Sultai Control is a tri-color tempo control deck that wins games by controlling the board and relying on a delve sub-theme and grinding out with aggressive efficent win conditions. The deck is modern legal and semi-budget budget friendly (~$250 as of 11/24/2014 but can play in a similar fashion for less or more money). While Sultai Control is designed for kitchen table and Friday Night Magic casual versus matches, the deck can also compete in more competitive games as well.
Note: This is an extended primer, if you are just interested in seeing and commenting on the deck, please scroll down towards the end of the thread.
Card Choices
These cards are our win conditions and they are the primary reason we are running our colors and support cards. Hooting Mandrills looks like limited common garbage at first glance but with the right support this card is very powerful. Hooting Mandrills frequently will be a 4/4 with trample for G even early in the game which is unprecedented in Magic the Gathering. It's immune to Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, Izzet Charm, Abrupt Decay and Disfigure. The trample is also relevant against token decks. Hooting Mandrills is essentially our Tarmogoyf, a serious threat and a primary win condition. Thragtusk is frequently too slow for Modern and in the 5-6 CMC slot there are options like Grave Titan, Sphinx of Isle, and more. It also fails the Lightning Bolt test. So why Thragtusk? He's exactly the type of card this deck needs. He stabilizes the board for us, two bodies for the price of one. He gains us a significant amount of life which is crucial against certain match ups and he is very splashable. Creeping Tarpit wins games just like his brother Celestial Colonnade. Being able to essentially tap four lands to play a Lava Spike that can't be countered is excellent. He can not only poke our opponent when we are in top draw mode or mana flooded, but he also can swing at planeswalkers without worrying about being blocked like our other threats.
Having cards that provide advantage is crucial in a Sultai control deck.Coiling Oracle is card advantage that can potentially ramp us on a body. What's not to love here? He brings us advantage, and he can chump block later, or even poke for a few points of damage. Gitaxian Probe is one of my favorite cantrips. You might be asking why choose Gitaxian Probe over Serum Visions or Sleight of Hand? Digging deeper is nice, but being able to play the card for free, and see our opponents hand is crucial in a control deck that has a delve subtheme. Grisly Salvage is one of the best cards for this deck. It allows us to dig to mana fix, or to find any of our few win conditions. Grisly Salvage is especially awesome because it is instant speed, which allows for some awesome tricks. Grisly Salvage also allows us to cast Hooting Mandrills for G! If our opponent doesn't have a serious turn 2 play, we can play it at the end of their second turn. On our third turn we can play Hooting Mandrills and still keep 2 mana open for a counter spell or a removal spell.
These cards help us answer our opponents threats before they hit the battlefield. Inquisition of Kozilek doesn't need an introduction. It usually is our best turn one play. We can take any relevant early game threat, and get an good scope into what we are playing against. It's not Thoughtseize, but not paying the 2 life is nice, especially because usually we'll be grabbing something with CMC 3 or less anyway. Duress brings about consistency for discard. It isn't as good as Inquisition of Kozilek, but it can grab planeswalkers with CMC 4 or greater (Elspeth, Knight Errant, Karn Liberated) and it can grab board wipes (Supreme Verdict, Damnnation), both are serious threats for this deck. Mana Leak doesn't need an introduction. It's not Remand, and if this weren't a budget deck, Remand would probably see play in one or two of the three slots. Still Mana Leak is a fantastic permission spell early to mid game. Spell Snare is fantastic in the format. With cards like Dark Confidant, Tarmogoyf, Izzet Charm, Lightning Helix and more, being able to stop these spells for only 1 mana is a major deal, especially if we are on the draw instead of the play.
It is impossible to prevent any serious threats from resolving, the following cards answer threats that make their way to the battlefield. Abrupt Decay is like Mana Leak in that it doesn't need an introduction, but it is a lot harder to substitute for unlike Remand. Abrupt Decay is vital not only because it can't be countered, but it gets rid of several of the most powerful cards in the format at instant speed (Liliana of The Veil, Mox Opal, Tarmogoyf, Vendilion Clique). Sultai Charm* has an astrix next to it because it isn't simply a removal spell, it is very versatile. We have Ultimate Price + Naturalize here which answers most creatures in the format. Having a Naturalize in the main deck is very useful, and the ability to Catalog brings consistency, especially with delve cards. Murderous Cut is a great card. Initially I was skeptical about running Murderous Cut alongside Hooting Mandrills but after a bit of testing, it hasn't been a problem. Usually Murderous Cut will be Murder for CMC B or 1B. Victim of Night and Grasp of Darkness are options here, but I find the double black cost to be difficult at times for a budget deck to cast (No card in this deck requires double of a single color to cast). If I had to run a different card here, it would probably be Geth's Verdict or Dismember.
