[Deck] Slavery (Mishra's Workshop build) -- Update

[Toad]

This is an update of the decklist posted in the primer published at the beginning of January, reflecting the recent changes in the metagame. I won't comment the decklist because I've already done it before.

Lands -- 16
1 [card]Tolarian Academy[/card]
3 [card]Ancient Tomb[/card]
4 [card]Mishras Workshop[/card]
4 [card]Volcanic Island[/card]
4 [card]Shivan Reef[/card]

Mana Artifacts -- 12
1 [card]Mox Pearl[/card]
1 [card]Mox Emerald[/card]
1 [card]Mox Sapphire[/card]
1 [card]Mox Jet[/card]
1 [card]Mox Ruby[/card]
1 [card]Sol Ring[/card]
1 [card]Black Lotus[/card]
1 [card]Mana Vault[/card]
1 [card]Mana Crypt[/card]
3 [card]Gilded Lotus[/card]

Control Elements -- 15
2 [card]Cunning Wish[/card]
2 [card]Fire/Ice[/card]
3 [card]Mindslaver[/card]
4 [card]Force of Will[/card]
4 [card]Chalice of the Void[/card]

Draw Engine -- 11
1 [card]Ancestral Recall[/card]
1 [card]Time Walk[/card]
1 [card]Wheel of Fortune[/card]
1 [card]Timetwister[/card]
1 [card]Minds Eye[/card]
1 [card]Tinker[/card]
1 [card]Memory Jar[/card]
4 [card]Thirst for Knowledge[/card]

Dudes -- 6
1 [card]Karn, Silver Golem[/card]
1 [card]Pentavus[/card]
4 [card]Goblin Welder[/card]

Sideboard -- 15
1 [card]Shattering Pulse[/card]
1 [card]Mystical Tutor[/card]
1 [card]Stroke of Genius[/card]
1 [card]Capsize[/card]
2 [card]Fire/Ice[/card]
2 [card]Rack and Ruin[/card]
3 [card]Tormods Crypt[/card]
4 [card]Red Elemental Blast[/card]

The main change is obviously the inclusion of 2 Cunning Wishes and some Fire/Ices over Blood Moons and Windfall. Don't misunderstand these choices. Blood Moon is still a great card, but the rise of Mono Green Decks and the renewal of TNT has weakened it. Cunning Wish is a perfect remplacement because It allows you to deal with Null Rod (Shattering Pulse) or Ground Seal (Capsize). As these decks runs no maindeck "loss conditions", Pentavus is used as a token engine in order to recur the Mindslaver ad vitam aeternam if needed. It's also a strong win condition on its own, hardly Deedable and providing an infinite amount of chump blockers. Fire/Ice is an anti-Welder anti-Shaman card. I'm still testing [card]Pyrite Spellbomb[/card] over these two cards for its obvious synergy with Thirst for Knowledge and Goblin Welder.

The SB is not really tweaked yet. Capsize provides a good reusable solution against Ground Seal or other annoyances, Shattering Pulse is for Null Rod. Mystical Tutor and Stroke of Genius are the two "default" Cunning Wish targets.

[The Atog Lord]

I've been testing a slaver deck lately. It's a somewhat different build -- with Drains and no Workshops -- but similar in many ways. After thinking about the problem which ground seal presents in monogreen, the best answer that I've been able to think of so far is Hibernation.

Hibernation deals with any number of Ground Seals at once. It also bounces Root Mazes, Rootwallas, Survivals, and any other green annoyances to buy some time.

[Smmenen]

It looks powerful, but why only three MIndslavers?

Steve

[Toad]

Hibernation deals with any number of Ground Seals at once. It also bounces Root Mazes, Rootwallas, Survivals, and any other green annoyances to buy some time.

The point in running Capsize is that It can also deal with non green Enchantments annoyances, such as Ivory Mask, Planar Void, etc ... Neverthess, Ground Seal and Root Maze are obviously the two worst stuff that are currently being played, but the ability to deal with multiple copies along with Basking Rootwallas and Wurms thanks to Hibernation is something I'll consider. I'll also test [card]Echoing Truth[/card].

It looks powerful, but why only three MIndslavers?

With the added versatility of Cunning Wish, you often have more time to find your Mindslavers. Fire/Ice helps too against the faster decks. This means I don't feel like running the fourth Mindslaver anymore. If you really need one *now*, you can still Cunning Wish for Mystical Tutor and get Tinker. This means you are virtually running 6 Mindslavers (3 Mindslavers, a Tinker and 2 Wishes). Note that I often simply don't go for the Mindslaver route against decks like Sligh or Goblins when I draw the Tinker, as I almost always get the Pentavus (tech borrowed from the german build, Womprax convinced me to use it along with Karn).

