I'll Slave you, Control Slavery Analysis

[Outlaw]

Control Slavery has proven that it is a definite contender for the number one deck to beat in todays metagame.  With recent success from Mark Biller (Windfall) and Rich Shay (The Atog Lord), the deck has to be doing something good.  Top 8's of Meandeck Titan have also been appearing recently.  The majority of CS decks today have a similar template, looking at Windfall's and Atog Lord's lists, they are only a few choice cards away, but ran differently.  Lets have a look at eachothers deck lists,

Mark Biller - Windfall
4 Goblin Welder
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Duress
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Mindslaver
1 Pentavus
1 Sundering Titan
1 Platinum Angel
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
4 Volcanic Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Darksteel Citadel
4 Island

Sideboard
3 Old Man of the Sea
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Flametongue Kavu
2 Mogg Salvage
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Duress

Rich Shay - The Atog Lord
1 Platinum Angel
1 Pentavus
4 Goblin Welder
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Ancestral Recall
2 Blood Moon
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Cunning Wish
2 Mindslaver
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Darksteel Citadel
2 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
5 Island

Sideboard:
3 Lava Dart
3 Old Man of the Sea
1 Mogg Salvage
1 Blood Moon
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Sphere of Resistence
1 Shattering Pulse

Differences in maindeck between the two:
2 Duress or Bloodmoon (X factor)
1 Sundering Titan or Cunning Wish
5 Fetches or 4 (5 basics or 4 viceversa)
2 or 3 Underground Seas
1 Library of Alexandria or None

If you notice, there are a total of 6 cards difference, that means that 90% of the deck is the same, aside from sideboards of course.  But each change is reactive to the deck, Windfall has +1 Underground Sea because of the use of the 2 duresses, while Atog Lord has +1 Island because of Bloodmoon.  Atog Lord also uses maindeck Cunning wish (this changes his sb due to wish targets), he has 4 different wish targets to deal with things, and has synergy with Lava Dart + Bloodmoon (opposing welder destruction of DOOOOM).  Windfall was geared towards facing combo/control with the 2/2 Duress configuration but lacked a way to deal with a welder pre-board.  

My question is, what possibilites does the "X factor" have aside from duress and bloodmoon?  Has anyone tried going back to an older form of Slavery with 2 maindeck fire/ice?  It seems logical with the rise of 5/3 (go trix, grats Kerz on that split), tapping trinispheres and killing welders.  What about including more utility creatures MD (duplicant and trisk) as an X factor?  How about the ever so powerful Darksteel Colossus and something else?  Does Sundering Titan deserve merits in the decks now?

I would also like to get an opinion on the library of alexandria's inclusion, I believe its a tank.  In the CS mirror, who ever gets one out outdraws the other, yet it adds to the theme of non-basics, mono-u and crucible.dec feed upon that.  Would it be safer just adding a basic instead?  

Anyone tried upping cunning wish count and making it more 4c like (as it has an answer to nearly everything)?  I know this seems like alot of questions, but they bring discussion to a great deck, its the deck that I play currently and would like to tweak it as much as possible.

[Mixing Mike]

Here's the thing I've found about Sundering Titan; it's a pure tempo swinging card.  If you're playing it in Slaver, then I'd advise you to go play a different deck (ahem Titan).  Sure it's good to have tempo, but it's the best when you can get it out fast, and by fast I mean turns 3-4 the latest.  Slaver can't do that well enough to use the full potiential of Titans ability, and therefore (IMO), warrant a Titan in the maindeck.

I feel that Wish actually sucks, and I'd much rather run another threat in that slot (Duplicant or Triskelion maybe).  Blood Moon was a way to keep combo (mostly Dragon) under your favorable matchups.  The dis-synergy between Titan and Blood Moon was probably the main factor when Rich cut Titan from his list.  I know I can tell you it was a factor in mine.

I can understand cutting Library in a heavy aggro enviornment.  See, with Slaver, you can just get something fat out and win from there, or just lock them.  Who cares about how much damage you take if you're getting something out they can't beat.  That's really what Slaver is about IMO; a series of bombs your opponnent can't overcome.  It just so happens that all of them have GG written all over them.

When comparing the lists, you must remember that no Slaver build can win every event.  You HAVE to change it to keep your opponnent from knowing what you're capiable of.  This is KEY in winning matches.  Not only that, but the Duress/Titan build was a much better build for GenCon than the Moon/Wish build was for Waterbury.

