Post by ckangas on Apr 3, 2013 2:42:44 GMT -5
Mono U Post Primer
I. Introduction
Mono blue post is a deck that has been around for quite some time in pauper. Despite it being blue, it is essentially a cloudpost/temporal fissure combo deck. Before the banning of frantic search, there were few reasons to run MU Post over Familiar storm. After the ban, the meta-game was filled with blazing fast combo decks such as infect and the various ETW or grapeshot storm builds. Although the deck has always boasted a good MU versus decks like WW, the presence of other, faster combo decks has always proven detrimental.
At the time of this writing, mono U post is quickly gaining popularity. It has gone from 2, to 3, to 5, and now over 10% of the total metagame. It also boasts the best 4-0 to 3-1 ratio of any deck in the format.
Why play the deck?
It is the most winning deck in the format, and arguably the hardest to hate out. Statistically, it has the best 4-0 to 3-1 win ratio. Looking purely at data, it's become the most-winning deck (that is widely played) since familiar storm before frantic search was banned. It is a deck with few natural predators in the meta, and one that is difficult to hate out. The decks that would traditionally balance the deck out have been recently removed by bannings (invigorate and ETW). The cards and strategies (such as 12 LD) that work against MU Fissure generally do not work against other decks in the format (with the exception of UG and familiar storm). Furthermore, most of the deck’s predators have a poor delver MU. Delver is still the most-played deck. As a result, decks that would counter Fissure (loose combo, UR fiend, M G Post) are weak to delver. Goblins with a highly specialized SB is the only deck I know of that is strong against both.
Mono U Post is a very consistent and resilient combo deck. Since it plays a large amount of filtering and draw cards, it has a good chance of finding the correct combo pieces. Familiar is still arguably the fastest of the three Temporal Fissure decks, but is also the most easily disrupted by removal and land destruction. Simic gets its posts into play more quickly and efficiently because of crop rotation. Yet, mono U needs less land total to go off. It also abuses both players using cloudposts fairly well. The deck can often either get a large temporal fissure off on turn 4, or assemble its combo by then. Unless you get a poor draw or keep a rough hand, you should be able to go off by turn 5 or 6 (or at least land a good sized fissure by then).
Generally speaking, the deck is faster than simic. Yet, it is also more susceptible to removal, since it relies on Cloud of Faeries and Snap to generate mana and storm count. In this regard, it is a bit of a hybrid between familiar and simic storm. Slightly slower than familiar storm, but more resistant to removal; faster than simic, but more fragile to removal. Simic also has the option to run land destruction either MD (in the form of reap and sow, although it appears only 15% of players do so) or SB.
Differences between Mono U Post and Simic Storm
Advantages of Mono U compared to Simic
~Faster since it utilizes cloud of fairies and snap.
~Typically runs more combo pieces.
~Runs more search to find the relevant cards.
~Less dependent on getting 3+ cloudposts in play.
~Functions better without amassing cloudposts; a bit similarly to Mono U tron vs RG Tron in modern. It can often "go control" on decks like goblins.
~Generally a more "stable" build since you're only running one color.
Disadvantages
~Worse board options since you're limited to U; Fangren and Moment's Peace are arguably the two most relevant.
~Is reliant on the 4 expedition maps for land tutors, and lacks crop rotations or reap and sow.
~More vulnerable to removal, since you're running cloud of faeries and snap.
~More vulnerable to counterspells, since you lack cantripping artifacts to build storm count.
II. The Deck
The Combo
If you're familiar with how Temporal Fissure combos work in the format, please skip over this section.
The combo engine of the deck is one that is painfully obvious to anyone well-versed in the post-banning pauper meta. The deck will search up Cloudposts, use Cloud of Faeries and Snap to generate large amounts of mana to spend on expensive draw spells such as Compulsive Research or Mulldrifter. It will finish with Temporal Fissue (or Ghostly Flicker as covered below), bouncing mana generators (such as cloud of faeries) and the opponent's board. It utilizes Mnemonic Wall to play temporal fissure each turn. It then loops the two cards as often as needed to keep the opponent's board clear. Mulldrifters and cloud of faeries provide a slow death that swing in unopposed each turn. Crusher or torch can be utilized as a finisher.
Ghostly Flicker can also be used with a wall to create infinite mana via Cloud of faeries, or to bounce mulldrifters or a second wall to draw infinite cards.
For example, let's say you have 1 Cloudposts and 2 Glimmerposts in play. You also have a cloud of faeries, a Mnemonic Wall and 1 island. Each time you Ghostly Flicker a Cloud of Faeries and a Mnemonic Wall, you can untap your Cloudpost and and island and use Mnemonic Wall to return your Ghostly Flicker to your hand. Ghostly Flicker costs 2U and you gain 3U each time. Even though you only have 4 lands out, you can generate infinite mana. The combo obviously works better with more posts in play. If you have two Islands in play, you can use Ghostly Flicker to convert colorless mana into colored U mana.
We now have infinite mana, what do we do with it? As long as you have a Mnemonic Wall down, with a Sea-Gate Oracle, Mulldrifter, or Prism we can draw infinite cards. If you have two walls, you can infinitely return instant and sorcery spells from your graveyard to your hand. You can also infinitely bounce permanents with Temporal Fissure (choosing a Mnemonic Wall, and casting it afterwards to return the Temporal Fissure to your hand).
It is also worth noting that you can attain infinite life via flicking Glimmerposts. This is useful against decks such as burn. Without the added life, they could just aim to cast 1CC burn at you each turn during game 1.
Generally, it is best to go for the combo when safe. Against many decks, however, you will need to build up a storm count into a Temporal Fissure. When to take which route (as is the case with simic storm) simply takes practice and playing matches. If you can get a Temporal Fissure to 3 or 4 points, it is *usually* worth doing it.
Once again...
Cloudposts to generate large amounts of mana
Cloud of Faeries and Snap to untap the Cloudposts to generate more mana
Utilize Ghostly Flicker with Mnemonic Wall to generate infinite mana or cards
Temporal Fissure to bounce the opponent's board
Mnemonic Wall to loop Temporal Fissure as needed each turn
Slow death by attacking with Mulldrifters and Cloud of Faeries or a finisher.
