[Deck] MUDdy Waters (aka MUD Angel Control)

[Grapes17]

I saw someone playing this deck yesterday, and was impressed by it. I didn't get exact lists. I saw that one person top 8'd (out of 26) where as the other went 0/2 drop. I am not sure what to make of that, but I like the idea behind the deck. Since I didn't get a list from anyone, I am making my own which is fairly close to what I saw.

4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Pact of Negation
4 Merchant Scroll
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Personal Tutor
1 Tinker
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Echoing Truth
2 Platinum Angel
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror

1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
5 Mox
1 Black Lotus
4 Waste Land
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
9 Island

Card choices
The center pieces:
2 Platinum Angel
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror

Platinum Angel is obviously awesome. It means that I no longer care about any aggro creatures they play, and it has flying so I can just swing it forward until I win. Meloku is also quite nice. It can generate a vast amount of chumps to keep me alive, and at the same time can swing forward just like the Angel.

Counter Magic:
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Pact of Negation

Pretty straight forward. Need to make sure one of my creatures is able to hit play, and stay in play. Pact of Negation is interesting, because once Platinum Angel is in play, I can't lose the game, so I no longer have to pay for the Pact.

Card Advantage:
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Fact or Fiction

Walk and Recall are obvious auto-includes if you are playing blue. Brainstorm is a great digger, and Ponder is even nicer. Fact or Fiction is also quite nice for control decks that have the mana to play it EOT and can swing the game into your favor.

Tutor/Utility Spells:
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Personal Tutor
1 Tinker
2 Echoing Truth

Merchant Scroll is just awesome. I can tutor for Pact, FoW, Echoing Truth, Recall or Fact or Fiction. If I get desprate, I can even search for Mystical Tutor and grab Tinker off that. Top is an interesting card that works well with the high number of Tutor effects as well as the Ponders. Mysical and Personal Tutor can grab my Tinker or Recall or pretty much anything else in my deck. Tinker is a great way to get out a Platinum Angel on the cheap. Echoing Truth is more of a maybe slot. It is nice to search up with Merchant Scroll, and could be a good answer if they play something on the board before Platinum comes out that would normally kill it (ex: They play Seal of Primordium, for whatever reason I don't or can't counter it. Before I drop the Angel, I can Echoing Truth the seal and either force them to use on something less significant (one of my moxes), which is great, or they would have to recast it, in which case I could then counter it).

The rest of the mana is pretty basic and straight forward. I am trying all 5 moxes to make sure I have tinker targets and to get Platinum out quicker. Same goes for the other mana artifacts.

Sideboard is dependant on meta, but I can post one of those later. Let me know what you think and how I can improve on this deck (or any lists that have done well elsewhere). Thanks.

[LordHomerCat]

http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=23694

Owen's Plats deck from Day 2 of SCG Chicago.  I believe this is the list you were looking for.

[Grapes17]

http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=23694

Owen's Plats deck from Day 2 of SCG Chicago.  I believe this is the list you were looking for.

You sir are correct. I did not realize that it placed in SCG P9. Thanks for the list. Is there any other thread/topics that discuss this deck (perhaps on SCG or another forum)? Thanks!

[Everrid1234]

I think this deck is a really nice idea but would like you to think about the following points:

-add LoA?
-add Thirst for Knowledge ?
-add Spell Snares for fast Counters against combo and Oath?
-reduce PoN, since its a bit too optimistic having a Platinum out so fast, go down to 2-3 ?
-add some Misd, maybe 1-2 , for early Ancestral protection

But nice, nice. I think you need a few more counters to make sure Platinum is protected.

SB: Tormods Crypt, Stifles/Trickbind, Leyline (Singularity/Void), Ophidians (to outdraw controldecks), Engineered Explosives
If you fear very fast aggro, just put a few Fetchies and a Tropical island in the main and Oath of Druids and missing PoN in the SB.

[Grapes17]

I want to take this deck in a new direction. I placed well in a tournament in Chicago with this list, but it still needs some updates...

