UB Stalker Control

[Death Gaara]

Hmm, for a deck like this, I like playing 2 colors. 3 Seems kinda silly and unneeded. I was thinking of a variant similar to Patrick Chapin's UB control list he played at Pro Tour Dark Ascension. So, something like this,

Creatures- 10
4 {Invisible Stalker}
3 {Snapcaster Mage}
3 {Grave Titan}

Equipment- 3
2 {Sword of Feast and Famine}
1 {Batterskull}

Spells- 21
4 {Mana Leak}
3 {Forbidden Alchemy}
4 {Think Twice}
2 {Doom Blade}
3 {Tribute to Hunger}
2 {Tragic Slip}
2 {Black Sun's Zenith}
1 {Go for the Throat}

Lands- 26
2 {Ghost Quarter}
2 {Nephalia Drownyard}
4 {Drowned Catacomb}
4 {Darkslick Shores}
8 {Island}
6 {Swamp}




SB- 15
1 {Bloodline Keeper}
1 {Jace, Memory Adept}
2 {Phantasmal Image}
1 {Black Sun's Zenith}
1 {Blue Sun's Zenith}
1 {Nephalia Drownyard}
3 {Nihil Spellbomb}
3 {Ratchet Bomb}
2 {Negate}

What makes this unique is the ability to play a tap out style control early, and then a traditional style control in the late game. Swords go well with all of the creatures in the deck and give protection from black and green kill spells. I noticed you said UB control is giving you problems. The stalkers, batterskull, Grave Titans, Swords, and Drownyard will all act as threats against UB control. Then in the SB blue zenith, negates, jace, and the 3rd drownyard will improve the matchup. Ratchet bomb is used for token decks, while spell bomb hits frites players. The phantasmal image will allow you to play a cheap grave titan (copying yours), copying opponents titans, and hitting annoying legends like thrun, elesh, and geist in the aggro/frites/UW control match ups. Ghost Quarter hits wolf run, while tragic slips, go for the throat and tribute to hungers all hit grave titan and other annoying black creatures. Tribute to hunger and black zenith can also hit hexproof guys. All of the removal in this deck hits delver. Feast and famine lets you spend mana on your turn and then untap due to ability to have counter magic mana and removal mana open. War and Peace will get you past tokens when you cant find your board wipes and will gain you some life. War and peace also punishes control decks. Keep in mind there is a huge downside to this deck. It will be extremely difficult to pilot. If you are newer to the game or lack experience piloting difficult decks, you will need alot of play test games. A deck like this will have many hard decisions, and one play mistake means you are probably going to die. You have to have a good grasp on the concept of magic theory to do well with this list. After some play testing, it should start to get easier to play.

Gave some TLC (linkage) due to awesomeness
~BlackJester

[Elitehalo360]

I have a b/u control similar to this lol I kinda wanna try this variation

[Death Gaara]

I have a b/u control similar to this lol I kinda wanna try this variation

Ok let me know how this works out. I built this for somebody else. Although I wouldnt call it UB control (even though thats what the title is). I think if you want more of a streamlined control list, there are better options. But what I like about this list is the ability to have so many different angles of attack (kinda like wolf run ramp has multiple angles of attack). If anything, it will make a nice rouge list to storm a few FNMs and maybe a qualifier/ptq given proper playtesting.

[BlackJester]

What would you like this renamed as?  I'll use my godly MOD POWERS!  👊💪

[Willthomjr]

Why 26 lands? I've always heard 23 is a rounded average for land count...still gettin into the game.

[Death Gaara]

What would you like this renamed as?  I'll use my godly MOD POWERS!  👊💪

Just put UB Stalker Control or UB Blade Control. I think Stalker control sounds better, but its up to you. Just so nobody gets the wrong idea. People looking for a streamlined control list should not even bother looking at this unless then want to go rouge under the radar (which is always fun IMO).

[Death Gaara]

Why 26 lands? I've always heard 23 is a rounded average for land count...still gettin into the game.

Standard magic theory. 24 lands is generally the most optimal for aggro decks. Control decks however, want to hit each and every land drop so they have counter mana or mana for bombs with counter mana open afterwards. I realize that you are new, but as you get more familiar with the concepts and play styles of control decks and their pilots, the number of lands should become more clear. So for future reference, aggro and other decks = 24 lands, while control decks = 25-26 depending on the control deck in question. Keep in mind these numbers are not set in stone and there are some exceptions (see tron), but they are the general basis that competitive players go off of.

[BlackJester]

I've heard lower numbers, ~19 to 20 for really low cost aggro, 21-22 midrange, 23-24 control.  I do think that more land isn't a bad thing.

[Death Gaara]

I've heard lower numbers, ~19 to 20 for really low cost aggro, 21-22 midrange, 23-24 control.  I do think that more land isn't a bad thing.

