UBw Landscrew

[alcaeus]

The idea behind the UB-manascrew deck is to deny the opp current AND future mana.
It is designed to trash fetch manabases, yet by using all-around control-cards for mana-denial purposes, the deck should maintain flexibility to control the board in the face of a solid (basic) manabase.

The list:

Mana Denial
4x Wasteland
4x Stifle
4x Extirpate
3x Extract
4x Sinkhole
3x Vindicate

Control
4x Force of Will
4x Daze
2x Mana Leak
4x Smother
2x Engineered Explosives

Draw
4x Brainstorm

WinCon
3x Tombstalker

Mana
4x Underground Sea
1x Scrubland
1x Tundra
4x Polluted Delta
2x Flooded Strand
2x Swamp
1x Island

Sideboard
4x Leyline of the Void
2x Tsabo's Web
3x Null Rod
3x Meddling Mage
3x Propaganda

Cardchoices:
Wasteland & Sinkhole are selfexplanatory

Stifle: to counter fetchlands

Extirpate: to deny the opp future duals after the 1st one has been wasted

Extract: while good against combo, extract is used here to filter basic lands from an opp's library. So, to deny fetch-targets

Vindicate: extra sinkhole

Force of will, Daze & Mana Leak: solid counterbase

Smother & Engineered explosives: Particularly effective when denying mana

Tombstalker: very efficient beatstick

Sideboard
Leyline of the void + Meddling Mage: Anti-combo

Null Rod: Anti-moxen and Vial

Propaganda: Anti-aggro/ gobbo

Deck Weakness
Riding on the back of Tombstalker alone is probably not enough, so this deck sourly needs an alternative wincon. Perhaps, throwing in a dreadnought?

Alternative Card Choices
As the deck is still under construction, several other cards seem promising:

Swords to Plowshares: Left out for mana-consistency reasons, but obviously owns smother in many ways.

Chill: For the gobbo matchup, yet vial gets around this card, so propaganda is probably the better choice

Divert, Spell Snare & Thoughtseize: efficient disruption

Shadow of Doubt: cantrip fetchdenial

Sphere of resistance: perhaps too selfhurting too, but a very strong card nonetheless

Smallpox: again, a strong alternative

Repeal: cantrip boomerang :cool:

Powder keg: ipo Engineered explosives

Ponder?

Alternative Wincon?

Thnx for reading!

Need advice.

[Holiday]

I think you need more win-cons too. You have Stifles, why not toss in a couple Trickbinds and some Dreadnoughts? You might beable to get a couple early wins just from stifle-nought shenanigans alone.

[Hanni]

-3 Extract
+1 Vindicate
+2 Smallpox

Extract is horrible, regardless if you are running Extirpate or not. You want the 4th Vindicate. Since you run only 3 creatures, Smallpox seems like a perfect fit here.

-2 Mana Leak
-1 Smother
-1 Daze
+4 Thoughtseize

Mana Leak is horrid. You already have other creature removal in Vindicate and Smallpox (and Thoughtseize somewhat) so 3 Smothers should be fine. Daze as a 4-of is good but I think Thoughtseize as a 4-of is better.

[alcaeus]

Extract shouldn't be discarded so easily.

Many decks have a low basic land count (only 1-2 of its colors), with extract & sinkhole u can lock them off their basics by turn 2, forcing them to non-basics and right into your into your wasteland/extirpate lock.
The intention of this deck is to lock out the scare-color (or splashes) by turn 3, while having the countermagic and some control to deal with the initial onslaught. (I'll give extract a spot in the sideboard in the place of Meddling Mage.)

Hence the relatively low level of control. As the intention is to prevent the opp from playing threats consistently through mid/lategame Although I would like to play main with:
4x Swords
4x Vindicate
3x Engineered Explosives/Powder Keg
Yet, I feel that the white splash is risky as it is. I feel it is better to fetch the Tundra/Scrub turn 3 for Vindicate, rather than turn 1 for Swords.

But Tombstalker still needs a friend & Eternal dragon certainly seems interesting and would help to reduce the risk of the white splash.
What I don't like about it that it is suspectible to grave-hate, as the Tombstalker, which is something I'd like to avoid.
So I'm still in favor of adding some Dreadnoughts (2?) and 1 Trickbind.

Mana leak is certainly on its way out:tongue:

Smallpox: I love the card, yet what has to go? Split with Smother?

[alcaeus]

List
Spells (40)
4x Brainstorm
4x Force of Will
4x Daze
4x Extirpate
4x Stifle
1x Trickbind
4x Sinkhole
2x Smallpox
2x Smother
4x Vindicate
2x Engineered Explosives
2x Phyrexian Dreadnought
3x Tombstalker

Lands (20)
4x Wasteland
4x Underground Sea
2x Scrubland
1x Tundra
4x Polluted Delta
2x Flooded Strand
2x Swamp
1x Island

Sideboard
3x Extract
2x Smother
3x Null Rod
3x Propaganda
4x Leyline of the Void

This is the list I intend to playtest.
Added 2 Smallpox, 2 dreadnoughts, and an extra scrubland.

Points of contention:
Win-con sufficient?
Swords to plowshares & thoughtseize?
Mana base to weak?
Sideboard strategy?
Are 17 blue cards enough to support FoW?!

