I bring to you, the fans of "Ormendahl's Control" version 1, the non-budget powerhouse version of "Ormendahl's Control."
For those of you who have 0 idea what I am talking about, click the following link to see the original budget-version of this deck: http://www.mtgvault.com/ursaigaming/decks/ormendahls-control/
Now, let's skip straight to the focus of this newer version. Jace, Jace, and Jace - I simply LOVE Jace. In the budget version of the deck we used more Anticipate and Nagging Thoughts to set up our win condition faster; however, one thing I learned in bringing the deck to my LGS for FNM is that using the card draw/filter actually slowed down the deck and offered burn players (as well as other varying deck types) to take me out faster than I could set up. The beauty of Jace is that he is a living Nagging Thoughts, meaning we still get card draw value and he will indeed speed up the rate of our setup. In addition to this, he can offer valuable protection, and later on melt enemies in the face with his super annoying Planeswalker kit.
Another huge change to the deck is the entire removal of Hedron Archive. Damn, I love that card - so good for an uncommon. But this deck is NOT for ramp, and the 2 extra mana for 4 can sometimes sidetrack from the end result. To this day I am not satisfied with the lack of options for 4 mana blue or black spells in Standard currently, and wish I could have been more creative than Languish, but synergy is key so I stuck to Languish solely as our turn 4 mega play (or turn 5 with the Jar).
Some people will spot the Scatter to the Winds counter spell. Simply put, it adds more awaken to the deck, which is an unofficial sub-theme when considering Part the Waterveil and Ruinous Path.
One last thing that I should note with the new version - the inclusion of Part the Waterveil. First off, the card itself is just silly; taking another turn and getting a large land creature? Yes please! However, here is another thought; by the time you could play this thing with your raw mana without a Jar, you should be able to play this using a Jar AS WELL AS your Rise from the Tides on the SAME TURN. On your extra turn, you can untap and IMMEDIATELY strike with all X zombies. Suddenly, this deck becomes wicked viable even without Ormendahl, the Profane Prince - and he is the literal star of this control/removal deck!
TL:DR; I hope you guys enjoy this. I will go over things more in depth as usual below, and if you want to try this build, this should be VERY competitive compared to the last version. My only concern is the price range of this deck, because I can't test this anywhere other than online due to the fact I cannot even afford this deck. Brutal Jace strikes again. However, the price of this deck can be paid off with FNM boosters - ya know, the ones that the winners get. ;)
I can make a deck-tech video on YouTube if anyone is interested in further analysis on this deck. Otherwise, I think this deck is very strong and very fun, and I will be sure to return periodically to report findings and performances of this deck.
Last updated on: 6/22/16
I am going to keep this as brief as possible, simply because if this is too long no one will ever bother reading all of it. Nonetheless, here goes:
STARTING HAND:
A huge part of playing Magic is knowing whether your starting hand offers a promising set up or not. In this deck, the MOST ideal starting hand includes:
- 1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy OR 1 Brain in a Jar
- 2 Mana
- 1 Grasp of Darkness OR 1 Languish
- 1 Anticipate
Obviously, there is some flexibility. Jace is a great starting hand pull, but pairs extremely well with a Jar. You NEED the 2+ mana in your first hand; this should be your primary concern when considering Mulligans. As for the 2 mana, it is preferable to have a Choked Estuary and a Swamp, but any combo that can provide 2 mana on turn 2 is acceptable here.
TURN 1:
Note that, for all intents and purposes, we are going to assume that you the player did not have to Mulligan and did pull a Jar in the starting hand. That said, turn 1 is very insignificant to us; drop a land, basically. You have some options - put down a Choked Estuary, which you do not need to enter untapped. It is never smart to reveal your hand to the opponent for no reason. You could put a Sunken Hollow here, and not feel too bad about it. Otherwise, Swamp or Island - your call.
TURN 2:
Play the Jar. No ifs, ands, or buts about it - the only other acceptable thing you could be playing is Jace, but even then, his summoning sickness makes his ability useless to us at the moment and we need to power up the Jar ASAP. After that, you sit tight; you may take some combat damage, just hang in there and make sure you have some removal prepared.
