- Kevinliu
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Member for 18 years, 10 months, and 29 days
Last active Mon, Jan, 29 2018 03:59:49
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Dec 4, 2009Kevinliu posted a message on My UW Control for LegacyThis is a pretty old decklist and thus I haven't really updated it since I stopped working on it in 2006. During that time, I loved blue search spells like telling time and impulse and probably wouldn't even think about adding sensei's divining top since it wasn't blue.Posted in: Cecilia's Teardrop
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Jan 5, 2009Kevinliu posted a message on Even in casual, Tarmogoyf is still cheap as hell.Nice list Alacar I really like it.Posted in: Alacar's Design Zone
Some suggestions though:
-1 Angel of Despair
-1 E. Dragon
-1 Vess
-1 Troll Ascetic
+4 thoughtseize -
Apr 8, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on Starting on the right track again. :)Thanks you guys! Yeah Vons is also in the las vegas, nevada area its a pretty big grocery store owned by safeway company which is one of the biggest companies in the usa there is also some stores in the canada area as well. Yeah im sure ill be able to move up in position as long as i keep up with what i am doing.Posted in: Cecilia's Teardrop
See you all later.
Love,
Cecilia -
Feb 20, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on In the League: Ixidor's LegacyGoodluck in the Precon tournament mamelon! I am sure you will do really well you have always been a really good blue player keep it up I'm sure you could be the next Yoda of Legacy if you really wanted to be. I am not going to be able to play in the precon league since I will not be posting in the coffeehouse for a month but i will be on aol messenger if you want to ever reach me. See you soon Mamelon! *hugs and blows kisses*Posted in: Litte Jar of Mamelon
Love,
Cecilia/Kevin -
Feb 20, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on Still possible for me to return to x-ray?Thanks so much mamelon that means alot to me! *hugs* See you soon on aol messenger. Ill be supporting you always as well.Posted in: Cecilia's Teardrop
Love,
Cecilia/Kevin -
Feb 18, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on Cherubino boyI will always be here for you mamelon and don't be afraid to talk about anything for me. Ill be on aol messenger if you ever want to talk about anything and I will be happy to share my most inner feelings for you too because I trust you greatly mamelon. See you soon!Posted in: Litte Jar of Mamelon
Hugs
Love,
Cecilia/Kevin -
Feb 17, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on Still possible for me to return to x-ray?Thank you so much Nai! Ill be rooting for your goals as well! See you soon and take care!Posted in: Cecilia's Teardrop
Love,
Cecilia -
Feb 14, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on Notes of honeyWow mamelon your alot of things and i don't think your an amateur philospher after seeing you post in the philosophy debate thread. Yeah best wishes to you and your brothers job too! Have a great one mams! See you soon!Posted in: Litte Jar of Mamelon
Love,
kevin/Cecilia -
Feb 14, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on Valentine's DayHappy birthday to your sister! Happy Valentines day to you and your family as well! Best wishes to you and your family alacar!Posted in: Alacar's Design Zone
See ya in the coffeehouse and also on aim sometime soon.
Love,
Cecilia -
Feb 12, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on Have I ever felt alone?Thanks mamelon and i will pray for you too and have a great night mamelon! i will always be here for you! *hugs*Posted in: Cecilia's Teardrop
see you all soon!
Love,
Cecilia -
Feb 12, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on How did I get my Yoda of legacy name?ohhh... *blushes* thanks mamelon I am glad i have alot of fans lol. Your such a great friend mams see you soon! *hugs*Posted in: Cecilia's Teardrop
Love,
Kevin/Cecilia -
Feb 11, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on Applying for the Job I want to work at.Thanks mamelon they also pay pretty well too i heard. Like 10-15 dollars per hour however there is alot of responsiblities working as a transporter and it can be a really busy job as well since I will be working in the hospital. See you soon mamelon! *hugs* Thanks for replying to my blog entry too.Posted in: Cecilia's Teardrop
See you all soon! *hugs and blows kisses to everyone*
Love,
Cecilia -
Feb 6, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on The [Magic CoffeeHouse].Wow alacar. You pretty much made the Blog entry of the year with this! Thank you so much for your very kind words and I am sure everybody from the house will be very cheerful when reading this.Posted in: Alacar's Design Zone
Love,
Cecilia -
Feb 5, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on My life UpdateThanks Jen! I will be always here for you too jen! *hugs and kisses back*Posted in: Cecilia's Teardrop
Love,
Kevin -
Feb 3, 2007Kevinliu posted a message on My UW Control for LegacyCare to explain why echoing truth would do this deck good?Posted in: Cecilia's Teardrop
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I know there has been several successful uw control decks in the current standard. I am too lazy to bring those up but thats ok, Id like to discuss my take on uw control which has been testing pretty well against both gb delirium and uw flash but for sure both matchups have alot of play to it. So if you really want to be successful in standard its always good to practice as much as you can with a deck that you like. Play as much as possible of course.
