Uwgr Intuition CounterTop
by Mana Drain, with substantial editing, added content, and influence from Valtrix and significant influence from ivanpei.
(Disclaimer: We’re well aware that there are two older threads that use both Intuition and CB (It’s the Fear and the previous Intuition/CB thread). This deck is not ITF, and the other Intuition/CB thread was only 2 pages long, with the second page about primarily about combating a deck that is no longer in existence. This deck can now be considered optimized. This thread’s main focus is about Uwgr Intuition CounterTop, utilizing Tarmogoyf, Jace TMD, and the Ruins/EE combo to take control of the game and end it in swift order, while having multiple internal synergies and a huge number of both MD and SB options due to color choice. If you want to play Pernicious Deed, Innocent Blood, and recur Eternal Witness and Etched Oracle with Volrath’s Stronghold, please go to the (very old) ITF thread. If you want to play Daze, Rhox War Monk, Qasali Pridemage, and Ponder, please go to the Countertop Goyf thread. If you want to play the best control spells in blue, red, green, and white, have a diversified game plan that can play around any single form of hate or beat it, while controlling the board with the most effective and versatile cards available, please continue reading.)
Contents
Introduction
Decklists
Overall Strategy of the Deck
Card Choices and Explanation
The Sideboard
Matchup Analysis
Why Play this Deck?
The Future
First and foremost, if this deck is any good, why didn’t it show up months ago? The answer to this is simple: The deck did show up months ago, but like many (most) other decks in the format, we had serious problems with a certain 1G enchantment. I mean serious. As in, “we have to dedicate about 7-8 slots in our board to Needles, GY hate, Spell Snares/Spell Pierces to have a chance” serious. So for the latter half of 2010, Intuitive remained in the same position all CB decks were in: a bad one. Now that the green menace has been removed from existence by the powers that be, the deck is in a favorable position, as Aggro, Combo, and other CB strategies are predicted to make a return. Why play this deck over any other CB deck, or any other deck utilizing Intuition? My answer to that is: Why not play the best of both? CB is undoubtedly the most powerful control element in the format, providing a passive wall of counters for only UU, when paired with the best piece of card-quality in the format: Sensei’s Divining Top. Top is strong enough that the deck would run 3-4 even if we weren’t playing the overpowered enchantment. Together, they allow you to save your removal and hard-counters like Force and counterspell for the rare things that CB can’t stop and dramatically alter the game, like a Natural Order, opposing Jace/Elspeth, Tombstalker or other big-mana bomb.
Intuition is a 3 mana engine or a 3 mana, instant-speed Demonic tutor that pitches to FoW. For 3 mana and a card, you have the ability to set up a long-term late game strategy no other deck can handle pre-board. Recurring Explosives will win you the game against any deck that relies on permanents to win. The combo does take time though, which is why so much of the deck is centered on staying alive. If you do manage to stay alive and resolve an Intuition, you will win the game. Why? I’ll explain further in a later section. Utilizing Intuition as a Demonic Tutor in the end step is also completely acceptable, turning it into a Force of Will, Counterbalance, Firespout, StP, or a Jace/Tarmogoyf to win the game quickly. More info on Intuition later.
Finally, we come to the fact that most Counterbalance decks are not really control decks at all. They’re often mid-range aggro decks that just happen to run a one-sided shifting Chalice of the Void and some counters. This isn’t always the case (Supreme Blue for example), but most Counterbalance decks fit this description. Their overall strategy is to drop CB, some dudes, and lay the beats. This is an extremely solid and proven strategy, but what if the opposing deck doesn’t care about your CB? More than likely, you’re in trouble. Hence, decks that control-ish decks should be good against, like Zoo, are actually bad matchups. In addition, most CB decks don’t focus on board control, rather laying down a single, efficient beater/utility dude backed up by CB. This lack of board control is a significant weakness against decks that can quickly overwhelm you like Tribal and Zoo or decks that are not crippled by CB like Landstill and Dredge. Whether the community chooses to acknowledge the fact that many CB decks are significantly weaker with their namesake enchantment not in play or neutralized (via Needle, Pridemage, Grip, Vial, etc.) is extremely relevant due to the ease of hating on CB. When CB is not in play, most CB Goyf lists plays like a 2007-era UGx Threshold list, without the tempo package. This is not acceptable for me. We’re not proposing that Intuitive CB should or would replace all current CB decks (which are indeed powerful decks when the metagame is favorable), but will do better in a metagame with a strong Zoo, Merfolk, or Goblins presence, without having the difficulties that more traditional blue control decks like Landstill have with Combo and to a lesser extent, Tempo decks. Now, show us the decklists damnit!
