Mono Blue Tempo

[4eak]

Blue might have a critical mass of blue cards for us to build a viable mono blue tempo deck without being Merfolk (which relies upon its synergy too much, lacking the standalone power other fish-type decks have). Maybe someone else might enjoy trying it out /shrug.

// Lands - 18
4 Wasteland
5 Island
1 Riptide Laboratory
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand

// Win Cons - 14
4 Delver of Secrets/Insectile Aberration
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Vendilion Clique
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

// Tempo - 20
4 Stifle
4 Daze
4 Spell Pierce
4 Spell Snare
4 Force of Will

// Card Quality - 8
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder

// Sideboard
SB: 3 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 3 Gut Shot
SB: 3 Surgical Extraction
SB: 3 Echoing Truth
SB: 3 Vedalken Shackles

Looks like a mix between MUC, Dreadstill, and tempo thresh.



peace,
4eak

[death]

// Lands - 18
4 Wasteland
5 Island
1 Riptide Laboratory
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand

// Win Cons - 14
4 Delver of Secrets/Insectile Aberration
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Vendilion Clique
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

// Tempo - 20
4 Stifle
4 Daze
4 Spell Pierce
4 Spell Snare
4 Force of Will

// Card Quality - 8
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder

The deck should have no problem winning if it can resolve an early Delver and protect it. My only concern is that if Plan A doesn't work and you lose your creature, with this list there is no real way of dealing with resolved Goyfs/KotR/fatties other than digging for Jace and bouncing them --or double blocking.
2 for 1'ng yourself in the latter scenario is counterintuitive for a tempo deck.

[from Cairo]

I might look at running some Dismember and maybe a Repeal or Rushing River, just to give you a bit of game against something that could slip through your counter magic. Cool idea/list though.

[kiblast]

18 lands are not enough to play 3 JTMS.* I'd play -1 Clique -1 JTMS +2 Island. You might also want to cut 1-2 counterspells (2 Spell Pierce probably) and play 2 Kira. Kira lets you stick a delver/ Clique easily without worrying to counter anything. It's also a decent beater on its own if you are in control of the game state.

* ( I'm playing UW Caw Cartel at the moment. That deck plays 10 cantrips, 4 JTMS and 20 lands, so trust me, 18 lands are not enough.I'm not suggesting the splash, I'm just comparing these two decks.)

EDIT: Since when Snapcaster is a wincon?

[RainbowPenguin]

It might very well be possible, but what would be the point? Splashing is easy, and opening yourself up to being wastelanded isn't a big deal if you're already trying to keep a low curve, as tempo decks should.
You could try to make a tempo deck that could play maindeck Back to Basics, which might be good in a sufficiently degenerate metagame, but even then, a light splash would likely be worth it. I don't think that most metagames are that far out, though.

[Greenpoe]

Since you're going monoblue, you should have a good reason to be monoblue (AKA Shackles or B2B). Otherwise, splashing is just plain better (AKA, the main reason to be monocolored is Wasteland, but playing Stifle as many tempo decks do, fights Waste).

[igri_is_a_bk]

Three Jace in a deck with 18 lands that also uses Daze and Wasteland? My guess is you will have trouble hitting four mana before your tempo is eradicated.

I think you want some way to interact with the board like others have pointed out. death was right on the money about the two-for-one you'll frequently experience otherwise.

[paK0]

Since you're going monoblue, you should have a good reason to be monoblue



This, 2 colored manabases are still pretty save, and you loose a lot of power in return, I doubt it would be worth it.

[Iron Buddha]

Your deck is very well built. But I think there is one big problem with it: This deck is made in the philosophy of Tempo Thresh and not in the philosophy of Merfolk. What I want to say is that you probably should straight out cut -4 Spell Snare, -4 Stifle and add +4 Aether Vial, and work on from there.

With Aether Vial in mind, this is the obvious shell:

4 Wasteland
4 Aether Vial
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Pierce
4 Daze

Now the question is how to break Aether Vial without the Merfolk creature shell?

[Kich867]

Your deck is very well built. But I think there is one big problem with it: This deck is made in the philosophy of Tempo Thresh and not in the philosophy of Merfolk. What I want to say is that you probably should straight out cut -4 Spell Snare, -4 Stifle and add +4 Aether Vial, and work on from there.

With Aether Vial in mind, this is the obvious shell:

4 Wasteland
4 Aether Vial
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Pierce
4 Daze

Now the question is how to break Aether Vial without the Merfolk creature shell?

Snapcaster Mage, Spellstutter Sprite, Delver of Secrets, Phantasmal Bear, Vendilion Clique.

