I was playing Irrigated Farmland previously, but I feel like I don't need the cycling anymore with Search for Azcanta (I can just scry lands straight into the graveyard without paying 2!), meanwhile Field of Ruin incentivizes you to fetch a nonbasic so you have more basics left in the deck and Prairie Stream, unlike Farmland, is going to be untapped (without costing you 2 life) which can be very important. I suggest you try it out.
I agree that GQ and Crucible go hand in hand. I'm definitely not playing any GQs until GP Madrid, after that I'll reevaluate, but in the meantime I dumped Crucible for an Elspeth in the board.
Search certainly helps with flooding. Gives you something nice to do with extra mana, as well as binning a couple lands before it flips. This is one of the reason I don't actually like going down to 24 lands, even though I have. We are so many hungry, and we have a lot of ways to make use of the extra lands (Colonnade, Field of Ruin, both sides of Azcanta).
I do tend to think that farmland is better than Prairie Stream, being unable to fetch a second dual source has never affected me. I thought about it for awhile and thought maybe it would help to have a second untapped fetchable dual might help against ponza or Hate Bears, but Stream is likely never coming in untapped in that match either. If you need a second untapped dual it should probably be 2nd fountain. On the other hand, being able to cycle Farmland has come in handy more times that I can count and the fact that it ETBs tapped in the late game has only mattered a hand full of times. It's possible though that with so many of our high impact spells costing a fair amount of Mana that if we want to activate Azcanta and play spells in the same turn an ETB untapped land might be more important, in which case Glacial Fortress or 2nd fountain is probably correct.
Long, long time lurker here, first time post. Thank you folks for all the incredible information and help you have given all of us!
I had started in UW with the BennyHillz list and have been making changes, grinding on Mtgo and learning the in's and outs of this deck/style/archetype.
I think the biggest issue I'm having is I play too slow and I always run out of time either in paper or online. My background is Grixis Delver and Naya Burn. I only have a couple months on this style of control.
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
2 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
5 Island
3 Plains
1 Gideon Jura
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
Time was definitely a problem when I was playing in paper, but since I've been playing online so much I've gotten to the point where I always have more time than my opponents. Always think about the various possibilities for you next turn or your opponents turn. I think if and when I go back to playing more in paper I will play a lot faster than I used to, but even then you have to share the clock with your opponent, and you may have to take riskier plays than you would online to avoid draws.
In regards to Gideon Jura I've probably won way more games not by attacking with him, but by forcing opponent to tap down and then swing in on my turn. If Jura can survive more than 1 turn or is coupled with a Jace is when he's at his best, but in combo matches you're probably dead before you play him or dead if you tap out for him. I still really like Elspeth also and would like to have her in the 75, but things are too fast lately, and I'm not sold on cutting Jura either.
Elspeth, Knight Errant is criminally underplayed in this archetype I think. I haven't run her myself, but the ability to +3+3 flying seems like a sweet way to run down planeswalkers. I always imagine a dream scenario where I'm like tapping low for a verdict in the mid game, opponent jams a Karn thinking the coast is clear because he can easily pay for Mana leak and exile my colonnade...then bam, flash in snap for no value or opt, untpap slam elspeth, get wrecked Karn. Lol.
Seriously though, I think she's much better than Gideon 4 since she goes up in loyalty while pumping out tokens. Also not exposing herself to path to exile while putting +3+3 on something is a way more conservative line as far as trying to close out the game goes. Not sure if she can take Juras spot though, being 1 Mana cheaper isn't enough to make her good in the matchups where jura is bad. Too bad she was printed before WOTC started letting planeswalkers effect creatures until your next turn;imagine +3+3 wall of omens until next turn?
Sorry for all the Christmasland stuff guys, getting a little loopy from not playing anything other than practice games during midterm week lol.
Throw me in jail, then. I only have two Snapcasters in the deck, flashing one in for no value just to make Elspeth good is not a dream scenario for me. I don't think Gideon AoZ is good in the maindeck either so that's not a great comparison.
Yea, I've been on 2 snap for most of my time on UW as well, and I've never pulled the trigger on elspeth either. I guess criminally underplayed might be a bit of a hyperbole considering I won't play it myself, but I do think it's a lot better than AoZ, which manages to see some play.
