Zero Crab - The Old UW Mill Control

With the large prevalence of graveyard-dependent engines in the current meta and the success of decks like Curse Stompy with MD Leyline, I started wondering about reviving UW CounterTop RipHelm to get free wins from MD grave hate and Counterbalance.


Card Choices:
The deck is a typical UW control shell with a curve around 1-3 to optimize Counterbalance.
Without Top, it needs cheap ways to manipulate the top deck at instant speed (Brainstorm, Enlightened Tutor)
ETutor can also assemble the Rest in Peace+Helm of Obedience combo for an instant kill
Energy Field also makes a soft lock with RiP vs many decks.


Advantages of this strategy:
- Enchantments can't be Elked or Coatled. Snowko is much better at fighting creatures, artifacts and planeswalkers.
- Preys on all the graveyard engines in game 1, when they don't have answers boarded in, leading to free wins
- Counterbalance is major card advantage against most low-curve decks, especially when BG is less popular meaning less Abrupt Decay
- Nullify their creature removal in game 1
- Mill opponent using fewer cards than other mill strategies


Updated List


//Spells: 25
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Enlightened Tutor
2 Predict
1 Unexpectedly Absent
2 Force of Negation
1 Terminus

//Enchantments: 12
1 Porphyry Nodes
4 Rest in Peace
3 Counterbalance
2 Energy Field
1 Detention Sphere
1 Shark Typhoon

//Planeswalkers: 1
1 Teferi, Time Raveler

//Artifacts: 2
1 Arcum's Astrolabe
1 Helm of Obedience

//Lands: 21
4 Flooded Strand
4 Prismatic Vista
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
4 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Karakas

//Sideboard: 15
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Web of Inertia
1 Blood Moon
1 Suppression Field
1 Deafening Silence
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Pyroclasm
1 Flusterstorm
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
2 Wear // Tear


Curve:
1 - 16
2 - 12
3 - 4
4 - 1
5 - 4
6 - 2

So far I like the viability of this over any other mill deck I have tried to brew.

Most cards are already self-explanatory in UWr control.
Unexpectedly Absent is there as a multi-modal tool to remove problems, protect combo pieces (X=0 on yourself), or set up CB (X=0 on yourself).
Terminus is down to a 1-of without Portent and with other anti-aggro tools, but the deck might still benefit from more copies. Porphyry Nodes has been too slow regularly.


ETutor Targets:
Rest in Peace - Grave hate and combo piece

Helm of Obedience - "5, T: win the game" once RiP is in play. Wins through Progenitus replacement effect. Best mill card in Magic.

Counterbalance - Broken card that provides insane virtual card advantage by nullifying cards in their hand. Top of deck can be manipulated at instant speed via Brainstorm, ETutor, Predict, Unexpectedly Absent, & 3feri+Ponder.

Energy Field - You can't receive damage as long as RiP is in play. This is a low-curve solution to fast aggro that doesn't lose to mana denial (like Verdict) and doesn't need cards like Portent to enable (Terminus got weaker since Top was banned)

Porphyry Nodes - efficient anti-aggro, 1 cmc ETutor target for CB

Arcum's Astrolabe - color fixing, 1 cmc ETutor target for CB

Detention Sphere - removal, kills multiple copies, pitches to FoW, 3 cmc ETutor target for CB

Shark Typhoon - Alternate win condition, either by cycling or casting

Blood Moon - Wrecks many decks that don't have 7 basics main. Backup 3cmc ETutor target for CB

Deafening Silence - Kills storm and slows down tempo decks. In fair mirrors, it makes it harder for the opponent to overwhelm your Counterbalance. Backup 1cmc ETutor target for CB

Pithing Needle - Hits many important targets like Karn, Thespian's Stage, Wishclaw Talisman, Misty Rainforest.. Backup 1cmc ETutor target for CB

Engineered Explosives - Board wipe vs low curve decks, even kills Chalice. Can be cast X=0, 1, 2, or 3. 0 cmc ETutor target for CB

Suppression Field - Slows down many popular engines dependent on activated abilities, giving you time to control the game. OTP T1 EOT ETutor into T2 Suppression Field is GG against many manabases.

Web of Inertia - Locks out creatures with RiP. Better than Energy Field vs "attack" triggers like Uro, Emrakul and Prime Time. Backup 3cmc ETutor target for CB



Other potential targets:
Leyline of Sanctity - Stops burn, Tendrils and discard

Humility - Shuts down creature-based decks

Scroll Rack - Enables better Counterbalance lock, but slow


Enlightened Tutor is card disadvantage but that is made up for by the advantage generated by Counterbalance and being able to tutor a 1-shot kill.




