My old Mono Blue Control Deck featuring some upgrades that I've thrown into it randomly. This deck is old and wise, and has survived the trials of kitchen tables throughout the years. I wanted to share it because I recently started tweaking it again to find some possible new inclusions.
The gameplan is straightforward; it's essentially Draw-Go. Just play it slow; patient. Only counter or remove big threats to the table, especially when they're directed at you or when you can gain some political favor in doing so. Wipe the board when someone tries something over the top and swings into the red zone. Elixir of Immortality helps keep you alive forever. Aetherling is the tried and true win condition to throw down when you catch your opponents with their pants down. If somehow beating their face with a nearly invincible creature doesn't win you the game, you can always use that Blue Sun's Zenith that you've been using on yourself to draw your deck -- turn it against your opponents when their nearly milled out. Just play smart and keep it cool.
A few things to Note:
-- This is a fairly budget deck. If I had Cryptic Commands I would have probably crammed them in here by now. Despite this, it still works very well, and is refreshing to see some other cards in the spotlight instead of the regular ol' staples.
-- The mana base is on the thin side, but really only because there is so much card advantage that finding lands isn't necessarily an issue.
-- I don't have a real sideboard for the deck; it's honestly just a small collection of cards that I test out or that are required to deal with threats mono blue control just can't easily handle. For example, Nevinyrral's Disk.
One of the big reasons why I am posting this here is to gather some insight on what cards might be better choices for the decklist. I'm sure there are plenty of options, but I am specifically looking for things that are budget ($). I'm not entirely sold on Curse of the Swine only because it's a sorcery, but it is nice to just exile your problematic threats and replace them with Piglets. Condescend is another one I am iffy about. Part of me wants to run another counter, and another part of me wants to just replace it with some other form of removal. Maybe something like Supreme Will that can act as a multitool? Also, am I running too much card draw? Not enough? Too many Sweepers?
If anyone could give me some suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
How does your deck perform? What's your playgroup meta like? Can you stay alive against efficient aggro swarms? Can you grind out against midrange decks with a lot of 2-for-1 creatures and/or recursion? Decks with many artifacts and enchantments? What are the deck's good and bad matchups?
On the surface there are some things I'd have questions about. But I tune control decks after testing them, because draw-go is about beating what your opponent does more than anything else. The best test is seeing if it does that or where it falls short. In a deck of answers, the best answers depend on what threats you're facing.
Anyway, based on just looking at the list and not playing it, this is what I see...
I notice you have 0 ways to actually kill noncreature permanents and just 2 ways to bounce them (tap-out sorcery or miracle, both of which have suboptimal timing). Do you not face many dangerous noncreatures? Or are you able to counter or bounce+counter them all with only 4 hard counters? A resolved Planeswalker or Phyrexian Arena or other card advantage or recursion engine might get out of hand.
As for creatures, you have a lot of bounce but only 6 ways to actually kill creatures (4 spot removal, 2 sweepers), all of which still leave bears behind. Those cards are great at neutralizing fatties and utility creatures with powerful abilities. But if the opponent is just swarming you out with aggro, those bears still hurt your life total. You won't have blockers or much lifegain. Has it been a problem?
You have a lot more bounce, which helps slow them down. But bounce isn't a permanent answer. If they are playing low curve, they might dump their hand again pretty easily, putting the pressure right back on. If they are playing creatures with good ETB/LTB abiliies, bouncing them or turning them to pigs might still leave them ahead in value. Sure you can counter some, but you won't counter everything with 4 Counterspell + 4 Condescend.
I think some hard sweepers (e.g. Nev Disk, Oblivion Stone) would be better than Curse of the Swine. It would answer both the noncreatures and the swarms without risking you get beat down by bears before you untap. You could even run artifact recursion (e.g. Buried Ruin) to get back your sweepers when you need them.
Brainstorm is weaker without shuffle effects. What about something like Accumulated Knowledge or Impulse? AK actually puts you ahead in cards eventually, unlike Brainstorm or Ponder. The old draw-go decks got ahead by being able to casting Counterspell/spot removal and following it up with cheap card draw at EOT.
Condescend can be an issue when you don't have a ramp deck. If you're tapping 7 mana to counter a threat lategame, you don't have mana open to draw cards or control the board. What about Rune Snag, Dismiss, Dissolve, or Exclude? There are a few options that both counter + draw/scry. Or you can choose one with Supreme Will.
The Zenith is really mana-hungry. Below 8 mana, it's trumped by other draw spells. It really shines in the lategame. You don't really have a mana engine and only have 22 lands, so even with card draw you may not hit land drops every single turn. Is one enough? Maybe the other should be a cheaper draw spell, or something that both draws cards and does something else (e.g. Confirm Suspicions)?
