UWR Control//Primer (Modern MTG Deck)

UWR Control//Primer

Modern Competitive Control RUW (Jeskai, America) UR (Izzet) WU (Azorius)

PurpleElephant

Instant (24)

Land (25)

Creature (4)

Sorcery (6)

Planeswalker (1)

1x Ajani Vengeant

Sideboard

Instant (4)

Sorcery (3)

Creature (3)

Planeswalker (1)

1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Artifact (1)

1x Relic of Progenitus

Enchantment (3)

I have been Piloting different variations of UWR for about a year and a half at this point, switching from a tempo version, to a Geist of Saint Traft version, playing Shahar Shenhar's World Championship's UWR flash version, playing Nahiri while people did not know how to deal with it, and finally the almost completely flash version you see before you. In between I have switched between Esper control and had a brief period of grixis control, but I bleed Red White and Blue. My greatest success with a UWR deck was taking Jeskai Nahiri, the Harbinger to an RPTQ and getting top 16. Hopefully this primer better explains why each card is in the deck in each quantity and why you should/shouldn't play the deck. I am going to go through different iterations talking about pros and cons and ultimately try to give you the most amount of information on the deck in order for you to see whether or not this would be for you. If you are an experienced player, hopefully this creates discussion and analytical thinking about the fundamentals of the deck and whether or not this version and yours is as tuned as it can possibly be.

If you are looking for even more material on this deck or possibly another version of this deck, rickster_ on MTGSalvation has a good explanation of the evolution of the control deck.

UWR Primer

The last thing I will include is a link to GreatNate's channel on youtube. He does a lot of videos on UWR Geist, the midrange archtype, but he also plays different control decks from time to time so you can see good examples of the mindset of a control player.

GreatNate Youtube

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Individual Card Choices Show

Snapcaster Mage

Perfect utility for any situation. I tend to think of him as a turn 3 play at the earliest, but he can also be a turn 2 ambush viper against tron or Ad Nauseum. The reason I am only running 3 is because I am a very controlling player which means I LOVE VALUE!! To me, snappy is a turn 6 play because I can snap a cryptic back and bounce him to have the utility again. He is a fantastic card, but running 4 gets clunky and without Restoration Angels seems unjustified.

Torrential Gearhulk

Fatcaster for short, while he might be less efficient than snapcaster and could rot in your hand when you draw him turn 2, the instant speed 5/5 body is really good at finishing the job. If you send an electrolyze or lightning bolt at your opponent, untap, animate Celestial Colonnade and swing out then you just did 11-12 points of damage to your opponent all while holding up countermagic. He is a better wincon and a more diverse threat/removal spell than Ajani which is why he is a one of.

Serum Visions

Originally I did not like running this as it does not provide any card advantage and did not do anything to the board, but I have found out that it is necessary to keep your deck as consistent as it can be. When you need a Supreme Verdict, looking 2 cards for 5 mana with Think Twice just is not nearly as efficient as looking at 3 for 1 mana. I won't say this is necessary to the deck, but it helps a lot with very aggressive metas.

Path to Exile

This is just the single best removal spell in the format. While the cost of our opponent getting a land is slightly intimidating, having the capability of getting rid of a t1 Goblin Guide, a t2 Tarmogoyf or a t3 Wurmcoil Engine is the definition of a catch all. I usually hold these until t3 because the early land drops can creep up on you, but the counter suite of Logic Knot, negate and remand theoretically does not care about this.

Lightning Bolt

Lightning Bolt is probably the most efficient card in modern. It can provide a kill spell to a small creature or finish off a planeswalker's loyalty, or it can just go straight to the face when a quick clock is needed. The reason I currently play 3 is because my meta is full of control/grindy decks where bolt really only goes to the face. While this is perfectly acceptable, It is easily the weakest thing you can do with the card. So, I need more hard answers like condemn and blessed alliance to really get the job done in those matchups and play to the late game that I want to get to.

Mana Leak

I personally do no think this card is very good, but I feel it is necessary to survive the early game. While running 2 maindeck negate helps with a lot of your bad matchups, mana leak counters everything in the early turns of the game. The reason I wanted one was because of the new Devoted Druid combo decks and Death's Shadow. While we have a pretty good matchup and can kill their creatures all day long, sometimes company decks try to sneak a combo in early, and with death's shadow the deck is so restricted on mana that mana leak will almost always be live.

Negate

Similarly to remand, negate is a counterspell that is live all game long. While this may seem primarily like a sideboard card, it has game against 95% of the decks in the format and it is a hard counter for 2 mana. This deck is very good at dealing with creatures, so being able to counter planeswalkers like Liliana of the Veil/Karn Liberated, Spells like Scapeshift/Ad Nauseam/Chord of Calling, or artifacts like Cranial Plating is extremely useful. Not only does it give you an edge against your bad matchups, but it also just lets you win counterwars if the game goes long against another control player.

