This is a U/W Control deck whose goal is to one for one (or more) the opponent until they run out of resources. The reason I feel like this deck will be successful is because:
The format is slow.
Good deckbuilding wins games and not just sticking the best, most expensive cards in the deck.
Having control over a slower game is exactly where U/W wants to be.
I went to a FNM on April 29th and went 3-0-1. Here's what I faced:
(1-1 Vs. G/W Humans)
Game 1: My opponent was able to play a lot of creatures and I couldn't find a boardwipe or Reflector Mage through 4 Anticipate and 1 Epiphany in the Drownyard.
0-1
Game 2: I dictated what happened in the entire game by exiling Thalia's Lieutenant, countering Always Watching and swinging with Gideon, a token and Reflector Mage. Hidden Dragonslayer on his side kept this match going for way longer than it should have, but I took it anyway.
1-1
Game 3: More of the same in game 2. A big play was swinging in with an unblocked Reflector Mage then casting Planar Outburst to destroy five of his creatures. I had five cards in hand after that point with a 3/3 land creature and he had two cards in hand. I had two counterspells and enough mana to cast anything I wanted within my deck. My opponent stalled and took it to time where we tied in turns. I had 18 life, he had 5 (side note: I wish the person with more life would win in turns.). My opponent was playing with a deck short of 60 cards, but I let it go because I'm an idiot.
Game 2
(2-0 Vs Mono Red Harness the Storm)
Game 1: Narset got to ultimate. Opponent scooped with five noncreature spells in hand.
Game 2: The opponent does have creatues! Turn four, he played two Scourge Wolf and got in for two damage with an earlier Scourge Wolf. Next turn, I used declaration in stone to get rid of those three. My opponent never resolved a spell after that point. I swung in with lands I made into creatures from Scatter to the Winds.
Game 2: Sphinx of the Final Word. Did I tell you how good this card was in this matchup? After resolving her on a field with a decent amount of creatures, I used Tragic Arrogance next turn, keeping my Sphinx and keeping his 2/1 flier that counters spells that he got from an earlier Collected Company. I had three mana open and my opponent never resolved a spell from this point on. My 5 damage to his 2 damage wasn't quick enough to race and he scooped it up.
Game 3: Literally the same thing. Narset took 13 damage away from me early in the game. Archangel Avacyn made two appearances, one of which I Void Shatter'd and the other in which I Declaration In Stone'd. I had four counterspells in hand by the end of the game with a Sphinx of the Final Word swinging in to win.
Game 4: I thought I was tied for first so I split with the top guy which was running an Esper Nyx deck. We played for fun anyway and here's that game:
Game 2: Sphinx of the Final Word hit the field twice. With Starfield of Nyx, he brought back dead weight from his graveyard and was able to target the Sphinx. I messed up because I blocked a Shambling Vent with one Sphinx and he then casted Languish. I never came back after that.
The deck is extremely fun to run and it wasn't finished when I entered the tournament, either. The deck below is what I am now running currently:
I also went to another Friday Night Magic on May 6th and went 2-1 with the above deck. Here are those matchups:
Match 1
2-0 Against B/G Delirium
Game 1: I mulligan to five against the opponent. Decided to keep the first two land hand that I saw. What allowed me to come back from being down two cards besides the scry was Declaration In Stone. I T2 Thing In the Ice and he T2 Sylvan Advocate. I had a Counterspell and I didn't feel the need to counter, so I had a Declaration In Stone coming off of Anticipate and Epiphany At The Drownyard. Once my opponent's hand was depleted, I casted Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and created too much tempo with Gideon. Won by hitting with him four times that game.
Match 2
2-0 Against U/R ????
This was someone who was just playing at FNM because he had nothing to do this day, so I'm not going to be very extensive on this report.
Game 2: Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Narset were out at the same time. Towards the end, I rebounded a Planar Outburst with Narset and swung with Gideon to keep the board clear and to have an avenue for Gideon to attack through.
Match 3
2-1 Versus G/W Tokens
Game 1: Oath of Nissa is a very great card that you don't want to counter but should if it warrants. I misplayed and allowed my opponent to play two Oath of Nissa in a row and him finding a Nissa, Voice of Zendikar to pump his token army and creatures to exactly the amount needed to win.