Anyway here is my updated list it has been through quite a few changes in the past month or so.
3 Immolating Glare
2 Blessed Alliance
3 Quarantine Field
4 Port Town
3 Meandering River
2 Blighted Cataract
6 Plains
4 Prairie Stream
6 Island
1 Descend upon the Sinful
1 Negate
4 Torrential Gearhulk
4 Void Shatter
2 Summary Dismissal
1 Fumigate
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
4 Glimmer of Genius
3 Anticipate
3 Stasis Snare
2 Revolutionary Rebuff
2 Gisela, the Broken Blade
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Negate
4 Spell Queller
2 Summary Dismissal
1 Fumigate
Card choices:
Linvala, the preserver: I tested two for a little while but the second copy almost always didn't do anything. So I like the one copy. This card is great at trumping those fast starts from any deck that is going aggressive. With the help of countermagic and removal it should definitely buy you enough time to slam down a linvala to win games that you are not suppose to win.
Immotaling glare/Stasis snare/blessed alliance: Instant speed removal is always great in a control deck that plays primary draw go so you can leverage your counters better and in the course of the game they can be more effective.
Quantine Field: This deck as you notice has a very tough time against resolved planeswalkers and so everytime i casted one of these the game became shortly in my favor. They are pretty good so i want three of them in the main.
Blighted Cateract: When your flooded on lands and when your playing at the top of your deck this is the card you definitely want in the late game.
Negate: A great two mana counters that is a hard ccounter to vehicles, aetherworks, opposing countermagic and planeswalkers is definitely great.
Descend upon the sinful: Great against the industrible cause so something like archangel avacyn doesn't blow you out. Ive also got a free 4/4 flyer out of it on occassion too which is very useful.
void shatter: A great three mana hard counter don't want to leave home without them.
Summary dismissal: Swiss army knight, counters planeswalker emblems, stops emrakrul and is a great four mana hard counter in the late game as well.
Fumigate: Still a solid and relevant sweeper, the gaining back some life here and there is also relevant.
Jace: Great at leveraging in a good amount of situations and of course gives this deck alot of digging power as well as some staying power.
Glimmer of genius: This is pretty much one of the cards that keeps this deck together and functioning and is the main reason why i like playing control right now.
Anticipate: Definitely makes this deck more consistent and digs for what you need.
Torrential Hulk: The absurd staple for all blue control decks in standard and i think its the best card in standard right now and I do not think its close imo.
Revolutionary rebuff: A soft counter but still pretty good at using your mana more efficiently in every stage of the game that matters.
Gisela: A pretty decent threat against uw flash and can put a clock on gb delilirium as well which is revelant. Lets you switch gears into more of a tempo control deck and goes well with spell quellers.
Sphinx: A decent finisher, i just like it since it can finish games sooner and can't be hit by any spot removal which is huge. I tend to board this card in against both uw flash and gb delirium.
Gideon: A great way to help you finish games on time and can pressure opposing planeswalkers backed up with countermagic and/or removal if necassary.
Spell queller: Can change the dynamic of how this deck can play. Great card to bring in against both of the most popular matchups can definitely make uw control much more aggressive as well.
Anyway, i don't think this deck is the best deck in the format but i definitely think this deck is pretty legit and its what i would for sure play at the scg invitational next week if i could go. I definitely think it has alot of game against alot if you play every turn correctly. I will definitely will try to provide more updates to this deck as the format progresses.
I also have liked linvala against red aggro under the assumption that you can answer their early creatures on time and able to counter some key spells which can definitely buy you enough time to drop linvala and just force them to have atarkas command right there. Otherwise you can just board her out in those matchups if that doesn't suit your style. Same goes for abzan aggro except at least you don't have to worry about atarka's command and the fact that they are generally slower then red so this gives you more of a window to land linvala and get maximized value from her. There are definitely lines of play that involve linvala against red for sure.
Sure she is not at her best against other control decks but i feel she still has some value in those matchups too. With that being said, of course it all depends on what kind of control decks your playing against because i feel bw control is definitely viable with oath and i am sure you can gain full value off of linvala i am sure. Against another mage-ring esper deck though i agree not so much.
