Overview
Control is one of the main three archetypes in the MtG world. With powerful blue, black and gold threats printed in the Amonkhet block, control made a resurgence in the last few months, posting several Top 8s, and even a win at GP Turin. Few cards from the well performing lists rotate out, so there is potential that UB control could stay as a decent deck choice for those that want to make their opponent ask "may I play this?".
Because there is a growing divide between UB and UW decks, I'm making the decision that this thread will really only be for UB(x) lists, and will not cover the increasingly popular UW Approach style control decks.
Threats and finishers Torrential Gearhulk - Left over from Kaladesh, Gearhulk is a powerful finisher in the reactive shells. It gives a lot more flexibility - Run out of counter spells? Flash one back and get a body too. Being attacked for lethal? Flash this in, re-cast a removal spell, then block as well. Nothing really going on as you're fully in control? Cast this EOT, re-cast a draw spell and get protection to stay in control. The Scarab God - Potentially the best card that UB(x) control can run. Pre-rotation, I saw lists that ran one copy, then two, until it was finally 3 copies. The card means that we can play with few creatures and abuse the opponent's graveyard and use their creatures (and ETB triggers) against them.
Supporting cast Hostage Taker - A new card from Ixalan, and one that has people interested. Being able to steal problematic creatures (i.e. ones that we don't have a kill spell for), and even resolved artifacts will be key. As far as I know, with the flip artifacts in Ixalan not leaving the battlefield to transform, we can even grab one of them and flip it ourselves. Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh - Seeing as we're talking decks that can splash, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention big Niccy B. There's at least one 5-0 list that I've seen that ran Bolas off 4 Aether Hubs as the only red sources, and there were several pro articles that used UR shells and splashed the black off Aether Hubs for Bolas. Search for Azcanta - Another new card from Ixalan, and potentially divisive. Several people are treating this as the second coming of JVP, and others think it's not as good as it's cracked up to be. However, with the loss of Grasp of Darkness, even draw-go style decks may consider playing some number of these to accelerate in the later turns.
Removal spells Vraska's Contempt - One more than Never // Return, but instant speed exiling of both creatures and planeswalkers will be useful. Gaining a couple of life as well could mean the difference between life and death in some matches. Walk the Plank - Sad that this is the replacement for Grasp. Sorcery speed makes it for a poor reactive choice, but the unconditional (well, OK, non-Merfolk is a condition) removal could make it worth a small thought. Fatal Push - Really our only cheap, instant speed removal spell. Great against aggro, and may make Evolving Wilds a consideration to enable revolt.
Sweepers Bontu's Last Reckoning - A three mana sweeper, and the only real sweeper in Black that can deal with larger creatures. Yahenni's Expertise - A quasi-sweeper that at least allows us to untap mana. Not good against potential dinosaur decks, or anything bigger than 3 toughness.
Counter spells Negate - Answers to vehicles, planeswalkers and (flip) enchantments Disallow - Useful as a 3 mana hard counter, but also allows us to shut off a Ramunap Ruins or Hazoret activation. Censor - Can often be used to catch people out, but more often is used to cycle through your deck these days. Spell Pierce - A nice reprint that costs less but performs the same function as Negate. Supreme Will - A utility card that functions as either a counter or a draw spell.
Draw spells Glimmer of Genius - a new draw spell, and one that dives pretty deep in to our deck. Scry 2, draw 2 is again reminiscent of Read the Bones, but this time swapping the life loss for energy gain (to fuel Aether Hub), instant speed, and a slightly increased mana cost. However, when we are concentrating on killing and countering everything in the first few turns, is a 4 mana draw spell that bad? Opt - another reprint that people have been excited by. Could displace Censor as an early draw spell, or could be a better option for decks wanting to stay fully reactive in the early turns and not run Search for Azcanta.
Mana base
The mana base kind of writes took a bit of a hit with the loss of both Sunken Hollow and Choked Estuary, but did gain Drowned Catacomb. Aether Hub is also an option for an untapped land, but is obviously limited in its use without replacement energy.
Sample deck lists
Gabriel Nassif has been running some test UB Scarab God decks on his stream. It's interesting that he no longer uses Gearhulks, instead preferring to be more aggro/control with four Gifted Aetherborn main. His current list is this:
There's also a more reactive style, running less creatures in the main, and more counters in a more controlling meta. This one uses Search for Azcanta as the main draw engine, and was run by four out of 24 competitors at Worlds 2017, and putting two copies in the top 4. Similar style decks have started to creep in to the 5-0 lists for MTGO as well.
I'm sure that there are plenty of cards that I've missed here, but they can be added (or removed) later as UB(x) control starts to prove itself in the new standard! Please, post your lists and results here. I'll also try to keep the original post updated as and when lists do well at larger tournaments.
EDIT: now including Wrapter's Worlds list as an example.
I took a list based off unhly's list to my Super Sunday. I have 1 opt, 1 search, 1 settle no vraska's and none on the ixn lands.
I ended up going 2-1 beating gr dinos 2-0, and jund minus counters 2-1 (mulled to 5 and kept a 3 lander, only drew lands in my loss) and lost 0-2 to vamps (no black mana g1 and g2 I brought back the wrong card with Scarab in response to an exile effect).
I got a lot of mileage out of Fumigate all day (replaced 2 settle)
Cast Out was great.
