Is Invasion Worth All the Hype:

I've been hearing a lot of people talk about Invasion (The new magic set
coming out in October.) and how it's going to be so good. This is the same
thing that happened when everyone knew about Prophecy before it came out,
everyone said "It's going to have the toughest creatures ever." Or "There
will never be a set that can be better." But when it came out I hated it,
they got rid of rebels and mercenaries, and those were awesome cards because
you can search for tons of creatures to wipe your opponent really fast. I
hope they bring them back in Invasion. But Invasion can have some good parts
scattered in the set, they are bringing back multicolor cards. To me I think
Invasion is going to be a really good set it will probably be like Mercadian
Masques, bring new creatures with new strategies new everything. Well, until
Invasion comes out we will be left wondering and wondering what it's going to
be like.
-Magic Guru

Magic:World Championships:

August 7,2000,Brussels Belgium the site of the 2000 magic the gathering world championships.The winner after 24 rounds of intense game play,Jon Finkel of fanwood,New Jersey.Finkel brought home gold for the US as well as $34,000 cash prizes.Finkel who was fresh off of winning the nationals wins the worlds and makes him 2 for 2 in the last 2 tourneys.Jon Finkel won this tourney after defeating Bob Maher Jr. of madison,wisconsin,in an intense final round.here are the top 8 finishers.

1. Jon Finkel
2. Bob Maher Jr.
3. Dominik Hothow
4. Benedikt Klauser
5. Tom Van De Hogt
6. Helmut Summersberger
7. Janosch Kuhn
8. Nicolas Labarre

-Crimson Hellkite0021

Well, first off, i'm Sean a new writer for "THE DERRANGED HERMIT SHACK"
I'll be writing a weekly article about a deck. This week i'll be looking at
Black-Green Beatdown. Here is my own personal Decklist:

Creatures
4xThrashing Wumpus
4xBlastoderm
3xSpore Frog
4xVine Trellis
4xLlanowar Elves
2xJolrael, Empress of the Beasts

Spells and Such
3xVendetta
3xSnuff out
4xSeal of Doom
3xRhystic Syphon
3xHaunted Crossroads

Land
12xForest
10xSwamp

Now , some of you may be thinking "Sean, you need hugs, not drugs"
But It works and its a good deck. The Spore Frogs with Haunted Crossroads
makes for a good defense while building up for the attack. The Black Board
control allows for a clean attack usually going for
6-20+ life. Between Wumpus and Blastoderm your opponent is pretty much gone.
The syphons are there for the Wumpus so you don't lose because of Wumusage.
It usually alows for a good old-fashion Wumpestilance kill. The man
producers are there for obvious reasons. Who doesn't like a 3rd turn Wumpus
Jolrael or Blastoderm.
After using this deck, your opponent( BillyBob Joe) ends up dead and
humiliated, beats you up, takes your deck and moves out of the country.
That's about it see you guys next week.

-mrsean

"Trinity Vs. Replenish":

If you were considering on building a deck, but couldn't decide whether
to make the Trinity or the Replenish deck, this will help you out. First I
will list the cards in each deck.

Trinity
16 Forest
4 Gaea's Cradle
4 Rishadan Port
2 Fallow Earth
4 Plow Under
4 Tangle Wire
4 Skyshroud Poacher
4 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
4 Deranged Hermit
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Masticore
2 Blastoderm
2 Priest of Titania
4 Birds of Paradise

Replenish
4 Opalescence
4 Replenish
2 Seal of Removal
2 Seal of Cleansing
2 Trade Routes
2 Counterspell
4 Frantic Search
4 Enlightened Tutor
2 Lilting Refrain
4 Parallax Wave
4 Attunement
4 Parallax Tide
1 Marble Diamond
1 Sky Diamond
10 Island
10 Plains

I decided to duel both of the decks against each other to decide which
one was best.

Turn 1: Trinity won the toss so it goes first. Trinity has 2 forests,
1 Gaea's Cradle, 1 Tangle Wire, 1 Rofellos, and 1 Deranged Hermit in his
hand. He sends out a forest and end his turn.

Turn 2:Replenish has 1 Plains, 1 Island, 1 Replenish, 1 Trade Routes, 1
Parallax Tide, 1 Lilting Refrain, and 1 Enlightened Tutor. Replenish sends
out a plains and taps it for enlightened tutor. He takes an opalescence and
puts it on top of his library and then ends the turn.

Turn 3:Trinity draws a forest, sends it out and taps both of his forests
for Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary. He ends the turn.

Turn 4:Replenish draws an opalescence and sends out an island. He taps
both of his lands to send out trade routes. He ends the turn.

Turn 5:Trinity draws a rishadan port and sends out a forest. He taps
rofellos for 3 green and taps two forests for a Deranged Hermit. He now has
4 2/2 squirrel tokens. He ends the turn.

Turn 6:Replenish draws an island, sends it out, and taps a plains and an
island for lilting refrain. He ends the turn.

