Start typing a card name and use the auto-complete feature to quickly select the card you're trying to add. Enter a quantity and add that card to your sideboard!
Submit a list of cards below to bulk import them all into your sideboard. Post one card per line using a format like "4x Birds of Paradise" or "1 Blaze", you can even enter just the card name by itself like "Wrath of God" for single cards.
I was recently introduced to how amazing control could really be after seeing an amazing control deck in action. I resolved to make one, and this is now probably my favorite deck. I'm entering a tournament soon (no, it's not standard) and would like to make this deck as excellent as possible. Please comment with suggestions! MISSION STATEMENT: The reason I like this control deck is because it can take out just about any deck: The aggros for early game, the standards for middle game, and the rampers for late game. This is how this deck works. Usually, I can get out some Phantasmal bears, Merfolk, or other cheap creatures on turn 1 or two. That would get me some blocking capabilities for the early game, and help fight the aggro players. Then, I have some time during middle game where I don't have a lot of spells to cast. That's when I have time to leave mana untapped and counter some of their game changers around turn 5. And if I do get tapped out, I'll probably have enough mana (or close to enough) to mind control their creature, or, worst comes to worst, I bounce it for a while. For the late game, I can either mind control their massive creatures, or just overpower them with Guile, Frost Titan, and Roil Elemental. Btw, I know there are a lot of 1 of's... that's just until I can figure out what I want to take out and what to add more of. Thank you everyone for the comments! This is currently my favorite deck and I'm really trying to make it better, and you guys have all helped a lot! Please, keep them coming! ANNOUNCEMENT: Deck was just recently updated! Please take a look at what's new!
This deck has been viewed 24,000 times.
well i would pick only the best control and run 4 of each while getting rid of the rest definately add more mana leak have you considered ice cage?
Permalink
I use to have ice cage, but I took it out because I thought it was too easily destroyable. But, I've thought many times about putting it in again. Thanks for the comment! Next time I get to a card store, I'll pick up more control cards. These are only what I have.
Ok so if it were up to me I'd run card that let me dig into my deck a little and counterspells. For creatures that your opponents do get out I'd not worry to much about it cause you can always stall with sleep and frost breath. As for beating people to death? Well it's really up to you to figure that out.
Thank you for the comment! I actually just updated this and put Tower of Calamaties in for creature removal, so hopefully that should work :)
Well, even if you did put 1-offs a lot in here, I'll just comment on every card choice. Phantasmal is a 4-off in my book. 1 blue for a bear, barring the illusion ability, is just great and a good way to start off. If you don't have a way to constantly deceiver's ability, I suggest pulling that one out. And this deck doesn't seem like it has it. I don't know about Roil Elemental at all. For all I know, at 6 mana, both players would have used the majority of their hand at that point, even you, so landfall won't trigger as much as you'd want. Frost titan's always fun and a nice way to seal the win in a game. Just make sure to see what options your opponent might have. I heard that levelers don't do well in standard. You might have to research it for the why, but for all I know, they are usually way too expensive for what they can do. I'd take out any levelers in this deck. Aether Figment, for 5 mana, is brutal. Unblockable and always swinging in for 3. that's really good. Adding a lord of the unreal on top of that, and your opponent is going to have hard time with this figment. Now, this is one of those M10 cards out of another core set. For standard, keep an eye at which sets are legal. Right now, that's Zendikar block, M11, Scars of mirrodin block and M12. Zendikar is going to rotate out in september because there is going to be a new block, the innistrad block. Instead of phantom beast, try phantasmal dragon. same cost, but the dragon has 1 point more in power than the beast. Okay, now we come to guard gomazoa... Let me tell you about the types of control. First up is aggro control. Have you seen the new event decks for M12? Well, if you have, you'd notice that the illusions are aggressive as anything. This means that you could play a blue beatdown deck. This means having a lot of low mana creatures and control spells like vapor snag and mana leak. The other type of control is usually very much slower and this is where Guard Gomazoa comes in. Guard gomazoa, even though it has a CMC of 3, is a card that symbolizes control at its purest level. Stalling your opponent while you prepare to drop a huge bomb on the field, like frost titan. Keep these 2 archetypes in mind when building a deck and the rest should come easier, although