[Deck] Mono-Blue Control (MUC)

Hrm...could a theoretical Denial plan work? I mean, you're one color, so that reduces the demand on those requirements.

Would this list be viable?

9 Island
4 Polluted Delta
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Wasteland

4 Stifle
4 Mana Leak
4 Force of Will
4 Wipe Away
4 Cyclonic Rift
4 Impulse
(4 Brainstorm)
3 Interdict

4 Talrand, Sky Summoner
3 Vendilion Clique
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

SB:

4 Surgical Extraction
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Extract
3 Echoing Truth

Card Selection

Interdict - Stops not only Fetchlands, but also stops your nonbasics getting Wasted (not that they'd be on the field for that long anyway.) as well as combo-tastic win-conditions, such as all the draw/lifegain in TinFins, the search from Forgemaster, Vial and Batterskull activations etc. And it cantrips!

Impulse over BS - this is a tough one. I think that Impulse is stronger, but it's really hard to overlook BS for raw power. This is definitely something that needs further testing to see if I'm insane.

the 2/2 'walker split' - I also think that this is correct, but it may also be better as being a 3/1 Jace:Tamiyo ratio.

A full eight LD cards - Combined with Stifle/Interdict, a hard LD package seems like it's going to be extremely useful in the current metagame.

Mana Leak over Daze and Force Spike - the taxing effect to-mana ratio seems perfect. Could possibly be MisD, although that might be too much card-disadvantage.

Absence of Chrome Mox - Could the Mox be useful here for allowing first turn Interdict?

Why don't you cut Talrand for something useful like Snapcaster?
Do you believe Talrand it's worth four maindeck slots? Good luck with your 2 Talrand 2 random planeswalker + 3 cards hands without brainstorm.
Impulse seems weaker than Bs.Your list is full of 4ofs. What are you exactly going to dig for?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kiblast

Why don't you cut Talrand for something useful like Snapcaster?
Do you believe Talrand it's worth four maindeck slots? Good luck with your 2 Talrand 2 random planeswalker + 3 cards hands without brainstorm.
Impulse seems weaker than Bs.Your list is full of 4ofs. What are you exactly going to dig for?

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1) Talrand is in because, aside from your wincons, every spell triggers him. This is relevant against aggro decks.
2) Actually, I do. Because he's another wincon.
3) That said, however, Tiago is a good card all his own, and allows you to buyback previously used spells.

Sooo...

it may be possible to remove two Talrand, a Cyclonic and a Wipe Away for four SCM.

Creatures: (8)
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Talrand, Sky Summoner
3 Vendilion Clique

Lands: (22)
15 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Scalding Tarn

Spells (30)
3 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Vedalken Shackles
2 Back to Basics
3 Counterbalance
4 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
3 Curfew
4 Force of Will
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Devastation Tide
2 Ponder

Sideboard:
1 Culling Scales
2 Pithing Needle
1 Spellskite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Back to Basics
2 Energy Field
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Flusterstorm
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Devastation Tide
1 Cavern of Souls


Sooooo, I've been testing this recently and I really believe this should be the way MUC needs to go on right now.
Thoughts on maindeck:
> Talrand has been amazing
> 15 Islands sometimes feels like too much. Any thoughts? 4x Wasteland maybe? Cavern? Opinions plz :)
> Top + D. Tide amazing too!

About sideboard:
> Culling Scales is awesome and is terrible. How do you guys feel with it?
> Wurmcoil has done good things for me. 1 copy has been fine.
> Fact of Fictions seems very random. Any subs?

Thanks!

Creatures: [2]
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Vendilion Clique

Lands: [24]
1 Academy Ruins
1 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
13 Island

Other Spells: [34]
2 Cryptic Command
2 Flusterstorm
3 Spell Snare
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Vedalken Shackles
4 Engineered Explosives

Sideboard:
2 Sower of Temptation
2 Chain of Vapor
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Firespout
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormods Crypt
2 Back to Basics


I saw another interesting list. I like the Explosives and the Ancestral Vision. Which line should I go? Can I mix lists? Or maybe go another route on Dreadnought, Stifle and Charm,...?
Appreciate any comments and thoughts :)

4 Force of Will

3 Spell Pierce
4 Brainstorm
4 Curfew

3 Devastation Tide

4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Energy Field
4 Counterbalance
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Vendilion Clique

3 Misty Rainforest
3 Scalding Tarn
16 Island

I tried to make Devastation works in MUC. Every permanent in the list must be friend with Devastation Tide. The exception is Counterbalance, but it costs 2 and can be replayed easily after a Tide. Snapcaster Mage and Vendilion Clique have flash and enter-the-battlefield-effect. Top is amazing with Tide to trigger Miracle (at instant speed) or just by returnin on top of your library before Tide resolves. Energy Field won't go to the graveyard when Tide resolves because it is in your hand now and is cheap to (re)play. Remember that Tide at instant speed can save your Field and Counterbalance.

