This is a budget control deck using Growth Spiral and Wilderness Reclamation to leverage extra mana to interact more effectively with the opponent while advancing your mana and sculpting your hand.
Finishing or putting the game out of reach is dine with big X-Spells like: White Sun's Zenith and Sphinx's Revelation.
There are many budget concessions here to keep the deck as close to 200$ as possible so there is a lot of room for upgrades which will be listed below.
The hardest thing here is to build a functional 3-color manabase without Fetchlands and if there is a better way to do it I'm open to suggestions.
Saw a sultai list like this with mystical teachings, growth spiral and the wilderness reclamation.
Why no Opt? is better much better than the anticipate -> especially with the growth spiral landdrop.
Day of Judgment could be also considered as supreme verdict replacement.. and is cheaper than the wrath of god
but all in all it looks like a fun budget list. Want to play growth spiral by myself.. such a beautiful artwork
Opt or Anticipate is a matter of personal preference and I like to have the better digging selection even for 1-more mana.
I often find myself keeping up 2-mana for either: Mana Leak, Growth Spiral or Seal Away so Anticipate costing 2-mana over Opt at 1-mana doesn't really matter that often.
The situationalcounters are also good but I prefer the all-purpose ones myself though I admit I'm no expert at control decks.
I prefer Sinister Sabotage as a hard counter to Logic Knot which gets much worse in a deck without Fetchlands and 1-mana cantrips (Opt/Visions).
I've even tried Condescend in the deck but eventually decided that a 3-mana hard counter is mostly better.
It mostly comes down to personal preference imho.
Day of Judgment is a valid option but it is rather close in price to Verdict already and I prefer Fumigate as the budget option for the upside of the lifegain.
i've found Jace, Vryn's Prodigy to be a solid addition over normal planeswalkers, due to the looting effect which can help fill the gy for azcanta and the -2 ability is just better than the other jacses (except jms)
i've also found that Mystic Snake tends to be a more consistent counter creature than frilled, as the that extra colored mana requirement dose mattar, (although the 3 power on frilled is very nice)
Jace is a decent option though I think he works better in other decks (especially Grixis) and needs a more active way to fill the GY (like Thought Scour) which my deck doesn't really do (and also doesn't include fetches for a quick flip).
I prefer Jace UoS (or Jace AoT) for my deck
Overall Simic is too weak to creatures to be a viable option as a control deck imho and Evacuation isn't really good enough to replace a real sweeper.
Splashing white is necessary to shore up the weakness of the deck and also to get good SB cards.
i've found Jace, Vryn's Prodigy to be a solid addition over normal planeswalkers, due to the looting effect which can help fill the gy for azcanta and the -2 ability is just better than the other jacses (except jms)
i've also found that Mystic Snake tends to be a more consistent counter creature than frilled, as the that extra colored mana requirement dose mattar, (although the 3 power on frilled is very nice)
I hadn't considered witness, thanks I'll try it out
As for mana sink
Evacuation is the biggest mana sink, by bouncing all the etb cretures you can hard lock the opponent by playing back when they try to cast out there threats again.
Search is the second main mana sink of the deck and the fact you can activate it before and after your end step makes it pretty powerful.
I considered the gearhulk and am still on the fence about him. The question comes down to what to i cut, as 6 mana is alot and even with the ramp spell there a good chance I won't get to activate it until it's turn 6 which is a long time to have a dead card in hand in a tempo deck.
I wonder if it is worth it to replace Lumbering Falls in this deck with Stirring Wildwood ?
It has a better body, can block flyers and costs less to animate which seems like a good tradeoff for losing hexproof.
Another concern here is losing blue mana sources for white.
# I've replaced the (awful) bouncelands with creature-lands.
# I replaced Explore and Sakura-Tribe Elder with the better Coiling Oracle and Elvish Rejuvenator (good for getting non-basics).
# I've removed Chord which seemed clunky and slow (and the deck didn't even have combo's to tutor for anyway) and trimmed Reclamation down from 4x to 2x.
# I've added some more necessary interaction (removal and counters) and changed the Rev/Wastes ratio from 3/1 to a 2/2 as I really like Wastes as a finisher.
