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Random Technology: Return of the Weissman Deck
Josh Lytle
More Magic History
Any old-school player remembers Brian Weissman's "The Deck." The Weissman Deck was the first strategy to exploit card advantage as its primary way to win. Employing the card advantage artifacts Disrupting Scepter and Jayemdae Tome and combing them with powerful defensive cards Moat and Swords to Plowshares, the Weissman would slowly build up a dominant position over many turns. Because this dominance was so subtle and gradual, most opponents were left wondering exactly how they lost to a single Serra Angel.
The Weissman is the granddaddy of all Blue/White Control decks. Back in those days, the game was mostly about card advantage because efficient deck design had not really been discovered or employed. At that time, the best card in the game was Mind Twist, and Brian Weissman himself led the charge to have it added to the banned list. He eventually succeeded, primarily because his own deck design abused Mind Twist so well and he thought it was bad for the game.
Say What Now?
You might be asking yourself, "How does this relate to me at the State Championships?" That's a good question. First of all, I thought it would be a good idea to give a little background on the Weissman deck before I presented its successor. That's not to say my new version will be as dominant as the original; it simply follows the same theories.
What I plan to bring you today is an in-depth analysis of what makes a true Blue/White Control deck tick. There hasn't really been a Tier 1 Blue/White Control deck since the days of Counterpost, so I fear that the science of making one properly has been lost.
The first thing you need to know when designing a Blue/White Control deck is what its supposed to be doing during the different phases of the game.
The Early Game
This is the most important time for a Blue/White Control deck. You want to trade one-for-one with early threats, using countermagic and creature removal. The faster the creatures in an environment, the more important your early game plan becomes. Most of your deck should be devoted to surviving this part of the game, and the cards you choose to do so need to be cheap and efficient.
The Middle Game
During the middle game, the Blue/White Control deck needs to stabilize. This is accomplished by achieving a board position where your opponent controls few if any threats. Wrath of God has traditionally worked very well in achieving this goal. Countermagic continues to be important, although it should now be directed mainly at severe threat cards. At this point, you need to be thinking of how your opponent can beat you, and then saving your solution cards for only those threats. Additionally, a Blue/White deck wants to get some sort of permanent card advantage effect going in the middle game. This steady build up of card advantage is what will ensure victory in the late game.
The Late Game
This is the most neglected part of the game, for any deck. Since deck efficiency has been rising ever since the game was invented, the late game has become a concern only in Sealed Deck and Draft. Gone are the days were semi-aggressive decks would include one Jayemdae Tome in hopes of drawing it when the game went long. It is important that a Blue/White Control deck be able to take advantage of the late game, because it will have to wait until then to win with a random big flying creature or a Millstone. In the original Weissman deck, Jayemdae Tome and Disrupting Scepter were the stars of the middle and late game, providing one card per turn until the opponent was facing a deficit of 10 to 20 cards. These artifacts provided a use for all the extra mana that gets into play late in the game.
A Moment of Silence For Disrupting Scepter
Disrupting Scepter is my favorite card of all time. The reasons for this are vast, but I think the most important one is that the card is simply not understood by a majority of players. Why would I want to tap mana during MY TURN just to make my opponent CHOOSE and discard? The Scepter's effect is definitely not amazing the first few times you use it, but when it is activated turn after turn in a strategy that makes the game go a long time, the card advantage it provides is insane. And its not just raw card-advantage; its disruptive card-advantage. Your opponent can no longer hold back threat cards. An unanswered Scepter creates late games that are completely lopsided in favor of its controller, and the best part is that lots of people don't even realize it's the Scepter that's put them in their losing position.
Now wait a minute: I know Disrupting Scepter is not a main-deck card in current Standard, so take back that nasty thing you just said about me. You're forgiven. I do understand that providing your opponent a Madness outlet while tapping mana during your main phase is not strong. But the Scepter continues to be a powerhouse in Blue/White Control vs. Blue/White Control matches.
An Evolving Deck
Taking our love of the original Weissman Deck, my team and I actually played a newer version of it at Regionals '01. The time was perfect for a return to the old Weissman Deck. Our deck contained Disrupting Scepter, which was great in the control-heavy field we faced. Additionally, the Scepter helped prevent the casting of Urza's Rage with kicker or Obliterate from the Fires decks.
The deck was great for the field, with only one major weakness. The Fires decks that splashed White beat us. We had only played against traditional Fires decks in testing, so we were caught off guard. In the end, we missed Top 8, so the deck was retired.
So What's New?
