U/W Draw-Go control

Hey!

I took inspiration from the draw-go control list of GP Boston, and tried it out. After extensive playing, I cut the black for a more stable mana base with more basics and utility lands, giving me a better tron match up and making me practically immune to blood moon. Here's the list:

4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Island
2 Plains
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Glacial Fortress

4 Spell Snare
4 Path to Exile
3 Remand
2 Logic Knot
3 Shadow of Doubt
4 Think Twice
4 Cryptic Command
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
3 Sphinx's Revelation
1 White Sun's Zenith
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Dig Through Time
SB: 1 Celestial Purge
SB: 1 Disenchant
SB: 1 Detention Sphere
SB: 1 Wrath of God
SB: 2 Stony Silence
SB: 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
SB: 2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
SB: 2 Timely Reinforcements
SB: 1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
SB: 2 Negate
SB: 1 Batterskull

Lands: The fetches are for the dig through time and the 2 logic knots (Which are completely unfair - there's nothing like playing counterspell in modern) - I was originally trying 7, but there was just a little bit too much pain, so I went down to 6. (Owning 6 fetches and having a hard time getting a 7th had a tiny bit to do with it - it pushed me over the edge that 7 was too many). In most decks, "thinning" as a reason for fetching is wrong. In this deck, it's usually the correct move (As I will end up with either 5 or 1 cards in my deck when I finally win). Celestial Colonnade is simply good, tec edges are there to kill man lands, stop tron, and give scapeshift a headache, and the basics are to give the finger to anyone trying to bloodmoon me, as well as being untapped fetched sources. I almost never have a problem with colors or having enough lands - I will keep the occasional 2-lander with enough cantrips in hand.

Board wipes - 2 Supreme for the uncounterable aspect (super important against tempo/delver decks), 1 wrath to hedge against Thrun. A second wrath in the side continues to hedge against Thrun, along with being all-important against aggressive decks.

Card draw: Think Twice is the glue that holds the deck together, shadow randomly surprisingly stone rains people, draws me a card, and hits chord/pod/fabricate/exploration map/scapeshift very nicely. Maindecking 3 of them is great, although if the opposing deck only uses fetches as their search, it's the first card out. Which is also nice, as it makes the sideboarding plan a bit easier. Cryptic Command is an all-star. (More on it later). 3 Rev/1 dig I feel is the right split - I tried to have more digs over revs, but I'm already stressing my graveyard enough before people try to hate on it, I can't support the 4th delve spell with snaps also wanting a piece of the pie. I'm never cursing and muttering that I want one over the other, I'm always happy to see them. Remand is solid value, and is the go-to counterspell for a reason. Getting me through my deck faster is also really nice.

Counterspells: Some overlap with the card draw, giving my 4 cryptic commands and 3 remands. Logic knot is an all-star - my graveyard fills up quickly, and the combination of fetches with cantrips (Such as remand and shadow of doubt) give it plenty of fuel. I'm only sad to see it against Tron, and even then it forces them to play very awkwardly. It's come down as early as T2 to counter spells when they're tapped out and I fetched early. Cryptic is a hero, doing everything, and remand is probably my weakest counterspell. I didn't like how late it just made them pay some more mana, but then in testing screwing up flashbacks made it very worth it, along with the ability to timewalk someone early, and remand my own spells in counterspell wars. It's here to stay. Finally there's spell snare - sometimes I curse the thousand 1 drops coming at me, and how dead it is, but most of the time I'm laughing as I cast it, as it feels like it hits everything relevant in the format that worries me. Being on the draw, knowing I can still counter scary things that they'll try to jam T2 (Goyf, bob, pyro, eidolon, most anything people try to do t2) is such a feeling of relief. It also tends not to be dead later, winning counterspell wars and stopping snap.