How closely do you follow the pro circuit? Most control builds always play 26 lands for the reasons I described above. Playing with 24 lands and hoping to hit all your land drops is an option, but it is not the best way to go about it. Look at Patrick Chapin's UW list he played back after Jace was released. It played somewhere around 30 just because of {Treasure Hunt} and the ability to manipulate the top of the library with {Jace, the Mindsculptor} and fetchlands. 24 is right for most aggro and midrange. 20 is fine for white weenie, while 19 is what I play in my current tron build.

[BlackJester]

How closely do you follow the pro circuit? Most control builds always play 26 lands for the reasons I described above. Playing with 24 lands and hoping to hit all your land drops is an option, but it is not the best way to go about it. Look at Patrick Chapin's UW list he played back after Jace was released. It played somewhere around 30 just because of {Treasure Hunt} and the ability to manipulate the top of the library with {Jace, the Mindsculptor} and fetchlands. 24 is right for most aggro and midrange. 20 is fine for white weenie, while 19 is what I play in my current tron build.

My numbers may be a little dated, but when I say fast aggro, I mean RDW and WW.  Cheap mono-color where once you hit three mana, you'd rather keep drawing spells.  And no, I don't follow Pro, I'm all about Casual FFA Multiplayer.  Competitive players would do well not to listen to me very much. 

[Death Gaara]

How closely do you follow the pro circuit? Most control builds always play 26 lands for the reasons I described above. Playing with 24 lands and hoping to hit all your land drops is an option, but it is not the best way to go about it. Look at Patrick Chapin's UW list he played back after Jace was released. It played somewhere around 30 just because of {Treasure Hunt} and the ability to manipulate the top of the library with {Jace, the Mindsculptor} and fetchlands. 24 is right for most aggro and midrange. 20 is fine for white weenie, while 19 is what I play in my current tron build.

My numbers may be a little dated, but when I say fast aggro, I mean RDW and WW.  Cheap mono-color where once you hit three mana, you'd rather keep drawing spells.  And no, I don't follow Pro, I'm all about Casual FFA Multiplayer.  Competitive players would do well not to listen to me very much. 

Its okay I tend to play in GPT's, Qualifiers, Regionals, etc. So staying up to date on the pros in the circuit and having a good grasp of magic theory is a must. 19-20 is okay for white weenie build, but whenever I sling RDW around (not often as I like playing a form of control or a midrange), I never drop below 22 lands. I certainly dont claim to be an expert at RDW so maybe 22 is wrong, but I have gotten good results whenever i do tend to play with it (about once a millenia). Even though I am a competitive player, I feel that I can still learn something from you. If watching and reading John Finkel and Patrick Chapin's  material has taught me one thing, its that no matter how good you are, you can always learn something from someone else. Even if they just started playing the game and you have been playing for years, everyone can teach you something. Even if its the smallest change in perspective on a card or as huge as an advanced play that was unclear, you now learned something you did not know before.

[Dudecore2012]

It doesn't scream "awesome", it relies on 13 cards and pretty standard U/B control package, lots of potential land draws too...

But if you say it works well I can pretty easily put this together and try it out. On my way to my Casual MtG group now, I'll let ya know, you seem adamant about this.

[Death Gaara]

It doesn't scream "awesome", it relies on 13 cards and pretty standard U/B control package, lots of potential land draws too...

But if you say it works well I can pretty easily put this together and try it out. On my way to my Casual MtG group now, I'll let ya know, you seem adamant about this.

When did I ever say it works well? I never once stated that. I simply stated that it would need some playtesting and is rouge idea for FNMs. Nothing more. As stated earlier, this was something I built for someone else who wanted a Stalker deck. I have no intentions of playing this deck and really dont even like it. It is not a matter of being adamant. Its a matter of giving people what they want. Someone made a request, and I simply complied. Nothing more. Once again this list was off the top of my head. It will more than likely fold at high level events. But for FNM purposes, this list should be okay unless you have a room full of people playing the number 1 deck of the format all the time. Furthermore, check your calculations. 13 cards (almost 25% of the deck) is fine to rely on since the draw in the deck is fine. Also, some of the win conditions are very hard to get at (stalkers having hexproof, and drownyard being a land). This is a deck that was built and based on the most fundamental basics of magic theory, nothing more. I dont really care if you like it or not or even if it does well for that matter. But if somebody wants to play it because they like the idea, and wants to tell me X and Y is not working, I have no problems revising the list further. This was created for those who want/need it. Not everyone out there is looking to win a GP or a Pro tour, perhaps the original user who requested this wants to use it as a kitchen table casual deck. Thats up to him. I was simply just giving him something to start with if anything else.

[loop-s-pool]

Death Garaa, you seem like a pretty respectable guy.

[Death Gaara]

Death Garaa, you seem like a pretty respectable guy.

Thank you. I appreciate your positive comment. You seem respectable as well