Background of the deck:
Much of the inspiration for playing this comes from seeing Reeplcheep's recent success with Curse Stompy. After watching some matches and playing a bit of black stompy myself, I realized the meta is soft to maindeck gravehate and enchantment-based control (Curses even moreso because they dodge Decay and Skyclave Apparation). RipField exploits some of the same angles.

I started thinking about this as we were discussing Ux mill control in a different thread. Unlike Turbo Mill, which doesn't mind expending resources as long as it eventually leads to the opponent losing their library before you lose the game, mill control doesn't try to race. Instead it tries to control the game and then eventually win with mill. There are two fundamental barriers with that strategy:

1) Even the most efficient mill effects are card disadvantage and don't affect the game state, so they are at odds with a control strategy. There's a tension between mill slots and control slots. You need enough mill slots to win the game, but each mill spot reduces the amount of control slots you can run, which reduces your ability to play an effective control game.

2) Over a slower control game, opponent has greater opportunity to get value from resources you have milled into their graveyard. Milling them, without killing them quickly, could actually HELP advance their game plan. To counteract this, maindeck graveyard hate seems important to prevent the opponent gaining resources while you mill them.

A card like Rest In Peace solves problem #2. Total graveyard annihilation means any milling does not profit them anymore. It's also strong when most decks already rely on the graveyard as a resource, since the banning of DRS and with the printing of some newer cards, which has made RiP stronger.

However once RiP is in the deck, every mill spell is worse than Helm of Obedience. Helm solves problem #1. With the ETutor package, Helm takes exactly 1 slot, which means the entire rest of the deck can be dedicated to control. This reduces the tension between milling and control better than a typical "Mill Control" deck could do, which is how I settled on going back to this combo.

Once I arrived at that, it was hard for me to justify any other mill control shell I was trying to brew when this just does both better. I can basically play Miracles with random Energy Field lock and fast wincon that ignores Oko.

I realize that Rest in Peace is a central theme to what you are doing, but it makes me cry a little on the inside to see a deck with Counterbalance unable to run Mystic Sanctuary, which effectively turns fetchlands into Counterspells once you have a mix of stuff in the yard and 3 other Islands on the board.

I was thinking about trying to make a 4 Mystic Sanctuary Miracles deck with Counterbalance work, but never got around to it.

At any rate, this looks like a pretty standard RIP/Helm list from years past. RIP is really good in the meta right now, so this should do pretty well in that regard. Meddling Mage out of the sideboard seems like a fantastic way to address Abrupt Decay, as well as combo matchups.

If you were willing to splash green, which you probably should, Veil of Summer also addresses Abrupt Decay, and then you would of course be able to run Oko too.

Vegetarian mill?

Counterbalance seems risky without Snapies or shit like Portent to make it work without BS.

Agree on the Mystic Sanctuary.
Maybe go black for Leyline and never go back?

Other than that, Moat + Humimim = tears.
Might be an option online or if you have a kidney to spare.

Yeah, I basically just updated a standard Rip/Helm shell I used to play years ago with some more modern UW control card choices in the main and SB.

I could probably manage 1 Mystic Sanctuary main because RiP won't always be in play. I was about to start with 1 and then turned it into a 2nd Karakas. But you're right, the synergy with Counterbalance is too good to pass on.

Meddling Mage is a great idea, especially because they may not even have other creature removal left in G2, and it fits all the curve and color needs.

I think I'll avoid the green splash, because then you end up having to play Veil and Astrolabe and Oko and then why not Coatl too, and it just turns into Snowko. There isn't room for everything. This way I can also dodge the Snowko hate. The ETutor into RiP + Helm kill is immune to red blasts, Eliminate, and other cards that would normally come in vs the Ux control Oko decks.

I also need a 1cc target in the maindeck to fully exploit ETutor with Counterbalance, maybe Porphyry Nodes or a single Arcum's Astrolabe.

Losing Snappy hurts. Maybe Scroll Rack is needed to power back up the CB lock.

Edit: @Zoid, Sadly Moat is probably too weak these days because so many popular creatures fly: Insectile Aberration, Sprite Dragon, Ethereal Forager, Ice-Fang Coatl, Marit Lage, Griselbrand, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. So many fly and have relevant abilities.

You don't have to run Coatl with a green splash. Most Bant Miracles decks don't. They do of course run Astrolabe and Oko, but that's usually the only green maindeck, with Return to Nature and Veil of Summer in the sideboard. Some lists run a 1-of Uro, but it's definitely not necessary.