Snapcaster Mage and Energy Field : When you have Field in play, you still counter spell by two ways WITHOUT losing Field : Counterbalance if it is in play or Snapcaster Mage in hand with a counter (Spell Pierce) in the graveyard. I want to add Counterspell to the list by the way. (sometimes before dropping a Field, it is preferable to cast it with a counter in the graveyard or a counterbalance out.) The fashbacked counter will be exiled and won't trigger Field. Snapcaster Mage let you Brainstorm or bounce creature with Curfew without triggering Field the same way.

Energy Field buys lot of time but very vulnerable to discard, unfortunately.

I don't add Jace, the Mind Sculptor because of Tide and he is too hard to protect. Unfortunately, Tide does protect him but reset him too. Vendilion Clique is the finisher here.

Missing cards I want to add but don't know what to remove for or change : Vedalken Shackles, Counterspell or Redirect, Spell Snare, Back to Basics, Fact or Fiction (for Snapcaster Mage), Impulse (with Snapcaster Mage, dig 8 cards !), Ancestral Vision (suspend don't trigger Field ;) wait for resolution), Propaganda, Misdirection et cetera.

How to play : Stall the game with everything : Force of will, Curfew, Spell Pierce, Energy Field, Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique, dig for answer with Top and Brainstorm until Devastation Tide resolve and drop your CounterTop lock and replay your Vendilion Clique for the kill under the protection of CounterTop. You can Tide many times before having total control of the board but all your deck is friend with Tide :) (aka no Jace, no B2B XD)

The discard-step kills all your ideas of Energy Field my friend

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lemnear

The discard-step kills all your ideas of Energy Field my friend

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He could splash white for Rest in Peace.

Course, if he did that he could put in mass removal like Terminus. And if he did that, he may as well go Miracle Control.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DragoFireheart

He could splash white for Rest in Peace.

Course, if he did that he could put in mass removal like Terminus. And if he did that, he may as well go Miracle Control.

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Yep, the way of natural evolution to fight a colors weaknesses.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lemnear

The discard-step kills all your ideas of Energy Field my friend

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The deck plays a lot of permanents : 22 lands (16 Island), 16 non-Energy Field permanents and 3 Devastation Tide (41 cards). The Island are hard to kill (sure Sinkhole exists), Top is hard to kill and dig for land, Counterbalance is supposed to lock. It is true that the creatures when they get killed break Field, which is annoying, but I'm considering to put one Riptide Laboratory in the side against non-Wasteland aggro deck lol and because Wasteland is a probleme too, Pithing Needle might be considered too.

I mean there're enough cards to play without breaking Field for the Discard-step to be a probleme. If ever, I have 7+ cards in my hand and Energy Field in play, I stalled the game enough, Energy Field has done its job.

Plus, I would like to add this play : Energy Field in play and Energy play in hand. You cast everything you need to cast or crack your fetchlands (for example, Brainstorm + crack fetchland). It breaks Field and you play the 2nd Field. Energy Field is friend with Energy Field.

If ever you meant that discard-step after a Tide bounced all my non-permanent back is a probleme, it is not : All the board is clean. I have a full turn to recast my Energy Field because, unless my opponent has creature with Haste or Flash, I won't be attacked during my opponent's next turn then I won't drop right now Field. I can wait a full turn. I can crack my fetchlands and all. In the case of a Tide casted during opponent turn, it is ok too, I have no discard-step in his turn lol

The discard-step is annonying if I draw too many of the 4 Force of Will, 3 Spell Pierce, 4 Brainstorm, 4 Curfew of the deck. The list is far from good I feel Shackles are missing, etc.

Maybe I'm missing something but I can't believe that the discard-step is a complete Energy Field killer, mein Freund ;) Discard itself is a probleme, the discard-step not really.

(Berlin is amazing and cheaper than München btw lol the train station is amazing ! The Chinese Tower is cool lol xD)

What do you think of Condescend? (I know most shitty artwork ever)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Iron Buddha

What do you think of Condescend? (I know most shitty artwork ever)

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Way too expensive.

