Look at Josh Utter-Leyton's World's list. A better question is how could he lose to Rumanap. 4 Fatal Push, 4 Essence Scatter, 2 Essence Extraction, and 3 Vraska's Contempt makes for a lot of removal that's either very efficient or has lifegain tacked on. Many answers to Hazoret and Chandra and it's impossible for them to get rid of a Scarab God for very long. In the sideboard is a 3rd Essence Extraction and 3 Contraband Kingpin.
I am curious why they chose to run Hieroglyphic Illumination over Glimmer of Genius. Yeah, you can cycle the former but, even without a use for the energy, the later lets you scry before drawing, giving a theoretical better chance to get what you want. Am I not seeing something or is the cycle for U enough to make Illumination better?
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I am curious why they chose to run Hieroglyphic Illumination over Glimmer of Genius. Yeah, you can cycle the former but, even without a use for the energy, the later lets you scry before drawing, giving a theoretical better chance to get what you want. Am I not seeing something or is the cycle for U enough to make Illumination better?
I am curious why they chose to run Hieroglyphic Illumination over Glimmer of Genius. Yeah, you can cycle the former but, even without a use for the energy, the later lets you scry before drawing, giving a theoretical better chance to get what you want. Am I not seeing something or is the cycle for U enough to make Illumination better?
This. In fact, in the deck tech article I linked to above, Josh Utter-Leyton says that "Blue-Black Control has no catch-up mechanism, and almost all of your answers are counterspells, so taking a turn off to cast Glimmer of Genius is a big problem, and you fall behind as a result. Search for Azcanta is a way of getting your card advantage engine on the table for a lot less mana."
Also, did anyone notice that we put two UB control lists in to the Top 4, at 2nd and 4th? The finals will be 1st vs 4th, 2nd vs 3rd, so Chew will play Huey Jensen (Jensen's only loss in Standard was to Chew), and Wrapter vs Dominguez (they were paired together in round 13, and Dominguez won 2-1). Potential for a UB Mirror final! Also, Sam Black finished 6th, and Gerry T finished 9th.
This. In fact, in the deck tech article I linked to above, Josh Utter-Leyton says that "Blue-Black Control has no catch-up mechanism, and almost all of your answers are counterspells, so taking a turn off to cast Glimmer of Genius is a big problem, and you fall behind as a result. Search for Azcanta is a way of getting your card advantage engine on the table for a lot less mana."
Also, did anyone notice that we put two UB control lists in to the Top 4, at 2nd and 4th? The finals will be 1st vs 4th, 2nd vs 3rd, so Chew will play Huey Jensen (Jensen's only loss in Standard was to Chew), and Wrapter vs Dominguez (they were paired together in round 13, and Dominguez won 2-1). Potential for a UB Mirror final! Also, Sam Black finished 6th, and Gerry T finished 9th.
So I read the article and I still don't really like their explanation for Illumination over Glimmer. First, they're running illumination, not opt, so they do plan to spend some of the time taking a turn off to spend 4 mana to draw 2. Also, Illumination over glimmer really offers a only small window where it flips azcanta earlier, and we're talking only 1 turn earlier to flip azcanta. And, azcanta activation costs 4 mana, same as glimmer, so while the "catch up mechanism" is already on the bored, you still need to spend 4 mana to actually catch up. Also, azcanta activation can't get lands, gearhulks, or scarab gods. Glimmer is really just a high value card, if we count a scry as half a card, then glimmer is instant speed, draw 3, and make aether hub an Underground Sea the rest of the game all for 4 mana. I'd rather have that then flip azcanta 1 turn earlier potentially some of the time and be playing illumination.
I think azcanta is getting a little over hyped. It certainly is a powerful addition for control decks, but its very slow, and really only shines in grindy MU's. casting it on turn 4 against temur energy, and then scattering their bristling hydra on their turn is obviously the most ideal situation, but it doesn't always work out that way. Also, there's no way to loot for the deck, so drawing a 2nd copy of it is basically a dead card. I've been comparing it to Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, because its essentially a 2 mana filter that flips later in the game to provide card advantage. Jace was a 4 of though because you could loot away extra copies, you can't do this with azcanta. Currently I'm at 2 copies in the deck and I'm happy with it there. Maybe 3 copies is correct, but like I said I really hate drawing a 2nd copy early in the game
Search for Azcanta is definitely over-hyped. The same issues with mana and timing are the same regardless. The only advantage is the pseudo-scry. I still like the card but you're not keeping it in for aggro at all and I think it's really close to getting cut against Temur energy. I would rather play more removal spells (I know we're severely limited on the number of those) or find another way.
