I'm trying to get back into Magic, and I'm also trying to start playing seriously. I've done well in some local tournaments with premade decks I've seen online, but I still like to make my own decks to improve my skills in assessing the worth of cards. When I make my own stuff, I usually try to make U/G decks, since they're my favorite colors. I thought I'd try and make Control decks, since I lack experience playing them, and it also seemed like a good challenge to make a Control deck without White. However, I did look at U/W Control decks as a jumping off point.
I had two rules making the deck:
1. U/G only. I'm not ready to try and make three-color decks yet, and I'm also just partial to U/G.
2. No cards that will be phased out this fall, i.e nothing from Magic 2014 or the RTR block.
(also, a third caveat: I'm interested in trying to make U/G Control work. I know there's plenty of great U/G Decks out there, but I'm trying to challenge myself to make a functional deck of this specific type, with these specific colors. Please don't post completely different types of decks.)
Bear in mind, I'm still quite the novice, so I'm absolutely open to suggestions and criticisms. What follows is the decklist, as well as my rationale for all my choices.
-2 Unravel the Aether, +2 Curse of the Swine. Yeah, I can't use it to deal with enchantments on the board, but I find that creatures give me a harder time. This is a great way to handle God cards, as well as huge doomlord beaters, like Desecration Demon and Blood Baron. ...A lot of people play Black Devo in my area.
V.2 Changes:
1. -1 Perilous Vault, -3 Bow of Nylea, +4 Sylvan Caryatid. Having access to a larger mana pool, as well as a good blocker against aggro decks, was important to me. I removed Bow of Nylea for this, because I had read the card improperly in the first place and had it in the deck for a purpose it couldn't fulfill. I also removed one Perilous Vault, because while I still think it's useful in this deck, I really don't need one in my opening hand. I might get rid of a second one in the future.
2. -3 Polymorphist's Jest, +3 Aetherspouts. I like Polymorphist's Jest better in general, but I don't really have the creature base to take advantage of turning all my opponent's creatures into 1/1s. Jest sounds like a better trick for a blue aggro deck.
3. Completely redid sideboard. Almost everything about the old sideboard has changed, because not a lot of thought was originally put into it in the first place. Hopefully, this sideboard seems a little more well put-together.
Card Explanations:
Eight dual-lands seemed good, and naturally, the scry lands would have to go in there, as well. I could have added more scry lands, but I also thought more basic lands would be a good choice with Nissa in my deck. I would have really liked to have ten forests for that reason... but, I really wanted a third Bow of Nylea, and there's too much blue in this deck to have nine islands instead.
Dakra Mystic and Courser of Kruphix are here to speed up my deck. If I get a Dakra Mystic in my opening hand and don't get much else that I need, I can use it to draw into some plays as quickly as possible. Courser of Kruphix is great for basically everything; speeding up my deck, as well as buying time and being a good blocker against aggro. But, I also think that Dakra + Courser make a good combo; since I know what card I will draw into, if I don't like the card on the top of my library, I can just mill my opponent while speeding through my deck. Also, if I don't have a land on top of my deck at the start of my turn, I can use Dakra to move through my deck and find one, if I think it's necessary.
Prophet of Kruphix is just there to make sure I can make big plays while being ready to play reactive spells on my opponent's turn. This is one of the cards I'm most ambivalent about currently, as I'm not sure I can really take advantage of it as well as other decklists with more instants and creatures might.
In the second version of my deck, I've added Sylvan Caryatid. This gives me mana accel, a good blocker against aggro decks, a way to gain life with Courser of Kruphix the same turn it comes out, and it gives me some green devotion, which is now relevant because I've put Nylea's Disciple in my sideboard.
These are basically my win cons. If I can cast with Kiora's or Nissa's ultimates, I'm in great shape. Resolving either one would allow me to freely wipe the board with Perilous Vault, as I will either start accumulating 9/9 Krakens on an empty board, or I can swing with an army of 4/4 Lands and immediately win, since Vault won't destroy the land-creatures. Either one also protects me decently well against different types of decks.
