Are you still deciding between UW and Esper pumpmonkey? I have really liked UW so far. The deck feels much stronger to me this season with Seal Away and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. Lyra Dawnbringer can win games on her own and completely change the momentum of a game with her angelic 10-point swings. There's a lot to like.
The new counters I don't quite get; Negate and Disallow seem just fine to me.
Testing is ongoing, and I am waiting for access to DOM cards to bring those into the mix: Karn was the main reason I thought of it, Seal Away and Syncopate would be good upgrades to the removal/counters, and there could be some good Historic synergies. So far, it has great game against UR GPG: the Pacification Array shuts down the infinite Combat Celebrant finish, and the artifact subtheme makes running 3 Crook of Condemnation in the SB no problem, and in fact very desirable. With the Arrays and flipped compasses, there's a point at which you can achieve lockdown control of the board with an absurd amount of mana to access, and wins often come through Ipnu rivulets (running 9 deserts).
I need to work on the ratio of counterspells, removal, and sweepers to address weaknesses to creatures, PWs, and go-wide (token) decks, but it's been a fun deck to play for sure. I'll keep testing and if it gets anywhere near competitive, will report back...
The sounds like a really interesting build! I've played with Mono White Approach and White-Black Control and both utilize Thaumatic Compass. I think the WB build had four even. That card really does so much.
@kPal - I do a lot of my testing on xMage, was really glad to see it get updated yesterday with the new stuff.
I am all over the place right now with my list but here are my thoughts so far: Teferi, Hero of Dominaria - Super strong card. Does not win the game but will keep you from losing it (hope that makes sense). All 3 modes are very relevant. The combination of him and Gideon makes a very nice pair. Right now running 2-3 main. Seal Away - the 2 mana spot removal we have been missing. This with Settle means your opponent does not have a good move to make if you have 4 mana open. Pretty much an automatic 4 set. Syncopate - This has replaced Censor in my deck. I do miss the cycling ability but the Exile effect is worth it. 3-4 in main, 1-2 in the sideboard. Unwind - Cost one more than Negate but if it resolves it is free. Currently trying 2 main and 2 Sideboard. Also, have 2-3 negates in the side. Oath of Teferi - This card makes Teferi stupid. No, really it is stupid. Draw 2, untap 4 lands each turn. If you have a flipped Search, now draw a 4th card for your turn. Then untapped them and do it again on their turn. Plus Gideon twice each turn? Ok, maybe I am getting a little to excited but so far it has been very strong. 2 main board.
Let me know what you guys think, I will post my updated list later this weekend. I can already see my deck making players rage quit.
Hey there PM;
I'm looking forward to Teferi, Hero of Dominaria! Hard to see how all of these cards fit into one deck but I'm feeling optimistic about UW Control at the moment. I'm a little bit surprised at Unwind over Negate main since Teferi frees up two mana it seemed natural to protect him with Negate.
I am looking forward to seeing your list! Still Esper?!?
I was looking again at some of the DOM spoilers, and I think Jaya Ballard may be worth a look in a Jeskai Approach shell. Both of her +1s are great to cast or dig for approach (or other answers you may need), and her -8 has great synergy with all the instants and sorcerers we play. I dabbled in UW Drake for a while, and Abandoned Sarcophagus is no joke. Her emblem does the same for all of your counterspells and sweepers, which is huge.
It’s too bad she doesn’t protect herself: that and her high CMC (and RRR cost) might be reasons she won’t work, but as with all other walkers, she’ll be a lightning rod for attacks which can keep life total afloat.
Haven't seen that card before. That would be pretty sweet with a The Locust God on the board.
I wonder if we are going to see more main-board enchantment hate with all of the sagas in Dom. If so, that may hurt White more than the other colors. . .
First off, @the_codaddy, congratulations on making day 2. The is very awesome. Several friends told me after Memphis that the first one is the hardest. So from here on we expect day 2 at every GP.
Seriously, nice job.