[Kerz]

Have you tested the non-workshop version? It seems you are getting closer to it with the addition of Fire/Ice and Cunning Wish.

[The Atog Lord]

The Control Slaver list is very solid and surprisingly consistent; however, the list you posted appears to be capable of far more explosive starts than Control Slaver could ever dream of. It often doesn't start doing anything especially effective until the third turn.

[Zherbus]

Matt - just throw his name in like 7 places in the listing and in any article you may do. Honestly, try to keep this sort of thing in PM/Email and then you can complain about being robbed if it isn't addressed in private. Lots of people develop tech along parallel lines all the time. A good example is myself with Damping Matrix all the while countless people were tinkering with various ideas on its usefulness and Womprax was toying with it as a maindeck card. Did Womprax and I pull out the massive baby arms in our pants to start comparing sizes? No, we compared notes.

Back on topic, AtogLord - In your build with Mana Drain, are you running Wastelands? If so, isn't it terribly difficult to attain UU with Workshops and Wastelands?

[rvs]

Back on topic, AtogLord - In your build with Mana Drain, are you running Wastelands? If so, isn't it terribly difficult to attain UU with Workshops and Wastelands?

Those builds don't run workshops. However, I don't think they run a full complement of wastelands either, but that might also just be our particular build.

[rozetta]

I like the inclusion of Pentavus. It's always been an interesting creature to me, not just because of the Mindslaver recursion tricks available, but also because of simple combat tricks and the fact that with a welder in play and enough mana, it can get big quick. I actually raced a turn 1 Verdant Force with a Pentavus/welder combo a little while ago and the nice thing is that the tokens can chump block all day long and not die as long as you have the mana to return them to the mothership.

This new build looks a lot stronger than the previous builds now that it has more blue cards to work with FoW and ways to answer Null Rod and Damping Matrix. I'd be dead interested in knowing how it's been doing in testing and what it's weak matchups tend to be if you have any of that sort of data.

[The Atog Lord]

I’m posting my list below for Control Slaver. The initial concept behind the deck isn't mine; the first person I saw playing a deck like this was Kim Kluck.

My list has changed slightly from the list with which I took 9th at Waterbury with a 6-1-1 record. I’m not posting it to change the direction of this discussion. Rather, the two slaver decks – Control and Workshop – are to a degree converging and perhaps insights in one build of Slaver may prove useful to the other.

// Creatures
        1 Platinum Angel
        1 Pentavus
        4 Goblin Welder
// Counter
        4 Mana Drain
        4 Force of Will
// Drawing
        4 Thirst for Knowledge
        4 Brainstorm
        1 Ancestral Recall
        1 Memory Jar
        2 Fire/Ice
// Other
        2 Mindslaver
        1 Tinker
        1 Time Walk
        2 Blood Moon
// Black
        1 Yawgmoth's Will
        1 Demonic Tutor
// Mana
        1 Grim Monolith
        1 Mana Vault
        1 Mox Sapphire
        1 Mox Emerald
        1 Mox Ruby
        1 Mox Pearl
        1 Mox Jet
        1 Sol Ring
        1 Black Lotus
// Land
        1 Library of Alexandria
        2 Underground Sea
        4 Flooded Strand
        4 Volcanic Island
        6 Island
// Sideboard
SB:  1 Blood Moon
SB:  2 Fire/Ice
SB:  3 Rack and Ruin
SB:  3 Tormod's Crypt
SB:  2 Hibernation
SB:  4 Red Elemental Blast

Toad, I’m giving very serious consideration to your comments on Cunning Wish.

[MolotDET]

I love this new list.

Not that I didn't see it weeks ago but I can't help saying it.

BTW Froggy I told you in December that Pentavis was all that...

[Toad]

The inclusion of Cunning Wish is almost needed because you need answers to Null Rod and Damping Matrix or Ground Seal game 1. Cunning Wish for Shattering Pulse and Capsize is the most straightforward solution I could think of. This also gives you access to SB removal and tutors, reinforcing the controlish aspects of the deck.

I've tested the german build with Mana Drains, piloted by Kim Kluck in Duelmen in December. The build is also really strong, somewhat Keeperish, and I really appreciate piloting it. I've also been working on it lately (Cunning Wish has to be in), but I prefer the Workshop build. I'm not saying the Workshop build is better though. I have a love story running with this card, which may explain that choice. What I enjoy the most in the Workshop build is that, even if it is a Control deck, It can Combo off with a fast Gilded Lotus and multiple Draw7s for a second or third turn Mindslaver activation. I also love the maindeck Chalices of the Void because this card has won me so many games on its own. Nevertheless, I don't really want to use Black in this build. The mana base is already unstable due to Mishra's Workshop severe drawback, and you can't really use a lot of fetchlands because you want real lands to combat Null Rod, for example. A build with Cities of Brass and Glimmervoid is something one can consider, but I often found that Glimmervoid's drawback was putting too much pressure on my Moxens. I often keep lands without any Moxens or fast mana, turning into a heavy Controlish deck (against Red Stompy, for example, with multiple Cunning Wishes and Fire/Ice in opening hand), hence Glimmervoid is only so-so. And running both Cities of Brass and Ancient Tomb is really dangerous.

