That was a roller coaster of emotions to read! Nice win!

I had a very similar emotional game a few days ago with a new roommates playgroup, they have a Krenko player who will pull that deck out to win when he's been beaten any time. So the entire game in spite of being the only person besides Krenko who was not running blue I was keeping him under control, removing his sac outlets and his haste enablers, countering his impact tremors but beyond that letting him run amok. He was becoming very spiteful and angry with me and began to devote all his resources to destroying me. It was a bit counter intuitive for the play style of the deck but with Krenko I felt it necessary to be a bit more aggressive with our control. Eventually he got an Altar of Dementia to stick and created enough tokens to mill out every single on of the players, everyone started to pack up there cards and scope as the Krenko player gloated over winning again. I told him I hadn't scooped and game wasn't over yet. On upkeep I used Act of Aggression to steal his Altar of Dementia and then Rakdos Charmed him for the win (would have lost had everyone else not scooped). So to anyone reading this, remember the games not over till the game forces you to lose!

I did a brief read-through of your deck description and objectives. I wasn't familiar with the term "Aikido" until after I read it here. I run a full-focused combo deck and the term Aikido seems at odd ends with Combo since stopping the combo will mean disrupting your opponent's board-state.

There isn't any card that just turns off combo since combo strategies could rely on graveyard or storm or infinite token loops or infinite mana use. An excellent card you might want to consider that can help fall in line with Aikido would be Damping Sphere which hits hard against decks that try to storm out for the win. A good way to deal with graveyard-based combos could be Mimic Vat which not only can serve as a good deterrent, but it's triggered ability can stop a graveyard loop when in a pinch. Lastly if someone aims a lethal spell at you that deals infinite damage or infinite loss of life or forces you to draw infinite cards I've found that cards like Fork and Reverberate are excellent ways of turning those spells against their caster and not only that, but if they die to your copy that effectively exiles their original spell before it ever resolves saving you in the process. Fork and Reverberate are also good at giving your Price of Progress or Backlash more of an edge and can stop counter spells as well.

If you mind can you tell me what combos you're up against? I might be able to come up with a suggestion better suited to your meta. Also I noticed you have Vampire Nighthawk listed as a win condition which I found a bit amusing and out of place. Could you tell me what significance it holds in your deck? If you're looking for an effective aerial blocker I think Mischievous Poltergeist does the trick trading lethality for durability. Also if you have any issues with creatures trampling you to death you might want to consider Dead-Iron Sledge which practically works like super deathtouch killing the creature before combat damage.

StopShot, those are really good observations. I always appreciate the feedback.

As for responses, I will first address your question of Aikido. Aikido does not mean not defending yourself against attacks if it would mean disruption of your opponents' efforts. The discussion of ethics is about the most preferable ways to defend yourself. I include spot removal, and that affects board states and plans as well. The highest ethical level in Aikido is to defend oneself while preventing harm to both the attacker and the defender, but it leaves the possibility for defense that harms the attacker if necessary, it is just much less preferable. In the case of storm, you are right in that the board state of storm is the storm count, but no one goes off in storm without the intent to win the game, so defense in this situation can be justified. The alternative is to lose. Preferably, you could Deflecting Palm or Comeuppance an Aetherflux Reservoir for a win of your own, but causing the storm to fizzle is acceptable when you can't end the game yourself. The higher in the ethical hierarchy you play, the better you are, but dipping down to avoid disaster is OK.

I like a lot of your suggestions. As for Vampire Nighthawk, at this point it is sort of a legacy card. I think about removing it every time I consider an alternative. It is in the wincon spot now as an oversight from when I ran Hatred and had several lifelink creatures to go with it. Now it is just a flying rattlesnake. It currently occupies the most likely flex spot, and is in danger of losing it's place. If it is cut, it is likely to be replaced by something more than a simple flying blocker.

Mimic Vat is a fascinating idea. Limited graveyard hate and Aikido wincon. I will have to consider. Animate Dead has done a pretty good job for me, so I could see Mimic Vat doing the same.

