@Slowgod - I cut Jace because I was never really impressed with it but we needed card advantage cards. Now with Azcanta I feel like we can cut most of the other card advantage stuff. I replaced Jace with Gideon AOZ basically. AOZ can be card advantage by making tokens, it's also a wincon and plays nicely with little Gideon Emblem at the same cost as Jace. I am scared to face lingering souls now, but I will just board in RIP for game 2 and 3 against them.
Disdainful stroke hits almost every high impact noncreature spell that Dispel doesnt except Liliana and Gideon Trials. Niether of those cards are particularly scary against us, I can almost always take care of a Lilly and I've won through her ultimate plenty of times. Now that I think about it more it should probably be 3 Dispel, 2 Stroke 0 negate. Importantly, stroke hits Titan, and most of the Eldrazi that negate cant hit. Can you think of any spells that Negate counters that isn't covered by Dispel or Stroke that are important enough to board against and aren't Lilly or Gideon Trials?
I would also strongly suggest moving back to 25 lands. You might have noticed an increase in win rate moving back to Benny's list because you weren't struggling to find lands. 23 lands is not nearly enough. I tried 24 with extra can trips and Azcanta but I was still forced to play Azcanta on T2 more often than I wanted and to spend the first few turns looking for land.
@mgoetze - I like your style of critiquing, would you mind critiquing mine as well? I have two lists, the first one is what I just went 4-1 with in a league, and the second is based on changes I want to make before joining my next league. Obviously, I care more about the second list, but I'll present them both so you might get a sense of where my head is at. My matches were 2-1 Burn, 1-2 Burn, 2-1 Titanshift, 2-0 Storm, 2-0 Storm.
The sideboard for this deck didn't have a lot of thought put into it, I just wanted to play with the new cards so I slapped it together.
After playing with the above list (and dying to Burn in G3 with 2 Snaps in my hand as well as casting Snap as a 2/1 Flash against TitanShift twice) I want to go back to 2 Snaps, which I think puts less of a burden on needing 4 Opt. I also struggled to hit land 5 pretty often, so I think I will go back up to 25 lands. Field of Ruin was spectacular in the Titanshift matchup, It actually won me both games where Tec Edge would not have. I needed to get to cryptic mana, and there was a turn where I needed to flip Azcanta, Impulse into Cryptic Command in order to bounce his Valakut, tap his Primeval so that I could Verdict and hold up snap cryptic plus path to not die to Shift the next turn . And I wouldnt have had near the amount of mana I needed to execute that line if I had set myself back with GQ or Tec edge after nuking 2 Valakuts already. That line stands out the most, but I used all of my mana every turn against Valakut in every match, so I'm going to play at least a couple more leagues with it before making a final judgement.
The other minor adjustment I made was with the manabase, I switched out a Colonnade for a Polluted Delta. I played a lot of Tournament practice rooms with that mana base (with differing configuration of non-land cards, mind you) and I find it pretty good in practice. I liked the idea of having the additional T1 Blue source. But I'm open to cutting a Fortress for it instead.
Anyways, here's where I'm headed next, what do you think @Mgoetze and everyone?
**edit looks like I forgot to add the 25th land to the second list. I'm guessing I just put the Colonnade back in.
Interesting list for sure (looking at the one for the next league). I must admit I don't like Wall here, especially when it already competes with 3 Seas, 2 Azcanta, and 2 Serum already incentivizing you to tap out for them (of those cards, I'd cut Serum and Walls first). I think an Azcanta list would in theory want a 4th Verdict instead, since you can use the Azcanta to find it after playing an Azcanta early, or you can bin Verict with Azcanta in the late game against decks where you don't want the Verdict. You also mentioned that cutting Jace makes you feel more vulnerable to Souls -- playing the 4th Wrath shores that up. In fact, Verdict plays well with all of the walkers too. I think it's definitely an easy 4 of. I understand that Snare is there to take more advantage of Opt, but Snare is honestly really bad and I wouldn't play it, tho 1 is fine I guess. Opt's instant speed and scrying before drawing is good enough by itself, play OR draw. Finally, no mainboard 2-mana counters, AT ALL? That's a little odd to me.