Hey All, first time posting in this forum and I am working on optimizing my UW control. I am personally very indecisive when it comes to deck building by myself and i find i often jump around from card to card to card because i just cannot decide. I have read a good chunk of the pages in this thread and I am part of the UWx group on Facebook with Neo7hinker. I have the obvious core for my list and i seem to just be jumping around on the planeswalker numbers, which planeswalkers, and the land count (24 vs 25). Below i have posted 2 different versions of the deck showing some of the numbers i have been toying with (I will not include my Sideboard as it's not my main focus at this present time). Any and all thoughts on both lists and ways to improve the deck backed by solid reasoning (again im very indecisive and need sound reasoning why or why not or i will keep mulling over the card choice). Onto the decks
My original list before coming to these was running 2 Trials, 1 Jace, 1 Ally, 1 Jura, 4 Cryptic, 4 Verdict and 25 land.. I have been convinced that Ally is bad for the deck and i see most lists are running the 3/3 cryptic/verdict which is why the change. Again any and all feedback is much appreciated.
Lots of first time posters lately I would take your first list -1x Negate, Cryptic, and Supreme Will +1 Search for Azcanta, Mana Leak or Logic Knot, Sphinx Rev. If the Elspeth works out for you then leave her for now. Also I'd try a 2/2 Tec Edge Field of Ruin split, I'm currently on 3 Field 1 Tec.
im thinking about cutting tect edge entirely for a split between ghost quarter and field of ruin, cause i like crucible on the sideboard, what do you guys think? to me, the chance of destroying ad infinitum our opponent's manabase seems very good, and it is a strategy that i applied before playing the deck agains things like e tron or bg tron. Thoughts?
im thinking about cutting tect edge entirely for a split between ghost quarter and field of ruin, cause i like crucible on the sideboard, what do you guys think? to me, the chance of destroying ad infinitum our opponent's manabase seems very good, and it is a strategy that i applied before playing the deck agains things like e tron or bg tron. Thoughts?
Tec/GQ split is better with Crucible. Trying to land lock your opponent is going to be very difficult if you keep giving them lands. Turn 3 or Turn 4 crucible is going to be way more potent with Tec Edge. If your opponent has X basics left in their deck it takes you X+1 turns to start taking them off lands with either GQ or Ruin vs with Tec Edge you can can start stripping them either the turn you drop crucible or the next turn. Combine that with 1 or 2 spreading seas and there's a good chance your opponent doesn't get to play magic. Trying to find 2 mana to dump into field of ruin every turn, while trying to answer the threats they are able to deploy is going to be much more difficult when they continue to make land drops versus the 1 mana activation of tec edge while cutting their land drops.
I have found myself in Control mirrors/battles on MTGO a lot lately. I have to say SFA (Search for Azcanta) has pulled me ahead a pretty much won me all those matches! I can't get enough of this card. No TT or Rev and -1 Jace. Fuels +1 Snap really well too!
I'm on the fence about 4 Fields of Ruin but I am still running it without any GQ or TE and -1 SS. The land destruction/shutout isn't happening enough for me to bank on and is too slow. I find myself needing to get pressure earlier with the current meta so 3 Spell Queller/1 Geist in SB is helping here as well. Turns the deck into a tempo variant at times.
I have found myself in Control mirrors/battles on MTGO a lot lately. I have to say SFA (Search for Azcanta) has pulled me ahead a pretty much won me all those matches! I can't get enough of this card. No TT or Rev and -1 Jace. Fuels +1 Snap really well too!
I'm on the fence about 4 Fields of Ruin but I am still running it without any GQ or TE and -1 SS. The land destruction/shutout isn't happening enough for me to bank on and is too slow. I find myself needing to get pressure earlier with the current meta so 3 Spell Queller/1 Geist in SB is helping here as well. Turns the deck into a tempo variant at times.
I'm also on no Rev, no TT -1SS. I was on 1 Jace for awhile, but I switched the 3rd cryptic out for 2nd Jace. I found I was siding out cryptic in more matches than I would have imagined for such a flexible card. The problem is that cryptic is so much better when you're ahead or even and in the control or combo matches where you often think you are ahead or even being 4 Mana is a liability. So now I'm on 2 Jace 2 Search and 1 Gifts Ungiven as my card advantage slots.
