I love mono blue control, but Force of Will and Brainstorm make it cost $800 or more. There are strong new commons and uncommons, and demand is even stronger. A set of Consider, Fading Hope, and Tolarian Terror costs $10, and even 4 Counterspell is almost $8. I wondered what could be built for less than the price of that iconic card. My rules were 60 cards, including Islands, near-mint only, from a reputable seller for less than $8 after tax and shipping.
I ended up at $6 for the maindeck (with a couple foils, even), leaving enough to build a decent toolbox for customization (Repeal, Negate, etc). The main challenges are dealing with soft (Mana Leak) or expensive (Sinister Sabotage) counterspells and setting up a defense against the many ways decks attack. Reviewing classic lists and tournament reports brought me back to basics: Counter their stuff and play something huge to stabilize the board or punish playing around Mana Leak. It's easy to make the most of your spells when they gain new life on offense. Ward keeps the counters alive. Interaction can be "thrown away" to accelerate finishers into play, or threats can be allowed to resolve only to be trumped by monsters.
As I play, I want lower mana costs and more generic/active spells. I cut Dismiss for Scattered Thoughts after opponents took advantage of me having no finisher by just not playing anything while they attacked for 3, for example. I built the deck with Flow of Knowledge and 26 Island in mind, and that's worth looking at with Mystic Sanctuary, but found that a cheap turbo-xerox strategy (cut lands for card selection like Opt) was possible and more consistent due to Thought Scour's use as pseudo-mana for the creatures. I tried Dragon Turtle and Silumgar's Scorn over Cryptic Serpent and Mana Leak, but it didn't immediately justify the extra cost. I'd like to revisit the idea. The store I chose didn't have Engulf the Shore in stock, which I would really like for my toolbox.
No clue if that interests anyone, but it's a fun exercise. I wonder how someone else would build at that price point? Many budget lists I see can't really be purchased at their suggested price. Card Kingdom's comparable battle decks ($11.99 before tax and shipping) go with bigger mana curves, more hard counters, and engines like Bonder's Ornament. Admirably, they want slow, long games, which works fine against other battle decks. I played against some battle decks and never lost, so this would need to be toned down for that environment.
Regarding mono blue control in general, I've been trying all sorts of things and cataloguing my thoughts, but by the time I'm ready to share, there's more to try. Narrowing the focus to $8, there's still so much to do. I'm sure everyone could make a better version for their group. Control benefits both from mastery and adaptation.
I love mono blue control, but Force of Will and Brainstorm make it cost $800 or more. There are strong new commons and uncommons, and demand is even stronger. A set of Consider, Fading Hope, and Tolarian Terror costs $10, and even 4 Counterspell is almost $8. I wondered what could be built for less than the price of that iconic card. My rules were 60 cards, including Islands, near-mint only, from a reputable seller for less than $8 after tax and shipping.
I ended up at $6 for the maindeck (with a couple foils, even), leaving enough to build a decent toolbox for customization (Repeal, Negate, etc). The main challenges are dealing with soft (Mana Leak) or expensive (Sinister Sabotage) counterspells and setting up a defense against the many ways decks attack. Reviewing classic lists and tournament reports brought me back to basics: Counter their stuff and play something huge to stabilize the board or punish playing around Mana Leak. It's easy to make the most of your spells when they gain new life on offense. Ward keeps the counters alive. Interaction can be "thrown away" to accelerate finishers into play, or threats can be allowed to resolve only to be trumped by monsters.
As I play, I want lower mana costs and more generic/active spells. I cut Dismiss for Scattered Thoughts after opponents took advantage of me having no finisher by just not playing anything while they attacked for 3, for example. I built the deck with Flow of Knowledge and 26 Island in mind, and that's worth looking at with Mystic Sanctuary, but found that a cheap turbo-xerox strategy (cut lands for card selection like Opt) was possible and more consistent due to Thought Scour's use as pseudo-mana for the creatures. I tried Dragon Turtle and Silumgar's Scorn over Cryptic Serpent and Mana Leak, but it didn't immediately justify the extra cost. I'd like to revisit the idea. The store I chose didn't have Engulf the Shore in stock, which I would really like for my toolbox.
