Control Slaver

[Blovdek]

Hi i havent posted much here, but i have a quite good version of my control slaver so i decided to post:D. Anyways here is the list:

4 goblin welder
1 triskelavus
1 memory ar
1 sundering titan
1 mindslaver
1 tormodys crypt
2 sensei divining top


1 black lotus
1 mana crypt
1 sol ring
1 mana vault
1 mox emerald
1 mox parl
1 mox jet
1 mox sapphire
1 mox ruby


4 thirst for knowledge
4 force of will
4 mana drain
1 ancestral recall
1 merchant scroll
1 echoing truth
1 timewalk
1 tinker
1 mystical tutor
1 demonic tutor
1 vampiric tutor
1 brainstorm
1 gifts ungiven
1 recoup
1 wheel of fortune
1 yawgmoths will

1 library of alexandria
1 tollarian academy
4 polluted delta
2 flooded strand
2 underground sea
3 volcanic island
1 island
1 snow covered island

I was running burning wish, but it takes 2 many slots in SB i guess, but its still a bomb card, but i figured that wheel of fortune will just be better here, because it can transform some of the dead hands with robots in powerhouses, when you are able to discard them and draw new cards. Memory jar is the best card in the deck, as it just allows 2nd turn kills and stuff:D. The only card i am not sure at the moment is library of alexandria. I really want the 4th volcanic in:O. Tell me what you think...

[Blovdek]

Made 2 changes, to go even more combo if necessary.....

-1 tormodys crpt
-1 echoing truth (warrens just arent big enough right now)

+1 lotus petal
+1 repeal

[captreynolds]

First I would like to say I'm happy Slaver is becoming a Tier One deck again, and that other people are playing it!

I have had excellent experience in the past of winning smaller Vintage tournaments with a refined version of Slaver.  Since Flash began to dominate the format I stopped playing Slaver, however now that the format has been blue screwed, I have gone back to a different build of Slaver.  I'm currently in testing for tournaments, and running the Intuition Accumulated Knowledge draw engine has become necessary in the deck.  Sensei's tops, which you have in your list, are also excellent.  You might want to consider Counterbalance, but only if you have a random slot open.

A few ideas and modifications are posted below.  Please keep in mind that these are just of my experiences with the deck, and may not have bearing on your particular metagame.

1. If you are looking for running a fourth Volcanic Island, drop a fetch land.  You are running 6 most Control Slaver decks only run 4-5.  Also you really only need 1 Underground Sea you do only have 3 cards which require black mana, and counting Fetch lands you have 4 sources of black mana. Cut the Underground Sea for another basic island.

2. Wheel of Fortune and Recoup are not necessary for Slaver to win.  To get your artifacts into the yard, Intuition works just as good, or you always have Thirst for Knowledge.  Accumulated Knowledge is an excellent draw engine, especially when combined with Library of Alexandria.  Many games my hand never dropped below 5 cards EVER!

3. As a secondary or sideboard win condition, you could throw in a couple of Painter's Servants and a Grindstone.

4. Drop 1 Goblin Welder, and run Pentavus.  Pentavus is phenomenal against an aggro deck, because you can remove the counters, make tokens, block and with damage on the stack put the tokens back on so they you don't lose them.

5. Sundering Titan is a great board card, but right now it is a good main deck staple as well.

6. Crucible of Worlds and Strip Mine are good inclusions for the random game lock.  Also an additional land you might want to include is either a seat of the Synod, or a Darksteel Citadel.  Either of these two artifact lands enables total slaver lock with a crucible of worlds & Goblin Welder in play.

7. I noticed your changes, and I question why you would remove an echoing truth from your deck.  Tendrils, is a big deck right now, and Empty the Warrens is a secondary win if you hate out the tendrils.

I currently am working on a way to combine Control Slaver with Painter's Servant to make red blasts absolutely nuts.  This also gives an aggro win, as well as combo and control, with more emphasis on the control, to protect the combo and aggro win conditions.  More than likely, I will not run this version for a while, as it still needs a lot of work.