# Prohibit can replace Mana Leak, I'd try a 2/2 split and maybe even replace it completely.
# Dovin's Veto replaces Negate in the SB.
# Regrowth can replace Pulse of Murasa (which was a flex-slot anyway) though losing the lifegain and instant speed might be noticable.
Some other potentially playable cards:
# Generous Gift - a more on-color Beast Within for this deck, not sure if it is worth the SB slots though as it competes with Detention Sphere.
# Fact or Fiction - a decent card draw spell but this deck already has Sphinx's Revelation so I don't really see a how this can fit in.
On thin Ice seems rather questionable for a 3-color deck (especially without fetchelands) and I'd probably still prefer Seal Away (or even Immolating Glare) for the instant speed and there is always Oust as a 1-mana sorcery option.
I can see its value it 2-color decks like UW but with Fetchlands for consistency.
Finishing or putting the game out of reach is dine with big X-Spells like: White Sun's Zenith and Sphinx's Revelation.
There are many budget concessions here to keep the deck as close to 200$ as possible so there is a lot of room for upgrades which will be listed below.
The hardest thing here is to build a functional 3-color manabase without Fetchlands and if there is a better way to do it I'm open to suggestions.
Here is the list:
3x Frilled Mystic
Planeswalker (2)
1x Jace, Architect of Thought
1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
Enchantment (8)
4x Seal Away
2x Search for Azcanta
2x Wilderness Reclamation
Instant (20)
1x Condemn
2x Anticipate
4x Growth Spiral
4x Mana Leak
4x Sinister Sabotage
1x Pulse of Murasa
2x Sphinx's Revelation
2x White Sun's Zenith
3x Fumigate
Land (24)
3x Lumbering Falls
4x Hinterland Harbor
4x Glacial Fortress
2x Hallowed Fountain
1x Temple Garden
1x Breeding Pool
2x Prairie Stream
4x Island
2x Plains
1x Forest
2x Damping Sphere
1x Disenchant
2x Negate
2x Rest in Peace
2x Stony Silence
2x Detention Sphere
2x Gideon of the Trials
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1x Hallowed Burial
The Upgrade Path:
# White Sun's Zenith ---> Secure the Wastes.
# Seal Away (and Condemn) ---> Path to Exile.
# Fumigate ---> Supreme Verdict/Settle the Wreckage.
# Sinister Sabotage ---> Absorb/Disallow (or maybe Cryptic Command).
# Lumbering Falls ---> Celestial Colonnade.
# Frilled Mystic ---> Snapcaster Mage (or Spell Queller/Torrential Gearhulk as cheaper options).
# The PW's ---> Teferi and Jace TMS.
# The mana ---> A proper shock-fetch manabase and a couple of FoR.
Why no Opt? is better much better than the anticipate -> especially with the growth spiral landdrop.
Serum visions might be good as well, 1-off spell snare, negate and logic knot (instead of the Sinister Sabotage?
Day of Judgment could be also considered as supreme verdict replacement.. and is cheaper than the wrath of god
but all in all it looks like a fun budget list. Want to play growth spiral by myself.. such a beautiful artwork
I often find myself keeping up 2-mana for either: Mana Leak, Growth Spiral or Seal Away so Anticipate costing 2-mana over Opt at 1-mana doesn't really matter that often.
The situational counters are also good but I prefer the all-purpose ones myself though I admit I'm no expert at control decks.
I prefer Sinister Sabotage as a hard counter to Logic Knot which gets much worse in a deck without Fetchlands and 1-mana cantrips (Opt/Visions).
I've even tried Condescend in the deck but eventually decided that a 3-mana hard counter is mostly better.
It mostly comes down to personal preference imho.
