Ask and ye shall receive.
After a disastrous performance at SCG Houston with U/W Control, it was very clear to me that Fate Reforged had not been kind to the deck. The format had
shifted in numerous ways that were all bad for the deck, with the decks primary prey in Whip of Erebos decks all but vanishing. There’s really not much
point in getting into it, as the format is about to drastically change again, but I hung up U/W Control and haven’t looked back.
Now it looks like Dragons of Tarkir is going to be one of the more powerful sets in a while, and there are quite a few cards in it that seem like
candidates for U/W Control. I’ve been receiving a ton of questions about what I think of these new cards, so let’s just get right to em.
The 2,000-pound gorilla in the room when it comes to speculating about U/W is clearly Narset Transcendent, only the second U/W planeswalker ever printed.
Narset is a very difficult card to evaluate, as we haven’t really seen anything like her. Her abilities really require you to build your deck with them in
mind, and her extremely high starting loyalty at only four mana really doesn’t have a precedent.
Going top down on Narset, we see that her mana cost is right in the sweet spot. Good four mana planeswalkers tend to be format staples, and she fits the
bill.
Her first ability is very reminiscent of Domri Rade, except in the opposite direction. Much like Domri would heavily dictate how you must build your deck,
Narset does so the same way. The only major difference is that Narset plays well with itself, while Domri does not. Domri was a non-creature in a deck that
wanted all creatures, while Narset is a non-creature in a deck that wants non-creatures. It’s not going to be too hard to imagine topping out around 34
non-creature spells in your deck, and that is going to make Narset worth a bit more than a half a card for each activation.
Her second ability is where things get really awkward. Giving a spell rebound is an extremely powerful ability. We get another copy of a card, which is
already strict card advantage, and then we don’t even have to pay for it! This is even better with delve spells as we only need to remove the cards from
our graveyard once. While we may not get the exact timing we would want with the spell, a free spell is a free spell.
The issue is that a draw-go control deck like U/W Control does not want to be backed into a corner when it comes to the timing of their spells. Narset
really wants you to play your big spells on your turn, and on her time. This makes her much more suited to a deck with a more proactive plan, as giving a
Stoke the Flames rebound? Great! Giving a Dissolve rebound? Not so much. While great with a delved Dig Through Time or an End Hostilities, most of the
current cards that U/W Control would play do not play well with rebound.
Narset’s ultimate is pretty much reserved for a control mirror-breaker, and it is not extremely relevant in overall evaluation. Like Ashiok, Nightmare
Weaver, the ultimate is definitely a major threat but slow enough that it can be dealt with and also doesn’t actually affect the game if you are currently
behind.
So what do we do with Narset?
Like many of the Jeskai cards, she seems more suited for a proactive, aggressive role. It is very possible that her extremely high loyalty and ability to
draw a free card every other turn with upside is good enough for a control shell, but I don’t really think that is her true calling. Wizards has been
pushing more midrange/tapout style control decks for a while, and that definitely seems like it is where Narset slides in.
Speaking of powerful, proactive U/W cards, the Elder Dragon version of Ojutai is quite a powerful Magic card. Again, Dragonlord Ojutai does not really fit
into the typical U/W Control deck, but make no mistake that this dragon is simply oozing with power.
The very early versions of U/W and U/B Control ran a few Prognostic Sphinx, and while the card was extremely difficult to deal with, it both didn’t do
enough and played very poorly with End Hostilities. The power of a large, hexproof flyer was fairly apparent, however, and Dragonlord Ojutai blows
Prognostic Sphinx out of the water in almost every regard.
Being able to tap out for Ojutai and know you will almost definitely be able to untap with it in play is extremely comforting, and once you can defend it
from removal and let it safely attack, its combat damage trigger should snowball quite well into a winning position. Ojutai hits hard, protects itself,
advances your gameplan very well, and kills rather quickly to boot.
Again, however, much like Narset, Ojutai is not really-well suited for a control deck as we know it. Assuming that a proactive Jeskai deck would be a good
home for Ojutai, it also faces some stiff competition at the five mana slot against Stormbreath Dragon and Sarhkan, the Dragonspeaker.
This card is not Cryptic Command.
This card is not Cryptic Command.
This card is not Cryptic Command.
Say it one more time with me…
This card is not Cryptic Command!
The hype around this card has been pretty absurd, and while it does resemble one of the most powerful and versatile cards that Standard has ever seen, it
completely pales in comparison.
Returning a creature that costs two or less to play is extremely awkward, as any deck wanting to play a four mana Dismiss or Absorb style card is not going
to have many cheap creatures in it. While we will see a Wall of Omens proxy a bit later on, it actually does nothing with the Command, and there are no
Augur of Bolas or Snapcaster Mages in the format either.