Basic stuff. Counterspells are counterspells, and I tried to pick the best general-purpose ones for the main deck. Aetherspouts will really ruin an opponent who doesn't attack carefully, and it gives me a second chance to counter any big threat they put back on the top of their deck.
Perilous Vault is an obvious choice. It's a good sweeper that can be used in U/G, it can be done at instant-speed (when I have it in play, of course), and it works especially well with both my Planeswalkers. I think I would be crazy not to add this. In the second version of this deck, I removed one, because it's not a play that I intend to make early; I have it solely for big emergencies, or to sweep the board after resolving either Planeswalker ultimate. Naturally, not something I really want in my opening hand.
I admit, I'm a total noob at sideboarding. But, here's my rationale in any case:
- With deck real-estate at a premium, I was looking for a single card which would really bolster my chances against aggro, and I found Nylea's Disciple. The lifegain, combined with the a P/T of 3, will help me stall for a while longer until I can stabilize the board. In a best-case scenario, I can gain put this in play on turn 4 and have gained six life between Disciple and Courser.
- Nullify is aimed at aggro decks, which I think will probably be my biggest weakness. Gainsay is obviously good against anything with blue (and especially good if Blue Devo Aggro manages to be good after rotation).
- Phyrexian Revoker is the new Pithing Needle...but, since it's more susceptible to removal and disruption, I thought it would be wise to have at least two, just in case.
- Unravel the Aether, I felt, would be the best substitute for something like Deicide. I considered Fade Into Antiquity for this reason as well, but I decided that the lower CMC, the better. I thought even harder about Reclamation Sage, as having it around to chump block would help me against aggro; however, it leaves me with no way to handle a God card after it resolves, and I don't think I have to worry too much about Artifacts in aggro. Maybe that will change if M15 and Khans really does allow for Artifact-based aggro decks. I'll wait and see.
7. Cards I've thought about putting in the deck
I can't find a place for these cards in my deck, but I know they are useful. I'm interested in seeing what other people think about these.
Polukranos, World Eater sounded like a brilliant card until I realized that I read its monstrous ability wrong. I don't think that I would be able to use its Monstrosity ability to effectively deal with creatures in a timely manner, and I have Perilous Vault for that, anyways. I don't think I need any separate wincons besides Kiora and Nissa, either.
Kruphix, God of Horizons is also another card I love; but, I think that strategies based around Kruphix run so contrary to Kiora. Kiora needs to be protected so she can make huge creatures for me. Kruphix demands that I take up real-estate in my deck for huge, crazy cards like Tromokratis or Colossus of Akros. That doesn't sound bad, but it's definitely not the strategy I'm running for this deck. Besides that, with Prophet of Kruphix, I constantly have blue mana at my disposal, which seems more useful to me.
Anyways, any feedback is appreciated! This decklist may, of course, change as Khans of Tarkir is spoiled. It might wind up being completely terrible (if it somehow already isn't). But, if this winds up being worth making, the idea here is to have something I can play as soon as Khans goes live. Thanks for reading!
Perilous Vault is an absolutely horrid choice for removal for you. Over half your non-land cards are affected by it. Currently the way I see it is you're playing a tap-out control strategy. Perilous Vault is the last thing a deck like that wants.
I think Prophet of Kruphix is an interesting choice if you have more instants or creatures in your deck.
I would:
-4 Perilous Vault
+4 Aetherspouts
I also like Voyaging Satyr in this list for a couple reasons.
1. It synergizes with Polymorphist's Jest in that it has 1 power and 2 toughness.
2. It ramps you into turn 4 Nissa, Prophet or Aetherspouts.
With the Bow of Nylea, you do realize your creatures have to be attacking to get deathtouch right? It's also a legendary permanent. So I'd - those and + your creatures to better synergize with Prophet and protect your planeswalkers.