Day of Judgment is a valid option but it is rather close in price to Verdict already and I prefer Fumigate as the budget option for the upside of the lifegain.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/simic-control-v1/
i've found Jace, Vryn's Prodigy to be a solid addition over normal planeswalkers, due to the looting effect which can help fill the gy for azcanta and the -2 ability is just better than the other jacses (except jms)
i've also found that Mystic Snake tends to be a more consistent counter creature than frilled, as the that extra colored mana requirement dose mattar, (although the 3 power on frilled is very nice)
Competitive Decks
Devotion to the Lash B ----
Monkey Conservation WUGR ---- Dragon WorshipR
I prefer Jace UoS (or Jace AoT) for my deck
Overall Simic is too weak to creatures to be a viable option as a control deck imho and Evacuation isn't really good enough to replace a real sweeper.
Splashing white is necessary to shore up the weakness of the deck and also to get good SB cards.
Something I noticed in your build is the absence of a mana sink to utilize the mana from all the ramping you do.
I'd suggest cutting down on some of the creatures and adding some payoffs to the deck in the form of:
Pull from Tomorrow/Blue Sun's Zenith (with enough mana it can eventually deck the opponent) or something like a Torrential Gearhulk or Nezahal, Primal Tide/Sphinx of the Final Word/Sagu Mauler (budget Carnage Tyrant).
I find your lack of Eternal Witness to be an odd choice, especially given how Wilderness Reclamation lets you spend mana on your own turn. It lets you create a soft lock with Cryptic Command and Evacuate that will eventually win the game.
As for mana sink
Evacuation is the biggest mana sink, by bouncing all the etb cretures you can hard lock the opponent by playing back when they try to cast out there threats again.
Search is the second main mana sink of the deck and the fact you can activate it before and after your end step makes it pretty powerful.
I considered the gearhulk and am still on the fence about him. The question comes down to what to i cut, as 6 mana is alot and even with the ramp spell there a good chance I won't get to activate it until it's turn 6 which is a long time to have a dead card in hand in a tempo deck.
Competitive Decks
Devotion to the Lash B ----
Monkey Conservation WUGR ---- Dragon WorshipR
It has a better body, can block flyers and costs less to animate which seems like a good tradeoff for losing hexproof.
Another concern here is losing blue mana sources for white.
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I've taken this baseline and tweaked it to my liking with this deck:
4x Coiling Oracle
3x Elvish Rejuvenator
3x Eternal Witness
4x Frilled Mystic
2x Restoration Angel
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Thragtusk
1x Archangel Avacyn
Instant (11)
4x Growth Spiral
3x Sinister Sabotage
2x Secure the Wastes
2x Sphinx's Revelation
2x Seal Away
2x Wilderness Reclamation
Land (26)
4x Yavimaya Coast
1x Plains
3x Island
4x Forest
3x Lumbering Falls
4x Stirring Wildwood
2x Irrigated Farmland
2x Scattered Groves
2x Port Town
1x Fortified Village
3x Negate
1x Disdainful Stroke
1x Seal Away
2x Detention Sphere
2x Knight of Autumn
4x Remorseful Cleric
1x Thragtusk
1x Cloudthresher
# I've replaced the (awful) bouncelands with creature-lands.
# I replaced Explore and Sakura-Tribe Elder with the better Coiling Oracle and Elvish Rejuvenator (good for getting non-basics).
# I've removed Chord which seemed clunky and slow (and the deck didn't even have combo's to tutor for anyway) and trimmed Reclamation down from 4x to 2x.
# I've added some more necessary interaction (removal and counters) and changed the Rev/Wastes ratio from 3/1 to a 2/2 as I really like Wastes as a finisher.
# Prohibit can replace Mana Leak, I'd try a 2/2 split and maybe even replace it completely.
# Dovin's Veto replaces Negate in the SB.
# Regrowth can replace Pulse of Murasa (which was a flex-slot anyway) though losing the lifegain and instant speed might be noticable.
Some other potentially playable cards:
# Generous Gift - a more on-color Beast Within for this deck, not sure if it is worth the SB slots though as it competes with Detention Sphere.
# Fact or Fiction - a decent card draw spell but this deck already has Sphinx's Revelation so I don't really see a how this can fit in.
Competitive Decks
Devotion to the Lash B ----
Monkey Conservation WUGR ---- Dragon WorshipR
I can see its value it 2-color decks like UW but with Fetchlands for consistency.