The 4 Spreading Seas helps us become more of a control build. It helps us mana lock our opponent (especially with dual lands) while drawing us an extra card for advantage. If you combine those with Crucible of the Worlds and Ghost Quarters, you can effectively lock your opponent out of their mana base once you stabilize the board. I ran with Blade Splicer before and liked their aggressive touch to the game, however I've found that the Court Hussar were more effective for the way the control deck is designed. While it's nice to use the golems to beat down or block effectively, they are mainly stalling until we reach our end game while the CH help us get there faster. I also recommend maximizing your Flickerwisp as they are the main reason the deck functions so well, giving us extra value for our cards.
Hey everyone! Quick update from the 2 leagues I ran this weekend. Overall, I was disappointed more in my piloting of the deck and how poorly I ran. My overall record was 10-16. My leagues were very diverse and I felt that I could've won a majority of my matches based on what I was seeing. The decks I played were as follows:
Boros Burn (1-2)- Opponent had fantastic draws but I should've mulliganed more for my leylines
UR Control (0-2)- Turn 1 and 2 Delvers flipped early and didn't draw my wraths/creatures were countered
Living End (2-0)- They stood no chance with board wipes and Emeria and Sun Titan activated
8 Whack (3-2)- Should've been 6-0, but literally mulliganed to 4 cards twice and had no lands each time...
Simic Infect (1-2)- Stupid punts by me. Need to eliminate their creatures immediately early on
UB Mill (1-2)- I hate this matchup so much. Non interactive games are the worst. Once my GotT was milled out, I had no shot. He played hand disruptions followed by mass mills and I couldn't keep up
BG (0-2)- Goyf + Ooze + Liliana = rough afternoon
Knightfall (1-2)- Opponent basically comboed off each time between turn 4-6
ETB Eldrazi (1-2)- Should've won the matchup but they ramped early and kept exiling my creatures
I think that overall, I need to reevaluate the hands I choose to keep and be more patient with "permission" decks. I have no clue how to beat mill and eldrazi still give me issues :/
As for Siren Lookout, I agree with the above statements. The reason Court Hussar is so invaluable is it's ability to find the answers we need deep in our deck. When we flash him back, we're not doing it for board advantage but rather card advantage. Flickerwisp is the best evasive card we need in this deck
Here is my most recent decklist. I wound up trading out the Blade Splicers back to Court Hussars. It's crazy how underrated CH can be at times. When I had originally traded him out for the Blade Splicers, I found myself able to be more aggressive and pressuring my opponents early by flickering it. However, after playing many games, I found myself struggling to find answers in my deck fast enough through card draws and Wall of Omens/Spreading Seas. I decided to go back to CH to see if I noticed a difference, and man, I will not be going back. I definitely missed being able to dig deeper into my deck to find the optimal card draws I needed, especially against combo decks and Scapeshift/Tron matchups. I got rid of the Blasting Stations but kept a Fiend Hunter in the deck, as it can be a great answer to tough creature matchups. Also, Crucible has been fantastic and been crucial to the control aspect of this deck. I changed out Kytheon as you guys had suggested for OG Gideon (another great move) and got myself an Elspeth as well. Between the main deck and my new look sideboard, I have been very pleased with my results thus far and will be running through some leagues to give it a proper testing. Thanks again for the advice guys!
Also, while it doesn't really match what the deck is trying to do in terms of activating Emeria, any thoughts on substituting Prarie Streams/cycle lands for celestial colonnade? This would help create an additional wincon and our control elements. Not sure if anyone has experimented with the card, as it's more a traditional UW Control wincon.
I have been able to play a variety of decks lately and haven't seen too many of our "bad matchups" (i.e. Scapeshift, Tron, etc). The ones that have caused me some issues have been Eldrazi based decks and UW control, as those matchups felt like an uphill battle. Both decks eluded any mana manipulation and activated their big Eldrazi right before Sun titan or Emeria were activated (one matchup utilized Aetherworks Marvel and were able to counter both my Stoney silence). Ultimately, practice with the deck is what will help me best, especially against repeated deck matchups. I need the practice to learn and understand the tactics behind the other decks I will be facing, having played mainly Limited and Pauper in the past.
