Welcome, ladies and gents, to the theory crafting of a mad man. I bring to you an Esper control deck featuring the coolest of the eldrazi, Ulamog. In this deck he takes the form of Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. Now, what exactly is this deck wanting to do. This deck wants to stall the game out for a fair amount of time, letting the enemy burn through all their cards, getting that deck of their's smaller and smaller. All while you are answering their threats and drawing cards until you get our main tentacle monster/devourer of deck, Ulamog. Let's go over individual cards in the list shall we?
Board Wipes
This deck has a few ways to just mass wipe the board, clean up after those dirty aggro/midrange decks.
Crux of Fate-This one is fairly self explanatory. It's a nice way to get rid of some of the annoying dragon decks wincons, and if you need to destroy non reptilian enemies, there's a mode for that too.
Languish- The other monoblack way we deal with a lot of threats. Now sadly this doesn't kill some big important creatures like Siege Rhino but it does help control more aggro-y decks for a cheaper cost.
Quarantine Field- This is one of the more expensive mass clears in the deck, the most expensive in fact. However it does have it's own perks. It targets more than just creatures. This thing hits everything that isn't a land which helps against all those pesky Planeswalkers in the meta right now.
Removal
This tends to be one of my favorite sections for any deck, simply because I love removing threats. So satisfying. This is where we have answers to individual things...like Siege Rhino.
Utter End-So this card is great. This more expensive Vindicate is still great. It removes quite literally anything you want, except lands, that's later. Not only that, it is out of the game entirely. So grave fetching or delving for them, no no.
Scour from Existence- Now THIS. This is what kills literally anything you want. Only a one off for this pricey but premium removal. Not much to say really, great removal card.
Silumgar's Command- This card will come up later in the guide for probably obvious reasons but for now we'll talk about that last bit of text on this card. "Destroy Target Planeswalker" Basically all that needs to be said.
Ruinous Path- You ever imagine what Hero's Downfall would look like if you slowed it down a ton? Well imagine no longer for it is here in the cardboard in the form of Ruinous Path. Now, this isn't just a worse Hero's Path that people will have to settle for after Theros Block rotates out, it has its own worth. It's not worse, just different. As far as the removal part, it serves its purpose as a solid 3 mana removal spell. However as the game draws out, you will find you have more mana lying around than you know what do with. Enter the awaken keyword. You know what's better than killing a threat? Getting a threat by the same means at the same time. Enough said.
Stasis Snare- What if Oblivion Ring had flash? That question is somewhat answered with the introduction of Stasis Snare this 3 mana flash enchantment basically serves the same function that Hero's Downfall used to do only a bit worse. While it IS exiled, allowing you to keep it just out of reach for graveyard manipulation, it does come in the form of an enchantment which makes it a little easier to get the creature back via things like Naturalize.
Counter Spells
The bread and butter of blue/control decks. Making people feel bad when they try and cast some delve shenanigans or remove a threat of your's. You just point your blue magic at their face and say, "Nope".
Scatter to the Winds- Scatter the winds is just your normal counterspell. Appropriately costed and just good at its job. However its ability in the late game to develop some semblance of board is what drew me to it. Countering a spell is fine but gaining a threat after you counter that spell is a good swing in your favor.
Ojutai's Command- One of those efficient and flexible commands, Ojutai's Command is there for those big creatures you don't want to see. With Siege Rhino taking the meta by storm, Ojutai's Command's ability to make sure you never see that stupid animal's face is certainly appealing.
Silumgar's Command- On the other end of the command spectrum we have Silumgar's Command all those planeswalkers and other non rhino related threats sure are annoying. This command helps with that issue quite nicely.
Card Advantage
This section is where we go over how we are drawing cards/how we make the other guy lose his cards. It's a very fun process.
Read the Bones- Just an overall solid way to draw cards, Has some built in filtering in the form of scry, helping you not get crappy draws.
Transgress the Mind- You know how Thoughtsieze is like a staple in any black control deck? 4 of's all the way and such. Well, Transgress the Mind isn't Thoughtsieze. However, it is still a great card. It hits stuff you want to be getting rids of, Abzan Charms, Siege Rhinos, any control deck's wincons. Not Thoughtsieze but a good card none the less.
Ojutai's Command- Draw a card. That's what this can do if you want it to. Nuff said.
Hedron Archive- a mana stone that can draw you some cards. What's not to love? Helps you ramp into Ulamog late game and can also help you draw into him.
Fathom Feeder- One of my favorites in the deck. This card does so much for you. It's an early game body which is important and while it may only be 1/1, it had deathtouch. Now, if they don't feel like losing anything to a measly 1/1, then they'll let him walk on through and ping. Buuuuuut, then he eats the top card, that helps towards winning the game. You know what else helps with that? That last little bit of text on the bottom of this card. Not only is it a good way to draw in the late game, it also mills the opponent, sweet right?
Conduit of Ruin- You can bet money that this guy will most certainly conduct the ruin. This is one of the ways we get Ulamog, it actually guarantees him. You tutor up Ulamog and if Conduit of Ruin somehow stays on the board for the turn after, Ulamog is costing 8 which means he might get out WAY earlier than intended.
The Big Boys
Here we go, the last few cards in the deck. The big name guys, the play makers.
Dragonlord Silumgar- This guy has pretty much become a staple in any control deck with Black and Blue. He's a fairly beefy body at 3 power and 5 toughness with flying AND deathtouch. But when this guy hits the board, you get some goodies from the enemy. They have a big threat? No problem! It's your's now.
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon- Here we go friends, the plainswalker, and this is a doozy. 8 mana 7 loyalty Papa Ugin here to set you straight. You tick him up, you get to kill a slightly below midrangey creature, which is nice. But if you tick down, that's when things get saucy. Exiling stuff is always nice, isn't it?
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger- Here we go! The one you've been waiting for, the wincon. the finisher. the one. the only, Ulamog. He hits the field as a whopping 10 mana 10/10 and when he does that you can exile two of anything. Need to clean up threats? Ulamog will om nom them up. Wanna screw up their mana? Ulamog loves to eat the very earth you stand upon. Not only that but he's indestructible which makes him fairly difficult to remove and then the sweet sweet final thing. When he swings, as if a 10/10 indestructible body wasn't terrifying enough, the opponent is going to lost 20 cards right off the top. No reanimate or retrieval, nothing. Exiled, gone, out of the game.
I hope you all enjoy the deck, please do leave any constructive criticisms you can, the help is appreciated and embraced.
