Thanks. I am definitely open to the idea of more/different win conditions. I've been trying to mimic tier-1 decks of this nature, and they all just seem to use Elspeth/Pearl Lake (I should at least add more PLA. Are there any other win conditions you'd recommend?
My meta is aggro heavy with Warrior themes, so in a different setting Nyx-Fleece Ram might not be a mainboard inclusion. You can reel in the whole thing for under 40 dollars, I think. Thanks for your comments.
There is a lot to consider there. I think going green would probably be too expensive for me.
Root maze is a mixed bag. It's cheap and easier to cast, but it hits me too and doesn't effect creatures. As it stands, I don't really have too much trouble getting out Frozen EAther. Once I establish a soft lock with an engine (forsaken city or Mastermind), I can pretty much control the game. Yes, they can play lands- but I have access to Ensnare, Thwart and Daze and Chain of Vapor. Moreover, I'm usually drawing a ton of cards from the Howling Mines and hit into Frozen EAther without a lot of problems- at least so far!
If root maze was blue, I would probably play it over Frozen AEther- but I'm just not sure it is worth going green for.
Garruk Wildspeaker is exactly what this deck wants. He untaps your lands and is a win con all by himself by making beats. This gives you more room for protection
He also costs 4 mana. A mastermind or forsaken city on turn two can mean a soft lock by turn three. The extra space Garruk offers is nice, and that was what I as asking for- I'm just not sure he is more efficient than my other engines. His kill condition isn't something I'd want to bank on alone. I have to make sure I don't deck myself after all.
Green can go the other way too. Quirion Ranger and Scryb Ranger are powerful real dual lands since you can essentially pay for your stasis without the card disadvantage of forsaken temple, which lets you eliminate howling mine, though I don't know how budget that idea is.
That's not a bad idea at all, but I feel like I've captured some of the 'bounce and replay lands' strategy with daze, ensnare and thwart. If I included birds of paradise, that and the rangers would make a formidable engine- but the combo of mastermind+stasis requires less cards and gives me a full untap phase.
I am less fond of howling mines because it helps the enemy before you. If you really want the effect, maybe Dictate of Kruphix is better, even if it costs another mana.
I hate casting howling mine turn 2, and feeling that knot in my stomach hoping my opponent didn't draw into something awesome while I'm tapped out. Kruphix will definitely get some test play.
Maye you could make Ral Zarek work? I mean he lets you keep the stasis up forever until you drew something amazing and locks them down...sortal like a better frozen ether. Plus whenever you draw a land, you can zap them with him for the win. Bolt is a nice card for buying time against creature decks or killing hate bears.
I'll experiment with him. I could probably run two on my forsaken cities and just a mountain or two. I wouldn't be able to plus one during my upkeep, so I'd always have to have a land open- but it would effectively limit my opponent to one land every turn- which isn't bad. Once again, the costs involved with going multicolor are a little worrisome, but these are great ideas.
I've been combing through the forums here and elsewhere trying to create a moderately priced Stasis deck. This is the result of about 2 weeks of research and moderate testing. The basic idea is to use counters like Daze and even Chain of Vapor to hold off an opponent for 2 or 3 turns. Dig with Impulse, Preordain, Halimar Depths and even Howling Mine to get stasis out *early*. That is the key to success here. Muddle the Mixture is a slower proxy for stasis, effectively three extra copies. Playing stasis on turn three or four and just continuing to drop lands will essentially buy you a few free turns until you hit Vapor Chain. This is known as a 'soft lock'. The engine for stasis can be run on two separate conditions. Mastermind will let you bounce it each turn, or Forsaken City+Howling Mine will continue to let you pay the upkeep. 'Free' cards like ensnare, thwart and daze will continue to let me play a control match until I draw Frozen AEther and a win condition. The win conditions are Frozen AEther + Chronatog or Ebony Owl Netsuke- the hard way or the easy way.
Because this is budget, I'm sticking to mono-blue in order to avoid costly lands. I'm also not playing force of will due to cost prohibitions.
Are there enough early counterspells? I need to hold off an opponent for at least two full turns, probably more. Daze isn't bad early on and Vapor Chain can bounce attacking creatures, but I'm not sure this is enough. A lot of decks play Propaganda but that comes out turn three at the earliest. Meekstone would be on the sideboard, but doesn't do anything against early spells. Basically, if I'm not dead by turn four I'm probably going to win- but getting there is difficult.