Glad you could join the conversation, it's always nice to hear from a fresh perspective, welcome! Like lord_darkview said, your decklist look fine overall. The only thing that I'd nitpick over is the lack of a basic Island. Bloodmoon is a popular and powerful card in modern, one that has warped how people generally build their manabases. I wasn't sure if this was intentional given the you said you're new to modern but by switching one basic Plains for a single Island you'll find it easier to play around Bloodmoon and stabilize against aggro strategies in the early game. There is of course tricks featuring Flickerwisp
and Spreading Sea's but I won't get into that. The only other thing I'd change is to switch out a Prairie Stream for an Irrigated Farmland but that's largely inconsequential.
Oops that's my fault, it should be 2x Prairie Streams, 7x Plains, 1x Island. I agree, an island is essential in running this deck. One thing I am struggling with grasping in this deck, is knowing when I should start GQing/spreading seas my opponents. I would love to be able to start disrupting their mana early, but it seems I either don't have the initial draw with either in hand, or it doesn't seem to effect them at all. Is this more a late game strategy or should I be implementing this as early as I can?
Hey everyone, sorry I'm late to the party. I have just recently gotten into Modern on MTGO and have absolutely fallen in love with this deck! I am a control player at heart (usually Grixis or Dimir) but I really like the feel of the UW version of this deck. Very grindy with tapout control elements and fantastic card value, especially towards mid to late game. I have slowly been building my deck up and currently run the following in my MD:
Land (24)
3x Emeria, The Sky Ruin
4x Flooded Strand
4x Ghost Quarter
3x Hallowed Fountain
8x Plains
3x Prairie Stream
Planeswalker (2)
1x Kytheon, Hero of Akroas
1x Gideon of the Trials
Creature (19)
3x Blade Splicer
4x Flickerwisp
3x Lone Missionary
2x Fiend Hunter
3x Sun Titan
4x Wall of Omens
Enchantment (7)
3x Detention Sphere
4x Spreading Seas
Instant (4)
4x Path to Exile
Artifact (2)
2x Blasting Station
Sorcery (3)
3x Supreme Verdict
It's still a work in progress as I am testing out the build of the deck. I recently switched out the 3 Hussars for Blade Splicers and have been pleased with the results. I think both are great cards based on if you wish to be more proactive (Splicer) vs reactive to the current board state (Hussar). I may go back, but for now the Splicers have won me three games in a row. Another switch is having the 2 Blasting Stations vs Mortapods and 2 Fiend Hunters in the deck. I have read about the drawbacks on both (Blasting as a 3cmc, Fiend Hunter as a removal target when it exiles, etc), however I have won games where the opponent has locked out my ability to attack only to be blown away by the Hunter + Titan+ Station combo. At its worst, Station has been a Mortapod that is easier to activate multiple times a turn while Hunter has either been a great removal target, forcing my opponents hand, to a Journey to Nowhere, taking out my opponents Ulamog. I may take them out for another Gideon of the Trials/Elspeth if they stop proving useful, as GotT is amazing in this deck with the current meta. I also run a Kytheon, since both Gideon's are recurrable, he's easy to flip over, keeps the Gideon emblem activated, can defend and attack for us, and with the new planeswalker rules, both will be able to be on the field together. Any thoughts on deck improvements? Have others found the combo still viable? Any thoughts on if the new planeswalker rules can help this deck? Great thread and enjoying the reads!
Boros Burn (1-2)- Opponent had fantastic draws but I should've mulliganed more for my leylines
UR Control (0-2)- Turn 1 and 2 Delvers flipped early and didn't draw my wraths/creatures were countered
Living End (2-0)- They stood no chance with board wipes and Emeria and Sun Titan activated
