U/W U/R or U/W/R Landstill

[DayWalker]

Hello,

I have played Landstill a few times in Dülmen, but only U/R.
So I want to know what do you think about my other listings.
I haven't played U/W and U/W/r before so that are not the optimally listings. All listings are without sideboard.

U/W/R Landstill

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
3 Misdirection
2 Stifle
2 Teferi's Response

4 Standstill
1 Ancestral Recall

3 Fire/Ice
3 Swords to Plowshares
4 Nevinyrral's Disk

2 Decree of Justice
2 Disenchant

4 Tundra
4 Volcanic Island
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Island
1 Plains
3 Faerie Conclave

U/R Landstill

4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
3 Misdirection
3 Stifle
2 Teferi's Response

4 Fire/Ice
4 Nevinyrral's Disk

4 Standstill
1 Ancestral Recall

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Volcanic Island
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Island
4 Faerie Conclave
1 Dust Bowl
2 Polluted Delta/2 Flooded Strand

U/W Landstill


4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
3 Misdirection
3 Stifle
2 Teferi's Response

4 Swords to Ploswhares
4 Nevinyrral's Disk

4 Standstill
1 Ancestral Recall

2 Decree of Justice
2 Disenchant

4 Tundra
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Island
1 Plains
4 Faerie Conclave
1 Dust Bowl
2 Polluted Delta/2 Flooded Strand

My metagame exists of Workshop-Decks, Psychatog, some Combo(Belcher, Academy), Aggro(FCG, Sligh,Beatz) and some hybrid-decks.
which of the three listings is suitable best for that metagame ?

[psyburat]

Landstill is unstable at three colors.  Stick with either U/R or U/W (either is fine).

[FireFall26]

I don't think that u/w/r should be in consideratiion.  Running 3 colors and man lands would make the mana base inconsistant, and 2 colors have proven themselves to be very solid.  Personsally I have been playin u/w lately, decree is so good and I have found white more useful the red.  Teferi's response is outdated.  It is alright in the sb, but there are better MD cards.  I would run mana leak over them, and in your white version maybe MD serenioty instead of disenchant,  I like 3 mana leaks, then if you see a lot of shops you can go to a serenity MD (it is a bomb and destroys shop decks, just like disk).

[Spizzard]

Landstill is unstable at three colors. Stick with either U/R or U/W (either is fine).

I disagree.  The mana base of running 3 colors is doable while still running manlands.  However you are more suceptible to hate, but it does work without too much trouble.   The version I played of three color, doesn't run white as heavy as your build, which could be the problem.  Here is what I recently played:



3x Decree of Justice

4x Standstill
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Fact or Fiction

4x Mana Drain
4x Force of Will
3x Stifle
2x Misdirection


3x Nevinyrrals Disk
1x Balance

2x Lightning Bolt
3x Fire/Ice
1x Time Walk

4x Mishras Factory
4x Tundra
4x Volcanic Island
4x Flooded Strand
1x Island
4 Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
1x Library of Alexandria
1x Sol Ring
1x Mox Sapphire
2x Faerie Conclave
1x Black Lotus

But not running swords, the need to have W early is allieviated.  Use fetches for Volcanics.  LIghtning Bolts are good early as well as never dead.  The above deck doesn't really need white early.  Its great later for Decrees and the occasional Balance.

[FireFall26]

Why would you splash red?  To get lightning bolt (swords can take care of) fire/ice and rebs.  I really do not think it is worth it to screw with the mana base.

[Spizzard]

Red is used for:

A:)2:1 removal through fire/ice - which is never dead, whereas swords is.
B:)REB's from the Sideboard
C:)Rack and Ruin/Shattering Pulse from side is often just as good as disenchant.
D:)Lightning Bolt is never dead, and surprisingly effective removal.

White does have Decree of Justice which is very synergistic, but outside of decree, Balance and swords, there is nothing there.  Red can cover for swords, yet it still offers much more to the deck.

[Godot]

Landstill is unstable at three colors. Stick with either U/R or U/W (either is fine).

This is just false.  The manabase can definitely work as three colors and Uwr is definitely viable as evidenced by a first place finish in France and a T2 in Denver.  The question is not 'can it work?' the question is 'why should I run 3 colors?'