I am curious what you are running in your Side Board since you did not list it here.  Slaver has a great match up against any deck in the format right now, especially post side boarding.

Let me know if you like my ideas, don't like them, I'm always open to suggestions to improve my Control Slaver deck.

--  Captreynolds

[Blovdek]

-1 tormodys crypt
-1 echoing truth
-1 sundering titan

+1 platinum angel
+1 repeal
+1 lotus petal


I think platinum is better card to go vs ichorid, as some have no answer to it presideboard. Also its 1 mana cheaper than sundering so it plays better with mana drain. I really like the version like this because it can play as a control or as a combo deck. I tested wheel of fortune and its awsome, it just gives your crap hands new stards, and fills those big artifacts in the graveyard. Mana base needs to be fixed a bit, but i just think running 15 is optimal. I am testing library and just seems average so i am thinking about dropping it. The deck is very fast, and i think average kill is 3rd turn. I am also thinking about dropping 1 mana drain, as the deck is fast and it doesent always need it and put in something like 2 thoughtseize. I was also thinking about running empty the warrens main, as u can have super fast hands. I dont like cruicble in control-combo, it wont do you any good, because you will go off with the engine. The 3rd island might be needed, depends on the metagame, which is not yet established. U can run 2 in SB. Intuition could be an option, but is than mandatory 2 run AK engine 2?

The cards i am nut sure about are:
1 goblin welder (but since there is no brainstorm it is harder to find him)
1 mana drain (not always needed, but on the other hand it just busts al my threats, because they dont have 2 high casting costs)
1 library of alexandria (i want 4th volcanic  as library is very bad with mana drain, probably will get cut)
1 repeal (i just like it better than echoing truth, as it works great with sensei divining top (also the reason i want 6 fetch lands if the game goes long))

Cards i want 2 run:
- thoughtseize (so powerfull for this deck as it doesnt have life problems)
- burning wish maybe, but it looks like overkill and needs slots in SB
- lion eyes diamond
- intuition
Blovdek

[zeus-online]

I have a different take on slaver...it's somewhat like kowal's old list:

Mana: (24)
3 Volcanic island
3 Underground sea
4 Fetch
3 Island
1 LoA
1 Academy
7 Solomoxen
1 Mana vault
1 Mana crypt

Creatures: (6)
3 Goblin welder
1 Gorilla shaman
1 Duplicant
1 Sundering titan

Disruption: (10)
4 Force of will
4 Mana drain
2 REB

Draw/Search: (14)
4 Thirst for knowledge
3 Night's whisper
2 Sensei's top
1 Demonic tutor
1 Vampiric tutor
1 Mystical tutor
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral recall

Broken: (5)
1 Yawgmoth's will
1 Time walk
1 Tinker
1 Mindslaver
1 Memory jar

Utility: (1)
1 Echoing truth

Night's whisper is in my opinion better to run then gifts, fact, intuition and all that since you really just want to reach X mana and then go nuts...These cards help you reach the stage where you are dominant, while the other cards just make that stage better.

Reb's are basicly just meta-game slots...if you are facing alot of ichorid these should probably just become crypts, and i'd probably switch 1 huge artifact to platz

Jar is very very broken in this deck, i just can't see playing slaver without it anymore.

Triskelavus is just like trike and pentavus in one card! It's amazing.

LoA is mostly just a question of taste, but i feel that it's too powerfull not to play. Maxing out powerfull cards is sometimes just the way to go

Gorilla shaman - Shay thinks it's useless, but really, it does so much for 1 card and  Welder + Shaman vs. shops is just GG...And shaman can really mean the difference vs. control and sometimes against combo aswell.