Logic Knot

When I was playing esper control for a brief period of time, I realized that this spell was basically counterspell until turn 5 or 6. Simply by using your fetchlands you can enable this spell and counter anything to your hearts desire. The only problem that arises sometimes is valuing your graveyard for snapcaster/gearhulk rather than the spell that is being cast. At that point, you should have a cryptic or a negate at the ready, so it is vital for those early game spells. Double blue is a real cost though, so you might want to bump up the fetch count to make sure you meet the requirements.

Think Twice

I was typically against playing think twice because it did not do anything for 2 turns, but now that the format has slowed down a bit, discard is getting very strong and you have time to really grind, think twice is an all star of the deck. It hits land drops early and is a 2 for 1 late which is everything the deck wants to do, all while being instant speed to hold up removal/countermagic. I only play 3 because this allows me to optimally hit my land drops without getting flooded, but if you feel like you really want the fourth I would cut the blessed alliance or the condemn for another. Another thing hat is definitely worth noting, unless you are playing a deck that you need 100% of your cards to be live like Burn, DO NOT BOARD THIS CARD OUT! This really ties the deck together and is the lowest curve 2 for 1 we have, so missing land drops and running out of gas will come back to bite you.

Blessed Alliance

A new addition to the deck, but one that has a lot of secret power. The mode that will be used about 70% of the time is "Sacrifice an attacking creature", but the life gain is crucial against aggressive decks and the untap has surprisingly come up with random Snapcaster Mages and Torrential Gearhulk to really catch someone off guard. The card is good, but I don't think it is worth more than 1 slot as its utility is a little fringe and it isn't targeted removal.

Lightning Helix

This serves as an additional Lightning Bolt with some added benefits of lifegain. Being as color restricted as we are, gaining life is something that will be huge throughout the early turns of the game. Fetch/Shocking down to 17 to kill a Wild Nacatl, Birds of Paradise, Goblin Guide, or any other small, pivotal creature does not seem nearly as bad if you know you are going back up to 20. It is technically a 2 for 1, but one of the weaker ones in the deck because something like tron does not care about life. It's utility is good, but should not be over valued, meaning this can get boarded out very easily.

Electrolyze

I have heard a lot of debate about this card, some saying it is not good because the format is getting bigger creature wise and others denying this, saying it digs through your deck and has the potential to be a 3 for 1. I like the card because it really sures up the affinity, infect and Coco matchups while slowly adding to your clock against decks like jund or grixis control. Just by pinging someone for 2 and drawing a card you are sculpting your hand while also trying to kill them. It really helps the change of pace when you need to switch from a control deck to an aggro/burn deck when you need to win. This is also a good way to chip away at a resolved Liliana of the Veil because it lowers the loyalty counters for free essentially.

Cryptic Command

This card is the reason to play control. This is the sole definition of a 2 for 1 and it always has use throughout the entire game. If you are low on life, counter a spell and tap your opponents team, or bounce their manland and tap their team. Need Cards? Bounce a land of your opponents and draw. This is going to be pivotal in the matchups like tron and amulet titan. It is a hard counter that can also bounce your own Snapcaster Mage or Torrential Gearhulk for maximum value. The reason you play 4 is because after turn 4 it does whatever you want it to at all points of the game. The card is insane, but it takes a good amount of time to really understand and know how to use the modes to the best of their ability. This is done by playing matchups inside and out multiple times over.

Some things to note:

1.) If you tap an opponents team and they have a manland, they get priority back before declare attackers which means they can activate and attack with it. This trips up a lot of people and can sometimes lose you the game on the spot. If you need to you can always tap your opponent's team and bounce the land.

2.) Do not be afraid to start bouncing people's lands if they are starting to miss land drops. A control deck at its core is a resource denial deck. Start making them repeat their land drops and you gain an incredible amount of tempo. This plan is how you can pull yourself out of some sticky situations if need be and it is often how you can win against another control deck or a Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle.

3.) If you go to bounce a creature and draw a card and the creature is pathed/destroyed in response, Cryptic is countered and does nothing. I have done this with Lingering Souls tokens, Tarmogoyf and Gurmag Angler then the opponent paths his own token and it feels really bad. This can also happen to your own snapcaster/gearhulk if you are not careful enough.

4.) With point 3 being said, one of the strongest plays you have in the deck is to either bounce a Snapcaster Mage or Torrential Gearhulk. Whether you counter a spell or draw, the bouncing of your etb creatures is an incredibly strong play and allows you to loop cryptic commands. IF your gearhulk or snap is getting destroyed by a Kolaghan's Command or Path to Exile, you can bounce your creature in response and draw a card and it is effectively a 3 for 1. This is a play that I have abused before as the power behind it is immense.