This is entirely a metagame consideration.  If you expect to see lots of Madness or Oshawa Stompy then StoP is clearly superior to Bolt and Fire/Ice in terms of removal.  However, if your environment consists of lots of those decks then Landstill is probably not the right deck to play in the first place.

I have no experience with UW landstill so I wont speak about that deck, but in terms of Ur vs Uwr, Ur is the superior choice.  The only real major addition to landstill in the Uwr version is DoJ (Balance is total ass in Uwr Landstill).  And DoJ doesnt particularly improve any matchup.  The additional threats function more as a safety net for people too insecure to play Ur and rely on burn to inflict those last couple points of damage.

In short, Ur is superior.

[DayWalker]

I decide to go with U/W.
Without playing Teferi's Response I get two free slots.
What should I play ?
Mana Leak, Fact or Fiction, Impulse something else.
What about the manabase ? Is it viable or not ?
I think for the two slots I put in FoF and some other draw, because I have only Standstill's to draw cards.
But why is the Response outdated ?
now where so many people play wastelands the Response would be damn great, I think.

[Hi-Val]

Stifle is the nut flush draw in Landstill. If you don't have 3 in the deck already, put them in. They save your manlands incredibly well and act like strip mines as well.

As for U/W vs U/R, I go with U/R thanks to the strength vs. Workshop decks and control. REB wins the Tog matchup. U/W is stronger vs. Combo thanks to Orim's Chant and Seal of Cleansing though. It's entirely a metagame call.

[DayWalker]

Stifle is the nut flush draw in Landstill. If you don't have 3 in the deck already, put them in. They save your manlands incredibly well and act like strip mines as well. .

O.K. I will cut the Responses for something other.
In Dülmen there are in my opinion more Workshop Decks, so I decide to go with U/R Version, but I have to do some changes, because only the four Standstill's  aren't much draw, so I need some other draw.
What about Impulse and Fact or Fiction, would they get a place in this deck ?

[wuaffiliate]

i disagree that Ur is better vs workshops this is completely false.

I really see no reason to play Ur over this, it wrecks all matches Ur does, yet it has a large advantage vs Ur landstill. they get rebs, but i have white spells which reb doesnt work too well vs i hear. seal of cleansing is a horror for other landstill players, decree is insanely strong, and balance is broken, not to mention Swords also wins the tog match. Im wondering if those doubting Uw have even tested it.

this is my current list.

//NAME: UwLandstill.dec
// BY: Al "wuaffiliate" Dubuc
// Post Mar. 25th 2004
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
3 Misdirection
3 Stifle
1 Teferi's Responce
4 Standstill
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Balance
2 Decree of Justice
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Tundra
1 Adarkar Wastes
3 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Plains
3 Faerie Conclave
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Library Of Alexandria
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Enlightened Tutor
SB: 1 Righteous Aura
SB: 2 Humility
SB: 2 Serenity
SB: 3 Seal of Cleansing
SB: 4 Meddling Mage

[FreddieNDB]

I've extensively tested with Landstill variants. Specifically, U/W and U/W/R. What I have found is that U/W/R Landstill actually has a more stable mana base. Of course this is because I take the concliaves out all together. When you do this you get a more stable mana base and a little more tempo. However, to get a full affect of puttign in both colors you run a lot of three ofs, like disk and flooded strand, which takes away from the deck. I think that running either U/W or U/R would be the better choice.

IMO, I think that U/W is the strongest maindeck version of landstill (U/R landstill is really only better in the SB). After testing so much ( I've logged too many hours playtesting landstill cus its my favorite deck) I have come to this build.

// control
        4 Swords to Plowshares
        4 Nevinyrral's Disk
        4 Force of Will
        4 Mana Drain
        3 Stifle
        2 Misdirection
        2 Mana Leak
// draw
        1 Fact or Fiction
        4 Standstill
        1 Ancestral Recall
// utility
        3 Decree of Justice
        1 Time Walk
// mana
        4 Mishra's Factory
        4 Flooded Strand
        4 Wasteland
        4 Tundra
        3 Faerie Conclave
        3 Island
        1 Strip Mine
        1 Library of Alexandria
        1 Black Lotus
        1 Mox Sapphire
        1 Mox Pearl
// sideboard
SB:  3 Energy Flux
SB:  3 Tormod's Crypt
SB:  2 Meddling Mage
SB:  3 Disenchant
SB:  2 Chalice of the Void
SB:  2 Blue Elemental Blast

Tefri's response is not here because stifle is just flat out better. Tefri's response costs 2 mana and is very specific on what is coutners. While stifle costs only 1 mana and is much more liberal.

