Dimir Countertopf

[Erdvermampfa]

I know that Countertop as a main strategy is considered dead nowadays, for there have been printed several cards that allegedly completely void that plan. Aside from the usual problematic cards that were also played during CB's peak (Aether Vial), you now have to struggle with Green Sun's Zenith, Cavern of Souls and Abrupt Decay. After these cards had established in the format, people quickly consented that Countertop is no longer a viable strategy and dismissed the old lists in favor for Miracles which still plays CB, but only as a concession to combo decks for the widest part. In Miracles, CB plays a rather secondary role and they don't support CB particularly well due to their obscene CMC curve. However, I still think that Counterbalance as a major plan can be successful once you concede that it's never going to be as game-breaking as it was in 2009-10.

Since Control decks are always a reflection of the metagame, you have to ponder what kind of threats you're going to encounter. Aside from the aforementioned threats, True-Name Nemesis, Planeswalkers, Show and Tell, Nimble Mongoose, Stifle+Wasteland, Loam, Punishing Fire are the most notable offenders. After I reflected thoroughly about the metagame, I came to the conclusion that UB (Dimir) would address the current metagame very well. On the one hand, you will get access to cheap and reliable sac-effects(Innocent Blood, Diabolic Edict, Toxic Deluge), while on the other you have a stable manabase by only running two colours. Furthermore, this color combination also offers a few very potent cards that appear niche at first, but are quite strong in their specific application ( Creeping Tar Pit as Planeswalker-removal/ Notion Thief to hate on blue decks). Interestingly enough, these cards make up a very balanced and well-suited mana-curve to support counterbalance, which Miracles often lacks. I don't want to beat around the bush for too long so here is my suggestion:

Lands (23)
4 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn
1 Verdant Catacombs
3 Underground Sea
6 Island
1 Swamp
2 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Wasteland

Quality:
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Counterbalance
4 Brainstorm
4 Jace, 'D' Mindsculpta

Counters:
4 Force of Will
3 Counterspell
2 Spell Pierce

Removal:
3 Innocent Blood
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Toxic Deluge
1 Repeal
1 Echoing Truth

Random Good Stuff:
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Crucible of Worlds

SB:
4 Relic of Progenitus
2 Notion Thief
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Flusterstorm
1 Wipe Away
2 Spell Pierce
1 Toxic Deluge


The CMC distribution is well-balanced in my view: 14 CC1, 10 CC2, 5 CC3, 4 CC4, 4 CC5

One might think that Repeal and Echoing Truth are not worth to put them into the main deck, but from my experience, it is crucial to have some way to deal with permanents that slipped through your counter-suite. Counterbalance is way more effective if you're not all that reliant on counters and if you got some way to handle non-creature cards that were dropped earlier, especially if said card is Aether Vial.

Wasteland is in there to provide a solution against Cavern of Soul. Aside from that, there's the possibility to Waste-lock your opponent with Crucible, which I run maindeck to get a constant stream of Shuffle effects and to recur Creeping Tar Pit.

Clique is also a maindeck choice because it's very important to have a quick way to win the game when you're playing against combo. It's also not as bad against other decks, because Counterbalance protects Clique quite well. Additionally, it serves as further Planeswalker-removal.



I would be very pleased if you would articulate your view on my attempt to make Countertop viable again!

[DragoFireheart]

Why is Liliana of the Veil not in here?

[Final Fortune]

I think it's still an objectively powerful card, you just can't sit back and enjoy your "lock down" like you used to because the aggro-control decks can break out of it now with Abrupt Decay. I think that means you need to move towards being more aggressive overall, something that UB isn't really well suited for unless you're going to go down the Stifle/Nought path. Maybe you could look into /g and trying Pernicious Deed and Tarmogoyf, blowing up a Jitte wielding TNN is pretty significant value. BUG landstill with counter/top might be playable.

[alphastryk]

I've tried this before - you're usually just playing an underpowered deck.

old thread - http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?23960-Brianstorming-Metagamed-UB-Control

[somethingdotdotdot]

I think that you're basically playing a worse version version of miracles. You gain consistency without the miracle cards, but you also lose the sheer power that they provide. When miracles gets enough lands on the field, a resolved entreat is pretty much game over in 1 turn. On the other hand, you're trying to grind them down with vendilion clique, tar pits, and jace which is a glacial clock given that counterbalance isn't a hard lock.

For a countertop deck, you also aren't protecting your counterbalance well enough. The two main ways to counteract abrupt decay is to either use misdirection/divert effects or to overload their abrupt decay with too many targets. Your deck only really offers them counterbalance, crucible, and clique as targets. Of those, they'll probably hit the balance and severely hinder your game plan.

[(nameless one)]

I think Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek combo is going to be fine here

[RainbowPenguin]

While it's a cool idea, I suspect alphastryk is correct.

If you want to keep at it, I'd consider at least one Damnation somewhere in the 75.

An alternative option could be to try runnning Esper Miracles - many Miracles players splash red, it wouldn't be that hard to fit in black instead. Post sideboard, that would probably be a nightmare for combo decks: discard, hatebears, countertop, force and other counters! That could also fix the need for permanent removal (anything from disenchat to vindicate). Not sure it would really need maindeck sac effects, though, and the bad counterbalance curve remains.

[klaus]

+1 on worse than Miracles
+1 on Thopter Sword = good
-2 Clique +2 Toxic Deluge even Miracles gets overun by Aggro sometimes despite running twice the amount of swipers.
Clique is fine in the SB.

Crucible and Waste is wrong here. This deck is mana hungry, so most of the time your land will be more valuable than your opponents' resources.