When the birth of a new format is upon us, I feel a certain duty and responsibility to combine spells from the blue and white school for my fellow mages out there.
This time it will be slightly different I’m afraid.
U/B Control has swept me off my feet ever since I lost a win-and-in for Top 8 at GP Pittsburgh to Yuuya Watanabe. I went “rogue” in the sense that I added Bloodghasts to the sideboard at the Richmond Open a few weeks prior. Bloodghast gave U/B Control a new dimension to achieving victory that I could discuss all day, but since the poor little Vampire is no more, I won’t waste y’alls time. I will, however, attempt to recreate that magic in the U/B decklist that will be presented shortly.
So why the change of heart, Shaheen? It’s a new format… play U/W!
Venser, the Sojourner is one of the most exciting planeswalkers to ever be printed in my personal experience, but sadly the road to his control success has been limited due to the rotation of Wall of Omens, Sea Gate Oracle, and Spreading Seas. I know there are some exciting substitutes out there like Snapcaster Mage and Blade Splicer; however for this new format I plan on making a vow to stick to pure control.
Using cards like Blade Splicer and Hero of Bladehold in a control deck is acceptable, but you can’t stop yourself from adding Sword of Feast or Famine with a slew of other men. Venser needs to be able to blink a permanent that cantrips, whether used as a post–Day of Judgment drop or to take advantage of a turn-five tap-out from your opponent. I haven’t given up hope on Venser in the slightest, but I have had my attention diverted to the realm of U/B Control recently.
I see myself shifting over to U/W Control once U/B becomes more and more popular. The key sell here in the new set is of course Liliana of the Veil.
This planeswalker is absolutely, positively ABSURD. After playing with the lady, I had flashbacks to Jace, the Mind Sculptor—that feeling of seeing your opponent drop his or her one creature on the board only for you to untap, bounce, and blow them out. That feeling is back to life with Liliana 2.0.
She is a mana cheaper, which plays perfectly into the Mana Leak the turn before. Matter of fact, there are tons of plays involving Despise, Think Twice, or even Doom Blade if you’re on the draw that will result in a clear board, giving you a HUGE advantage. I’ve seen mixed emotions about Liliana from article writers and colleagues of mine. I think the card’s weakness on paper fools many at first glance.
Even the ultimate on Liliana 2.0 is fantastic, and if reached it will destroy most decks from the control mirrors to most midrange builds. Liliana 2.0 is an automatic four-of in any two-color control deck, which was an easy decision just like with the previous three-mana planeswalker.
NO PREORDAIN!
Don’t panic my friends… we will prevail. This segment will also serve as a warning to not fall back to Ponder.
The banning of Preordain and Ponder in Modern has opened the doors to a slew of new control and midrange decks. However, Ponder getting banned in an older format doesn’t mean it is fantastic in all blue decks in Standard. I think Ponder will find a good home in Pod decks as well as any reanimator or future combo deck, but in blue-based control, it is obviously much weaker than Preordain when it comes to opening-hand strength and as a late-game spell.
Think Twice will be the key replacement in terms of hitting land drops and determining whether or not an opening hand that is light on land is keepable.
I feel the rotation of Preordain also changes the way pros and average players build decks. The use of the “one-of” is severely weakened by not being able to dig the same way Preordain let you. Also the amount of land, removal, card draw, and creatures people play also has to change a bit in a world minus Preordain.
Playing one copy of Consecrated Sphinx and one copy of Sun Titan would be a mistake. I’d play two of one or the other in a U/W Control deck. Which one I chose would be determined by which is 51+% more effective in the metagame, and the other could relax in the sideboard, in the worst-case scenario. Then again, if I were to build a straight U/W Control deck we all know that the decision would be non applicable anyway 🙂
Mannnnnnnnnnnnn I want to play Tezzeret!
Picture a mad scientist continuously scratching his head, writing down some figures, balling up the paper, and doing that on repeat for an hour or two.
That’s me trying to fit a Tezzeret package into U/B.
With the absence of Tectonic Edge, Inkmoth Nexus will be a huge problem and ally for U/B players. Now you can build your mana up in peace as well as run four of the infectious manlands; however how can we abuse their power? First thing that comes to mind is jumping it to a 5/5 with Tez twice and ending the game. Secondly, I want to add a few Contagion Clasps, Sword of Feast and Famines, Tumble Magnets, Sphere of t— …got carried away.
As I figured out in the old Standard, there is no room for Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas in a traditional control deck due to the amount of focus you need on him to be successful. Does this mean that Inkmoth Nexus will not shine?
Absolutely not! Liliana of the Veil just so happens to go to one loyalty once you use her edict ability…just enough to be slain by a 1/1 flier. Inkmoth will be a pain in the rear in the control mirror for multiple other reasons. The main one is we will be packing heat in the sideboard for our little guy. The reasons why control players all want to have a Tezzeret in play are quite clear.
When battling a vanilla control deck, being able to attack while playing powerful spells and drawing lots of cards is unbeatable. Don’t confuse this with a “midrange” deck or aggro-control because it isn’t. This aggressive element is not a guarantee because you only run four Tezzeret—or four Bloodghast as from before. Some games you’ll have constant pressure, and sometimes it’ll just be another day at the office…kill all your guys andddddd TITAN! So if we aren’t using Tezzeret in this U/B Control deck…what will we use?
Azure Mage to the rescue!
Azure Mage is a nightmare for an opposing control player who has boarded out most, if not all, of his or her early removal. It serves a similar purpose as Bloodghast but has a few flaws.
