UWr As Foretold control

[Kerotan1989]

Background:

I've seen As Foretold stompy primers on here, but haven't seen anything relating to a more traditional control build. I've been playing such a build recently, and think it's competitive enough to warrant a primer. I was first introduced to the idea when I played against an unidentified person from the SCGlive team on cockatrice (I asked who they were but they wouldn't tell me). I never saw their list, but took the idea and tried to build my own. I've since played it and tweaked it to arrive at something I really think is powerful.

Main ideas:

The main idea behind As Foretold control is (like most of the As Foretold eternal decks), to generate insane value from casting Ancestral Vision immediately off of As Foretold, or setting up an extremely unfair Armageddon+Wrath of God effect by using the combo of As Foretold+Restore Balance+Zuran Orb. Basically you play as Foretold and Zuran Orb, sac all your lands, reduce your hand size as much as possible, and play Restore Balance off of your As Foretold. This will leave both players with no lands and very few cards, but the neat aspect is that you have a massive advantage in the ensuing top deck battle, as you can cast spells off of your As Foretold, and every turn it ticks up, opening up more options for casting. As Foretold resets at the end of each turn, meaning you can cast something like a Jace or a Mentor in your turn, and still leave up a Counterspell or hardcast force of Will for you're opponent's turn.

There's multiple nice bonus features to this deck. For example, let's say you've resolved As Foretold and a Zuran Orb, but haven't found anything good to do with it, and are under pressure from creatures. Zuran Orb can sac lands at will to help keep you alive, often for at least 2 extra turns, giving you more time to find a Restore balance, which you don't need lands to cast anyway, and immediately makes you favourite for the game if you find and resolve it.

Core:

4 As Foretold
4 Ancestral Vision
3 Restore Balance
2 Zuran Orb

4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares

2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder

The top 4 choices are the combo package. The rest of the choices are because this is legacy.

Wincons:

The main wincons of this deck are 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor (never leave home without him), and usually 2 Monastery Mentors. These are fairly standard inclusions for any UW deck in legacy, and both have the power to run away with a game on their own very quickly, and are insane post Restore balance. As the deck plays 4 sol lands, it also can do a good impression of a turbo-Mentor deck, powering it out on turn 2 and holding up Force of Will.

Manabase:

The deck's manabase looks a bit like a miracles-like UWr manabase, but has a bit of acceleration thrown in with 4 Ancient Tombs, so that it can power out As Foretold (or as mentioned, Mentor) on turn 2. Post Restore balance, the deck often runs out of fetchable lands, though I've rarely find this matters, since by this point you can usually cast everything for free off of As Foretold's. However there's some consideration to running a single crucible of worlds to counteract this issue.

Other card choices:

Enlightened Tutor (1-2 copies)
The card often feels bad in hand, as it robs you of a draw step, however a singleton Is nice to just add a bit of consistency, as it finds both As Foretold and Zuran Orb, which are two important pieces for the Restore Balance combo, which is worth the card disadvantage if it can be pulled off. Post board it also grabs Rest in Peace, helm of Obedience, energy field and humility, which can all have a massive effect in certain matchups.

Snapcaster Mage (1-2 copies)

You'll probably want some Snapcaster Mages, because it's Snapcaster Mage. However, this deck doesn't make as much use of him as others, as he can't flashback the two best instants/sorcerers in the deck (Ancestral Vision and Restore Balance). He still flashes back Swords, which can be massive, and Snapcaster+Brainstorm/ponder is certainly powerful as well. I run 2 copies, and wouldn't recommend more.

Counterspell (1-2 copies)

Counterspell is a tough one for this deck. We often want to tap out on turn 2 or 3, or perhaps can't get double blue whilst playing around a wasteland (or because we've drawn an Ancient Tomb instead of a blue source).. As such Counterspell is more of a late game card for this deck, where it's still really good. As such, I like running exactly 1, although could see 2 working.

Spell Pierce (1-2 copies)

Competes with Counterspell as your additional countermagic. I think a single Pierce is a nice inclusion, as it gives cheap interaction against fast combo, and options for forcing our combo pieces through countermagic. Remember, this deck's main strategy is resolving a 3 mana enchantment, for which I like to have more cheap permission than Force of Will alone. I run 1, alongside my 1 Counterspell, but 2 could work in place of the Counterspell.

Sideboard choices:

Rest in Peace (2 copies)
Easiest inclusion for me. We don't rely heavily on the graveyard, and this card is massive against a lot of decks.