Hi guys, what do you think about the result of that list? http://www.mtgdecks.net/decks/view/56667

Hi guys,

Below is the list that I'm currently running, I would really appreciate your feedback or any needed changes or problems that you see. Thank you.

22 Island
2 Wasteland
4 Ancestral Visions
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Rachet Bomb
4 Veldalken Shackles
4 Propanganda
4 Back to Basics
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
2 Sower of Temptation

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gedaco

Creatures: (8)
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Talrand, Sky Summoner
3 Vendilion Clique

Lands: (22)
15 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Scalding Tarn

Spells (30)
3 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Vedalken Shackles
2 Back to Basics
3 Counterbalance
4 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
3 Curfew
4 Force of Will
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Devastation Tide
2 Ponder

Sideboard:
1 Culling Scales
2 Pithing Needle
1 Spellskite
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Back to Basics
2 Energy Field
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Flusterstorm
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Devastation Tide
1 Cavern of Souls


Sooooo, I've been testing this recently and I really believe this should be the way MUC needs to go on right now.
Thoughts on maindeck:
> Talrand has been amazing
> 15 Islands sometimes feels like too much. Any thoughts? 4x Wasteland maybe? Cavern? Opinions plz :)
> Top + D. Tide amazing too!

About sideboard:
> Culling Scales is awesome and is terrible. How do you guys feel with it?
> Wurmcoil has done good things for me. 1 copy has been fine.
> Fact of Fictions seems very random. Any subs?

Thanks!

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This seems like the start of a decent list, but I don't think talrand is doing anything for you. I would cut him and vendilion clique (which is, imo, overrated), and rock full playsets of snapcaster mage, and true-name nemesis. I think you probably want 23 lands, though 22 might be doable. You should run either mishra's factory (maybe 2 of), mutavault, faerie conclave and wasteland (3-4), and add riptide laboratory (1-2) so you can bounce your snapcasters for extra shenanigans (should work well with curfew). Jitte and shackles probably aren't doing much. You have no way of tutoring jitte, and your list is very creature light, so I don't see the point, and shackles hasn't been good since abrupt decay was printed. Cut them, maybe the two ponders as well (you have enough card selection), and maybe add a set of boomerang to help you slow your opponent down in the early game. For that matter, you might even be able to shave a top, though that's entirely up to you.

Since they can only play one land per turn, you should be able to slow them down pretty heavily between boomerang, back to basics, and wasteland, and boomerang will also let you bounce their planeswalkers and threats, giving you time to develop your own board. Doing this might even open up the chance to run daze, though I'm not sure that's such a great idea in this type of shell. Spell snare is great, and you might want 1 or 2 more counterspell, though I'm not entirely sure what you'd cut. Maybe spell pierce? I think it's better in tempo builds, and tends to shine more against removal than anything else; you aren't particularly worried about removal, and should be more focused on keeping your opponent's board empty. Counterspell and spell snare are probably better in outright control builds.

I think if you made these changes, the list would be quite strong. With a couple of manlands and TNN you'd have good inevitability, along with snapcaster for a bit of additional back up. Just make sure you keep deathrite shaman off the field, and try set up your lock early.

Cheers!

EDIT: maybe back to basics with utility lands isn't such a great idea... maybe replace it with something else? Crucible might be an idea, since you can then wasteland lock them, and have fetches on demand to shuffle away the top of your library. Also, add a few more fetches, since you're running brainstorm, jace, and top. I would run at least 8 fetches minimum with this mana base, maybe 10.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Illusions

This seems like the start of a decent list, but I don't think talrand is doing anything for you. I would cut him and vendilion clique (which is, imo, overrated), and rock full playsets of snapcaster mage, and true-name nemesis. I think you probably want 23 lands, though 22 might be doable. You should run either mishra's factory (maybe 2 of), mutavault, faerie conclave and wasteland (3-4), and add riptide laboratory (1-2) so you can bounce your snapcasters for extra shenanigans (should work well with curfew). Jitte and shackles probably aren't doing much. You have no way of tutoring jitte, and your list is very creature light, so I don't see the point, and shackles hasn't been good since abrupt decay was printed. Cut them, maybe the two ponders as well (you have enough card selection), and maybe add a set of boomerang to help you slow your opponent down in the early game. For that matter, you might even be able to shave a top, though that's entirely up to you.