Do you realise that Bow of Nylea only grants deathtouch to attacking creatures? Your deck doesn't look to be good at attacking.
Dakra Mystic Doesn't seem a very good card for a control deck unless you're always milling with it. Giving your opponent cards is not what a control deck wants to do. It does interact favorably with the Courser but Im not sure it's good enough.
You said fliers were a problem: how about creatures with reach? There are several in green, but Arbor Colossus is probably the most powerful one.
3-mana counterspells are not very good against aggro decks: I'd recommend moving Essence Scatter to the main.
Did you watch the Block Pro Tour coverage? Basically every green deck played 4 Courser and 4 Sylvan Caryatid. Allows you to play Courser on turn three before making a land drop. Also on that Pro Tour: Prognostic Sphinx. That seems like a decent finisher.
Perilous Vault is an absolutely horrid choice for removal for you. Over half your non-land cards are affected by it. Currently the way I see it is you're playing a tap-out control strategy. Perilous Vault is the last thing a deck like that wants.
I think Prophet of Kruphix is an interesting choice if you have more instants or creatures in your deck.
I would:
-4 Perilous Vault
+4 Aetherspouts
I also like Voyaging Satyr in this list for a couple reasons.
1. It synergizes with Polymorphist's Jest in that it has 1 power and 2 toughness.
2. It ramps you into turn 4 Nissa, Prophet or Aetherspouts.
With the Bow of Nylea, you do realize your creatures have to be attacking to get deathtouch right? It's also a legendary permanent. So I'd - those and + your creatures to better synergize with Prophet and protect your planeswalkers.
Hmm. My logic for using Perilous Vault was to intentionally wipe the board after resolving either Planeswalker ultimate; but it's true that if I need to wipe any time before that, it's not very good for me. I think I will still keep some in the main deck, but not four. I'm more than happy to put Aetherspouts into the main deck, but do you think it's necessary to run Polymorphist's Jest AND Aetherspouts? Having both seems excessive, but I could also be full of it.
And yeah...I realize NOW that Bow of Nylea doesn't help me like I thought it would. I'll be removing those for sure. I really want to like that card, lol...but it never does quite what I need it to for any green deck I conceptualize.
Quote from Zaghrog » »
Do you realise that Bow of Nylea only grants deathtouch to attacking creatures? Your deck doesn't look to be good at attacking.
Dakra Mystic Doesn't seem a very good card for a control deck unless you're always milling with it. Giving your opponent cards is not what a control deck wants to do. It does interact favorably with the Courser but Im not sure it's good enough.
You said fliers were a problem: how about creatures with reach? There are several in green, but Arbor Colossus is probably the most powerful one.
3-mana counterspells are not very good against aggro decks: I'd recommend moving Essence Scatter to the main.
Did you watch the Block Pro Tour coverage? Basically every green deck played 4 Courser and 4 Sylvan Caryatid. Allows you to play Courser on turn three before making a land drop. Also on that Pro Tour: Prognostic Sphinx. That seems like a decent finisher.
It's true that Dakra does give them cards, but you can deny them the important stuff...moreso if you actually know whether you want the next card in your deck. I intend to play with that idea extensively before I make the decision to remove it.
Fliers may not be as large of a problem as I originally thought, if I'm running Polymorphist's Jest, and especially Aetherspouts. And, yeah, I could always counter them.
I do like the idea of Essence Scatter in the main deck, except for if I fight another control deck. Still, against basically any other type of deck, it might be preferable to seven 3CMC counterspells. I think I'll probably make that change.
Actually, I meant to put Sylvan Caryatid under the list of cards I considered for this deck; but, I guess I forgot, cos I was really tired when I wrote it. I agree that the ramp is excellent, but as LordGrimpow suggested, I wonder if Voyaging Satyr might be better for this deck? It can actually kill stuff when I use Polymorphist's Jest, it can untap any land, and being able to untap lands in general has some synergy with Nissa's ability to make land creatures. My only concern about Voyaging Satyr if that if he has to block against an aggro deck and I don't have Polymorphist's Jest, he's almost certainly going to die.
