So I just bought an Ugin to add to a casual deck that I play against my playgroup. I had a couple nicol bolas' and decided that I would make a deck around the two of these planeswalker's. I'm just looking for any advice on additions or subtractions that could be made. I really don't want to spend any more money on it since it is just for fun, but I do have a pretty good selection of cards to throw in some different looks if you guys had any suggestions. I will primarily being using this deck in a multiplayer format with 3-6 people usually.
Ugin and Nicol Bolas working together. Some Vorthros is crying...
As for the deck, don't play so many singletons. Magic has a 60 card minimum and 4 card per deck limit for a reason. Its to keep deck consistency down. Try playing 3-4 copies of each card worth playing to reduce the variables in your draws.
Cards I would cut:
Essence Harvest - Doesn't stall well. Put in something that interacts with the field instead.
Artful Dodge - See Essence Harvest
Syncopate - Mana leak or Counterspell will be better in this slot.
Quietus Spike - You only have 16 creatures. Run something to interact with the opponent and ramp to your planeswalkers.
Master of Cruelties - I'm not sure on this one. I feel like theres some better cheaper options for this deck.
Wall of Blood - Huge mana sink. Doesn't do much. I've never seen this before. I might have to make a deck around it.
Dragonlord Kolaghan - Super expensive, doesn't control the board and only pressures the life total.
Cards I would play more of:
Mana Leak
Dreadbore
Ponder
Lightning Bolt
Vampire Nighthawk
Tidehollow Strix (Baleful Strix would be better actually)
UGIN (seriously, hes amazing)
Counterspells generally get worse the more opponents you have, and Mana Leak in particular is likely to be blank when you need it most in a format like FFA that gravitates so hard toward the long game. Syncopate is in a similar position, doubly so considering you have to outdo someone in mana which leaves you wide open for the next player to kick you around while you're out of resources.
Artful Dodge seems redundant to me; all your attacking threats already have evasion. The only guy that really seems to carry it well is Master of Cruelties, and he can already attack pretty safely.
The objective of this deck seems to be to wall up until your haymaker dragons show up to close out the game, so what you want are tools with which to live that long. Cyclonic Rift is a standout in this category, doubling both as a defensive panic button and a surprise pre-combat trick; you can also run something like Vampire Nighthawk who bolsters your life total and encourages people to point their big splashy attacks at people without deathtouch.
You could also stand to touch up your manabase in pretty straightforward ways. Ditch your guildgates and promenades; grab Crumbling Necropolis, Swiftwater Cliffs, Dismal Backwaters, and Bloodfell Caves in whatever combination you like. These are all basically free, money-wise, and the lifelands are very recent. If you were playing during Zendikar, you can go dig for Akoum Refuge and Jwar Isle Refuge instead of the Tarkir versions; they're identical in everything but name.
This is supposed to be a control deck so I would focus on cards that help you control the board and the game and build defense, and get rid of the other stuff. If your defense is good enough, you will live long enough for your Planeswalkers and Dragons to take over the game. And I'm assuming that's what you want to do.
Also, in multiplayer, countermagic and sorcery-speed removal gets a lot worse. Sorcery can be too slow when there are 3-5 turns before yours. Counters can just put a bullseye on you by frustrating someone. Also, you just can't counter everybody, so countering will only let you answer one person while the others will keep taking over. Counters that are conditional (e.g. Mana Leak, Syncopate) are especially too easy to play around in long multiplayer games. In multiplayer I would want some 2-for-1s and mass removal.
Here it is:
1 Watery Grave
1 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Malice
2 Transguild Promenade
2 Izzet Guildgate
2 Evolving Wilds
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
2 Mountain
4 Island
5 Swamp
Non-Creature Spells
1 Escence Harvest
1 Mana Leak
1 Artful Dodge
3 Dark Ritual
1 Unsummon
1 Control Magic
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Syncopate
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Dreadbore
1 Quietus Spike
2 Ponder
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
1 Liliana Vess
1 Jayce, Architect of Thought
Creatures
2 Master of Cruelties
2 Olivia Voldaren
2 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Fog Bank
2 Nightveil Specter
1 Tidehollow Strix
1 Wall of Blood
1 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
1 Dragonlord Kolaghan
1 Steel Hellkite
As for the deck, don't play so many singletons. Magic has a 60 card minimum and 4 card per deck limit for a reason. Its to keep deck consistency down. Try playing 3-4 copies of each card worth playing to reduce the variables in your draws.
Cards I would cut:
Essence Harvest - Doesn't stall well. Put in something that interacts with the field instead.
Artful Dodge - See Essence Harvest
Syncopate - Mana leak or Counterspell will be better in this slot.
Quietus Spike - You only have 16 creatures. Run something to interact with the opponent and ramp to your planeswalkers.
Master of Cruelties - I'm not sure on this one. I feel like theres some better cheaper options for this deck.
Wall of Blood - Huge mana sink. Doesn't do much. I've never seen this before. I might have to make a deck around it.
Dragonlord Kolaghan - Super expensive, doesn't control the board and only pressures the life total.
Cards I would play more of:
Mana Leak
Dreadbore
Ponder
Lightning Bolt
Vampire Nighthawk
Tidehollow Strix (Baleful Strix would be better actually)
UGIN (seriously, hes amazing)
Artful Dodge seems redundant to me; all your attacking threats already have evasion. The only guy that really seems to carry it well is Master of Cruelties, and he can already attack pretty safely.
The objective of this deck seems to be to wall up until your haymaker dragons show up to close out the game, so what you want are tools with which to live that long. Cyclonic Rift is a standout in this category, doubling both as a defensive panic button and a surprise pre-combat trick; you can also run something like Vampire Nighthawk who bolsters your life total and encourages people to point their big splashy attacks at people without deathtouch.
You could also stand to touch up your manabase in pretty straightforward ways. Ditch your guildgates and promenades; grab Crumbling Necropolis, Swiftwater Cliffs, Dismal Backwaters, and Bloodfell Caves in whatever combination you like. These are all basically free, money-wise, and the lifelands are very recent. If you were playing during Zendikar, you can go dig for Akoum Refuge and Jwar Isle Refuge instead of the Tarkir versions; they're identical in everything but name.
Also, in multiplayer, countermagic and sorcery-speed removal gets a lot worse. Sorcery can be too slow when there are 3-5 turns before yours. Counters can just put a bullseye on you by frustrating someone. Also, you just can't counter everybody, so countering will only let you answer one person while the others will keep taking over. Counters that are conditional (e.g. Mana Leak, Syncopate) are especially too easy to play around in long multiplayer games. In multiplayer I would want some 2-for-1s and mass removal.
Cuts I would make:
Cards I would try to add if possible:
Support cards that I think are already doing a great job (aside from the Planeswalkers and Dragons):