Miracle Control

[dsck]

@Mackan:

You might be interested in the italian MiracleBlade lists playing SFM and Thopter/Sword:

http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/bus...ndry&strict=on

I've been tempted to try the SFM + Thopter/Sword package since I saw Emiliano Veronesi's lists a few weeks ago. I like that it gives you a lot of 2 cmc spells for counterbalance. Thopter / Sword can race a Jitte-equipped TNN, and there are few answers to the combo, aside from destroying the Foundry itself.

I tested thopters as well and they were too slow to close out games and the deck became weak to combo decks when its dilluded with stoneforges and equipments (+thopter foundries).

[Poron]

I tested thopters as well and they were too slow to close out games and the deck became weak to combo decks when its dilluded with stoneforges and equipments (+thopter foundries).

in those lists I would like to test Baleful Strix too. It triggers Sword, cantrips and gives you tempo or constricts him to overextend.. a good retainer while we wait for Terminus

[twndomn]

I don't know about you guys, but there're SO MANY Stoneforges, SO MANY....
Thank you TNN, here's my thought:
is Spell Snare worth running again?

Other than catching Stoneforge,
Dark Confidant
Goyf
Hymn
Chalice for 1, cmc = 2
Visionary
Thalia and Avenger Not from Vial
Jitte Not from Stoneforge
random goblins (Marshall, Piledriver) Not from vial/lackey

[Valtrix]

I don't know about you guys, but there're SO MANY Stoneforges, SO MANY....
Thank you TNN, here's my thought:
is Spell Snare worth running again?

The real question is: what's the real problem? Is true name the real problem? Is Batterskull the problem? Is equipment on any creature the problem? I'm not sure 2cc is the real issue. I think spell snare is a little narrow. I made a post a few pages back about why I think Counterspell is very good right now (although my post was, quite literally, completely ignored last time):

I've been thinking quite a bit about good answers to True-Name Nemesis, mostly because I expect a lot of UWR delver or Stoneblade decks to be picked up, and we have seen this from the recent SCG tournament results. I kept coming back to permanent answers like Ensnaring bridge, Engineered explosives or moat, or more sweepers like Supreme Verdict. My main problem with this though is that the density of creature removal (in the main) becomes quite high, which can be quite punishing whenever you face a deck which doesn't care about creatures quite so much. So thinking about less punishing ways to increase the answers to TNN, I realized that another way to handle TNN was with the stack, namely with counterspell.

Now, I've always loved counterspell as a way to answer a very diverse set of threats from my opponents without over committing the deck to answering only a single type of card. It's really nice to be able to answer Jace or Show and Tell or True-name Nemesis or Batterskull with the same card (as I'm sure you all know quite well when you cast force of will). Frankly, just having a lot of cards to tell your opponent "No" to their spells feels pretty good. From experience, I can also say the counter-suite for post-board games where you have more counterspells is much more powerful compared to less counterspells. At least, the way I design my sideboards this tends to be the case since I usually want to devote some of my sideboard to stack control, regardless of the stack control I have in the main. So counterspells really help supplement that strategy quite well, and such a strategy really gives a lot of consistency and power when facing those decks where you really need stack control, like against Show and Tell decks. Counterspell also does a great job at rounding out the counterbalance curve, because in my experience the 2cc slot is often a pretty awkward one to fill.

Some of the downsides are that counterspell doesn't answer something that's already resolved. I think we have enough permanent answers for this to be an acceptable trade-off though. It's also worth noting that such a situation primarily happens in the early game, since at basically any time in the game past turn 4 you should have enough flexibility to always be prepared to cast counterspell. So, this really highlights the other main issue with counterspell, which is that it can sometimes be tough to use early game. This is certainly my major complaint with the card, but considering the versatility of the card, and that we can have other plays for early game, I find this to be an acceptable trade-off. But often, even just casting counterspell turn 2 (especially on the play) is very powerful to setting up your next turn.

