How can I build a playable mono blue control(or combo) deck ?
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I know that in the "play all the cards you want" format, 1 color is a bad idea.
But I still want to try it because my username.
Have anyone try or come up with the idea before ? I'm pretty new and I'm just a casual player so please go easy on me.
Here's my list I'm playing on forgemtg and it did great.[8 Creatures]
4 Trinket Mage
2 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Emrakul the Promised End[8 Artifacts]
5 Moxen
1 Black Lotus
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring[30 Spells]
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk
1 Spell Pierce
1 Repeal
3 Back to Basic
1 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
3 Mental Misstep
2 Mindbreak Trap
4 Preordain
2 Glimmer of Genius
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
2 Jace the Broken in Modern[13 Lands]
8 Island
3 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta -
@iloveblue
At first glance, i can tell you trinket mage and glimmer of genius don't fit.
Instead of Glimmer I'd use Fact or Fiction, and if you're running trinket mage, some utility artifacts would be nice. Just depends what you usually play against.
How often are you able to cast Emrakul?
How do you finish your games, usually? Via Sphinx, Maniac, or BSZ? -
@ten-ten
I usually ramp through the mages, and cast sphinx as fast as i can through lotus/sol ring and go through the rest of the game with so many card draw, eventually put down the laboratory maniac at 10-5 cards left or active the elixir if I ran out of counterspell.
Emrakul is the oh shiet i won card, because this deck lack of a broken game ending card like tinker or monastery mentor so I though i could use some eldrazi big boy. And I can cast her quite often IIRC -
that many trinket mages wants a vault/key combo i would imagine possibly a singleton tezzeret the seeker to tutor for other artifacts to ramp/combo
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I have played a MonoU Drain Deck a few month ago to a fine W/L ratio in a european online metagame for what thats worth...
Its a pretty straight forward, high control, low win con list. Performed very good against other blue decks and combo decks. Has a lot of problems against Shops maindeck, and sideboard plan is pretty much to resolve an Energy Flux. I very much like Drain turns where you can dump the extra mana in jace or Gifts. Once you climb over the early game hill and dont die, resolving a FTMS, Gifts or a big value turn with Snapcaster often produces overwhelming value. Gifts is very fun to resolve while having both snapcaster and JVP in the Pile. Its a neat and very fun to play deck, that isnt that good against a wide variety of decks, but is often backbreaking for some of the more popular ones right now. Leovold Decks are a horrible matchup.
Here is the current List, keep in mind i havent changed or played the deck in a few Month:
1 [ICE:61] Brainstorm
1 [OGW:63] Sphinx of the Final Word
4 [ME3:43] Mana Drain
4 [ALL:42] Force of Will
2 [CMD:46] Flusterstorm
3 [ISD:78] Snapcaster Mage
2 [CHK:62] Gifts Ungiven
1 [ZEN:67] Spell Pierce
1 [MMQ:87] Misdirection
4 [M11:70] Preordain
1 [LEA:264] Mox Ruby
1 [LEA:265] Mox Sapphire
1 [LEA:269] Sol Ring
1 [LEA:281] Island
4 [NPH:38] Mental Misstep
1 [LEA:262] Mox Jet
1 [LEA:263] Mox Pearl
1 [M12:73] Ponder
4 [ONS:321] Polluted Delta
1 [LEA:261] Mox Emerald
1 [ATQ:74] Strip Mine
1 [LEA:48] Ancestral Recall
1 [GPT:32] Repeal
1 [LEA:84] Time Walk
1 [KTK:36] Dig Through Time
1 [KTK:59] Treasure Cruise
1 [ARN:90] Library of Alexandria
1 [LEA:232] Black Lotus
1 [USG:330] Tolarian Academy
3 [WWK:31] Jace, the Mind Sculptor
7 [LEB:283] Island
2 [ORI:60] Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
SB: 1 [DST:21] Echoing Truth
SB: 2 [ZEN:57] Mindbreak Trap
SB: 2 [DRK:109] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 [DKA:149] Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 3 [ATQ:54] Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 3 [ME4:48] Energy FluxSorry for the weird formatting, i just copied my text document.