[Outlaw]

Currently I am trying out 2 fire/ice for the X factor, with so many welders running around.  Definite testing is going to occur by removing the cunning wish I run and changing it to duplicant (I colossus so good), which will also change my sideboad to suit a non-wish one.

[The Atog Lord]

There is no one right build of Control Slaver. If you look at my Origins Control Slaver list, you'll see that I included three Undergrounds and maindeck Duress. It was a keeper-filled metagame. This is very similar to the list that Windfall then played at Worlds. However, the metagame shifted a bit, and I altered the deck to match.

It is not a matter of Blood Moon being better or worse than Duress per se; rather, that is entirely a function of the metagame.

As for my old lists with Fire/Ice, I think that Blood Moon is better in a lot of the matchups where I liked Fire. I'd rather have Blood Moon than Fire against OStompy, Fish, and Madness.

[Royal Ass.]

I think LOA deserves a slot in this deck.  This deck has the ability to abuse Library in the same way that other control decks do, and I feel that it warrenets automatic inclusion.  Early library, especial in the opening hand can win you the game if they don't have a Strip.  

One thing that is interesting with the second build, is Library's dis-synergy with blood moon.  The fact that people put library in decks that run multiple blood moons or like in mono blue's case, 4 B2b shows just how powerful the card is.  

I run a Duplicant in my maindeck and a Triskilion in the board, but might consider finding a slot for the Trike in the deck as well.  You can do a lot of fun Welder tricks with these cards.

Like others have said, I too belive that the X-factor is a metagame call, whether it be fire/ice, duress, Bloodmoon, or something else.

Has anyone tried running Mana Vault?  I've been running that in my deck and like it a lot, though I play in an unproxied meta and don't own an Emerald, so it replaces that.  Though I have seen a guy with full power that also run the Vault.  Though, he wasn't running Citadel. His deck also included a strip mine, one wasteland and a COW.

[Outlaw]

I originially ran a list that was much like Windfalls (I ran it at Waterbury)

if I recall it was

4 Goblin Welder
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Cunning Wish
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
2 Mindslaver
1 Pentavus
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Platinum Angel
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mana Vault
4 Polluted Delta
4 Volcanic Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Darksteel Citadel
5 Island

Something like this, it just included Darksteel Scrub cause theres points when he can win a game when nobody else could.  I wasnt too happy with mana vault, my opponent would always manage to tap it and screw me over, or I would just tap it to cast a thirst for knowledge and burn, personally I wasnt too happy with it.

[Anders Noer]

I've been very happy with a maindeck Duplicant. Obviously it is the bomb against 4cc, but against all sorts of aggro, it functions as a Flametongue Kavu on steroids. If Oath is anything, Duplicant should be a solid maindeck answer to a lot of problems.

I'm having a hard time finding good use for Platinum Angel. It just doesn't help me win the games it should. It is too defensive to my liking. I'd much rather play a Titan or some other big threat.

Has anyone considered Mind Twist? I have been very happy with mine, as this deck makes lots of mana fast and runs the tutors for it (Mystical/Demonic). I included this since fitting in Duress. Duress is SO good in this deck. Clearing the way for Welders and helping them stay alive.

[Covetous]

Big Plats is a controversial choice to many people.  However, if Rich Shay ran her the one time he went to Maine, he would have a spare lotus for his trouble (he successfully tinkered during Game 3 vs. Fish in the finals but had no Big Plats for the win).  Sure, she's easy to remove, but if your opponent can't remove her you just win.  That alone makes her worth the slot--she can win you games where nothing else would have.  With a bunch of card-draw and countermagic, protecting her can simply be game.  I think that the creatures you run in this deck should each do something that another creature can not.  In that way, Titan might not be necessary, because his main use is fat beats (sure you can keep your opponent manascrewed but if you can do stupid welder tricks with titan, why haven't you already won?).

On the topic of Duplicant--I think he's the bomb.  You laugh when your opponent does Tinker-->Colossus when you have no welder because you can Dupe the Iron Giant.  It's a metagame choice--versus weenie aggro, Trike owns Dupes.  Against welders, trike also probably gets the edge but dupes can be effective.  But vs. Oath, Tog and 4cC, Dupes is your man.  Fitting both Trike and Dupes into the deck may not be possible without cutting something else you would rather have.  But, one or the other might be a very good move depending on your meta, especially because each of them can deal with a host of problem creatures.  This fits into the concept of doing something that something else cannot--Dupes is your only way to permanently snuff large creatures while Trike is your only way to eliminate your opponent's horde of small threatening things.

