Control War has swept the leaderboard of this weekend ranked, taking 5 spots with 1 25/25 and 4 24/25 wins. The deck has everything going for it, great removal with relics, blitz, and board wipes; powerful protected, twin strike, and leech creatures; and game winning buffs in Out of Its Misery and Sole Survivor.
Let's see what top players run in their Control War deck and see what different cards they run compared to the top deck.
In my eyes, this is the most conventional list, just strong cards all around.
https://gudecks.com/decks/GU_1_6_BBqBBqBDoBDoBDyBDyBEXBEXBFvBFvBHEBHMCACCACCAXCAXCCuCDqCDqDAFDAFGBMGBQGBTIDkIDmIDoIDoIDrIDr?godPowers=101307&creator=[tst]cautionfun&userId=73735&archetype=Other%20War
A few interesting cards choices. Viking Longship over Archangel Bruiser, not sure about this I find bruiser more useful, maybe the flank comes in handy sometimes. Runs 2x Ravenous Chimera over Nokkvi Pillager and Aeneas, more leech but fewer twin strike creatures for Hector. Auric Rush is nice for early AOE or picking off weak creatures. No Grand Hall or Iron-tooth Goblin in the deck.
Changes:
+2 Viking Longship, -2 Archangel Bruiser
+2 Ravenous Chimera, -Aeneas, -Nokkvi Pillager
+2 Auric Rush, -Grand Hall, -Iron-tooth Goblin
https://gudecks.com/decks/GU_1_6_BBqBBqBDoBDoBDyBDyBEXBEXBFvBFvCACCACCAXCAXCCjCCjCCuCDCCDCCDqCDqDAFDAFGBQGBTIDgIDgIDkIDrIDr?godPowers=101307&creator=???&userId=284274&archetype=Other%20War
The cheapest of the control war decks. No demogorgons due to budget I assume. Tartessian Improviser is good for buffing your blitz creatures and as a Out of Its Misery target. Warmonger Smith is a good early body, not sure how often you get the relic buff off in the deck.
Changes:
+2 Warmonger Smith, -2 Demogorgon
+Tartessian Improviser, -Aeneas
https://gudecks.com/decks/GU_1_6_BDoBDoBDyBDyBEXBEXBFvBFvBHMCACCACCAXCAXCBBCBBCCXCCuCDqCDqDAFDAFGBMGBQGBTIDkIDmIDoIDoIDrIDr?godPowers=101307&creator=[TOXIC]%20Faex&userId=986649&archetype=Other%20War
The most interesting version of Control War here. Enduring Shield is here for the nature matchup, giving protected helps fight for board. Smith is strong with shield. No pyramid wardens is interesting, it's great early but is a big liability late game. Runs Slayer for the reach. 1 Sole Survivor since they don't run Valka's Presence for the 1/1 body to play with survivor. Avatar of War helps close out the game with the 5/2 relic with Slayer.
Changes:
+2 Enduring Shield, -Sole Survivor, -Iron-tooth Goblin
+2 Warmonger Smith, -2 Pyramid Warden
+Avatar of War, -Strength in Numbers
https://gudecks.com/decks/GU_1_6_BBqBBqBDoBDoBDyBDyBFABFvBFvBHECACCACCAXCAXCBBCBBCCuCDZCDZCDqCDqDAFDAFGBMGBTIDkIDmIDoIDoIDr?godPowers=100123&creator=EcomiWhale@ig&userId=1570889&archetype=Other%20War
Budget version of control war, cutting the expensive cards and opting to cut out some of the top end for more 3/4 mana cards for a more aggressive deck.
https://gudecks.com/decks/GU_1_6_CAXCAXCAZCAZCBBCBBCCZCChCCjCCjCCkCCuCDCCDZCDZCDqCDqHAFHAiIAZICHIDfIDgIDjIDjIDkIDmIDoIDoIDr?godPowers=100123&creator=Om1ch-777&userId=1038445&archetype=Frenzied%20Aggro%20War
The deck lists run most of the same cards, they share between 20-28 depending if you want to count cards in 3/4 or 4/4 of the aforementioned decks.
Most of the deck is reactive cards with lots of blitz, removal, and leech. The deck doesn't have that many proactive plays aside from Master Tactician or Pyramid Warden. Expect to hold your cards and use your god power often.
Most of the players ran Valka's Presence over Slayer. Valka's Presence summons a 1/1 that can get buffed by Sole Survivor so your opponent needs to clear your board or wary of any creature they leave and watch out for getting board wiped by Sole Survivor. The 1/1 is also good for Out of Its Misery.
Slayer is useful against Board Wipe Death for closing out the game.
The top 4 control decks run similar lists that consists of these cards:
The decks have a few different tech cards they run.
