Locations
I. "It's all in the details."
Check this out:
(rather than)
Meticulous Archive is the hot new tech for Azorius decks various. When my friend Roman Fusco qualified via Standard RCQ a couple of months back, he liked Meticulous Archive so much that he played a Lush Portico in his non-Green deck.
Here's the thing, though:
Neither Meticulous Archive nor Irrigated Farmland enter the battlefield untapped. But boring old Irrigated Farmland has two very important advantages over the 2024 model. First, it's an actual honest-to-Morphling Plains (and also an Island, if you're in the market for that). A consistent complaint of u-w players in Pioneer is that - despite nominally having a lot of basic Plains in their decks (and four Hallowed Fountain in almost every list) that Castle Ardenvale was coming into play tapped too often. Irrigated Farmland makes Castle Ardenvale just a little bit better.
Which card is better late game? Meticulous Archive is very good on turn one (because you don't generally have anything you want to do on the first turn), and it can help smooth a draw. So if you kept a two-land hand, Meticulous Farmland is kinda sorta like having a three-land hand. I buy that. But it's also strategically kind of sideways if you don't know what your opponent is on. Other than smoothing lands and spells on turn one, you are liable to just bin the wrong card (or keep the wrong card) if you're playing it on turn one with no other information.
Nevertheless, Meticulous Archive's ability to cheat an extra land turn one probably does give it the edge early. What about late? I think that the cards are pretty similar, depending on if you care about having the fifteenth land actually in play or not.
Except if you've built your deck right, Irrigated Farmland is much, much better without argument.
Why?
II. I played Dream Trawler
The decision to play two copies of Ezrim, Agency Chief in my Standard RCQ-winning deck was actually inherited from Roman's Pioneer preference of Dream Trawler. Ezrim being kind of "the Standard Dream Trawler".
With kind of one asterisk Dream Trawler is even better in Pioneer than Ezrim is in Standard.
In the first round of my RCQ last weekend, I was paired in the Azorius mirror in the first round. I let the first game go kind of long, and at some point my opponent discarded a Supreme Verdict to hand size. I counted up my mana... I was north of 12 and my opponent had already failed to find on a Field of Ruin exchange a few turns earlier.
"That resolves."
Here's the thing about Dream Trawler in Pioneer. It's going to resolve.
The main deck Counterspell configuration for most decks is something like 3 Dovin's Veto / 4 No More Lies... And that's it. I actually played 1 + 1 Absorb personally and will get into that in a moment.
If you just wait a minute, Dream Trawler is going to hit the battlefield and it's going to dominate almost every matchup. I sided it out against Lotus Field, but the card is unbeatable in almost every other matchup. Again, with an asterisk.
At the point my Dream Trawler hit, I was behind something like 13 cards to 14, library-wise. I would have decked first anyway. Now I had a card that threatened to win in just three attacks.
My opponent used a Map I had given him on Teferi earlier in the game, and revealed Supreme Verdict. That's the asterisk, of course. No matter what you do you can't really get around the text that Supreme Verdict can't be countered.
I'm thinking deeply on how many copies of Supreme Verdict to play as a result. It's actually quite bad in the mirror, but happens to trump the best trump (Dream Trawler).
Anyway we played for like 20 more minutes and I decked in part because I drew two extra cards with the Dream Trawler. But there was no beating that second Supreme Verdict.
In Game Two we had very little time to conclude the match. But I was able to land both my Dream Trawlers with protection via some very fast, yet strategic, positioning; and win on turn five of extra turns... Pulling out the draw.
I'm very sure that if you play Azorius - provided that Outlaws of Thunder Junction doesn't change the deck more than it seems so far - that two copies of Dream Trawler in the main deck are going to get you further than one Companion in the sideboard.
The card is almost invincible against Izzet Phoenix in any game. Like, it's going to resolve; and then it's going to race even their best draws.
III. I played 1 + 1 Absorb
Absorb is a card that was once a four-of in Pioneer Azorius but has dwindled to a one-of (or less) in most lists. By contrast, almost everyone plays Narset's Reversal in the sideboard.
I thought about this a second. Is the upside of walloping an Emergent Ultimatum deck so much more attractive than just having a card that is awesome against a Red Aggro deck? I was pretty sure that Red Aggro was going to be one of the best decks. I was very happy to have Absorb against Lotus Field combo and cast both in a sideboarded game.
Those are all the good choices. Here are some less-good.
IV. I Didn't Have Knockout Blow
When I say I didn't "have" Knockout Blow I mean I really didn't have Knockout Blow.
In the Standard season I was adamant that Dennick, Pious Apprentice was better than Knockout Blow... So I just never acquired the card.
