Deciding between U/B control or U control
Deck Help forum
Posted on Jan. 14, 2012, 6:33 p.m. by LilianaoftheBill
Pretty much says it in the title. U/B build is B/U Control, nothing new and U build will be similar to deck:frozen-control
aloehart199 says... #3
Advantages of U/B are massive amounts of removal where blue has near none, a much better bomb in terms of power (grave titan), and it has liliana of the veil which is an amazing control card as long as you know how to use her
January 14, 2012 10:27 p.m.
rckclimber777 says... #4
Mono blue is very difficult to play effectively. As the previous comments said adding black will provide removal, greater power and can easily cover blue's weaknesses. Esper is the best of all worlds.
January 14, 2012 10:30 p.m.
LilianaoftheBill says... #5
alright, I was leaning towards that anyways. Comments on the deck itself then?
January 14, 2012 10:56 p.m.
aloehart199 says... #6
If you want absolute control go grixis or esper. esper has the most control to offer (lots of exile with white to add to u/b). Grixis has more versatility providing burn spells that allow you to have extra removal or extra damage as well as a good CHEAP sweeper.
I prefer grixis myself. I like it a lot. And lately it seems the only reason go to u/b/w is solar flare which is short hand for sun titan phantasmal image phantasmal image phantasmal image.
Another enjoyable form of control is U/W. You lose kill spells of black but you get access to one of the best defensive spells around (timely reinforcements) as well as access to a powerful cheap bomb you can drop turn 6 (hero of bladehold) and you get removal that extends beyond just creatures. There is also a great powercombo of venser and stonehorn dignitary that prevents your opponent from ever getting a combat phase.
Between u/b and b, u/b has much more versatility and is a bit more playable. Blue has a lot of permission but not all of it is as good as others. There's not a lot of reason to waste 3 mana and a dissipate on a 2 drop creature, but if you don't you'll end up taking a lot of damage. Black gives removal that is cheap. it lets you take care of small issues before you get worn down.
A player can easily cast more spells than you can counter, but removal gives you an option for dealing with a problem after its cast. Vaporsnag is a good tempospell, but for it to be any real use you have to counter the spell when they replay it and thats just 2 cards down the drain and more mana.
Mono blue has some backbone now with delver adding in. But there's just not enough good effective counters to build the deck around.
January 14, 2012 11:23 p.m.
LilianaoftheBill says... #7
I would go U/W Delver Control, but my friend just built that.
January 14, 2012 11:41 p.m.
rckclimber777 says... #8
Solar flare doesn't hold a candle to just esper control imo. One properly timed spellbomb and their win-strategy goes away or a surgical extraction for unburial rites and they're done. I'm actually running a U/W/b blade deck Oh crap not this again.. It does Very well right now. Solar flare is going to get better with the lich though. Granted Esper control will also get stronger by it. The key I think in the new standard is being able to bring back stuff from the graveyard (whether through flashback or simply reanimation or something else like moorland haunt). With a graveyard based set, its given the game an entirely new zone to work with when building a strategy. Granted the deck is predominantly U/W blade with a splash of black for spot removal.
Epochalyptik says... #2
I think it depends on your preference and meta. UB offers a lot more in terms of removal and creature capability. It's just a more flexible approach.
January 14, 2012 7:53 p.m.