The point of all this is that I think are a lot of upsides right now to having a lot of (pure) counterspells,. Counterspell seems at its best against some of the hardest things for our deck to deal with--Stoneblade, TNN, and Show and Tell decks. All of these style of decks seem to be pretty popular right now, and I would expect them to remain so. Considering this, I think that counterspell is a good card to have right now and would recommend that people consider increasing the number of counterspells (the card) in their deck to handle the changing meta game.

What do you guys think? Is counterspell potentially more worthwhile now compared to in the past?

[ivanpei]

Spell Snare is really narrow. Does nothing against the best combo deck which is Sneak Show and does nothing to a variety of bomb 3 drops like Liliana and Tnn. I always run a 2 Counterspell, 3 Spell Pierce split.

Played a small 3 round tournament at the LGS last weekend. My list was the usual UWR with Md Moat, 3 Entreats, 2 Snapcasters, zero Legendary creatures. Cliques and Rip along with REBs and assorted sweepers in the board.

Round one against Esperblade.
He was super unlucky game 1, he kept a hand with 1 land, Ponder and Brainstorm. Whiffed on land from the Ponder, shuffled. T2 Brainstorm whiffed, same on T3 Brainstorm. I made my drops and he scooped it up.

In 3 REBs, mountain, Supreme Verdict. Out 4 Force, 1 Karakas.

He flooded badly this game and I was able to land a Jace with REB protection when he forced. After a few fateseals and countertop assembly, he scooped it up.

Round 2 Shardless Bug

Game one was a blur can't remember much except I grinded him out with my card advantage. I mini entreated for two when he swung with Goyf and I double blocked. Traded for an angel for a Goyf. Stabilized and started beating down with my leftover token. Got him down to single digits before a Decay sent away the angel. I followed up with a Jace and fatesealed him out.

Boarded in 3 REBs, Mountain, Verdict, RIPs, out 4 Force, Karakas, 2 Stp. (I felt one for one trades against Baleful Strix and Agents were Crappy so I cut down on the stps).

Game 2 my hand was ripped to shreds by multiple Thoughtseizes. He manages to strand some miracles in my hand and strip me of all my enablers. I proceed to lose by beatdown.

Game 3 was close. I went T1 top, he goes Deathrite and I land a Rip T2, major fist pumps! I take 1 from deathrite multiple turns as we trade cards. Eventually he decays Rip but the damage has been done with almost nothing in the yard. The defining play came when I dropped Jace against his board of Deathrite and Creeping Tarpit. I fateseal to go up to 5 counters. He activates Tarpit and gets in there along with deathrite for 4. I still have jace at 1 counter. I brainstorm on my turn and find a terminus. I leave it there on top of my library.

As expected he swings with Tarpit and deathrite to my Jace the next turn and I use top to activate Terminus. He has flusterstorm but I have mana open. He scoops it up because I have Jace plus top against his empty board.

He told me he was playing around STP so he activated Tarpit and swung with both deathrite and Tarpit. However he had a Goyf hand and he should have cast the goyf to up the storm count for flusterstorm. So even if I had terminus, I only had 2 mana leftover and a flusterstorm for 3 would have stopped both terminus and Stp. Oh well, it happens. Magic is a hard game.

Round 3 vs WB Dreadnought combo
I'm very familiar with this deck because the guy is my regular play test partner. We trade discard and counters for the first few turns until we are both drawing off the top. I have a sensei though and eventually I eot miracle out 3 angels ftw.

Out 2 Snapcasters, 2 Entreats, 1 Terminus. In 3 Cliques, 1 Ee, 1 Dsphere.

This was interesting. We trade discard and counters the first few turns as usual. He lands a Chains of Mephistophelis. I have a jace but it gets needled. I get to clique him and leave a dreadnought and an eater of days in his hand. They are dead without illusionary mask or torpor orb. I assemble countertop and ride Clique to victory while countering everything else.

Was happy with my 3-0 even though I felt the first round was a bye due to mana issues. I would change only 1 slot which is my Sb 4 th blast. I never sided in all 4 the whole day and I feel 3 is enough. Should be a wear and tear for random equip/enchantments.