Supreme Verdict

The reason I run this over Wrath of God is because I personally value the ability to not be countered more than the regeneration clause. In my personal meta, there is more grixis control and delver strategies running around tan something like elves or a thrun, the last troll, so to combat this I run 2 supreme verdicts. I usually run a Wrath of God in the sideboard, but to deal with dredge and abzan company matches I am currently running 2 anger of the gods. In the maindeck, I thing G1 verdict is always better, but when you start going up against green/black decks that might have access to this ability, wrath of god could be a good sideboard card. Overall the wrath is an insane effect that can really swing the momentum of a game, often times being a 2-4 for 1. ALso, with the death's shadow deck running rampant, having a 4 mana wrath countered by a stubborn denial feels so bad and will often lose you the game.

Secure the Wastes

While this might look like a worse White Sun's Zenith, being a lesser mana cost means that this card can be more versatile. When you used to draw White Sun's Zenith on turn 2 or 3, it used to be a dead draw until turn 6ish. Now, if you are being beaten down by a Goblin Guide, you can cast this for 2 and use it as a removal spell. Also, the ability to be flashed back by Snapcaster Mage is very relevant when the game goes long.

Sphinx's Revelation

This is the primary win condition of the deck, which might not make a ton of sense on the surface, but let me explain. The amount of card advantage this single spell can gain is incredible, and the life on top of it makes it so you don't just straight up die to a burn spell at the end of a game. By burying your opponent in card advantage and gaining back an incredible amount of life, you are basically telling your opponent, "you won't be doing anything for the rest of the game", which is sometimes good enough to draw the concession. If they don't concede, just keep burying them until you eventually win the game. It cushions you with card advantage and life to make sure that what you are doing is not disrupted.

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Sideboarding Options Show

The sideboard to this deck can be completely different iteration to iteration and is solely dependent to what is in your meta. I am going to go over the most popular choices and possible some fringe cards I have seen in the past, noting my personal success with each of them.

Engineered Explosives

This card is a powerhouse. Putting it on 3 against a blood moon, Liliana of the veil and even aven mindcensor is amazing for feeling safe, and then blowing out token decks or even lingering souls is well worth it. Card is very flexible and very useful. Also, a cool trick with it is if a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is in play, you can spend UWR to play it for 2 and then it comes in with 3 counters. The same works on 2 and 1 as well. If you want to avoid this and play an EE for 2 with 3 mana, just announce that you are paying with UUX or something like that.

Ancestral Vision

I used to play this card in the main of UWR Nahiri, and overall the card can pull you ahead of Jund/Junk, but other than that all tihs does is rot in exile or in your hand when you play your bad matchups. Similar to Spell Snare, I think this only makes your good-50/50 matchups more in your favor. I do not like playing this in the control shell because I think it is too slow for 70% of the field. Also, the sideboard cards should really help out with the tougher matchups, so I do not think this card deserves the slots.

Dispel

This is the counterspell to win counterwars, stop instant speed combos, and fight some removal/general powerful spells. It is primarily a card to fight against other blue decks as cryptic command can be a little bulky, but stopping a chord of calling, collected company, ad nauseum or even something like a path or fatal push on your colonnade is very good for a blue mana.

Card:Ceremonious Rejection

I have recently been using this for Eldrazi Tron because it counters 100% of the spells in their deck. I have given up trying to mess with their lands as it does not seem like a worthwhile strategy in this deck, so having this as a counter to a Chalice of the Void, Thought-Knot Seer, Karn Liberated, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is beyond useful and has an immense of value.

Condemn

Path to exile #5. When the current meta is full of abzan, jund, death's shadow and eldrazi tron which lightning bolt does not do very well against this card is a fantastic option for the board and possibly main. Also, if you condemn a death's shadow player's Tarmogoyf or Death's Shadow, then they gain life setting their plan back and potentially killing their other Death's Shadows.

Wear / Tear

There are few very consistent sideboard cards I see and this is definitely one of them. The ability to be a 2 for 1 for 3 mana is huge when you hit something like Eidolon of the Great Revel, Blood Moon or Cranial Plating out of affinity (happened in the semifinals of a pptq for me) and even then the flexibility you get out of this card is well worth the 2 slots. Just remember when you are playing a blood moon deck to search out your plains relatively quickly.

Celestial Purge

This card has been in every single control deck that plays white for me because of 4 cards: Blood Moon, Liliana of the Veil, Koth of the Hammer and Keranos, God of Storms. All of these threats if they resolve are a nightmare to deal with. This works very well as a one for one with cards that are supposed to get opposing strategies a ton of value. It also just serves a purpose as a definite removal spell against any black or red deck, it is another kill spell against Burn for example. I would highly recommend always playing at least 1.

Stony Silence

While I definitely bring this card in against affinity, the 2 main decks this card is for are Tron and Ad Nauseum. By shutting down the draw and filter effects in tron and the mana bloom acceleration in ad naus, the matchups become way more winnable. You are essentially turning these decks into fair decks which they are not good at playing. I have had huge success withi this card, but if the meta is not heavy with these 2 then you can cut them because the affinity matchup is already so good preboard.

Rest in Peace

I have seen decks Run Rest in Peace which is why I am including it, but one of the best ways that we get value is through Snapcaster Mage, Torrential Gearhulk and Think Twice, so this hurts us a decent amount. The only reason I can see runnning this in your sideboard is if you are in a meta that is very heavy dredge. Outside of that I think Relic of Progenitus, Anger of the Gods and even Tormod's Crypt are better answers for exiling.