Ok, Domanaira, I think the new set is going to make standard into a very fast format. The guys at my LGS has been brewing UG Monsters and now drop Carnage Tyrant on turn 3 pretty consistently. Our old way of thinking about games, play land go until turn 4-5 then board wipe, I don't think is going to work. We are going to have to speed up our deck as well. As much as I like UW and how smooth it is, I am going to go back and try Esper again. Fatal Push is just so strong right now. Having that and Seal Away is going to be fun. Also, I am thinking about changing up my numbers. Previously I ran 6 draws, glimmer/search, 12 counters, 4-5 removal, 7 wipes, 5-6 Win-con, 25-26 lands. Now I am playing with 25-26 lands, 4 Draw, Glimmer, 12 spot removal, Push/Seal/Cast Out/Vraskas's, 6 counter, 4 Settle and 6 Win-con. That leaves about 3 flex spots. Right now those are 3 Censor but pretty sure that will change as I do more testing.
As far as win-con's, right now still using my same old ones. I really like Teferi, just need to play with him more. Lyra Dawnbriger seems really good, the only issue with her is that mainboard, we only have 1-3 creatures and by the time she hits the board, there is a pretty good chance they have drawn some of their removal. So we will usually have to fight over her. Not a bad thing, just something to keep in mind.
Again, this is nowhere near my final list, just where I am at right now. Let me know what you think.
Good afternoon all! Made it back from Seattle with a 9-6 final record, which I can't be at all disappointed with given that I went 3-6 at my last GP!
The TL;DR summary: I loved this UW build, I thought it performed very well, I made a couple of mistakes (and took a couple suboptimal lines that cost me), but overall I think it was a great choice for the event and am looking forward to continuing to evolve it when DOM hits!
If you want more details, read on. Unfortunately, my memory of these matches (particularly day 1) is a bit sketchy because playing so many matches in such a short timespan really taxes your brain, but I will do the best I can to remember any nuggets from the matches...
I had experimented with deleting Disallow, but I ended up including 2 copies so I could hard counter noncreature spells and/or activated/triggered abilities. 2 copies seemed fine.
Day One
Match one: Sultai Snek/GPG
The first of my 6 (!) Snek matchups for the weekend. This was a somewhat spicy brew that included God-Pharaoh's Gift and Gates to the Afterlife. I took round 1 with double approach, no problemo (he could have won this one though...he managed to resolve a GPG after I had Approached once, but instead of bringing back a Walking Ballista, adding a counter and pinging me for 1 for the kill, he brought back Kitesail Freebooter.
The next two matches were tougher, and I don't think I sideboarded or played this matchup correctly. Frankly, I didn't really know how to sideboard against it: I usually bring Regal Caracal in for the Snek matchups (mostly to throw in front of Bristling Hydras until I can fumigate), but not for GPG matchups, and I bring in Forsake the Worldly against GPG but not snek...so I ended up with some janky mix of the two plans that didn't go well. He rolled me G2, and I lost G3 by taking a very suboptimal line that involved me casting Torrential Gearhulk to flash back something (seem to recall it was Essence Scatter to keep some creature or other from resolving), which ended up putting a 6th creature in the yard, allowing him to cast Gate to the Afterlife, activate, and GPG me to death. I was at 2 life at the point, so likely wasn't winning, but it was a rocky start. (0-1)
Match 2: Jeskai Approach
Took this one easy 2-0. UW is just house against this G1 with all their dead cards. I had a great hand to start G2 (couple negate and disallow), which allowed me to counter both of the Gideons he tried to resolve. Opponent didn't seem super focused either, but I'll take a W when I get one. (1-1).
Match 3: Sultai Snek (with Scarab God)
This was an interesting matchup in which the win came from a mega-punt by my opponent.
Game 1, double approach. Easy peasy.
