Izzet Aggro Control

Standard* Zaueski

SCORE: 13 | 36 COMMENTS | 2389 VIEWS | IN 7 FOLDERS


Zaueski says... #1

Unfortunately, Shadows of Innistrad pushes out Monastery Swiftspear and I lost my favorite turn 1 creature. However it brought us many more good things, and I have been toying with the idea of running a couple Insolent Neonates So we can have a turn one creature but I've still yet to tinker with the deck too terribly much. Let me know what you guys think and if there's a better replacement for Monastery Swiftspear that I am missing.

April 3, 2016 8:42 p.m.

Zaueski says... #2

Update: Insolent Neonate just won't fit well so Village Messenger  Flip is the next most likely candidate but will cease it's relevancy around turn 3 maybe turn 4 and if I am going to take out 4 slots to run a turn 1 creature I would like one that will stay relevant. Any suggestions?

April 6, 2016 3:32 p.m.

Zaueski says... #3

Until Eldritch Moon releases this should be the final copy of the mainboard, I have run out of ideas on how to tweak it to make it better.

May 23, 2016 5:08 p.m.

AgentGreen says... #4

Deck is very fast; and with all the cheap spells flipping Thing will be quick

One thing though

You have alot of low toughness creatures that die easily. Your objective is to kill your opponent quickly with critters that start small but you buff them up. If your opponent is able to stall you out or disrupt your tempo you're in a heap of trouble as I don't see an answer to that. Something to consider

I'm going to take this deck and put it up against my deck and see what happens (B/W Control)

June 3, 2016 8:44 a.m.

Zaueski says... #5

Removal is my worst enemy, thats why I included cards like Wandering Fumarole. Tempo disruption is bad for me but it isn't the end of the world, I have a lot of draw power so finding the next creature is easier than you would think and I frequently dodge spells like Languish thanks to almost everything having three toughness and prowess with a Titan's Strength

June 3, 2016 8:56 a.m.

Zaueski says... #6

Oftentimes I just beat control through outright speed though, this deck is capable of an amazing turn four win in standard which is probably the fastest in the format.

June 3, 2016 8:57 a.m.

AgentGreen says... #7

When I playtested it; you were stalled out badly.

Once you start losing creatures to removal; I just waltzed over and crushed you. It helps that my deck has tons of lifelink.

June 3, 2016 9:32 a.m.

Zaueski says... #8

Did you use the sideboard? Once i know I'm playing against control all of the counters come in. Also could you link a deck list to yours so I can see how to play against my weaknesses and overcome them. It hasn't ever lost to a control deck when I pilot it so I want to see what's different about yours

June 3, 2016 9:42 a.m.

AgentGreen says... #9

June 3, 2016 9:53 a.m.

poshakitoo says... #10

Uncaged Fury too costly for a deck like this, i'm ussing also a UR Prowess deck. Even Thing in the Ice  Flip it's too slow for this deck, i'm supossedly win on turn 4 max, and if you drop one of these you have to wait till transform it. Even with a nice hand, you will transform it until turn 4 and buff it next turn. Anyway, nice deck

June 3, 2016 4:17 p.m.

Zaueski says... #11

The new Double-Face Rules that came out with Shadows Over Innistrad don't exile the creature. I can flip Thing in the Ice  Flip and attack in the same turn which makes it worth it, otherwise I'd agree. Also, I recognize that Uncaged Fury is expensive. That's why there are only two. When it gets played, it gets played to end the game. Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh  Flip is the same way, when her alone can hit for at least 5 damage once she can hit is amazing and usually it's closer to ten.

June 3, 2016 4:26 p.m.

Zaueski says... #12

AgentGreen, I played our decks against each other 4 different times. The first two I did not sideboard either side and while you did stall me out to turn 9 and 10, my deck won both times as I kept up with removal rather easily and my creatures were cheaper so I almost always had more out. Once I side-boarded both decks it went even quicker, none of your kill-spells unless I wanted them to. I played both sides to the best of my abilities but I fail to see how my deck lost to yours so easily as you made it sound.

June 3, 2016 4:44 p.m.

AgentGreen says... #13

It depends on how you play compared to how I play Zaueski

When you get a T2 Stormcaster out; with a hand full of 1 mana spells; do you throw them all down just to trigger prowess?

Also in all my playtesting; there were times where you couldn't get a creature out; and even if you did I removed it with either the Barrer and it's additional sac ability, or something else.

June 3, 2016 6:25 p.m.

AgentGreen says... #14

The other question is how do you value your critters; that being if I hit you with a forced sac trick, which one of your creatures go first in order of priority; assuming all 5 copies of creatures (including creature Chandra) are on the board

June 3, 2016 6:40 p.m.

Zaueski says... #15

I usually drop a single buff spell because even if I'm holding three of them, it gets me more damage and survivability to play one at a time, or if they have blockers than I may prioritize a Slip Through Space. Its all about reading the field and making sure you can react to the opponent. If I see a black mana, I'll probably hold back the buff spells so I can survive a Grasp of Darkness, any other color and I'll usually go on the offensive. I never play all my spells unless I can win that turn, it allows you to react and helps prevent topdecking which can be a big threat if you play wrong.