Helm of Obedience (0-1 copy)
If running RIP, why not a single Helm? Gives a nice surprise wincon. I haven't yet determined the best times to bring it in, but uts certainly a one of at most.

Energy Field (0-2 copies)
Again, if running RIP, this is a consideration. It's a tad awkward, As post board, if your opponent knows what you're on, they'll likely bring in some way to kill enchantments if they have it. The only matchup where I really like this is Goblins, as they basically can't touch it once it's down with RIP, and also can't win. I'm sometimes running a single copy at the moment.

Flusterstorm (2 copies), Pyroblast (2 copies)
Standard inclusion for other U based control. However, Force of Will can still be very relevant in some of these matchups, as it's our best way of making sure as Foretold resolves. On the draw I would maybe not bring all these in and keep some FoW instead.

Abrade, Wear // Tear (2-3 copies of all total)
Need something to get rid of pesky chalices and sphere effects. Abrade is a nice new toy, and it's upside to wear // tear will often far outweigh its downside. I like 2 copies of these total, in some combination, but have pushed to 3 before and could do it again.

Council's Judgement (1 copy)
So far, this deck has a gaping weakspot: planeswalkers. Of course, Pyroblast hits Jace, but we need some stuff to hit other resolved planeswalkers, as we can't just rely on attacking them to death. As council's Judgement also hits any other nonland permanent in the game, it's the Webster (and OED) definition of versatility, and you'd be silly to not run a singleton. I run 1, and wouldn't go higher or lower.

Pithing Needle (0-2 copies)
Meta dependent. If you're expecting lots of decks that run non-JTMS planeswalkers, you'll probably want one or two of these. Perhaps even the Ixalan printed Sorcerous Spyglass is a consideration, as it's nicely castable off of our Ancient Tombs, and has a much higher chance of naming the best thing (not tested it, but a possibility). I run a single Needle at the moment.

Vendilion Clique (0-1 copy)
Bringing out a Mentor for one of these is often a nice little variation against storm, show and tell, and some other combo decks. It's a reasonable clock, and it's---- well, it's Vendilion Clique, it's good. I run 1.

Ethersworn canonist (0-1 copy)
I would highly recommend one of these. The combination of canonist with countermagic backup can be extremely hard for storm and tes to beat, and is also great against elves, which can be a tricky matchup if we can't assemble Restore Balance quickly. Massive bonus that Enlightened Tutor finds this. I run 1 at the moment.

Crucible of worlds (0-1 copy)
This card could certainly be maindecked, but isn't essential in the 75. My issue is that it's sometimes win more after you've resolved Restore Balance, although when it's good, it's really good, and it seems to naturally fit in in a deck that wants to blow up all the lands on the table.. Possibly a 1 of somewhere in the 75.

Humility (0-1 copy)
Yet another tough one. Great against Eldrazi, big red, sneak and show, and reanimator/reanimator depths, but turns off our Mentor shenanigans too. The only matchups where I'm interested in this are big red and Eldrazi, as I think we have plenty of other good stuff to bring in against others, and there's always a chance that sneak and show sides into omniscience and gets around Humility. Certainly not a bad choice as a one of, and searchable by enlightened tutor.

Engineered Explosives (0-2 copies)
This card is great against elves and other aggro decks, which can be a blind spot for this deck sometimes. I don't run it currently as he colour requirement can be a bit awkward with Ancient tomb, and blowing it up isn't so easy with no lands on the table. Certainly a consideration

Ratchet Bomb (0-2 copies)
Probably a better fit than EE for this deck, as it has no colour requirements, can be cast nicely off of Ancient Tomb, and doesn't require mana to pop it. 1 seems like a solid choice.

Bread and butter decklist:

4 As Foretold
4 Ancestral Vision
3 Restore Balance
2 Zuran Orb

4 Force of Will
1 Counterspell
1 Spell Pierce

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
1 Enlightened Tutor

4 Swords to Plowshares

2 Snapcaster Mage

2 Jace the Mind Sculptor
2 Monastery Mentor

4 Ancient Tomb
3 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
1 Plateau
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Karakas
4 Flooded Strand
3 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa

Sideboard

1 Restore Balance
2 Rest in Peace
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Flusterstorm
2 Pyroblast
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Abrade
1 Wear // Tear
1 Council's Judgement
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ethersworn Canonist