The fatal flaw in every plan is the assumption that you know more than your enemy
Introduction
RUG Control is a deck that embodies some key aspects of the game: tempo, aggression and value. In RUG Control, you have all the tools of a control deck with Snapcaster Mage, Remand, Lightning Bolt, Electrolyze and Cryptic Command. Also, Tarmogoyf is a great addition to a control strategy by being a win condition as well as a card that can stand up against tempo and aggressive decks. If those things aren’t enough to win the game, you can always fall back on Huntmaster of the Fells for example. Also, Blood Moon gets most of the tier 1 and 2 decks on their heels.
Origins and decklists
The first player that came up with a result piloting RUG Control is Shouta Yasooka in the Player’s Championship in 2012:
Matches Good matches:
According to Xing Guan, the favorable matches are Affinity, Bogles, Burn, Jund/Junk and UWR/UW Control.
Robots do not matchup well to RUG’s plethora of removal and good cheap creatures. Also, Electrolyze is just a blowout versus them. The game is all about the opening hand, where you need to have an answer to Cranial Plating and Arcbound Ravager with removal or counter. Two Spell Snare in your hand is unbeatable for them. The best card they have against you post-board is Etched Champion, which you pretty much need to race unless you have a way to mass remove all their artifacts to deal with them.
The key to beating Bogles is letting them beat themselves. Bogles mulligans a lot, which matches up particularly poorly versus mass counters. You must never let a Daybreak Coronet resolves and always hold up mana to prevent that from happening (Spell Snare and Mana Leak are important). Also, have an instant burn at the ready for Kor Spiritdancer.
It is very difficult for Burn to deal with an early Tarmogoyf as well as the lifegain you have in Huntmaster of the Fells. Your counters buy you many turns for you get a threat on the table. Avoid playing Tarmogoyf unless it can survive a Ligthning Bolt or a Searing Blaze and don’t play Huntmasters of the Fells into Skullcrack effects unless you have counter backup or they are tapped out. Also, sequence your lands to avoid taking more than 3 points of damage every game and always have a Lightning Bolt at the ready for Goblin Guide.
What you’re trying to do in this matchup is keep the board position favorable or clear for the first four turns with burn spells and counter. Never play a Tarmogoyf into a potential Liliana of the Veil unless you have a Lightning Bolt or Electrolyze to clear her away. In your opening hand, make sure you have a way to kill a turn 2 Dark Confidant and ideally a backup as well in case of discard. Mid-game discard does not really effect you as you are happy to trade 1 for 1 and go to top deck mode. Other than that, you have plenty of answers for everything they can bring in against you and a far superior late-game thanks to Snapcaster Mage, Cryptic Command and Huntmaster of the Fells. Against Lingering Souls, you want to keep Electrolyze in.
It’s perfectly fine playing land and to pass the turn versus them as you have just as many counters as they do and all their burn spells are basically useless cards compared to your creatures. Don’t play anything and let Restoration Angel resolve if you don’t have a Flame Slash as a mid-size flier is problematic for you to deal with.
Bad matches:
The troublesome matches according to Li Xu are BW Tokens and Tron.
You really need things to work out in your favor. You need to hit first their anthem with a Spell Snare, and if you are lucky, you can catch the second half of a Lingering Souls with a Remand. Electrolyze is amazing, but even when there are no anthems out, they always get more mileage out of a Spectral Procession or a Lingering Souls than you do with Electrolyze. Not to mention, Lightning Bolt is effectively dead. You will need to get pretty lucky to win the first game.
The matchup can be rough even after bringing in all your answers from the side, because a timely hand disruption spell from the opponent can just end the game on the spot. Assuming you do not get your answers stripped away, however, Pyroclasm for example can keep the deck from reaching critical mass.
Being a blue deck, it is a dog to natural Tron, but that is to be expected. You cannot prepare for everything in the format.
Sample decklist
Here is the current version of the deck:
Conclusion
Modern is a format where you want to play proactive threats. It’s not enough to just have answers, you want to be the one asking the questions. RUG Control does that. You will be surprised with how many decks that cannot produce responses to it.
Have you considered Young Pyromancer? You also have nowhere near enough blue sources for Cryptic Command. Anger of the Gods is better than Pyroclasm because it's better vs Zoo and CoCo combo.
Have you considered Young Pyromancer? You also have nowhere near enough blue sources for Cryptic Command. Anger of the Gods is better than Pyroclasm because it's better vs Zoo and CoCo combo.