I won't speak much about the mana base here. It speaks for itself and it is what it is for a budget mana base. Polluted Delta aren't cheap, but having at least 4 fetches seems mandatory here. Ideally this deck would probably want to run 6-8 (Misty Rainforest and Verdant Catacombs being the other contenders). 2 Creeping Tarpit is about the right number, I find that this mana base is quite consistent, I'm not having mana problems frequently (a lot of that probably has to do with not having double single colored cards in the list) and I don't auto scoop to Blood Moon. Honestly, even if money weren't an object, aside from having a couple more fetches, the deck's mana base would be very similar.
Thanks for taking the time to read over this deck. I spent a lot of time on this primer so I would really appreciate some feedback on how I can make this deck stronger (without breaking the bank) along with what is good about the deck as it stands. I am especially interested in hearing about alternatie win conditions (especially noncreature ones) and ways to improve the land base for more consistency. Also, while I am a semi competitive player, I'm curious about what a potential sideboard would look like if I were to play this deck more competitively. Please highlight match ups that Sultai Control does well with as well as cards and decks that are hard to deal with. I would imagine there are some cards I'm overlooking, but please keep in mind I want to keep the deck Sultai (no red or white splash), budget friendly (No Tarmogoyf, Cryptic Command, etc.) and Modern legal.
Hey there! I saw this thread in the Modern section, but lost track of it. I am of like mind thinking that Hooting Mandrills is fairly well positioned in the current meta.
One concern I had was with the Duress. What's your Meta look like? I play mainly Green Devotion for Modern in a competitive meta with mostly tier 1 decks, and the only decks that play sweepers that you'd care about (actual Wrath effects - this deck won't ever see an Anger of the Gods) are BW Tokens, 4Color Gifts Ungiven, WUR Control (They may have one maindeck, or one or two in the side). As alternatives, I'd look at Darkblast as at least a 1-of, as it has applications against many of the most popular decks right now. When recurred, it can be brutal. If you haven't played with the card, you can also cast it during your upkeep, dredge it up for your draw step, and hit the same target again to take out a 2-toughness problem creature. Or, you can just machine-gun guys. Works well with Gitaxian Probe. Just an all-around good card. Another suggestion would be a 1-of Scavenging Ooze or Nihil Spellbomb, with a preference towards the ooze. Random graveyard hate, another potential win condition, and a decent body. Golgari Charm is very well positioned right now also, and should be worth considering. Many decks have targets for the enchantment mode, some decks are veryvulnerable to the -1/-1 mode (UR Delver's Young Pyromancers, Unflipped Delvers of Secrets), and the regeneration effect is always welcome and can act as an effective counterspell (barring Path to Exile). Drown in Sorrow is also maindeckable in aggressive / Birthing Pod metas. It's perfect here, as it doesn't hit anything you have.
Any swarm strategy may give you problems since your removal isn't Red (Forked Bolts, Lightning Bolts are amazing at recouping tempo loss), and your sideboard should reflect some of this. Affinity will be difficult, but some love and care in the sideboard should take care of that easily enough. Birthing Pod decks are going to give you trouble as you're going to have difficulty keeping pace with their value train - namely Siege Rhino and how easy they have access to it. He dodges Inquisition and all your removal save the Murderous Cuts. Sideboard slots can also shore this up somewhat - the rest of your deck is set up fairly well to fight against Pod. Just those Rhinos... ugh. Splinter Twin should be a decent match up for you. UWR Control will be a toss-up, and their trump on you is their Celestial Colonnade. Against Jeskai Ascendancy combo, you're fairly well set up to not get blown out of the water. Burn's always a concern that people haven't taken into account in the past -
With all that said, if I were to make a sideboard for your deck as-is, with the 2 Duress considered as Flex spots, I'd try:
This sideboard is assuming -2 Duress Maindeck, +1 Darkblast, +1 Scavenging Ooze.
Reasoning: Golgari Charm comes in against swarm decks and control decks, and against some combo like Splinter Twin. Feels wrong NOT to run it in some capacity when you are in BG. Also bring in when you're expecting Rest in Peace to come in, although you may not even care if it does.
Rain of Tears is against Control to nail manlands or color screw - gives you a nice proactive gameplan. Also happens to be good against the Tron decks.
