The Many Faces of Control Slaver

[The Atog Lord]

On the matter of Gorilla Shaman.

I can understand why people use him. He can randomly win you games by hitting opposing mana resources, and can in theory remove Null Rod. He swings for one, can block Bob, and late-game can become strong against artifact-heavy decks.

However, it isn't without reason that he isn't in my current builds of Slaver, and he has never been good enough to make the cut in my past builds either. He is a fine cards in decks whose theme is land-destruction. Slaver doesn't really play that game. He might steal you wins against otherwise-manascrewed opponents, but I don't like having a card in the deck so very inconsistent with what a deck does. Slaver controls the game through disallowing spell resolution, not through mana denial.

People say he's good against the mirror match. I can literally count on one hand the number of mirror games I've lost to this guy, and believe me, I've played the mirror quite a few times. In the vast majority of cases, if you are conservative with playing your moxes, you can get to the point where he doesn't matter. Brainstorm and Thirst really with this, too. Granted, sometimes he'll cost you the game. But there are also games that a random Stone Rain would cause you to lose, too.

In short, Rack and Ruin is a better card for Slaver. I'm not afraid of Moxes. Pithing Needle and Null Rod are much better cards. And Rack and Ruin handles both quite admirably, while also being able to ruin an opponent's mana base at just the right time. Finally, Rack and Ruin is much much better against Stax. So, I don't really like Shaman in Slaver, but I can see why other people play him.

[Komatteru]

Ugo Rivard, who has won 2 SCG tournaments playing Control Slaver, has opted not to use Mana Vault. Why?

Because he likes bad cards like Mana Leak and Platinum Angel.  Also, he apparently doesn't think Gorilla Shaman beats like half the decks in the format, which it does.  I know I never pass up an opportunity to use Gorilla Shaman and say "Nice board, barn" or "Nice Welder, chump."

Lol. I love it when people criticize winners. Especially two-time winners. Ugo's deck was excellent, and like diceman said, it was metagamed to beat a fish and Oath meta. What deck did Ugo beat in finals again? Oh, that's right, it was Oath. Your statement about Ugo's deck is like Juggernaught stating that demonic tutor for recall is a bad play. I like Mox Monkey a lot, and I play 2 MD. However, leaks are fine in a certain meta. Also, I notice people running Crucible & Pentavus. How can you do this? I think the Robots should be limited to three. You have to understand, CS is the slowest deck in the format. You need to save room to make sure you control the early game, because if you don't it doesn't matter how many robots you have, you ain't staying alive.

Sorry.  Every deck that has won something is clearly perfect in every single way and should never be criticized.  Winning something twice makes it even more perfect then.  I'll remember that next time.  Guess Vroman has been making a big mistake in making changes to his Uba Stax list then.

I don't like Crucible either.

Thanks for the heads up.  Now I know how Slaver works.

[seer]

I'm not a big fan of crucible because it leads to plans that aren't as broken or fast. Using strip mine recursion, etc to disrupt the opponent's game plan.

Also, I am never sure why people think they need infinite slaver lock. One to two slaves should be more than enough to win the game against a standard vintage deck filled with broken cards.

[Eandori]

I'm not a big fan of crucible because it leads to plans that aren't as broken or fast. Using strip mine recursion, etc to disrupt the opponent's game plan.

Crucible does FAR more in slaver then just give you strip mine recursion.  In the rest of this thread it has been covered pretty extensively.

Also, I am never sure why people think they need infinite slaver lock. One to two slaves should be more than enough to win the game against a standard vintage deck filled with broken cards.

Because after playing Slaver thousands of games against everything I can pit it against, I came to realize that although activating a slaver 1 time is very powerfull, but there have been hundreds of games where I was not able to finish my opponent off because his hand was "too weak"

On average, you are definately correct.  1 or 2 slaver activations usually DOES mean the game.  But, there are more times then most people realize that it doesn't.

[Komatteru]

But, there are more times then most people realize that it doesn't.

