UWR Midrange has been one of the most successful standard decks since it's inception shortly after the 2012 rotation. With it's advent in Japan, UWR midrange has continued to put up a steady stream of consistent results. Since it's early days featuring Geist of Saint Traft, Thundermaw Hellkite and a counter spell suite to ensure board management, UWR Midrange has come a long way. While it has shifted to it's Flash variant, it manages to maintain it's core and maneuver in and out of meta games with its remaining flex slots. Offering players both an aggressive stance and a passive stance, UWR Midrange is a deck that continually shines as a contender in Standard.
You may hear some mention UWR Midrange and UWR Flash and they may sound different or you may have just considered the same deck. While both are indeed Midrange decks, the name UWR Midrange is a tribute to the decks roots, featuring Geist of Saint Traft and Thundermaw Hellkite. UWR Flash is in reference to the Midrange approach of playing your cards on your opponents turn throug Flash creatures and instant speed spells. Both strategies fall under the UWR Midrange umbrella, but despite the near identical cores, they decks are quite different.
UWR Midrange features more creatures that ensure a much faster clock. Through beaters like Boros Reckoner, Giest of Saint Traft and Thundermaw Hellkite, the deck maintains a steady transition in the mid game from playing control to playing out the aggressor. These decks usually use less counters and more removal to open paths for creature beats.
UWR Flash features more instant, a larger counter package and more removal. It's main feature is Sphinx's Revelation. Because it staves off Aggro in the early game, it seems to go big in the later stages with Sphinx's Revelation giving them cushion in both life total and hand sculpting.
UWR Flash is certainly the more popular of the two as it features fantastic cards and amazing tricks, but as we have seen UWR Midrange can still be a contender.
Both variations offer solid win percentages, flexible tools and some of the formats most powerful cards. Because they both play out differently, it is sometimes difficult for your opponent to know what you are on until it is too late, and both versions are highly adaptable to any meta game.
UWR Midrange is for players who love to control the tempo of the game. Providing tools to make and break board stalemates, mitigate damage taken and maintain a suitable board state, UWR Midrange packs heavy hitters when you find your opening, inevitably creating faster clocks and playing quicker games. It maintains the control game through it's flexible removal, hard to remove threats and value cards.
UWR Flash is for players seeking to maintain constant control of the game and play a more reactive match. Because it utilizes instant speed spells and flash creatures, you are allowed the flexibility of choice as your lines of play are adapting more to what has already happened then what will happen. Sphinx's Revelation is one of the best cards in the format and Flash attempts to maximize it's value by prepping the board before shaping it's hands.
DXI has not updated that OP in ages. I started working in this primer so it can be updated on a regular basis, Koopa was going to stick it once I finish it up, which I will do tonight or tomorrow night when I get my computer up and going.
Kamahl, I'm actually kinda happy to see this new primer as a flash player I was beginning to wonder where my place was. Flash was being discussed in both the UW aggro and UWx control forums previously. Just glad it was included in the midrange.
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"Unfortunately, all of my test animals have died or escaped, so i shall be the final subject. I feel no fear. This is a momentous night."
--Laboratory notes, final entry
Im having some trouble with junk rites decks ATM, running the flash version of the deck.
As far as i know, its a bad MU for us, since they can work around RiP/tormod´s, and even if i get it to stick, Obsie and AoS are a pain to deal with.
Im having some trouble with junk rites decks ATM, running the flash version of the deck.
As far as i know, its a bad MU for us, since they can work around RiP/tormod´s, and even if i get it to stick, Obsie and AoS are a pain to deal with.
Any ideas?
Have you tried Purify the Grave? Against Junk Rites (but not against Humanimator) I think it's better than the other GY hate options since 1) you can find it off Augur of Bolas / conversely Augur won't flip it away, 2) you can mill yourself with Thought Scour to find it faster, and 3) it straight-up counters their Unburial Rites for just W. You can also use it in response to Angel of Serenity's ETB trigger if they try to exile a fatty in their GY with it.