Cards i wouldn't mind adding:
1 Gifts/Fact - Both cards are VERY strong, but 4 mana is just alot, and as i said before they only help you when you've reached the stage where your deck is already strong.
Strip mine - Very strong since people usually dosn't expect it, i just don't think running 2 colorless lands is good, since you often if not always want  on turn 2.

Omissions:
Ponder
Merchant scroll
Both cards sucked in slaver before, just because they just got restricted dosn't mean that they're suddenly "the shit"

As for the sideboard...
I think the long match-up should be answered by thorn of amethyst and possibly a couple of sphere of resistance, this really slows combo down and helps you reach the stage where you are suddenly favored.
I don't think alot needs to be dedicated to beating shops, as the deck already does this very well...however 2 rack and ruins might just be a winner here!
2x Pyroclasm should help against aggro, which is not always a walk in the park for slaver.
Obviously some anti-ichorid cards should be run, i'd probably go with needles, extra crypts and maybe a few jailers....Artifacts have syngery with the deck so i'd run it above the rest, but a few jailers might just be key.
Red blasts should be run if you can afford the space....
Also i'd probably add a little more bounce, since you sometimes need it.

[slyfer]

Night whisper? fetching black (the third color in the build), tapping out sorcery ?
Wouldn't be better 4 accumulated knowledge and 2 intuition? You counter-disruption suite is very UR, black would be only for demonic and will.
say -3 nw, -1 top, -1 memory jar, -1 vampiric
Intuition with welder is gg, graveyard hate is useless vs control slavery, you will win via tinker

[zeus-online]

You completely missed the point.... Intu/AK is for the mid-late game where slaver is already quite strong...Whats the point in adding cards that help you when you're already winning or on your way to winning? True intuition is quite good with welder on the board, but i'd much rather play cards that help me get to the point where i'm winning then to play cards that help me win when i'm already winning.

Tapping out sorcery means nothing if it's land, mox, NW....What where you going to play anyway? Welder? it's useless turn 1, really it does nothing turn 1. Top? I'd rather play whisper turn 1, and then just play the top turn 2 (Since your board should be land, land, mox if you went turn 1 whisper)

Don't succumb to an overly fear of wastelands....That leads to game losses, yes?

/Zeus

[Blovdek]

I made an update to which a came with endless goldfishing:P. I own LoA, but i just dont like it in the deck, as it usually wrecks your mana base, and its also bad with discard in the enviroment.
I decided that more straightforward apporach is needed for control slaver. I am happy wih my list for now. I can see 1 goblin welder be remooved for something more powerfull. I am amazed with the power of thoughtseize. It just improoves the decks 1st turn play, that is also the reason i cut 2nd top from the deck. I really like nights whispers for Long deck, but in slaver i can only see its power 1st turn, as always i will play it it will be from underground sea and than the mana drain value goes down. Please test Wheel of Fortune and let me know, i think its a powerhouse as it force mullingans your opponent, and it has good synergy in the deck, because you discard your hand. At one point i wanted to add LED and windfall, but i realized this is still a controll deck.

Maybe cutting 1 goblin welder and burnig wish, for adding gifts and recoup back to the deck. But with burning wish in, you have recoup in SB. Or just cutting 1 welder for 1 FOF. As for the Triskelavus i also thought its really not needed, but he just gives you infinite artifacts to combo out with slaver, but yes it might be an overkill. I think i am still better running him over triskellion in thin enviroment. I really like that in this deck all my threats are easy to cast, as without brainstorm you need all cards to be live i belive. Dont you really like to run thoughtseie over REBs, as its more usefull in almost all cases. Dont forget you can play 1st turn welder and 2nd turn thoughtseize yourself 2 get it in graveyard if you dont have anything better 2 do. As for sundering titan i know he is powerfull, but i want an answer to 1st game vs dredge, that said i want 2 run platinum, not to mention with platinum out, decking opponent with jar is an option.