Cryptic command: You could write article after article on all the things to do with this card. I love it, every mode is used, and frequently it feels like, with my favorite trick being snap-cryptic - counter / bounce snap. Repeat as needed. It gives snaps a lot more power than they normally have, as snap beats are unlikely to get me there.

4 path: Spot removal. One of the best in the format. A teeny tiny bit of a non-bo with logic knot... but I can always exile the path used to give them the land to pay for the knot. All things considered, I'm going to stick to 4 paths, and be happy about it.

2 Snaps: I don't need more snaps than this, and it's not rare for me to end a game with two snaps in hand, just to stay flexible.

White Sun's zenith: It works so well. It's instant speed, so I can EOT it. It's usually lethal when I cast it, minimizing interactions. The power is spread over multiple bodies, rendering their removal, finally turned on, mostly useless. Sure, bolt/path/terminate a few 2/2's. The rest will get you. It shuffles back into my library - something remarkably important. I've had a good number of opponents go "well, he'll mill himself out, I can win that way" *WSZ, shuffles back in* " Fffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu". Shuffling back in also means that I can cast it early, get some blockers/pressure/pseudo-removal, and know that I still have access to it later. Find me a better finisher, and I'll try it, but so far this works so well.

Sideboard:

Elspeths: I'm a sucker for Elspeth, and both Knight-errant and Sun's champ do serious work in the matchups they come in for. About half the time they manage to pull off an ult while staying alive - When they don't, they eat so many cards that winning is usually inevitable.

Celestial Purge : Hit splinter twin, lilliana, burn, and a huge number of other cards. Given that most decks have either black or red in them, I'm happy with instant speed removal.

Disenchant : Hits artifacts and enchantments. Flexible, powerful, and cheap, just what I want in a sideboard card.

Batterskull : Many players swear by the card, so I figured I'd give it a shot. It's been working out pretty well for me, although it can feel schizophrenic with the rest of my game plan. It's won me enough games that it's sticking around.

Stony Silence: Hello affinity and tron. Goodbye affinity and tron. I've been considering it against pod as well (Although that match up is so abysmal I'm not sure what I can do)

Negate - For the not creature heavy decks. Feels weird bringing it in at times, but it does so much that I'm always happy seeing it. The fact that mostly creature decks do exist stop me from mainboarding it, along with the eternal question of "what would I cut". It comes in a large % of the time.

Timely reinforcements: Stops a good number of aggro decks cold. Stabilizes. Pretty happy with it, I used to have 3 but cut one for batterskull.

Wrath: For the aggressive decks. Also comes in when I suspect thrun (So, when they're playing green usually)

Teferi : You're playing control/counterspells/stuff at instant speed? Not anymore! Out of bolt range, he negates all counterspells my opponent may have, along with automatically making my counterspells work, and them being completely unable to interact with me. Outside of bolt and abrupt decay range, I'm delighted to have him. Bonus: He works with the draw-go style of the deck.

And that's it for card selection! I've played most all matchups multiple times (Huzzah play testing partners), except for scapeshift. R/G Tron feels bad pre-board (Although, making mistakes against them hasn't helped me - maybe as I test more I'll do better), and Meleria pod is a nightmare. I've beated pod in a Bo3 ONCE, when they lost to themselves. It is what it is, and great matchups across the board everywhere else makes me happy.

Here's what I have for my current sideboarding notes. I'd love feedback on them:

Burn: -3 remand -3 shadow
+ 2 timely +1 Batterskull, +2 Negate, +1 Purge
Remand's bad against burn, shadow doesn't do much. Gives me all the room I need to put in cards that do well against burn.

Twin: -3 Shadow -1 Wrath -1 Snare -1 Snap
+ 2 Negate + 2 Teferi +1 Purge +1 Disenchant
Shadow doesn't do much, if I need to wipe I want it uncounterable (But it's unlikely), snare is because they tend to go towards 1 cmc counters, and snap because it's too expensive when fighting the counterwar over twin/path/whatever.