There are only two reasons why 1 or 2 activations don't win you the game by itself:
1) You don't know what you're doing
2) Your opponent is so screwed already that his cards aren't even capable of wrecking himself.

I know I've been Slavered like 5 times before in example #2.  Why my opponent didn't like, you know, win the game while I was doing nothing sorta makes me wonder if the reason wasn't #1...

[seer]

I'm not going to weaken my overall game plan to account for the very rare situation where 1-2 slaves does not finish them off.

If a slave does not hurt them, then effectively you should be free to do what you wish. In which case, you should just win the game. This is Vintage after all.

[Lou]

But, there are more times then most people realize that it doesn't.

There are only two reasons why 1 or 2 activations don't win you the game by itself:
1) You don't know what you're doing
2) Your opponent is so screwed already that his cards aren't even capable of wrecking himself.

I know I've been Slavered like 5 times before in example #2.  Why my opponent didn't like, you know, win the game while I was doing nothing sorta makes me wonder if the reason wasn't #1...

Amen brother.

[Akuma]

Yeah, because Slaving aggro decks is just game ending...

Eandori is right, there are times when you slave someone and it doesn't win you the game. And NO it isn't due to:

1) Sucking
2) Sucking

Eandori's arguement is valid. Some decks are not destroyed when they are slaved once. I think we can all accept that and move on...

I agree with Rich on the Gorilla Shaman issue. I would rather play Rack and Ruin main, seeing how Chalice for 1 severely limits my options as is, I don't want to add more 1cc solutions / threats. Running Shaman main is actually great in an inbred field (all Gifts and Slaver decks), but it sucks elsewhere.

I like how people keep dismissing Ugo's Slaver lists and choices. It's all about metagaming nowadays. No list is perfect forever, but some lists are better than others for a given event.

[seer]

True, there are decks that slaving once does not beat. But against those decks you are most likely better served by running cards that allow you to play a totally busted yawgmoth's will than cards that help you get infinite slaver lock up.

And since when are aggro decks really relevant? I mean I can see how slaving fish does not end the game. In that matchup the slaver should probably sideboarded out anyway.

[Komatteru]

There's little point in Slaving aggro most of the time anyway.  The only time it's good is when you have to make a hoard of attackers not attack and your only point in Slaving is playing a 4 mana Festival.  Against Aggro, you should be looking for another way to win the game since your opponent isn't going to stop you.

So add this to my list:
3) Your opponent's deck sucks, yo.

[Eandori]

Rleidle,

You are speaking in very general terms and I'm telling you from the experience of playing the deck.  That's not how it always works out.  Sometimes you spend EVERYTHING you have to get that single slaver activation off.  And guess what you get?...

You untap his mana, draw a card.  It's a land.  He has a mana drain in hand along with that land.  On the board, he has a meddling mage, a null rod, Cloud of Faeries, one mox, and 5 islands.  In YOUR hand, you have one more mana drain.  On the board you have a welder and 5 lands.  No more artifacts in play on your side.  He has no artifacts in the Graveyard.  WHAT DO YOU DO?

Nothing.  tap his lands, and end his turn.

He lost no cards from hand, nothing in play and NO it's not because his deck sucked, OR that your deck sucked.  The fact is simple, sometimes a slaver activation yeilds you NOTHING.

[Komatteru]

Seems to me you should have looked for a better play than Slaving your opponent.  Looking at a board like that, you should have realized that you savagely cheated in activating Mindslaver with Null Rod on the board that Slaving your opponent wasn't really going to do a lot.  I mean, we've already been over how Slaving aggro is bad, so there must have been a better play for you with all that mana.  I still think this falls under situation #3.

[seer]

Agreed, that situation should never come up anyway except game1, because mindslaver should be going to the sideboard after game1.


Winning tournaments isn't about having the ability to win every game or slave lock every single opponent. It's about playing a deck that bests a large percentage of the field by a good margin. In your typical Vintage tournament a good portion of the field will be beaten by 1-2 slaves. Cards dedicated to achieving infinite slaver lock without giving many other benefits will just allow your opponent to more easily capitalize on the fact that control slaver is the slowest deck in the format.