Runed Halo

While I have not had personal experience with this card, I have heard a lot of good things about it as it can be used against some of the hardest cards to deal with like Death's Shadow, Grapeshot, Lightning Storm and Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, so it has the potential to be a fantastic card in the board.

Vendilion Clique

Another card solely for the combo matchup, UWR is not good at interacting with opponents hands. The deck prioritizes dealing with on board threats, but for decks like storm, ad naus or scapeshift, if they are just sculpting a perfect hand to win a counter war you are going to lose. I like playing one, maybe 2 would be correct if you are in a combo heavy meta of if you play a more ETB heavy version.

Geist of Saint Traft

Geist is primarily for winning matchups where you need a clock. The worst matchups for this deck are other, bigger control decks like UW As Foretold, any variant of Tron, card:Ad Nauseum, Storm, Esper Control or even the more pure UW control deck. Supreme Verdict and/or creature removal is pretty bad against our deck so a lot of it will be coming out, and no one in their right mind will bopard in wraths, so Geist can come in and clock someone 3 times and the game is over. We turn into a tempo Delver of Secrets style deck with a very fast clock.

Izzet Staticaster

I think this card is amazing because it single handedly wins the affinity and infect matchups while having random game against coco decks and lingering souls decks. Your deck can handle bigger spells like Primeval Titan and Collected Company very well, but sometimes the little guys sneak through. Staticaster helps you save your Path to Exiles for better cards.

Gideon of the Trials

While I have not seen this in any side board yet, I think it could be good for the non interactive combo decks that run around the field, the first one coming to mind being card:Ad Nauseum. This can be an "I win" button against decks that can't deal with it and a solid stalling machine against decks that try to load up on one creature.

Timely Reinforcements

I will never play without one of thees in my sideboard. This is the most essential card to have against burn and other fast aggro decks. The life gain is incredible and the soldier tokens can also double or triple block a creature to make it a 3 for 1 at some points. I am currently on 1 but I can see an argument for 2 depending on the number of Lightning Helixs you have and how aggressive your meta is.

Anger of the Gods

I currently have 2 in my board to deal with both the coco combo decks and dredge. I have found this card to be very effective over something like Relic of Progenitus because it keeps my graveyard in tact while removing the main threats both of those decks have to offer. If you have the slots to play both then that might be best because they have different strengths in a number of different matchups. This also helps with the elves/affinity/zoo matchups by just being a good 3 mana sweeper.

Crucible of Worlds

This card might be low impact in some matchups, but I think giving yourself some inevitability and card advantage against decks like Emeria, UW control and Jund/Junk is worth the slot. This card also comes in against Tron as a way to keep Looping Ghost Quarter, which has proven to be very good. This is definitely one of the flex slots though, so adhere to your meta.

Jace, Architect of Thought

This is the other card that fights Lingering Souls, but it is also good against Jund/Junk where you want your topdecks to just be bombs. He draws cards in a pinch and he stalls the board by making everything smaller when things attack. He is good for token strategies, low to the ground strategies and grindy games.

Crumble to Dust

This is the best tol we have in a tron heavy meta. This card is something that they are terrified of because IT WORKS!! I have won games against the deck solely by resolving this and then just playing a better control game. You can also side this in against Jund, Junk, Grixis, UWR/UW, Scapeshift and any other deck with noteable lands/manlands and have it be great. Overall just a solid card.

Wrath of God

This card is an allstar if you ever find yourself playing elves or even across from this deck's worst enemy, Thrun, the Last Troll. These regenerating threats are miserable to deal with, but something like this is an option that is pretty universal. You could play it in the main or side, but it feels more like a sideboard card to me because there are not a lot of G1 regenerating threats you will have to deal with and if it gets countered against a delver deck you are in a terrible spot.

Hallowed Burial

This card kind of gets outclassed by Anger of the Gods because it comes down a lot earlier and is generally more efficient. It is better in bigger metas, but I think overall it is just a little too slow for the format, but lists have played them and it works against cards like Thrun, the Last Troll, Wurmcoil Engine and persist creatures like Kitchen Finks.

Elspeth, Sun's Champion

This is a very common win condition to have either in the main or in the side, but in the side it basically comes in against any topdecking game. Jund/grixis/abzan hate seeing this card, and it also givesyou a clock when you need it. Oddly enough I've brought this card in against storm and ad nauseum before just as another way to actually win the game. I don't think it is bad in the main but I am definitely going for a more instant speed version of the deck so She does not fit for my G1.