The deck's cards
Mono U Post is a remarkable deck in-so-far as how consistent the lists are. When I first made my list, it was almost exactly the same 60 MD cards as most other lists. It is a very clean list, and there is limited room for innovation. I will list a “standard” or common build below. Most versions only deviate by ~2 cards.
Manabase
The mana for the deck is straightforward.
13 Island
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Expedition Map
The Prisms interact well with ghostly flicker, and turn your colorless mana into U mana; this allows you to play more posts for mana acceleration and less islands. Although not ideal, they provide a secondary ghostly flicker target. It may be tempting to cut them, but they are a needed to smooth out the deck.
The Expedition Maps are your primary method to searching for Cloudposts. Generally speaking, you aim to draw one Cloudpost naturally or through draw spells, and to tutor up the other with an expedition map. Most often you'll be searching for Cloudpost, but if you already have 2 Cloudposts down, you'll often opt for Glimmerpost instead. In some cases, you’ll need the life gain provided by glimmerpost. Many of games will go turn 1, expedition map, turn 2 activate expedition map, turn 3 play Cloudpost and Prophetic Prism - or something similar. While it isn't thrilling to "waste" your first three turns of the game setting up your mana base, it is needed. It will pay off in turns 4-5 where you will either be able to “go infinite” or land a large Temporal Fissure (and go infinite with the turns it secured).
In most circumstances, you won’t need to have more than 2-4 islands in play. More is obviously always better, but your focus will be on getting more posts into play, not islands. Why play 13 then? Well, the most obvious answer is because there are a lack of other options. Yet, 13 islands isn’t actually that much when you want to be sure to see 2-3 every game. It also allows you to consistently use your Expedition Maps to find Cloudposts instead of worrying about finding your second Island. You won’t have to worry about mulliganning one island hands (or seeing hands without any), and you will have something to safely pitch to compulsive research, while you hold onto your posts. In the end, the deck is about consistency. The 13 islands work towards that goal.
Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
3 Mnemonic Wall
3 Sea-Gate Oracle
1 Ulamog's Crusher
3 Mnemonic Wall. The deck often runs short of colored blue mana; while you will likely see enough islands, you will want to be using your early land drops to set up your Cloudpost engine. As a result, Archaeomancer is not worth running. 2UU is not significantly easier to cast than 4U, and the extra toughness is a useful advantage, putting it outside the reach of most burn spells and disfigure. 3 is the recommended amount, although you are free to try either 2 or 4.
Ulamog's Crusher is optional. As strange as it sounds, it is useful to sneak a crusher in after your other spells have been countered. Delver/MUC players will often keep enough counter magic to prevent your infinite loop from going off. 8 colorless mana on turns 5-7 left over is much more common than one would suspect. If they don't have a snap the card is usually "game". In addition, it speeds up your kill process. The card is not required, but recommended as a singleton. 1-2 Kaervek's Torch can also be ran in this spot. It helps to end the game on the spot, but lacks some of the utility that crusher does. Decks without counterspells will immediately fold to the torch, while some are able to deal with the crusher. Still, the crusher is easier to cast, and much easier to "sneak in". Which you run will depend on the meta-game and your preferences. Currently, Kaervek's Torch is bugged online. Personally, I will run crusher until it is fixed.
Mulldrifter is included as a 4-of. An evoked Mulldrifter can be flickered to come back permanently. It provides a clock for the deck (along with Cloud of Faeries), and is a useful flicker target. In the worst case scenario, it can be used as a divination.
Cloud of Faeries is an integral mana generator. 4 is required. Additional cards can be cycled if you're trying to find additional draw spells. Be wary of cutting too many faeries and Snaps in games 2-3 unless you’re facing a very removal heavy control deck.
3 Sea-Gate Oracle. If you're looking to change the list, here is your best option. The Oracle is a solid card, since it gives the deck something to do early on, and provides protection against aggro. It filters your deck and provides a target for flicker. All around a great card for the deck, but not good enough to warrant 4 being played.
Draw Spells and Search
2 Compulsive Research. This deck floods quite often, so the discarding a land requirement once you get the ball rolling is not a major drawback. It can, however, be an issue if you're trying to locate lands early on. Most lists run 2-3.
4 Preordain. An excellent cantrip that fits nicely into the deck at 1CMC. It helps dig through your deck and assemble the lands, draw and combo pieces you need to win. 4 is generally regarded as the correct number.
Sideboard options
Dispel: Most of the non-creature, non-LD related spells this deck needs to stop are instant speed. All counters will obviously be in the form of instant speed, and so will removal that threatens to kill a fairy before you Snap, or to interrupt your flicker chain. It also stops certain cards such as Vines of the Vastwood. This is needed when you’re about to Snap their Scattershot Archer in order to correctly combo off, or when they vines/sting your fairy in response to Snap. Critically, it does not stop LD. Generally speaking, the card is stronger in theory than in practice, since many games you’ll want to tap out during your turn. Furthermore, siding dispel in dilutes the deck; be wary of boarding in more than 1 or 2 against decks besides Burn.
Hydroblast: In many circumstances, this functions similarly to dispel. However, it is notably useful against Affinity and Burn and stops LD. Burn can often push through a large amount of damage with a Kiln Fiend. Snap works, but having a hydroblast may allow the game to go on long enough for you to go off. Affinity typically has to use the Fling + Atog combo in order to kill you before you go off. Dispel provides a similar benefit, but sometimes the atog can grow large enough on its own. Hydroblast is a nice SB addition in these cases. It is the only card of your SB which is an automatic 4-of include.
Serrated Arrows: This card is often used as an anti-aggro card, but it is especially harmful against Delver. It one-hits an unflipped delver, a bear, Cloud of Faeries, and a Spellstutter Sprite. It is less effective against their golems, weirds, and ninjas. Delver has a limited number of threats, and killing off 2 hurts the deck more than one would initially presume. Games 2 and 3 are often won by ramming through “must-counter” spells such as arrows and Mulldrifter and depleting their counterspells. It is still relevant (although much less so) against MGA, goblins and other aggro decks.
