Is it just me, or is control a complete joke in this format? Even when a control deck starts doing well, such as UWR control or Crypticshift (both of which I played), Wizards nullifies their relevance within a few months with bans or new releases. Lately, it's gotten ridiculous, to the point where it feels like Wizards simply doesn't want control in the format at all. Take a look at the entire Khans block, what did control get? The only decent card is Anticipate, and that is barely an upgrade over Telling Time. Meanwhile, everyone else gets Collected Company, Tasigur, Kolaghan's Command, Gurmag Angler, Siege Rhino and Anafenza to play with. Magic Origins seems to be heading in the same direction, with the only playable flip cards being Liliana and Gideon, more midrange/aggro cards.
The recent GP is what finally prompted me to make an account and post this. There were 2,693 players at GP Charlotte, and only a single control deck made it in the top 32 (2 if you count "lantern control", lol), which was played by Patrick Chapin, and he couldn't make it into the top 8. Shaun McLaren didn't even make it on the board with his UWR deck.
At this stage, I am sick of it. I'm tired of switching from one control deck to another only to have Wizards spit in my face the very next expansion by printing 10 new cards for the Liliana/Tarmogoyf juggernaut to destroy me with. I am tired of having nothing to look forward to release after release. I really have tried to make it work, but at this point I am ready to give up and accept that there will never be a control deck that is consistently as good as BGx/Twin/Affinity (ie - one that remains top tier for more than a couple of months).
Has modern always been like this? Am I missing something or is it time to sell off my cards and not look back?
Chapin played Grixis Control to an 13-2 record this last weekend. Now, he's probably an exception, but there is potential in Grixis Control at the moment. To say that he "couldn't make it" to the top 8 is a little silly, when he was 13-2, an incredible record. Stop looking at the top 8 and look at the top 16 or top 32.
Control is getting hurt because combo is so strong. See the banlist discussion here on this forum for more debate on it.
I would suggest that control players were recently thrown a bone by allowing a proactive gameplan with Myth Realized. No one is playing it, but the card is real imo. If I weren't so in love with Collected Company, I'd be on U/W Mythic Walker control.
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Modern Decks
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
UWR just isn't well positioned right now. That said it can still top 8 tournaments and win FNM's, but it does not have a great closer. Grixis has Tasigur and Gurmag Angler, which are great finishers for Control as you can play them for one B and then hold up Cryptic.
Control in Modern is very different than Legacy and Standard. There isn't a great 'draw go' style deck (by great I mean Tier 1'.) That said, Esper Control is actually pretty decent, and I think it is better positioned than UWR as it has access to Tas and Angler as finishers.
Colonnade isn't a great finisher right now with Terminate running around.
The other thing is that people probably see 'control' as UWR, where at the moment to be alive in modern B offers more than W. Venomous72 made a good point about this.
Well if your like me porting over from legacy then your feeling the same frustration. There is no true control in this format. That said after some re calibration for card power level and such I love this format. As stated above this is a creature centric format and some of the closest builds your probably gonna get are esper and grixis, the latter leaning more towards aggro control. I've piloted both and they are fine decks, the former probably not good enough to keep pace with the tier 1 broken starts but not far behind either. Don't hang it up yet man. Unless of course you really don't like turning dudes side ways to win.. in which case Ya wrong format.
The situation is not as bad as most think. The only decks really keeping control down are tron, and burn. A guy went 12-3 at the gp with Wafo Tapas esper draw go. He would have made top 32 or 16 if he won one more gsme. I recommend wafo tapas list for control in modern I say its around mid tier 2. Just hope to dodge tron and have most of the cards in your board be something you can bring in against burn because his list crushes midrange decks and twin.
I play the deck at my lgs and all the tein and bgx players who are some pt and gp players hate playing against me since I have around 80% winrate against them.
Affinity is also favoranle if you run at least 3 Spell Snare and 3 board wipes. I would say its 60/40 in your favor with the only games you lose are turn 1 plating and they are on the or if you are on the play but did not have the Spell Snare for it.
Board wipes are really good right now since they are excellent against midrange, affinity, and merfolk while being alright against infect. The only decks they are terrible against are burn, tron, and non coco combo.
Patrick Chapin's Grixis vontrol deck is also excellrnt because Khommand is better with Snapcaster than it is in jund. His deck gives you a chance against tron due to turn 2 tasigur, or angler with snap bolt backed with disruption.
