UR Snow

[optimystic]

Land:

4x Scrying Sheets
2x Mouth Of Ronom
8x Mountain
8x Island
1x Academy Ruins

Creatures:

1x Teferi, mage of zhalfir
4x Phyrexian Ironfoot
3x Stuffy Doll
2x Rimefeather Owl

Spells

4x Skred
4x Remand
3x Cancel
4x Rewind
3x Mystical Teachings
1x Sulfurous Blast
4x Coldsteel Heart / Think Twice
4x Repeal

Sideboard
2 x Muse Vessel
3 x Pyroclasm
3 x Shadow Of Doubt
2 x Rimescale Dragon
1 x Bogarden Hellkite
3 x Blood Moon
1 x Sulfurous Blast

Performs really well against a lot of deck types. Have settled for the slightly higher cc but hard counters. I normally find I have enought o do in my turn without needing the counter on the 2nd turn.

Mystical Teachings is a new addition for this deck from what I've seen, and will allow you to find that sulfurous blast for the first game aggro matchup, or find teferi and any number of other creatures.

I'm not sure whether to run Coldsteel Heart or Think Twice and I'd appreciate some input on this!

[conelead]

It seems like your game 1 vs. Boros is going to be absolutely horrid. Mystical Teachings --> Sulfurous Blast is 8 mana, and by the time you assemble that, you are going to be sitting on very low life and will probably get Charred/Helixed out. Plus, Boros really really scoffs at Sulf Blast/Skred as your major answers to aggro. Knight of the Holy Nimbus and Soltari Priest will make your life difficult. I can see how you'd have game against the rest of the field, but to me, the Boros matchup seems REALLY really iffy. Granted, I haven't tested it, but it seems that you really don't have anything going on early game against Boros, which is not a winning plan.

[optimystic]

The boros game can be quite iffy. It generally relies on a first turn mountain skred game - but as you've said the rest of the field is generally ok. Repeals are also very helpful. I normally mystical teachings at the end of a turn, and sulfurous blast the following turn. I did it this way simply because of the lack of spaces to get 4 pyroclasm main deck - especially as they're useless against other decks.

The SB is geared toward weenie aggro - like boros - to help me take the second game.

[conelead]

My real problem with the list is that your answers cost far more mana than Boros' threats, and you have minimal answers for Turn 2 Soltari Priest. Turn 2 Knight of the Holy Nimbus is almost as bad for you, but not quite, as you CAN spend 3 mana (Skred) to kill him. Remember, you still have to pay the 2 to stop the regen even if Blast resolves. The lack of a bona-fide sweeper against Boros I think will REALLY kill the deck. I have not playtested Boros against this deck in particular, but I have played it a lot. I will tell you this.

The two most important cards I face down from any control deck are as follows:

1) Condemn
2) Wrath of God

Obviously, this shouldn't surprise you. Simply put, playing Boros, your most important creatures are, in order:

1) Soltari Priest
2) Knight of the Holy Nimbus
3) Savannah Lions

These creatures are designed to force through at least two-thirds of the 10-15 damage you expect your creatures to do over the course of the game. The rest comes from burn. You will often need to tap out against Boros, and therefore will run into Lightning Helix and Char a lot when you tap out. Rift Bolt will also put a lot of pressure on you, as even though its a Sorcery, it only costs 1 mana and does 3 damage. I simply cannot see you beating Boros reliably without having at least a winnable game 1. Boros is FAR too consistent of a deck to expect to win both games 2 and 3 (especially with sideboard material). Your game 1 against Boros is I would say nearly unwinnable, and you do not have an uber trump for games 2 and 3. I think Boros is capable of putting on far more pressure than this deck can sustain. You have no real answer to their two most important creatures until at least turn 3, generally turn 4 or 5, and that is FAR too late.

[edit]:

Note: The only real answer you have to Nimbus/Priest is Remand (Game 1). This will only be available to you when you are:

1) On the play
and
2) Have it in your hand

(1) will occur 50% of the time, and (2) is about 50% also (its a little less, but we'll round up). That makes at best 1 out of 4 game 1's where you have Remand on turn 2. I will tell you that Boros can fight through 1 counter on turns 2 and 3, and wrath available form turn 4 onwards, which makes me believe that truly your game 1 against Boros is horrid. Given that Boros is THE aggro deck in standard right now, and cheap to boot, I would not take this to any standard tournament expecting to perform well. The Boros matchup is simply too bad.