Game 2: he won with Scarab God and a ton of dudes, BUT there was a key judge call that I think may have tilted my opponent a bit. He had a Nissa, Steward of Elements on the field and did her +2. Opponent was a super-manic card riffler, and when I looked carefully, I saw that he had three cards he was looking at—I guess he had scryed 3 instead of 2. JUDGE! The resolution was a warning to my opponent, and I was allowed to look at the three cards and decide which one was not part of the scry (third one was shuffled back in to his deck before resolving the scry). Ridiculous part was that the 3 cards were Fetid Pools, Aether Hub, Aether Hub, so I didn't even get to bin something worthwhile.
Game 3: opponent mega punt time. First off, he had The Scarab God on the field (I believe with a counter from Hadana's Climb on it, making it a 6/6). I had 9 mana up. He attacks. I flash in Torrential Gearhulk, targeting Slash of Talons and block with TG so they trade. At end step, I disallowed the SG return card to hand trigger, leaving SG in the yard. He takes his next turn, and at end step starts going through his graveyard. I asked what he was looking for, and he said he was returning the Scarab God to his hand. I said "nope, that got disallowed, so he stays in the yard," and he didn't believe me, so he called a judge (who confirmed that SG was dead-zo).
I don't know if it was the 2 judge calls or what, but opponent was definitely tilted. I got an Approach in. I think my hand was Cast Out, Irrigated Farmland, with a couple Ipnu Rivulets on the field and plenty of lands. Approach was 6 down at this point. He duresses with Scarab God on the battlefield. In response, I cycle Cast Out (5 deep) and gain a Glimmer. He takes the Glimmer. My end step, I activate Ipnu Rivulet, revealing card, card, card, Torrential Gearhulk (Approach now on top). He has a negate in the yard, but for some reason, he got super excited by the Gearhulk, and at end step, he activates TSG to snag him. In response, I cycle Irrigated Farmland to pick up the Approach, and slam it on my turn. Whew. (2-1)
Match 4: BG Snek
Lost game 1, which was really unfortunate because G1 is where we shine. But had only 3 lands turn 6 while he had all the sneks and siphoners. GG.
Game 2 and 3 went much better. Another interesting judge call in this one. I had double caracal on the board with 3 cats. He had an 8/7 Jadelight Ranger, a Bristling Hydra, and a Ripjaw Raptor on the board. He swings with the Raptor and the Ranger. I chump the Ranger and throw 2 caracals and 2 cats in front of the Ripjaw Raptor (I had fumigate in hand so basically just looking to max out my life gain…sorry kitties…). He orders blockers, and we go to damage. I say "Caracal and chumping cat die, Raptor dies, I gain 17, you draw a card from Enrage." And he says, "don't I draw 4 because you blocked with 4?" I told him I'm pretty sure that combat damage is dealt simultaneously, so it would only be one enrage trigger. Judge was called, and he said, "no, it's four different things damaging it, so it's four." I asked him to please look it up (and dude at the next table was like, "yeah, I don't think that's right…"). Judge looked it up and confirmed that it's just one enrage trigger. Next turn, I swing with Caracal and remaining cats then wipe the board. At this point, I'm at 30+ life and in complete control. (3-1)
Match 5: UW Drake
I played this deck for a while on MTGO but gave it up when XLN/RIX didn't add much to it. The keys are (1) keep Drake Haven and Abandoned Sarcophagus off the board and (2) exile graveyards before the second approach because their only mainboard counter is usually 4x countervailing winds. I did just that G1 and double approached.
G2 was a bunch of draw/go/cycle. He was burning through a ton of his deck without finding what he was looking for, and whenever he managed to resolve a Drake Haven, I promptly got rid of it through Cast Out/Forsake the Worldly. Ended up decking him with Ipnu Rivulets. (4-1)
At this point, I've achieved my goal of improving my performance from the last GP, so the rest is gravy…
Match 6: UB Midrange (Atsuki Kihara, Hareruya "God of Standard")
I looked up this opponent afterward and wasn't surprised to see that he's had some high-level success. I got rolled both games this matchup, which is a tough one for us to begin with, but made tougher by having a great pilot who drew all the right things. One suboptimal play I made G1 was to Cast Out his Liliana on T5…he cast Scarab God the next turn and I didn't have an answer, and the God is much more impactful than Lili (although both can be a pain). The language barrier made it tough to chat, but he was very kind and humble in his thrashing of me! (4-2).
