edgarps22
04-04-2012, 08:35 PM
Okay I have looked around online and have not found a just straight UW Control deck or discussion on one, probably because control as a strategy is something people seem to have been avoiding in Modern but I think I may have found a solid list. I have tested this vs a variety of things via Cockatrice, sadly the only way I can test at the moment, but the results have been pretty eye opening. So far the deck does not have an unwinnable matchup, but has some hard ones. Here is the list before I get too far in.
Creatures:
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Geist of Saint Traft
Instants:
4x Mana Leak
4x Path to Exile
2x Cryptic Command
2x Spell Snare
Sorcery:
4x Serum Visions
4x Sleight of Hand
4x Wrath of God
Planeswalkers:
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Lands:
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Hallowed Fountain
3x Marsh Flats
2x Scalding Tarn
2x Academy Ruins
2x Tolaria West
2x Island
2x Plains
1x Seachrome Coast
1x Celestial Colonnade
Sideboard:
3x AEther Spellbomb
3x Engineered Explosives
3x Trinket Mage
4x Echoing Truth
2x Hurkyl's Recall
This deck is obviously not very complex, but it does have a lot of decisions you have to make but what you need completely depends on the opponent. I went with 8 cantrips to make sure I could find the answers or threats I need to finish a game off. The maindeck wraths seem to be surprising everyone I play, which really concerns me about who I have been able to test against. In a format full of primarily creature decks, why shouldn't my deck run 4 Wrath of God, I seriously don't understand the logic of some Modern players. This card has just blown out so many games. Affinity, UG decks, and various things that people build in Modern all seem to really hinge on this not being played, it even kills Thrun which is always good.
The Delvers give the deck the ability to randomly blow out a game because Delver can be very good even on a blind flip, with 24 maindeck instants and sorceries obviously. Snapcasters give the removal and cantrips some serious firepower that we all understand because recasting paths and counterspells and even wraths can just blow people out and Geist is just a solid beater that is hard to remove.
Elspeth naturally just fits right in here and does exactly what we all expect of her, clutter up the ground with blockers then jump into the air and make my wraths really good.
The deck is not without its problems though, for instance a really fast start from Affinity can make my life very sad if I do not have the path-snapcaster-path-wrath hand. They can build up a board really fast and do a lot of damage extremely fast. But with Delver around and Snapcaster I can usually get enough chump blockers to make Wrath work and clear the board leaving decks like that without a hand and stuck in topdeck mode. This is usually helped even further after sideboarding when I bring in Trinket Mages with Engineered Explosives to gain some recurring removal.
Speaking of the sideboard it is in its third iteration, originally I did not have the ruins in the main to board into the explosives plan, and after beating Emrakul off of an Urzatron deck a few time I fit in some AEther spellbombs that I can also use Trinket to get to help shore up that game as well.
Some of the things I did not include but certainly considered:
Vendilion Clique:
The clique is a very powerful creature, but really seemed to me to be unnecessary. She eats up too much mana early on, or simply doesn't do enough later on. There are niche scenarios for her, say against an activated Quicksilver Amulet to cheat in Emrakul, but for the most part, I can handle things thrown my way. That particular use would make her more of a sideboard card anyways.
Swords of X and Y:
I really did not want to use equipment for some reason when I built this and that decision has not really hurt me. I have run into decks running the swords and other toys but i can usually get rid of the beater before it can do anything of value. I really did not want to take up precious slots, and there are oh so few available, to put something in that may or may not even affect the game, considering how creature oriented this format is and how much removal is around. True it can also be a random blowout, but more often than not, that will not be the case and it will either set me back in tempo, or give my opponents complete blowouts.
Gideon Jura:
I actually did not test him yet but I am not sure where I would put him, but he seems very solid for the long game. Suggestions on what to cut and where would be appreciated.
Overall this deck has a lot of angles it can both attack and defend from and seems to be well positioned, at least online. I am not sure if its my being able to outplay some of the people online, or if it really is that strong. Let me know what you guys think, and if a Mod sees this and there is already a thread that I could not find on this particular deck please let me know and move it over.
Creatures:
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Geist of Saint Traft
Instants:
4x Mana Leak
4x Path to Exile
2x Cryptic Command
2x Spell Snare
Sorcery:
4x Serum Visions
4x Sleight of Hand
4x Wrath of God
Planeswalkers:
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Lands:
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Hallowed Fountain
3x Marsh Flats
2x Scalding Tarn
2x Academy Ruins
2x Tolaria West
2x Island
2x Plains
1x Seachrome Coast
1x Celestial Colonnade
Sideboard:
3x AEther Spellbomb
3x Engineered Explosives
3x Trinket Mage
4x Echoing Truth
2x Hurkyl's Recall
This deck is obviously not very complex, but it does have a lot of decisions you have to make but what you need completely depends on the opponent. I went with 8 cantrips to make sure I could find the answers or threats I need to finish a game off. The maindeck wraths seem to be surprising everyone I play, which really concerns me about who I have been able to test against. In a format full of primarily creature decks, why shouldn't my deck run 4 Wrath of God, I seriously don't understand the logic of some Modern players. This card has just blown out so many games. Affinity, UG decks, and various things that people build in Modern all seem to really hinge on this not being played, it even kills Thrun which is always good.
The Delvers give the deck the ability to randomly blow out a game because Delver can be very good even on a blind flip, with 24 maindeck instants and sorceries obviously. Snapcasters give the removal and cantrips some serious firepower that we all understand because recasting paths and counterspells and even wraths can just blow people out and Geist is just a solid beater that is hard to remove.
Elspeth naturally just fits right in here and does exactly what we all expect of her, clutter up the ground with blockers then jump into the air and make my wraths really good.
The deck is not without its problems though, for instance a really fast start from Affinity can make my life very sad if I do not have the path-snapcaster-path-wrath hand. They can build up a board really fast and do a lot of damage extremely fast. But with Delver around and Snapcaster I can usually get enough chump blockers to make Wrath work and clear the board leaving decks like that without a hand and stuck in topdeck mode. This is usually helped even further after sideboarding when I bring in Trinket Mages with Engineered Explosives to gain some recurring removal.
Speaking of the sideboard it is in its third iteration, originally I did not have the ruins in the main to board into the explosives plan, and after beating Emrakul off of an Urzatron deck a few time I fit in some AEther spellbombs that I can also use Trinket to get to help shore up that game as well.
Some of the things I did not include but certainly considered:
Vendilion Clique:
The clique is a very powerful creature, but really seemed to me to be unnecessary. She eats up too much mana early on, or simply doesn't do enough later on. There are niche scenarios for her, say against an activated Quicksilver Amulet to cheat in Emrakul, but for the most part, I can handle things thrown my way. That particular use would make her more of a sideboard card anyways.
Swords of X and Y:
I really did not want to use equipment for some reason when I built this and that decision has not really hurt me. I have run into decks running the swords and other toys but i can usually get rid of the beater before it can do anything of value. I really did not want to take up precious slots, and there are oh so few available, to put something in that may or may not even affect the game, considering how creature oriented this format is and how much removal is around. True it can also be a random blowout, but more often than not, that will not be the case and it will either set me back in tempo, or give my opponents complete blowouts.
Gideon Jura:
I actually did not test him yet but I am not sure where I would put him, but he seems very solid for the long game. Suggestions on what to cut and where would be appreciated.
Overall this deck has a lot of angles it can both attack and defend from and seems to be well positioned, at least online. I am not sure if its my being able to outplay some of the people online, or if it really is that strong. Let me know what you guys think, and if a Mod sees this and there is already a thread that I could not find on this particular deck please let me know and move it over.