Anywho, curious to your thoughts on those Cliques, and excited to hear a report back on Field of Ruin. =D
The 2 mana counters are cut because like you said, there are a ton of 2 drops already. Azcanta doesn't really compete for that slot with wall though - Unless I'm stuck on 2 land, I'm playing Wall on 2 rather than Azcanta. I don't hate the idea of going to 4 Verdict, I think it's one of the best cards in the deck, but the Walls make it less necessary to find it by turn 4. As long as Shadow, Burn and Eldrazi are near the top of the meta, I'm not sleeving up UW w/Gideons without at least 2 Wall of Omens. I also don't think it's correct to conceptualize Azcanta as being able to fix your draws in the way you described - "bin Verict with Azcanta in the late game against decks where you don't want the Verdict" - Since your top card is just as random as the 2nd card from the top, Azcanta can't reliably make you NOT draw something. Rather it helps fix your draws by helping you increase your odds of finding what you do need.
I think Snare is great. Initially it was there because I was moving up to 3 Snaps and a bunch of Opts. Snap obviously plays well with 1 mana answers. Snare has has been really bad for a long time, and I think that is still sticking in people's minds, but I actually think it's in a good spot now. I understand that it is pretty weak against the top decks in the format, but I think UW is a good choice because those matchups are favorable already. It isn't completely dead in those matches either, it's just weak (Hits Snap/terminate in GDS, X spells in Eldrazi). Against everything else though, the card is great. I'm open to counter arguments though, I could be missing something.
I've played a bit more with Search for Azcanta and the more I use it the more it feels like a worse Ancestral Vision to me.
Really eh? I also feel it fills the same role as Ancestral Vision, except I think it's a better version. Ancestral on T1 gives you +3 cards in the midgame - obviously a powerful effect. But you need it early, so you have to play many copies. And it gets worse when you draw one that isn't in your opener, so playing multiples kind of stinks. Azcanta also kind of stinks in multiples, but drawing it early isn't as important, so you don't need to run 3-4 copies for it to have effect. And playing less copies doesn't really hurt it, because it isn't a bad topdeck, in fact it's almost always what I want to see off the top of my deck in the late game - sort of like Sphinx's Rev, except it's also a fine turn 2-4 play unlike either Ancestral or Rev.
I genuinely believe Azcanta might be the strongest card in the deck. I just had an opponent Prioritize killing my unflipped Search with an Abrupt Decay when I had Gideon Trials in play that could kill their Liliana next turn. I know that's just one anecdote, but it's essentially that opponent saying "Your 2 mana threat is stronger than the best U/w control planeswalker in modern. I can't beat it, and I'm willing to lose my only threat to make sure I have outs."
I think you are having trouble with it because you are just trying to shoe-horn it into a more draw-go + Walkers list. AS Mgoetze pointed out, those two strategies are already at odds, and you have too many slots dedicated to card advantage now. And as I've been advocating, I think Azcanta is pretty much the only CA slot we need outside a sprinkling of Cryptics and Snappys. I think your list specifically is also trying to play draw-go much more than the rest of us as well, which doesn't mesh well with Planeswalker and Echantment threats. Try playing a few games with -1 Snap - 1 Cryptic -1 Rev - 1 Jace +4 Wall of Omens. I'm not advocating 4 Wall of Omens, but playing with that configuration for a few games will get you used to tapping out, and imo, will be a much more suitable list for Azcanta. Then drop a wall or two and adjust for your meta.
new poster in this thread but longtime UW player from extended. I might not have the playstyle fit for the recent variations of this deck but I often feel like Id prefer spell queller in the main with 2 snapcaster and the average 4 walkers 3 gideon (1x5cmc 2x3cmc) 1 jace (4cmc) but i have some preference for flash games myself (fae player here). I think thats my only concession to the preference of gameplan though. Probably cutting secure the wastes for search for Azcanta when I pick 2 up, but will I need to move queller to the board for 2 opt/wall of omens to support it better (not a fan of wall, which is why secure is there)?
