Welcome to the Blue Moon deck archetype for 7 Point Highlander! On this page you will find all the content related to this play style, this update comes to you from current (at time of writing) committee member Ben Hewitt. A huge credit to former committee member Dr Sarven McLinton who authored the original Blue Moon Archetype article. Many of his insights and videos have been preserved in the article and give a rare glimpse into what has changed and what has stayed the same in this archetype over time. I hope in my current role on the committee I can give this article from fresh perspectives and ideas for future Blue Moon players to enjoy.
A Summary of the Blue Moon Archetype
“Blue-based Control decks in the Blue Moon archetype can vary in their exact configuration, but they all hinge around one primary game plan; put a stranglehold on your opponent’s game actions by locking them out of ever casting spells in the first place. The three key cards in all variants of this deck archetype are Back to Basics, Blood Moon, and Magus of the Moon, all of which fulfil the same pseudo-land-destruction function. As a singleton format with access to all of the most powerful cards in Magic’s history, 7 Point Highlander decks are very often 3 or more colours. The Blue Moon archetype capitalizes on this dynamic by running these three non-basic land ‘punisher’ effects in their main deck, attempting to catch unprepared opponents before they can bring in answers like Enchantment removal or Hydroblast-style spells.” – Dr Sarven McLinton
In 2024 we have more moons to play with. Harbinger of the Seas and Winter Moon means Blue Moon players need to seriously consider which ‘moons’ (and how many) they should run. The best ‘moons’ are Blood Moon and Back to Basics because they are enchantments, a difficult card type to interact with, especially with limited colours. Magus of the Moon and Harbinger of the Seas are the next tier down, unfortunately you’ll just catch stray Dismembers, Lightning Bolts or removal played off floating mana. Winter Moon is the worst, this card only really works against a very mana hungry deck with very few basics or in the late game if they tap LOTS of lands at once to deploy a big threat and are then caught off guard. Another relevant consideration is that moons are often fodder for ‘pitch spells’ such as Fury or Force of Will when their presence does not benefit you. Winter Moon unfortunately cannot fill this role and will therefore sometimes be a ‘dead’ card in your hand.
Blue Moon Deck Lists and Variations
The most popular variant of the Blue Moon archetype is purely a Blue-Red (aka ‘Izzet’) Control deck. These lists look to control the early game with removal and counterspells, and then pull ahead in the late game via card advantage in the form of spells like Mystic Confluence and Fiery Confluence. These versions of the Blue Moon archetype apply the lens of a Control strategy to the three non-basic land ‘punisher’ cards: they are a source of card advantage. If 7 spells are stuck in an opponent’s hand for the whole game and they cannot do anything else with their mana, then a Magus of the Moon effectively nets the Izzet Control player a ‘7 for 1’.
Whilst some games are entirely determined by resolving one of these powerful lock pieces, Izzet Control is not without its weaknesses. Wiley opponents can actively fetch their basic lands, hold up Abrupt Decay on a critical turn, or simply enact a different game plan that reduces the need to answer the Blood Moon after is resolves. Blood Moon effects do nothing to answer creatures or other threats that have already resolved. A player on this Blue Moon variant will almost always be in the ‘Control role’, so opponents can sideboard into a more aggressive role to put the Izzet Control player on the back foot. This is why Izzet Control players will very often sideboard out their 3 namesake cards despite their power level, instead sideboarding in more interaction. – Dr Sarven McLinton
Winning the game
This is both the most and least important part of the deck. The reason for this is on one hand the core shell of counter magic, burn and mana denial via moons is most of what the deck does, killing your opponent is in some ways an afterthought after you are already in control of the game. However, it is important because often your choice of interaction will depend on how you wish to kill your opponent, additionally I feel like people tend to identify more personally with their choice of how to end the game which is why lots of UR decks will often be named for their kill condition for example “Kiki-Twin” or “Sneak and Show.” Here are some options for you to consider:
Tempo creatures: Tends to be characterised by playing creatures that are cheap, or have flash & evasion that can be deployed at moments your opponent stumbles and then protecting their ongoing presence on the board. Cards such as Snapcaster Mage, Brazen Borrower, Ledger Shredder, Dragons Rage Channeler, Third Path Iconoclast, Subtlety, Lutri the Spellchaser, even True Name Nemesis is worth considering!