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Bad Matchups Show

Tron

This matchup is not unwinneable, but very unlikely that you will get g1. Why is that? They just have too many threats that just keep coming at you, and all of them are very difficult to deal with and kill you quick when they resolve. Ancient Stirrings finds any of their fatties within 5 cards and their turn 3 play is a planeswalker that starts off at 6 loyalty, Karn Liberated for reference. Unless you have hand with 5 counterspells, Snapcaster Mage and a Lightning Bolt, the matchup is always an uphill battle. The way to win is basically making Snapcaster Mage an Ambush Viper or even waiting until turn 4 to bolt snap bolt and then riding out the tempo plan, burning them out however you can.

The best card against the tron deck when sideboarding is stony silence. Stony silence shuts down a lot of their cantrip artifacts and also shuts down their Oblivion Stone. The next step in this process is to take out almost all of your removal, ESPECIALLY WRATHS, and replace it with counterspells and Crumble to Dust. Even Dispel has some use, countering a potential Nature's Claim or Warping Wail which are their outs to your big hitters. Outside of all this hate, they can still naturally make land drops and stall long enough to play their big mana spells, so you have to move quick and can't afford to be too concerned about 2 for 1's.

Burn

To put it simply, Burn is a nightmare. Every card they draw is going to be 3 damage to you, so you need to draw your countermagic/life gain effects relatively early and then hope an Eidolon of the Great Revel doesn't come down before you can deal with it. G1 usually goes very poorly, but it is not unwinnable! While you can draw all lands and die, they can do the same thing. If they start to flood out or get a very creature heavy board state you can definitely come back from this. The draws that will kill you are the all spell draws, which is part of the reason we play negate maindeck in general.

Sideboarding is not hard: take out Supreme Verdict and Think Twice and replace them with cards that actually have an impact on the game like any life gain spells, counterspells and removal spells you have. This matchup, along with some other fast aggressive decks, is the reason I have Timely Reinforcements as a two of. It gains you life and provides little guys to block their creatures, making it a 2 for 1 that is hard to come back from for them. A little trick that I have learned to do the hard way, if they are attacking with a Goblin Guide after you have used a timely reinforcements and they have RG up, be aware of an Atarka's Command. If you plan on trying to kill the goblin guide with blocks then BLOCK WITH ALL 3 SOLDIERS!!! If you block with 2 and get blown out then you have pretty much reduced their clock by a turn because you basically chump blocked with 2 dudes. Play the matchup smart, know when to hold up countermagic and when to attack with Celestial Colonnade and when to cast a snapcaster for no value. You need to establish a clock fast so I like the play secure the wastes for 3 and just start beating in. It is a hard matchup but post board is better, just pray your deck decides to draw well.

Scapeshift

Similarly to Tron, this matchup is bad because all scapeshift wants to do is make land drops and naturally win. Sure they have a spell that does it for them, but in theory all they have to do is get to 5 mountains and a Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and they bolt you from then on all while holding up interaction. One of the best ways you are going to win the game is by using Cryptic Command to bounce their lands back to their hand to play some sort of tempo. In this matchup, you have to be the aggressor, so it will require a lot of Lightning Bolts and Electrolyzes pointed at their face while simultaneously using Snapcaster Mages as flash vipers. Chip away, bounce their lands and hope that you can get their because you will not win a counter war with them. Even if you do, they will most likely have another Scapeshift in the future, it is not a winning strategy.

VERY IMPORTANT!!! If a scapeshift is resolving, one of the best things that you can do is to cryptic bounce one of their MOUNTAINS or ghost quarter one of their MOUNTAINS! DO NOT BOUNCE THE VALAKUT! The triggers still happen and you will still die. If you bounce a mountain back to their hand and they only have 5 when Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggers then nothing happens because valakut needs a minimum of 6 mountains to do any damage and it checks on resolution.

Ad Nauseum

This matchup is one that I have won once because they got a terrible draw. G1 is near impossible because you can't respond to the Angel's Grace, have little to no removal for Phyrexian Unlife, and on top of all of this they play free counterspells in Pact of Negation. The deck is comprised of mana acceleration, combo pieces, and ways to find other combo pieces. You need to move fast and counter suspended Lotus Blooms and card:Ad Nauseum if you are lucky. All of your removal is blanked and if you try to do anything at instant speed they can go off. Matchup is literally miserable.

You will lose g1, so sideboarding is very very VERY important. The hidden gem in the sideboard is the Stony Silence. They run mana ramp spells in the form of Lotus Bloom and Pentad Prism, so shutting down 8 cards that accelerate them is huge. The next plan is to take out all of your Path to Exiles and replace them with any cards that either counter their spells or put pressure on them. This might not be that many cards but the key is to evaluate anything that be playable because the number of dead cards is insane. Do not board out all of your removal though because they can win with laboratory maniac as well.

Storm

Storm is pretty bad because you have to put them on a clock, which the deck is pretty bad at doing. All of their cards are wither combo pieces or cards that draw them into their combo pieces, so using counterspells becomes almost irrelevant when they have 4 copies of the same card in hand. In my opinion, sticking a snapcaster or an early secure for 2-3 and just beating in every turn is the key to having a chance at winning. Also, save your counterspells for spells. All of your removal hits their Goblin Electromancer and Baral, Chief of Compliance, so prioritizing this is pretty important if you can.

