MUC in Vintage Pauper

A while back there were been some questions about what a mono blue control deck would look like in paper. Those of us who play pauper online are restricted to using a limited number of sets. As of the date of that this article was published, those stand as everything Invasion forward, Mirage block and a smattering of pre-Mirage cards brought to us by Master's Edition and Coldsnap preconstructed decks. I've given this some thought during the slow times at work and come up with the following article. As a starting point lets look at the most recent MUC list.

Classic MUC

//6 Creatures//
1 Dream Stalker
1 Fathom Seer
4 Spire Golem

//30 Spells//
4 Counterspell
1 Echoing Truth
4 Exclude
4 Force Spike
1 Muddle the Mixture
4 Piracy Charm
4 Prohibit
1 Remove Soul
3 Repulse
4 Think Twice

//24 Land//
20 Island
4 Lonely Sandbar

//Sideboard//
4 Annul
2 Deep Analysis
1 Dream Stalker
1 Errant Ephemeron
3 Faerie Trickery
4 Hydroblast

This particular list comes from Lulthyme, a major innovator and long time proponent of MUC in pauper. The concept behind it is simple enough. This deck wins by disrupting the opponents plan while beating with very cheap 2/4 fliers. Fueling this monster of a deck are a staggering 11 cantrips, four dedicated draw spells and one card drawing creature that may be bounced back to hand for reuse. It's finely tuned deck that has been forged through the rigors of tournament play. Deciding what to cut and what to add is a tricky prospect, especially for an unknown meta.

So, how does one determine what counts as common in paper? For the purposes of this article I will be using set checklists provided on WotC's site. The lowest printed rarity of a card will be it's accepted rarity, with a few possible exceptions. For example, Strip Mine had a common printing in antiquities (http://www.wizards.com/magic/generic/cardlists/Antiquities_Checklist.txt) though it may be prudent to to disallow or restrict it. Likewise, Gorilla Shaman was originally an uncommon (http://www.wizards.com/magic/generic/cardlists/Alliances_Checklist.txt) but has a common printing in a preconstructed deck making me think it should be considered common. For the sake of simplicity, the "un" sets and cards that appear only has promos (mana crypt) will not be considered.

The first thing I would think of changing would be the lands. The first two that really jump out to me are Mishra's Factory and Maze of Ith. Mishra's factory serves double duty as both a mana source and a win condition. On top of that it helps slow 2/x creatures in certain circumstances. If that wasn't enough, it also shines as an uncounterable creature in the blue mirror. Based on the facts I would suggest maxing out the factory. Maze of Ith acts as a blocker who will die to nothing less then land destruction. It has the added advantage of being colourless and uncounterable. For the Maze, I would put two in the deck. Strip Mine could be key for destroying opposing factories or mazes. Most likely Strip Mine would be restricted, so one will be added to the deck. To balance things out a bit I would remove five islands giving us a total of 25 lands, 23 of which are mana producing.
+4 Mishra's Factory
+2 Maze of Ith
+1 Strip Mine
-1 lonely Sandbar
-5 Island

The next possible change that springs up is Accumulated Knowledge. Lets take a look at Accumulated Knowledge versus the card it's most likely to replace, Think Twice. At the first casting Accumulated Knowledge is at a disadvantage. Think Twice will do the same effect and wait to be used again from the grave. Lets look at a chart to find the point at which Accumulated Knowledge gets the advantage.

It's a tough call which to put in. By the time Accumulated Knowledge is cast for the third time the total number of cards drawn are equal to that drawn by Think Twice. There is one area that leaps out as being in Accumulated Knowledge's Advantage. By the third casting AK has spent six mana to draw six cards, archiving an impressive ratio of one mana spent to one card drawn. At this point AK also ties TT in the ratio of cards spent to cards drawn. The efficiency of AK seems to lend it's self to a fast format, which is what I assume Vintage style pauper would be.

Gush is the other draw spell that tickles my fancy. Essentially it's a legless Fathom Seer. Its main advantage comes in the form of its instant speed. Sure, a Seer can be flipped at the same speed, but it has no way of coming down on the opponents turn. Instant speed draw is always a good thing.

Speaking of good things, Merchant Scroll is quite good. I'm not totally sure of it here, but it does open up options mid to late game by acting as any card in the deck barring land and creatures. Muddle the Mixture tutors for much of the Classic decklist for one more in addition to countering, but overall I feel that the scroll has the advantage.
+4 Accumulated Knowledge
+1 Gush
+2 Merchant Scroll
-1 Fathom Seer
-1 Muddle the Mixture
-1 Piracy Charm
-4 Telling Time

There are really nice counters that past sets bring to use. The big three are Daze, Miscalculation and Rewind. I would like to find a spot for Daze or Miscalculation, but I feel that the counters currently run should be able to do the job better.

Affinity will be pretty prevalent as will storm combos. This means that the bounce will have to be slightly changed. Trading a Repulse for another Echoing Truth helps speed the deck up and make these matches better preboard.
+1 Echoing Truth
-1 Repulse

With the added man lands and maze the number of creatures needed decreases. Likewise, the increase in affinity hate means that we may need more Errant Ephemerons in the side board.
+1 Errant Ephemoron (side board)
-1 Dream Stalker

This deeper card pool gives blue access to one of the best graveyard hate cards around. I am of course talking about Tormod's Crypt. I'm not sure how many graveyard based decks there will be, so two seems like it may be the right amount.
+2 Tormod's Crypt (side board)

After these changes, this is what we come up with.

Vintage Pauper Mono Blue Control

//4 Creatures//
4 Spire Golem

//31 Spells//
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Counterspell
2 Echoing Truth
4 Exclude
4 Force Spike
1 Gush
2 Merchant Scroll
3 Piracy Charm
4 Prohibit
2 Repulse
1 Remove Soul

//25 Land//
15 Island
3 Lonely Sandbar
2 Maze of Ith
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Strip Mine

///Sideboard///
4 Annul
2 Deep Analysis
2 Errant Ephemeron
2 Faerie Trickery
4 Hydroblast
2 Tormod's Crypt

Feel free to voice any opinions on the article or on the deck list. A MUC thread should be in the soon to be reveled Vintage Pauper forum and I'd love to hear what everyone is thinking.