3/4 Control

Did you know that red, white and blue are the most common colours used in flags? Is their inclusion on the back of Magic cards some sort of conspiracy? Perhaps we shall never know for sure. What we DO know is that they make a pretty awesome colour combination in a deck. So, whether you’re American, French, Dutch or any other nationality – hold on to your flags, because we’re going to be talking about a WUR Control deck that I’ve decided to call 3/4 Control.

As soon as I decided on writing about a WUR deck, I immediately thought of Lightning Angel. I just believe the card to be deceptively good. 4 mana for a 3/4 Flying and Vigilance is decent, but the addition of Haste is what makes the card awesome.  Compare it to Serra Angel for example, which has a 5 turn clock for just 1 mana more. The thing is, this comes down a turn before Serra AND can attack upon hitting the board, which essentially negates the 2-turn difference. Another point to remember is that if an opponent is at 3 life for example, Serra would take two turns to win the game whereas Lightning Angel would take one. Oh and of course, it can be used to cast FoW if need be.

I find Red to be a rather interesting colour in Magic. It seems pretty narrow in what it does, but what it does can offer a lot of options. Direct damage is awesome because it offers both offense and defense/aggro and control. Hitting the opponent directly or removing their creatures, and when to do it, can actually be pretty complicated. It’s all about the timing. Lightning Bolt has always been the defining Red card: it deals 3 damage to a creature or player for R at Instant speed. Simple yet elegant. I decided to add 4 Chain Lightning to the deck because of the versatility they provide, despite not being Instants.

While White’s contributions to the deck are pretty few and self explanatory - Blue contributes quite a bit more. The fact that the deck also plays both Blue and Red means that you can maximize the potential of Fire // Ice - an amazing card in 3/4 Control, because it offers so many options. Both ‘sides’ can provide control and/or card advantage, depending on how they’re used. Combine these with the counter magic and Brainstorm trickery for even more ways to frustrate your opponent and win the game.

Ok, so why the name 3/4 Control? Admittedly, the name simply stems from the power and toughness of the creatures. Both have a good casting cost for what they do, and can survive a Bolt. I’d considered adding other win conditions, but decided to keep the deck more on the control side. This certainly depends on the meta in your area however, so I definitely recommend tinkering around for options that might work better for you. Happy Brewing!

3/4 Control

Land

4 Tundra

4 Volcanic Island

1 Plateau

1 Island

1 Plains

1 Mountain

8 Fetchlands

4 Wasteland

Total: 24

Creatures

4 Lightning Angel

4 Serendib Efreet

Total: 8

Spells

4 Force of Will

4 Brainstorm

4 Counterspell

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Chain Lightning

4 Fire // Ice

Total: 28

Sideboard

4 Meddling Mage

4 Tormod’s Crypt

3 Disenchant

4 Pyrclasm

Total: 15