Also, Dust bowl is just crap in this deck. Once you start loosing your colored mana your just really screwing yourself over.

I run three decree of justice because it is just the perfect number.4 is too many and 2 is just not enough making you hold them in hand until your ready which can mess you up.

Mana Leak gives you those few extra counters that Landstill needs. I have never regretted putting them into the deck. And why over counterspell. Because Landstill doesn't run enough blue mana sources in relation to the blue cards in the deck so another UU costing spell would be that mcuh more difficult to cast.

i geuss the SB can be better, but its also metgame dependent. And also I want to put impulse into the deck, but I'm not sure what to get rid of.
Any remarks?

[wuaffiliate]

why only 2 misdirections? they help force through your important spells and are 0cc compared to mana leak. playing an early standstill is key and mana leak doesnt help with that, misd is 0cc and can be used in a 2nd turn counter war.

ive run mana leak before, but i realised that i didnt need extra counters, i run swords, balance and disk so more counters are pretty much dead weight.

i run 1 responce because it can be scrolled up and it just wrecks the mirror, and its ancestral #6. also i run 3 stifle, i dont count stifle and responce to be in the same league.

FoF is really a personal choice i guess, but i draw so many cards that i dont really want FoF. landstill is about surviving the early game and then gaining control. FoF helps with neither of those, its slow in a deck with very little acceleration.

ive never found decree to be sticking arround in my hand, if i dont need it i cycle it away. running 3 leaves less room for more important spells such as balance.

i never liked the pearl i always disk it away so i added an adarkar wastes in its stead, its more permanent mana which landstill likes and isnt killed off by disk. im not a fan of fetches in landstill, i only run 3 because i run humility and meddling mage SB, otherwise i would run more pain lands over fetches to up my permanent mana sources.

[DayWalker]

I agree with wuaffiliate to play more Misdirections, because they are so awesome.
I think that the FoF would be a nice addition, if you have no Standstill or when it is countered, if that should happen.

wuaffiliate,

I like your version very much, but I think that the single Teferi's Response would be a bit random, so I would turn the Response to another Merchant Scroll, maybe to fetch some counters.
I find that three Decree's the optimal number is however that is
probably a personally choice.
I think the Pearl is needed, because you want to play a Standstill as fast as you can.
Since I have anyway no Lotus, I must under duress which other one play
and that would be in the case a Pearl or a Sol ring, perhaps also
both.

[FreddieNDB]

On misdirection, The number of misdirection you should run depends again on the metagame (the more powered the metagame the less misdirection you shoudl play). however, since you already are running FoW adding more misdirections just makes thigns worse because it is very card disadvantagous which goes against the way the deck wants to play.

Also, 3 decrees is the right number because they give you the board contorl and card advantage you need. I look at decree as a win condition not just some extra card to put into the deck. As for leaving it open for balance why woudl you play balance?

Balance is so anti-synergetic with the rest of the deck. When you play landstill you're trying to get more lands out then your opponent, more cards in your hand, and if you're playing decree the way you should then more creatures. PLaying a balance woudl be a lose, lose, lose situation. The only time the card works is if you're lossing the match and if you're in that situation already it probably won't turn the tide for you. And even if it does, balance is too likely to be a dead draw to deserve a main deck slot.

On mana leak, Landstill definately needs the boost of counters. It's not dead wait. I've tested with it extensively and foudn it to be very useful.

[BreathWeapon]

Because Balance is the single most powerful card effect in the game regardless of its poor synergy with the deck, and its only 1 card. WTF else in Magic has the power to win lost games? Who cares if its a dead card in a few matches? The games you can play it in are the games it dominates. How else do you think U/w Landstill deals with the Troll?

Decree of Justice really sucks in Landstill. With out power the card is incredibly tempermental and you should be draining into Disks, not tokens. If your looking for a card that should be in Landstill its Impulse, the consistancey it provides is just broken.

[Special K]

@FreddieNDG how does a more powered meta affect the number of misdirections you play? I want to know how that works

It is true that misdirection is card disadvantage but droping a standstill is more important then losing 2 cards from your hand on the second turn.