Gaining four life is a nice option to have, but it is rarely going to be better than just drawing a card.
Essence Scatter, or I suppose Nullify, if you will, is a fine Magic card because of how cheaply it answers a threat that often costs much more than it
does. Nullify is a great tempo card, and worth the somewhat awkward mana cost and inflexibility simply because it is such a strong tempo play. Ojutai’s
Command is very clunky, and it is very hard to leave open four mana and then just not have your opponent cast a counterable card.
“Draw a card” is the card’s only real saving grace, and amusingly enough, it’s the only part of the card that actually matches Cryptic Command. If you are able to counter a spell with this and draw a card, the Dismiss effect is a very good one, and just being able to cycle the card while doing
something else will make sure it always has something to do.
While there is definitely a world where Ojutai’s Command could see play, it is an extremely underwhelming card.
This card is not Impulse.
This card is not…
Okay, well… it’s basically Impulse, but Impulse really isn’t that great.
Impulse is a good card in combo decks when you are looking for certain cards to help put things together, but it isn’t really that great in a control deck.
It doesn’t help set up your future draws like Ponder does, and costing two mana is infinitely more that costing one.
This card is fine, but like Ojutai’s Command, it is a pretty solid lesson in judging a card based on its current merit in a current format, rather than
comparing it to cards or formats long past. Impulse has a pretty impressive history, but it really isn’t anything special given the current state of Magic
design. Even an actual Impulse reprint wouldn’t impress me all that much (except for combo decks), and this card is 25% worse.
The card will likely see some fringe play, but it really isn’t anything to be excited about at all.
One card nobody seems to be talking about is Mirror Mockery. While it certainly seems like a sorta silly casual card that can act as a ‘fixed’ version of
Splinter Twin, I’m much more interested in putting it on my opponent’s creatures.
For most purposes, this is just a blue Pacifism, and considering the dearth of playable two-mana removal spells in Standard at the moment, that is
something that could be very reasonable. While not great against Goblin Rabblemaster or Courser of Kruphix, Mirror Mockery makes a mockery of any creature
that wants to attack you. Even if the creature would survive its battle with itself, it is still essentially blocked forever. It’s also pretty awesome
against Siege Rhino.
This one’s definitely not a format breaker, but it is a very interesting card that could see some play.
These cards, along with the flying pseudo-Wall of Omens in Orator of Ojutai, are pretty rough, as putting a bunch of dragons in our deck to trigger them is
not going to be easy. The payoff is definitely there, as a flying Wall of Omens, Counterspell, and an uncounterable Opportunity are all extremely powerful,
but the difficulty is also there.
Orator of Ojutai is probably the most reasonable of the bunch, as a two mana 0/4 flying wall isn’t really that far off curve for two mana, and the
payoff of drawing a card is so good. Unfortunately 0/X walls do not match up very well against Goblin Rabblemaster, and that is a major concern, but
there’s no denying the card’s power level.
Silumgar’s Scorn is pretty interesting, as mana curves do go pretty high in this format. It is reasonable to think that a Force Spike would be live for the
first few turns of the game, and it is hard for your opponent to play around assuming you’ve got some Dragons in your deck. Playing around Force Spike when
your opponent has an actual Counterspell is not really a winning strategy. The problem is that the basement for Silumgar’s Scorn is pretty low, as later in
the game a Force Spike is going to be almost worthless.
Dragonlord’s Prerogative has the highest basement of the three, but with the lowest ceiling; the payoff only really matters in certain matchups.
Opportunity is definitely a fine Magic card, and only didn’t see play the last time around because it was up against Sphinx’s Revelation. It’s hard to say
if it is better than Jace’s Ingenuity, but it is definitely very deck dependent.
There’s also a bevy of sideboard options in the set, and I’m extremely stoked about Encase in Ice. Finally U/W will have a good, clean option to rid itself
of Stormbreath Dragon! Having flash is a huge upside, and Encase in Ice is a very high quality sideboard card on the level of Celestial Purge and friends.
Surge of Righteousness is not nearly as powerful, but it’s still a very nice option to have, as is Radiant Purge. Nothing fancy, just nice answers.
So… What About U/W Control?
Honestly? It’s really hard to say. While there are a ton of cards in the set that could fit in, none of them really fit into the deck as it is
currently built. There are definitely many directions the deck could take though. Maybe you go Esper for Dragonlord Ojutai, Dragonlord Silumgar, and
Silumgar the Drifting Death alongside Crux of Fate and all of the dragon-trigger cards. Maybe you use Narset in a Jesaki Burn style deck.
Dragons of Tarkir is a very deep set, and considering that Standard isn’t even close to solved without it, I bet it is going to take a while to figure out.