Scarab us still house.
I liked Search even though I only had one, I drew it heaps.
1 of Approach was sweet.
I still think 4 Glimmer is correct even with Opt and Search, but maybe I just felt that way because I as running 4 Glimmer, 1 Opt, 1 Search and 2 Will as my draw/selection.
Never got to cast Settle.
Edit: Also played the 1/4 for ub over gifted aetherborn (only own one) and I honestly liked it more, due to not dying to strike, but death touch is nice..
Well, we have our first results. 48th place at SCG Open Dallas, and 17th at SCG Classic for pure UB, and 27th at SCG Open for Esper control. Points of interest: the deck with Search did better than the deck without; both UB lists ran a pair of Walk the Plank, and only 25 land; neither list ran Hostage Taker.
Thinking of testing this out since most of the standard cards I have left are in UB anyway. Pretty much just need to get the Ixalan cards plus two more copies of The Scarab God. Input would be much appreciated, especially before the weekend hits. Thanks!
A little surprised to see Duress given how prevalent creature based decks are likely to be. It is a good discard spell, but the fact it can't hit creatures makes it seem a little lack luster, unless I'm missing something. Could we see the return of Essence Extraction as a means of removal? The damage is less effective against the enrage monsters (giving them an enrage trigger) but gaining three life could be useful.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing:
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Duress is the reason to play UB/x. When UW Approach is seeing a resurgence, and Temur Energy boards in 4 Negate and Confiscation Coup against the field, Duress is nuts.
Thinking of testing this out since most of the standard cards I have left are in UB anyway. Pretty much just need to get the Ixalan cards plus two more copies of The Scarab God. Input would be much appreciated, especially before the weekend hits. Thanks!
Any type of blue/black deck needs to play Rags // Riches and Consign // Oblivion...at least play Rags in the sideboard against mono-Red and Consign should be played maindeck, maybe 3-4 of them. They are really good due to be able to bounce any nonland permanent and the next turn you can make the opponent discard cards.
This would work well against mono-red, if they get hazoret out and only have 1 card in hand you can bounce hazoret and the next turn cast Oblivion to make him discard the hazoret...this is the secret to dealing with mono-red and the best part is that it's only 1 card..split as it may be.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"May he who is without mana cast the first spell!"
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
I took a list based off unhly's list to my Super Sunday. I have 1 opt, 1 search, 1 settle no vraska's and none on the ixn lands.
I ended up going 2-1 beating gr dinos 2-0, and jund minus counters 2-1 (mulled to 5 and kept a 3 lander, only drew lands in my loss) and lost 0-2 to vamps (no black mana g1 and g2 I brought back the wrong card with Scarab in response to an exile effect).
I got a lot of mileage out of Fumigate all day (replaced 2 settle)
Cast Out was great.
Scarab us still house.
I liked Search even though I only had one, I drew it heaps.
1 of Approach was sweet.
I still think 4 Glimmer is correct even with Opt and Search, but maybe I just felt that way because I as running 4 Glimmer, 1 Opt, 1 Search and 2 Will as my draw/selection.
Never got to cast Settle.
Edit: Also played the 1/4 for ub over gifted aetherborn (only own one) and I honestly liked it more, due to not dying to strike, but death touch is nice..
Glad you did well, :). I have been testing contraband kingpin but am wishing he had death touch a lot. lol. Although the 1/4 body is nice on occasion.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Wars may come and go but my soldiers, they are eternal."
Standard: Whatever Control is Best
Modern: Nothing
Legacy; Miracles RIP
This is very close to what I took to FNM last Friday. It ran very smoothly. Went 2-2. Beat Temur Energy 2-0, Mono-Red 2-1. Lost to BGR ( a cross between BG constrictor and mono-red) 2-1. Very winnable matchup just couldn't draw what I needed in game 3. Lost 2-1 to U/W Approach. Still learning how to play against mirror matchups. Game 3 mulled to 4 and never draw more than 4 lands. Overall very pleased with the deck, going Esper is definitely the way to go. Adding Vraska's Contempt and Scarab God made a huge difference.
The card I was least impressed with was Censor, must of the time it was just a cycle card. Not bad but not great. So I replaced them with 2 Negate and 2 Essence Scatter. I like they are hard counters and with Approach/Control decks a thing that we will have to face more of, the Negates main will help. Also moved the Authorities to the sideboard. Against most decks we have a really solid game 1, so they were just win-more cards. Against aggro, they are a beast but still feel like a win-able matchup without them.
Cards I am not sure on:
1 slot main hard counter - Disallow or Spell Swindle - I really like Disallow against most every deck but tried Swindle Friday. When it counters something big, it was a game changer. Several games I won by casting Approach twice on the same turn, one of them was against another Approach deck. Both are good cards, imo, but Swindle has a bigger chance to swing games. And they make a great gearhulk target.
3 slots main for 1 drop - Fatal Push or Harsh Scrutiny or Duress or Authority of the Consuls. All of them are very strong in a certain area and most will be sided out against some deck. Not sure which has the most impact against the most decks. I have been running Authority main and really love them but not sure if those 3 slots could be used better as something else.