I have to go to work, but I'll think about what you guys have said. I appreciate the advice!
I've updated the decklist in the initial post based on some suggestions given here, although I've stuck to my guns in other ways (I'm not ready to give up Dakra or Vault). I've also reworked the sideboard considerably.
Some things I'm thinking about:
1. I wonder if Reclamation Sage would be better than Unravel the Aether? I like Unravel the Aether because it allows me to deal with a God that I wasn't able to counter...but at the same time, Reclamation Sage does give me removal and a body to block with. Having more creatures in the sideboard also means I could technically put Polymorphist's Jest back in the deck without it being a poor choice.
2. I wonder what the best creature counters are going to be, post-rotation? I'd only noticed today that Essence Scatter is out. I've put in Nullify for now...
3. I really love Swan Song, and want to put it in this deck; but, I can't help but wonder if it's a trap of a card. It might be better in a deck that can handle more creatures; but while a 1 CMC counterspell sounds nice, I'm thinking that giving more creatures to my opponent - at least in this case - may not be a wise decision.
4. The more I toy with this deck, the more I've decided that I really, really like Prophet of Kruphix in it. I'm debating whether I should get a third one in exchange for a Perilous Vault...or, if I should keep it at two, and even just move my Vault count down to two? Three sounds nice if I have an emergency, but at the same time, it can become a reliability if I get it without needing it.
Thanks so far for the advice. I'm still interested in hearing what you guys have to say.
Now this is the very preliminary 'ramp only' build. Prophet + Kiora's Follower + Yisan is ridiculous, but I recognize that the deck might require some, y'know, removal. That said, being able to Chord of Calling out a Soul of New Phyrexia on turn 4 is pretty fun (forest, elf; island, follower; forest, prophet, untap and cast Polukranos; turn 4 drop Nykthos, and with 5 devotion produce 9 mana and make your team indestructible for the rest of the game).
I might at least want more Reclamation Sages to deal with Banishing Light (and the inevitable Ornithoper + Ensoul Artifact deck.
Small update: I switched out Unravel the Aether of Curse of the Swine. This seemed like a good way to deal with God cards while also giving me more sweeps. In some cases, even replacing a 2/2 with a 2/2 Pig is a good move, just because it lowers their devotion. I think I'm pretty happy with this, so far. More utility.
Current thoughts:
- Maybe I have too many counterspells in the main deck? Maybe moving down to six or five would be good.
- Aetherspouts is really awesome...but maybe I should sideboard it? I'm still not sure just yet, because no one in my area really plays aggro. Hitting only one creature with Aetherspouts isn't exactly the worst thing ever...but, at that point, why not just Curse it? I'll try and play more before making this decision.
I don't understand what the problem is with seven counterspells...I mean, yes - I've seen powerful control decks that run very few, but a lot of the ones I've seen run about 6-7. And, just to make sure I'm not crazy, I looked up U/W and Esper Control decks that are placing in tournaments right now, and there seems to be a "2 counters" variant and "way more than 2, but definitely not 8" variant. I'm considering possibly dropping some from the main deck; but, I'm actually more worried that I have too many in my sideboard.
I'm still not really convinced that Perilous Vault is bad for this deck. Literally no creature in my main deck is there to attack; they're all there because they can block small creatures, or because I value their static/triggered/activated abilities. Since they are just there for their effects it doesn't matter if they're still there when I wipe the board - everything I wanted to disrupt is gone, and I will have wiped the board on my own terms, i.e wipe the board with a good hand and drop Kiora/Nissa, both of which can protect themselves just fine.
Furthermore, wiping the board with Perilous Vault is really strong in tandem with resolving Kiora or Nissa's ultimates, which are my actual win conditions. Once Kiora's emblem is out, just wipe the board and have fun getting a 9/9 Kraken every turn. If Nissa's ultimate is resolved, pass the turn, activate vault at the end of their turn, and then swing with your lands to win immediately.
