Cast a Shadow
Modern
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3rd at FNM 3-0-1 —May 20, 2016
3rd this week, up from 4th last fortnight.
Let's break down the games.
2-1 Vampires and Zombies
First game was over by the 5th turn.
I destroyed a lot of his early Creatures like Insolent Neonate (LOVE the flavour on this card) and Heir of Falkenrath Flip, but then he kept getting out zombies with cards like From Under the Floorboards and Gisa's Bidding, and I couldn't get rid of them fast enough with my removal package.
I sided out Transgress the Mind and Ob Nixilis Reignited, and put in Declaration in Stone and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.
That was enough to slow him down. I got enough removal in hand to destroy everything he brought out and eventually started to crank out Knights from Gideon and Clerics from Westvale Abbey Flip. Turning Shambling Vent into a Creature helped finish things off even faster.
Second game was similar, except that I was able to get Archangel Avacyn Flip on the field, and flipped her by hitting a Zombie, made by Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, with a Grasp of Darkness. That wiped the board of his Zombies and brought home the win.
He told me later that if his deck doesn't win by the 5th turn he usually loses.
2-0 Mono
I didn't like this guy when I first met him, but he's grown on me.
I got rid of just about every card he had, either by removing them from his hand or getting rid of them once they hit the field.
That took care of Heir of Falkenrath Flip, Markov Dreadknight, Alms of the Vein and Triskaidekaphobia.
I think he was counting on Triskaidekaphobia to net him the win, but I always removed the card from his hand, or dispatched it with Anguished Unmaking as soon as it was played.
I don't think he did much damage to me. I'm finding it hard to remember what the deck did because the games were over so quickly.
I do remember that he was holding an Ultimate Price at one point that I had to try to play around.
At the end of our games he said my deck was strong and I might win the night. I told him that I usually got in the top 4, but I could never seem to squeeze out a win higher than that.
0-1 Madness Fliers
This game took fooooorever.
We only got one match in. He spent a long time making plays and was also answering his phone during the match.
I was able to remove a lot of cards from his hand like Radiant Flames and Drana, Liberator of Malakir.
It looked like I had him but then he got Drana, Liberator of Malakir out on the field, and my deck offered me only lands from that point forward. Not a removal card in sight.
After a while he got out Dragonlord Kolaghan and between that and Drana I had no chance.
We started a second game but timed out before it could resolve. He went on to win the night.
I would have like to have seen if I could get him after Sideboarding.
2-1 Madness Vampires
We realised that we were playing off for third place. This is a bloke who has beaten me repeatedly with his bloody dragons.
Tonight he was rocking Vampires, so I felt a bit safer.
First game was easily mine. Too much removal then Sorin, Grim Nemesis started dealing painful tricks off the top of the deck. Finished him off with some Shambling Vent action.
I'm proud to say that he had two Neglected Heirloom Flips on the field, and I did not let either one flip.
Second game I ran out of puff towards the end. I started drawing only land when I really could have done with some removal. He got me in that game. Kept throwing Lightning Axe at my Creatures and then Fiery Temper at me.
AND THEN BLOODY Thunderbreak Regent HIT THE FIELD. AAARRRGGGHHH. BLOODY DRAGONS.
Third game he got SEVERELY mana flooded. I used Duress on him for my second turn, and he had a Duress and five lands in hand.
I asked him why he had kept that hand and he said that he had taken a lot of land out when Sideboarding, so thought that starting with that many would be OK.
The unlucky bugger kept drawing into land for the rest of the game. It wasn't much of a contest. I felt really sorry for him.
So, third place this week. I didn't play against any of the decks I was expecting to, like the Mill deck I played last time. I was glad to play against the Madness Vampires deck because my partner had faced it a couple of weeks ago.
Each time I Sideboarded out Duress/Transgress the Mind and Ob Nixilis Reignited, and put in Declaration in Stone and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. That always seemed to be the right move.
Gideon always takes people by surprise. I think because they don't see it in my first game they assume that I don't have it.
Shambling Vent worked overtime tonight. I'd give it MVP.
I'm off to Canada next week. Might see if I can grab a game while I'm there.
AgentGreen says... #2
Do you find using the forsaken sanctuary drags you down; since you have 8 lands that ETB tapped?
May 6, 2016 11:20 a.m.
Nah not at all, AgentGreen.
That was my fear but it turns out that because the game goes for so long, the pain lands were leeching half my life.
I thought I'd experiment tonight with the Forsaken Sanctuary and they were sooooo much better.
Didn't slow me down enough to where it was a serious draw back. It hardly felt slower at all, to be honest.
I'd strongly urge you to put them in, and take the Caves of Koilos out.
May 6, 2016 11:28 a.m.
