After making some sweeping changes to the deck I posted last week, I think I might have come up with something of merit. For the last two weeks, I’ve been trying to find a way to make UW Control into a real deck, as I believe that the combination of Baneslayer Angel, Wall of Denial, and Sphinx of Jwar Isle are just too much for an aggro player to handle, as long as these cards are backed up with a fair amount of support. These cards alone can’t beat Jund, but with the combined power of Celestial Purge, Path to Exile, Day of Judgment, and others, I think the deck has a lot of potential.
There was just something missing from my deck last week, and I couldn’t figure out what until just a few days ago: Red. I felt a small part of myself fall apart every time I was forced to cast Day of Judgment with a Wall of Denial or other creature in play, and I think I’ve solved that problem with the addition of Earthquake. Earthquake adds a little more to the deck than just a sweeper spell, it is also a really great way to deal with opposing Planeswalkers. Garruk Wildspeaker out of the Jund deck was particularly bad for me, since the stream of 3/3 beasts was making me hard-pressed to find answers. Esper Charm doesn’t solve that problem.
In addition to adding Earthquake to the deck, I was also able to play another one of my favorite cards: Ajani Vengeant. This guy is just a beating against any deck. He locks people out of the game if they are stuck with only one source of a certain color, and potentially casts Armageddon if they let him get too out of hand. Additionally, he’s a great way for the deck to combat Great Sable Stag, since Wall of Denial and Celestial Purge do a poor job of dealing with it. Ajani Vengeant was one of the great ways for Five-Color Control to beat Great Sable Stag earlier this year at Nationals, and now that Stag is making a comeback, Ajani Vengeant’s value is consistently rising. Luckily, Lightning Helix on a stick isn’t unimpressive against most decks, as he doubles as a win condition on occasion, especially when combined with Earthquake. The lifegain factor really helps out when you draw Earthquake later in the game against an aggressive deck, recouping some lost life and enabling you to sweep the board without dying.
Without further ado, I present to you: Team America.
Creatures (11)
Planeswalkers (7)
Lands (17)
Spells (25)
- 4 Plains
- 2 Mountain
- 4 Island
- 3 Earthquake
- 2 Mind Spring
- 3 Negate
- 2 Celestial Purge
- 3 Path to Exile
- 2 Day of Judgment
Sideboard
I’ve actually been waffling over 27 and 28 lands for the past few days, but I think 27 is correct. This deck doesn’t have a lot of card-drawing, so getting flooded is a distinct possibility if I play too many lands. However, the deck desperately needs to get to five mana in order to stabilize. The deck, much like the one from last week, utilizes the better cards in Blue and White in order to stall the game until you can resolve one of your game-breaking spells. Baneslayer Angel is hands-down the best threat in Standard as long as she sticks, and Sphinx of Jwar Isle is no slouch either. Both cards give Jund fits, and end the game in a few quick swings. Luckily, you have plenty of cards at your disposal to stall until you can get to the late-game.
Mind Spring is a card I’ve come to love since the rotation of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor block. Since there is no more Cryptic Command, tapping out is not only acceptable, but often recommended. Utilizing your mana each turn is one of the newer aspects of Standard that a lot of people aren’t used to. You no longer have to play around tempo-swinging counterspells, nor involve yourself into an attrition war against Bitterblossom, while still having to play around a 4/4 Flying Mana Short. Thank. God. In all of these scenarios, “big spells” like Earthquake and Mind Spring were just unacceptable, because you had to invest so much effort and mana into a spell that could just easily be countered for 1UUU, or even XU with Broken Ambitions. We have to unlearn everything we’ve been taught about card quality and reevaluate how we look at certain cards in certain formats. This is the first time if a very long while where a Blue-based deck playing counterspells was not the dominant deck. Mind Spring can turn games around in a hurry, putting you very far ahead if you were already fine, or pushing you ahead when you are slightly behind. Some people might think this is a “win more” card, but there are plenty of times where this card becomes “Draw 5 cards” after a few Blightnings, and you’re right back in the game.
Ajani Vengeant and Earthquake have changed this deck dramatically. I sincerely believe that Red is the color to pair with UW, since it allows you to play Earthquake, which is just such a beating right now. It allows you to effectively “Wrath” while keeping your defensive creatures in play. This is the edge I was looking for with the last iteration of the deck, and it has not disappointed. That said, I think two Day of Judgment is still necessary, since it can pull you out of unwinnable situations against cards like Broodmate Dragon or Ranger of Eos. While Earthquake will often not come online until turn 5 or later, it will usually end the game when it resolves, as you will likely still have a creature in play to defend your life total or Planeswalker. This is another reason why I really like Ajani Vengeant. He’s been really good for me as well, adding another dimension of attack for the deck. Against aggressive decks, he is a Lightning Helix for 2RW that soaks up an attack, and often two attacks if you have a removal spell at the ready. Like most Planeswalkers, he takes the focus off of your head while you build your resources and find ways to deal with their threats, all while providing you with significant effects.
