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Ladies and Gentlemen; I'm referring, of course, to the Control Player! As a big time UB player I feel a little strange doing this; it feels like I'm betraying some sacred oath or something.... Nevertheless, I have come here to give you the facts on these guys and the tools with which to beat them. The Vile Three Although it could be argued that there varying degrees of Control in a game such as Magic, the players and their tactics can be separated into three major archetypes: “No” Men, Pyromancers and The Mutilators
What is worse is that these guys seem to have merged into new hybrids—a mixture of two or even all three of the Archetypes. Each has its own strengths, and as a side-effect of this each has its own weaknesses. How to Beat “No” Men The primary option you have at your disposal is a technique called "fishing." This is where you attempt to get the Control player to counter a spell you really don't mind losing to rid him of one of his answers to your threats. This theory relies upon numbers and your ability to play a bluff: If you can master these skills then you can beat these characters. Consider if you will that in the average deck of sixty cards the Control player needs to fit both his means of winning and his counters, so the chances are that he's running an average of twelve to fifteen cards with the counterspell ability—build your deck with this detail in mind. Speed and recursion are your next routes of attack against these characters. The simple matter is that counterspells are, as a general rule, fairly mana-intensive and they need a solid mana base. Use this to your advantage and play cards that you can get out quickly or cards that you can use again through inbuilt mechanics such as flashback, buyback or recover. The last route is using those spells that simply cannot be countered or means by which spells can be made uncounterable such as the land Boseiju, Who Shelters All or such cards as Gaea's Herald. The problem with most of this method is that these cards are usually underpowered for their cost or they are of such a high cost that even a Control player can beat you to the punch; either that or your initial spell can still be countered How to Beat Pyromancers Your main route of attack against these evil folk is shroud—they’ll have a hard time killing off your creatures and key components if they cannot target them. There are means to protect both yourself and your permanents with shroud or some other form of defense. Some creatures even counter spells which target them; Kira, Great Glass-Spinner comes to mind here. Slightly easier to perform but less dependable is the “Protection from ...” route. There are plenty of cards which grant this ability and a fair few creatures with the ability inbuilt; concentrate on protection from Red and Black as these are the favored colors these unsavory types like to play, but don't discount White and even Green too quickly. Some cards to consider would be Absolute Law and Absolute Grace as well as such creatures as Auriok Champion and Empty-Shrine Kannushi. Blink, bounce and graveyard recursion are the last lines of defense against these guys; slower and more of a cure than a preventative measure, each of these can be applied to ensure you keep your side of the field in one piece. How to Beat The Mutilators The quickest way to beat these guys is to accept the mantle of a “No” man; yes I know it feels wrong to some of you, but the simple matter is that it works. Look at it this way; a counterspell is one card that will have served its purpose if it is used in this manner—anything else becomes dead weight if you are forced to discard it, and these guys don't play fair; you are likely to lose everything. Ivory Mask and such cards are the route those who simply hate the idea of adopting Control will take—a preventative measure but not an absolute one, as these guys have ways to get around a targeting issue such as this (Delirium Skeins is but one such method). Again as a cure to the problem is graveyard recursion and cards with the mechanics flashback, buyback & recover. Whilst not an ideal solution it at least allows you to get some use out of your cards; provided they go to the graveyard and aren't simply removed for the game altogether. A small token against these guys is that there are cards that want to be discarded. Madness cards love it when your opponent helps you out in this manner, and there are some cards like Guerrilla Tactics and Spiritual Focus which punish your opponent in some manner for resorting to such tactics. Of course, these cards either need you to know in advance your opponent is going to force you to discard a card, or to make yourself discard cards through some means.
This deck does it all; it can tackle all three of the archetypes and win through with the Angel. In truth this deck is resorting to the mantle of a “No” Man deck, but if it works it shouldn’t be discounted. The Isochron Scepter and Orim’s Chant combo is the ultimate in lockdown—practically everyone who I’ve pulled this out against has admitted defeat immediately. Even those who hang around long enough soon see they are pitched in a battle they simply can’t win; quite literally if you manage to pull out the Angel and Privileged Position. The Mutilators can do you the most damage if you don’t manage to pull out the Ivory Mask quickly, but once that’s down you should be able to fend them off and push on to victory. Alright guys, I’m going to have to get out of here before the Control players of the Writer’s Guild find me and decide to enact the “Mob Justice” rule they seem so fond of. Until we next meet, this is Luthervamplord; signing off.
Of the three main archetypes of Magic decks (Aggro, Combo, and Control), there is no doubt in my mind that the most despised of these strategies in the casual eye is Control. Control is a dick. He wants to counter all your spells, destroy all your lands, kill all of your creatures, and basically make your life one long stream of never ending hell until he FINALLY beats you 20 turns later. Control plays the slow game. He trades card for card, trying to sneak in ways to draw extra cards, or kill more than one creature, trying to drain your hand slowly and deliberately as the game progresses. Sometimes Control is a good thing when your friends are playing tons of Combo decks. But, if you’re sick of seeing Counterspells, then worry no longer; let me show you how to ruin Control’s day. Control players normally use a few types of cards, regardless of what else they’re playing. Counterspells and discard spells are the ones I’d like to focus on today, but many Control decks also play mass creature removal (like Damnation or Wrath of God) as well as a few other things. Let’s break it down type by type, and discuss the two types of spells and how to deal with them. Counterspells One of the biggest classes of spells in Magic, counterspells are also some of the most annoying spells. It’s not a good day when your third Ravenous Baloth gets knocked down by another Mana Leak or Faerie Trickery. Fortunately, there are some solutions for these pesky (mostly) Blue instants.
