My take on BUG Control - after seeing it make up 3 of the top 8 decks at the Block Pro Tour JOU Event.
I've only recently put this together, but I'd like to give it a run at this weekend's GameDay.
Any and all suggestions, idea's - observations about possible issues against certain matchup's would be gratefully received. Thanks tappedout.
Basic Idea:
Creature base, provides reasonable protection against weenie aggro, and protects the Planeswalker (they do that themselves too).
Sylvan Caryatid - tough to get rid of, ramps and color fixes - brilliant.
Courser of Kruphix - digs our deck, moving away lands off the top (awesome if it happens to be a scry land) helps to offset the life loss from our black cards.
Prognostic Sphinx wasn't overly keen on this card to start with until I saw how/why the pro's used it in block. DOESNT die to Elspeth, you can give it hexproof, and it's so powerful at deck manipulation.
AEtherling - I have blue, and I need another wincon / finisher.
Planeswalkers:
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver the more I use him the better he is - denies any deck cards - survives one turn, he then protects himself (allowing me to hold counters for removal)
Jace, Architect of Thought - hoses aggro and gets me cards.
Kiora, the Crashing Wave stall one fatty every turn, great against midrange decks, can net me a card, and her ultimate is game changing.
Instants/Sorceries:
Set up to predominantly stall opponents:
Abrupt Decay - handles anything early game, great versatility.
Hero's Downfall - main removal spell, used only when needed.
Bile Blight - included just for the ability to try and take out more than one creature.
Silence the Believers - expensive at 4cmc, but in this shell, it's easy to drag the game out to turn 7+ meaning we strive and remove 2 major threats in one go - worth a 2 of in the deck in my opinion.
Dissolve held onto to counter planeswalker removal, or anything our board can't handle.
Thoughtseize - great with dissolve at disrupting our opponent.
Underworld Connections as pointed out to me - great with Courser of Kruphix, and all of the scry in the deck, continual card draw over the game.
Sideboard:
Drown in Sorrow weenie or elspeth token matchup, this comes in instead of Silence the Believers in aggro matchups.
Golgari Charm great versatility but predominantly in for an answer to Supreme Verdict, nice removal option against enchantment decks.
Reaper of the Wilds - big butt blocker, removes pretty much anything and tough to get rid of itself. Useful if we need to mainboard more creatures.
Lifebane Zombie - vs non black if we need to race, great obviously against green/white.
Gainsay - if we need more counterspells it's more likely to be because we're against a blue deck.
Duress get controls threats out of their hand faster than they can play them.
Apologies for the lengthy description, thanks for taking the time with my deck, leave a comment it helps me to understand where I'm going wrong. +1 if you like it - am not an ego maniac it just helps to get the deck noticed.
I'll be happy to check out your decks in return.