there are still choices to be made. Coral Merfolk isn't good for constructed. I'd suggest Merfolk Looter instead. Levitation is a card for beatdown if the opponent is locking the board. But it's best suited towards sideboard, IMO. BTW, remember the 2 archetypes. Eel Umbra is something I wouldn't use. totem armor does seem fine, but if your opponent see you casting on your monster, and it doesn't have hexproof, well you're going to lose your card and haven't done anything of worth during that turn. Mind Control's fine. Remember the 2 archetypes here. Numbing Dose. Copy and paste: Remember the 2 archetypes here. Cancel. The amount here seems fine to me and that's about it. Good card for countering opponent's cards. Deprive. This is a counterspell, but has almost the same cost as cancel. Good for very early turns, but not much else to my knowledge. I know I don't want to lose a land for the next turn, unless I can fetch another one. Mana leak. 4-off. 'nuff said. Negate is a corner case card. At best, I would put it in my sideboard. At worst, I'd pull it out. TBH here, this one seems nice to me. You can tap for however much mana, barring the 2 blue or untap to give your opponent a scare when he wants to attack. But on the other side, this probably would only untap/tap 1 or 2 creatures at most. I like summoner's bane when my opponent wants to cast a big creature, but the 4 CMC is a turn-off. Having to keep 4 mana open will make anyone wary of you. Since you usually play blue as control, they will know you are up to something if you leave that much open. Vapor snag's fun. Put it in a deck with not too much illusions though. Ponder is really a plan card, and for me, it's mostly for a pure control deck. For an aggro control deck, I'd use divination or anything that gives me more cards than one for a card. Preordain's nice. Not much can be said about it that you can't figure out. Sleep's a great way to bust your opponent's defens if you need it. I think I'd put that in my sideboard. Well, that's all I can say about the maindeck. Sideboarding for me is more difficult, because I would plan ahead which cards won't work against my opponent's and which cards would. However, that comes more with experience, and I'm very inexperienced. Anyway, I hope it was helpful.
Wow! That's a lot of advice. Thank you very much! I'll just go down the list then. The reason I have Roil Elemental in here is because my absolute favorite card in control decks is mind control, and even if you can only get one land every few turns, you still get a 0 cost mind control. Not to mention you still have a 3/3 creature, even if he is a bit overcosted. By levelers I'll assume you mean lighthouse chronologist. I find this interesting, because he can get leveled up really quickly, especially if I get him early. But I'll play around with him some more and see how he does. To be quite honest, I don't know which archtype I really want this control deck to be. Aggro doesn't really allow massive guys like Frost Titan or Guile, but I can see the uses of pumping out illusions as fast as light. I'll play around with it more and see what it leans towards. IRL, I took out Coral and put in 2 Merfolk looters. Not sure if I like that I have to discard a card with their ability though, but I'll keep playing around. Levitation and Eel Umbra are out. Probably gonna take out REality spasm too. LIke you said, can probably only tap a couple of creatures. Also, I agree about deprive. Especially since I have a fair amount of big creatures in here, I never want to be setback a land. Thank you very much for the comment!
http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=215018 - here's a mill deck which has a fair bit of control. Too much variety in my opinion. I would suggest more counters. Also, you could try adding white to the deck and going with cards like gideon's law keeper, arrest, temporal isolation, cage of hands, pacifism, etc.
@JTMS No problem. You just have to know how cards can work in order make observations. Of course, that's theory, but it can get you a long way in a game like this. For maybe some ideas for aggro decks, look at my decks. One is a deck I actually own in real life, while the other is a deck I think would suit me the most. I'm still playing around myself and remember, deck building is an ongoing thing. It never really stops. All of the things I've learned are from things I read around the web. Try some google searches, maybe you'll come up with something that will help you immensely.
That's some great advice. I have a couple last questions. You never commented on Guile or Alluring Siren. Those are cards I've thought about taking out. What do you think? Also, how would Lullmage Mentor work in here, with the addition of some more merfolk in place of illusions.
lol i wouldnt put in lullmages to make ur deck even more confusing than it already is. try having little to none one of's cuse you want ur deck to be consistent. and Is this supposed a standard deck?
I was just thinking that, not only would Lullmages give me creatures when I counter spells, but if I do it enough I'd be able to counter just about anything, even if i'm tapped out.
