UR Control is a deck that gets forgotten a lot of the time. It’s not a bad archetype; red offers great removal and super powerful win conditions while blue is the best control color in magic. I really like pulling a UR control deck together and then surprising people with this under-drafted archetype. Thankfully, when Sam’s brother Pete brought his cube to town this last time, the pieces fell into place and I got my chance.

[mtg_card]Skullclamp[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Mana Vault[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Mystical Tutor[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Mizzium Mortars[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Mana Leak[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Powder Keg[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Miscalculation[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Hearth Kami[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Simic Signet[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Sword of Fire and Ice[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Keldon Vandals[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Boros Reckoner[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Glen-Elendra Archmage[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Chandra, the Firebrand[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Koth of the Hammer[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Fact or Fiction[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Jace, Memory Adept[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Mulldrifter[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Chandra Nalaar[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Inferno Titan[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Capsize[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Consecrated Sphinx[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Fireball[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Goblin Guide[/mtg_card]

[mtg_card]Whipflare[/mtg_card]

I said earlier that the pieces fell into place when building this deck. Now, that might not be completely true. Obviously, cards like Skullclamp and Sword of Fire and Ice are not your quintessential control cards. Nevertheless, they are two of the top three pieces of equipment in cube and this deck plays somewhere around 7 creatures. Therefore, I’m going to say that equipment seems reasonable.

Now, although the sword and the clamp are not your stereotypical control cards, they do still serve a purpose in the deck.

It’s not like I just crammed them in there.

Skullclamp offers the deck another way to refill the hand. While the only creatures with power low enough to die by the equip are Hearth Kami, Keldon Vandals, and Ghitu Encampment, I’m still not all that concerned with the clamp having enough targets because I’m going to end up equipping whatever I have on the board anyway.

Sword of Fire and Ice is a little bit better in this deck than the clamp. I hate playing a sword that is on color with BOTH of the colors I am playing, as that severely decreases its effectiveness. Nevertheless, drawing off of an attack and shooting for two is exactly what I want to be doing.

It was so awesome drafting Pete’s cube. It had been a long time since I had drafted a cube other than my own and, along with being a refreshing experience, drafting Pete’s cube gave me a little more perspective. I do not run either of these cards in my cube. But that is going to change very soon.

Academy Ruins is a very fun card to play. In most decks, you’re going to be playing a couple sweet artifacts and giving them recursion with a land that comes into play tapping for 1 is really powerful.

Powder Keg is a fun card. Only hitting creatures and artifacts makes the keg a great board wipe in decks that run a lot of planeswalkers and enchantments. I thinking UW Moat with an Elspeth, maybe?

Combining the two of these cards together was rude. One game, while I was playing against Sam’s Kaalia deck, I was able to pop the Powder Keg hitting two of his two drops. At the end of his next turn I ruins-ed Powder Keg back onto the top of my library and a turn later was getting rid of two more creatures. Awesome, huh? I’m sold on both of these cards.

Chandra Nalaar was a Beast. This exuberant little firestroker comes in with a whopping 6 loyalty and pulls no punches. While shooting for 1 damage is hardly a thrill, her -X ability is nothing to scoff at. When playing magic, you can’t forget the importance of card advantage and if your looking to get as much out of a card as you can, than look no further than a planeswalker. I was exited to see this card come off the top almost every time. I would drop her down, start pumping her up, and then -X to deal with threats, or -8 to finish the game.

This was my first time playing Mr. Boros Reckoner and I have to say, he treated me like a perfect gentleman. This guy is the real deal. Most of the time, when not eating removal, this guy is going to wreak some havoc. 3/3’s for three are not amazing by cube standards, but looking into the abilities on Reckoner, it’s clear to see how he can be at least a two for one. While I understand that he serves best in aggro decklists, he is also very effective against them. A 3/3 body is pretty sizable. Most aggro threats are going to be dying to Reckoner already. Then, after you block with him, you get to shoot whatever you want for however much he blocked. Ok, well, I guess I’ll shoot another one of your stupid little creatures. If you aren’t going up against aggro, he’s still a house. Oh, so they’re attacking in with a massive sewer nemesis? That’s fine! Chump block the nemesis, shoot them for a ton, and burn them out on your turn with a Fireball. You’re opponent will be dropping a sewer nemesis in their shorts, I promise.

The deck, all in all, wasn’t bad. Although, I would have preferred to have had some cards over others. For example, Capsize was pretty terrible in this deck. While its a strong card, I just don’t see this deck wanting to get to the amount of mana necessary for Capsize to be really ruthless. It’s fun doubling a Capsize with Chandra, the firebrand, but it’s kind of a gimmick. I really would have loved to have gotten a Wildfire in place of it. Wildfire is a funny card; It can be really boom or bust. Nevertheless, this deck played far too many planeswalkers for Wildfire to have been bad. The fire wouldn’t have killed Consecrated Sphinx or Inferno Titan and they are really all I’m worried about keeping alive aside from planeswalker. So, yeah.

If anyone has any comments on what they would play in this deck, please feels free to shout them out.

Until next time,

Happy cube drafting