U/B Control viable in Modern? Need help, new to modern.
Modern forum
Posted on Jan. 21, 2015, 11:47 a.m. by kbarnhart
I'm looking to start building a modern deck. The only thing is that I never really followed modern enough to know what decks are good / bad in certain matchups or what I should be looking for to make a solid deck.
As far as colors go, i'm a blue/black player at heart. But from what I see most of the "top" decks are / were (thanks banning) U/R Delver, Junk Pod, Red deck wins, soul sisters Infect, affinity..... I'm not familiar with any semi-competitive u/b decks (open to splashing a third color)
My play style is kind of odd... I play control decks for the most part (removal, disruption, counters) but with slightly more aggressive creatures than what you'd expect from a control deck.
In standard right now i'm playing u/b control but I'm not using the typical Pearl Lake Ancient or Prognostic Sphinx as win conditions. I'm running Doomwake Giant and Master of the Feast . I like to keep my opponent's board clean and kill them quickly.
I won't be playing in any GP's or anything like that. My metagame here is competitive kitchen table. So i'm not looking to drop $800 on a deck. But that doesn't mean I'm looking for the most budget deck I can find.
I have a playset of each Khans/Onslaught fethchland but none of the Zendikar ones.
I don't have shocklands, but i'm willing to pick them up. I'm waiting to buy Zen fetches, hoping for reprint in either Dragons of Tarkir or MM2.
My budget won't let me pick up any Dark Confidant Lilliana of the Veil or Tarmogoyf type of cards. But I could afford things more along the lines of Thoughtsieze . If a card will run me $20 - $30 i'm okay with that but nothing higher.
I'm assuming I might want to splash green for things like Abrupt Decay and Scavenging Ooze if I want to have that removal and beatdown i'm looking for.
I am also a huge Delver of Secrets Flip fan, but I don't want to play a u/r delver deck. Is Delver viable in a u/b or BUG (esper even) deck?
Can anybody point me in the right direction as to what I might want to pick up or at least link me a few decklists to look over.
Not interested in playing any combo decks or infect.
Thank you.
CommanderOfBolas says... #3
U/B has always been a bit underwhelming in modern, with the only exception probably being u/b faeries...but since you don't want to be dropping $300 on Vendilion Cliques and $150 on Bitterblossom, I don't think that deck would be best for you.
So here are my suggestions: Build your own version of control (maybe have Tombstalker as your wincon?) and make sure your deck has game against Splinter Twin decks, Abzan Midrange decks, U/W/R control, Affinity, Scapeshift, and dredge. So basically you will want good counters, good spot removal, good board sweepers, and the wincon of your choice. after you have all that, fill the rest of your deck slots with some card draw to keep you going. As far as your mana base goes, id recommend running some number of Creeping Tar Pit and maybe Faerie Conclave. good luck!
January 21, 2015 12:02 p.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #4
CommanderOfBolas had a good idea, go rogue! Use top of the range counters like Cryptic Command (if affordable) or if not Deprive. Remand, Spell Snare and possibly Spell Pierce might be other counterspells worth picking up. As CommanderOfBolas said, Tombstalker seems good as a wincon, but maybe you could try Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver or Jace Beleren as secondary wincons and dont forget the Snapcaster Mages. Removal, Smother, Drown in Sorrow and Go for the Throat along with disruption like Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek are also great additions. Throw all these together an you have a pretty snazzy UB control build :)
Damnation is brilliant but if you can't afford it Crux of Fate should suffice.
January 21, 2015 12:10 p.m.
I like Malakir Bloodwitch as a budget wincon. Dodges almsot all removal.
January 21, 2015 12:15 p.m.
Programmer_112 says... #7
There's also BUG Delver, which is pretty rogue.
January 21, 2015 12:19 p.m.
Is Tombstalker a good wincon though? Given the right deck, how much mana should I be paying to play him?
And another question for you guys. Now that you have an idea of how my playstyle is, are there any OTHER decks that are that style but aren't blue/black that I should be looking at? Are other color combos better suited for control? What is the best control deck at the moment that I can afford?
January 21, 2015 2:31 p.m.
A control hybrid with midrange creatures sounds like GB/x decks. Abrupt Decay and Tarmogoyf essentially. Although those decks are super expensive.
Could try mono bue tron (counterspells and then Wurmcoil Engine).
Or just build a rogue deck. Malakir Bloodwitch is great. Tombstalker costs more, and has no protection from removal. Malakir Bloodwitch has protection. Shes good.
January 21, 2015 2:37 p.m.
The best decks in UB colors are strictly are Faeries and Tezzerator. Here is a list of the Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas control - Tezzeret Control. I cannot find a faeries one, but several have already been linked.
However, I suggest going rouge (and budget) for a start and trying out stuff like Ninjas tribal, Rogues tribal, UB Heroic (actually decent IMO), etc.
tclaw12 says... #2
There are a few directions I think you could take with U/B. You could try something like U/B Faeries, Esper Control, or Sultai like you said (which I am unfamiliar with). As far as U/B in modern, some cards you should look to pick up would be Snapcaster Mage, Remand, Mana Leak, Shadow of Doubt, and of course some Watery Grave to supplement those Polluted Delta.
January 21, 2015 12:01 p.m.