I do believe that everybody who plays this game has certain colors they were meant to play. WOTC has designed, marketed, and built the game to reflect this fact. The sooner you figure out which colors you were meant to play the less time you will waste playing deck strategies that aren't optimized to your mindset. I learned very early that UW were the colors for me. I enjoy interacting with opponents cards as often as possible, I love playing large flying creatures (ie. Angels), and lastly I get a little satisfaction of controlling every part of the game. Nothing is more satisfying than knowing you have won six turns before your opponent realizes it...
With that being said I would suggest you find the colors you love to play and always keep a "pet deck" if you will in your building realm. Getting into a rut is an easy thing for even the best players to fall into and your "go-to" deck is the one that will get you out of that rut and give you comfort in your game play again. I intend to show you all of the iterations of my pet deck as the meta progresses and changes to give you an example of how the core of your deck can remain much the same but still adapt to the changing meta. Let's start with the list I am running as of right now. I like to explain my choices right next to the card and then talk more broadly afterward:
Main:
2 Frost Titan
(A fantastic finisher that is tough to remove and shuts down many decks best cards)
2 Baneslayer Angel
(2nd best finisher behind Frost Titan, but still tilts the RDW match-up in your favor)
4 Wall of Omens
(Replaces itself and stalls any aggro strategy long enough to establish your bigger threats)
2 Gideon Jura
(A high value player that is as good on offense as he is on defense)
4 Jace, The Mind Sculptor (
The most versatile card in the history of Magic)
2 Jace Beleren
(Owns the control match-up by taking down his big brother for only 3 mana)
2 Day of Judgment (
Raw card advantage almost every time)
4 Mana Leak
(As close to early game Counterspell as we have)
2 Journey to Nowhere
(The most versatile removal in standard today)
2 Luminarch Ascension
(This card is almost as much a mental play as it is a physical one, read below)
3 Preordain
(If you are playing blue you should be playing this card...)
2 Spell Pierce
(Nothing better than watching your opponent get thrown on tilt when you lay this down)
2 Oust
(Oust slows down almost any deck regardless of what they are trying to do)
2 Everflowing Chalice
(Ramps while still leaving mana leak open on turn three)
4 Island
2 Scalding Tarn
(Thins deck, combos with Jace)
3 Plains
2 Marsh Flats
(Thins deck, combos with Jace)
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Seachrome Coast
3 Tectonic Edge
(Holds down the Manland problem)
Sideboard:
2 Mindbreak Trap (Say goodbye Summoning Trap)
3 Flashfreeze (Say goodbye ramp cards)
4 Leonin Arbiter (Say goodbye ramp cards)
3 Ratchet Bomb (Puts crappy decks in their place)
2 Wurmcoil Engine (Owns both the control and RDW matchup)
1 Frost Titan (For when BSA just isn't cutting it)
Ramp Decks: Clearly the current meta is dominated by Ramp decks that puke as many lands as they can on the table in order to simply cast bigger spells than we can respond to. Our main deck presents several decent options in the form of Spell Pierce, Mana Leak, and Frost Titan; however, it is clearly post-board that this deck takes over the match-up. Leonin Arbiter shuts down most ramp decks to a standstill, Mindbreak Trap eliminates the chance for any Summoning Trap shenanigans, Flashfreeze does double duty against both ramp and Titans, while the extra Frost Titan gives you a greater chance to lock down any threats your opponent does land. Pre-board this is a tough match-up against all the forms of ramp (especially Valakut), but post-board the amount of ramp targeted disruption you have is often just too overwhelming for your opponent and more often than not your Grizzly Lion just beats their face.
Control Mirrors: Most of these match-ups are decided by intelligent use of counters, successfully sticking a Jace for multiple turns, and who can cast Frost Titan first. I believe this particular list has a slight advantage in game 1 due to our 6 copies of Jace, 2 Luminarch Ascension, and our always surprisingly effective Spell Pierce's. We don't have a lot of board in for Game 2 except an extra Frost Titan, and our 2 Wurmcoil Engine that will hopefully generate enough card advantage for us to win out in the long game. I will note that the UB control list is a tougher match-up than the straight UW mirror as Mimic Vat, more counters, and Grave Titan are tough threats to answer.
Aggro-Based Strategies: These match-ups are generally not tough as Wall of Omens can hold the fort or at least saves you enough life until you are able to get a BSA or a Frost Titan on board. The match-up tilts even farther in our favor post-board as Flashfreeze stalls them early and Wurmcoil Engine generally puts them away once it touches down.
Combo Decks: It is so hard to game plan around combo decks because their is a new flavor every week and I generally don't waste valuable slots in my main deck or SB when I am playing up to 11 counterspells. I will say not having an instant speed answer to the Quest deck is hard and nothing is scarier to me than an active Pyromancer Ascension, but with that being said I generally lean on my counters and my ability to dig for the answers with Jace to get me through these stranger match-ups. Game 1 is mostly about understanding what turns are the most critical to leave Counterspell mana open, while Games 2 and 3 are about adjusting to their boarding decisions and establishing early board dominance through the use of Jace TMS.
This is one of the most versatile UW lists I have created to date. While I am always refining, this is a list I am quite proud of as it seems to answer many of the threats in the current meta while also maintaining its own identity. The deck is able to churn out advantage through low costed spells, unleashes manipulation with Spell Pierce, Oust, and Journey, keeps its hand full using Wall of Omens, Preordain, and Jace and lastly finishes strong with Frost Titan, Gideon, and BSA. I even love the subtle mental games this deck can play on your opponent. More than once a player has completely changed their strategy based on a turn two Luminarch Ascension, went on complete tilt after a Spell Piercing of their Jace, or just couldn't understand why they were losing to somebody who was still playing with Wall of Omens. (Yes, it is still very good!)
I have explained much of why these spells are currently included above. I will continue to update this list as the meta evolves and explain my choices. This will allow you to follow along with me as I evolve my pet list to meet the demands of the meta. I am confident it will remain competitive going forward and look forward to sharing each iteration of the list with all of you.
As Always, Happy Gathering!