4x Goblin Welder
1x Mindslaver
1x Memory Jar
1x Platinum Angel
1x Triskelavus
1x Sensei Divining Top

1x Black Lotus
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault
1x Sol Ring
1x Lotus Petal
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Sapphire

4x Force of Will
4x Mana Drain
2x Thoughtseize
4x Thirst for Knowledge
1x Wheel Of Fortune
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Brainstorm
1x Merchant Scroll
1x Echoing Truth
1x Burning Wish
1x Time Walk
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Yawgmoths Will
1x Tinker

1x Tolarian Academy
4x Volcanic Island
3x Underground Sea
1x Island
1x Snow Covered Island
3x Polluted Delta
2x Flooded Strand

Sideboard:
1x Thoughtseize
1x Recoup
1x Empty The Warrens
1x Pyroclasm
1x Massacre
1x Darkblast
1x Rack and Ruin
1x Shattering Spree
3x Tormodys Crypt
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Pyroblast
2x Extirpate

I am not sure about the sideboard yet, but i think its quite close 2 what i want 2 run.

P.S. : About Merchant scroll i am not completly sure, but it still such a powerhouse, which IMO hurts not 2 run. But its quite tight in this deck. Anyways i am really happy with the current version. Running Burining Wish and Goblin welder over gifts ungiven and recoup might hurt, but running Burning Wish also gives me a lot of utillity and it doesent hurt my Sideboard slots 2 much. About SDT i am completelly sure that running more than 2 is a mistake, as you just draw 2 of them 2 many times. 2 was great for me, as 1 is now as i dont have 2 worry to run into a second one. I also mooved Echoing Truth back to the deck as i think people are still gonna show up with DSC, eventhough i think its currently bad with so much bounce showing arround. Personall i dont like Intuition AK engine, but i guess i will have to give it a try in the future. I preffer running WoF, as it also works great with Jar. Its true Welder doese nothing turn 1, but it has its ability onlin 2nd turn, which is huge with Memory Jar being the most broke artifact in the deck.

Blovdek

[Blovdek]

-1 Goblin Welder
+1 Fact or fiction ( i fugered fact is much better than gifts, whith draws 7ns in the deck, i find gifts 2 mana intensive. Fact is also better because of thoughtseize in now )



B.

[Blovdek]

Here is my final version for a while. I feel very good with the deck and i could only see cutting 1 thoughtseize and 1 REB from sideboard for something else. I am pretty happy about my main deck, but i am open for changes. Please test this deck as with this configuration it is quite a powerhouse. The point of the deck as almost al slavers is to have a strong control side and strong combo part as well. Anyways here is my final list for now, hope u have fun:D:

3x Goblin Welder ( dohhh, but running 4 seem to much...)
1x Mindslaver   (dohhh, but running 2 seems to much...)
1x Memory Jar (dohhh:D, sick card, you can deck an opponent with platinum out if slaver gets extripated)
1x Platinum Angel (kills ichorid presideboard)
1x Triskelavus (infinite artifacts can make a difference, triskellion just seems to weak)
1x Sensei Divining Top (dohhh, sick card, maybe 2nd one is needed)

1x Black Lotus
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault
1x Sol Ring
1x Lotus Petal (so happy running it, just fixes some mana troubles)
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Sapphire

4x Force of Will
4x Mana Drain (wanted to cut one, but now i think i absolutelly need to run 4)
2x Thoughtseize (always wanted this in the deck, as its the best disruption i can choose and 2nd i can thoughtseize myself if needed, and it also works good with recoup)
4x Thirst for Knowledge (dohhh )
1x Wheel Of Fortune ( i feel this card really suits the deck well, with that many acceleration mana: it can force mulligan opponent and put threaths in graveyard, its also great card advantage)
1x Gifts Ungiven (i rethinked and found out that gifts needs to be run main, as they are just more powerfull than FOF, also because recoup gets better with thouthseize inn)
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Brainstorm
1x Merchant Scroll ( great card, i think its a mandatory)
1x Echoing Truth (100% i need a bounce main)
1x Recoup ( Gifts ungiven)
1x Time Walk
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Yawgmoths Will
1x Tinker