2/3 Pseduo Fetch lands - Evolving Wilds or Field of Ruin. Running 3 colors and needing double mana for all 3 on turn 3 or 4, being able to fetch a basic really helps smooth things out. Also, both play nice with Fatal Push. Fields is nice because the land comes in untapped and kills all the new flip enchantment/lands that everyone is running now.
Arguel's Blood Fast - Have seen him in a few list. The draw is very strong, especially if you have authorities out. Will have to try it.
I am going to try out Kelly Thompson's 27th place Dallas list also. It looks pretty sweet.
I’m personally piecing together a Grixis build based on the deck that took tenth in the Star City Games tourney last weekend. I’m also considering a Jeskai build with several exile effects and sweepers off the back of counters and draw.
One card I’m not seeing is Pull from Tomorrow. Has this card fallen out of favor or are the other draw spells available to us that much better?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing:
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Yeah, I'd seen Gab's list, and been watching it evolve on his stream (I think I put a version of it on the first post). I'm tempted by it, but also considering the more reactive side as well. As I've mentioned before, my local meta is very blue, so the more aggro/control version is appealing. I'm wondering if there's a pirate based aggro/control list out there, running Kitesail Freebooters instead of Duress, Ruin Raider for card draw, etc.
Pull I think fell from people's lists pre-rotation because control was still the very reactive style. Therefore a Glimmer was better with Hulk than a Pull was. I could see it making a comeback, and maybe 3/1 Glimmer/Pull could be a way to start (see PumpMonkey's list above).
I have been running 3 Glimmer - 1 Pull for awhile now, even when running 2 hulks main and been very happy with it. Turn 7 approach, turn 8 pull equals turn 9 approach every time. Also, there are games when both sides are just drawing blanks and a pull for 8-10 to refill my hand usually means I win. But I fell like more than one is too much. Just my 2 cents, your mileage may vary.
Still trying to figure out which list to run at FNM this week. The list I posted above is more of a U/W with a splash of black or run Thompson's 27th place Dallas list. His list is more U/B with a splash of white. My meta is mainly Temur, Ramunap Red and B/G/x but do except to run into a few control matchups. Need to figure out which deck I am taking to GP Atlanta and still with it. What do you guys think would be strongest against a big unknown field like the GP?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
I wonder how many powerful 2 drop creatures we're going to see in the format. If there's not that many, it means the 2-slot will be occupied by removal, which makes the Gifted Aetherborn less useful: I'm going to keep them in the side until I see what the landscape looks like. I'd also be willing to go pure UB, but I think Settle the Wreckage is too good to ignore.
Here is the Grixis deck I've got right now. I'm pretty sure I need to a lot of work on it, but initial trails seem to be fairing well. I went with Hour of Devastation over Sweltering Suns mainly because Hour can take down Hazoret where Suns can't. The two copies of Wilds are in to help trigger revolt on Push while also making it easier to flip Search. Some cards I'm considering are:
Here is the Grixis deck I've got right now. I'm pretty sure I need to a lot of work on it, but initial trails seem to be fairing well. I went with Hour of Devastation over Sweltering Suns mainly because Hour can take down Hazoret where Suns can't. The two copies of Wilds are in to help trigger revolt on Push while also making it easier to flip Search. Some cards I'm considering are:
Any thoughts or feedback on this list are greatly appreciated
The list looks solid. All the numbers look about right. I will run a few games with it and let you know.
Cards - I run an Esper Approach style list, so my thoughts are based on that background : Vraska's Contempt - Great card, makes dealing with walkers so much easier and the exile affect makes the card even better. The 2 life is sometimes very relevant. Would suggest adding 1-3 main. Not sure what to cut to make room, maybe Magma Spray. This makes a great gearhulk target also.
Pull From Tomorrow - I run a 3/1 split of Glimmer/Pull. 1 mainboard means the late game you can reload your hand which should give you enough gas to take that game.
Chandra's Defeat - Maybe 1-2 in the SB. This is great against mono-red but not sure there are enough targets to run main.
Abrade - 3 damage for 2 is still very good right now. Killing gearhulk's and vehicle's for 2 is very strong. I would like 1-3 main but again, not sure where to make room for them. And even with as strong as it is, not sure they are better than what you already have.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
@pumpmonkey: thanks for the thoughts. I like magma spray in the main as it deals with Ranumap Red’s low cost enablers like Earthshaker Khenra permanently, hence why I run more of it than Push. I’ll give the 3/1 glimmer-pull split to see how I like it. The thoughts on defeat and abrade are in line with my thinking, but until I get some actual testing in I’m not sure what will really perform and what falls short.
For everyone, what is he general thought on Field of Ruin? It is land destruction and fixing in one, triggers revolt on Push. Can potentially slow up a multi color deck. If it’s an include, what’s the right number? If not, why not?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently Playing:
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
I'm just going to keep posting the 5-0 lists that I find. Going back to the reactive style today. Interesting thing on this deck is the single Essence Scatter, presumably expecting to find less creature based matchups. Also a pair of Canyon Slough, but no need for red, so just in here as additional cycling cards.
So, in the hunt for 5-0 decks yesterday, I completely forgot about the World Championships. Turns out that there are four players on UB Control (Gerry T, Sam Black, Klevin Chew, and Wrapter (Josh Utter-Leyton)). Wizards has text coverage of a Control Mirror match from round 7 here, and deck lists are below.