Since Slaver is a control deck, cunning wish is a very good inclusion IMO, because it allows you to remove those threats which you might not otherwise be able to deal with.  It's that utility slot that allows you to have tech versus any matchup that you could side against.  Interestingly enough, some of those cards you would choose to deal with by wishing could be dealt with by duplicant/trike, but Wish is more flexible and cheaper plus it can deal with problem artifacts and enchantments (echoing truth can have many uses).

[Meddling Mike]

How about the ever so powerful Darksteel Colossus and something else? Does Sundering Titan deserve merits in the decks now?

I would also like to get an opinion on the library of alexandria's inclusion, I believe its a tank. In the CS mirror, who ever gets one out outdraws the other, yet it adds to the theme of non-basics, mono-u and crucible.dec feed upon that. Would it be safer just adding a basic instead?

Anyone tried upping cunning wish count and making it more 4c like (as it has an answer to nearly everything)? I know this seems like alot of questions, but they bring discussion to a great deck, its the deck that I play currently and would like to tweak it as much as possible.

Ok
1) Read the WHOLE text on Darksteel Colossus, it does NOT belong in CS. It's still a fine tinker target, but there are better options that fit in the deck better than DSC.
2) The strength of Titan depends entirely on your build of the deck and the metagame, got alot of keeper but don't want to run the blood moon version? In this case Titan is a fine alternative.
3) The mana base is stable enough, a house like Library of Alexandria definitely has a place in this deck. Sure, it's not the best vs. a very fast aggro deck, but against most control decks it can be game ending by itself. I guess if you're certain your whole meta is something like Ostompy maybe cutting library would be good, but if that's the case you shouldn't be playing CS to begin with.
4) Any more than 2 Cunning Wish is probably too much, the list is pretty tight and I'd say the one cunning wish that I currently have in my list is hanging on by a thread. I'd say with the inclusion of mystical tutor one cunning wish is a reasonable precaution against whatever they may randomly have that you can't deal with MD.

[Anders Noer]

I (playing Drain Slaver) attended a "Pearl for the winner" Tournament yesterday with 49 players.
I tried out 2 new "X-factor" cards in 2 maindeck Annul.
They were really good. During the day i think I countered: 2 Crucible Of Worlds, 1 Triskelion, 1 Trinisphere, 1 Vedalken Shackles, 1 Oath, 1 Lotus, 1 Back To Basics. That's awesome sauce for you right there...

I think Annul really helps shoring up, some of the harder matchups like Stax and Oath, and you'd be surprised how rarely they are dead cards. Blood Moon was "more dead" yesterday.

I'd rather play these in the X-factor slot, than Fire/Ice or Cunning Wish. They seem very useful.

EDIT: I lost in the finals btw.

[Mixing Mike]

You can't run more than 1 wish unless you're running wishable draw.  Otherwise you'll have a dead card in your hand.  I don't know about you, but I don't like dead draws all that much.

I'm not very wishy washy about Colossus in Slaver.  I win a pretty high percent of games because of Tinker resolving that he may be worth it to run.  But on the other hand, if I get Tinker to resolve, then I can just get Pentavus or a Slaver and just win from there.  I know that Tinkering for a Colossus ends the mirror-match, but ony if they don't have a Welder.  Getting a Mindslaver is just as strong, and even stronger if they have a Welder.  

I don't understand why people run Colossus in their builds.  I see it as a wasted slot, even if I lose because of it.  Why not just slave me and win that way?  I just don't get it...

[Covetous]

What winning slaver builds have been running colossus recently?  He's not good because you cannot weld him.  That is the end of the story.  There are some times when he can win it for you, but in the vast majority of those cases something else could also have won.  Slaver does not need gigantic fatties to win--an army of 1/1's is just as effective.   Even Titan is questionable from what people have been saying.  With multi-color control on the downswing, the titan's effectiveness has also gone down.  Additionally, he's crap vs. oath.  So, if the more versatile Titan is questionable, his non-weldable big brother is definitely out.

Annul isn't a bad maindeck card depending on your meta.  Most of the real problem cards of the format that give this deck fits are artifacts or enchantments.  Annul won't counters welders or lethal sorceries, however.  But, if Oath becomes a big power in the meta, MD annul might be that much better.