Sideboarding for this matchup just means bring in graveyard hate AND SWEEPERS!!!!! People forget this second part, but they are going to go for the Empty the Warrens plan at least in g2 about 90% of the time, so if you don't board in Anger of the Gods then you will probably lose. Relic of Progenitus is very good because you can incrementally eat their yard while also holding up and instant speed answer to their Past in Flames, Dispels and Negates are always just generally better than Blessed Alliance, Condemn and other removal spells that don't kill their creatures on the spot, and Jace, architect of thought is pretty good for the same reason that sweepers are, his +1 just blanks empty. Cards to take out would be conditional removal, Sphinx's Revelation because grinding out with Cryptic Command and Think Twice is good enough, and deck:remand because all of their spells are 1 mana and sending it back to their hand could just increase their storm count.

50/50 Matchups Show

Eldrazi

This matchup is very dependent on what version of Eldrazi you are playing against. Colorless is typically the worst because they are just a more aggressive Tron deck, but Bant on the other hand actually is not terrible. Their curve is lower and cards like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon typically do not reside in the main. Some of the common threats are Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher, which can be difficult to deal with but definitely not impossible. The plan in these consists of wrathing the board when you can hit something like a Reality Smasher and killing everything else with your removal/counterspells. Torrential Gearhulk and Celestial Colonnade can be surprisingly good as they block and trade or kill some threats out of nowhere.

Sideboarding in counterspells is actually decent because they both run things like Ancient Stirrings and Expedition Map to get their mana correct, but Stony Silence is not that good because they run far fewer cantrip artifacts because their decks are full of creatures. I also like bringing in Elspeth, Sun's Champion against Bant because it provides good blockers and it is another way to actually win the game. It is worse against colorless because Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger can just exile it on cast.

Jund/Junk

This is the timeless attrition vs. card advantage battle, which usually falls in our favor once you learn how to play the matchup. Cards like Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek are pretty bad early on and can definitely win the attrition deck the game, but as long as you keep making your land drops and you prioritize dealing with Liliana of the Veil and Dark Confidant then you will be good to go. Tarmogoyf is okay for a little while, you can take a few hits and be fine, but you need to deal with all of their 2 for 1 threats and slowly accumulate advantage. Sphinx's Revelation is your way to win the majority of the time, it is a nightmare to come back from this when you are the discard deck.

When you sideboard for this game just bring in Negates for their walkers, removal for Dark Confidant, Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, and then all of the planeswalkers you have. If it comes to topdecking, these are the bombs you are going to want top draw, not a Lightning Bolt when you are facing down a Tarmogoyf. Use your 2 for 1 cards whenever it is appropriate but also when they go for a Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek. If you use your Snapcaster Mage or Cryptic Command and they have to take a lightning bolt or a 1 for 1 removal/counterspell it is VERY good for you. Also be aware of the information you are revealing as good players can exploit this.

Amulet Titan

Having a lot of counter magic definitely gives us a leg up the majority of the time, but the problem with this matchup and why it is more 50/50 than 70/30 is because now they have a much better late game through Walking Ballista and Academy Ruins. This will kill you unless you are packing graveyard hate maindeck g1. This matchup plays similar to burn but much slower which is why it is a lot better, gain control of the board in the early turns by countering Amulet of Vigor and Primeval Titan, bouncing lands with Cryptic Command and then establishing a clock that wins the game pretty quick. Once their Walking Ballista lock is assembled there is almost no way to beat it outside of using Ghost Quarter on Academy Ruins.

I am still in the process of experimenting with the sideboard for this matchup because I have not played this new version of the deck too many times. Engineered Explosives definitely comes in for them if they see Secure the Wastes, and then they might bring in cards like Hornet Queen or card:Dragonlord Dramoka just to have a better, harder to deal with top end. For us, electrolyze is just terrible, so side those out for any countermagic and removal. Even Dispel counters their Summoner's Pact and Pact of Negation. Any graveyard hate is also recommendeed because of the ballista/academy lock, and Wear is also pretty good because you definitely want to destroy/counter Amulet of Vigor as quickly as possible.

Grixis Death's Shadow

I will only touch on the grixis version of this deck because the general consensus seems to be that this is the best version of the deck. This deck is the main problem for modern and the only reason that I am putting it in the 50/50 slot (even though I think it is one of the better matchups for the deck with the mainboarded Condemn and Blessed Alliance) is because if they get their very quick start of 3 discard spells into a death's shadow, then the game is going to be rough. They are playing a 52 card deck with 8 disruption spells, so your hand is going to be under a lot of pressure, also Kolaghan's Command is very good against us. The shatter and deal 2 damage clauses basically take care of all of our creatures, then the discard effect is very relevant as well. While this matchup is difficult, it is definitely winnable once you learn how to play the deck. You can only start dealing incremental damage with Snapcaster and Electrolyze once you have dealt with almost everything they have, Make sure you prioritize countering the spells of the deck and not the creatures, there are a lot of maindeck ways to deal with them, and lastly use your life total as a resource!!! Do not tappout on their turn until their endstep, I've won games against this deck by taking the hit, pathing on the end of their second main, letting them counter it and deploy another threat and untapping into a Supreme Verdict. You need to use your life as a resource in order to control the game. As long as you are above 5 you are going to be fine, it is a wierd lesson to learn but be smart about your lands and your plays and you will be fine.