1x Tolarian Academy (dohhh:D)
4x Volcanic Island ( it think i need 4 volcanics, at leat because my sideboard is all in black and red)
3x Underground Sea ( need 3 for massive black sideboard)
1x Island
1x Snow Covered Island
3x Polluted Delta
2x Flooded Strand

Sideboard:
3x Tormodys Cryp ( to fight dredge, mirror)
2x Extirpate ( very usefull, especially with thoughtseize:D)
1x ThoughtSeize ( maybe not needed:P)
2x Red Elemental Blast (quite meta depended, but i think needed, maybe u can cut 1)
1x Pyroblast
1x DarkBlast (great gifts target, great remooval for the format)
1x DSC (this comes in as a surprise, if u think opponent has no bounce
1x Shattering Spree (artifact remooval, works with recoup)
2x Rack And Ruin (better artifact remooval, but at different cost:D)
1x Island (needed:D)

[Blovdek]

This deck is just a powerhouse, i tested it a lot. The advantage of this deck is that this is a controll deck, that runs a ton of bombs. I added Mind Twist to the deck, as its just a powerhouse with mana drain and its a game winner. I have a good matchup vs combo and vs other control decks. Test this as it is a powerhouse:D.


3 goblin welder
1 triskelavus
1 memory ar
1 platinum angel
1 mindslaver
1 tormodys crypt
1 sensei divining top


1 black lotus
1 mana crypt
1 sol ring
1 mana vault
1 mox emerald
1 mox parl
1 mox jet
1 mox sapphire
1 mox ruby


4 thirst for knowledge
4 force of will
4 mana drain
1 ancestral recall
1 merchant scroll
1 echoing truth
1 timewalk
1 tinker
1 mystical tutor
1 demonic tutor
1 vampiric tutor
1 brainstorm
1 gifts ungiven
1 recoup
1 ponder
1 mind twist
1 wheel of fortune
1 yawgmoths will


1 tollarian academy
3 polluted delta
2 flooded strand
3 underground sea
4 volcanic island
1 island
1 snow covered island

SB:
1x DSC
2x Thoughtseize
2x Extirpate
3x Rack and ruin
3x Tormodys Crypt
1x island
2x REB

Blovdek:D

P.S. Memory jar is not a win more card, its a win game card!

[Blovdek]

+1 lotus petal, as 1 card was missing:P

[Hi-Val]

If I were playing a deck and my opponent was on Slaver and had Recoup and Wheel in their deck, I'd be pretty happy about that. Recoup in particular-- it's the card I wanted to see the least in Gifts and my opinion doesn't change in your list. It enables Gifts to do sillier things but apart from that, you have no targets I'd really spend mana on Recouping (and don't say Time Walk). I'd look at fitting Fact or Fiction over either it or Wheel. I'm hesitant to render a final verdict on Wheel because I haven't played it in Slaver for so long, but there's got to be something better. Personally, I'd really want a Trinket Mage there instead. Aside from that, I'd cut the 4th Volc for a third Island; being able to sit on basics and win is what Slaver does best against workshop decks.

I'd integrate some sort of blue artifact hate on the board; Stax is really good at dropping a Sphere, wasting your Volcanic and making you never see the four mana for Rack and Ruin ever. Take it from someone who knows.

[marcb]

If I were playing a deck and my opponent was on Slaver and had Recoup and Wheel in their deck, I'd be pretty happy about that. Recoup in particular-- it's the card I wanted to see the least in Gifts and my opinion doesn't change in your list. It enables Gifts to do sillier things but apart from that, you have no targets I'd really spend mana on Recouping (and don't say Time Walk). I'd look at fitting Fact or Fiction over either it or Wheel. I'm hesitant to render a final verdict on Wheel because I haven't played it in Slaver for so long, but there's got to be something better. Personally, I'd really want a Trinket Mage there instead. Aside from that, I'd cut the 4th Volc for a third Island; being able to sit on basics and win is what Slaver does best against workshop decks.