There is U Tron, GR Tron if you want to call it control-ish, a Sultai Control list did well not long ago, Grixis is doing well now, and Esper is quietly getting better. I control where it needs to be? Not really, but is it a dead play style in modern? No, and saying so is ignorant.
I have some good news for you! There were several control decks that ended with a 12-3 record at Charlotte, but 12-3 decks ran from 16th to 51st, so many of us did not get put up on SCG's website.
If there is one thing I hate than it is statemenst like "Wizards doesn't print Control cards anymore".
You noticed that UW/x Control was one of the best decks in RTR-Theros Standard? Or that Esper Dragons Control is definitely a Tier 1 deck currently?
What you do frikken expect? That Wizards destroys Standard by printing broken Control cards? People grew already tired of Sphinx's Revelation.deck in it's Standard lifetime.
Wizards prints many Control cards. That they are not good enough for Modern isn't their problem though. It is the way it is and there is no changing that. These cards are very powerful in Standard and that format determines which cards are printable and which ones are not.
The question is not if Control is viable, the question is what is the point?
Unlike in Ravnica Standard or currently in Standard, where you have cards that reward you for going late; there is no reason to try to make the game go long in Modern right now.
The card pool in Modern is just too front end (by that I mean low CMC) powerful. Look at a card like Tasigur or Goyf. You get a huge body for extremely low CMC. Why play CMC 7 creatures like Pearl Lake (using as an example bc it is the closer of choice for UB standard control) that are almost or sometime even, outclassed by CMC 2 creatures. There are just no reasons or rewards for going long in Modern. At least in Standard and Legacy there are: Miracles has the top/balance lock, Lands has Stage/Depths etc.
I have some good news for you! There were several control decks that ended with a 12-3 record at Charlotte, but 12-3 decks ran from 16th to 51st, so many of us did not get put up on SCG's website.
Part of the issue is deciding what we consider "control". In reality the best comtrol deck right now is scapeshift. It's usually overlooked due to the combo finish, but it's all about keeping your game in check until it can go. Running the straight counter game is difficult right now because there's so many easy ways to hate blue.
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Modern UB Tezzerator UBW Gifts B 8Rack
Legacy RB Goblins
control remains mediocre. need to answer threat-dense decks and combo-control at the same time.
-deck filtering is bad, tutoring almost non-existent
need the right answer? too bad
-CA is expensive
you better be praying for two-for-ones, and those are usually 3cmc or more
-most counters too conditional or expensive
can't mana leak tarmogoyf on the draw, so you have to use narrow removal like spell snare, etc. expensive counters lead to losing counter wars from combo/control and don't reward enough outside of cryptic (dismiss, absorb)
-mass removal fails against resilient threats and manlands
played verdict? good, now die to inkmoth and treetop village
-"haymaykers" too fragile and don't turn the tide/win the game
little reward for playing control. twin has a win-the-game button, combo control in general can straight-up win if you tap out, aggro decks have stupid clocks, stuff like junk and jund have insane value and versatility. you're lucky if you win a planeswalker or colonnade
The question is not if Control is viable, the question is what is the point?
Unlike in Ravnica Standard or currently in Standard, where you have cards that reward you for going late; there is no reason to try to make the game go long in Modern right now.
The card pool in Modern is just too front end (by that I mean low CMC) powerful. Look at a card like Tasigur or Goyf. You get a huge body for extremely low CMC. Why play CMC 7 creatures like Pearl Lake (using as an example bc it is the closer of choice for UB standard control) that are almost or sometime even, outclassed by CMC 2 creatures. There are just no reasons or rewards for going long in Modern. At least in Standard and Legacy there are: Miracles has the top/balance lock, Lands has Stage/Depths etc.
There are still plenty of creatures waiting to be broken for Modern, just because people haven't figured out how doesn't make the cards bad. Lone Revenant, for instance, is exactly what a control deck wants to do but no one plays it. Can't even use the argument of "it costs too much" since Ad Nauseam just did so well. Blood Baron of Vizkopa is immune to every non-Combust/REnding Volley/Roast removal in the format.
Godhead of Awe effectively nulls every other creature put onto the battlefield (Surprised Murican Control hasn't tried this yet with Pyroclasms and such). As I've said before, I'm sure U/W control would be a lot better if it used Force Spike, but that's neither here nor there.
