Modern Control land base help
Deck Help forum
Posted on July 20, 2014, 3:41 p.m. by black_mana
How many lands should a modern control deck play?
2x Blood Crypt 1x Desolate Lighthouse 1x Dragonskull Summit 1x Drowned Catacomb 5x Island 2x Mountain 4x Scalding Tarn 2x Steam Vents 1x Sulfur Falls 3x Swamp2x Tectonic Edge 2x Watery Grave (Copy&Paste into the Deckbuilder.)
That's what I'm running with. I like basics more than most players, because Blood Moon is a really good magic card. I also hate overdoing it with Fetchlands. Fetching for an untapped shockland can be pretty damn expensive. 4 are enough, 6 are perfect and 8 is too damn much.
July 20, 2014 7:12 p.m.
black_mana says... #5
TexasDice you seem to know what your talking about, would you mind helping me with my deck Grixis (Cruel) Control
July 20, 2014 7:23 p.m.
Uhm, I didn't meant for you to copy my manabase dot for dot.
Your deck doesn't need that many islands, I need them for my trio Cryptic Command and all the blue gooddies. And if your focus lays on a budget, replace the Scalding Tarns with Crumbling Necropolis . Power comes at a cost (over 80$ per copy, to be exakt.)
I would cut down to one Nicol Bolas and two Cruel Ultimatum. You don't want to see either in your opening hand.
Go for the throat is unnecessary, you already have four Terminate. Try Geth's Verdict . It attacks creatures from another angle and is needed against Hexproof (a popular "budget" deck, as far as I know).
Blightning AND Rakdos's Return might be a bit much. You don't really need the latter in the same deck with Cruel Ultimatum. Throw the Returns out for more carddraw, like Think Twice or Compulsive Research and/or some Lightning Bolts.
July 20, 2014 11:48 p.m.
black_mana says... #7
First i would like to thank you for taking the time out of day to help me, i thoroughly appreciate it. Thank you.
Never planed on keeping the land base the same i wanted to see what you had to say before i changed anything. There is no way in hell i could afford fetch lands.
How many lands do you think i would need, i think 24 but i really don't know. I don't have any experience with control decks.
I think I'm going to put in 2-3 Geth's Verdict , and 2-3 Think Twice . What do you think of 2-3 Bump in the Night .
Once again i would like to thank you, TexasDice, for taking the time to help me.
July 21, 2014 12:24 a.m.
No Problem. Your deck looks a lot better now
26 Lands are a must. You could get away with 25, but Control Decks need their lands. Especially if you curve out at 8. To minimize flooding, some of your lands should do something else than tapping for mana.
Desolate Lighthouse is amazing if you plan to go late, for it turns every card you don't need later on (lands, as an example) into another card.
Creeping Tar Pit can attack and makes another win condition. It's a quite expensive card though, so you could go with Lavaclaw Reaches instead. It's dirt cheap and okay.
Bumb in the Night can't hit creatures or Planeswalkers, which makes it a burn card only. You really want Lightning Bolt , for it is just so flexible.
You can also cross out Mutilate and Defense Grid from your maybeboard. Mutilate isn't as effective as it could be, paying 4 for -2/-2 seems awful, Defense Grid really shuts down your own deck. The three Thoughtseize, two Slaugther Games and even the Rakdos Charms are more than enough to deal with combodecks.
2x Dispell should extend that, while also improving your game against other control decks. If you like a budget boardsweeper in black, try Barter in Blood . The card is bad against Tokens and Pod, but that's not what you're boarding them in againt.
Finally, one Shatterstorm or Vandalblast against Affinity.
July 21, 2014 7:06 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #9
Read what TexasDice said. Don't copy it into your deck word for word. You don't learn that way. Try things out and see what works for you.