I'm not even going to get into the other viable Standard Aggro deck (Zoo). It has bigger creatures and will basically nullify Skred in your deck as an effective early game answer. The fact that 3 toughness creatures come out reliably on turn 1 and 2 makes Skred essentially a blank as an early game answer. Turn 2 Watchwolf is even worse for you than Turn 2 Knight, not quite as bad as Turn 2 Priest.

[optimystic]

Oh, I complete accept that Boros is an absolutely horrible first game. Though after SB it's much better, at least in the limited testing I've had so far - the deck is only about 4 days old for me. I have been half tempted to drop the mystical teachings to the SB and bring pyroclasm into the main, but if I play anything but aggro, it's a dead card.

I'm not totally sure how competitive this deck can be to be frank, it's more of an idea that I've decided to try and adapt - we'll see what we can do with it though!

[conelead]

It's an interesting idea, but I think you need to do something about the Boros matchup. Put simply, your best draws have trouble against average Boros draws. If Boros has a good draw, you lose. If Boros has a god draw, you lose. Another thing, because of the way the decks are designed, Boros is FAR more consistent on turns 1-5 than your deck is. If your deck missteps during these turns, I suspect Boros will have an extremely good chance of winning. I am not even sure your individual game win percentage will go up sideboarded, as Pyroclasm really isn't that big of a deal against Boros. It doesn't answer my two-drops in time, and that is really huge. You think Pyroclasm is a solution to the aggro matchup. As an aggro player, I am telling you, it's not. If you don't want to run white, then you HAVE to maindeck the following card: Spell Snare. It's just that simple. UR Snow may be a perfectly viable archetype. But, in order for that to happen, I firmly believe 3 or 4 copies of Spell Snare in the maindeck is a must, simply because your aggro matchup will be atrocious without it.

I should add that there is a reason why the Boros matchup is a huge deal. I will sum them up below:

1) Boros is the best aggro deck in the field
2) Boros is relatively cheap

This means that lots of people will play Boros. Boros is pretty straightforward to play reasonably well, and it is a cheap deck. You will see Boros at least once, probably twice at every major standard tournament you go to, and you will almost certainly have to beat it in the T8. Boros is not going away. The deck is too consistent to do that. It is one of the few decks that rarely falters. I can expect your deck to lose to luck-based problems at least once a tournament. Boros doesn't do that, plain and simple. It's just the way the deck is designed. The huge inherent redundancy in the deck makes it extraordinarly consistent, but still able to have god-draws.

My opinion: You need 4 maindeck Spell Snare at minimum, probably something else in addition. You may get to sideboard, but don't forget, Boros sideboards too, and most of their sideboarding against conventional control will work against you.

[optimystic]

Hmm.. good points. How about dropping the Remands Main Deck for the Spell Snares?

Rewinds are a must against D-Storm, so not touching them, and cancel is certainly very useful as it's a hard counter. Remand isn't necessary as it isn't worth the tempo stall in this kind of deck?

[conelead]

I wouldn't drop Remand, as it is also very important in the early game. This is what I'd do:

-3 Stuffy Doll, -1 Sulfurous Blast, +4 Spell Snare

Sulf Blast really is not that good. It really isn't. You have hugely overrated it. It is nowhere near Wrath of God. Just use Pyroclasm. It will serve the same purpose in almost every instance. Sure, it's useless against Zoo, whereas Sulf Blast isn't, but your problems against Zoo is a lack of a definative answer to creatures on turns 1-3, not on turn 4. Spell Snare will help there too.

[optimystic]

Hmm.. I don't mind dropping Stuffy to 2 or 1, but I want one in there just because it has some definite uses. A Skred against a stuffy can be devestating, and it's uses as a blocker can't be denied.

I can see dropping Sulf Blast, I don't have a prob with that.

I think -2 Stuffy, -1 Sulf Blast -1 Rewind.

The remaining stuffy can always be found by mystical teachings once Teferi has resolved.