Pentavus is a bomb. I don't think it was needed back in December, because decks like Long or Dragon, which were everywhere, could be easily defeated with a single Mindslaver. Now, TNT, Landstill, Fish and MonoG decks are becoming strong contenders, and you sometimes need to take the "infinite" Mindslaver route. Hence Pentavus, which doubles as an incredible win condition and chump blockers supplier. It also nails a Pernicious Deed pretty easily. <3 MolotDET.

The Atog Lord:
You can consider cutting the MD Blood Moons for Cunning Wishes. That'sd probably the first tweak I would do to your build. Platinium Angel seems a bit janky here, as It's a slow win condition and doesn't really fit in your game plan.

[The Atog Lord]

OK, Toad, I'm sold on Cunning Wish. I'm hesitant to cut blood moon, as it is often a game-warping card; however, I'll figure out how to fit at least a single copy into the deck. I'm going to a tournament on Cape Cod a bit later today, so I should have some additional results after that.

[CrazyCarl]

My buddy Eli's decklist(3rd at Waterbury) was running 1 Burning Wish.  It's verrrrrrrrry good in the deck.  You can use it to fetch Upheaval and Yawgmoth's Will(castable off Lotuses obv), and whatever else you feel you need(like possibly Twister).  The Cunning Wishes are very good too.  3 Slaver's is the right number IMO, and I'm not as big a fan of Karn as most people are.  I'd cut it for either another Pentavus(aka the bomb) or a Triskelion, which is much better than you might think.

[rvs]

I'm not a big fan of Karn either, but I am a big fan of Bosh and Platinum Angel. Angel because it's really strong (and plenty of strategies have no effective way to deal with it, like sui black, and for neo-long it's quite troublesome as well).

I just like Bosh because he's DIEK

[The Atog Lord]

I finished in top 8 at the Cape yesterday with Control Slaver. Ironically, I was knocked out of top 8 by a Ray with Workshop Slaver. My full report is in the Tournament Forum.

Toad, I took your suggestion and ran Cunning Wish over Blood Moon. Thanks, it paid off. Two of the decks I played against were mono colored and one was a Workshop deck, none of which are especially hurt by Blood Moon.

[Toad]

I've done some quick testings with Bosh and Platinium Angel. Both often provide a slower kill than Karn if you have some Gilded Lotuses out, but are still really interesting. Bosh's ability is huge, but If you don't have Pentavus out, you can't really afford to lose a lot of artifacts for spot removal. Furthermore, I've almost never ended a game by Boshing my opponent. The ability is probably only good with Moat on the board, but even then, I'd rather have a Platinium Angel. The Platinium Angel is really strong because It gives headaches to plenty decks game 1 (Suicide, Madness, Oshawa Stompy, etc...). I'll stick with her for a while.

I'm still not set on the Mind's Eye. Sometimes I want to Tinker for a draw engine which is not Memory Jar, and get a steady flow of cards. In this situation, Mind's Eye is good. But the Eye is often too slow. I don't really want to go back to Windfall, because It's a pretty weak "draw7" in that deck, as It's often a symetrical draw2 or draw3. Pulse of the Grid seemed interesting, but the casting cost is often prohibitive unless you get a Lotus out. Maybe a third Fire/Ice or something cooler.

Cunning Wish is cool. I'd never go below 2. 3 is probably too much, as you can't really devote a lot of sideboard slots to instants for the Cunning Wish. Stroke of Genius is just so-so because it's slow. Capsize is my most common Wish target.

[The Atog Lord]

In Extended Tinker-Stax, Mind' Eye was amazing against Tog. However, I ended up cutting it from my Control Slaver list, since the deck does not have nearly as much colorless sitting around as the Extended deck, and since the format in general is much faster. Even so, quite a few times at the Cape tournament, I found myself in a draw-go situation with my opponent, and something to break through that would have been nice. I plan to test Panoptic Mirror soon.

In my latest Control Slaver list, I ended up going with a third maindeck fire/ice. Here, no small percentage of the metagame involves Workshops and Goblin Welders. OStompy and other aggro decks appear to be rising in popularity, and even combo decks here are running maindeck Xantid Swarms. Further, since I'd need to be able to have four Fire/Ice post board anyways, main-decking a third copy freed up a sideboard spot.