I agree with you about Anger of the Gods: I've been testing it out mainboard lately and it wrecks Junk Company. I'll update the primer about it!
One thing I'm debating is the blue mana sources has you said : I'm thinking about adding 2 Island, but I don't know where to cut and I don't want to cut 2 Raging Ravine. Thoughts about some ways to adress the situation?
Have you considered Young Pyromancer? You also have nowhere near enough blue sources for Cryptic Command. Anger of the Gods is better than Pyroclasm because it's better vs Zoo and CoCo combo.
I agree with you about Anger of the Gods: I've been testing it out mainboard lately and it wrecks Junk Company. I'll update the primer about it!
One thing I'm debating is the blue mana sources has you said : I'm thinking about adding 2 Island, but I don't know where to cut and I don't want to cut 2 Raging Ravine. Thoughts about some ways to adress the situation?
You're probably right about the Huntsmaster vs Pyromancer.
For the lands I would lower the Stomping Ground count to 1 and cut one Raging Ravine plus both Tec Edges for four Islands. The numbers could be messed around a little but to consistently have 3 blue sources by turn 4 you need at least 20.
For the lands I would lower the Stomping Ground count to 1 and cut one Raging Ravine plus both Tec Edges for four Islands. The numbers could be messed around a little but to consistently have 3 blue sources by turn 4 you need at least 20.
That seems great : Tectonic Edge has not been efficient as I wished it could be. The primer is updated with the changes!
Also, we're tweaking the sideboard and are not sure about the number of these cards or some other that could replace them.
I'm curious why you don't just play Tarmo Twin. You seem to be in the same shell (both cards and play style) as that deck, and I'm not sure cutting a powerful "I win" combo like that is particularly worth it.
I'm curious why you don't just play Tarmo Twin. You seem to be in the same shell (both cards and play style) as that deck, and I'm not sure cutting a powerful "I win" combo like that is particularly worth it.
Thanks for the comment MrM0nd4y!
That's a good observation: similar shell, but different approach. I'm not comfortable with the Deceiver Exarch/Splinter Twin combo aside UR Twin : I run Living End and I'm not a fan of Living Twin as I find that much is going on. I don't like nor feel comfortable in Tarmo Twin : I understand that Tarmogoyf is an alternate win condition, but Tarmo Twin to me is like a mashup of two good things that goes on at the same time. So Tarmo Twin is not control enough for me: it's a combo deck that adds powerful aggresive cards.
In RUG Control, the focus is really on the control aspects of the game, but also being agressive, not relying on a combo that could be a win condition. I really want to focus on controling the game, but Tarmogoyf or Huntmaster of the Fells are support cards that prove to be worth it against various build as well as alternate win conditions. Alone, a Tarmogoyf can win the game, but also, I can fall back on Raging Ravine to smash opponents if needed on a long run for example for example.
The deck is being tested intensely for GP Charlotte as my friend is willing to go maverick and under the radar. From what I've seen in games against Jund, Junk, Affinity, Burn, etc., it is very viable and has favorable matchups.
Guttersnipe seems incredibly bad in Modern (3 mana creature, dies to everything, doesn't effectively block or attack, has only a minor effect) and Hooded Hydra is far too slow for Modern.
I personally don't see the point of playing RUG Control over Grixis. If you look at the list in the OP, replace Goyf with Tasigur, Scavenging Ooze with a couple more Vendilion Cliques, Huntmaster of the Fells with a Batterskull and a Stormbreath Dragon, and Ancient Grudge with Kolaghan's Command your deck would be basically the same. However, if you made changes like adding in Terminates as well then your deck would be far better than RUG Control could ever be.
Fair enough. Playstyle is definitely a big reason to want to play a deck.
I'm having issues with the sideboard as of now: it is always changing, going back and forth because we can't settle on optimal numbers of cards or even cards that are cut out of thesideboard and end up being in the maybeboard.
You seem to know the shell, so what do you think of this?
Interesting that you have 2x Counterflux (I can see why), but the 3x Voidslime seem overkill to me. Kessig Wolf Run doesn't seem out of place and is potentialy a good support land, but why 2x Yavimaya Coast?
Thanks for sharing explanations and past experiences.
I personally don't see the point of playing RUG Control over Grixis. If you look at the list in the OP, replace Goyf with Tasigur, Scavenging Ooze with a couple more Vendilion Cliques, Huntmaster of the Fells with a Batterskull and a Stormbreath Dragon, and Ancient Grudge with Kolaghan's Command your deck would be basically the same. However, if you made changes like adding in Terminates as well then your deck would be far better than RUG Control could ever be.