Fade Away: This card looks amazing. You think, wow…a blue wrath of god for 3 mana in pauper! Until you pop it off on your third turn against delver and they sacrifice 2 islands. Or you use it against affinity, and they sacrifice cantriping artifacts and extra springleaf drums. Or against MGA when they sacrifice a forest and a young wolf in order to get a morbid trigger. The card *does* have its moments. If MGA has been bouncing a forest back to their hand with ranger, and doesn't have young wolf out it can lead to blow-outs. If Delver has been operating off one or two lands, or has been gushing/dazing a lot, it can be good. Against Affinity…well it turns out the card isn't very good against Affinity. It’s a risk and a gamble against most aggro decks. Sometimes it works out well, other times it does not. In either case, your SB plan lacks anti-aggro cards, and so finding space for 2-3 of these is usually a good idea...even if I'm always reluctant to board them in. Some MTGO players have opted to run creatures like Man-O-War instead. Fade away has the potential to be much more of a “bomb”, but Man-O-War is much more playable against affinity and delver.
Additional Pieces to MB Cards: This is a route many decks will take. Cards such as Ghostly Flicker or Mnemonic Wall can be added as a singleton. Additional Compulsive Researches are sometimes also played. Maxing out on Temporal Fissures is helpful in the mirror or against UG Post.
Other Mentions:
Man-O-War (generally useful against delver and aggro)
Curfew (will be required if Infect makes a comeback, it is also quite good against hexproof and UR Fiend)
Spell Pierce (can be useful against delver and the mirror/UG)
Negate
Hindering Touch (for the mirror/UG; just hope they only have one fissure)
Counterspell (UU becomes annoying to cast)
Envelop(counters LD)
Muddle the Mixture (UU is restrictive on both uses; can tutor for Snap and CoF)
Hoodwink (bouncing cloudposts)
A Sample List:
21 Land, 29 cards related to the mana base
13 Island
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Expedition Map
15 Creatures
4 Mulldrifter
4 Cloud of Faeries
3 Mnemonic Wall
3 Sea-Gate Oracle
1 Ulamog's Crusher
10 Combo Pieces
4 Snap
3 Temporal Fissure
3 Ghostly Flicker
6 Draw/filter cards
4 Preordain
2 Compulsive Research
Sample Sideboard:
4 Hydroblast
3 Serrated Arrows
2 Man-O-War
2 Fade Away
2 Dispel
1 Temporal Fissure
1 Ghostly Flicker
IV. The Matchups
Affinity: Good, 60/40
For the most part, affinity is a deck you’d like to see. Explosive “I win” hands exist, and will occur. Yet, affinity will normally need to take a few turns to get rolling. The first and second turns are often used setting up a mana-base and upping their artifact count (although s turn 2 carapace forger isn’t uncommon). In most matches, you’ll safely have until turn 5 to go off, which is normally enough. Be mindful of Galvanic Blast, Fling, and Atog when figuring out if you can wait another turn before going off.
SB: In 4 Hydroblast; Out 1 Mulldrifter, 2 Compulsive Research, 1 Ulamog’s Crusher
Hydroblast stops the 5 cards that can win affinity the game; raze, stone rain, galvanic blast, atog and fling. Land destruction hurts. A lot. Hydroblast stops it. Nearly all wins without LD (unless you keep a slow hand or have bad draws/luck) are going to involve fling and atog. Stopping galvanic blast from killing your mnemonic wall or cloud of faeries is all the reason more to play the full set.
Burn: Slightly Bad 45/55 - Assuming they have 6-8 LD in their SB.
There are a few problems with burn. The first is that the deck has ample removal to threaten anything involving snap and cloud of faeries in turns 4-6. It also plays kiln fiend which can threaten to steal early games. Additionally, the deck can do just fine having its permanents bounced each turn. It isn’t enough to land a Temporal Fissure, you must land a Temporal Fissure *and* start flickering glimmerposts. Furthermore, the deck is fast. If you’re not landing glimmerposts, burn decks can kill you (without a fiend) in turns 4-5. Believe it or not, you should be favored game 1.
In: 4 Hydroblast 2 Dispel; 1 Ghostly Flicker; Out: 2 Compulsive Research, 1 Ulamog’s Crusher, 1 Temporal Fissure, 2 Mulldrifters, 1 Prismatic Prism
You’re looking to do a few things. First, stopping their molten rains and razes are your top priority. Your hydroblasts are invaluable for stopping land destruction and kiln fiends, so try to use the dispels to stop the other player’s generic burn. Baiting with a ghostly flicker and a dispel in your hand can work…and you can even continually block marauders or a kiln fiend this way, but be careful!. Flickering two Glimmerposts for 6 or 8 life is sometimes useful.
I should note that the match as a whole is highly dependent on burn’s SB. If they’re boarding in 4 raze and 4 molten rain, they’re favored. If they’re boarding in 2-3 LD, you’re favored. Many burn players appear to misunderstand the MU. They board in things like pierced heart and play as if they’re going to “bleed” you. The odds of a burn player “bleeding” out a fissure deck are very low. They need to end the game quickly, before you reach a critical mass of posts in play. A turn 2 curse is a great sign; you’ll normally win these MUs. A turn 2 kiln fiend (and you lack a snap or hydroblast) is a very bad sign. Also, sometimes it’s useful to keep creatures off the board (until late) if you suspect the opposing player is holding a Searing Blaze.
The three major concerns during this matchup are the following (in order of importance):
~Don’t get alpha-struck by a kiln-fiend
~Don’t have your Cloudposts destroyed.
~Extend the game – the longer the game goes on, the more life you’ll gain off Glimmerposts and the more CA you’ll accumulate.
Delver Slightly Bad 45/55
In the abstract, Delver is a poor MU. It is arguably the “deck to beat” in the format, and is currently the most-played deck. It is the classic “police-man” of pauper that is supposed to make sure decks play fair, similarly to fish decks in legacy and vintage. It features powerful early creatures and countermagic – the recipe to beat a combo deck in nearly any format. Why isn’t the MU worse, when the opposing “deck to beat” of the format is positioned so well against us? Well, it turns out that Temporal Fissure is good against counterspells. It also turns out that Delver packs little card advantage. It also only typically plays 4 straight counterspells. Some decks play deprive and other cards (especially in the SB), but most delver decks are only going to be playing 4-6 MB answers to cards like Mulldrifter.
In 3 Serrated Arrows. Out 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Prophetic Prism, 1 Preordain
Note: the outs on the SB have always felt unsure in this MU, so don’t take this as gospel. SBing against Delver is always difficult, and I often have to go with my gut each game.