For my current sideboard I like bringing in Dispel, Relic of Progenitus, Blessed Alliance, Celestial Purge and if they are on Jund or Abzan shadow then the Spreading Seas are going to be very good. Don't be fooled by Timely Reinforcements, although your life total is under pressure you will almost never be at a higher life total than them until you are dead. A Card like Elspeth, Sun's Champion is also very good because you can create blockers to stall for a while. They are going to have more counterspells so it will get harder, but wraths and smart playing is really the path to victory.

Good Matchups Show

Affinity

While some decks have huge problems with this deck, I LOVE seeing this across from me. Almost all of your cards are qeuipped to deal with creatures going wide strategies, so your Lightning Bolts, Lightning Helixs, Path to Exiles, Supreme Verdicts and especially Electrolyzes are fantastic at removing anything that they throw at you, and on top of that you have maindeck Negates and Logic Knots to counter their Cranial Platings and Galvanic Blasts. The biggest way to lose to the deck is to not find an answer to Etched Champion quick enough. A lot of people will try to search for verdicts and try to remove it with a wrath spell, which is totally fine and if you can find it it is a lot easier that way, but the way I try to do it is to grind out all of their other creatures/lands with removal spells and Cryptic Command bouncing their artifacts and try to disable metalcraft. Taking 2 a turn isn't a huge deal until it is the 5th or 6th time it happens to you.

Sideboarding makes this matchup that much better. I would board out sphinx's revelation and secure the wastes (Because most of their relevant creatures have evasion in some way, so this does not work as an effective removal spell), and board in Stony Silences, Anger of the Gods, Jace, Architect of Thought and then any removal that you have. Wear should be a no brainer because of all the artifacts, but be sure to also remember that they will bring in Blood Moons against you, so be prepared to fetch a plains for this. The matchup is pretty elementary after board, but play it how you see fit because some people like to experiment with cards like Ensoul Artifact, Frogmite and more recently Hardened Scales, so board accordingly.

Elves

Very similar to affinity, this matchup is pretty easy because you are fit to deal with this sort of strategy BUT this matchup is definitely harder to play against. I still feel like this matchup preboard is about 60/40 and then post board it is more like 70/30, but the problem is elves can be surprisingly grindy with cards like Elvish Visionary, Collected Company and Chord of Calling. Game 1 is pretty easy just because you have so many 2 for 1's, but g2 and 3 get a little harder. Some tricks to remember when you play the deck, card:Pendlehaven can blank a card like electrolyze, Chord of Calling and Collected Company can surprisingly provide a team pump and maybe a regeneration with Ezuri, Renegade Leader, and just remember to always blow up their Cavern of Souls because that card is miserable to play around.

Sidebaording for this matchup includes your Anger of the Gods, Dispel and Negate to deal with all of their 2 for 1 spells, and Wear. They will bring in Choke and probably something like Spellskite, so it is nice to have outs to those. I also like fetching basics in g2 and g3 because some elf players are insane and board in Magus of the Moon which they can hit off of Collected Company and Chord of Calling. Fun Fact: If they hit this card off of one of those, YOU CANNOT RESPOND TO IT COMING INTO PLAY. I don't really play around it until I get blown out by it, but fetching basics plains is important because of Choke which will almost for sure be in there. Also, if you play Spell Snare anywhere in the 75, take it out and burn it. The card is terrible against elves which seems backwards, but besides Dwynen's Elite and Elvish Visionary it does not counter anything at all. Electrolyze will carry you throughout the game and the way you lose is by letting them resolve too many 2 for 1 spells.

Merfolk

This one is definitely harder than the last 2, but I still like my chances a lot. The cards that are hard to deal with in this are Aether Vial, Master of Waves and their surprise lords. Their lords give them +1/+1 which is not the end of the world, but they also provide Island walk, which is a little harder to deal with. Aether Vial definitely hurts because your counterspells are turned off, but you can definitely play around this and Cryptic bounce/tap their guys until you draw a Supreme Verdict, which is definitely the turning point of this matchup. card:Mutuvault can also be a concern, but it dies to almost everything we have.

After board this matchup gets way harder because they are mono blue, so they board into a ton of counterspells/vapor snags. It can be difficult in combination with Aether Vial to play through, but we counter this plan by making our counterspells a lot more effective. Definitely bring in Dispel and Negate to counter their board options, bring in Wear because it destroys aether vial, which will be a lot stronger g2 and g3, then board out secure the wastes (all of their creatures could have islandwalk so it is not a good removal spell if need be) and Remand is not a great card because everything is pretty low on the curve for them and its bad under vial. Although Anger of the Gods can be bad against Master of Waves, but it is definitely worth it to bring into the matchup.

