WOTC seems to keep pumping out all sorts of super cool 1-3 drops, but other than Doomskar I haven't seen too many fun control tools from recent sets. Which cards am I missing?
General New / Interesting Control Tools?
- Thread starter Jason Waddell
- Start date
Maybe more """tempo""" than control, but a really solid inclusion in a wide range of decks
Also an adventure, we get a fun Murder variant that gives us a lifelinking (and recyclable!) body for the second half
Baller with Snappy, also maybe not strictly "control"
Speaking of Snap, more snap! Now with some free 'scry' up front
Not sure what power level we are looking at here, or if I need to stick to 1-3CMC (which this could be tehcnically). but this card has some nice flexibility even if it's usually a -x/-x drain
Not 3 CMC. Still unsure if that matters. A lab maniac variant with a higher floor than "grey ogre". Partner with a nominally similar creature to Omenspeaker
This card hits 4 mana more often than you might think, no matter the deck you face off against, thanks to fetches and their stuff hitting the yard after being countered, removed, etc.
Edited, was previously incorrectly shown as pull from tomorrow
A new doom blade variant! Depending on the counters in your cube it could be as powerful as a
murder
Power level dependent (as with all things), but I really like the options this card has, and putting on top of library is brutal.
Also an adventure, we get a fun Murder variant that gives us a lifelinking (and recyclable!) body for the second half
Baller with Snappy, also maybe not strictly "control"
Speaking of Snap, more snap! Now with some free 'scry' up front
Not sure what power level we are looking at here, or if I need to stick to 1-3CMC (which this could be tehcnically). but this card has some nice flexibility even if it's usually a -x/-x drain
Not 3 CMC. Still unsure if that matters. A lab maniac variant with a higher floor than "grey ogre". Partner with a nominally similar creature to Omenspeaker
This card hits 4 mana more often than you might think, no matter the deck you face off against, thanks to fetches and their stuff hitting the yard after being countered, removed, etc.
Edited, was previously incorrectly shown as pull from tomorrow
A new doom blade variant! Depending on the counters in your cube it could be as powerful as a
murderPower level dependent (as with all things), but I really like the options this card has, and putting on top of library is brutal.
Ooh, See the Truth looks spicy. It works with Brainstorm / Cascade shenanigans!
Also want to point out that Mission Briefing does not give flashback, it allows a card to be cast. That means you can cast it with any alternate casting that card might have (overload, Force of Will's alternate cost, etc).
Approach I've never tried in cube, but it sure is fun in EDH.
Also I didn't want to post Pull from Tomorrow above. I wanted to post this:
4 mana instant speed draw 4 a surprisingly high fraction of the time, but almost guaranteed against any GY deck.
Approach I've never tried in cube, but it sure is fun in EDH.
Also I didn't want to post Pull from Tomorrow above. I wanted to post this:
4 mana instant speed draw 4 a surprisingly high fraction of the time, but almost guaranteed against any GY deck.
Board Wipes:
Cantrips:
Counterspells:
Finishers:
Although the best, coolest, most interesting, and arguably most fun new control card is:
Cantrips:
Counterspells:
Finishers:
Although the best, coolest, most interesting, and arguably most fun new control card is:
Shark Typhoon is an awesome design, but I'm curious how many non-creature spells get cast after the 6 mana mark in average games? I'd have to see it playing to evaluate it in that regard. It's a finisher that wants you to also be playing as many spells with as high a cost as possible after putting down the finisher. Compares pretty cleanly to Rise from the Tides, which operates basically the opposite.
The cycling mode is awesome though. X/X flash+flying+cantrip is a beating
The cycling mode is awesome though. X/X flash+flying+cantrip is a beating
If that is the case that's fine, it's decent in the cycling mode. Just isn't outstandingly cool, interesting, or fun in that mode, so I assumed TGT was meaning the main effect.