The problem isn't lack of cards, it's lack of innovation. Esper/Grixis Control wouldn't have been things if someone didn't try them out, and even Bloom Titan is just a steaming pile of cards that someone just happened to break. Seriously, how many of you guys would have pegged fricken bouncelands as competitive cards.
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Oath of the Gatewatch; the set that caused the competitive community to freak out over Basic Lands.
Control is fine in modern. It takes practice and patience to become great at anticipating the meta and selecting the right cards to keep said meta in check.
If you think you can sleeve up the same 75 cards every week in a modern control deck, then you are going to be very sad.
Control lists change based on the current meta, if you don't do that then you will pay for it.
Comply or Die.
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Level 1 Judge
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU "Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR "The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
If there is one thing I hate than it is statemenst like "Wizards doesn't print Control cards anymore".
You noticed that UW/x Control was one of the best decks in RTR-Theros Standard? Or that Esper Dragons Control is definitely a Tier 1 deck currently?
What you do frikken expect? That Wizards destroys Standard by printing broken Control cards? People grew already tired of Sphinx's Revelation.deck in it's Standard lifetime.
Wizards prints many Control cards. That they are not good enough for Modern isn't their problem though. It is the way it is and there is no changing that. These are cards are very powerful in Standard and that format determines which cards are printable and which ones are not.
The problem is that wizards prints creatures that are overpowered, most of them made the cut for modern,and they don't care at all, but that doesn't happend with control cards.
They don't even print 4 CMC board wipes... they are not "FUN" for new players...
Esper dragons is a tier 1, but it plays 6 dragons, 6!!!
You were tired of sphinx? i was tired of shaman, and pack rats.. and abrupt decays...
IF you don't see that wizards are pushing creatures over other cards we dont have anything to discuss..
So what's your point? There is no rule that prevents Control decks from playing creatures.
Control has to adapt to the environment and the meta and not the other way around.
Just take a look at Patrick Chapins Grixis Control deck from GP Charlotte. He plays 5 creatures that are able to stabilize the board and kill the opponent. Tasigur, the Golden Fang even produces CA.
If your aren't using the Delve mechanic or comboing, you are doing it wrong in Modern lol.
Honestly, I think control still has a place even if the new cards aren't really contributing.
Path to Exile, still the most powerful removal spell and doesn't care about Tasigur or Grumag. Cryptic Command, still the most powerful command in the format. Snapcaster Mage, is seeing a resurgence and is arguably one of the best 2-drop control cards. Lingering Souls, don't even have to comment. Jace, Architect of Thought, no other planeswalker offers this much CA in this format.
White, splash x-color still has all the best hate cards:
Stony Silence, Rest in Peace, Supreme Verdict, Kor Firewalker, Wear / Tear, Counterflux etc.
You guys may also be sleeping on Ojutai's Command as the 5th Cryptic, in a creature filled format. Recurring Snapcaster Mage is just pure value, you technically cast 3 spells.
The question is not if Control is viable, the question is what is the point?
Unlike in Ravnica Standard or currently in Standard, where you have cards that reward you for going late; there is no reason to try to make the game go long in Modern right now.
The card pool in Modern is just too front end (by that I mean low CMC) powerful. Look at a card like Tasigur or Goyf. You get a huge body for extremely low CMC. Why play CMC 7 creatures like Pearl Lake (using as an example bc it is the closer of choice for UB standard control) that are almost or sometime even, outclassed by CMC 2 creatures. There are just no reasons or rewards for going long in Modern. At least in Standard and Legacy there are: Miracles has the top/balance lock, Lands has Stage/Depths etc.
There are still plenty of creatures waiting to be broken for Modern, just because people haven't figured out how doesn't make the cards bad. Lone Revenant, for instance, is exactly what a control deck wants to do but no one plays it. Can't even use the argument of "it costs too much" since Ad Nauseam just did so well. Blood Baron of Vizkopa is immune to every non-Combust/REnding Volley/Roast removal in the format.
Godhead of Awe effectively nulls every other creature put onto the battlefield (Surprised Murican Control hasn't tried this yet with Pyroclasms and such). As I've said before, I'm sure U/W control would be a lot better if it used Force Spike, but that's neither here nor there.
The problem isn't lack of cards, it's lack of innovation. Esper/Grixis Control wouldn't have been things if someone didn't try them out, and even Bloom Titan is just a steaming pile of cards that someone just happened to break. Seriously, how many of you guys would have pegged fricken bouncelands as competitive cards.