Reverberate and Fork have been in the deck in the past. I think you are right in that they function very well in the right meta, and my previous meta was not the right place for them. My new meta may be. The fact that I now face combo and more counterspells means that it will probably function exactly the same way you say. I may trial this in the Vampire Nighthawk slot, probably my revised Fork. The other option I consider for this spot is Praetor's Grasp or Wheel of Fortune. Both can really mess with combo.

As for what combo I face, Karlov of the Ghost Council with Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood, both Mizzix of the Izmagnus and now Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain storm, a new Muldrotha, the Gravetide infinite Villainous Wealth, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight infinite attack phases, Purphoros, God of the Forge Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker shenanigans, Damia, Sage of Stone infinite turns Deadeye Navigator, and Palinchron BS, and probably more. I would say that many decks use combo wincons in addition to other strategies, but there are some that only win with combo, such as the storm and Damia decks.

I played last night and considered your suggestions, StopShot. I kept in the back of my mind as I was playing the idea "Would I like to have a Reverberate right now? What could I do with it?" The answer was frequently, "Yes, Reverberate would be a good card." So:

Vampire Nighthawk -> Reverberate

We will see how this goes, but being reminded of the potential of this card was good and timely. Thanks for the input StopShot.

Fun deck idea, I have a Marchesa deck that leans more toward choice/shenanigans but I took a lot of ideas from your deck.

What are your thoughts on Cleansing? A conditional/choice Acidic Soil.

@precociousapprentice, Well, I was going to suggest that if you insisted on keeping Vampire Nighthawk that Thornbite Staff makes a strong synergy with it.

If you're going to use only one copy spell I'd suggest using Fork over Reverberate. While they're very similar and neither is strictly better or worse than the other one common scenario Fork has over Reverberate is when copying counter spells and turning them red. This can be significant, because in past times when copying counterspells I've had cards like Red Elemental Blast, Pyroblast, and Guttural Response used to counteract my Reverberate when copying a blue counter spell or draw spell. Most non-blue decks that can run those cards will likely run them more-so than not and Fork bypasses that issue easily when needed.

It seems your meta is thoroughly diverse. Hand and deck disruption can be a strong asset for taking down a combo deck, but I wouldn't consider Praetor's Grasp or Wheel of Fortune strong enough effects since combo decks can always run back-up combos to rely on. What really hits combo is repeatable effects and some of the strongest you could probably run would be Mind Slash and Bottomless Pit which a lot of combo players would find nasty. (Painful Quandary is a close third place and can stop storm decks pretty effectively as well.) Also if you're going up against non-graveyard strategies Mesmeric Orb is a ballistic nightmare in any singleton format it's put in which would be the only effective mill card I'd ever recommend when hurting combo.

Do note graveyard-based combos are a little more resilient to the card suggestions I've given above, but so long as you have something like Rest in Peace and/or Planar Void you can easily avoid this issue without giving them any fuel to burn.

Given your meta I would imagine Torpor Orb would lift a lot of weight for you especially against Purphoros, God of the Forge, Palinchron/Deadeye Navigator, and whatever ETB effects the Muldrotha, the Gravetide deck is probably abusing.

One aspect about blue I've never liked was it's use of counter spells. If you find Reverberate helpful I'd recommend also using cards like Seal of Cleansing, Sinister Concoction, Gate to Phyrexia, Aura Fracture, Aura of Silence, and Umezawa's Jitte. Not only do they serve as good rattlesnake cards that deter your opponents from just putting their bombs on the field, but I've noticed blue decks only hold up counter spell mana on turns they might need it on. If you drop one of these early when they're not ready their counter spells won't be able to stop the card effects, and I can verify from past experiences that the blue players I go up against when using the cards I just mentioned hate them fondly because they know I save them for their combos which makes their job of combo-ing out much more complicated. In fact one card I've found more success with than I'd ever give credit to is Molten Vortex, because the number of utility creatures and win-cons it hits without needing to use prime removal spells is pretty big and as I said before it's another one of those spells that if resolved the blue decks are going to have troubles playing around with. The Vortex can remove Mizzix of the Izmagnus, Laboratory Maniac, Norin the Wary, Hermit Druid, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, etc. and even when I don't have a land to pitch to it I've found it's presence alone is enough to deter plays entirely. Shattering Spree also plays well against blue, because not only can it hit multiple targets, but you can hit the same target twice or three times which would require more than one counter spell to stop a key combo piece being removed if needed.

