Humility
Hoses every creature on the board and yet unplayed, which turns countless strategies upside down.
Rest In Peace
Completely shuts down graveyard interactions for 2 mana, which in turn hoses various archetypes and strategies until it is off the board.
Terminus
Possible the best creature wraith effect ever printed. Can easily be cheated for 1 mana in control decks. Tucks commanders.
Are all excellent . I really like deed in decks playing a package of cards like this exploration Azusa oracle crucible of worlds strip mine fetch yawg win.
As that style if ramp is insane with deed in almost all phases. Smash everyone's sol rings and signets and mana dorks utility spells great synergy with PWS so versatile , at a faster table it is my favorite wrath.
Yesterday I had the combination of Voidmage husher and Stonecloaker, Counter activation, cast stonecloaker, husher trigger return it stonecloaker returns itself I just ground people down like that turn after turn.. it was a three hour game :S... but I won.
I've never understood Dovescape. Why is this good?
By itself it is strong. With Boseiju, Who Shelters All, you can get around Dovescape, and you still get a ton of tokens because you get the tokens regardless if the spell is countered. With Guile you make infinite Doves.
Private Mod Note
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"Whatever style you wish to play, be it fast and frenzied or slow and tactical, the surest way to defeat your opponent consistently is by dominating him or her in the war of card advantage." - Brian Wiseman, April 1996
Aven Mindcensor is a monster. It usually acts as an Avalance Rider right off the bat (by denying a fetch), then severely gimps every tuned deck by restricting tutors and fetches.
Relic of Progenitus is a one of the cards with the most raw destructive power among 1cmc cards.
Larry Nevin's Disk has to be my favorite. Goes with any color combination and if you have a Darksteel Forge out, your opponents are going to have a very bad time.
Fleshbag Marauder & similar cards. Board hate that sits in the GY just waiting to be plucked out and reused. A major pain paired with Volrath's Stronghold.
I'm particularly fond of stasis effects. Stasis, Winter Orb and Static Orb are my favorite cards in the format right now.
Yeah, prison and stax seem like the best kind of control in cutthroat multiplayer groups. Traditional "The Deck"-style control doesn't work as well against two to four opponents. Many of us still want to play EDH more or less like how Sheldon plays it, though.
Flexibility is key. Things get weird in EDH pretty quick and having the right answer at the right time is crucial. Here are some spells that do a lot of different things:
I would have to say two of the best that haven't already been mentioned are sudden spoiling and ixidron. Both will take care of things that are very hard to deal with and can swing the whole game in your favor if played at the right time.
As a metric I firstly consider the best control cards to be able to deal with more than just one kind of problem - versatile. Declares permanents or any spell type is better than declaring a specific spell or permanent type. Restrictions on types are fundamental weaknesses in removal packages of decks that intend to be heavy on the control. Such is why doom blade, for example, is bad in the format. Secondly, responsive. Split Second is better than Instant is better than Flash is better than sorcery. Finally, how it removes is also important. Exile is better than Shuffle into library is better than Sacrifice is better than Destroy. (Site won't let me use greater than or less than symbols for some reason)
So the top 10 control cards are, in my opinion:
1. Cyclonic Rift - My favorite card ever printed. I expect it will become very expensive in the long term if not reprinted, assuming EDH grows in popularity.
2. Chaos Warp - Removal staple forever.
3. Pact of Negation - I prefer this over Force of Will. I'd argue that it's far more reliable.
4. Beast Within - Removal staple forever.
5. All is Dust - Solves so many problems.
6. Krosan Grip - Split second is just too good.
7. Unravel the Aether - Tucks away so many problems for so cheap.
8. Trickbind - The split second, perfected form of Stifle that completely disallows many kinds of combos and win conditions.
9. Venser, Shaper Savant - Versatile as heck, essentially counters things without saying counter, which can be very important in a lot of games.
10. Return to Dust Solid white exile-based removal.
I really like Overburden and don't see it mentioned here, I have a suicide Nekusar deck that just resolves stuff like that and Tainted Æther while Havoc Festival and Nek's card burn ability to chew on people
Humility
Hoses every creature on the board and yet unplayed, which turns countless strategies upside down.
Rest In Peace
Completely shuts down graveyard interactions for 2 mana, which in turn hoses various archetypes and strategies until it is off the board.
Terminus
Possible the best creature wraith effect ever printed. Can easily be cheated for 1 mana in control decks. Tucks commanders.