Phantasmal Bear is actually incredibly impressive. If you haven't played with / against it, I wouldn't recommend weighing your judgement in on the card. It's a 1 mana 2/2 with no drawback other than it will die when it would die anyways. Their damage adds up quickly and it's quite difficult to deal with sometimes. Despite their illusion tribe effect, it's actually a difficult choice to remove them when things like Delver and Clique can hit the table and swing over--whenever I've played against this sort of deck (a friend of mine built a similar list on cockatrice) it often came down to a situation where removing a bear early meant letting a Delver or Clique land and get swings in.

I think Standstill is something to think about for a deck like this. For one, with Aether Vial you don't have to cast any creatures so you can keep your standstill -and- play threats. Turn one vial, turn two standstill with counter support is likely a game-winning situation for you. There only option at that point is to break standstill or lose, probably quickly given the aggressiveness of the deck.

Snapcaster Mage + Aether Vial is something I haven't even really seen explored yet and it's probably one of the greatest usages of the card I've ever heard of. Sure, it has flash anyways, but you're actually able to say, pay 1 mana to flashback brainstorm -and- get a 2/1 body.

[Iron Buddha]

In fact, the best creatures for Aether Vial are 2cc creatures that have a bit of content attached to them. Aether Vial is a mana-generator like nothing else, but what you need are manasinks to actually gain something from the mana generated by Vial. That being said, this is what I would suggest:

4 Cursecatcher
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Coralhelm Commander
x Trinket Mage (Phyrexian Dreadnought / Sigil of Distinction / Pithing Needle / Chalice of the Void...) / Kira / ...
+ Riptide Laboratory shenanigans

Snapcaster Mage fits the Vial-criteria perfectly, however how to get the most out of him? While flashing back Brainstorm is nice, flashing back a card like FoF or Cryptic Command would actually be much more impressive. But a 4cc card requires a heavier land-base and Daze would probably get the axe.

@ Delver of Secrets / Phantasmal Bear /Vendilion Clique. I'm not sure if this is what you want for a Vial creature package. What makes Delver so good is that he is mana-efficient, but that doesn't change the fact that he is small. However, the strength of Aether Vial is that it transforms a card that is usually mana-inefficient, into a mana-efficient card – see Coralhelm Commander.

@ Spellstutter Sprite: have yet to test it.

[serendib]

I was working on something different in terms of how to attack opponents' manabase.

18 island + fetch (5-6)

4 delver of secrets
3 vendilion clique
2 Jace, TMS

4 force of will
3 counterspell
3 daze
3 spell snare

4 brainstorm
4 ponder

3 relic of progenitus
3 dismember
3 back to basics
3 vedalken shackles

instead of using stifle + wasteland I prefere dropping an enchantment which solves me the problem without being forced to start controling opponents' access to mana from turn 0/1. In this way I can use more slot to control the board with vedalken shackles and dismember. I probabely need to find 2 slots for 2 bouncers.

I started testing a list with 3 snapcaster mage but I found relic of progenitus to be way superior as far as it makes' all green opponents' beaters smaller and it allows me to kill any U, W, G or R creature with dismember and I can take then with shackles (for example Knight OTR)

with relic maindeck vedalken shackles are viable also in a 18 lands shell as for my tests.
shackles is too good for monoblue not to run it. it easily take any UW blade control creatures and it's awesome vs maverik and canadian too.

what you think ?

[Kich867]

There's a mono-blue control thread in the established deck forum, serendib.

[Kagehisa]

6 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
4 Wasteland

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 Vendilion Clique

"Blue Burn" (secret tech xD)
4 Psionic Blast
4 Mind Bomb

Card Quality
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm

4 Force of Will
4 Daze
4 Stifle
2 Trickbind

Sideboard
Back to Basics
Blue Elemental Salve
Vedalken Shackles
Etc.


One day, the blue burns may be playable.

Cards to consider : Faerie Conclave ( + Stanstill ? ) because it blocks a transformed Delver.

Note : When opponent's hand is empty, Mind Bomb is a decent Lightning Bolt. Psionic Blast sucks but helps sometimes.

( I'm building a DreadStill deck now that I have a MUC so I might begin with a mono blue Dreadstill version... )

[MGB]

I don't see why you'd play this over RUG Delver or any other blue-based tempo deck that plays Tarmogoyf alongside Delver that diversifies its threats enough to withstand opposing removal strategies. This entire threat base of this deck (sans Jace, which is 3/60 cards) just has no answer to Darkblast, for example.

[TraxDaMax]

I don't see why you'd play this over RUG Delver or any other blue-based tempo deck that plays Tarmogoyf alongside Delver that diversifies its threats enough to withstand opposing removal strategies. This entire threat base of this deck (sans Jace, which is 3/60 cards) just has no answer to Darkblast, for example.

