I'm currently tinkering with a Simic control deck (the Commander will either be Rashmi or Kruphix), but from past experience with Kruphix I've noticed that people will tend to try and shut down that type of deck very quickly before it gets out of hand and amasses more mana and cards than the rest of the table combined. So I'm looking for ways to bolster my early defense.
Propganda is perfect, of course, but it's only one card. I'm also running Aetherize and Aetherspouts as bounce spells that deter attackers and don't affect me like Evacuation does. Further, I've decided to mainly ramp via cheap dudes like Farhaven Elf to generate some early blockers. Are there any other good ways you can recommend to keep early aggression in check until I can start putting out my own bombs?
Depending on the type of decks you typically play against, I always thought Kiora, the Crashing Wave is great. I'm not sure she's exactly what you're looking for, but it's funny how hard it can be to drop a second dude that can actually get to her, she can ramp you, she will just win if left unchecked, and at the very least, she'll distract somebody from attacking you.
I think ramp harder may be the best advice as mentioned above. Obviously, it's a bit of a meta call, but I'm guessing early aggro isn't as big of a deal as you may be thinking. Protecting your commander is probably going to be the more pressing issue as people may want to keep you down as you said. I think Rashmi is the less threatening of the two if you are worried about being teamed up on.
i've been playing prime speaker zegana since she was first spoiled. i've played all manner of variation on her.
ramp harder.
it seems like *****ty advice, but in the case of u/g it really isn't. you're in colors that ramp and draw very easily, so with enough mana, fast enough, you can out pace their threats/forms of control. if you vomit out mana sources you can blow up their artifact ramp, or lands, or bounce things, or just do all manner of shenanigans in a single turn, but you NEED mana to do it.
Lotus Cobra, Burgeoning, and Explore are all potentially busted turn one ramp plays. Sure they may all put a target on your forehead but all of them make you so much faster than than your opponents that it won't matter.
Jungle Barrier, or Carven Caryatid as a second (or third) Wall of Blossoms? Capsize?
But I agree with the "ramp harder" posts too, I have a Kruphix deck, you should just be completely unfair and lapping everyone.
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I know he thinks I'm impressed by a 102 MPH fastball in the 9th inning... Ok, I'm impressed, but that doesn't mean I can't crush it.
I actually disagree with everyone here about "ramping harder." I think that you have to play Kruphix explosively. That means you have to ramp smarter. When players see you have a lot of resources, they will immediately take that as a threat. Even when you are being largely innocuous, they are likely to assign blame to whatever they can to justify them attacking you. "Oh you've got nine lands on the field... it doesn't matter that you haven't done anything yet except play your commander! You can potentially do broken things!" So it's not about winning after assembling a ton of resources. It's about winning out of nowhere.
Playing a bunch of resources to ramp faster is only going to make you a target. If you want to play control, you have to make it to the end game, you have to be able to weather all other opponents. What happens if you're putting down lots of resources, and other players are putting down their own resources, and finally an opponent decides "Okay, that's enough. It's time to wipe the board, things are getting out of hand" - and then they cast Hour of Revelation. What do you do? As a control deck, let's say you've got a Counterspell up. Do you let it resolve, setting both yourself and your opponents back? Or do you counter it, and both lose a counter And let your other opponents keep their progress?
You don't want to be walled into these kinds of decisions. To make it to the end game, you should focus on ramping consistently, not just quickly. Ramp spells are great. Playing permanents that ramp you are not. When playing control, you want to have as little board presence as possible - so that when you do play something on the field, it's actually important. This gives you flexibility (lets you keep more mana up) and it gives you a safety valve (no risking permanents). Just be the safe, non-threatening player, until you've assembled so much advantage that it's too late for them to stop you. You want to be able to go from "Oh he doesn't look very threatening" to "Oh damn we can't stop him" in the course of just a few turns. And you'll best be served doing that if you're playing cautiously, and out-living the other decks.
I actually disagree with everyone here about "ramping harder." I think that you have to play Kruphix explosively. That means you have to ramp smarter. When players see you have a lot of resources, they will immediately take that as a threat. Even when you are being largely innocuous, they are likely to assign blame to whatever they can to justify them attacking you. "Oh you've got nine lands on the field... it doesn't matter that you haven't done anything yet except play your commander! You can potentially do broken things!" So it's not about winning after assembling a ton of resources. It's about winning out of nowhere.
Playing a bunch of resources to ramp faster is only going to make you a target. If you want to play control, you have to make it to the end game, you have to be able to weather all other opponents. What happens if you're putting down lots of resources, and other players are putting down their own resources, and finally an opponent decides "Okay, that's enough. It's time to wipe the board, things are getting out of hand" - and then they cast Hour of Revelation. What do you do? As a control deck, let's say you've got a Counterspell up. Do you let it resolve, setting both yourself and your opponents back? Or do you counter it, and both lose a counter And let your other opponents keep their progress?
You don't want to be walled into these kinds of decisions. To make it to the end game, you should focus on ramping consistently, not just quickly. Ramp spells are great. Playing permanents that ramp you are not. When playing control, you want to have as little board presence as possible - so that when you do play something on the field, it's actually important. This gives you flexibility (lets you keep more mana up) and it gives you a safety valve (no risking permanents). Just be the safe, non-threatening player, until you've assembled so much advantage that it's too late for them to stop you. You want to be able to go from "Oh he doesn't look very threatening" to "Oh damn we can't stop him" in the course of just a few turns. And you'll best be served doing that if you're playing cautiously, and out-living the other decks.