Decks I have in my bag of tricks- Needless to say, someone who wants to play will probably have a deck UB/x Faeries UR Storm XURWB Affinity G Elves UW control
@thatstoryteller - Queller is a great card, the only problem is that it has tension with Supreme Verdict. I've been getting some games in with a pair of Vendilion Clique in the main, and it's been fine. They also don't play great with Verdict, but at least the opponent doesn't get their card back. I like Queller because it can stand up to lingering souls, but other than that I think Clique is the better main deck card.
Hey guys- I'm having issues with my current list. I have an Open coming up and I was gonna play Jeskai, but I don't own Tarns for budget reasons. I'd run Polluted Delta in their place. I will probably play UW as it is the best Control deck I have completely built.
I haven't played with this list much and that may be why it feels weird, but Azcanta just feels awkward and playing no Rev also seems like an error. All the games I've played Gideon AOZ he's been useless, although to his credit I've only played this deck against B/W Tokens, so again that could be why it's feeling off. Any suggestions that could make this feeling diminish/any suggestions to the list? Thanks guys!
@Tlhunter - My suggestion would be that if you haven't had much time or experience playing with AOZ or Azcanta that you should eschew them all together and play a list closer to BennyHill stock lists. I think you will have more success with something you are familiar with even if the Azcanta lists were better, which hasn't been objectively proven; There hasn't been any big wins put together by Azcanta or AOZ lists that eschew Rev, so aside from a bunch of people telling you that the cards are good, there really isn't any reason to deviate from what you know. Play around with Azcanta and AOZ at less important events until you get a better feel for them.
Hey everyone, I am pretty new to UW Control and I have been curious about some card choices since I haven't been able to test them myself. Personally, I love Gideon Jura, but I never tested the other Gideon's. I never really know its uses so maybe someone can clarify what the others are helpful with. Also I am curious about Spell Queller's utility. When do you hold? And when do play? Is it better than detention sphere?
@tlhunter07 Just 5-0'd with your exact list (not sure about the lands) except I have a sphinx rev instead of the 3rd mana leak. Gideon AOZ has been a wincon on his own or with another Gideon a bunch of times lately. Sometimes he just dies right away, but I think he's a pretty good 1 of. I might go back to 1 Azcanta, but it's never been a dead card for me, and it's helped me win games through an early blood moon and when I had a RIP in play, just the scry every turn is so valuable. It seems Benny is barely playing which is unfortunate cause I'd like to see if he's doing anything with Opt and Azcanta. Kerrick_ is doing well, but only saw 1 of his lists posted so far.
Hey everyone, I am pretty new to UW Control and I have been curious about some card choices since I haven't been able to test them myself. Personally, I love Gideon Jura, but I never tested the other Gideon's. I never really know its uses so maybe someone can clarify what the others are helpful with. Also I am curious about Spell Queller's utility. When do you hold? And when do play? Is it better than detention sphere?
Hey Darkdeathscythe - Gideon of the Trials is pretty much standard for UW now. It's low Mana cost allows it to be deployed early and all of it's modes are relevant. The +1 is what you will use most often, making one of their creatures obsolete so that they have to commit more to the board before you can sweep the board. This plan plays well with wall of omens as well. The other 2 modes on Gideon are good as well, turning him into a 4/4 when you finally have control of the game makes him a quick clock. And the emblem comes up from time to time, mostly against burn to buy you extra life.
Gideon Ally of Zendikar is a little trickier and not everyone has adopted him yet. Because we have so few targets for our opponents removal Ally of Zendikars 2/2 token isn't likely to stick around to protect him. So you can only really play this Gideon into an empty board or when you know your opponent doesn't have haste creatures. His +1 ability is unfortunately tied to it becoming a creature, so his loyalty usually sticks at 4. And finally the -4 doesn't really synergize too well with our game plan because we don't play a lot of Creatures. I personally like Elspeth, Knight Errant better as she increases loyalty while pumping out tokens, but she doesn't play nicely with little Gideon Emblem. Time will tell if the emblem synergy is enough to warrant Ally of Zendikar in the deck.
