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Decks (Magic The Gathering) => Standard => Topic started by: Vileo on September 25, 2013, 07:49:37 PM

Title: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on September 25, 2013, 07:49:37 PM
U/W Control

75 cards, 15 sideboard


4 {Hallowed Fountain}
9 {Island}
8 {Plains}
4 {Azorius Guildgate}

25 lands


2 {Ætherling}
3 {Omenspeaker}

5 creatures


3 {Cyclonic Rift}
2 {Detention Sphere}
4 {Riot Control}
4 {Azorius Charm}
2 {Syncopate}
2 {Elspeth, Sun's Champion}
4 {Supreme Verdict}
4 {Sphinx's Revelation}
3 {Dissolve}
1 {Curse of the Swine}
1 {Elixir of Immortality}

30 other spells


Sideboard

2 {Ratchet Bomb}
1 {Dispel}
3 {Celestial Flare}
1 {Rest in Peace}
2 {Ray of Dissolution}
1 {Psychic Spiral}
3 {Pithing Needle}
2 {Blind Obedience}

15 sideboard cards



Notes:
These are my changes to my U/W list for Theros. So far it has been functioning amazingly.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 25, 2013, 09:34:57 PM
I'd replace the guild gates with scry lands, but that's just budgeting concerns.

I've never been a big fan of running 4 sphinx, but you do have lots of stall power
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on September 25, 2013, 09:49:32 PM
There's no U/W scry land right now. And I might consider dropping a single sphinx. Not sure.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 25, 2013, 09:53:00 PM
Ohh poop. Maybe in the next expansion.

Thassa could help a bit, but then you'd open yourself up for a turn.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: JordanCirk on September 25, 2013, 11:28:39 PM
I agree with pirate about running 4 revs, even though it's one of the most powerful cards for control, it isn't needed as a 4 of. Also how do you like  {Omenspeaker}? I feel it's underwealming and not as strong as I would have liked it to be. To say the least, I havnt been very impressed.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on September 26, 2013, 01:05:12 AM
Omenspeaker is great. It blocks a lot of stuff, and it sets you up for good draws. It doesn't brick and wiff away lands like Augur of Bolas does.

Perhaps -1 sphinx +1 curse? Also, do I need a third Elspeth? She's really good, but I'm not sure. Maybe -1 Aetherling +1 Elspeth? I have enough draw an stall to hit Aetherling anyway, right? But then again, I play Aetherling t7 and win t10. Suggestions?
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 03:52:23 AM
I think it's fine either way
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on September 26, 2013, 03:57:12 AM
Then, in order to make sure my wallet doesn't hurt, I'm not going for a third, lol. But I think I like curse. I'm gonna think about the fourth sphinx slot a while more.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 09:22:40 AM
Not a big fan of curse.  A likely time you are playing it is turn 4 or 5, and at that point your opponent has played a minimum of 3-4 dudes In the aggro matchup, you main phase exile 3 of them, next turn they swing for 8 or 9 and you are tapped out.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 10:22:40 AM
Quote from: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 09:22:40 AM
Not a big fan of curse.  A likely time you are playing it is turn 4 or 5, and at that point your opponent has played a minimum of 3-4 dudes In the aggro matchup, you main phase exile 3 of them, next turn they swing for 8 or 9 and you are tapped out.

Late game answer to gods? Beats detention sphere, second only to azorius charm or planar cleansing / merciless eviction
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 10:40:21 AM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 10:22:40 AM
Quote from: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 09:22:40 AM
Not a big fan of curse.  A likely time you are playing it is turn 4 or 5, and at that point your opponent has played a minimum of 3-4 dudes In the aggro matchup, you main phase exile 3 of them, next turn they swing for 8 or 9 and you are tapped out.

Late game answer to gods? Beats detention sphere, second only to azorius charm or planar cleansing / merciless eviction

Then why not run ANY of the cards you just mentioned?  It is not a good card.  Sure, it is fun, but it isn't good.  I would rather run D-Sphere for sure.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 10:50:23 AM
I'll just cyclonic rift your dsphere on the End Phase of your turn, enjoy any Enter the battlefield effects, then get in for lethal :3
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 12:51:45 PM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 10:50:23 AM
I'll just cyclonic rift your dsphere on the End Phase of your turn, enjoy any Enter the battlefield effects, then get in for lethal :3

I'll just swing for lethal with my 4 swine while you are tapped out?  Ur situation is so situational...
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 12:57:46 PM
Quote from: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 12:51:45 PM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 10:50:23 AM
I'll just cyclonic rift your dsphere on the End Phase of your turn, enjoy any Enter the battlefield effects, then get in for lethal :3

I'll just swing for lethal with my 4 swine while you are tapped out?  Ur situation is so situational...