I know it sucks, but you're at a big disadvantage not running Oko in this sort of deck, especially when you're trying to run other Planeswalker's. I'd at least consider running the Pithing Needle in the maindeck otherwise.

Because of the RiP engine, Return to Nature is basically Naturalize and worse than Wear // Tear from the red splash. Red also offers red blasts to fight Oko and counter wars. UWr Miracles is also a deck.

Playing Astrolabes + Oko main and Veil SB would just take up too many slots that the ETutor/Rip package has to occupy. I also lack the resources to be able to out-Oko the Oko decks, so I think it's better to play around them instead of trying to mirror them.

Maybe the answer is to just run fewer planeswalkers that get embarassed by Oko.
-1 Narset
-1 Jace
+1 Needle
+1 Scroll Rack?

3feri with +1 at least doesn't die to hasty Rogue Elephant and locks the opponent out enough to make Counterbalance and the spells better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FTW

Because of the RiP engine, Return to Nature is basically Naturalize and worse than Wear // Tear from the red splash. Red also offers red blasts to fight Oko and counter wars. UWr Miracles is also a deck.

Playing Astrolabes + Oko main and Veil SB would just take up too many slots that the ETutor/Rip package has to occupy. I also lack the resources to be able to out-Oko the Oko decks, so I think it's better to play around them instead of trying to mirror them.

Maybe the answer is to just run fewer planeswalkers that get embarassed by Oko.
-1 Narset
-1 Jace
+1 Needle
+1 Scroll Rack?

3feri with +1 at least doesn't die to hasty Rogue Elephant and locks the opponent out enough to make Counterbalance and the spells better.

---

I'm not saying you should run Return to Nature, I was just saying that's what Bant Miracles usually runs in the board as part of their green splash.

They typically run Bant maindeck with a tiny red splash in the board for a couple of red blasts, which is easily supported with a single Volcanic Island and Astrolabe's.

Scroll Rack is amazing, but it might be too much of a liability in this Oko meta? Worth testing, at least.

I'm definitely on board with a Pithing Needle in the maindeck, though.

UWr Miracles might be a deck, but I haven't seen it in a long time. Everyone is on Bant with sideboard red blasts, from what I've seen.

I tested it a bit in this configuration.


//Spells: 25
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Enlightened Tutor
2 Predict
1 Counterspell
1 Unexpectedly Absent
1 Force of Negation
1 Terminus

//Enchantments: 10
4 Rest in Peace
3 Counterbalance
1 Energy Field
1 Detention Sphere
1 Shark Typhoon

//Planeswalkers: 3
3 Teferi, Time Raveler

//Artifacts: 2
1 Arcum's Astrolabe
1 Helm of Obedience

//Lands: 21
4 Flooded Strand
4 Prismatic Vista
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
4 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Karakas

//Sideboard: 15
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Web of Inertia
1 Blood Moon
1 Suppression Field
1 Deafening Silence
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Pyroclasm
1 Flusterstorm
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
2 Wear // Tear



It really takes over once the game goes long, like most UW control lists, but it was losing to fast starts from aggro and tempo decks.

Detention Sphere was very good.

Energy Field was MVP for staying alive against fast decks. I might need a 2nd copy main instead of having to ETutor for it so often. I had a 2nd copy in the SB before, but switched it out for Web (which was also good vs specific cards like Dreadhorde Arcanist where you don't want to let them attack at all). Web is good as a situational 1-of, but Energy Field was the card I needed more often to buy tempo. 2nd Terminus or Verdict is an option too.

Another option is to turn the 1cmc MD tutor slot from Astrolabe (do-nothing) into Porphyry Nodes, which could help with fast creatures in G1.

Meanwhile Teferi was slow and clunky and didn't really do much, often getting boarded out except in control mirrors. If I run any 3 cmc walkers, Oko is just better, but maybe I don't run any 3 cmc walkers at all.

Oko was not hard to fight, especially postboard. It's basically just Garruk making 3/3s, since I have nothing to Elk or steal and my win conditions don't care about ground blockers or life total. Maindeck I have counters and 2 removal spells for it, and I can nullify it with Energy Field or Terminus the tokens. Postboard I have 4 1 cmc "destroy target Oko", plus Web to hold off the 3/3s and Suppression Field to clog up their mana. I don't need Oko to beat Oko. I just need to not run cards that lose to Oko and then it just becomes a bad Garruk.