[Illissius]

Encroach? I'm vaguely interested in that card; it's capable of totally manascrewing your opponent, but also of being totally useless.

[Valtrix]

Hmmm. You know, I find it odd that you're trying to screw them over with land, but you have a poor manabase as well. Since vindicate is your only white card, why not just cut it for a stronger manabase? You could easily add two more smallpox, which is going to hurt their creatures and land. If you run 4, however, I'd suggest adding a couple more land...Faerie conclave seems like a good choice. Also, I prefer diabolic edict over smother, at least in this deck, for mongoose and stuff. Smother is still good though, especially if you up smallpox a bit.

+2 Smallpox
+2 Faerie conclave

I just feel like you need a few more win-conditions. It doesn't matter if you screw up their manabase, because if you can't win they're probably going to outrace you with land. Not that faerie conclave is fast, but it keeps your land up and can get in there for some damage.

I tried making a deck somewhat like this, but I was never happy with it, because the LD never worked out the way I want. When you run into a deck with good manabases, or land recursion, you're probably going to run into trouble. Or heck, even if somebody plays dragon stompy you could be screwed if you can't counter a moon effect.

EDIT: I always thought encroach would be hilarious as well.

[jazzykat]

With all that land D, have you considered of the traditional prison pieces:

chalice (which hurts you too)
sphere of resistance (castable as early as turn 2, makes their first mana on the table useless unless it's for force or daze, helps vs. storm combo...I think this might be a winner)
3sphere (they may never cast anything after this is down but it makes your stuff cost more too)

I think perhaps moving to mishra's factories (and yes, this does open you up a bit more to extirpate) + crucible and having one recurring creature MD for the kill would be synergistic, allowing you to go up to 4 small pox which IMO has the potential to be a beating in this format.

Lastly, to avoid getting your head beat in by a quick mongoose or goyf you can consider propaganda.

[conboy31]

I concur with dropping white from your list for something similar to smallpox. Also, their discarded card will provide you with potential extirpate fodder.

Maybe -4 vindicate, + 2 small pox, +1 land/crucible of worlds

[Elfrago]

Chrome Mox?
LD on turn 1 is way better than LD on turn 2.
It also has a nice sinergy with smallpox.

[Mordenkaynen]

Surely you have to add finishers.
Usually manadenial (esp. LD) decks are looking for stick-and-forget finishers, as much non-vulnerable as they can be.
So try Bitterblossom. Dreadnaught is far more vulnerable as they can counter stifle or destroy him as creature or as artifact (although he is faster).
Also in some decks Chimeric Idol and Nether Spirit are used effectively, but not here probably.

[alcaeus]

Thnx for the response guys!
I'll edit the starting list when we reach a more conclusive decklist. For now the two listed here should provide enough fodder for discussion.

Here's my view & summary on the main issues and open slots of the deck:

White Splash
White offers Vindicate & Swords to plowshares. Adding both weakens the manabase too much, I think, so the question is wether vindicate alone justifies the white splash. I'm inclined to drop white altogether in favor of Smallpox. Smallpox rocks, but leaves little room for any splashes, given the high count of BB-spells (9-11). So it looks like White is out, in favor of a stronger manabase, which is needed.

Win Condition
Tombstalker is awesome in this deck so 2-3 copies are an auto-include.
What to run next to the stalker is still an enigma to me. Dreadnought is uber, but vulnerable. Leaving out white leaves out eternal dragon, but does open the road for some Manlands (I'm not a fan of Faerie conclave) + crucible. Bitterblossom is rather interesting, although it might be too slow without any bad moon effects (I've never played with blossom, so I might be underestimating it). Win-con stil needs work.
Are there any other suggestions on win-cons?

Mana denial/ Lock pieces
Wasteland, Stifle, Extirpate & Sinkhole are auto-includes
Smallpox now too in favor of Vindicate

Chalice of the Void: No. This card has too much dissynergy with extirpate & stifle, upon which this deck heavily relies. It could be a viable sideboard card when the leyline's have been sided in, or when set to 0.

Trinisphere: No, in my view it hurts your counter-magic too much.

Sphere of Resistance: Very, very interesting. This is the most promising lockpiece of all. Certainly deserves a spot in the main or side. I like to hear your views on which spots it should replace.

Propaganda: I already had this card in the sideboard. But given the low blue count to support FoW, I am considering giving it 3 mainboard slots. Your views?

Encroach: Hilarious! A duress for a non-basic land. I considered this card when building the deck, but I felt it went against the deckprinciple of using flexible cards to manascrew the opp (exc. of waste + sink obv.). Yet it works great to supplement the waste/pate lock, particularly since an opp will often be holding his non-basics in hand after the first game. Hmmm.

Extract: I'm still a fan of maindecking it...

Disruption
I'm pretty strict about including the blue counterbase.
So for me Force of Will, Stifle, Daze & Brainstorm are auto-inclusions. Daze as a 4-of, as Daze remains strong in mid-game. Yet the inclusion of FoW makes this deck hungry for blue cards. Suggestions? (propaganda, extract, ponder, Jace)

Thanks for reading!