If I'd make these changes, it would be a totaly different deck.
Looking at Dan Jessup's list from Dallas on May 17th, 2x Blood Moon and 2x Vedalken Shackles mainboard, that's just not where RUG Control wants to go... Playing Blood Moon mainboard in a three color deck can be very risky and I don't like the idea of having that over some control cards that are essential to our gameplan. I prefer 4x Tarmogoy over 3x Tasigur, the Golden Fang: we're taking advantage of green here, so agression is not only a backup plan, but a way to keep the opponent at bay. 2x Go for the Throat is basically removal that I have in the sideboard (Dismember).
I won't go over the sideboard, but we're worlds apart.
2 Anger seems about right to me. It's great against all the Collected Company decks and also just randomly hits other decks like Merfolk. I'm not sure about 4 Artifact/Enchantment hate is particularly worth it. If you're really scared of Affinity, Shatterstorm is fantastic. If you don't want to mess up your mana too much, Vandalblast is actually extremely good. It can take out one artifact if you need it to at an efficient rate (i.e. Aether Vial or Vedalken Shackles), or ALL of them at a fairly efficient rate.
I'm not sure Simic Charm is super great in a more controlly style of deck. It's pretty cool in RUG Delver, but they're getting down a clock on turn 1 or 2 and just riding it to victory. Simic Charm is only really great if you have Cryptic Command to back it up, imo.
2 Anger seems about right to me. It's great against all the Collected Company decks and also just randomly hits other decks like Merfolk. I'm not sure about 4 Artifact/Enchantment hate is particularly worth it. If you're really scared of Affinity, Shatterstorm is fantastic. If you don't want to mess up your mana too much, Vandalblast is actually extremely good. It can take out one artifact if you need it to at an efficient rate (i.e. Aether Vial or Vedalken Shackles), or ALL of them at a fairly efficient rate.
I'm not sure Simic Charm is super great in a more controlly style of deck. It's pretty cool in RUG Delver, but they're getting down a clock on turn 1 or 2 and just riding it to victory. Simic Charm is only really great if you have Cryptic Command to back it up, imo.
Other than that, it looks pretty good.
I've tested the 4 artifact/enchantment hate cards and they work wonders in the deck! I'm worried about Affinity, but also about any other enchantement that could slow us down as we're trying to set up the tempo.
Guttersnipe seems incredibly bad in Modern (3 mana creature, dies to everything, doesn't effectively block or attack, has only a minor effect) and Hooded Hydra is far too slow for Modern.
Allow me to tell you a little about guttersnipe, then. You're absolutely right with a couple of the points you brought up about Snipe. But the thing is, most people don't worry about him until it's too late and you've got a handful of counters. He's also out there to eat removal. People hate on the little guy, and pretty bad at that. I've found that most people try to get rid of him over Pyromancer because 2 damage off a spell that you can't stop is worse that one damage from a blockable/killable source. On top of the fact that your opponents feel his presence after you've cast 2+ spells, he adds tremendously to the "sit back and counter for the win" when you've got Pyro and Purphoros right next to him.
Truth be told though, I've seriously been considering swapping out Snipe for Snapcaster. The only problem with that would be my only damage outlet would now be Purphorus. I'll figure out something. I just need more time...
My deck list is pretty synergetic, and a lot of fun to play if counter-control is your thing.
I personally don't see the point of playing RUG Control over Grixis. If you look at the list in the OP, replace Goyf with Tasigur, Scavenging Ooze with a couple more Vendilion Cliques, Huntmaster of the Fells with a Batterskull and a Stormbreath Dragon, and Ancient Grudge with Kolaghan's Command your deck would be basically the same. However, if you made changes like adding in Terminates as well then your deck would be far better than RUG Control could ever be.
You're right again. Terminate would be a great card to have. I've got Beast Within in my sideboard, but that's about as close as I've found.
I'm trying out Hooded Hydra because I wanted to see which creature works with Purphoros the most. Late game, it's easy to get people to bite on a face-down creature. So, you cast it face-down, purphorus deals 2, and then you wait to morph it until its targeted with something that will kill it. But, honestly, I'm pretty sure I'm going to cut the Hydra for another Huntmaster.
