I dig this. The only thing I reckon this deck is missing is a couple of Thoughtseize . They're expensive, but totally worth the money.

You also might consider taking out Opportunity . I've always felt like it's a tad bit to expensive for U/B. With Jace and Read the Bones as well as all of your scry, you have a pretty great amount of card advantage going on.

+1 from me. U/B control is a personal favorite of mine.

Burial at Sea is the U/B deck I'm running right now. Check it out if you can, you might SEA a few cards you like. SEA what I did there? Haha.

I thought about Thoughtseize, and will probably end up replacing Opportunity with them, depending on how much trade stuff I have left over after getting all of these cards. I guess you would say I'll just TIDE myself over.

Thanks for the +1, I'll come take a look at your deck.

@Twyn Hahaha, TIDE. Nice.

The only card I'm iffy about is Dimir Charm , other then that seems solid. +1

Yeah, the Charm and Opportunity would be the first candidates to be replaced by Thoughtseize, but the charm does have some uses. Kills 1-2 drops from an aggro deck, counters sorcery speed removal (Dreadbore being a big concern to my walkers) or card draw, and finally can be used to counter an opponent's scry. Thanks for the input!

I would say Opportunity is just way to slow in most cases.

I would normally agree with you, except for the 7-10 games I played versus a Bant Control deck at my local game shop. Chaining Opportunity into itself easily bought me a win.

That said, versus anything but the control mirror, it would probably come out, so it very well might start out in the sideboard. Thanks guys.

Opportunity is currently U/B's "Sphinx's Revelation ". People saying it's too slow doesn't make any sense for this reason, comparing both of them at 6: You get 4 cards for opportunity, and 3 cards and 3 life for sphinx's revelation. Arguably a great trade off depending on the state of the game(especially in the mirror). People get overconfident tapping revelation for all/almost all of their mana and lose it to a syncopate in the mirror. Just my two cents. Thoughtseize is great if you have lifelink or life gain, but after the shock lands AND read the bones, you're going to die Very quickly vs. RDW or any burn.

I agree, and that's part of the reason it is not a higher priority. Opportunity has grown on me during testing, it will definitely stay. Do you think I should have more counter spells mainboarded?

I would side out (or completely take out) the charms as their use is more limited than dissolve/syncopate which can essentially stop anything. 3 dissolves would feel better for this build, syncopate is relative. I would try testing 4 syncopate and 3 dissolve.

I'll give that a shot during playtest, thanks!

I would recommend mainboarding Devour Flesh , its worked very well in my U/B control deck so far. Even though there are considerable downsides to Devour, you guarantee that it isn't a dead card while giving yourself an emergency lifegain through sacrificing you own creature.

I would also replace Read the Bones with Dimir Charm , it's are a lot better than people give it credit. As stated it kills aggro/utility creatures which control decks typically have issues with (and makes your sacrifice cards more potent), as well as counters sorcery spells which frees up you other premium counterspells. In addition to that, not only does it mess up scry but it combo's beautifully with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver to set up a worthwhile +2.

I played this at game day to a very unsatisfactory 1-2-1 record, so I will be taking a look at it soon. What would you swap for Devour Flesh mainboard? I agree that it should warrant a second look, I ended up playing several decks where Doom Blade was a dead draw, and I lost one game to Deathrite Shaman killing me with my own spells.

I hadn't even thought about the synergy between Ashiok and the Charm though, that's slick.

Giving some of my thoughts on your deck in return for your contribution to mine. I think 3 Syncopates is ideal against decks that tap out consistently, but, come late game, that won't happen very often. I might suggest dropping down to 2 and adding in an additional removal or counterspell. I really like Hero's Downfall in the current meta since Planeswalkers can be such deal sealers, and having one in hand is never a bad thing. I really like the deck, though. I playtested and it seems pretty consistent. I like it, +1.

I like your idea of Dimir Charm and Ashiok. I'll see if i can fit that in my list. I strongly suggest a third ashiok though.

I'd also trade one Syncopate for the fourth Dissolve

Both of you guys are advocating a 4th hard counter instead of Syncopate, and I'm going to agree.

Re Dimir Charm: The card is pretty solid, to be honest. Kills Cacklers/Elvish Mystics/Deathrite Shaman/Guild Mages etc while still countering sorceries and letting my manipulate their draws.

Re 3rd Ashiok: I was originally going to run 3 Ashioks and 2 Jaces, but I traded for the numbers I have listed above. I'm working on getting a 3rd Ashiok, just have to figure out what to cut. Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated.

I've read both updates and I have to say I fully agree with the direction you're taking this deck. The only thing I would caution you on is Thoughtseize , too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. I'm currently running 2 in my Dimir deck and it seems to be a sweet spot: almost never draw both and yet I still get plenty of t1 plays.

All in all good job in the redux, if +1 again if I could. If you find the time I'd love to get you're feedback on my deck Reverse Dreamcatcher

That's a good point about Thoughtseize, I'll keep it in mind should I happen to wind up with more than 1 in the near future. I'll definitely take a look, you've been a tremendous help, thanks!

How are the [woodlot crawler]s working out??I also believe main deck [essence scatter] is great in this format, except for the control mirror, but even then it will hit relevant creatures. It's will definitely help versus [aetherling], and the devotion decks from getting their [fanatic of mogis] or more importantly versus monoblack-- [merchant of asphodel].

I never actually got around to finding paper copies of the crawler, which is a little embarrassing that they've been on the list for so long. I DID watch an Esper player at my local shop board them in versus a nasty looking Green devotion list, and it wasn't awful. Basically, you use them to perma-block two dudes, making it easier to hold the line with spot removal. Green decks have been notably absent from my local meta lately, so I won't have a chance to test them. Will update sideboard soon.

PS, to link cards, make sure you use the double brackets

Since you commented on mine. I figured I'd return the favor. I like this but why is Woodlot in the sideboard?

To block big scary green things that were rampaging my local meta. I mean come on, Woodlot Crawler !

I realized that could have been interpreted differently than I meant it to. I was pretty excited to get to play it, it's a cool little worm! Never really got a good use out of it though.

Yea I stopped and thought about it after lol pretty good deck + 1 and whoo Woodlot Crawler :D

what do you think of replacing 4 swamps with 4 Temple of Silence just for the scry? i've thought about it but havent tested