Strong synergy: Soulfire Grand Master + Regrowth
Not sure if stuff like this should count though, Grand Master is awesome with just about any powerful instant/sorcery...
Ætherling is somewhat boring, but a solid wincon. In straight U/W I also really like Entreat the Angels and White Sun's Zenith. Of course there are also the Elzrazi Titans... Speaking of Titans, Frost Titan might not seem very good at first glance, but he really is quite good.
I was watching a VoD of a modern deck using a ton of looting and treasure Cruise last night. The card seemed really strong there, almost as good for it as ancestral recall. Seems like that would hold true in a W/U(x) control deck that doesn't use its GY yet (A deck that decides not to run sun titan but does use Rest in peace and relic of progenitus etc.) One example if I remake Angus Turbofog it will get a slot to tryout.
I tend not to want looting in decks that care about there gy, maybe this thread changes my mind though.
You don't need to use looting effects. It's basically like Tarmogoyf, you just have to play Magic. At the moment I just use Dig Through Time in a Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir draw-go control deck, but it has been really amazing. Usually, it's not a spell I'd want to cast early anyway. I'll be putting in Treasure Cruise as well as soon as I get one.
In your U/W Control example, I'd even run them with Sun Titan. You're bound to have other stuff than what you can recur with him in the graveyard.
Besides, stuff like Fact or Fiction or Forbidden Alchemy put cards in the yard, and they're good enough cards that you want to play them even without any recursion.
I have never found her to be that big of a deal. A bit irritating sometimes, but not difficult to play around or remove.
I see. Well, seeing as I've played about half of those decks against her at som point, I have to agree... she's somewhat annoying and she is powerful, but by no means is she a problem on her own.
Linvala is one-sided and aimlessly ruins a million different strategies and situations. Stony Silence, four out of five games, will probably just ruin equipment and mana acceleration.
Swords are genuinely more awful and more common than a creature with a broken activated ability.
Artifact mana isn't really a problem in my meta. Most people use it, but they kind of have to if they want to keep up with the green decks. Also Stony Silence screws over a lot of mono-colour decks and leaves the rest a lot weaker(not counting mono-green decks of course).
In a theoretical world where everyone played Stony Silence everyone would have to play green in their decks... Which restricts creativity. Linvala stops a lot of powerful cards but she rarely turns off entire decks. I'm interested to know what kind of strategies she ruins, by the way.
Crop Rotation and Scapeshift are both key cards for a strategy like the one you are outlining, and Sylvan Scrying is also quite good if you run a lot of non-basics.
For now I've only tried Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise, but they have been AWESOME for me. I run them in a Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir control deck, which means basically no graveyard interaction other than Runechanter's Pike, Academy Ruins and Snapcaster Mage. It runs lots of counterspells and bounce spells, so my yard always have 5-10 cards in it... It essentially always makes Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise two and one mana respectively with no drawback.
I can't advocate these two enough, they are just that good.
While I haven't tried any of the others, I'm pretty sure Murderous Cut is going in a lot of decks, and I'm going to at least try Dead Drop.
EDIT: Forgot that I have actually played Empty the Pits in Erebos, God of the Dead control - it's very good, at least as a control finisher. The instant speed is what puts it over the top, and I've routinely used it for 10-15 zombies between the big black mana-engines and my graveyard.
While I agree you should have both in the deck, they seem to me as they would be built quite different. I'd go with Hua Tuo, Honored Physician just because he is more interesting and not that common as a commander.
Thing is, he is good for general purposes, but there are usually better ones for specific purposes. If you want to go infinite with Palinchron for instance, Phantasmal Image is better. If you're running a big-mana deck, Rite of Replication is probably better. If you want to copy artifacts but the deck doesn't want heavy blue costs, Phyrexian Metamorph is better. Phantasmal Image is probably the one it will compete with the most often... Clever Impersonator cannot be recurred with Sun Titan, which is a big deal for me.
That said, it will be very good in a lot of decks and I can't wait till I get my hands on one.
I love this card! Misdirection does so much in the right decks, it's really insane. That's the important part though.... it's not a card you just slam into every blue deck. I mostly use it in combo decks, but it does wonders in any deck where you want to protect specific cards. Misdirection all the way!
Entombing something like Mercurial Chemister with Necrotic Ooze is also cool.
Probably do the Unburial Rites thing most often though.
Izzet Guildmage + Reset + Lightning Bolt or something similar = Infinite mana and infinite Lightning Bolts.
Soulfire Grand Master/Nivix Guildmage/Reiterate + Reset/Turnabout + burn spell/mill spell/Time Warp variant for the win.
Just Soulfire Grand Master + Time Warp for that matter.
Strong synergy:
Soulfire Grand Master + Regrowth
Not sure if stuff like this should count though, Grand Master is awesome with just about any powerful instant/sorcery...
Can you tell that I love this card yet?!
I love how you just made Army of the Damned a massive ritual effect! =P
You don't need to use looting effects. It's basically like Tarmogoyf, you just have to play Magic. At the moment I just use Dig Through Time in a Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir draw-go control deck, but it has been really amazing. Usually, it's not a spell I'd want to cast early anyway. I'll be putting in Treasure Cruise as well as soon as I get one.
