Piceli89
07-28-2009, 09:16 AM
So, yesterday, after having played a bit ITF on Mws, i decided to put together a random goodstuff.dec Control. But the sad thing came when i stared at my collection cards, seeing that i had only a playset of Mires and one of Deltas, and 2 Underground Seas. What kind of crappy control do i build with such poor manabase?
Then something came to my mind, a card that i also play in Merfolks and to me is seriously underrated in Legacy:
http://www.abugames.com/images/products/urzassaga/backtobasics.jpg
Which fits perfectly with the cards above, in an UB controlesque deck.
My idea was to build a deck very good to front Aggro (i.e. packing a SHITLOAD of black removals), which is showing with more and more frequency here in my local meta, but that could be also good Aggro-control packing some form of permission, and that had the game-breaking weapon against Control (which is B2B, obviously). Ah, since it runs counters and discard, it could also be good against combo. Is it the perfect deck? No, it isn't at all. But i threw it together just to have fun, and because i always loved the blue-based Control archetype in legacy, but never tried anyone.
I came up with this list, tweaked after some testing on mws,which seems to be quite good:
Mana-20
4 Delta
4 Mire
2 USea
5 Island
5 Swamp
Permission-13
4 FoW
3 Spell Snare
3 Mana leak
3 Duress
Card Engine/Card Quality-9
4 Brainstorm
3 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Fact or Fiction
Slaughterhouse-9
3 Doom Blade
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Smother
2 Snuff Out
Good Stuff-4
3 Back to Basics
1 Rushing River
Finishers-5
4 Tombstalker
1 Psychatog
Sideboard (built in air)
2 [PS] Rushing River
3 [DK] Tormod's Crypt
4 [UL] Engineered Plague
3 [SOK] Pithing Needle
3 Hydroblast
Card Choices and Explanation:
Well, the manabase is as solid as i could, i know it pretty much suffers stifle, but it's perfectly playable around, since i can cast the majority of my spells in opponent's turn (which is btw what i'm gonna do, this deck is built on instants to answer everything instantly ala old Tog),and 8/22 lands means i'll draw some basics, after all.
For the permission spells, i think it's quite classic, for the exception of the lack of Counterspell due to the fact that i can't afford double U, which would require Duals. Mana Leak acts in its place,is less color-intensive, in the early game is a Counterspell and in the mid-late it can still work quite well since the presence of B2B.
I also pack Duress because it's quite good to know what your opponent plays and to regulate yourself in consequence. I know it could - and perhaps should-be Thoughtseize, but i think i'm already well-settled against creatures, and i already lose enough life between fetches, snuff outs, fows and random damage. Plus, i have budget restraints :laugh: .
The card quality is quite classic too. The usual goodies provide me good selection along with fetches, and the Facts are just insane as the time goes on and goes on. No more than 2 because drawing them in the early phases is a pain in the ass, they're usually a card i want to see from turn 5 and after.
And now we get to the most curious part of the deck: the removal section. I chose to diversify a lot these spells because i feel that each of them has several pros and cons. At the beginning, i didn't want to include Diabolic Edict because it just sucked in the swarmed-modern metagame, but the fact that Mongoose still exists and i would have no way to get rid of it induced to me to pack it again. Plus, if iit can handle random Progenitals from random decks.
Doom Blade is a strong addiction here, it's a powered Terror that's going to be really strong. I would pack 4 , but the presence of Confidants needs moar Smothers too. 2 may be a lil' too few, but now it's ok for me.
And what about Snuff Out? In a control deck? Yes,sir. I absolutely love snuff out, and the possibility to cast it for free largely pisses off the life loss. Topping/Bstorming for solutions and free-killing oppo's dudes with an unexpected Snuff Out is a good combination.
Back to Basics is the namesake of the deck, if it lands, the greatest part of Legacy decks is going to suffer it. Even taking 2 lands is going to be a big boost for me, and usually wins in the long distance. Furthermore, it is totally unexpected g1, and can steal the game. My little doubt is whether or not to side it out in g2 if an opponent sees it ( since he'll arguably fetch for basics), but its potential always induced me to keep it in (maybe side out 1 copy for other cards).
The singleton Rushing River, which i admit to be pretty randomic, is there as a solution for hurting non-creature things, like Artifacts Stuff (3Sphere, Chalices, ecc), or Counterbalance, which though shoudln't exagerately hurt.
The finishers are what better U and B can offer. Of course Tombstalker is a freaking beast; Psychatog needs a bit more reasoning. Since it's arguably good only in the [I]really advanced game, I'm still doubtful whether to include him or not, also staring at the fact that i run all graveyard-dependant win cons. But at the moment i can't think of an efficient creatures which belongs to UB and its this deck; i considered both Meloku and OOna, but they're costy as hell, and i want to keep the manacurve quite low and straight-going.
The sideboard needs to be tweaked properly, but now it already contains the hate for what I'm going to meet ipothetically in a tourney, i.e. Tribals (plague), Ichorid (tormod's),Burn/Goblins/Dstompy (Hydroblasts), Artifact.dec/Stompy/Landstill (RR), randomactivatedabilities.dec (Needle).
