Control: As It Once Was.
Deck Help forum
Posted on Sept. 3, 2013, 7:53 p.m. by cantthinkofacreativename
I'm fairly new to Magic (been playing a year of so), and I was wondering what control decks (of previous Standard, and Modern Formats) looked like before cards like Sphinx's Revelation, and Snapcaster Mage were printed. Did people play with full playsets of spells, as opposed to 2-3 spells + 3-4 Snaps? What cards were used in place of Sphinx's Revelation? Decks with 3-4 copies of both are all I know D:
Besides that, a really good deck to look at as a reference to what has been good in control is "toolbox" style decks that use Gifts Ungiven . It is called a tool box because it has a wide variety of cards to answer you opponent with and fetches them using gifts. Cruel control is another good thing to look at. Other examples are Psychatog control, mono black control, slide control, and rock control.
September 3, 2013 9:06 p.m.
miracleHat says... #4
there was Stasis control and Sensei's Divining Top /Counterbalance control among others.
September 3, 2013 9:08 p.m.
Darkness1835 says... #6
Jund decks the world over will forever rue Cawblade. It is known.
September 3, 2013 9:39 p.m.
HarbingerJK says... #7
my favorite is the U/B Grave Titan control deck from 2010 worlds
September 3, 2013 9:39 p.m.
cantthinkofacreativename says... #9
Also, do all control decks have some form of draw power? I get that having card advantage allows you to have more options/answers to opposing threats, but is it 100% necessary for control to work?
September 4, 2013 12:11 a.m.
cantthinkofacreativename, the draw power is more because you will be constantly playing spells (both during your turn and theirs), so you need to be able to refill your hand. If a control deck starts top decking, it's a huge disadvantage because you can't protect your big game-finishing creatures (i.e Angel of Serenity , AEtherling , etc.), so you are left completely vulnerable.
Also, if you only have 1 card in hand and hold onto it, your opponent KNOWS it's a counterspell and can plan around it.
September 4, 2013 12:49 a.m.
Here's the the deck piloted by Zak Dolan at the 1994 World Championship. A lot of the cards on there were restricted at the time (such as Regrowth ) or still are today. Timetwister and Ancestral Recall were used to keep the player's hand full, then Recall and Regrowth brought them back to their hands to be reused.
The Deck, designed by Brian Weissman, was one of the first netdecks to pop up. Weissman added the restricted Braingeyser to his build, along with a full set of Mana Drain s. Moat stopped aggro from getting past Serra Angel , who could just lay down the beats turn after turn.
Turbo Stasis abused the combo of Stasis and Kismet to lock your opponent down. It would see major play during 1996 to end the Black Summer (when Necropotence was in almost every deck of any top 8 during a professional tournament), and would come back during Urza's Saga/5th. Edition when the mono-black aggro decks built around Necropotence started rearing their ugly heads.
$t4kS (or "The Four-Thousand Dollar Solution) locked the opponent down with Smokestack and Tangle Wire . By abusing the stack to place their abilities before or after changing the amount of counters, the player can end up with a one-sided trade, while their opponent feels the full effect of having to sacrifice permanents or tap them.
That's just a few decks I thought of off the top of my head. There's also Fish, most MUD/Tron variants, Four and Five Color Control, etc.
September 4, 2013 12:53 a.m.
@ cantthinkofacreativename Keep in mind that there are many forms of card advantage. Discard, more efficient cards that trade 2 or more for 1, draw prevention, and a few other things can all create card advantage. Some people consider being able to filter through your deck when you draw a form of card advantage because it is similar to having those cards in hand which gives you more options. Think of reoccurring scry mechanics and similar effects. Not just drawing gives you card advantage but it is basically one of the easiest. If somebody plays Wit's End or rakdos return for a lot, they are going to have a steep advantage. Control decks thrive on many of these forms of card advantage.
In a control deck you want to need to have every advantage possible. You want cards that take that advantage from your opponent then you have very efficient cards to do the rest. You only want to trade 1 card for 1 card when you have to. Think of Wrath of God type effects. You want to clear the board of all your opponents stuff so the more creatures they have on their side when you use it, the better. Sure Mana Leak is awesome to removing potential threats, but many people prefer Remand because it plays a similar role in countering your opponent's spell but it also draws another card for you which trades itself 1 for 1 but is also gets you another card back. This might not be the best example because Remand and Mana Leak are preferred to be used in different scenarios, but the idea remains the same. You want to be precise in your actions and find out what spell will best match the situation.
So in summary, there are a lot of options for card advantage and you have to figure out what the best form is for your deck and how you can use many types to give you every possible edge on your opponent.
September 4, 2013 2:02 a.m.
cantthinkofacreativename says... #13
Thanks for all the helpful information everyone!
MR H3AT says... #2
To go all the way back to the beginning of control you need to look up "The Deck". I dont remeber the builder but that deck changed the game and is considered one of the most influential decks of its kind.
September 3, 2013 8:47 p.m.