Points of interest here are the full sets of Disallows and Essence Scatters in most lists, minimal Supreme Wills, and no Hostage Takers. Hieroglyphic Illumination seems to be favoured over Glimmer as well.
I don't think the mana is good enough to support a 3rd color, as if you're running a straight control list you're going to want disallow over Supreme Will. Will makes sense in the approach lists, but hard counters are just too important for a more classic control shell.
Vraska's Contempt is a great utility card. In a deck that uses gearhulks I like it better than Cast Out. I'm not sure what the right number is, but probably a staple for the deck going forward.
The 2 spells I'm still experimenting with are Walk the Plank and Bontu's Last Reckoning. I think an unconditional sweeper is needed MD to have out for a resolved Bristling Hydra that starts getting out of control. Also, Carnage Tyrant is floating around, out there somewhere, so having outs to these threats is nice. Same for Walk the Plank. The sorcery speed is not ideal, but so long as merfolk remains fringe, this is a 2 mana unconditional removal, so its a good spell to have in the deck.
Personally, I'm still on the energy package for control, so I have 4 hubs and glimmer to support with energy for them. I've noticed that the worlds lists are cutting hub and glimmer in favor of evolving wilds and Hieroglyphic Illumination. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that. Illumination ultimately proves much less card advantage than glimmer, and while 3-4 EW helps enables revolt for push, the extra tap lands slow the deck down, potentially on critical turns. Having 2-3 mana up for censor or disallow in the early turns is so very critical, and honestly I'd rather play a hub on T1 in case I see a Bomat Courier and just burn the energy for a push, as opposed to an EW later in the game to get a 4 drop with push. Curious to hear any arguments for the Illumination / EW package.
Anyways the deck has been playing real well, the curve is great, the power level is very high, and the answers are very efficient. 4 Negate and 3 Duress in the SB, combined with the MD counterspell suite, really makes me a favorite in games 2-3 against U/W Approach, W/B tokens, and other creatureless strategies. Gifted Aetherborn and Essence Extraction in the side plus vraska's contempt in MD are amazing against mono red games 2-3. Search + glimmer + gearhulk + scarab god is probably the grindiest thing you can be doing in std right now, so any game that goes long I'm capable of just grinding away a victory.
The main thing I'm still experimenting with is sweepers. Yahenni's Expertise and Rags // Riches are both options, but with all the various, giant, temur enegy creatures, with snek in the format, with dinosaurs, it seems like the unconditional sweep that reckoning offers is the best, despite the heavy drawback about the lands. Still not sure though, would love to hear feedback about the best sweepers given how the meta is shaping up.
I have been running Esper Approach the last few weeks. Last night I ran it at FMN and the one thing that really stood out was the mana base. Before I was on UW Approach and the 2 color base is so much smoother. I like the power of Esper, when it worked, I crushed the other guy. But about 30%-40% of the games my mana base cost me the game. Going to keep working on it but think I am going to just move to straight UB control. I like the looks of the list from worlds. Atlanta GP is a month away, really need to decide on what list I am taking and just stick with it until then.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
A nice article under the heading of deck techs for all the UB lists at Worlds. Some good info on card choices and rationale, and some advice on how best to play Search - turn four or later, with counter back up. Also, one stat in the first sentence of the article just shows you how strong simple UB can be - "Blue-Black Control was one of the best performing decks in yesterday's Standard rounds, winning 62.5% of its matches." I'm writing this post after round 13 (of 14), and Chew is 2nd, Wrapter is 3rd, Sam Black 7th, and Gerry T in 9th (leading to a UB Control mirror between Black and Thompson in round 14).
I find it most telling that of all 24, not a single player decided that Approach was the best deck to play.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Control is one of the main three archetypes in the MtG world. With powerful blue, black and gold threats printed in the Amonkhet block, control made a resurgence in the last few months, posting several Top 8s, and even a win at GP Turin. Few cards from the well performing lists rotate out, so there is potential that UB control could stay as a decent deck choice for those that want to make their opponent ask "may I play this?".
Because there is a growing divide between UB and UW decks, I'm making the decision that this thread will really only be for UB(x) lists, and will not cover the increasingly popular UW Approach style control decks.
Threats and finishers
Torrential Gearhulk - Left over from Kaladesh, Gearhulk is a powerful finisher in the reactive shells. It gives a lot more flexibility - Run out of counter spells? Flash one back and get a body too. Being attacked for lethal? Flash this in, re-cast a removal spell, then block as well. Nothing really going on as you're fully in control? Cast this EOT, re-cast a draw spell and get protection to stay in control.
The Scarab God - Potentially the best card that UB(x) control can run. Pre-rotation, I saw lists that ran one copy, then two, until it was finally 3 copies. The card means that we can play with few creatures and abuse the opponent's graveyard and use their creatures (and ETB triggers) against them.
Supporting cast
Hostage Taker - A new card from Ixalan, and one that has people interested. Being able to steal problematic creatures (i.e. ones that we don't have a kill spell for), and even resolved artifacts will be key. As far as I know, with the flip artifacts in Ixalan not leaving the battlefield to transform, we can even grab one of them and flip it ourselves.
Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh - Seeing as we're talking decks that can splash, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention big Niccy B. There's at least one 5-0 list that I've seen that ran Bolas off 4 Aether Hubs as the only red sources, and there were several pro articles that used UR shells and splashed the black off Aether Hubs for Bolas.
Search for Azcanta - Another new card from Ixalan, and potentially divisive. Several people are treating this as the second coming of JVP, and others think it's not as good as it's cracked up to be. However, with the loss of Grasp of Darkness, even draw-go style decks may consider playing some number of these to accelerate in the later turns.
Removal spells
Vraska's Contempt - One more than Never // Return, but instant speed exiling of both creatures and planeswalkers will be useful. Gaining a couple of life as well could mean the difference between life and death in some matches.
Walk the Plank - Sad that this is the replacement for Grasp. Sorcery speed makes it for a poor reactive choice, but the unconditional (well, OK, non-Merfolk is a condition) removal could make it worth a small thought.
Fatal Push - Really our only cheap, instant speed removal spell. Great against aggro, and may make Evolving Wilds a consideration to enable revolt.
Sweepers
Bontu's Last Reckoning - A three mana sweeper, and the only real sweeper in Black that can deal with larger creatures.
Yahenni's Expertise - A quasi-sweeper that at least allows us to untap mana. Not good against potential dinosaur decks, or anything bigger than 3 toughness.
Counter spells
Negate - Answers to vehicles, planeswalkers and (flip) enchantments
Disallow - Useful as a 3 mana hard counter, but also allows us to shut off a Ramunap Ruins or Hazoret activation.
Censor - Can often be used to catch people out, but more often is used to cycle through your deck these days.
Spell Pierce - A nice reprint that costs less but performs the same function as Negate.
Supreme Will - A utility card that functions as either a counter or a draw spell.
Draw spells
Glimmer of Genius - a new draw spell, and one that dives pretty deep in to our deck. Scry 2, draw 2 is again reminiscent of Read the Bones, but this time swapping the life loss for energy gain (to fuel Aether Hub), instant speed, and a slightly increased mana cost. However, when we are concentrating on killing and countering everything in the first few turns, is a 4 mana draw spell that bad?
Opt - another reprint that people have been excited by. Could displace Censor as an early draw spell, or could be a better option for decks wanting to stay fully reactive in the early turns and not run Search for Azcanta.
Mana base
The mana base kind of writes took a bit of a hit with the loss of both Sunken Hollow and Choked Estuary, but did gain Drowned Catacomb. Aether Hub is also an option for an untapped land, but is obviously limited in its use without replacement energy.
Sample deck lists
Gabriel Nassif has been running some test UB Scarab God decks on his stream. It's interesting that he no longer uses Gearhulks, instead preferring to be more aggro/control with four Gifted Aetherborn main. His current list is this:
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
4 Island
10 Swamp
Creatures (15)
4 Gifted Aetherborn
4 Champion of Wits
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Hostage Taker
3 The Scarab God
4 Duress
4 Fatal Push
2 Harsh Scrutiny
2 Essence Scatter
2 Search for Azcanta
1 Walk the Plank
3 Supreme Will
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Spell Pierce
2 Arguel's Blood Fast
1 Search for Azcanta
2 Negate
3 Essence Extraction
2 Doomfall
1 Supreme Will
1 Hostage Taker
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Demon of Dark Schemes
2 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells (26)
4 Fatal Push
4 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
4 Disallow
2 Essence Extraction
1 Glimmer of Genius
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
3 Vraska's Contempt
3 Search for Azcanta
Lands (26)
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
3 Field of Ruin
6 Island
5 Swamp
1 Field of Ruin
4 Duress
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
3 Contraband Kingpin
2 Negate
1 Treasure Map
1 Essence Extraction
2 Vizier of Many Faces
EDIT: now including Wrapter's Worlds list as an example.
I ended up going 2-1 beating gr dinos 2-0, and jund minus counters 2-1 (mulled to 5 and kept a 3 lander, only drew lands in my loss) and lost 0-2 to vamps (no black mana g1 and g2 I brought back the wrong card with Scarab in response to an exile effect).
I got a lot of mileage out of Fumigate all day (replaced 2 settle)
Cast Out was great.
Scarab us still house.
I liked Search even though I only had one, I drew it heaps.
1 of Approach was sweet.
I still think 4 Glimmer is correct even with Opt and Search, but maybe I just felt that way because I as running 4 Glimmer, 1 Opt, 1 Search and 2 Will as my draw/selection.
Never got to cast Settle.
Edit: Also played the 1/4 for ub over gifted aetherborn (only own one) and I honestly liked it more, due to not dying to strike, but death touch is nice..