As for multiple combat steps or a super massive army being swung your way you already can use Ghostly Prison, but if you need more options Norn's Annex can also work as well as Orim's Chant which not only stops combat but can also be used but can also stop storm or certain combos if you cast it at the right moment. It should also be noted that Rule of Law as well as the aforementioned Damping Sphere also does a marvelous job of stopping storm as well. Lastly if your opponents gaining life is an issue I think Rampaging Ferocidon makes a good option, because it can also punish your opponents if they try to build an army, so it fits two functions rather well, and I find the menace handy if you ever need to punch into a super-friends deck.

StopShot those are all great suggestions. For some of them, I think anything that is Stax-y is probably strong but counter to the play style. I have Torpor Orb, Damping Sphere, and Aura of Silence that have not been put in for this reason. I want people to go off, just not at me. I played Orim's Chant as a semi-counterspell for a while. It was OK, but had to be used proactively, and this made it much weaker than I wanted. Norn's Annex turns out to be mixed. People just pay the life. This can add up, and on occasion was almost a wincon by itself, but it didn't redirect attacks away from me as strongly as other tax cards. The discard card are a little difficult. They have a tendency to make me more of a target than I want. They are powerful, but I think they may undermine the strength of the deck. Rule of Law may be similar, but I would need to see it in action to know.

The suggestion of Fork is well taken. I had a conversation with a friend about them both, but I forgot the fact that Fork turns the spell red. That is a good addition. I may switch it. I have a nice revised Fork I pulled in one of the very first packs I ever opened that would fit nicely. I just threw the Reverberate in because I found it first and like the art.

Thanks for the suggestions, and keep them coming. I think the deck is pretty mature, and needs very little changes, but you can see that it has been a long evolution. It remains my favorite deck, and wins surprisingly often.

Here's a few suggestions:

Glacial Chasm - I'm sure you're aware of this card, so I'm curious what your reasoning is for not running it! Sets you back when you decide to scrap it?

Leave // Chance - How common are board wipes in your meta? Being able to turn 6-8 permanents that you would have lost into card draw (or just play them again) might have potential.

Cleansing - a three-peat of Price of Progress / Acidic Soil. Too conditional?

Archfiend of Despair - I know you already shot down this card but I think I like it for the exact reasons you don't: (1) It being a creature means it can power its own ability. Also, Animate Dead target. (2) Shuts down lifegain decks which I run into fairly often. (3) I don't run tutors so the greater tutorability of Wound Reflection is a non-factor for me. (4) Good budget option for Wound Reflection :).

I had conidered all of those projectneptune, and I don't think that they would add what you think they would add. I will go through each.

Glacial Chasm - This card has way too many downsides. The Cumulative Upkeep alone is out of control. Additive life loss becomes huge. T1 is 2, T2 is 6, T3 is 12, T4 is 20. Half your starting life to reach 4 more turns is pretty huge. On top of that, it costs 2 land drops to use. This can be huge, and combined with the life loss it is not something you just put out to be prepared. It also prevents some of my offense. If I want to play a Master of Cruelties or Virtus the Veiled for an attempt at a win, I need to advertise the play and expose myself for a full round ahead in order to be able to attack with it, and that doesn't even count the Insurrection play. In all, I have much better options. Other decks that are built to abuse it would be a better home for it.

Leave // Chance - That is a very narrow set of circumstances that makes it worthwhile. Board wipes happen, but I would rather counter, Boros Charm, Teferi's Protection , or just recover faster with new threats. Even a Replenish or Yawgmoth's Will would probably do me much better.

Archfiend of Despair - As a budget option, I can see this being fine. As it stands, I like my other options. They body is a liability compared to the durability of an enchantment, and the Academy Rector to Wound Reflection is an awesome play.