[Dzra]

The problem with Counterspell is the same as its always been. Counterspell is a great mid-to-late game catch-all, but in the world of Daze and Spell Pierce that extra mana may be the difference between resolving your spell and not. I don't think anything has really changed there, 1-2 Counterspell still feels like the right amount.

Actually I think a good case could be made for bringing Spell Snare back into the MD right now. It does nothing against Nemesis itself, but stopping SFM or Jitte gives you quite a few turns. The only problem might be that Spell Snare really doesn't accomplish the same things as Spell Pierce, so I'm unsure if you could make a direct replacement. Perhaps with Stifle on the decline, it would be fine to cut back on Pierces, but you still have Sneak and Show to deal with.

[Mackan]

I tested thopters as well and they were too slow to close out games and the deck became weak to combo decks when its dilluded with stoneforges and equipments (+thopter foundries).

I agree about thopters and bridge beeing pretty bad versus combo (bridge beeing an allstar in some cases though). Stoneforge is however quite nice, it's one of the few threaths a control deck can afford to play during their own turn. Anyway, you are saying that those cards are dilluting the deck and I don't really agree on that. The cuts I made was removing Entreat and Terminus to the sideboard, both pretty bad versus combo. It is kinda pointless to compare cards this way though as Ensnaring bridge force the whole deck to be built around it, with less counters for example. Naturally without counters you become worse versus combo G1 but I think that's fine. What we could discuss is how the deck perform over 2/3 games as we can allways compensate the worse matchup versus combo with our sideboard. Right now I am very happy about the list. I am a little low on hate for the GY and I picked up a loss to Winter Orb yesterday from RUG, so there is definitly room for improvement. I will be streaming tomorrow's Daily Event (twitch.tv/svmtv). It would be nice if some of you experienced guys showed up in the chat :)

This is the list of cards im considering atm;
batterskull #2
baneslayer angel
academy ruins
pyroclasm
pithing needle
wheel of sun and moon
surgical extraction
elspeth, knight-errant
ajani vengeant
blood moon
cop: red
supreme verdict
tormod's crypt
humility
moat
Unexpectedly Absent
leyline of sanctity
blue elemental blast
vedalken shackles
crucible of worlds
rest in peace
helm of obidience
wear/tear
disenchant

[Einherjer]

Spell Snare is really narrow. Does nothing against the best combo deck which is Sneak Show and does nothing to a variety of bomb 3 drops like Liliana and Tnn. I always run a 2 Counterspell, 3 Spell Pierce split.

Played a small 3 round tournament at the LGS last weekend. My list was the usual UWR with Md Moat, 3 Entreats, 2 Snapcasters, zero Legendary creatures. Cliques and Rip along with REBs and assorted sweepers in the board.

Round one against Esperblade.
He was super unlucky game 1, he kept a hand with 1 land, Ponder and Brainstorm. Whiffed on land from the Ponder, shuffled. T2 Brainstorm whiffed, same on T3 Brainstorm. I made my drops and he scooped it up.

In 3 REBs, mountain, Supreme Verdict. Out 4 Force, 1 Karakas.

He flooded badly this game and I was able to land a Jace with REB protection when he forced. After a few fateseals and countertop assembly, he scooped it up.

Round 2 Shardless Bug

Game one was a blur can't remember much except I grinded him out with my card advantage. I mini entreated for two when he swung with Goyf and I double blocked. Traded for an angel for a Goyf. Stabilized and started beating down with my leftover token. Got him down to single digits before a Decay sent away the angel. I followed up with a Jace and fatesealed him out.

Boarded in 3 REBs, Mountain, Verdict, RIPs, out 4 Force, Karakas, 2 Stp. (I felt one for one trades against Baleful Strix and Agents were Crappy so I cut down on the stps).

Game 2 my hand was ripped to shreds by multiple Thoughtseizes. He manages to strand some miracles in my hand and strip me of all my enablers. I proceed to lose by beatdown.