No clue if that interests anyone, but it's a fun exercise. I wonder how someone else would build at that price point? Many budget lists I see can't really be purchased at their suggested price. Card Kingdom's comparable battle decks ($11.99 before tax and shipping) go with bigger mana curves, more hard counters, and engines like Bonder's Ornament. Admirably, they want slow, long games, which works fine against other battle decks. I played against some battle decks and never lost, so this would need to be toned down for that environment.
Regarding mono blue control in general, I've been trying all sorts of things and cataloguing my thoughts, but by the time I'm ready to share, there's more to try. Narrowing the focus to $8, there's still so much to do. I'm sure everyone could make a better version for their group. Control benefits both from mastery and adaptation.
pucatrade
big receipts
alpha mox emerald
beta time walk
4 goyfs received
3 liliana of the veil
4 karn liberated
3 force of will
4 grove of the burnwillows
snapcaster mage
3 horizon canopy
2 full art damnation
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Precognitive Perception is an upgrade to Jace's Ingenuity. Or a very bad Ancestral Recall.
Quench should see no constructed play in formats with Rune Snag, Miscalculation and Mana Leak available.
Prying Eyes also has the problem of better siblings: Pull from Tomorrow and Blue Sun's Zenith.
Shimmer of Possibility is sorcery-speed Impulse.
Sphinx of Foresight looks for real. A 4/4 flying for 4 with scry 1 every turn? Solid.
Thought Collapse the latest addition to the list of 1UU hard counters. Might have room in a deck that mills.
Overall no great additions to the archetype.
These are the decks that I have constructed, and are ready to play:
01. Ankh Sligh to be exact.
Land
24island
Counters
4Force of will
4Counterspell
4Mana leak
Instants
4Fact or fiction
3Impulse
2Capsize
2Misdirection
Board Control
4Powder Keg
3Control Magic
3Propaganda
Finisher
3Morphling
It sure is a twenty year old deck so I'd like to hear about some new choices.
Thanks in advance.
4 Sailors' Bane
4 Opt
4 Thought Scour
4 Unsummon
2 Essence Scatter
4 Lose Focus
4 Mana Leak
4 Thirst for Discovery
4 Scattered Thoughts
I ended up at $6 for the maindeck (with a couple foils, even), leaving enough to build a decent toolbox for customization (Repeal, Negate, etc). The main challenges are dealing with soft (Mana Leak) or expensive (Sinister Sabotage) counterspells and setting up a defense against the many ways decks attack. Reviewing classic lists and tournament reports brought me back to basics: Counter their stuff and play something huge to stabilize the board or punish playing around Mana Leak. It's easy to make the most of your spells when they gain new life on offense. Ward keeps the counters alive. Interaction can be "thrown away" to accelerate finishers into play, or threats can be allowed to resolve only to be trumped by monsters.
As I play, I want lower mana costs and more generic/active spells. I cut Dismiss for Scattered Thoughts after opponents took advantage of me having no finisher by just not playing anything while they attacked for 3, for example. I built the deck with Flow of Knowledge and 26 Island in mind, and that's worth looking at with Mystic Sanctuary, but found that a cheap turbo-xerox strategy (cut lands for card selection like Opt) was possible and more consistent due to Thought Scour's use as pseudo-mana for the creatures. I tried Dragon Turtle and Silumgar's Scorn over Cryptic Serpent and Mana Leak, but it didn't immediately justify the extra cost. I'd like to revisit the idea. The store I chose didn't have Engulf the Shore in stock, which I would really like for my toolbox.
No clue if that interests anyone, but it's a fun exercise. I wonder how someone else would build at that price point? Many budget lists I see can't really be purchased at their suggested price. Card Kingdom's comparable battle decks ($11.99 before tax and shipping) go with bigger mana curves, more hard counters, and engines like Bonder's Ornament. Admirably, they want slow, long games, which works fine against other battle decks. I played against some battle decks and never lost, so this would need to be toned down for that environment.
Regarding mono blue control in general, I've been trying all sorts of things and cataloguing my thoughts, but by the time I'm ready to share, there's more to try. Narrowing the focus to $8, there's still so much to do. I'm sure everyone could make a better version for their group. Control benefits both from mastery and adaptation.
Tempest Djinn is a budget finisher.
Fading Hope is an upgrade from unsummon although it might be out of your budget challenge.
pucatrade
big receipts
alpha mox emerald
beta time walk
4 goyfs received
3 liliana of the veil
4 karn liberated
3 force of will
4 grove of the burnwillows
snapcaster mage
3 horizon canopy
2 full art damnation