Reading some of the arguments in here have made me laugh. No win-cons? No combos? Even if we're talking about straight Draw-Go from when I started playing (Tempest/Urza Type 2), that's never been true. Find some variation of CMU Blue, study it to the point where you intimately know what makes it tick, and then start modifying it to use legal cards and tinker until it fits your play style. Blue players need to start brewing their own as a matter of course again and going back to basics probably isn't a bad place to start.
I think this is really strong in TL. With Brainstorm, Windfall, or any other draw spells. That is as long as this triggers off each draw. Can anyone with a better understanding of the rules confirm this?
Yes, it's a triggered ability and therefor uses the stack.
This is going to give Draw-Go decks a nasty win condition. Playing Brainstorm, Ponder, and Visions of Beyond with four of these on the field means 24 cards at a minimum and each card you draw has to have the corresponding effect conditions satisfied before an opponent can start over again with the next. The old Arcane Denial+Urza's Bauble trick is another one that's going to be nasty. Grip of Amnesia goes from a situational sideboard against Dredge to a must play. Throw Snapcaster Mage into the mix and you have the mother of all win conditions.
Welcome to Type 2 circa Tempest/Urza blocks where every game was a scramble for survival. Of course, in that environment it was because every color could mono-OP a deck into something from a nightmare. My first suggestion is go into MTGO or OCTGN and create Randy Buehler's 1998 deck list card for card and play the hell out of it. You're going to learn how draw-go is supposed to be played and you'll learn what concepts you're comfortable with or not. In general here's what you need:
No more than eight creatures with secondary effects that compliment your overall objective. Snapcaster Mage is an obvious choice, Plumeveil is an excellent blocker that will keep the smaller guys from clocking you and will chump block the big boys. Were it Modern Legal, I'd suggest Thalakos Deceiver for some body snatcher action. Inkfathom Infiltrator is a Shadow creature in all but name and will put an opponent on the clock quick.
You need at least two card draw engines. Brainstorm is an obvious choice. The old trick of playing Arcane Denial on a free artifact is unfortunately not available to you. Visions of Beyond does essentially the same thing, for cheaper, but with conditions.
A crap ton of counters and some direct removal. Rune Snag and Circular Logic are hilarious and definitely better in the late game than Mana Leak. Counterbore is counter with attitude, if you can make it work cheaply. Etc, etc.
The corporation is run by a guy that could buy an entire division's worth of Abrams MBTs, but balks at destroying a $6 million dinosaur when the wrongful death lawsuits would go past the billion mark? Yeah, not really. Also, given what the park is, you'd think the security force would be at least 100 ex-JSOC guys with enough heavy weaponry to stand off an invasion. That said, the ass kicking that Blue and the T-Rex handed the genetic freak was pretty awesome.
Archenemy Planechase. The only modification to the Archenemy rules is that the bad guy gets 20 life per opponent. Planechase operates as normal. No card restrictions other than the normal four card limit per deck and proxies are only allowed if you actually own the card. Yes, I've played this game against a guy that owned playsets of all the Power and he used them with abandon. It was hilarious.
EDIT: Did some tinkering with the deck. After a bunch of solitaire rounds I've found you can pretty reliably go infinite by no later than turn 9 and almost mill yourself with card draw by 13.
Been playing Magic off and on since Tempest and Urza blocks were Standard. As an old fogey, I have a general disdain for flavor of the month combo decks that are considered slow if they take five turns to go off. I'm also an unrepentant control player and derive a great deal of joy in the various ways I can come up with to say, "That's a nice tall glass of NOPE!"
No Jester's Cap or Jester's Mask? Peregrine Drake is a two turn faster, half power Palinchron; I got lucky once and top decked all four Drakes on my opening hand, then had the further luck of running into Empyrial Armor and Spirit Link by turn five (I splashed white in my draw-go back then for Empyrial Link and Circles), the game was over by seven. All of the Thalakos shadow creatures are fairly cheap mana wise, basically unblockable, and a couple have filthy (and free!) secondary effects that make them perfect for mono blue control.
EDIT: How has Spell Syphon not been mentioned within the context of mono blue control?
Well, U is no stranger to aggressive decks and constitutes some of the best aggro decks in the entire game (Delver, Merfolk, Mono-Blue Devotion, etc.), so I think saying that the color shouldn't excel at combat is untrue.
