A casual, budget deck for the control player that still likes to have somewhat of a board presence.
This deck was designed to win its fair share of games (~25%) at a casual table. Some weaknesses (lack of interaction with enemy planeswalkers, no ramp, little card-fixing, etc.) were included in the deck to simplify its aims while keeping its power level in check.
Mu Yanling
: This planeswalker is a heavy mana investment, so you'll need to stall as much as possible for her to hit the board. That's what led me to a pillow fort/control build. After she does come into play, however, she's a great tool, able to make your creatures unblockable, draw you cards, all while providing a game-winning ultimate.
Narset's Reversal
: This is sort of the ultimate discouragement to play targeted removal against Mu. While I know most mono-blue OB's would probably like to run something a little more predictable as the SS, I think this deck really excels at discouraging both attacks and doesn't really commit a lot to the board to be affected too harshly by board wipes. This means targeted removal is the main threat to Mu being in play. I would encourage you to never cast this unless you're protecting Mu or you can win the game off of an opponent's spell.
Early game: you'll want to lay down as many of your pillow fort cards as possible (
Propaganda
,
Web of Inertia
, etc.) while you build a board of creatures. These creatures make for decent blockers before
Mu Yanling
hits the field while also benefiting from her +2 post cast.
Mid game: use counter spells to cancel your opponents' bombs while continuing to develop your board. Play a few of your own bombs like
Keiga, the Tide Star
(which is a great mid game play, because it can really mess with opponents who want to play their one-sided board wipes).
In the late game, you'll want to chain an extra turn spell or two with Mu Yanling to tick down to her ultimate. If you've got a proliferator out on the board, this is not a very difficult feat to accomplish. What can be a touch trickier, however, is having enough damage to close out the game.
I recommended only "commencing the end game" when one player has been defeated or two players are sitting at around half of their starting life. This means you'll need to be judicious with your counterspells—always save them unless an opponent's play means you're too far behind to catch up (which is actually not that likely, considering you've got card draw on your OB).
To make this deck extra budget, take out
Cyclonic Rift
and replace with
AEtherize
or your favorite mass bounce spell.
I would love to hear your comments!
