How to Play Mono Blue Control Mtg Arena
Hi, dear readers. Last week we talked about Temur Control. Curiously, the archetype rose in popularity last weekend getting very good results across many competitive tournaments. A group of Japanese players innovated with an Izzet core with 4 Titan of Industry, something that helped them get an amazing 60.6% overall win rate during the tournament.
Looking closer at these high-level events makes us realize that, most of the time, there are many more amazing decks than just those that reach the top 8. Temur Control was a very good example of this, but let me tell you that there are other decks with great performances in the New Capenna Championship that many will not yet know.
Mono Blue Tempo – Ian Birrel SNC Mythic Championship
by Bohe
4 mythic
12 rare
25 uncommon
19 common
Creatures (16)
Instants (24)
Lands (20)
60 Cards
$88.32
Sideboard
15 Cards
$29.03
Since Delver of Secrets was printed in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, many of us tried to do the best we can to find a home for this old acquaintance. However, it's not an easy task. Those who remember how some years ago Azorius Delver one of the best decks in Standard. Yes, we're speaking about a significantly different format, but the idea behind the complexity of a Delver of Secrets deck is still applicable whenever this creature is around.
At the beginning of the year, there was an Izzet Delver deck getting good results here and there. Now, during the New Capenna Championship, Ian Birrel from the United States managed to pilot this Mono-Blue Tempo deck to a great 5-2 result during the seven rounds of Standard.
Two sets weren't around when that Izzet Delver variant started getting some attention; now with Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and Streets of New Capenna, many good cards can help us take tempo decks in another direction.
Kamigawa again gives us one of the best tools we can afford for this kind of deck. Spell Pierce is great when every midrange deck is trying to slam threat after threat. Having problems with a turn three Fable of the Mirror-Breaker or Wedding Announcement? What about planeswalkers like Kaito Shizuki, The Wandering Emperor, or Lolth, Spider Queen? This counter spell lets us answer these amazing cards for just one mana while letting us keep some resources up to out-tempo our opponents.
Essence Capture was also reprinted in Kamigawa. This card is great against the things Spell Pierce can't counter; Raffine, Scheming Seer is a great example. Together, these two blue instants let us change the direction, letting us play a more tempo focused build using blue countermagic instead of red damaging base removal spells which works better for our purposes.
Playing a full set of Spectral Adversary solidifies our plan. Sneaking this spirit onto the battlefield at the end of a turn could mean a tempo swing many decks are not prepared for. During the early game it's enough if we play it for two mana at the end of any turn to start pressuring our opponent. However, in the later parts of the game, this is a functional March of Swirling Mist "with legs; it not only lets us protect our early threats, but also phase out attackers, giving us the time we need.
The last creature in our deck is Dreamshackle Geist. I can't tell you how many games this spirit let me win almost by itself. Understanding how good this could be in this tempo deck can give many advantages. Tapping blockers is good, but having so many counters for protecting it lets this blue creature work as a pseudo-removal. An attack from any problematic creature and then Dreamshackle Geist can lock it turn after turn.
With all these creatures and amazing counters, the archetype can exert pressure very quickly while making our opponents stumble turn after turn, not being able to play relevant spells.
Rounding out our countermagic we have Jwari Disruption and Geistlight Snare. Jwari Disruption is almost a staple now in any blue-centered deck in Standard, and almost everyone knows how good it is. Having 4 helps us have more counters for the early game while assuring our land drops when needed.
On the other hand, Geistlight Snare is amazing in this shell. With 12 spirits in the deck, we can play this card as Mana Leak very often, something that this kind of deck is grateful for.
The final pieces of the puzzle. Fading Hope works great almost against any deck in the meta. It's incredible when we bounce any creature from Naya Runes with 4 auras on it. Not only that, in case of emergency it can even be used for saving our creatures and letting us reposition ourselves the turn after that.
Speaking about saving our creatures, Slip Out the Back does wonders. Imagine this as a one mana counterspell for any removal that targets our creatures, making them bigger in the process. Not bad at all.
