Currently Playing

Modern: RWU Flash

4 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Vendilion Clique
4 Snapcaster Mage

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
4 Izzet Charm
1 Lightning Helix
2 Remand
4 Electrolyze
2 Batterskull
1 Sphinx's Revelation

4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
4 Arid Mesa
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Plains
1 Mountain
3 Island
1 Slayer's Stronghold

2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Lightning Helix
2 Meddling Mage
3 Molten Rain
2 Negate
1 Purify the Grave
1 Runed Halo

Standard: Esper Control

2 Snapcaster Mage

4 Devour Flesh
4 Azorius Charm
4 Think Twice
1 Blind Obedience
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Murder
1 Dissipate
1 Detention Sphere
4 Supreme Verdict
3 Jace, Memory Adept
4 Sphinx's Revelation

24 Duals
3 Nephalia Drownyard

Sideboard
1 Detention Sphere
1 Duress
3 Negate
4 Rest In Peace
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Witchbane Orb

UW Control in Modern

I recently wrote an article detailing many of the various options available to UW Control players in Modern. It wasn't meant to be comprehensive because there are still plenty of unexplored variations in the format. For instance, Spellstutter Sprite + Mutavault is something that could be viable (potentially in conjunction with equipment).

There are some other cool things that I've been exploring though, leading me to like this list. A few of the ideas I took from Riccardo Neri's Worlds 2009 Extended decklist (which I've always liked).

4 Celestial Colonnade
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
4 Seachrome Coast
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Tolaria West
3 Island
1 Plains
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Academy Ruins

3 Wall of Omens
1 Snapcaster Mage
3 Vendilion Clique
2 Restoration Angel

2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Talisman of Progress
1 Batterskull
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Path to Exile
3 Spell Snare
3 Mana Leak
2 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Supreme Verdict
4 Cryptic Command
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Sphinx's Revelation

Sideboard
3 Damping Matrix
1 Batterskull
4 Meddling Mage
2 Runed Halo
2 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Celestial Purge

This version makes use of a few synergies not seeing play elsewhere:

• Tolaria West, Academy Ruins, Engineered Explosives

This package has very little cost and in a very diverse format can be rewarding. It shines in some matchups more than others (like GW Auras) but even in matchups you wouldn't expect, it can still be good. Also, playing Tolaria West increase the density of the deck slightly more.

• Relic of Progenitus, Talisman of Progress, Thirst for Knowledge

Maindeck Relic allows Thirst for Knowledge to be playable, which is something this deck really wanted, but is also great against the many graveyard interactions in the format. On occasion you'll end up exiling a card from your graveyard that you rather wouldn't but if you have to then you have to.

• Mystical Teachings

A pure value card that works really well with Cryptic Command and the many instants/flash creatures. At 1 copy and with a pretty modest curve, it should only be clunky in fast matchups.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments or on twitter. It's early in the week so I'm sure I'll make more changes but this is what I intend to PTQ with if I don't end up going to SCG San Diego this weekend.

UWb Control in STD

I've finally played a few games of Standard, and with a mostly original list no less. I have no idea where the deck stands against Zombies and Jund since I have done very little with it so far, but the deck is showing some promise.

The idea behind the deck is to be a control deck that doesn't rely on a creature to win. It generally gets advantages by keeping Planeswalkers alive. It usually takes a looong time to kill with...

4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Plains
4 Island
2 Nephalia Drownyard

4 Azorius Charm
3 Think Twice
4 Lingering Souls
2 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Detention Sphere
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Curse of Death's Hold
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
4 Terminus
3 Syncopate

2 Angel of Serenity
1 Dispel
4 Dissipate
2 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Sever the Bloodline
1 Sundering Growth
2 Ultimate Price

From the top, we have 26 lands with as many black sources available to us without playing Swamp. The reasoning there is that I'd like to be able to Azorius Charm very consistently.

Nephalia Drownyard seems innocuous but it is actually a game changer for other control decks. They usually have very few ways to answer it (Tamiyo) and so little happens in G1s that Drownyard just takes the game eventually. It's not the primary win condition because a lot of decks have graveyard synergy and you don't actually want to activate it on them but you can still activate it on yourself if you have nothing else to do.

Azorius Charm is one of the best things you can do both early in the game as well as late. I kinda wanted some Ultimate Price in the deck but I ended up just putting them in the SB.