Birds speeds up access to your hard-counter clock. Voidslime a turn two fetch, or whatever you want for that matter. Turn 3 Cryptic command? Psh, why not? The worst birds does, is in late game. And that's if you don't have Purphorus on the board. If you do, then birds are still a shock.
I've never even thought about Eidolon, I'll have to give him a test day. Thanks for the suggestion.
Interesting that you have 2x Counterflux (I can see why), but the 3x Voidslime seem overkill to me. Kessig Wolf Run doesn't seem out of place and is potentialy a good support land, but why 2x Yavimaya Coast?
Thanks for sharing explanations and past experiences.
Cheers!
I love Voidslime. It's a solid counter, has many different things it can cancel, and I always find myself wanting another in my hand as soon as I've used it. People shrug it off because it's GUU, but I refuse. Just making my opponent frustrated when he thought there was nothing I could do to stop an activation, combo, etc., is reason enough for me to use it.
Kessig has closed out a lot of games for me by getting that last 3-5 damage through on the back of a bird, token, or Huntmaster.
I only run 2 Coasts because I feel that's all I'll really need. I need access to one green mana every single turn one. But, this is a RUG deck after all, so I also need to be able to have access to U AND R on turn two. A couple coasts help make that possible.
Changes made:
+2 Vendilion Clique in place of 2 Raging Ravine : the first has proved to be better than the later in regards of the control aspects of the game. Also, RUG Control is good at 23 lands, not 25.
+2 Spellskite in the sideboard in place of the 2 Simic Charm.
I've played around with the idea of rug control alot what is you guys opinions on going for a more creature based control deck with things such as Kira, the great glass spinner?
I've played around with the idea of rug control alot what is you guys opinions on going for a more creature based control deck with things such as Kira, the great glass spinner?
More creature based shell doesn't sound that much control to me. 15 creatures is a lot for a control deck and I don't myself running more than that (I know URW Control runs 17, but for RUG Control, the two spots are precious spells).
I don't see why we should run Kira, Great Glass-Spinner over all of the creatures we run (or spells that we'd have to remove in order to make room for Kira, Great Glass-Spinner). Would you mind explaining why it could be viable or reporting playtesting results?
Hey! I've been studying Temur Control (it looks more midrange because that's just how a control deck can be more proactive.) and I absolutely love Vedalken Shackles in the main. You have 18 sources of Islands already, so I feel the transition in the mana base isn't a difficult leap. The ability to keep 2-for-1'ing your opponent or keep them board stalled while you come up with answers is absolutely devastating for a lot of creature-based decks. And it can steal some bomb-ass creatures! Stealing a Bob is a divine feeling, especially when you can untap Shackles if the life truly becomes a problem! Anyways, there's a counter argument..
Kolaghan's freaking Command. I knew this card was nuts. I kept telling everyone this card was nuts. It's just a minimum 3-mana 2-for-1 except the 2-for-1 can be completely on the board! That's a tempo crush at instant speed. And it kills the precious Shackles... But we've got counters! And they've only really got 2-maindeck hate cards for it. And we even have Vendilion Clique to clear the way before dropping it if necessary. And lastly, we have an amazing utility land for it: Academy Ruins! If you can just recur the main deck explosives (which is a little incredibly versatile sweeper) or recur a Shackles they can't deal with, your late game rivals UW/x control decks! Yea, I'll just take this Colonnade from you, NP NP. Anyways, there's my 3:30 am rambling when I couldn't sleep from wisdom teeth pain, so I may be loopy or straight up wrong!
Thanks for contributing to the RUG Control primer! Do you have a list of what you're running?
About the Schackles, it sounded alright : I used to run 2x Vedalken Schakles and for the last few days, drop it because I found it slow in some matchups. I replace it for 2x Vendilion Clique, but running 3 felt overkill to me. I'll bring back the Schakles because it wasn't a bad card, but in some matchups (BW Tokens, Infect, etc.), it just felt too slow or somewhat useless. The plan is maybe to sideboard it out and replace it with Blood Moon.
Updated version a week from GP Charlotte. The only thing I consider doing is maybe bringing back 1x Raging Ravine.
Match 2: GW Hatebears. Result: 2-0. Notes: not much to say as it was easy to counter the creature spells and then swing with Tarmogoyf and Huntmaster of the Fells. After my friend told me some limitations about Huntmaster of the Fells during the GP, I thought that it could be good to replace it with something else, but it is a viable win condition after all.