G/B/x: -1 Verdict -3 Shadow -2 Logic Knots
+1 Wrath, +1 Sun's Champion, +2 Negate, +1 Purge, +1 Batterskull

If Lingering: -1 path +1 d-sphere

Verdict trades out neatly for wrath, keeping me at 3 while dealing with Thrun. Elspethsstonewall them with their lack of tramplers (And usually their spot removal has been sided out), celestial purge is mainly for Lily, but can hit bob if needed. Negates are also there for lily, along with their wide suite of non-creature spells. Batterskull is for the attrition war.

Storm : -3 Shadow -3 board wipes
+1 d-sphere, +2 negate, + 1 purge, +1 disenchant, +1 batterskull

I haven't gotten in much testing against storm either. Is timely reinforcements for the extra 6 life worth it, or can they just ignore it and combo off a bit more to get there anyways? Paths can be fairly easily cut to make more room. Should Knight-Errant come in over a path to put on pressure? Do they bring in enough counterspells/instant speed stuff to make Teferi worth it? Or do they suspect things and bring in flame slash anyways?

Affinity: -3 shadow -3 remand
+1 wrath + 2 timely + 2 stony silence + 1 disenchant (+1 batterskull? Taking what out)

I feel comfortable against affinity. Some argument if I should bring in batterskull or not. Probably not.

Pod: Prayer is included in my sideboard notes. Pray that I don't hit them, pray that they lose to themselves, or that the pilot makes mistakes. I'm not sure on my sideboarding for pod. Currently have -3 remands, + 1 wrath, +1 batterskull + 1 Sun's champ. I'd love to bring in a good chunk of my sideboard, but I'm not sure what to take out. Help from pod players would be wonderful.

Scapeshift: - 3 path -1 wraht -1 verdict
+2 Negate +2 Teferi +1 Knight-Errant

Negates and Teferi's fight the counterwar, Elspeth sneaks in and puts on pressure. Depending on how I'm feeling, I can side out another piece of removal for Sun's Champ as well, and batterskull may have a place in the list (Making it so they need even more lands to go off)

U or U/W Tron: -2 logic knots, -3 remands, -1 wrath -1 verdict
+2 Stony Silence, + 1 disenchant, +2 Negate, + 1 d-sphere, +1 Teferi
Spot removal usually is enough for tron, I don't usually need to wipe the field. I'm in trouble if they resolve multiple deal with me or die threats. Remand and logic knot are sad to have against tron (But I can usually get them to play around knot post sideboard anyways)

Delver: -3 Shadow of doubt, -1 wrath
+ 2 timely reinforcements, + 1 batterskull + 2 negates

It'd be nice to get teferi in there somewhere, but he feels win-more. If I'm landing him, I'm probably in a pretty good spot already. (Same with batterskull)

Living End: -4 spell snare, -2 path
+ 2 negates + 1 wrath + 2 teferi, + 1 sun's champ
Spell snare hits NOTHING. When they go off, they usually put down a bunch of dudes, making path weaker. Teferi and negates both stop the combo cold, while wrath and sun's stop/massively slow them down if they land.

Boogles: -3 shadow -4 path -1 remand
+ 1 wrath + 2 Elspeths + 2 timely + 1 disenchant + 1 d-sphere + 1 batterskull

There's only a few boogle players in the entire area. One of them is good. I've never played the matchup, but I don't suspect I'm favored. It is what it is, and given how rare it is in my area I'm happy.

Control: - 1 wrath, - 3 shadow -1 path, - 1 remand
+ 1 Knight, + 2 negate, + 2 teferi, + 1 batterskull

Merfolk: -3 shadow of doubt, ???
+ 1 disenchant (Or should this be stony silence to deal with vial?) + 1 wrath, + 2 timely reinforcements, +1 batterskull? Some debate over teferi/negates. I've gotten some practice in, and it's usually ended well for me. Don't have a solid plan yet.




