I love simple mana bases. Hitting all your colours on time and not having to worry about how to sequence your lands outside of "scry now or gain life now" is a great amount of freedom that really let's you focus on the more important parts of the game. Obvious, the pros felt that UB was the best two colour option for control at the pro tour, but is it the best moving forward. RW control saw top 8 at the first open. What about UR, BW or RB? Lets look at the pros and cons of each.
UB: The go to for the pro tour, this deck really did feel like a Dimir deck, despite the guilds having rotated out.
Pros:
Bile Blight / Hero's Downfall / Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - I wouldn't say that any of these cards alone make or break this colour combination, but that the mix of all three helps make it strong. Early double black, early strong removal and the perfect card to fix your mana for it.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver - Missing from pro-tour lists, I think Ashiok will be very strong going forward. She is quite bad in the Jeskai matchups, the main reason she didn't see play, but for the control mirror and midrange decks she provides a better way to end the game than the current selections.
Discard + Draw spells - Quite simle really: Remove their hand while filling yours. Time tested and proven UB strategy at it's finest. Despise will hit more things you want to anyways, saving you two life over Thoughtseize.
Cons:
No Sweepers - Outside of Perilous Vault, which every colour has, UB has a really hard time climbing back once they fall behind. Drown is sorrow is really only good for cleaning up a Goblin Rabblemaster that couldn't be caught
Trouble ending the game - Games will be slow. VERY slow. Dig Through Time is good, but it is no Rev. Inevitability just won't cut it any more, and if you can't end the game, eventually your opponents will. Al it takes is one Rabblemaster while your shields are down, or letting yourself get to 12 and not having any counter spells to just be burned out in this format.
RW - In the first top 8 of the standard season, RW has not been heard from since. That isn't to say it doesn't have some legs left in it.
Pros:
Fated Conflagration - What doesn't this card kill? Stoke the Flames is see as the benchmark of the format, creatures that can't survive stoke have to be pretty damn good to see play, and the ones that can survive stoke are all stars. Most of those all stars just die to FC though. Add in the scry 2 and you have a very under rated card in the current format.
Chained to the Rocks - Thought slightly less good without Sacred Foundry, Chained is still amazing tempo card that really only can be accessed by this colour combination. Three colour decks just can't run enough mountains to support it.
Sweepers - Unlike UB and having a lack of sweepers, RW has more sweepers than any other colour combination. Endless Hostilities, Fated Retribution, Anger of the Gods, heck even Arc Lightning against the right deck. You're covered to make 2/3/4/5 for ones better than any other deck in the format
Cons:
No Fetch Land - While this will likely be fixed in a set or two, right now Arid Mesa isn't in standard, which is a pretty big mark against quite a few of the combinations.
little/no card Draw - Tormenting Voice gives some selections and Chandra, Pyromaster is quite good at digging for what you need, but without going ultimate with Sarkhan, you will find yourself top decking hoping for the answer quite often.
UR
Pros:
counter/burn - Dissolve and Distainful Stroke are some of the better counter spells in the last few years, and magma jet, Lightning Stroke and Stoke the Flames do a good job of finishing off both creatures and your opponent when aimed at their face. Back it up with draw spells and an efficiant creature like Rabblemaster and you will have some free wins from just tempoing out your opponent.
Keranos, God of Storms - The main reason to play this colour combination, there is a reason Keranos has made it into Legacy Miracles sideboards. He's damn good!
Cons:
No Fetch land - Much like RW, this hurts the mana.
What do you think? Is there any pros or cons I missed from the ones listed here? How about a 2 colour combination I missed?
UB: The go to for the pro tour, this deck really did feel like a Dimir deck, despite the guilds having rotated out.
Pros:
Cons:
RW - In the first top 8 of the standard season, RW has not been heard from since. That isn't to say it doesn't have some legs left in it.
Pros:
Cons:
UR
Pros:
Cons:
What do you think? Is there any pros or cons I missed from the ones listed here? How about a 2 colour combination I missed?
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/standard-deck-creation/574802-uw-control
Modern: RW Burn