Sideboard: 1 Negate for Clash of Wills, 2 Tragic Arrogance for 2 Planar Outburst (I don't know why)
Game 3: I should have not sideboarded out the Planar Outburst. Tragic Arrogance resolved but he had taken off too much life for this to help due to a left-field Dragonlord Dromoka. I picked for him to keep Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, a plant token and sacrifice Gideon but next turn he casted another Gideon. I thought I could tap out for Sphinx of the Final Word and then he end-of-turn Secure the Wastes for 5 and used his Westvale Abbey in hand to make an Ormendahl. You know the story from there.
Overall I did great but I needed to side in two Negate for this match-up. I made a slight change to my sideboard due to this game and the deck I NOW use is below:
The change to Jace seems strange but if I would peek with Narset Transcendent and see a noncreature, nonland card, that is great. With Jace, it doesn't matter what it is. In my testing, when I untap with Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, my tempo is almost unbearable. It will take more testing but I will be attending FNM June 3rd with these changes.
The odd numbers of cards:
ONE Part the Waterveil: Anymore and I would be making an entirely different deck. Its one of those cards that you play late game when you can out-tempo your opponent with your board state. I always play it after combat with a weird reaction to no avail.
ONE Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: I don't want to be dependent on Gideon for a win condition. He's a card to help turn the corner and I don't want to stick more than one in here.
ONE Narset Transcendent: Another card that amasses card advantage but one that I don't want to cast until my opponent has 2-3 cards in hand. Once she hits, she's a huge target and I like what she does. When she whiffs though, she whiffs and I don't want to be dependent on her either as a PW.
What's with the sideboard?
The match-ups that this deck would have the hardest time with are Esper Control and they run 13-16 instants and R/G Atarka(Eldrazi) Ramp and they don't interact with you until Turn 5 after an Explosive Vegeation or Hedron Archive. The goal is to force those decks to become nervous of nothing ever resolving that they want to resolve. Ulamog hurts, yes, but you can't win them all and it is virtually non-existent.
In my playtesting experiences, I have always maintained board presence due to being able to counter when I need to, getting rid of creatures at my own pace and hitting and gaining incremental card advantage. I've tested against: Mono White Humans, B/R Vampires, Esper Control and R/G Werewolves, all of which I used the above sideboard and dominated game one and game two.
Sideboard choices: Quarantine Field: for any decks playing a massive amount of planeswalkers and or noncreature permanents. Particularly if a Nahiri the Harbinger or Chandra, Flamecaller is being cast, you're going to want to counter those. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar on Turn 3 isn't as bad but later on in the game if it can be helped, quarantine her as well. Simple as that. If you're playing a G/W deck, be weary of Dromoka's Command. If you commit too much to Quarantine Field, a major blowout and tempo loss can occur. That's the only colors to be afraid of for enchantment removal.
Invasive Surgery: for decks heavily reliant on sorceries (Goggles, Atarka Red, etc). Those decks can quickly run out of gas and by having more efficient counters, you can slow these decks down for an easy win. Eventually they will top-deck while you have answers in hand. I have never faced one of these due to it falling out of popularity, but there are other uses for Invasive Surgery such as: Duress
Madness'd Avacyn's Judgment Languish Planar Outburst
Dispel: for control mirrors and Bant company. There are so many instant speed cards played that this becomes a new age Spell Snare. Countering Collected Company for one feels so good and also having an answer to commands is great as well.
Negate: for G/W tokens and decks reliant on noncreature spells (Tutelage).
Tragic Arrogance: for mono-w or w/x humans. They have a bunch of one drops and Gryff's Boon and Always Watching which can be overwhelming but being able to dictate the board state with this card makes this matchup go in your favor. Planar Outburst is also great but getting rid of one or two Always Watching (if resolved) with Tragic Arrogance will get you to victory every time.
Underrated cards:
Epiphany at the Drownyard. This card has helped me to find my fifth mana, a way to fix the issues going on in the game and it never backfires like people think it does. Cast an epiphany for five, get six cards and at least get 1-2 cards you want. I casted this card in my FNM in each game and didn't regret any pile that was given to me.
Always Watching. That card creates awful matchups for the deck early on and doesn't have a way to get rid of it once resolved.