To be clear – this is not prowess, you are not mulliganing for one drop threats or sacrificing lands to Fireblast, your threats may be cheap, but you’re happy to deploy them on turn 5 with the safety blanket of counter spells to back them up.
- Strengths: These creatures allow you to compete for the initiative and give you natural answer to planeswalkers as well as access to blocking as a means of staying alive. Also, with the exception of of Lutri the points demands on this plan is low.
- Weaknesses: Playing these creatures often “activates” your opponents removal that might otherwise stay stranded in their hand.
- Deckbuilding considerations: Cards like Unholy Heat are easier to run, Mishra’s and Urza’s Bauble are more important to gain cast triggers, expensive draw spells will probably not be part of your plan. You may also find more value in removal that can also target your opponent such as Chain Lightning.
- The role of moons: You’re aiming to get ahead on board and pressure their life total. Moons strangle your opponent resources when they are already feeling the heat and can cause them to stumble long enough for your critters to close the door on a comeback.
Discount Fatties: This plan usually takes advantage of cards such as Murktide Reagent, Sailors Bane, Eris Roar of the Storm and Tolarian Terror (you might also consider Ethereal Forager) to play creatures that are much larger than anything your opponent could deploy and killing them quickly.
- Strengths: These creatures dodge most removal due to their size. The points demands on this plan is low. The creatures kill at a reasonably quick pace and have a huge board presence once deployed.
- Weaknesses: These creatures are slower to impact the board and don’t offer much outside of huge stats. There is some internal tension between cards like Murktide Regent and Eris or Unholy Heat.
- Deckbuilding considerations: Eris will ask you to play a variety of mana costs so you’re more likely to want Ancestral Visions & Cryptic Command. Cards like Thought Scour, Mental Note and Consider might earn a spot enabling other graveyard synergies such as Snapcaster Mage or Council’s Deliberation.
- The role of moons: This applies to all of the variations following this one, moons encourage your opponents to sequence their threats poorly and punishes them for tapping out. In this ‘limited resources’ environment under-costed fatties are more likely to overtake the board and ask too much of your opponents than they can offer under a moon.
Arena FTK: A plan somewhat of my creation, it plays castable fatties that have a flame-tongue-kavu-esque effect so that your “tap out for threat” turn also affects the board. Arena of Glory means these threats can often “one-shot” an unsuspecting opponent. Your options for FTKs are Pyrogoyf, Overlord of the Boilerbilges, Fury and Inferno Titan.
- Strengths: Your threats aren’t “dead cards” that require you to take a ‘turn-off interacting.’ You can interact with the board AND develop your end game condition simultaneously.
- Weaknesses: You cannot go “over the top” of anything like a combo finish can even if a modest board state can be beaten. Combo decks don’t care about your FTK creatures and will just kill you if you tap out. There is also some internal tension between Arena and the Moons.
- Deckbuilding considerations: Because your kill-cons double as removal, you can afford to play a bit less burn. You don’t want to ‘bounce’ things with Sink into Stupor, Brazen Borrower or Remand, you want dead stuff dead so that your FTK truly wins the board when its played. You’ll also get more value out of cards like Three Steps Ahead.
- The role of moons: FTKs excel at dealing with creatures and taking over the board in a traditional combat centric game. Moons give you game against decks that attack on different axis such as lands or mana hungry combo decks. As mentioned in Sarv’s original synopsis of the archetype, moons are often sided out in this deck.
Sneak and Show: This plans to cheat otherwise un-castable fatties into play with obvious ETB or on attack triggers that end the game very quickly. Your enabler options are Sneak Attack, Show and Tell, Through the Breach and Oath of Druids (light green splash). Your payoff options are Emrakul the Aeons Torn, Archon of Cruelty, Atraxa Grand Unifier and Worldspine Wurm.
- Strengths: When the A + B goes off it usually wins the game very quickly. The enablers have a very low points demand so pointed tutors or draw spells can be used. Some of the creatures deal with their board and/or provide a lot of card advantage so you can ‘go-off’ for value and keep playing the game from a strong position. Your opponent will likely be surprised by your game plan and not plan for it well in game one.
- Weaknesses: The combo pieces do nothing until they are put together, this creates dead draws. There’s a lot of speed variance. Oath and Show and Tell can be oppressively fast, Sneak Attack and Through the Breach can be so slow you lose the game. This plan is also vulnerable to hand attack because each part of the combo is useless without the other.