A tempo deck wouldn't be complete without a card that lets us draw more cards to keep the gas up. Thirst for Discovery is one of our best options for that. Ian even has the fourth copy in the sideboard for matches that can go very late.
Without a doubt, the deck as it is is very good, but after playing the archetype for a while, I realized that there is a card that could make this idea even better.
4 mythic
15 rare
20 uncommon
21 common
Creatures (16)
Instants (22)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (18)
60 Cards
$83.84
Sideboard
15 Cards
$28.49
Piloting this deck made me realize how similar it could be to the Mono-Blue Tempo deck played in Historic back then. The main difference resides in how hard we can block our opponents from playing anything when we are drawing cards every single turn with Curious Obsession, Curiosity, or Staggering Insight if we splash white.
Some matches could be hard if we don't find Thirst for Discovery soon enough, and playing this card at the end of our turn could make us not have enough mana to protect our creatures in case we need it.
After making some changes to the list and having very good success with it, I can't stress enough how amazing Security Bypass could be in this deck.
Many of you surely have to face this card in Streets of New Capenna limited games and know how good this aura can be by itself. Now, this archetype is without a doubt a powerhouse. Instead of playing
Connives is amazing, letting us discard our irrelevant creatures like extra copies of Delver of Secrets or Ascendant Spirit for getting more counters and lands, while at the same time making our threat bigger, something that will let us close the games much faster.
Now, with four copies of this aura, Geistlight Snare is incredible. In our best scenario, we can start using Snares as a one mana Mana Leak turn 3 onward. This is the reason I cut one Spell Pierce and put in the remaining Geistlight Snare into the list.
The other change was adding a full set of March of Swirling Mist instead of the four Slip Out the Back. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad card, but when we have a way of making our creatures bigger every turn with Security Bypass, using the blue March instead became handy. It not only works for saving our creatures just like Slip does, but also stops attacks from multiple creatures very easily.
I play one less land than Ian, but with all the drawing power from Security Bypass, I haven't had many troubles with it. 22 lands counting Jwari Ruins is enough most of the time for a deck with a very low curve like this one.
I also changed the sideboard a little bit, but we are going to talk about that during our Sideboard Guide section.
Potential Inclusions / Notable Exclusions
- Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar is a card that was in some Mono Blue shells when Adventures in Forgotten Realms arrived. It lets us save our creatures if they became blocked and draw a card when we hit. Nevertheless, with Security Bypass our creatures are unblockable most of the time and we solve the issue of drawing continuously.
- Suspicious Stowaway works amazingly well in this kind of deck. I didn't find room for it in the final list.
- Saw It Coming and Behold the Multiverse are great cards for the Izzet Delver deck. Here, we want to pass with our lands untapped most of the time, making foretelling something that we can't afford during the early game.
- When I want something with "continuous drawing", I was trying Reckoner Bankbuster.
- Hall of Storm Giants is almost a staple if you play Blue. Playing one could be good, however, with just 22 lands, transforming it would be hard most of the time. Also, we want all our lands to come into play untapped. Drawing this during our transition from the early to the mid-game could make us stumble.
Matchups and Sideboard Guide
Jeskai Combo
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +1 Disdainful Stroke | -4 Dreamshackle Geist |
| +3 Malevolent Hermit | -3 Fading Hope |
| +1 Negate | |
| +1 Test of Talents | |
| +1 Unlicensed Hearse |
We have a lot of counter-magic to deal with the strongest deck in the metagame. Malevolent Hermit lets us put more pressure during the early game while giving us more counters to work around our opponent's spells.
Disdainful Stroke is key for countering Goldspan Dragon or Lier, Disciple of the Drowned. With Test of Talents, try to aim for any spell that could be played as a full set like Big Score, Dragon's Fire, Expressive Iteration (best target), Spikefield Hazard, etc.
Unlicensed Hearse is great for keeping our opponent's graveyard empty, making Lier not have anything to work with.
Taking out Dreamshackle Geist doesn't bother us because they play just 7-8 creatures. Fading Hope could answer the combo for one mana, but most of the time, giving another treasure to our opponent could mean that they could keep combo-ing. Also, phasing out the dragon with March of Swirling Mist is possible while also removing Lier and Reflection of Kiki Jiki for one turn at the same time.