The Mana disruption package has been underwhelming for me since the inception of the deck. I like that sometimes Spreading Seas just gets you a free win against an opponents bad draw, but mostly I just feel like it's a necessary evil against Tron Variants. Being able to take then off Tron while not setting you back a land is one of the reasons we can actually beat Tron, but now Field of Ruin does the same thing. It's possible that even as few as 2 SS might be good enough if one were to run 4 Field, but so far I've been okay with 3 seas.
The mana disruption sometimes works great, but other times they just always have another land. I have really noticed how unlike real life the shuffling is online, I can go through 35 cards of my deck and find 0 paths and verdicts, or find all of them in the first 15 cards. Same thing with my opponents, I notice them playing full playsets of things in the first 5 turns of the game so often it ridiculous. The best thing about field of ruin for me is filtering out all the basics in my deck while dealing with a problematic opponent's land, even with 24 lands flooding loses me a lot of games.
I went 4-1 with the Elspeth, Knight-Errant / Geist of Saint Traft package in the main last night, Elspeth was awesome and I only lost to a mono red blood moon deck where I just couldn't find a basic besides 2 plains in game 3. I did play the dream turn 3 Geist into turn 4 Elspeth once, but Elspeth just by herself won a couple matches. I like how both her abilities are +1 unlike Gideon AOZ and a 1/1 chump blocker against a 10/10 death's shadow is just as good as a 2/2. One game I just took 15 damage in 1 attack instead of blocking because her +3/3 flying along with my colonnade was lethal after that.
Ok! I'm jumping on the Elspeth, Knight Errant train with Champ in the SB (maybe?). I am underwhelmed by the performance Gid AOZ has been giving me and Big Gid doesn't fit my curve. Getting him in opening hand hurts. Elspeth looks like a much better fit and fits the curve/game plan better. Living the dream of both Elspeth's on the field seems interesting. Probably not needed. Do I even need Sun's Champ in the SB with this setup? Will I miss the bomb? Thinking 2x Surgical in SB would be a better fit.
I have been thinking about re-evaluating my counter package. I really do like how 2x Mana Leak 1xLogic knot 1x negate have been working out. Thinking 1x Disallow to help with big mana decks instead of 3rd cryptic. (I'm looking at you Selfless Spirit)
Running 23 lands and the filtering of Opt with SFA has been working well. Only 1 game against burn was I hoping for land for a couple turns.
As I continue to play with the deck and figure out it's intricacies, I'm wondering whether some of my issues stem from keeping bad hands. Any advice on what to look for ideally in a starting hand?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern Decks: UWAzorius Titan ControlUW BWOrzhov ControlBW
As I have just started to get used to this deck/style of play coming from Aggro/Tempo I can say, yes, just stay the f* alive. I have found that if I keep a hand that has a decent curve and I can get to a point where I have 3 lands, some form of early counter (mana leak) and possibly a wall or seas to keep them off an early color it seems to be ok. Curve I mean Turn 1 opt, turn 2 wall, mana leak, Search and turn three Gideon (Blam!), Turn Four Supreme Verdict. Blam! I can go into a draw go from that point. Please, Please help and correct me if this seems way off people.
My best chances of winning seems to come from this but.... what you keep seems to dictate. Sometimes I seem to have to go into a draw go right off the top using counters. On the play against Storm I feel I'm just trying to stay alive long enough to land some threats, kill the goblin and dude and keep past in flames off my tail.
This is probably all control 101 but new for me. If the established control players here could shed some light on hypothetical tactics and strategy I bet we would really get quite a bit out of it.
On another note I've found Spell Queller to hit people sideways 2nd game. I started with Benny Hillz list and lost every single game for a long time. I then read what these guys say and apply what I felt was right for how my brain works and it seems to be working. Reading this thread from the very beginning really helped me understand what this deck is trying to achieve and adapt it to me. My buddy who is an old Type 1 player said once you make the deck feel like your own you'll start getting better.
On starting hands and mulligans - One of the benefits of this deck, more specifically if you run 25 land as I believe you should, is that you can afford to keep a pretty wide range of starting hands against unknown opponents. With so many lands in the deck, you are very likely to draw a land or 2 to make 2 land hands good. On the flip side, starting with 4 or 5 lands is not a huge issue either because its likely that some number of them will be 'spell' lands and we actively want to hit our first 6-8 lands drops anyways. I prefer slightly land heavy hands myself because I find that I lose far more often to mana screw rather than mana flood.