Basically, you’re hoping to stall out the mid-game to either out card advantage Delver and deplete their counters, or get to a point where you can land a big fissure and safely combo off the next turn. Either approach can work. It isn't as bad of a MU as expected once you get comfortable playing against it. Cards like Mulldrifter and serrated arrows really hurts delver. They’re looking to land a few early threats and delay you with counter magic. You’re looking to run their counters dry and land your big spells (or combo off).
Goblins Even 50/50 – Based on SB
Get ready for a long MU. You’re probably going to feel like more of a control deck than a combo deck at times. The deck features plenty of removal and land destruction post-board. Yet, it’s still an aggro deck at heart. Cards like Mulldrifter and Compulsive Research are actually quite good. Don’t try to rush your combo, and keep your life total as high as possible.
In: 2 Serrated Arrows, 4 Hydroblast, 2 Fade Away. Out: 2 Snap, 2 Cloud of Faeries, 1 Mnemonic Wall, 1 Temporal Fissure, 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Preordain
You can also board for a faster play style, taking in just the Hydroblasts (and maybe Fade Away) and not taking out any acceleration cards. I find this approach to work better if the Goblins list is short on LD. If you’re going to be facing Molten Rains and Razes all day, however, it can be pretty hard to go off. They’re also likely to pack lots of removal that threatens your faeries. Against decks with lots of LD, the more controllish route has worked better for myself. As is often the case, the MU can revolve heavily around whether or not your Cloudposts are destroyed. The arrows are mainly for pump goblins, sparksmith and other x/1s, although it can be used with Sea-Gate Oracle to kill off x/2s.
If goblins has less than 3 (or about) LD in their SB, this MU is positive. If they’re running a full 8+, it’s slightly negative.
MGA (Mono Green Aggro) Good 60/40
This MU should be a free win, and you're certainly favored. Game 1, you should be able to launch a decent sized Temporal Fissure and combo off the next turn or two. MGA rebuilds very fast, however, so be careful. Be mindful that Vines of Vastwood can be cast on your creatures as well.
In: 2 Fade Away, 1 Serrated Arrows; Out: 2 Compulsive Research, 1 Snap
Post-board you're likely to see scattershot archers and hornet stings. Some players (wrongly) also board in their artifact hate against you. This isn't the end of the world, as it will be slowing down their clock. If you see lots of hornet stings and gleeful sabotages, it’s a great sign (and a classic case where less SBing is more). If they’re boarding in 10+ cards, they’ll greatly reduce their clock (which is arguably the most important aspect of this MU). You'll need to play a bit more like a control deck until you're ready to go off. Unless they tap out, be wary of going off early with a faeries + Snap. And don't worry about their turn 1 Scattershot Archer. You simply need to factor it into your plans when you finally go off. Snap (on the archer) and CoFs normally gets you to the required storm and mana count regardless. The deck is faster than Goblins, so taking the role of full-out control deck isn't viable. Some versions will run Thermokarst (or some type of LD) in the SB. As always, having your Cloudposts destroyed hurts a lot, but only when it is backed up by a fast clock.
UR Post Good, 65/35]
Game one is fairly easy. Wait until you can build up a decent storm count and fissure their board. There isn’t much they can do that’s overly devastating. You’re strongly favored in game 1.
In: 4 Hydroblast,; Out: 1 Snap, 3 Sea-Gate Oracles.
Games 2 and 3 get more interesting. As per the theme, this MU revolves around keeping your Cloudposts alive. Do your best to Hyrdoblast or flicker their LD, and build up to the proper cards to go off. Snapping Cloud of Faeries can be risky, so only do so when you have protection or your opponent is tapped out. Their main plan of attack is to hit you with repeated LD. If they don’t see enough of it (or if you’re able to dodge it), it should be an easy game. Be mindful of hindering touch out of the SB. With enough mana, you can simply pay the 2 for the relevant bounces (i.e. opposing cloudposts).
Simic Storm Slightly Positive 55/45
I disdain mirrors. Combo mirrors and post mirrors are among the worst. Thankfully, the decks are different enough not to fully breakdown to luck. This match will revolve around Cloudposts. Thankfully, you need less posts to go off. One Cloudpost (with 3 in play) is enough to go infinite. Since your posts are being powered by your opponent, going off on turn 4 is possible. Landing a huge fissure on turn 3 is also possible. Unfortunately, you’re also powering his posts. The first person to land a fissure will probably win. Originally, I had this marked 50/50. Yet, after further testing, the speed advantage of mono U is proving to be important. If simic boards in enough LD, things can be rough; one LD is often enough to end the game. Fortunately, thermakarst is hard to cast at 1GG, and reap and sow is 4 mana - which is getting precariously close to the 5 mana needed for temporal fissure.
In: 1 Temporal Fissure, 2 dispel: Out 3 Sea-Gate Oracles
Your dispels are optional and are for countering Crop Rotation. It isn’t a great card, but SGOs aren’t very useful in the MU. Boarding in one card to specifically counter another is something I dislike doing…it ends up being a dead card at times. That being said, dispelling a Crop Rotation can be pretty dramatic. If you run bounce (such as hoodwink), it is very strong in this MU. Be very careful not to feed your opponent’s Cloudposts with Glimmerposts if he’s ahead on mana. You’re the faster deck and can strike sooner. Ghostly Flicker can counter land destruction, but keeping 3 mana untapped can slow your goldfish down. Make careful and solid decisions about which lands to play and when and it isn’t a bad MU. It just isn’t a great one.
V. Playing AGAINST the deck
As you can gleam from the information above, two things are needed in order to defeat the deck. A fast clock and disruption. Occasionally it is enough to have just one of these. If you can goldfish out at turn 3-4, you'll probably be able to beat the deck without disruption. If you're running enough LD (for example, mono-green post running 12+ LD spells) you can probably beat the deck without a decent clock.
However, neither of these are viable options for most decks. Discard hurts the deck, but is arguably the weakest form of disruption. Once Cloudposts comes online, Mulldrifters and Compulsive Research can easily make up the lost cards. Land destruction is arguably the best. The deck has a very difficult time going off without a Cloudpost. If you keep them off the table, you will normally win. Burn with lots of LD in the SB has the best MU against this deck. Delver is also slightly favored, as are decks such as Goblins with the right SB. Infect, UR Fiend and M G Post are all favored. Control and Aggro, however, will have to correctly balance a fast clock with disruption.