Company Zoo

There are different Zoo Variants, specifically the lower to the ground version of Kird Ape, there is card:Reckless Bushwacker zoo which is more of a combo deck that can be VERY explosive, and then there is the slower version playing Collected Company and Knight of the Reliquary. Surprisingly, the Knight of the Reliquary version is the easiest to play against in my opinion because your removal spells match up so well with their threats. They are slower, so Supreme Verdict really cleans up the board well, Path to Exile can make them over extend by taking away some of their bigger threats, and Electrolyze can wipe up their Birds of Paradise and more importantly Noble Hierarch. Against the smaller variants, you really need to draw well to have a solid chance. Lightning Bolt, Condemn, Blessed Alliance, Lightning Helix and Path to Exile are going to be what you need to dig for. You just need to hold them off and make sure they don't kill you before you shoot off a Sphinx's Revelation for a lot. Be aware of Atarka's Command and Skullcrack though, as these can really mess up your plan.

I have not played this matchup recently, so I'm not sure what they are doing post board exactly, but I can assure you cards like Choke, Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon, especially for the company decks, are viable options. I sideboard pretty similarly for both versions of the deck: I like bringing in Anger of the Gods, Timely Reinforcements, Jace, Architect of Thought, and any other lifegain spells you might have in the board. Specifically in the aggressive versions, I like Dispel and Negate more than Remand, and in the Collected Company version I like Dispel and Negate a lot more than Electrolyze.

My games against these types of decks have gone somewhere close to 50/50, but the reason I like the matchup and I think it is favorable for us is because once you learn how to counter/kill their big, or most impactful, threats, they just poke at you and you can usually find a Sphinx's Revelation or Lightning Helix to put yourself out of reach long enough to win. You also need to make them over extend into your wraths. Tapping their team and drawing with Cryptic Command is the easiest way to do this.

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Reasons to Play the Deck Show

The reason I love control so much is that no matter what is happening in the game, you always feel like you have a good grasp on what is going on and you have the tools necessary to stop what your opponent is doing. Sure sometimes you will lose a counterwar to a pact of negation, die on turn 3 from a burn player, or just have all of your lands blown up by Karn Liberated into Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger by Tron, but it is very rare that you lose the game because "your deck messes up". The draws in this deck are very consistent and with the amount of card advantage you have, so you are going to see a lot of your deck every single game.

Being able to stabilize at less than 4 life with your opponent hellbent with nothing going on is the greatest feeling ever because 90% of the time you are just going to win the game. That is the entire strategy of this deck, make people waste resources trying to kill you and then stop what they are doing dead in their tracks. I will say, a common misconception I see people have when playing/watching the deck is the need to kill everything as quick as possible. You can take a few hits from a Tarmogoyf and be okay, you always have to be looking for opportunities for 2 for 1's. Another big tip is to prioritize your land drops. This deck often wins by resolviung a Sphinx's Revelation for 5 or more, so hitting your land drops every turn is a big factor in your plan. Often times I will lead out with a fetchland to hold up counter magic, but unless the spell wins them the game or I need to stabilize, I leave it uncracked for a majority of the game because the probability to draw lands is higher. Once I have 2-3 in my hand then I am at the point where I am trying to figure out how not to take damage from a shockland when I fetch, but the little things are going to build up to you being a better control player.

Another reason why you should play this deck is if you understand the format and the threats of each top tier deck. This deck really rewards the players who understand the format because you can better identify what is a threat, a combo piece, and best of all a deck's plan to win. You do not need to kill everything, but you do need to destroy the integral pieces of a plan to stall it long enough for those 3 1/1's from secure the wastes to do their job. It is a very rewarding experience and can be one of the better decks you pick up if you decide to put the time into it.

If you are a new player, or a seasoned player with the deck, I really hope this primer gives you insight as to how to play the deck and what makes a good control player or provokes some thought about various aspects of the deck. The name of the game is 2 for 1's, so once you settle into the mindset that your life if a resource, you are not dead until you hit 0 life and not everything has to be removed/countered then you will have a lot more success playing the deck. It is definitely an uphill battle playing control in a field where so many decks are viable and some matchups just look so bleak when you sit across from them, but the great thing about playing control is that you have the power to manipulate the game in any direction that you please. There are a lot of mind games to be played, like making your opponents over extend into a wrath or holding up UU and having a land in hand for 3 turns, so experiment with what style you like the best and then explore it until you have mastered it. Just like any deck, the learning curve is exponential, with that last little bit being the hardest part to overcome, but a lot of knowing how to play the deck is understanding the format for any given weekend and exuding confidence during every single game.

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Date added	8 years
Last updated	8 years
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 3 Mythic Rares 35 - 4 Rares 11 - 5 Uncommons 8 - 3 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.40
Tokens	Angel 4/4 W, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Soldier 1/1 W, Warrior 1/1 W
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