Avatar U/B Control
by Hero- July 9th 2001

HyPNoTiC_88 writes,

First of all, sorry for my english, it isn't my cradle language

Here is my UB Control-will deck.The dack has 2 ways to win. The first is casting an early Scuta, or a Persecute+Bog down+Av.Will Or if no rituals are drew, control the game countering and discarding, finishing later with a Avatar of will.

It isn't consistent enough and have too many cards (64). Please, help me improving it.

UB Avatar Control by HyPNoTiC_88

Control
4x Duress
3x Bog Down
2x Lobotomy
2x Persecute
4x Counterspell
4x Undermine
3x Spite/Malice
2x Recoil

Creatures
3x Ravenous rats
3x Phyrexian Scuta
3x Plague Spitter (Rebels and BOPs drives me crazy)
3x Abyssal Specter
2x Avatar of will

Lands and mana
4x Dark Ritual
4x Salt Marsh
4x Undergroun River
6x Swamp
8x Island

Sideboard
4x Engineered Plague
3x Tsabo's Decree
3x Submerge
2x Persecute
3x Misdirection

Well, looking at the deck, I can see why it's inconsistent. You've got more Islands than Swamps, and you've got more cards that use black mana than blue mana. Here's my revision:

UB Avatar Control (revised by Hero-)

Control
4 Duress
2 Persecute
3 Bog Down
4 Counterspell
4 Undermine
4 Recoil

Creatures
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Abyssal Specter
4 Avatar of Will

Lands and Mana
4 Dark Ritual
9 Island
7 Swamp
4 Underground River
4 Salt Marsh

Sideboard
4 Nausea
3 Tsabo's Decree
3 Hibernation
3 Misdirection
2 Persecute

Card-by-Card Analysis
Duress - Great card. No questions.
Persecute - Mono color decks, bend over!
Bog Down - It's the cousin of Stupor, and we welcome him with open arms.
Counterspell - Counters... spells... anything else?
Undermine - Counters... spells... and bites you too for 3.
Recoil - For those nasty Story Circles or some icky creature that's gnawing in your bones.
Ravenous Rats - These guys nibble at the opponent's hand, and can serve the beats for a turn or two.
Abyssal Specter - This bad boy bites at the opponent's hand, and flies over most things.
Avatar of Will - And why all the discard? Well duuuuuh! This guy wants to come out and play... for UU, instead of 6UU.
Dark Ritual - Speed is always nice.
Land - I noticed that there were 22 land, so added more. Land is always nice. Allows you to cast stuff.
And the sideboard...
Nausea - Instead of Engineered Plague, which was there earlier, I replaced it with this. Nausea can knock out any 1/1, instead of Plague getting rid of a certain 1/1.
Tsabo's Decree - Die rebels, die. Also good vs Merfolk type decks.
Hibernation - I went with this over Submerge. It can do major damage vs Fires, taking out Blastoderms, Saproling Bursts, and Shivan Wurms.
Misdirection - This is for those burn decks, like Burning Bridge. Also useful for Ponza-type decks, and counter decks.
Persecute - More mono color hate.

Turbo Avatar decks are always fun. With a little work, they can be awesome tournament decks. Have fun!

Jimmy Mekaroun
Hero- on IRC