TURN 3:
Assuming you pull a 3rd land, which shouldn't be too difficult (especially if there were only 2 in the starting hand), you can actually play a Jace and charge the Jar. The other main option is to sit out on Jace - perhaps you don't even have one in your hand at this time - and instead wait for a Grasp on your opponent's turn. You put the charge on the Jar regardless, doing nothing with it; but you can bait your opponent into a Grasp on their turn, or if you end up waiting to counter/remove something at any point and don't get the chance, Anticipate is the ultimate backup plan.
TURN 4:
The Jar is officially awesome. The rough half of setting up is now over. Jace is fine to play here, full price cause he isn't an instant or sorcery, but if you do have a Grasp or Anticipate you ought to save it for your opponent's turn. The Jar turns those into a 1 mana spell, and the mana isn't even color specific. That should leave you with 1 extra mana - perhaps at the beginning of your turn 4, instead of Jace, you play a Ruinous Path or save 3 of your 4 mana for a Scatter on your opponent's turn (again, with the Grasp or Anticipate).
TURN 5:
We are looking at 5 lands (hopefully and likely), as well as the potential for charge 3 on the Jar. Hello free counter spells - or excuse me, *1 mana* counter spells... that is pretty much free. With 4 extra mana, perhaps you are playing Languish. It sucks to hit our own Jace with Languish, but it is rewarding when the board is creature free - think of how much more it would suck when your life total is 0 because you thought, "Oh, s/he has 4 creatures - I can make it one more turn!" No. Just, no.
TURN 6:
Who wants a free Languish? Ugh, I mean, a *1 mana* Languish. Even if you don't play the mass removal, it is worth putting on the charge - maybe use it during your opponent's turn to do a cheeky 1 creature removal? My hope is that if you have a Jace, he'd be able to flip this turn; you have indeed been playing cards, and by turn 6, if your graveyard doesn't have the 5 cards in it then that is really disheartening. Regardless, flipping Jace is a HUGE power curve; soften what you can't destroy, replay a spell, whatever you feel like puts you ahead.
TURN 7:
Dark Petition? Dark Petition. I think I finally understand now - it is 1 mana to play, NOT free. But dang - a 1 mana spell that then gives you 3 mana back! I guess you could say this is neither a 1 mana spell nor a free spell; we are getting paid 2 mana to play Dark Petition, essentially. I like getting paid to tutor for any card that can save my butt. Heaven knows what you do next... things are getting crazy. If you Petition'ed a Part the Waterveil, prepare for the troll combo with Rise from the Tides. If you do not have a Rise from the Tides, well... perhaps Petition for that instead of the Waterveil. Otherwise, stay alive, deny your opponent the ability to play anything, etc.
TURN 8:
So, this could be it for the enemy. We get to play Part the Waterveil for 1 mana, if you have it, and then Rise from the Tides with some of our other 7 mana (again, assuming you could play a land every turn, which is more than possible). This combo taps you out, but you get another turn - all your zombies get untapped, and so do your lands. Ormendahl time? Sure, unless you can just swing with your zombies and end... you have to know when it is appropriate to flip a Westvale. If you can't kill the opponent, might as well - haste and lifelink, as well as flying, offer an immediate advantage that will keep your tempo flowing. Regardless, you should have mana to play counter magic, and your opponent won't be able to stop you from doing whatever it is you decide to. This is it - the set up is complete. The only other annoying thing that would make the set up absolutely disgusting is to activate Jace's final ability - so toxic to all friendships and respectful rivalries.
CONGRATS! YOU READ IT ALL!!
So that sums it up. The tempo of this deck is gorgeous thanks to the exclusion of the Hedron Archive (R.I.P. buddy). As I did before with version 1, I will mention some things to bear in mind as you play:
- Void Shatter is a terrific tool to prevent a win condition, thus, it should not be wasted on something like an Expedite or whatever.
- Awaken is a great mechanic that has its own sub-theme in this deck, but it is very low on the list of priorities. Don't create land creatures unless you have exhausted all other options for the turn already.
- Ruinous Path targets Planeswalkers. It targets Planeswalkers. Ruinous Path can target a Planeswalker to destroy it - unless you are very desperate, please do not use this card on a creature.
- I already briefly mentioned this earlier, but Languish with your Jace out; if you are in a pickle, is worth it. I didn't add 4 Jace to the deck for no reason - DEATH TO THE LIVING!!
Last updated on: 6/22/16