June 3, 2016 6:40 p.m.

Zaueski says... #16

Abbot of Keral Keep every time. Next would be Stormchaser Mage then Elusive Spellfist due to increasing evasion abilities. Thing in the Ice  Flip could be most likely after Abbot if it has four counters or if it has one then it has as much value as a Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh  Flip. Even if you have topdecked, a Thing with one counter is still extremely valuable because statistically you're in favor of flipping it on any given turn.

June 3, 2016 6:46 p.m.

keevel says... #17

When I think blue control in this standard I think of starting with the cheap blue counters. Invasive Surgery, Negate and Clash of Wills

Crush of Tentacles also feels right.

June 4, 2016 12:53 a.m.

Zaueski says... #18

You'll notice many of those spells are in the sideboard already. Crush of Tentacles is simply far too high on the curve, and for Clash of Wills the problem is often times I'll go an entire game with 4 mana and I don't have any to dump into a Clash. Its a good spell but I don't believe this is its home. The deck's primary focus is aggro. If speed doesn't work then we change tactics and run the tempo game.

June 4, 2016 2:20 a.m.

keevel says... #19

If you're stalling out on lands with that much Cantrip and card draw that seems like an issue.

Strongly consider fixing that and then one-ofing the Crush of Tentacles as your reset button. It'll help that claim you made earlier that removal is youre worst enemy.

I listed the two you had in sideboard on purpose with Clash of Wills. Read Clash of Wills as "counter any spell the opponent tapped out for at a cost of 1B" and it will be apparent that there are several decks that means it is much less limited in early game than the other two.

And yes, both are tempo plays, but a tempo centric sideboard might just help some removal woes.

June 4, 2016 2:41 p.m.

Zaueski says... #20

My mana base is fine, I stop wanting land drops after I get four so I don't count them. I may put a crush in the sideboard but I'd rather burn their creatures 9/10 times to keep my side. If I added two Clash of Wills what would you drop? The main board has been through fire time and time again and every card is valuable in their.

June 4, 2016 2:53 p.m.

Zaueski says... #21

Went 3-1 at last night's FNM.

1st matchup was 2-0 against a colorless Red artifact/devoid deck. Both games were over pretty fast

2nd was against a R/G Eldrazi ramp. Went 0-2 due to Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Worldbreakers cutting off my access to mana

3rd was against B/W control and I went 2-1. The loss was due to only drawing Shivan Reefs for mana for the first 5 turns

Final matchup was against B/W Allies and I went 2-1. The loss came from a Turn 4 Archangel of Tithes limiting me to only one creature attacking.

June 11, 2016 8:23 a.m.

poshakitoo says... #22

You have a little problem if you let the game to reach that turns for World Breaker or even Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger to get cast. How did you handle the first turns?

June 13, 2016 10:40 a.m.

Zaueski says... #23

I was a little shy on the cards, he was at 1 or 2 life both times. Jaddi Offshoot kept saving him (I killed it ASAP so it only gained like 1-2 life) but I had to deal 20+ damage while fighting off his ramp which was spell based not creature based so I couldn't just burn it away.

June 13, 2016 5:44 p.m.

JANKYARD_DOG says... #24

Why Glint and not just more negates? is the +0/3 really relevant? The instant Hexproof is pretty much a counter. Speaking of negate though, why not side it entirely for Clash of Wills. For the cost of Negate, you can disrupt opponents playing on curve. Swap back vs aggro. Just the Wind I see nothing to enable Madness except Jace, so it may be better to go with Disperse.

Also regarding Boulder Salvo, it may be more beneficial to run either Roast, Tears of Valakut, and/or Lightning Axe over it. That extra point takes out a majority of top curve creatures like Sigarda, Avacyn, and various others. Meta dependent of course.

How does Chandra work for you here? She seems like a removal magnet to me. Maybe consider Abbot of Keral Keep. Paired with Thing it is great advantage. Same with Jace, I don't feel he's useful here, seems too out of place. Talent of the Telepath in the maybe board seems like an exciting side card vs a mirror match up. Mastery would be online almost always, and if you have a Thing out that's 3 potential counters gone.

Anyway, not trying to tear it down or anything, just trying to help, which hopefully I have in some capacity. I play U/R prowess myself and am still tinkering with it to find maximum results.

June 16, 2016 2:55 p.m.

Zaueski says... #25

Glint is there because of the Eldrazi decks at my lgs, it allows me to beat most of the bigger Eldrazi in single combat instead of getting field wiped to trade.

Disperse is better than Just the Wind good catch.

I took out Boulder Salvo a while ago and forgot to edit, I'll do that tonight.

Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh  Flip is the MVP of the deck, she does attract removal but then my other creatures aren't getting targeted. Also when she is allowed to live I've hit people for 12 damage in a single turn with her as my only creature. I had an Abbot of Keral Keep in here before and it was just to clunky.

Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  Flip is here for draw power and the occasional flashback. He is not the focus, but does attract a lot of removal so he helps that way.

I've been debating about Talent of the Telepath for a while... it's just too high on the curve for me to say yes...

Clash of Wills isn't here because I designed this deck to race the opponent. And I never have the mana to sink into it so it got cut a while back

June 16, 2016 3:12 p.m.

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