Spell Queller is a great card, and a lot of people play it in the sideboard for the matchups where we take out supreme verdict. In my opinion, it isn't a very good main board card because it will be one of the only good targets for your opponents removal and you don't want them to get the card back that you exiled with it. Knowing when to hold it or when to play it is very context dependent and is something you will have to get used to for every match. Sometimes you will need to start pressuring your opponent and you will cast it with no target or on something minor like a cantrip, other times you might need to hold onto it because it's your only counter to stop a clutch spell from your opponent.
I was considering trying to stream sometime, but I could probably at least record some replays of good games. I'll look into it a little more in the next couple days. I might also try running a 1/1 split with Azcanta and Crucible in next league, or just add another counterspell. I've been playing friendly leagues more this season, because they're usually more fun, wider variety of decks, and I keep running into the same people in competitive over and over.
Let me just get home in a couple of hours and i'll post the list i'm currently playing. Using 1 search for azcanta, 3 opts and 2 visions right now on 24 lands.
Woot! The first list you went 5-0 with was fairly standard, but also right around the release of the new cards. Looking forward to seeing your revised list and mostly any other thoughts / advice you have on the new cards and difficult matchups, how you sideboard, etc. I have been flip-flopping between 4 serum and 3/2 opt serum and crucible main or not main. Haven't really been able to decide what is "best"
I was on 3 Opt 2 Serum as well, but I dropped the 3rd Opt and went back to 25 lands. I'm 7-3 with the last two lists I posted, 2 of the matches I've lost were to Burn, and the other was to Abzan Ramunap Land Hate , not really sure what to call it, Abzan hate bears I guess? Anyways, out of those match losses I felt like I had the tools to win if my mana would have cooperated, especially in the burn matches. Of note, I haven't missed the 2cmc counter spells, like at all.
I did join a league with the wrong list though, so I was surprised when Mana Leak was sitting there in my opener. I did manage to beat the U/W mirror in that match though using Azcanta, I 2 for 1'd myself multiple times to destroy their Tec Edges before flipping it (Seas their edge, Edge their edge, Edge their edge) but even after 6 for 3ing myself it single handily took over the game. There was a point where he had Gideon 3, Gideon 5 and Vendilion clique with 1 card in hand and I had 0 cards,a flipped Azcanta and gideon 3. It didn't feel close. Maybe I would be singing a different tune if Azcanta whiffed (which it actually has way more than I would like) in that spot, but man I love that card. I guess Field of Ruin would have been just a more expensive way to 2 for 1 myself in those situations because if I Ruins their Edge, and they Edge in response, the rest of the ruin ability fizzles due to lack of target I believe. So I guess in a strictly for protecting Azcanta sense, Ghost Quarter is the best LD land since you're getting 2 for 1'd no matter what, but at least GQ has no activation cost.
Another thought I wanted to run by everyone was the possibility of Settle the Wreckage out of the Board. It does a lot of what RIP and Surgical does for certain matchups without the vulnerability to enchantment hate, and without killing our own yard. Dredge and GW value decks both get hosed by Settle almost as bad as RIP and it has the added bonus of them having dead cards in their hand. I'm also finding RIP less useful because storm players are cutting Past in Flames, so I usually just side 1 in as an insurance policy. The other added benefit of Settle out of the board is that it acts as a 5th sweeper which might be nice in some matches. Could something like 1 Settle, 1 RIP, 1 Surgical be a decent graveyard package? Or is Settle just too slow against Dredge's nut draws? By reducing to 1 RIP, I don't mind leaving in a singelton Azcanta and a singelton Snapcaster Mage whereas I usually board those out when I bring in 2 RIPS. It also helps those on Logic Knot, which I dont advocate, but lots of people like it.
