I've got a hypothetical question for people who are familiar with the Five-Color-Control archetype: What would you play if you couldn't play Esper Charm or Jace Beleren in your deck?
I'm building a deck around Todd Anderson's Cruel Control (http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=28139), but I've opted not to run white for budget reasons, which also rules out Jace.
Bearing in mind I'm playing 3 Mulldrifter, I'm split between Ponder and Courier's Capsule. Anderson's deck has quite a few 2-drops, which Ponder would work well with as a 1-drop. On the other hand, Courier's Capsule actually draws 2 cards and also saw play as a 1-of in Chapin's Cruel Control deck of last year.
If you happen to be running Crumbling Necropolis, there's a chance you can tweak your deck to add enough red to make Flame Javelin work fast enough, even cast at 6 it's better than nothing. You could also just splash red for Lightning Bolt and/or Puncture Blast, as a 1/1 Chameleon doesn't really do much.
Lurebound Scarecrow stops the stag if you can make sure to keep a Bitterblossum or Borderpost on the field.
Wow, good call on Glamerdye! I've been looking for an answer for HotP in my Grixis control deck, and I think I'll give that a try just for laughs. Now that I think about it, that also shuts down Burrenton Forge-Tender and Chameleon Collosus!
Swerve is probably one of the best sideboard cards that is never played, lets make a checklist:
-Turns a lethal Banefire into a win for you
-Counters counterspells for UR
-Turns every removal spell your opponent plays into a 2-1 for you (doubley so if Maelstrom Pulse)
1) Cut the Godsires, Sharuums, and Master of Etheriums out of that list
2) Add a total of 25 of the following: Reflecting Pools, Vivid Lands, Filter Lands
3) Play with the resulting pile of cards at an FNM
Best is a relative term. You might not win, but you'd be the best.
To add some content, Elfball is a super-fast aggro deck that lays down unholy swarms of tiny elves, pumps them up, and attacks in a glorious green wave of genocide. It stays standard legal until October, at which point it will most likely die. Here's my list:
Other lists are more combo focused, hoping to pump out an early Regal Force or splash white to use Ranger of Eos. Mine is straight aggro, after you put in the sideboard it resists board wipe quite nicely, and if played properly game 1 board wipe shouldn't give you an instant loose. It's a solid deck you should be able to obtain for under 30$. Elfball also has its own thread at the top of Decks for Critique right now.
-Counters
-Burn
-Card Draw
-Efficient ways to recur all of the above
And it also happens to be along the lines of what the OP was looking for, and with some modifications (Cryptic for Double Negative, common/uncommon land base) it also happens to be almost entirely budget-friendly. Call it whatever you want.
Ethoglow, interesting deck! The way I understand the rules, you should be able to have Earthquake hit your own Jace. I'm positive you can have Volcanic Fallout do 2 damage to an opposing Ajani Vengeant, and the cards are worded similarly. Good call on that interaction. A few things strike me about your deck. First, you have no way of cycling a Resounding Thunder, so in this case Flame Javelin or Puncture Blast are strictly better. Also, I wouldn't run more than 2 Gargoyle Castle if you're planning on getting of a timely Double Negative. I also think it's lacking some Ponder or Mulldrifter, 4 Jace just doesn't seem like enough draw to me. Other than that your deck looks pretty good and fun to play!
Crag Puca is also very good in Red/Blue, as it comes down early and trades with almost anything. It also can win the game, though it's not as good now that combat damage doesn't stack.
Sadly, Red/Blue just doesn't have the tools that Red/Black/Blue has. I'd really recomend playing a Grixis Control over just Red/Blue Control, as you're probably already going to be running Crumbling Necropolis a few more vivids and swamps is all you need to play cards like Cruel Ultimatum, Shriemaw, Makeshift Mannequin, and so on. Check the Grixis thread at the top of the forum for some cool Grixis decks.