Originally Posted by Mana Drain’s current list
Overall Strategy of the Deck
The deck wants to do multiple, independent things, all of which support the same goals: Stay alive, Stabilize, and Win. The removal suite (StP, Firespout, EE, Shackles) and hard-counter suite (Force, Counterspell) all support the first objective effectively. Counterbalance helps you stay alive if dropped early enough (providing free countering of threats/disruption), and is a major benefit to the second and third objective. Intuition’s purpose is very similar to CB’s, by providing recursive permanent destruction, but primarily for the second objective, and solid support for the third. Jace does all three at any time he wants, bouncing lone threats, drawing you into answers to stabilize, and being a disruptive win condition once the smoke has cleared. Like Jace, Tarmogoyf also serves all three goals effectively; Goyf is much faster and can stall multiple threats, but less stable due to the ease of removability.
All four work together in conjunction with the counter/removal suite and the card quality provided by Brainstorm/Top to ensure early-game survival, mid-late-game stabilization, and late-game victory. They also allow the deck to utilize different methods of controlling the game, depending on what is required against the opponent’s deck. When you need blow up the board against a horde of little dudes and become pseudo-Landstill, you can. When you need to use CB and StP to stop a big beater who is backed up by disruption and become CB Goyf, you can. When you need to be the beatdown and start swinging with a monster to lock the game up, Tarmogoyf has your back. Many games you’ll do all three. Running so many varied ways to dominate the game also makes it very difficult for your opponent to stop your strategy, as answers are rarely versatile enough to deal with creatures, planeswalkers, card quality, Ruins-EE, and Counterbalance-Top.
Card Choices and Explanation
The manabase
Fetches: 9-10 fetches instead of the usual 8 for increased color consistency, resilience against T1 Wasteland, and additional shuffle effects. If you’re not comfortable with the increased vulnerability to Stifle and extra lifeloss, feel free to trim the number to 8. My experience has proven the -1 life loss to be far less relevant than not having the mana to play StP, Goyf, or Firespout. Additional fetches bolster the power of Loam, Top, BS, and Jace. Whichever fetches you use doesn’t make a difference if you’re not running any non-Island basics, but I suggest to staying away from Flooded Strand unless you are running the basic Plains. Why? Because “Flooded Strand, Go” is a signature play of blue control and an obvious tell, whereas “Rainforest/Tarn/Delta, Go” leaves room for the other player to guess between Tempo Thresh, normal CB variants, Combo, etc. It may seem ridiculous and irrelevant, but why not possibly change the way your opponent plays and save information about what you are playing if it costs you nothing? Also, proper use of fetches (only cracking when necessary, saving them when possible) is required when playing this deck. Failure to comply will lead to much more common color screw.
Basics: I choose to run just 2 basic Islands, as I like to live dangerously. In all seriousness, I’ve found that not being able to play Counterbalance or Counterspell on T2 is highly relevant, and choose to run the 2 basic Islands as my only basics. That said, guaranteeing that you always have access to either Loam/Tarmogoyf or StP/Path is strong in the face of Tribal. This is a matter of personal preference and risk vs. reward that you as the player must decide on. When you run basics the Plains is better than the Mountain because you’ll usually have more relevant white cards against aggro (Swords and Path) than your lonely Firespouts, and there are oftentimes when you want white but not red, but never the other way around. Plus, you really only want a Mountain turn 3 to Firespout, but might want Plains sooner than that.