If you're on a budget, the landbase is going to be shaky at best because you don't have all the tools normally available in terms of fetchlands, etc. Crumbling Necropolis and River of Tears are both pretty good options. If you're playing fetchlands, here's what I think could work:
4 Scalding Tarn , x Marsh Flats , x Misty Rainforest , x Arid Mesa
1 each of Grixis shocklands, but potentially you could go up to five total.
Creeping Tar Pit and Lavaclaw Reaches should be a combined 5-6 of.
Basic lands, River of Tears , filter lands like Sunken Ruins and Cascade Bluffs to help cast Cryptic Command and Anger of the Gods , assuming they're in your deck. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is always a good crutch one-of to have.
When it comes to spells, here are my thoughts:
4 Snapcaster Mage is a given. Vendilion Clique and Olivia Voldaren are interesting cards that may be one-ofs.
4 Lightning Bolt and 3-4 Electrolyze are a must. Terminate is a good removal spell, and so is Dismember .
Counterspells are also important. Mana Leak and Remand are probably the best cheap ones, and Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize work well as pseudo-counterspells to take cards that you don't have answers to. Cryptic Command later on is obvious and you should have at least three copies.
A Wrath effect or two (basically you have access to Anger of the Gods and Damnation are good to have against hyper aggro decks. Cruel Ultimatum should be another finisher that also helps stabilize the board.
July 21, 2014 8:51 a.m.
black_mana says... #10
Once again thank you TexasDice for your insight.
i added two Creeping Tar Pit s to that land base, now i would like to know what you think i should remove. I'm think 1x Geth's Verdict and 1x Lightning Bolt or both of the Think Twice
Thank you.
Thank you thispersonisagenius for your help.
i really do appreciate it, but those cards are very expensive. ill keep them in mind but there not on the top of the list of cards to use.
also i know I'm not going to learn from coping and pasting, i know i will learn when i test and play the deck. thats how i learn what cards are good not by looking at them.
Thank you both for the help.
July 21, 2014 11:21 a.m.
Your curve is pretty focused around the 3, so you could make cuts there. Maybe one Blightning ? The card isn't great as a three-of against a decent amount of decks, so you could put the third one into board against slower opponents. (Cut on of the three Slaughter Games for it).
Second... Hmm... Throw out either one Geths Verdict or a Terminate. The Lightning Bolts you put into the deck should compensate for one more missing spell more than enough.
July 21, 2014 2:08 p.m.
black_mana says... #12
ok so i cut 1 Blightning , 1 Slaughter Games and the Geth's Verdict . this leaves two open slots in the main board I'm think about a 4th Lightning Bolt and a 3rd Think Twice .
what do you think about Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver in my testing it hasn't been very useful. what do you think about one instead of two?
once again thanks TexasDice.
July 21, 2014 2:21 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #13
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver isn't really a Modern card. He doesn't create card advantage at all, unless you hit a creature, so it's situational and the creature may not necessarily be very good. He's better off being another removal spell, or the third Think Twice .
Four Lightning Bolt s should really already be in the deck. It's necessary for Modern, as it kills the majority of creatures you'll come across.
July 21, 2014 2:28 p.m.
black_mana says... #14
ok there are no Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver , 4 Lightning Bolt , 3 Think Twice and still there is two open slots. I'm think a border wipe of some kind
July 21, 2014 2:39 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #15
@black_mana Anger of the Gods and Damnation are the two best cards for that in your colors, perhaps two Damnation in the main and some Anger of the Gods in the sideboard or some split. You definitely want at least 3 Anger of the Gods in your 75 to deal with Pod decks and their Kitchen Finks .
July 21, 2014 3:01 p.m.
black_mana says... #16
ok so 2 Anger of the Gods because i can't afford Damnation , that sound good
TexasDice says... #2
Depends, 3 colors?
I tend to favor 26, because Tectonic Edge takes it's toll on the manabase. I'd even consider going up to 27, if you're a deck using something like Desolate Lighthouse .
July 20, 2014 6:43 p.m.