Also competes against cards like Sphinx of uthuun if that's all we run it for, which tradeoff the flexibility and flash for the ability to be reanimated and a much stronger draw clause (fact or fiction vs. peek targeting yourself).
Also competes against cards like Sphinx of uthuun if that's all we run it for, which tradeoff the flexibility and flash for the ability to be reanimated and a much stronger draw clause (fact or fiction vs. peek targeting yourself).
I think that the main reason it's one of the strongest things in standard is, in fact, the instant speed and the fact that it's not a creature and therefore can't be countered. Think of it like a weird take on a Hydroid Krasis with flash, limited to only drawing one card, being in one color, not gaining life, and being effectively uncounterable
Point being, its primarily used for the cycling shark, and the flexibility really IS that good. You'd probably run a 4U 3/3 flash flying ETB: draw a card even if it had no other text, right? It's that and so much more. It's so good it's become a staple in powered cubes on sheer power basis.
Edit: I agree that it's not especially interesting. If it were, I'd include it despite the power level.
Point being, its primarily used for the cycling shark, and the flexibility really IS that good. You'd probably run a 4U 3/3 flash flying ETB: draw a card even if it had no other text, right? It's that and so much more. It's so good it's become a staple in powered cubes on sheer power basis.
Edit: I agree that it's not especially interesting. If it were, I'd include it despite the power level.
No, I probably wouldn't tbh. faerie invaders is pretty far below the power curve I would want, and I don't think adding a cantrip to it fixes that. Mulldrifter fits that slot much better.
Honestly pretty lame if that's the only relevant use for it. I would much rather play with a dream eater if I'm looking to have an interesting/cool/fun time with a flash flier. It has a neat + synergistic scry ability besides being bounce on a stick.
As a Historic player on Arena, I love countering Sharknado with Whirlwind Denial as much as countering Hydroid Krasis with it.
Really satisfying.
Really satisfying.
Yeah, don't underestimate how brutal it is to be able to get a surprise blocker that can't be countered and draws you a card. Even if you kill it, they're up a card, and if you don't and they get to kill one of your attackers, you're down two cards (relatively).
Either mode could be the finisher depending on the matchup. Against a midrange deck, the a control player could slam the typhoon hardcast, and then make a stream of sharks from every subsequent removal spell, cantrip, and planeswalker they play. It's a decent follow up to a board wipe, to be sure.
Against an opposing control deck, a player could cycle the typhoon on the opponent's end step, make a giant uncounterable shark. This will either force the opponent into using removal at an inopportune time, potentially opening a path to playing another threat uninterrupted, or the shark can just kill them. Either way, it's a win-win.
The only place where Typhoon's flexibility is lacking is against aggro, but even then, making a 1/1 flash Cloudkin Seer can definitely stop one from dying. And there's always the possibility that the game goes long enough where the enchantment mode can be cast.
The number of non-creature spells that get cast after playing the typhoon in enchantment mode can vary. It depends on the structure of control decks in the environment, and the density of cantrips, removal, and Planeswalkers compared to creatures. I would say one is likely to make at least 5 mana's worth of Sharks after playing the Typhoon as a bare minimum, usually only reaching this low threshold in games where the Typhoon is coming down really late and isn't the only finisher present. A more realistic case is somewhere between 7 and 12 mana's worth of sharks.
Remember, the Typhoon counts every non-creature spell, so Planeswalkers, Enchantments (especially Sagas) and Artifacts count towards the Shark output in addition to instants and sorceries. A cube control deck, especially at the power level where Shark Typhoon is going to be a fair card and not GRBS, is going to mostly consist of non-creature spells that can trigger the Typhoon.
I really like the play patterns typhoon has with Sagas and Planeswalkers. Those cards tend to have high mana values, so a player can make some massive sharks by playing them. I love Shark Typhoon+ Elspeth Commits Insurance Fraud, Tezzeret, Artifice Master, or The Eldest Reborn.