[Eandori]

And since when are aggro decks really relevant? I mean I can see how slaving fish does not end the game. In that matchup the slaver should probably sideboarded out anyway.

Rleidle?  Is this James Lincoln?

I seem to remember a time when James and I were playing Stax versus my Slaver.  I activated a slaver against James and I had pretty much NOTHING I could do with his turn.  So if that is you, it's kinda funny to me that you are taking the position that if a single slaver activation should win, unless the opponents deck sucked.  When that EXACT situation happened against you the last time we played.

No, your deck did not suck.  It was a fantastic Stax deck.

If I can remember the situation right, you had a tanglewire, some mana, and I think a sphere of resistance in play.  I think you had something like a Sundering Titan and some other big artifact in your hand.  What was I going to do?  Cast your artifacts for you?  No, I tapped all your mana and ended your turn.  That was all I could do with a single slaver activation.

And that's pretty much how it goes sometimes.  Which is why moving to "Slaver Lock" is more valuable then a single activation.  Because slaver lock DOES mean the game is over.

Thanks,

[Eandori]

Winning tournaments isn't about having the ability to win every game or slave lock every single opponent. It's about playing a deck that bests a large percentage of the field by a good margin. In your typical Vintage tournament a good portion of the field will be beaten by 1-2 slaves. Cards dedicated to achieving infinite slaver lock without giving many other benefits will just allow your opponent to more easily capitalize on the fact that control slaver is the slowest deck in the format.

You are right, it was a bad example with the null rod in play.  Obviously that's not what happened in the past.  BUT it should easily illustrate the point. 

As for the comment I quoted above...  I agree with almost all of it.

If you scroll back this thread to page 2, where I first posted my decklist, I stated exactly what I believe slaver is.  I'll quote myself here because It flows exactly with your comment and why I like that deck so much.

The theory on this deck is simple... Slaver is NOT the fastest.  It does NOT have the most draw.  It does NOT have the biggest creatures, or the most counterspells, or the most answers.  It's NOT the most aggressive, or the most defensive.  Slaver is squarely in the middle of all that.  Since you will not typically outrace, etc. your opponent.  It makes sense to build a deck list that is rock solid, but has the tools to deal with what your opponent has done.

[Jacob Orlove]

Again, why were you slaving Stax when all they had on the board was Wire and Sphere? You could have just held it until they dropped welder, smokestack, whatever. Or, if you tutored for Slaver, you could have gotten Pentavus/Trike/Whatever instead.

[Komatteru]

Again, why were you slaving Stax when all they had on the board was Wire and Sphere? You could have just held it until they dropped welder, smokestack, whatever. Or, if you tutored for Slaver, you could have gotten Pentavus/Trike/Whatever instead.

Let's revise this again. Times when Slaving an opponent once or twice doesn't win the game:
1) It's the wrong freaking play to activate Mindslaver in the first place. (covered by #2, but let's write it out explicitly)
2) You don't know what you're doing.
3) Your opponent is already so screwed that he can't even play his cards to wreck himself.
4) Your opponent's deck sucks, yo.

[Eandori]

Truth be told, it was probably a mistake on my part.  I probably SHOULD HAVE waited to slave them later.  I think that I was worried at the time because my hand was empty of counters and I was hoping to get something in his hand to use against him.

Edit:  Adding more thoughts I probably had at the time.

If he had a Chalice in his hand, I could have used that against him.  If he had Karn in his own hand, perhaps I could have blown up his own moxes.  If he had a welder and a barbarian ring, perhaps I could have cast and killed his own welder.  Perhaps I could have strip mined his own land.  Point is, there are things that COULD be done to Stax when it's holding cards in hand and I didn't know for sure it was a bad move until after I did it.

Edit one more thing:  I think I cast the Mindslaver off drain mana from hand if I remember right.  That was game 2 when I could not draw a mox or artifact mana to save my life. 

