Hello everyone! This is my newest modern deck, yet the first one I ever share online. Probably the most difficult deck to play that I've made, and even more difficult to put together. I'm going to need feedback from you all
Edit: due to some good constructive feedback, I'm going to put this deck on hold for a while until I can figure out what direction I want to take with it. I feel I tried to force the puzzle too much, and that doesn't work in a competitive theme.
Note: I don't intend to mess around. I play to win (even if I only use rogue decks). Please keep this in mind when discussing cards!
Here's the list. Explanations for each card are included below.
The purpose of this deck is to overwhelm the opponent with disruption, card advantage, and general board control. What makes this deck different from other control decks is that it stabilizes quickly, has a low mana curve, and has multiple layers of disruption(counterbalance, counterspell, then ability counter/tapping/burn/ovinize). The ideal end goal is to have an arcanist with cackling counterpart just copying himself(allowing use of other spells forever) or the opponent's creatures.
One of the engines behind this deck. This with the Dimir Guildmage allows card control for 2 mana a piece. Draw is always available, discard is available with a RealmWright dedicated to swamp production.
With the Azorius Guildmage, creature ability counter is available at 1 mana always. More importantly, with a RealmWright dedicated to plains you can tap creatures for only 1 mana.
With Elite Arcanist, he will be able to cast anything imprinted for 1.
This card turns all your islands into dual lands, giving you access to extra abilities. This card will be targeted by removal and that's fine. The extras are called extra for a reason, our deck doesn't require other types of mana.
If training grounds is the engine this is the plasma shield. The first layer of defense. Even if it doesn't counter cards, it's a big threat the opponent must face. To play or not to play, I win anyways. Not to mention I can counter the survivors the old fashion way. Particularly effective vs fast decks, as most of my cards are 3 or lower. Lands count as zero by the way.
Powerful one drop that can prevent most turn 2 kill combos. If not, then you have 2 mana available on turn 2 + this guy ready to counter. Mid/late game this guy is still very useful as he protects important people from removal among other things.
My deck is now potentially at 56 cards + I view the opponent's hand. Will probably side them out for round 2. This card is free if you need it to be, and doesn't affect card advantage. It's awesome.
inefficient ovinize but offers a burn alternative if I put it on an arcanist or I have a RealmWright up. I love ovinize, but I never need it on turn two so this seems better. A last little trick if all else fails.
A team should be as happy as a meal - TEAM HAPPYMEAL
EDH - UWGrand Arbiter Agustin IV UBW Oloro, Ageless Ascetic Modern - Mono U tron / Polymorph / NFTW (ninja for the win)GR tronGR
Buy All the planeswalkers!!!
Buy All the Dual Lands!!!
Buy All the fetches!
Create tons of EDH Decks!!!
Eat Nothing but Oats!! (LOL, not true)
Train MMA!!!
Marry My girlfriend!!!
Get her Pregnant only Once!
Teach my Son/Daughter Sports and magic cards!!!
Continue my legacy son!!!/Daughter!!
Again, why are you going wizards? There is nothing in your deck that cares that all of your creatures are the same creature type, so why does this matter? Even if you maindecked Sage's Dousing and maybe played Distant Melody I would give you an "alright," but as it is now this is a casual deck, whether you want to identify it as such or not.
There's just so many things wrong with this deck:
Counterbalance is not good. You don't have top, so you won't reliably lock people out of games. You don't even have any form of library manipulation--no Serum Visions, no Telling Time, no Sleight of Hand, etc. Not to mention there are almost no circumstances with this deck where multiples will not be redundant.
Why Realm Wright? This card is just bad. If you want to be competitive, play Watery Grave, Hallowed Fountain, Scalding Tarn, and Misty Rainforest to fix you mana. Or play Darkslick Shores and Seachrome coasts. Or the filter lands, etc. If you really want to stretch for the guildmages, then play a real manabase instead of terrible 1/1's. If you're on a budget, state so. It's not the end of the world; but make sure you're playing all basics for a very good reason.