I. Introduction
Mono blue post is a deck that has been around for quite some time in pauper. Despite it being blue, it is essentially a cloudpost/temporal fissure combo deck. Before the banning of frantic search, there were few reasons to run MU Post over Familiar storm. After the ban, the meta-game was filled with blazing fast combo decks such as infect and the various ETW or grapeshot storm builds. Although the deck has always boasted a good MU versus decks like WW, the presence of other, faster combo decks has always proven detrimental.
At the time of this writing, mono U post is quickly gaining popularity. It has gone from 2, to 3, to 5, and now over 10% of the total metagame. It also boasts the best 4-0 to 3-1 ratio of any deck in the format.
Why play the deck?
It is the most winning deck in the format, and arguably the hardest to hate out. Statistically, it has the best 4-0 to 3-1 win ratio. Looking purely at data, it's become the most-winning deck (that is widely played) since familiar storm before frantic search was banned. It is a deck with few natural predators in the meta, and one that is difficult to hate out. The decks that would traditionally balance the deck out have been recently removed by bannings (invigorate and ETW). The cards and strategies (such as 12 LD) that work against MU Fissure generally do not work against other decks in the format (with the exception of UG and familiar storm). Furthermore, most of the deck’s predators have a poor delver MU. Delver is still the most-played deck. As a result, decks that would counter Fissure (loose combo, UR fiend, M G Post) are weak to delver. Goblins with a highly specialized SB is the only deck I know of that is strong against both.
Mono U Post is a very consistent and resilient combo deck. Since it plays a large amount of filtering and draw cards, it has a good chance of finding the correct combo pieces. Familiar is still arguably the fastest of the three Temporal Fissure decks, but is also the most easily disrupted by removal and land destruction. Simic gets its posts into play more quickly and efficiently because of crop rotation. Yet, mono U needs less land total to go off. It also abuses both players using cloudposts fairly well. The deck can often either get a large temporal fissure off on turn 4, or assemble its combo by then. Unless you get a poor draw or keep a rough hand, you should be able to go off by turn 5 or 6 (or at least land a good sized fissure by then).
Generally speaking, the deck is faster than simic. Yet, it is also more susceptible to removal, since it relies on Cloud of Faeries and Snap to generate mana and storm count. In this regard, it is a bit of a hybrid between familiar and simic storm. Slightly slower than familiar storm, but more resistant to removal; faster than simic, but more fragile to removal. Simic also has the option to run land destruction either MD (in the form of reap and sow, although it appears only 15% of players do so) or SB.
Differences between Mono U Post and Simic Storm
Advantages of Mono U compared to Simic
~Faster since it utilizes cloud of fairies and snap.
~Typically runs more combo pieces.
~Runs more search to find the relevant cards.
~Less dependent on getting 3+ cloudposts in play.
~Functions better without amassing cloudposts; a bit similarly to Mono U tron vs RG Tron in modern. It can often "go control" on decks like goblins.
~Generally a more "stable" build since you're only running one color.
Disadvantages
~Worse board options since you're limited to U; Fangren and Moment's Peace are arguably the two most relevant.
~Is reliant on the 4 expedition maps for land tutors, and lacks crop rotations or reap and sow.
~More vulnerable to removal, since you're running cloud of faeries and snap.
~More vulnerable to counterspells, since you lack cantripping artifacts to build storm count.
II. The Deck
The Combo
If you're familiar with how Temporal Fissure combos work in the format, please skip over this section.
The combo engine of the deck is one that is painfully obvious to anyone well-versed in the post-banning pauper meta. The deck will search up Cloudposts, use Cloud of Faeries and Snap to generate large amounts of mana to spend on expensive draw spells such as Compulsive Research or Mulldrifter. It will finish with Temporal Fissue (or Ghostly Flicker as covered below), bouncing mana generators (such as cloud of faeries) and the opponent's board. It utilizes Mnemonic Wall to play temporal fissure each turn. It then loops the two cards as often as needed to keep the opponent's board clear. Mulldrifters and cloud of faeries provide a slow death that swing in unopposed each turn. Crusher or torch can be utilized as a finisher.
Ghostly Flicker can also be used with a wall to create infinite mana via Cloud of faeries, or to bounce mulldrifters or a second wall to draw infinite cards.
For example, let's say you have 1 Cloudposts and 2 Glimmerposts in play. You also have a cloud of faeries, a Mnemonic Wall and 1 island. Each time you Ghostly Flicker a Cloud of Faeries and a Mnemonic Wall, you can untap your Cloudpost and and island and use Mnemonic Wall to return your Ghostly Flicker to your hand. Ghostly Flicker costs 2U and you gain 3U each time. Even though you only have 4 lands out, you can generate infinite mana. The combo obviously works better with more posts in play. If you have two Islands in play, you can use Ghostly Flicker to convert colorless mana into colored U mana.
We now have infinite mana, what do we do with it? As long as you have a Mnemonic Wall down, with a Sea-Gate Oracle, Mulldrifter, or Prism we can draw infinite cards. If you have two walls, you can infinitely return instant and sorcery spells from your graveyard to your hand. You can also infinitely bounce permanents with Temporal Fissure (choosing a Mnemonic Wall, and casting it afterwards to return the Temporal Fissure to your hand).
It is also worth noting that you can attain infinite life via flicking Glimmerposts. This is useful against decks such as burn. Without the added life, they could just aim to cast 1CC burn at you each turn during game 1.
Generally, it is best to go for the combo when safe. Against many decks, however, you will need to build up a storm count into a Temporal Fissure. When to take which route (as is the case with simic storm) simply takes practice and playing matches. If you can get a Temporal Fissure to 3 or 4 points, it is *usually* worth doing it.
Once again...
Cloudposts to generate large amounts of mana
Cloud of Faeries and Snap to untap the Cloudposts to generate more mana
Utilize Ghostly Flicker with Mnemonic Wall to generate infinite mana or cards
Temporal Fissure to bounce the opponent's board
Mnemonic Wall to loop Temporal Fissure as needed each turn
Slow death by attacking with Mulldrifters and Cloud of Faeries or a finisher.
The deck's cards
Mono U Post is a remarkable deck in-so-far as how consistent the lists are. When I first made my list, it was almost exactly the same 60 MD cards as most other lists. It is a very clean list, and there is limited room for innovation. I will list a “standard” or common build below. Most versions only deviate by ~2 cards.