I'd integrate some sort of blue artifact hate on the board; Stax is really good at dropping a Sphere, wasting your Volcanic and making you never see the four mana for Rack and Ruin ever. Take it from someone who knows.

 I would have to agree. I am currently playing a similar to list to Blovdek's, but with some key differences. Firstly, Blovdek your list has 61 cards, and I'm not sure if this is on purpose. The list I am playing currently looks like yours with the following modifications

-1 Ponder, -1 Mindtwist, -1 Wheel of Fortune, -1 Recoup, +2 Trinket Mage, +1 Gorilla Shaman.

I like the addition of these creatures for several reasons.  Trinket mage can often speed up your play by fetching lotus. Against ichorid searching for crypt can be invaluable. Gorilla shaman allows some response to artifacts including easily killing chalice to play crypt against ichorid and, it is a pretty good use of drain mana against stax. As an added bonus all the additional creatures can be somewhat valuable against ichorid because you can more easily remove bridge, and they might keep you alive a little longer against aggro.

The only card I'm really considering changing is that in my list I have a strip mine in place of a 4th volc, and I'm not sure if it should be a basic bringing the count up to 3. This is probably a meta choice depending upon whether you expect more ichorid or stax. I tend to assume CS has a good matchup against stax and would rather shore up a poorer match, but I could be wrong.

Marc

[Blovdek]

You are completelly right about recoup, it is the card u really dont wanna see:). I am changing it for Burning wish (shattering spree, thoughtseize, massacre, pyroclasm, recoup, deep analysys in the board) or fact or fiction. But for the other cards i am completelly standing behind them. About wheel of fortune: i really think it is broken in this deck as it runs so much accel and it wants to put threats in the graveyard it is also the most rewarding to play it totally agressive but late game it gets worse, so it can be discarded to the thirst for knowledge i also have to mention i does mirracles with memory jar. Mind Twist is always a game winner after the mana drain and i am completelly happy running it. I am aware that wheel of fortune, memory jar and mind twist are quite orthodox cards, but they are both powerhouses and i really suggest trying them:).

Blovdek

[Hi-Val]

I maindeck Jar and Twist in my Slaver lists. It's not unorthodox at all!

Unless I am Slaving an opponent or Time Walking, I'd never want to Wheel. Without being able to straight-up EXPLOIT the seven cards I see, I don't want to restock my opponent. The only other possibility would be Wheeling on turn 1 and hoping to automulligan the opponent.

[Blovdek]

1st turn wheel of fortune is GG vs almost any deck, exept dredge:(. It is usually put 1 threat in the graveyard, force mulligan opponent and dra 5 cards... Not bad at all.... Hi-Val what do you think about Mind Twist.... I remooved recoup from my deck, but i dont know what 2 put in instead. I am thinking T. Crypt, FOF, Buring Wish....

[senpai]

Add a Fire//Ice in place of Recoup. It is great removal and I can't believe you dont have it already.

I have to agree with the people speaking against Wheel, though. As a control player, the last thing you want to do is fuel your opponent with seven potential fresh new answers to the bot you just discarded and welded in. This card doesn't really work all to well in your favor. Maybe try another welder/bot/top/anything else instead.

Just my two cents.

[Metman]

If you are considering playing another big draw spell take a look at Magus of the Future.  It's stupid good with Top.  I'm not exagerating when I say that it draws about ten cards over the turns it's in play.  It hurts a little more without Brainstorm but it's a house.  In my build I run Fact and Magus over Gifts.  Also, if you are considering another metagame card and are considering Shaman or Fire//Ice, try out Engineered Explosives.  It does similar functions to both the considered cards and it's an artifact to boot.