GW value town is the name of the ramunap + azusa + KotR + ghost quarter deck.
Abzan value town is a variant I guess.
Not a terribly informative name, but thats what I've seen it called.
Here's the list i'm currently running. I always change 1 or 2 cards after a league to test them. Currently switched a gideon ally of zendikar for a clique since it wasn't impressing me that much.
Search for Azcanta has been pretty helpful, specially since it's an early play that really helps on your land drops.
Pulse of the Fields is a new card on the sideboard, testing it versus the many hatebears and smaller creature decks that don't harm themselves with lands. Also seeing if it's worth it against trondrazi to make them overcommit.
I was thinking of adding ceremonious rejection to my SB because I just played Tron 12/15 of my last matches. When you bring in Spell Quellers do you always take out the verdicts? When I tried Spell Queller I ended up bringing them in almost always, even against creature decks where I still left in verdicts. Also are the 2 Jaces worth it?
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Disdainful stroke hits almost every high impact noncreature spell that Dispel doesnt except Liliana and Gideon Trials. Niether of those cards are particularly scary against us, I can almost always take care of a Lilly and I've won through her ultimate plenty of times. Now that I think about it more it should probably be 3 Dispel, 2 Stroke 0 negate. Importantly, stroke hits Titan, and most of the Eldrazi that negate cant hit. Can you think of any spells that Negate counters that isn't covered by Dispel or Stroke that are important enough to board against and aren't Lilly or Gideon Trials?
I would also strongly suggest moving back to 25 lands. You might have noticed an increase in win rate moving back to Benny's list because you weren't struggling to find lands. 23 lands is not nearly enough. I tried 24 with extra can trips and Azcanta but I was still forced to play Azcanta on T2 more often than I wanted and to spend the first few turns looking for land.
Interesting list for sure (looking at the one for the next league). I must admit I don't like Wall here, especially when it already competes with 3 Seas, 2 Azcanta, and 2 Serum already incentivizing you to tap out for them (of those cards, I'd cut Serum and Walls first). I think an Azcanta list would in theory want a 4th Verdict instead, since you can use the Azcanta to find it after playing an Azcanta early, or you can bin Verict with Azcanta in the late game against decks where you don't want the Verdict. You also mentioned that cutting Jace makes you feel more vulnerable to Souls -- playing the 4th Wrath shores that up. In fact, Verdict plays well with all of the walkers too. I think it's definitely an easy 4 of. I understand that Snare is there to take more advantage of Opt, but Snare is honestly really bad and I wouldn't play it, tho 1 is fine I guess. Opt's instant speed and scrying before drawing is good enough by itself, play OR draw. Finally, no mainboard 2-mana counters, AT ALL? That's a little odd to me.
Anywho, curious to your thoughts on those Cliques, and excited to hear a report back on Field of Ruin. =D
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 2 mana counters are cut because like you said, there are a ton of 2 drops already. Azcanta doesn't really compete for that slot with wall though - Unless I'm stuck on 2 land, I'm playing Wall on 2 rather than Azcanta. I don't hate the idea of going to 4 Verdict, I think it's one of the best cards in the deck, but the Walls make it less necessary to find it by turn 4. As long as Shadow, Burn and Eldrazi are near the top of the meta, I'm not sleeving up UW w/Gideons without at least 2 Wall of Omens. I also don't think it's correct to conceptualize Azcanta as being able to fix your draws in the way you described - "bin Verict with Azcanta in the late game against decks where you don't want the Verdict" - Since your top card is just as random as the 2nd card from the top, Azcanta can't reliably make you NOT draw something. Rather it helps fix your draws by helping you increase your odds of finding what you do need.
I think Snare is great. Initially it was there because I was moving up to 3 Snaps and a bunch of Opts. Snap obviously plays well with 1 mana answers. Snare has has been really bad for a long time, and I think that is still sticking in people's minds, but I actually think it's in a good spot now. I understand that it is pretty weak against the top decks in the format, but I think UW is a good choice because those matchups are favorable already. It isn't completely dead in those matches either, it's just weak (Hits Snap/terminate in GDS, X spells in Eldrazi). Against everything else though, the card is great. I'm open to counter arguments though, I could be missing something.
