I have a blue/white deck that I have been playing for some time. Sadly, the deck had a rough time lately and I thought I might post it here to see if you guys have any suggestion of cards I could try to improve this deck. Here is the list:
The deck has been having problems drawing cards and reaching the mana to cast the sphinx...let me know if you have any idea to help this deck work better in multiplayer games
For powerful + efficient Blue card draw look no further than Mystic Remora. Be mindful of the Oracle text which indicates that it affects each opponent and not just one! Otherwise Rhystic Study and Trade Secrets are always solid options and even things like Fact or Fiction can get the job done at a reasonable price. The biggest problem with the Remora is that it competes with Mind Harness but as far as I'm concerned that's a no-brainer swap. A conditional Control Magic with a CU is "meh" whereas Remora is an oppressive bastion of death and destruction.
I dislike Brainstorm in decks without cheap shuffle effects. It basically doesn't do anything. Since this is a combo deck I recommend running either Preordain or Ponder instead. I'm obviously assuming that "20 land" doesn't actually mean 8-10x Fetches, 4x Duals + various basics but I don't think that I'm wrong. I realize that B.Storm is all the rage in formats such as Vintage and Legacy but the card is legitimately awful when you're simply drawing the cards that you put back on top. The end-result is a Whispers of the Muse and while you get to "sometimes fix your next 2 draw steps" that's not game-winning value in the slightest. With Preordain you always get full control over the two cards that you see which makes it a stronger option overall (again, assuming no cheap shuffle effects).
20 lands is too few. Run at least 22-24 by cutting the Sway of Illusions and Blue Sun's Zeniths. USZ isn't an inherently bad card or anything but this deck is ill-equipped to support it. I'd much rather run a card like Trade Secrets anyways. Besides, flooding isn't a big concern for UW decks in general given the presence of mass card draw and oppressive mana sinks such as Luminarch Ascension.
posts really help ramp blue. There are a few mono blue budget post decks listed on this forum. here's one, prid3 has a budget blue one that I basically copied verbatim minus a deluvian primordial. The gist is 4 cloudpost and 4 glimmerpost ramp quite efficiently. Issues with card draw in multiplayer can be solved by adding rhystic study or mystic remora. remora has an errata now that triggers for each opponent.
posts really help ramp blue. There are a few mono blue budget post decks listed on this forum. here's one, prid3 has a budget blue one that I basically copied verbatim minus a deluvian primordial. The gist is 4 cloudpost and 4 glimmerpost ramp quite efficiently. Issues with card draw in multiplayer can be solved by adding rhystic study or mystic remora. remora has an errata now that triggers for each opponent.
That's a decent start.
To build on this if you do add Cloudposts I recommend switching over to a big X draw spell such as Stroke of genius. USZ is extremely difficult to cast in Post decks due to the UUU cost.
Thanks for the advices...I will swap a few cards around...I will keep the Mind Harness since they are basically a control magic for 1 mana because
I keep turning the whole board into red permanents and people kill creatures quickly in my playgroup so I know that I wont have to pay the upkeep costs for long.
I would like to run some posts but I heavily need blue mana since most of my deck requires blue mana to cast.
The mystic remoras will be a great addition to it, thank you.
No grindstone? I know its getting a bit up there in price for a casual deck, but even just running one with some trinket mages to get it can be nice with those painter's servants. The mages can also help with mana by fetching an artifact land or sol ring
+20 lands
The deck has been having problems drawing cards and reaching the mana to cast the sphinx...let me know if you have any idea to help this deck work better in multiplayer games
I dislike Brainstorm in decks without cheap shuffle effects. It basically doesn't do anything. Since this is a combo deck I recommend running either Preordain or Ponder instead. I'm obviously assuming that "20 land" doesn't actually mean 8-10x Fetches, 4x Duals + various basics but I don't think that I'm wrong. I realize that B.Storm is all the rage in formats such as Vintage and Legacy but the card is legitimately awful when you're simply drawing the cards that you put back on top. The end-result is a Whispers of the Muse and while you get to "sometimes fix your next 2 draw steps" that's not game-winning value in the slightest. With Preordain you always get full control over the two cards that you see which makes it a stronger option overall (again, assuming no cheap shuffle effects).
20 lands is too few. Run at least 22-24 by cutting the Sway of Illusions and Blue Sun's Zeniths. USZ isn't an inherently bad card or anything but this deck is ill-equipped to support it. I'd much rather run a card like Trade Secrets anyways. Besides, flooding isn't a big concern for UW decks in general given the presence of mass card draw and oppressive mana sinks such as Luminarch Ascension.
Bonne chance mon ami!
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
That's a decent start.
To build on this if you do add Cloudposts I recommend switching over to a big X draw spell such as Stroke of genius. USZ is extremely difficult to cast in Post decks due to the UUU cost.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
I keep turning the whole board into red permanents and people kill creatures quickly in my playgroup so I know that I wont have to pay the upkeep costs for long.
I would like to run some posts but I heavily need blue mana since most of my deck requires blue mana to cast.
The mystic remoras will be a great addition to it, thank you.
So that's a no on Douse then ;)?
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold