[Deck] All around U/B

[beder]

Hi all,

After few weeks of testing, I finally succeeded in finding the right balance to build the all around U/B deck I wanted.

For quite a long time, I have tried to put in the same deck some of the most efficient U/B cards of Vintage, based on the belief that having those together could only create an efficient build.
Dark conf, Discard effect, Spell Pierce, Repeal, Dark Ritual… all those cards are very well known for their efficiency and their usability against most of the field (except dredge).

But I always faced the same issue, with a build having in the end the wrong balance in between combo and control.

Finally, through a pretty long adjustment process, it clicked and I feel like this build is what I was  looking for : an all around U/B deck which can consistently play the Control Role and/or the Combo Role, against most of today’s Vintage field.

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[All around U/B]

// Lands x14
    4 Polluted Delta
    1 Misty Rainforest
    1 Flooded Strand
    1 Scalding Tarn
    
    3 Underground Sea
    2 Island
    1 Swamp
    1 Tolarian Academy

// Creatures
    4 Dark Confidant
    1 Inkwell Leviathan

// Spells
    1 Black Lotus
    1 Mox Ruby
    1 Mox Emerald
    1 Mox Jet
    1 Mox Pearl
    1 Mox Sapphire
    1 Mana Crypt
    1 Sol Ring

    1 Sensei's Divining Top
    1 Voltaic Key
    1 Time Vault

    3 Dark Ritual

    4 Force of Will
    3 Spell Pierce
    2 Thoughtseize
    1 Mind Twist

    1 Mystical Tutor
    1 Brainstorm
    1 Ponder
    1 Ancestral Recall
    1 Time Walk
    1 Merchant Scroll
    1 Tinker
    1 Gifts Ungiven
    1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
  
    2 Repeal
    1 Hurkyl's Recall
    1 Rebuild

    1 Vampiric Tutor
    1 Demonic Tutor
    1 Yawgmoth's Will
    1 Tendrils of Agony

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Some principles applied to build this deck:

- Rely on a solid and reliable mana base,
  oThe same principle as TPS but with 14 lands. The full standard artifact mana package.

- Have a strong and stable draw engine
  o Dark conf + Repeal + some other blue staples is a balanced package, efficient and stable

- Benefit from the power of dark ritual without being dependent of it,
  o Dark ritual can be used to power out dark conf turn one, create storm and/or mana for yawgmoth, play bombs (even blue ones) or generate a big twist. 3 is the right number in order to do so. I like having one early game and one is sufficient mid/late game.

- Use efficient disruption, online turn 1, valid against most of the field and sufficient to be able to control the game consistently,
  o 4 fow, 3 spell pierce, 2 thoughseize and 1 twist is an “all around” package which I like a lot. Combined with bounces, Twist is a nice solution to many game situations.

- Have access to generic solutions in order to be able to deal with board threats,
  o Repeal, Artifact bounces or even Jace are pretty good “all around” solutions

- Rely on broken spells to win the game through different approaches, tactically different.
  o Classical blue/black broken spells package can easily lead to one of the 3 win paths.

In the end, this is more or less the same philosophy than modern oath builds, which tend to be able to play both Combo and Control role in the same time.

I feel like this "all around" build may be very well positioned in today’s meta, using some of the most efficient cards in a flexible and consistent approach.


Feel free to react,

Cheers,

Nicolas

[xouman]

14 lands + 8 artifact producers are not a "solid and reliable manabase" IMHO, but having only 2 colors and 3 basics help a lot. Against MUD you should have trouble (chalice at 1 is quite painful), and gush decks should have the edge.

What about an approaching to sullivan solution? There would be lots of changes 5 years later (oath approaching should be completely different, and MUD would impact the maindeck), but it's worth testing it. It's not as comboing as yours thought...

[trikky]

Man you got 6 "land lands" and lots/most people running 5 strips. Where are you playing this deck? You going to be ok with 2 islands and a swamp in play?

[beder]

Man you got 6 "land lands" and lots/most people running 5 strips. Where are you playing this deck? You going to be ok with 2 islands and a swamp in play?

Well, most of the ritual deck use 13 or 14 lands. During years, TPS used 12 lands (even 11 sometimes when brainstorm was legal), against deck using 4+1 Strips. And it was not such a pb.

The real difference with today's meta is that shop packs 12 spheres. Those are the cards which prevents you from bouncing and then combo.

What I feel I may need right now is mana vault, not a 15th or a 16th land. Mana vault is the card which I could need in order to break the sphere lock more frequently and consistently.

[keys]

Have you tried Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas here?  You might be surprised.  He's quite the beating.

[Daenyth]

How has Mind Twist been for you in testing vs what I assume would be 3rd seize?

[beder]

How has Mind Twist been for you in testing vs what I assume would be 3rd seize?

You assume right. The other option for this slot could be 3rd seize.
In this build, there are already 5 cards which can be used to disrupt turn one, apart from fow (3 spellpierce and 2 seizes). I like this package and feel it is sufficent for early game.
But the efficiency of those card decreases when the game advances. That s why i like to have 1 mind twist to complement the package.
This is at the same time card advantage and disruption.

It is excellent in most of the matchup (except shop). Especially in this build that can use its ritual to power a big twist turn 2 or 3, and that have access to several bounces.
This is an aggressive play which is versatile : depending on the game state, it can be used for a mid size twist or a big one. The value of the option is significant imo.

For instance, when I compare it to Skeletal scrying, I prefer mind twist in this build for several reasons :
- early game, it is not dependant on yard : you don t have to wait for your yard to contain a sufficent number of cards to be able to use it,
- mid game, I prefer to destroy opponent options than drawing cards. When it comes to pure card advantage, it may be comparable. But in mid game, I feel like the effect is more efficent. The cards which you are going to discard are often big bombs, which have not been played early game - because of mana - and so the quality of what is discarded is often better than the quality of what you could have drawn.
- late game, skeletal is often better than mind twist, but with dark conf, I feel like I already have an egine which value increases when reaching late game.

In this build which uses dark conf, I feel like this is a very efficent option.
In other builds, not using dark conf as a draw engine, this option could be not so interesting.