Duals: Three of each is a perfect balance of all colors, as they all have the same necessary requirements in the deck. Three duals plus nine fetches gives you 12 lands that can provide the colors you need to cast your spells. Nothing costs two of any non-blue mana in the deck, so fetching out one of each is recommended if you need crack a fetch to play a blue spell. The highest priority color is green, as it allows you to cast your Goyfs for defense, and recur your other colors with Loam. This is followed by Tundra for StP defense, and finally, Volcanic, for wrathing away hordes of little dudes. You may cut a dual of a respective color if you add a basic of that color (i.e. cut a Tundra if you add a plains) if you so choose. Unless you’re constantly playing decks with Wastelock (not decks that just play Wasteland) or serious non-basic hate (Blood Moon, Back to Basics, Price of Progress), I highly suggest running 3 of each dual for maximum color consistency.
Academy Ruins: What allows you to recur your artifacts, and set up the dreaded EE lock. Amazingly powerful, but try to hold it until necessary to play, to avoid Wasteland and spontaneous self destruction from an opposing Ruins. Also, it doesn’t produce blue, so factor that into your mulligan decisions, although this is kind of obvious. Always run 1. Not 2, not 0, but 1.
Creatures
Tarmogoyf: Suddenly, out of nowhere, Tarmogoyf. Yes, the ubiquitous green monster makes another appearance, and is put to great use. The best wall in the game, a 2 drop for the CB curve, easily protected under Counterbalance, and a great finisher with easy color requirements all make Goyf a 4 of. You want to see him in just about every matchup, and in multiples. Significantly improves the Zoo, Goblins, and pretty much every other aggro matchup out there, while still being relevant against non-aggro strategies. But you probably know this already. Run 4.
Spells
Brainstorm: We’re blue, and play fetchlands. Duh. Serves double duty since we’re playing Counterbalance. As always, save your Brainstorms until absolutely necessary. Common Brainstorm rules apply. Play 4.
Force of Will: We play blue cards, and about 20 of them including this. Duh. Save them for the “OH SHI-“ moments, like a Choke, Price of Progress, Show and Tell, Counterbalance, NO, Standstill, etc. Play 4.
Counterbalance: Our curve is about 12-14 1 drops, 10-12 2 drops, and 6-8 3 drops, which has been optimal. A solid card in almost all matchups, with exception against Vial decks and some fringe decks (like Affinity and Chalice/Tomb decks). It’s a pillar of the format for a reason. 4 of, no exceptions.
Sensei’s Divining Top: Amazing card quality by itself, and an unbeatable advantage at almost every point in the game, and of course a passive counterwall in combination with Counterbalance. Every opening hand with one is significantly better than one without. Great synergy with Loam and fetchlands. Run 4.
Swords to Plowshares: The best removal printed, and the reason to run white. There is no control deck that can’t be made better by including Swords. Run 4, all day, every day.
Firespout: 3 mana WoG in the tribal matchup, and still amazing in the Zoo matchup, all of which are extremely dangerous for their ability to kill you before stabilization. A 3 drop for the CB curve, a significant boost in the matchups mentioned above, and easy on the color requirements. Awful in multiple matchups, but any matchup where Firespout is dead, we’re probably in good standings. Run 3 in the MD, with the fourth in the board for extra insurance against Tribal/Zoo/Affinity/littledudes.dec.
Vedalken Shackles: Slow, but game breaking. If you untap with it in play against a creature deck, you’ll probably win. Another 3 drop for the curve, recurable with Ruins, and significantly improves the Goblin matchup. It can be too slow in matchups about speed, but in G1 few decks have an answer for it and it certainly will win games on its own. For this reason, it’s a one of.