- Deckbuilding considerations: You’ll want some tutors such as Mystical Tutor or Intuition and you might favour ‘cantrippy’ interaction such as Electrolyse, Fire//Ice, Remand that just aim to delay the game long enough to deploy your game ending threat. You might even consider The One Ring because you’re not planning for the game to go for many more turns after you win. Mana Drain is also at its best in these decks for ramping out a game ending threat. I’ve also experimented with using Arcum’s Astrolabe and Fable of the Mirror Breaker alongside some ‘castable’ beaters such as Vaultborn Tyrant and Etali Primal Conquerer another potential angle is Tinker, mana rocks and Sundering Titan.
- The role of moons: Purpose one is to slow the game so you can get to the 5 mana necessary to start sneaking in haymakers. They also do a discount Teferi, Time Raveler impersonation by frustrating your opponents ability to cast mana intensive interaction. Cards like Drown in the Loch can be a one card answer to your combo, but are difficult to cast under a moon or through Back to Basics.
Kiki-Twin: A classic two card combo finish that ends the game when executed. Your four card package is Kiki-Jiki the Mirror Breaker, Splinter Twin, Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite.
- Strengths: You can end the game instantly and split the mana demand over two turns due to Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite having flash.
- Weaknesses: There aren’t many enablers so you’ll be digging for them or delaying the game and waiting. Your end game pieces are susceptible to removal so you’ll often want free Counter Magic back-up to protect your win.
- Deckbuilding considerations: A lot in common with Sneak and Show you might favour interaction that cantrips and draw power in The One Ring.
- The role of moons: Much the same as the Sneak and Show archetype. Slow the game, make interacting harder.
Do nothing control: There is no “kill condition” per say. You simply have cards that interact but have a “I win mode” attached to them. Your looking to play cards such as Jace the Mind Sculptor, Horned Loch-Whale and Invert Polarity.
- Strengths: Your deck is ALL interaction so there are in theory no ‘dead’ cards.
- Weaknesses: You’re going to have a harder time against the initiative because the board doesn’t tend to be a priority for these decks. They are mentally draining to play because you need to be ready to play a lot of LONG games.
- Deckbuilding Considerations: You really will want an answer to every plausible threat because the game is going long. They will have time to draw their stuff. You might consider the ‘weaker’ moon effects such as Harbinger of the Seas, Magus of the Moon or Winter Moon because you want the game at a glacial pace.
- The role of moons: Slow the game, this deck more than any other needs time. Once this deck is in a “winning” position it still needs quite a few turns to pass to actually close the game. While this means your opponents will probably have some time to find a basic to start casting spells, the moons act like pseudo ‘rule of law’ effects by denying your opponents the ability to deploy multiple colour pipped spells in a single turn. Countering spells and interacting is easier to do one spell per turn giving you time to use your extra mana to draw cards and find the next piece of interaction.
Interaction
Control in 2024 has to be able to answer a wide variety of threats. Blue Moon uses counter magic and removal to answer them.
Counter magic: Generally speaking counter magic tends to answer a wide variety of threats. Counterspell, Mana Drain, Force of Will, Lose Focus all hit a wide variety of threats and a strength of the control archetype is to build up the “wall of counter magic” that turns a stalled game into an inevitable victory. My advice on counter magic is the following:
- Play 1 mana hard counters, also play spell pierce
Stern Scolding and Spell snare are your friends. They make it okay to be on the draw because your one mana play answers their 2 or 3 mana play. - Play ‘free’ counter magic
Force of Will, Force of Negation, Subtlety, Mental Misstep are mandatory in my opinion. There’s just too much “must stop” stuff in the format to rely on having mana up. Don’t worry about two-for-one’ing yourself, you’re a control deck, you’ll get the card advantage back. I’m not a fan of Daze in control, you want your land drops so you can cast the “bigger” spells. - Play some “hard” counter magic
Counterspell, Mana drain, Lose Focus and Cryptic Command are the best options here and I wouldn’t play much more in this category.
Removal: Unfortunately spells get through the counter magic and you need to kill things on board. You need a flexible removal package that can answer a wide variety of threats.
- One-for-one spot removal (burn)
You need cards that trade in the early game that cost 1 so you can slow their plan while gaining mana advantage. You’ll use your extra mana and time to draw more cards which will win you the game.
Options: Lightning bolt, Galvanic Discharge, Flame Slash at a minimum, Unholy Heat, Dismember and Chain Lightning are options too. - “Bigger” burn
You need to kill Sheoldred, the Apocolypse or you’ll lose. There are other “bigger” threats such as initiative creatures but it’s mostly Sheoldred.