There's a starting point at least. Besides the Cryptic Commands and the land base, no part of that deck would cost a terrible amount to put together. If I were to change the deck I'd add a few more vivids to play Cruel Ultimatum, but I'm not the best deck builder in the world and I've never top-8'd before. Still, most deck types can work if you work at them enough, and even when they aren't the most competitive you end up taking people by surprise. There is a lot to be said when you effectively strip away the effectiveness of 15 of your opponents 75 cards.
Although your m10 list looks rather tight, I'd try out Intimidation Bolt after m10. It should help you protect Ajani very nicely, and besides the fog effect you're trading 1-1 with most aggro creatures. I think you're better off with Hallowed Burial instead of Planar Cleansing too. If you're going to mix up your sweepers, two 6+ CMC sweepers isn't bad, but I think Martial Coup is far stronger than Planar Cleansing, so stick with that.
A single Mistveil Plains acts as an alternate win condition that most decks have no way of dealing with. As already mentioned Martial Coup would work very well here as well. A single Hoofprints of the Stag is also a legitimate win condition.
Elvish Promenade is downright bad because you need to overextend to make it work. Hunting Triad does everything promenade does and then some. Reinforce puts any creature out of Volcanic Fallout range, and is a fantastic combat trick. Once your opponent gets a Rhox War Monk killed by a single Nettle Sentinel they'll think twice about blocking anything, including Imperious Perfects! It gives you bluffing possibilities, and that lets you play a smarter game.
On a happy note, my deck went 4-1 at a ~50 person tournament yesterday, placing 4th. I was 4-0 into the final round, and then lost 1-2 to Bant 'Lark. The funny thing is that I forgot my sideboard, so the sideboard I was playing with was 11 basic land and 4 Scattershot Archers, which I only put in against G/W tokens and didn't even draw. If I had my sideboard I believe I would have been undeafeated. As I recall every match except the last one was a 2-0 win; people just don't expect elves. I played Blightning Aggro, G/W tokens (a pretty easy match actually, I didn't see any Wrath of Gods and elf-ball is simply faster), 5-Color Dark Bant, and 1 other deck which I forget at the moment.
I'd say Hunting Triad is just about mandatory with such a large presence of 2 damage board sweepers out there, and should be an auto 4-of. It was easily the MVP of the night, next to Overrun of course. Overrun simply reads "if you have elves on the field, you win the game". I prefer it over any other pump spell, it's a 4-of.
Gilt-Leaf Ambush is a very strange card. I'm not sure if I hate it or love it. On one hand, it gives you 2 extra dudes during their end of turn step to give an extra 6 off of Overrun, gives you a potential 2-for-1 if used defensively, and filters your draw if you're hunting for a land to cast an Overrun. On the other hand it is 3 mana for 2 1/1s if you don't have pump on the field. I'm fairly sure the positves outweigh the negatives though, so it stays in.
Bramblewood Paragon wins games on her own, period. She puts Imperious Perfect and Nettle Sentinel out of Volcanic Fallout range, and giving almost every creature you play trample is a huge plus as well. Turn 2 Bramblewood + turn 3 Imperious is very hard to stop.
Llanowar Elves is insane, why cut him? He makes otherwise unkeepable hands keepable, but most importantly speeds you up a turn. The only reason to play this deck is speed, he's an auto 4-of.
In my opinion, Wrath of God is this decks largest enemy. I've found almost everything can be played around, but Wrath just shuts this deck down unless you get a god-hand. Because of this, my sideboard is now dedicated anti-wrath, with 3 Tower Above now that Tidehollow Sculler and Meddling Mage both shut down Overrun, one of the few cards that let you win without overextending. With all of that said, here's my latest list:
I'd highly suggest at least 1 Mistveil Plains (probably 2), even if you only have 6 white permanents. If you draw through your whole deck you'll be able to keep at least 2 white permanents on the field. Just having the possibility of not decking yourself is worth 1-2 taplands. Also consider you can recycle your Cryptics and Wraths back into your deck, so the overall quality of your deck goes up and up as the game goes on. Try cutting a Reliquary Tower for one.
A single Beacon of Immortality solves your Banefire problem, makes your Mistveil Plains work better, and also adds an anti-decking tool for your deck if you opt against Mistveil Plains.