Diversity, and not wanting to cough up 500 bucks for the manabase both seem legit.

I think mono blue would be pretty easy to obtain.


4 Delver of Secrets
4 Nivmagus Elemental
3 Dandân
4 Snapcaster

4 Flusterstorm
4 Stifle
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
2 Dismember
1 Vapor Snag
2 Spell Snare

4 Wasteland
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
6 Island


Just a rough first brew. Last year I saw a deck that ran a couple of Flying men type creatures together with Ninja of Deep Shadows.

[baghdadbob]

It is a very hard deck to make. Mono blue lacks threats. This is an estimation of the deck that I tried to make a few months back. Best of luck making something that works. Really though we just need to wait for another bomby blue threat to be printed. I'm sure it will be banned though. :smile:

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Phyrexian Dreadnaught
4 Stand Still
4 Stifle
4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Counterspell
2 Vapor Snag
2 Dismember
2 Vendellion Clique
1 Boomerang
1 Morphling
4 Mutavalt
3 Wasteland
7 Island
4 Misty Rain forest
2 Flooded Strand

I would consider splashing green for 'Goyf. He makes the deck 100 times better and doesn't hurt your mana base much at all.

[baghdadbob]

EDIT: Since when Snapcaster is a wincon?

+1

[TheSleeper]

This is what I've been playing around with.

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Trinket Mage
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
1 Sensei's Diving Top
4 Force of Will
4 Divert
4 Stifle
1 Trickbind
3 Back to Basics

18 Island
4 Misty Rainforest

Delver and Clique are great in a vacuum and with 2 attacks bring someone into Dreadnought range. You have 21 spells for Delver, Nought+Top for Trinket.

Divert is underrated IMO. Can stay active longer due to your Stifle s/B2B on their mana. Reversing a Thoughtseize or a Bolt can 2-4-1 them, and it's your only hope of protecting Dreadnought against Abrupt Decay :D

I didn't add Wasteland because I figured Back to Basics would shut off those lands anyways, and I always want blue mana.By skipping them I found you could happily run 22 lands.

Hope someone finds it interesting, comments welcome.

[Admiral_Arzar]

This is what I've been playing around with.

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Trinket Mage
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
1 Sensei's Diving Top
4 Force of Will
4 Divert
4 Stifle
1 Trickbind
3 Back to Basics

18 Island
4 Misty Rainforest

Delver and Clique are great in a vacuum and with 2 attacks bring someone into Dreadnought range. You have 21 spells for Delver, Nought+Top for Trinket.

Divert is underrated IMO. Can stay active longer due to your Stifle s/B2B on their mana. Reversing a Thoughtseize or a Bolt can 2-4-1 them, and it's your only hope of protecting Dreadnought against Abrupt Decay :D

I didn't add Wasteland because I figured Back to Basics would shut off those lands anyways, and I always want blue mana.By skipping them I found you could happily run 22 lands.

Hope someone finds it interesting, comments welcome.

This looks interesting. My advice would be to cut the Trinket Mage package as it is very slow - you already play 4 Dreadnoughts and cantrips so finding them shouldn't be an issue. I figure you should probably play Wasteland anyways, because you aren't always going to draw Back to Basics.

[Wotkenmendo]

I hope I am not violating any thread necromancy rules with my first post, but it seems this is preferable to starting a new thread. I started working on this deck a couple of months ago independently, and coincidentally have tried playing many of the cards mentioned here!

I've tried varying degrees of Stiflenought packages, but at this point I'm inclined to relegate the dreadnought to the sideboard (if room can be found). I would very much like to keep it in, because it's awesome, but the "combo" is too fragile I feel. In most matchups you need to leave up some permission to protect the stifle or to deny the removal spell (hope it's not abrupt decay). It's not happening until turn 3 or 4 at best. Investing three or more cards into a creature who is pretty easily destroyed isn't something I want to be doing with this deck (note we are already pitching cards to FoW/Misdirection and 2 for 1-ing yourself gets old). All that said, resolving an early stiflenought against burn is generally pretty godly. Decent against Storm as well.

Currently not running Wasteland or Daze. I'm pretty set on leaving Wasteland out, but could see Daze coming back in at some point. Mainly I want to deploy threats (mostly True-Name) ASAP, ideally also leaving up some mana for permission. Wasteland and Daze make this hard. If the opponent has a greedy mana base, bring in Back to Basics. Hey, we can still stifle a fetch here and there as well.