Dragonlord Ojutai. They will assume because of your colors, you will be playing it in the mirror and the opponent will play it first (Cockatrice testing). When you counter it, you're way ahead.
After playing at FNM and facing the top two decks and beating them handily, I can say that the deck has a chance to be great. If someone wants to write a primer for this or help me with the primer, that would be awesome.
Cards I'm not playing in here: Dragonlord Ojutai. In October, she is gone and I don't want to be dependent on her for my wins.
Nice list and results! The general idea is similar to my control deck but mine is creatureless and aims for a one turn kill with secure the wastes off of mage-ring network. Running no creatures means all spot removal is dead for them which is great game one. I am considering switching back to a more traditional list as I get run over by Wx humans every time I face it. It's also fun watching peoples' faces sink when they see learn from the past
The only creatures I run are a playset of Reflector Mage, 1x Thing in the Ice and 2x Sphinx of the Final Word. We should write a Primer for this deck cause' I really think U/W Control is a very well made deck this standard season.
That's what I ran at the FNM I went to. I'm going to read up on how to do it and then we can write particular sections and I'll put credentials next to the sections.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The essence of every world, every spell and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
I have been running the following list from the OP for a few days in the tournament practice room on MTGO after not playing the game for around 6 or so years and have been absolutely loving it!
Did a sideboard update with matchups and posted another tournament report. Like I said, anyone can write an explanation for any of the mainboarded cards and I will put credits and make that section happen as well.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The essence of every world, every spell and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
I looked this deck. It plays very nearly like my own. It's a control filled with counters and draws. In that way, perhaps you would benefit from Rise from the Tides like I do?
Aside from my win-cons, this deck always plays in my opponent turns and pass my turn with all lands untapped. Great for psychological pressure even if you don't have in your hands one of your 12 counters...
Strategy is very simple. Delay and Counter with efficiency. Draw to get lands or your win-cons. Then bash their faces with tens of zombies, krakens or drowners.
The difference is that is monoblue, but Im not sure the white you have actually helps you that much... although Planar Outburst might be better indeed than Engulf the Shore in some situations...
I looked this deck. It plays very nearly like my own. It's a control filled with counters and draws. In that way, perhaps you would benefit from Rise from the Tides like I do?
Aside from my win-cons, this deck always plays in my opponent turns and pass my turn with all lands untapped. Great for psychological pressure even if you don't have in your hands one of your 12 counters...
Strategy is very simple. Delay and Counter with efficiency. Draw to get lands or your win-cons. Then bash their faces with tens of zombies, krakens or drowners.
The difference is that is monoblue, but Im not sure the white you have actually helps you that much... although Planar Outburst might be better indeed than Engulf the Shore in some situations...
While I like the idea of the Mono-Blue deck, adding white creates a stronger deck out of just this. With access to Reflector Mage, Declaration in Stone, Planar Outburst and the sideboard choices, it can win the entire match. A Rise From The Tides would be cute game one, but game 2 they aren't going to allow you to have zombie tokens sitting; they will get Stoned, Tragic Arrogance will happen or you will simply just lose because they come in tapped. With white, you have Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Secure the Wastes (which is much better than Rise From The Tides in almost every situation) and Narset Transcendent (if you choose that route). That's why U/W control works.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The essence of every world, every spell and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
That mono U rise from the tides generally only works with Brain in a Jar since you can get the zombies out at instant speed EOT when you have an opening. Even then, it's slow and very prone to disruption, most standard decks seem to have enough redundant threats that relying solely on counterspells is rough.
I really like Jace, Unraveler of Secrets he makes grindy control matches a bit easier and soaks up damage from aggro decks. I'd stick a couple Gideons in the deck if I could as well, since he is much easier to cast then sphinx with countermagic backup and is a legitimate win condition (got blown out by a clip wings today in a game that went to time vs. GW tokens). I've considered removing the sphinxes and Thing in the Ice's and using some of the eldrazi like Reality Smasher and Thought-Knot Seer but i believe this changes the fundamental nature of the decklist. I think these might be useful sideboard cards as Reality Smasher just destroys opponents hands when they try to deal with him, especially with counterspell backup. The seer would provide useful hand disruption.
