't around for me when I played a more casual MUC build, but wall of tears was one of my favorites.
Wash Out Can be devastating to mono colored decks. I used to maindeck 3 of these. It usually gave me enough time to find answers.
Rainbow Efreet Is also an incredibly deceitful card. First, it has flying, it's a 3 power beatstick for late game, it can block and survive, and it can evade mass removals/spot removals. The only thing that could possibly kill it is a targeted removal with split second.
Silent Arbiter is slightly cheaper (moneywise) than propaganda, costs more mana than propaganda, but does the same, if not a better job than propaganda, cause he can block too! His only problem is that he's an artifact and a creature, which is easy to be hated out; but that's what your counterspells are in there for - If you can protect this guy untill you play your large flying evasive beatstick (which I sugggest either being a Morphling, Sphinx of Jwas Isle or Rainbow Efreet) it's a guaranteed game against Aggro. Back when MUC was weak against aggro in Standard, this guy solved all my problems. After you resolve this, until your aggro player finds an answer to it, he will play draw and go. By the time they DO find an answer, you'll be so far ahead in card advantage that you can basically answer anything they topdeck.
As far as Card Advantage goes, for casual play, here's a rundown of good cards that I used to (and some that I still do) play with.
Repeal May seem bad because of its X cost, but it's a solid bounce. It's instand speed, bounces ANY NONLAND PERMANENT (very important) and replaces itself when it's done resolving.
Into the Roil Is another option. It bounces for 2 mana early game, and late game it bounces and replaces itself. 'Nuff said
Think Twice doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's 8 drawing spells built into 4. If can be used as a turn 2 end of turn, using the mana you were saving up for counterspell/mana leak, and it can flashback the following turn (netting another card) for 3 mana you were leaving up for cancel/forbid.
Rewind and Fact or Fiction work great together. A 4 cost counterspell that untaps and ends up being free is awesome with Fact or Fiction. You can counter something their turn, and if they play nothing else, you can use your untapped lands to draw a heap-load of cards with Fact or Fiction at the end of the turn.
Accumulated Knowledge Is similar to Think Twice, but it gets better as the game progresses. While Think Twice draws you 8 cards for 8 mana, AK can draw you 10 cards for 8 mana. In conjunction with fact or fiction, playing an Accumulated Knowledge that draws 3 or 4 isn't as uncommon as it may seem.
I recommend not running forbid, as the buyback generates too much card disadvantage. Yes it's a re-usable hard counter, but MUC doesn't need to counter every single thing they throw at you. Countering everything sure makes you FEEL a lot safer, but it doesn't need to be done for you to actually BE safe.
Counter anything your deck won't be able to handle. Here's a few examples;
If it has shroud, is large enough to beat you over the head with evasion, is serious enough to threaten or hinder your board position, or provides too much acceleration or card advantage, then counter it.
Enchantments and artifacts that are powerful enough should be countered. Blue doesn't have many good ways of handling these. If it's a combination, you don't need to counter all the synergy pieces. Let the ones who don't stand well alone resolve, and never let the other pieces hit the table.
As far as recurring threats, Hinder is an amazing counter for those. This means vengevines, ichorids, anything that can recur/be reanimated is just asking for a hinder. Sending the card to the bottom of the library is about as good as removed from the game.
Hope my input was helpful. Sorry if there are some repetitive information, but it never hurts to remind you guys of some of them
I agree,Rhystic Study is a must for playing blue in multiplayer. It allows you to draw more answers which are definitely needed since you're dealing with multiple people at the same time.
I agree,Rhystic Study is a must for playing blue in multiplayer. It allows you to draw more answers which are definitely needed since you're dealing with multiple people at the same time.
What about mystic remora? It has the downside of cumulative upkeep and not drawing cards when creatures are laid down, but you can always lay down a remora turn 1 and let your opponents change their plans regards playing that turn 1 brianstorm, or turn 1 dark ritual
INN update
Alltho I don't think I'll add something from INN, I want to point out a few cards considered:
Dissipate - is already in the primer, but now easier to get. Think Twice - see above.