This. In fact, in the deck tech article I linked to above, Josh Utter-Leyton says that "Blue-Black Control has no catch-up mechanism, and almost all of your answers are counterspells, so taking a turn off to cast Glimmer of Genius is a big problem, and you fall behind as a result. Search for Azcanta is a way of getting your card advantage engine on the table for a lot less mana."
Also, did anyone notice that we put two UB control lists in to the Top 4, at 2nd and 4th? The finals will be 1st vs 4th, 2nd vs 3rd, so Chew will play Huey Jensen (Jensen's only loss in Standard was to Chew), and Wrapter vs Dominguez (they were paired together in round 13, and Dominguez won 2-1). Potential for a UB Mirror final! Also, Sam Black finished 6th, and Gerry T finished 9th.
So I read the article and I still don't really like their explanation for Illumination over Glimmer. First, they're running illumination, not opt, so they do plan to spend some of the time taking a turn off to spend 4 mana to draw 2. Also, Illumination over glimmer really offers a only small window where it flips azcanta earlier, and we're talking only 1 turn earlier to flip azcanta. And, azcanta activation costs 4 mana, same as glimmer, so while the "catch up mechanism" is already on the bored, you still need to spend 4 mana to actually catch up. Also, azcanta activation can't get lands, gearhulks, or scarab gods. Glimmer is really just a high value card, if we count a scry as half a card, then glimmer is instant speed, draw 3, and make aether hub an Underground Sea the rest of the game all for 4 mana. I'd rather have that then flip azcanta 1 turn earlier potentially some of the time and be playing illumination.
I think azcanta is getting a little over hyped. It certainly is a powerful addition for control decks, but its very slow, and really only shines in grindy MU's. casting it on turn 4 against temur energy, and then scattering their bristling hydra on their turn is obviously the most ideal situation, but it doesn't always work out that way. Also, there's no way to loot for the deck, so drawing a 2nd copy of it is basically a dead card. I've been comparing it to Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, because its essentially a 2 mana filter that flips later in the game to provide card advantage. Jace was a 4 of though because you could loot away extra copies, you can't do this with azcanta. Currently I'm at 2 copies in the deck and I'm happy with it there. Maybe 3 copies is correct, but like I said I really hate drawing a 2nd copy early in the game
Not everyone at World's is on the Hieroglyphic plan.
Not everyone at World's is on the Hieroglyphic plan.
That's right - Kelvin Chew ran 4 Glimmer (and no Aether Hub) and 2 Supreme Will, and was one of the Top 4. I also think that the potential for more cards at once outweighs the potential for flipping Search one turn earlier. I do like Wrapter's land base though, with seven "fetches", which would really thin the deck out, making Azcanta better, and any subsequent draws also less likely to be unneeded lands.
It could be worth running some sort of hybrid of the lists, something like this. I've got the 2/3 split of creatures from Sam Black and Wrapter, the Glimmer/Supreme Will card draw package of Chew (shaving one Censor for the second Supreme Will), and Wrapter's thinning land base, but with one extra Island (and one less Field of Ruin) to give early access to blue for countering quicker.
Sideboards seem pretty generic with 4 Duress and 2 Negate in all four boards, a couple of ways to deal with big creatures (e.g. Vizier of Many Faces, Gonti), some additional card advantage engines for control matchups (3 lists had Arguel's Blood Fast, GerryT had a fourth Search, and Wrapter ran a Treasure Map), and then a load of ways to deal with aggro (Essence Extractions, Kingpins and/or Aetherborn).
I'm thinking that a board like this is probably the middle ground.
Something to keep in mind about World's is that the meta was very small and very concise. I have slammed 16 man tournaments where stakes essentially dictated what the decks were going to be and have done it with really rogue decks made to beat a small set of specifics.
