MTG Blue Control Deck?
Ok so this is my mono blue control deck.
It's an Arcanis' Guile theme deck which I added 20 more cards to make it legal.
Now I'd just like some help on what cards I should replace to make it better.
Please keep in mind I am trying to make it legal for the Extended Format.
x3 Sage Owl *
x2 Thieving Magpie *
x3 Cloud Elemental
x2 Aven Fisher
x2 Arcanis, the Omnipotent
x1 Denizen of the Deep
x1 Air Elemental
x1 Phantom Warrior
x2 Counsel of Soratami
x1 Tidings
x3 Boomerang
x4 Remove Soul
x2 Piracy Charm *
x2 Cancel
x2 Counterspell
x1 Telling Time
x2 Unsummon
x2 Dehydration
x1 Kraken's Eye *
x1 Rod of Ruin *
x1 Spire Golem
x1 Whispersilk Cloak
x20 Islands
Cards marked with * are cards I would like to replace.
Further adjustments and fixes are welcome.
So please, what cards should I put in instead?
Update:Somethings I think I need are a better way of removing creatures once they're on the board (not just bounce which is what I have with Boomerang and especially Unsummon).
A better way of removing artifacts (a friend has an artifact that really hurts this deck unless I have enough mana for a counterspell early in the game), or just plain destroy/remove permanent.
I think It'd be better to replace the 2 Magpies and 2 Piracy Charms with Sage of Epityr (but really I do need some stronger monsters).
I use the Dehydration (or if there is a cheaper alternative similar to Pacifism) for taking care of threats when they tap.
Now how is my mana base? Should I instead put in about 2 more islands. Or non-basic lands that can tap for 2 mana?
Also I don't know what it means but how can I 'speed' up my deck?
Comments
Good start and perhaps it is time to start opening some more packs or possibly trading to add some higher power cards to the deck, and I'll fill you in to what you need.
First off , maybe I should warn you about Extended. I see a few Extended cards and your deck will probably hold up for a little while but there are some crazy decks out there that kill people in 1-3 turns, it's a brutal format, but if you're keeping it casual then no worries, no one plays "Sunnyside Up", "Dirty Kitty" or "Goblin Fecundity" in casual anyway.
1) Sage Owl- This card isn't too bad, but the fact that it costs 2 might be slowing you down, Sage of Epityr (Time Spiral, Common) cost 1 blue, looks at the top 4, but cannot fly. It's up to you if you want to put it in. Another option is Looter il-kor (Time Spiral Common) it is a 1/1 for 1U that cannot be blocked (except creatures with the abiltiy "Shadow") but also cannot block (except shadow-ers), each time he hits your opponent you draw a card and then discard a card.
2) Thieving Magpie- This card is so-so, many people using control decks put this in to stop weak white creatures (AKA Weenies) and get them to draw a card. I bet your qualm is that it takes 2UU, well I know of a few solutions Aven Augur (Future Sight, Common) it takes 3U it is a 2/2 flyer and you may sacrifice it during your upkeep to return 2 creatures to their owner's hand. Or Primal Plasma (Future Sight, Common) 3U and you get to pick what creature he is - a 3/3, a 2/2 flyer, or a 1/6 that cannot attack, it is perfect for this deck because you can make it what you want. Finally Tidewalker (Future Sight Uncommon) it takes 2U and it's power and toughness are equal to the number of island you control, however he get's weaker every turn. It is great in late game though, to play a 6/6 or 8/8 for only 3 mana.
3) Cloud Elemental serves it's purpose now but in the future you may want Errant Ephemeron (Time Spiral Common)
4) Piracy Charm should stay in my opinion, it can make one of your creatures unblockable, kill an opponents creature (the -1 to the toughness on a 1/1 creature kills it), or make your opponent discard a card. If you really want to take it out for a card that'll help you more there's always Unstable Mutation (Time Spiral, TimeShifted Rare) it is an aura (for only a U) that enchants a creature, it gives the creature +3/+3 but every turn it get's -1/-1, this can help you take the game early if you were to enchant Looter il-kor, phantom warrior, cloud elemental, or sage owl, this would cause you to deal a significant amount of nearly unblockable damage in the early going. If you were to enchant phantom warrior and he isnt killed he'd deal 15 damage before he died. A final card to consider is pongify (Future Sight, Uncommon) for only U it destroys a creature but gives the owner a 3/3 monnkey token, so with this you can destroy your own owl or sage for a stronger creature, you can play the card while your opponent attacks for some crazy combat tricks.
5) Kraken's eye isn't good, just replace it with an above mentioned card.
6) same goes for the rod.
7) As your deck grows you can get better creatures over the ones you have, Serra Sphinx (Future Sight, Rare) is an example. It costs the same at air elemental, same power/toughness, still flies, only the Sphinx doesn't have to tap to attack.
8) A new set is coming out soon called Lorwyn, and there are sure to be many new additions to your deck with that set, you can check wizards.com in the ensuing weeks to see preview cards and learn where you can play in the pre-release, usually for Massachusetts, it's at Umass Boston.
9) Some sites for you to check out
here are the decks that were the top of the 2006 Extended Championships
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/worl...
10) To search for thigs to add/ check out here's the gatherer-
http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/index.aspx?term=&F...
11) The islands should be fine, but just play and test and see if you get too much or too little
Good luck, and just message me for any other questions or ideas for the deck.
~Happybirthdayralph
Take out the kraken's eye and the rod of ruin and add two more whispersilk cloaks. Take out the 2 thieving magpies and add in 4 Sage of Epityr and add one more sage owl and use those to replace the piracy charms. take out the cloud elementals and add in 3 more phantom warriors. i would also take out the 2 dehydrations and the 2 unsummons to add in 2 more of each counterspell and cancel. That is all i can think of right now. Hope this helps. Also if you have to take out the sage owls the add in more air elementals. Good luck.