Feature Article – U/W Control in Extended

Hello everyone!

Today, I will share my Extended deck. I’ve been playing it a lot online, and I feel

it’s a great choice for any approaching PTQ — and, of course, for Grand Prix:

Dallas.

At the moment, I’m playing U/W Tron. It’s a strong deck, but it does have

weaknesses. For example, it’s not good against TEPS or Flow Rock… but after

sideboarding, it can defeat TEPS (although it is still difficult). It has a lot of raw

power… and when you complete the Tron, the deck is overwhelming. You have nice draw

spells: Thirst for Knowledge, Fact or Fiction. There’s also some countermagic that lets

you draw cards.

First, let’s see the decklist.

Depending on your metagame, it can be tweaked quite a lot, but if I were playing in a PTQ,

I would play the deck exactly as it is above.

Now I will explain the card choices.

Maindeck

2 Solemn Simulacrum
Not everyone agrees with this choice, but Jens is amazingly strong against Boros. He also takes

away your anxiety about colored mana. If you don’t like this card, you should play more

copies of Exalted Angel, or maybe a few more Talismans.

2 Exalted Angel
You must play at least two of these. You don’t have to play Solemn Simulacrum or

Sundering Titan… but you have to play Angels. Because I think this is a better solution

than Sphere of Law or Sun Droplet, I don’t play such cards in my sideboard. Exalted Angel

excels because it’s good against both beatdown builds and decks like Psychatog

and Destructive Flow.

2 Eternal Dragon
As I mentioned in my passage on Solemn Simulacrum, colored mana is very important. I’ve

won many games by fetching a Hallowed with this guy, so you should play at least one.

1 Sundering Titan
Sundering Titan is very effective against decks that play a lot of Ravnica shocklands. But it

is terrible in some match-ups, so you may remove this depending on your metagame.

3 Decree of Justice
After completing the Tron, both effects can finish the game quickly. Before completing the

Tron, you can buy time by cycling to chump-block, and you can sacrifice instant-speed soldiers

to protect Exalted Angels against Edict effects.

Overall, the choice of creatures (in which I include Decree of Justice) is pretty much down

to personal preference, but you’ll need at least two Exalted Angels, one Eternal Dragon,

and three Decrees. I feel the Exalted Angels are especially strong, stronger than the other

creatures, so you must not take them out. I admit that Meloku the Clouded Mirror is good, as

you force your opponent to blow his Pernicious Deed by returning some lands. Meloku is also

better for its resistance to targeted removal, like Putrefy. If you expect many G/B builds,

consider Meloku for the maindeck.

4 Remand
4 Condescend
Some people play Memory Lapse instead, but I think it’s better draw more cards yourself,

rather than interfering with your opponent’s draw. The most important thing you need to

do is get your Tron completed. Besides, when you counter a flashback spell like Cabal Therapy,

Remand gives you more advantage than Memory Lapse. Condescend is the best counterspell when you

play first, or after you’ve completed your Tron, and even if you play second

it’s not bad against some decks. I think these two counterspells are better than the

alternatives.

3 Repeal
3 Wrath of God
Your answer to permanents. Don’t forget that Repeal can bounce your face-down Angel for a

single Blue. I see some lists that contain only two Wrath of God, but I think you should play

at least three. There are few decks (other than Desire or similar combo offerings) that Wrath

is dead against, and it is clear you must protect your early game against beatdown builds.

4 Azorius Signet
1 Talisman of Progress
2 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Fact or Fiction
2 Mindslaver
You must play these. Reducing your card-drawing support spells means you become unable to

defend yourself against Duress and Cabal Therapy decks. Azorius Signet and Talisman of Progress

decrease the possibility of mulligans, which is very important. If you have a Talisman and two

lands, you can keep almost all kinds of hands. If you have the Tron completed in your opening

hand, and you don’t have either a Talisman or another land that produces colored mana,

you should consider the mulligan. It goes without saying that Mindslaver is awesome. If you can

activate this, you almost guaranteed a win.

1 Academy Ruins
I think everyone plays at least one. However, I recently played against a version that

contained two Academy Ruins. This is a good call if you expect many mirror-matches. After the

first ones have gone, if you have second, it simply means you have a big advantage. In my

builds I have to play many basic lands in order to maximise the strength of Solemn Simulacrum,

so it is difficult for me to play the second. You should consider doing so if you play without

the Solemns.