Match 3: Abzan Company. Result: 2-1. Notes: I lost game 1, the board got flooded too fast. I brought in the 2x Anger of the Gods and Flameslash and had all the needed tools to handle the situation : clear the board with Electrolyze also and then swing in with Tarmogoyf.
Match 4: Jund. Result: 2-1. Notes: I think that I got the nicest draws during the match. It could have been the other way around, as he didn't had a decent board presence during game 1 and 3 : no Liliana of the Veil or Olivia Voldaren. Disruption wasn't an issue with Counterflux and Voidslime.
In general, the deck was better than what I expected. The sideboard is also more consistent and stock.
Still want to know your thoughts about the mainboard/sideboard!
The fatal flaw in every plan is the assumption that you know more than your enemy
Introduction
RUG Control is a deck that embodies some key aspects of the game: tempo, aggression and value. In RUG Control, you have all the tools of a control deck with Snapcaster Mage, Remand, Lightning Bolt, Electrolyze and Cryptic Command. Also, Tarmogoyf is a great addition to a control strategy by being a win condition as well as a card that can stand up against tempo and aggressive decks. If those things aren’t enough to win the game, you can always fall back on Huntmaster of the Fells for example. Also, Blood Moon gets most of the tier 1 and 2 decks on their heels.
Origins and decklists
The first player that came up with a result piloting RUG Control is Shouta Yasooka in the Player’s Championship in 2012:
1x Breeding Pool
2x Copperline Gorge
3x Flooded Grove
1x Forest
4x Island
3x Misty Rainforest
1x Mountain
4x Scalding Tarn
1x Steam Vents
1x Stomping Ground
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Mana Leak
2x Remand
3x Spell Snare
2x Thirst for Knowledge
2x Vapor Snag
2x Serum Visions
4x AEther Vial
3x Eternal Witness
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Tarmogoyf
3x Vendilion Clique
2x Combust
2x Glen Elendra Archmage
1x Grafdigger's Cage
3x Huntmaster of the Fells
2x Spell Pierce
2x Threads of Disloyalty
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Tarmogoyf
3 Vendilion Clique
Lands (23)
1 Forest
9 Island
1 Mountain
1 Breeding Pool
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Batterskull
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Vedalken Shackles
3 Cryptic Command
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Mana Leak
3 Spell Snare
2 Thirst For Knowledge
2 Pyroclasm
3 Serum Visions
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Thragtusk
3 Blood Moon
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Combust
1 Negate
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Tarmogoyf
Instants (25)
1 Electrolyze
2 Vapor Snag
3 Cryptic Command
3 Mana Leak
3 Spell Snare
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Serum Visions
3 Blood Moon
2 Vedalken Shackles
1 Breeding Pool
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Stomping Ground
3 Steam Vents
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
8 Island
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Spellskite
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Negate
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Dispel
1 Swerve
1 Combust
1 Keranos, God of Storms
Matches
Good matches:
According to Xing Guan, the favorable matches are Affinity, Bogles, Burn, Jund/Junk and UWR/UW Control.
The troublesome matches according to Li Xu are BW Tokens and Tron.
The matchup can be rough even after bringing in all your answers from the side, because a timely hand disruption spell from the opponent can just end the game on the spot. Assuming you do not get your answers stripped away, however, Pyroclasm for example can keep the deck from reaching critical mass.
Sample decklist
Here is the current version of the deck:
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
2x Huntmaster of the Fells
Spells (27)
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Serum Visions
4x Remand
3x Blood Moon
3x Cryptic Command
3x Electrolyze
3x Mana Leak
2x Spell Snare
1x Anger of the Gods
6x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Breeding Pool
2x Forest
2x Steam Vents
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Stomping Ground
1x Sulfur Falls
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Counterflux
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Scavenging Ooze
2x Spellskite
1x Dismember
1x Flame Slash
1x Voidslime
Conclusion
Modern is a format where you want to play proactive threats. It’s not enough to just have answers, you want to be the one asking the questions. RUG Control does that. You will be surprised with how many decks that cannot produce responses to it.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I've tested Young Pyromancer and it is average from what I've seen: I prefer running 2 Huntmaster of the Fells.
I agree with you about Anger of the Gods: I've been testing it out mainboard lately and it wrecks Junk Company. I'll update the primer about it!
One thing I'm debating is the blue mana sources has you said : I'm thinking about adding 2 Island, but I don't know where to cut and I don't want to cut 2 Raging Ravine. Thoughts about some ways to adress the situation?