AgentGreen says... #4
Thanks for the advice Argeaux, but unlike you; I have a strong need for 
with Eldrazi in my deck; so the Caves give me that extra that I need for Thought-Knott and the Smasher.
If I find that the Eldrazi cards do weigh me down I will consider it
May 6, 2016 11:31 a.m.
May 6, 2016 12:10 p.m.
After getting Milled tonight I have taken Center Soul out of the Sideboard, which I never used, even against Control decks, and put in Orbs of Warding.
May 6, 2016 5:51 p.m.
AgentGreen says... #7
Orbs of Warding would really help; player hexproof is hard to beat
May 6, 2016 7:10 p.m.
Yeah I'mm testing that and Inverter of Truth at the moment, because the Orbs can be returned to hand to cast Startled Awake Flip.
May 7, 2016 12:13 p.m.
I ran into a b/u mill deck that wasn't that fun. I'm making a few changes this week with this deck to see how it goes. Changing some MB/ SB. Playing a lot of mirror as well.
May 7, 2016 11:37 p.m. Edited.
After testing, Orbs of Warding is hands down better than Inverter of Truth against 
Mill, even if it is running Artifact hate.
The hate can be pulled from hand with Duress and Transgress the Mind as it costs 3CMC.
The specific cards I'm referring to are Angelic Purge and Fate Forgotten.
May 8, 2016 4:27 a.m.
Silverpandaria says... #11
I just want to say I really do enjoy your deck! I have a quite a similiar one and took quite some inspiration from yours, mine run slightly more creatures, but the concept are basically the same, only played one FNM so far (3-1), but plan to stick with the deck for a while.
It is really funny that you mention Orbs of Warding, because that was the card i held in my hand the other night and wondered if it was worth a slot in the side. I havent fought against mill yet, but I guess I should save a slot for it then.
Anyhow thanks for the inspiration and good luck in the future.
May 9, 2016 10:43 a.m. Edited.
Silverpandaria says... #12
I do run quite a bit of colorless mana, so similiar to you it seems, I do run Thought-Knot Seer and actually also a couple of Bearer of Silence, they have actually performed really well and beyond expectaion. For 4 mana they provide uncounterable removal (hence the cast trigger still occurs). And if it resolves its a random flying beater. It can also be an aggro two-drop if you have nothing to counter or no hand-disruption available. I also run Blighted Fen as an additional sacc-removal and source for colorless mana.
Here is a link to the deck: Twilight Disruption
May 9, 2016 11:12 a.m.
May 9, 2016 4:54 p.m.
Argeaux,
You may have already seen, but in case not: A nice article by Seth Manfield about the BW Control deck he piloted to #1 at GP New York last weekend.
May 12, 2016 11:30 p.m.
Schmuckey be aware that not every user of TappedOut is male. For that reason it's good practice to use gender neutral language, so that this place is inclusive of different types of people.
I read the article and have some thoughts. There is a lot of writing ahead, so prepare yourself. Tagging clayperce because she expressed some interest.
My partner and I assembled the 
Tokens deck that won the SOI Pro Tour.
Every time we have played it against this deck, Cast a Shadow wins.
The biggest problem for this deck was any Opponent using a Control deck featuring
That was before someone made the suggestion to add Gideon, Ally of Zendikar to the Mainboard.
What I did instead was add it to the SIDEBOARD. It made all the difference as I can now grind a win out against Control decks.
A new threat has emerged with
Mill, but I have added Orbs of Warding to the Sideboard, so we'll see how that goes.
On transformative Sideboards. I personally wouldn't be comfortable with the no Creature option being suggested. I prefer to TRY to win my first game, then adjust from there.
Adding Gideon, Ally of Zendikar to the deck for the second game, usually along with Declaration in Stone IS quite transformative, believe me.
People usually add Planeswalker removal into their deck for Game 2.
Imagine their horror when there are now EIGHT Planeswalkers to deal with, as opposed to five.
The earlier Planeswalker also means that they have to use their removal cards one move earlier than they planned to, and leaves more room for Ob Nixilis and Sorin to warm up.
If Gideon doesn't get Countered he is one more avenue for spitting out Tokens. Control HATES it when you can spit out Creatures without casting them.
The combo of Shambling Vent, Knights from Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Clerics from Westvale Abbey Flip, and the threat of Zombies from Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is very difficult for Control to deal with in the long run.
It basically presents any removal with a three-for-one choice on every turn.
I don't understand some of the play choices made in that article. You don't Languish your own Creatures. You either hold off playing it until your Creatures are safe (Kalitas with a Zombie sac, Archangel Avacyn Flip with a Transformation) or you do this trick, which I love.