Suggestions and critics are welcome, but keep in mind I'm going to make this deck quite on the budget line, so don't tell me to pack stuffs like TheAbyss or Thoughtseize or anything else such expensive in money terms.
Then something came to my mind, a card that i also play in Merfolks and to me is seriously underrated in Legacy:
http://www.abugames.com/images/products/urzassaga/backtobasics.jpg
Which fits perfectly with the cards above, in an UB controlesque deck.
My idea was to build a deck very good to front Aggro (i.e. packing a SHITLOAD of black removals), which is showing with more and more frequency here in my local meta, but that could be also good Aggro-control packing some form of permission, and that had the game-breaking weapon against Control (which is B2B, obviously). Ah, since it runs counters and discard, it could also be good against combo. Is it the perfect deck? No, it isn't at all. But i threw it together just to have fun, and because i always loved the blue-based Control archetype in legacy, but never tried anyone.
I came up with this list, tweaked after some testing on mws,which seems to be quite good:
Mana-20
4 Delta
4 Mire
2 USea
5 Island
5 Swamp
Permission-13
4 FoW
3 Spell Snare
3 Mana leak
3 Duress
Card Engine/Card Quality-9
4 Brainstorm
3 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Fact or Fiction
Slaughterhouse-9
3 Doom Blade
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Smother
2 Snuff Out
Good Stuff-4
3 Back to Basics
1 Rushing River
Finishers-5
4 Tombstalker
1 Psychatog
Sideboard (built in air)
2 [PS] Rushing River
3 [DK] Tormod's Crypt
4 [UL] Engineered Plague
3 [SOK] Pithing Needle
3 Hydroblast
Card Choices and Explanation:
Well, the manabase is as solid as i could, i know it pretty much suffers stifle, but it's perfectly playable around, since i can cast the majority of my spells in opponent's turn (which is btw what i'm gonna do, this deck is built on instants to answer everything instantly ala old Tog),and 8/22 lands means i'll draw some basics, after all.
For the permission spells, i think it's quite classic, for the exception of the lack of Counterspell due to the fact that i can't afford double U, which would require Duals. Mana Leak acts in its place,is less color-intensive, in the early game is a Counterspell and in the mid-late it can still work quite well since the presence of B2B.
I also pack Duress because it's quite good to know what your opponent plays and to regulate yourself in consequence. I know it could - and perhaps should-be Thoughtseize, but i think i'm already well-settled against creatures, and i already lose enough life between fetches, snuff outs, fows and random damage. Plus, i have budget restraints :laugh: .
The card quality is quite classic too. The usual goodies provide me good selection along with fetches, and the Facts are just insane as the time goes on and goes on. No more than 2 because drawing them in the early phases is a pain in the ass, they're usually a card i want to see from turn 5 and after.
And now we get to the most curious part of the deck: the removal section. I chose to diversify a lot these spells because i feel that each of them has several pros and cons. At the beginning, i didn't want to include Diabolic Edict because it just sucked in the swarmed-modern metagame, but the fact that Mongoose still exists and i would have no way to get rid of it induced to me to pack it again. Plus, if iit can handle random Progenitals from random decks.
Doom Blade is a strong addiction here, it's a powered Terror that's going to be really strong. I would pack 4 , but the presence of Confidants needs moar Smothers too. 2 may be a lil' too few, but now it's ok for me.
And what about Snuff Out? In a control deck? Yes,sir. I absolutely love snuff out, and the possibility to cast it for free largely pisses off the life loss. Topping/Bstorming for solutions and free-killing oppo's dudes with an unexpected Snuff Out is a good combination.
Back to Basics is the namesake of the deck, if it lands, the greatest part of Legacy decks is going to suffer it. Even taking 2 lands is going to be a big boost for me, and usually wins in the long distance. Furthermore, it is totally unexpected g1, and can steal the game. My little doubt is whether or not to side it out in g2 if an opponent sees it ( since he'll arguably fetch for basics), but its potential always induced me to keep it in (maybe side out 1 copy for other cards).
The singleton Rushing River, which i admit to be pretty randomic, is there as a solution for hurting non-creature things, like Artifacts Stuff (3Sphere, Chalices, ecc), or Counterbalance, which though shoudln't exagerately hurt.
The finishers are what better U and B can offer. Of course Tombstalker is a freaking beast; Psychatog needs a bit more reasoning. Since it's arguably good only in the [I]really advanced game, I'm still doubtful whether to include him or not, also staring at the fact that i run all graveyard-dependant win cons. But at the moment i can't think of an efficient creatures which belongs to UB and its this deck; i considered both Meloku and OOna, but they're costy as hell, and i want to keep the manacurve quite low and straight-going.
The sideboard needs to be tweaked properly, but now it already contains the hate for what I'm going to meet ipothetically in a tourney, i.e. Tribals (plague), Ichorid (tormod's),Burn/Goblins/Dstompy (Hydroblasts), Artifact.dec/Stompy/Landstill (RR), randomactivatedabilities.dec (Needle).
Suggestions and critics are welcome, but keep in mind I'm going to make this deck quite on the budget line, so don't tell me to pack stuffs like TheAbyss or Thoughtseize or anything else such expensive in money terms.