Citrus-God
05-28-2008, 06:26 AM
Apparently, Counterbalance-Control Decks are becoming more popular. Unlike their Aggro-Control counterpart Threshold, CB-Control Decks are Control-Aggro (with 4 copies of Goyfs) or just Control. Many of these lists have arised in many different variants; Vorosh Landstill, Slowstill, It's the Fear, TEC, and many others. I have taken a special interest in making these decks for like quite awhile now. I had many rough drafts, and still find myself trying to improve these decks. Anyways, I'll share one of mine...
// ICBE Counter-Top v6.15
// Lands
3 [JU] Nantuko Monastery
1 [B] Savannah
4 [ON] Flooded Strand
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [ON] Windswept Heath
2 [A] Underground Sea
1 [B] Scrubland
2 [U] Tropical Island
1 [9E] Plains (3)
4 [U] Tundra
1 [IA] Island (3)
// Spells
3 [AP] Pernicious Deed
2 [6E] Counterspell
4 [AL] Force of Will
2 [SC] Decree of Justice
3 [JU] Cunning Wish
4 [MM] Brainstorm
2 [TO] Chainer's Edict
3 [IN] Fact or Fiction
2 [TE] Humility
4 [A] Swords to Plowshares
4 [CS] Counterbalance
3 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
3 [DIS] Crime/Punishment
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [SC] Decree of Justice
SB: 1 [TE] Meditate
SB: 1 [FUT] Pact of Negation
SB: 1 [FUT] Slaughter Pact
SB: 1 [DS] Pulse of the Fields
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 3 [DIS] Spell Snare
SB: 2 [OD] Sphere of Law
It was originally evolved from Konsultant Landstill, TEC, and It's the Fear. The point of the deck, unlike TEC and ITF, is that it is Goyfless. I have made it Goyfless because without Counterbalance to protect Goyfs, the opponent has something to target with their removal. Pretty bad way to start your first few turns if you ask me. I'd rather throw an Edict or Swords it or something.
As for my CMC curve it's
1cc: 11
2cc: 11
3cc: 6
4cc: 7
5cc: 6
Removal:
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Pernicious Deed
3 Crime // Punishment
2 Humility
The control package is very harsh for many aggro decks. Crime // Punishment was genuinely amazing in testing. It recurs dead Goyfs and Enforcers, removes Vials and Fanatics, and kept the board clear of Counterbalance.
Swords to Plowshares are standard. They're the best at keeping the board clean.
Humility is there because of the insane interaction it has with Decree of Justice and Nantuko Monasteries. It keeps Survival down so that your CB can concentrate on just trying to counter Burning Wish.
Pernicious Deeds in a perm heavy deck? Not exactly; I'm not running Vedalken Shackles. Shackles and Deeds is the only interaction I dislike. I dont mind Deeds and CB much because I will be clogged with an extra copy of CB in my hand anyway, so sweeping it away isnt so bad for me personally. Top just never dies, so I'm good there.
Win Conditions:
2 Decree of Justice
3 Nantuko Monastery
Uncounterable and can be protected under a Counterbalance. Interacts very well with Humility. Very great defense force as well.
Counters:
4 Force of Will
2 Counterspell
I have 20 Blue cards to pitch to Force of Will. Usually, hard counters are ran to either counter the cards that Counterbalance cant handle, protect bombs, and help you survive. So I dont see very much else to explain in the logic of running counters.
Card Advantage/Card Quality:
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Counterbalance
4 Brainstorm
3 Fact or Fiction
I dont need to explain SDT, Counterbalance, and Brainstorm to you guys. If you came here and you have a good of idea of CB/Top + Brainstorm, I really dont have to waste my time repeating what you think.
Fact or Fiction is insane. I dont run Meditate in here because this deck isnt very good at stalling for two turns unless it has Counterbalance active. It's the Fear and TEC are great decks for Meditate because it gums up the red zone so well, the two turns it usually skips doesnt really matter all that much. In this deck, you want to constantly answer, so FoF is better at this task. You want to keep playing removal on until you can drop CB/Top, and but then, it really doesnt matter anymore.