The other key to mulligans against unknown opponents is that you would prefer to have some kind of proactive plan. In my opinion, this is why UW is the best control deck in modern and why Gideon of the Trials is likely the best card in the deck. Trials plays both proactive and reactive games in exactly the manner that UW wants. One of the other key proactive game plans is the mana denial plan. You would be surprised how often a Spreading Seas can buy you a free turn. Against BGx decks for example, hitting their only black source on turn 2 ensures they can't play Liliana on turn 3, effectively buying you a turn and it is often enough to keep her from locking you out until Colonnade can pressure her. Azcanta is a new addition that I really like as a pseudo proactive game plan as well. Basically, you ideally would like to have some piece of at least one of those plans and a few interactive cards. Obviously you can keep reactive 7's as well but the risk is that your answers don't line up with their threats - You're going to be in a lot of trouble if you kept path, path, verdict, 4 lands against Valakut for example.
For g2 and g3 the mulligan decisions revolve around knowledge of the match up generally and specific information about your opponent's list, so I won't go there. I'm not sure anyone has put together a mulligan analysis for specific matches, but there have been a few good write ups for matches generally and sideboard guides within this thread.
Some notes I want to make:
I will be playing Settle the Wreckage over the Verdict in the board if I can get one, and I will most likely retool the manabase for 2x Field of Ruin and 2x Tec Edges if I can get the Fields too. Haven't tested them yet, but I'm 100% commited enough on them to pull the trigger. Other things that I do own: I probably want to play a 3rd Snapcaster Mage, and I do have an Azcanta that I could toss in -- not sold on Azcanta as a 1-of tho. I added the Clique and Secure to the main because I felt like the deck was running light on threats, especially since I cut Elspeth from the list -- she was good, but not necessary I think, and she's not a card I like to sideboard, generally. Finally, I added another Rev to go with the Secure for a stronger late game. I'm not super concerned about it being a dead draw, since I can Opt it away if necessary. I've also casted 5 mana --> gain, 2 draw 2 plenty of times in my life, and it's something I could live with.
Anywho, some updates to my theory on building the list a little bit -- I finally moved the D-Sphere in the board to the main. It's just not seeing any real hate right now, and Quellers from the board protect them from Abrupt Decay (Lantern) anyways. Not to mention the heavy synergy with Cryptic. I'm still on mainboard Alliances, and I firmly believe that it's right to be playing them -- they give you a powerful answer to Eldrazi, Boggles, Burn, URx control (a life cushion and Snappy answer -- no walls haha), etc. game one while still being a playable removal spell in general. Finally, I'm playing an extra 2 mana counter for Storm mainly, but it should just be good in general too -- I'm playing Opts and flash wincons, so more 2-mana counters makes sense.
The only thing I'd like to point out is a small flaw in your thinking with Opt, and I've seen you make the same error with regard to search for azcanta in the past. You seem to be justifying the inclusion of some cards based on the fact that your filter cards can effectively change what you're drawing. The problem with this line of thinking is that without relying on sheer luck (hoping the top card of the deck is a card you DONT want) these effects (Scry and Think Tank) can only help you increase the chance of drawing any given card, not decrease the chance of drawing any given card.
With that said I think it is a huge mistake to not be playing at least 1 copy of Azcanta in this deck. Other than that, I hope you find your fields, especially since you're running 2 Rev, I think you will find they are very good. Cheers and good luck again!
@Annihilator: Settle the Wreckage seems like it should just be the 4th Supreme Verdict for you. The 4 drop of Verdict can't be countered and doesn't give the opponent any upside. In a perfect scenario the opponent would have 3-4 lands at this point (depending if you SS them or not). They would have 2-3 cards in hand maybe. Essentially giving certain decks all their basics could let them rebuild. If you did this against Skred it would hurt you. I don't like sweepers that give the opponent anything in return. Path to Exile is always a difficult drop from me and a "this threat has to go" card. Just my 2 cents. Please correct me if I'm way off base.
I really enjoy Search for Azcanta. Had a buddy looking over my shoulder during a game against Esper Control. Went late game and had 1 SFA flipped and the other do the upkeep skry thing along with Jace on the board. All he said was "Holy Crap" lol. The filtering and finding late game was awesome to have every answer and find whatever threat I needed. Great fun!