Opponent has four Creatures on the field. You only have Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. You Languish. All Cretures die, you get four 2/2 Zombies.
CoCo has been used against me a lot, and might seem like a big deal, but it's never proved problematic for this reason. You CoCo 3CMC Creatures. My Creatures mostly have 3 Toughness or higher. Most of the 3CMC Creatures have 2 Power, at most. The CoCo is usually done to block. So they end up taking out one of my Creatures, at most.
If they CoCo on my End Step, I have enough Instant speed removal or blockers to kill at least one of the Creatures that has appeared.
The choice to run 25 lands is intriguing. With traditional Control decks you need at least 26 land. That is because they play PREVENTATIVE Control, using a lot of Counter spells. You can't afford not to hit your land drops.
This deck is REACTIVE. It gets to choose what to get rid of once it sees what's on the field. It can take its time. It isn't forced to Counter every threat "just in case". I've played a lot of Control in my time. I haven't wanted for mana, even since I have slowed down my base by removing Caves of Koilos for Forsaken Sanctuary.
That pro player doesn't seem to be running any To the Slaughter. That's MY answer to threats such as Dragonlord Ojutai.
I know that Secure the Wastes and early draw are both valid choices for this deck. My version plays a more dangerous game. I am happy to wait until late game for my card draw, and to gain back significant loss of life in the mid game.
That might not be the best choice professionally, but it's one that has been working in my local meta.
I totally agree with the point about using your removal wisely. That is the same for any type of Control deck. You don't throw an Anguished Unmaking at a Thraben Inspector when you've got a Dead Weight in hand.
I respect the reasoning and choices made by the article you linked. I have spent a lot of time with this deck now, and have my own perspective on how it plays.
Is it as legitimate as what the pros think? No way. I will never be good enough to play professionally.
Is it the right deck for MY local Casual meta? Absolutely.
May 13, 2016 10:46 a.m.
Gideon is an absolute beast in a list like this ... 2-3 of mandatory
May 13, 2016 11:58 a.m.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is actually really crap in a lot of matchups.
Most of my games I don't even end up Sideboardong ANYTHING in, and I win 2 games, no sweat.
For Control and aggro I consider him essential. I wasn't winning my second and third games in those matchup without Siding him in. Now I consistently win them.
Removing Caves of Koilos has also been important for those matchups.
Of course, you have to work out what to take OUT for him.
I usually choose between To the Slaughter, Ob Nixilis Reignited, and either Duress or Transgress the Mind.
May 13, 2016 12:35 p.m.
Been playing this deck since SOI released, been top 3 with it each time so far. Still have yet to hit first place though, I struggle against other control decks and there are so many right now! I have now added Gideon's to the SB also, hopefully this will help out.
May 16, 2016 12:36 p.m.
NutellaOG what colour are these other Control decks you've been facing?
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar has helped me win against Control.
It's a long game. You basically have to keep playing every Creature and Planeswalker you can until something sticks, to just run them out of cards.
You can even not make anything stick and start turning Shambling Vent into a Creature, and get some Clerics from Westvale Abbey Flip.
I also just use the second ability of Ob Nixilis or Sorin, if I'm using them, as I know I will lose them the next turn.
Top 3 is pretty good. I've only managed Top 4.
May 16, 2016 12:48 p.m.
Yeah, I have read that blue was giving you the most issue. The same has been true for me, I really enjoy playing this deck though. Removing Caves of Koilos for Sanctuary has been pretty good so far. I had lost to Grixis, Esper, and Season's Past. All matches were very long but I ended up getting beat down too much.
May 16, 2016 1:17 p.m.
NutellaOG if you want to beat those decks you will probably have to tweak the deck so that it looks more like the one written about here.
That one has been doing well versus those type of decks you have been losing to.
May 16, 2016 3:15 p.m.
Sideboarding Duress and Transgress the Mind as 1 3-4 of each is how i beat them.
And it beats them hard.
May 17, 2016 5:59 a.m.
I will think about doing the other build that includes Secure the Wastes, but we will see. I really love using Kalitas :) and I currently have 0 Secure the Wastes :(
Argy says... #1
rochdalekilla9 not all Control decks are the same.
26 Land is correct for a Control deck which runs Counter spells.
With this deck 24 is fine, because you are removing stuff once it hits the field.
I can tell you, from playing it a lot, it just doesn't get mana screwed unless I have incredibly bad draw. From memory, that has happened once. That can happen to the best of decks, though.
ocary13 I did extensive testing with Ruinous Path but To the Slaughter, with its Instant speed and flexibility to also work against decks without Planeswalkers, is just so much better.
You will note, in my Update, that this card has already been discussed.
May 6, 2016 11:03 a.m.