GBAR Control
Mana (24)
4x Underground Sea
4x Polluted Delta
2x Flooded Strand
3x Island
1x Tolarian Academy
1x Mana Vault
1x Mana Crypt
1x Library of Alexandria
5x Mox
1x Black Lotus
1x Sol Ring

Restricted Cards (8)
1x Time Walk
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Fact or Fiction
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Yawgmoth’s Will
1x Tinker

The Rest (28)
1x Echoing Truth
1x Meloku the Clouded Mirror
2x Platinum Angel
4x Mana Drain
4x Force of Will
4x Pact of Negation
4x Dark Confidant
4x Brainstorm
4x Merchant Scroll


Sideboard (15)
3x Trickbind
2x Hurkyl’s Recall
3x Arcane Laboratory
3x Pithing Needle
4x Control Magic


My current thought is
-1 Echoing Truth
-1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
-2 Pact of Negation
+4 Duress

Duress is insane, because not only does it nab their worst card, but you also get to plan around what is left in their hand.

[Breyfunk]

I played *almost* this same deck this weekend, placing much worse in the tournament than Grapes.  I am definately sold on the Duress/Thoughsieze plan, but I am unsure of what needs to be removed in order to make way for the discard effects.  I was actually thinking of removing Vampric Tutor, since I want to keep the blue count high for FoW and I really like Pact in this deck.  In addition, Vampiric Tutor can cause problems as this deck tends to deal itself a lot of damage, any other thoughts on how to fit the  discard effects in?  Also, in every game I played, Meloku was underwhelming, any suggestions for an alternative finisher for the deck?

[Moxlotus]

I've liked good ol' Morphling over Meloku.

I'm not sold on the black because it makes you cut a solid draw engine.  I never liked TFKs and went to a pair of Intuitions and 4 AKs and have never been happier.  The black splash also hurts your stax matchp a lot I think.  To cast a Platz (assumign they have welder making your tinker awful) costs a lot of mana through SoRs and stacks--working through wastes makes that next to impossible.

[OwenTheEnchanter]

Dark Confidant seems like a pretty moronic add in my opinion since the deck already has a strong draw engine and it doesn't exactly help you if you are losing. If you are in a midgame position ANY other card would be just as good, and even worse Confidant can (and will) cost you games you would otherwise have won based on the fact that your deck is crammed with 7s 5s and 2s. And even worse vintage has more Wastelands now than ever before so adding 4 dual lands makes you more afraid to use Pact of Negation.

Probably the only thing GWS has done that I can agree with is adding Intuition AK, ive said it before and ill say it again - I built this deck in about 4 hours the day before the event and looking back some of the card choices are questionable. The thing about this type of strategy is that it is VERY powerful when unexpected and this explains why I did so well with a slightly suboptimal list, but then again you see a deck thats 90% the same made EVEN WORSE with Confidants, maindeck Meloku, and the super average black cards still winning matchs.

The reason why I wouldn't play this deck again is because its the 'glass cannon' a title reserved for only Goblin Charbelcher decks until now, its incredibly strong but crumples to split second cards like Krosan Grip and Extirpate. The deck doesn't even have a good matchup against the Dawn of the Dead decks growing in popularity thanks to Team Ogres Nick Calcoteria. The lame Gaddock Teeg shuts off your Force of Will, the sideboard Chalice of the Void shuts off Pact of Negation and our fully-powered mana base, and seven maindeck Duress effects are hell on our strategy of stockpiling counters. The clock of 4 at a time is so slow that with Dark Confidant and Life from the Loam/Squee+Bazaar they have all the time in the world to get you to 0 and rack up Plows and Thoughtseizes.

Ill be the first to say its a pretty loose choice for today's metagame but any of you brave enough to pick up the peices and try again id have you try something like this:

1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
3 Platinum Angel
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fact Or Fiction
4 Force Of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Pact Of Negation
3 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Merchant Scroll
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
4 Island
3 Flooded Strand
1 Library Of Alexandria
3 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
1 Academy Ruins
1 Tolarian Academy

Sideboard:
4 Leyline Of The Void (best possible card against Dawn of the Dead)
4 Thoughtseize (best way to fight Extirpate/Krosan Grip)
2 Take Possesion (best card for the mirror match)
2 Trickbind
2 Pithing Needle
1 Meloku The Clouded Mirror

And for the record, the fact that you would take MY deck add some tutors and change Threads to Control Magic and call it "GBAR Control" is pathetic. Im sure your next deck will be TK DeezNaughts with Control Magic over Threads and itll be GBARDeezNaughts.

- Owen

[Grapes17]

Owen, you are a very angry person.

I will take your comments into consideration, thanks!