I'm a UWR Flash player too (Assembles MD, no Aurelia / Pike / Reckoner) and it can be really tough since they can just keep jamming threats. I think Essence Scatter is pretty awesome against them (Cavern of Souls can only name one type, after all), but if they cast a Caverned AoS it can get really rough pre-board. Perhaps it's better to just jam Geist of Saint Traft and race them.
The real problem is that they can normally hardcast those threats, and countering them just isnt efficient. Worse if they play them with cavern.
Im playing a heavy counter/burn pack, no reckoner or Assemble MD, with resto/aurelia/AoS as wincons, so more or less i can play their game, but they are just better at it.
I will try the purifies and see if that helps.
Kamahl, I'm actually kinda happy to see this new primer as a flash player I was beginning to wonder where my place was. Flash was being discussed in both the UW aggro and UWx control forums previously. Just glad it was included in the midrange.
I am glad you like it. I am trying to keep it up to date and as thorough as possible. DXI has all but abandoned the original primer, so it is way out of date.
Im having some trouble with junk rites decks ATM, running the flash version of the deck.
As far as i know, its a bad MU for us, since they can work around RiP/tormod´s, and even if i get it to stick, Obsie and AoS are a pain to deal with.
Any ideas?
It is a rough match, even more so for Flash. The traditional style fares better because it has much more pressure. If you play the match reactively, your counter will fall flat and leave you dead. You pretty much need to go over Thragtusk and through AoS and that is not as doable with the Flash variant, at least not in my playing.
Have you tried Purify the Grave? Against Junk Rites (but not against Humanimator) I think it's better than the other GY hate options since 1) you can find it off Augur of Bolas / conversely Augur won't flip it away, 2) you can mill yourself with Thought Scour to find it faster, and 3) it straight-up counters their Unburial Rites for just W. You can also use it in response to Angel of Serenity's ETB trigger if they try to exile a fatty in their GY with it.
I'm a UWR Flash player too (Assembles MD, no Aurelia / Pike / Reckoner) and it can be really tough since they can just keep jamming threats. I think Essence Scatter is pretty awesome against them (Cavern of Souls can only name one type, after all), but if they cast a Caverned AoS it can get really rough pre-board. Perhaps it's better to just jam Geist of Saint Traft and race them.
The issue with Purify is that it is still too limited. They will just start dropping caverns and playing out their threats. A resolved Craterhoof will just blow you out. As the game goes longer, you need to start converting your resources. AJ Sacher covered this last weekend on camera. In short, he left flash players with something to think about; you cast revelations for a bunch, but then what?
He went on to detail how cards like Aurelia and Harvet Pyre let you turn your early and mid game plays into game ending interactions. For all those reckoners and snapcaster a you dropped, each angel you flashed in, Aurelia turns them into extremely lethal damage. For all those charms and unsommons you used, or thought scours cast, Harvest Pyre becomes a lethal blast to the face.
Cards like Purify don't stop the inevitability and to make up for that, you need to apply pressure to provide some level on inevitability yourself. Pike is much more static than Harvest Pyre, which means it is generally a weaker card. Your keys to beating this match lies in the more proactive approach or ways to create blow out scenarios.
The real problem is that they can normally hardcast those threats, and countering them just isnt efficient. Worse if they play them with cavern.
Im playing a heavy counter/burn pack, no reckoner or Assemble MD, with resto/aurelia/AoS as wincons, so more or less i can play their game, but they are just better at it.
I will try the purifies and see if that helps.
Try working with something more along the lines of the GP lists in the OP, should make the match easier for you.
Personally I'm running Aurelia md and thundermaws in the board for pressure in this match up, I've also seen some flash players bring in their own AoS to combat your opps, in combination with assemble.
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"Unfortunately, all of my test animals have died or escaped, so i shall be the final subject. I feel no fear. This is a momentous night."
--Laboratory notes, final entry
Lately on MTGO, I heard they were using Clone to combat Junk instead of putting hate. This way, we can still use graveyard, pay cheap mana to copy biggies like AoS, Thragtusk etc.. seems a fine choice, I want to try it out while trying how Aurelia will win this war.
i would like to say that i am running thundermaw hellkites as of late, and they are always super nice to see / play. the haste is HUGE against planeswalkers, and the ~4 turn clock you will apply the huge pressure we need to win some matchups.
another card i have been testing with is saving grasp. this card is super techy right now, especially with thundermaw's haste and enter the battlefield effects like snapcaster, and augur of bolas. often times if you can burn just one of their removal spells, your creature can go the distance.
