UWR Control
Shaun McLaren
Pro Tour Born of the Gods – Modern – Champion
Planeswalkers (10)
Spells (23)
Sideboard
Here we have another Planeswalker themed control deck along the lines of Zendikar’s Super Friends or last seasons Junk Walkers. It is really just your good ol’ UW control from Theros standard with a small splash of green for Kiora, the Crashing Wave and Mistcutter Hydra out of the sideboard. It moves away from the Aetherling win con and opts for a Planeswalker plan only in the main.
The main deck contains UW‘s usual removal, counter and draw package. The powerful Azorius Charm is used mostly for tempo with Detention Sphere as four-ofs along side a couple of Last Breaths for removal. Your counter package is just a set of Dissolve and a Syncopate. For draw spells it’s primarily the instant speed Sphinx’s Revelation, but also Azorius Charm can be used for it’s draw one which can be handy in conjunction with the Scry from your lands and spells. Although there are no Divination or Opportunity, there is still Jace who coupled with Kiora‘s Explore ability is still a potent draw engine. Finally there’s a set of Supreme Verdict as your number one sweeper with Elspeth‘s minus three as a good alternative against things like RG Monsters and Desecration Demon.
This deck’s main goal is to survive long enough to stabilize on board than finally winning with the sheer power of it’s Planeswalkers or the odd time with Mutavault beatdown. You take control by wiping the board with Supreme Verdict or Elspeth and using Sphinx’s Revelation to come back by gaining life and drawing into your answers.
The sideboard gets interesting as it has a few surprises against opponents who side out all or most of there removal and sweepers. There is a set of Archangel of Thune and three Brimaz, King of Oreskos which if used together will make a rapidly growing token army when left unchecked. Mistcutter Hydra is a great answer against Mono-Blue Devotion. Pithing Needle for things like Maze’s End or other Walkers and Negate to counter any non-creature threats. Revoke Existence is mainly against Indestructible gods like Thassa or Erebos and can also get rid of Underworld Connections.
Azorius Control
Alexander Hayne
GP Vancouver Champion
Lands (27)
Creature (1)
Other Spells (25)
Planeswalkers (7)
Sideboard
Local Montreal hero and perennial golden boy Alex ‘Insayne’ Hayne went on to win yet another Grand Prix tournament in what is turning into an illustrious and formidable young career. As you may have already heard that makes three such victories in the past six months. If he keeps this up there’s no telling where he and his team ManaDeprived will soar to this year. And to mention his team Alex had to battle fellow teammate and Montrealer Jon Stern, who has also been making waves on the Pro circuit, in the semifinal in a tough battle spotlighting the talent emerging from ManaDeprived and Montreal alike.
Esper mastermind and longtime magic aficionado Shaheen Soorani battled last weekend at the SCG Invitational in Las Vegas to a third place finish. Fighting through a field of 299 qualified participants he was able to slaughter most every mage who stood in his way. The Invitational, much like the Pro Tour, is a multiformat tournament requiring proficiency in both Standard and Legacy to find success. In true Soorani fashion his weapon of choice for both formats was blue, white and black control style concoctions. With the two byes he had been awarded he drudged to a final swiss record of 12-3-1, the last round an intentional bye with Thea Steele to clinch the top 8 berth. The competition was fierce with hard wins against Tom Ross, Tim Landale, Erik Smith and Jeff Hoogland. Some tough losses came at the hands of Matt Nass the last round of day 1 playing for the perfect 8-0 and against eventual winner Max Brown entering the second leg of Legacy putting Shaheen on the ropes fighting to maintain a top positioning. In the top 8 he was immediately put to the test against Brian Brawn-Duin but dispatched him easily in three games but was knocked out by Greg Hatch after a hard fought five game battle.
Planeswalkers (6)
Spells (25)
Creatures (8)
Planeswalkers (3)
Sideboard
Spells (27)
Planeswalkers (7)
Sideboard
UW Control – UW Planeswalker Control
Stanislav Cifka
Grand Prix Vienna – Top 8
Lands (27)
Creatures (0)
Other Spells (26)
Planeswalkers (7)
Sideboard
I have to admire this very traditional feeling UW Control deck. While technically creature-less it does use Elspeth as a primary win condition with Mutavault as backup. The permission comes in the form of Dissolve, which works with the Temples to provide some dig with Scry, and Essence Scatter to fight off troublesome creatures. The deck then boasts a rather robust amount of removal starting with Supreme Verdict to sweep away aggro swarms, Detention Sphere is very versatile in controlling all other threats, and Last Breath is the spot removal that can handle most of the threats in standard currently. Azorius Charm is a useful with all it different modes either as another spot removal, to cycle for another draw or as a way to gain some quick life. The deck is topped off with Sphinx’s Revelation which is without a doubt one of the keys to the success of the UWx Control strategies. This list of Cifkas also included a very interesting sideboarding plan with Archangel and Fiendslayer capitalizing on a lifegain theme to build on a heavy creature package that’s brought in to combat the red decks.
Creatures (21)
Planeswalkers (4)
Spells (10)
What an interesting new idea which has potential for huge card advantage once it gets going. Bant has the particular quality of combining acceleration with control and card advantage. This deck attempts to accomplish that in spades. It all starts with a ten pack of mana dorks with Mystics, Caryatids & Satyrs to get the plan into high gear. From there the threats start at converted cost of four with Polukranos, which doubles as removal for the deck, and Jace, which also doubles against aggro with the +1 ability. We then hit the five spot and the centerpiece for this deck from Prophet of Kruphix which provides the unique ability to be proactive on your turn AND their turn while always holding up mana to threaten countermagic. Then we hit the top of the curve at six with a diverse package including premier control finisher Aetherling, card advantage beast Prime Speaker & the truly diverse Primeval Bounty. As with any deck using both blue and white mana should there is a full four Sphinx’s Revelation and the life gain can be a key in surviving against fast aggro. The control aspect of the deck is limited to Plasm Capture that plays into the plan of mass card draw by providing more fuel to spew out more threats as quickly as possible. The rest of the deck is comprised of a small removal suite with Detention Sphere which can work to hold off a swarm and Curse of the Swine which is either a sweeper or can be used to remove indestructible Gods. This is definitely an idea to keep in mind moving forward as it may not yet be properly positioned but a few tweeks primarily with respect to shoring up the aggro matchup could turn this deck into a premier powerhouse.