The only situation here that's suboptimal for me is if a deck gets rolling so fast that I can't stabilize the board with my creatures, I'll drop the bare minimum and wipe early. It's not the best scenario; but, there's no saying I HAVE to play every creature I draw before wiping the board with Vault.
Anyways. I'm sure your deck is good, but cool ramp decks with U/G have already been made. If I was interested in doing that, I'd probably make that U/G version of Colossal Gruul that I've seen on here, and try to prepare it for the coming rotation. But, that deck has already been made. I want to see if I can make something worthwhile with U/G using a different deck archetype. You're obviously welcome to the opinion that I'm crazy, but I'd prefer if you post suggestions on how I can refine my idea, rather than what you think I should be playing instead.
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I'm trying to get back into Magic, and I'm also trying to start playing seriously. I've done well in some local tournaments with premade decks I've seen online, but I still like to make my own decks to improve my skills in assessing the worth of cards. When I make my own stuff, I usually try to make U/G decks, since they're my favorite colors. I thought I'd try and make Control decks, since I lack experience playing them, and it also seemed like a good challenge to make a Control deck without White. However, I did look at U/W Control decks as a jumping off point.
I had two rules making the deck:
1. U/G only. I'm not ready to try and make three-color decks yet, and I'm also just partial to U/G.
2. No cards that will be phased out this fall, i.e nothing from Magic 2014 or the RTR block.
(also, a third caveat: I'm interested in trying to make U/G Control work. I know there's plenty of great U/G Decks out there, but I'm trying to challenge myself to make a functional deck of this specific type, with these specific colors. Please don't post completely different types of decks.)
Bear in mind, I'm still quite the novice, so I'm absolutely open to suggestions and criticisms. What follows is the decklist, as well as my rationale for all my choices.
4 Yavimaya Coast
4 Temple of Mystery
10 Island
9 Forest
Creatures
4 Dakra Mystic
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Prophet of Kruphix
3 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
3 Nissa, Worldwaker
Instants
4 Dissolve
3 Aetherspouts
3 Dissipate
Artifacts
3 Perilous Vault
4 Nylea's Disciple
4 Nullify
3 Gainsay
2 Curse of the Swine
2 Phyrexian Revoker
V.2 Changes:
-2 Unravel the Aether, +2 Curse of the Swine. Yeah, I can't use it to deal with enchantments on the board, but I find that creatures give me a harder time. This is a great way to handle God cards, as well as huge doomlord beaters, like Desecration Demon and Blood Baron. ...A lot of people play Black Devo in my area.
V.2 Changes:
1. -1 Perilous Vault, -3 Bow of Nylea, +4 Sylvan Caryatid. Having access to a larger mana pool, as well as a good blocker against aggro decks, was important to me. I removed Bow of Nylea for this, because I had read the card improperly in the first place and had it in the deck for a purpose it couldn't fulfill. I also removed one Perilous Vault, because while I still think it's useful in this deck, I really don't need one in my opening hand. I might get rid of a second one in the future.
2. -3 Polymorphist's Jest, +3 Aetherspouts. I like Polymorphist's Jest better in general, but I don't really have the creature base to take advantage of turning all my opponent's creatures into 1/1s. Jest sounds like a better trick for a blue aggro deck.
3. Completely redid sideboard. Almost everything about the old sideboard has changed, because not a lot of thought was originally put into it in the first place. Hopefully, this sideboard seems a little more well put-together.
Card Explanations:
Eight dual-lands seemed good, and naturally, the scry lands would have to go in there, as well. I could have added more scry lands, but I also thought more basic lands would be a good choice with Nissa in my deck. I would have really liked to have ten forests for that reason... but, I really wanted a third Bow of Nylea, and there's too much blue in this deck to have nine islands instead.