When overloaded it is really scary.
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
Mana drain
Pernicious deed
Strip mine
Are all excellent . I really like deed in decks playing a package of cards like this exploration Azusa oracle crucible of worlds strip mine fetch yawg win.
As that style if ramp is insane with deed in almost all phases. Smash everyone's sol rings and signets and mana dorks utility spells great synergy with PWS so versatile , at a faster table it is my favorite wrath.
Damia http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=410191
DDFT Legacyhttp://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=505247
Domain Zoo http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10212429#post10212429
Yesterday I had the combination of Voidmage husher and Stonecloaker, Counter activation, cast stonecloaker, husher trigger return it stonecloaker returns itself I just ground people down like that turn after turn.. it was a three hour game :S... but I won.
Maze of Ith, Mystifying maze, Prahv, spires of order <-- expensive but doesn't target
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Board Resets - Nevinyrral's Disk, Oblivion Stone, Cyclonic Rift, Austere Command
Repeat Use Effects - Capsize, Forbid, Aura Shards, Vedalken Shackles
Cheap, Repeatble Card Draw - Mind's Eye, Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Azami, Lady of Scrolls
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
1998-1999 X 2001-2003 X 2008 X 2012-Present
Commander/EDH
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind UR
Tajic, Blade of the Legion RW
By itself it is strong. With Boseiju, Who Shelters All, you can get around Dovescape, and you still get a ton of tokens because you get the tokens regardless if the spell is countered. With Guile you make infinite Doves.
EDH
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls
GBGlissa, the Traitor
Modern
X Affinity
EDH
BUGTasigur, the Golden Fang (French 1v1)
Modern
RWG Burn
Aven Mindcensor is a monster. It usually acts as an Avalance Rider right off the bat (by denying a fetch), then severely gimps every tuned deck by restricting tutors and fetches.
Relic of Progenitus is a one of the cards with the most raw destructive power among 1cmc cards.
Seriph0 on cockatrice
EDH Decks
WBGKaradorWBG
In my playgroup, I caused Capsize and Patron Wizard to become reviled.
Venser, Shaper Savant. Versatile answer to just about everything.
Glen Elendra Archmage. Two negates.
Chord of Calling/Green Sun's Zenith/etc. Finds the right answer and plops it down on the field.
Suppression Field. I'm always surprised at how many activated abilities we take for granted
Oh Rider, my heart will go on...
Yeah, prison and stax seem like the best kind of control in cutthroat multiplayer groups. Traditional "The Deck"-style control doesn't work as well against two to four opponents. Many of us still want to play EDH more or less like how Sheldon plays it, though.
As a metric I firstly consider the best control cards to be able to deal with more than just one kind of problem - versatile. Declares permanents or any spell type is better than declaring a specific spell or permanent type. Restrictions on types are fundamental weaknesses in removal packages of decks that intend to be heavy on the control. Such is why doom blade, for example, is bad in the format. Secondly, responsive. Split Second is better than Instant is better than Flash is better than sorcery. Finally, how it removes is also important. Exile is better than Shuffle into library is better than Sacrifice is better than Destroy. (Site won't let me use greater than or less than symbols for some reason)
So the top 10 control cards are, in my opinion:
1. Cyclonic Rift - My favorite card ever printed. I expect it will become very expensive in the long term if not reprinted, assuming EDH grows in popularity.
2. Chaos Warp - Removal staple forever.
3. Pact of Negation - I prefer this over Force of Will. I'd argue that it's far more reliable.
4. Beast Within - Removal staple forever.
5. All is Dust - Solves so many problems.
6. Krosan Grip - Split second is just too good.
7. Unravel the Aether - Tucks away so many problems for so cheap.
8. Trickbind - The split second, perfected form of Stifle that completely disallows many kinds of combos and win conditions.
9. Venser, Shaper Savant - Versatile as heck, essentially counters things without saying counter, which can be very important in a lot of games.
10. Return to Dust Solid white exile-based removal.
Honorable mentions off the top of my head:
Hero's Downfall, Terminate, Supreme Verdict, Damnation, Remand, Force of Will, Crosis's Charm, Sultai Charm, Hinder, Mindbreak Trap, Forbid, Bane of Progress, Terastodon, Volcanic Offering, Rakdos Charm (underappreciated beast of a card in EDH!), Austere Command, Counterflux, and Voidslime.
Way to necro a two year old thread with this post lol...
With that said, it is a good one; I hope the mods let it stay around.