Game 3 was close. I went T1 top, he goes Deathrite and I land a Rip T2, major fist pumps! I take 1 from deathrite multiple turns as we trade cards. Eventually he decays Rip but the damage has been done with almost nothing in the yard. The defining play came when I dropped Jace against his board of Deathrite and Creeping Tarpit. I fateseal to go up to 5 counters. He activates Tarpit and gets in there along with deathrite for 4. I still have jace at 1 counter. I brainstorm on my turn and find a terminus. I leave it there on top of my library.

As expected he swings with Tarpit and deathrite to my Jace the next turn and I use top to activate Terminus. He has flusterstorm but I have mana open. He scoops it up because I have Jace plus top against his empty board.

He told me he was playing around STP so he activated Tarpit and swung with both deathrite and Tarpit. However he had a Goyf hand and he should have cast the goyf to up the storm count for flusterstorm. So even if I had terminus, I only had 2 mana leftover and a flusterstorm for 3 would have stopped both terminus and Stp. Oh well, it happens. Magic is a hard game.

Round 3 vs WB Dreadnought combo
I'm very familiar with this deck because the guy is my regular play test partner. We trade discard and counters for the first few turns until we are both drawing off the top. I have a sensei though and eventually I eot miracle out 3 angels ftw.

Out 2 Snapcasters, 2 Entreats, 1 Terminus. In 3 Cliques, 1 Ee, 1 Dsphere.

This was interesting. We trade discard and counters the first few turns as usual. He lands a Chains of Mephistophelis. I have a jace but it gets needled. I get to clique him and leave a dreadnought and an eater of days in his hand. They are dead without illusionary mask or torpor orb. I assemble countertop and ride Clique to victory while countering everything else.

Was happy with my 3-0 even though I felt the first round was a bye due to mana issues. I would change only 1 slot which is my Sb 4 th blast. I never sided in all 4 the whole day and I feel 3 is enough. Should be a wear and tear for random equip/enchantments.

I don't have too much time as of now so I'll try to put it in a short way, excuse me if it may appear rude, I am just being timesaving :D

1) Boarding out Karakas against Esperblade is wrong. Take the plains first. Reasoning: Safe yourself by bouncing the opposing Clique - everyone playing Miracles should have done this at some time. A Plains can't do that - and Esperblade doesn't pack a manadenial plan.
2) According to this"Out 2 Snapcasters, 2 Entreats, 1 Terminus. In 3 Cliques, 1 Ee, 1 Dsphere." you have Cliques in your Sideboard. Bring them in against Esper. It neuters Mystic, pressures Jaces, locks them, and provides a clock.
3) It really depends on what removal you want to cut in the Shardless MU - I would never cut Swords, as it hits all of their threats, especially Tar Pit. Additionally, I'd never play 3 Swords either.
4) Against Shardless I'd rather board out Mystic Gate than a Karakas, you know what Clique does. Additionally, I wouldn't play Mystic Gate.

For a more detailed analysis it would be useful to see your list :D

Greetings

[lordofthepit]

I don't have too much time as of now so I'll try to put it in a short way, excuse me if it may appear rude, I am just being timesaving :D

1) Boarding out Karakas against Esperblade is wrong. Take the plains first. Reasoning: Safe yourself by bouncing the opposing Clique - everyone playing Miracles should have done this at some time. A Plains can't do that - and Esperblade doesn't pack a manadenial plan.
2) According to this"Out 2 Snapcasters, 2 Entreats, 1 Terminus. In 3 Cliques, 1 Ee, 1 Dsphere." you have Cliques in your Sideboard. Bring them in against Esper. It neuters Mystic, pressures Jaces, locks them, and provides a clock.
3) It really depends on what removal you want to cut in the Shardless MU - I would never cut Swords, as it hits all of their threats, especially Tar Pit. Additionally, I'd never play 3 Swords either.
4) Against Shardless I'd rather board out Mystic Gate than a Karakas, you know what Clique does. Additionally, I wouldn't play Mystic Gate.

For a more detailed analysis it would be useful to see your list :D

Greetings

I think cutting Cliques used to be reasonable against Esper when they were all running Lingering Souls, but I definitely wouldn't do that anymore.