Why now? Why should the Weissman Deck make a glorious return in this environment? Well, first of all lets get one thing straight. I am not claiming that this deck is the best deck in the field, nor am I claiming this deck will win a State Championships. All I am doing is showing you the way I think Blue/White Control should be built. So what brought about this desire to "edumacate" the public? Frankly, I am tired of seeing sub-par Blue/White deck lists online. Now that Mobilization has been printed, the net has been flooded with lists that seem to start out right, only to end with a stack of random cards that don't really have a place. I attribute this to the loss of the fundamental knowledge that made old Blue/White Control decks work.
It is my belief that an effective Blue/White Control deck needs ALL of the following:
- Cheap solutions to creatures
- Board-sweeping solution cards
- Countermagic
- A steady source of card advantage
- A resilient road to victory
- A single card, that in the middle game has the potential to nullify most of your opponent's remaining threats
That last item is the one most overlooked by today's Blue/White deck designers. Time and time again, I see lists that have no cards that can be put into play that say "I Win" against creature decks. In the past, Moat, Teferi's Moat, and Story Circle played this role. But what card could fill this role today? Before I answer that, I want to emphasize what I think is wrong with the other Blue/White strategies I have seen of late.
Every Mobilization deck I have seen online has had a good, solid core. Where they seem to go wrong are the "filler" cards they select. Let me use an example of the best Mobilization deck I have seen online, designed by Brainburst's own Ray Moore:
All of the cards in this deck are solid, so what is the problem? I would say the problem with this deck is its lack of late game cards. In fact, Mobilization is the only card that can really be abused as the game drags on. Another missing element is some form of ongoing card advantage. Without a way of drawing cards later in the game, this deck will find itself scrambling for the right solution card constantly. If it fails to find the correct solution even once, the game will end in defeat. Cunning Wish attempts to fix this by providing access to Opportunity and Read the Runes, but overall that isn't much card drawing and the deck is likely to struggle during a phase of the game it should dominate.
This deck seems to concentrate entirely on the early game, hoping to survive past the onslaught of Wild Mongrels and Basking Rootwallas. The first few turns are important, but it's my contention that this deck and others like it focus too much on the early game. Just look at Complicate and Force Spike. These are both great early counters. But what about the middle and late game? You only have four Counterspells for then. And if you need to use a Counterspell early, you won't have many left to protect yourself when you really need it. Circular Logic is probably better than Complicate due to the presence of Compulsion. It will often have the same effect as Complicate, but it still works late in the game as a hard counter and it too is occasionally a cantrip. And what about Force Spike? I'd say its main purpose is to deal with early creatures. Kirtar's Desire does that job better, for the same mana. However, the Desire ends up being useful throughout all phases of the game whereas the Force Spike gets Compulsioned away later.
What the Deck Needs
I think we've covered the topic of early game control, so what's next? The middle game seems locked up with Wrath of God and Mobilization becoming great defensive cards. What about the late game? Ah, yes: the late game. This where my team's personal tech comes in. We still haven't added two of the elements we are missing: a steady source of card advantage and a card that can nullify most of an aggressive opponent's threats.
A Steady Source of Card Advantage
The power level of a Blue/White deck's card drawing spells often determines its playability in an environment. The options available today are not as good as previous years (Accumulated Knowledge and Whisper of the Muse were some of the best), but I still think Blue/White will be a force for States.
But what card to choose? My first thought is Jayemdae Tome, but Seventh Edition has brought us a better version of the card: Treasure Trove.
|  | | Set | 7th Edition | | Cost | 2UU | | Color | Blue | | Card Type | Enchantment | | Rarity | U | | Card Text | 2UU: Draw a card. | | Flavor Text | “Nope, there’s nothing here either. You guys go on ahead, I’ll catch up in a minute. . . . Whoo hoo!” | | Artist | Brian Despain |
This is the card that will split a late game right in half. Get this on your side, and you'll start drawing 2-3 cards per turn until the game ends. Its main problem is its complete uselessness in the early game, but that problem is solved by Compulsion. Compulsion lets you play cards like Treasure Trove that are good at certain points in the game, but need to be cycled away at others.
Threat-Nullifier
This is the trickiest role for a card to fill. As mentioned before, Teferi's Moat and Story Circle were the ways to accomplish threat-nullification in previous Blue/White Control decks. But we don't have them anymore. So what can we play? My first choice would be Solitary Confinement. So how do you lock them? Treasure Trove can fill that role. The key to understanding Solitary Confinement's role in this deck is knowing that you don't ever have to play it. Often, you'll want to use Compulsion to cycle away the Confinement, or you'll play it as a Fog early on to help stabilize. But sometimes when you have a Treasure Trove on the table and your going nuts with it and Compulsion, a Confinement equals Game Over for your opponent. There are so many decks right now that can't win with a Confinement in play, and Treasure Trove makes it a card that can work just like a Moat without the side effects of being useless sometimes.