Fordbidden Alchemy - Impluse (what is in the primer) is better ('cuz cheaper), unless your list wants cards in the grave or have a minor black splash (but then it's no longer MUC...). Snapcaster Mage - Speedbump with partial recurrsion. Def. a good card, wether he's worth it in MUC is to be tested. Stichted Drake - Has an awesome stat/cost ratio and would be a great speedbump, if not for the fact that he needs you to play a good portion critters, that then also need to die before him. Sturm Geist - Nice budget option. No protection, but a CA engine.
thoughts?
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so i read the primer but im not really satisfied with the prebuilt decks. i liked the pauper deck, but i want something thats a bit more reflective of a competitive deck. can someone help me construct a MUC deck that has a more interesting Win con. i only ask that you buget the rares to 20 dollars total. basically i dont want to buy the new more expensive stuff like wurmcoil engine
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BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGB
"If there is such a thing as too much power, I have not discovered it." --Volrath BGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGBGB
This is my ideal list. The one I'm currently running isn't that much different. I'm using 3 Phantom Warrior and 3 Metathran Soldier and not as many spells. I don't have them all yet so I've just played with it as is. It's just a fun MUC deck anyways. It will eventually look like this list though. It's basically, counter-->bounce--> summon a beat stick.
That is because Brainstorm is so much better in conjunction with something to shuffle away the two cards you put on the top of your library. Scalding Tarn, Misty Rainforest, Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse are some of the best options because you don't need to take out other non-Island cards. They slot straight into your mana base and as a secondary effect increase the quality of your draws later. I wouldn't recommend using other non-land shuffle effects as they will require you take out otherwise good cards for sub-par effects.
Nonetheless, I feel you need more draw. Counter Control requires you to be drawing as much, if not more, counter/control effects than your opponent can draw threats. Brainstorm and Ponder are fine for legacy, but your games will go longer and require your hand to be refilled several times. Cards that achieve this could include Fact or Fiction, Ancestral Vision, Aeon Chronicler, Deep Analysis, Muldrifter or Slithermuse.
Instead of just bouncing permanents, have you considered simple taking them? Control Magic and other similar cards could work well.
Alright then, how's this?
4x Misty Rainforest
19x Island
Creatures (7):
4x Sphinx of Jwar Isle
3x Plumeveil
4x Mana Leak
4x Deprive
4x Counterspell
4x Spell Pierce
2x Volition Reins
Draw/Shuffle (12):
4x Brainstorm
4x Ponder
2x Fact or Fiction
2x Ancestral Vision
What's the optimal number of draw/shuffle cards in a deck like this? And is okay to drop my bounces completely?
Thanks man. Do you have any suggestions or tweaks in mind for my decklist?
Not so sure on the 2/2 split between Fact and Visions. Good way to play test them for sure. Yet I think, in the end, you should go with 4x Fact or Fiction. The Fiction provides the immediate hand re-fill you need whilst the wait time on Visions can be excruciating. Especially when you are behind.
As for optimal number? Not sure. Though I do think having the 4 ponder may be too much redundancy. Drop two and consider having another 'threat' card. Sometimes it is easy to fill a counter deck with the counter magic and forget about having threats. When this happens you become purely reaction with little to no initiative. The card for this position that I can't stop thinking about Vedalken Shackles, but it is a steep monetary price to pay for. Maybe someone else has another card in mind that is more budget?
Love Casual Aspect's suggestion of Capsize. I would definitely consider a single somewhere in the mix.
I'd definitely want some bounce, because if they play something while your tapped out and you can't counter it than your gonna want to bounce it so you have a chance to counter it. You have a ton of draw, I think you can lose the two Ancestral Vision for two spots of bounce.
Also, another card I'd consider over Volition Reins is Bribery, this card is just bananas if your opponents play stuff like Eldrazi.
Overall the deck is very solid.
Oh and forgot to mention there is actually a Primer, look at the top of the casual page for the Primers section, on mono blue control so check it out for sure.
Oh and if you have the money you may want to invest in some Vedalken Shackles they are nuts good in mono blue control, but run about $20 a piece.
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less finishers
2 sphinx and 2 volition should be great as finisher
you dont need 12 draw
you dont need 16 counter
drop 4 counter for 4 into the roil or 4 boomerang
drop 4 draw for 1 plumeveil, 2 vendilion clique (or other nice creature with the same mana) and 1 evacuation.