Search certainly helps with flooding. Gives you something nice to do with extra mana, as well as binning a couple lands before it flips. This is one of the reason I don't actually like going down to 24 lands, even though I have. We are so many hungry, and we have a lot of ways to make use of the extra lands (Colonnade, Field of Ruin, both sides of Azcanta).
I do tend to think that farmland is better than Prairie Stream, being unable to fetch a second dual source has never affected me. I thought about it for awhile and thought maybe it would help to have a second untapped fetchable dual might help against ponza or Hate Bears, but Stream is likely never coming in untapped in that match either. If you need a second untapped dual it should probably be 2nd fountain. On the other hand, being able to cycle Farmland has come in handy more times that I can count and the fact that it ETBs tapped in the late game has only mattered a hand full of times. It's possible though that with so many of our high impact spells costing a fair amount of Mana that if we want to activate Azcanta and play spells in the same turn an ETB untapped land might be more important, in which case Glacial Fortress or 2nd fountain is probably correct.
I had started in UW with the BennyHillz list and have been making changes, grinding on Mtgo and learning the in's and outs of this deck/style/archetype.
I think the biggest issue I'm having is I play too slow and I always run out of time either in paper or online. My background is Grixis Delver and Naya Burn. I only have a couple months on this style of control.
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
2 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
5 Island
3 Plains
1 Gideon Jura
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Logic Knot
1 Negate
2 Mana Leak
3 Cryptic Command
4 Path to Exile
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Opt
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Wall of Omens
3 Spreading Seas
2 Detention Sphere
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dispel
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Negate
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Rest in Peace
3 Spell Queller
2 Stony Silence
1 Timely Reinforcements
Thanks everybody and keep up the good work. It feels like we are witnessing the birth of a very new powerful UW Control shell!
In regards to Gideon Jura I've probably won way more games not by attacking with him, but by forcing opponent to tap down and then swing in on my turn. If Jura can survive more than 1 turn or is coupled with a Jace is when he's at his best, but in combo matches you're probably dead before you play him or dead if you tap out for him. I still really like Elspeth also and would like to have her in the 75, but things are too fast lately, and I'm not sold on cutting Jura either.
Seriously though, I think she's much better than Gideon 4 since she goes up in loyalty while pumping out tokens. Also not exposing herself to path to exile while putting +3+3 on something is a way more conservative line as far as trying to close out the game goes. Not sure if she can take Juras spot though, being 1 Mana cheaper isn't enough to make her good in the matchups where jura is bad. Too bad she was printed before WOTC started letting planeswalkers effect creatures until your next turn;imagine +3+3 wall of omens until next turn?
Sorry for all the Christmasland stuff guys, getting a little loopy from not playing anything other than practice games during midterm week lol.
Yea, I've been on 2 snap for most of my time on UW as well, and I've never pulled the trigger on elspeth either. I guess criminally underplayed might be a bit of a hyperbole considering I won't play it myself, but I do think it's a lot better than AoZ, which manages to see some play.
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Wall of Omens
Instant/Sorcery: 20
4 Serum Visions
4 Path to Exile
2 Mana Leak
2 Negate
1 Supreme Will
4 Cryptic Command
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Spreading Seas
2 Detention Sphere
Planeswalkers: 5
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Gideon Jura
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Land: 25
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Mystic Gate
1 Irrigated Farmland
2 Glacial Fortress
4 Island
3 Plains
4 Tectonic Edge
2 Wall of Omens
2 Snapcaster Mage
Spells: 18
4 Serum Visions
4 Path to Exile
2 Mana Leak
1 Negate
1 Supreme Will
3 Supreme Verdict
3 Cryptic Command
4 Spreading Seas
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Detention Sphere
Planeswalkers: 6
2 Gideon of the Trials
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Gideon Jura
Land: 24
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Mystic Gate
1 Irrigated Farmland
1 Glacial Fortress
4 Island
3 Plains
4 Tectonic Edge
My original list before coming to these was running 2 Trials, 1 Jace, 1 Ally, 1 Jura, 4 Cryptic, 4 Verdict and 25 land.. I have been convinced that Ally is bad for the deck and i see most lists are running the 3/3 cryptic/verdict which is why the change. Again any and all feedback is much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Tec/GQ split is better with Crucible. Trying to land lock your opponent is going to be very difficult if you keep giving them lands. Turn 3 or Turn 4 crucible is going to be way more potent with Tec Edge. If your opponent has X basics left in their deck it takes you X+1 turns to start taking them off lands with either GQ or Ruin vs with Tec Edge you can can start stripping them either the turn you drop crucible or the next turn. Combine that with 1 or 2 spreading seas and there's a good chance your opponent doesn't get to play magic. Trying to find 2 mana to dump into field of ruin every turn, while trying to answer the threats they are able to deploy is going to be much more difficult when they continue to make land drops versus the 1 mana activation of tec edge while cutting their land drops.