3 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells (27)
4 Fatal Push
4 Opt
3 Censor
3 Essence Scatter
2 Walk the Plank
3 Disallow
3 Supreme Will
3 Glimmer of Genius
1 Hour of Glory
1 Vraska's Contempt
2 Search for Azcanta
Lands (25)
4 Aether Hub
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
7 Island
6 Swamp
3 Battle at the Bridge
2 Duress
2 Aether Meltdown
3 Negate
2 Lost Legacy
2 Confiscation Coup
1 Commit // Memory
2 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells (30)
4 Fatal Push
3 Opt
3 Censor
2 Essence Scatter
2 Walk the Plank
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
3 Disallow
2 Essence Extraction
3 Supreme Will
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Vraska's Contempt
4 Aether Hub
1 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
6 Island
6 Swamp
3 Duress
3 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Negate
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Essence Extraction
1 Lost Legacy
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1 Vizier of Many Faces
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
1 Gideon of the Trials
Spells (25)
4 Duress
3 Fatal Push
1 Slash of Talons
1 Oketra's Last Mercy
3 Glimmer of Genius
3 Settle the Wreckage
3 Vraska's Contempt
4 Fumigate
3 Approach of the Second Sun
Enchantments (8)
2 Authority of the Consuls
2 Arguel's Blood Fast
1 Search for Azcanta
3 Cast Out
4 Concealed Courtyard
2 Drowned Catacomb
2 Evolving Wilds
2 Glacial Fortress
1 Ifnir Deadlands
1 Island
7 Plains
7 Swamp
2 Authority of the Consuls
1 Crook of Condemnation
1 Dispossess
2 Doomfall
1 Dreamstealer
2 Forsake the Worldly
1 Lost Legacy
2 Solemnity
3 Sunscourge Champion
3 The Scarab God
2 Hostage Taker
4 Fatal Push
2 Walk the Plank
1 Vraska’s Contempt
2 Bontu’s Last Reckoning
4 Glimmer of Genius
3 Opt
3 Censor
3 Disallow
2 Essence Scatter
2 Supreme Will
4 Fetid Pools
4 Aether Hub
4 Evolving Wilds
6 Island
4 Swamp
3 Duress
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Negate
1 Spell Pierce
3 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Doomfall
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Yahenni's Expertise
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Esper`s boardwipes are better (albeit more expensive), but Grixis has better removal and top-end, imo. Access to Chandra, Torch of Defiance , Nicol Bolas, God-pharaoh , The Scarab God and Torrential Gearhulk could potentially put Grixis over the top if we can refine a list. Also, Sweltering Suns is just a beating against a lot of decks right now.
I`ll report back with some lists soon.
Any type of blue/black deck needs to play Rags // Riches and Consign // Oblivion...at least play Rags in the sideboard against mono-Red and Consign should be played maindeck, maybe 3-4 of them. They are really good due to be able to bounce any nonland permanent and the next turn you can make the opponent discard cards.
This would work well against mono-red, if they get hazoret out and only have 1 card in hand you can bounce hazoret and the next turn cast Oblivion to make him discard the hazoret...this is the secret to dealing with mono-red and the best part is that it's only 1 card..split as it may be.
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle
Glad you did well, :). I have been testing contraband kingpin but am wishing he had death touch a lot. lol. Although the 1/4 body is nice on occasion.
Standard: Whatever Control is Best
Modern: Nothing
Legacy; Miracles RIP
The card I was least impressed with was Censor, must of the time it was just a cycle card. Not bad but not great. So I replaced them with 2 Negate and 2 Essence Scatter. I like they are hard counters and with Approach/Control decks a thing that we will have to face more of, the Negates main will help. Also moved the Authorities to the sideboard. Against most decks we have a really solid game 1, so they were just win-more cards. Against aggro, they are a beast but still feel like a win-able matchup without them.
Cards I am not sure on:
1 slot main hard counter - Disallow or Spell Swindle - I really like Disallow against most every deck but tried Swindle Friday. When it counters something big, it was a game changer. Several games I won by casting Approach twice on the same turn, one of them was against another Approach deck. Both are good cards, imo, but Swindle has a bigger chance to swing games. And they make a great gearhulk target.
3 slots main for 1 drop - Fatal Push or Harsh Scrutiny or Duress or Authority of the Consuls. All of them are very strong in a certain area and most will be sided out against some deck. Not sure which has the most impact against the most decks. I have been running Authority main and really love them but not sure if those 3 slots could be used better as something else.
2/3 Pseduo Fetch lands - Evolving Wilds or Field of Ruin. Running 3 colors and needing double mana for all 3 on turn 3 or 4, being able to fetch a basic really helps smooth things out. Also, both play nice with Fatal Push. Fields is nice because the land comes in untapped and kills all the new flip enchantment/lands that everyone is running now.
Arguel's Blood Fast - Have seen him in a few list. The draw is very strong, especially if you have authorities out. Will have to try it.
I am going to try out Kelly Thompson's 27th place Dallas list also. It looks pretty sweet.
3x Approach of the Second Sun
2x Gideon of the Trials
Draw
3x Glimmer of Genius
1x Pull From Tomorrow
4x Opt
Counter
3x Supreme Will
1x Disallow
2x Negate
2x Essence Scatter
Removal
3x Fatal Push
3x Fumigate
3x Settle the Wreckage
3x Vraska's Contempt
2x Search for Azcanta
Land
4x Concealed Courtyard
4x Glacial Fortress
2x Drowned Catacomb
3x Irrigated Farmland
2x Fetid Pools
3x Evolving Wilds
1x Island
4x Plains
2x Swamp
3x Duress
2x Negate
4x Authority of the Consuls
2x Regal Caracal
2x Torrential Gearhulk
2x The Scarab God
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
3 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Instant (26)
3 Censor
3 Disallow
1 Essence Extraction
3 Essence Scatter
4 Fatal Push
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Negate
3 Supreme Will
3 Vraska's Contempt
2 Search for Azcanta
Land (26)
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
10 Island
8 Swamp
1 Essence Extraction
3 Duress
3 Gifted Aetherborn
3 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Hostage Taker
1 Noxious Gearhulk
I’m personally piecing together a Grixis build based on the deck that took tenth in the Star City Games tourney last weekend. I’m also considering a Jeskai build with several exile effects and sweepers off the back of counters and draw.