Obviously though this creates issues with the manabase and with no allied pain lands (i.e) Adarkar Wastes this would likely make the deck much less consistent. I've toyed with the idea of running 4x Void Shatter along with some amount of Spell Shrivel as the permission package and maybe 4x Corrupted Crossroads or even Mage-Ring Network to facilitate colorless cards.
I think this deck might really take off after the rotation especially if allied color manlands somehow get printed. The only cards it really loses are: the sphinx, narset and Ojutai's Command of which i have been consistently underwhelmed with the command and Narset. Sphinx however is a superstar and will be a big loss for the list. I think UW with eldrazi as threats might be the way to head come Kaldadesh rotation. (Dependent on what happens in eldritch moon)
I have updated the current decklist i'm using in my post and the sideboard I believe Hallowed Moonlight is a must in a meta filled with GW tokens and BW control constantly trying to push out Hangarback Walker and Secure the Wastes obviously though the SB is very dependant on your local scene. I'll personally be replacing the clerics with something else as I have run into zero mono R sligh decks out of the matches i've played so far. I'll add some gamelogs once I join a league.
Sphinx is in OGW. It's there until next year. Yeah...Jace > Narset. When she whiffs, you feel it, but Jace technically can't whiff on you.
As far as Clip Wings being used on you in game two or three, it happens. You can't win them all. I'm sure he had two Clip Wings in the sideboard and got one out of the 53 cards he/she had in his/her deck.
Adding Gideon means to remove Epiphany At The Drownyard and an Island to add Secure the Wastes and a Westvale Abbey. I've only lost to G/W Tokens and not all will be playing Clip Wings in the sideboard; most actually play DL Dromoka in the SB.
I am actually thinking of removing the Cleric of the Forward Order for Hallowed Moonlight. I have only used him maybe once or twice and G/W tokens are the hardest matchup we have.
Oh, awesome for some reason i thought sphinx was in dragons of tarkir this whole time and yeah i think they run clip wings in the SB as tech against other Ormehndahls
Nope. Oh and here's something you can use for tech against G/W Tokens in the SB: Displacement Wave. Cast it for two and say goodbye to tokens and Ormendahl.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The essence of every world, every spell and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
4 Reflector Mage
3 Thraben Inspector
2 Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Thing in the Ice
Instants
4 Anticipate
2 Scatter to the Winds
2 Void Shatter
2 Ojutai's Command
2 Epiphany at the Drownyard
1 Clash of Wills
1 Negate
2 Mirror Mockery
Sorceries
4 Declaration In Stone
3 Planar Outburst
1 Part the Waterveil
Planeswalkers
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Narset Transcendent
Lands
11 Island
8 Plains
4 Prairie Stream
1 Westvale Abbey
4 Dispel
3 Cleric of the Forward Order
2 Negate
2 Invasive Surgery
2 Horribly Awry
2 Tragic Arrogance
I went to a FNM on April 29th and went 3-0-1. Here's what I faced:
(1-1 Vs. G/W Humans)
Game 1: My opponent was able to play a lot of creatures and I couldn't find a boardwipe or Reflector Mage through 4 Anticipate and 1 Epiphany in the Drownyard.
0-1
Game 2: I dictated what happened in the entire game by exiling Thalia's Lieutenant, countering Always Watching and swinging with Gideon, a token and Reflector Mage. Hidden Dragonslayer on his side kept this match going for way longer than it should have, but I took it anyway.
1-1
Game 3: More of the same in game 2. A big play was swinging in with an unblocked Reflector Mage then casting Planar Outburst to destroy five of his creatures. I had five cards in hand after that point with a 3/3 land creature and he had two cards in hand. I had two counterspells and enough mana to cast anything I wanted within my deck. My opponent stalled and took it to time where we tied in turns. I had 18 life, he had 5 (side note: I wish the person with more life would win in turns.). My opponent was playing with a deck short of 60 cards, but I let it go because I'm an idiot.
Game 2
(2-0 Vs Mono Red Harness the Storm)
Game 1: Narset got to ultimate. Opponent scooped with five noncreature spells in hand.
Game 2: The opponent does have creatues! Turn four, he played two Scourge Wolf and got in for two damage with an earlier Scourge Wolf. Next turn, I used declaration in stone to get rid of those three. My opponent never resolved a spell after that point. I swung in with lands I made into creatures from Scatter to the Winds.
