Results 1 to 16 of 16

Thread: Mono U painter

  1. #1

    Mono U painter

    Hello!

    So i've been trying to come up with a relatively competitive list that utilises my blue cards that's also combo, and doesn't revolve spending too much money. Then I saw some cool-looking mono u painter lists on mtgtop8, so i thought i'd give it a shot.

    Amazingly enough, i've not seen any lists here on the source that isn't strawberry shortcake nor imperial painter, but straight mono u.

    Has anyone any good pointers as to where to start? Basically, my list looks like:

    1 Academy Ruins
    4 Ancient Tomb
    2 Darksteel Citadel
    1 Inventors' Fair
    10 snow-covered Island
    4 Seat of the Synod

    4 Painter's Servant
    3 Sai, Master Thopterist
    1 Spellskite
    4 Trinket Mage
    1 Walking Ballista
    4 Force of Will
    4 Ponder

    2 Aether Spellbomb
    1 Ratchet bomb
    4 Grindstone
    3 Mox Diamond
    1 Pithing Needle
    1 Hydroblast
    4 The Antiquities War
    1 Tormod's Crypt

    SIDEBOARD
    2 Hydroblast
    1 blue elemental blast
    2 Ensnaring Bridge
    2 Flusterstorm
    2 Karn, Scion of Urza
    1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
    2 surgical extraction
    1 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
    1 Pithing Needle
    1 Walking Ballista

    it's a slight variation to a couple of lists i've found, but i don't have the money for city of traitors nor mox opals for now. Anyone have any good pointers? the general strategy is the combo win, with some elements of control. there's also a plan B which is antiquities war beatdown.

  2. #2
    Member
    pettdan's Avatar
    Join Date

    Mar 2013
    Location

    Stockholm, Sweden
    Posts

    704

    Re: Mono U painter

    The Painter-Stone thread has a few mono blue lists, also white blue has been used for a similar approach.

    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...-Painter-Stone

    Then there is the Painter discord where you can find some discussion on mono blue painter.

  3. #3

    Re: Mono U painter

    Mono blue painter usually runs chalice of the void. Was this an oversight?
    Quote Originally Posted by Laser Brains View Post
    With the printing of Gigantosaurus, Thrashing Brontodon and Steel Leaf Champion the deck has evolved from good to very competitive. Anyway, give it a few play tests if you are interested and let me know what you think.

    Winter Maze
    Quote Originally Posted by CptHaddock View Post
    With veteran explorer I know that I 100% will not enjoy a 30 minute grindfest against someone who can barely afford dual lands and believes that their deck can cast a 10 mana 8/8.

  4. #4

    Re: Mono U painter

    Quote Originally Posted by kinda View Post
    Mono blue painter usually runs chalice of the void. Was this an oversight?
    Chalice isn't great with 4 Ponder 4 Grindstone afaik.

  5. #5

    Re: Mono U painter

    Quote Originally Posted by pettdan View Post
    The Painter-Stone thread has a few mono blue lists, also white blue has been used for a similar approach.

    http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...-Painter-Stone

    Then there is the Painter discord where you can find some discussion on mono blue painter.
    Cheers..

    I looked at the primer, and it seemed to only have red based painter lists, so I just assumed it didn’t have anything to do with mono u.

    My thoughts were basically that though the combos the same, he decks would play quite differently enough to warrant a different primer/thread (sort of like spiral tide and solidarity).


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Legacy decks: mono U painter, strawberry shortcake, imperial painter, solidarity, burn
    EDH decks: zedruu voltron, rakdos the defiler, persistent petitioners, blind seer

  6. #6
    Victory Dance ftw?
    Mirrislegend's Avatar
    Join Date

    Feb 2006
    Posts

    959

    Re: Mono U painter

    Mono-U Painter is not uncommon, but you can't avoid spending some real money between the City of Traitors and the Mox Opals. Also, your list runs too few lands to support Mox Diamonds, in my opinion. Here's a list I consider to be pretty straightforward and low on shenanigans:
    http://tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=29674&iddeck=249018
    Quote Originally Posted by Tacosnape
    <Dallieza> your mom uses the stack
    <System> Player Lost
    Quote Originally Posted by Tacosnape
    Every time someone drops a Chalice against me I think of the Family Guy episode where the guy in jail stabs himself with the knife to see how it feels and then he says, "My God! Is this what I've been doing to people? I belong in here!"
    Referring to the art on Stasis:
    Quote Originally Posted by Pinder View Post
    Well, uh...the mime, you see, is....um...

