Doing some analysis of my mana base before the GP:
14 fetches-
- 2 Evolving Wilds + 4 Polluted Delta (4 fetchable colors)
- 4 Bloodstained Mire + 4 Flooded Strand (3 fetchable colors)
10 fetchable lands-
- 2 of each relevant Santa Land (6 total)
- 1 of each relevant basic (4 total)
2 Utility Lands
So I've got a 26 land 4-color control deck with only 4 lands that need to come into play tapped. Compared to say RTR-THS Esper Control being 27 lands, only 3 colors and a whopping 12 tapped lands, the mana is pretty good right now.
The mana sources come out like this:
- 21 Black
- 19 Blue
- 15 White
- 13 Red
Again, pretty high numbers for a 4-color deck. Still, looking at the way the mana is spread out vs the
types of spells in my deck, there's a surplus of UB mana and I'm slightly tight on red. Thus, it would make a lot of sense to replace a Sunken Hollow with a basic Mountain. Then the mana winds up like this:
- 20 Black
- 18 Blue
- 15 White
- 14 Red
Which is
almost perfect for the types of spells I want to cast. It lets me cast Dig Through Time and Infinite Obliteration relatively easily and on time while still being able to fire off Fiery Impulse. In fact, outside of turn one Impulse specifically, it basically
would be perfect numbers.
The problem is that removing a Sunken Hollow makes Bloodstained Mire much weaker in the long game once its ability to fetch blue disappears. As a relatively slow control deck that wants to regularly hit the 6th land and beyond, this is a relevant consideration. I'm not interested in going to 27 lands at this point. I'm also certainly not willing to add a third Evolving Wilds or Trilands and increase the number of taplands while putting extra strain on my fetchable lands.
It may be that more consistent early red mana is worth the occasional awkward draw in the mid-game. Especially with Painful Truths in the deck, there's ways of finding the second blue for Dig Through Time or a spell with negate backup.
Any opinions?
Oh, another one:
Linvala, the worse version of herself.
This is a good card. I doubt it'll see much Standard play but I could see it in the sideboard of a UW control deck. The pseudo-Timely Reinforcements effect is really good.