3 Doj in a Uw build only really helps in mirror matches and control, control is pretty much a win anyway since they can't counter your 6-8 win conditions and have no significant draw unless they resolve an Ancestral point at them.

Balance is good if you plan to lose but who plans to do that? since in most cases you rape your own land base and if you are playing with balance you want the right number of tutors to get it when you are in need of it so it more or less belongs in a control deck since control can also brainstorm it away if it is seen too early.

Fact or fiction is really good late game but it so happens that in landstill you are tapping your lands to attack in that stage of the game so 4 mana might be hard to find at that point and having mana left over to have counter wars can be hard too.  Early game this card sits in your hand looking for either Misdirection or Force of Will to remove it since there are no brainstorms to shuffle it back.

Merchant Scroll is not really need to search for Ancestral if you want to draw more cards just play with more Responses as it makes the deck more repetitive and with Landstill that is hard to do since the deck has little search.

Off color moxen make Standstill come out quicker but have bad synergy with disk and serenity.  Most cases lotus pedal is better since it still gives you first turn Standstill and first turn UU or a conclave with stifle back up.

Sol Ring see off color moxen but it only produces colorless and you can't cast anything else on the first turn which in some games is when stifle shines the most.

Dustbowl only significantly good in the mirror with a standstill in play

@3 colors I think it can be done its just becomes a question of what is in your meta gameas for the combination of fire/ice swords/bolts/stifles and responses there rest of the deck basically stays the same.  With white in Landstill chain of vapors gets axed as swords helps more against dragon and is much better over all against aggro.

[firebird365]

I've also tested a fair bit with Landstill, and I really like UWr. It is less stable than the dual-colored versions, but not as unstable as everyone thinks. The splash is definately worth it.

As for Misdirections, I would never think of cutting them. Pitch counters are SO important for Landstill, because they have to be able to win counterwars with consistancy. This brings up another strength of splashing R in UW; REB in the sideboard.

I began by running 3 Decree, but I cut 1 for a third Misdirection. I'm able to find them quickly enough, but I run 2 Implse to filter through my deck. It's nice that Decree is never a dead card.

Balance isn't good in this deck. Seriously. FreddieNDG has a point when he says that it's the only thing that takes out Ascetics, but Oshawa is BUILT to destroy Landstill. Balance really just destroys your advantage in cards and in mana, and wastes a slot. I cut it really early on.

[Spizzard]

Fact or fiction is really good late game but it so happens that in landstill you are tapping your lands to attack in that stage of the game so 4 mana might be hard to find at that point and having mana left over to have counter wars can be hard too. Early game this card sits in your hand looking for either Misdirection or Force of Will to remove it since there are no brainstorms to shuffle it back.

Mana Drain + Fact or Fiction is useful early game and late game.  You'll often have 1 Blue left over, and even spending the mana to cast it to get counters and whatnot, wins you the game more safely than would a single swing for two.

Balance isn't good in this deck. Seriously. FreddieNDG has a point when he says that it's the only thing that takes out Ascetics, but Oshawa is BUILT to destroy Landstill. Balance really just destroys your advantage in cards and in mana, and wastes a slot. I cut it really early on.

Balance is quite good in this deck.  You have no real creatures, so it is always a wrath of god.  Slowing your opponent down in the land department on top of strips + stifle is effective.  And Balancing then keeping a standstill + manland is very good.

I liked running a Mystical Tutor which can fetch Balance.  I"m not going to go into the viability of running Mystical, but it does make Balance much better, as well as fetching a win condition in Decree.
Now, you obviously wouldn't play Balance when your winning.  However it is too good a reset button to ignore.

[BreathWeapon]

People who knock Balance in Landstill simply have no clue on how to use it appropriately in the deck. It takes skill, and if your that afraid of holding a single dead card, Misdirection *cough*, board it out.

[DayWalker]

After some testings with Balance, I decided to cut it.
In my playtestings the Balance had only disturbed me.
Fact or Fiction is in my opinion an additional card draw which from the personal style proceeds.
I was content with the FoF and play it.

@Spizzard: Have you already tested Mystical Tutor ?
If you have, how did it work ?

[Spizzard]

I ran it in a tournament a couple weeks back.  It's surprisingly pretty good.  It fetched decree a couple times which leads to the win as well as getting removal, card draw or Balance.  I was quite happy with it.  It's especially good with Balance... which is also really good... i'd suggest testing again with it before cutting.  Balance is near the number 1 reason why you should run White.  Aggro is one of the worst matchups, Balance helps a lot.