I wasn't really in a situation where Mystic Sanctuary was relevant, since I struggled the most in the early game and just take over when I can stick a lock and protect it with counters. Having ETB untapped lands was also important for keeping tempo against faster starts. There were 2 games where I had Counterbalance Forced and I could have Forced back but let it go, and I think that was the correct play. This deck doesn't need Counterbalance active as badly as most Miracles decks. Counterbalance is a tool to steal cards from their hand and protect the other business, so I am fine having opponent 2-for-1 themselves on it and keeping Force to protect something else.

I wasn't advocating for Mystic Sanctuary in here, I was just saying that it made me cry a little on the inside to play a Counterbalance deck without them.

I agree that you cannot really run Planeswalker's well in here.

More Energy Field sounds like a pretty good idea.

I still like the singleton Astrolabe as a target for when you need the mana fixing.

I really wanted to try out the 1 Sanctuary, but I think it just doesn't work here. The ETB tapped cost is too punishing in the early game, where this deck can't afford to lose tempo. Lategame I either lose first or am in a position where I'm already ahead or resolved at least one RiP, so the interaction of Sanctuary+Counterbalance countering something relevant is way too much of a corner case vs the times it's just a bad land. Too bad. Such potential.

I might keep 1 Teferi. It can be amazing at protecting the combo and locks. But it's slow and I can't protect it well. The one game I had 2 in the opening hand I got steamrolled and wished they were any other card in the deck.

I think Astrolabe can go. This deck has amazing mana. I can afford to fetch basics first, so then in later turns if I am ever in a crunch to produce a specific combination of mana, any fetch can already get any color. It's basically just a cycling card.

Changes:
-1 Astrolabe
-2 3feri
+1 Porphyry Nodes
+1 Energy Field

Not sure about the last slot. Torn between
Spell Pierce
Dovin's Veto
Unexpectedly Absent
Force of Negation
Council's Judgment
Terminus

I'll have to test more and see which matchups need the most maindeck support.

I think this deck needs a proper draw engine. Narset would be nice but is probably too hard to protect in this meta, maybe 1 copy SB.
Unfortunately Search for Azcanta and Hall of Heliod's Generosity are nonbos with RiP.
Maybe Dovin's Acuity, but I'm not playing many instants on main phase.

The newly spoiled Court of Cunning could be a great fit for multiple roles: draw engine, maindeckable 3cc card for counterbalance, and alternate win condition. Energy Field protects the Monarch token. I could also just play Palace Jailer or some other Monarch enabler. This deck is good at playing King of the Hill.


I recorded my last 5 test matches

2-0 vs BR Reanimator
G1 - A joke. They did manage an explosive T1 OTP of Thoughtseize away answer, Petal, Ritual, Entomb, Reanimate Chancellor (saw Karakas in hand). I managed to only take 2 attacks before cantripping into removal through the tax and then RiP to win.
G2 - They boarded in 4x Wear//Tear 2x Serenity, so that was a good test of this deck's resilience against disenchants. Counters stopped the first attempt, then I landed RiP. They removed the first RiP, but I eventually stuck 2 more RiPs along with Counterbalance and Web. They only managed to kill a 2nd RiP, with the 3rd disenchant countered, and then ran out of gas. Confirmation this deck just spams out too many enchantments to handle. Stopping Serenity was very important. Luckily that card sees very little play right now.

2-0 vs RUG Delver
G1 - RiP turning off Arcanist and Goyf bought me a lot of time. Oko did the thing of having no text other than making 2 3/3s over 3 turns (forced to Elk a 0/1 Goyf), a slow enough clock that let me ignore it and sculpt a win. What a terrible 3-mana card. He pitched Ponder to Force over this?
G2 - RUG brought in red blasts and Veil but lacks answers for resolved white enchantments! I also brought in red blasts, Fluster, Blood Moon, and Suppression Field. After trading resources over counter wars and threats, a Blood Moon drew out the Force with me sitting on 5 basics to their 0, letting me follow up with the combo.

2-1 vs Moon Stompy
G1 - I got lucky having double Force for T1 Chalice into T2 Trinisphere. They stumbled a bit on mana due to City while I landed RiP, but eventually they landed Karn followed by Chandra+Coating then Lattice. I managed to punk Lattice with Unexpectedly Absent on Karn (Lattice on the stack). Then they played dead cards like Ensnaring Bridge and Blood Moon while I dropped a 5th land and Helm just before they drew Karn again.
G2 - Managed to have double Force again for T1 Chalice into T3 Karn, but red blast protected Karn. He got Spyglass first. Cantrips found Pithing Needle before he got Lattice, but Spyglass shut off my combo and then 3sphere into Chandra drawing Chalice @1 locked me out while I stumbled.
G3 - I let T2 Magus resolve as I could already get basic Island and basic Plains. I landed RiP. 3sphere drew a Force. Karn drew a hardcast FoN. Chandra was answered by Pithing Needle, then Energy Field lock nullified the army creatures. He managed a Chalice @ 1, but I ETutored for Helm in response and was able to win before he could stop me.