Match 7: BW Vampires
I wish, wish, wish that I had seen more of this deck. Cakewalk. 4x Field of Ruin makes Adanto no big deal, plenty of board wipes, and he has no way to interact with Approach game 1.
Game 2 he brought in Kitesail Freebooter, and hit one T2. Sadly, I had my spicy SB tech in hand at the time (Hour of Revelation), so the cat was out of the bag. Kept his Radiant Destinys from getting out of hand, managed the board, and got there with Gearhulk beatdowns. (5-2).
Match 8: Sultai Snek
We're both win-and-in, and I'm disappointed to see Sneks again, but so be it.
G1, I resolved a T3 Gideon, which is always great for me because he typically gains me 6-8 life before dying. He's a threat, so opponents need to deal with him, but he's just a sacrificial lamb for this deck. He attempts to Vraska's Contempt him T5 (negate), then tries to resolve Skysovereign, Consul Flagship (disallow). Got him with double Approach.
G2 was just about the same. Board wipes showing up right when needed. I think opponent was pretty mentally tired at this point—at one point, he missed his Jadelight Ranger explore triggers (he cast the Ranger, then said "Combat?"…don't think he ever realized he missed the trigger). Likely didn't matter because I had 2x Settle in hand, but it just shows how important the mental game is. (6-2, made day 2!).
Grabbed an awesome dinner at Blue C Sushi with my son (who went 4-3-1…not shabby!) and a buddy from Portland who was also playing. Got a good night's sleep without letting thoughts of cardboard interfere too much.
Day Two
Match 9: UW GPG (Yuuki Ichikawa)
I didn't know my opponent by name before the match, but figured he was someone legit when I saw his 2017 World Championship hoodie! About the nicest, most humble, enjoyable opponent you could ask for. Gerry Thompson was playing right next to us, which was kind of cool too.
G1: we both mull to 6 and miss our third land drops (which makes us both laugh quite a bit). I Spell Swindled his God-Pharoah's Gift, which made him laugh and say, "Double Approach?"—I joked that I didn't know if I brought enough treasure tokens, but I had exactly 7. Didn't manage the same-turn double-approach, but got there.
G2: I think I could have won this game if I'd played a bit differently. I kept the board clean enough—kept him off GPG with Forsake the Worldly and used my boardwipes strategically (and used my life total as a resource), while he was just digging deeper and deeper with Champions of Wits, eternalized Champions of Wits, Chart a Course, and Strategic Planning. I Scavenger Grounds our yards away. After a field of ruin, I count his library and he's at 20 cards, and I have 2 Ipnus on the board. I end up cracking the Ipnus too soon, and he resolves a GPG, which may have given him the creatures needed to bring back for the win. Think he got down to 1 card in library.
G3: I didn't really have the answers in this one. I managed to resolve Approach, and I had ipnu and cycler in hand, but he had ipnu as well. I might have been able to get the Approach back in my hand, but as it turned out, he had a negate in hand anyway, so I don't think I was going to win that one. In hindsight, I really needed to put away that G2, and I think I probably could have if I had taken a more optimal line than I did.
After the match, Yuuki was chatting with Shouta Yasooka (who had been watching), and I was de-boarding. I show Yuuki the Crook of Condemnation that I didn't see the entire match, and we both laugh. Then I showed him the Spell Swindle and he laughed again and told Shouta about how his GPG got swindled. Just a fun GP moment that I'll remember. Can't say enough nice things about this guy. (6-3)
Match 10: Sultai Snek (Corey Baumeister)
After losing to a pro, I just laughed when I got paired with another one! Mike Sigrist was playing next to us for this one, which again, was kind of cool.
G1: Got there with double approach. No worries.