Clone is good against battle cruiser matches. Copying creatures like AoS and Thragtusk can be handy.
I ran clone some time ago, and I was solid, but we have a lot more aggressive decks and Midrange is really good at powering through the mid game and coming out on top, thanks to Aurelia, so idk how good clone actually is against the field right now. If there was more Bant and Naya midrange ir even Jund, I would push clone. But we are facing more things like Junk Reanimator and Naya Blitz etc, where it just is not as good.
I prefer the midrange version anyway. Honesly, I think the best cad for the deck up and coming is Turn/Burn. Turn/Burn allows this deck to handle biger ceatures with relative ease, and the burn half a least can shoot someone, and fused it seems decent enough. Then here is Ral Zarek, catching all the hype. I think he is cool, and will probably make it into the deck on a compettitve level, I'm jus no sure where he really shines overall. His bolt is nice, and the untap/tap thing has merits. Their is also that 4 mana lighning helix, which I don hink is terrible. It does 4 damage a instan speed fo 4 and ou gain 4 life. 4 damage is a nice place to be in a race, or as a finisher and to whack 4 toughness duders.
I have completely abandoned flash after about 2/3 of the spoilers. I just don't see it performing and Midrange has been doing much better for me since Gatecrash than Flash was anyways.
Some thoughts about DGM and UWR Midrange:
Unsummon is criminally underplayed
Ral Zerek loves 1 CMC spells as does SCM
Dragonshift is a psuedo GoST
GoST loves Dragonshift almost as much as it loves Restoration Angel
Counterspells are strong
Warleader's Helix competes with Restoration Angel
The keys that I am picking up on are 1 CMC spells. Snapcaster Mage was so good in Delver because it had so many value targets at a cheap cost. Vapor Snag, Gut Shot, Ponder etc. It is the sweet spot for Snapcaster and it is also the sweet spot for Ral Zarek because you can double up your protection with him, or milk another card off a revelations with him. He also allows for turn 5 Aurelia which paired with Reckoner, is hard to deal with because you just tapped a dude and dropped an angel to allow Reckoner to get in on the ground and Aurelia to get in in the air.
What I am currently looking at is going back to October and building UWR Midrange from the ground up starting with some of those early lists, because they are a strong start, simply because Cavern of Souls has dropped from a lot of aggro decks for consistency reasons and it seems like the counterspell package is pretty strong.
Finding room for Ral Zarek is tricky. I honestly feel if you are running more Unsummon over Pillar of Flame, you could fit him into Searing Spear's place.
There are a couple mainboard configurations I can see and they are really going to lean on weather Geist of Saint Traft is your tempo creature of it Boros Reckoner is.
I've been running serra avengers and geist in place of restored angels and Reckoners and rarely feel like I'd rather have resto... It makes missing a land drop not as bad and vigilance is really useful. My list runs Gideons and jace in the four drop slot ATM tho....considering trying ral out in there
I have completely abandoned flash after about 2/3 of the spoilers. I just don't see it performing and Midrange has been doing much better for me since Gatecrash than Flash was anyways.
Some thoughts about DGM and UWR Midrange:
Unsummon is criminally underplayed
Ral Zerek loves 1 CMC spells as does SCM
Dragonshift is a psuedo GoST
GoST loves Dragonshift almost as much as it loves Restoration Angel
Counterspells are strong
Warleader's Helix competes with Restoration Angel
The keys that I am picking up on are 1 CMC spells. Snapcaster Mage was so good in Delver because it had so many value targets at a cheap cost. Vapor Snag, Gut Shot, Ponder etc. It is the sweet spot for Snapcaster and it is also the sweet spot for Ral Zarek because you can double up your protection with him, or milk another card off a revelations with him. He also allows for turn 5 Aurelia which paired with Reckoner, is hard to deal with because you just tapped a dude and dropped an angel to allow Reckoner to get in on the ground and Aurelia to get in in the air.
