3. Blue Moon
Decks to Beat Established Decks In-Depth Guides

Blue Moon


  • The new Guilds of Ravanica has added new life to the Blue Moon deck. The spicy Ral, Izzet Viceroy and game finisher Niv-Mizzet, Parun are just what this deck needed to compete. I have been testing and tweaking this deck and it does well against PO and it is solid against Shops. I am have some trouble with Dredge since I cannot "steal" a game 1 and this puts a lot of pressure on game 2 which makes game 3 a coin flip. The Jeskai match ups are a little tense. If they can get an early Monastery Mentor on the board you are toast but they cannot answer the awesome power of Niv-Mizzet, Parun. Take a look and let me know what you think.

    2 Lightning Bolt
    1 Mox Ruby
    1 Ancestral Recall
    1 Brainstorm
    1 Dig Through Time
    2 Red Elemental Blast
    4 Force of Will
    1 Merchant Scroll
    3 Mental Misstep
    1 Gush
    1 Gitaxian Probe
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Ponder
    4 Preordain
    1 Treasure Cruise
    1 Black Lotus
    1 Strip Mine
    1 Library of Alexandria
    4 Volcanic Island
    3 Polluted Delta
    3 Flooded Strand
    2 Dack Fayden
    5 Island
    1 Time Walk
    1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy
    2 Blood Moon
    2 Snapcaster Mage
    2 Mana Drain
    1 Mindbreak Trap
    2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
    2 Young Pyromancer
    2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

    Side board
    2 Grafdigger's Cage
    4 Tormod's Crypt
    2 Shattering Spree
    3 Hurkyl's Recall
    2 Energy Flux
    2 Flusterstorm

    1
  • G

    Sorry for my intrusion, but I really can't understand lists when they are not ordered, I think that'd help a lot for people to understand the deck. Here's my sugestion:

    CREATURES (6)

    2 Snapcaster Mage
    2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
    2 Young Pyromancer

    OTHER SPELLS (5)

    2 Blood Moon
    1 Time Walk
    2 Lightning Bolt

    COUNTERSPELLS(12)

    2 Mana Drain
    1 Mindbreak Trap
    2 Red Elemental Blast
    4 Force of Will
    3 Mental Misstep

    DRAW ENGINE (12)

    1 Ancestral Recall
    1 Brainstorm
    1 Dig Through Time
    1 Merchant Scroll
    1 Gush
    1 Gitaxian Probe
    1 Ponder
    4 Preordain
    1 Treasure Cruise

    PWs (5)

    2 Dack Fayden
    1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy
    2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

    MANA SOURCES (20)

    1 Strip Mine
    1 Library of Alexandria
    4 Volcanic Island
    3 Polluted Delta
    3 Flooded Strand
    5 Island
    1 Mox Ruby
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Black Lotus

    SIDEBOARD

    2 Grafdigger's Cage
    4 Tormod's Crypt
    2 Shattering Spree
    3 Hurkyl's Recall
    2 Energy Flux
    2 Flusterstorm

    BTW: I think blood moon in vintage is hugely underrated. It's good against ALL the decks in the format (against some, it's insane). I've played against BM with survival and jeskai, and with both decks blood moon was a nightmare to face.

    A huge threat like Niv-Mizzet (which to me sounds like a better version of sphinx) sounds pretty fun to play. I just don't think the manabase is well suited to play it. It's not only 4UU, but it's RRRUUU. And since you have only lotus and 2 moxen, I'm not sure it would come soon enough in most games.

    3 1 Reply

  • @gutocmtt Thank you, I just exported it from MTGO and posted it.

    You are correct about Niv-Mizzet. I need to invest in Scalding Tarns and add 1 or 2 mountains. I have been able to get him on the board in a reasonable amount of time if I fetch correctly up front. If he lands I win, and he is so hard to stop.

    0 1 Reply

  • @moorebrother1 would you consider some number of Sudden Shock and/or Sulfur Elemental to help fight Mentor in both PO and Jeskai?