Game 3
(2-1 Vs Bant Coco)
Game 1: He hit a nice Collected Company when I tapped out for Planar Outburst to wipe his field.
Sideboard (the only time I sideboarded today): 2 Tragic Arrogance for 1 Planar Outburst and Scatter to the Winds
Game 2: Sphinx of the Final Word. Did I tell you how good this card was in this matchup? After resolving her on a field with a decent amount of creatures, I used Tragic Arrogance next turn, keeping my Sphinx and keeping his 2/1 flier that counters spells that he got from an earlier Collected Company. I had three mana open and my opponent never resolved a spell from this point on. My 5 damage to his 2 damage wasn't quick enough to race and he scooped it up.
Game 3: Literally the same thing. Narset took 13 damage away from me early in the game. Archangel Avacyn made two appearances, one of which I Void Shatter'd and the other in which I Declaration In Stone'd. I had four counterspells in hand by the end of the game with a Sphinx of the Final Word swinging in to win.
Game 4: I thought I was tied for first so I split with the top guy which was running an Esper Nyx deck. We played for fun anyway and here's that game:
Game 1: Him and I don't play spells very often. Every non-land permanent I play got Silumgar's Command to it and he won with Shambling Vents and Nyx awakened Enchantments. I did Void Shatter both of his Demonic Pact so I felt good about that.
Sideboard: 2 Negate for 2 Ojutai's Command
Game 2: Sphinx of the Final Word hit the field twice. With Starfield of Nyx, he brought back dead weight from his graveyard and was able to target the Sphinx. I messed up because I blocked a Shambling Vent with one Sphinx and he then casted Languish. I never came back after that.
The deck is extremely fun to run and it wasn't finished when I entered the tournament, either. The deck below is what I am now running currently:
4 Reflector Mage
4 Thing In The Ice
2 Thraben Inspector
2 Sphinx of the Final Word
Instants
4 Anticipate
3 Scatter to the Winds
2 Void Shatter
2 Ojutai's Command
2 Epiphany at the Drownyard
1 Clash of Wills
1 Negate
4 Declaration In Stone
3 Planar Outburst
1 Part the Waterveil
Planeswalkers
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Narset Transcendent
Lands
11 Island
6 Plains
4 Prairie Stream
2 Port Town
4 Dispel
3 Cleric of the Forward Order
2 Negate
2 Invasive Surgery
2 Horribly Awry
2 Tragic Arrogance
I also went to another Friday Night Magic on May 6th and went 2-1 with the above deck. Here are those matchups:
Match 1
2-0 Against B/G Delirium
Game 1: I mulligan to five against the opponent. Decided to keep the first two land hand that I saw. What allowed me to come back from being down two cards besides the scry was Declaration In Stone. I T2 Thing In the Ice and he T2 Sylvan Advocate. I had a Counterspell and I didn't feel the need to counter, so I had a Declaration In Stone coming off of Anticipate and Epiphany At The Drownyard. Once my opponent's hand was depleted, I casted Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and created too much tempo with Gideon. Won by hitting with him four times that game.
Game 2: This game I had full force with a seven card hand. The combination of Reflector Mage and Thing In the Ice allowed me to clear the field clear and cast Sphinx of the Final Word on an empty board state. My opponent's only defense was Mindwrack Demon during turn 8 of this game, but with a newly flipped Awoken Horror, I had two Reflector Mage and two counterspells in hand, allowing me to fly in with Sphinx of the Final Word. He scooped when I casted the second Sphinx. My life was at 4 at this point and he had one Hissing Quagmire after I baited one out and used Declaration In Stone on it.
Match 2
2-0 Against U/R ????
This was someone who was just playing at FNM because he had nothing to do this day, so I'm not going to be very extensive on this report.
Game 1: Narset Transcendent ultimated and I was hitting with awakened creatures off of Scatter to the Winds.
Game 2: Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Narset were out at the same time. Towards the end, I rebounded a Planar Outburst with Narset and swung with Gideon to keep the board clear and to have an avenue for Gideon to attack through.