Drown in Sorrow comes in against Birthing Pod, Affinity, UR Delver, Burn, Goblins, Elves, tokens... thing is beastly at the moment.
Nihil Spellbomb is for UR Delver, any Treasure Cruise / Dig Through Time deck, etc. Randomly completly hoses Living End. Superior to Relic of Progenitus because it still leaves your graveyard in tact for Delve shenanigans. Bojuka Bog serves the same purpose and should be brought in in the same cases for a Swamp, and you can grab it with a Grisly Salvage. Tech!
Deathmark is a hedge against Pod's Rhinos and, well, any of their creatures.
Dismember comes in against Twin, Pod... any deck where you can regain tempo where your life total isn't under immediate attack by offing a beefy guy for 1-3 mana.
Bow of Nylea is iffy, but it's meant to come in against hyper aggro and burn. The green mana sources may be a little light for the GG pips in its casting cost (I counted 12 sources, I believe?). Even a couple Green fetches should fix this completely. I may even run some Wooded Foothills or Windswept Heaths in here if I were you just for the extra access for mana fixing. Ideally you'd get the proper fetches, but we're working on a budget here.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver comes in against any green midrange deck. Any matchup that feels super grindy, I'd bring this bad boy in. He's quite powerful in Modern and severely underplayed in a green-heavy meta. The only removal that nails him that people actually play is Abrupt Decay, which Pod does utilize. However, they don't always have the card.
I hope this was of some help to you to get some more discussion going on the deck - I really like how it looks, and it's not much to put together! I'm about $80 away from putting this together myself. Perhaps in the next couple months I'll grab the lands I need and give this a whirl at the shop.
Oh, aside from Ashiok as a win-con, consider Nissa from M15, although she's STILL pricey. Garruk Relentless might be ok against some decks. Death Cloud might have merit in here as a singleton maindeck, as it plays into your delve / control strategy and you already have Thragtusks. Oh, and I'd try to find a way to up the Thragtusks to at least 3.
Sultai Control is a tri-color tempo control deck that wins games by controlling the board and relying on a delve sub-theme and grinding out with aggressive efficent win conditions. The deck is modern legal and semi-budget budget friendly (~$250 as of 11/24/2014 but can play in a similar fashion for less or more money). While Sultai Control is designed for kitchen table and Friday Night Magic casual versus matches, the deck can also compete in more competitive games as well.
Note: This is an extended primer, if you are just interested in seeing and commenting on the deck, please scroll down towards the end of the thread.
Card Choices
These cards are our win conditions and they are the primary reason we are running our colors and support cards.
Hooting Mandrills looks like limited common garbage at first glance but with the right support this card is very powerful. Hooting Mandrills frequently will be a 4/4 with trample for G even early in the game which is unprecedented in Magic the Gathering. It's immune to Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, Izzet Charm, Abrupt Decay and Disfigure. The trample is also relevant against token decks. Hooting Mandrills is essentially our Tarmogoyf, a serious threat and a primary win condition. Thragtusk is frequently too slow for Modern and in the 5-6 CMC slot there are options like Grave Titan, Sphinx of Isle, and more. It also fails the Lightning Bolt test. So why Thragtusk? He's exactly the type of card this deck needs. He stabilizes the board for us, two bodies for the price of one. He gains us a significant amount of life which is crucial against certain match ups and he is very splashable. Creeping Tarpit wins games just like his brother Celestial Colonnade. Being able to essentially tap four lands to play a Lava Spike that can't be countered is excellent. He can not only poke our opponent when we are in top draw mode or mana flooded, but he also can swing at planeswalkers without worrying about being blocked like our other threats.
Having cards that provide advantage is crucial in a Sultai control deck.Coiling Oracle is card advantage that can potentially ramp us on a body. What's not to love here? He brings us advantage, and he can chump block later, or even poke for a few points of damage. Gitaxian Probe is one of my favorite cantrips. You might be asking why choose Gitaxian Probe over Serum Visions or Sleight of Hand? Digging deeper is nice, but being able to play the card for free, and see our opponents hand is crucial in a control deck that has a delve subtheme. Grisly Salvage is one of the best cards for this deck. It allows us to dig to mana fix, or to find any of our few win conditions. Grisly Salvage is especially awesome because it is instant speed, which allows for some awesome tricks. Grisly Salvage also allows us to cast Hooting Mandrills for G! If our opponent doesn't have a serious turn 2 play, we can play it at the end of their second turn. On our third turn we can play Hooting Mandrills and still keep 2 mana open for a counter spell or a removal spell.