... So you just supported my call? Lol. We're talkig about Swine Flu Vs. Detention sphere. Detention sphere can easily be distrusted this format

And I'm thinking the deck pilot will do math BEFORE choosing a value for X. Is that an indestructible god? I'll just turn him and that 4/4 into 2/2's
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 01:09:10 PM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 12:57:46 PM
Quote from: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 12:51:45 PM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 10:50:23 AM
I'll just cyclonic rift your dsphere on the End Phase of your turn, enjoy any Enter the battlefield effects, then get in for lethal :3

I'll just swing for lethal with my 4 swine while you are tapped out?  Ur situation is so situational...

... So you just supported my call? Lol. We're talkig about Swine Flu Vs. Detention sphere. Detention sphere can easily be distrusted this format

And I'm thinking the deck pilot will do math BEFORE choosing a value for X. Is that an indestructible god? I'll just turn him and that 4/4 into 2/2's

For three mana I would rather D-Sphere than give him another dude.  I am saying if you run Swine then they swing at u for 8 with all their swines, and if you spent 3 mana on just exiling a god then they swing at you with all their creatures plus a 2/2 boar.  I have never seen a competitive deck run {Cyclonic Rift} and there is very little main board enchantment hate in any competitive deck ever.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: JordanCirk on September 26, 2013, 01:19:17 PM
Quote from: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 01:09:10 PM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 12:57:46 PM
Quote from: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 12:51:45 PM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 10:50:23 AM
I'll just cyclonic rift your dsphere on the End Phase of your turn, enjoy any Enter the battlefield effects, then get in for lethal :3

I'll just swing for lethal with my 4 swine while you are tapped out?  Ur situation is so situational...

... So you just supported my call? Lol. We're talkig about Swine Flu Vs. Detention sphere. Detention sphere can easily be distrusted this format

And I'm thinking the deck pilot will do math BEFORE choosing a value for X. Is that an indestructible god? I'll just turn him and that 4/4 into 2/2's

For three mana I would rather D-Sphere than give him another dude.  I am saying if you run Swine then they swing at u for 8 with all their swines, and if you spent 3 mana on just exiling a god then they swing at you with all their creatures plus a 2/2 boar.  I have never seen a competitive deck run {Cyclonic Rift} and there is very little main board enchantment hate in any competitive deck ever.
Now I've got to disagree there. Yes, maybe standard for a while hasn't seen any mainboard enc hate, but this set DEFINETLY will. Too many powerful enc to ignore it. And if you really want to use curse of the swine or w/e, that's why there's this beautiful card called ratchet bomb! "Oh nice board you got there. Here lemme turn them into piggys. No pigs! Don't go near that bomb! No! Too late. Bacon for everyone."
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 01:24:23 PM
This may be an enchantment block, but as cool as the gods are only a few will see competitive play.  Main boarding enchantment hate just for the possible God encounter seems a bit much to me.  Sideboard, certainly.  But one of the only ways to get rid of a god before it is a creature is {Detention Sphere}, which is just another reason to run it over {Curse of the Swine}.  Not to mention that gods are untouched by almost all enchantment hate in the set anyway.  I would personally never main board enchantment hate, just board universal control like {Detention Sphere} to answer any threats.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: brybry723 on September 26, 2013, 02:11:29 PM
Why no jace? Early game the +1 slows them down from killing you or even your jace and late game the -2 ability basically digs you into whatever you need to finish gaining control or just to finish off the game. I think that card is almost a must in any u/w/x control
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: JordanCirk on September 26, 2013, 02:45:24 PM
Quote from: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 01:24:23 PM
This may be an enchantment block, but as cool as the gods are only a few will see competitive play.  Main boarding enchantment hate just for the possible God encounter seems a bit much to me.  Sideboard, certainly.  But one of the only ways to get rid of a god before it is a creature is {Detention Sphere}, which is just another reason to run it over {Curse of the Swine}.  Not to mention that gods are untouched by almost all enchantment hate in the set anyway.  I would personally never main board enchantment hate, just board universal control like {Detention Sphere} to answer any threats.
I never said the gods will be a huge enc part of standard? I'm more talking about cards like Whip of Erebos and Assemble the Legion. I can guarantee you someone's going to want to use the Whip+Obzedat combo in pretty much every competitive meta.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on September 26, 2013, 02:54:45 PM
I do have enchantment hate, it's called cyclonic rift. Rift is so good because whe they go to recast it, you have the chance to draw your answers (counter spells) by then.