Cleansing - This card is much less a third Price of Progress/Acidic Soil than you think. I looked at this card early on, as soon as I saw the power of Price of Progress. Unfortunately, it is not nearly good enough. Giving the opponent choices makes it basically useless. Acidic Soil has to be held until they are really beat down or they have 15 lands to make it worthwhile, and usually only comes out as a finisher. I actually wish I had a better option than Acidic Soil, and Cleansing is no Acidic Soil. Here's how it would play. Wait until mid to late game so it actually matters. In the mid game playing it means that they take maybe 5-7 damage or so, and keep their board state. That is not nearly enough to change a game. Late game it matters even less. Even if they are pretty low, Say 15 life and 15 lands, they will sacrifice only their worst lands, they will keep enough to retaliate hard, and they will take 6-8 damage, leaving themselves with a Gaea's Cradle, an Ancient Tomb, two dual lands, an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and a Maze of Ith. That is not nearly good enough an effect to warrant the slot. This is also my problem with Torment of Hailfire. Give them choices and they will find a way out of losing. If Cleansing did 3 damage per land saved, it would be worth it. For 1 damage, it is too little to matter.

solemnity stops glacial chasms cumulative upkeep. fun fact

What are your feelings on the cards Grim Tutor and Imperial Seal? I run an Imperial Seal in my deck, but often times I find myself wishing it was a Grim Tutor instead. Could you ever see yourself running Imperial Seal over Grim Tutor? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Hexekk, I thought about adding that after I commented, but I feel like it doesn’t really matter. The setback of the lands and the inability to attack freely make it a suboptimal choice. Needing Solemnity to keep from dying to it just makes that more obvious. Again, for a deck built for it, it can be amazing. This deck isn’t built for it.

StopShot, I am pretty sure I will always prefer Grim Tutor. The card in hand immediately makes all the difference. That being said, the comments section shows how often I have been wrong. Either one is overpriced, and not necessary for how the deck functions, and has much cheaper alternatives, but both are pretty amazing if you have them. My choice was Grim.

I was able to play Stolen Strategy today. I played in a 3 player pod against Karlov Extort and Rashmi Elves Control. I did mostly nothing threatening for the first half of the game, stabilizing myself at 20 life, and Karlov and Rashmi went back and forth taking the lead. Eventually, I resolved Stolen Strategy. This put me in a position to use the Stolen Strategy theft cards for extra gas and advantage, and stole several extort creatures to go on the offensive, and then some counterspells to keep Rashmi off of my own deck's strategy. I exiled several useless lands, but the number of useful cards I got out of it was pretty impressive, especially when I flipped a Cryptic Command to the dismay of Rashmi. I won the game off of extort and accumulated advantage. Stolen Strategy is a truly impressive card, and I think it will remain a part of my list. It provides card advantage and excellent disruption, and by itself can shift a late game in your advantage.

I tested out Stolen Strategy a little on Xmage and wasn't impressed. I generally found the cards I got (When they weren't lands) were never really synergetic with my game plan or conducive with what I wanted to do. I would expect it also has that aura of annoyance similar to Mind's Dilation or Etali, Primal Storm where the other players get increasingly irritated that you are stealing their stuff.

Maybe it says something about myself as well that I don't like the idea of casting and filling up my board with 'cloggy' or random good-stuff cards - ones that I haven't debated over for hours to put in my 99 and fit into what my deck wants to do.

I might just be overthinking all of this though...

I find it very interesting the varied perspectives that people can have Older20. From my perspective, all that good stuff was just accumulated value. This had the feeling of Meren the Steam Roller. I resolved Stolen Strategy later in the game, and with the low casting cost of most of my spells, I can forward my game plan, disrupt theirs by exiling stuff, and then gain lots of extra value out of their stuff, even if it is not super synergistic. Any creatures I cast are just chump blockers or valueless attackers, and any ETB shenanigans I get out of it are extra. Any answers I get are answers to their stuff, not mine. And maybe the most important thing is that all those things that were placed in their decks for uncommon synergies, those are their best cards, and exiling them is an answer I don't have to come up with myself.

The game I played, I got offense out of one opponent, and answers, including counterspells, out of another. While gaining this as an advantage, I rebuilt a torn down pillow fort to make myself invincible, tutored for a wincon, and they spent their time fussing over the fact that I was stealing their stuff. As they contended with their own best strengths, I dropped Dark Depths and Thespian's Stage. And as they were searching for removal for Stolen Strategy, my other bomb enchantments were in less danger of being disrupted.

“If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Stolen Strategy performed perfectly for me this time, and fit the above advice flawlessly.