One card I’m not seeing is Pull from Tomorrow. Has this card fallen out of favor or are the other draw spells available to us that much better?
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Pull I think fell from people's lists pre-rotation because control was still the very reactive style. Therefore a Glimmer was better with Hulk than a Pull was. I could see it making a comeback, and maybe 3/1 Glimmer/Pull could be a way to start (see PumpMonkey's list above).
Still trying to figure out which list to run at FNM this week. The list I posted above is more of a U/W with a splash of black or run Thompson's 27th place Dallas list. His list is more U/B with a splash of white. My meta is mainly Temur, Ramunap Red and B/G/x but do except to run into a few control matchups. Need to figure out which deck I am taking to GP Atlanta and still with it. What do you guys think would be strongest against a big unknown field like the GP?
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
4x Aether Hub
4x Drowned Catacomb
4x Fetid Pools
2x Field of Ruin
4x Glacial Fortress
2x Irrigated Farmland
2x Island
1x Plains
3x Swamp
Enchantment (2)
2x Search for Azcanta
Instant (20)
2x Censor
1x Disallow
3x Essence Scatter
4x Fatal Push
3x Glimmer of Genius
3x Settle the Wreckage
2x Supreme Will
2x Vraska's Contempt
2x Liliana, Death's Majesty
1x Vraska, Relic Seeker
Creature (8)
3x Champion of Wits
2x The Scarab God
3x Torrential Gearhulk
2x Aether Meltdown
1x Confiscation Coup
3x Duress
2x Fumigate
3x Gifted Aetherborn
2x Lost Legacy
2x Negate
I wonder how many powerful 2 drop creatures we're going to see in the format. If there's not that many, it means the 2-slot will be occupied by removal, which makes the Gifted Aetherborn less useful: I'm going to keep them in the side until I see what the landscape looks like. I'd also be willing to go pure UB, but I think Settle the Wreckage is too good to ignore.
4 Champion of Wits
4 Gifted Aetherborn
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
3 Hostage Taker
3 The Scarab God
Spells (12)
2 Chart a Course
2 Doomfall
3 Duress
3 Harsh Scrutiny
2 Walk the Plank
2 Essence Scatter
4 Fatal Push
2 Vraska's Contempt
Land (25)
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
3 Island
10 Swamp
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1 Hostage Taker
1 Duress
1 Essence Scatter
1 Demon of Dark Schemes
3 Essence Extraction
2 Lost Legacy
4 Negate
1 Yahenni's Expertise
3 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Instants (24)
2 Fatal Push
3 Magma Spray
4 Opt
3 Censor
2 Essence Scatter
3 Disallow
3 Supreme Will
4 Glimmer of Genius
Sorceries (2)
2 Hour of Devastation
2 Search for Azcanta
Land (26)
4 Aether Hub
2 Canyon Slough
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Drowned Catacombs
2 Evolving Wilds
2 Fetid Pools
4 Island
2 Mountain
2 Spirebluff Cannal
2 Swamp
2 Duress
2 Fatal Push
1 Magma Spray
2 Essence Scatter
3 Negate
1 Disallow
2 Doomfall
1 Supreme Will
1 Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
Here is the Grixis deck I've got right now. I'm pretty sure I need to a lot of work on it, but initial trails seem to be fairing well. I went with Hour of Devastation over Sweltering Suns mainly because Hour can take down Hazoret where Suns can't. The two copies of Wilds are in to help trigger revolt on Push while also making it easier to flip Search. Some cards I'm considering are:
Any thoughts or feedback on this list are greatly appreciated
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
The list looks solid. All the numbers look about right. I will run a few games with it and let you know.
Cards - I run an Esper Approach style list, so my thoughts are based on that background :
Vraska's Contempt - Great card, makes dealing with walkers so much easier and the exile affect makes the card even better. The 2 life is sometimes very relevant. Would suggest adding 1-3 main. Not sure what to cut to make room, maybe Magma Spray. This makes a great gearhulk target also.
Pull From Tomorrow - I run a 3/1 split of Glimmer/Pull. 1 mainboard means the late game you can reload your hand which should give you enough gas to take that game.
Chandra's Defeat - Maybe 1-2 in the SB. This is great against mono-red but not sure there are enough targets to run main.
Abrade - 3 damage for 2 is still very good right now. Killing gearhulk's and vehicle's for 2 is very strong. I would like 1-3 main but again, not sure where to make room for them. And even with as strong as it is, not sure they are better than what you already have.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
For everyone, what is he general thought on Field of Ruin? It is land destruction and fixing in one, triggers revolt on Push. Can potentially slow up a multi color deck. If it’s an include, what’s the right number? If not, why not?