I'm putting together a casual 5-Color Control deck, and I'm thinking of using Elsewhere Flask for a little bit of mana fixing and card draw. My question is: if my opponent plays Anathemancer and I use the flask's sacrifice ability in response, will Anathemancer be able to do any damage to me?
Countryside Crusher.dec
(4 Countryside Crusher, 2 Loxodon Warhammer
50 Mountain, 4 Ghitu Encampment) could be an interesting candidate, you could board into a somewhat respectable Red Deck Wins if you added Mogg Fanatic and Figures to the maindeck. Another interesting idea is Mono Green Control, with a control suite along the lines of:
Simple and sweet. I haven't honestly tried a red or white color splash, so take this next critique with a grain of salt. What is really gained with a color splash that can't be gained from mono-green alternatives? A white splash for 'Lark or Ranger of Eos is understandable, as it helps solve a major problem this deck has, but not overextending and making sure the creatures you have on the field can go the way seems like a better plan to me. On turn 4 I'm usually set for an Overrun, so Bloddbraid Elf seems weak by comparison. I just don't see many cards outside of green (except for lark and eos) that warrant disrupting the mana base and consistency.
With that said, I'm unsure of whether Devoted Druid or Elvish Visionary win a spot in the 2-drop slot. Devoted Druid helps allow for some better plays, but is a dismal top deck. Elvish Visionary is virtually the deck's only source of card draw, and while it's not a good card, it does up the odds of seeing your better cards. I've tried both and I can't decide between the two.
As far as sideboard questions, I've found 4x Tower Above to be a godsend for removing Tidehollow Sculler, which almost always end up being a free Thoughtsieze when played against us. I usually get slaughtered by Black-White Tokens, so my board is built with them in mind. Kitchen Finks helps against board wipe and is Wrath of God proof, so he gets a 4x. The Snakeform is in there just beause it's Snakeform. It's fantastic pseudo-removal and card draw, and it stops 'Lark and various fatties, gets through walls, and let's the deck play like a decent agro deck without overextending.
I've never found Scattershot Archers to be very useful. On paper he looks great, but I never found him to be of much use. Most decks with fliers have enough pump effects to make him a joke, and he's not a terribly strong card on his own. I wanted to like him soo much, but I really don't think he should make the cut to the final 75.
Finally, I submit plastic green army men are the greatest 1/1 Green Elf Warrior tokens ever.
I'm building a deck around Todd Anderson's Cruel Control (http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=28139), but I've opted not to run white for budget reasons, which also rules out Jace.
Bearing in mind I'm playing 3 Mulldrifter, I'm split between Ponder and Courier's Capsule. Anderson's deck has quite a few 2-drops, which Ponder would work well with as a 1-drop. On the other hand, Courier's Capsule actually draws 2 cards and also saw play as a 1-of in Chapin's Cruel Control deck of last year.
Lurebound Scarecrow stops the stag if you can make sure to keep a Bitterblossum or Borderpost on the field.
Swerve is probably one of the best sideboard cards that is never played, lets make a checklist:
-Turns a lethal Banefire into a win for you
-Counters counterspells for UR
-Turns every removal spell your opponent plays into a 2-1 for you (doubley so if Maelstrom Pulse)
It's such a good card that never gets any love.
2) Add a total of 25 of the following: Reflecting Pools, Vivid Lands, Filter Lands
3) Play with the resulting pile of cards at an FNM
Best is a relative term. You might not win, but you'd be the best.
...
To add some content, Elfball is a super-fast aggro deck that lays down unholy swarms of tiny elves, pumps them up, and attacks in a glorious green wave of genocide. It stays standard legal until October, at which point it will most likely die. Here's my list:
4 Heritage Druid
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Bramblewood Paragon
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 Imperious Perfect
4 Gilt-Leaf Ambush
4 Hunting Triad
4 Overrun
20 Forest
4 Safehold Elite
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Heartmender
3 Tower Above
Other lists are more combo focused, hoping to pump out an early Regal Force or splash white to use Ranger of Eos. Mine is straight aggro, after you put in the sideboard it resists board wipe quite nicely, and if played properly game 1 board wipe shouldn't give you an instant loose. It's a solid deck you should be able to obtain for under 30$. Elfball also has its own thread at the top of Decks for Critique right now.