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@aelien
I haven't face leovold before, but I'm sure he will run into my Mana Drain or Force of Will.
An interesting part if you need information, I maindeck 2 Mindbreak Trap because I have an opponent really like to play Eldrazi and his reaction when I "counter" his creature is priceless -
I played this for a while back in 2016 and had some fun
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Mana Drain
2 Flusterstorm
4 Mental Misstep
4 Force of Will
4 Preordain1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Tinker
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Dig Through Time
1 Gush
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Time Vault
1 Voltaic Key10 Island
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted DeltaSideboard
4 Grindstone
4 Painter's Servant
3 Hydroblast
2 Reality Shift
2 Echoing Truth -
@moorebrother1
That's nice. Howerver, I don't like Mana Vault/Crypt because it will slowly drain my life and can be an unreliable mana source if I got to face artifact hate. 5 moxen is enough for me, but I can really borrow the Tezz and Time Vault/Key and will test it myself. Thanks. -
Hey welcome to vintage! I notice that you are focusing more on the control/combo control, if you are looking more at "pure combo" mono blue belcher is a deck that occasionally crops up and has done alright.
This is the most recent version i could find: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/892035#paper
runs 3 red cards technically but only one of those is meant to be cast.I would also say to at least check out some of the various landstill decks, if blue control is what you are looking at they usually splash a color, but you might be able to get away with not running one (though 1 mana removal for artifacts/creatures is pretty important in current vintage). Either way, you could get some ideas from there.
I think the idea of leveraging Back 2 Basics has historically been a decent one but should maybe be paired w/ null rod to really dominate mana bases. That being said, b2b hasn't been good in awhile so your mileage may vary.
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Another option if you'd like to opt for pure combo would be something along the lines of Academy Combo. If you are interested I can link some of the stuff I put together when I was working on the deck. My version had multiple colours, but a mono-U version sounds reasonable too!
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@garbageaggro
I don't think i would like to play a pure combo deck. In fact, I want to play a control deck with just a littile combo to end the game. Some of the deck I love is Standard Approach or Modern UW control, something like that. I wondered if that type of deck could find a way in vintage.
I haven't thought about null rod, that's a nice addition. -
A traditional blue deck in vintage with tinker or even just like chain of vapor, full moxen, hurkyl's and tendrils but otherwise control, was sort of the standard in vintage for a long time. With the tinker plan, gifts with tinker, time walk, Recoup, x is also a similar control the game then just win at some point with Gifts is another historical way for that to work. That is probably where I would look first.
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Mono blue is not worth it for a combo deck since without the black tutors you loose a lot of consistency. You want a deck with redundant pieces. I would suggest revisiting the Back 2 basics mono blue control with pwalkers and versatile blue creatures (like Consecrated sphinx, Torrential gearhulk, Vendillion clique, Snapcaster mage, trinket mage ...) In today's meta you can use Dismember or Propaganda/energy flux as your creature/artifact answers and have a strong counter package with 3/4 mana drains.
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@macdeath I disagree, and I have played mono-blue as a combo deck using Tezzeret the Seeker, Brainfreeze and Painter/Gridstone. The list I provided above shows a transformational deck and it played well.
Hydroblast is actually a playable card right now because so many players are depending on Red spells for Artifact and Creature control.
I would argue that Red is a bit overplayed since I am seeing Pyroblast main deck again in a meta-game that claims to be dominated by Shop/Dredge/Oath.
Like so many decks, it comes down to play style and how you like to play. I some times will build my deck the day of an event (not recommended) and at times I just pull a bunch of blues cards and go with it.
This has not worked to dominate the format, but it is very fun and I usually end up with a 60% or better win rate.