What I am currently looking at is going back to October and building UWR Midrange from the ground up starting with some of those early lists, because they are a strong start, simply because Cavern of Souls has dropped from a lot of aggro decks for consistency reasons and it seems like the counterspell package is pretty strong.
Finding room for Ral Zarek is tricky. I honestly feel if you are running more Unsummon over Pillar of Flame, you could fit him into Searing Spear's place.
There are a couple mainboard configurations I can see and they are really going to lean on weather Geist of Saint Traft is your tempo creature of it Boros Reckoner is.
Sounds to me you are running more of a tempo UWR, than a real midrange.
And i dont see how counterspells are stronger now than before, specially with things like voice of resurgence being an auto 4 off in every GW deck.
Also, a counterspell package in a midrange deck? Again, soudns like a pure tempo build to me.
I predict we won't see as much voice of resurgence as people think. A friend pointed out its basically a 2/2 doomed traveler. Sure it CAN be more. But that's about all that's gaurunteed...not super impressive. Will prolly end up more of a sideboard card IMO.
Plus pillar and turn/burn both stop voice completely. So meh
Well, Turn/Burn is probably the strongest addition to this archtype. I'm sure Ral Zarek will see play. Possibly Warleader's Helix. I don't think counterspells will be a mainstay, probably more for sideboard options. Midrange has been what I have been playing, not Flash, so I don't run any countermagic at all, I leave it in the sideboard. This archtype is just getting better and more fun to pilot. Glad I picked it up.
Sounds to me you are running more of a tempo UWR, than a real midrange.
And i dont see how counterspells are stronger now than before, specially with things like voice of resurgence being an auto 4 off in every GW deck.
Also, a counterspell package in a midrange deck? Again, soudns like a pure tempo build to me.
The initial UWR Midrange was a tempo Geist list featuring a midrange strategy with counter, restoration angel and Thundermaw Hellkite. Just because it is a tempo centric list does not mean it isn't a midrange strategy...
I predict we won't see as much voice of resurgence as people think. A friend pointed out its basically a 2/2 doomed traveler. Sure it CAN be more. But that's about all that's gaurunteed...not super impressive. Will prolly end up more of a sideboard card IMO.
Plus pillar and turn/burn both stop voice completely. So meh
It is a doomed traveler that disrupts tempo, maintains tempo and scales. It isn't a matter of it seeing play to hate control, it is a matter of it being a good creature regardless of whether or not it hinders control and tempo decks at all. It is a card that is built to see play regardless of go the meta looks.
Well, Turn/Burn is probably the strongest addition to this archtype. I'm sure Ral Zarek will see play. Possibly Warleader's Helix. I don't think counterspells will be a mainstay, probably more for sideboard options. Midrange has been what I have been playing, not Flash, so I don't run any countermagic at all, I leave it in the sideboard. This archtype is just getting better and more fun to pilot. Glad I picked it up.
Turn and Burn is good. I have my count at 2 in midrange because it cost 5 at instant speed for full value and it isn't something I seek very often. Unsummon handles everything for a single mana and it makes snaps and Ral even better.
Helix is too slow. Maybe SB but it just isn't enough, not over Resto anyways.
This is what I have been playing for almost a week. I don't have clones at the moment so I am trying Zealous with cloudshift out of the sideboard for a bit. It really has helped against jund, the turn they drop the thragtusk to stabilize, I have been able to steal it swing in and either bounce/retain or it would be enough to kill them.
Reckonor over Geist/Assemble over Planeswalker
I opted to run Reckonors over Geists and 1 Assemble Mainboard which usually sneaks in and is taken out for game 2 ie Acidic Slime.
Counterspells:
3 Counterspells 2 Dissipates and 1 Syncopate all relevant for exile vs Reanimator with Counterflux in the sideboard for control matchups. Chose not to run izzet charms. Contemplating running 1 Rewind.
