The Top Decks of Pauper: Mono Blue Control (MUC)

In this series we will walk you through the top decks of Pauper as played on Magic Online. Pauper is the Magic Online format where you are only allowed to play commons.  These are the official rules:http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/pauper

We will be using this tier page as the basis or our walkthrough: http://mtgostrat.com/pauper-tier-listing/

Today we will be discussing Mono Blue Control, hated by many under the name "MUC". MUC has been doing very well lately in the premiers, having a good matchup against many of the top decks.

Earlier installments in the series

Burn: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/the-top-decks-of-pauper-burn.html
Affinity: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/the-top-decks-of-pauper-affinity.htmlDelver: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-delver.htmlDelverFiend: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/the-top-decks-of-pauper-delverfiend.htmlStompy: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-stompy.htmlUB Trinket Control: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-ub-trinket.html

Pauper Mono Blue Control sample deck list

This deck was played by Schmirglie in the premier event of March 22nd. He won the tournament.  Deck list here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/6894798

Main Deck
18 Island

3 Quicksand
4 Delver of Secrets
1 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Spire Golem
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Counterspell
2 Deprive
2 Exclude
4 Miscalculation
1 Oona's Grace
4 Piracy Charm
4 Preordain
2 Repeal
2 Repulse
1 Think Twice

Sideboard
2 Coast Watcher
3 Curse of Chains
2 Curse of the Bloody Tome
1 Dispel
4 Hydroblast
1 Mulldrifter
2 Serrated Arrows

The idea here is to just sit back, counter everything and win by your flyers eventually. Your massive card advantage is supposed to win you the game and it often does. It is draw-go control, a thing that is very rare in today's Magic. If you are a blue control player, you are going to love this deck.

Here is a video of me taking on a White Weenie deck with this list.

One question I often get is what the difference between this and the very popular Delver deck (see above) is. The two decks may look similar, as they are both mono blue and has Delver of Secrets in them, but they play very differently. Delver tries to win like a Fish deck - tempo and aggrocontrol. MUC tries to win by pure attrition. Counter, counter, draw cards, win much later. Playing both lists will teach you a lot about the Pauper format.