Wherein Michael J. Flores further discusses the one thing that matters most in the Reflecting Pool Control mirror match and displays a long back-and-forth battle between competing Stage Three strategies (possible spoiler: the one from Shards of Alara wins).
Last week in Top Decks I described a frustration with the Reflecting Pool Control mirror matches which was instrumental in my switching to Jund Mana Ramp for the New York State Championship.
That frustration was / is that the Reflecting Pool Control mirrors generally come down to State Three, where one player resolves Cruel Ultimatum and eventually wins… regardless of what either player did or how hard the other player fought during State Two.
After identifying this, I simply decided to switch from a paradigm of mana efficiency and card advantage in Stage Two (where most “Magic: The Gathering” is played) to a strategic game revolving around beating my opponent in Stage Three, that is, saving my Cryptic Commands for his Cruel Ultimatum even if if meant falling behind his Mulldrifters (or at least not scooping up some juicy Mulldrifter targets) during the second Stage.
This, I believe is still right.
The problem is that especially in sideboarded games, the crafty Reflecting Pool Control player can just play to force his Cruel Ultimatum regardless; for example he can wait until eight mana and play Cruel Ultimatum + Gutteral Response, or set up with a Vexing Shusher. It is basically impossible to outsmart this strategy. Like even if you sit back with double Cryptic Command on eight mana you will fail if they simply went first. Grok?
I know you grok.
Even in Game One situations, he can wait until nine mana to cover with a Negate.
So I just decided to avoid this dance entirely and play a more proactive Mind Shatter + Gutteral Response strategy at the New York State Championship.
So speaking of the New York State Championship, I made a video based on our reigning Champion Stephen Carpenter’s Reflecting Pool Control deck. Here is the aforementioned Reflecting Pool Control deck:
Reflecting Pool Control
1 Adarkar Wastes
4 Vivid Creek
3 Vivid Meadow
3 Vivid Grove
4 Reflecting Pool
3 Mystic Gate
2 Flooded Grove
2 Sunken Ruins
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
4 Mulldrifter
4 Kitchen Finks
2 Cloudthresher
1 Cruel Ultimatum
2 Pyroclasm
4 Wrath of God
2 Condemn
2 Bant Charm
1 Makeshift Mannequin
2 Remove Soul
2 Negate
4 Esper Charm
4 Cryptic Command
sideboard:
2 Condemn
3 Runed Halo
2 Resounding Thunder
1 Remove Soul
1 Negate
3 Jund Charm
1 Cloudthresher
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
So interestingly, I immediately got into a Reflecting Pool Control mirror match where my opponent outdrew me on Cryptic Commands and got a slew of two-for-ones on me. Yet I was able to win it in State Three because he blew three Cryptic Commands on Cloudthreshers and Esper Charms and was out when it came down to the one card that really matters in the Reflecting Pool Control mirror: Cruel Ultimatum from Shards of Alara.
This was a really interesting back-and-forth battle. I hope you like it.
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PS I won Game Two very quickly with three Kitchen Finks on offense so it never came down to Stage Three shenanigans.
LOVE
MIKE
2 comments ↓
I might be wrong, but I like Rhox War Monk more than Finks.
this post reminds me old times of mono blue control mirrors, when I spent all the time counting card quality over card advantage, since you dont care how many cards your opponents has in hand because there’s 3 counterspells and 3 force of wills in his graveyards.
I really like this theory because we, mere mortals, lose so many games AIMING for card advantages (or ‘cool’ plays that generates them) and don’t even know what happened.
nice post mike.
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