Match 3
2-1 Versus G/W Tokens
Game 1: Oath of Nissa is a very great card that you don't want to counter but should if it warrants. I misplayed and allowed my opponent to play two Oath of Nissa in a row and him finding a Nissa, Voice of Zendikar to pump his token army and creatures to exactly the amount needed to win.
Sideboard: 1 Negate for Clash of Wills, 2 Tragic Arrogance for 2 Planar Outburst (I don't know why)
Game 2: I flipped a Thing In The Ice after my opponent couldn't find a Dromoka's Command to make it and Gideon fight turn 9. I got rid of seven creatures and bounced two Reflector Mage on my side to my hand. Even through Archangel Avacyn went Awoken Horror. The clock was entirely too quick for him.
Game 3: I should have not sideboarded out the Planar Outburst. Tragic Arrogance resolved but he had taken off too much life for this to help due to a left-field Dragonlord Dromoka. I picked for him to keep Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, a plant token and sacrifice Gideon but next turn he casted another Gideon. I thought I could tap out for Sphinx of the Final Word and then he end-of-turn Secure the Wastes for 5 and used his Westvale Abbey in hand to make an Ormendahl. You know the story from there.
Overall I did great but I needed to side in two Negate for this match-up. I made a slight change to my sideboard due to this game and the deck I NOW use is below:
4 Reflector Mage
4 Thing In The Ice
2 Thraben Inspector
2 Sphinx of the Final Word
Instants
4 Anticipate
3 Scatter to the Winds
2 Void Shatter
2 Ojutai's Command
2 Epiphany at the Drownyard
1 Clash of Wills
1 Negate
4 Declaration In Stone
3 Planar Outburst
1 Part the Waterveil
Planeswalkers
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
Lands
11 Island
6 Plains
4 Prairie Stream
2 Port Town
4 Dispel
3 Cleric of the Forward Order
2 Negate
2 Invasive Surgery
2 Quarantine Field
2 Tragic Arrogance
The change to Jace seems strange but if I would peek with Narset Transcendent and see a noncreature, nonland card, that is great. With Jace, it doesn't matter what it is. In my testing, when I untap with Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, my tempo is almost unbearable. It will take more testing but I will be attending FNM June 3rd with these changes.
The odd numbers of cards:
ONE Part the Waterveil: Anymore and I would be making an entirely different deck. Its one of those cards that you play late game when you can out-tempo your opponent with your board state. I always play it after combat with a weird reaction to no avail.
ONE Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: I don't want to be dependent on Gideon for a win condition. He's a card to help turn the corner and I don't want to stick more than one in here.
ONE Narset Transcendent: Another card that amasses card advantage but one that I don't want to cast until my opponent has 2-3 cards in hand. Once she hits, she's a huge target and I like what she does. When she whiffs though, she whiffs and I don't want to be dependent on her either as a PW.
What's with the sideboard?
The match-ups that this deck would have the hardest time with are Esper Control and they run 13-16 instants and R/G Atarka(Eldrazi) Ramp and they don't interact with you until Turn 5 after an Explosive Vegeation or Hedron Archive. The goal is to force those decks to become nervous of nothing ever resolving that they want to resolve. Ulamog hurts, yes, but you can't win them all and it is virtually non-existent.
In my playtesting experiences, I have always maintained board presence due to being able to counter when I need to, getting rid of creatures at my own pace and hitting and gaining incremental card advantage. I've tested against: Mono White Humans, B/R Vampires, Esper Control and R/G Werewolves, all of which I used the above sideboard and dominated game one and game two.
Sideboard choices:
Quarantine Field: for any decks playing a massive amount of planeswalkers and or noncreature permanents. Particularly if a Nahiri the Harbinger or Chandra, Flamecaller is being cast, you're going to want to counter those. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar on Turn 3 isn't as bad but later on in the game if it can be helped, quarantine her as well. Simple as that. If you're playing a G/W deck, be weary of Dromoka's Command. If you commit too much to Quarantine Field, a major blowout and tempo loss can occur. That's the only colors to be afraid of for enchantment removal.
