Dies to Removal

[deck]UW Control[/deck]

updated to deal with monsters better

Fated Retribution is great, how do you deal with BW Control and Esper Control? Its just seems so loop sided for UW...

i pray

the fated helps with both, though

i go crazy with sideboarding for these matches, bringing in everything from archangel to needle to revoke to negate and so on, i use Elspeth to kill Blood Baron and focus on winning with creatures

they board out enough removal that archangel catches them off guard (nobody really runs her anymore) and spreads their spells thin

it's not easy though, not by any means

Would upping the creature count with things like Fiendslayer, Brimaz King of Oreskos or Soldier of the Pantheon help? They board out removal you board in creatures and become a midrange deck (though running enough creatures to make this work would most likely hurt your other games too much )?

I had one Brimaz in the board, cut him cuz I only have one. I used to run 2-3 Soldiers, I liked them but they do take up a lot of slots. Soldier is weak to Bile Blight which some decks have for Elspeth tokens but he is great versus aggro and Blood Baron.

Glare is removable, and one Gainsay is removable. That opens up space for two Brimaz again. Or I could cut an Archangel and try 3 Brimaz.

The maindeck Revoke might also become the 4th Azorius Charm, needs more testing.

Fiendslayer could be good. Very slow clock but can't be removed. Tough call.

In my experience playing against it, Fiendslayer Paladin buys a lot of time, keeping you alive till you land the big [card]Sphinx's Revalation[/card]/[card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card]/whatever.

The fated helps against opposing Elspeth and Mr Ob Z. Edat

In my experience playing against it, Fiendslayer Paladin buys a lot of time, keeping you alive till you land the big [card]Sphinx's Revalation[/card]/[card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card]/whatever.

What are you playing? I'm not really having trouble beating aggro. Bad matchups are Monsters and BW/Esper, though everything is beatable with the power of Rev

I also haven't faced Esper in a week online

The fated helps against opposing Elspeth and Mr Ob Z. Edat

I hate Ghostdads with a passion... so fate is a huge boon

I think the Archangel is better then Brimaz personally (her synergies with elspeth tokens is excellent + flying is relevant) thus 2x Angels 1x Brimaz should be enough to catch someone of guard (this way you don't need to cut deep into your board).

Fiendslayer is very good on modo. Chi Hoi runs 3 and claims they are very good with everyone running some type of red spells.

I don't like the quicken. I'd prefer another LB

In my experience playing against it, Fiendslayer Paladin buys a lot of time, keeping you alive till you land the big [card]Sphinx's Revalation[/card]/[card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card]/whatever.

What are you playing? I'm not really having trouble beating aggro. Bad matchups are Monsters and BW/Esper, though everything is beatable with the power of Rev

Yeah my bad, Fiendslayer probably isn't the best in the control mirrors, and not beefy enough for monsters.

I see you boarding 1 [card]
Blind Obedience[/card], seems good against Monsters and G.Dad. Have you considered more?

word @ MDU. the one Brimaz I felt wasn't doing much but the Glare tends to do even less maybe I will just put the one Brimaz back over Glare, and maybe fit a second

Fiendslayer is very good on modo. Chi Hoi runs 3 and claims they are very good with everyone running some type of red spells.

I don't like the quicken. I'd prefer another LB

the quicken is pretty standard. cycles as a charm or instant wraths. does its job.

I cut my third LB yesterday, they're becoming less necessary for me.

most lists on mtgo are running low last breath numbers. I followed suit, liked the results. too many dead cards in control mirrors.

Fiendslayer is very good on modo. Chi Hoi runs 3 and claims they are very good with everyone running some type of red spells.

I don't like the quicken. I'd prefer another LB

Not saying Chi Ho is bad (he isn't) he hasn't been doing as well with finishes this year (only rank 101) I feel like he hasn't adapted as well to the changes BnG had on the meta game - so I'll look at Smdster's brew as the prime staple for MODO list (he rank 3rd while I'm rank 49 and rapidly dropping since I can't play SE or DE for another few weeks or so).

How do you look at peoples' rankings?

You can't check most people ranking only the top200 which show you the best performing grinders (which is good for grading levels if you know the habits).

If you notice Chi Ho does play at least one event per day, thus looking at his rank helps to see how he is performing.

here is Smdster UW list:

[deck=Smdster's UW Control]Lands 26
4 Hallowed Fountain
7 Island
3 Mutavault
6 Plains
1 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Temple of Silence

Spells 26
4 Azorius Charm
4 Detention Sphere
4 Dissolve
2 Divination
1 Fated Retribution
1 Last Breath
4 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Syncopate

Creatures 01
1 Aetherling

Planewalkers 07
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Sideboard 15
1 Blind Obedience
3 Gainsay
2 Glare of Heresy
2 Last Breath
n2 Negate
1 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Revoke Existence[/deck]

I like the 4 Azorius Charm and 4 jace, Architect of Thought MD, no Elixir of Immortality seems odd - one would assume he'll have a hell of a time during the Control MUs but Smdster aka Sam Pardee is a monster so he'll just win out of skills.

You can't check most people ranking only the top200 which show you the best performing grinders (which is good for grading levels if you know the habits).

If you notice Chi Ho does play at least one event per day, thus looking at his rank helps to see how he is performing.

here is Smdster UW list:

[deck=Smdster's UW Control]Lands 26
4 Hallowed Fountain
7 Island
3 Mutavault
6 Plains
1 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Temple of Silence

Spells 26
4 Azorius Charm
4 Detention Sphere
4 Dissolve
2 Divination
1 Fated Retribution
1 Last Breath
4 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Syncopate

Creatures 01
1
Aetherling

Planewalkers 07
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Sideboard 15
1 Blind Obedience
3 Gainsay
2 Glare of Heresy
2 Last Breath
2 Negate
1 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Revoke Existence[/deck]

I like the 4 Azorius Charm and 4 jace, Architect of Thought MD, no Elixir of Immortality seems odd - one would assume he'll have a hell of a time during the Control MUs but Smdster aka Sam Pardee is a monster so he'll just win out of skills.

He likes this consistent-numbered version with more finishers, I don't. Feel it stalls out too often. I like the fourth Charm though.

That said Sam Pardee is a master so I would recommend his list to anyone feeling adventurous. I feel nervous without Elixir, personally.

I believe that list is similar to Tomoharu Saito's list that Alexander Hayne won GP Vancouver with, with some obvious updates. I'm not entirely sure I like the 3 [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card] since drawing multiples seems bad in the early game.

As for Elixir UW Control, I've never had any issues against Esper because the deck doesn't run creatures which makes all their removal stone blanks Game 1, with the exception off [card]Hero's Downfall[/card] which isn't a problem with Elixir of Immortality and counters to protect your [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card]. After board, it's simply a counter war of attrition.

I have been considering Silence, is it too situational?

You can play crazy tech with me and run 3 Boros Reckoner in SB. I play an even split of U and W producers including all 3 U/W duals. 18 white sources is risky but I never anticipate playing reckoner before T4 (which runs the same line of verdict). It totally screws creature aggro and lends itself to the mid game against GR monsters (laughs at hydra).

I also moved to a 3/2/2 split between charm/flare/breath. Being able to handle pro creatures G1 is huge, especially when you can tech out the charm flare combo.

I have been considering Silence, is it too situational?

probably