This is a tempo/control deck. The main goal is to resolve a spell enabler, such as Baral, Chief of Compliance or Curious Homunculus and then counter every single meaningful spell that the opponent plays for the rest of the game.
Should you play this deck?
-If your meta is not extremely aggro heavy
-If you don't need friends
-If you love blue control
Card Analysis Baral, Chief of Compliance Best card in the deck. Makes us able to go toe-to-toe by making our counterspells cheaper. only 3 because legendary. Curious Homunculus Arguably better than baral. While slower in the beginning, turning into a huge beater is a large upside and can be flipped in one or two turns. Curator of Mysteries One of the better fliers in standard at the moment. The cycling cost of U is a large upside and we discard a surprising amount of cards, making its ability relevant. Also can be cast of Baral's Expertise. Glyph Keeper This card is great. Only one because it is our finisher and once we get going, we will find it. It is almost always card advantage because you get it twice, or you can discard it to loot into better cards, and still get to play it later.
Censor: This card, almost singlehandedly pushes this deck way over the top. Never dead because of that cycling effect, and with a baral or homunculus out this is basically Force Spike. Essence Scatter: Who needs creatures? you dont... (This is a 2/2 split with negate, can be adjusted) Negate:Who needs noncreatures? you dont...(see above) Spell ShrivelVery budget counterspell, along with the fact that double spell enabler makes this a simple U, compared to other counterspells. Overwhelming Denial/Insidious Will/Summary Dismissal The high end powerful counterspells. This split is just for experimental purposes, and mixture works.
Hieroglyphic Illumination Average card draw spell. While not as good as Glimmer of Genius when hard cast, the cycling is better for this deck. Could be swapped though. Pull from Tomorrow Right when your opponent is out of spells, you get to draw a new hand! Especially powerful with our enablers. Not amazing early game, but still very powerful.
Baral's Expertise This can bounce the one or two threats that slipped through our portfolio of counterspells. Also quite good to get to cast a curator or hieroglyphics for free.
Tips on Playing
-This deck can only generate advantage with a homunculus or baral on the field. Usually best to be able to play one turn 2.
-Don't be afraid to cycle Curator of Mysteries! You will almost definitely draw another one and you do not want to play it on curve.
-This is not a curve deck. It aims to resolve a spell enabler and then counter every single spell the opponent will play for the rest of the game.
-You do not want to be casting Curator of Mysteries or Glyph Keeper on curve unless you are being pressured to.
-You get a free mana when casting Pull from Tomorrow with a Baral or Voracious Reader on the battlefield.
The Sideboard
I am still testing out different sideboard cards. Any advice or ideas are appreciated!
Up for Debate:
Should we splash RWGB?
What about counterspell ____?
Does PoohBearOverlord have no friends?
Changelog
2:00 pm EST, April 24, 2017: Thread created.
I toyed around with Docent of Perfection, and while it is extremely strong, when this deck is going to win, it will win almost definitely. In more testing I have even moved away from Glyph Keeper in favor of a fourth Baral, Chief of Compliance. On the other hand, the only way this deck loses is to small go-wide strategies, and Docent of Perfection helps make lots of tokens, but since most spells are counterspells, we need the opponent to cast more spells to get value out of him. The problem is, he is only good against aggresive red decks, but costs 5 mana. I will definitely be testing him more though.
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I've been toying around with a mono blue list for a long time, and some Amonkhet cards, this deck has been pushed over the top.
Creatures:
4 Curious Homunculus
3 Baral, Chief of Compliance
4 Curator of Mysteries
1 Glyph Keeper
Counterspells:
4 Censor
2 Negate
2 Essence Scatter
4 Spell Shrivel
1 Overwhelming Denial
1 Insidious Will
1 Summary Dismissal
3 Pull from Tomorrow
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
Tempo:
3 Baral's Expertise
Lands:
23 Island
This is a tempo/control deck. The main goal is to resolve a spell enabler, such as Baral, Chief of Compliance or Curious Homunculus and then counter every single meaningful spell that the opponent plays for the rest of the game.
Should you play this deck?
-If your meta is not extremely aggro heavy
-If you don't need friends
-If you love blue control
Card Analysis
Baral, Chief of Compliance Best card in the deck. Makes us able to go toe-to-toe by making our counterspells cheaper. only 3 because legendary.
Curious Homunculus Arguably better than baral. While slower in the beginning, turning into a huge beater is a large upside and can be flipped in one or two turns.
Curator of Mysteries One of the better fliers in standard at the moment. The cycling cost of U is a large upside and we discard a surprising amount of cards, making its ability relevant. Also can be cast of Baral's Expertise.
Glyph Keeper This card is great. Only one because it is our finisher and once we get going, we will find it. It is almost always card advantage because you get it twice, or you can discard it to loot into better cards, and still get to play it later.
Censor: This card, almost singlehandedly pushes this deck way over the top. Never dead because of that cycling effect, and with a baral or homunculus out this is basically Force Spike.
Essence Scatter: Who needs creatures? you dont... (This is a 2/2 split with negate, can be adjusted)
Negate:Who needs noncreatures? you dont...(see above)
Spell ShrivelVery budget counterspell, along with the fact that double spell enabler makes this a simple U, compared to other counterspells.
Overwhelming Denial/Insidious Will/Summary Dismissal The high end powerful counterspells. This split is just for experimental purposes, and mixture works.
Hieroglyphic Illumination Average card draw spell. While not as good as Glimmer of Genius when hard cast, the cycling is better for this deck. Could be swapped though.
Pull from Tomorrow Right when your opponent is out of spells, you get to draw a new hand! Especially powerful with our enablers. Not amazing early game, but still very powerful.
Baral's Expertise This can bounce the one or two threats that slipped through our portfolio of counterspells. Also quite good to get to cast a curator or hieroglyphics for free.
Tips on Playing
-This deck can only generate advantage with a homunculus or baral on the field. Usually best to be able to play one turn 2.
-Don't be afraid to cycle Curator of Mysteries! You will almost definitely draw another one and you do not want to play it on curve.
-This is not a curve deck. It aims to resolve a spell enabler and then counter every single spell the opponent will play for the rest of the game.
-You do not want to be casting Curator of Mysteries or Glyph Keeper on curve unless you are being pressured to.
-You get a free mana when casting Pull from Tomorrow with a Baral or Voracious Reader on the battlefield.
The Sideboard
I am still testing out different sideboard cards. Any advice or ideas are appreciated!
Up for Debate:
Should we splash RWGB?
What about counterspell ____?
Does PoohBearOverlord have no friends?
Changelog
2:00 pm EST, April 24, 2017: Thread created.