This statement is not really to undermine the lists from World's, but to lend a different perspective when evaluating these lists and how matches are currently evaluated on such information. I suspect these lists will undergo a number of changes as we shift to events with larger contestants and a wider array of decks and archetypes.
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STANDARD|UW Control MODERN| UBG Midrange PAUPER| UG Fog COMMANDER| UBG The Mimeoplasm
Oh, absolutely, but I think the lists are close. I think that Bontu's Last Reckoning will be needed in a wider field, and maybe Hostage Taker and/or Gonti will be good against mid-range decks. Opt is another one that will fill the GY quicker and turn on Azcanta as well. Corey Burkhart has an article in CFB today about UB in a wider field.
Another quick update with a 5-0 list and some musing from the pros...
Sam Black shared some interesting ideas about his Worlds list. First of all, his mana base choices - he says that he feels it's more important to enable revolt through Evolving Wilds than have Submerged Boneyard. I can see this, especially with the loss of Grasp.
Also, there seems to be two ways of playing the deck, either as a UB Scarab God Control deck (as GerryT did), or as a UB Search for Azcanta Control deck (as Black did). "[Gerry] believed the power was coming from the finisher more than from the engine, and he wanted to keep the battlefield small and then play a threat that most opponents folded to. Effective, but it just felt slightly less reliable in the games I played." Playing with the mentality of it being a Search deck is much like the UB Summonings lists, where you drop your enchantment and inevitability does the rest. You don't have to rush to win the game.
Next up is the choice of Illumination over Glimmer. It really does come down to the cycling. Black says that his aim is to fill the GY and to make sure that he can interact with the opponent as soon and as often as possible. "Early, they provide effects that I want if I don't have Search for Azcanta or they cycle to fill my graveyard quickly, and late, they cycle cheaply to help make sure that I keep hitting lands while Search for Azcanta generally finds spells."
Lastly is the way that they tried to beat aggressive decks. Wrapter and Gerry ran the Contraband Kingpins along with a split of Essence Extraction in the main and side. However, having a Kingpin against a flow of Khenras and Ahn-Crop Crashers isn't helpful. Sam Black had four Extraction in the side, and four Contempts instead of 3 in the main. He cut Disallow during boarding, so that way there was no need to find BB and UU on turn 3. His plan is to let Chandra resolve and then exile it, rather than using Disallow on a threat, taking a hit, and then Essence Extracting later. However (and these are my thoughts now), it may be better to keep the Aetherborn in if you are expecting more hard to kill creatures (>3 toughness, hexproof, etc). The hexproof is also why there were two Viziers in the sideboard.
Moving on to thoughts from another pro, Adrian Sullivan. While his list is similar to the World's ones, there area few minor (probably personal preference) changes.
It's a 61 card main, as he's not worked out which card to cut for the second Search. Most likely cuts are a Swamp, the third Contempt or Gearhulk (probably not a good plan according to Sam Black), or the second Glimmer (most likely).
Finally, the 5-0 list from yesterday. Not surprisingly, very similar to Worlds lists, but 3/3 in the creatures with one less land, and the counter spells (Essence Scatter, Disallow, Censor) are reduced by 1 to accommodate 3 Supreme Will. There's also one Treasure Map over the third Search.
Pretty interest to see the different versions, wonder which one will come out on top at a bigger event. Personally leaning towards the UB Search for Azcanta Control style of deck.
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
This is where I'm at with UB control. The first thing you'll notice is that I don't have Search, and that's because I don't own any yet. This list is based solely on the cards I have. My biggest question is what to cut for 2 Search for Azcanta. Other than that if there are any other adjustments to be made or suggestions that you all have I'm open to them. I was surprised to not see Opt in some of the Worlds lists. In terms of filling the graveyard for Search, I feel Opt would be far superior to Illumination as it lets you scry before drawing.
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I think you cut one Essence Extraction, and either one Opt or Supreme Will. I agree with you regarding Opt though, and plan on running 3 in my list, when I can finally get out to a local tourney. I want to try Sam Black's approach of going heavy on the Contempt main, and Extraction side, just to see what that plays out like. Plus, I've read a lot of pros' thoughts, and all of them say that Hieroglyphic Illumination is far better than Glimmer in this deck. Reluctantly, I'm going to try that too.
Here's what I'll be playing. I need to get one more Field of Ruin, then will be on 3 of those and 5 Swamps.