    God, is that furry bondage?

  7. #7

    Re: Mono U painter

    That’s unfortunate - I like me some shenanigans!

    I’m brewing up a list that’s mono u splash red. Using chrome mox as a cheap Mox Opal alternative, and crystal veins as city of traitor alternative. Red’s basically for welders, and probably moons on the board. Using the antiquities war with artifact lands and moxen as an alternate wincon with beats. And thopter foundry/sword of the meek as grindy-wincon. And sai, thopterist has also been good.

    It feels kinda good though, but a lot harder work than mono red/shortcake (that can just lock with a moon/canonist).


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Legacy decks: mono U painter, strawberry shortcake, imperial painter, solidarity, burn
    EDH decks: zedruu voltron, rakdos the defiler, persistent petitioners, blind seer

  8. #8
    Member
    tired_papasmurf's Avatar
    Join Date

    Jul 2015
    Location

    Tri-state Area
    Posts

    44

    Re: Mono U painter

    Have you checked out the Discord? Theres a mono-blue channel you could dig through for deck lists and discussions

    https://discord.gg/GZuRm2

  9. #9

    Re: Mono U painter

    Quote Originally Posted by tired_papasmurf View Post
    Have you checked out the Discord? Theres a mono-blue channel you could dig through for deck lists and discussions

    https://discord.gg/GZuRm2
    So i've come down to this list. Please berate and mock as necessary:

    creatures 8
    4 painter's servant
    2 snapcaster mage
    1 trinket mage
    1 spellskite

    artefacts 9
    4 grindstone
    1 pithing needle
    1 meekstone
    1 relic of progenitus
    1 aether spellbomb
    1 ensnaring bridge

    other spells 20
    1 stifle
    1 spell pierce
    1 spell snare
    1 tezzeret the seeker
    4 force of will
    4 brainstorm
    4 accumulated knowledge
    4 whir of invention

    enchantments 3
    1 back to basics
    2 counterbalance

    Lands 20
    2 flooded strand
    2 misty rainforest
    2 polluted delta
    1 crystal vein
    1 academy ruins
    4 ancient tomb
    6 island
    1 seat of the synod
    1 inventor's fair

    Sideboard (unset; under testing still, trying to cut slots)
    1 karn, scion of urza
    3 surgical extraction
    1 padded, consul of innovation
    2 hydroblast
    1 blue elemental blast
    2 flusterstorm
    1 pithing needle
    1 ensnaring bridge
    1 walking ballista
    2 back to basics
    1 divert
    1 tormod's crypt
    1 relic of progenitus
    2 echoing truth
    2 ratchet bomb


    Obviously, the sideboard is way too large, and needs to get cut to size. Annoyingly, i feel like a lot of the sideboard has sort of 'earned' its place there, so it's hard to know what i should cut. so any advice would be appreciated. So far, i feel like it's too reactive to my opponent's game plan, and it spends too much of the early game just durdling about. But once it gets going, it can be pretty good. counterbalance has been surprisingly relevant against even burn, and back to basics has been a nice surprise 'win' against goblins. i'm struggling against resolved permanents, basically. Not sure how to deal with resolved permanents outside of like an aether spell bomb, which isn't great as it is. I've tested running 3-4 blasts main, but it isn't great when i can't get a painter in play.

  10. #10
    Member

    Join Date

    Sep 2017
    Location

    Germany
    Posts

    4

    Re: Mono U painter

    Is there a reason you don´t play ponder?
    I play a similar list and for annoying permanents i have a single ratchet bomb in the main. Can be found with whir and deals with almost everything.

    How do the snapcasters work for you? I have never considered those.

  11. #11

    Re: Mono U painter

    snapcasters can be good as surprise blockers, but most of all, they allow us to reuse some spells. It's crazy enough that i can for example brainstorm multiple times in a game, but i can save one in my hand and just burn the one from the grave. It could be mostly just "cute", but 15 spells being able to be recast gives us +1 card (sort of). In very grindy matchups, they can be extremely good. Also, consider that we can whir of invention from the GY as well with snapcaster mage (it's not great, but it's still an out we have available).

