Playing the Unplayable: Blue-Red Control in Classic Constructed

Posted on September 18, 2013 by PlanetWalls





You can find me on Twitter at @ajgoldman or @MTGOAcademy
or email me at aj@mtgoacademy.com.

 

  2. back to the ol’ hammer mage/moon magus, I see.
    these videos are not of you, planetwalls :[
    I was looking forward to watching planetwalls
    planetwalls is my hero
    also bring back travis

  3. Yeah, as I watched this I thought I was going crazy because I have seen this video before. Also, though they sound a little alike, I thought Planet Walls sounded off.

  5. I give you props, always come up with some of the most interesting lists… did get a big laugh at that blooper at the end of your intro video lol I’ve done that before though not with money on the line haha

  6. BOO. I watched every second of every match and I did not get to hear my favorite line in all of Magic videos: the PW “WHAT’S HAPPENING????”

    I think trying to slam the Energy Flux against the Smokestack was probably a play that kept you alive longer. You were in a dire spot, but there’s no way he could drop Precursor with the Flux in play, at least without dropping all his artifacts, which would buy you time. Then he’d have a hard time paying next turn too.

    Control games against Oath are always fun and very challenging when it comes to permission. Rarely are two games alike.

    Enjoyed the card porn!

  7. I enjoyed the videos a lot and liked the high concept behind the deck. A few suggestions, though.

    1) I definitely agree that Sensei’s Divining Top should be in there and I would cut Shackles, which I feel doesn’t do enough against a lot of decks (Oath, Dredge, Affinity). Also, I feel like Sower is probably just better if you are going for that effect.

    2) Inferno Titan is cute, but probably isn’t good enough. One suggestion I have for the creature matchup is maybe trying something like Bonfire of the Damned. With 4 Brainstorms and Top, you could probably set it up to cast for its miracle cost fairly consistently.

    3) I don’t know how you beat Dredge. Maindeck Needle and Cage is good, but only 1 Cage and 1 Crypt in the board? I don’t think you’ll be able to fetch Cage up with Trinket Mage quick enough, not to mention that they’ll be bringing in a bunch of their anti-hate.

  8. Hi Epsilon! Thanks for commenting! I agree on most of your points, particularly (1) and (2). I actually think that the next step for a deck like this is to (probably) board the Hammer Mages and then put a miracle setup in the main. Not sure how I would do this exactly. But then Top definitely belongs in there.

    With respect to (3), I just plan on losing to Dredge unless I get lucky. I like having ‘some’ answers and then ways to close out the game, but I don’t need to load up on hate against them. Magus of the Moon is also good against them because it turns off Bazaar, but yes, I would probably have something like a 20% win rate against the deck.