There is nothing quite like blue control

There is nothing quite like blue control. You Counterspell the Mongoose, Complicate away a Hypnox, Unsummon the mighty Psychatog, and then when your opponent has ground you down to a solitary card, he sups up all his mana into one almighty Blaze only for your Divert to remind him that next time, he should keep a couple of mountains untapped.

The blueness of control is just so adaptable; I even like Envelop. I know it only counters sorceries but ever since the day I saw a colleague’s one mana beauty blow away a Wrath of God I have had a soft spot for the old boy. Mix it with black removal, splash in some green madness, some cleansing white, or red fire: if you can stop the other guy from playing his big cards you know you are well on the way.

Yes I know you hate me. Loathe me, loathe my Force Spike. There’s something about the contrariness of control that drives people nuts. I should know, I have been beaten by it enough to quote chapter and verse on this dictum. It’s like the converse of land destruction – you have spent six weeks and a months wages building the best deck since we last saw a Thawing Glaciers, and will the beggar let you play it ? Whether counter or burn, you have to play smart to survive.

Why do I love control ? Well sure there are loads of cheap cards – cheap in mana and tix, I mean, those Counterspells, has there ever been a more common, less costly, low mana card ? The odd Voidmage Apprentice or Disruptive Pitmage – hey, we all know that they are not the sweetest cards, but they cost nowt, are as common as muck and if you keep the smoke and mirrors up, you can groove with the best. When it comes to control, cheap cards make tough old decks to beat, and they are fun to boot. Your compadres will kind of love you and hate you, all at the same time, with a muttered "Aether Burst ? That’s cool. Where did my four Wellwishers go ?"

Nope, what I like more and more I play blue, is just the way that you can mix and match it with just about anything going, and you still have a keen deck. It may not win all the time, but, friend, this is not the quarters of the Nationals, this is a wet Thursday in May, and even though we have thousands of miles of deep blue between us, it is my light blue that is making you scream. Yes, my Mistform Mutant really has started turning your wurms into walls !

My latest ploy, for sheer deviousness, cunning and dastardly treachery, all necessary requirements for all lovers of control, is to head fake a classic deck then watch mild mannered folk fumble for that one decent card still in their pile. The game opens slowly, I play a couple of islands and a swamp, Ghastly Demise the odd nasty, then Standstill. Three cards to me and I discard a Riftstone Portal. Ah, the opponent thinks, I know this pesky fellah – he’s got Nantuko Monasteries awaiting to pounce. So he’s saving some creature kill, waiting for the Monasteries, knowing that I can only play one per turn. The turns come and go, a bit of fence and parry, a Circular Logic or three, and a few Chainer’s Edicts make sure the battleground is clear. I keep playing land and a Monastery appears – he’s down to two cards, whilst more creature kill / Standstill combos with Compulsion keep me a couple of cards ahead. He’s ready. He’s waiting. Then I play Bearscape. Oops. All of a sudden my graveyard has been converted into 9 bears and a handful of cards later it’s all over. Isn’t control great ?

2 Bearscape

3 Compulsion

4 Standstill

4 Circular Logic

4 Counterspell

2 Cunning Wish

2 Ghastly Demise

3 Smother

2 Chainer’s Edict

3 Deep Analysis

4 Innocent Blood

9 Island

4 Nantuko Monasteries

4 Riftstone Portal

5 Swamp

2 Tainted Isle

3 Underground River

Sideboard

1 Beast Attack

1 Chain of Vapor

2 Demystify

2 Elephant Ambush

2 Evacuation

1 Ghastly Demise

1 Giant Growth

1 Grave Consequences

1 Opportunity

2 Reclaim

1 Smother

The deck works surprisingly well against all-comers, you just have to remember, that classic blue tactics apply, what you can’t kill, you counter and if there is no enemy creature advantage, Standstill or Compulsion away merrily anything that is surplus to requirements. The pair of Cunning Wishes are the bolthole if it gets too hot, so the sideboard is where some key cards are hiding. Wishes’ do slow the game slightly but if you are overrun by 1/1 critters or are playing an opponent stacking a flashback heavy deck, there is always plans B, Evacuation or Plan C, Grave Consequences, where you sacrifice some of your potential bears and go back to relying on the Monasteries. You need to hold one of the latter back in case the others get stomped on in the early game – you did remember to do that, didn’t you ? If you lose too many critical cards too soon, Reclaim is an amazingly cheap common which means that next turn it isn’t only Sam that can play it again for one solitary extra green.

Cost wise, you can still have a decent deck for a little less. The Evacuations and Circular Logics may be swapped with Hibernations and perhaps Syncopate, which if you have some mana stoked up is a great way to ensure that anything with flashback will not return.

If you read the game well, you will have a very strong deck. Read the opponents mana, if he’s spent out then pile on the pressure – if he’s got two islands held back, remember he could have a Counterspell or two himself ! Your counters are the valuable cards, not only to stop enchantments sneaking through but also to counter the danger of creature kill from Sligh or Mono-Black on the Monasteries and Bears. Once Bearscape is on the table, its time to get rolling as you have hopefully waited until you have a big pile of graveyard cards waiting to be Beared up. Losing the odd bear is not as important as surging on through for the quick kill. Just remember not to remove the Riftstone – I’ve been there, done it and squirmed with embarrassment as my careless blunder allowed me to be beaten to a pulp in a game which should have been long over !!

There are a few variants that produce interesting results here. The trick is to lure your opponent that you are heading one way when you are really heading another. If the bears do not come early enough, you could always add another card, but remember that the Monasteries play well on their own enough to keep you opponent thinking until that ursine moment comes along.

The Bearscape can be substituted for the beefier, but slightly slower Centaur Garden or if you have cards in hand a Words of Wilding or even a Squirrel Nest or four can throw up enough confusion for you to romp home. Perhaps the advantage of the bears is that you can quickly get upwards of six or seven of bears in action and if you have to Innocent Blood a couple away to rid yourself of beefier opposition creatures, that Blood has just got you halfway to another bear.

Just don’t let your opponent settle, kill anything that moves, counter everything else and use surprise as your key weapon to seize victory. After all, blue is the best, isn’t it ?