G2: He looks at his opening hand and goes, "ehh….I'll try to make it work." To which I reply, "I think that probably means that you have the nuts…" Sure enough, T1 Duress, T2 Siphoner, T3 Snek, T4 Rishkar. Lolz.
G3: He mulls to 6 and gets stuck on lands for a while. I resolve Caracals, he resolves a Carnage Tyrant with a Hydra on board. My turn, I swing with all (the good ol' sacrificial-cats-before-fumigate play). Sure enough, I wipe the board after. At this point, I'm in pretty firm control and manage to get 2 gearhulks on the board, then another caracal, and he scoops it up. Super nice guy, and really enjoyable match. (7-3)
Match 11: Red Aggro
First Bomat Courier I faced all day. Really not a lot to say about this match—kept a bad hand G1 (it was serviceable against any deck but his). Didn't see sweepers G2. Lost with about 40 minutes left in round! (7-4)
Match 12: Grixis Midrange
G1, got there with an easy double approach.
G2, he resolved siphoners T2 and T3, and just drowned in card advantage. I also missed a Search for Azcanta trigger here (I drew the card before remembering to flip). Don't know if it would have changed things, but my only missed trigger of the day…
G3, he stuck a Chandra and a Lili, and I couldn't get rid of Chandra before she emblemed. Just the way it goes, I guess. (7-5).
Match 13: Sultai Snek
G1, got there with an easy double approach.
G2, he got there with Hadana's climb and ballistas.
G3, I think Gideon and Gearhulks got me there, but can't really remember…really mentally tired at this point, but I now know I'll leave with a record that's better than .500, so pretty stoked. (8-5).
Match 14: UB Midrange (or maybe Grixis?)
I played too timid G1 and let my mind play tricks on me and got punished. Started the game with double approach in hand. He managed to double Gonti me, and I really don't know what he has, although his eyes got a little big the first one, which for some reason made me certain that he had taken Spell Swindle. I approach once, and he's built up a good board with TSG and a bunch of zombos. I had the opportunity to Approach again, but I didn't have mana for countermagic, and I was paranoid about the swindle. Turns out it was a fumigate and I would have been totally clear. Instead, he reanimates all the things and kills me before I can try again. Some regret over this one, but I really can't be too disappointed.
G2, I just couldn't get anything going, and he stuck an early Arguel and Search for Azcanta, so he out-carded me like crazy. (8-6). No pro point for me, but it's all good.
Match 15: RG Dinos
Cakewalk. All the sweepers, all the essence scatters, he can't interact with Approach. He brought in Prowling Serpopard G2, but I easily cast that out (and countered the Naturalize). Easy, easy matchup for this deck, and wish I'd seen RG more than just the final match. (9-6).
Takeaways
I loved the deck this weekend, and would not hesitate to rock it in another standard event. I think it's only going to get better after DOM drops (although exploring a splash of B might be worth it given the improvement in the mana base). The weaknesses are what we've discussed for a while: missing land drops and iffy early-game interaction. But the strengths are strong: extremely favored G1, access to reasonable creature finishers post-board (Caracal, Torrential, Nezzie), good ways to interact with enchantments, good answers to resilient threats (Carnage Tyrant, Phoenix).
In retrospect, I should have found room for at least one, if not two, Farm // Market to handle the proliferation of Sneks. Seriously, they were everywhere. Maybe instead of Crook of Condemnation, although Crook did some work for me. And if UR GPG continues to be a thing, I think the case for a Crook in the main gets even better. Slash was great for the siphoners, but Sneks were a problem.
I also think I got burned by a couple of suboptimal plays (although I reaped the benefit of a couple suboptimal plays/errors by opponents, so they wash out). I think that my game has improved 100% since my last GP, and this one made it very clear to me that deck selection has only so much to do with success—minimizing/eliminating play mistakes, carefully evaluating lines of play before making a decision, and staying mentally focused is just as important, and why I think the pros do as well as they do consistently. I definitely have room for improvement, and hope to keep the upward trend.