Options: Flame of Anor, Unholy Heat, Magmatic Sinkhole and Dismember are the options here. Roast and Scorching Shot are 2nd rate but are still options in certain metas. At time of writing Roaring Furnace // Steaming Sauna is a new option that I think deserves exploration. - “Sweepers”
You’re never really “sweeping” in blue moon but you just need to have cards that give you some game against the likes of Ajani, Nactl Pariah, Orcish Bowmasters and Grist the hunger tide. These cards really undermine the “one for one” game plan so you need some tools. Fury is your best friend, everything else is a compromise.
Options: Electrolyse, Fire//Ice, Forked Bolt, Delayed Blast Fireball, Pyroclasm, Mystic Confluence. - “Hard” removal
You can be totally winning, 5 cards and 5 mana ahead on board and die to a single Murktide Regent simply because it’s stats are so high. You never get truly hard removal in UR but there are some options.
Options: Unable to Scream, Fall from Favour, Horned Loch-Whale.
Draw power:
If you try to go only one-for-one without accruing card advantage you will lose. Too many creatures generate value on entering and many of your spells two-for-one yourself (Force of Will, Force of Negation, Subtlety). You must draw more cards than your opponent if you wish for the long game to favour you. Frustratingly, the speed of 7ph does not allow many (if any) ‘dedicated’ card draw spells, most cards you’ll see will play two roles as draw power//removal or draw power//counter magic so that if drawn early they are interaction and if drawn late are card advantage.
- Unpointed options: (at time of writing)
Flame of Anor, Lorien Revealed, Tamiyo Inquisitive Student, Expressive Iteration, Brainsurge, Ancestral Visions, Mystic Confluence, Archmages Charm, Roaring Furnace//Steaming Sauna, Memory Deluge, Councils Deliberation, Jace the Mind Sculptor, Narset Parter of Veils, Deduce. - Pointed Options
Lutri the Spellchaser, Library of Alexandria, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Ancestral Recall. I don’t recommend Gush for the same reason I don’t recommend Daze, you want to be ahead on mana.
Building on a Budget (8pt Rule)
The good news is that many of the cards in the typical Blue Moon deck are not expensive and Blue Moon can be built on a modest budget. The easiest way to build budget moon without sacrificing competitiveness is to take advantage of the 8 point rule. Many Blue Moon decks only reserved list card is Volcanic Island, but Steam Vents and Thundering Falls are often more than sufficient to cast your spells.
You won’t be able to run certain draw options such as Library of Alexandria or Ancestral Recall, but these are not mainstream choices anyway. Losing Null Rod as a sideboard option is annoying, but Energy Flux and Pulverise can get the job done. All of the archetypes are still available to you and you may find quite a lot of power in running one extra pointed threat that may have been otherwise hard to justify such as True Name Nemesis, or one extra tutor in a combo-centric variant such as Intuition. Dig Through Time or Treasure Cruise are also points hungry draw options, but more affordable in 8 point shells.
All this is to say – its possible the best Blue Moon list is actually an 8 point list so if you’re looking to be competitive on a modest budget, this might be the archetype for you to explore.
Conclusion
And that concludes my 2024 Blue Moon update. As you can see there are far more options than a single 60 cards deck can handle. Once you add your Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm, Gitaxian Probe and your pet UR spell slinger card you’re going to have some decisions to make! Since there are so many variations I won’t point you towards a single deck list, but please look to the most recent tournament results and see if you can identify which variation of Blue Moon they are playing and if there’s some technology they may be missing. Also don’t feel ‘boxed in’ by any of the variations, while having a direction is important, the deck should feel like its yours and there’s a mix of the different options mentioned that will feel right for you. Good luck!
A look back…
Below is a snapshot of the past from Sarv’s original article. Its definitely interesting to see what Blue Moon looked like back in 2020 and perhaps the similarities and differences might give us some insight into what the future holds for this archetype….enjoy!