Mana Base:
3 Nantuko Monastery
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 Scrubland
1 Savannah
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Tundra
1 Plains
2 Island
Early game you want White but by midgame, you should have one of each color or double White and lots of blue. The mana base was extremely pleasing for me so I dont know many changes to make here.
Wish Board:
1 Pulse of the Fields
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Pact of Negation
1 Meditate
2 Krosan Grip
3 Extirpate
I like to fetch Meditate a lot because unlike FoF, I can fetch Meditate the same reason why I would fetch FoF; I want to break a stalemate. When I said Meditate was never really good, I meant it in a way that Meditate cant help you survive, but it helps you win. FoF can do both, but it does both in an equalized manner. Meditate can help you win in a stronger and better fashion.
Slaughter Pact doesnt need to be described other than the fact it can kill things on Turn 3 thanks to Cunning Wish. Pact of Negation is what others disagree with most, but I believe it is amazing. It has been an extra counter when I needed one and it has won me a lot of games alone. If it doesnt win, it helps me recover.
Grips are standard ways to destroy CB and other goodies.
Extirpates is a form of control that is just amazing in many ways.
Pulse of the Fields synergizes with Humilities very well and keeps you in the game. In fact, the reason to run Cunning Wish is because of Pulse of the Fields. Remember, this deck loves Cunning Wish for this reason.
Sideboard:
3 Extirpate
3 Spell Snare
2 Sphere of Law
1 Decree of Justice
Extirpates are amazing at keeping things like Goblin Ringleader from ever being a threat ever again. They're also very savage against combo.
Spell Snares get sided in so often, it's scary how strong they are. Spell Snares hit Goyfs, Counterbalance, Counterspell, Infernal Tutor, Burning Wish, Standstill, and so much insanity.
Sphere of Law and DoJ are just random metagame slots. These slots are usually those cards or 3 BEB.
Conclusion:
Amazing deck. I recommend everybody to tamper with Counter-Top Control lists because you can do so many things with them. I would even dare say that they might be better than Landstill. Because it Counter-Top Control tends to have a more stable mana base, long term card advantage in the form of Counterbalance compared to Standstill, mulligans less often, and has more filtering allowing it to surpass the card quality of Landstill in many ways.
Discuss!
// ICBE Counter-Top v6.15
// Lands
3 [JU] Nantuko Monastery
1 [B] Savannah
4 [ON] Flooded Strand
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [ON] Windswept Heath
2 [A] Underground Sea
1 [B] Scrubland
2 [U] Tropical Island
1 [9E] Plains (3)
4 [U] Tundra
1 [IA] Island (3)
// Spells
3 [AP] Pernicious Deed
2 [6E] Counterspell
4 [AL] Force of Will
2 [SC] Decree of Justice
3 [JU] Cunning Wish
4 [MM] Brainstorm
2 [TO] Chainer's Edict
3 [IN] Fact or Fiction
2 [TE] Humility
4 [A] Swords to Plowshares
4 [CS] Counterbalance
3 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
3 [DIS] Crime/Punishment
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [SC] Decree of Justice
SB: 1 [TE] Meditate
SB: 1 [FUT] Pact of Negation
SB: 1 [FUT] Slaughter Pact
SB: 1 [DS] Pulse of the Fields
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 3 [DIS] Spell Snare
SB: 2 [OD] Sphere of Law
It was originally evolved from Konsultant Landstill, TEC, and It's the Fear. The point of the deck, unlike TEC and ITF, is that it is Goyfless. I have made it Goyfless because without Counterbalance to protect Goyfs, the opponent has something to target with their removal. Pretty bad way to start your first few turns if you ask me. I'd rather throw an Edict or Swords it or something.
As for my CMC curve it's
1cc: 11
2cc: 11
3cc: 6
4cc: 7
5cc: 6
Removal:
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Pernicious Deed
3 Crime // Punishment
2 Humility
The control package is very harsh for many aggro decks. Crime // Punishment was genuinely amazing in testing. It recurs dead Goyfs and Enforcers, removes Vials and Fanatics, and kept the board clear of Counterbalance.