Speaking of which, the Training Grounds subtheme probably isn't going to work. Alone Training Grounds is completely useless, and you're playing cards that are bad by themselves that are marginally good with Training Grounds. If you really want to play Training Grounds, then play cards that will just win the game with it in play. Elite Arcanist is bad--you will 2-1 yourself almost every time you play it unless you want a 4 CMC 1/1. You're also running 8 Enchantments, which could be more targets to exile with him.
Your deck isn't trying to DO anything. What do you want to accomplish? For instance, play UR Wizards with tribal cards and in order to play competitive wizards like Magus of the Moon, who is legitimately good in the metagame. Play cards that actually care about tribal if you're playing all wizards. If you don't want to stick to wizards, then you might as well play cards that are good and synergize.
tl;dr: this is a casual deck whether you like it or not.
Berserk293 pretty much summed it up, but just reiterate:
- You're playing exclusively wizards (bad ones) and not taking advantage at all of the tribe. Don't limit yourself to wizard cards if you're not going to use that in some way.
- There is a very good reason you haven't ever seen Counterbalance played in modern. Without library manipulation, it's just a bad card. The opponent wont think "Play or not", the opponent will say "Oh look, he just played an enchantment that doesn't do anything at all, and there is an off-chance he ends up countering maybe 1 of my cards that he had no choice in".
- I don't have anything further to add about Realm Wright. Its an absolutely abysmal card and you're playing mono color, state you 'play to win', and dont play a single fetch/dual.
I'd be willing to spend a little more time providing feedback, but I'm not really sure you have the right mindset here. You talk about being serious and competitive and then present an overwhelmingly casual deck. Are you on a strict budget, do you care more about the flavor and feel of the deck then winning, or have you not tested this at all? It's gotta be one of those three, and once we know we can help better
@donde I have plenty of ways to counter. 4 mana leaks, 4 curse catchers, a playset of counterbalance, and more in sideboard if needed. Also probes let me know what's coming, and effectively reduce my deck to 56(which is good). I don't want to put anymore focus on countering spells beyond that. Also, I don't care about wizards, only about activated abilities and overall synergy.
@Beserk I don't really care about wizards, it's just kind of a coincidence. What I'm really trying to focus on is creatures that synergize with training grounds. I feel RealmWright is amazing. If all my islands are also plains for example, I can use the guildmage's ability as much as I want. 1 mana per tap. Gets removed? Who cares, all my creatures are mono blue with mono blue abilities. I'm not relying on it. Another thing, if I were to include those lands my life would start getting dangerously low, as I'm also running a playset of probes. Last thing, because I choose the color, I can potentially use effects from all five colors. Real wright only affects 1 type of basic land which is why I only use islands.
I'm in Japan right now so I'm dead tired, I've probably made some mistakes above. Anyways, thanks for feedback. I'm not happy at all with this deck just yet, but like my other decks, I will complete the puzzle.
I'm not sure if those are the best cards. Do you guys know any good cards with powerful effects, particularly hybrids? Also, I would like to use cards that punish players for using non basics, such as red moon. Any ideas?
Edit: @sesor woah voidmage is so good. I didn't think he was printed for modern.
I'm a bit new with blue. My other modern decks are burn and black/white knights (ill post the latter soon)
Voidmage Prodigy turns all your wizards into potential counterspells.
You beat me to it. I freaken love this card, and it can really put pressure. Not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but Glen Elendra Archmage is also tops in my book.
Edit: due to some good constructive feedback, I'm going to put this deck on hold for a while until I can figure out what direction I want to take with it. I feel I tried to force the puzzle too much, and that doesn't work in a competitive theme.
Note: I don't intend to mess around. I play to win (even if I only use rogue decks). Please keep this in mind when discussing cards!
Here's the list. Explanations for each card are included below.
Wizards - 16
Disruption - 14
Advantage - 8
Land
22 islands
Sideboard
Curve
16 - 1cc + Gitaxian
14 - 2cc
4 - 3cc + Turn/Burn
4 - 4cc
The purpose of this deck is to overwhelm the opponent with disruption, card advantage, and general board control. What makes this deck different from other control decks is that it stabilizes quickly, has a low mana curve, and has multiple layers of disruption(counterbalance, counterspell, then ability counter/tapping/burn/ovinize). The ideal end goal is to have an arcanist with cackling counterpart just copying himself(allowing use of other spells forever) or the opponent's creatures.