These cards help us answer our opponents threats before they hit the battlefield. Inquisition of Kozilek doesn't need an introduction. It usually is our best turn one play. We can take any relevant early game threat, and get an good scope into what we are playing against. It's not Thoughtseize, but not paying the 2 life is nice, especially because usually we'll be grabbing something with CMC 3 or less anyway. Duress brings about consistency for discard. It isn't as good as Inquisition of Kozilek, but it can grab planeswalkers with CMC 4 or greater (Elspeth, Knight Errant, Karn Liberated) and it can grab board wipes (Supreme Verdict, Damnnation), both are serious threats for this deck. Mana Leak doesn't need an introduction. It's not Remand, and if this weren't a budget deck, Remand would probably see play in one or two of the three slots. Still Mana Leak is a fantastic permission spell early to mid game. Spell Snare is fantastic in the format. With cards like Dark Confidant, Tarmogoyf, Izzet Charm, Lightning Helix and more, being able to stop these spells for only 1 mana is a major deal, especially if we are on the draw instead of the play.
It is impossible to prevent any serious threats from resolving, the following cards answer threats that make their way to the battlefield.
Abrupt Decay is like Mana Leak in that it doesn't need an introduction, but it is a lot harder to substitute for unlike Remand. Abrupt Decay is vital not only because it can't be countered, but it gets rid of several of the most powerful cards in the format at instant speed (Liliana of The Veil, Mox Opal, Tarmogoyf, Vendilion Clique). Sultai Charm* has an astrix next to it because it isn't simply a removal spell, it is very versatile. We have Ultimate Price + Naturalize here which answers most creatures in the format. Having a Naturalize in the main deck is very useful, and the ability to Catalog brings consistency, especially with delve cards. Murderous Cut is a great card. Initially I was skeptical about running Murderous Cut alongside Hooting Mandrills but after a bit of testing, it hasn't been a problem. Usually Murderous Cut will be Murder for CMC B or 1B. Victim of Night and Grasp of Darkness are options here, but I find the double black cost to be difficult at times for a budget deck to cast (No card in this deck requires double of a single color to cast). If I had to run a different card here, it would probably be Geth's Verdict or Dismember.
I won't speak much about the mana base here. It speaks for itself and it is what it is for a budget mana base. Polluted Delta aren't cheap, but having at least 4 fetches seems mandatory here. Ideally this deck would probably want to run 6-8 (Misty Rainforest and Verdant Catacombs being the other contenders). 2 Creeping Tarpit is about the right number, I find that this mana base is quite consistent, I'm not having mana problems frequently (a lot of that probably has to do with not having double single colored cards in the list) and I don't auto scoop to Blood Moon. Honestly, even if money weren't an object, aside from having a couple more fetches, the deck's mana base would be very similar.
Decklist
4x Hooting Mandrills
2x Thragtusk
Card Advantage (11)
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Grisly Salvage
3x Coiling Oracle
Disruption and Permission (11)
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Duress
3x Mana Leak
2x Spell Snare
3x Abrupt Decay
3x Sultai Charm
2x Murderous Cut
Lands (24)
4x Polluted Delta
2x Creeping Tarpit (Alternate Win Condition)
2x Darkslick Shores
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Watery Grave
2x Breeding Pool
1x Hinterland Harbor
2x Overgrown Tomb
1x Woodland Cemetery
3x Island
2x Forest
2x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Thanks for taking the time to read over this deck. I spent a lot of time on this primer so I would really appreciate some feedback on how I can make this deck stronger (without breaking the bank) along with what is good about the deck as it stands. I am especially interested in hearing about alternatie win conditions (especially noncreature ones) and ways to improve the land base for more consistency. Also, while I am a semi competitive player, I'm curious about what a potential sideboard would look like if I were to play this deck more competitively. Please highlight match ups that Sultai Control does well with as well as cards and decks that are hard to deal with. I would imagine there are some cards I'm overlooking, but please keep in mind I want to keep the deck Sultai (no red or white splash), budget friendly (No Tarmogoyf, Cryptic Command, etc.) and Modern legal.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
One concern I had was with the Duress. What's your Meta look like? I play mainly Green Devotion for Modern in a competitive meta with mostly tier 1 decks, and the only decks that play sweepers that you'd care about (actual Wrath effects - this deck won't ever see an Anger of the Gods) are BW Tokens, 4Color Gifts Ungiven, WUR Control (They may have one maindeck, or one or two in the side). As alternatives, I'd look at Darkblast as at least a 1-of, as it has applications against many of the most popular decks right now. When recurred, it can be brutal. If you haven't played with the card, you can also cast it during your upkeep, dredge it up for your draw step, and hit the same target again to take out a 2-toughness problem creature. Or, you can just machine-gun guys. Works well with Gitaxian Probe. Just an all-around good card. Another suggestion would be a 1-of Scavenging Ooze or Nihil Spellbomb, with a preference towards the ooze. Random graveyard hate, another potential win condition, and a decent body. Golgari Charm is very well positioned right now also, and should be worth considering. Many decks have targets for the enchantment mode, some decks are veryvulnerable to the -1/-1 mode (UR Delver's Young Pyromancers, Unflipped Delvers of Secrets), and the regeneration effect is always welcome and can act as an effective counterspell (barring Path to Exile). Drown in Sorrow is also maindeckable in aggressive / Birthing Pod metas. It's perfect here, as it doesn't hit anything you have.