Really eh? I also feel it fills the same role as Ancestral Vision, except I think it's a better version. Ancestral on T1 gives you +3 cards in the midgame - obviously a powerful effect. But you need it early, so you have to play many copies. And it gets worse when you draw one that isn't in your opener, so playing multiples kind of stinks. Azcanta also kind of stinks in multiples, but drawing it early isn't as important, so you don't need to run 3-4 copies for it to have effect. And playing less copies doesn't really hurt it, because it isn't a bad topdeck, in fact it's almost always what I want to see off the top of my deck in the late game - sort of like Sphinx's Rev, except it's also a fine turn 2-4 play unlike either Ancestral or Rev.
I genuinely believe Azcanta might be the strongest card in the deck. I just had an opponent Prioritize killing my unflipped Search with an Abrupt Decay when I had Gideon Trials in play that could kill their Liliana next turn. I know that's just one anecdote, but it's essentially that opponent saying "Your 2 mana threat is stronger than the best U/w control planeswalker in modern. I can't beat it, and I'm willing to lose my only threat to make sure I have outs."
I think you are having trouble with it because you are just trying to shoe-horn it into a more draw-go + Walkers list. AS Mgoetze pointed out, those two strategies are already at odds, and you have too many slots dedicated to card advantage now. And as I've been advocating, I think Azcanta is pretty much the only CA slot we need outside a sprinkling of Cryptics and Snappys. I think your list specifically is also trying to play draw-go much more than the rest of us as well, which doesn't mesh well with Planeswalker and Echantment threats. Try playing a few games with -1 Snap - 1 Cryptic -1 Rev - 1 Jace +4 Wall of Omens. I'm not advocating 4 Wall of Omens, but playing with that configuration for a few games will get you used to tapping out, and imo, will be a much more suitable list for Azcanta. Then drop a wall or two and adjust for your meta.
3 Spell Queller
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Gideon Jura
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Gideon of the trials
2 Detention Sphere
4 Spreading Seas
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Serum Visions
1 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Path to Exile
1 Logic Knot
1 Negate
2 Mana Leak
2 Secure the wastes
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
3 Field of Ruin
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Seachrome Coast
4 Island
2 Plains
UB/x Faeries
UR Storm
XURWB Affinity
G Elves
UW control
2x Wall of Omens
2x Detention Sphere
2x Search for Azcanta
4x Spreading Seas
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1x Gideon Jura
2x Gideon of the Trials
1x Jace, Architect of Thought
3x Supreme Verdict
3x Cryptic Command
3x Mana Leak
1x Negate
4x Path to Exile
1x Spell Snare
1x Blessed Alliance
1x Dispel
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Geist of Saint Traft
2x Negate
2x Rest in Peace
2x Stony Silence
1x Supreme Verdict
2x Surgical Extraction
1x Timely Reinforcements
1x Vendilion Clique
I haven't played with this list much and that may be why it feels weird, but Azcanta just feels awkward and playing no Rev also seems like an error. All the games I've played Gideon AOZ he's been useless, although to his credit I've only played this deck against B/W Tokens, so again that could be why it's feeling off. Any suggestions that could make this feeling diminish/any suggestions to the list? Thanks guys!
UWR Control
BR Hollow One
UWR Control
BR Hollow One
Hey Darkdeathscythe - Gideon of the Trials is pretty much standard for UW now. It's low Mana cost allows it to be deployed early and all of it's modes are relevant. The +1 is what you will use most often, making one of their creatures obsolete so that they have to commit more to the board before you can sweep the board. This plan plays well with wall of omens as well. The other 2 modes on Gideon are good as well, turning him into a 4/4 when you finally have control of the game makes him a quick clock. And the emblem comes up from time to time, mostly against burn to buy you extra life.