The gameplan is straightforward; it's essentially Draw-Go. Just play it slow; patient. Only counter or remove big threats to the table, especially when they're directed at you or when you can gain some political favor in doing so. Wipe the board when someone tries something over the top and swings into the red zone. Elixir of Immortality helps keep you alive forever. Aetherling is the tried and true win condition to throw down when you catch your opponents with their pants down. If somehow beating their face with a nearly invincible creature doesn't win you the game, you can always use that Blue Sun's Zenith that you've been using on yourself to draw your deck -- turn it against your opponents when their nearly milled out. Just play smart and keep it cool.
2x Elixir of Immortality
2x Blue Sun's Zenith
4x Brainstorm
4x Condescend
4x Counterspell
2x Curse of the Swine
2x Devastation Tide
4x Engulf the Shore
4x Fact or Fiction
4x Ponder
4x Reality Shift
20x Island
A few things to Note:
-- This is a fairly budget deck. If I had Cryptic Commands I would have probably crammed them in here by now. Despite this, it still works very well, and is refreshing to see some other cards in the spotlight instead of the regular ol' staples.
-- The mana base is on the thin side, but really only because there is so much card advantage that finding lands isn't necessarily an issue.
-- I don't have a real sideboard for the deck; it's honestly just a small collection of cards that I test out or that are required to deal with threats mono blue control just can't easily handle. For example, Nevinyrral's Disk.
One of the big reasons why I am posting this here is to gather some insight on what cards might be better choices for the decklist. I'm sure there are plenty of options, but I am specifically looking for things that are budget ($). I'm not entirely sold on Curse of the Swine only because it's a sorcery, but it is nice to just exile your problematic threats and replace them with Piglets. Condescend is another one I am iffy about. Part of me wants to run another counter, and another part of me wants to just replace it with some other form of removal. Maybe something like Supreme Will that can act as a multitool? Also, am I running too much card draw? Not enough? Too many Sweepers?
If anyone could give me some suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
On the surface there are some things I'd have questions about. But I tune control decks after testing them, because draw-go is about beating what your opponent does more than anything else. The best test is seeing if it does that or where it falls short. In a deck of answers, the best answers depend on what threats you're facing.
Anyway, based on just looking at the list and not playing it, this is what I see...
I notice you have 0 ways to actually kill noncreature permanents and just 2 ways to bounce them (tap-out sorcery or miracle, both of which have suboptimal timing). Do you not face many dangerous noncreatures? Or are you able to counter or bounce+counter them all with only 4 hard counters? A resolved Planeswalker or Phyrexian Arena or other card advantage or recursion engine might get out of hand.
As for creatures, you have a lot of bounce but only 6 ways to actually kill creatures (4 spot removal, 2 sweepers), all of which still leave bears behind. Those cards are great at neutralizing fatties and utility creatures with powerful abilities. But if the opponent is just swarming you out with aggro, those bears still hurt your life total. You won't have blockers or much lifegain. Has it been a problem?
You have a lot more bounce, which helps slow them down. But bounce isn't a permanent answer. If they are playing low curve, they might dump their hand again pretty easily, putting the pressure right back on. If they are playing creatures with good ETB/LTB abiliies, bouncing them or turning them to pigs might still leave them ahead in value. Sure you can counter some, but you won't counter everything with 4 Counterspell + 4 Condescend.
I think some hard sweepers (e.g. Nev Disk, Oblivion Stone) would be better than Curse of the Swine. It would answer both the noncreatures and the swarms without risking you get beat down by bears before you untap. You could even run artifact recursion (e.g. Buried Ruin) to get back your sweepers when you need them.
Brainstorm is weaker without shuffle effects. What about something like Accumulated Knowledge or Impulse? AK actually puts you ahead in cards eventually, unlike Brainstorm or Ponder. The old draw-go decks got ahead by being able to casting Counterspell/spot removal and following it up with cheap card draw at EOT.
Condescend can be an issue when you don't have a ramp deck. If you're tapping 7 mana to counter a threat lategame, you don't have mana open to draw cards or control the board. What about Rune Snag, Dismiss, Dissolve, or Exclude? There are a few options that both counter + draw/scry. Or you can choose one with Supreme Will.
The Zenith is really mana-hungry. Below 8 mana, it's trumped by other draw spells. It really shines in the lategame. You don't really have a mana engine and only have 22 lands, so even with card draw you may not hit land drops every single turn. Is one enough? Maybe the other should be a cheaper draw spell, or something that both draws cards and does something else (e.g. Confirm Suspicions)?