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 The Scarab God
4 Torrential Gearhulk
Instant (24)
4 Censor
3 Disallow
1 Essence Scatter
4 Fatal Push
4 Glimmer of Genius
3 Opt
3 Supreme Will
2 Vraska's Contempt
2 Search for Azcanta
Land (26)
2 Canyon Slough
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
10 Island
6 Swamp
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
4 Duress
3 Essence Extraction
4 Gifted Aetherborn
1 Kefnet the Mindful
2 Negate
Can you share your esper list?
Thanks[/quote]
See comment #11 around the top of this page. Still working on the exact numbers but this very close.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
Points of interest here are the full sets of Disallows and Essence Scatters in most lists, minimal Supreme Wills, and no Hostage Takers. Hieroglyphic Illumination seems to be favoured over Glimmer as well.
2 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells (26)
4 Fatal Push
4 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
4 Disallow
2 Essence Extraction
1 Glimmer of Genius
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
3 Vraska's Contempt
3 Search for Azcanta
Lands (26)
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
3 Field of Ruin
6 Island
5 Swamp
1 Field of Ruin
4 Duress
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
3 Contraband Kingpin
2 Negate
1 Treasure Map
1 Essence Extraction
2 Vizier of Many Faces
2 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells (26)
4 Fatal Push
1 Harsh Scrutiny
4 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
4 Disallow
1 Supreme Will
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
4 Vraska's Contempt
3 Search for Azcanta
Land(26)
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
3 Field of Ruin
6 Island
5 Swamp
4 Duress
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
2 Negate
4 Essence Extraction
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Vizier of Many Faces
1 Torrential Gearhulk
3 The Scarab God
2 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells (25)
4 Fatal Push
3 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
3 Disallow
2 Essence Extraction
2 Supreme Will
4 Glimmer of Genius
3 Vraska's Contempt
2 Aether Meltdown
2 Search for Azcanta
Land (26)
4 Drowned Catacomb
1 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
1 Field of Ruin
7 Island
1 Submerged Boneyard
8 Swamp
4 Duress
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
3 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Negate
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Doomfall
2 Essence Extraction
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
3 The Scarab God
2 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells (26)
4 Fatal Push
4 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
4 Disallow
2 Essence Extraction
1 Glimmer of Genius
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
3 Vraska's Contempt
3 Search for Azcanta
Land (26)
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
2 Field of Ruin
8 Island
2 Submerged Boneyard
6 Swamp
1 Field of Ruin
4 Duress
1 Liliana's Defeat
2 Contraband Kingpin
2 Negate
1 Search for Azcanta
2 Essence Extraction
2 Vizier of Many Faces
3 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells (29)
4 Fatal Push
4 Opt
3 Censor
3 Essence Scatter
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Walk the Plank
4 Disallow
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
3 Glimmer of Genius
2 Vraska's Contempt
4 Aether Hub
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
7 Island
6 Swamp
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Consign // Oblivion
3 Duress
2 Essence Extraction
3 Gifted Aetherborn
1 Kefnet the Mindful
4 Negate
I don't think the mana is good enough to support a 3rd color, as if you're running a straight control list you're going to want disallow over Supreme Will. Will makes sense in the approach lists, but hard counters are just too important for a more classic control shell.
Vraska's Contempt is a great utility card. In a deck that uses gearhulks I like it better than Cast Out. I'm not sure what the right number is, but probably a staple for the deck going forward.
The 2 spells I'm still experimenting with are Walk the Plank and Bontu's Last Reckoning. I think an unconditional sweeper is needed MD to have out for a resolved Bristling Hydra that starts getting out of control. Also, Carnage Tyrant is floating around, out there somewhere, so having outs to these threats is nice. Same for Walk the Plank. The sorcery speed is not ideal, but so long as merfolk remains fringe, this is a 2 mana unconditional removal, so its a good spell to have in the deck.
Personally, I'm still on the energy package for control, so I have 4 hubs and glimmer to support with energy for them. I've noticed that the worlds lists are cutting hub and glimmer in favor of evolving wilds and Hieroglyphic Illumination. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that. Illumination ultimately proves much less card advantage than glimmer, and while 3-4 EW helps enables revolt for push, the extra tap lands slow the deck down, potentially on critical turns. Having 2-3 mana up for censor or disallow in the early turns is so very critical, and honestly I'd rather play a hub on T1 in case I see a Bomat Courier and just burn the energy for a push, as opposed to an EW later in the game to get a 4 drop with push. Curious to hear any arguments for the Illumination / EW package.
Anyways the deck has been playing real well, the curve is great, the power level is very high, and the answers are very efficient. 4 Negate and 3 Duress in the SB, combined with the MD counterspell suite, really makes me a favorite in games 2-3 against U/W Approach, W/B tokens, and other creatureless strategies. Gifted Aetherborn and Essence Extraction in the side plus vraska's contempt in MD are amazing against mono red games 2-3. Search + glimmer + gearhulk + scarab god is probably the grindiest thing you can be doing in std right now, so any game that goes long I'm capable of just grinding away a victory.
The main thing I'm still experimenting with is sweepers. Yahenni's Expertise and Rags // Riches are both options, but with all the various, giant, temur enegy creatures, with snek in the format, with dinosaurs, it seems like the unconditional sweep that reckoning offers is the best, despite the heavy drawback about the lands. Still not sure though, would love to hear feedback about the best sweepers given how the meta is shaping up.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
I find it most telling that of all 24, not a single player decided that Approach was the best deck to play.