So by now you've seen the following card:


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Sen Triplets 2WUB

Legendary Artifact Creature - Human Wizard

At the beginning of your upkeep, choose target opponent. This turn, that player can’t play spells or activated abilities and plays with his or her hand revealed. You can play cards from that player’s hand this turn.

3/3
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It is, for me, the card that generates the most interest in Alara Reborn. Originally I thought of it as "part Meddling Mage, part Mindslaver", but now I think of it more as "part Silence, part Muse Vessel". Either way, three of those four cards have seen competitive play, and the other (Silence) certainly will once released in M10.

I've been rolling around in my head the idea of Five Colour Creature Control, based on manabase of Exotic Orchard, Ancient Ziggurat and Reflecting Pool. I've also been considering a bunch of cards I think may interact well with Sen Triplets.

My idea of control deck based around Sen Triplets does two things; (1) Slow the game through hand Disruption, and (2) Bounce permanents at instant speed.

So following are some ideas for cards in standard for Five Colour Creature Control.

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Sen's Five Colour Creature Control:

1 Mana

Cursecatcher: Remember how great this little guy used to be? Well, he's still aweseome.

2 Mana

Meddling Mage: He's a beat and you know it. Excellent in-colour control.

3 Mana

Plumeveil: Excellent card for protecting Sen Triplets.
Vendilion Clique: Hand disruption and allows you to determine if it's time to play Sen Triplets.
Sedraxis Alchemist: A critter plus a bounce effect is great in this deck, and you'll usually have a blue critter around to help him.
Cephalid Constable: I would like to put a Mask of Riddles on this guy sometime.
Wall of Denial: The control player's wall of choice. 0/8 with shroud? Utterly fantastic for control.

4 Mana

Surgespanner: He's a bounce card. Imagine using him to attack, bouncing your oppoent's critter, then playing that critter yourself. Sweet.
Wall of Reverence: A big, fat wall that lets you survive for a while... and recover from the burn you've taken
Sower of Temptation: Still a great creature based control card.
Glen Elendra Archmage: Perhaps the best card to play before playing Sen Triplets.

5 Mana

Mulldrifter: Card drawing will be a requirement for this deck.
Shriekmaw: Still great removal at either cost.
Maelstrom Angel: Why aren't we seeing this guy in play yet? He can drop Sen Triplets and leave mana up for protecting it.

6 Mana

Broodmate Dragon: Because sometimes you just have to bash face.

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Alternatively, Sen's Artifact Control:

1 Mana

Pithing Needle: A great control card. With so many activated abilities and planeswalkers around may be worth maindecking.

2 Mana

Tidehollow Sculler: The poor man's Meddling Mage? He generates card advantage and hand disruption.
Ethersworn Canonist: Slow your opponent down while you get Sen Triplets into play.
Time Sieve: I've dropped this in here based on the idea of also using Sharding Sphynx. If it goes off once with Sen Triplets in play, you can basically strip your opponent's hand away - into your play area.
Etherium Sculptor: To get Sen Triplets and your creatures out earlier.
Tidehollow Strix: An excellent control card, albeit fragile.
Mask of Riddles: An excellent draw engine, probably too slow for the format.
Sceptre of Fugue: Probably goes against the grain of using Sen Triplets in the first place.

3 Mana

Master of Etherium: With a artifact base he's probably not a bad bet.

4 Mana

Sanctum Gargoyle: Can recur your various control elements - but is it too slow?

5 Mana

Sphynx Summoner: Tezzeret's fetch ability but at a slower rate. But the 3/3 flyer is nothing to sneeze at.
Ethersworn Adjudicator: Perhaps as a 1 of?
Reveilark: I've included this because it has such crazy interaction with Sanctum Gargoyle.
Tezzeret the Seeker: A great control card, able to fetch various control elements.

6 Mana

Sharding Sphynx: Included for consideration with Time Sieve.

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And of course you'll need utility cards:

Unsummon: Perhaps the creature removal of choice, especially later in the game as you'll get to play the cards you bounce. Also allows you to protect Sen Triplets.
*Silence: Once it rotates into Standard, the immediate 1 mana instant of choice.

Thoughtseize: Still a great threat removal card.
Ponder: Still a great card for setting up your next few turns and finding that Sen Triplets.

Boomerang: Probably the best quality removal and pseudo land destruction. You bounce their land then play it with Sen. What kind of nutty land destruction is that?

Esper Charm: Great card drawing.

Savour The Moment: Not having an upkeep step may be handily mitigated by getting to play your opponent's lands.

Jase Beleren: You get a card, they get a card... for you to play.

Cryptic Command: You're playing blue, so you'll be need this card, right?

Maelstrom Nexus: Imagine having both Maelstrom Nexus, Maelstrom Angel and Sen Triplets in play, then cascading off your opponent's cards that you just played for free. It'll never happen but feel free to LIVE THAT DREAM!

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Ultimately I think some mix of the above cards will used in a strict control style, perhaps as follows:


4 x Tidehollow Sculler
4 x Meddling Mage
4 x Vendilion Clique
3 x Sen Triplets

2 x Jase Beleren

4 x Silence
4 x Unsummon
4 x Boomerang
4 x Esper Charm
4 x Cryptic Command

Labels: analysis, ideas, magic, Sen Triplets, standard