I played Stolen Strategy again today. My favorite moment was Lapse of Certaintying a Sanguine Bond when the blue player was tapped out and the Karlov player tried to combo off. Hard counter to exile against a combo player from a Mardu deck. I let it go to exile just for spite because I didn't need it. Priceless.

If you had blue as a fourth color, which cards would you be interested in trying? I'm considering building a version of your deck with Tymna the Weaver partnered with Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist at the helm. I realize running blue loses some of the under-the-radar value of simply Mardu. But it offers some interesting options (of course). Some I'm considering: Propaganda, Isperia, Supreme Judge, Reins of Power, Illusionist's Gambit, Swerve, to name several.

Since taking out Grand Abolisher my win rate is 0%. I never realized how much I relied on that little guy!

Not to be too cheeky zjepsen, but if you are adding blue, Cyclonic Rift, various counterspells like Mana Drain and Cryptic Command, various Clone effcts especially like Stunt Double and Clever Impersonator, and steal effects like Control Magic and Bribery all top the list. Also check out Domineering Will, Energy Field with Rest in Peace, and especially Curse of Verbosity. Your list is pretty good, but I would not really be interested in Isperia, Supreme Judge. For that much mana you should either win the game of become immortal, not just provide a mild deterrent to attacking you. I would play Platinum Angel over it.

RobotCowhand, you should unpack that a bit. Grand Abolisher is awesome, and is a pretty frequent add when I am ditching a card for some reason. It has been in and out of the deck probably close to a dozen times. It is awesome against counterspells and permanent answers that have to be answered in the moment, but it can be played around, and I never feel like I have to have it to win, even if I feel safer when I have it. I frequently win at instant speed and on their turn, and when I don't it is pretty frequent that it is with non-Hasted creatures, so the only thing Grand Abolisher stops is counterspells. What situations do you find yourelf in that would require it over something else the deck has? What decks beat you, and how do they keep you from winning? How does Grand Abolisher stop that? I would love to learn about situations I don't really encounter.

Hah, no worries, precociousapprentice. I'm not ignoring the staples, just considering cards that fit the theme. I dig the Energy Field recommendation. Thanks!

Totally agree with you about your assessment of Stolen Strategy. It's been a great addition. It just expands the options available for me each turn and is very on theme with using an opponent's weapons against them.

I'm reconsidering my stance on Grab the Reins. I think I've been evaluating it incorrectly. I'm still down on the fact it doesn't untap the stolen creature, but I actually think it's less of a Threaten effect and more of a Backlash effect that then removes the creature after it "backlashes". It gets around indestructible since it sacrifices the target. 7 mana is quite a lot for that effect but it does have the flexibility of being a reasonably costed Act of Aggression in a pinch. I'm thinking of trialing it. What are your thoughts?

Also thinking of trying Master Warcraft as another win con option. I can't remember if you've shared your thoughts on this card before.

That is an amazing way of thinking about it MegaMatt13. With that perspective in mind, it is totally worth considering Grab the Reins. Nice breakdown.

I ran Master Warcraft in the very first Queen Marchesa list I posted here. I had high hopes. At that point, I either didn't know how to play Aikido control enough to appreciate it, or it just doesn't play as well as it could. I would love to hear more about what you think or how it plays.

Master Warcraft is an interesting consideration but it is a hard sell in multiplayer. You get to choose which targets attack but you do not get to choose who they attack. Like you say in your own writeup MegaMatt13 it tends to be when you play these style of effects (goblin spymaster, fumiko lowblood, bitter feud) they tend to just come at you.

I see Master Warcraft being an exceptional card to cast alongside Disrupt Decorum however, just for forcing one player to have no blockers and taking a full load to the face.

Overall though, I don't see how it's going to fit just due to the fact that you don't get to choose who it attacks... unless you were also playing something like Mystic Barrier where you could direct those attacks as well.

However, I'm definitely intrigued in grab the reins.... seems like a great inclusion alongside word of seizing.

Bloodytrailz, I should have read the card more closely. you're right it doesn't allow me to dictate where the creatures attack. that makes the card significantly worse than I thought. as you mention, I suspect opponents will attack me out of spite to prove a point (even with pillowfort up).