I went back and opened all my Streets of New Capenna FNM packs the night before the RCQ in the hopes of finding some Knockout Blows... To no avail.
So I had to settle for Elspeth's Smite.
"It's okay," I said. "Elspeth's Smite is better against Phoenix anyway."
This is kind of a dubious excuse. Phoenix is basically a bye for every deck. I actually don't understand its popularity in Pioneer. I've played against it in every Pioneer tournament I've ever played. I don't think I've ever lost with any deck. Mono-Red, UW, Mono-Green? All beat Phoenix.
When discussing the matchup, my Phoenix opponent kind of side-eyed my sideboard configuration of +2 Temporary Lockdown and +2 Rest in Peace. "Non-bo."
"Kind of," I replied. "I Rest in Peace you early to slow down Treasure Cruise... if I have to. Maybe I'll get an Arclight Phoenix or two. If I play Temporary Lockdown to deal with Young Pyromancer and all your other creatures, I actually turn my own Memory Deluge back on."
"Oh wow. That's kind of awesome."
Knockout Blow is actually kind of better against Crackling Drake, which is one of the only threats in the Phoenix deck post-sideboard that doesn't get Locked Down.
Anyway, I only took one loss in the RCQ; but it was to the newfangled Red-Green deck with Slickshot Show-Off. It was a close match that went to three games. I'm sure having 4x Knockout Blow would have made it academic; so for future RCQs I plan to either be prepared with Knockout Blow or on Show-Offs myself.
"4x" being kind of aspirational, obviously. Who knows how many I would have played? I couldn't even find one :(
V. I played Azorius Control
Here's the thing.
I only lost one match.
But not only did I not win the RCQ, I didn't make Top 8.
Why?
Multiple unintentional draws!
I already told you about the time that I had to win on Turn Five to pull out the draw in the Azorious mirror.
But I maybe fell into The Danger of Cool Things in my Lotus Field matchup.
I missed my fourth land drop but was presented with a battlefield including a Lotus Field and a Thespian's Stage. I basically had to Field of Ruin main phase or hope that my opponent would fail to demolish me through three lands and one piece of interaction. I Field-ed and searched up a basic Plains.
Plains was better than Island. Why? I didn't have Mystical Dispute main deck, but I did have The Wandering Emperor in my hand. If I somehow got to the next turn, I might be able to deploy it and start to play.
Anyway, predictably, Lotus Field did Lotus Field things.
I picked the two cards that weren't Omniscience; but eventually he did in fact get Omniscience into play. In response to a search card I tapped my Plains and discarded five of the six cards in my hand to March of Otherworldly Light the powerful enchantment!
"Let me count those."
Yep.
Got it!
I was so excited I thought maybe I could win. My last card was a Memory Deluge; so if I drew a land, I thought maybe I could get back in it.
Obviously I didn't. He searched for a certain Disciple of the Drowned and got me with double Approach of the Second Sun. Like you do.
I got Game Two easily; then I was in commanding position in Game Three. "I can't possibly win, can I?" he asked. He only had three cards and I had just discarded a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria to hand size rather than tap any mana main phase.
I revealed a hand with four Counterspells, a Memory Deluge, and The Wandering Emperor.
"Yeah," I can't win.
I didn't win, either, though. If I had just conceded Game One I would have had plenty of time to win Game Three, but the prospect of stopping the Omniscience just gave me so much hope, you know? We went to time and - under no obligation to concede - my opponent didn't concede.
I lost one match on the merits (r-g with Show-Off), but was hamstrung by the speed of my own deck [and arguably just not conceding a Game One].
I'm not sure that the decision to play u-w was wrong in the same way that I'm sure that playing Irrigated Farmland was right. But the prospect of multiple unintentional draws against the ponderous combo deck of the format and other right-minded Control players is something that pulls my heart in the direction of Monastery Swiftspear.
But if you're brave enough - and a little bit of a faster player - I am very happy with this main deck... And the sideboard should have some number of Knockout Blows; as many as four, but at least one over the Elspeth's Smite, certainly.
Roman-Style UW Control | Pioneer | Mike Flores
- Creatures (2)
- 2 Dream Trawler
- Planeswalkers (5)
- 3 The Wandering Emperor
- 2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
- Spells (27)
- 2 March of Otherworldly Light
- 2 Deduce
- 2 Get Lost
- 1 Hallowed Moonlight
- 3 Dovin's Veto
- 4 No More Lies
- 2 Temporary Lockdown
- 1 Absorb
- 4 Memory Deluge
- 2 Supreme Verdict
- 2 Sunfall
- 2 Shark Typhoon
LOVE
MIKE