    The question of ponder is a good one. I'm not really sure where it can fit in, really. Also, i'm generally less impressed with ponder than i am with brainstorm. We're playing some sort of combo/control, and many of the cards we're using don't actually gain us cards. We also need to absolutely nab certain cards with counterbalance if we don't have other answers in-hand. In that light, being a sorcery REALLY makes it that much worse. I'd even consider opt over ponder just for its ability to react. But i'm no amazing player, so maybe i should be asking you; how does ponder work for you, just curious?

    Some recent changes based off some amount of testing:
    spell pierce is rubbish. Only works basically early game, so I'm switching that out for a counterspell or a misdirect. I think misdirect is probably less useful, but has a higher ceiling against things like decay. That being said, i'm not 100% on this - sometimes, it's correct to jam the combo as fast as possible, and in this case, spell pierce is better.
    pithing needle main has been a bit of a hit and a miss. Sometimes, it's great (like when my opponent forgets that i can needle their lands), but other times, it's completely useless. brainstorm has been good for that, but relying on BS
    I need more acceleration. I'm gonna have to really save up money for city of traitors (finally) and/or mox opals.
    divert is not good either. it's better served as a misdirect.

    Any other cards i should be considering running? I wanna keep it mono blue, just to keep the mana base cheaper.

  12. #12
    Member

    Join Date

    Sep 2017
    Location

    Germany
    Posts

    4

    Re: Mono U painter

    I realy like ponder and i even play additional preordains to dig for combo pieces and protection. The deck also needs a lot of mana, so hitting every land drop seems important to me.
    Have you tried a Jace in the 75? Just a good card by itself and he provides another wincondition and distracts the opponent from our main plan.


    This is my current list:


    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    1 Tezzeret the Seeker
    4 Painter's Servant
    2 Spellskite

    4 Brainstorm
    3 Counterspell
    4 Force of Will
    4 Ponder
    2 Preordain
    2 Spell Pierce
    3 Whir of Invention

    2 Ensnaring Bridge
    4 Grindstone
    1 Pithing Needle
    1 Ratchet Bomb
    1 Relic of Progenitus
    1 Retrofitter Foundry

    Lands (19)
    1 Academy Ruins
    3 Ancient Tomb
    2 Flooded Strand
    12 Island
    2 Polluted Delta


    The Retrofitter Foundry is in my flex-slot right now, but i'm not sure if it is good enough in the whir-list. In the last test games it mainly confused my opponents

  13. #13

    Re: Mono U painter

    Your list looks like it's a very smooth running machine, but I'm not sure jace fits in with that strategy. Isn't jace more of a long-term value-machine?
    If you're using it as a damage magnet, wouldn't another spellskite basically do the same work, except it's easier to cast? I don't think your 4 fetch lands would make the jace brainstorm effective enough.
    Do you think that changing your gameplan to be more aimed towards a longer, more control build? It's sort of hard for me to tell, but if you would put your list on a range of 1-5, where 1 is zoo (always beatdown) to 5 like high tide (always control), where would you put your list? like aggression/speed-wise? would ~2 be right? aiming to be like slower than belcher and ANT, but faster than maverick.

    Is 3 counterspell, 4 force and 2 pierce a good split for you? it feels VERY heavy, considering that your deck is basically 10 cantrips, 4 tutors and a 2-card-combo. having 6 cantrips that are at sorcery speed means that it's significantly harder to keep mana up for counters on their turn, right? I'm not 100% sure that the 3 counterspell is the way to go. maybe you need 1 of them, but then 2 of some other counter. presumably a 1-cmc one. I was quite tempted to put in a single daze just for funsies (and daze is the one card that tilts people more than any other card i've seen in legacy).

    When you say you want to hit every land drop, i certainly agree with you. That being said, how often do you use your cantrips to find land? 'cuz when i play solidarity (high tide), it was always the worst feeling ever. It feels like i'd just wasted an entire turn just to reach parity with my opponent.

    I'm kinda glad i wasn't the only one who uses relic of progenitus over termods crypt. But having said that, i feel like crypt is actually the correct card to be using (doesn't get hit by chalice, and it's one-sided, and when I'm just poking cards from the grave, they're just going to remove irrelevant cards anyways).
    No love for trinket mage or sai, thopter masterist? sai combos pretty well with retrofitter foundry (converts each one into a 4/4), and trinket mage can also tutor up cards AND fetch you seat of the synod - oh wait... you don't play them? I suppose it's not great if you don't use antiquities war.
    One final question; 2 ensnaring bridge - why the two?