Flexibility between the edict and the hand disruption (basically being Duress 4 and 5 if needed). I know of several decks that have hexproof/indestructible creatures at my local store, plus there's usually a lot of control decks. I tried to take a mix of the Sullivan list and the Worlds lists and tweak them to what I'm expecting to benefit me at my local store. However, you could very well be correct that they aren't needed - Vizier can deal with the hexproof nonsense, and Contempt with the indestructibles. They could very well be swapped out for a second Bontu's and a Gonti/Hostage Taker or something.
Well I didn't mean to imply there was anything wrong with playing Doomfall. It's just a flexible, sorcery-speed spell. It just seems that most other UB control variants don't seem high on it. I like it though. I've been more keen on tap-out type lists.
I like Doomfall as it’s discard or edict. Like both Supreme Will and Abrade I like the flexibility with the card. Like what was preciously said it can act as extra duress or can deal with a troublesome creature. I like having more options to deal with indestructible creatures. If I were to replace them in the side it’d likely be with either Gonti or Hostage Taker, as the only reason I’m running Bontu’s is because it’s the best sweeper available to UB (I like untapping my lands to have the most options every turn).
Edit: looking at Jon’s list another option for Doomfall is Summonings, which gives another potential win con
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Well I didn't mean to imply there was anything wrong with playing Doomfall. It's just a flexible, sorcery-speed spell. It just seems that most other UB control variants don't seem high on it. I like it though. I've been more keen on tap-out type lists.
I get you. Your comment got me looking back at the lists, and it does seem like they are playing either Doomfall or Vizier, not both. It looks like they are both answers for the same problem, so while I may run both to start with, I may end up changing, not because someone on a forum made a comment (no offense!), but because that comment was provoking enough to make me reassess things. That's exactly what a discussion group is supposed to do, so I appreciate the comment!
Looking at Jon’s list another option for Doomfall is Summonings, which gives another potential win con
I can't multi-quote on a cell phone, so excuse the double post. From the article that accompanied the Sullivan list, Summonings is more for the Control matchup, I believe. It means that, even if you get in to a counter war, you're still going to come out ahead on board. Worlds lists ran Blood Fast here, with the idea of just winning the control mirrors by overloading on card advantage. Don't get me wrong though - Summoning could work against mid-range too, especially as Temur brings in a load of counter spells, and we still let it sit there and do it's thing while disrupting the opponent.
I would like advice on knowing when to flip Azcanta. Do you all flip it ASAP? Or are there certain matchups where it is better to keep it in scry mode? I made the mistake of keeping it in scry mode too long against a control deck and decked myself - that won't be happening again!
I would like advice on knowing when to flip Azcanta. Do you all flip it ASAP? Or are there certain matchups where it is better to keep it in scry mode? I made the mistake of keeping it in scry mode too long against a control deck and decked myself - that won't be happening again!
I think the plan is to flip as soon as sensibly possible. Yes, keeping it as an enchantment gives you one scry per turn for free, but the land gives you a card in hand from a choice of four (admittedly not for free, but still!). Obviously if you don't have the mana available to be holding up disruption and an activation, then it seems better to leave it as Search. However, you shouldn't be thinking of slamming this T2. The Worlds pros were wanting to play it T4 or 5, leaving counter magic up, so it's actually unlikely that you wouldn't be able to have interaction plus activation mana available when you flip it.
I am still trying to play Esper mainly for Settle the Wreckage and Fumigate but I don't see many others playing it.
It's all down to the mana base. With the loss of creature lands, being able to reliably cast double coloured spells on curve (UU or BB on 3 for Disallow/Essence Extraction, WW on 4 for Settle the Wreckage, or RR/WW for Hour/Fumigate) is difficult. Look at the mana base in Yasooka's list from Worlds, and look at how many tap lands there are in there.
This is testing well, albeit it's early. Green splash isn't very difficult and gives you a couple of new wrinkles in UB:
- The planeswalkers are really good, or at least Nissa VF and Vraska are. Verdict is out on Nissa SOE for now. But the planeswalkers give you win conditions you can find off of Azcanta, and they're all really strong.