Cards dedicated to achieving infinite slaver lock without giving many other benefits will just allow...

What exact cards are you talking about?  Every card in my deck has purpose beyond "just" moving to slaver lock.  Again, I think you need to reread this entire thread before you respond more.

[Jacob Orlove]

Sure, he could be holding cards that might wreck him, but if you've been paying attention to his land drops and plays, you should have a good idea of what he isn't holding (Strip Mine is extremely unlikely, for example, because unless it's turn 1, he'll have already played and used it).

[vroman]

crucible is good in slaver.

- protect lands from enemy waste (stax/fish/oath/randoms)
- recycle fetchlands to get guaranteed land drops w no loss of cards in hand, and thin deck. this is huge in the control mirror to outrace mana production. especialy good if you are playing alex's library, then you can keep 7 card grip easier.
- ensures shuffle effect for brainstorms
- major obstacle for stax period
- drain mana dump (ideally)
- search up strip recursion
- recur artifact land weld target (gets moxes back on table from TFKs, hard locks w slaver, etc)
- synergizes w darkblast dredging of lands

Ive had many games where tinkering for crucible was the right play.
crucible is right nearly everywhere except combo heavy meta, in which case Id main deck jester cap instead. certainly in stax meta, I would auto-include crucible; and if youve got crucible, its only logical to throw in strip mine.

re: slaver activation not winning the game
first of all, I massively fear mindslaver bc especialy in a bazaar deck, giving enemy control of your turn is guaranteed to ruin your hand at least. ubastax does a LOT of things, thus when turned upside down, it can hurt itself very badly. that said Ive had games where Ive been slaved anywhere from once to 5+ times in a row and gone on to win. usually these games are when the slaver player does not have a welder and is using my welder to recur their slaver. in that case, unless they can draw their own welder or kill my welder before they run out of weld targets, then I can use my welder to recover after I regain control. however these were all in test games. in tournaments if Im concerned about time, I will usually just auto-scoop to slaver activated, unless I think they will either screw up and leave me solid outs, or my board position will definitely survive it. in any case Id rather just have null rod on board.

[MoxMonkey]

Shaman lets you go with the Monkey beats which is why I run him.     I also have a foreign one and You gotta sport foreign cards.  He blocks Lacky and When people swing with Welders in the mirror.  People tend to forget that attack and Block step a lot in T1.  He can also buy 1-2 Turns against Fish.  Blocking Factorys is sometimes a key thing in the matchup.

Crucible helps your Stax matchup and made my Random Strip and Wasteland not look so Random.  I don't think its key but it your metagame is full of Fish and stax 1 Crucible of Worlds does a lot to help you out. 

Quick Edit:  I dont think 3 Artifacts are enough I have always liked 4 and felt that was the right amount.

[The Atog Lord]

Shaman lets you go with the Monkey beats which is why I run him. I also have a foreign one and You gotta sport foreign cards. He blocks Lacky and When people swing with Welders in the mirror.  People tend to forget that attack and Block step a lot in T1.  He can also buy 1-2 Turns against Fish.  Blocking Factorys is sometimes a key thing in the matchup.

In each of these situations, Mogg Fanatic would be strictly better than Mox Monkey. Moreover, I'd much rather use R+R to kill two of their factories rather than throwing a hapless monkey in front of one of them. And if the opponent is using Goblin Welder to swing into your Gorilla Shaman, you've probably already won the game anyways.

[MoxMonkey]

If CS was everywhere Again I would say run Lava Darts over them but this isn't last year so I cannot get away with that.  Not yet.  I like having them and I have seen people just not pay attention and swing into it in a mirror match.  I'm not to sure how you dont notice MoxMonkey but I guess people are dumb at times.  I do have a Rack and Ruin Mainboard but being able to make your oppenent hold back his own mana cause of a monkey is pretty sweet.

