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UW Scepter Chant Red Splash Performance

1 requestsStarted 3/22/2026, 9:37:27 PM
are UW scepter chant variants with or without a red splash performing better?

Let me look into this! I'll start by finding the UW Scepter Chant archetype and searching for the key card.

Let me try some alternate archetype names and also look for the Orim's Chant card:

Let me search the database directly for decks containing both Isochron Scepter and Orim's Chant to find the right archetype name:

🛠️QueryArchetypes with both specific cards since 2026

The deck is classified as Azorius Control (UW Control). Now let me check which red cards appear in these Scepter Chant decks to identify "red splash" variants, and compare their performance:

🛠️QueryAzorius Control with Isochron Scepter and Orim's Chant
🛠️QueryUW Deck Records and Red Splash Variants

Interesting — all entries are showing as "Pure UW" with no red splash detected. This may be a scoping issue with the card_colors join (lands like Sacred Foundry could carry red). Let me aggregate the stats properly and also check what red cards actually appear in these decks:

🛠️QueryRed nonland cards in scepter chant decks
🛠️QuerySplash cards in Scepter Chant decks
🛠️QueryNon-white non-blue cards in archetype decks
🛠️QueryColor distribution in Scepter Chant non-land cards
🛠️QueryNon-land cards by color in decks with two specific cards

Good — the colors field IS populated for some cards. Now let me identify red-splash entries using the cards.colors field properly, then aggregate the performance:

🛠️QueryArchetype deck entries with red card inclusion

All entries are showing has_red = 0. The colors field isn't reliably populated for the cards in these decks. Let me try a different approach — directly searching for known red-splash cards by name that appear in these lists:

🛠️QueryUW Control Variant Performance Comparison

Solid data. Now let me also check what the red-splash cards actually are in these decks for context:

🛠️QueryCore Cards in Archetype Across Tournaments

Now let me grab sources to cite:

Here's the full breakdown:


UW Scepter Chant: Red Splash vs. Pure UW

Based on 190 tournament entries (Dec 17 2025 – Mar 17 2026) across Azorius Control lists running Isochron Scepter + Orim's Chant:

VariantEntriesWinsLossesDrawsWinrate
Pure UW1102982993749.9%
Red Splash801892092147.5%

Pure UW edges out the red splash by ~2.4 percentage points (excl. draws).


What does the "red splash" actually consist of?

The data reveals the red splash is extremely minimal — almost entirely just Sacred Foundry (82 decks, ~1 copy each) enabling a Wear // Tear sideboard package (6 decks). There's no Lightning Helix, Ragavan, or other dedicated red main-deck threats in the data.

This suggests the red splash in these lists is mostly:

  • A single Sacred Foundry for Wear // Tear access in the sideboard
  • Likely not a true "red splash" with dedicated red spells in the main

Takeaway

The data mildly favors Pure UW, but the gap is small enough (~2.4%) that it's not dramatic. The "red splash" here is also very light (just a land + SB option), not a full Jeskai/Boros build with red main deck cards, so if you're thinking about a heavier red commitment, this data doesn't directly speak to that.


Sources — Data from 151 tournaments (76% MTGO, 24% Melee):