Gideon Ally of Zendikar is a little trickier and not everyone has adopted him yet. Because we have so few targets for our opponents removal Ally of Zendikars 2/2 token isn't likely to stick around to protect him. So you can only really play this Gideon into an empty board or when you know your opponent doesn't have haste creatures. His +1 ability is unfortunately tied to it becoming a creature, so his loyalty usually sticks at 4. And finally the -4 doesn't really synergize too well with our game plan because we don't play a lot of Creatures. I personally like Elspeth, Knight Errant better as she increases loyalty while pumping out tokens, but she doesn't play nicely with little Gideon Emblem. Time will tell if the emblem synergy is enough to warrant Ally of Zendikar in the deck.
Spell Queller is a great card, and a lot of people play it in the sideboard for the matchups where we take out supreme verdict. In my opinion, it isn't a very good main board card because it will be one of the only good targets for your opponents removal and you don't want them to get the card back that you exiled with it. Knowing when to hold it or when to play it is very context dependent and is something you will have to get used to for every match. Sometimes you will need to start pressuring your opponent and you will cast it with no target or on something minor like a cantrip, other times you might need to hold onto it because it's your only counter to stop a clutch spell from your opponent.
Hope that helps
Cheers
I did join a league with the wrong list though, so I was surprised when Mana Leak was sitting there in my opener. I did manage to beat the U/W mirror in that match though using Azcanta, I 2 for 1'd myself multiple times to destroy their Tec Edges before flipping it (Seas their edge, Edge their edge, Edge their edge) but even after 6 for 3ing myself it single handily took over the game. There was a point where he had Gideon 3, Gideon 5 and Vendilion clique with 1 card in hand and I had 0 cards,a flipped Azcanta and gideon 3. It didn't feel close. Maybe I would be singing a different tune if Azcanta whiffed (which it actually has way more than I would like) in that spot, but man I love that card. I guess Field of Ruin would have been just a more expensive way to 2 for 1 myself in those situations because if I Ruins their Edge, and they Edge in response, the rest of the ruin ability fizzles due to lack of target I believe. So I guess in a strictly for protecting Azcanta sense, Ghost Quarter is the best LD land since you're getting 2 for 1'd no matter what, but at least GQ has no activation cost.
Another thought I wanted to run by everyone was the possibility of Settle the Wreckage out of the Board. It does a lot of what RIP and Surgical does for certain matchups without the vulnerability to enchantment hate, and without killing our own yard. Dredge and GW value decks both get hosed by Settle almost as bad as RIP and it has the added bonus of them having dead cards in their hand. I'm also finding RIP less useful because storm players are cutting Past in Flames, so I usually just side 1 in as an insurance policy. The other added benefit of Settle out of the board is that it acts as a 5th sweeper which might be nice in some matches. Could something like 1 Settle, 1 RIP, 1 Surgical be a decent graveyard package? Or is Settle just too slow against Dredge's nut draws? By reducing to 1 RIP, I don't mind leaving in a singelton Azcanta and a singelton Snapcaster Mage whereas I usually board those out when I bring in 2 RIPS. It also helps those on Logic Knot, which I dont advocate, but lots of people like it.
Abzan value town is a variant I guess.
Not a terribly informative name, but thats what I've seen it called.
Search for Azcanta has been pretty helpful, specially since it's an early play that really helps on your land drops.
Pulse of the Fields is a new card on the sideboard, testing it versus the many hatebears and smaller creature decks that don't harm themselves with lands. Also seeing if it's worth it against trondrazi to make them overcommit.
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Path to Exile
2 Detention Sphere
4 Flooded Strand
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Vendilion Clique
5 Island
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Opt
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Mana Leak
1 Irrigated Farmland
3 Glacial Fortress
3 Cryptic Command
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spreading Seas
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Plains
2 Serum Visions
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Gideon Jura
3 Spell Queller
1 Rest in Peace
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Stony Silence
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Dispel
2 Grafdigger's cage
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Pulse of the Fields