In your U/W Control example, I'd even run them with Sun Titan. You're bound to have other stuff than what you can recur with him in the graveyard.
Besides, stuff like Fact or Fiction or Forbidden Alchemy put cards in the yard, and they're good enough cards that you want to play them even without any recursion.
I see. Well, seeing as I've played about half of those decks against her at som point, I have to agree... she's somewhat annoying and she is powerful, but by no means is she a problem on her own.
Artifact mana isn't really a problem in my meta. Most people use it, but they kind of have to if they want to keep up with the green decks. Also Stony Silence screws over a lot of mono-colour decks and leaves the rest a lot weaker(not counting mono-green decks of course).
In a theoretical world where everyone played Stony Silence everyone would have to play green in their decks... Which restricts creativity. Linvala stops a lot of powerful cards but she rarely turns off entire decks. I'm interested to know what kind of strategies she ruins, by the way.
I'd go a full on lands deck with lots of non-basics with fun effects. This way, lands that makes tokens and manlands can be another wincon. Also, Gavony Township is too good not to play with Worm Harvest in my opinion, as is Oran-Rief, the Vastwood. Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree is an alternative to Worm Harvest with these.
Crop Rotation and Scapeshift are both key cards for a strategy like the one you are outlining, and Sylvan Scrying is also quite good if you run a lot of non-basics.
I can't advocate these two enough, they are just that good.
While I haven't tried any of the others, I'm pretty sure Murderous Cut is going in a lot of decks, and I'm going to at least try Dead Drop.
EDIT: Forgot that I have actually played Empty the Pits in Erebos, God of the Dead control - it's very good, at least as a control finisher. The instant speed is what puts it over the top, and I've routinely used it for 10-15 zombies between the big black mana-engines and my graveyard.
Kessig Wolf Run lets you go tall, enables general damage win(Skaarg, the Rage Pit works too, but isn't as powerful)
High Market/Diamond Valley/Miren, the Moaning Well sac outlets are useful, if nothing else then to dodge exile and tuck effects
Gavony Township pumps your team, and more counters on Marath is always good
Kher Keep/Urza's Factory/Vitu-Ghazi, the City-Tree they give you dudes. Gavony Township pumps them. What more could you want?
Slayer's Stronghold is REALLY good. Haste, pump and vigilance? Nobrainer to me
Tectonic Edge/Ghost Quarter etc. should be in already
Buried Ruin gets back Sunforger
Contested Cliffs is removal with Marath, not to mention a lot of good green beaters are beasts
Deserted Temple/Petrified Field these are good if you run a lot of others, they don't do a lot on their own
Krosan Verge/Temple of the False God ramp in lands? Yes please
Gaea's Cradle obvious, just plain powerful
Glacial Chasm just crushes a lot of decks, and at instant speed with Knight is backbreaking
Kor Haven/Maze of Ith/Mystifying Maze stops single attackers like big beaters or voltron commanders
Grove of the Guardian could be good, at least as an instant-speed 8/8, but you probably shouldn't count it as a land
Hall of the Bandit Lord is just good, give Marath, another big beater, Fauna Shaman or Captain Sisay haste... powerful stuff
Rogue's Passage is a lot better than it looks. Clogged board-states happen all the time, this ensures you profit from it
Sejiri Steppe isn't that good except when you can get it into play at instant speed, but then it can protect your important creature from removal, win combat trades, etc.
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion makes any beater scary, Marath becomes a really big threat fast, and you can use it on creatures other people control as well
Homeward Path is rather cornercase, but if your meta is full of steal and reanimation effects, this can be quite good
Mistveil Plains is sacable, can put toolbox pieces back in your deck and helps against gy hate if that is an issue. Works well with Sunforger too
Oran-Rief the Vastwood can be really good pumping your whole team, or just put another counter on Marath. Very deck-dependent
Mosswort Bridge/Spinerock Knoll/Windbrisk Heights are just good but can be funny getting during combat if you have Deserted Temple in play(instant Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite was quite good for me)
Vesuva/Thespian's Stage double up on your best utility land, or just fix your mana
Tower of the Magistrate is another metagame call, but can be really strong. Equipment decks in particular will hate this card, and artifact creatures will not like you
Winding Canyons needs to be experienced, it does good work. Instant-speed big beaters? Well thank you.
Eiganjo Castle, Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers and Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep are minor effects that can be useful, but they might warrant extra thought since they can be fetched with Captain Sisay.
Manlands:
Note that if you put +1/+1 counters on manlands(they have to be active of course) with Marath or something, they stay on when they become lands again.
Please note that if you run a few of these lands, you should probably also add Sylvan Scrying and Expedition Map. Since you run Knight of the Reliquary, Crop Rotation becomes almost a must, as it does essentially the same thing. If you go heavy on the land theme, Life From the Loam and Curcible of Worlds become must-haves as well.
You could also have a look at the infinite combo database thread, look under mono-blue and colourless.
Phantasmal Image is probably the one it will compete with the most often... Clever Impersonator cannot be recurred with Sun Titan, which is a big deal for me.
That said, it will be very good in a lot of decks and I can't wait till I get my hands on one.