Is Muddle the Mixture too slow? I've considered playing two Winter Orbs and one Muddle the Mixture in order to slow opponents down more quickly. I would love to hear some thoughts on this.
Are the duel engines for stasis a good idea? I've found it makes stasis more consistent to run Mines/Forsaken City and Mastermind- but that eats up a lot of deck space that might otherwise contain more early game counters.
Win conditions. The widest variations of this deck are in regard to the its win conditions. These variations are also the least consequential. Once a hard lock is achieved, I can kill through damage or decking. I don't see the need for four Chronatogs because I can just draw and draw until I hit the one. I don't see the need for vigilance creatures or anything like that- it would only speed up the inevitable.
I really appreciate any comments or thoughts you have regarding this deck. I know it's not top tier, but I would like to make it as good as possible (sans FoW) and value your impute.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/12-04-15-Yyl-bluewhite-control/
My meta is aggro heavy with Warrior themes, so in a different setting Nyx-Fleece Ram might not be a mainboard inclusion. You can reel in the whole thing for under 40 dollars, I think. Thanks for your comments.
Root maze is a mixed bag. It's cheap and easier to cast, but it hits me too and doesn't effect creatures. As it stands, I don't really have too much trouble getting out Frozen EAther. Once I establish a soft lock with an engine (forsaken city or Mastermind), I can pretty much control the game. Yes, they can play lands- but I have access to Ensnare, Thwart and Daze and Chain of Vapor. Moreover, I'm usually drawing a ton of cards from the Howling Mines and hit into Frozen EAther without a lot of problems- at least so far!
If root maze was blue, I would probably play it over Frozen AEther- but I'm just not sure it is worth going green for.
He also costs 4 mana. A mastermind or forsaken city on turn two can mean a soft lock by turn three. The extra space Garruk offers is nice, and that was what I as asking for- I'm just not sure he is more efficient than my other engines. His kill condition isn't something I'd want to bank on alone. I have to make sure I don't deck myself after all.
That's not a bad idea at all, but I feel like I've captured some of the 'bounce and replay lands' strategy with daze, ensnare and thwart. If I included birds of paradise, that and the rangers would make a formidable engine- but the combo of mastermind+stasis requires less cards and gives me a full untap phase.
I hate casting howling mine turn 2, and feeling that knot in my stomach hoping my opponent didn't draw into something awesome while I'm tapped out. Kruphix will definitely get some test play.
I'll experiment with him. I could probably run two on my forsaken cities and just a mountain or two. I wouldn't be able to plus one during my upkeep, so I'd always have to have a land open- but it would effectively limit my opponent to one land every turn- which isn't bad. Once again, the costs involved with going multicolor are a little worrisome, but these are great ideas.
Because this is budget, I'm sticking to mono-blue in order to avoid costly lands. I'm also not playing force of will due to cost prohibitions.
4x Chain of Vapor
4x Daze
2x Ensnare
3x Impulse
3x Muddle the Mixture
2x Thwart
3x Vedalken Mastermind
4x Forsaken City
2x Halimar Depths
18x Island
4x Stasis
1x Ebony Owl Netsuke
3x Howling Mine
4x Preordain
Here are some concerns I have with the deck.
Are there enough early counterspells? I need to hold off an opponent for at least two full turns, probably more. Daze isn't bad early on and Vapor Chain can bounce attacking creatures, but I'm not sure this is enough. A lot of decks play Propaganda but that comes out turn three at the earliest. Meekstone would be on the sideboard, but doesn't do anything against early spells. Basically, if I'm not dead by turn four I'm probably going to win- but getting there is difficult.
Is Muddle the Mixture too slow? I've considered playing two Winter Orbs and one Muddle the Mixture in order to slow opponents down more quickly. I would love to hear some thoughts on this.
Are the duel engines for stasis a good idea? I've found it makes stasis more consistent to run Mines/Forsaken City and Mastermind- but that eats up a lot of deck space that might otherwise contain more early game counters.
Win conditions. The widest variations of this deck are in regard to the its win conditions. These variations are also the least consequential. Once a hard lock is achieved, I can kill through damage or decking. I don't see the need for four Chronatogs because I can just draw and draw until I hit the one. I don't see the need for vigilance creatures or anything like that- it would only speed up the inevitable.
I really appreciate any comments or thoughts you have regarding this deck. I know it's not top tier, but I would like to make it as good as possible (sans FoW) and value your impute.
Thanks.