Green has quite a few ways to deal with these pesky Blue cards. One way to take care of them is by using the “punisher” cards like Eyes of the Wisent and Seedtime. These cards punish your opponent for playing Blue Instants during your turn. These are easy to put in a sideboard, and they’re fairly splash-able, so playing them against an opponent with tons of counterspells is almost a no-brainer. If you’re looking for spells in any color that can get past counter magic, check out split second. These spells can’t be responded to (except by things that don’t use the stack, like tapping lands or morph), and they’re a great way to get your work done without the fear of Blue spells. Another way Green and Red can deal with Blue is by playing creatures and spells that have the text “can’t be countered” on them. Talk about stopping a Blue mage cold! Creatures like Kavu Chameleon; Scragnoth; Demonfire; and Akroma, Angel of Fury are all great cards that Blue opponents aren’t going to be able to handle with regular counterspells. Leyline of Lifeforce and Gaea’s Herald keep all of your creatures safe from impinging Blue instants. Finally, if you aren’t playing a lot of Green and Red, and you’re still looking to make your sorceries and instants uncounterable, Boseiju, Who Shelters All is an amazing land. It keeps your Tooth and Nails or your Mind Springs safe from any wandering Mana Leak or Last Word. Really, if you don’t let them bug you, counterspells aren’t going to ruin your day too much; but, if one of the guys in your playgroup is being a prick, here’s a deck that can fix the problem.
So angry! Just want... to... break things! Well, this deck wants to break things, anyway. Things like your opponent's face. Basically, the creatures in this deck are all "I have to counter this card" type of spells. This means that Blue is going to have a terrible time facing up to this. Gaea's Herald and Leyline of Lifeforce grace the deck (since it's specifically designed to play against a deck that plays tons of counterspells). I decided to go mono-Green on this one, although lots of other colors could be added to spice the deck up. Remember, the decks I've presented here are really just a guide, and you definitely wouldn't want to waste the slots you give to Leyline of Lifeforce and Gaea's Herald if your opponents never play counterspells. Play Moldervine Cloak and and Ravenous Baloth, or something equally intimidating instead of these when your opponent decides to lay off the counters. Discard Discard spells are one of Black’s most powerful specialties; targeted discard like Thoughtseize or Duress have always been powerful, and random discard spells like Hymn to Tourach and Stupor can be absolutely devastating in the right situations. It’s never fun to have an amazing hand and get it nailed to oblivion by a second turn Hymn to Tourach. Losing all of your lands on turn two and not being able to play a card for the next three turns is kind of like buying a Ferrari, and then later on finding out that it’s actually a Toyota Tercel. Thankfully, there are a few ways to not get absolutely ravaged by discard. One of my favorite cards to play against a Control player focusing on discard spells is Dodecapod. It’s a lovely uncommon (and Timeshifted card) that becomes a free 5/5 when an opponent makes you discard it. It’s especially nice when the discard is not choice-based. Getting a free 5/5 on turn two on the same turn your opponent plays Ravenous Rats is about as nuts as you can get. Other cards like Guerilla Tactics are more fun when your opponent is making you discard. Quagnoth is a fun little card that you can’t really lose. It’s worth a mention because your opponent also can’t counter it (it has split second). One of the most fun things you can do to your friend who’s been misguided by discard spells is this: Play a deck that wants him to make you discard! Decks that use threshold; dredge; and Haakon, Stromgald Scourge-based strategies can send a powerful message to the people playing along with you at your kitchen table. Namely, that message is, “Cut that crap out, or I’ll keep trouncing you!” Here’s a deck that can do just that.
The basic goal of this deck is to play out some early fliers and Knights, and then follow up with a turn three or turn four Haakon. Once Haakon is in play, you can cast Nameless Inversion and Crib Swap (because they’re Knights!) over and over and over and over and, well, you get the picture. Discard really has no game against this deck. The deck has cheap powerful creatures, and once Haakon hits play, there really isn’t anything stopping the deck. This deck can even benefit from an early discard spell to make Haakon go to the graveyard! Everything is playable out of the grave, which means good times (for you, anyway. Bad times for the jerk who keeps on playing discard). Well, hopefully this article gives you a few ideas; as always, this is Death_By_Beebles. I’m out. *Death_By_Beebles*
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Hey
guys, Luthervamplord here. This time around I'm here to help you beat an
archetype of player that regularly suffers from abuse and violence due to their
unsavory gaming tactics; these players have high levels of insurance because
they ruin the game for so many and live in constant fear of the public beatings
they rightfully deserve!
A
Control Player's Nightmare. 
Green,
Mean, Thrashing Machine. 