My U/W casual deck

[mpgsheep]

This is my U/W control deck that i play with a lot. Its pretty casual, but it works pretty well. I just wondered if there were any suggestions that people could make to help me with it. Please bear in mind that i do have a limited budget, and am unlikely to be able to get my hands on four absorbs etc
Here it is
3 Capsize
1 Wash Out
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Meekstone
1 Story Circle
2 Propaganda
2 Ray of Command
2 Congregate
2 Dismantling Blow
1 Rout
2 Misdirection
3 Mana Leak
3 Arcane Denial
4 Counterspell
1 Force of Will
2 Rhystic Study
2 Gush
1 Mageta the Lion
1 Blinding Angel
1 Silver Wyvern
7 Plains
17 Island

thanks

Michael

 

[rakso]

Drop Arcane Denial, among other things. (Argument's in that Draw-Go Primer on the front page...)

 

[krichaiushii]

I'm not much of a control player, so take the following with a grain or two of salt...

If this deck is for dueling, drop the Congregates. Replace them with Afterlife, Swords to Plowshares, or Arrest.

The angel that provides three life when brought into play is well worth it, and should be relatively easy to get (being common and all). The same goes for Heavy Ballista.

It looks like you will be using Capsize primarily on opposing creatures -- why not run 1 Capsize, and 2 Unsummons? 3 blue cards that effectively cost 6 to cast is a bit much. Soothsaying and Spire/Sage Owls can help with library manipulation, as well as being chump blockers that are unaffected by the Meekstone (in the case of the Owls).

 

[Spiderman]

Don't know if you have them, so maybe these are wish cards...

Serra Angel
A U/W multiland of some type
A Wasteland?
Whispers of the Muse?

 

[mpgsheep]

I have read everyones comments, and heres what i have come up with

Arcane Denial-see my argument on front page.1U to counter a spell, despite drawback.
Capsize-these are one of the key cards to the deck. The reason i run 3 is because everyone i play against got wise when i started reusing 1 each game, and started rhystic lightning their own creatures, making it fizzle. I dont mind losing one or even two early in the game if i need to, as i can get them back after the feldons cane.
Soothsaying is definetely an option im considering, though i dont have one. I do have an Aladdins Lamp, but this is extremely costly, but a superior form of library manipulation once in play.
Heavy Ballista-i have one, so i may try this out.
Congregate-I use this because i tend to play multiplayer as well as duels, and also a lot of people in my group run sap decks(rith, verdant force,verdeloth etc)
Swords to Plowshares-I used to run this, but i counter a lot of the big creatures, or bounce them, or steal and tap them. However, after today i am going to run them. I played against a blue/black control deck with two nether spirits in, which i had no answer for(except blinding angel)
Afterlife/Arrest-pretty much same as above
Serra Angel-I would rather have another blinding angel, but these are good.
Whispers of the Muse-I like this card, but in my environment i find that rhystic study and gush work well, in particular gush against a particular player with land destruction.
Wasteland-Not enough non-basics for me to worry about.


2 cards that i may be able to get hold of are Masticore and Grindstone. What do you think of these? I am more in favour of The Grindstone, or even a Millstone if I can get hold of one.

 

[rakso]

"Arcane Denial-see my argument on front page.1U to counter a spell, despite drawback."

--> Funny that there are other 2 mana spells that don't let your opponents draw and make you scramble for another counter.

"Capsize-these are one of the key cards to the deck."

--> Actually useless if you're already using white.

"Soothsaying is definetely an option im considering, though i dont have one."

--> Something like Fact or Fiction or Impulse would simply be better.

"Swords to Plowshares-I used to run this,"

--> Best anti-creature card in the entire game.

"Afterlife/Arrest-pretty much same as above "

--> Over Swords???

"2 cards that i may be able to get hold of are Masticore and Grindstone. What do you think of these? I am more in favour of The Grindstone, or even a Millstone if I can get hold of one. "

--> In the environment you describe, Masticore would be far better. Millstones don't block and don't really kill the opponent until he's down to his last card. Their only advantage is that they can't be killed by normal anti-creature spells.

 

[Gerode]

Here's some advice for a primarily Multiplayer build. Don't pay attention to this if you want a dueling deck.

You may want more broad spells that affect everyone, like Wrath of God, more Wash Outs, etc. Planar Collapse may be good.

I've found Soothsaying to be very powerful in MP. Might as well do something with that mana you left open and never cast a Counterspell with.

Capsize is very effective in longer games. Unsummon doesn't work in MP, because the creature just comes back the next turn.

You may want a few more creatures. Experiment with Spiketails, Tims, and Fog Bank.