Jace is another addition to the deck, mostly in place of Esper Charm. I didn’t play Jace in my last version of the deck because the mana base wouldn’t support casting him very easily on turn 3, but this manabase is set up to do that more easily. With cards like Path to Exile and Celestial Purge in the early game, Jace will likely resolve with no creatures on the Battlefield, making him much better in the process. If he soaks a Lightning Bolt, then he has already done his job of stalling your opponent while drawing a card and getting rid of their direct damage. If they allow him to stay in play for multiple turns, then it becomes very hard to lose, as you can usually entrench yourself behind Wall of Denial and removal spells until you reach critical mass. The Planeswalkers also double as win conditions for the deck against anyone who might side in Thought Hemorrhage, but having to deal 20 damage to my opponent with Ajani Vengeant and Earthquake is not very appealing (but sometimes necessary). Even milling them out with Jace is an option, albeit a very bad one.
Path to Exile is a weird card. I used to love it, but now I am starting to hate it more and more. It seems necessary to fight Jund, as cards like Sprouting Thrinax and Putrid Leech are such beatings, but most of the time it just helps to ramp them into better spells that are usually much worse for you. Traditionally, Path to Exile has been used more affectively in aggressive decks as a tempo-based removal spell for creatures that were particularly hard to deal with, but now it is just the default removal for anyone playing white, but people forget that it does have a drawback. Use it wisely. In testing against Jund, I would often side out Path to Exile for more Celestial Purges, since they are effectively the same card against them, except one doesn’t have the drawback of occasionally losing you the game because you let them play Broodmate Dragon a turn before you could deal with it. The more I play with it, the more I just wish it was Celestial Purge, but the format is too undefined for me to maindeck four Celestial Purge instead of playing 2-4 Path to Exile, and a control deck without a lot of card draw can’t play too many dead cards. Hopefully come Worlds, there will be enough known about the format that I will be able to make an informed decision and be satisfied with playing four of one or the other. Path to Exile deserves its slot right now, but if I play against Jund more than 50% of the time at the StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open in Nashville this weekend, you can bet the house that I’m probably going to maindeck 3 or 4 Celestial Purge come Worlds.
The sideboard has been changing a lot recently, but I think this combination of cards gives you the best chance to beat all of your common matchups after game 1. Here is a detailed list of decks I plan to play against and sideboarding strategies I plan to use should I play this deck:
Against Jund:
+2 Celestial Purge
+3 Flashfreeze
-1 Earthquake
-1 Jace Beleren
-3 Negate
Negate is a weird card in this matchup. Much like late in the last Standard season, it is an ok way to stop cards like Blightning in Game 1, but you just need a better counterspell. Flashfreeze is an amazing sideboard card right now, and people seem to have forgotten about it. Just because Jund cascades doesn’t mean that their spells are invulnerable to counterspells. Bituminous Blast is virtually a blank against you and will usually be sided out, so Flashfreeze is nothing short of Counterspell about 90% of the time. Stopping a card like Thought Hemorrhage, Goblin Ruinblaster, or Blightning from resolving should be top priority for this card, but you should realize that Flashfreeze should not necessarily be used conservatively. Negate just doesn’t have enough good targets, and it is the worst card in your deck against them.
Earthquake is usually an alright spell against Jund, but your lifetotal can rarely handle more than one, so siding out an Earthquake is probably the right call. Drawing two can make the second one a virtual blank. The fact that you normally have to cast Earthquake for 4 in order to kill Putrid Leech is a fairly steep drawback to the spell against their deck. However, it is still good enough to warrant playing a few.
Jace is not very good in this matchup, but he is still your primary source of card draw, so you can’t cut him completely. If you can manage to stick him behind a Wall of Denial, he can get you out of tough situations, or at least take the target off your own head for a minute, but he is just horrible against a resolved Blightning, as you rarely want to +2 him against Jund.
Against Boros:
+4 Pyroclasm
+3 Sunspring Expedition
-2 Celestial Purge
-3 Negate
-2 Mind Spring
In this matchup, your goal is just to survive until turn 5 or 6. If you can Wrath your opponent, then you can usually buy enough time to stabilize. However, if you don’t draw a sweeper, or they use their Fetchlands conservatively to play around Pyroclasm, this can often lead to your immediate demise. Be sure to use Pyroclasms aggressively, as they will probably side in Harm’s Way or possibly even Mark of Asylum as ways to beat your removal. Celestial Purge doesn’t have enough targets to warrant staying in the deck, so cutting those is recommended. Negate is even worse here, since it only counters their Burn spells that they will likely be siding out. Mind Spring is too slow so that should sit it out too. Sunspring Expedition has been promising, doubling up against Boros and Red decks (which I’ll get to in just a second). Eight life is pretty huge in this format, since there are no longer cards like Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender and Kitchen Finks to pad your life total.