[Adryan]

Because I'm bored of how a well oiled machine my current Miracle list is I want to try this list:

22 Lands

4 SDT
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Spell Pierce
3 Counterbalance
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Supreme Verdict
3 Jace
1 Elspeth Knight Errant
4 Force of Will
4 Terminus
2 Entreat the Angels

SB:

2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Baneslayer Angel
1 Entreat The Angels
2 Wear/Tear
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Counterspell
3 Blasts

Today i played against the mirror on MTGO for the 1000th time, and before i queued for 2 mans i just slammed 2 Revelation in a fun list (have about 30 lists with about 20 being serious lists :P)
It was a lot of fun because in Game 3, we both had a blind Counterbalance but my opponent had Jace with 3 Cards in hand and my only remaining card was of course Sphinx's Revelation. He made the mistake to tapout for a large Entreat the Angels in his Drawstep and i immediately drew 8 cards, then untapped:

1. Wear/Tear on Counterbalance
2. Killed the Jace with Blast
3. Killed the Angels with Engineered Explosives
4. Played SDT
5. Passed the turn with Counterspell

Needless to say it was a LOT of fun and i did win.

Revelation is of course very bad against Tempo and Combo but i think it's quite decent in the mirror and against blue Midrange (Shardless BUG, TNN- Esper etc.).
Maybe I'm going to play it one day in a more competitive list as a 1-of, but I'm not sure if its good. Currently i think it's bad^^

Anyone else tried this card?

[Zllig]

Because I'm bored of how a well oiled machine my current Miracle list is I want to try this list:



Today i played against the mirror on MTGO for the 1000th time, and before i queued for 2 mans i just slammed 2 Revelation in a fun list (have about 30 lists with about 20 being serious lists :P)
It was a lot of fun because in Game 3, we both had a blind Counterbalance but my opponent had Jace with 3 Cards in hand and my only remaining card was of course Sphinx's Revelation. He made the mistake to tapout for a large Entreat the Angels in his Drawstep and i immediately drew 8 cards, then untapped:

1. Wear/Tear on Counterbalance
2. Killed the Jace with Blast
3. Killed the Angels with Engineered Explosives
4. Played SDT
5. Passed the turn with Counterspell

Needless to say it was a LOT of fun and i did win.

Revelation is of course very bad against Tempo and Combo but i think it's quite decent in the mirror and against blue Midrange (Shardless BUG, TNN- Esper etc.).
Maybe I'm going to play it one day in a more competitive list as a 1-of, but I'm not sure if its good. Currently i think it's bad^^

Anyone else tried this card?

I played with Sphinx's Rev for a bit when I was trying to figure out what the best way to get some decent card advantage was. It's ok in the matches that you have noticed, but it's just so incredible bad against the decks that you mentioned that it doesn't make up for it. I made the switch to Fact or Fiction which is way better. I could go into more detail on how it's amazing, but I think it's better that you test it for yourself and see it's strength in all match ups.

[Adryan]

I played with Sphinx's Rev for a bit when I was trying to figure out what the best way to get some decent card advantage was. It's ok in the matches that you have noticed, but it's just so incredible bad against the decks that you mentioned that it doesn't make up for it. I made the switch to Fact or Fiction which is way better. I could go into more detail on how it's amazing, but I think it's better that you test it for yourself and see it's strength in all match ups.

I don't think this deck has big issues with generating Card Advantage because of Countertop/Jace and the massive card quality we get from SDT. Even if we play against a deck like Shardless BUG or Jund not making CA is not a big issue because we are a Combo- Control deck. We just want to survive, play lands and then win out of nowhere. Can you please explain why do you think FoF is amazing or needed in this deck, because as a 1of Revelation is superior in my eyes, because it can act as a 3rd Entreat the Angels.