Sweepers:
2 Sweepers ie Supreme Verdict and Blasphemous act in the main with 3 boros charms (Recently when down from 4). Helps a lot against both midrange and aggro , can steal a lot of games with turn 2/3 spears and charms to the face, drop reckonor and acts the following turn or against midrange/aggro can boros charm and sweep usually resulting in turn 6 blowouts.
Sideboard:
I have the standard counterflux/Staticcasters/RestinPeace and Jace for Control/Aristocrats/Reanimator matchups.
Gideon is for some midrange or aggro matchups, bulking him up and double swing with aurelia or swinging with azorius charm for lifelink has really helped if verdict is not in hand on turn 4/5, usually will come in for Assemble against Acidic Slime potential decks/Some Control.
Angel of Serenity/Detention Sphere/CloudShifts usually come in for most reanimator/Midrange matchups. Being able to counter their angel or steal their board with angel is a big plus in reanimator/jund matchups. The cloudshifts will come in for the 2 unsummons against most thragtusk decks for the Zealous conscript/cloudshift play on tusks. They also aren't completely dead in hand as a psuedo resto angel for snaps/desperation blocks.
Feedback:
Looking for a lot of feedback and any help with card choices/flavor choices. I have some Ideas with DGM cards ie Ral/Turn/Burn and DragonShift but anything else would be helpful. I main Esper and just got back into Magic 2 months ago and this is my first complete UWR Deck and I really like the style.
I have completely abandoned flash after about 2/3 of the spoilers. I just don't see it performing and Midrange has been doing much better for me since Gatecrash than Flash was anyways.
Some thoughts about DGM and UWR Midrange:
Unsummon is criminally underplayed
Ral Zerek loves 1 CMC spells as does SCM
Dragonshift is a psuedo GoST
GoST loves Dragonshift almost as much as it loves Restoration Angel
Counterspells are strong
Warleader's Helix competes with Restoration Angel
You know you are the first person I know that likes Dragonshift, I mean really I HOPE this card is semi Decent. And want to hear arguments for it. I personally think Izzet got shived on DM and Ravnica. Also I am very curious to know what counterspells are doing well! I am not being sarcastic, I want to know more about how RWU plays. I think a midrange creature heavy deck is coming, and it's going to a be a good deck. Does Dragonshift only combo with GoST?
You know you are the first person I know that likes Dragonshift, I mean really I HOPE this card is semi Decent. And want to hear arguments for it. I personally think Izzet got shived on DM and Ravnica. Also I am very curious to know what counterspells are doing well! I am not being sarcastic, I want to know more about how RWU plays. I think a midrange creature heavy deck is coming, and it's going to a be a good deck. Does Dragonshift only combo with GoST?
I like Dragonshift in the way that I like Boros Charm. It lets me push damage through. Would I mainboard Dragonshift? probably not. Would I side it into a control match or mirror match? Absolutely.
Truth is, I will probably just stick to boros charm, but I like knowing that Dragonshift is out there for an alternative.
As far as the counterspells, I use Syncopate and Dissipate as well as Essence Scatter. My list is posted in the Flash or Midrange thread if you care to take a look.
My deviantART; if you're interested in alters, PM me!
--Laboratory notes, final entry
As far as i know, its a bad MU for us, since they can work around RiP/tormod´s, and even if i get it to stick, Obsie and AoS are a pain to deal with.
Any ideas?
Have you tried Purify the Grave? Against Junk Rites (but not against Humanimator) I think it's better than the other GY hate options since 1) you can find it off Augur of Bolas / conversely Augur won't flip it away, 2) you can mill yourself with Thought Scour to find it faster, and 3) it straight-up counters their Unburial Rites for just W. You can also use it in response to Angel of Serenity's ETB trigger if they try to exile a fatty in their GY with it.
I'm a UWR Flash player too (Assembles MD, no Aurelia / Pike / Reckoner) and it can be really tough since they can just keep jamming threats. I think Essence Scatter is pretty awesome against them (Cavern of Souls can only name one type, after all), but if they cast a Caverned AoS it can get really rough pre-board. Perhaps it's better to just jam Geist of Saint Traft and race them.