I agree with all of this. People are scared to innovate decks and when they do they usually get laughed off of the forums. I am running Blood Baron of Vizkopa in Junk (not my original idea in the slightest, others have recently started doing this) and I could see myself going up to 2 copies mainboard. Modern does not have a great way to deal with him. Oh is that a Tasigur? Good luck blocking BBoV. Shoot I have a bad matchup against Wilt Leaf Abzan...oh look a BBoV that their deck literally cannot deal with. BW Tokens is a bad matchup, BBOV TO SAVE THE DAY MOTHER****ERS!
Everyone disregards any UWR innovations. "Why not try Aetherling"? "Because the mana investment is too high!" Oh ok but freaking tapping 5 for Colonnade isn't a mana dump that dies to all removal? If Aetherling drops, good luck getting rid of it.
"Hey should we try Anticipate??" "No that is stupid just run Think Twice like you're supposted to". Oh ok neat so when I am flooding through a land clump I can continue to flood faster instead of selecting the answers. Cool. "Well duh Venomous72, card selection is for combo, card draw is what control needs!". These are the conversations I read all the time on this forum.
To be fair, Control tends to need pure card advantage as a by-product of building the deck to hit land drops consistently up to 5. If you have 25 lands in your deck with no source of card advantage, average draws dictate that eventually you will have more land in play but less action than an opponent with fewer lands in their deck.
So, I think its a bit incorrect to say that Control does not need sources of card advantage, which is frequently why Think Twice is considered superior to Anticipate in UWx control builds. It's simply a product of having a higher curve and running more lands.
It's not a completely unfounded position for players to take.
Caveat: Mtg is way more complex than the situation as described above. There are plenty of reasons to choose anticipate instead. I've seen lists finishing recently that run both.
There is lots of innovation going around, so it's questionable to be claiming otherwise. Grixis control is such an innovation recently, amongst others.
I think that if you have a solid innovation and no one else is catching on, then all the better! Take down those events until people are forced to acknowledge it. Calling out others for their lack of innovation is strange - that seems like a perfect opportunity for an innovator to take advantage!
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Modern Decks
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
In pauper you can play UR Control and Monoblue Control because we have ponder, preordinar, brainstorm and counterspell, this cards make it possible, you also play Delver as main win condition and its fine ...
Modern needs a Counterspell if not, Control will be never be a deck
Ive played WUR Control in Modern some months and just die to the 1000 threats outhere ... a simply stompy deck, burn, zoo, auras, elves destroy you, you dont have all the answers to all the threats thats the problem
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Modern: RW R/W Burn WB B/W TokensXU MonuU Tron // UWX UW Tron R GoblinsW Soul SistersRWG Small ZooWUR WUR Geist/Control/Kiki-Resto Combo/NahiriUR Splinter Twin (90% Japanese)/ Grixis TwinRUB UR Delver / Grixis Delver UR Blue MoonBWU Ad NauseamWDeath and TaxesRUB Grixis ControlUMerfolksX Affinity RGB Living End UR Storm/PiF Combo RGX R/G TRON GWU Bant Eldrazi BW Eldrazi and Taxes RUBGoryos Vengeance UB Faeries Legacy:BRx Renimator Playing right now:Standard: Jeskai Control Modern; GoryosVengeance/UBFaeries/Affinity Legacy: BRx Reanimator Pauper: UR Drake (banned) Commander: Merieke Ri Berit Esper
Control is obviously a nearly-extinct archetype in Modern. It makes up less than 8% of the meta, and everyone and their mother keeps trying to expand the tautology of control to say 'look it's healthy!' because most of these players just can't stand the archetype. Wizards seems to share their theology as well. Why is Liliana of the Veil legal, but not Jace, TMS? They're on the same power-level. Our CA tools are all banned. Wizards will not print us a good CA engine, but they keep giving BGx great CA tools. It's frustrating. I think most of the removal options are fine. Valorous Stance actually helped a bit here since X/4's are everywhere in the meta, but, to get a good counter or draw spell. Good luck.
Also, not everyone calls Control purely draw-go. Ask any control player if they love playing Miracles and they'll say, yes (who plays Legacy), and that is not a draw-go deck.
I think the only thing missing is a good Counterspell and a good CA engine and control can become T1. Dragonlord Ojutai is a good finisher and so is Keranos.