Also, curse of the swine deals with voice of resurgence very well. Although, admittedly I just really want to use it so I can hand my opponent some custom 2/2 bacon tokens. It generally makes people feel better with a little bit of comic relief while you dominate them with a control deck.

No Jace because he isn't really needed. I can cast Riot Control before I can cost Jace, an that gains me life. Jace is good, don't get me wrong, but the life is incredibly relevant. Also, I just don't have the cash now that he went up.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 03:05:51 PM
Quote from: Vileo on September 26, 2013, 02:54:45 PM
I just don't have the cash now that he went up.

How much is he at the moment? Up from 20?
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 03:13:23 PM
Quote from: JordanCirk on September 26, 2013, 02:45:24 PM
Quote from: iTzTowelie404 on September 26, 2013, 01:24:23 PM
This may be an enchantment block, but as cool as the gods are only a few will see competitive play.  Main boarding enchantment hate just for the possible God encounter seems a bit much to me.  Sideboard, certainly.  But one of the only ways to get rid of a god before it is a creature is {Detention Sphere}, which is just another reason to run it over {Curse of the Swine}.  Not to mention that gods are untouched by almost all enchantment hate in the set anyway.  I would personally never main board enchantment hate, just board universal control like {Detention Sphere} to answer any threats.
I never said the gods will be a huge enc part of standard? I'm more talking about cards like Whip of Erebos and Assemble the Legion. I can guarantee you someone's going to want to use the Whip+Obzedat combo in pretty much every competitive meta.

Why run specific enchantment hate for the one deck that runs that combo tho.  Like I said, just run global answers.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on September 27, 2013, 03:18:32 AM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 03:05:51 PMHow much is he at the moment? Up from 20?
No, but he was less before rotation.

Also, my main enchantment hate is Cyclonic Rift, because I run the six counter spells. A lot of control decks are moving away from counters, which is where I think I have an advantage.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: JordanCirk on September 27, 2013, 04:42:24 PM
Quote from: Vileo on September 27, 2013, 03:18:32 AM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 26, 2013, 03:05:51 PMHow much is he at the moment? Up from 20?
No, but he was less before rotation.

Also, my main enchantment hate is Cyclonic Rift, because I run the six counter spells. A lot of control decks are moving away from counters, which is where I think I have an advantage.
Yeah I can see that. I have a hard time saying cyclonic rift will be good though, but who knows I could be completely wrong. If anything it is a decent answer to planeswalkers for that time being, giving you a turn to draw a counter
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on September 28, 2013, 03:28:55 AM
Cyclonic rift proved itself a few times tonight at FNM. I made a couple mistakes, so I only placed 2nd, but the knowledge I gained from making those mistakes will help me in the future. Also: 4 sphinx's rev is a must. One of the few games I lost tonight was because I neer drew another Rev when I had like 15 lands out.

Notes on new cards:
Curse of the Swine is always good, because a vanilla 2/2 is always worse then whatever you're targeting. Tonight I targeted Archangel of Thune, Voice of Resurgence, and Worldspine worm. Among other things.

Elspeth: This card. Just. Glorious. I need more. Want to play 3, not sure if I can. She does everything the deck needs we to do. Way better than Architect as a control PW.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 28, 2013, 03:46:12 AM
That was a value swine curse lol

Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: JordanCirk on September 28, 2013, 09:08:58 AM
Quote from: Vileo on September 28, 2013, 03:28:55 AM
Cyclonic rift proved itself a few times tonight at FNM. I made a couple mistakes, so I only placed 2nd, but the knowledge I gained from making those mistakes will help me in the future. Also: 4 sphinx's rev is a must. One of the few games I lost tonight was because I neer drew another Rev when I had like 15 lands out.

Notes on new cards:
Curse of the Swine is always good, because a vanilla 2/2 is always worse then whatever you're targeting. Tonight I targeted Archangel of Thune, Voice of Resurgence, and Worldspine worm. Among other things.