I have found myself in Control mirrors/battles on MTGO a lot lately. I have to say SFA (Search for Azcanta) has pulled me ahead a pretty much won me all those matches! I can't get enough of this card. No TT or Rev and -1 Jace. Fuels +1 Snap really well too!
I'm on the fence about 4 Fields of Ruin but I am still running it without any GQ or TE and -1 SS. The land destruction/shutout isn't happening enough for me to bank on and is too slow. I find myself needing to get pressure earlier with the current meta so 3 Spell Queller/1 Geist in SB is helping here as well. Turns the deck into a tempo variant at times.
I'm also on no Rev, no TT -1SS. I was on 1 Jace for awhile, but I switched the 3rd cryptic out for 2nd Jace. I found I was siding out cryptic in more matches than I would have imagined for such a flexible card. The problem is that cryptic is so much better when you're ahead or even and in the control or combo matches where you often think you are ahead or even being 4 Mana is a liability. So now I'm on 2 Jace 2 Search and 1 Gifts Ungiven as my card advantage slots.
The Mana disruption package has been underwhelming for me since the inception of the deck. I like that sometimes Spreading Seas just gets you a free win against an opponents bad draw, but mostly I just feel like it's a necessary evil against Tron Variants. Being able to take then off Tron while not setting you back a land is one of the reasons we can actually beat Tron, but now Field of Ruin does the same thing. It's possible that even as few as 2 SS might be good enough if one were to run 4 Field, but so far I've been okay with 3 seas.
I went 4-1 with the Elspeth, Knight-Errant / Geist of Saint Traft package in the main last night, Elspeth was awesome and I only lost to a mono red blood moon deck where I just couldn't find a basic besides 2 plains in game 3. I did play the dream turn 3 Geist into turn 4 Elspeth once, but Elspeth just by herself won a couple matches. I like how both her abilities are +1 unlike Gideon AOZ and a 1/1 chump blocker against a 10/10 death's shadow is just as good as a 2/2. One game I just took 15 damage in 1 attack instead of blocking because her +3/3 flying along with my colonnade was lethal after that.
I have been thinking about re-evaluating my counter package. I really do like how 2x Mana Leak 1xLogic knot 1x negate have been working out. Thinking 1x Disallow to help with big mana decks instead of 3rd cryptic. (I'm looking at you Selfless Spirit)
Running 23 lands and the filtering of Opt with SFA has been working well. Only 1 game against burn was I hoping for land for a couple turns.
UWAzorius Titan ControlUW
BWOrzhov ControlBW
My best chances of winning seems to come from this but.... what you keep seems to dictate. Sometimes I seem to have to go into a draw go right off the top using counters. On the play against Storm I feel I'm just trying to stay alive long enough to land some threats, kill the goblin and dude and keep past in flames off my tail.
This is probably all control 101 but new for me. If the established control players here could shed some light on hypothetical tactics and strategy I bet we would really get quite a bit out of it.
On another note I've found Spell Queller to hit people sideways 2nd game. I started with Benny Hillz list and lost every single game for a long time. I then read what these guys say and apply what I felt was right for how my brain works and it seems to be working. Reading this thread from the very beginning really helped me understand what this deck is trying to achieve and adapt it to me. My buddy who is an old Type 1 player said once you make the deck feel like your own you'll start getting better.
The other key to mulligans against unknown opponents is that you would prefer to have some kind of proactive plan. In my opinion, this is why UW is the best control deck in modern and why Gideon of the Trials is likely the best card in the deck. Trials plays both proactive and reactive games in exactly the manner that UW wants. One of the other key proactive game plans is the mana denial plan. You would be surprised how often a Spreading Seas can buy you a free turn. Against BGx decks for example, hitting their only black source on turn 2 ensures they can't play Liliana on turn 3, effectively buying you a turn and it is often enough to keep her from locking you out until Colonnade can pressure her. Azcanta is a new addition that I really like as a pseudo proactive game plan as well. Basically, you ideally would like to have some piece of at least one of those plans and a few interactive cards. Obviously you can keep reactive 7's as well but the risk is that your answers don't line up with their threats - You're going to be in a lot of trouble if you kept path, path, verdict, 4 lands against Valakut for example.