[Valtrix]

Honestly, we have Jace, Entreat, Terminus, Top, and Counterbalance to gain a lot of advantage. If you look at most other decks being played right now, they have almost nothing to gain advantage like this in the long term. As such, adding Sphinx's Revelation (or Fact or Fiction) I think is unnecessary. What's more important is having cheap and effective cards to make sure you survive long enough to take advantage of the other powerful cards that you have at your disposal. If you can do this, then it's usually pretty easy to come out ahead in games. Adding more expensive cards to a Miracles list won't really help you in the early game, and I think that this will probably be very more punishing than useful in the long term.

[ivanpei]

I don't have too much time as of now so I'll try to put it in a short way, excuse me if it may appear rude, I am just being timesaving :D

1) Boarding out Karakas against Esperblade is wrong. Take the plains first. Reasoning: Safe yourself by bouncing the opposing Clique - everyone playing Miracles should have done this at some time. A Plains can't do that - and Esperblade doesn't pack a manadenial plan.
2) According to this"Out 2 Snapcasters, 2 Entreats, 1 Terminus. In 3 Cliques, 1 Ee, 1 Dsphere." you have Cliques in your Sideboard. Bring them in against Esper. It neuters Mystic, pressures Jaces, locks them, and provides a clock.
3) It really depends on what removal you want to cut in the Shardless MU - I would never cut Swords, as it hits all of their threats, especially Tar Pit. Additionally, I'd never play 3 Swords either.
4) Against Shardless I'd rather board out Mystic Gate than a Karakas, you know what Clique does. Additionally, I wouldn't play Mystic Gate.

For a more detailed analysis it would be useful to see your list :D

Greetings

List:
4 Force
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterbalance
4 Top
3 Entreat
1 Moat
4 Terminus
4 STP
3 Jace
2 Snapcaster
3 Spell Pierce
2 Counterspell

4 Tundra
4 Flooded
4 Tarn
1 Mesa
2 Volc
4 Island
2 Plains
1 Karakas

SB:
4 REB
1 Mountain
1 EE
1 Verdict
1 Dsphere
2 RIP
3 Clique
2 Flusterstorm

1. Esperblade has really cut down on Cliques. Some do not play Cliques at all due to True Name Nemesis. This is because Snapcaster-Thoughtseize/Duress is just as good if not better than a Clique. But in hindsight, I had an extra Plains so the Karakas should be more useful if the opponent does play Clique.
2. I decided to go heavy sweepers against Esperblade. In the pre TNN past, I would have played Clique to mess with Stoneforge. However running out my own creatures and having sweepers is IMO not a good idea. I hate the idea of me running out a Clique then having to Wrath the board due to TNN and losing my own Clique as well. Also, there aren't that many things to board out against Esper Blade. I need sweepers to deal with TNN and Clique IMO is good but not as critical.
3. There isn't that much to cut and Swords was the weakest card. Shardless BUG has a slow as hell clock, no Bobs and no SFM. There is no MUST KILL NOW creatures in the deck. It's full of utility like Deathrite, Baleful, Shardless etc which are not worth a Swords. Point removal is to slow your opponent down so that you can get to the mid/late game. Against goyf, I sat easy eating 3-4 damage a turn for quite a number of turns and managed to stick a sweeper because I did proper card advantage management. Killing goyf/tarpit straight away is not critical. You need to win the CA matchup against Shardless because they have as much gas as you. Running as many X for 1s are better than 1 for 1s especially since it's not like delver where delver kills you fast and you are happy to 1 for 1 with them because you win the late game. Shardless has Jace, Liliana, Shardless, Baleful Strix and Ancestral Visions which can easily outgas you. Trading 1 for 1 against that deck is not a good idea at all because they have the ability to grind you out.
4. I don't play Mystic Gate.

[klaus]

List:
4 Force
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterbalance
4 Top
3 Entreat
1 Moat
4 Terminus
4 STP
3 Jace
2 Snapcaster
3 Spell Pierce
2 Counterspell

4 Tundra
4 Flooded
4 Tarn
1 Mesa
2 Volc
4 Island
2 Plains
1 Karakas

SB:
4 REB
1 Mountain
1 EE
1 Verdict
1 Dsphere
2 RIP
3 Clique
2 Flusterstorm

Very nice list. I prefer the 3-1 split between Terminus and S. Verdict in the MD, enhances your CB curve and gives you a better game against TNN.dec. Also EE clearly is MD material to me, due to its versatility. This would give you room for RiP #3 which I feel is dearly needed for unknown fields. If your meta is very gy.dec light then more power to you.