Im playing a heavy counter/burn pack, no reckoner or Assemble MD, with resto/aurelia/AoS as wincons, so more or less i can play their game, but they are just better at it.
I will try the purifies and see if that helps.
I am glad you like it. I am trying to keep it up to date and as thorough as possible. DXI has all but abandoned the original primer, so it is way out of date.
It is a rough match, even more so for Flash. The traditional style fares better because it has much more pressure. If you play the match reactively, your counter will fall flat and leave you dead. You pretty much need to go over Thragtusk and through AoS and that is not as doable with the Flash variant, at least not in my playing.
The issue with Purify is that it is still too limited. They will just start dropping caverns and playing out their threats. A resolved Craterhoof will just blow you out. As the game goes longer, you need to start converting your resources. AJ Sacher covered this last weekend on camera. In short, he left flash players with something to think about; you cast revelations for a bunch, but then what?
He went on to detail how cards like Aurelia and Harvet Pyre let you turn your early and mid game plays into game ending interactions. For all those reckoners and snapcaster a you dropped, each angel you flashed in, Aurelia turns them into extremely lethal damage. For all those charms and unsommons you used, or thought scours cast, Harvest Pyre becomes a lethal blast to the face.
Cards like Purify don't stop the inevitability and to make up for that, you need to apply pressure to provide some level on inevitability yourself. Pike is much more static than Harvest Pyre, which means it is generally a weaker card. Your keys to beating this match lies in the more proactive approach or ways to create blow out scenarios.
Try working with something more along the lines of the GP lists in the OP, should make the match easier for you.
--Laboratory notes, final entry
another card i have been testing with is saving grasp. this card is super techy right now, especially with thundermaw's haste and enter the battlefield effects like snapcaster, and augur of bolas. often times if you can burn just one of their removal spells, your creature can go the distance.
I ran clone some time ago, and I was solid, but we have a lot more aggressive decks and Midrange is really good at powering through the mid game and coming out on top, thanks to Aurelia, so idk how good clone actually is against the field right now. If there was more Bant and Naya midrange ir even Jund, I would push clone. But we are facing more things like Junk Reanimator and Naya Blitz etc, where it just is not as good.
The control hate has increased a lot, so maybe the midrange version is better than the flash one now?
Some thoughts about DGM and UWR Midrange:
The keys that I am picking up on are 1 CMC spells. Snapcaster Mage was so good in Delver because it had so many value targets at a cheap cost. Vapor Snag, Gut Shot, Ponder etc. It is the sweet spot for Snapcaster and it is also the sweet spot for Ral Zarek because you can double up your protection with him, or milk another card off a revelations with him. He also allows for turn 5 Aurelia which paired with Reckoner, is hard to deal with because you just tapped a dude and dropped an angel to allow Reckoner to get in on the ground and Aurelia to get in in the air.
What I am currently looking at is going back to October and building UWR Midrange from the ground up starting with some of those early lists, because they are a strong start, simply because Cavern of Souls has dropped from a lot of aggro decks for consistency reasons and it seems like the counterspell package is pretty strong.
Finding room for Ral Zarek is tricky. I honestly feel if you are running more Unsummon over Pillar of Flame, you could fit him into Searing Spear's place.
There are a couple mainboard configurations I can see and they are really going to lean on weather Geist of Saint Traft is your tempo creature of it Boros Reckoner is.
Sounds to me you are running more of a tempo UWR, than a real midrange.
And i dont see how counterspells are stronger now than before, specially with things like voice of resurgence being an auto 4 off in every GW deck.
Also, a counterspell package in a midrange deck? Again, soudns like a pure tempo build to me.
Plus pillar and turn/burn both stop voice completely. So meh
If you turn and burn an angel of serenity do they still get their cards back?
No. Turn // Burn is exactly what UWR decks needed, this card is amazing.
The initial UWR Midrange was a tempo Geist list featuring a midrange strategy with counter, restoration angel and Thundermaw Hellkite. Just because it is a tempo centric list does not mean it isn't a midrange strategy...
It is a doomed traveler that disrupts tempo, maintains tempo and scales. It isn't a matter of it seeing play to hate control, it is a matter of it being a good creature regardless of whether or not it hinders control and tempo decks at all. It is a card that is built to see play regardless of go the meta looks.
