WU Control

Last post, I talked about White Weenie – one of the oldest archetypes in the game’s existence. I decided to continue that trend this week with another early deck type: WU Control. Just like every WU control deck before it, this one takes elements of Brian Weissman’s iconic “The Deck”. The idea is to control the opponent as much as possible, before dropping a win condition to ride out for the win. I decided to focus on a couple forms of control via mana denial and some creature control, as certain strategies have more of an effect on different decks.

Mana denial should be pretty self explanatory, but I’m going to point it out anyway. Wasteland and Stifle are your two cards here; the former is a hard answer to non-basic lands and a staple of the format, but the latter is not. So what is Stifle and why is it being mentioned here? First of all: Stifle is a very good card that not everyone is aware of – and/or – are not aware of everything it can do. Think of it as a flexible answer to many things, some of which include your opponent’s access to mana. No, you can’t counter a land from producing mana. What you can do however, is counter a fetchland from finding a target. You can also counter opposing Wastelands, which not only makes their sacrifice for nothing, but can protect one of your main win conditions in Mishra’s Factory. I am just scratching the surface on why Stifle is a great card, but be aware that it can counter a bunch of other effects (including Storm).

Creature control. This is an all-encompassing term I am using to describe ways of managing your opponent’s creatures. The obvious form is via removal, whether that’s by burying them, removing them from the game or simply by not allowing them to attack you. Heck, Orim’s Chant can also be included here as it stops your opponent from being able to cast most creatures, thus buying you time to search for a Moat or a piece of removal. Counterspells are another form of creature control, as they simply stop creatures from ever hitting the board. Lastly, Moat can be used to just make a lot of your opponents’ creatures irrelevant.

The win conditions are Serendib Efreet and Mishra’s Factory, although the Meddling Mages can work in a pinch as well. Efreet is good because of its low CMC and the fact that it does not die to Bolt. Some people might think the 1 damage a turn makes the card bad, however, thinking that makes those players bad. Factory doesn’t really need explaining, as it dodges your Wrath effects and is awesome. Just make sure you put some thought into casting your Moat when Factories are on the board.

WU Control has always been a strong and consistent archetype in Magic. The game has a ton of different ways to approach how you want to control your opponent and win the game. Different people have different strategies/play-styles, and how you want to control your opponent is entirely up to you. Happy Brewing!

WU Control

Land:

4 Tundra

8 Fetchland

3 Island

2 Plains

4 Mishra’s Factory

4 Wasteland

Total: 25

Creatures:

4 Serendib Efreet

4 Meddling Mage

Total: 8

Spells:

1 Moat

1 Wrath of God

4 Brainstorm

4 Orim’s Chant

4 Daze

4 Force of Will

1 Misdirection

4 Stifle

4 Swords to Plowshares

Total: 27

Sideboard:

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Disenchant

4 Abeyance

2 Wrath of God

1 Armageddon