Control is obviously a nearly-extinct archetype in Modern. It makes up less than 8% of the meta, and everyone and their mother keeps trying to expand the tautology of control to say 'look it's healthy!' because most of these players just can't stand the archetype. Wizards seems to share their theology as well. Why is Liliana of the Veil legal, but not Jace, TMS? They're on the same power-level. Our CA tools are all banned. Wizards will not print us a good CA engine, but they keep giving BGx great CA tools. It's frustrating. I think most of the removal options are fine. Valorous Stance actually helped a bit here since X/4's are everywhere in the meta, but, to get a good counter or draw spell. Good luck.
Also, not everyone calls Control purely draw-go. Ask any control player if they love playing Miracles and they'll say, yes (who plays Legacy), and that is not a draw-go deck.
I think the only thing missing is a good Counterspell and a good CA engine and control can become T1. Dragonlord Ojutai is a good finisher and so is Keranos.
Jace
4 CMC
3 Loyalty +2 uptick
Has 0 Ability
-1 downtick
Has four abilities, all of which are highly relevant
Control is obviously a nearly-extinct archetype in Modern. It makes up less than 8% of the meta, and everyone and their mother keeps trying to expand the tautology of control to say 'look it's healthy!' because most of these players just can't stand the archetype. Wizards seems to share their theology as well. Why is Liliana of the Veil legal, but not Jace, TMS? They're on the same power-level. Our CA tools are all banned. Wizards will not print us a good CA engine, but they keep giving BGx great CA tools. It's frustrating. I think most of the removal options are fine. Valorous Stance actually helped a bit here since X/4's are everywhere in the meta, but, to get a good counter or draw spell. Good luck.
Also, not everyone calls Control purely draw-go. Ask any control player if they love playing Miracles and they'll say, yes (who plays Legacy), and that is not a draw-go deck.
I think the only thing missing is a good Counterspell and a good CA engine and control can become T1. Dragonlord Ojutai is a good finisher and so is Keranos.
Jace
4 CMC
3 Loyalty +2 uptick
Has 0 Ability
-1 downtick
Has four abilities, all of which are highly relevant
The recent GP is what finally prompted me to make an account and post this. There were 2,693 players at GP Charlotte, and only a single control deck made it in the top 32 (2 if you count "lantern control", lol), which was played by Patrick Chapin, and he couldn't make it into the top 8. Shaun McLaren didn't even make it on the board with his UWR deck.
At this stage, I am sick of it. I'm tired of switching from one control deck to another only to have Wizards spit in my face the very next expansion by printing 10 new cards for the Liliana/Tarmogoyf juggernaut to destroy me with. I am tired of having nothing to look forward to release after release. I really have tried to make it work, but at this point I am ready to give up and accept that there will never be a control deck that is consistently as good as BGx/Twin/Affinity (ie - one that remains top tier for more than a couple of months).
Has modern always been like this? Am I missing something or is it time to sell off my cards and not look back?
PS: Sorry that my first post is a negative one.
Control is getting hurt because combo is so strong. See the banlist discussion here on this forum for more debate on it.
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
Control in Modern is very different than Legacy and Standard. There isn't a great 'draw go' style deck (by great I mean Tier 1'.) That said, Esper Control is actually pretty decent, and I think it is better positioned than UWR as it has access to Tas and Angler as finishers.
Colonnade isn't a great finisher right now with Terminate running around.
Current decks of choice:
Vintage: Shops.
Legacy: Lands.
Modern: Lantern.
The other thing is that people probably see 'control' as UWR, where at the moment to be alive in modern B offers more than W. Venomous72 made a good point about this.
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
I play the deck at my lgs and all the tein and bgx players who are some pt and gp players hate playing against me since I have around 80% winrate against them.
Affinity is also favoranle if you run at least 3 Spell Snare and 3 board wipes. I would say its 60/40 in your favor with the only games you lose are turn 1 plating and they are on the or if you are on the play but did not have the Spell Snare for it.
Board wipes are really good right now since they are excellent against midrange, affinity, and merfolk while being alright against infect. The only decks they are terrible against are burn, tron, and non coco combo.
Patrick Chapin's Grixis vontrol deck is also excellrnt because Khommand is better with Snapcaster than it is in jund. His deck gives you a chance against tron due to turn 2 tasigur, or angler with snap bolt backed with disruption.