-Counters
-Burn
-Card Draw
-Efficient ways to recur all of the above
And it also happens to be along the lines of what the OP was looking for, and with some modifications (Cryptic for Double Negative, common/uncommon land base) it also happens to be almost entirely budget-friendly. Call it whatever you want.
Ethoglow, interesting deck! The way I understand the rules, you should be able to have Earthquake hit your own Jace. I'm positive you can have Volcanic Fallout do 2 damage to an opposing Ajani Vengeant, and the cards are worded similarly. Good call on that interaction. A few things strike me about your deck. First, you have no way of cycling a Resounding Thunder, so in this case Flame Javelin or Puncture Blast are strictly better. Also, I wouldn't run more than 2 Gargoyle Castle if you're planning on getting of a timely Double Negative. I also think it's lacking some Ponder or Mulldrifter, 4 Jace just doesn't seem like enough draw to me. Other than that your deck looks pretty good and fun to play!
Crag Puca is also very good in Red/Blue, as it comes down early and trades with almost anything. It also can win the game, though it's not as good now that combat damage doesn't stack.
Sadly, Red/Blue just doesn't have the tools that Red/Black/Blue has. I'd really recomend playing a Grixis Control over just Red/Blue Control, as you're probably already going to be running Crumbling Necropolis a few more vivids and swamps is all you need to play cards like Cruel Ultimatum, Shriemaw, Makeshift Mannequin, and so on. Check the Grixis thread at the top of the forum for some cool Grixis decks.
http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=24461
2 Mistmeadow Witch
4 Mulldrifter
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Nevermaker
2 Nucklavee
3 Cancel
4 Cryptic Command
4 Incinerate
4 Turn to Mist
2 Incendiary Command
artifact [4]
1 Loxodon Warhammer
3 Mind Stone
4 Cascade Bluffs
4 Island
4 Mountain
2 Reflecting Pool
3 Shivan Reef
1 Springjack Pasture
3 Vivid Crag
3 Vivid Creek
There's a starting point at least. Besides the Cryptic Commands and the land base, no part of that deck would cost a terrible amount to put together. If I were to change the deck I'd add a few more vivids to play Cruel Ultimatum, but I'm not the best deck builder in the world and I've never top-8'd before. Still, most deck types can work if you work at them enough, and even when they aren't the most competitive you end up taking people by surprise. There is a lot to be said when you effectively strip away the effectiveness of 15 of your opponents 75 cards.
On a happy note, my deck went 4-1 at a ~50 person tournament yesterday, placing 4th. I was 4-0 into the final round, and then lost 1-2 to Bant 'Lark. The funny thing is that I forgot my sideboard, so the sideboard I was playing with was 11 basic land and 4 Scattershot Archers, which I only put in against G/W tokens and didn't even draw. If I had my sideboard I believe I would have been undeafeated. As I recall every match except the last one was a 2-0 win; people just don't expect elves. I played Blightning Aggro, G/W tokens (a pretty easy match actually, I didn't see any Wrath of Gods and elf-ball is simply faster), 5-Color Dark Bant, and 1 other deck which I forget at the moment.
I'd say Hunting Triad is just about mandatory with such a large presence of 2 damage board sweepers out there, and should be an auto 4-of. It was easily the MVP of the night, next to Overrun of course. Overrun simply reads "if you have elves on the field, you win the game". I prefer it over any other pump spell, it's a 4-of.
Gilt-Leaf Ambush is a very strange card. I'm not sure if I hate it or love it. On one hand, it gives you 2 extra dudes during their end of turn step to give an extra 6 off of Overrun, gives you a potential 2-for-1 if used defensively, and filters your draw if you're hunting for a land to cast an Overrun. On the other hand it is 3 mana for 2 1/1s if you don't have pump on the field. I'm fairly sure the positves outweigh the negatives though, so it stays in.