Manabase
The mana for the deck is straightforward.
13 Island
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Expedition Map
The Prisms interact well with ghostly flicker, and turn your colorless mana into U mana; this allows you to play more posts for mana acceleration and less islands. Although not ideal, they provide a secondary ghostly flicker target. It may be tempting to cut them, but they are a needed to smooth out the deck.
The Expedition Maps are your primary method to searching for Cloudposts. Generally speaking, you aim to draw one Cloudpost naturally or through draw spells, and to tutor up the other with an expedition map. Most often you'll be searching for Cloudpost, but if you already have 2 Cloudposts down, you'll often opt for Glimmerpost instead. In some cases, you’ll need the life gain provided by glimmerpost. Many of games will go turn 1, expedition map, turn 2 activate expedition map, turn 3 play Cloudpost and Prophetic Prism - or something similar. While it isn't thrilling to "waste" your first three turns of the game setting up your mana base, it is needed. It will pay off in turns 4-5 where you will either be able to “go infinite” or land a large Temporal Fissure (and go infinite with the turns it secured).
In most circumstances, you won’t need to have more than 2-4 islands in play. More is obviously always better, but your focus will be on getting more posts into play, not islands. Why play 13 then? Well, the most obvious answer is because there are a lack of other options. Yet, 13 islands isn’t actually that much when you want to be sure to see 2-3 every game. It also allows you to consistently use your Expedition Maps to find Cloudposts instead of worrying about finding your second Island. You won’t have to worry about mulliganning one island hands (or seeing hands without any), and you will have something to safely pitch to compulsive research, while you hold onto your posts. In the end, the deck is about consistency. The 13 islands work towards that goal.
Creatures
4 Cloud of Faeries
3 Mnemonic Wall
3 Sea-Gate Oracle
1 Ulamog's Crusher
3 Mnemonic Wall. The deck often runs short of colored blue mana; while you will likely see enough islands, you will want to be using your early land drops to set up your Cloudpost engine. As a result, Archaeomancer is not worth running. 2UU is not significantly easier to cast than 4U, and the extra toughness is a useful advantage, putting it outside the reach of most burn spells and disfigure. 3 is the recommended amount, although you are free to try either 2 or 4.
Ulamog's Crusher is optional. As strange as it sounds, it is useful to sneak a crusher in after your other spells have been countered. Delver/MUC players will often keep enough counter magic to prevent your infinite loop from going off. 8 colorless mana on turns 5-7 left over is much more common than one would suspect. If they don't have a snap the card is usually "game". In addition, it speeds up your kill process. The card is not required, but recommended as a singleton. 1-2 Kaervek's Torch can also be ran in this spot. It helps to end the game on the spot, but lacks some of the utility that crusher does. Decks without counterspells will immediately fold to the torch, while some are able to deal with the crusher. Still, the crusher is easier to cast, and much easier to "sneak in". Which you run will depend on the meta-game and your preferences. Currently, Kaervek's Torch is bugged online. Personally, I will run crusher until it is fixed.
Mulldrifter is included as a 4-of. An evoked Mulldrifter can be flickered to come back permanently. It provides a clock for the deck (along with Cloud of Faeries), and is a useful flicker target. In the worst case scenario, it can be used as a divination.
Cloud of Faeries is an integral mana generator. 4 is required. Additional cards can be cycled if you're trying to find additional draw spells. Be wary of cutting too many faeries and Snaps in games 2-3 unless you’re facing a very removal heavy control deck.
3 Sea-Gate Oracle. If you're looking to change the list, here is your best option. The Oracle is a solid card, since it gives the deck something to do early on, and provides protection against aggro. It filters your deck and provides a target for flicker. All around a great card for the deck, but not good enough to warrant 4 being played.
Draw Spells and Search
2 Compulsive Research. This deck floods quite often, so the discarding a land requirement once you get the ball rolling is not a major drawback. It can, however, be an issue if you're trying to locate lands early on. Most lists run 2-3.
4 Preordain. An excellent cantrip that fits nicely into the deck at 1CMC. It helps dig through your deck and assemble the lands, draw and combo pieces you need to win. 4 is generally regarded as the correct number.
Sideboard options
Dispel: Most of the non-creature, non-LD related spells this deck needs to stop are instant speed. All counters will obviously be in the form of instant speed, and so will removal that threatens to kill a fairy before you Snap, or to interrupt your flicker chain. It also stops certain cards such as Vines of the Vastwood. This is needed when you’re about to Snap their Scattershot Archer in order to correctly combo off, or when they vines/sting your fairy in response to Snap. Critically, it does not stop LD. Generally speaking, the card is stronger in theory than in practice, since many games you’ll want to tap out during your turn. Furthermore, siding dispel in dilutes the deck; be wary of boarding in more than 1 or 2 against decks besides Burn.
Hydroblast: In many circumstances, this functions similarly to dispel. However, it is notably useful against Affinity and Burn and stops LD. Burn can often push through a large amount of damage with a Kiln Fiend. Snap works, but having a hydroblast may allow the game to go on long enough for you to go off. Affinity typically has to use the Fling + Atog combo in order to kill you before you go off. Dispel provides a similar benefit, but sometimes the atog can grow large enough on its own. Hydroblast is a nice SB addition in these cases. It is the only card of your SB which is an automatic 4-of include.
Serrated Arrows: This card is often used as an anti-aggro card, but it is especially harmful against Delver. It one-hits an unflipped delver, a bear, Cloud of Faeries, and a Spellstutter Sprite. It is less effective against their golems, weirds, and ninjas. Delver has a limited number of threats, and killing off 2 hurts the deck more than one would initially presume. Games 2 and 3 are often won by ramming through “must-counter” spells such as arrows and Mulldrifter and depleting their counterspells. It is still relevant (although much less so) against MGA, goblins and other aggro decks.