Dakra Mystic and Courser of Kruphix are here to speed up my deck. If I get a Dakra Mystic in my opening hand and don't get much else that I need, I can use it to draw into some plays as quickly as possible. Courser of Kruphix is great for basically everything; speeding up my deck, as well as buying time and being a good blocker against aggro. But, I also think that Dakra + Courser make a good combo; since I know what card I will draw into, if I don't like the card on the top of my library, I can just mill my opponent while speeding through my deck. Also, if I don't have a land on top of my deck at the start of my turn, I can use Dakra to move through my deck and find one, if I think it's necessary.
Prophet of Kruphix is just there to make sure I can make big plays while being ready to play reactive spells on my opponent's turn. This is one of the cards I'm most ambivalent about currently, as I'm not sure I can really take advantage of it as well as other decklists with more instants and creatures might.
In the second version of my deck, I've added Sylvan Caryatid. This gives me mana accel, a good blocker against aggro decks, a way to gain life with Courser of Kruphix the same turn it comes out, and it gives me some green devotion, which is now relevant because I've put Nylea's Disciple in my sideboard.
These are basically my win cons. If I can cast with Kiora's or Nissa's ultimates, I'm in great shape. Resolving either one would allow me to freely wipe the board with Perilous Vault, as I will either start accumulating 9/9 Krakens on an empty board, or I can swing with an army of 4/4 Lands and immediately win, since Vault won't destroy the land-creatures. Either one also protects me decently well against different types of decks.
Basic stuff. Counterspells are counterspells, and I tried to pick the best general-purpose ones for the main deck. Aetherspouts will really ruin an opponent who doesn't attack carefully, and it gives me a second chance to counter any big threat they put back on the top of their deck.
Perilous Vault is an obvious choice. It's a good sweeper that can be used in U/G, it can be done at instant-speed (when I have it in play, of course), and it works especially well with both my Planeswalkers. I think I would be crazy not to add this. In the second version of this deck, I removed one, because it's not a play that I intend to make early; I have it solely for big emergencies, or to sweep the board after resolving either Planeswalker ultimate. Naturally, not something I really want in my opening hand.
- With deck real-estate at a premium, I was looking for a single card which would really bolster my chances against aggro, and I found Nylea's Disciple. The lifegain, combined with the a P/T of 3, will help me stall for a while longer until I can stabilize the board. In a best-case scenario, I can gain put this in play on turn 4 and have gained six life between Disciple and Courser.
- Nullify is aimed at aggro decks, which I think will probably be my biggest weakness. Gainsay is obviously good against anything with blue (and especially good if Blue Devo Aggro manages to be good after rotation).
- Phyrexian Revoker is the new Pithing Needle...but, since it's more susceptible to removal and disruption, I thought it would be wise to have at least two, just in case.
- Unravel the Aether, I felt, would be the best substitute for something like Deicide. I considered Fade Into Antiquity for this reason as well, but I decided that the lower CMC, the better. I thought even harder about Reclamation Sage, as having it around to chump block would help me against aggro; however, it leaves me with no way to handle a God card after it resolves, and I don't think I have to worry too much about Artifacts in aggro. Maybe that will change if M15 and Khans really does allow for Artifact-based aggro decks. I'll wait and see.
7. Cards I've thought about putting in the deck
I can't find a place for these cards in my deck, but I know they are useful. I'm interested in seeing what other people think about these.
Polukranos, World Eater sounded like a brilliant card until I realized that I read its monstrous ability wrong. I don't think that I would be able to use its Monstrosity ability to effectively deal with creatures in a timely manner, and I have Perilous Vault for that, anyways. I don't think I need any separate wincons besides Kiora and Nissa, either.
Kruphix, God of Horizons is also another card I love; but, I think that strategies based around Kruphix run so contrary to Kiora. Kiora needs to be protected so she can make huge creatures for me. Kruphix demands that I take up real-estate in my deck for huge, crazy cards like Tromokratis or Colossus of Akros. That doesn't sound bad, but it's definitely not the strategy I'm running for this deck. Besides that, with Prophet of Kruphix, I constantly have blue mana at my disposal, which seems more useful to me.