I also haven't really had that much trouble getting the colors i need to cast any of my spells actually. Although, if your still insisting on playing another blue source you can always cut a mage-ring or a shambling vent for one. I think if i was to make this cut i probably would cut the mage-ring before the shambling vent, as i think shambling vent is a great manland and a much needed one.
Today, i want to show you what i would play at scg open in atlanta next weekend, its been testing quite well on cockatrice for me.
4 Polluted Delta
3 Sunken Hollow
3 Prairie Stream
3 Shambling Vent
4 Island
1 Windswept Heath
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Mage-Ring Network
2 Planar Outburst
1 Languish
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 Utter End
2 Sphinx of the Final Word
3 Clash of Wills
4 Void Shatter
4 Grasp of Darkness
1 Painful Truths
1 Murderous Cut
4 Dig Through Time
2 Ultimate Price
1 Scatter to the Winds
1 Ojutai's Command
1 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Monastery Mentor
3 Infinite Obliteration
3 Arashin Cleric
3 Flaying Tendrils
1 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Negate
1 Duress
This deck plays mainly like a draw go control and only tap low/out for a powerful spell or to sweep the board on your turn when its necassary. Also the main reason why i am not running jace from magic origins is because people seem to be prepared for it and i think grasp of darkness is one of the best removal spells in standard and i expect that to be popular. So i find jace vyns prodigy to be a huge liability alot of the time so i choose not to run him.
However, if you still feel like you want to play jaces in your deck i have another deck thats also has been testing well that i would also highly recommend.
4 Polluted Delta
3 Sunken Hollow
3 Prairie Stream
3 Shambling Vent
4 Island
1 Windswept Heath
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Mage-Ring Network
2 Planar Outburst
1 Crux of fate
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 Utter End
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
3 Clash of Wills
3 Void Shatter
4 Grasp of Darkness
2 Painful Truths
1 Murderous Cut
4 Dig Through Time
1 Ultimate Price
1 Ojutai's Command
2 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Monastery Mentor
3 Infinite Obliteration
3 Arashin Cleric
2 Flaying Tendrils
2 Duress
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Narset, Transendant
Yes, as you notice the deck is really similar to reid duke's mage-ring esper, i just made some updates to it with oath of the gatewatch. I also really like the interaction between painful truths and linvala, it definitely packs a substantial amount of raw power to it. This deck also plays like a draw-go mainly but can turn the tides to be more of a tapout control deck especially postboard with the gideons and the narset. Which can add another dimension to the deck to make it stronger against alot of matchups postboard.
Overall, i would recommend either deck for scg atlanta happening next weekend especially if you like control as much as I do. Both of these decks bad matchup is probably eldrazi ramp with ulamog and worldbreaker but postboard with infinite oblieration it becomes definitely more winnable. Give these two decks a shot in your tournaments if your interested and make optimal changes to the control decks your playing according to the metagame shifts. Just test, test, test and make changes to your lists when its needed. As I think esper definitely has all of the tools to take on anything.
This is just my reasoning, they instantly gain value from their eldrazis when they cast them like oblivion sower and they also play cavern of souls so you can't really just sit back and hold up reactive spells sometimes you just have to activate collonade and attack. I am not implying you should blindly activate and attack but sometimes you have to draw a line and just get aggressive after you have analyzed the game state closely. Again just my opinion.
Also knowing in to get in with collonade is important too but i have find myself i have just been jamming in with them even on nonideal times. I think its definitely good to be aggressive with collonade against ramp decks since you want to shorten the clock you put on them and the fact that their topdecks can be so much more powerful then yours. I also find esper charm to be great against the black ramp decks i have been just making them discard two so it makes it easier to get in with collonade with them having few cards in hand. I also like to bounce a land of theirs too with cryptic and then snapcaster flashback cryptic just to also get aggressive with snapcaster.
So it's pretty much jim davis's deck except you added ugin which I think is alright just be careful when you activate the exile ability of ugin, I don't think I have anything else to say other then that though.
I also agree that jim davis's list is definitely a good starting point. However, I tend to go off on my own tangeants and have been trying out various builds of uw control which I think is also fine in my opinion as the metagame for standard does shift from week to week. I just like to have more then just one or two options at my disposal. But I am for with whatever other people want to accomplish with uw control as well. Not going to argue with that. Like I said before feel free to share your own takes on uw control in here because that's what this thread is for.