Fade Away: This card looks amazing. You think, wow…a blue wrath of god for 3 mana in pauper! Until you pop it off on your third turn against delver and they sacrifice 2 islands. Or you use it against affinity, and they sacrifice cantriping artifacts and extra springleaf drums. Or against MGA when they sacrifice a forest and a young wolf in order to get a morbid trigger. The card *does* have its moments. If MGA has been bouncing a forest back to their hand with ranger, and doesn't have young wolf out it can lead to blow-outs. If Delver has been operating off one or two lands, or has been gushing/dazing a lot, it can be good. Against Affinity…well it turns out the card isn't very good against Affinity. It’s a risk and a gamble against most aggro decks. Sometimes it works out well, other times it does not. In either case, your SB plan lacks anti-aggro cards, and so finding space for 2-3 of these is usually a good idea...even if I'm always reluctant to board them in. Some MTGO players have opted to run creatures like Man-O-War instead. Fade away has the potential to be much more of a “bomb”, but Man-O-War is much more playable against affinity and delver.
Additional Pieces to MB Cards: This is a route many decks will take. Cards such as Ghostly Flicker or Mnemonic Wall can be added as a singleton. Additional Compulsive Researches are sometimes also played. Maxing out on Temporal Fissures is helpful in the mirror or against UG Post.
Other Mentions:
Man-O-War (generally useful against delver and aggro)
Curfew (will be required if Infect makes a comeback, it is also quite good against hexproof and UR Fiend)
Spell Pierce (can be useful against delver and the mirror/UG)
Negate
Hindering Touch (for the mirror/UG; just hope they only have one fissure)
Counterspell (UU becomes annoying to cast)
Envelop(counters LD)
Muddle the Mixture (UU is restrictive on both uses; can tutor for Snap and CoF)
Hoodwink (bouncing cloudposts)
A Sample List:
21 Land, 29 cards related to the mana base
13 Island
4 Cloudpost
4 Glimmerpost
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Expedition Map
15 Creatures
4 Mulldrifter
4 Cloud of Faeries
3 Mnemonic Wall
3 Sea-Gate Oracle
1 Ulamog's Crusher
10 Combo Pieces
4 Snap
3 Temporal Fissure
3 Ghostly Flicker
6 Draw/filter cards
4 Preordain
2 Compulsive Research
Sample Sideboard:
4 Hydroblast
3 Serrated Arrows
2 Man-O-War
2 Fade Away
2 Dispel
1 Temporal Fissure
1 Ghostly Flicker
IV. The Matchups
Affinity: Good, 60/40
For the most part, affinity is a deck you’d like to see. Explosive “I win” hands exist, and will occur. Yet, affinity will normally need to take a few turns to get rolling. The first and second turns are often used setting up a mana-base and upping their artifact count (although s turn 2 carapace forger isn’t uncommon). In most matches, you’ll safely have until turn 5 to go off, which is normally enough. Be mindful of Galvanic Blast, Fling, and Atog when figuring out if you can wait another turn before going off.
SB: In 4 Hydroblast; Out 1 Mulldrifter, 2 Compulsive Research, 1 Ulamog’s Crusher
Hydroblast stops the 5 cards that can win affinity the game; raze, stone rain, galvanic blast, atog and fling. Land destruction hurts. A lot. Hydroblast stops it. Nearly all wins without LD (unless you keep a slow hand or have bad draws/luck) are going to involve fling and atog. Stopping galvanic blast from killing your mnemonic wall or cloud of faeries is all the reason more to play the full set.
Burn: Slightly Bad 45/55 - Assuming they have 6-8 LD in their SB.
There are a few problems with burn. The first is that the deck has ample removal to threaten anything involving snap and cloud of faeries in turns 4-6. It also plays kiln fiend which can threaten to steal early games. Additionally, the deck can do just fine having its permanents bounced each turn. It isn’t enough to land a Temporal Fissure, you must land a Temporal Fissure *and* start flickering glimmerposts. Furthermore, the deck is fast. If you’re not landing glimmerposts, burn decks can kill you (without a fiend) in turns 4-5. Believe it or not, you should be favored game 1.
In: 4 Hydroblast 2 Dispel; 1 Ghostly Flicker; Out: 2 Compulsive Research, 1 Ulamog’s Crusher, 1 Temporal Fissure, 2 Mulldrifters, 1 Prismatic Prism
You’re looking to do a few things. First, stopping their molten rains and razes are your top priority. Your hydroblasts are invaluable for stopping land destruction and kiln fiends, so try to use the dispels to stop the other player’s generic burn. Baiting with a ghostly flicker and a dispel in your hand can work…and you can even continually block marauders or a kiln fiend this way, but be careful!. Flickering two Glimmerposts for 6 or 8 life is sometimes useful.
I should note that the match as a whole is highly dependent on burn’s SB. If they’re boarding in 4 raze and 4 molten rain, they’re favored. If they’re boarding in 2-3 LD, you’re favored. Many burn players appear to misunderstand the MU. They board in things like pierced heart and play as if they’re going to “bleed” you. The odds of a burn player “bleeding” out a fissure deck are very low. They need to end the game quickly, before you reach a critical mass of posts in play. A turn 2 curse is a great sign; you’ll normally win these MUs. A turn 2 kiln fiend (and you lack a snap or hydroblast) is a very bad sign. Also, sometimes it’s useful to keep creatures off the board (until late) if you suspect the opposing player is holding a Searing Blaze.
The three major concerns during this matchup are the following (in order of importance):
~Don’t get alpha-struck by a kiln-fiend
~Don’t have your Cloudposts destroyed.
~Extend the game – the longer the game goes on, the more life you’ll gain off Glimmerposts and the more CA you’ll accumulate.
Delver Slightly Bad 45/55
In the abstract, Delver is a poor MU. It is arguably the “deck to beat” in the format, and is currently the most-played deck. It is the classic “police-man” of pauper that is supposed to make sure decks play fair, similarly to fish decks in legacy and vintage. It features powerful early creatures and countermagic – the recipe to beat a combo deck in nearly any format. Why isn’t the MU worse, when the opposing “deck to beat” of the format is positioned so well against us? Well, it turns out that Temporal Fissure is good against counterspells. It also turns out that Delver packs little card advantage. It also only typically plays 4 straight counterspells. Some decks play deprive and other cards (especially in the SB), but most delver decks are only going to be playing 4-6 MB answers to cards like Mulldrifter.
In 3 Serrated Arrows. Out 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Prophetic Prism, 1 Preordain
Note: the outs on the SB have always felt unsure in this MU, so don’t take this as gospel. SBing against Delver is always difficult, and I often have to go with my gut each game.
