It’s no secret I love UW Control. So when I see a set with Oblivion Ring, Timely Reinforcements, Thirst for Knowledge, Preordain, Elspeth, Sun’s Champion and hexproof Lyra Dawnbringer, I gotta build it ^^.

First, the answers

Banishing Light for any annoying permanent, Memory Drain and Whirlwind Denial as expensive counterspells to lock the lategame, and Stern Dismissal to have an early way to answer aggro decks (let’s say… a UR 2-drop about to be enchanted), or main deck answers to enchantments in addition to O.Ring to counter them after. The Birth of Meletis and Omen of the Sun act as ways to get on the board, deal with aggro decks, and generate QA.

QA and CA

Omen of the Sea enables to dig to find good cards, while avoiding drawing bad ones, and improves the late game topdecks. Thirst for Meaningworks as a great CA tool, but can also help to recycle potentially dead cards in the late game or the MU. The looting on Thirst and the multiple scry cards enable to play situational cards in the MD for the hardest MU, and play a decent amount of land while reducing the odds of having any issue with your manabase at any point of the game.

Winning the game

You can of course beatdown with 1/1 tokens from the white Omen. But you can also use the ones from Elspeth, Sun’s Nemesis. Or use it to gain life against aggro decks. And recur it over and over against grindier decks. The other wincon is Dream Trawler, which is also a clock, a lifegain tool, a CA tool, and a resilient wincon. All those characteristics are essential for a control deck wincon, and both rares in this deck do check that.

In the SB, Revoke Existence answers any artifact or enchantment, Shatter the Sky can close the game against many aggro decks, Soul-Guide Lantern answers GY-based decks, and Naiad of Hidden Coves provides something to replace dead cards in this flashy MD.

Theros Beyond Death – UW – Control by Aliquanto

Credits: find all the scientists papers from Aliquanto and others on our Discord server. Art by Jesper Ejsing for Wizards of the Coast. Image from Scryfall.