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
You're probably right about the Huntsmaster vs Pyromancer.
For the lands I would lower the Stomping Ground count to 1 and cut one Raging Ravine plus both Tec Edges for four Islands. The numbers could be messed around a little but to consistently have 3 blue sources by turn 4 you need at least 20.
That seems great : Tectonic Edge has not been efficient as I wished it could be. The primer is updated with the changes!
Also, we're tweaking the sideboard and are not sure about the number of these cards or some other that could replace them.
2x Deglamer
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Combust
1x Counterflux
1x Dismember
1x Pyroclasm
1x Relic of Progenitus
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
Thanks for the comment MrM0nd4y!
That's a good observation: similar shell, but different approach. I'm not comfortable with the Deceiver Exarch/Splinter Twin combo aside UR Twin : I run Living End and I'm not a fan of Living Twin as I find that much is going on. I don't like nor feel comfortable in Tarmo Twin : I understand that Tarmogoyf is an alternate win condition, but Tarmo Twin to me is like a mashup of two good things that goes on at the same time. So Tarmo Twin is not control enough for me: it's a combo deck that adds powerful aggresive cards.
In RUG Control, the focus is really on the control aspects of the game, but also being agressive, not relying on a combo that could be a win condition. I really want to focus on controling the game, but Tarmogoyf or Huntmaster of the Fells are support cards that prove to be worth it against various build as well as alternate win conditions. Alone, a Tarmogoyf can win the game, but also, I can fall back on Raging Ravine to smash opponents if needed on a long run for example for example.
The deck is being tested intensely for GP Charlotte as my friend is willing to go maverick and under the radar. From what I've seen in games against Jund, Junk, Affinity, Burn, etc., it is very viable and has favorable matchups.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Birds of Paradise
3 Guttersnipe
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Hooded Hydra
3 Purphoros, God of the Forge
Spells(23):
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Spell Snare
3 Serum Visions
4 Remand
2 Simic Charm
2 Counterflux
3 Voidslime
3 Cryptic Command
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Breeding Pool
2 Yavimaya Coast
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Cascade Bluffs
3 Island
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Raging Ravine
1 Kessig Wolf Run
iPads at 1%, I'll edit this post later.
Guttersnipe seems incredibly bad in Modern (3 mana creature, dies to everything, doesn't effectively block or attack, has only a minor effect) and Hooded Hydra is far too slow for Modern.
I personally don't see the point of playing RUG Control over Grixis. If you look at the list in the OP, replace Goyf with Tasigur, Scavenging Ooze with a couple more Vendilion Cliques, Huntmaster of the Fells with a Batterskull and a Stormbreath Dragon, and Ancient Grudge with Kolaghan's Command your deck would be basically the same. However, if you made changes like adding in Terminates as well then your deck would be far better than RUG Control could ever be.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
I'm having issues with the sideboard as of now: it is always changing, going back and forth because we can't settle on optimal numbers of cards or even cards that are cut out of thesideboard and end up being in the maybeboard.
You seem to know the shell, so what do you think of this?
3x Blood Moon
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Simic Charm
1x Combust
1x Counterflux
1x Dismember
1x Flame Slash
Not sure if 2x Anger of the Gods is overkill, but with Elves and Podless Pod rising, that's why I keep it at two.
Anything seems out of place or missing?
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
This seems more of a midrange RUG shell than a control shell. We're missing 4x Tarmogoyf, 4x Snapcaster Mage and some Vendilion Clique. I think that 3 Purphoros, God of the Forge is too much as he is too slow. About the Hooded Hydra, I never played the card, but why this over a second Huntmaster of the Fells for example? Also, I don't see the use of Birds of Paradise. Rather than having Guttersnipe, Eidolon of the Great Revel would be a better choice in general.
Interesting that you have 2x Counterflux (I can see why), but the 3x Voidslime seem overkill to me. Kessig Wolf Run doesn't seem out of place and is potentialy a good support land, but why 2x Yavimaya Coast?
Thanks for sharing explanations and past experiences.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
If I'd make these changes, it would be a totaly different deck.
Looking at Dan Jessup's list from Dallas on May 17th, 2x Blood Moon and 2x Vedalken Shackles mainboard, that's just not where RUG Control wants to go... Playing Blood Moon mainboard in a three color deck can be very risky and I don't like the idea of having that over some control cards that are essential to our gameplan. I prefer 4x Tarmogoy over 3x Tasigur, the Golden Fang: we're taking advantage of green here, so agression is not only a backup plan, but a way to keep the opponent at bay. 2x Go for the Throat is basically removal that I have in the sideboard (Dismember).