Any swarm strategy may give you problems since your removal isn't Red (Forked Bolts, Lightning Bolts are amazing at recouping tempo loss), and your sideboard should reflect some of this. Affinity will be difficult, but some love and care in the sideboard should take care of that easily enough. Birthing Pod decks are going to give you trouble as you're going to have difficulty keeping pace with their value train - namely Siege Rhino and how easy they have access to it. He dodges Inquisition and all your removal save the Murderous Cuts. Sideboard slots can also shore this up somewhat - the rest of your deck is set up fairly well to fight against Pod. Just those Rhinos... ugh. Splinter Twin should be a decent match up for you. UWR Control will be a toss-up, and their trump on you is their Celestial Colonnade. Against Jeskai Ascendancy combo, you're fairly well set up to not get blown out of the water. Burn's always a concern that people haven't taken into account in the past -
With all that said, if I were to make a sideboard for your deck as-is, with the 2 Duress considered as Flex spots, I'd try:
1 Golgari Charm
4 Rain of Tears
3 Drown in Sorrow
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Deathmark
1 Dismember
1 Bow of Nylea
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
This sideboard is assuming -2 Duress Maindeck, +1 Darkblast, +1 Scavenging Ooze.
Reasoning: Golgari Charm comes in against swarm decks and control decks, and against some combo like Splinter Twin. Feels wrong NOT to run it in some capacity when you are in BG. Also bring in when you're expecting Rest in Peace to come in, although you may not even care if it does.
Rain of Tears is against Control to nail manlands or color screw - gives you a nice proactive gameplan. Also happens to be good against the Tron decks.
Drown in Sorrow comes in against Birthing Pod, Affinity, UR Delver, Burn, Goblins, Elves, tokens... thing is beastly at the moment.
Nihil Spellbomb is for UR Delver, any Treasure Cruise / Dig Through Time deck, etc. Randomly completly hoses Living End. Superior to Relic of Progenitus because it still leaves your graveyard in tact for Delve shenanigans. Bojuka Bog serves the same purpose and should be brought in in the same cases for a Swamp, and you can grab it with a Grisly Salvage. Tech!
Deathmark is a hedge against Pod's Rhinos and, well, any of their creatures.
Dismember comes in against Twin, Pod... any deck where you can regain tempo where your life total isn't under immediate attack by offing a beefy guy for 1-3 mana.
Bow of Nylea is iffy, but it's meant to come in against hyper aggro and burn. The green mana sources may be a little light for the GG pips in its casting cost (I counted 12 sources, I believe?). Even a couple Green fetches should fix this completely. I may even run some Wooded Foothills or Windswept Heaths in here if I were you just for the extra access for mana fixing. Ideally you'd get the proper fetches, but we're working on a budget here.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver comes in against any green midrange deck. Any matchup that feels super grindy, I'd bring this bad boy in. He's quite powerful in Modern and severely underplayed in a green-heavy meta. The only removal that nails him that people actually play is Abrupt Decay, which Pod does utilize. However, they don't always have the card.
I hope this was of some help to you to get some more discussion going on the deck - I really like how it looks, and it's not much to put together! I'm about $80 away from putting this together myself. Perhaps in the next couple months I'll grab the lands I need and give this a whirl at the shop.
Oh, aside from Ashiok as a win-con, consider Nissa from M15, although she's STILL pricey. Garruk Relentless might be ok against some decks. Death Cloud might have merit in here as a singleton maindeck, as it plays into your delve / control strategy and you already have Thragtusks. Oh, and I'd try to find a way to up the Thragtusks to at least 3.
Other strong SB cards to consider: Negate, Lifebane Zombie, Phyrexian Revoker, Pithing Needle, Devour Flesh