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4x Misty Rainforest
19x Island
Creatures (7):
4x Sphinx of Jwar Isle
3x Plumeveil
Counters (15):
4x Mana Leak
4x Deprive
4x Counterspell
3x Spell Pierce
2x Into the Roil
2x Echoing Truth / Boomerang
1x Evacuation
Control (2):
2x Volition Reins / Vedalken Shackles
Draw/Shuffle (8):
4x Brainstorm
2x Ponder
2x Fact or Fiction
I'm undecided as to whether i should run Fact or Fiction or Jace's Ingenuity. Which one do you guys think will function better in this deck? Also, which is beter, Echoing Truth or Boomerang?
And should i run Shrine of Piercing Vision too?
Also it looks like you have money and I forgot to mention it earlier, if your willing to truly spend cash to get a top tier deck than invest in four Cryptic Command they are wild good, but run like $15 each I think. If you do get them than lose either Spell Pierce or Deprive for them, whichever you didn't lose for the walls.
Also, are you going to play this in duals or in multiplayer?? If your playing multiplayer switch out the Vedalken Shackles / Volition Reins for Blatant Thievery this card is so so good it should be banned in big multiplayer games.
In this deck, well in most decks, Fact or Fiction is gonna be better. Boomerang v Echoing Truth is a harder one though, I'd say if you play against a lot of aggro than Echoing Truth is better but if you play against control or combo than Boomerang is better.
Also, if you really want to go bananas on spending money (or if this deck is for online play) than add two more fetch lands to the deck as six shuffling effects is the usual norm.
Come to think of it I'm just gonna post my mono blue control deck.
17 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Flooded Strand
1 Academy Ruins
Artifacts: 2
2 Vedalken Shackles
4 Fog Bank
4 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
2 Guard Gomazoa
2 Plumeveil
Instants: 22
4 Counterspell
4 Cryptic Command
4 Mana Leak
4 Echoing Truth
4 Brainstorm
2 Fact or Fiction
That is the duals version, in multiplayer I switch out Vedalken Shackles for Blatant Thievery.
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The stars of the deck are Cryptic command, vedalken shackles and brainstorm+fetches
thats over 15$ EACH!!!
Every muc i tried was getting pummeled by aggro /wasnt good enough
(wizards/normal muc/mill control/combo muc) and surprisingly the mill one was the best ....
I really wanna make the deck and the one rchrhds posted is pretty good( i can make some nice changes) but so expensive P.P
I think that counters that cantrip are a start to make a pretty good muc
also capsize is great in long games, im gonna check muc primer but that stuff is expensive aswell
Sorry for hijacking the thread but my point is that Mono blue NEEDS money else its crap :L
(while i was typing it got moved to MUC primer so i didnt hijack anything , yey. )
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3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle [1.5!]
4 Counterspell [5]
4 Rune Snag [3.5]
4 Mana Leak [1.5]
2 Into the Roil [0.6]
2 Wash Out [2.5]
2 Oblivion Stone [6.5]
4 Jace's Ingenuity [1.2]
25 Island [0]
using (not to advertise for any shop) magic.cardinfo's middle price rounded roughly for a total of 26.10$. Fitting even Bleiweiss' old BOABs budget.
Opt is new to the thread. It does an ok impression of Preordain at instant speed (one less card to look at), if one is dead-set on having an instant cantrip over Ponder or the aforementioned Preordain.
Alright man, thanks for the reference. I think i've got it now. Thanks for the help :D.
Mono Blue Mill Control can be done on a budget as well if your interested in going that route.
18 Island
4 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
Artifacts: 4
4 Mesmeric Orb
4 Fog Bank
4 Guard Gomazoa
4 Hedron Crab
Instants: 18
4 Brainstorm
4 Mana Leak
4 Counterspell
4 Echoing Truth
2 Jace's Ingenuity
2 Wash Out
See you don't necessarily need the expensive cards like Jace Beleren for mill or Cryptic Command for MUC.
Mesmeric Orb actually does a better job of mill than probably anything else out there, and don't worry about milling yourself you won't run out of cards before they do because you will be hitting them via Hedron Crab.
That mill deck there is just about the same price as Blut's MUC deck, it's gonna run you between $25 and $30 depending on where you get your cards. Honestly you can build great decks on the cheap (PM me if you want some more) you just have to know how to build them and what cards serve as alternatives to more expensive cards.
