Teaching Decks: Mono-U Control

So this is a project I wanted to engage in- To make a set of 10+ super-budget 60-card decks that are simple, relatively easy to play, relatively easy to understand, and bring across the fundamentals of how Magic Works. We've since gone way past 10, with tons more in the works, and I've really enjoyed the challenge of trying to make these decks easy to play and understand, fun, and all under a $15 budget, sideboard included.

The main goal here is that you could easily build these deck for a low cost and use them as an easy introduction to how magic works, to teach a group of new players both how to play, and give them a sense of Why, a sense of what fun things they're getting into. These decks aren't gonna be particularly good, or even legal in any particular format if it stops me from including a card I think is good for the deck, but they should be fun and interesting without being too hard to get into. They should be an easily-accessible example of how fun Magic: The Gathering can be.

Hey, let's go try some REAL hard control! Except then I went and threw in enchantments for removal that I never put in any of the other decks because other colors have better options, so the deck kinda does expect things to happen. Oh well, it's still a Mono-U control shell, and a fairly solid one at that, though this is the deck that made me go back and cut Glyph Keepers from all of these lists, because it just competes out a lot of other blue options completely.

As for budget: Maindeck cost is currently at about ~$8.50 (according to the middle blue numbers on this very site under estimated value), sideboard at about ~$2.50, sliding in well under-budget.

So mostly this section is going to be notes on why I think these are good cards to learn from:

The Answers are the stars of the show here- Opt digs you 'round for the right ones, Revolutionary Rebuff covers cost-based ones, Negate and Cancel cover different types, and Confirm Suspicions is a powerful late-game tool to counter a spell and draw a bunch of cards whenever you have the time. Psychic Barrier replaces where Essence Scatter would go in my mono-U decks simply because it's better if you're not worried about having the blue mana, but only slightly better. It feels like a good incidental reward, and doesn't up the cost of the deck.

Illumination remains my go-to blue card advantage in these decks, and Ice Cage and Imprisoned in the Moon serve as your after-the-fact answers, to deal with creatures that do manage to resolve.

And, finally, your threats- Cyptic Serpent is reduced in cost by all these spells, so you can probably cast it and hold something up at the same time pretty quickly, while Djinn is just a big, powerful, splashy blue creature that hits like a truck.

Hey, it's mono-color, so I don't have to complain about the manabase, this is actually what you'd want from it. Neat.

As for the sideboard, this IS supposed to be a sideboard they learn how to use, to make their deck perform better in the right matchups, or just in general to customize their decks within constraints.

Sealock Monster lets you add to the creature package with a solid blocker until you make it Monsterous, the extras of Essence scatter and negate let you target what matters in their deck, rebuff for faster decks, Disdainful Stroke is great against other slow decks, Runner's Bane lets you answer faster decks earlier, and Mind Control is for sweet late-game value.

• Casual
• Budget
• teaching deck
• Mono Blue
• Control