[Dozer]

Has anybody considered friggin' Skullclamp? I am currently building with it, but I have no real results so far, since I am yet to leave the development stage and start real testing. However, if you manage a Skullclamp before your Standstill, then both Faerie Conclave and Decree of Justice become incredible machines, and you put a lot of pressure on your opponent. He HAS to deal with the 'Clamp or die.
Granted, Skullclamp will fall off from Factories at EOT, but Factories still become 3/1 beatsticks that better not get Wasted... it's just a pity that you can't equip in response to a Wasteland. That would be insane. Also, maybe Landstill has not enough targets for the 'Clamp, but still... maybe two?

Also, Skullclamp can make Balance a juicy deal - put it on an animated Factory, resolve Balance, sac the Assembly Worker, draw two cards... lovely. It has negative synergy with Disk, unless you apply this same trick there. Skullclamp will trigger, but you are unlikely wanting to lose your Factory since it's supposed to stay alive after a Disk. Still, it could be good.

Dozer

[Kushluk]

Opinions follow.

R/U Landstill - I've played this deck extensively ever sine I've dropped BBS. It has a lot of answers and can be properly meta'd and SB'd for most any environment.

Furthermore, the R/U mana base is rock solid. I don't run Tef Ref, yet I never have mana troubles. I have played matches wherein my opponent and I have both used all 10 of our strips - I still won. Landstill dosen't need to protect it's lands to an insane degree (stifles of course are necissary) becuase it just has more. Dust bowl always seems a little ridiculous when I see it - with Disk, Stifle and Strips (F/I on occasions as well) Landstill has plenty of tools for mana denial. Somtimes, even you will get a hand that tells you to play LD.

The Sideboard of R/U is not even close to optimal at the current moment.

Did you know red has a tool to fight Big O and Weenie scrub, not to mention Sui and Sligh? I Bet you didn't. Breath Of Darigaaz (go ahead, look it up).  It makes Negators scream and Jackal Pups cry. It also clears the board of Rootwallas and arrogant worms. Breath is a Mana drain sink, that itself is not a mana drain target (the kicker dosen't count toward their drain, if they get it). Also, BoD makes landstill a much faster deck as far as killing your opponent, especially against Big O, where you will find your manlands painfully slow,small and weak.

Red Wrath of God - Destroy all creatures lower than 4/4, this dosen't effect all the man lands on your board.

 Using the built-in misdirection on your Sligh opponent's Chain Lighting can be a game -winning play after BoD, for just one example. It can also be wise to hoarde your burn until you drain into your BoD - then kill him in one fell swoop if he is low enough.

Shrapnel Blast is also an interesting card. It kills (S)Memnarch if or when he appears, can remove Arrogant worms and the like, and is ROCKIN in combination with BoD. I have NOT fully tested this, so this is mostly from a few experiences.... but it seriously moves you toward winning.

I've sifted through a great many of the countless, endless, crap cards that exist and are waiting for applications - Breath is just one example of a forgotten Jem found. I have explored a few other cards - but they are still prelim.

U/W Landstill

This deck has extra hate against dragon - 4 StP, which is extremely cool. However, I don't see the Decrees being all that usefull. Landstill can compete very very well in a control mirror (especially after REBs are added witht he red version), so I don't see the utility of cycling it under a still for the "Win More".  It suppose it could be an answer to an enemy DoJ - but if you have been attacking his mana base, this shouldn't be a problem anyway.

I haven't played U/W that much (but i have played it), and what it really lacks is all the SB tech that Red has and white dosen't. I'm sure there are plenty of hidden gems within the vasy piles of crap white cards (accumulated over the years) but it would be an even more daunting task to look through those.

U/R/W

Never played it - but the mana base sounds risky.

FoF

Absolutley unecissary, and costs too much. When you have 5 ancestrals in a deck, PLUS search (in mine anyway), PLUS LoA , you have all the card advantage that you will ever need. There will, theoretically, reach a point when you are drawing card drawing cards instead of answers.

In Any case, FoF is a slow card that LS can't accelerate into (or low cost like ancestral or LoA), nether is it synergistic with the theme (as standstill is). When you drain you want a disk or a BoD, which are usually card advantage in any case.

My verdict - the deck has a draw engine that is 100% functional for it's needs - why add on 2nd class card drawers that have no synergy?

