Sometimes I really like playing an Andrew Cuneo deck. He and I build very different decks, but I appreciate his focus. I usually try to build decks that are very flexible so that I can do different things depending on what I’m playing against. Andrew’s control decks are generally pushed so far along the control axis that they will always be the control deck in any matchup they’re playing. Sometimes it’s nice to know exactly what your role is.
Today I’m playing Andrew’s take on U/W/R Control that he played in a Daily Event a few days ago. It’s like other U/W/R decks except that it has Think Twice and Supreme Verdict instead of creatures.
Creatures (4)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (25)
Spells (29)
I don’t think I played game 1 all that well. I probably should have Dissipated the Thragtusk so that it wouldn’t end up in my opponent’s graveyard where it could be reanimated, but I think I would have lost to the Angel of Serenity and Unburial Rites despite my opponent starting with four cards. I think this is a common problem that control decks face against Junk Reanimator when they don’t have enough of a clock—sometimes the opponent can just grind them out with two-for-ones.
I was never really in game 2. Even if I hadn’t started on a hand without enough lands, my opponent just had the kind of draw I can basically never beat.
Game 1 I managed to keep Sphinx’s Revelation and stay ahead of him despite Rakdos’s Return, and the only question for most of the game was how long it would take to find the second Aetherling.
In game 2, he dramatically out sideboarded me, and I never really had a chance.
For game 3, I had an excellent draw, my Clones lined up well to stop him from running over me, and he didn’t draw any important sideboard cards. Think Twice did exactly what I wanted it to do and kept me just barely ahead on cards, but I was able to turn that into a win.
Ok, so my opponent’s deck wasn’t very good, but it still basically functioned like a regular aggro deck. Game 1 my draw was outstanding, particularly against an opponent stuck on one land. For game 2, I think I was a little overconfident, and having Think Twice really hurt me. I definitely shouldn’t have had all of those in my deck. In game 3, my hand was barely good enough to keep, but it’s pretty easy to beat a nonfunctional four-card hand.
Game 1 I (re)learned an important but embarrassing lesson: when R/G has a creature with Rancor, the beginning of combat is the time to use a burn spell on it. In game 2, I’d like to think that my opponent learned some similar lessons about when to try things into open mana.
Game 3 was quite unexpected, but I suppose I should have seen what was coming when he used the first Rampager and just used my Warleader’s Helix to stay save. With two Sphinx’s Revelations, I wasn’t likely to run out of things to do, so using the mana rather than not probably would have been worth it. It was a weird way to lose, but I should have played around it.
Overall, I think the deck is likely a little weak against Junk Reanimator. As the Jund match showed, depending on their sideboard cards it can definitely be difficult to win. The aggro matchups are tricky, but I’d definitely rather be on the U/W/R side of them.
Thanks for watching,
Sam
@samuelhblack on Twitter