Esper Midrange
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +1 Pithing Needle | -1 Spectral Adversary |
| +1 Negate | -2 March of Swirling Mist |
| +1 Disdainful Stroke |
We have a good main board against Esper. Taking out March of Swirling Mist seems logical when we have so much counter-magic protecting our creatures and we are not facing a swarm of creatures we have to be prepared for.
Pithing Needle works great against their many planeswalkers. Play patiently and try to get Raffine, Scheming Seer out with Essence Capture or any other of our counters.
Disdainful Stroke has good targets like The Wandering Emperor or Lolth, Spider Queen, however if your opponent is playing Legion Angel, save this counter for it.
Naya Runes
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +2 Annul | -2 Spell Pierce |
| +2 Out of the Way | -1 Spectral Adversary |
| +3 Tempted by the Oriq | -4 Geistlight Snare |
Taking Geistlight Snare out could seem wrong, but waiting for a one-mana Geistlight on turn 3 could be very slow in this match. Instead, we play Annul, an effective one mana spell against a lot of their spells.
Instead of countering all their threats, we are going to be in a bounce fiesta. Having Fading Hope backed up with our two Out of the Way, is going to make it very hard for them to stick a creature on the board.
If they manage to keep a creature on board, why we don't just borrow it with Tempted by the Oriq? Without a doubt a favorable match for us.
Jund Midrange
| In | Out |
|---|---|
| +1 Pithing Needle | -1 Spectral Adversary |
| +1 Disdainful Stroke | -2 March of Swirling Mist |
| +1 Negate | -2 Essence Capture |
| +2 Annul |
Annul is great against Jund. Countering Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Esika's Chariot, and The Meathook Massacre for one is a game changer.
This is probably the second best match for playing Disdainful Stroke as Jund has many more targets for it than Esper. Pithing Needle is also great as it not only stops Wrenn and Seven and Lolth, Spider Queen, but also Esika's Chariot.
Tips and Tricks
- Ascendant Spirit gets flying during its second transformation and lets us draw cards in its final form. Going all in defending this spirit could make us win many games.
- Keeping a one land hand is something you could go for. Just analyze if you have at least 3 or 4 cards to play to protect your creature and/or Security Bypass. Example: Island + Ascendant Spirit or Delver of Secrets + Fading Hope, Spell Pierce, Security Bypass + 2 other cards.
- Remember that you can pay for Spectral Adversary's ability any amount of times if you have enough mana, protecting one or more of your creatures and phasing an opponent's creature/artifact/enchantment at the same time. It also gets a +1/+1 counter for every single trigger.
- Play Dreamshackle Geist carefully, waiting for the moment when you can lock up a creature that attacked you one turn before or when you can tap a blocker for your final hit.
- Playing Security Bypass on turn two without worrying about protecting your creature is possible in many scenarios. Example: On the play against Runes.
- Patience is key with this archetype. Passing with your lands untapped is enough most of the time to make your opponents think twice before playing any spell.
- If you have a creature enchanted with Security Bypass, don't hesitate to discard your other creatures to draw more counters and protection. I would probably discard Ascendant Spirit and Delver of Secrets first followed by Spectral Adversary, leaving Dreamshackle Geist at the end.
Round Up
If you like to play a threat and then counter/bounce every single card your opponent can play, this deck is for you.
Without a doubt, this archetype is very well positioned for facing many of the best decks in the current meta. You have good matches against Runes, Esper, or any other deck that tries to play a curve of good spells, tapping all their mana whenever is possible. Against other decks like Jeskai Combo, you have counter-magic for dealing with problematic spells that enable their gameplan.
The reason for the very good performance Ian had during the last Mythic Championship is now clear.
I enjoyed playing this deck a lot and I hope you do the same. Let me know what you think on my social media (links below) and until the next time, dear readers, smile when your day starts; it surely makes a difference. ♥
Source: https://mtgazone.com/standard-mono-blue-tempo-deck-guide/
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