However much I would love to play Sphinx's Revelation, Forbidden Alchemy gets the slot over it because it allows you to abuse all the graveyard interactions seen throughout the deck.

Curse of Death's Hold is a pretty narrow card and I'm pretty sure it will be the first card I cut when I'm looking for room but I didn't want to board it because a lot of decks will be bringing in enchantment hate anyways. It does do a pretty good job against opposing Lingering Souls though.

At the start of this format I thought that counterspells would be near unplayable. That changed very quickly. It turns out they are still playable and you actually want to have them in a number of matchups. Dissipate is certainly better than Syncopate, but the most important thing is being able to interact on turn2 so Syncopate gets the slot and Dissipate is in the SB.

UPDATE 10/29:

My updated list looks like this now:

4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Swamp
3 Plains
4 Island
2 Nephalia Drownyard

4 Azorius Charm
3 Ultimate Price
4 Lingering Souls
4 Detention Sphere
1 Sever the Bloodline
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Supreme Verdict
3 Terminus
3 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Syncopate / Remove Soul

2 Angel of Serenity
1 Negate
3 Dissipate
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Pithing Needle
3 Seraph of Dawn
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Ultimate Price

RTR Cube and C:L Rules Updates

It's been a while since I've made a cube update and with Ravnica around the corner there's no better time. The changelog is pretty long so I'll just talk about the ones that stand out.

     Unearth -> Consume Spirit
     Murder -> Diabolic Edict
     Remove Soul -> Stealer of Secrets
     Dross Golem -> Dead Reveler
     Village Ironsmith -> Splatter Thug
     Penumbra Bobcat -> Korazda Monitor
     Cabal Pit -> Cabal Coffers
     Nacatl War-Pride -> Stampeding Serow
     Sengir Vampire -> Throat Slitter
     Demonic Taskmaster -> Nezumi Graverobber
     Lust for War -> Street Spasm
     Lava Hounds -> Slith Firewalker
     Krosan Verge -> Azorius Keyrune
     Dreadship Reef -> Izzet Keyrune
     Barbarion Ring -> Dimir Keyrune (Gatecrash)
     Kiss of Amesha -> Azorius Charm
     Spawning Pit -> Izzet Charm
     Crystal Ball -> Selesnya Charm
     Contagion Clasp -> Golgari Charm

     Armillery Sphere -> Relic of Progenitus

Cutting Armillery Sphere was a difficult choice but I decided I had to make a few sacrifices to make way for the Guildgates.

     Armadillo Cloak -> Sundering Growth
     Recoil -> Hussar Patrol
     Henchfiend of Ukor -> Vassal Soul

Some of the gold card switches made to accommodate Ravnica.

     Azorius Signet -> Azorius Guildgate
     Izzet Signet -> Izzet Guildgate
     Dimir Signet -> Rakdos Guildgate
     Rupture Spire -> Golgari Guildgate
     Shimmering Grotto -> Selesnya Guildgate

From the start I have been wary about having Signets in the cube. I resolved to just have the suitable three but now that there are other forms of basic fixing (in addition to the Keyrunes as replacements) I am fine with cutting the Signets. As for the five-color lands, I prefer it not to be possible to draft 4-5 color decks without any worries of color issues. There is still tons of fixing but now it doesn't apply to all five colors at once.

     Tectonic Rift -> Avalanche Riders

I've been afraid to include too many good LD spells because they aren't particularly fun and also punish people for playing bouncelands. I will probably come to regret this one once Avalanche Riders is given Persist or something like that but I don't consider the Cube: Legacy rules when making additions to the cube.

Ravnica Additions:

     Gore-house Chainwalker
     Gatecreeper Vine
     Rakdos Shred-Freak
     Fencing Ace
     Thrill-kill Assassin
     Bloodfray Giant
     Dreg Mangler
     Hellhole Flayer
     Skymark Roc
     Dryad Militant
     Rakdos Cackler
     Lyev Skyknight

Moving on, I've decided to make a few changes to the rules of Cube: Legacy to accommodate for new players who have not used the cube before. It is not incredibly fun when half of the cubers have a considerable amount of edge over you, whether it be numerous named cards or knowing exactly what every card does. There's no way to fix this issue completely, but I want to take steps so that it is lessened.