[vroman]

I hope you are not seriously considering moxmonkey as welder removal. you have to build your deck assuming your opponents play perfectly. for example, I dont run uba mask w the intention of getting game wins from enemy mixing up an uba draw w their pre-existing hand. I assume enemy will never make that mistake. Instead, the reason I play uba is for its plainly printed benefits and face value interactions.

[Eandori]

I don't think I would ever play Mogg Fanatic in Slaver.  He's a good creature, and has lots of reason to exist in the game.  But his synergy with the rest of the Control Slaver game plan is small compared to Goblin Welder and Gorilla Shaman.  Something else VERY important about the Gorilla Shaman that was not mentioned recently is that if you can blow up an artifact on your opponents side, you enable welding his bigger artifacts out and trying to wreck his game plan.

crucible is good in slaver.

- protect lands from enemy waste (stax/fish/oath/randoms)
- recycle fetchlands to get guaranteed land drops w no loss of cards in hand, and thin deck. this is huge in the control mirror to outrace mana production. especialy good if you are playing alex's library, then you can keep 7 card grip easier.
- ensures shuffle effect for brainstorms
- major obstacle for stax period
- drain mana dump (ideally)
- search up strip recursion
- recur artifact land weld target (gets moxes back on table from TFKs, hard locks w slaver, etc)
- synergizes w darkblast dredging of lands

Good list, I'll add a few to it

-Crucible + Searchland turns Brainstorms into Ancestral Recall.  Because those lands you drew got shuffled back into the deck.  I think playing with a potential 5 ancestral recalls is pretty good
-Crucible makes Thirst for knowledge more powerfull.  You don't care about discarding lands.
-Crucible makes Fact or Fiction more powerfull.  You don't care about discarding lands.
-Crucible makes Gifts Ungiven more powerfull.  You don't care about discarding lands.
-Crucible + Searchland allows you to get the colors you need.  (a bit different point then thinning deck and stable land drops)
-Crucible + Strip in the main deck, + 3 wastelands in the sideboard gives you an EFFECTIVE game plan against Stax, Dragon, GIfts and many other decks.

I know what you guys were thinking.  I was too.  Crucible in slaver seemed lame until I actually tried it.  Simply put, I was AMAZED at what that artifact did for that deck.

Again, I have been equally amazed what you can do with Gifts Ungiven too.  At least in my build because it has so many options and because I play crucible.

[MoxMonkey]

Shaman Is Awsome utility.  He makes people fear for their moxen and make them hold it back since they cannot let their Fast mana build up because it never will.  Welder + Shaman + 1 Mox on the other side of the board = GG vs alot of Artifact based decks including 5C Stax, UBA and some other fun decks.  Also having the ability to kill a mox weld Null rod out for mox and eat it again is nothing short of amazing.  He is very good and thats why I have him in my builds.  I agree that hopeing he is there for welder removal is awful but its sad to say he is because people don't play atttention at times. 

Way to much Credit for Crucible of worlds its a very good card but its the end all be all for CS.  Gifts is already stupid good in CS if you an set up the right piles, you dont need Crucible to make it good.  Strips are So good even without Crucible of Worlds they help you out.  TFK has enough Artifacts and ditching 2 lands to Thirst means your down in cards and didn't make the right play.  You wanna keep a hand size up at all times to bluff the Force and or Mana Drain.  I dont no how to board in 3 Wastelands since I got questioned at Watebrury how I fit 1.  Losing colors for random Strips are pretty bad since you could have Pithing needles which would stop Other wastelands and Bazaars and or B-Rings.  This could be just me but killing your colors to run Wastelands doesn't seem like a good idea.

[Evenpence]

The theory on this deck is simple... Slaver is NOT the fastest.  It does NOT have the most draw.  It does NOT have the biggest creatures, or the most counterspells, or the most answers.  It's NOT the most aggressive, or the most defensive.  Slaver is squarely in the middle of all that.  Since you will not typically outrace, etc. your opponent.  It makes sense to build a deck list that is rock solid, but has the tools to deal with what your opponent has done.