Card By Card:
Training grounds
One of the engines behind this deck. This with the Dimir Guildmage allows card control for 2 mana a piece. Draw is always available, discard is available with a RealmWright dedicated to swamp production.
With the Azorius Guildmage, creature ability counter is available at 1 mana always. More importantly, with a RealmWright dedicated to plains you can tap creatures for only 1 mana.
With Elite Arcanist, he will be able to cast anything imprinted for 1.
RealmWright
This card turns all your islands into dual lands, giving you access to extra abilities. This card will be targeted by removal and that's fine. The extras are called extra for a reason, our deck doesn't require other types of mana.
Counterbalance
If training grounds is the engine this is the plasma shield. The first layer of defense. Even if it doesn't counter cards, it's a big threat the opponent must face. To play or not to play, I win anyways. Not to mention I can counter the survivors the old fashion way. Particularly effective vs fast decks, as most of my cards are 3 or lower. Lands count as zero by the way.
Curse Catcher
Powerful one drop that can prevent most turn 2 kill combos. If not, then you have 2 mana available on turn 2 + this guy ready to counter. Mid/late game this guy is still very useful as he protects important people from removal among other things.
Gitaxian Probe
My deck is now potentially at 56 cards + I view the opponent's hand. Will probably side them out for round 2. This card is free if you need it to be, and doesn't affect card advantage. It's awesome.
Mana Leak
Good ol counterspelling.
Turn//Burn
inefficient ovinize but offers a burn alternative if I put it on an arcanist or I have a RealmWright up. I love ovinize, but I never need it on turn two so this seems better. A last little trick if all else fails.
Careful Consideration
Counteracts possible dead draws. Extra training grounds, counterbalances, lands, and maybe even Gitaxians can be discarded for 4 brand new cards.
Cackling Counterpart
Very useful and very flexible. Can be attached to arcanists and casted every turn.
Sideboard:
Also, Counterspell is not legal in the format.
It's not banned, it's just never been modern printed.
On topic though: I don't understand the inclusion of Realmwright in a Mono-U deck.
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
On the isruption topic. you either choose from these types of disruption.
Hand "discard" disruption
Board "control" Disruption
Spell disruption (counterspells and all)
you can mix either of the 2, but IMO. you cannot have them all.
plus you lack some awesome wizards. i will list them for you.
EDH - UWGrand Arbiter Agustin IV
UBW Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Modern - Mono U tron / Polymorph / NFTW (ninja for the win)GR tron GR
Buy All the Dual Lands!!!
Buy All the fetches!
Create tons of EDH Decks!!!
Eat Nothing but Oats!! (LOL, not true)
Train MMA!!!
Marry My girlfriend!!!
Get her Pregnant only Once!
Teach my Son/Daughter Sports and magic cards!!!
Continue my legacy son!!!/Daughter!!
Again, why are you going wizards? There is nothing in your deck that cares that all of your creatures are the same creature type, so why does this matter? Even if you maindecked Sage's Dousing and maybe played Distant Melody I would give you an "alright," but as it is now this is a casual deck, whether you want to identify it as such or not.
There's just so many things wrong with this deck:
Counterbalance is not good. You don't have top, so you won't reliably lock people out of games. You don't even have any form of library manipulation--no Serum Visions, no Telling Time, no Sleight of Hand, etc. Not to mention there are almost no circumstances with this deck where multiples will not be redundant.
Why Realm Wright? This card is just bad. If you want to be competitive, play Watery Grave, Hallowed Fountain, Scalding Tarn, and Misty Rainforest to fix you mana. Or play Darkslick Shores and Seachrome coasts. Or the filter lands, etc. If you really want to stretch for the guildmages, then play a real manabase instead of terrible 1/1's. If you're on a budget, state so. It's not the end of the world; but make sure you're playing all basics for a very good reason.
