(Sorry this is so long, but I would really like your opinions/comments/suggestions and want you to understand my choices so you're better-able to tell if I made a mistake or not. Thank you all for your help!)
I took the last 6 years off of magic and have been on UW control since I came back in June of this year. I brewed a version of this deck for FNM the night before the IQ and got beaten down pretty badly. I made a few tweaks and ended up with the deck you see here. I played this and got Top 8 at the SCG IQ in Albany, Louisiana on 10/8/2016. I was 3-0-2 (drew into to top 8) and ended 3-1-2. This is the deck list I played.
First round of top 8 I got knocked out by a guy playing RW Humans. He ended up winning the whole IQ, though, so I don't feel too bad about it. Congrats to him. The first game was very close, but I ended up losing. The second game, I curved out perfectly with a turn one Authority of the Consuls, turn 2 Smuggler's Copter, turn 3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar, turn 4
Fleetwheel Cruiser
, Turn 5 Angel of Invention. We went to game three and I only drew two creatures in 10+ turns. It was my first real time playing the deck and I am really, really pleased with how it performed.
The clear All-Star in the Deck is Angel of Invention. Without a doubt. I was not running Skysovereign, Consul Flagship and that decision was really tested when I went against BW Planeswalkers in round 3. I lost the first game of that match, but won the next two. There was not a time I was wishing I would be able to cast a Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, but there were several instances where what I needed was an Angel of Invention top deck.
Angel of Invention ALWAYS comes down and makes Servo tokens. The Servos get pumped to 2/2's and I am able to crew with up to three two-power creatures. The number of times I had a Smuggler's Copter and
Fleetwheel Cruiser
in play with nothing to crew it made Angel of Invention the clear choice. In 4 (played) rounds, that scenario happened about 5 or 6 times. My opponents were not expecting the ability to play three 2 powered creatures, crew both vehicles, PUMP both vehicles, and leave a 2/1 Flying, Vigilance, Lifelink blocker untapped. It was a blow out every time this happened.
That said, I am VERY tempted to add a fourth Angel of Invention by moving one more Nahiri, the Harbinger to the sideboard. Angel of Invention is not a legendary creature, so my inability to tutor her with Thalia's Lancers is unfortunate, but is also a reason I'm considering running the fourth.
Running Needle Spires may have been a mistake (for me). Since I've only played UW control since I came back to Magic, I haven't played with any of the new creature lands. I believe I may have had one in play a couple times and missed that I could turn it into a creature and attack or crew. The fact that I'm not even sure if I misplayed with it or not is a good indicator that I shouldn't have been using it until I was more practiced playing aggro.
Thalia's Lancers has several targets: Pia Nalaar, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Gisela, the Broken Blade, Bruna, the Fading Light, and Inventors' Fair.
Inventors' Fair is a probably not as obvious an inclusion in the deck as the others, but it is there as an option when the game has gone wide and I need to punch through. Thalia's Lancers can tutor the Inventors' Fair, which I can then use to tutor up a Smuggler's Copter for flying or a
Fleetwheel Cruiser
for trample.
Obviously, Bruna, the Fading Light can pull Pia Nalaar, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Gisela, the Broken Blade, or Angel of Invention back out of the graveyard. Normally, the ideal targets are Gisela, the Broken Blade or Angel of Invention. However, there are times when Thalia, Heretic Cathar is the best choice so that they cannot cast creatures on their next turn and leave them open to block. This decision can be tricky...
My misplay-of-the-day was in game 1 against BWG Planeswalkers. My opponent had nine 2/2 Zombies from an early Liliana Emblem, an Ob Nixilis Reignited at 1 Loyalty, a Sorin, Grim Nemesis at 6 loyalty, and a Liliana, the Last Hope at 2 or 3 loyalty. I had 7 mana with a
Declaration in Stone
and Bruna, the Fading Light in hand. Angel of Invention and Gisela, the Broken Blade in the graveyard. The first game had gone on for over thirty minutes already, so I thought for quite a while and decided to go for Gisela, the Broken Blade to get the meld and end the game a turn earlier. However, my opponent used Sorin, Grim Nemesis to -6 on
Brisela, Voice of Nightmares
and then cast another Sorin, Grim Nemesis to -4
Brisela, Voice of Nightmares
and finish her off. Then swung for lethal with his Zombies.
Lesson learned: When in doubt,
Declaration in Stone
.
My last note is that Nahiri, the Harbinger is very good in a meta currently overrun by Smuggler's Copters. She comes down the turn after they are first able to tap the Smuggler's Copter and exiles it. The ability to exile an enchantment, tapped creature, or tapped artifact is also valuable with the number of Stasis Snares, Haunted Dead, Prized Amalgams, and Scrapheap Scroungers running around as well.
I'm pretty sure I will be on this deck for a while. I did lose to RW Humans in Top 8, but I feel this is at least as good (I admit I may be a little biased since this is my brew).