The Deck List
Lets put it all together, with a snazzy name:
The sideboard is not complete. It mainly exists to show you what Wish targets are available. The Cunning Wish has been included mainly because it's better than having Disenchants main deck. Sometimes it will wreck an army with Vengeful Dreams, or draw you more cards with Opportunity as well. I also included Disrupting Scepter in the sideboard for the mirror-match. It is an "I win" threat in that match, and should be treated accordingly.
Card-By-Card Analysis
Counterspell
This card does not need to be explained. It is the best countermagic available.
Circular Logic
I think this card is better than Complicate in this deck. I mentioned above that it is useful as a counter through all stages of the game, and that's why it gets the nod over Complicate. The sac lands make Logic better too. And nothing beats cantriping this with Compulsion.
Syncopate
As good as Counterspell early on, and sometimes better. This is a counter that becomes less good later in the game, but it still can counter big cards on any turn of the game. I would play all four if there were room.
Kirtar's Desire
The Desire is incredibly similar to Swords to Plowshares in this deck. Enchantment removal should never target your Desire, so the creature will wait around until a Wrath of God clears the board. An excellent solution to any attacking creature, the Desire also provides an answer to Guiltfeeder when you have a Confinement lock in play.
Wrath of God
Again, this is the staple board-clearing spell. But remember, relying on it can be risky as it is easy to counter with an Envelop or Circular Logic. Try to cast it when your opponent is tapped out or when you have a little breathing room.
Cunning Wish
The Cunning Wish is put into the deck instead of Disenchants. There will be more and more Artifacts and Enchantments showing up, so you need access to them but they are sometimes useless. The Cunning Wish allows you to get slightly worse versions of Disenchant like Ray of Distortion when it is appropriate to do so, but it can also provide a key defensive spell like Hibernation or Vengeful Dreams.
Compulsion
A powerhouse in this deck, the Compulsion ensures full use of your resources throughout the game. This card is the perfect card for any control deck sporting blue.
Solitary Confinement
I've discussed this card's primary purpose above, but what doesn't it do? It protects you from direct-damage, creatures, and targeted spells like Duress, Haunting Echoes and Head Games. For only two slots in your deck, this card solves an awful lot of problems.
Treasure Trove
The card drawing machine for this deck. I often find myself with six mana available during my opponent's End Step, so I activate the Trove then Compulsion away something. The combination of the two means you'll be hard pressed to run out of answers to their threats.
Deep Analysis
This card is the most random card in the deck. I threw it in there because it is so good against any slower deck. It could easily be removed in favor of other, more relevant cards. However, I think it's a good idea to be able to have these after sideboarding for the mirror-match.
Mobilization
The kill card. The best road to victory Blue/White has seen for some time. I particularly like its effectiveness versus Braids, Cabal Minion. Playing a Mobilization turn three will often make Braids on turn four not a good play.
General Match-Ups
Aggressive decks like Blue/Green Beatdown, Sligh, or White Weenie:
The game is all about surviving early. Use your counters to keep threats off the table. Don't hold back anything until you have stabilized the board. Hopefully, you can sneak a Treasure Trove into play after you have used Wrath of God or countermagic to keep yourself alive. Once you are in this position, with Treasure Trove and Compulsion digging you deeper into your deck, all you need to do is get a Solitary Confinement into play and the game is yours.
After sideboarding, they will most likely have Naturalize against you. Even the Sligh decks are bringing them in now. This means Confinement won't be as reliable. You can consider boarding out the Confinements altogether in hopes of making their Naturalizes less good.
All in all, these are the two match-ups that will define your performance at States. If you plan on doing well, you had better know them inside and out.
Aggro-Control Decks like Mono-Black Demon Beatdown, or Wizards:
Your plan against these decks should be very similar to the more aggressive decks. However, these decks often won't have as many answers to Solitary Confinement. This means you'll want to abuse their inability to deal with enchantments. Boarding in more copies of both Confinement and Treasure Trove to make the lock more likely isn't a bad idea.
After sideboarding, these decks still won't have a great answer to your Confinement. Hopefully the Black decks don't bring in Guiltfeeder, but if they do you have Kirtar's Desire and Wrath of God to deal with that.
Control decks like Psychatog, and the Mirror:
This match-up is all about Deep Analysis and Disrupting Scepter. Even a resolved Treasure Trove will provide an immense advantage to its user. Disrupting Scepter is much better against Psychatog now that Fact of Fiction is gone. It can make playing Upheaval difficult for them. All in all, your extra few cards dedicated to the long game will really shine in this match-up.
Conclusions
I believe that Weissman 2002, or something very close, is the best version of Blue/White Control you could hope to play for States. But will Blue/White be that great in the end? Can it overcome the mounting threat of Blue/Green decks? I think it can. But it will take some skilled tuning and a good understanding of the key match-ups, most prevalent being Blue/Green. We will see how it all pans out on November 2nd and 3rd.
Josh Lytle
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