[Deck] Skybus (UWB Moat Control)

[Phantom]

New List:

UWb
// Lands
4 [b] Underground Sea
4 [ON] Flooded Strand
4 [b] Tundra
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
2 [CHK] Plains (1)
2 [10E] Island (4)
1 [LRW] Swamp (2)

// Spells
4 [FNM] Brainstorm
4 [LRW] Ponder
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [LG] Moat
3 [u] Swords to Plowshares
3 [CS] Counterbalance
3 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
3 [JU] Cunning Wish
3 [AP] Vindicate
2 [FNM] Counterspell
2 [7E] Wrath of God
2 [MOR] Bitterblossom
2 [LRW] Hoofprints of the Stag

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [IN] Dismantling Blow
SB: 3 [FD] Vedalken Shackles
SB: 1 [TSP] Return to Dust
SB: 1 [b] Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 [FUT] Slaughter Pact
SB: 3 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 1 [DS] Pulse of the Fields
SB: 4 [PS] Meddling Mage


UW
// Lands
5 [RAV] Island (2)
4 [ON] Flooded Strand
4 [b] Tundra
2 [LRW] Plains (4)
3 [ON] Windswept Heath
3 [ON] Polluted Delta

// Creatures
2 [SC] Eternal Dragon

// Spells
4 [LRW] Hoofprints of the Stag
4 [FNM] Swords to Plowshares
4 [LRW] Ponder
4 [IA] Brainstorm
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [JU] Cunning Wish
3 [LG] Moat
3 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
3 [CS] Counterbalance
2 [IA] Counterspell
2 [REW] Wrath of God

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [LG] Moat
SB: 1 [CS] Counterbalance
SB: 1 [TSP] Trickbind
SB: 1 [IN] Dismantling Blow
SB: 1 [10E] Condemn
SB: 1 [WL] Argivian Find
SB: 3 [DK] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 2 [FD] Vedalken Shackles
SB: 2 [PS] Meddling Mage
SB: 1 [BOK] Quash
SB: 1 [DS] Pulse of the Fields


So, I guess I've sort of been on a mission to force every Legacy player to buy 4 Moats. I figure it's sort of my duty to punish people with actual tourneys in their area. Anyway, I stumbled onto an Aggro build for my CaND entry, but in my musings I tested Hoofprints of the Stag. The card did not work there, but it did get me thinking. Then I saw Bitterblossom and thought Hmmmmm. Here's what I came up with:


// Lands
4 [ON] Flooded Strand
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
4 [B] Tundra
4 [B] Underground Sea
2 [10E] Island (4)
1 [CHK] Swamp (4)
1 [CHK] Plains (1)

// Spells
4 [FNM] Counterspell
4 [FNM] Brainstorm
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [LRW] Ponder
4 [LG] Moat
4 [U] Swords to Plowshares
4 [AP] Vindicate
3 [7E] Wrath of God
2 [SC] Stifle (for Deed and Waste)
1 [DIS] Spell Snare

// Win Cons
1 [OD] Haunting Echoes
3 [LRW] Hoofprints of the Stag
2 [MOR] Bitterblossom

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [PS] Meddling Mage
SB: 4 [UL] Engineered Plague
SB: 4 [GP] Leyline of the Void
SB: 3 [PLC] Extirpate


I'm not the worlds best control deck designer (or player really) but the deck has been nuts so far. Gargangel Stompy taught me that a lot of decks can't handle Moat, so pairing it with counter magic seems natural. The only slot I've been unhappy with is Spell Snare. I'm thinking about trying out Pulse of the Fields to help me stall for Moat and deal with Bitterblossom.

The board is untested, and I've only done a small amount of play testing, but it's shaping up pretty well. Check out these numbers (all preboard so far):

Moat Control vs Gobs
on the draw
1-0 Moat
2-0 Moat + deck
2-1 SGC
2-2 No Moat
2-3 No Moat

on the play
3-3 Moat
4-3 Bitterblossom + StPx4
4-4 No Moat
5-4 Moat + StP on SCG
6-4 Bitterblossom early + control


vs W Thresh w/ CB
on the draw
1-0 Moat + Hoof
2-0 Moat + Echoes
3-0 Moat + Blossom
4-0 Moat + Blossom
5-0 Moat + Hoof

on the play
6-0 did I mention that they can't seem to win


vs Landstill (Taco's 4c. These damn games take forever)
on the draw
1-0 Decked
2-0 Moat + Blossom
3-0 Decked


vs Survival (Di's build)
on the draw
0-1 Survival > Moat
1-1 Hoof x 2
1-2 Therapyx2
2-2 Moat sticks and Echoes SotF

on the play



I'll be back with more as the testing rolls in.


