[Deck] Mono U Wizard Fish Standstill Control

[Octopusman]

Land

flooded strand
scalding tarn
polluted delta
misty rainforest
island x 9
mutavault x4

Creatures

lullmage mentor x4
voidmage prodigy x4

Spells

disrupting shoal x4
aether vial x4
standstill x4
artificial evolution x3
Daze x4
Stifle x4
repeal x2
crucible of worlds
Force of Will x4

Sideboard

Blue Elemental Blast x2
Hydroblast x2
relic of progenitus x4
vedalken shackles x3
wipe away x2
submerge x2


I'd like feedback on this deck. I know that what usually happens is people say why a deck won't work because of what they believe about their meta and the Tier 1 decks. Of course, all criticism is welcome, but discussing specific cards and why certain aspects of the deck will or won't work are very constructive ways to engage the discussion.

I pretty much always play fish. What's interesting about this build is the glaring inclusion of lullmage mentor and artificial evolution. The shoals are also in there because the deck is mono blue and keeping any and all threats off the board is essential because, as usual, the mono u fish deck has few answers besides a pair of maindeck bounce.
artificial evolution and late game dazes get pitched to FoW or disrupting shoal.
Otherwise, you change merfolk on lullmage mentor to wizard. With an evolved lullmage mentor and voidmage prodigy, is can be gg.
The mutavault/crucible supplements voidmage prodigy as well.

Otherwise, the deck is pretty straightforward as far as control/fish goes.

If you have a suggestion for another card (like cursecatcher, wasteland, etc), please recommend cards to remove and how it might impact the overall functionality of the deck (i.e. curve).


I'm pretty excited about this list. This also doesn't have to revolve around the dubious three card combo I mentioned. Obviously that's a tad fragile, but with some fetches, brainstorm, and 8 FoW, I'm not too incredibly concerned that I'm squandering precious slots in the deck as the disruption package in this deck is pretty intense. However, the prospect of infinite countering is hot.

Thanks.

[edit] how'd Arid Mesa get on the list? lol

[clavio]

You missed April fools by about a half an hour.

[Octopusman]

You missed April fools by about a half an hour.

Rather than nerd rage about how useless your post is I'll just say that I would love to workstation this up and test it with anyone who can put their money where their mouth is.

[IsThisACatInAHat?]

Though it's built very differently to your list, I found this (http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=33068) on deckcheck a little while ago. I was really surprised how resilient it was in testing, being more or less undefeated against the random jank MWS threw at it (which a lot of tiered decks can't do) and having good game against a lot of DTBs and established decks. It looks like it's all over the place (it is) and it's got 61 cards, but it seems to be what you're trying for.

[Poron]

an Evolved Bitterblossom works better than Lullmage, for sure.

[clavio]

Rather than nerd rage about how useless your post is I'll just say that I would love to workstation this up and test it with anyone who can put their money where their mouth is.

How do you deal with a resolved fucking anything? 2 repeals? Not to mention your only card draw is standstill which your opponent will never break once they resolve tarmogoyf.

I'd like to know what kind of decks this actually beats.

[Octopusman]

Boy I'm tired now and I was tired in my earlier posts.

Something is definitely missing. I'm only counting 55 cards maindeck. I know that it's missing 4 brainstorms, but I can't remember what the last card is. I realized brainstorm was missing only after clavio pointed out the only draw was standstill.

I don't know, clavio, but catinthehat seems to think a similar list can perform alright. Perhaps he'd like to elaborate on specific decks besides random jank. I still haven't tested so I honestly can't speak for it. I do know that it's pretty similar to a fish list I used to play that was just fine.

However, I do see a big gap to fill with removal as clavio said (albeit in an unjustified tone).
The last card slot doesn't seem like it should be used for a removal spell though. If I have to throw a singleton in there it'd probably a Top or a jitte.

If we have to make room for removal (seems needed). I think it's safe to drop the disrupting shoals. They're in there to try to ensure you're going to have a counter before you have a turn (as to avoid having to deal with a resolved spell due to lack of removal), but it seems better served for a removal suite.

Poron suggested bitterblossom as opposed to mentor, but I'll disagree just to back myself up. Keeping the deck monocolored means we don't have to worry about nonbasic hate. Perhaps this could be a metagame consideration on my part, but in Legacy it's just my opinion that there is a lot of nonbasic hate. With mono U we aren't really worrying about the cost on mentor however it being a three drop makes it much slower. I like mentor because the effect could be immediate. I don't like the thought of having something blown up (krosan grip on bitterblossom) before any shenanigans start. This makes bitterblossom a little slower too. Also, we can't vial bitterblossom into play.


With the disrupting shoal gone, it means that there will be less chances to make a use out of unwanted artificial evolutions. I think this is important to consider. If we can combine the need for removal with our need to pitch unwanted evolutions, maybe something like waterfront bouncer could work. Otherwise, we're going to have to settle with the age old brainstorm/fetch ditch. I considered cunning wishes to grab evolutions, or something situation appropriate, but I don't really want to go there (nor do I think it'll be successful).


Like any Fish deck, imo it's time to shine is post board. We pack a few submerge and the shackles which are imba in mono u imo. Wipe Away is great for counterbalance, etc. And, of course, blasts and a graveyard hate card.

Landstill has run nevinyrral's disk as a sweeper, but I'm not sure I'm feeling that for this deck. I was thinking powder keg, but I'm not sure as it is pretty bad with voidmage.
I'm afraid that creature only bounce is too narrow. Seal of removal is great, but aside from pitching to force or brainstorm/fetching it away, it's too likely that it'll be a dead card... even sometimes which imo sucks and I want to avoid that.
I considered evacuation, but I don't like the cost and it can slow me down more than I want considering the creature strategy and I can't rely on vial.
There aren't enough creatures to really warrant jitte and I wouldn't want to count that as reliable removal.
I love echoing truth, but I kind of want something cheaper and more... permanent.
-- I know that in my heart what I really want is swords to plowshares, but I want to keep this mono u.
Unfortunately there is no swords in u and with bounce we're just delaying the inevitable if we can't draw into another counter or removal.
So, I love the post board removal, but want to get a playset of something in there. I like echoing truth as it can handle more than just creatures and isn't three mana. Takes out zombie tokens by the dozen.

Maybe for the sake of discussion I'll just wrap it up with

+ echoing truth x4
+ Sensei's Divining Top
- Disrupting Shoal x4