Sideboard

2 Exalted Angel
This is the most best card in the deck. You might ask why I don’t play four of this main.

I think four Angels in the main is simply too many… so I put two in the sideboard for

now. Whenever I sideboard, I bring them in for any unnecessary maindeck cards.

2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
3 Orim’s Chant
These are in to defeat mirror-matches and Scepter-Chant decks.

3 Condemn
This works pretty well against Affinity and Boros. Its cost is awesome for this deck. You can

play both removal and draw spell – or both removal and countermagic – in the same turn, which

can’t be done in game 1.

3 Disenchant
This is the answer to Destructive Flow or Isochron Scepter, which are major threats for this

deck. There is a card more frightening – Dwarven Blastminer. If you’re playing U/W,

it’s very difficult to deal with. If you worry about this card, try playing one Repeal in

the sideboard instead. Or you could try Pithing Needle… it depends on the metagame. And

Pithing Needle can’t stop Destructive Flow.

1 Stifle
This isn’t for the Desire match-up as such… it’s more for the mirror. Against

the mirror, the game is a race: “Which player can play and resolve Mindslaver

first?” Therefore Stifle is very important, because it can deal with Mindslaver after

it’s resolved once. However, Orim’s Chant is more useful in general.

1 Mindslaver
As I mentioned, the mirror comes down to Mindslaver. You should win if you activate this first.

Side this in when your opponent is not playing an aggro deck.

Now I’ll explain the important match-ups.

Versus Boros
It is important to drop an Azorius Signet, to draw Wrath of God, and to counter Molten Rain. If

you can cast Solemn Simulacrum through a Signet, it makes the situation much better for you.

Surviving the early game is very important. Play Remand without hesitation. Sometimes it is

necessary to play a turn 3 face-down Angel, especially if you don’t you have six mana in

hand and lack a Wrath of God.

Side out:
1 Sundering Titan, 1 Remand, 1 Decree of Justice, 2 Mindslaver

Side in:
2 Exalted Angel, 3 Condemn

After sideboarding you have more Angels, so you should win if you play to get six mana. If

your opponent plays Sulfuric Vortex, you must be cautious. You need to play Disenchant. Side

out a Dragon and Remand, or another Decree of Justice. It may seem strange that I leave 3

Remand, but you can use it to draw down to Solemn Simulacrum or Fact or Fiction, or get to

Wrath of God mana by avoiding Molten Rain by a turn.

Versus Desire
Game 1 is desperately disadvantageous. Unless you complete the Tron surprisingly fast, or your

countermagic works well, you’ll never win.

Side out:
2 Solemn Simulacrum, 1 Sundering Titan, 3 Wrath of God, 1 Repeal

Side in
2 Exalted Angel, 3 Orim’s Chant, 1 Stifle, 1 Mindslaver

After sideboarding it is better, but you must not forget your opponent’s Duress. Keep

it in mind that your opponent has not only Mind’s Desire, but also Empty the Warrens. Be

careful when you play Orim’s Chant. It is a good idea to count the Storm copies, of

course. Repeal is left in to bounce Lotus Bloom, but if you are anxious about Empty the

Warrens, leave in Wrath of God.

Versus Scepter-Chant
This is one of the most popular decks in the Japanese metagame. The match hinges on how quickly

they drop the Isochron Scepter / Orim’s Chant combo. Your win rate is about 40% or

50%… Be wary of Teferi, and Teferi, and Teferi.

Side out:
2 Solemn Simulacrum, 2 Exalted Angel, 2 Repeal, 3 Wrath of God

Side in
3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir; 3 Orim’s Chant; 3 Disenchant

After sideboarding, still beware of Teferi. Scepter-Chant alone can be defeated by

Disenchant, or your Chant plus Teferi. Play carefully. Never let Teferi resolve by cycling

Decree of Justice with all your mana… you’ll kick yourself if you do.

Versus Destructive Flow Decks
This is your worst match-up. This much is obvious, as you’re playing the Tron. You

must counter Dark Confidant and Destructive Flow. If you counter the Flow, their other

cards are not very powerful.