- Longtusk Cub + Duress + Negate + Bristling Hydra give you a sideboard transformative plan for the mirror and various combo/combo-ish decks, like WB/WBx Tokens and God-Pharoah's Gift.
- Dynavolt Tower gives you enough removal spells to stabilize against a lot of moderate-sized creatures, like what Ramunap Red and Temur Energy tend to like to leave you with. Tower is technically playable in UB but you don't have the energy production without Attune with Aether (which also plays nicely with Azcanta).
I don't own any Scarab Gods anymore and they're $50 so I didn't test them yet. Probably one should be in here somewhere. You can cut Nissa SOE from the maindeck or River's Rebuke from the SB for it if you want.
Just a quick update... UB Control is the best deck in the United States. The winner of the US Nationals was running a similar list to the Worlds lists, so I'm not going to post it in full here. There were also at least two other copies in the top 16. I think that we're in a good spot just now... Maybe need to consider some more efficient sweepers if tokens becomes a thing - I did see a list with Archfiend of Ifnir in the side, which could be interesting with all these cycling cards being played.
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2 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
4 Fatal Push
4 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
4 Disallow
2 Essence Extraction
3 Vraska's Contempt
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
1 Glimmer of Genius
4 Fetid Pools
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Evolving Wilds
6 Island
5 Swamp
3 Field of Ruin
60 Cards
1 Field of Ruin
4 Duress
2 Negate
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
1 Treasure Map
3 Contraband Kingpin
2 Vizier of Many Faces
Modern: UW Spirits
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
C Long Live Eldrazi C
Also, did anyone notice that we put two UB control lists in to the Top 4, at 2nd and 4th? The finals will be 1st vs 4th, 2nd vs 3rd, so Chew will play Huey Jensen (Jensen's only loss in Standard was to Chew), and Wrapter vs Dominguez (they were paired together in round 13, and Dominguez won 2-1). Potential for a UB Mirror final! Also, Sam Black finished 6th, and Gerry T finished 9th.
So I read the article and I still don't really like their explanation for Illumination over Glimmer. First, they're running illumination, not opt, so they do plan to spend some of the time taking a turn off to spend 4 mana to draw 2. Also, Illumination over glimmer really offers a only small window where it flips azcanta earlier, and we're talking only 1 turn earlier to flip azcanta. And, azcanta activation costs 4 mana, same as glimmer, so while the "catch up mechanism" is already on the bored, you still need to spend 4 mana to actually catch up. Also, azcanta activation can't get lands, gearhulks, or scarab gods. Glimmer is really just a high value card, if we count a scry as half a card, then glimmer is instant speed, draw 3, and make aether hub an Underground Sea the rest of the game all for 4 mana. I'd rather have that then flip azcanta 1 turn earlier potentially some of the time and be playing illumination.
I think azcanta is getting a little over hyped. It certainly is a powerful addition for control decks, but its very slow, and really only shines in grindy MU's. casting it on turn 4 against temur energy, and then scattering their bristling hydra on their turn is obviously the most ideal situation, but it doesn't always work out that way. Also, there's no way to loot for the deck, so drawing a 2nd copy of it is basically a dead card. I've been comparing it to Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, because its essentially a 2 mana filter that flips later in the game to provide card advantage. Jace was a 4 of though because you could loot away extra copies, you can't do this with azcanta. Currently I'm at 2 copies in the deck and I'm happy with it there. Maybe 3 copies is correct, but like I said I really hate drawing a 2nd copy early in the game
C Long Live Eldrazi C
It could be worth running some sort of hybrid of the lists, something like this. I've got the 2/3 split of creatures from Sam Black and Wrapter, the Glimmer/Supreme Will card draw package of Chew (shaving one Censor for the second Supreme Will), and Wrapter's thinning land base, but with one extra Island (and one less Field of Ruin) to give early access to blue for countering quicker.
2 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Instants (26)
4 Fatal Push
3 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
4 Disallow
2 Essence Extraction
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Supreme Will
3 Vraska's Contempt
3 Search for Azcanta
Land (26)
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
2 Field of Ruin
7 Island
5 Swamp
Sideboards seem pretty generic with 4 Duress and 2 Negate in all four boards, a couple of ways to deal with big creatures (e.g. Vizier of Many Faces, Gonti), some additional card advantage engines for control matchups (3 lists had Arguel's Blood Fast, GerryT had a fourth Search, and Wrapter ran a Treasure Map), and then a load of ways to deal with aggro (Essence Extractions, Kingpins and/or Aetherborn).