Oh, and Skybus is the greatest airline ever. Google that shit. 10 dollar flights out of Columbus to crappy cities with the following rules:

·No real in-flight entertainment--Skybus Suggests you bring a book.
·The first two bags are 5 bucks apiece. After that, it's $50 a bag.
·No phone number, just a website.

Clearly they deserve a kick ass deck.

[Maveric78f]

it looks good really, except that I don't get the use of Wrath of God and Ponder in the deck. WoG should be replaced with smother/edict/shackles/oblivion ring/darkblast (in order to beat gobs). And ponder with impulse/stifle/spell snare. The fact that ponder draws and that drawing is good with hoofprint is not a good enough argument to play it to my opinion.

[Nihil Credo]

It seems your aggro matchup basically revolves around Moat. Since you're UWB already, I think you should seriously try out one to three copies of Clutch of the Undercity for more consistent access to your bomb. They also fetch Wrath and allow you to get some silver bullets like Decree of Justice (although your deck may be a bit mana-short for that last one).

[Thehunter820]

Hmm, I like the idea, could use some tweaking though, im at school now so ill build it and test it later, the main things I would work with are Spell Snare and Ponder would come out, and I would probably board Stifle, as its useful, but not a necessity in my meta, put in more control, and I'll mess with the manabase a bit, see if I can fit in a tarmagoyf

[troopatroop]

Hmm, I like the idea, could use some tweaking though, im at school now so ill build it and test it later, the main things I would work with are Spell Snare and Ponder would come out, and I would probably board Stifle, as its useful, but not a necessity in my meta, put in more control, and I'll mess with the manabase a bit, see if I can fit in a tarmagoyf

Tarmogoyf in a Moat deck?

[Thehunter820]

Yes Tarmagoyf isnt necessarily and optium chioce, but I think tarmagoyf works well in any deck if you can fit him in, I mean a turn 2 possible 5/6 isnt bad in my opinion, so if you can fit him in then he's a fairly decent choice, like i said ill work with it, not saying its a final choice.

[Phantom]

Lol, I appreciate any help given, but I can tell you with a certainty that 'Goyf shouldn't be within 5 miles of this deck. It doesn't run green, it doesn't let ground creatures attack, and it sweeps the board of all creatures occasionally. Trust me.

This is also why I don't really run any creatures as win conditions for the simple fact that creatures are subject to creature removal (and my Wraths). I tooled around with Meloku and Angel (and even Decree) and others but decided to run enchantments that produce creature tokens so targeted AND mass removal would suck against me. This also makes playing enchantment removal against me an iffy proposal as there are a ton of targets.

Note that this is also why I run Stifle. Deed is one of the biggest threats this deck faces.

it looks good really, except that I don't get the use of Wrath of God and Ponder in the deck. WoG should be replaced with smother/edict/shackles/oblivion ring/darkblast (in order to beat gobs). And ponder with impulse/stifle/spell snare. The fact that ponder draws and that drawing is good with hoofprint is not a good enough argument to play it to my opinion.

I'm not sure why I would replace Wrath. it's one of the strongest control cards in the game, and has been since its printing. it's also a nice plan b to moat as it allows us to win games where we can't keep a Moat down. I'm certainly not replacing it with crappy, narrow targeted removal like Edict or Smother. I tried Shackles here and this is NOT the deck for it. it usually just stares at the opponents creatures and thinks "I wish one of them had flying...". I've kept Oblivion ring in mind since it's so strong in Gargangel Stompy, but the card is just worse than Vindicate and opens us up to more Deed hate. I'll always keep it in mind though. Darkblast is just a sub par sideboard card unless you are using the dredge to your favor (which i am not).

I can't believe so many people want to yank Ponder. This card is bananas. The deck really likes its filtering pieces and finding Moats quickly. It also only runs 20 land, which is lowish for a deck that wants to ramp up to 4+ (6 is nice for Moat + Counter mana). So basically if you're going to cut Ponder for a non cantrip, you would have to probably add two land which just about negates the purpose of cutting Ponder. And that's not even mentioning that it has solid synergy with Hoofprints.


Edit: I'm considering Cunning Wish but have never really used the card.