For example:
Dismiss is an alternative to Cryptic Command (yes it's not as good but it is a counter and a cantrip)
Also if your playing multiplayer remember that Blatant Thievery equals awesomeness. This card is so good I can't say enough about it in multiplayer, especially if your playing at a huge table.
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The lock is certainly interesting, but I wouldn't call the result MUC.
Mist has anti-synergy with creatures of your own, and I don't see what use Medallion should have (note that it can't reduce Mist's ability's cost to 0 *?*).
I don't see the lockdown here. It won't lock down a deck with more than 1 color, nor would it lock down a creatureless deck, nor a deck that will kill you before you can get mana web and pendrell mist into play. You also have to pay pendrell mist for your own creatures.
On saphhire medallion: sapphire medallion is only useful if you're playing several spells per turn every turn. If you're playing just one or two spells a turn (which is the case for most decks, but especially MUC), an extra land drop (and therefore, draw spells) would be better.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
This is the kind of deck list I'm thinking about:
3 Fog Bank
2 Guard Gomazoa
2 Neurok Invisimancer
2 Oona, Queen of the Fae
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
3 Counterspell
3 Into the Roil
2 Mana Leak
2 Mana Web
4 Preordain
3 Propaganda
4 Rune Snag
3 Sapphire Medallion
3 Slow Motion
2 Halimar Depths
20 Island
I play an absolutely non-budget/non-casual MUC list, mostly because I take my beloved MUC to tournaments, and because I've already invested in blue cards heavily when i played vintage/standard(mirrodin-kamigawa).
However, that doesn't mean my MUC didn't have nice casual cards before it got to the build it is right now.
Here's a few suggestions for those getting absolutely pummeled by aggro.
Mark of Eviction is an incredibly efficient board controler. It's a 1 mana recurring unsummon. It doesn't provide card disadvantage (due to is recurrability) and can deal with the nastiest creature your opponent has. It has a slight problem that it activates on YOUR upkeep, but it definately slows down your opponent
Propaganda isn't a very expensive card either. It's probably one of the most efficient aggro speed bumps. Your opponent will either have a choice of playing a creature, or attacking with his army. If he attacks, you can just use your mana to draw cards/bounce. If he plays, you can just counter and not get attacked. Mark of eviction surely works nice with propaganda, since you will be bouncing a creature (or more with multiple evictions) every upkeep, so they will always have to choose between playing the bounced creatures or attacking with the ones on the board already.
Wall of Kelp is also an incredibly cheap card that can significantly slow down your opponent. While a 0/3 for UU is not a great card by itself, he can spawn a 0/1 blocker every end of turn when you have leftover mana. I used to run this guy as a 1 or 2 of. Untill i got my hands on a set of...
Wall of tears or Wall of Frost; both are one of aggro's worst nightmare. Wall of frost wasn't around for me when I played a more casual MUC build, but wall of tears was one of my favorites.
Wash Out Can be devastating to mono colored decks. I used to maindeck 3 of these. It usually gave me enough time to find answers.
Rainbow Efreet Is also an incredibly deceitful card. First, it has flying, it's a 3 power beatstick for late game, it can block and survive, and it can evade mass removals/spot removals. The only thing that could possibly kill it is a targeted removal with split second.
Silent Arbiter is slightly cheaper (moneywise) than propaganda, costs more mana than propaganda, but does the same, if not a better job than propaganda, cause he can block too! His only problem is that he's an artifact and a creature, which is easy to be hated out; but that's what your counterspells are in there for - If you can protect this guy untill you play your large flying evasive beatstick (which I sugggest either being a Morphling, Sphinx of Jwas Isle or Rainbow Efreet) it's a guaranteed game against Aggro. Back when MUC was weak against aggro in Standard, this guy solved all my problems. After you resolve this, until your aggro player finds an answer to it, he will play draw and go. By the time they DO find an answer, you'll be so far ahead in card advantage that you can basically answer anything they topdeck.
As far as Card Advantage goes, for casual play, here's a rundown of good cards that I used to (and some that I still do) play with.
Repeal May seem bad because of its X cost, but it's a solid bounce. It's instand speed, bounces ANY NONLAND PERMANENT (very important) and replaces itself when it's done resolving.