The change I'm making to help with this problem is abandoning the achievements part of the game. It had a few of its own flaws (difficult to keep track of while battling) but barrier to entry is the real problem, so instead the reward sheet will now be used for winners of the cube. The winner of a cube draft will now get to roll a die to earn one of the achievements.

I think this is a big step forward for the game. There are less rules over all, less things to keep track of during gameplay, and less of a barrier to entry. That means more fun!


As always, if you are curious about something or think I missed something feel free to post below or on twitter.

C:L Comprehensive Ability Sheet

Updated 9/27

I figured it would be a better idea to just list the comprehensive ability sheet rather than list the abilities that are currently on the rotating sheet. I keep the following amount on each successive tier on the active list at a time: 2, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Fifth Tier abilities (1 pt):

• Reach
• Wither
• Trample
• Vigilance
• Scry 1 or ETB scry 1
• Basic land type-walk

Fourth Tier abilities (3 pts):

• Flash
• Haste
• Flying
• Breath
• Exalted
• Shadow
• Populate or ETB Populate
• First Strike
• +1 toughness
• Regenerate for C
• Protection from a color
• Gain 2 life or ETB gain 2 life
• Cycling equal to C or 2 (+1 if the card was printed with madness)
• Draw a card then discard a card or ETB draw a card then discard a card
• Ninjutsu equal to 1C if CMC is <5, 2C if CMC is 5-6, and 3C if CMC is 7+
• Madness equal to 1C if CMC is <5, 2C if CMC is 5-6, and 3C if CMC is 7+
• Morph equal to C if CMC is <4, 1C if CMC is 4-5, 3C if CMC is 6, and 3CC if CMC is 7+ (you may pay an additional point to change ETB abilities to "turned face up" ones; put only on creatures)

Third Tier abilities (6 pts, 7 pts if it's the second sticker for a card):

• Graft 1
• Shroud
• Unleash
• +1 power
• Defender
• Protection from a card type
• Scavenge XCC where X is 1 less than the creature's power
• Deal 2 damage to target player or ETB deal 2 damage to target player
• Miracle equal to C if CMC is <6, 1C if CMC is 6-7, and 2C if CMC is 8+
• Unearth equal to 1C if CMC is <5, 2C if CMC is 5-6, and 3C if CMC is 7+
• Switch a keyword ability with one worth the same amount of points or less that appears on the comprehensive ability sheet
• Glass-spin (whenever this permanent becomes the target of a spell or ability for the first time in a turn, counter that spell or ability)

Second Tier abilities (9 pts, 10 if it's the second sticker for a card):

• Persist
• Dredge 3
• Hexproof
• Recover 2C
• Echo equal to mana cost
• Draw a card or ETB draw a card
• Increase or decrease a numeral in a textbox by 1
• When this card deals damage to a player draw a card
• Suspend 2 equal to up to 2C less than CMC, but not less than C
• When this card deals damage to a player that player discards a card at random
• Change colored mana symbols in a card's mana cost or text box to phyrexian mana symbols

First Tier abilities (12 pts, 14 if it's the second sticker for a card):

• Graft 2
• Undying
• Cascade
• Rebound
• Flashback
• Indestructible
• Double Strike
• Creatures you control get +1/+1 (put on only permanents)

Ability Reset (4 pts): Remove all ability stickers from a card. This option is usable on any card but not after the card has become a part of a cube in progress.

When buying an ability for a card that has one or more counterparts (double faced cards, Squadron Hawks, etc.), for each counterpart you may pay 1 more to give it the same ability.

The winner of each cube draft gets to roll a die to obtain one of the following rewards to be used at the appropriate time:

• Obtain a random first or second tier ability sticker.

• At a time when you could normally buy a sticker, move a sticker on a card in your pool to a different card that has no stickers. Repeat this process.

• The current cube is now a 3v3 team cube. You pick the teams. Use after drafting is completed (winning team members each win a reward).

• Everyone reveals their first picks. You choose one of them for yourself, the rest are randomly redistributed. Use only after P1P1.

• Choose either the drafter to your left or your right. Look at that player’s picks and exchange one card from their picks with a card from yours. Use between packs during the draft.

• Challenge a player to a heads up best of 5 sealed deck match. Wager an amount of points of your choosing.

• Add a rare of your choice to the Cube. Make it count because the cube owner may veto ridiculous suggestions and you only have two chances to get it right.

• Name a card in your pool in your honor. That card costs 1 less for you to cast and 1 more for your opponents.