Overall, the GP was a blast. For the most part, my opponents were fun to play against (only a couple less-than-friendly folks), and having the opportunity to play against a couple pros was definitely something I'll remember for a while!
Next goal: getting that 10th win for the pro point.
Hi codaddy;
Thank you for posting the summary and congratulations on the great result - super impressive!
I don't have any great results to share but my son and I both improved from our previous GP - had a blast and met a ton of nice people. Next time we should arrange a face to face hello!
I see Combat Celebrant has increased in price 500% as a result of UR Gift's great showing in Seattle!
You've made some great posts recently, thank you! Here are my thoughts . . . I'll have to say I am not nearly as optimistic as you . . .
I'm not sure how well UW Approach is positioned in this meta. I agree game 1 is often favorable but even that is changing with recent Sultai builds mainboarding 2 Negate and creature builds getting lower to the ground. I agree with Eric from CFB and kpal on this thread that post-board can be a nightmare. UW Approach is barely a part of the mtggoldfish metagame now, if it was in a great place it would be producing better results IMHO. The community will eventually figure out what works. Mono-White Approach wasn't a thing a month or so ago but now it is the best Approach deck in the meta (as defined by % in metagame). . .
I think because that deck has so many removal options. Yes, it is all sorcery speed but it's effective and consistent. And there really isn't a lot of enchantment removal in the game. What little there is will quickly get overloaded with 4 Baffling End, 4 Cast Out, 4Ixalan's Binding, and 2 Thopter Arrest plus 2-3 The Immortal Sun. Ironically, I think Mono-White Approach is the easiest deck in this meta for UW Approach.
I'm also going to GP Seattle so this has been on my mind lately. Reliance on counter-magic, while extremely mana-efficient, is also very narrow. I get that one opportunity, if I don't have the mana or Essence Scatter gets countered I'm out of luck. I have to wait to Settle the Wreckage. If Thopter Arrest gets countered the opportunity is there to follow-up with Cast Out next turn.
UB Control, has some reliance on counter-magic but has the best direct removal in the game with Fatal Push and Vraska's Contempt . Which they can cast again when the Torrential Gearhulks come to the party. . .
UW Approach has Cast Out I guess, but that often gets cycled and while you and pumpmonkey have enjoyed some success with it, I've heard no one say Farm // Market is really a great magic card.
I'm reluctant to make big changes to my deck so close to the GP but I may look at a uW option with minimal counters and heavy enchantment removal.
Best wishes for a fun and successful GP!
Hey @Hobbits 73! I completely agree that post-board games are tricky, and they really always have been with the Approach deck. My hypothesis (which can never really be tested) is that the post-board matchups, and articles from EFro and others saying the deck isn't a great option because of the post-board matchups, turn people away from the deck, which leads to fewer people playing the deck, which leads to fewer tournament results primarily due to the small share of the meta. If so many people were turned off of UW Approach that 10 people out of 1500 play the deck at a GP, chances are it's not going to be represented in the Top 8 (or Top 32). If 50% of the players showed up with it, the story would be different.
I think the other flavors of Approach have found a bit of success because they are unexpected and opponents aren't sure how to attack them. I totally agree with you that W Approach (and BW Approach) is a cakewalk for UW Approach. They might sneak in G1, but they can't win 2 or 3 because Negate and Torrential Gearhulk. Forsake the Worldly does a ton of work in that matchup too. Go ahead and Binding my Caracal/Gearhulk...I'll just get rid of Binding on your end step and get a couple extra Cats/Flash back another spell. The Bant version can be tough for me G1 because I lack a ton of countermagic and they can ramp so dang fast, but G2 and G3 are usually favored for us too (if you can manage to counter their Hour of Promises).
The fact is that there's a ton of luck that goes into any tournament, regardless of what deck you play. I fully believe that if I'd faced RG Monsters/Red Aggro for the first 5 matches of my PPTQ, I wouldn't have made Top 8, let alone won. The thing I don't get about EFro's article is that at my PPTQ, my UW Approach was the deck that nobody in the Top 8 wanted to play against. If my deck is so bad post-board, why don't you want to play against it??