2-0 vs UR Delver
G1 - He had FoN for T2 Rest in Peace, but double Swords stopped Delver and Arcanist, then Teferi provided a good shield to stall and set up RiPField through the counters he drew. He threw everything at Teferi, and I managed to trade resources to keep Teferi alive a long time, shutting off all his counters for Helm until I finally got Helm.
G2 - He mulled to 6 and stumbled to find 2nd land after multiple cantrips. We fought counter wars, but I eventually landed RipField+CB to stabilize. He had very few outs to this board state (blast the blue enchantments or Petty Theft) but many outs to my 1-of Helm (counters), so I spent a long time sculpting and wishing I had a draw engine. Teferi then drew out more counters to pave the way for Helm.

2-1 vs Turbo Goblins
G1 - T1 Caverns Lackey OTP. T2 Chrome Mox Matron into Muxus (off Lackey). Muxus bricked into "only" Cratermaker and Snoop, with land on top. So far I just have basic Island vs 5 creatures and all were uncounterable. EOT Brainstorm lucksacks into Plains, ETutor and Terminus (with 2nd Brainstorm and Energy Field already in hand)! Maybe I'm not dead. I decide to casually take the 14 damage attack but Lackey drops Kiki-Jiki copying Matron and I can't let that resolve so I Brainstorm into Terminus. Then upkeep ETutor for RiP, play 3rd land and Energy Field and the game's over.
G2 - They Mull to 6 into T1 Winstigator. I have Porphyry Nodes instead of StP, which is too slow to prevent Muxus into Lackey, Sling-Gang and Snoop, then top-of-library Matron into Harbinger (infinite combo next turn). The best I can do is T2 Suppression Field to shut off the combo, but combat damage would still deal lethal 18. When did Goblins get so good at winning on turn 3?
G3 - T1 Ponder set up RiPField by T3 backed by FoN. They had T1 Caverns Mox WInstigator, so I just dropped naked Energy Field on T2 to stop the trigger then RiP T3. Then it was easy to protect the lock into Helm.


These were tight games. I was often on the brink of death and just barely stabilized. I've been impressed with the deck's ability to quickly stabilize and then take over the game. None of these decks had much maindeck interaction for resolved enchantments, so even postboard I only needed to stay alive and then answer a select few cards to maintain the lock.

Teferi is still very good vs non-Oko blue. I might want another copy in the SB.

I need a more robust way to handle enemy artifacts and enchantments. I got very lucky vs Moon Stompy, but that could have ended much worse because I had no way to remove so much hate even postboard.

I also need a proper draw engine so I can actually pull ahead in spells and resources once a lock is on the board, instead of gambling with topdeck mode vs the opponent's topdeck mode. Even though most decks ran few outs, all they need to do is get some luckier draws and everything falls apart.

Some of the SB cards are too cute and could be cut for cards like Meddling Mage to shut off Decays and other hate.

Could omen of the sea be better than predict? Instant speed scry seems very helpful with counterbalance.

It could be. Predict has been mediocre. I'll test out Omen of the Sea.

Edit: Testing these changes
-1 Porphyry Nodes
1 Terminus

-2 Predict
2 Omen of the Sea

-1 Suppression Field
-1 Engineered Explosives
2 Meddling Mage

Meddling Mage has real potential. It can name stuff like Force of Vigor, Abrupt Decay, and Karn and they have to fight it using a completely different axis than they'd use to fight the combo. Force of Vigor could be a real problem out of decks running Allosaurus Shepherd. Meddling Mage lets me not even worry about that. EE was usually too slow to be relevant. Suppression Field is probably more cute than necessary. I'm not convinced it was winning me games I couldn't have already won with something else, while I am much more worried about stopping certain problem cards from resolving.

When Court of Cunning is printed, it's automatically replacing Shark Typhoon because it plays both roles of alternate wincon and draw engine. Sharknado has been really bad when the deck has a much more efficient way to win that doesn't need as many lands or lose to creature removal. I board it out almost all the time, except maybe control mirrors, where a SB Narset or Teferi is still probably better.