Vintage Control Slaver deck

The primary focus of Control Slaver is <c>Mindslaver</c>. It can be either "hard casted" or brought into play with <c>Goblin Welder</c>. The deck typically only needs one activation to put the opponent at a significant disadvantage, but can recur it with Welder if necessary. Once it has solidified control of the game, the deck typically wins with a large artifact creature such as <c>Darksteel Colossus</c>, <c>Pentavus</c>,<c>Sharuum the Hegemon</c> or <c>Sundering Titan</c>.
==Early days==
Control Slaver was first seen in tournament play at Duelmen on Dec. 21, 2003, played by Kim Kluck of Team CAB:
<d title="Original slaver deck">
Lands
3 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
2 Polluted Delta
2 Seat of the Synod
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island
1 Wasteland
Creatures
4 Goblin Welder
1 Gorilla Shaman
Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Memory Jar
1 Mind's Eye
2 Mindslaver
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
Artifact Creatures
1 Pentavus
Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Fire // Ice
Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mind Twist
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
Sideboard
3 Rack and Ruin
3 Red Elemental Blast
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Mind's Eye
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Vampiric Tutor</d>
==Two schools==
Then two schools emerged: Control Slaver (also called Drain Slaver) based around the list above, and Workshop Slaver, which has no permission.
Here is a list of Workshop Slaver, played by Kevin Cron on Mar 13 2004:
<d title="Workshop Slaver">
Lands
2 Ancient Tomb
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Shivan Reef
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Volcanic Island
Creatures
4 Goblin Welder
1 Memnarch
1 Pentavus
1 Triskelion
Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Gilded Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Memory Jar
3 Mindslaver
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Force of Will
4 Thirst for Knowledge
Sorceries
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Timetwister
1 Tinker
1 Time Walk
Sideboard
3 Blood Moon
2 Gorilla Shaman
2 Rack and Ruin
4 Red Elemental Blast
4 Trinisphere</d>
Control Slaver proved to be better that Workshop Slaver whose appearances dwindled. Control Slaver was a common deck in the Top 8 of major tournaments around 2006.
==Modern designs==
A list played by Rich Shay at Star City Games Richmond's Power 9 tournament on March 16, 2006 looked as follows:
<d title="Control Slaver by Rich Shay">
Lands
2 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Library Of Alexandria
3 Polluted Delta
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Underground Sea
4 Volcanic Island
Creatures
1 Darksteel Colossus
3 Goblin Welder
1 Triskelion
Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
2 Mindslaver
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Tormod's Crypt
Instants
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fact or Fiction
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Thirst For Knowledge
1 Fire // Ice
Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
Sideboard
1 Lava Dart
1 Pyroblast
2 Rack And Ruin
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Duress
2 Massacre
3 Chalice Of The Void
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Tormod's Crypt</d>
Another solid version is Brian DeMars's Burning Slaver (SCG Power 9 tournament from March 19, 2006):
<d title="Burning Slaver">
Lands
1 Darksteel Citadel
2 Flooded Strand
3 Island
2 Polluted Delta
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
Creatures
1 Duplicant
3 Goblin Welder
2 Gorilla Shaman
1 Sundering Titan
Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mindslaver
1 Sol Ring
Instants
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
1 Echoing Truth
4 Force of Will
1 Gifts Ungiven
4 Mana Drain
1 Mystical Tutor
4 Thirst for Knowledge
Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Burning Wish
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
Sideboard
1 Echoing Ruin
1 Pyroblast
1 Rack and Ruin
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Rolling Earthquake
3 Duress
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Deep Analysis
1 Echoing Truth
1 Fire // Ice
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Tormod's Crypt</d>
==Restriction of Thirst for Knowledge and resurgence==
After the restriction of <c>Thirst for Knowledge</c> in June 2009, Control Slaver disappeared for several years as a Vintage archetype. It has seen some amount of resurgence since September 2015, after <c>Thirst for Knowledge</c> was again unrestricted at the same time as the dominant Workshops deck took a hit from <c>Chalice of the Void</c> being restricted. Modern Control Slaver decks may choose to downplay the number of <c>Goblin Welder</c> in the <c>Mental Misstep</c> era of Vintage.
==External links==
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Category:Tournament decks