    0 1 Reply

  • @wfain That's a great Idea. I guess I don't need 2 flusterstorm, maybe just one more Mindbreak trap.

    Being honest the Niv-Mizzet destroys Mentor. I played against a PO that resolved a Mentor and I played Niv-Mizzet and wiped his board.

    0

  • I have gone 4-1 twice in the league with this deck. Almost got a 5-0 but a super close game with Shop did not break my way. This deck is awesome and it plays very well in the meta-game for any big blue deck players out there. I like Ral but he is hard to get out on the board when it makes a difference.

    Planewalkers
    2 Dack Fayden
    2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

    Draw
    4 Preordain
    1 Gush
    1 Gitaxian Probe
    1 Ponder
    1 Treasure Cruise
    1 Ancestral Recall
    1 Brainstorm
    1 Dig Through Time
    1 Merchant Scroll

    Other
    2 Blood Moon
    2 Lightning Bolt
    1 Time Walk

    Counterspells
    4 Force of Will
    3 Mental Misstep
    2 Mana Drain
    2 Pyroblast
    1 Mindbreak Trap

    Creatures
    2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
    2 Young Pyromancer
    2 Snapcaster Mage

    Mana
    1 Black Lotus
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Mox Ruby
    2 Scalding Tarn
    1 Mountain
    1 Strip Mine
    1 Library of Alexandria
    4 Volcanic Island
    2 Polluted Delta
    2 Flooded Strand
    5 Island

    SB
    3 Grafdigger's Cage
    4 Tormod's Crypt
    3 Shattering Spree
    2 Energy Flux
    1 Sudden Shock
    2 Flusterstorm

    1

  • I love that list @moorebrother1! But Ral’s gotta be easier to cast than Niv Mizzet, right?

    0
    M
     2 Replies
  • M

    @stuart of course is easier to cast.... 3ur vs rrruuu.... but i think the dragon is just way better than the planeswalker here... you want a bodie and the ability to ping any target is perfect. Him plus a dack or jace is gg imo.
    The main issue with the dragon imo is thatt you will be tapping out and passing the turn giving your oppo a window to do w.e they want and proly win the game .... while ral can be casted via drain mana tap 2 lands free opt and pass, feels way safer ...

    0

  • @stuart Ral is awesome but he is not nearly as good as Niv-Mizzet. He just does so much work and most control decks have to spend significant resources to get rid of him. The other decks do not really fear him aside from the 5/5 body but once I start casting spells he normally clears the board.

    0

  • I have been messing around with a lower to the ground version. This version appears to do better against control and I think can be tweaked to be a better meta-game deck. The round 1 Dredge match is still horrible but the Jeskai, PO and Shops matches are better. The deck struggles against Oath. This could also be made into a non-powered deck.

    Draw and filter
    1 Ancestral Recall
    1 Brainstorm
    1 Dig Through Time
    1 Gush
    1 Ponder
    3 Preordain
    1 Treasure Cruise
    2 Dack Fayden

    Other
    1 Merchant Scroll
    1 Gitaxian Probe
    1 Time Walk
    2 Blood Moon
    3 Lightning Bolt
    1 Null Rod

    Creatures
    2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
    3 Young Pyromancer
    3 Snapcaster Mage

    Counters
    2 Flusterstorm
    2 Pyroblast
    4 Force of Will
    4 Mental Misstep

    Mana
    1 Mox Ruby
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Black Lotus
    1 Strip Mine
    1 Library of Alexandria
    4 Volcanic Island
    2 Polluted Delta
    2 Flooded Strand
    5 Island
    2 Scalding Tarn

    Sideboard
    3 Grafdigger's Cage
    4 Tormod's Crypt
    3 Shattering Spree
    2 Sudden Shock
    3 Hurkyl's Recall

    0
  • T

    After eternal weekend this year I have to liquidate some cards and will likely move my pearl/jet/emerald. Keeping the rest so I can start brewing with you're template. Been having alot of fun jamming variants of this in testing.

    1
 
WAF/WHF