*waits for everyone to disagree with him*

[Spizzard]

In Any case, FoF is a slow card that LS can't accelerate into (or low cost like ancestral or LoA), nether is it synergistic with the theme (as standstill is). When you drain you want a disk or a BoD, which are usually card advantage in any case.

Do you not run Mana Drain or something?  Can you not FoF the end of your opponents turn?  Sometimes Draining into a Disk isn't the best play.  Have fun in the control mirror relying on 4 Standstills + 1 Ancestral to draw you the cards.  Granted, manlands turn this in your favor but Fact or Fiction is just a bomb.  It turns games just by itself.  Much the way LoA does.

My verdict - the deck has a draw engine that is 100% functional for it's needs - why add on 2nd class card drawers that have no synergy?

The fact that you call Fact or Fiction a 2nd rate card drawer just boggles my mind and brings down some of your arguments.

[Kushluk]

"Quote:
My verdict - the deck has a draw engine that is 100% functional for it's needs - why add on 2nd class card drawers that have no synergy?  

The fact that you call Fact or Fiction a 2nd rate card drawer just boggles my mind and brings down some of your arguments."

You need to read the sentence again. "For it's needs" is the key phrase.

I'd rather drain into disk than FoF. It feels like wasting mana drain mana, when you can get card draw normally for the low, low price of 1U.

FoF is very second rate in landstill (read in context please). 4 mana for a divy choice or 2 for a standstill that gives you three. It's great, but it's not synergistic with the deck (which already has enough draw in any case).

I am reminded of many, many, games where I have a huge hand and have to discard cards - why the hell should I put more card drawing into a deck that has 100% (or more) of what it can use? This is my main obection - other things are secondary.

Your Point with the mirror is true - it helps when you play LS vs. LS - but how do you propose we tutor for FoF? We just side it in and hope to randomly hit it with search (if you run search)? Are you suggesting FoF as a sideboard option?

The draw engine is fine, it dosen't need tinkering. It is the LEAST problematic part of the deck.

"Control Mirror"

I have not had trouble with control mirrors. Landstill mirrors are a pain, control mirrors are usually fairly good matches.

"Do you not run Mana Drain or something? Can you not FoF the end of your opponents turn?"

If you're not dead or combo'd out already, you can. I exist in a Combo/Aggro(specifically madness/big O) meta, emphasis on the Combo.  Yes, I own, and love, my mana drains.  

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that 10,000 turn long Keeper matches are fairly rare here (although there is a lone Keeper player here- and he and I pretty much consitute all the constant control there is - there are a variable number of Tog decks).

[FreddieNDB]

As for decree, I still stand by my original verdict that 3 decrees is the optimal number. To elaborate:

Swining for 2 or for 4 late game is just so risky. By then your draw and control pieces have usally been expended (I've had matches where I would be two life away from killing my opponent and they would drop a yawg's win). On the other hand, having 3 1/1s plus a 2/2 or 2/1 will kill you're opponent that much earlier and leave more mana open for responces.

Of course, 2 decree already does this, but I tested with 2 decree's before. What ends up happening is that you hold your single decree (with no tutoring you normally get only one) and wait until it is time to drop the decree. While waiting you have to deal with you're opponents threats and then drop yours and watch (as I did so often) sweep the board of fire your soldiers thus leaving you back where you started.

If you had 3 decrees in the build, you could drop the first one for 2 or three measly 1/1s which puts the pressure on your opponent which is were landstill wants to be.

On FoF, that's another one of those preferences. I run it just beacuse it has always been good for me, but I can also see why a person would not run FoF because ancestrall, and standstills is such a strong draw engine already.

On balance, There are times when blaance run's well in the deck. But the usefullness of balance is so situational(and IMO not usefull in most situations especially with disk there) that I still will not run it main deck.

@FreddieNDG how does a more powered meta affect the number of misdirections you play? I want to know how that works

First of its FreddieNDB, but no big deal. And have you really seen misdirection being played in any of the upper tier decks? The correlation is because their are fewer spells that can are misdirection "worthy" in more powered metagames. The reason is because less players started runnign spells that targeted(unless of course they were required) because they were being misdirected, which is of course worse than being countered.

It is true that misdirection is card disadvantage but droping a standstill is more important then losing 2 cards from your hand on the second turn.  