I'm curious what your current build looks like. I'm going to keep testing this week to fine tune what I register this weekend. Good luck to you as well!
Just another data point for the theory that Approach decks are currently well-positioned because they are not expected. This deck has only 2 1/2 maindeck answers to Approach (1 Supreme Will, 1 Commit // Memory, and a Torrential Gearhulk to potentially flash one of those back), and only dedicates a couple SB slots for answers (2x Negate, an additional Commit // Memory, 2 Duress, 1 Doomfall).
Hi codaddy;
You've made some great posts recently, thank you! Here are my thoughts . . . I'll have to say I am not nearly as optimistic as you . . .
I'm not sure how well UW Approach is positioned in this meta. I agree game 1 is often favorable but even that is changing with recent Sultai builds mainboarding 2 Negate and creature builds getting lower to the ground. I agree with Eric from CFB and kpal on this thread that post-board can be a nightmare. UW Approach is barely a part of the mtggoldfish metagame now, if it was in a great place it would be producing better results IMHO. The community will eventually figure out what works. Mono-White Approach wasn't a thing a month or so ago but now it is the best Approach deck in the meta (as defined by % in metagame). . .
I think because that deck has so many removal options. Yes, it is all sorcery speed but it's effective and consistent. And there really isn't a lot of enchantment removal in the game. What little there is will quickly get overloaded with 4 Baffling End, 4 Cast Out, 4Ixalan's Binding, and 2 Thopter Arrest plus 2-3 The Immortal Sun. Ironically, I think Mono-White Approach is the easiest deck in this meta for UW Approach.
I'm also going to GP Seattle so this has been on my mind lately. Reliance on counter-magic, while extremely mana-efficient, is also very narrow. I get that one opportunity, if I don't have the mana or Essence Scatter gets countered I'm out of luck. I have to wait to Settle the Wreckage. If Thopter Arrest gets countered the opportunity is there to follow-up with Cast Out next turn.
UB Control, has some reliance on counter-magic but has the best direct removal in the game with Fatal Push and Vraska's Contempt . Which they can cast again when the Torrential Gearhulks come to the party. . .
UW Approach has Cast Out I guess, but that often gets cycled and while you and pumpmonkey have enjoyed some success with it, I've heard no one say Farm // Market is really a great magic card.
I'm reluctant to make big changes to my deck so close to the GP but I may look at a uW option with minimal counters and heavy enchantment removal.
I feel like Esper is really strong, but with Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Seal Away coming, not sure if it is needed. And those are just the ones that I have noticed, sure there are more.
I've not looked at Dominaria much yet; those cards are fantastic! Baffling End still sees play on the top UW lists from time to time. . . Seal Away looks so much better.
The Esper Approach list that top 8'ed at the SCG Cincinnati was pretty spicy. 2 counters main and 10 draw spells. I guess it was trying to flip Search as fast as possible. I will have to jam a few games with it online to see, what can I say, I like spicy. And after Domanaria comes out in a few weeks, we get to add Isolated Chapel which will make the mana base pretty smooth.
That one caught my eye as well! I will be interested to hear how your testing goes. Essentially 0 counters because I'm sure Supreme Will is mainly there for impulse mode. Draw, Sweep, Rinse, Repeat. . .
Looks like he may have finished MTGO 5-0: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1061486#online.
Are you still deciding between UW and Esper pumpmonkey? I have really liked UW so far. The deck feels much stronger to me this season with Seal Away and Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. Lyra Dawnbringer can win games on her own and completely change the momentum of a game with her angelic 10-point swings. There's a lot to like.
The new counters I don't quite get; Negate and Disallow seem just fine to me.
Nicely done kPal! UW is in a fun place right now with a couple sub-themes to choose from (Approach, Control (TGH), Historic (Lyra)).
The sounds like a really interesting build! I've played with Mono White Approach and White-Black Control and both utilize Thaumatic Compass. I think the WB build had four even. That card really does so much.