Invasive Surgery: for decks heavily reliant on sorceries (Goggles, Atarka Red, etc). Those decks can quickly run out of gas and by having more efficient counters, you can slow these decks down for an easy win. Eventually they will top-deck while you have answers in hand. I have never faced one of these due to it falling out of popularity, but there are other uses for Invasive Surgery such as:
Duress
Madness'd Avacyn's Judgment
Languish
Planar Outburst
Dispel: for control mirrors and Bant company. There are so many instant speed cards played that this becomes a new age Spell Snare. Countering Collected Company for one feels so good and also having an answer to commands is great as well.
Negate: for G/W tokens and decks reliant on noncreature spells (Tutelage).
Cleric of the Forward Order: for RDW decks that still exist. This is also a great target for Ojutai's Command (bring back one, gain 2 life, draw a card seems good).
Tragic Arrogance: for mono-w or w/x humans. They have a bunch of one drops and Gryff's Boon and Always Watching which can be overwhelming but being able to dictate the board state with this card makes this matchup go in your favor. Planar Outburst is also great but getting rid of one or two Always Watching (if resolved) with Tragic Arrogance will get you to victory every time.
Underrated cards:
Epiphany at the Drownyard. This card has helped me to find my fifth mana, a way to fix the issues going on in the game and it never backfires like people think it does. Cast an epiphany for five, get six cards and at least get 1-2 cards you want. I casted this card in my FNM in each game and didn't regret any pile that was given to me.
Sphinx of the Final Word. I'm glad I am using this card for this deck. It seems like Sphinx cards find their uses in standard all the time (Sphinx's Tutelage, Sphinx's Revelation. Am I missing some?) I called it Final Word control because this IS the win condition that through Epiphany At the Drownyard and 4 Anticipate, you will always find.
Cards to be afraid of:
Always Watching. That card creates awful matchups for the deck early on and doesn't have a way to get rid of it once resolved.
Dragonlord Ojutai. They will assume because of your colors, you will be playing it in the mirror and the opponent will play it first (Cockatrice testing). When you counter it, you're way ahead.
Tireless Tracker. Void Shatter those when you can. One just creates too much tempo for you to handle sometimes.
After playing at FNM and facing the top two decks and beating them handily, I can say that the deck has a chance to be great. If someone wants to write a primer for this or help me with the primer, that would be awesome.
Cards I'm not playing in here:
Dragonlord Ojutai. In October, she is gone and I don't want to be dependent on her for my wins.
Secure the Wastes. Same as above. Great Combat trick but I don't run enough Gideon, Ally of Zendikar or Westvale Abbey to make it into a win condition.
Updated: May 25th, 8:59pm Central Time. Next update: TBD.
EDH
Roon of the Hidden Realms UGW
Modern
UW TronUW
Blocks Constructed
KamigawaU|Return to RavnicaUW|TherosUWG
This is what I'm running:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/hope-you-didnt-like-casting-spells/
4x Anticipate
1x Celestial Flare
3x Clash of Wills
4x Dragonlord's Prerogative
2x Immolating Glare
1x Learn from the Past
3x Ojutai's Command
1x Secure the Wastes
3x Void Shatter
6x Island
4x Mage-Ring Network
8x Plains
4x Port Town
4x Prairie Stream
Sorcery (8)
1x Not Forgotten
4x Planar Outburst
3x Swift Reckoning
Enchantment (4)
2x Quarantine Field
2x Stasis Snare
1x Celestial Flare
3x Cleric of the Forward Order
2x Dispel
2x Negate
1x Ojutai's Command
1x Quarantine Field
1x Secure the Wastes
3x Surge of Righteousness
1x Swift Reckoning
EDH
Roon of the Hidden Realms UGW
Modern
UW TronUW
Blocks Constructed
KamigawaU|Return to RavnicaUW|TherosUWG
EDH
Roon of the Hidden Realms UGW
Modern
UW TronUW
Blocks Constructed
KamigawaU|Return to RavnicaUW|TherosUWG
2x Clash of Wills
3x Clutch of Currents *F* (BFZ)
3x Immolating Glare (000)
11x Island (DDQ)
4x Lumbering Falls
1x Narset Transcendent
2x Ojutai's Command
1x Part the Waterveil
9x Plains (DDQ)
2x Planar Outburst
1x Quarantine Field
4x Reflector Mage (OGW)
2x Spell Shrivel (BFZ)
2x Sphinx of the Final Word
4x Stasis Snare (000)
1x Thing in the Ice
4x Void Shatter
EDH
Roon of the Hidden Realms UGW
Modern
UW TronUW
Blocks Constructed
KamigawaU|Return to RavnicaUW|TherosUWG
quarantine field is the only hard answer I know of once they resolve. I guess disperse and similar effects can help mitigate
9 Island
6 Plains
2 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
3 Westvale Abbey
Creatures (8)
3 Thraben Inspector
3 Reflector Mage
2 Sphinx of the Final Word
Other Spells (24)
4 Anticipate
1 Negate
3 Declaration in Stone
3 Scatter to the Winds
2 Void Shatter
3 Planar Outburst
1 Part the Waterveil
1 Quarantine Field
1 Clash of Wills
2 Epiphany at the Drownyard
3 Secure the Wastes
2 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Dispel
2 Horribly Awry
3 Negate
3 Radiant Purge
2 Displacement Wave
1 Linvala, the Preserver
1 Quarantine Field
Aside from my win-cons, this deck always plays in my opponent turns and pass my turn with all lands untapped. Great for psychological pressure even if you don't have in your hands one of your 12 counters...