Since they can only play one land per turn, you should be able to slow them down pretty heavily between boomerang, back to basics, and wasteland, and boomerang will also let you bounce their planeswalkers and threats, giving you time to develop your own board. Doing this might even open up the chance to run daze, though I'm not sure that's such a great idea in this type of shell. Spell snare is great, and you might want 1 or 2 more counterspell, though I'm not entirely sure what you'd cut. Maybe spell pierce? I think it's better in tempo builds, and tends to shine more against removal than anything else; you aren't particularly worried about removal, and should be more focused on keeping your opponent's board empty. Counterspell and spell snare are probably better in outright control builds.

I think if you made these changes, the list would be quite strong. With a couple of manlands and TNN you'd have good inevitability, along with snapcaster for a bit of additional back up. Just make sure you keep deathrite shaman off the field, and try set up your lock early.

Cheers!

EDIT: maybe back to basics with utility lands isn't such a great idea... maybe replace it with something else? Crucible might be an idea, since you can then wasteland lock them, and have fetches on demand to shuffle away the top of your library. Also, add a few more fetches, since you're running brainstorm, jace, and top. I would run at least 8 fetches minimum with this mana base, maybe 10.

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... and please ... use counterspell

I just wanted to say that,...Aetherling is the best finisher this deck has ever seen. A dedicated win-condition sounds shit and outdated, but the concept of a finisher is actually totally viable if a card exits that fits the criteria. Compared to the old Morphling, Aetherling is not as good on the defense (cannot block flying creatures, evades combat instead of facing them, costs one more mana) but he is much better at steamrolling through any inevitability shit control players might come up with today (e.g. Punishing Fires, Loam, Terminus). Knowing that, we can build the deck accordingly and I can attest to you that Aetherling solves the biggest problem that MUC has: winning the game!!! MUC has all the tools not to die but going aggro was really painful to accomplish. I suggest 2x copies. Maybe 1x is enough, but 2x is safer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tea

I just wanted to say that,...Aetherling is the best finisher this deck has ever seen. A dedicated win-condition sounds shit and outdated, but the concept of a finisher is actually totally viable if a card exits that fits the criteria. Compared to the old Morphling, Aetherling is not as good on the defense (cannot block flying creatures, evades combat instead of facing them, costs one more mana) but he is much better at steamrolling through any inevitability shit control players might come up with today (e.g. Punishing Fires, Loam, Terminus). Knowing that, we can build the deck accordingly and I can attest to you that Aetherling solves the biggest problem that MUC has: winning the game!!! MUC has all the tools not to die but going aggro was really painful to accomplish. I suggest 2x copies. Maybe 1x is enough, but 2x is safer.

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Do you have a theoretical list? MUC was my first Legacy deck so it'll always be my pet deck, but after trying several versions without any decent success rate I can't help it but feel sceptical; although I'll be the first person to sleeve it up and give it a go.

With the printing of Abrupt Decay, Back to Basics isn't as reliable as before, so stopping Punishing Fire has become a pain. Having a win condition that can race the Fire combo is probably a good thing.

yes sure, this is where I'm right now.

lands: 23
4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
1 Plain
1 Swamp
14 Island

draw: 8
4 Brainstorm
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor (formerly Fact or Fiction)

survival: 20
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
4 Engineered Explosives (EE makes MUC viable)
4 Force Spike (whatever card gives me the best early-game, Repeal is great too, but does nothing against combo)
4 Vendilion Clique (Clique is godly and winning in time is important)

slow: 9
3 Nevinyrral's Disk (Disk is a concession to TNN; I've actually run 3 BtB before until TNN happened)
3 Vedalken Shackles (winning in time is important in tournament play, so I would not go down on these)
2 Aetherling
1 Back to Basics (could be another counterspell or Ponder, but I think you should have 3 BtB in your 75)

SB:
2 Back to Basics
4 Spell Pierce
4 Judge's Familiar (beats up Xantid Swarm)
x Powder Keg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tea

I just wanted to say that,...Aetherling is the best finisher this deck has ever seen. A dedicated win-condition sounds shit and outdated, but the concept of a finisher is actually totally viable if a card exits that fits the criteria. Compared to the old Morphling, Aetherling is not as good on the defense (cannot block flying creatures, evades combat instead of facing them, costs one more mana) but he is much better at steamrolling through any inevitability shit control players might come up with today (e.g. Punishing Fires, Loam, Terminus). Knowing that, we can build the deck accordingly and I can attest to you that Aetherling solves the biggest problem that MUC has: winning the game!!! MUC has all the tools not to die but going aggro was really painful to accomplish. I suggest 2x copies. Maybe 1x is enough, but 2x is safer.

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I disagree entirely. JTMS is the best finisher the deck has ever seen, and TNN is a close second.