Anyways, any feedback is appreciated! This decklist may, of course, change as Khans of Tarkir is spoiled. It might wind up being completely terrible (if it somehow already isn't). But, if this winds up being worth making, the idea here is to have something I can play as soon as Khans goes live. Thanks for reading!
4 Prognostic sphinx
2 reaper of the wilds
4 Sylvan caryatid
2 Bile blight
4 Hero's downfall
3 Silence the believers
1 Unravel the Aether
3 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
3 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
5 Forest
2 Island
1 Mana confulence
5 Swamp
4 Temple of Deciet
4 Temple of Malady
4 Temple of Mystery.
Dega midrange 1-0
I think Prophet of Kruphix is an interesting choice if you have more instants or creatures in your deck.
I would:
-4 Perilous Vault
+4 Aetherspouts
I also like Voyaging Satyr in this list for a couple reasons.
1. It synergizes with Polymorphist's Jest in that it has 1 power and 2 toughness.
2. It ramps you into turn 4 Nissa, Prophet or Aetherspouts.
With the Bow of Nylea, you do realize your creatures have to be attacking to get deathtouch right? It's also a legendary permanent. So I'd - those and + your creatures to better synergize with Prophet and protect your planeswalkers.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Dakra Mystic Doesn't seem a very good card for a control deck unless you're always milling with it. Giving your opponent cards is not what a control deck wants to do. It does interact favorably with the Courser but Im not sure it's good enough.
You said fliers were a problem: how about creatures with reach? There are several in green, but Arbor Colossus is probably the most powerful one.
3-mana counterspells are not very good against aggro decks: I'd recommend moving Essence Scatter to the main.
Did you watch the Block Pro Tour coverage? Basically every green deck played 4 Courser and 4 Sylvan Caryatid. Allows you to play Courser on turn three before making a land drop. Also on that Pro Tour: Prognostic Sphinx. That seems like a decent finisher.
Hmm. My logic for using Perilous Vault was to intentionally wipe the board after resolving either Planeswalker ultimate; but it's true that if I need to wipe any time before that, it's not very good for me. I think I will still keep some in the main deck, but not four. I'm more than happy to put Aetherspouts into the main deck, but do you think it's necessary to run Polymorphist's Jest AND Aetherspouts? Having both seems excessive, but I could also be full of it.
And yeah...I realize NOW that Bow of Nylea doesn't help me like I thought it would. I'll be removing those for sure. I really want to like that card, lol...but it never does quite what I need it to for any green deck I conceptualize.
It's true that Dakra does give them cards, but you can deny them the important stuff...moreso if you actually know whether you want the next card in your deck. I intend to play with that idea extensively before I make the decision to remove it.
Fliers may not be as large of a problem as I originally thought, if I'm running Polymorphist's Jest, and especially Aetherspouts. And, yeah, I could always counter them.
I do like the idea of Essence Scatter in the main deck, except for if I fight another control deck. Still, against basically any other type of deck, it might be preferable to seven 3CMC counterspells. I think I'll probably make that change.
Actually, I meant to put Sylvan Caryatid under the list of cards I considered for this deck; but, I guess I forgot, cos I was really tired when I wrote it. I agree that the ramp is excellent, but as LordGrimpow suggested, I wonder if Voyaging Satyr might be better for this deck? It can actually kill stuff when I use Polymorphist's Jest, it can untap any land, and being able to untap lands in general has some synergy with Nissa's ability to make land creatures. My only concern about Voyaging Satyr if that if he has to block against an aggro deck and I don't have Polymorphist's Jest, he's almost certainly going to die.
I have to go to work, but I'll think about what you guys have said. I appreciate the advice!