I won't go over the sideboard, but we're worlds apart.
Thanks for stoping by!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I'm not sure Simic Charm is super great in a more controlly style of deck. It's pretty cool in RUG Delver, but they're getting down a clock on turn 1 or 2 and just riding it to victory. Simic Charm is only really great if you have Cryptic Command to back it up, imo.
Other than that, it looks pretty good.
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
I've tested the 4 artifact/enchantment hate cards and they work wonders in the deck! I'm worried about Affinity, but also about any other enchantement that could slow us down as we're trying to set up the tempo.
2x Simic Charm was good as you said with Cryptic Command! I also think it could be two spots cleared away for other cards, like 2x Spellskite or 1x Batterskull (which is slow...) and 1x Dispel.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Allow me to tell you a little about guttersnipe, then. You're absolutely right with a couple of the points you brought up about Snipe. But the thing is, most people don't worry about him until it's too late and you've got a handful of counters. He's also out there to eat removal. People hate on the little guy, and pretty bad at that. I've found that most people try to get rid of him over Pyromancer because 2 damage off a spell that you can't stop is worse that one damage from a blockable/killable source. On top of the fact that your opponents feel his presence after you've cast 2+ spells, he adds tremendously to the "sit back and counter for the win" when you've got Pyro and Purphoros right next to him.
Truth be told though, I've seriously been considering swapping out Snipe for Snapcaster. The only problem with that would be my only damage outlet would now be Purphorus. I'll figure out something. I just need more time...
My deck list is pretty synergetic, and a lot of fun to play if counter-control is your thing.
You're right again. Terminate would be a great card to have. I've got Beast Within in my sideboard, but that's about as close as I've found.
I'm trying out Hooded Hydra because I wanted to see which creature works with Purphoros the most. Late game, it's easy to get people to bite on a face-down creature. So, you cast it face-down, purphorus deals 2, and then you wait to morph it until its targeted with something that will kill it. But, honestly, I'm pretty sure I'm going to cut the Hydra for another Huntmaster.
Birds speeds up access to your hard-counter clock. Voidslime a turn two fetch, or whatever you want for that matter. Turn 3 Cryptic command? Psh, why not? The worst birds does, is in late game. And that's if you don't have Purphorus on the board. If you do, then birds are still a shock.
I've never even thought about Eidolon, I'll have to give him a test day. Thanks for the suggestion.
I love Voidslime. It's a solid counter, has many different things it can cancel, and I always find myself wanting another in my hand as soon as I've used it. People shrug it off because it's GUU, but I refuse. Just making my opponent frustrated when he thought there was nothing I could do to stop an activation, combo, etc., is reason enough for me to use it.
Kessig has closed out a lot of games for me by getting that last 3-5 damage through on the back of a bird, token, or Huntmaster.
I only run 2 Coasts because I feel that's all I'll really need. I need access to one green mana every single turn one. But, this is a RUG deck after all, so I also need to be able to have access to U AND R on turn two. A couple coasts help make that possible.
Also, with testing this morning, the updated version of the primer is online, the sample decklist being:
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Vendilion Clique
2x Huntmaster of the Fells
2x Scavenging Ooze
Spells (22)
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Serum Visions
3x Cryptic Command
3x Electrolyze
3x Mana Leak
2x Remand
2x Spell Snare
1x Anger of the Gods
6x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Breeding Pool
2x Steam Vents
1x Forest
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Mountain
1x Stomping Ground
1x Sulfur Falls
3x Blood Moon
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Spellskite
1x Combust
1x Counterflux
1x Dismember
1x Flame Slash
Changes made:
+2 Vendilion Clique in place of 2 Raging Ravine : the first has proved to be better than the later in regards of the control aspects of the game. Also, RUG Control is good at 23 lands, not 25.
+2 Spellskite in the sideboard in place of the 2 Simic Charm.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
More creature based shell doesn't sound that much control to me. 15 creatures is a lot for a control deck and I don't myself running more than that (I know URW Control runs 17, but for RUG Control, the two spots are precious spells).
I don't see why we should run Kira, Great Glass-Spinner over all of the creatures we run (or spells that we'd have to remove in order to make room for Kira, Great Glass-Spinner). Would you mind explaining why it could be viable or reporting playtesting results?