Psionic Blast is another card I started out with, but sadly found it to be a bit clunky. It has pretty good surprise value right now/could be a decent finisher... In place of what though? I had a couple of Divining Tops at one point as well and while they are nice, feel a bit slow for our purposes. Echoing Truth > Vapor Snag in my experience. When I was running Phyrexian Dreadnought I had a couple more Misdirections/Diverts in the main to defend him/maybe blowout someone. Now that he's out I've left in one Misdirection.

Here's the current list. I've been playing the deck for the last 4 weeks or so at my local legacy events and also brought it to Eternal Extravaganza last week. Results have been average overall, and I don't feel disadvantaged against many decks (except Goblins). This speaks to the deck a bit as I am NOT a great player. I will say there should probably be a Jace in here, perhaps replacing one Spellstutter or even a Snapcaster. Riptide should probably be Karakas. Maybe a manland or two would help? Share your thoughts!

4x Delver of Secrets
3x Snapcaster Mage
3x Spellstutter Sprite
4x True-Name Nemesis
3x Vendilion Clique
1x Venser, Shaper Savant

1x Ponder
4x Brainstorm
4x Stifle
3x Spell Pierce
2x Echoing Truth
4x Force of Will
1x Misdirection
1x Dismember

2x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Basilisk Collar

1x Cavern of Souls
1x Riptide Laboratory
4x Flooded Strand
4x Misty Rainforest
8x Island


SB:
2x Submerge
3x Back to Basics
1x Flusterstorm
1x Misdirection
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Pithing Needle
2x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Cavern of Souls

[Karhumies]

I would play a second Jitte over the Basilisk Collar, just because Jitte is that good.

Judge's Familiar is worth mentioning in a tempo build, IMO. It's Cursecatcher with wings and carries a Jitte like a champ.

Another 1 mana tempo dork is Nivmagus Elemental who suddenly becomes great if 4x MD Flustetstorm.

[Wotkenmendo]

I would play a second Jitte over the Basilisk Collar, just because Jitte is that good.

Judge's Familiar is worth mentioning in a tempo build, IMO. It's Cursecatcher with wings and carries a Jitte like a champ.

Another 1 mana tempo dork is Nivmagus Elemental who suddenly becomes great if 4x MD Flustetstorm.

Agreed about the Jittes, though I may SB one of them. Judge's Familiar has been mentioned a bit and I am going to include a set in the next incarnation (which will be more on the tempo side). In addition to being nice Jitte wielders, the Familiars I hope will improve our matchup against Storm (which is decent) and Infect (which has been quite rough actually). The Nivmagus/Flusterstorm deal is also tempting, will try it out sometime.

Also the last couple of events I've played have convinced me to go with MB Back to Basics (currently 2, arguments for 3?), since after game one any sensible person is going to expect to see the card come in (if they are a worthy victim for it). I feel it will hit harder more often in game one, and we can side it out afterwards while they are still recovering from the trauma. I have two debateable Cavern of Souls in the SB, because counterbalance can really screw us over if it resolves. Oh yeah, seems a pity not to have just ONE dreadnought this time around.


4x Judge's Familiar
4x Delver of Secrets
1x Phyrexian Dreadnought
2x Spellstutter Sprite
1x Snapcaster Mage
3x True-Name Nemesis
2x Vendilion Clique
1x Venser, Shaper Savant
1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor

3x Daze
3x Spell Pierce
1x Misdirection
4x Force of Will
4x Stifle
4x Brainstorm
1x Echoing Truth

2x Back to Basics
1x Umezawa's Jitte

1x Karakas
3x Wasteland
2x Flooded Strand
4x Misty Rainforest
8x Island

SB:
2x Flusterstorm
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Relic of Progenitus
2x Submerge
2x Pithing Needle
1x Spellskite
2x Cavern of Souls

[Hopo]

This deck does not play the tempo game very well.

Jace and Venser doe not belong in tempo decks. Jace is top of the curve hard control win con, not a tempo tool. You should never aim to have four lands in play if you label yourself as tempo player. Even three mana should be problematic it with 18 lands and only four cantrips. Additionally, you have only four cantrips to find your lands and random cards (dreadnought/snapcaster/misdirection/bounce etc), of which many are conditional meaning you want to draw certain cards at certain situations and avoid certain cards at others. Then there is also the issue of the list actually lacking a Daze and a Wasteland.

What you seem to want to play is monoblue control.

[Chatto]

Was wondering if this type of deck is viable nowadays... Found this list (http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=8665&d=249504&f=LE%3Cimg%20src=), and was thinking about building it... Will be the first time I am playing blue, so more of a competitive fun thing for me.

EDIT: TC will of course be taken out...

[Pastorofmuppets]

Maybe 1-2 Disrupting Shoal to up your free counter count?

[Chatto]

Replacing some of the counters for free counters? I also thought about replacing the Ratchet Bombs for some targeted removal.