Dreamstone

Person A: Draw. Go.
Person B: $#&* you

Ah yes, the age-old MtG in-game conversation. Control decks have existed since the early days, when good removal and prison cards were actually printed. Oftentimes, the most popular win conditions for these types of decks wasn’t even a creature, it was an artifact – Millstone. In fact, this is where the term mill, to ‘deck’ an opponent, actually originated. Shocking, right?? RIGHT?? One of my favourite things about MtG is when old forgotten gems find new homes. In truth, there are many cards whose combos/uses have existed for years, which are only now being discovered. Today we look at such a discovery, as we delve into the WU goodness that is Dreamstone.

At first glance, Dreamstone shares several similarities with a draw-go type of deck, as they both command strong and versatile answers to their opponent’s strategies. While concentrating on control, and despite its seemingly meager number of win conditions, Dreamstone actually has a couple of ways to take the game. It can either beat down with flying creatures once you have stabilized the board, or it can mill the opponent using a combination of Millstone and Howline Mine, the latter of which also helps ensure you have control cards in your hand.

The combo. Many people don’t think of combos when they conjure a control deck, yet that is exactly what this deck wants to do. Establishing the combo that is Millstone and Field of Dreams allows you to control your opponent and win the game. How? When you can decide what your opponent draws, it ensures they either a) have no threats or b) they simply don’t have cards that you don’t have an answer to in your own hand/board. The bonus being that this control combo can act as a win con as well so you don’t have to rely on good old Serra Angel each game.

Brainstorm is incredible in this deck. Okay okay, Brainstorm is incredible in any deck – so let me clarify: Brainstorm is super incredible in this deck. Why? Not only does it do its normally amazing things, y’know, smoothing draws, protecting hands, et cetera, but it also has some extra uses you can exploit. You see, what makes Brainstorm extra special in Dreamstone is that it also helps protect the top card of your library from your own shenanigans. Pretty sweet, eh?

Aggro. Simply put, aggro is probably the greatest threat to Dreamstone. Other control decks can be a bit slow, which helps you lock your control pieces into place. To combat aggro, the deck contains several cards mainboard, such as Moat and Wrath of God. You may want to consider options such as Teferi’s Moat as a budget alternative, which is conveniently WU. It also has Swords to Plowshares, which are great for those T1-2 threats. Lastly, the sideboard also contains Wing Shards, which is a lesser-known Storm card, which can be great against weenie strategies.

One last piece I want to mention is Stifle, which is a great control card here for a variety of reasons. Not only can it destroy their mana base; it can also stop their attempts at library manipulation, aka not allowing our Field of Dreams/Millstone combo to decide their next play.

Closing thoughts. I had considered adding Black to the deck to include Misinformation, another way to control the opponent’s draws. I decided against it because I didn’t want to add another colour and because the latter could work against our deck drawing-victory strategy. I’m not convinced it couldn’t work however, and encourage others to try it out. Happy Brewing!

Dreamstone

Land

4 Tundra

4 Island

4 Plains

4 Wasteland

1 Forbidding Watchtower

8 Fetch Lands

Total: 25

Creatures

4 Serra Angel

Total: 4

4 Field of Dreams

2 Moat

2 Humility

4 Millstone

4 Brainstorm

4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Pacifism

4 Howling Mine

4 Stifle

1 Wrath of God

1 Disenchant

Total: 31

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Orim’s Chant

4 Counterspell

1 Disenchant

1 Armageddon

1 Wing Shards