Into the Roil Is another option. It bounces for 2 mana early game, and late game it bounces and replaces itself. 'Nuff said
Think Twice doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's 8 drawing spells built into 4. If can be used as a turn 2 end of turn, using the mana you were saving up for counterspell/mana leak, and it can flashback the following turn (netting another card) for 3 mana you were leaving up for cancel/forbid.
Rewind and Fact or Fiction work great together. A 4 cost counterspell that untaps and ends up being free is awesome with Fact or Fiction. You can counter something their turn, and if they play nothing else, you can use your untapped lands to draw a heap-load of cards with Fact or Fiction at the end of the turn.
Accumulated Knowledge Is similar to Think Twice, but it gets better as the game progresses. While Think Twice draws you 8 cards for 8 mana, AK can draw you 10 cards for 8 mana. In conjunction with fact or fiction, playing an Accumulated Knowledge that draws 3 or 4 isn't as uncommon as it may seem.
I recommend not running forbid, as the buyback generates too much card disadvantage. Yes it's a re-usable hard counter, but MUC doesn't need to counter every single thing they throw at you. Countering everything sure makes you FEEL a lot safer, but it doesn't need to be done for you to actually BE safe.
Counter anything your deck won't be able to handle. Here's a few examples;
If it has shroud, is large enough to beat you over the head with evasion, is serious enough to threaten or hinder your board position, or provides too much acceleration or card advantage, then counter it.
Enchantments and artifacts that are powerful enough should be countered. Blue doesn't have many good ways of handling these. If it's a combination, you don't need to counter all the synergy pieces. Let the ones who don't stand well alone resolve, and never let the other pieces hit the table.
As far as recurring threats, Hinder is an amazing counter for those. This means vengevines, ichorids, anything that can recur/be reanimated is just asking for a hinder. Sending the card to the bottom of the library is about as good as removed from the game.
Hope my input was helpful. Sorry if there are some repetitive information, but it never hurts to remind you guys of some of them
Thanks for your attention
3x Morphling
Spells
4x Ponder
4x Counterspell
4x Capsize (turn 2 sometimes w/ Buyback)
3x Bribery (turn 2 sometimes)
3x Treachery
4x Sol Ring
Enchantments
4x Propaganda
4x Rhystic Study (awesome in multiplayer)
3x Invoke Prejudice (I love this card!)
24x Island
Live in Northern AZ? Lets play some Legacy! Catch me on MODO!
Awesome sig by the one and only DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios
What about mystic remora? It has the downside of cumulative upkeep and not drawing cards when creatures are laid down, but you can always lay down a remora turn 1 and let your opponents change their plans regards playing that turn 1 brianstorm, or turn 1 dark ritual
Alltho I don't think I'll add something from INN, I want to point out a few cards considered:
Dissipate - is already in the primer, but now easier to get.
Think Twice - see above.
Fordbidden Alchemy - Impluse (what is in the primer) is better ('cuz cheaper), unless your list wants cards in the grave or have a minor black splash (but then it's no longer MUC...).
Snapcaster Mage - Speedbump with partial recurrsion. Def. a good card, wether he's worth it in MUC is to be tested.
Stichted Drake - Has an awesome stat/cost ratio and would be a great speedbump, if not for the fact that he needs you to play a good portion critters, that then also need to die before him.
Sturm Geist - Nice budget option. No protection, but a CA engine.
thoughts?
So 3 playable cards from INN...not too bad considering the "powering down" of standard.
"If there is such a thing as too much power, I have not discovered it."
--Volrath
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It currently uses only 2 copies of Meloku the clouded mirror and 2 copies of Keiga, the Tide Star. You can get those for under $20 pretty easy I think. Other than a set of Thornwind Faeries and 2 Clone the only other expensive creature that I might try out is Oona, Queen of the Fae but you don't really need her, as fun as she can be.
For budget you could go with Sphinx of Jwar Isle.
23 Island
This is my ideal list. The one I'm currently running isn't that much different. I'm using 3 Phantom Warrior and 3 Metathran Soldier and not as many spells. I don't have them all yet so I've just played with it as is. It's just a fun MUC deck anyways. It will eventually look like this list though. It's basically, counter-->bounce--> summon a beat stick.
"If there is such a thing as too much power, I have not discovered it."
--Volrath
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