In addition there is a video primer available, which covers the key groupings of cards and touches on the fundamental aspects of the Izzet Control playstyle in only 7 minutes. You can watch it here:
The next variation of the Blue Moon archetype is a hybrid strategy. Izzet Tempo-Combo is a deck often colloquially referred to as ‘Twin’, after the namesake card Splinter Twin. When combined with Deceiver Exarch or Pestermite flashed in at the end of the opponent’s turn, this offers an infinite damage win that is tricky to interact with as the opponent rarely knows when it is safe to ‘tap out’ and pass the turn. Likewise, when a canny opponent holds up mana to remove a creature in response to a combo attempt, the Twin player can also just attack with the evasive threat, giving this non-traditional Blue Moon strategy a tempo element.
Although cards like Splinter Twin and Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker suggest this is a Combo deck on the surface, in reality the Twin variant is a hybrid deck which sits in between the Combo, Control, and Tempo strategies. The main deck and sideboard can be built in ways that emphasize any one of these three over the others, e.g., Time Vault to capitalise on ‘untap’ combo synergies, or adding more tempo-based creatures. Further, very light ‘splashes’ of a third colour offer powerful sideboard options to shore up Blue Moon’s weaknesses, making Twin one of the most flexible variants of the archetype (at the cost of some degree of raw power and consistency).
In addition there is a video primer available, which covers the key groupings of cards and touches on the fundamental aspects of the Izzet Tempo-Combo playstyle in only 7 minutes. You can watch it here:
One of the most important aspects to winning a control mirror is having a haymaker that is difficult to answer or can be protected. Conventionally, this comes in the form of cards like Keranos, God of Storms from the sideboard which once resolved gives one player inevitability since it is so difficult to remove. This strategy can also be applied to main deck control mirrors via a relatively small Sneak Attack Combo package. Since other non-green Control decks have difficulty answering a resolved Enchantment, Sneak Attack will remain on the battlefield to make cards like Torrential Gearhulk ‘un-counter-able’, providing a source of surprise damage and interesting loops with Cryptic Command and Mystic Confluence. These otherwise standard Control cards are topped off with Emrakul the Aeons Torn, whose attack trigger causes the opponent to sacrifice six permanents and either lose on the spot or fall incredibly far behind.
Deck List – Izzet Combo-Control
In addition there is a video primer available, which covers the key groupings of cards and touches on the fundamental aspects of the Izzet Combo-Control playstyle in only 7 minutes. You can watch it here:
Building Blue Moon on a Budget
If you enjoy the sound of Blue Moon but you are on a budget, the good news is that the primary cost of the deck is all in Volcanic Island. Depending on the exact configuration, it is likely that you can purchase 74 of your 75 cards for a cost similar to the price of that single land, meaning that if you are limited on funds or collecting your Highlander staples sequentially, you can run this list without Volcanic Island. The good news is that a list without Volcanic Island isn’t technically ‘strictly worse’, given that you are actively looking to punish non-basic lands via Blood Moon so replacing your dual land with a basic Island isn’t always wrong.
Likewise, for the versions that run Mana Drain this counterspell can easily be replaced with Logic Knot, which saves you one point. Whilst cards like City of Traitors don’t always add multi-deck staples to your Highlander collection, the good thing about Blue Moon Variants is the accessibility of the main 70-odd cards of your 75. If you look to fill out your deck with all of these, not only will you find it easier to borrow just a couple of cards for a sanctioned event (e.g. a Volcanic Island and Mana Drain) as people are often happier to loan out one expensive card than 74 cards of the same value, but you’ll also find that most of Blue Moon’s cards are multi-deck staples and even the Commons will all contribute well to your budding 7 Point Highlander collection.
Playing 7 Point Highlander on a budget? Don’t forget to listen to listen to one of the 7 Point Highlander Cast’s seminal episodes on how to construct a good deck whilst on a shoestring!
Podcast – Building on a Budget
Highlander Blue Moon Video Content:
Compiled below are links to some excellent YouTube resources that can help you see versions of the Blue Moon deck archetype in action.
Watch this video to see Izzet Control in action:
Watch this video to see Izzet Tempo-Combo in action:
Watch this video to see Izzet Combo-Control in action:
Enjoy!
Where to next?
Did Blue Moon fit the kind of deck archetype you’re looking for? Want to know more about other Control decks? Visit the Control hub here.
Some of the decks featured above also contain a combo sub-theme. If you’d like to know more about dedicated Combo decks or those that have a ‘combo finish’ element to them, visit the Combo hub here.
Although predominantly a Control deck, Blue Moon deck archetypes sometimes involve a tempo sub-theme like the Tempo-Twin variation. If you’d like to know more about dedicated Tempo decks or those with a Tempo element to them, visit the Tempo hub here.