Side out
1 Sundering Titan, 2 Decree of Justice, 2 Mindslaver

Side in
2 Exalted Angel, 3 Disenchant

Sideboarding packs the deck with cheap spells. It is good idea to side in Condemn, but I

don’t find anything appropriate to side out. You lose to Destructive Flow, not to their

beats, so I think personally that you don’t need it. After sideboarding, Disenchant make

surviving easier… but it is difficult.

Versus the mirror-match
This is the match-up in which Mindslaver is the most important card. In game 1, if you resolve

Mindslaver you win, so when you see your opponent tap out – even if you don’t have the

Tron — slamming Mindslaver into play makes the game very good for you.

Side out
2 Solemn Simulacrum, 1 Sundering Titan, 3 Wrath of God, 2 Repeal

Side in
3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir; 3 Orim’s Chant; 1 Stifle; 1 Mindslaver

Teferi can nullify opponent’s countermagic, Stifle, and Trickbind. After

sideboarding, even if you resolve Mindslaver, you must be careful. You must not activate it at

once without thinking. As I mentioned, there is Stifle. If you resolved this in the early part

of the game, don’t activate it. Only do it when you can counter Stifle. When Mindslaver

is in play, it will be difficult for the opponent to act, so you gradually gain the initiative.

That’s all the important match-ups covered. So, what next?

This list changes a lot, wholly dependant on the metagame. If you expect many Boros decks,

you’ll need Sphere of Law in your sideboard. If you expect Affinity, you’ll need

Kataki, War’s Wage.

The Cloudpost Version

The Cloudpost version has gained in popularity recently, so I began to test it. Overall, I

thought that Cloudpost acted better than the Tron. However, the deck has too many

comes-into-play-tapped, which is a definite weak spot. Often you need to Shock yourself to put

Hallowed Fountain into play untapped, and that can be a serious problem sometimes. And if you

don’t draw Cloudpost, Vesuva is crap. Overall, I believe that it’s a personal

preference whether you run the Tron or Cloudpost. Personally, I prefer Cloudpost… but I

don’t like the mirror match when playing Cloudpost. It becomes very troublesome. If you

are confident after practicing against the mirror, I recommend Cloudpost.

Here’s my Cloudpost list:

There are few changes other than the lands. The main difference is that I play more basic

lands than in the Tron version, to endure Destructive Flow and Dwarven Blastminer hate. And I

desperately want to add another Mindslaver, so I’m testing the third in the maindeck.

I took out Solemn Simulacrum and replaced it with Talisman of Progress instead.

You’ll know why when you play this deck… you have two mana when you play turn 1

Cloudpost followed by turn 2 Cloudpost or Vesuva, and so Azorius Signet or Talisman of Progress

make your action much better. I hate playing too many mana sources, so I replaced one with

Exalted Angel. Fact or Fiction often causes mana burn at times, so it may be good to change

basic lands to artifact lands and play three copies of Thirst for Knowledge and Fact of

Fiction. I also put in Kataki, War’s Wage, which is a fine card against the

suddenly-popular Affinity, replacing a Mindslaver.

Conclusion

I think it Magic would be boring if you took everything you read by a “good”

player at face value. If you disagree with anything I’ve said, it is the best for both of

us if you state your idea.

“I think ‘X, Y and Z’ may work… what do you think?”

If you are not confident in your own ideas, and you lose as a consequence of that lack of

confidence, you shouldn’t be disappointed. The fact that you tested and tried something

of your own is excellent for your improvement, and it will help the next time you build and

play. The important thing is to think for yourself.

Katsuhiro and I generally take the same decks to every tournament, but we have a different

sideboarding strategy every time. This proves there is no “absolute answer” in

Magic, and it is a great boon to believe in your own ideas.

I am often asked online, “What is the best deck in the current metagame?” There

are many decks in Extended, and each one is strong enough to win a tournament. I think the best

deck in the field is the one that you are most comfortable playing. Every deck requires a great

deal of skill and thought to pilot correctly – the more mistakes you make, the more games you

lose. You need to know your deck, and you need to enjoy playing it.

I hope this article helped you. Thank you for reading! Enjoy Magic! And I’ll see you

in the next article!

Kenji