  14. #14
    Member

    Join Date

    Sep 2017
    Location

    Germany
    Posts

    4

    Re: Mono U painter

    I agree, that jace might be the wrong card for this archetype, but he did a lot of work for me so far. The flexibility of this card is just great. While i'm a big fan of spellskite, many decks have trouble fighting a resolved Jtms. Especially when you are hiding behind a bridge.
    I tend to play it more as a control deck with combo finish. So having a good value card isn't that bad.
    This is also the reason, why i play that many counterspells. Spell Pierce lines up pretty well with the cantrips and the classic counterspell is just a good catch all card. I definitely want two of them, but i could see the third being replaced by something else. Maybe i give a single blue blast a chance?

    I played a long time with crypt over relic, but i really like the fact, that relic can be cycled in matchups where graveyardhate is not needed.

    Sai is on my watchlist at the moment. However I think he just wants a different build. More sol lands and more artifacts. This is the same reason, why i don't run antiquities war.

    In my experience, ensnaring bridge is one of the most important cards of the deck. I don't try to combo as fast as possible and so I often end up hiding behind my bridge, digging for combo pieces
    With the second copy I give myself a better chance to find it right in time without using whir.

  15. #15

    Re: Mono U painter

    Quote Originally Posted by tired_papasmurf View Post
    Have you checked out the Discord? Theres a mono-blue channel you could dig through for deck lists and discussions

    https://discord.gg/GZuRm2
    The invite is invalid =(

  16. #16

    Re: Mono U painter

    Quote Originally Posted by Ganuel View Post
    I agree, that jace might be the wrong card for this archetype, but he did a lot of work for me so far. The flexibility of this card is just great. While i'm a big fan of spellskite, many decks have trouble fighting a resolved Jtms. Especially when you are hiding behind a bridge.
    I tend to play it more as a control deck with combo finish. So having a good value card isn't that bad.
    This is also the reason, why i play that many counterspells. Spell Pierce lines up pretty well with the cantrips and the classic counterspell is just a good catch all card. I definitely want two of them, but i could see the third being replaced by something else. Maybe i give a single blue blast a chance?

    I played a long time with crypt over relic, but i really like the fact, that relic can be cycled in matchups where graveyardhate is not needed.

    Sai is on my watchlist at the moment. However I think he just wants a different build. More sol lands and more artifacts. This is the same reason, why i don't run antiquities war.

    In my experience, ensnaring bridge is one of the most important cards of the deck. I don't try to combo as fast as possible and so I often end up hiding behind my bridge, digging for combo pieces
    With the second copy I give myself a better chance to find it right in time without using whir.
    Cool that sounds like it's one of the ways i was thinking of building it. That's why i wasn't sure about your spell pierces. if you want to play the control long game, wouldn't something like counterbalance fit it better? it's a "card advantage" engine that nets you between 0 and infinite number of cards, basically. if you use a JtMS, you can assure some amount of hits by floating 1, 2 cmc cards on top all the time, and you don't even need to reveal if you don't want to/know it won't hit.
    One more funny thing you CAN do is to JtMS any of your one-of artefacts back on top of your library to whir/tezzeret directly into play if you need to get through a chalice.

    I agree with your assessments of sai; you'd want at least mox diamonds, opals to make it good. I had a draft of a deck with sai and antiquities war as a transformational sideboard, taking out 3 grindstone, and trying to make as many thopters as possible to have an army of 5/5 fliers. somewhat gimmicky, and still falls to the same sort of hate people would usually bring against us.
    Having played with relic a bit, it's sort of put me in a difficult situation; namely that i use it to mini-remove my opponent's removal from their grave to minimise their own accumulated knowledges, snapcasters and mission briefings. It's kinda good, but usually ends up eating fetch lands instead. Maybe i really should just stick crypt back in, especially since we CAN make use of it with academy ruins (like casting grindstone through a chalice to then pop on top of library to tezz it back into play).
    You've sold me on 2 bridges now actually! gotta go find one.. they're pretty pricey these days!

    I'm not sure blue blast main serves any purpose; it's good only when you're already winning, and it doesn't help you when you're behind much of the time (since red isn't so commonly played).

    I've been thinking about a transformational sideboard; into leyline of the void + helm of obedience, keep the grindstone painter and throw in tonnes of acceleration in the form of LEDs, petals, spirit guides, even. is that a bad idea?

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)