As for your SB: I really like the 4 REBs + Mountain and the fact that you moved Clique to the side - I haven't been running them in my main for quite a while now and never really missed them. Unless the field is super Combo-infested, I see no reason to grant them a MD slot.
I understand that Dsphere also functions as SnT hate, but I prefer Wear/Tear in that slot anyway, since it is affected by REBs, cheaper (especially against Choke and friends) and can be Snapcastered.

[twndomn]

1. Esperblade has really cut down on Cliques. Some do not play Cliques at all due to True Name Nemesis. This is because Snapcaster-Thoughtseize/Duress is just as good if not better than a Clique. But in hindsight, I had an extra Plains so the Karakas should be more useful if the opponent does play Clique.
2. I decided to go heavy sweepers against Esperblade. In the pre TNN past, I would have played Clique to mess with Stoneforge. However running out my own creatures and having sweepers is IMO not a good idea. I hate the idea of me running out a Clique then having to Wrath the board due to TNN and losing my own Clique as well. Also, there aren't that many things to board out against Esper Blade. I need sweepers to deal with TNN and Clique IMO is good but not as critical.
3. There isn't that much to cut and Swords was the weakest card. Shardless BUG has a slow as hell clock, no Bobs and no SFM. There is no MUST KILL NOW creatures in the deck. It's full of utility like Deathrite, Baleful, Shardless etc which are not worth a Swords. Point removal is to slow your opponent down so that you can get to the mid/late game. Against goyf, I sat easy eating 3-4 damage a turn for quite a number of turns and managed to stick a sweeper because I did proper card advantage management. Killing goyf/tarpit straight away is not critical. You need to win the CA matchup against Shardless because they have as much gas as you. Running as many X for 1s are better than 1 for 1s especially since it's not like delver where delver kills you fast and you are happy to 1 for 1 with them because you win the late game. Shardless has Jace, Liliana, Shardless, Baleful Strix and Ancestral Visions which can easily outgas you. Trading 1 for 1 against that deck is not a good idea at all because they have the ability to grind you out.
4. I don't play Mystic Gate.

1 & 2. TNN by itself is not the problem, TNN with equipment is the problem, that's why Clique is there, to deal with the equipment. Miracle by default has more sweeper than most decks already.

3. StP is your best answer against Tarpit, I don't see why you would reduce StP, since you meant to play that along w/ snapcaster. No, Miracle is not about CA, it's about the quality of draw. I would trade every single CB against AD 1 for 1 all day. Stop freaking out about BUG's gas.

Your explanation goes totally opposite of Lossett's understanding of the deck. I don't even know where to start.

[lyracian]

I took RIP Miracles to first place at our local this week.

R1: 2-1 vs Tin Fins.
G1: Lost game one as I did not force the Entomb.
G2: I had force and RIP in my opending hand and he scooped once I had counter-top lock going.
G3: I tutored for RIP, played Meddling Mage and then Humility and beat him up with a 1/1 mage. He only has 3 lands so Counter-Top stopped him getting mana and a storm count for Tendrils.

R2: 2-1 vs Burn
G1: I play Top, Energy Field and he scoops when I find RIP.
G2: I lost with Energy Field in my hand as I was trying to wait an extra turn so I could cast Tutor.
G3: I drop counterbalance turn two; he untapps and tries to Blast it, I blind flip Top. Before I cast top on my turn he tries to blast it again and I blind flip Brainstorm. He tries PoP and I reveal CoP: Red, followed up by RIP/Helm.

R3: 2-0 vs Burn
G1: I have the perfect hand 3 Lands, Top, Balance, Field, RIP. He tries double Fireblast with Field on the stack. I crack my last fetch and Top then find Terminus.
G2: is Top, Balance, RIP, Helm. He tries to smash Top (so I draw a card) and hold Helm until I have five lands.