This is exaclty why i said it depends on if it's a powered metgame or not. Hymn to Tourach is really only used in Sui Black (which is a less powered deck). If you're playing in a meta where Sui Black is played more and burn decks, and even stompy decks( for spells like growth and rancor) then of course you run more misidrections. However, in my meta I play more against ChiaPet(aka GAT), Mud decks, and now mad-dragon which is why I lowered my count of misdirection.

As for whether U/W or U/R landstill is better is again about preference. I personally like U/W because I feel the Main deck is stronger (STP is better removal and Decree is better kill condition) but of course U/R has a much stonger SB (But I alwasy consider SB as secondary which is why I like U/W). You can all debate about which one was better, but if one weren't tournament worthy you wouldn't be debating in the first place would you?

[Lucentspirit]

I've been working on a 3 color landstill varient of my own and it seems to be doing well in playtesting.

B/U/G landstill:

    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Black Lotus
    1 Lotus petal

    4 Underground Sea
    3 Tropical Island
    4 Polluted Delta
    1 Flooded Strand

    4 Mishra's Factory
    2 Treetop Village
    3 Faerie Conclave

    2 Petrified Field

    1 Strip Mine
    4 Wasteland

    4 Nevinyrral's Disk
    4 Pernicious Deed

    4 Standstill
    4 Stifle
    4 Mana Drain
    4 Force of Will

    2 Innocent Blood

    1 Time Walk
    1 Ancestral Recall
    1 Demonic Tutor

SB:

    2 Teferi's Response
    4 Tormod's Crypt
    3 Naturalize
    3 Duress
    2 Innocent Blood

Part of the idea behind this deck design was to give landstill more ways to clear the board using Nev. Disk and Pernicious Deed. It also utilizes Innocent Blood which can take out big first turn fatties if a counter wasn't availible. Even better, innocent blood can't be used to kill your own critters under a mindslaver unless the opponent gives up a creature as well.

I found that getting fast blue on the board is critical which is why I've included mox sapphire and lotus petal. I've also toyed with the idea of using mox diamond, but, have not yet had the chance to playtest it. The use of 3 colors can make things difficult at times if your opponent uses watelands, but, generaly is not much of a problem.

I've found the deck does well against standard U/R landstill and has about the same results in most of it's other matchups.

I playtested both Fastbond and Yag. Will in the deck and decided they were only broken some of the time and mostly it was just when they were usesd together. I eventually cut them from the build.

[bjimminy]

I played U/R Landstill in a tournament this weekend. (See the primer for a pretty good facsimile of what I played.) Had no problem keeping aggro decks in check. The red burn is just as good as STP in most aggro matchups. Of course, against a Dragon combo deck, the STP is even better than a counter at halting the combo from going off. The red burn has the advantage of never being a dead draw, but it's worth noting that in most matchups, the bolts end up coming out for chalice, tormod's crypt, REB, etc.

Time and time again, I've seen the control/Keeper matchup listed as a breeze, but my experience in playing against very good Keeper players running tight decks is that it's actually a poor matchup, at least the version in the Primer. Against Keeper, it's a very long game, The longer the game runs, the more options they have to set up a hand that's stronger than yours. They're often playing a full set of strips, they can very easily out-pace you in the card advantage war, and their win condition defies most counters. If you can force out an early standstill or disk in game one, you're fine. Otherwise, you'll be hard pressed to mount an offensive in time.

I don't see anything in the U/W deck that improves the matchup at all. I would only even consider U/R/w because if a splash could be worked in for DoJ, you'd at least be able to up your threat counts. But I hate janky mana bases. I'd have to be convinced it was worth the added inconsistency. It's already running 28 mana sources just to get where it is.

This has caused me to very seriously consider the virtues of Slice and Dice. At first, one would assume out of the SB. In my local metagame, the anti-control matchup is so essential to the late rounds, that I'm even thinking of trying to work in one or two in the main deck. (Winning game one is important, because you're unlikely to complete 3 games in 50 minutes.) In theory, then the main objectives are: 1) stop the playing or imprinting of an isochron scepter (AK, Drain, Recall), 2) don't get mindtwisted and 3) keep mana open to stifle and slice the cycled decree in the late game. As I said, in theory.

Anybody tried Slice-n-Dice in the matchup?

[Alfred]

@ Lucentspirit

Do you really need  8 disk effects?