Control The Board, I Will

Standard* Khorien2011

SCORE: 2 | 9 COMMENTS | 671 VIEWS


July 28, 2012

Updated for regular 1-on-1 FNM.

Raspberries says... #1

One or two card:Life's Finale may be great here, as it allows you to search their library, know everything they have, and remove 3 threats before you ever see them. Surgical Extraction is great if you have other removal (as you do) and is excellent at shutting down key cards or combos.

July 25, 2012 8:55 a.m.

notinuse says... #2

I second the Surgical Extraction comment. The tricky thing about building a deck like this is that you need creatures whether you want them or not. If you're spending the whole game trying to control 2 other players, you're going to need a lot of firepower. No amount of control is going to outlast them the whole game, so you'll need to stabilize your board at some point so they can't get through. It's too bad you're not running green or you could use Melira, Sylvok Outcast and Phyrexian Unlife to lock the board down entirely. As long as you can protect both pieces of the puzzle, damage will not have an effect once you get to 0 life. I'd personally be running a green splash to this deck just to have Melira around.

You might want to pare down to 20 lands for a 60 card deck. Also, I'm not sure what your experience has been in playtesting or in games, but I play mostly aggro/control and would just build up to mount an attack against a creatureless deck. Without running a board lock like I previously mentioned, you might consider a good defender or tokens. I know you have the tokens from Elspeth and Ajani, but maybe include Midnight Haunting and/or Gather the Townsfolk also? Just depends on how much you need. Another effective route would be to use tappers like Dungeon Geists and Niblis of the Breath .

I don't like Jace here. To be honest, I'd rather run Captain of the Watch with tokens, Gideon Jura or Sleep into Sunblast Angel for a late game wipe, or Tamiyo, the Moon Sage .

Gitaxian Probe can anticipate threats and draw through your deck. Plus, it will bring your average CMC closer to 2 (probably where you want it for a deck like this). Also, this deck REALLY wants card:Tezzeret's Gambit instead of Think Twice to fuel Ratchet Bomb (which I think should be a 4x) and the planeswalkers. Stuff like Stonehorn Dignitary /Ghostly Flicker /Cloudburst, Fog , or Downpour might be worth looking into. Also, Sun Titan could bring back Ajani (more than once if you use Restoration Angel ), a used up Ratchet Bomb , or a spent Oblivion Ring . Not sure if you want something like that since he has a 6 power, but you could use him as a blocker. Intrepid Hero could be hugely useful against big creature decks.

July 25, 2012 10:16 p.m.

notinuse says... #3

Correction: Cloudshift

July 25, 2012 10:21 p.m.

Khorien2011 says... #4

My Father is running the Aggro deck. He's is suppose to be the winning deck while I control the board.

July 26, 2012 4:39 a.m.

notinuse says... #5

I understand that, but what I'm saying is that not having any blockers on your side of the board will make it harder for him to win the game with his deck if you are outpaced by the other team. They can just swing at you all day because you would have nothing to block with and your team will literally have half the creatures available to play. That puts more strain on your Dad's side of things to do damage. Not that good aggro decks can't do 40 damage pretty quickly, but even with a deck full of control it would take him a while to do that much damage.

Again, you could remedy that with tokens or a board lock (Melira and Phyrexian Unlife is just one example). There isn't enough control in instants and sorceries to lock down two decks. Eventually, it will run out and you'll be totally vulnerable. Just a thought. I could be wrong.

July 26, 2012 11:28 p.m.

notinuse says... #6

Reporting some playtesting. I played stall on your side (i.e. didn't swing with any tokens and tried to keep mana open for counter spells) to see how many turns you could hold off my zombie deck. It did pretty well (normally falling around turn 12-15), but I'm trying to consider how it'd do against 2 decks and I just can't imagine it being able to hold them both off. Also, to be honest, you can never anticipate what multi-player games will look like while playtesting. Too many interactions for one person to do.

I think the tokens helped out out the most but Entreat the Angels was just too expensive to cast and stayed in my hand most of the game. That's why I suggested something like Midnight Haunting . Temporal Mastery wasn't really reliable to draw at 2x, though it could work if you run one more and try to Ponder or Think Twice into it for the miracle cost. Timewalk can be pretty devastating if you can consistently get it. Maybe 1-2 more Elspeth Tirel so you know you'll see her at some point in the game.

Official (and final) suggestion: -1 Entreat the Angels, -4 Darkslick Shores, -4 Isolated Chapel, -3 Go for the Throat, -4 Day of Judgment (kills your Dad's creatures, too), Sideboard Ratchet Bomb for token matchups (also kills your Dad's creatures), +3 Razorverge Thicket , +3 Sunpetal Grove , +1 Temporal Mastery, +1 Elspeth Tirel, +4 Phyrexian Unlife , +3 Midnight Haunting . Also, sideboard 3x card:Tezzeret's Gambit to boost your Ratchet Bomb and planeswalkers.

Net effect: 23 land in a 60 card deck (plenty for control), extra Temporal Mastery gives you more chances to get your Melira/Unlife combo out, still plenty of counter spell to protect your combo and for control on your opponent's side, smaller flying tokens that can get a boost from Ajani.

July 27, 2012 1:41 a.m.

Khorien2011 says... #7

You see, my father is running G/W/R Angels with 2 sigarda's, 1 Avacyn, 1 Elesh, 2 wurmcoil, and like 2-3 wolfir silverhearts for finishers. And ramp like birds of Paradise and somberwald sages. 4 of each and also 4 caverns of souls. 4 blade splicers, 3 strangleroot geists all for early aggro of course. 4 restoration angels and 3 cloudshifts for blinking blade splicer. And 2 garruk relentless's for tutoring.

July 27, 2012 12:07 p.m.

Khorien2011 says... #8

You see, my father is running G/W/R Angels with 2 sigarda's, 1 Avacyn, 1 Elesh, 2 wurmcoil, and like 2-3 wolfir silverhearts for finishers. And ramp like birds of Paradise and somberwald sages. 4 of each and also 4 caverns of souls. 4 blade splicers, 3 strangleroot geists all for early aggro of course. 4 restoration angels and 3 cloudshifts for blinking blade splicer. And 2 garruk relentless's for tutoring.

July 27, 2012 12:07 p.m.

Khorien2011 says... #9

He's also running 1 gisela

July 27, 2012 3:19 p.m.