Engineered Explosives: Versatile removal for almost any problem that you have. With Ruins, a soft lock that shuts out almost any non-land permanents that your opponent draws since the deck runs 4-colors. Also, a great way to remove opposing CB’s by making X greater than 2 while only using 2 colors. Unfortunately, 0cc doesn’t do much for the curve, and it can get mana intensive quickly. You only want one in the main for these reasons, and its slowness. Extras in the board are great to get around graveyard hate and have versatile answers.
Life from the Loam: The heart of the Intuition engine. Provides infinite shuffles and lands for the rest of the game, a 2 drop for CB, card advantage (in the form of lands), synergy with Top, Brainstorm, and Jace, easy color requirements, and of course enables Ruins and possible other land combos (Cephalid Coliseum for example). Obviously amazing against land denial strategies. Is in effect extra lands for the deck. However, you don’t really want to run too many land effects and deck space is tight, so there’s only room for one.
Counterspell: When I first started playing this deck, I didn’t like Counterspell. While it’s the most consistent and versatile card in the deck, I was convinced that there was some other 2 drop more powerful, and I should be running something else. The truth is, CS fills many important rolls in the deck. It’s blue (Force consistency), a 2 drop (CB), and a hard answer for whatever serious problem is on the stack (NO, Jace, KotR, Vindicate) that CB can’t answer or when you don’t have CB (common). Spell Snare was played in this slot, but didn’t have much synergy with the rest of the deck, and was not versatile enough in topdeck mode. Besides that, you want to be dropping Top T1 or StPing an important dude. All serious 2 drops (besides Standstill and CB) can be answered with an StP, and CS is important when trying to stabilize or trying to maintain stabilization when your opponent topdecks something dangerous. All in all, it’s a fine card to SB out for something more important, and is a huge help against a number of matchups (Bant, Rock, other control decks, combo). A big thank you to Valtrix for pointing out to me the importance of this card in the deck.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor: Superman makes another triumphant appearance, and does not disappoint. If you have 4 mana, and aren’t facing down an army of dudes, playing Jace is probably a game-winning play. In fact, he’s a large reason for the removal suite, allowing you to one-for-one, get to 4 mana, drop him and win. A six-turn disruptive clock that can also create card advantage and quality, bounce problematic creatures until an answer is found, and just be all around amazing is truly, no joke. Three is just the right number, allowing you to Intuition for him, and have multiple copies in the deck incase an early one dies, but rarely drawing multiples and clogging your hand. If you don’t have any, start selling drugs and buy some. He’s that good. Run no less than two, period.
Intuition: Finally, the namesake card of the deck. As mentioned above, a three-mana engine and Demonic Tutor. Resolving it creates inevitability that other decks can’t compete with G1. Postboard, if forces the other player to put in GY hate or EE hate, diluting their strategy at a minimal cost to ours, or face the inevitability of being blown out if they don’t kill us fast enough. As the pieces for the combo are solid and useful on their own, this is a serious advantage for us. Hating on the GY is necessary against us, but doesn’t affect the other 54 cards in the deck at all. They still have to deal with Goyf (feeding off their GY), CB (which requires an entirely different set of hate), and Jace (who is that fucking good). Even hating on the yard will accomplish very little, as Intuition is still a 3 mana Demonic Tutor for whatever you need at the time. The most common pile is “Loam/Ruins/EE”, but more will be mentioned below. A blue 3 drop for CB, always castable with 3 lands, and a shuffle are just bonuses. It’s creates an entire late game strategy out of 3 cards in your deck, in addition to some already great and synergistic cards already present. Three is the right number, as you never want to see two in an opener, and resolving one is all it takes, but you still want to see at least 1 a game. Additional Intuitions after the first are used to strengthen a board further, or as a tutor for a kill condition. It also allows for a number of different internal combos that can be played that aren’t included in the lists posted, like Thopter/Foundry, and Grove/Punishing Fires. The card opens unlimited possibilities, but for now, we’re sticking to the most effective, independent, and space-conservative ones.
(SB Choices and Matchup Anyalisys on next pages)
Last edited by Mana Drain; 02-15-2011 at 09:35 PM. Reason: Edits will be made constantly to keep the deck up-to-date
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