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BILLING RESUMED - Pioneer Showcase List - UW Lotus Control
🕑 Added 2023-11-18 02:16:03 +0000 UTCFirst to note: Billing has been resumed, it will be paused on December 17. I plan on practicing this whole month before RC Atlanta.
UW Lotus is still a very strong deck. However, with the new metashift, the deck has to also play differently as well. I have taken a pretty drastic (but very beneficial) shift in the deck.
I have played five leagues of UW Lotus:
5-0 with Proctor
5-0 without Proctor
4-1 without Proctor
4-1 without Proctor
5-0 without Proctor
As you can see, I much rather play without Proctor in this current meta. The meta has shifted to the point where the best decks don't have all that many ETB triggers. It is a more grindy meta where you just need to have answers and efficiency. The printing of Get Lost also allows this playstyle to be played more effectively. With that in mind, Tale's End is the best replacement for Strict Proctor.
Here is the list I have played and plan on playing for the showcase, with my overall score in Leagues being 18-2 so far:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/pW8mGBK-nU-bk6aaGvUIqg
This Showcase will be recorded and uploaded eventually.
Two maybes at the time of this post is:
Hour of Revelation and Search for Azcanta
I think Search For Azcanta actually fits very well in the deck and can be kept as a one-of. It is added synergy with Sunken Citadel as well. But... I am not sure about Hour of Revelation. In theory, I like Hour of Revelation because of how Get Lost produces tokens on the battlefield and it is likely that the condition is met against go wide boards like MonoG but it does not exile.
Differences in the decklist:
0 Strict Proctor: What was once considered the core of the deck is no longer as viable as it was before. The uprise in Phoenix and Temporary Lockdown being arguably better than Proctor in this current meta. Temporary Lockdown also makes the Rakdos Sacrifice matchup, which was not as easy before, much more clean. Without Proctor, nearly every card is playable like in a regular UW deck. They can all do their own things and the Lotus Field is just a bonus.
3 Tale's End: This card replaces Strict Proctor and is meant to not only support the combo, but is a powerful counterspell that can also stop many triggers such as: Phoenix trigger, Fable (particularly 3rd chapter), it has more applications than Proctor but is less explosive turn 3.
4 Sunken Citadel: This card is much stronger than you would think. Because the deck has no turn 1 plays, taplands are not that big of a disadvantage. However, this card is VERY strong in UW Lotus.
Thespian's Stage, Channel Lands, Manlands and Azcanta all benefit from this discount and sometimes allow you to copy earlier than usual. Because of this discount, 4 Thespian's Stage becomes very playable and is now core in the deck. Think of this perfect scenario:
T1: Sunken Citadel - Blue
T2: Thespian's Stage - Hold up Discont or Tale's End
T3: Lotus Field - Discont/Tale's End
T4: 6 mana, you can play Wemperor/Deluge/Verdict and STILL be able to copy Lotus Field.
1 Restless Anchorage: Just a very efficient manland that explores, I would play 2 copies but do not figure I have much room to spare in the list. A consideration for 3x Sunken Citadel and 2x Restless Anchorage was made but the discount of Sunken Citadel is very important early game at times.
1 Search for Azcanta: Great card that synergizes with the deck overall. Sunken Citadel, untap with Teferi and the 1 Dig Through Time also benefits from this card.
Differences in playstyle:
DO NOT CONSIDER THIS DECK TO BE A COMBO CONTROL LOTUS DECK ANYMORE. This is a UW Control deck that basically just plays Lotus Fields too. The playstyle is very similar to regular UW and if you are not comfortable with playing regular UW control, I can see this deck being difficult to pilot.
For example, in the VOD, you will see that I rarely prioritize the combo unless I am in a good position. I would much rather control the board at a regular pace and play Lotus Field naturally, and eventually copy with Thespian's Stage. There are often times where I do not use Tale's End for Lotus Field and I save it instead. This is, a net major advantage. Many of your hands are no longer Mulligan-required and you can often keep all your hands like regular UW can, except ones that are short on lands.
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Patrick Wu
SB Guide comes soon, by the end of this weekend