I actually like this as it is for its unique diversity, however the opening poster is right you should focus it more is you want it to be more competitive. Mana Leak is probably item number one if you are wanting to run blue control.
I'm heading over to a card store today. IRL, I only have 2 Mana leaks, so I'm going to pick some more up. After this, I'll completely update this to what it is now.
I think I'll add a few posts here to push you up towards the front page, but while I do it I will also make suggestions. Lord of the Unreal is a must have in Illusion heavy decks and that should be your next consideration
The illusions are actually something I'm still strugglign with. I'm definitely trying to get my hands on a lord of the unreal, but I don't know what I'd take out to put him in. Also, if I do add in the lullmage mentors, then I'm going to want more merfolk than illusions.
there are some really smart guys on the front page that seem to like storm crow alot, its even blue!
I can definitely see the appeal. Very cheap flier that can hit for two damage a turn starting at turn 3. Question is, can I get my hands on one, and what would I take out? :/
Well looking through here, and after reading these lengthy posts : ), one suggestion would be to trade Mind Control for Corrupted Conscience. It's the exact same thing except the creature gains infect. Then your opponent is in a world of trouble. Though if you are close to winning the infect might slow you down >.> idk. I think you should take Tower of Calamities out. It only has one use and by the time you have 8 mana the game should be closing down. I think you need another Guile and Frost Titan. Also up the count of P. Dragon and Guard Gomazoa(I love this card). Phantom Warrior is pretty amazing as well. I don't think Aether Figment is very good and you could probably take it out no problem. Dissipation Field is amazing in here because if you can't counter their spell then you just return the creature to their hand. I believe you need more of those in here, so possibly take out the Narcolepsy.
I definitely see your point with the tower. The reason I included it is because there isn't a lot of creature removal in white, and tower of calamities is one of the most thorough cards i know lol. Got any alternatives?
Oh god... this deck only costs $27... and it's freaking awesome... that's a bit frightening. Congratulations on a good, if inefficient, deck!
It would definately cost around $50. The middle price is usually the one you should go by.
I haven't updated it for a while. Recently addeed Kira, Great Glass Spinner and Karn Liberated to it. That adds a good 35 dollars on XD
No, the lower price give or take $5-10 bucks (usually less than the lower price) is what you should normally go by. The middle price is ALWAYS way too high, and the high price is just comical.
great deck! guard gomazoa saved me many times at the inni prerelease. Id take out walking atlas and aether figment for more bears. Maybe for the new invisible dude from innistrad thats hexproof and unblockable. Take out tower of calamities, unless it works in actual games you play. Can be pretty sick i guess. Overall though this is a very cool deck. Congrats man.
Guard Gomazoa didn't save you at an Innistrad pre-release, because that card isn't in Innistrad. LOL
guard was in the post prerelease games sorry.
shit I didn't see this comment my bad hahahah now I feel like an asshole
WHY DOES ANYONE USE MIND CONTROL IT'S SO FUCKING BAD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Look up Treachery. :D Control is the main reason that blue is far and away the best color!
Best support/Most used color*
Best*** What's the deal with all of the one-ofs, by the way? I know you mentioned it in your deck description, but you're going to have some weird draws...
I know what you mean. For a deck with a clearly combo based strategy, one of's are terrible. But I feel like decks that more go for a theme (red burn, blue control, green ramp, etc.), one of's aren't so bad, so long as the cards you have are all worth it. Just about any card in this deck would be pretty useful in most situations, so I always feel hesitant taking them out. I can't think of a time when I wouldn't want to have a Guard Gomazoa out, or an Azure Mage for card draws, or tower for a bunch of damage. It just all works together well, even if it is inconsistent.
ice cage, mana leak, vapor snags arent bad for 1b, 2 frost titans, tower of calamities? drop the mind controls they suck especially against agro. tezzerate gambients, maybe some usommons for cheap bounce, wall of frost for blocker, tumble magnet +thrummingbird, disperse. so many options, dont know about the illusion characters if your not running lord of unreal. biggest advice play playsets of stuff you will have better chances
Counterbalance: http://magiccards.info/cs/en/31.html Expensive $£ but good for counters. If you include counterbalance, you need more consistency in your deck, rather than have one of a lot of creatures...