Basically, you’re hoping to stall out the mid-game to either out card advantage Delver and deplete their counters, or get to a point where you can land a big fissure and safely combo off the next turn. Either approach can work. It isn't as bad of a MU as expected once you get comfortable playing against it. Cards like Mulldrifter and serrated arrows really hurts delver. They’re looking to land a few early threats and delay you with counter magic. You’re looking to run their counters dry and land your big spells (or combo off).
Goblins Even 50/50 – Based on SB
Get ready for a long MU. You’re probably going to feel like more of a control deck than a combo deck at times. The deck features plenty of removal and land destruction post-board. Yet, it’s still an aggro deck at heart. Cards like Mulldrifter and Compulsive Research are actually quite good. Don’t try to rush your combo, and keep your life total as high as possible.
In: 2 Serrated Arrows, 4 Hydroblast, 2 Fade Away. Out: 2 Snap, 2 Cloud of Faeries, 1 Mnemonic Wall, 1 Temporal Fissure, 1 Ghostly Flicker, 1 Preordain
You can also board for a faster play style, taking in just the Hydroblasts (and maybe Fade Away) and not taking out any acceleration cards. I find this approach to work better if the Goblins list is short on LD. If you’re going to be facing Molten Rains and Razes all day, however, it can be pretty hard to go off. They’re also likely to pack lots of removal that threatens your faeries. Against decks with lots of LD, the more controllish route has worked better for myself. As is often the case, the MU can revolve heavily around whether or not your Cloudposts are destroyed. The arrows are mainly for pump goblins, sparksmith and other x/1s, although it can be used with Sea-Gate Oracle to kill off x/2s.
If goblins has less than 3 (or about) LD in their SB, this MU is positive. If they’re running a full 8+, it’s slightly negative.
MGA (Mono Green Aggro) Good 60/40
This MU should be a free win, and you're certainly favored. Game 1, you should be able to launch a decent sized Temporal Fissure and combo off the next turn or two. MGA rebuilds very fast, however, so be careful. Be mindful that Vines of Vastwood can be cast on your creatures as well.
In: 2 Fade Away, 1 Serrated Arrows; Out: 2 Compulsive Research, 1 Snap
Post-board you're likely to see scattershot archers and hornet stings. Some players (wrongly) also board in their artifact hate against you. This isn't the end of the world, as it will be slowing down their clock. If you see lots of hornet stings and gleeful sabotages, it’s a great sign (and a classic case where less SBing is more). If they’re boarding in 10+ cards, they’ll greatly reduce their clock (which is arguably the most important aspect of this MU). You'll need to play a bit more like a control deck until you're ready to go off. Unless they tap out, be wary of going off early with a faeries + Snap. And don't worry about their turn 1 Scattershot Archer. You simply need to factor it into your plans when you finally go off. Snap (on the archer) and CoFs normally gets you to the required storm and mana count regardless. The deck is faster than Goblins, so taking the role of full-out control deck isn't viable. Some versions will run Thermokarst (or some type of LD) in the SB. As always, having your Cloudposts destroyed hurts a lot, but only when it is backed up by a fast clock.
UR Post Good, 65/35]
Game one is fairly easy. Wait until you can build up a decent storm count and fissure their board. There isn’t much they can do that’s overly devastating. You’re strongly favored in game 1.
In: 4 Hydroblast,; Out: 1 Snap, 3 Sea-Gate Oracles.
Games 2 and 3 get more interesting. As per the theme, this MU revolves around keeping your Cloudposts alive. Do your best to Hyrdoblast or flicker their LD, and build up to the proper cards to go off. Snapping Cloud of Faeries can be risky, so only do so when you have protection or your opponent is tapped out. Their main plan of attack is to hit you with repeated LD. If they don’t see enough of it (or if you’re able to dodge it), it should be an easy game. Be mindful of hindering touch out of the SB. With enough mana, you can simply pay the 2 for the relevant bounces (i.e. opposing cloudposts).
Simic Storm Slightly Positive 55/45
I disdain mirrors. Combo mirrors and post mirrors are among the worst. Thankfully, the decks are different enough not to fully breakdown to luck. This match will revolve around Cloudposts. Thankfully, you need less posts to go off. One Cloudpost (with 3 in play) is enough to go infinite. Since your posts are being powered by your opponent, going off on turn 4 is possible. Landing a huge fissure on turn 3 is also possible. Unfortunately, you’re also powering his posts. The first person to land a fissure will probably win. Originally, I had this marked 50/50. Yet, after further testing, the speed advantage of mono U is proving to be important. If simic boards in enough LD, things can be rough; one LD is often enough to end the game. Fortunately, thermakarst is hard to cast at 1GG, and reap and sow is 4 mana - which is getting precariously close to the 5 mana needed for temporal fissure.
In: 1 Temporal Fissure, 2 dispel: Out 3 Sea-Gate Oracles
Your dispels are optional and are for countering Crop Rotation. It isn’t a great card, but SGOs aren’t very useful in the MU. Boarding in one card to specifically counter another is something I dislike doing…it ends up being a dead card at times. That being said, dispelling a Crop Rotation can be pretty dramatic. If you run bounce (such as hoodwink), it is very strong in this MU. Be very careful not to feed your opponent’s Cloudposts with Glimmerposts if he’s ahead on mana. You’re the faster deck and can strike sooner. Ghostly Flicker can counter land destruction, but keeping 3 mana untapped can slow your goldfish down. Make careful and solid decisions about which lands to play and when and it isn’t a bad MU. It just isn’t a great one.
V. Playing AGAINST the deck
As you can gleam from the information above, two things are needed in order to defeat the deck. A fast clock and disruption. Occasionally it is enough to have just one of these. If you can goldfish out at turn 3-4, you'll probably be able to beat the deck without disruption. If you're running enough LD (for example, mono-green post running 12+ LD spells) you can probably beat the deck without a decent clock.
However, neither of these are viable options for most decks. Discard hurts the deck, but is arguably the weakest form of disruption. Once Cloudposts comes online, Mulldrifters and Compulsive Research can easily make up the lost cards. Land destruction is arguably the best. The deck has a very difficult time going off without a Cloudpost. If you keep them off the table, you will normally win. Burn with lots of LD in the SB has the best MU against this deck. Delver is also slightly favored, as are decks such as Goblins with the right SB. Infect, UR Fiend and M G Post are all favored. Control and Aggro, however, will have to correctly balance a fast clock with disruption.