R4: 1-1 vs MUD
G1: I Counter-top most of his spells by shuffling Terminus/D-Sphere around and Force Karn.
G2: Turn one Trinsphere slows me down too much so my the time I get a counter-top lock he has too much out.
G3: I force Trinshere but he gets an early start with Metalworker into Forgemaster and Golum. I cast Terminus during his attack step and he fetches Sundering Titan to destoy all my lands. I float blue, cast Brainstorm and find 2 lands. I cast balance and some lucky draws let me answer every card he plays but we go to time before I get an answer of my own to stick.

We are both on 10 points but since Tin Fins is Third breakers put me first.

[Dzra]

R4: 1-1 vs MUD
G1: I Counter-top most of his spells by shuffling Terminus/D-Sphere around and Force Karn.
G2: Turn one Trinsphere slows me down too much so my the time I get a counter-top lock he has too much out.
G3: I force Trinshere but he gets an early start with Metalworker into Forgemaster and Golum. I cast Terminus during his attack step and he fetches Sundering Titan to destoy all my lands. I float blue, cast Brainstorm and find 2 lands. I cast balance and some lucky draws let me answer every card he plays but we go to time before I get an answer of my to stick.

Congrats! I feel like Counterbalance is probably out worst card against MUD. I'm curious what you boarded out instead.

[zerzab11]

I played UWr at our local tournament (~45 ppl) and became second going 5 : 0 : 1. This was the list I played:

4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Spell Pierce
2 Counterspell
3 Counterbalance
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
3 Entreat the Angels
1 Supreme Verdict
3 Terminus
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
1 Ponder
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique

1 Karakas
2 Arid Mesa
1 Volcanic Island
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Tundra
2 Plains
5 Island
4 Flooded Strand


Sideboard:


3 Rest in Peace
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Flusterstorm
2 Blood Moon
2 Pyroblast
1 Mountain
1 Wear // Tear
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroclasm


MU's :

Round 1: BW (with Obliterator^^) 2 : 0
Round 2: Reanimator 2 : 0
Round 3: Deadguy 2 : 1
Round 4: Death & Taxes 1 : 0 : 1
Round 5: Team America I.D.
Round 6: TES 2 : 1

Anyone playing 4 Jace maindeck? In all of those fair MU's I sometimes wish I had the 4th Jace but can't find a card to cut without loosing some edge in other MU's.

[klaus]

Anyone playing 4 Jace maindeck? In all of those fair MU's I sometimes wish I had the 4th Jace but can't find a card to cut without loosing some edge in other MU's.

The full playset of Jace is part of the core imo. It's the most powerful spell for U-based Control @CMC4 and his ability to Brainstorm Miracles back on top just kills any nay sayer's argument. Pitching him to FoW hurts much less too if there are 3 more left in your library.

The card to cut ultimately depends on your meta. While many worship Clique a few peeps including myself view it as a subpar MD choice unless your meta is infested with heaps of Combo & Control, since we hardly ever win based on combat dmg outside of EtA. What is more you will be facing the full creature removal suite G1, which invalidates Clique's impact further, while most opponents including those on Aggro Control will be boarding out their STPs etc. G2/G3 enhancing its impact.

Edit, this is the list I'm rocking atm:

4 Jace
4 BS
4 FoW
4 Top
4 CB
4 STP
3 EtA
2 Terminus
2 Verdict
2 CS
2 Pierce
1 SCM
1 Wear/Tear (yes, MD: with the rise of TNN+SFM and DnT decks and its neat interaction with CB [counters CMC1 & 2] W/T replaced EE for the time being)
(37)

4 Flooded Strand
3 Scalding Tarn (#3 could be Island #6)
2 Arid Mesa
4 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
5 Island
3 Plains
1 Karakas

SB:
1 Wear/Tear
2 Clique
2 RiP
2 Terminus
2 REB
2 Pyroblast
1 Mountain
2 Fluster Storm
1 Needle