Verity Circle In U/W Control?
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 7, 2019, 3:27 p.m. by APPLE01DOJ
http://mythicspoiler.com/rna/cards/veritycircle.html
Anybody think this is worthy of a singleton slot in U/W Control?
My thinking is that it has a lot of synergy with Cryptic Command but also late game it can serve the same purpose as Cryptic Command being able to tap down a threat or two and draw a card.
Here's my current list. U/W Control 2018 (End of Year Version)
I'm thinking of replacing Pieces of the Puzzle with this or Merchant Scroll.
I don't like your list and I don't think Verity Circle has any legs in modern. My list is on my profile.
January 7, 2019 7:35 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #5
Eh there's only minor differences and personal preference choices that vary between our lists.
A few questions though.
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How has Settle the Wreckage performed for you? I've been thinking about adding one.
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I see you're only running 2 Snap, how has Oust performed for you? I like the versatility of Azorius Charm but the lower CMC of Oust is tempting.
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Can you reliably miracle Terminus with only 2 Jace? In my playing I find the difference between 2 and 3 Jace huge. Any reason (beyond cost) for only running 2?
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What's your opinion on the singleton Mana Leak? I always feel like it should be something different but am not sure what.
January 7, 2019 11:27 p.m.
ArchonBlue says... #6
Honestly Verity Circle looks way too slow for Modern. Maybe if you're playing a deck with a lot of activated abilities that require tapping like Grim Lavamancer you could stick one in the sideboard. Seems way too narrow and lethargic for mainboard play.
I love mainboard Settle the Wreckage because decks don't tend to play around it and its fantastic against any graveyard recursion deck (Dredge, Phoenix, Hollow One, etc.)
I don't think you need Oust or Azorius Charm in your build. They're really subpar cards to begin with and you already have an extra Snappy to hit Paths in your graveyard.
I think Mana Leak should be Logic Knot. Way more solid counterspell. Also why aren't you running Glacial Fortress? Hallowed Fountain as a 4 of seems pretty rough against Burn or any kind of Lightning Bolt deck, of which there are A LOT in the current meta.
I agree with you that Jace should be a 3 of, or else maybe run one less Terminus.
January 8, 2019 1:34 a.m.
Now I have been digging through w/u control a lot and I can say I don't think I'll ever see a constant exact 75 and that can simply be because of how control functions unless your decks are for mtgo it's unlikely your decks are tuned to fight the same meta, if 4/5 rounds of the tournament you see 60 copies of grapeshot and 3 creatures I'm sure a version with mainboard leylines and no board wipes would perform a lot better.
Now settle is good for w/u control because it functions at instant speed like most of our interaction and can cause opponents to 2nd guess what we're holding up, the problem with it is humans has freebooter to see our hands and exalted triggers allow the vial decks to turn settle into a 4 cmc path.
oust is good for being a way to get under thalia tax for targeted removal it also plays well with how often w/u control can make people shuffle along with natural fetch land use by opponents.
Azorius charm is good for it's versatility, though I do agree it's probably too slow and honestly probably would work best for a more midrange w/u where all 3 choices can be viable
in matchups where you need to miracle terminus jace is often too slow anyway, cycling gets under thalia tax and you often have to still pray for that natural miracle.
Mana Leak functions better than knot in meta where rip could be a mainboard viable option or where early game counters are more important (though it is likely not needed when there's mainboard spell piece).
Now what about that Peek game, or using Thought Scour as a cantrip, it makes snap and knot better, a kind of shuffle away jace brainstorm. Or the mainboard crucible option.
January 8, 2019 5:49 a.m.
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My meta is very aggro heavy atm. Settle is good.
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Oust as path #5 is often what you need to buy a turn. It's nothing special, but it does the job early and well.
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I'm thinking of getting a 3rd Jace and dropping the 2nd Azcanta. Terminus flips are a little inconsistent.
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My late game is already outstanding compared to the rest of my field, so I can easily afford the mana leak. It's pretty ok.
January 8, 2019 9:23 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #9
So far in testing, Verity Circle has performed quite well. I'm only running it as 1 of.
It's not a turn 3 play by any means, it's more of a turn 10 play when you can fully utilize it's potential. When people want to attack first to bait out your Cryptics, this fills the shoes of a psuedo cryptic quite nice, taps their creature(s) and draws you a card while allowing you to keep your counter in hand for main phase 2. In addition, something I didn't initially realize you can Opt > Miracle Terminus > Tap their creature/draw a card in response.
Now as far as the U/W discussion in this thread, which I'm quite enjoying, here are my thoughts.
I don't like Logic Knot, been very unhappy with it in every deck I've ran it in. It can be a dead card a lot of the time. If I go turn 1, tapped Colonnade, turn 2 Island, Mana Leak is fully operational where Logic Knot is fully dependent on the opponent Thoughtseizeing me and not taking it, and if they do that, they're probably not going to play into it unless their plan is to get the counters out of the way. Sure it can be good late game but I prefer more early game interaction (2x Spell Pierce, 1x Spell Snare) since the late game is where U/W Control shines.
I find Glacial Fortress clunky and don't want it to be stuck in my opening hand. T1 Colonnade, T2 Fortress is just not the business. I can see the value of it if I faced Burn a lot. I prefer the singleton Mystic Gate over Glacial Fortress though. The 4 shocks haven't caused any issues.
Demarge I think Peek can be worth running as 1 of, it's nice that it draws you a card but for the space it takes I prefer Telepathy since the effect is permanent.
I'm not big on Thought Scour, I think it's better in a deck splashed red or black. Maybe if Dig Through Time was ever unbanned.
January 8, 2019 1:15 p.m.
Peek is much better in the Jeskai lists. I have a guy who runs a set at my shop and it makes playing against him hard af. I basically have to pick fights at all times because otherwise he'll have a huge advantage. much worse in UW.
As for Verity Circle, the situation you describe it in is so hyper late game that you'd rather have Sphinx's Rev at that point and boy is that card greedy.
I'd like to vouch for hieroglyphic illumination. It's main advantage is that you can chuck it away if you're pressured while also acting as a terminus enabler + as a source of draw.
Demarge says... #2
if cryptic is the only tap effect I would say no, it's not worth it. But it could open up a slightly different w/u control design in modern, one that uses pseudo fogs in tap effects like Feeling of Dread to build up super value terminus, only problem is it would allow creature light or creatureless decks a lot worse a matchup.
January 7, 2019 5:50 p.m.