Elspeth: This card. Just. Glorious. I need more. Want to play 3, not sure if I can. She does everything the deck needs we to do. Way better than Architect as a control PW.
Very nice 😃
Cyclonic rift: I don't run it in my U/W control, but like I said I can see how it can be very good.
Curse of the swine: really wanted to play it, but can't find a place for it.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion: I totally agree with you. It was amazing. I ended up placing 2nd as well and every game I played elspeth, I won. She's by far the best control PW in standard
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on September 29, 2013, 11:20:34 PM
Main board list changes:
-1 {Syncopate}
+1 {Curse of the Swine}
+1 {Psychic Spiral}
+1 {Plains}

Side board changes:
-1 {Psychic Spiral}
+1 {Celestial Flare}

{Psychic Spiral} is going to the main because of several different reasons. For one, it fills the same spot that {Snapcaster Mage} recently vacated in standard. It allows you to effectively have more than 4 copies of a specific spell in your deck. Now, it doesn't become a wildcard the way Snapcaster did, but it does allow you to advance the game state (Mill) on you opponent almost always I your favor. After having done so, you can use late game {Sphinx's Revelation}s without fear of decking yourself out, making the life gain much more relevant. It also makes your late game Revs much more valuable because you draw less lands, most of which are already on the battlefield. It is amazing as a 1-of in the main. As an additional plus side, it can quite technically be a win condition if the game goes that long.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 30, 2013, 12:00:00 AM
Rename deck white fog control lol
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: JordanCirk on September 30, 2013, 12:23:52 AM
Quote from: Vileo on September 29, 2013, 11:20:34 PM
Main board list changes:
-1 {Syncopate}
+1 {Curse of the Swine}
+1 {Psychic Spiral}
+1 {Plains}

Side board changes:
-1 {Psychic Spiral}
+1 {Celestial Flare}

{Psychic Spiral} is going to the main because of several different reasons. For one, it fills the same spot that {Snapcaster Mage} recently vacated in standard. It allows you to effectively have more than 4 copies of a specific spell in your deck. Now, it doesn't become a wildcard the way Snapcaster did, but it does allow you to advance the game state (Mill) on you opponent almost always I your favor. After having done so, you can use late game {Sphinx's Revelation}s without fear of decking yourself out, making the life gain much more relevant. It also makes your late game Revs much more valuable because you draw less lands, most of which are already on the battlefield. It is amazing as a 1-of in the main. As an additional plus side, it can quite technically be a win condition if the game goes that long.
I run  {Elixir of Immortality} and I think it's a better choice than psychic spiral, as it gains you 5 life and comes down early. Idk how many times I've used elixer against an Aggro deck and it's saved my butt. (That and blind obedience)
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Pirate John on September 30, 2013, 12:28:31 AM
Did elixir cycle?
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: JordanCirk on September 30, 2013, 06:16:58 AM
Quote from: Pirate John on September 30, 2013, 12:28:31 AM
Did elixir cycle?
Nope, reprinted in M14
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on September 30, 2013, 12:50:39 PM
Ah, I didn't realize elixir was still in. I think I still like the mill aspect of spiral, though. Playing with 4 Riot Control, my life total never usually goes lower than 10. But I'm still considering it.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on October 01, 2013, 01:43:42 AM
What's everyone's opinion? Is life gain better, or a possible wincon? {Elixir of Immortality} vs. {Psychic Spiral}, go.

Edit: It may also be good to say that elixir shuffles itself, too. Whereas spiral does not. Maybe elixir is better after all.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: JordanCirk on October 01, 2013, 09:28:50 AM
Quote from: Vileo on October 01, 2013, 01:43:42 AM
What's everyone's opinion? Is life gain better, or a possible wincon? {Elixir of Immortality} vs. {Psychic Spiral}, go.

Edit: It may also be good to say that elixir shuffles itself, too. Whereas spiral does not. Maybe elixir is better after all.
I have to stick with my elixer purely because you can play it any time during the game. And if aggro is beating you down early on, crack it and gain 5 at the EOT then untap and verdict/jace.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on October 02, 2013, 12:31:28 AM
So maybe I should -1 basic, move spiral back to the side, and toss in an elixir as my 61? And maybe with elixir I can cut something like an Omenspeaker.
Title: Re: U/W Control
Post by: Vileo on October 04, 2013, 01:10:19 AM
Quote from: Vileo on October 02, 2013, 12:31:28 AM
So maybe I should -1 basic, move spiral back to the side, and toss in an elixir as my 61? And maybe with elixir I can cut something like an Omenspeaker.
This. This is what I did. I like.