Against Red:
+3 Sunspring Expedition
+2 Celestial Purge
+3 Flashfreeze
-3 Earthquake
-3 Negate
-2 Day of Judgment
This match is all about life total management. Game 1 is particularly rough if they have a fast draw and you don’t have Wall of Denial. If you can buy enough time to stick Baneslayer Angel then the game should be wrapped up shortly, as they will rarely have enough burn to kill her. However, if they do, then that should still buy you at least one extra turn, since 5 damage is pointed at her and not you. They have a ton of Haste creatures that die at the end of turn, so Wall of Denial is just amazing. Celestial Purge and Path to Exile are particularly awesome, since they keep the creatures from Unearthing in the mid-game. Earthquake and Day of Judgment are weak here, and I would recommend siding them out, as most of their creatures die at the end of turn anyway.
As an aside, I understand that I am siding out Negate a lot, but it has a lot of great uses and should not be undervalued. I’m banking on playing against a variety of control decks where Negate will shine. After game 1, it becomes less important against the aggro decks because Flashfreeze is so much better.
Against Planeswalker Control, Pyromancer’s Ascension, or Luminarch Ascension:
+3 Oblivion Ring
+X
-Y (usually Path to Exile and Day of Judgment)
I haven’t seen a great list for this style of deck yet, but it will give you nightmares if you aren’t prepared for it. Oblivion Ring is a great answer to Planeswalkers, and is especially useful against Luminarch Ascension, which kills you all by itself. If your opponent draws multiples of the same Planeswalker or Luminarch Ascension, something like Pithing Needle would be better, but I really like the diversity Oblivion Ring brings to the table. Against random green or white aggro decks, it serves as a fine removal spell that doubles as a way to handle the problem cards your deck can’t normally deal with (or can’t easily deal with). The rest of the sideboarding in these type of matchups really depends on their support cards. If Celestial Purge and Flashfreeze have plenty of targets, then you should keep those in. Earthquake can be good against Elspeth or Garruk in a pinch, so it should probably stay in as well. You can side in more Celestial Purges against Pyromancer’s Ascension, as you have plenty of dead cards to side out, and their deck is pretty terrible unless they get their Fork-Stick online.
Against Vampires:
+2 Celestial Purge
+3 Pyroclasm
+2 Oblivion Ring
-3 Earthquake
-4 Wall of Denial
This is quite possibly your worst matchup, as they are the only deck with real answers to Sphinx of Jwar Isle and Wall of Denial. Gatekeeper of Malakir is one of the most powerful black creatures they’ve printed in a while, and he is especially strong against you, since your creatures cost a lot of mana and are not invulnerable. They also play cards like Duress and Mind Sludge, so things can get pretty bad for you in a hurry, especially if you haven’t drawn a Negate, or decide to tap out for a large spell. Their Vampire Nighthawks are particularly annoying too, basically blanking your Walls of Denial. Additionally, Malakir Bloodwitch can’t be blocked by Wall of Denial either, making him rather horrid. His only job game 1 should be to soak a bit of damage, and then later serve as a sacrifice outlet for their Gatekeepers. Game 2 isn’t much better, since very little of your removal hits Malakir Bloodwitch, so you have to rely on using two Pyroclasms to sweep to board, or drawing one of your two Day of Judgment. I think Vampires is strictly worse than Jund as far as aggro decks are concerned, but people will still play them because the cards are all decent and the deck really isn’t that bad. If you are expecting to play against a lot of Vampire decks, then I would not really recommend this deck. They have all the right tools to put a beating on you.
Against Soldiers:
+3 Oblivion Ring
+4 Pyroclasm
-2 Celestial Purge
-3 Negate
-2 Mind Spring
This should be one of your easier matchups. Just cast as many sweepers and removal spells as possible, but make sure you don’t run into Harm’s Way. If they are much slower than normal Soldier decks, i.e. playing Captain of the Watch, you can probably afford to side out 1-2 Baneslayer Angel in favor of the Mind Springs, since you will have plenty of time to cast them and gain a large advantage. They’ll probably have Oblivion Rings as well to help against your Planeswalkers, so the Baneslayers will suffer from splash damage, as well as being the only target for Path to Exile (which they will surely leave in if they see Baneslayer in game 1).
Against the rest of the field:
Just be smart about your deck. If you can predict what they’ll sideboard in against you, you can modify your plans as you go. Jund and Boros are the only real “defined” decks of the format, so beating those should be your top priority. If you can beat those two decks consistently, you should do fine at any major Standard tournament in the near future. There should be a lot of interesting decks to come out of the Starcitygames.com $5K at Nashville, so keep your eyes peeled.
Thanks for reading.
Todd
strong sad on MOL