For g2 and g3 the mulligan decisions revolve around knowledge of the match up generally and specific information about your opponent's list, so I won't go there. I'm not sure anyone has put together a mulligan analysis for specific matches, but there have been a few good write ups for matches generally and sideboard guides within this thread.
4x Celestial Colonnade
2x Glacial Fortress
1x Ghost Quarter
2x Tectonic Edge
4x Flooded Strand
2x Scalding Tarn
2x Hallowed Fountain
5x Island
2x Plains
Removal (11)
4x Path to Exile
2x Blessed Alliance
2x Detention Sphere
3x Supreme Verdict
4x Opt
4x Spreading Seas
2x Snapcaster Mage
2x Sphinx's Revelation
Counters (8)
3x Mana Leak
1x Logic Knot
1x Negate
3x Cryptic Command
Wincons (5)
2x Gideon of the Trials
1x Vendilion Clique
1x Gideon Jura
1x Secure the Wastes
2x Surgical Extraction
1x Dispel
1x Ceremonious Rejection
1x Blessed Alliance
1x Celestial Purge
1x Disdainful Stroke
1x Negate
2x Rest in Peace
1x Runed Halo
3x Spell Queller
1x Supreme Verdict
Some notes I want to make:
I will be playing Settle the Wreckage over the Verdict in the board if I can get one, and I will most likely retool the manabase for 2x Field of Ruin and 2x Tec Edges if I can get the Fields too. Haven't tested them yet, but I'm 100% commited enough on them to pull the trigger. Other things that I do own: I probably want to play a 3rd Snapcaster Mage, and I do have an Azcanta that I could toss in -- not sold on Azcanta as a 1-of tho. I added the Clique and Secure to the main because I felt like the deck was running light on threats, especially since I cut Elspeth from the list -- she was good, but not necessary I think, and she's not a card I like to sideboard, generally. Finally, I added another Rev to go with the Secure for a stronger late game. I'm not super concerned about it being a dead draw, since I can Opt it away if necessary. I've also casted 5 mana --> gain, 2 draw 2 plenty of times in my life, and it's something I could live with.
Anywho, some updates to my theory on building the list a little bit -- I finally moved the D-Sphere in the board to the main. It's just not seeing any real hate right now, and Quellers from the board protect them from Abrupt Decay (Lantern) anyways. Not to mention the heavy synergy with Cryptic. I'm still on mainboard Alliances, and I firmly believe that it's right to be playing them -- they give you a powerful answer to Eldrazi, Boggles, Burn, URx control (a life cushion and Snappy answer -- no walls haha), etc. game one while still being a playable removal spell in general. Finally, I'm playing an extra 2 mana counter for Storm mainly, but it should just be good in general too -- I'm playing Opts and flash wincons, so more 2-mana counters makes sense.
UWB Esper Draw-Go Control (clicky)
UW Azorius Control (clicky)
Currently pursuing a degree in Biochemistry.
EDH: I've decided I don't like multiplayer formats.
The only thing I'd like to point out is a small flaw in your thinking with Opt, and I've seen you make the same error with regard to search for azcanta in the past. You seem to be justifying the inclusion of some cards based on the fact that your filter cards can effectively change what you're drawing. The problem with this line of thinking is that without relying on sheer luck (hoping the top card of the deck is a card you DONT want) these effects (Scry and Think Tank) can only help you increase the chance of drawing any given card, not decrease the chance of drawing any given card.
With that said I think it is a huge mistake to not be playing at least 1 copy of Azcanta in this deck. Other than that, I hope you find your fields, especially since you're running 2 Rev, I think you will find they are very good. Cheers and good luck again!
I really enjoy Search for Azcanta. Had a buddy looking over my shoulder during a game against Esper Control. Went late game and had 1 SFA flipped and the other do the upkeep skry thing along with Jace on the board. All he said was "Holy Crap" lol. The filtering and finding late game was awesome to have every answer and find whatever threat I needed. Great fun!