I'm thinking that a board like this is probably the middle ground.
2 Negate
1 Arguel's Bloodfast
2 Vizier of Many Faces
3 Gifted Aetherborn
1 Essence Extraction
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Doomfall
Sadly though, both UB lists fell in the semis, only winning one game out of seven.
This statement is not really to undermine the lists from World's, but to lend a different perspective when evaluating these lists and how matches are currently evaluated on such information. I suspect these lists will undergo a number of changes as we shift to events with larger contestants and a wider array of decks and archetypes.
STANDARD|UW Control MODERN| UBG Midrange PAUPER| UG Fog COMMANDER| UBG The Mimeoplasm
Sam Black shared some interesting ideas about his Worlds list. First of all, his mana base choices - he says that he feels it's more important to enable revolt through Evolving Wilds than have Submerged Boneyard. I can see this, especially with the loss of Grasp.
Also, there seems to be two ways of playing the deck, either as a UB Scarab God Control deck (as GerryT did), or as a UB Search for Azcanta Control deck (as Black did). "[Gerry] believed the power was coming from the finisher more than from the engine, and he wanted to keep the battlefield small and then play a threat that most opponents folded to. Effective, but it just felt slightly less reliable in the games I played." Playing with the mentality of it being a Search deck is much like the UB Summonings lists, where you drop your enchantment and inevitability does the rest. You don't have to rush to win the game.
Next up is the choice of Illumination over Glimmer. It really does come down to the cycling. Black says that his aim is to fill the GY and to make sure that he can interact with the opponent as soon and as often as possible. "Early, they provide effects that I want if I don't have Search for Azcanta or they cycle to fill my graveyard quickly, and late, they cycle cheaply to help make sure that I keep hitting lands while Search for Azcanta generally finds spells."
Lastly is the way that they tried to beat aggressive decks. Wrapter and Gerry ran the Contraband Kingpins along with a split of Essence Extraction in the main and side. However, having a Kingpin against a flow of Khenras and Ahn-Crop Crashers isn't helpful. Sam Black had four Extraction in the side, and four Contempts instead of 3 in the main. He cut Disallow during boarding, so that way there was no need to find BB and UU on turn 3. His plan is to let Chandra resolve and then exile it, rather than using Disallow on a threat, taking a hit, and then Essence Extracting later. However (and these are my thoughts now), it may be better to keep the Aetherborn in if you are expecting more hard to kill creatures (>3 toughness, hexproof, etc). The hexproof is also why there were two Viziers in the sideboard.
Moving on to thoughts from another pro, Adrian Sullivan. While his list is similar to the World's ones, there area few minor (probably personal preference) changes.
3 Torrential Gearhulk
2 The Scarab God
Lands (26)
6 Island
7 Swamp
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
2 Field of Ruin
3 Submerged Boneyard
Spells (30)
4 Censor
1 Commit // Memory
2 Consign // Oblivion
3 Disallow
1 Essence Extraction
2 Essence Scatter
4 Fatal Push
2 Glimmer of Genius
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
1 Negate
1 Supreme Will
3 Vraska's Contempt
2 Search for Azcanta
3 Gifted Aetherborn
1 Metallurgic Summonings
2 Commit // Memory
2 Essence Extraction
1 Negate
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2 Doomfall
3 Duress
It's a 61 card main, as he's not worked out which card to cut for the second Search. Most likely cuts are a Swamp, the third Contempt or Gearhulk (probably not a good plan according to Sam Black), or the second Glimmer (most likely).
Finally, the 5-0 list from yesterday. Not surprisingly, very similar to Worlds lists, but 3/3 in the creatures with one less land, and the counter spells (Essence Scatter, Disallow, Censor) are reduced by 1 to accommodate 3 Supreme Will. There's also one Treasure Map over the third Search.