This is absolutely true.  The reason why Slaver wins is because it has game against everyone.  No deck just simply beats slaver.

The ability to just throw in cards, like Crucible and Gifts does not make a deck bad - it makes a deck insanely powerful.  Not only can you simply do whatever you want with the deck, but you can metagame it perfectly.

Control Slaver is IMO, the best deck to ever be concieved in any format.  Why?  Because it will always be good.  Always.  The ability to cheat casting costs via welder and mana drain, have counterspells in there like FoW/Mana Drain and even Leak, and the ability to be defensive or offensive is what makes Slaver absolutely amazing.

Not to mention that the deck is easier to learn how to play than almost any other Vintage deck out ther right now.

This deck symbolizes Vintage.

[Eandori]

Amen Evenpeace,

Gifts is already stupid good in CS if you an set up the right piles, you dont need Crucible to make it good.

Actually, I don't have one of those in there just because the other is there.  But yes they DO work with each other very nicely.  Each of those cards is in my build for it's own reasons.

Strips are So good even without Crucible of Worlds they help you out.

Total agreement.  I tend to hold a stip in my hand and not let my opponent know I'm holding it, until I see a perfect chance to cut him off at the knees.

TFK has enough Artifacts and ditching 2 lands to Thirst means your down in cards and didn't make the right play.  You wanna keep a hand size up at all times to bluff the Force and or Mana Drain.

I'm in 100% agreement about keeping hand size up to bluff Force and Drain.  But TFK and ditching 2 lands is not a "bad play".  If my hand is empty except for the 1 card a kept, then perhaps I can't bluff.  But what was that card?  Perhaps I tutored for it.  Anyways, most of the time, I have more then 1 card left so the bluff is not hard.  If fact, it's no bluff because there's a good chance I DO have a counter in hand, ready to go.

Just like the whole slaver no win scenario, there are times where you need to dig in your deck and TFK goes 3 cards deep.  If I end up digging a drain, FoW, and Gifts, I'm more then happy to pitch the two lands I had in my hand, because I can play them without missing a drop.  Sometimes you just don't have an artifact to pitch, and a Crucible in play gives me 3x the targets to pitch other then just artifacts.  Increasing your odds at something is a good thing

I dont no how to board in 3 Wastelands since I got questioned at Watebrury how I fit 1.  Losing colors for random Strips are pretty bad since you could have Pithing needles which would stop Other wastelands and Bazaars and or B-Rings.  This could be just me but killing your colors to run Wastelands doesn't seem like a good idea.

Actually, when I'm boarding in wastelands, I'm usually NOT removing the rest of my mana base.  So my mana cards go from 25 up to 28.  Think about the Stax scenario...

Fact or Fiction, the 2nd slaver, cunning wish, platinum angel, can all easily come out on game 2 versus stax.  The FoF is expensive and not game ending.  I can get by on 1 slaver.  Angel does not usually win versus stax, and cunning wish often comes out of main deck on game 2, because those sideboard cards go in.  So what do I put in for those 4 cards?  3 wastelands and a Gorilla Shaman.

I consider the plows and disenchants based on the Stax deck I'm playing, and what he might do.  but the above trade-for-4 is a no brainer versus stax.  Stax locks down mana VERY well mid and late game.  That means opposing decks take on the roll of "aggro" versus stax.  It's funny, but true.  Goblin Welder x4, Gorilla Shaman x1, Strip Mine, Wasteland x3, Crucible x1, Mana Drain x4, FoW x4, Searchland x5, Island x2, and Darksteel citadel x1 are all VERY threatening early game cards that can be played versus stax.

Also, since my mana ratio went up to 28 sources, Stax will have a much harder time limiting my mana, because the odds are I will draw more of it.  In my experience, if I have open mana, counters in hand, and a welder against Stax, I'm probably going to win.  My typical game plan against Stax is simple, keep the main focus of the slaver deck the same, but when I can afford it, play mana denial against stax.  That deck gets crippled when it cannot sneak out from under the mana limiting environment it creates.

