U/B Summonings is a control deck that utilizes its namesake card Metallurgic Summonings to generate absurd value extremely late into the game. This deck is designed to play very long games of magic, being able to grind out almost any strategy available in the current standard format. The longer the game goes, the higher chance you have of winning.
I will briefly explain each of the card choices:
Anticipate is the best two mana card selection spell that we have available in the format. There are alternatives to anticipate such as Take Inventory, but i normally prefer card selection at instant speed over sorcery speed incremental card advantage. Tip - instants are very powerful for generating creatures with Metallurgic Summonings in which you can use for a surprise block.
Transgress the Mind Simply the strongest discard spell that we have access to. Transgress is another two drop to play that interacts profitably with slower decks. Our mainboard removal suite should be able to stifle most aggressive draws, so to hedge against other slow decks we play 2 copies in the main.
Negate Sadly the cheapest and most reliable counter spell to deal with combo oriented artifacts, planeswalkers, or just removal/disruption. 2 in the main seems like enough against the projected field.
Murder We are only playing one copy, and this could be a mistake, and I am open to playing upwards of 2 or 3 in the main. This spell can be flashed back with gearhulk, guaranteeing that you can kill something when he comes into play, even if your opponent can deal with him before the targeted spell resolves.
Glimmer of Genius Glimmer is certainly one of the most important cards in the deck. We don't utilize energy produced from the secondary clause, but the raw card advantage you get with this card makes it more than enough. When you have multiple summonings in play, one glimmer can completely trump your opponents remaining board most of the time. Surprise 4/4's can be surprisingly effective. In my opinion this is the glue that holds the deck together.
Grasp of Darkness Easily the most effective removal spell in black at the moment. Fatal Push perhaps has a higher ceiling, but the floor on grasp is significantly higher in Standard.
Fatal Push The aforementioned removal spell has seen plenty of hype from the player base at large, and that is for a good reason. Although its power level is lower in standard than in eternal formats, it serves an important function. A one drop instant-speed black removal spell has not been available to us control mages for quite some time. This is one of the most powerful cards ever printed in magic, and will certainly warp eternal formats. For the time being in standard however, we are just trying to use its "front half" most of the time. 3 copies of evolving wilds exist in order to trigger Revolt if necessary, along with a few other neat tricks.
Ruinous Path Point click planeswalker removal at sorcery-speed. This spell is alright, and in the late game it can be nice to get a 4/4 hasting land for free. I'm not thrilled about its inclusion in the deck, but i feel that it is a necessary evil for the moment.
Yahenni's Expertise This card is pretty crazy. This is not the most powerful shell for it, as you do not often get to cast a free spell ( could be anticipate, grasp, transress, fatal push etc. ). The black expertise screams value, and does a very good languish impersonation. 3 copies in the main should be enough to deal with the aggressive strategies.
Disallow The best cancel variant we have seen in a long time, if not ever. I'm looking at you
Dissolve
.The versatility of this counterspell is unmatched, and can show its true power by dealing with on board problematic permanent abilities/triggers. There is a strong argument to use spell shrivel, as it is way easier on the mana, but the payoff with disallow is much higher even if it does't exile the countered spell.
Metallurgic Summonings I don't think very many people understand how powerful of a card this really is. The amount of value you can extract in a control deck is unbelievable. With nothing on board but a metallurgic summonings, you can easily create a board full of blockers until you can eventually amass a squad of lethal Contructs. The secondary clause doesn't come up as much as you might think, because you normally overpower the opponent before it is considered a powerful option. 6 artifacts in play generally mean you already have the game won, but if that for some reason isn't the case, then you can always play a longer game looking to sacrifice summonings to re-buy all of your instants and sorceries.
Tezzeret the Schemer Tezzeret is a fan favorite and I'm sure many people are going to try to jam him in any deck they can think of. Personally I do not think that this is his strongest shell, but it is certainly powerful. Usually you are not wanting to cast this card on turn 4, but if you have dealt with the board sufficiently then it is a fine play. +1 to create a Lotus Petal impersonator, -2 to kill a thing, ultimate to make our smaller artifacts or lotus petals into 5/5's. The play pattern i enjoy the most is to play him on a nearly clean board, and then tick up twice. He will be at 7 loyalty, where the next turn you can ultimate and essentially create a 5/5 with haste for the rest of the game. Tezzeret serves as a life buffer (people tend to kill walkers even when the stronger option is to ignore them), a ramp card (can go from 4 mana on turn 4, to 7 mana on turn 5), and a finisher (ult, swing with 5/5s until opponent dies). I like the inclusion but i could see going down one copy to trade for another counter or removal spell.
Torrential Gearhulk Big Papa. This young gun love to show up and wreck your opponents day. Play a 5/6 after they attack, eat an attacker and flash back an instant of your choice. The perfect control finisher, and one of the strongest we have ever gotten to play with. I personally don't think that 4 copies are necessary, as you already have plenty of inevitability with your other win conditions.
The sideboard is pretty self explanatory. Extra Fatal pushes for fast matchupsExtra ruinous paths for planeswalker heavy decks - extra negates for spell based matchups - Dispel to hedge against the Copy Cat deck Saheeli Rai + Felidar Guardian - extra transgress against midrange, control and combo - lost legacy as another way to deal with nonartifact based combo decks or against Aetherworks marvel (can hit ulamog or their planeswalkers) - an additional Expertise comes in against aggro deck. - Kalitas is the king of grinding. He works very well against aggro and midrange decks.
Remember that this deck has incredible inevitability. Play to survive, and your deck will do the winning in due time.That is the overview of the U/B summonings deck. If you enjoyed my article feel free to ask questions, give suggestions or advice, or just discuss the future of control in standard.
Enjoy smashing your opponents with / Construct tokens!