Speaking of which, the Training Grounds subtheme probably isn't going to work. Alone Training Grounds is completely useless, and you're playing cards that are bad by themselves that are marginally good with Training Grounds. If you really want to play Training Grounds, then play cards that will just win the game with it in play. Elite Arcanist is bad--you will 2-1 yourself almost every time you play it unless you want a 4 CMC 1/1. You're also running 8 Enchantments, which could be more targets to exile with him.
Your deck isn't trying to DO anything. What do you want to accomplish? For instance, play UR Wizards with tribal cards and in order to play competitive wizards like Magus of the Moon, who is legitimately good in the metagame. Play cards that actually care about tribal if you're playing all wizards. If you don't want to stick to wizards, then you might as well play cards that are good and synergize.
tl;dr: this is a casual deck whether you like it or not.
Standard: N/A
Modern: AffinityWR, Delver WUR
Legacy: High TideU, ZombiesWBRG, 12post UG, Delver UR
- You're playing exclusively wizards (bad ones) and not taking advantage at all of the tribe. Don't limit yourself to wizard cards if you're not going to use that in some way.
- There is a very good reason you haven't ever seen Counterbalance played in modern. Without library manipulation, it's just a bad card. The opponent wont think "Play or not", the opponent will say "Oh look, he just played an enchantment that doesn't do anything at all, and there is an off-chance he ends up countering maybe 1 of my cards that he had no choice in".
- I don't have anything further to add about Realm Wright. Its an absolutely abysmal card and you're playing mono color, state you 'play to win', and dont play a single fetch/dual.
I'd be willing to spend a little more time providing feedback, but I'm not really sure you have the right mindset here. You talk about being serious and competitive and then present an overwhelmingly casual deck. Are you on a strict budget, do you care more about the flavor and feel of the deck then winning, or have you not tested this at all? It's gotta be one of those three, and once we know we can help better
Cursecatcher, Snapcaster Mage, Vendillion Clique, Spellstutter Sprite are the obvious ones.
Dark Confidant, Pit Keeper in Black
Meddling Mage, Deputy of Acquittals.
I've got a wizard deck in the works as soon as I get all my cards for it and the above are what I've considered so far.
@Beserk I don't really care about wizards, it's just kind of a coincidence. What I'm really trying to focus on is creatures that synergize with training grounds. I feel RealmWright is amazing. If all my islands are also plains for example, I can use the guildmage's ability as much as I want. 1 mana per tap. Gets removed? Who cares, all my creatures are mono blue with mono blue abilities. I'm not relying on it. Another thing, if I were to include those lands my life would start getting dangerously low, as I'm also running a playset of probes. Last thing, because I choose the color, I can potentially use effects from all five colors. Real wright only affects 1 type of basic land which is why I only use islands.
I'm in Japan right now so I'm dead tired, I've probably made some mistakes above. Anyways, thanks for feedback. I'm not happy at all with this deck just yet, but like my other decks, I will complete the puzzle.
I'm not sure if those are the best cards. Do you guys know any good cards with powerful effects, particularly hybrids? Also, I would like to use cards that punish players for using non basics, such as red moon. Any ideas?
Edit: @sesor woah voidmage is so good. I didn't think he was printed for modern.
I'm a bit new with blue. My other modern decks are burn and black/white knights (ill post the latter soon)
Reprint Opt for Modern!!
FREE DIG THOROUGH TIME!
PLAY MORE ROUGE DECKS!
Too bad Patron Wizard is Legacy legal only, he is the definition of lockdown if he makes it to the battlefield.
4 Martyr of Frost
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Voidmage Prodigy
3 Harbinger of the Tides
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
3 Sage of Fables
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Sky Hussar
4 Vapor Snag
4 Aether Vial
With most of my tribal strategies using Vial, I aim for 41 spells and 20 lands. It's been doing well for me... it works out fine here, too.
There's a lot of draw here in the form of Silvergill Adept, Sage of Fables and Sky Hussar.
There is an alternate route with white for the sideboard cards, Path to Exile and Proclamation of Rebirth (+4 flying Cursecatcher).
Had to include the Sage of Fables + Glen Elendra Archmage for more counter shenanigans. With Voidmage Prodigy all spells are counterable for UU.
Modern: UR Dragonfish
Legacy: Merfolk
Tiny Leaders: Mono Anafenza