Strategy is very simple. Delay and Counter with efficiency. Draw to get lands or your win-cons. Then bash their faces with tens of zombies, krakens or drowners.
The difference is that is monoblue, but Im not sure the white you have actually helps you that much... although Planar Outburst might be better indeed than Engulf the Shore in some situations...
My list is as follows:
22x Island
2x Mage-Ring Network
Draw (8)
4x Anticipate
4x Epiphany at the Drownyard
Counters (12)
4x Clash of Wills
4x Scatter to the Winds
4x Void Shatter
4x Engulf the Shore
4x Grip of the Roil
Win-Cons (8)
3x Thing in the Ice
2x Drowner of Hope
3x Rise from the Tides
Side Deck (15)
2x Send to Sleep
3x Adverse Conditions
2x Compelling Deterrence
2x Overwhelming Denial
3x Invasive Surgery
3x Negate
While I like the idea of the Mono-Blue deck, adding white creates a stronger deck out of just this. With access to Reflector Mage, Declaration in Stone, Planar Outburst and the sideboard choices, it can win the entire match. A Rise From The Tides would be cute game one, but game 2 they aren't going to allow you to have zombie tokens sitting; they will get Stoned, Tragic Arrogance will happen or you will simply just lose because they come in tapped. With white, you have Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Secure the Wastes (which is much better than Rise From The Tides in almost every situation) and Narset Transcendent (if you choose that route). That's why U/W control works.
Obviously though this creates issues with the manabase and with no allied pain lands (i.e) Adarkar Wastes this would likely make the deck much less consistent. I've toyed with the idea of running 4x Void Shatter along with some amount of Spell Shrivel as the permission package and maybe 4x Corrupted Crossroads or even Mage-Ring Network to facilitate colorless cards.
I think this deck might really take off after the rotation especially if allied color manlands somehow get printed. The only cards it really loses are: the sphinx, narset and Ojutai's Command of which i have been consistently underwhelmed with the command and Narset. Sphinx however is a superstar and will be a big loss for the list. I think UW with eldrazi as threats might be the way to head come Kaldadesh rotation. (Dependent on what happens in eldritch moon)
I have updated the current decklist i'm using in my post and the sideboard I believe Hallowed Moonlight is a must in a meta filled with GW tokens and BW control constantly trying to push out Hangarback Walker and Secure the Wastes obviously though the SB is very dependant on your local scene. I'll personally be replacing the clerics with something else as I have run into zero mono R sligh decks out of the matches i've played so far. I'll add some gamelogs once I join a league.
As far as Clip Wings being used on you in game two or three, it happens. You can't win them all. I'm sure he had two Clip Wings in the sideboard and got one out of the 53 cards he/she had in his/her deck.
Adding Gideon means to remove Epiphany At The Drownyard and an Island to add Secure the Wastes and a Westvale Abbey. I've only lost to G/W Tokens and not all will be playing Clip Wings in the sideboard; most actually play DL Dromoka in the SB.
I am actually thinking of removing the Cleric of the Forward Order for Hallowed Moonlight. I have only used him maybe once or twice and G/W tokens are the hardest matchup we have.
Thanks for the update!