UB is a color combination that can almost get there on it's own as a control deck since the unbanning of Jace, the mindsculptor. There have been a few interesting lists that have appeared in the competetive 5-0 tables, but they have always looked like they suffer from "wrong half of the deck" syndrome (WHOFTD); if you don't draw the exact answers you need against the deck you got paired against, good luck. Well, Guilds of Ravinca looks to have solved that with Assasin's Trophy and Mission Briefing.
The ability of Assasin's Trophy to help prevent you from getting WHOFTD is obvious, since it hits literally anything that can slip past Discard and Countermagic, so I don't think it needs much of an introdoction. However, imo, one of the most valuable aspects of a control deck is the ability to blank your opponents removal, this is where Mission Briefing really shines. In addition to giving you more options than snapcaster mage, helping to alleviate against getting WHOFTD, it also doesn't die to otherwise dead removal spells.
With that being said, I think there is plenty of space to explore with just those 2 cards as additions to UB control, but where I'd like to start exploring is with the additional synergy of Mission Briefing with buyback.
So that's the basic idea that I would like help developing. I'm not married to the idea of using Buyback cards like Sprout Swarm, Whispering Muse and Spell Burst but I do think they are super cute with Mission Briefing as late game card advantage engines and/or wincons.
For those of you who might have noticed the list is 62 cards, it's because I added a Search for Azcanta and a Nimble obstructionist after coming up with the initial list. Search seems great because it finds almost every card in the deck, and obstructionist seems to add a little power and flexibility to Liliana, The last Hope.
Obviously I want to cut to 60 cards, and that is where you guys come in! I would love to hear some back on this idea. The 'obvious choices' seem to be the 1 Sprout Swarm and the 1 Nimble Obstructionists. One of my main questions is also whether or not 23 lands with 9 fetches is feasible in a control deck trying to get to 7-8 mana eventually (if you want to Brief the buyback spells) with only 6 cantrips (7 if you include Azcanta as a pseudo cantrip, and assuming the deck gets cut to 60). Does the additional flexibility of Briefing on turn 2 help alleviate this problem, or do I need to add 1Land/2Cantrips somewhere?
The ability of Assasin's Trophy to help prevent you from getting WHOFTD is obvious, since it hits literally anything that can slip past Discard and Countermagic, so I don't think it needs much of an introdoction. However, imo, one of the most valuable aspects of a control deck is the ability to blank your opponents removal, this is where Mission Briefing really shines. In addition to giving you more options than snapcaster mage, helping to alleviate against getting WHOFTD, it also doesn't die to otherwise dead removal spells.
With that being said, I think there is plenty of space to explore with just those 2 cards as additions to UB control, but where I'd like to start exploring is with the additional synergy of Mission Briefing with buyback.
2 Whispers of the Muse
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thought seize
4 Fatal Push
4 Assassin's Trophy
2 Damnation
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Nimble Obstructionist
4 Mission Briefing
1 Search for Azcanta
3 Cryptic Command
1 Negate
1 logic Knot
1 Spell Burst
1 Liliana, The last Hope
1 Sprout Swarm
Land 23
3 Darkslick shores
3 Creeping Tar pit
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
1 Breeding Pool
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
1 Swamp
3 Island
2 collective brutality
4 Thing in the Ice
1 Flaying Tendrils
2 Duress
1 Negate
2 Spell Snare
3 Unmoored Ego
So that's the basic idea that I would like help developing. I'm not married to the idea of using Buyback cards like Sprout Swarm, Whispering Muse and Spell Burst but I do think they are super cute with Mission Briefing as late game card advantage engines and/or wincons.
For those of you who might have noticed the list is 62 cards, it's because I added a Search for Azcanta and a Nimble obstructionist after coming up with the initial list. Search seems great because it finds almost every card in the deck, and obstructionist seems to add a little power and flexibility to Liliana, The last Hope.
Obviously I want to cut to 60 cards, and that is where you guys come in! I would love to hear some back on this idea. The 'obvious choices' seem to be the 1 Sprout Swarm and the 1 Nimble Obstructionists. One of my main questions is also whether or not 23 lands with 9 fetches is feasible in a control deck trying to get to 7-8 mana eventually (if you want to Brief the buyback spells) with only 6 cantrips (7 if you include Azcanta as a pseudo cantrip, and assuming the deck gets cut to 60). Does the additional flexibility of Briefing on turn 2 help alleviate this problem, or do I need to add 1Land/2Cantrips somewhere?
Thanks guys!