Some things I'm thinking about:
1. I wonder if Reclamation Sage would be better than Unravel the Aether? I like Unravel the Aether because it allows me to deal with a God that I wasn't able to counter...but at the same time, Reclamation Sage does give me removal and a body to block with. Having more creatures in the sideboard also means I could technically put Polymorphist's Jest back in the deck without it being a poor choice.
2. I wonder what the best creature counters are going to be, post-rotation? I'd only noticed today that Essence Scatter is out. I've put in Nullify for now...
3. I really love Swan Song, and want to put it in this deck; but, I can't help but wonder if it's a trap of a card. It might be better in a deck that can handle more creatures; but while a 1 CMC counterspell sounds nice, I'm thinking that giving more creatures to my opponent - at least in this case - may not be a wise decision.
4. The more I toy with this deck, the more I've decided that I really, really like Prophet of Kruphix in it. I'm debating whether I should get a third one in exchange for a Perilous Vault...or, if I should keep it at two, and even just move my Vault count down to two? Three sounds nice if I have an emergency, but at the same time, it can become a reliability if I get it without needing it.
Thanks so far for the advice. I'm still interested in hearing what you guys have to say.
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Elvish Mystic
2 Genesis Hydra
1 Hornet Nest
4 Kiora's Follower
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
1 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Polukranos, World Eater
3 Prognostic Sphinx
3 Prophet of Kruphix
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Soul of New Phyrexia
3 Yisan, Wanderer Bard
2 Bow of Nylea
3 Chord of Calling
LANDS - 24
8 Forest
5 Island
3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Yavimaya Coast
Now this is the very preliminary 'ramp only' build. Prophet + Kiora's Follower + Yisan is ridiculous, but I recognize that the deck might require some, y'know, removal. That said, being able to Chord of Calling out a Soul of New Phyrexia on turn 4 is pretty fun (forest, elf; island, follower; forest, prophet, untap and cast Polukranos; turn 4 drop Nykthos, and with 5 devotion produce 9 mana and make your team indestructible for the rest of the game).
I might at least want more Reclamation Sages to deal with Banishing Light (and the inevitable Ornithoper + Ensoul Artifact deck.
Current thoughts:
- Maybe I have too many counterspells in the main deck? Maybe moving down to six or five would be good.
- Aetherspouts is really awesome...but maybe I should sideboard it? I'm still not sure just yet, because no one in my area really plays aggro. Hitting only one creature with Aetherspouts isn't exactly the worst thing ever...but, at that point, why not just Curse it? I'll try and play more before making this decision.
I'm still not really convinced that Perilous Vault is bad for this deck. Literally no creature in my main deck is there to attack; they're all there because they can block small creatures, or because I value their static/triggered/activated abilities. Since they are just there for their effects it doesn't matter if they're still there when I wipe the board - everything I wanted to disrupt is gone, and I will have wiped the board on my own terms, i.e wipe the board with a good hand and drop Kiora/Nissa, both of which can protect themselves just fine.
Furthermore, wiping the board with Perilous Vault is really strong in tandem with resolving Kiora or Nissa's ultimates, which are my actual win conditions. Once Kiora's emblem is out, just wipe the board and have fun getting a 9/9 Kraken every turn. If Nissa's ultimate is resolved, pass the turn, activate vault at the end of their turn, and then swing with your lands to win immediately.
The only situation here that's suboptimal for me is if a deck gets rolling so fast that I can't stabilize the board with my creatures, I'll drop the bare minimum and wipe early. It's not the best scenario; but, there's no saying I HAVE to play every creature I draw before wiping the board with Vault.
Anyways. I'm sure your deck is good, but cool ramp decks with U/G have already been made. If I was interested in doing that, I'd probably make that U/G version of Colossal Gruul that I've seen on here, and try to prepare it for the coming rotation. But, that deck has already been made. I want to see if I can make something worthwhile with U/G using a different deck archetype. You're obviously welcome to the opinion that I'm crazy, but I'd prefer if you post suggestions on how I can refine my idea, rather than what you think I should be playing instead.