Turn 7:Trinity draws a Deranged Hermit, sends it out and taps rofellos
and a forest for another Deranged Hermit. He now has 8 3/3 squirrel tokens
in play. He attacks with 4 tokens and a hermit for a whopping 13 damage!
Replenish is dead unless he can stop the squirrels and hermits.

Turn 8:Replenish draws a plains and sends it out. He taps all of his
lands for an opalescence. His trade routes and lilting refrain are 2/2
creatures that are still enchantments. He ends his turn.

Turn 9:Trinity draws a plow under and sends out a rishadan port. He taps
rofellos and 1 forest to use plow under. Replenish puts an island and a
plains on top of his library. Trinity attacks with all of his Hermits and
Squirrels and Replenish blocks two squirrels but it doesn't help because
Trinity wins 20 to -13.

So the Replenish deck's enchantments weren't nearly as powerful as
Trinity's squirrels so you might want to consider building the Trinity deck
but if you still believe Replenish is better, then go ahead and build it.

-Avatar of Magic

Nick's Thought;
Magic The Gathering:a Different Game:

Alot has changed in the world of magic since the days back when.I started playing magic the gathering back in 1998 around when stronghold / exodus were released,not to long agoat that,but even since then this game has changed imensely.I don't mean change as in card power,tournament scene or new mecanics,but the feel of the game.Like back in the rath cycle and older magic felt like it was suppose to be, you being a sorcerer and casting spells and summoning creatured to fight a war or battle at your disposal against a rival sorcerer. Now magic just feels like a regular card game(a really good card game at that,i mean i'm not knocking it),but it feels like your just making up decks consisting of combo,control and discard themesin order to deal 20 damage to the (opponent) as fast as possible(notice opponent not sorcerer here) or before your opponent deals 20 damage to you.I think all the new sets as good as they are,as much as they are helping out the game,have talen some of the fun or"imagination" out of the game(not to say the sets are'nt cool or creative). it just feels like magic has become more "blah" or boring so to say(even though i think it is the coolest and greatest game on the face of the earth).What i'm trying to say here is that magic is missing or lacking a certain something it had that made it really good in the tempest days and older.even thought i enjoy playing magic and probably will play for a while longer i just think magic has become way to technical.now that i am done yapping on and on about things i'm sure you didn't get a word i was saying.

-Crimson Hellkite0021

We here at The Deranged Hermit's Shack would like to know what is your favorite expansion? and we will put the tallies up in the next The Deranged Hermit's Shack.

Arabian Nights?
Antiquities?
Legends?
The Dark?
Fallen Empires?
Ice Age?
Chronicles?
Homelands?(yeah right)
Alliances?
Mirage?
Visions?
Weatherlight?
Tempest?
Stronghold?
Exodus?
Urza's Saga?
Urza's Legacy?
Urza's Destiny?
Mercadian Masques?
Nemesis?
Prophecy?

post your vote here.

-Crimson Hellkite0021

"Flavor Card Text Of The Week"
"Gnawed to death.Bad way to go"
-Squirrel Wrangler flavor text

-Crimson Hellkite0021

Deck of the week:
this is a deck i made up last night.

Processor-White
4 phyrexian processor
2 masticore
4 angelic chorus
4 enlightend tutor
4 parallax wave
2 armageddon
4 wrath of god
4 mother of ruins
4 cho-manno's blessing
4 ballista squad
4 story circle
20 plains

here's how it works.
you get out the angelic chorus some how the you play a phyrexian processor pay 19 life.you get a 19/19 creture in play every time you tap 4 mana.and each time you gain 19 life so you pay 19 life for the pricessor and get all that life bake with the chorus.and who ever said no pain no gain.defense is simple with this deck.ballista squad,story circle,parallax wave.to ensure you deal your opponent the damage from the biffy 19/19 use one of these
masticore
mother of runes
cho-manno's blessing
you could also wrathof god and lose that big creature but pay four and get it back next turn almost certain damage with no other creatures on the board.oh yeah armageddon for stall they can use what they dont have.

-Crimson Hellkite0021

That's it for the first The Deranged Hermit's Shack.I'd like to give a special thanx to all the people who worked on it besides myself.Thanx Magic Guru and Avatar of Magic and mrsean.see ya next week or somthin' like that.

Crimson Hellkite0021: I don't mean to trash you but I don't believe that you can have a very educated decision on how Magic is so different. I mean you have only be playing for to years Oh but everything else GOLD

P.S.
Is there anyway i could get a notification everytime a new "issue" is posted???

©

Those matchups seem a little odd. Is it just me or did Trinity forget to pay the Hermits echo?

now im mad, i played replenish for the longest time, before the deck was stolen, oh well, that's past, anywayz, like said before, trinity got a nasty fast start, and replenish got a bad draw...if i was replenish playing against trinity, i would have mullliganed, until i had a wave or a seal of removal in my hand, just because i like them. anyway, trinity might beat replenish on the broad spectrum, but basing your judgement on 1 dual isn't fair.

just my 2 cents,

rest of it is good, though.

Nick,