Hey there PM;
I'm looking forward to Teferi, Hero of Dominaria! Hard to see how all of these cards fit into one deck but I'm feeling optimistic about UW Control at the moment. I'm a little bit surprised at Unwind over Negate main since Teferi frees up two mana it seemed natural to protect him with Negate.
I am looking forward to seeing your list! Still Esper?!?
Haven't seen that card before. That would be pretty sweet with a The Locust God on the board.
Hey there pumpmonkey!
Would you mind elaborating on why you are leaning Esper? Fatal Push won't help with a Steel Leaf Champion on turn 2 where Baffling End or Seal Away will. Are you thinking Push is essential to eliminate the Llanowar Elves immediately?
Just wondering if you can share your thought process a little bit. . .
thank you!
Hi codaddy;
Thank you for posting the summary and congratulations on the great result - super impressive!
I don't have any great results to share but my son and I both improved from our previous GP - had a blast and met a ton of nice people. Next time we should arrange a face to face hello!
I see Combat Celebrant has increased in price 500% as a result of UR Gift's great showing in Seattle!
And Gonti, Lord of Luxury. That jerk looks at four of you cards and takes the very best one.
I'm not sure what I am going to run. Right now, I'm feeling a bit discouraged to be honest. Two recent trends I have noticed. The first is UW cycling has become Approach of the Second Sun rather than Drake Haven:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1011008#paper
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1017402#paper
I have also noticed that deck as well as Mono White Approach go all in on creatures post-board:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1017423#online
I think some players have decided that Approach is great G1 but G2 is better to go all-in on creatures. I'll think about this a bit more. . .
Hi codaddy;
You've made some great posts recently, thank you! Here are my thoughts . . . I'll have to say I am not nearly as optimistic as you . . .
I'm not sure how well UW Approach is positioned in this meta. I agree game 1 is often favorable but even that is changing with recent Sultai builds mainboarding 2 Negate and creature builds getting lower to the ground. I agree with Eric from CFB and kpal on this thread that post-board can be a nightmare. UW Approach is barely a part of the mtggoldfish metagame now, if it was in a great place it would be producing better results IMHO. The community will eventually figure out what works. Mono-White Approach wasn't a thing a month or so ago but now it is the best Approach deck in the meta (as defined by % in metagame). . .
I think because that deck has so many removal options. Yes, it is all sorcery speed but it's effective and consistent. And there really isn't a lot of enchantment removal in the game. What little there is will quickly get overloaded with 4 Baffling End, 4 Cast Out, 4Ixalan's Binding, and 2 Thopter Arrest plus 2-3 The Immortal Sun. Ironically, I think Mono-White Approach is the easiest deck in this meta for UW Approach.
I'm also going to GP Seattle so this has been on my mind lately. Reliance on counter-magic, while extremely mana-efficient, is also very narrow. I get that one opportunity, if I don't have the mana or Essence Scatter gets countered I'm out of luck. I have to wait to Settle the Wreckage. If Thopter Arrest gets countered the opportunity is there to follow-up with Cast Out next turn.
UB Control, has some reliance on counter-magic but has the best direct removal in the game with Fatal Push and Vraska's Contempt . Which they can cast again when the Torrential Gearhulks come to the party. . .
UW Approach has Cast Out I guess, but that often gets cycled and while you and pumpmonkey have enjoyed some success with it, I've heard no one say Farm // Market is really a great magic card.
I'm reluctant to make big changes to my deck so close to the GP but I may look at a uW option with minimal counters and heavy enchantment removal.
Best wishes for a fun and successful GP!
I've not looked at Dominaria much yet; those cards are fantastic! Baffling End still sees play on the top UW lists from time to time. . . Seal Away looks so much better.
That one caught my eye as well! I will be interested to hear how your testing goes. Essentially 0 counters because I'm sure Supreme Will is mainly there for impulse mode. Draw, Sweep, Rinse, Repeat. . .