8 Whack (3-2)- Should've been 6-0, but literally mulliganed to 4 cards twice and had no lands each time...
Simic Infect (1-2)- Stupid punts by me. Need to eliminate their creatures immediately early on
UB Mill (1-2)- I hate this matchup so much. Non interactive games are the worst. Once my GotT was milled out, I had no shot. He played hand disruptions followed by mass mills and I couldn't keep up
BG (0-2)- Goyf + Ooze + Liliana = rough afternoon
Knightfall (1-2)- Opponent basically comboed off each time between turn 4-6
ETB Eldrazi (1-2)- Should've won the matchup but they ramped early and kept exiling my creatures
I think that overall, I need to reevaluate the hands I choose to keep and be more patient with "permission" decks. I have no clue how to beat mill and eldrazi still give me issues :/
As for Siren Lookout, I agree with the above statements. The reason Court Hussar is so invaluable is it's ability to find the answers we need deep in our deck. When we flash him back, we're not doing it for board advantage but rather card advantage. Flickerwisp is the best evasive card we need in this deck
3 Court Hussar
3 Detention Sphere
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Path to Exile
3 Lone Missionary
1 Fiend Hunter
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Flickerwisp
1 Prairie Stream
4 Spreading Seas
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Wall of Omens
3 Sun Titan
1 Gideon Jura
1 Gideon of the Trials
4 Flooded Strand
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Worship
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Negate
2 Stony Silence
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Intrepid Hero
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Pithing Needle
Here is my most recent decklist. I wound up trading out the Blade Splicers back to Court Hussars. It's crazy how underrated CH can be at times. When I had originally traded him out for the Blade Splicers, I found myself able to be more aggressive and pressuring my opponents early by flickering it. However, after playing many games, I found myself struggling to find answers in my deck fast enough through card draws and Wall of Omens/Spreading Seas. I decided to go back to CH to see if I noticed a difference, and man, I will not be going back. I definitely missed being able to dig deeper into my deck to find the optimal card draws I needed, especially against combo decks and Scapeshift/Tron matchups. I got rid of the Blasting Stations but kept a Fiend Hunter in the deck, as it can be a great answer to tough creature matchups. Also, Crucible has been fantastic and been crucial to the control aspect of this deck. I changed out Kytheon as you guys had suggested for OG Gideon (another great move) and got myself an Elspeth as well. Between the main deck and my new look sideboard, I have been very pleased with my results thus far and will be running through some leagues to give it a proper testing. Thanks again for the advice guys!
Oops that's my fault, it should be 2x Prairie Streams, 7x Plains, 1x Island. I agree, an island is essential in running this deck. One thing I am struggling with grasping in this deck, is knowing when I should start GQing/spreading seas my opponents. I would love to be able to start disrupting their mana early, but it seems I either don't have the initial draw with either in hand, or it doesn't seem to effect them at all. Is this more a late game strategy or should I be implementing this as early as I can?
Land (24)
3x Emeria, The Sky Ruin
4x Flooded Strand
4x Ghost Quarter
3x Hallowed Fountain
8x Plains
3x Prairie Stream
Planeswalker (2)
1x Kytheon, Hero of Akroas
1x Gideon of the Trials
Creature (19)
3x Blade Splicer
4x Flickerwisp
3x Lone Missionary
2x Fiend Hunter
3x Sun Titan
4x Wall of Omens
Enchantment (7)
3x Detention Sphere
4x Spreading Seas
Instant (4)
4x Path to Exile
Artifact (2)
2x Blasting Station
Sorcery (3)
3x Supreme Verdict
It's still a work in progress as I am testing out the build of the deck. I recently switched out the 3 Hussars for Blade Splicers and have been pleased with the results. I think both are great cards based on if you wish to be more proactive (Splicer) vs reactive to the current board state (Hussar). I may go back, but for now the Splicers have won me three games in a row. Another switch is having the 2 Blasting Stations vs Mortapods and 2 Fiend Hunters in the deck. I have read about the drawbacks on both (Blasting as a 3cmc, Fiend Hunter as a removal target when it exiles, etc), however I have won games where the opponent has locked out my ability to attack only to be blown away by the Hunter + Titan+ Station combo. At its worst, Station has been a Mortapod that is easier to activate multiple times a turn while Hunter has either been a great removal target, forcing my opponents hand, to a Journey to Nowhere, taking out my opponents Ulamog. I may take them out for another Gideon of the Trials/Elspeth if they stop proving useful, as GotT is amazing in this deck with the current meta. I also run a Kytheon, since both Gideon's are recurrable, he's easy to flip over, keeps the Gideon emblem activated, can defend and attack for us, and with the new planeswalker rules, both will be able to be on the field together. Any thoughts on deck improvements? Have others found the combo still viable? Any thoughts on if the new planeswalker rules can help this deck? Great thread and enjoying the reads!