U/w/g Control (not MUC, but nearly)

[4eak]

I love Draw/Go, and that was the starting place for this deck. This is just MUC with StP + Goyf, filling in some of the greater weaknesses of pure MUC. I consider it neither Thresh nor Landstill. It still plays Draw/go, yet it has the option to make tempo plays when necessary.

23 // Lands
4 [ON] Flooded Strand
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
3 [R] Tundra
3 [U] Tropical Island
7 [MI] Island
1 [U] Plains
1 [ARE] Forest

4 // Tarmogoyf? Check.
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf

13 // Board Control
4 [U] Swords to Plowshares
3 [US] Back to Basics
3 [FD] Engineered Explosives
3 [FD] Vedalken Shackles (I actually want to put this up with Tarmogoyf, as they both play similar roles in Offense and Defense)

12 // Permission
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [DIS] Spell Snare
4 [6E] Counterspell

8 // Draw
4 [DD2] Fact or Fiction
4 [BD] Brainstorm

It is not itself immune to B2B, but it does break the symmetry of the card by a greater proportion than most decks. Fetches and Brainstorm give you good odds to get the basics you need.

Take it for a spin. Let me know what you think. Any comments/suggestion/criticisms are welcome and ready to be pondered and/or tested.





peace,
4eak

[Tea]

Disrupting the opponent with back to basics followed by Vedalken shackles/Tarmogoyf seems like a good strategy, because with BtB your threats can be protected more easily. Alternately, vendilion clique/Kira could act as the 5th-7th BtB. However you would need more counters for the protection. This is essentially the strategy I’m working on at the moment, but I play it mono U. Though, Tarmogoyf is way better threat than the threats I can play.


EDIT: some more thoughts. I really like the idea of a multicolour draw/Go deck.
EE is wrong here, I think, as it doesn’t fit into the Draw-Go shell. What about Cunning Wish? Having access to White this card seems quite strong.

Tarmogofy…I don’t know if it’s the right creature in Draw/Go; Decree of Justice looks good, too.

Maybe something like this:

Lands: 23

Draw: 10
4 Brainstorm
3 FoF (the fourth in SB)
3 Cunning wish

others: 4
4 Back to Basics

Counters/removal: 19
4 swords to plowshares
4 force of will
3 spell snare
4 counterspell
4 mana leak (If you fetch a plain, mana leak is superior to CS)

4 more slots.

[4eak]

Your deck reminds me of this (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7731&page=2) thread. There you'll see I've got B2B U/W lists which are similar to what you posted here. I found it underwhelming in the end.

While I really didn't like the thought of Tarmogoyf in MUC (for various reasons), he's insanely cheap and hits just as hard as our other options. Through his ability to block, he gives control decks much needed tempo in the early game against aggressive decks, often fulfilling the role played by Force Spike, Echoing Truth, Powder Keg, etc., but without the loss of card advantage or potency later in the game. In some ways, he's can be easy to protect because you don't have to tap out to play him in the mid to late game. He's the best creature in magic (a title which Morphling held before), and while he's subject to removal (mitigated by his redundancy and cheap mana cost), he's also a much more versatile card than the traditionally slower/high-cc win cons. Tarmogoyf gives the deck access to a powerful blocker in the early game and a reasonable way to exploit (or create himself) even the smallest temporary windows of stability to quickly transform the deck into the aggro role.

DoJ is slow (lots of experience playing this in Landstill, MWC and the many variants of U/W I've played). It fogs in the midgame (4-6 lands), and only in the very late game can it really act as a win con. I think its a poorer choice in a deck that is a bit more mana light than most heavy control decks (especially given the slight symmetry of the 6-nonbasics under B2B). It certainly could be a sideboard option, but it wasn't playing well in the main.

Certainly this change in win conditions means that our very late game isn't as potent, but the raw tempo we buy with this sacrifice seems like a very reasonable trade. FoF chaining is the late game in this deck, not the wincon.

As for EE not fitting Draw/Go, I whole-heartedly disagree. Draw/Go certainly needs a board sweeper (and it traditionally runs at least 3) as you can't counter/block/steal everything. I went with EE just out of instinct (as this deck is 3 colors). Disk is certainly an option though. Powder Keg is out because I need a maindeck answer to a resolved Counterbalance (as the mana curve has shifted down from traditional builds). Whether the deck should run EE or Disk is a good question, and I'll have to do more testing on that. I had actually thought the criticism would be that I've not included enough board sweeping given that I've sacrificed some mana-base safety for splashing, I perhaps should have used more non-blue cards (such as Wrath of God, Grip, etc.)





peace,
4eak

[Tea]

I agree DoJ is too slow. What about Vedalken shackles + Vendilion clique?
Vendilion Clique takes care of the artefact-hate card and you can play safely a Vedalken shackles. Having flash, Vendilion clique is never clunky and it cans chump-block a nacatl.
I think Disk is the best Boardsweeper; however, if you run tarmogoyf, EE looks quite good, too. But I wonder if you really need a boardsweeper, for Vedalken shackles (and tarmogoyf) serves the same role.

As for Counterbalance, I think the best answer to it is just countering it. Though, if one resolves, Disk or Cunning wish could help.


EDIT:
Sorry, but sometimes I tend to post too quickly.:rolleyes:


I have to disagree that a board-sweeper is necessarily needed; all you need are strong board-control cards. A boardsweeper like Disk is a strong board-control card, but there are other strong board-control cards not being boardsweepers, too like vedalken shackles, Sower of temptation.
I think Tarmogyf and EE are too weak as such board-control cards. This is why you have to run both of them.
Some reasons against tarmogyf and EE
1. You have to run both. Instead you could have run more counters.
2. Tarmo dies to StP, etc. In this case, you have traded a dead card (creature-removal) with one of your cards.
3. Your opponent runs Tarmogyf, too.
4. In many cases, EE is not even a Boardsweeper, but mere a spot-removal.
Well, Tarmo + EE is way to stabilize the game, but I think there are better possibilities. If not, we have to stay with Tarmo + EE.

Other possibilities:
- Nev Disk
- Shackles/Sower/meloku + Vendilion Clique/BtB
- WoG
- something else?

[HPB_Eggo]

I used to run a similar deck, although it didn't splash green for Tarmogoyf. A few suggestions from what I remember...

Wall of Denial is amazing in any late-game deck that can manage to play it effectively. It blocks nearly ever threat in the format (Dreadnought being the only commonly played creature it will not block), and keeps doing it practically forever, as it is very hard to get rid of.

Maze of Ith is good for the same reasons, if you can manage to fit it.

I would say cut back on the FoF. It's really good, but you don't want an opening hand with two FoF and no permission. My suggestion would be -2 FoF, -1 Spell Snare, +3 Mana Leak.

I would also say trying to fit one or two Jace would be a good idea, I'm just not sure where you would manage it. He is constant CA, especially with Wall of Denial and Maze of Ith.

[Poron]

3x Cunning Wish
3x Vedalken Shackles
3x StP

SB:
3x Krosan Grips
1x StP

Cunning Wish is very nice for board control

[claudio.r]

I love the idea, i've been playing MUC for a long time, but it's not a very good deck in the moment, it lacks pressure. With goyf we can apply that pressure, while still having the good side of playing mono blue, back to basics and shackles.

Ever considered Sower of temptation ?
I'm not sure about explosives, but more testing will tell.