Turn and Burn is good. I have my count at 2 in midrange because it cost 5 at instant speed for full value and it isn't something I seek very often. Unsummon handles everything for a single mana and it makes snaps and Ral even better.
Helix is too slow. Maybe SB but it just isn't enough, not over Resto anyways.
3 Restoration Angel
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Aurelia, the Warleader
4 Boros Reckoner
1 Zealous Conscripts
Instants:
4 Azorius Charm
2 Searing Spear
3 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Thought Scour
2 Dissipate
1 Syncopate
3 Boros Charm
2 Unsummon
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Supreme Verdict
Enchantments:
1 Assemble the Legion
Lands:
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Sulfur Falls
4 Steam Vents
3 Clifftop Retreat
1 Island
3 Plains
2 Mountain
1 Slayers' Stronghold
1 Psychic Spiral
2 Counterflux
2 Izzet Staticaster
2 Rest in Peace
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Detention Sphere
1 Angel of Serenity
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Gideon, Champion of Justice
2 Cloudshift
1 Searing Spear
This is what I have been playing for almost a week. I don't have clones at the moment so I am trying Zealous with cloudshift out of the sideboard for a bit. It really has helped against jund, the turn they drop the thragtusk to stabilize, I have been able to steal it swing in and either bounce/retain or it would be enough to kill them.
Reckonor over Geist/Assemble over Planeswalker
I opted to run Reckonors over Geists and 1 Assemble Mainboard which usually sneaks in and is taken out for game 2 ie Acidic Slime.
Counterspells:
3 Counterspells 2 Dissipates and 1 Syncopate all relevant for exile vs Reanimator with Counterflux in the sideboard for control matchups. Chose not to run izzet charms. Contemplating running 1 Rewind.
Sweepers:
2 Sweepers ie Supreme Verdict and Blasphemous act in the main with 3 boros charms (Recently when down from 4). Helps a lot against both midrange and aggro , can steal a lot of games with turn 2/3 spears and charms to the face, drop reckonor and acts the following turn or against midrange/aggro can boros charm and sweep usually resulting in turn 6 blowouts.
Sideboard:
I have the standard counterflux/Staticcasters/RestinPeace and Jace for Control/Aristocrats/Reanimator matchups.
Gideon is for some midrange or aggro matchups, bulking him up and double swing with aurelia or swinging with azorius charm for lifelink has really helped if verdict is not in hand on turn 4/5, usually will come in for Assemble against Acidic Slime potential decks/Some Control.
Angel of Serenity/Detention Sphere/CloudShifts usually come in for most reanimator/Midrange matchups. Being able to counter their angel or steal their board with angel is a big plus in reanimator/jund matchups. The cloudshifts will come in for the 2 unsummons against most thragtusk decks for the Zealous conscript/cloudshift play on tusks. They also aren't completely dead in hand as a psuedo resto angel for snaps/desperation blocks.
Feedback:
Looking for a lot of feedback and any help with card choices/flavor choices. I have some Ideas with DGM cards ie Ral/Turn/Burn and DragonShift but anything else would be helpful. I main Esper and just got back into Magic 2 months ago and this is my first complete UWR Deck and I really like the style.
You know you are the first person I know that likes Dragonshift, I mean really I HOPE this card is semi Decent. And want to hear arguments for it. I personally think Izzet got shived on DM and Ravnica. Also I am very curious to know what counterspells are doing well! I am not being sarcastic, I want to know more about how RWU plays. I think a midrange creature heavy deck is coming, and it's going to a be a good deck. Does Dragonshift only combo with GoST?
I like Dragonshift in the way that I like Boros Charm. It lets me push damage through. Would I mainboard Dragonshift? probably not. Would I side it into a control match or mirror match? Absolutely.
Truth is, I will probably just stick to boros charm, but I like knowing that Dragonshift is out there for an alternative.
As far as the counterspells, I use Syncopate and Dissipate as well as Essence Scatter. My list is posted in the Flash or Midrange thread if you care to take a look.