Cheeri0sXWU
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Look here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpcha15/archetype-exemplars-top-decks-of-grand-prix-charlotte-2015-06-13
Grixis Control @ 9th, Top Control @ 15th, UWR Control @ 33rd, Esper Control @ 45th, UWR Control + Lingering Souls @ 62nd
Control is extraordinarily underrated in Modern.
Modern - Esper Draw-Go (Best finish - 12-3, 45th at GP Charlotte 2015), Jeskai Control, UR Breach Moon
You noticed that UW/x Control was one of the best decks in RTR-Theros Standard? Or that Esper Dragons Control is definitely a Tier 1 deck currently?
What you do frikken expect? That Wizards destroys Standard by printing broken Control cards? People grew already tired of Sphinx's Revelation.deck in it's Standard lifetime.
Wizards prints many Control cards. That they are not good enough for Modern isn't their problem though. It is the way it is and there is no changing that. These cards are very powerful in Standard and that format determines which cards are printable and which ones are not.
Unlike in Ravnica Standard or currently in Standard, where you have cards that reward you for going late; there is no reason to try to make the game go long in Modern right now.
The card pool in Modern is just too front end (by that I mean low CMC) powerful. Look at a card like Tasigur or Goyf. You get a huge body for extremely low CMC. Why play CMC 7 creatures like Pearl Lake (using as an example bc it is the closer of choice for UB standard control) that are almost or sometime even, outclassed by CMC 2 creatures. There are just no reasons or rewards for going long in Modern. At least in Standard and Legacy there are: Miracles has the top/balance lock, Lands has Stage/Depths etc.
Faeries @ 19th!
DECKS:
UB Faeries [Midrange/Tempo]
RWUGB Affinity[Aggro]
FAERIES TOO STRONK!!!1111
- Fae Prophecy, 201
5678UB Tezzerator
UBW Gifts
B 8Rack
Legacy
RB Goblins
-deck filtering is bad, tutoring almost non-existent
need the right answer? too bad
-CA is expensive
you better be praying for two-for-ones, and those are usually 3cmc or more
-most counters too conditional or expensive
can't mana leak tarmogoyf on the draw, so you have to use narrow removal like spell snare, etc. expensive counters lead to losing counter wars from combo/control and don't reward enough outside of cryptic (dismiss, absorb)
-mass removal fails against resilient threats and manlands
played verdict? good, now die to inkmoth and treetop village
-"haymaykers" too fragile and don't turn the tide/win the game
little reward for playing control. twin has a win-the-game button, combo control in general can straight-up win if you tap out, aggro decks have stupid clocks, stuff like junk and jund have insane value and versatility. you're lucky if you win a planeswalker or colonnade
There are still plenty of creatures waiting to be broken for Modern, just because people haven't figured out how doesn't make the cards bad. Lone Revenant, for instance, is exactly what a control deck wants to do but no one plays it. Can't even use the argument of "it costs too much" since Ad Nauseam just did so well. Blood Baron of Vizkopa is immune to every non-Combust/REnding Volley/Roast removal in the format.
Godhead of Awe effectively nulls every other creature put onto the battlefield (Surprised Murican Control hasn't tried this yet with Pyroclasms and such). As I've said before, I'm sure U/W control would be a lot better if it used Force Spike, but that's neither here nor there.
The problem isn't lack of cards, it's lack of innovation. Esper/Grixis Control wouldn't have been things if someone didn't try them out, and even Bloom Titan is just a steaming pile of cards that someone just happened to break. Seriously, how many of you guys would have pegged fricken bouncelands as competitive cards.
If you think you can sleeve up the same 75 cards every week in a modern control deck, then you are going to be very sad.
Control lists change based on the current meta, if you don't do that then you will pay for it.
Comply or Die.
Level 2 in progress...
UUU Merfolk UUU
"Above the waves you may be mighty indeed, but down here you belong to me."
-Empress Galina
UBR Cruel Control UBR
"The essence of every world, every spell, and every thought is power. Nothing else matters, because nothing else exists."
-Nicol Bolas
So what's your point? There is no rule that prevents Control decks from playing creatures.
Control has to adapt to the environment and the meta and not the other way around.
Just take a look at Patrick Chapins Grixis Control deck from GP Charlotte. He plays 5 creatures that are able to stabilize the board and kill the opponent. Tasigur, the Golden Fang even produces CA.
Honestly, I think control still has a place even if the new cards aren't really contributing.
Path to Exile, still the most powerful removal spell and doesn't care about Tasigur or Grumag.
