Let's Talk Magic- Breaking the meta: A Standard Story(TEXT IS FIXED) Looking at possibilites to finally breaking this format.
Posted on: 10/15/2011 12:33 AM By Gagehughes
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Hello, welcome to the second episode of Let's Talk Magic. Last time we looked over my Solar Summoning brew. This week I want to talk about my absolute favorite archetype, Blue/Black control; but before we get into that I want to talk about the first place Wolf Run Ramp deck. Congratulations to Brian Sondag for taking first.
WOLF RUN RAMP
I was an avid Valakut player post-rotation, not because it was a winning deck, but because I found the deck extremely fun (I had U/B Control built for the last weekend.) I found this deck to basically be Valakut. I was impressed at this ground-breaking deck. I feel like he broke the format and I had to adjust my lists to fight this new threat. Blue, Black Control has always had a strong match-up against Valakut, so why not have a strong match-up it's little brother? There are few answers to this list at the moment but there are plenty.
U/B Control
Breakdown
Solemn- I found 3 to be a good number for this card, he is really good and forces pressure early in the game. He is really good against Mono Red, he acts as a ramp spell for a turn 5 Wurmcoil Engine(turn 4 Batterskull after boarding.) He also is really good card advantage.
Wurmcoil Engine- This card is ridiculous in the format right now, it is better than all the other core set titans in my opinion.
Consecrated Sphinx- This card generates an insane amount of card advantage, it's also a good tool to use against Inkmoth Nexus.
Grave Titan- He is insane, he just brings armies of zombies to beat your face in, he can single handily win games.
Mana Leak- I love this card.
Stoic Rebuttal- I think this should be Dissipate but I like Counterspell(I can achieve metalcraft pretty easily with this list.)
Disperse- THIS CARD IS GOOD! I can not express my love for this card, it's Into the Roil folks, just play it and you will see how good it is.
Doom Blade/Go For The Throat- Spot Removal. GET OFF ME!
Tribute to Hunger- This card is really good in this deck, he is great in mirror, I can have at least one dead card against Mono Red right?
Think Twice- My draw engine.
Forbidden Alchemy- This card is only good in the list because of the Elixir, I promise.
Black Sun's Zenith- Fantastic against aggro and weirdly decent against control if you can hit it for enough when they tap out of a bomb.
Despise- I questioned this card at first, when I saw Wolf Run I knew I had to play it, Garruk is a problem and so is Primeval Titan, go away.
Karn Liberated- THIS IS THE ONLY PLANESWALKER IN THIS ARCHETYPE THAT IS GOOD!!!!!! Liliana isn't good, cards are to precious to U/B control decks, Edict them? I'd rather play Geth's Verdict (LOL.)
Elixir of Immortality- This card is a staple to my list. I never play it unless I am certain I can sacrifice it if needed. My deck leans on this card, yes it can win without it but I think it's better than Snapcaster in my list (which I cut my 2 Snapcasters, will talk about this later.)
Pristin Talisman- Increases your match-up with most decks increase, always board it out against Mono Black Infect.
Ghost Quarter- Wolf Run, Inkmoth; you are mine (Insert evil laugh here.) Notable Exclusions Snapcaster Mage- This card ruined my curve and my deck would have to be changed way to much. Also, the way the format is shifting I'm expecting big creature decks, with that being said, I cut my only 2 for 2 despise and a Think Twice (4 is to many) for three Despise.
Despise-The card is really good in a fatty/planeswalker dominating format.
FAQ
Q: Why do you play five bombs when all the pros are saying to play a max of three.
A: How many pros are topping with their "good" or "amazing" control decks? None, they don't have a consistent deck because they load it with Snapcaster Mage and 3 bombs and throw cheap removal in. I know the archetype well, without a good draw engine like Jace, you need to play the 5, even with Jace the deck played 4.
Q: Why not change the deck to play Snapcaster Mage?
A: Obviously he is not winning in Blue/Black, so why not try something new, a lot of people have a hard time breaking trends in this game, think outside of the box, think about the long term and different match-ups. My list has a good match-up to everything but Infect and I have a lot of board stuff for it.
Q: How confident are you with your list?
A: I am extremely happy with the list and know that it is good and I know I will win with it. Everyone will be expecting me to be playing lists like Brad Nelson, Gerry Thompson or Mike Flores. I say I am my own person and I will build my own decks.
Q: Do you think your deck is a tier 1 deck?
A: Yes, it has answers to everything and it's a long thought out list, I've been trying to brew a U/B list before Starcitygames Open in Indianapolis.
A deck you should think about is the Real Steal in the top rated decklist. It is so much fun to play and it gets bomb after bomb out. This means it beats RDW just because of the innefficiency of double burning. It also has Steel Hellkite as a ridiculous control. I played it yesterday against Tezzeret Control and it was invaluable to stop the spellskites and ratchet bombs (ironic right?). Also, with all the big bombs coming out and coming back with Buried Ruin it just gets more and more ridiculous. The only problem it has is anything with white control. This isn't to say it can't win against it, but revoke existence is a pain. I still almost be a U/W/B Tezzeret even with the revokes and O-rings. My version is called U/B Heartless Artifact if you want to look it up. [Report]
A deck you should think about is the Real Steal in the top rated decklist. It is so much fun to play and it gets bomb after bomb out. This means it beats RDW just because of the innefficiency of double burning. It also has Steel Hellkite as a ridiculous control. I played it yesterday against Tezzeret Control and it was invaluable to stop the spellskites and ratchet bombs (ironic right?). Also, with all the big bombs coming out and coming back with Buried Ruin it just gets more and more ridiculous. The only problem it has is anything with white control. This isn't to say it can't win against it, but revoke existence is a pain. I still almost be a U/W/B Tezzeret even with the revokes and O-rings. My version is called U/B Heartless Artifact if you want to look it up. [Report]
Alright everyone, I apologize for the wall of text, it was the website. I fixed it, please enjoy the article and comment on what you think. Unless you are in my playgroup (foolycooly32.) [Report]
No, they are so good against mono red and the elixir is amazing against control. I've tested this deck and have been working on it since September when all the cards were released. [Report]
I like the general list but as TreyKapfer said, the Talismans are wasted space (you could actually be playing good cards in those spots) and the elixir is marginal at best, certainly in a format where aggro decks are rapidly becoming less popular now that the other archetypes have started settling into their new builds. Sure, elixir has it's value against RDW, but since RDW wasn't even big anymore last weekend, I wouldn't even consider it in the main deck.
I also don't understand why you wouldn't wanna play snapcaster in this as UB has so many nice things to flashback: mana leaks, dissipates, spot removal etc... I would dump the sad robots for 3 of them as you don't wanna be tapping out for a solemn on turn 4 with this deck anyway... Imo, it's either spellskites or snapcasters (tough choice because of spellskite's supremacy in the Wolf Run matchup) [Report]