And that's it! Feedback on any/all aspects would be great. Looking over it, I see that I'm siding in batterskull in a large number of matchups, implying that it should be mainboarded. But that would go against what the deck is trying to do G1 I feel, with a solid draw-go style to start with, becoming more aggressive if needed post-sideboard.

Really like the deck list, especially the logic knots.
I have been testing a similar version of this deck, with the only real difference being the types of counterspells.

Dissolve - Best hard counter spell in Modern IMO, although maybe logic knot is better as I have not tested it yet. The scry 1 is really nice, especially since you want to make your land drops each turn with this deck.

Pact of Negation, Trickbind, Angel's Grace - Pact of negation shines when you tap out for a sphinxes rev, white sun's zenith, or board wipe and need to respond to a counterspell or something. The downside of course is having to pay the 5 mana next turn, which with out help would render this card useless until the late game. Cards like trickbind and angel's grace help you cast it as early as turn 2, but then you lose card advantage. Here is the thing though: the games I lose are when I get ran over to quickly before I can establish control. Between sphinxes rev, DTT, verdicts, cryptics, white sun's zenith, and snapcaster mages you should always win the long game. Plus, trickbind and angels grace are randomly useful on their own as well.

One other difference in our decks is I run +1 tech edge, +1 glacial fortress, + 1 island, +1 plains, -4 Celestial Colonades, and solely rely on white sun's zenith ftw. I have not tested the colonades, but I have never had trouble from not being able to close out a game with WSZ once I have established control. The biggest thing keeping me from running the colonades is that they come in tapped, making me not want to draw them early on as the first few turns are usually what decide games for this deck. Would be interested in hearing how they have played out for you.

The thing with Celestial is I'm always on the brink of cutting them, then they pull out amazing moves and win me a game. They're amazing blockers (When you get that much mana), and they can help close out a game. Against some delver decks that do huge amounts of damage to themselves, I've just gone "hmmm... animate, swing, animate, swing, gg?", since they tend to be suicidal.

The different between 2 mana and 3 is pretty big, and I'm usually happy that I can just 2 CMC counter everything. It usually means when I rev and need the backup, holding up 3 mana gives me a knot/negate + a snare, enough to do good things in a counter war.

need more zur's weirding!

I actually left the black, and have been really happy. I also fixed up the mana base (really happy with this), and started cutting Sphinx's Rev's. My problem with them is I usually don't care about the draw since I already have a full grip of 7, but the life is nice. Replaced some with the Digs.

The side is where I want to make some improvements. Will have to look at what you have, and try to hedge a little more against all the burn and affinity out there currently.



4 Celestial Colonnade
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
5 Island
2 Plains
2 Drowned Catacomb
4 Spell Snare
4 Path to Exile
3 Remand
2 Logic Knot
4 Think Twice
4 Esper Charm
4 Cryptic Command
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 White Sun's Zenith
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
1 Swamp
2 Dig Through Time
1 Sphinx's Revelation
SB: 2 Oust
SB: 3 Stony Silence
SB: 2 Thoughtseize
SB: 2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
SB: 1 Celestial Purge
SB: 3 Fiendslayer Paladin
SB: 2 Timely Reinforcements

I've tinkered with a lot of variations of uw control. This is where I'm at currently, and it has been playing nicely.

3x snapcaster mage
2x baneslayer angel

4x serum visions
3x treasure cruise
4x spell snare
4x mana leak
4x cryptic command
4x path to exile
1x repeal
2x elspeth, knight errant
3x supreme verdict
1x wrath of god

4x celestial colonnade
3x flooded strand
2x scalding tarn
2x arid mesa
2x hallowed fountain
3x glacial fortress
4x island
2x plains
1x calciform pools
2x ghost quarter

Sideboard
2x vendilion clique
2x geist of saint traft
2x dispel
3x leyline of sanctity
2x stony silence
2x detention sphere
2x grafdiggers cage