The problem with this philosophy is that ramp isn't something that leads to an explosive out of nowhere win. It has to be telegraphed. Especially with Kruphix who encourages you to store up mana over many turns. Almost every ramp spell has a delay on having access to the resources you've put into play, all the while spending resources to get those delayed ones. Most Rampant Growth variants put the lands in tapped. Mana dorks have summoning sickness. Of course these can be mitigated but even then you are generally not going to be able to put in enough mana sources all at once to be able to just emd the game. Its better to get way ahead of the table early so that even if they want to pile on you you are able to weather what little they can throw at you.
The problem with this philosophy is that ramp isn't something that leads to an explosive out of nowhere win. It has to be telegraphed. Especially with Kruphix who encourages you to store up mana over many turns. Almost every ramp spell has a delay on having access to the resources you've put into play, all the while spending resources to get those delayed ones. Most Rampant Growth variants put the lands in tapped. Mana dorks have summoning sickness. Of course these can be mitigated but even then you are generally not going to be able to put in enough mana sources all at once to be able to just emd the game. Its better to get way ahead of the table early so that even if they want to pile on you you are able to weather what little they can throw at you.
I would agree with you if the OP was trying to build a big mana Kruphix deck, and to use that mana effectively to power out big wins. However, he asked for assistance in building a control deck, with either Kruphix or Rashmi at the helm. To that end, I don't think that the appropriate strategy is to commit resources to the board. A control deck should commit as few resources as possible, and rely on sheer card advantage to out-value the opponents for victory.
I'm currently tinkering with a Simic control deck (the Commander will either be Rashmi or Kruphix), but from past experience with Kruphix I've noticed that people will tend to try and shut down that type of deck very quickly before it gets out of hand and amasses more mana and cards than the rest of the table combined. So I'm looking for ways to bolster my early defense.
Propganda is perfect, of course, but it's only one card. I'm also running Aetherize and Aetherspouts as bounce spells that deter attackers and don't affect me like Evacuation does. Further, I've decided to mainly ramp via cheap dudes like Farhaven Elf to generate some early blockers. Are there any other good ways you can recommend to keep early aggression in check until I can start putting out my own bombs?
Wall of Blossoms, Sylvan Caryatid does double duty, Copy Enchantment (if it's in your price range.) for a second propaganda. Any number of Fogs. Counterspells etc etc.
Some cards that may fit the description of what you are looking for:
Coiling Oracle
Embodiment of Spring
Mystic Snake
Baral's Expertise
Acidic Slime
Vendilion Clique
Collective Restraint
Awakening Zone and From Beyond
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
Spellskite
Glen Elendra Archmage
Rhystic Study
Daring Apprentice
Voidmage Prodigy
Reclamation Sage
ramp harder.
it seems like *****ty advice, but in the case of u/g it really isn't. you're in colors that ramp and draw very easily, so with enough mana, fast enough, you can out pace their threats/forms of control. if you vomit out mana sources you can blow up their artifact ramp, or lands, or bounce things, or just do all manner of shenanigans in a single turn, but you NEED mana to do it.
Capsize?
But I agree with the "ramp harder" posts too, I have a Kruphix deck, you should just be completely unfair and lapping everyone.
Playing a bunch of resources to ramp faster is only going to make you a target. If you want to play control, you have to make it to the end game, you have to be able to weather all other opponents. What happens if you're putting down lots of resources, and other players are putting down their own resources, and finally an opponent decides "Okay, that's enough. It's time to wipe the board, things are getting out of hand" - and then they cast Hour of Revelation. What do you do? As a control deck, let's say you've got a Counterspell up. Do you let it resolve, setting both yourself and your opponents back? Or do you counter it, and both lose a counter And let your other opponents keep their progress?
You don't want to be walled into these kinds of decisions. To make it to the end game, you should focus on ramping consistently, not just quickly. Ramp spells are great. Playing permanents that ramp you are not. When playing control, you want to have as little board presence as possible - so that when you do play something on the field, it's actually important. This gives you flexibility (lets you keep more mana up) and it gives you a safety valve (no risking permanents). Just be the safe, non-threatening player, until you've assembled so much advantage that it's too late for them to stop you. You want to be able to go from "Oh he doesn't look very threatening" to "Oh damn we can't stop him" in the course of just a few turns. And you'll best be served doing that if you're playing cautiously, and out-living the other decks.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Primer UG
The problem with this philosophy is that ramp isn't something that leads to an explosive out of nowhere win. It has to be telegraphed. Especially with Kruphix who encourages you to store up mana over many turns. Almost every ramp spell has a delay on having access to the resources you've put into play, all the while spending resources to get those delayed ones. Most Rampant Growth variants put the lands in tapped. Mana dorks have summoning sickness. Of course these can be mitigated but even then you are generally not going to be able to put in enough mana sources all at once to be able to just emd the game. Its better to get way ahead of the table early so that even if they want to pile on you you are able to weather what little they can throw at you.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary Primer UG
Current EDH
UThassa, God of the Sea devotion control
WRGTana, the Bloodsower & Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa partners weenie tokens
UUnesh, Criosphinx Sovereign Sphinx tribal
WUTaigam, Ojutai Master tokens on the rebound spellslinger
GRhonas the Indomitable green creature beats
UGRashmi, Eternities Crafter ETB tribal
Retired EDH
WURGKynaios and Tiro of Meletis group hug
URThe Locust God draw swarm
UTalrand, Sky Summoner funsies blue spells
WBObzedat, Ghost Council life gain/drain