ITT, people didn't play Tempest or Urza block. Extended back then was stupid with free creatures and free counters that were blue only, it was possible to counter your opponent to death while punching out cheap Shadows in the first few turns and then turn five (if you're really lucky, I did it once) you've four Peregrine Drakes. 2/3? Not after Empyrial Armour and Spirit Link, if you're running white as well. And then on turn seven here comes the Palichrons. Weenie as an archetype existed back then because blue was a bull***** machine (I say this as a UW player) and pumping out more creatures than blue could counter was the only defense.
I've only used glue and double sided tapes so far. That is just the thick double sided tape. So far it has worked fine with me, I can place it easily enough and can be colored to not stand out from the art. Although I do want to try some other stuff later on.
When I was doing temp work for a sign company, we also used thin double sided tape. It looks like regular tape, but has yellow backing on both sides. The problem with the thick foam tape is that it eventually fails when exposed to air, because the adhesive oxidizes; the same doesn't apply to the thin tape provided you don't leave any bubbles.
Yes, it's a triggered ability and therefor uses the stack.
No more than eight creatures with secondary effects that compliment your overall objective. Snapcaster Mage is an obvious choice, Plumeveil is an excellent blocker that will keep the smaller guys from clocking you and will chump block the big boys. Were it Modern Legal, I'd suggest Thalakos Deceiver for some body snatcher action. Inkfathom Infiltrator is a Shadow creature in all but name and will put an opponent on the clock quick.
You need at least two card draw engines. Brainstorm is an obvious choice. The old trick of playing Arcane Denial on a free artifact is unfortunately not available to you. Visions of Beyond does essentially the same thing, for cheaper, but with conditions.
A crap ton of counters and some direct removal. Rune Snag and Circular Logic are hilarious and definitely better in the late game than Mana Leak. Counterbore is counter with attitude, if you can make it work cheaply. Etc, etc.
4x Chrome Mox
4x Gilded Lotus
4x Memory Jar
4x Millstone
4x Sol Ring
4x Urza's Bauble
4x Academy Ruins
8x Island
4x Lotus Vale
4x Tolarian Academy
4x Arcane Denial
4x Counterspell
Enchantment:
4x Training Grounds
Creature:
4x Filigree Sages
EDIT: Did some tinkering with the deck. After a bunch of solitaire rounds I've found you can pretty reliably go infinite by no later than turn 9 and almost mill yourself with card draw by 13.
Arcane Denial+Isochron Scepter+Urza's Bauble+Academy Ruins = Never ending story of 3 card draw
4 Ghost Quarter+Illusions of Grandeur+Donate = You get 20 life, they lose the game.
12 Island
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Wasteland
2 Academy Ruins
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Creatures (4):
2 Thalakos Deceiver
2 Thalakos Dreamsower
2 Second Chance
2 Propaganda
2 Leyline of Anticipation
Artifacts (6):
2 Jester's Cap
2 Jester's Mask
2 Isochron Scepter
4 Drain Power
Instants (20):
4 Brainstorm
4 Mana Leak
4 Spell Syphon
4 Counterspell
4 Daze
Yes, I know that's 64 cards, but the ability to have on demand mana via Drain Power is worth it.
EDIT: How has Spell Syphon not been mentioned within the context of mono blue control?
ITT, people didn't play Tempest or Urza block. Extended back then was stupid with free creatures and free counters that were blue only, it was possible to counter your opponent to death while punching out cheap Shadows in the first few turns and then turn five (if you're really lucky, I did it once) you've four Peregrine Drakes. 2/3? Not after Empyrial Armour and Spirit Link, if you're running white as well. And then on turn seven here comes the Palichrons. Weenie as an archetype existed back then because blue was a bull***** machine (I say this as a UW player) and pumping out more creatures than blue could counter was the only defense.
I'm sad to see Islandwalk go, though.
When I was doing temp work for a sign company, we also used thin double sided tape. It looks like regular tape, but has yellow backing on both sides. The problem with the thick foam tape is that it eventually fails when exposed to air, because the adhesive oxidizes; the same doesn't apply to the thin tape provided you don't leave any bubbles.