- Doesn’t come back. Bloodghast is a nightmare for your opponent BECAUSE it kept coming back over and over. Azure Mage doesn’t have that same luxury.
- Mana Leak? Damn! Example 1 carries down to example 2 because of the effectiveness of simply Mana Leaking it on the play. However if your opponent is on the draw game 3, and you have one of these little suckers in your hand, you are in good shape.
- No haste. Meh, who cares about this one actually? The haste ability was OK but rarely affected the game state. It maybe mattered 10% of the time, and generally on a stalled board in the late game.
However the benefits are…
- IT DRAWS CARDS. For the readers who know me well, I’m a sucker for drawing extra cards. If you check out the recent Mike Flores article on the Wizards site, you’ll see I have played other things besides hardnosed, two-color control. In this case, Azure Mage is simply a traditional method of out-carding your opponent and eventually burying them under card advantage.
- It is much better than Bloodghast late game. A ripped Azure Mage on a stalled board, while slightly behind or ahead, is amazing. He gets to work right away, allowing you to do great things with the new flow of spells.
- It will force your opponent to board in more removal game 3. All or some of those removal spells will come back in to deal with the little guy. Azure Mage serves as a colossal distraction in that case, allowing you to claim victory with the more explosive threats (Titans, Sphinx, planeswalkers, etc.). The element of surprise is a great perk to have in Magic, as well as having your opponent second guess themselves during sideboarding.
I tried various other threats for the control mirror sideboard such as:
More Snapcaster Mages
But I realized that Azure Mage does everything you need it to do and a bit more. The true negative to him is that he’s not good against much else besides a control mirror, but the maindeck of U/B Control is so powerful that the sideboard can be dedicated to very specific matchups.
CAN I SEE THE DECKLIST NOW, SHAHEEN?
OK…OK…relax. Here it is…
Creatures (9)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (26)
Spells (19)
Here is the list I will be playing in the first few events and fine-tuning. I want to spend a moment to discuss why I chose specific cards over others and the purpose of random elements.
Doom Blade over Go for the Throat
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vs. |
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Go for the Throat has gone from one of my favorite removal spells to my least favorite. Dead against Tempered Steel, can’t kill Phyrexian Metamorph, sits in your hand while an Inkmoth Nexus beats on you—the list goes on and on. What are the advantages of GFTT?
- Kills Grave Titan…
Isn’t that exciting??? I didn’t think it was either. The chances of a Grave Titan landing against Mana Leak is slim without Inquisition, and it has to dodge an array of Despises. It can also possibly get discarded to Liliana 2.0 or be answered by Snapcaster Mage repeating of one of the previous answers. Trust me on this one… Doom Blade is way better.
I Despise you
I love saying that as I cast that fantastic little spell. It reminds me of the lingo from the Newman character on Seinfeld. I teach high schoolers, as I’ve mentioned before, and did you know that most of my kids have never even HEARD of that show? It makes me feel old and sad all in one… what was I talking about again?
Oh yea, Despise.
For all the haters of this card out there, you have not thought it through enough. This card has increased tenfold in effectiveness as a general discard spell. With the rotation of Splinter Twin, Despise is almost always a sure hit. Against Pod, they are all creatures; against Tempered Steel and other white aggro decks, they also play mostly creatures. Against control, they have either a ton of Lilianas, Titans, and Sphinxes, or a Snapcaster Mage or two. I can’t think of a matchup where I don’t want the one-mana peek and steal in order to set up a magnificent turn 2 Leak into Liliana 2.0.
Worst-case scenario, you have an easy board out for game 2 and 3 or pitch it to Liliana if you aren’t feeling it. I say this to ease your mind, but you’ll see how fantastic Despise is in this new world even if it’s no Inquisition.
Snapcaster Mage as a two-of
Snapcaster does seem like he’ll be pretty good, but not as a four-of or even three-of in this deck. We just simply do not have enough instants and sorceries that are decent with him, nor do we want to add more in the maindeck. I can see running an extra Snapcaster in the board for extra Sorin’s Thirst, but that minor adjustment might not be needed if quick aggro doesn’t pick up in popularity.
The other card choices are easier to explain.
Jace, Memory Adept: Bullet to punish a control player for tapping out and can get out of hand.
Batterskull: Necessary against aggro and better than Wurmcoil Engine due to mana cost and a less painful Act of Aggression target.
Big Daddy Karn: Too cool to cut and one of the best late-game cards out there.
2 Grave Titan / 2 Consecrated Sphinx: Standard win conditions.
Black Sun’s Zenith: It’s no Day of Judgment, but it’ll do.
Flashfreeze: Still a powerhouse against Pod as a hard counter. It is too dangerous to rely on Torpor Orbs, and I personally hate that card so I’ll never play it. You also know that people will still play red and green spells, so just be prepared.
Army of the Damned: This is the big red button, the Rude Awakening, the Mortal Kombat finish him… and I personally like putting thirteen creatures into play.
I truly believe that U/B Control is the key to victory in post rotation. Venser and Gideon will be around for a while, and if Tempered Steel and random other aggro decks become super popular, the switch will have to be made. In a metagame of “new” Caw-Blade, Pod, and the unknown / rogue decks, U/B Control is the best and safest choice. At this point, Liliana of the Veil is a powerhouse that can make games tilt right in your favor as early as turn 3, and until the Magic world adapts to the power of the little planeswalker, I see no reason to head to Venser land.
I hope this article provides enough reason and opinion to help guide you guys into a successful U/B Control run and thanks for reading always!
Shaheen
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