UWR Counterbalance

[alphastryk]

Hey guys, I've been trying to make Counterbalance work in Modern for a while, and the new scry goodies from Theros block are starting to make it viable.

Here's where Im at right now:


3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Vendilion Clique

4 Counterbalance
2 Cryptic Command
3 Magma Jet
2 Mana Leak
2 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
3 Telling Time

3 Thassa, God of the Sea

2 Entreat the Angels
4 Serum Visions
3 Terminus
1 Thought Scour

4 Arid Mesa
2 Celestial Colonnade
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Mountain
2 Mystic Gate
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
3 U/W Temple

Sideboard:
1 Celestial Purge
2 Combust
1 Counterflux
2 Magma Spray
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Sowing Salt
2 Stony Silence
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Wear // Tear


I'm still trying to figure out how to approach all the matchups, but using counterbalance as a card advantage machine works better than expected so far. Crystal Ball was in some early versions but proved to be pretty clunky, so I'd rather just play the best instant cantrips I can in Telling Time and Tome Scour.

[FTW]

Hmm.. what about:
-2 Entreat the Angels
-2 Terminus
+4 Supreme Verdict

Basically, I'm not convinced your scry engine is good enough to enable both CB and Miracles without SDT, and you don't have Brainstorm or Brainstorm.planeswalker to fix your hand once it gets clogged with Miracle spells. Scry + CB is nice but cramming in more topcard-dependent things seems like a consistency strain.

How often do you get those Miracles to go off when you want them? Terminus in particular wants to be carefully timed, not merely just Miracled whatever turn you naturally topdeck it. Terminus also sucks if Thassa somehow became a creature.

[Arsenal]

Perhaps go -3 U/W Temple, +3 Halimar Depths? You could add some more Celestial Colonnades to makeup for the UW dual (while adding more win conditions). Halimar Depths seems exactly like the card you're looking to play, especially since you're trading in one CITP land for another.

Also, Thassa seems like she could be either really good or just meh. For 3 mana, maybe Dissolve to supplement your countersuite while giving you Scry action?

[YamiJoey]

So apart from Magma Jet and Telling Time, what do you do when they cast a Spell and its not on top of your deck?

The advantage of CB is that it's a free Counterspell every time you do it after the first. Here it is not even close to that. You are relying on blind luck.

Also, Tome Scour? What?

[alphastryk]

Terminus has been better than I expected, and it's not as hard as you might think to avoid drawing Miracles at bad times - just be willing to terminus as a 1-for-1 and you'll be fine.

Entreat might be wrong to play, but the power level is extremely high, so I think it is still worth trying. The next best card for that slot in testing has been Restoration Angel.

Halimar Depths might be better but I hate playing CIPT single color lands - maybe I'm over-thinking this. I'll give 1-2 copies a try and see if they are good enough.

Tome Scour is in over the 4th Telling Time to both have an instant card draw spell for instant speed Terminus and because I had trouble keeping enough mana up for Telling Time when I wanted to. It also keeps the graveyard ready for Snapcaster Mage and allows you to see more cards during a game.

It terms of how good counterbalance is - you usually know what deck your opponent is playing and what card is the worst for you - set that up with scry if possible, keep open fetchlands to get two looks, Vendilion Clique yourself to change the card, etc. - all the same tricks from Extended / Legacy just without Top to break it wide open. Definitely not blind luck, and even if it is, you can play with the costs in the deck to have a high hit %.

[Arsenal]

Yeah, going -3 UW Temple and going +2 Halimar Depths and +1 Celestial Colonnade seems reasonable. They all are CIPT, so there's no loss there, and you still have lots of ways to consistently hit UU at all stages. I mean turn 1 Halimar Depths, turn 2 blue shockland/Island Counterbalance seems pretty strong to me.

[alphastryk]

Yeah, going -3 UW Temple and going +2 Halimar Depths and +1 Celestial Colonnade seems reasonable. They all are CIPT, so there's no loss there, and you still have lots of ways to consistently hit UU at all stages. I mean turn 1 Halimar Depths, turn 2 blue shockland/Island Counterbalance seems pretty strong to me.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. My earlier lists were more white and the dual lands were more important. I like the theory of turn 1 Halimar Depths into turn 2 Counterbalance for sure.

[seamonkeyman]

I think he meant to use Thought Scour, not Tome Scour

[alphastryk]

I think he meant to use Thought Scour, not Tome Scour

I definitely did - fixed now. Sorry for any confusion!

[phazonmutant]

I know you have sweet Counterbalances, but come on. Modern really doesn't seem like a format with sufficiently compressed mana curves or efficient selection to justify Counterbalance. You're trying to combat Tron, Zoo, and Jund with one Counterbalance curve? That doesn't seem realistic, especially compared to just playing with a pile of cards that are good on their own.

[YamiJoey]

You MUST have a repeatable effect. Thassa is a start, but you want something more like Crystal Ball.

[FTW]

You MUST have a repeatable effect. Thassa is a start, but you want something more like Crystal Ball.

It's called Sleight of Hand. No, not the card.

[YamiJoey]

It's called Sleight of Hand. No, not the card.

"T, Sacrifice this Land, Shout "Hey, look over there!": Search your Library for an Island or a Mountain. Put a card from your library on top of your deck."

[alphastryk]

While I originally built this as a relatively non-serious thing, it worked better than expected. Not having the repeatable effect makes you worse against say combo because you can't float things, but all the combo in Modern is so clunky it doesn't matter as much as you would think. There are matchups where CB comes out, and this definitely isn't tier 1 but give it a try before you throw it out completely as me being in love with counterbalance. Maybe it's not effective enough to be worth playing over other choices though.