Cryptic Command, still the most powerful command in the format.
Snapcaster Mage, is seeing a resurgence and is arguably one of the best 2-drop control cards.
Lingering Souls, don't even have to comment.
Jace, Architect of Thought, no other planeswalker offers this much CA in this format.
White, splash x-color still has all the best hate cards:
Stony Silence, Rest in Peace, Supreme Verdict, Kor Firewalker, Wear / Tear, Counterflux etc.
I played UW control in Standard when Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Ætherling, Sphinx's Revelation and Azorius Charm was all the rave. I really enjoyed the deck and don't see why it couldn't be ported to the Modern environment.
You guys may also be sleeping on Ojutai's Command as the 5th Cryptic, in a creature filled format. Recurring Snapcaster Mage is just pure value, you technically cast 3 spells.
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
I agree with all of this. People are scared to innovate decks and when they do they usually get laughed off of the forums. I am running Blood Baron of Vizkopa in Junk (not my original idea in the slightest, others have recently started doing this) and I could see myself going up to 2 copies mainboard. Modern does not have a great way to deal with him. Oh is that a Tasigur? Good luck blocking BBoV. Shoot I have a bad matchup against Wilt Leaf Abzan...oh look a BBoV that their deck literally cannot deal with. BW Tokens is a bad matchup, BBOV TO SAVE THE DAY MOTHER****ERS!
Everyone disregards any UWR innovations. "Why not try Aetherling"? "Because the mana investment is too high!" Oh ok but freaking tapping 5 for Colonnade isn't a mana dump that dies to all removal? If Aetherling drops, good luck getting rid of it.
"Hey should we try Anticipate??" "No that is stupid just run Think Twice like you're supposted to". Oh ok neat so when I am flooding through a land clump I can continue to flood faster instead of selecting the answers. Cool. "Well duh Venomous72, card selection is for combo, card draw is what control needs!". These are the conversations I read all the time on this forum.
So, I think its a bit incorrect to say that Control does not need sources of card advantage, which is frequently why Think Twice is considered superior to Anticipate in UWx control builds. It's simply a product of having a higher curve and running more lands.
It's not a completely unfounded position for players to take.
Caveat: Mtg is way more complex than the situation as described above. There are plenty of reasons to choose anticipate instead. I've seen lists finishing recently that run both.
There is lots of innovation going around, so it's questionable to be claiming otherwise. Grixis control is such an innovation recently, amongst others.
I think that if you have a solid innovation and no one else is catching on, then all the better! Take down those events until people are forced to acknowledge it. Calling out others for their lack of innovation is strange - that seems like a perfect opportunity for an innovator to take advantage!
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
Modern needs a Counterspell if not, Control will be never be a deck
Ive played WUR Control in Modern some months and just die to the 1000 threats outhere ... a simply stompy deck, burn, zoo, auras, elves destroy you, you dont have all the answers to all the threats thats the problem
RW R/W Burn WB B/W TokensXU MonuU Tron // UWX UW Tron
R GoblinsW Soul SistersRWG Small ZooWUR WUR Geist/Control/Kiki-Resto Combo/NahiriUR Splinter Twin (90% Japanese)/ Grixis TwinRUB UR Delver / Grixis Delver UR Blue MoonBWU Ad NauseamWDeath and TaxesRUB Grixis ControlUMerfolksX Affinity RGB Living End UR Storm/PiF Combo RGX R/G TRON GWU Bant Eldrazi BW Eldrazi and Taxes RUBGoryos Vengeance UB Faeries
Legacy:BRx Renimator
Playing right now: Standard: Jeskai Control Modern; GoryosVengeance/UBFaeries/Affinity Legacy: BRx Reanimator Pauper: UR Drake (banned) Commander: Merieke Ri Berit Esper
Also, not everyone calls Control purely draw-go. Ask any control player if they love playing Miracles and they'll say, yes (who plays Legacy), and that is not a draw-go deck.
I think the only thing missing is a good Counterspell and a good CA engine and control can become T1. Dragonlord Ojutai is a good finisher and so is Keranos.
Jace
4 CMC
3 Loyalty
+2 uptick
Has 0 Ability
-1 downtick
Has four abilities, all of which are highly relevant
Liliana
3 CMC
3 Loyalty
+1 Uptick
-2 downtick
Three abilities
Not even close to the same power level.
Wherever you learned your critical thinking skills from, they should get their money back.