Testing 1, 2, 3: February Edition

Blue/White Control

In recent weeks, this deck has easily become the most popular deck in the format. What started out as a simple answer to the influx of Vampire decks at the inception of the format has evolved into one of the best decks available. I was looking for a list that seemed to do well against the dominant decks in the format, and I stumbled across this 4-0.

UW Control by sebastianpozzo - Zen Daily #889113 4-0

Creatures (6) 4 Sphinx of Lost Truths 2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle Other Spells (24) 4 Cancel 4 Into the Roil 4 Journey to Nowhere 3 Luminarch Ascension 2 Rite of Replication 3 Spell Pierce 4 Spreading Seas Lands (26) 11 Island 7 Plains 4 Kabira Crossroads 4 Sejiri Refuge Sideboard (15) 4 Devout Lightcaster 4 Kor Sanctifiers 1 Luminarch Ascension 2 Mindbreak Trap 3 Pitfall Trap 1 Rite of Replication

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The gameplan for Blue/White control is to slow down the game until the Control player can stick a big flier, or a token producer, and start attacking for the win. Some lists use Emeria Angel as their token producer, but I prefer Conquerors Pledge. Even though Pledge is harder to cast, susceptible to Spell Pierce, and the creatures don’t fly, I prefer not having to play lands to get more tokens. That, and the ability to get twelve tokens at once in the late game makes it a better card in my opinion.

One thing that I noticed while playing Kor Armory was that I had a very hard (if not completely impossible) time winning after Sphinx of Jwar Isle resolved. Most decks can’t attack into it, and it can only be removed with Vampire Nighthawk, Day of Judgment, or a very lucky Gatekeeper of Malakir. These advantages really influenced my decision to play a deck that included it.

Mindbreak Trap and Luminarch Ascension are very good against the mirror. Mindbreak Trap provides an extra two slots of ammunition for counter wars, while Luminarch Ascension forces an opponent to start committing to the board, or otherwise stop the enchantment from activating, requiring them to tap out so you can play any threat without fear of recourse. Pitfall trap is also a concession to the fact that Kor Armory has grown in popularity, and is typically a better choice in Mono-White matchups simply because of the trap cost and preventing Brave the Elements from turning Journey to Nowhere into a two-for-one in the enemy’s favor.

Devout Lightcaster and Rite of Replication are amazing hosers for Vampires. Lightcaster is always a two-for-one, and can start a life-total race very quickly. Rite of Replication can clone a Nighthawk for a decent blocker, or can be kicked on just about anything a Vampires player has staring at you to completely turn the tide. Not to mention the fact that a kicked Rite of Replication on Malakir Bloodwitch is a 50 point life swing.

And Away We Go

Now that we’ve got the basics of the decks for the month out of the way, I’ll be covering the strategy a bit more in depth at the beginning of each video on Friday. I sincerely hope you all like the direction I’m going to be taking this column, and would appreciate any feedback in regards to how you feel about the change, or what you think should be added. Until Friday, I’ll be doing plenty of playtesting in the Tournament Practice room, so I hope to catch you there! Until then…

See You in the Queues!

Rhythmik