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@moorebrother1
I really love tezz and time vault that you suggested in your list. It made my deck a little more explosive and could steal a win from nowhere, espelcially when I have an army of trinket mages for key already. -
Lets try a blue control card draw deck, something like this (comments?):
// 60 Maindeck
// 8 Artifact
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire// 7 Creature
2 Baral, Chief of Compliance
3 Chasm Skulker
2 Psychosis Crawler
1 Consecrated Sphinx// 24 Instant
2 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Mana Drain
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
1 Gush
1 Dig Through Time
2 Remand// 14 Land
1 Library of Alexandria
5 Island
3 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
2 Volcanic Island
1 Strip Mine// 2 Planeswalker
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor// 5 Sorcery
2 Deep Analysis
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Time Walk
1 Gitaxian Probe// 15 Sideboard
// 2 Artifact
SB: 2 Relic of Progenitus// 1 Creature
SB: 1 Chasm Skulker// 2 Enchantment
SB: 2 Energy Flux// 5 Instant
SB: 3 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Surgical Extraction
SB: 1 Lightning Bolt
SB: 1 Abrade// 2 Planeswalker
SB: 2 Dack Fayden// 3 Sorcery
SB: 2 By Force
SB: 1 Subterranean Tremors -
@macdeath said in How can I build a playable mono blue control(or combo) deck ?:
Mono blue is not worth it for a combo deck since without the black tutors you loose a lot of consistency. You want a deck with redundant pieces. I would suggest revisiting the Back 2 basics mono blue control with pwalkers and versatile blue creatures (like Consecrated sphinx, Torrential gearhulk, Vendillion clique, Snapcaster mage, trinket mage ...) In today's meta you can use Dismember or Propaganda/energy flux as your creature/artifact answers and have a strong counter package with 3/4 mana drains.
How about High Tide? Probably a splash would be good, but High Tide is quite consistent in other formats. I remember reading this back in the day, but it's quite dated:
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/vintage/13186_Tsunami_Warning_Bringing_High_Tide_to_Vintage.html
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I played a mono-blue paradoxical deck that performed very well. It was my template for SCG Con.
4 Paradoxical Outcome
3 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
1 Erayo,
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Tinker
1 Ponder
1 Echoing Truth
1 Dig Through Time
1 Brainstorm
1 Brain Freeze
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Gush
1 Ancestal Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
2 Voltaic Key
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
1 Time Vault
2 Mox Opal
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mana Crypt
2 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
6 Island
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tolerain AcademySideboard
3 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Reality Shift
2 Mental Misstep
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Grafdigger's CageI am a bit of a mono-blue junkie and I am always building a version that I think can compete.
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@5space said in How can I build a playable mono blue control(or combo) deck ?:
@macdeath said in How can I build a playable mono blue control(or combo) deck ?:
Mono blue is not worth it for a combo deck since without the black tutors you loose a lot of consistency. You want a deck with redundant pieces. I would suggest revisiting the Back 2 basics mono blue control with pwalkers and versatile blue creatures (like Consecrated sphinx, Torrential gearhulk, Vendillion clique, Snapcaster mage, trinket mage ...) In today's meta you can use Dismember or Propaganda/energy flux as your creature/artifact answers and have a strong counter package with 3/4 mana drains.
How about High Tide? Probably a splash would be good, but High Tide is quite consistent in other formats. I remember reading this back in the day, but it's quite dated:
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/vintage/13186_Tsunami_Warning_Bringing_High_Tide_to_Vintage.html
High tide is barely playable in Legacy. You could build a completely broken vintage high tide for sure, is that deck good? No (believe me i've tried).
The deck will have to be filled with "do nothing" cards which are not "must counters" for other blue decks. You basically end up with a deck similar to the old Gush storm decks except you are not favored against other blue decks (which defeats the whole purpose).Off the top of my head, here is a starting point for a high tide list in vintage:
MD:
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Lotus Petal1 Library of Alexandria
3 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
4 Flooded strand
2 Polluted delta
4 Island1 Monastery Mentor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Brain Freeze
1 Dig through Time
4 Frantic Search
4 High tide
1 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Flusterstorm
4 Force of will
4 Mental misstep
1 Mystical tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor1 Demonic Tutor
1 Merchant scroll
1 Mind's desire
4 Preordain
1 Ponder
3 Time Spiral
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth's WillSB:
3 Containment Priest
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Fragmentize
1 Plains
1 Balance
1 Flusterstorm
2 Stony Silence