Swords to Plowshares are standard. They're the best at keeping the board clean.
Humility is there because of the insane interaction it has with Decree of Justice and Nantuko Monasteries. It keeps Survival down so that your CB can concentrate on just trying to counter Burning Wish.
Pernicious Deeds in a perm heavy deck? Not exactly; I'm not running Vedalken Shackles. Shackles and Deeds is the only interaction I dislike. I dont mind Deeds and CB much because I will be clogged with an extra copy of CB in my hand anyway, so sweeping it away isnt so bad for me personally. Top just never dies, so I'm good there.
Win Conditions:
2 Decree of Justice
3 Nantuko Monastery
Uncounterable and can be protected under a Counterbalance. Interacts very well with Humility. Very great defense force as well.
Counters:
4 Force of Will
2 Counterspell
I have 20 Blue cards to pitch to Force of Will. Usually, hard counters are ran to either counter the cards that Counterbalance cant handle, protect bombs, and help you survive. So I dont see very much else to explain in the logic of running counters.
Card Advantage/Card Quality:
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Counterbalance
4 Brainstorm
3 Fact or Fiction
I dont need to explain SDT, Counterbalance, and Brainstorm to you guys. If you came here and you have a good of idea of CB/Top + Brainstorm, I really dont have to waste my time repeating what you think.
Fact or Fiction is insane. I dont run Meditate in here because this deck isnt very good at stalling for two turns unless it has Counterbalance active. It's the Fear and TEC are great decks for Meditate because it gums up the red zone so well, the two turns it usually skips doesnt really matter all that much. In this deck, you want to constantly answer, so FoF is better at this task. You want to keep playing removal on until you can drop CB/Top, and but then, it really doesnt matter anymore.
Mana Base:
3 Nantuko Monastery
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
1 Scrubland
1 Savannah
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Tundra
1 Plains
2 Island
Early game you want White but by midgame, you should have one of each color or double White and lots of blue. The mana base was extremely pleasing for me so I dont know many changes to make here.
Wish Board:
1 Pulse of the Fields
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Pact of Negation
1 Meditate
2 Krosan Grip
3 Extirpate
I like to fetch Meditate a lot because unlike FoF, I can fetch Meditate the same reason why I would fetch FoF; I want to break a stalemate. When I said Meditate was never really good, I meant it in a way that Meditate cant help you survive, but it helps you win. FoF can do both, but it does both in an equalized manner. Meditate can help you win in a stronger and better fashion.
Slaughter Pact doesnt need to be described other than the fact it can kill things on Turn 3 thanks to Cunning Wish. Pact of Negation is what others disagree with most, but I believe it is amazing. It has been an extra counter when I needed one and it has won me a lot of games alone. If it doesnt win, it helps me recover.
Grips are standard ways to destroy CB and other goodies.
Extirpates is a form of control that is just amazing in many ways.
Pulse of the Fields synergizes with Humilities very well and keeps you in the game. In fact, the reason to run Cunning Wish is because of Pulse of the Fields. Remember, this deck loves Cunning Wish for this reason.
Sideboard:
3 Extirpate
3 Spell Snare
2 Sphere of Law
1 Decree of Justice
Extirpates are amazing at keeping things like Goblin Ringleader from ever being a threat ever again. They're also very savage against combo.
Spell Snares get sided in so often, it's scary how strong they are. Spell Snares hit Goyfs, Counterbalance, Counterspell, Infernal Tutor, Burning Wish, Standstill, and so much insanity.
Sphere of Law and DoJ are just random metagame slots. These slots are usually those cards or 3 BEB.
Conclusion:
Amazing deck. I recommend everybody to tamper with Counter-Top Control lists because you can do so many things with them. I would even dare say that they might be better than Landstill. Because it Counter-Top Control tends to have a more stable mana base, long term card advantage in the form of Counterbalance compared to Standstill, mulligans less often, and has more filtering allowing it to surpass the card quality of Landstill in many ways.
Discuss!