Simon Says #71: Control Resurgence (JBT 8-4)

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Simon Goertzen

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  1. Usually i really like your vids Simon, especially due to the fact that i got to know your other serie, where you were drafting along with your brother. You actually said there would be more back a month and theres still none.
    Regarding your todays vid id like to say that it feels kindoff not that great to me, cause i got the feeling that you were playin vs either bad draws or if there was any relevant board on you enemy side, you had silence the believers in hand to deal with it. In your introduction you drafted decks that looked way more interesting. Maybe you can record some more drafts next time and choose the best (decks vs reasonable enemy-draws and/or decks) one to prove your introduction-theme-point.
    Other than that, keep up the good work!

  2. I think you should have went into white after pack 1/pick 4, where you took Interpret the Signs over Mastiff. Mastiff in such a weak pack is a signal worth investing in. Pick 3 Grim Guardian over Supply Line Cranes is probably correct because you have Silence the Believers and Guardian is a strong card, but afterwards I think you were biased toward UBx control and ignored the white signal. Although as it turned out the rest of the players/decks in the draft were so bad that you won with forced UB control anyway :P

  3. @woosh:
    I think filtering content isn’t really that useful. First of all it is much more work for Simon (which I have the feeling does already way more than the average draft-vid-recorder – the opening discussions are probably quite some additional work).

    Also it would mean to discard otherwise fine content. I can only say I did enjoy this draft as usual.

    On top of that I don’t think the presented video needs to be related to the opening discussion. If Simon has thoughts he want to share, imo he shouldn’t be forced to try to record a fitting a draft – because depending on what that could take some while.

  4. Control is back!

    Nice video Simon showing how even a not-so-good control can run the table in the right hands! I know I certainly can’t do it – I get impatient playing control and playing against control (and I even found my attention wandering watching you play control).

    I would have loved, however, to seen a draft viewer of this draft. I feel that too many of the drafters were actively avoiding white but picking up the extra whites in picks 12-16 (like armament of nyx) and then when the quality white flowed freely in Theros, everyone jumped back in – because your Round 2 and Round 3 opponents did not have the optimal builds of their decks – they both had a combination of aggro and control elements in both.

  5. Nice to see an example of control in a new draft format. The walkthrough at the start was amazingly insightful. As intimidated as i am of running 10 creatures in my deck, i would give it a try should the opportunity arise next time i draft.

  6. Hi Simon,

    Great opening overview on the control archetype!

    In round 1, before game 2, you sided in Annul but didn’t side out anything, and played a 41-card deck in game 2. Was this intentional? If yes, I assume it’s affected by the fact that you are playing 18 lands?

  7. Hi am a big fan of your vids. But am wondering, why to pick Harpy over Ordeal especially with two pillars and triton? Seems like even Boon would be a better choice. Harpy is a lousy blocker and will hardly fix weakness against flyers if you feel like thats your main issue why not to pick 1/5 over the triton? Btw with ordeal you can maybe race decks with a lot of air forces.

  8. My bad, was a little too hasty if you didnt play the pillars than is reasonable not to pick the ordeal but still feel like the 1/5 should be a pick instead of triton if you try to draft a control deck. Would probably take the ordeal anyway especially with guys like Omenspeaker,Wavecrash and the other 1/3s or 1/4s.

  10. Yeah, I agree with whoever said that Mastiff was a fine opportunity to open yourself up to white instead of taking a blue sixdrop. BW is a great place to be, since THS rewards you so much, and the Guardians warrant a grindy strategy anyway.

  11. Thank you for the great content once again, Simon.

    I enjoyed in particular the powerful control decks you showed in the intro. I would have loved seeing one of those in action.

    During your draft I had the feeling you tried to force control even though other routes would have been possible as well and may have offered even better chances. At the end of your draft I actually thought you had gone astray and your collection of cards was not really that great. However, it is always surprising (and very instructional) how you manage to put a solid deck together. I do think though that an aggressive Boros or Blue/White deck would have given you big problems, so you were lucky that your opponents did not draft (build) such powerful decks (or they had unlucky draws).

    In any case, you inspired me to draft Blue/Black control myself today. I had Tromokratis, Rise of Eagles and Arbiter of the Ideal as finishers. Otherwise lots of removal (Lash of the whip, Feast of Dreams, Nyx Infusion, Pin to the Earth, Pharika’s Cure), good early ground defense (Omen Speaker, Returned Phalanx, Pharika’s Chosen, Guardians of Meletis, …) and card advantage (Disciple of Phenax, Divination, Mnemonic Wall, …). The deck was a lot of fun to play.

    It is great that control seems viable again, I like its strategic depth and how some cards suddenly shine. As I think you are a master of control decks I’m looking forward to your next entry!