3 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Instant (26)
3 Censor
3 Disallow
2 Essence Extraction
3 Essence Scatter
4 Fatal Push
4 Glimmer of Genius
1 Negate
3 Supreme Will
3 Vraska's Contempt
1 Treasure Map
Enchantment (2)
2 Search for Azcanta
Land (25)
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
3 Field of Ruin
6 Island
5 Swamp
1 Essence Extraction
2 Negate
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Deadeye Tracker
3 Duress
4 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Jace's Defeat
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
2 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Instants (29)
4 Fatal Push
4 Opt
3 Censor
4 Essence Scatter
4 Disallow
3 Essence Extraction
2 Supreme Will
3 Glimmer of Genius
2 Vraska's Contempt
4 Drowned Catacombs
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
3 Field of Ruin
7 Island
4 Swamp
4 Duress
3 Contraband Kingpin
2 Negate
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Doomfall
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
This is where I'm at with UB control. The first thing you'll notice is that I don't have Search, and that's because I don't own any yet. This list is based solely on the cards I have. My biggest question is what to cut for 2 Search for Azcanta. Other than that if there are any other adjustments to be made or suggestions that you all have I'm open to them. I was surprised to not see Opt in some of the Worlds lists. In terms of filling the graveyard for Search, I feel Opt would be far superior to Illumination as it lets you scry before drawing.
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Here's what I'll be playing. I need to get one more Field of Ruin, then will be on 3 of those and 5 Swamps.
2 Field of Ruin
4 Drowned Catacomb
3 Evolving Wilds
4 Fetid Pools
6 Swamp
7 Island
Draw spells (10)
3 Opt
3 Search for Azcanta
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
1 Negate
3 Censor
3 Essence Scatter
4 Disallow
Removal (8)
4 Vraska's Contempt
4 Fatal Push
Win-cons (5)
2 The Scarab God
3 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Metallurgic Summonings
2 Vizier of Many Faces
2 Doomfall
2 Negate
3 Duress
4 Essence Extraction
Edit: looking at Jon’s list another option for Doomfall is Summonings, which gives another potential win con
Standard - Some kind of control
Modern - UB Mill (casual)
EDH - Meren's Grave Shenanigans
Esper gets you Settle the Wreckage, Fumigate, Farm // Market, Cast Out, and Authority of the Consuls if aggro pops back up.
Grixis gets you Unlicensed Disintegration, Hour of Devastation, Sweltering Suns, Whirler Virtuoso, Lightning Strike, Harnessed Lightning, Abrade, Nicol Bolas, and even Fiery Cannonade.
I am still trying to play Esper mainly for Settle the Wreckage and Fumigate but I don't see many others playing it.
2 Torrential Gearhulk
Planeswalkers (3)
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
1 Nissa, Vital Force
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
Artifacts (2)
2 Dynavolt Tower
Enchantments (4)
4 Search for Azcanta
Sorceries (4)
4 Attune with Aether
Instants (22)
4 Fatal Push
4 Censor
3 Essence Scatter
4 Disallow
2 Essence Extraction
2 Glimmer of Genius
3 Vraska's Contempt
4 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Drowned Catacombs
1 Forest
5 Island
2 Swamp
3 Duress
3 Longtusk Cub
3 Negate
1 Appetite for the Unnatural
2 Bristling Hydra
2 Hostage Taker
1 River's Rebuke
This is testing well, albeit it's early. Green splash isn't very difficult and gives you a couple of new wrinkles in UB:
- The planeswalkers are really good, or at least Nissa VF and Vraska are. Verdict is out on Nissa SOE for now. But the planeswalkers give you win conditions you can find off of Azcanta, and they're all really strong.
- Longtusk Cub + Duress + Negate + Bristling Hydra give you a sideboard transformative plan for the mirror and various combo/combo-ish decks, like WB/WBx Tokens and God-Pharoah's Gift.
- Dynavolt Tower gives you enough removal spells to stabilize against a lot of moderate-sized creatures, like what Ramunap Red and Temur Energy tend to like to leave you with. Tower is technically playable in UB but you don't have the energy production without Attune with Aether (which also plays nicely with Azcanta).
I don't own any Scarab Gods anymore and they're $50 so I didn't test them yet. Probably one should be in here somewhere. You can cut Nissa SOE from the maindeck or River's Rebuke from the SB for it if you want.
GW ~ Angels ~ WG
Modern:
RBW ~ Shadowmancer ~ WBR
Legacy:
BUG ~ Shadow Delver ~ GUB