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Kolaghan's freaking Command. I knew this card was nuts. I kept telling everyone this card was nuts. It's just a minimum 3-mana 2-for-1 except the 2-for-1 can be completely on the board! That's a tempo crush at instant speed. And it kills the precious Shackles... But we've got counters! And they've only really got 2-maindeck hate cards for it. And we even have Vendilion Clique to clear the way before dropping it if necessary. And lastly, we have an amazing utility land for it: Academy Ruins! If you can just recur the main deck explosives (which is a little incredibly versatile sweeper) or recur a Shackles they can't deal with, your late game rivals UW/x control decks! Yea, I'll just take this Colonnade from you, NP NP. Anyways, there's my 3:30 am rambling when I couldn't sleep from wisdom teeth pain, so I may be loopy or straight up wrong!
Thanks for reading!
About the Schackles, it sounded alright : I used to run 2x Vedalken Schakles and for the last few days, drop it because I found it slow in some matchups. I replace it for 2x Vendilion Clique, but running 3 felt overkill to me. I'll bring back the Schakles because it wasn't a bad card, but in some matchups (BW Tokens, Infect, etc.), it just felt too slow or somewhat useless. The plan is maybe to sideboard it out and replace it with Blood Moon.
Updated version a week from GP Charlotte. The only thing I consider doing is maybe bringing back 1x Raging Ravine.
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
2x Huntmaster of the Fells
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Vendilion Clique
Spells (22)
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Serum Visions
3x Cryptic Command
3x Electrolyze
3x Mana Leak
2x Remand
2x Spell Snare
2x Vedalken Shackles
1x Anger of the Gods
6x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Breeding Pool
2x Steam Vents
1x Forest
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Mountain
1x Stomping Ground
1x Sulfur Falls
3x Blood Moon
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Spellskite
1x Combust
1x Counterflux
1x Dismember
1x Flame Slash
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
2x Huntmaster of the Fells
Spells (27)
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Serum Visions
4x Remand
3x Blood Moon
3x Cryptic Command
3x Electrolyze
3x Mana Leak
2x Spell Snare
1x Anger of the Gods
6x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Breeding Pool
2x Steam Vents
1x Forest
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Mountain
1x Stomping Ground
1x Sulfur Falls
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Spellskite
1x Counterflux
1x Dismember
1x Flame Slash
1x Jace, Architect of Thought
Ideas and suggestions are gladly welcomed about the sideboard : there are three flex spots. Comments about the mainboard are also appreciated.
Cheers!
EDIT: we're thinking about taking out Huntmaster of the Fells. Also, considering Voidslime and Izzet Charm for the sideboard.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
2x Huntmaster of the Fells
Spells (27)
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Serum Visions
4x Remand
3x Blood Moon
3x Cryptic Command
3x Electrolyze
3x Mana Leak
2x Spell Snare
1x Anger of the Gods
6x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Breeding Pool
2x Forest
2x Steam Vents
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Stomping Ground
1x Sulfur Falls
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Counterflux
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Scavenging Ooze
2x Spellskite
1x Dismember
1x Flame Slash
1x Voidslime
Match 1: Grixis Control.
Result: 2-1.
Notes: I lost game 2 because of Tasigur, the Golden Fang. I underestimated him and my Tarmogoyf wasn't able to break through a wall of Gurmag, the Angler. Counterflux and Voidslime were amazing in game 3.
Match 2: GW Hatebears.
Result: 2-0.
Notes: not much to say as it was easy to counter the creature spells and then swing with Tarmogoyf and Huntmaster of the Fells. After my friend told me some limitations about Huntmaster of the Fells during the GP, I thought that it could be good to replace it with something else, but it is a viable win condition after all.
Match 3: Abzan Company.
Result: 2-1.
Notes: I lost game 1, the board got flooded too fast. I brought in the 2x Anger of the Gods and Flameslash and had all the needed tools to handle the situation : clear the board with Electrolyze also and then swing in with Tarmogoyf.
Match 4: Jund.
Result: 2-1.
Notes: I think that I got the nicest draws during the match. It could have been the other way around, as he didn't had a decent board presence during game 1 and 3 : no Liliana of the Veil or Olivia Voldaren. Disruption wasn't an issue with Counterflux and Voidslime.
In general, the deck was better than what I expected. The sideboard is also more consistent and stock.
Still want to know your thoughts about the mainboard/sideboard!
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R