Bramblewood Paragon wins games on her own, period. She puts Imperious Perfect and Nettle Sentinel out of Volcanic Fallout range, and giving almost every creature you play trample is a huge plus as well. Turn 2 Bramblewood + turn 3 Imperious is very hard to stop.
Llanowar Elves is insane, why cut him? He makes otherwise unkeepable hands keepable, but most importantly speeds you up a turn. The only reason to play this deck is speed, he's an auto 4-of.
In my opinion, Wrath of God is this decks largest enemy. I've found almost everything can be played around, but Wrath just shuts this deck down unless you get a god-hand. Because of this, my sideboard is now dedicated anti-wrath, with 3 Tower Above now that Tidehollow Sculler and Meddling Mage both shut down Overrun, one of the few cards that let you win without overextending. With all of that said, here's my latest list:
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Heritage Druid
4x Nettle Sentinel
4x Elvish Visionary
4x Wren's Run Vanquisher
4x Bramblewood Paragon
4x Imperious Perfect
4x Gilt-Leaf Ambush
4x Hunting Triad
4x Overrun
Land
20x Forest
4x Safehold Elite
4x Kitchen Finks
4x Heartmender
3x Tower Above
A single Beacon of Immortality solves your Banefire problem, makes your Mistveil Plains work better, and also adds an anti-decking tool for your deck if you opt against Mistveil Plains.
(4 Countryside Crusher, 2 Loxodon Warhammer
50 Mountain, 4 Ghitu Encampment) could be an interesting candidate, you could board into a somewhat respectable Red Deck Wins if you added Mogg Fanatic and Figures to the maindeck. Another interesting idea is Mono Green Control, with a control suite along the lines of:
etc. You'd board into mono-green ramp, or maybe treefolk. Green-Red ramp might be fun too.
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Heritage Druid
4x Nettle Sentinel
4x Elvish Visionary
4x Bramblewood Paragon
4x Wren's Run Vanquisher
4x Imperious Perfect
4x Gilt-Leaf Ambush
4x Hunting Triad
4x Overrun
4 Tower Above
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Snakeform
3 Gutteral Response
1 Loxodon Warhammer
Simple and sweet. I haven't honestly tried a red or white color splash, so take this next critique with a grain of salt. What is really gained with a color splash that can't be gained from mono-green alternatives? A white splash for 'Lark or Ranger of Eos is understandable, as it helps solve a major problem this deck has, but not overextending and making sure the creatures you have on the field can go the way seems like a better plan to me. On turn 4 I'm usually set for an Overrun, so Bloddbraid Elf seems weak by comparison. I just don't see many cards outside of green (except for lark and eos) that warrant disrupting the mana base and consistency.
With that said, I'm unsure of whether Devoted Druid or Elvish Visionary win a spot in the 2-drop slot. Devoted Druid helps allow for some better plays, but is a dismal top deck. Elvish Visionary is virtually the deck's only source of card draw, and while it's not a good card, it does up the odds of seeing your better cards. I've tried both and I can't decide between the two.
As far as sideboard questions, I've found 4x Tower Above to be a godsend for removing Tidehollow Sculler, which almost always end up being a free Thoughtsieze when played against us. I usually get slaughtered by Black-White Tokens, so my board is built with them in mind. Kitchen Finks helps against board wipe and is Wrath of God proof, so he gets a 4x. The Snakeform is in there just beause it's Snakeform. It's fantastic pseudo-removal and card draw, and it stops 'Lark and various fatties, gets through walls, and let's the deck play like a decent agro deck without overextending.
I've never found Scattershot Archers to be very useful. On paper he looks great, but I never found him to be of much use. Most decks with fliers have enough pump effects to make him a joke, and he's not a terribly strong card on his own. I wanted to like him soo much, but I really don't think he should make the cut to the final 75.
Finally, I submit plastic green army men are the greatest 1/1 Green Elf Warrior tokens ever.