For other decks, the theory is the same.  Wasteland usually go in for "dead" cards against the deck in question.  I don't use or play the wastelands as mana usually.  They are strictly used like a mana denial card meant to trip up my opponent's game plan.  Which is really more like a spell then a mana source.

[Lou]

The theory on this deck is simple... Slaver is NOT the fastest.  It does NOT have the most draw.  It does NOT have the biggest creatures, or the most counterspells, or the most answers.  It's NOT the most aggressive, or the most defensive.  Slaver is squarely in the middle of all that.  Since you will not typically outrace, etc. your opponent.  It makes sense to build a deck list that is rock solid, but has the tools to deal with what your opponent has done.

This is absolutely true.  The reason why Slaver wins is because it has game against everyone.  No deck just simply beats slaver.

The ability to just throw in cards, like Crucible and Gifts does not make a deck bad - it makes a deck insanely powerful.  Not only can you simply do whatever you want with the deck, but you can metagame it perfectly.

Control Slaver is IMO, the best deck to ever be concieved in any format.  Why?  Because it will always be good.  Always.  The ability to cheat casting costs via welder and mana drain, have counterspells in there like FoW/Mana Drain and even Leak, and the ability to be defensive or offensive is what makes Slaver absolutely amazing.

Not to mention that the deck is easier to learn how to play than almost any other Vintage deck out ther right now.

This deck symbolizes Vintage.

I know I shouldn't be flaming, but I can not hold my tongue any longer.

These are some of the most retarded statements I have ever read.

I love CS, and it has been my deck of choice almost as long as I have been playing Type 1 again.  It will not always be good.  It can be hated out, although that might be a difficult task.  There are no cards worthy of restriction in CS.  Welder will get some arguments, but come on.  How about old Academy/Jar decks?  Think those were good?  Have you played other formats and been witness to the beatings that have taken place that REQUIRED bannings and restrictions, lest the game would be no fun?  Shit, it has happened in Type 1 recent enough with Burning Wish and Lion's Eye Diamond.  Can you imagine if LED was unrestricted right now?  Of course not.  So let's not go gushing about how Control Slaver is the best conceived deck EVAR!!!

Strip Mine is bad in CS.  Bad.  It serves no purpose.  Strip locking your opponent is not a viable option for CS, and shouldn't be looked upon as good.  It does not help your gameplan at all.  You do know what CS wants to do, right?

Also, while I don't think that Slaver is a hard deck to learn, it does take time and lot's of playtesting to become well at.  Real testing and real time.  Not goldfishing and all that jazz.  I do know that this is true for any deck.  The occassional sack will pick up CS and do ok, but they are not going to win a tournament with out a little skill.

[pyr0ma5ta]

Control Slaver, while a solid choice, is not the end-all-be-all best deck by any stretch of the imagination.  It is true that slaver is powerful and extremely metagamable.  It's not easy to learn.  It's not easy to play.  Nothing in vintage is easy to learn or play, because your cards are all so powerful that you can just lose if you tap the wrong lands or run into something you weren't expecting. 

I agree that Strip Mine is awful in CS, and despite my running a Crucible mainboard, I refuse to weaken the already weak mana base by adding a Strip Mine that doesn't help my gameplan.  I don't even play the Library because I want my manabase to be as rock solid as possible.  Strip Mine is just incorrect.

I'd actually have to say that CS is the most "fair" deck in T1, because it doesn't do anything retarded until turn 4 or 5 generally.  It just draws some cards, Mana Drains something, and finally when the game has progressed far enough, windmill slams the most appropriate win condition into the grave, welds it, and gg.  It doesn't randomly combo you out like Gifts, or randomly Turn 1 drop 5 cards and balance or turn 1 strip lock or turn 1 trinisphere, like Stax.  It doesn't even go mox-orchard-oath.  It occaisionally will turn 1 Tinker, but that's the most retarded play it can do, and there's nothing else on that order.  CS is not broken, it's slow, methodical, and just very good at what it wants to do.