MTGNoobs, I agree psychic strike could be taken out. It's sort of a sneaky one of. Most won't expect a counterspell with a temple and swamp open. I don't think I've the devotion to run Cyclonic Rift and by the time I've added enough blue and Nykthos, shrine to nix I'll have mono-blue deck. My feeling on it is if I'm not overloading it, I might as well run Far . As mentioned above, Dimir Charm and Domestication were perfect for the current meta. The charm kills everything in mono blue, white, and black save gods and Desecration Demon . Interestingly, I saw multiple Soul Ransom every game thanks to the card advantage provided by it and Jace, Architect of Thought . It might not have been explicit in the above report but every game with creatures I won was on the back of ransomed critters and casting my opponents bombs with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver . I may have still dealt lethal with tokens, rats, and Mutavault but my defensive line was held, or my opponents broken, by their creatures.

That said, I think I will try out that third Hero's Downfall when I'm headed into a more midrange meta. Thanks

xabe13, with 6 t2 answers between Far and Dimir Charm I never really felt threatened in the early game. Mostly I'd play a Pack Rat and save Far / Away for a mid game 2 for 1. Devour Flesh was the best option in monoblack, and has set the stage for many a victory of mine. I tried it once in here and My issue was that it can't target and with Far / Away I got more control mid game over what got sacrificed by first bouncing a token or mana dork so the opponent had to sac a fatty.

sk00kes, I highly recommend trying it out abd look forward to your feedback. Remember to cater to the meta.

Thank you all for the helpful feedback and +1 up votes. You've all given me food for thought. I'll try out these suggestions and report back after GP trials this weekend.

Feels a lot like my deck Mindfuck (6-1 @ FNM) (Top Deck). I run Desecration Demon and Liliana's Reaver in place of Nightveil Specter and Master of Waves and more removal. Otherwise, practically the same kind of play. +1 from me. Though, you can't make it undefeatable. You underestimate the power of Murphy's Law.

AJohnson9x, never underestimate Murphy. I saw your decklist and actually just ordered x4 Liliana's Reaver to try it out. The metagame is perfect right now for this deck. Frankly I've been lucky too, although I didn't report the skin off my teeth parts of some of those wins because..well.. In a good story, effect trumps truth. Rest assured that I'll lose soon, that's just part of the game.

Hey. I really like this deck! I had fun playing it since it's not your standard BU control deck. It stole a 6/5 Lotleth Troll I had, but my Burn the Dead golgari aggro deck just has too many answers for U and B decks. However, I do see this deck doing VERY well in any event :). I could see it having troubles against Green based decks such as my Golgari deck, and Mono Green Devotion. Regardless.. +1 for this deck! Added to my favorites folder too! :D

I like the deck, I probably will build this and try it out! +1

3 Notion Thief in sb? I would do 2 and then replace with 3rd Hero's Downfall .

How does it do Esper Control and Esper Midrange?

PrestigePunk it preforms excellently. Mind you, with any deck, the shell stays and you try your best to accommodate the metagame. The build you see here reflects only my anticipation that there'd be lots of aggro and mono black + blue at my FNM. i 4-0ed because i was right this time and have lost other times because i was not right and prepared for a field that wasn't there.

In a midrange/control dominated meta i might -1Dimir Charm -1 Psychic Strike for +2 Syncopate and fiddle with the sb to include +1 Hero's Downfall , and some number of Gainsay and Duress . Id likely cut SB Dimir Charm ,Domestication , and the x2 Essence Scatter for x4 Gainsay if i though u/w/x would be dominant.

I wouldn't cut Notion Thief . I want one for every Sphinx's Revelation my opponent casts and let me tell you, its very satisfying and game ending.

You know PrestigePunk, if i were that prepared for u/w/x, i might cut actually cut the third Notion Thief . I went with the 3rd as a plan just for control and bident decks when i didn't expect or prepare for any.. Like a plan B, although the deck is designed to take detention sphere gracefully.

This deck seems VERY close to the Dimir Control deck I have seen floating around. That being said I recommend the Prognostic Sphinx. He is hard to kill. Has a large a $$ and scry 3 every turn is the NUTZ! +1

Thanks for the vote Geoffrey1. Were you also inspired by the dimir deck running Prognostic Sphinx that almost won GP in Japan recently? I saw there that list had some and Master of Waves . It was certainly my inspiration for the build but a lot has changed since.

I even tried a grixis build that was the same save for +3Turn / Burn . Was neat but mana issues

plz help me check out u can block 99 creatures but a rogue aint one

Interesting note to make after some playtesting against my deck is that Far / Away and Cyclonic Rift bounce things you've stolen back to my hand. Nothing much to be done about that but it's something to keep in mind =-)

Dimir Pack Rat Control - 3-1 FNM

Nice deck. Very solid.

Uh not too sure if you meant to do this, but you linked to PackRat in your description instead of Pack Rat

I have never seen anything of the like. I love it! I must try something similar, if that's ok :).

Looking at this deck, I cannot see it doing well vs UW control. You have 12 dead cards in game 1 and the SB only adds 2x Negate and 2 Essence Scatter. Granted you have Notion Thief in the sideboard, once they see you have that, it will be much MUCH easier to play around.

Does your LGS just not have as many control decks as mine?

BeatAll, what you see is correct, the above decklist is intentionally optimized to address the meta-game at one LGS I frequent. The Notion Thief is a contingency against the Sphinx's Revelation decks that I did not expect to see(and I didnt). They way I think of it, every deck had a shell or core strategy/game plan paired with suplimental cards that shift with the meta-game. Granted, the wiggle room for change isn't the same for every deck.

A different LGS I attend is much more U/W/x oriented and this deck has placed 1st there as well but not without some significant changes. Mainboard changes include -1Dimir Charm , -1 Domestication , -2 Far / Away , -1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver : +2 Syncopate , +2 Hero's Downfall , +1 Jace, Architect of Thought

Sideboard changes more dramatically with -3 Lifebane Zombie , -1 Soul Ransom , -2Essence Scatter , -2 Negate : +4 Gainsay , +2 Duress , +1 Jace, Memory Adept , +1 Dispel

corranhorn01, glad you like it. If you try it out, please report back. Your experiences are important in refining this decklist.

hey look at this deck might give you an idea of how to stop a life gain near creature less deck U/W/R lets go merica! your deck really couldent handle it late game early it started fucking it up but you could not mill fast enough or keep the few creatures i played down each time i was able to get a quick flash of life and keep going while you started to stall you might want to have a way to stop a deck like this