Switch the Cancels for Dissipates once Innistrad comes out. :) What format this deck is supposed to be for? Modern? Casual/non-sanctioned? That's important to know since it's hard to determine your card pool otherwise. I assume not Legacy or Vintage, but... You know Counterspell isn't legal in Modern or Extended, right? Knock those out and you'll hit Modern. Remove Guile (Lorwyn) and you'll hit Extended. :) As you've pointed out, you're wavering between Illusions and Merfolk. Here's a thought: Illusions are more about blue aggro. They're cheap and fast, but they don't really do much of anything for control. Merfolk can be aggressive, but their strength is in fast draw/control. If you're going tribal focused, pick Merfolk. However, he best control isn't necessarily tribal focused at all. Tower of Calamities really needs to go. It's not worth the one-of and you can be doing a lot more with eight mana than killing off a single creature. On the flip side, Chronologist is worth a second copy, IMO. So, there's some stuff to think about. You really need to decide what direction you're going with this deck. If control, take out the Illusions and focus your early game on controlling the board until you can get the heavy hitters like Æther Figment, Frost Titan, or maybe one of the better Sphinxes out. If aggro, cut a good deal of the expensive control and focus on fast creatures and evasion (and anything with unblockable/hexproof/shroud).
After reading through the comments again, I FINALLY noticed the dates on the early ones. Meaning, the tournament was, what, a month ago? How did that go?
Epically won. Due to odd numbers, most games were three person, and practically annhialated both players.
certainly a deck that only someone named Jace TMS could think up :P hahaha
How did this deck make front page?
People keep posting comments. Each comment is counted as three "likes" by the site's comment system. Hence why some people abhor said system, I bet.
Oh, and if you "like" a comment (like I just did to Mercedes' comment ^), it also adds 1 "like" to the deck's total number of "likes". Wow, that sentence had the word "like" in it way too many times haha
I would maybe take out 1 cancel, I find 2 enough with my control deck, although I play Esper control so it isn't often that I have 3 open mana, 2 of which are blue, often. Narcolepsy sounds better than it is in my opinion, and I'd definitely take out the 2 preordains for ponder instead, 3 cards and draw is just overall better. Some people think that preordain is better because you can put cards on the bottom if you don't like them, but with ponder you can just choose to shuffle instead, so it works out! Vapor Snag is actually really powerful in a low-creature control deck, because it can stall opposing 1 drops for another turn, like Llanowar Elves for example, and can slow a deck down. Plus with mono-blue control, you don't have to worry about drawing islands for land, whereas in my deck I might end up getting swamps or plains. I'd toss in maybe 2 more, but you can see how you like it. Psychic Barrier can be good against creature-heavy decks, especially in mono-blue, because it doensn't matter how many islands it is, since all you're using is islands! Plus the -1 life is a little bonus too. Maybe 1 more? And I'd also maybe toss in another Frost Titan, they are excellent win-cons. Otherwise, very nice, I look forward to hearing how the tournament goes and how this deck performs!
You didn't trade Mind Control for Treachery yet!!! Seriously look it up! Your mind is gonna be blown.
While it is awesome, it does depend on the format he's playing since that would be illegal in Anything from Modern, up. Then again, he IS playing with Counterspell... And some of his matches had 3 people... >.>
I'm aware of the legality! But as you said, he's running Counterspells! He MUST PUT TREACHERY IN INSTEAD OF GOD-AWFUL MIND CONTROL!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol
And I don't know if it's been said before, but if you want a 3 cost counter (Cancel), which are pretty eh, at least trade them up for Dissipate. It's the same exact thing but it also exiles the countered card, which makes it slightly more helpful.
wow this seems nice, "teh uber control" I would say. Could you or anyone else here comment and help me balance my new vamp deck? http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=236584
Of you want some Ideas. Check my deck "child abuse"
TREAAAAAAACHERYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyy..y.y......y.........y.y.y.y..y.y.yy..........y..................... :-( !
This deck seems okay. I think it could use a little bit of work. Check mine out and see if it helps. Gimme some suggestions too. http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=233241
I noticed it's a bad deck.
Try making it more consistent. Check out my deck. You might find something cool for this deck. http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=233241
I would recommend using "Rhystic Study". The card advantage is just invaluable