Just a quick rant before I get into the actual topic at hand. When Invasion was first released, I preached the glory of Samite Archer. At the low cost of three mana, you get a creature that combines Samite Healer with Prodigal Sorcerer. How good is that in Sealed? I went on and on about how I would make it my first pick even if I got an amazing rare, about how I would abuse it, and even about how I’d consider changing to a generally weaker color combination if I opened one. Well, to date, I’ve participated in over thirty Invasion Sealed games (that means thirty Starters and sixty Boosters) and I haven’t gotten ONE Samite Archer yet. In fact, I’ve pulled a total of five Pyre Zombies, which means that I have somehow managed to completely warp the laws of probability. It’s nice to get powerhouse rares and all, but I want an Archer, dammit! An address for the Foundation for Getting Tim Samite Archers (or FGTSA) will be given at the end of this article. Any donations of Samite Archers are appreciated.
Ah, that feels better. When part one of this article concluded, I stated that I would be going into the more roguish decks in this installment. I use the word roguish because no deck concept that I will review here will be rogue anymore; someone’s bound to start copying one or more of them. Of course, some of these concepts aren’t true “rogue” decks anyway, just ideas that sort of have a cult following. Oh, and expect another rant at the end.
Hanna
It’s been a while since a Legend has had such an interesting ability. Hanna really is a versatile woman, as she fetches enchantments and artifacts out of your graveyard. A very handy talent to have. There are so many variations that it would be impossible to list them all, but a few definitely stand out.
The first is a combo deck, one that definitely puts Hanna to good use. Mishra’s Tide, the deck that uses Parallax Tide with Ankh of Mishra to deal ten damage a pop, often has the problem of using a Tide to deliver ten damage and then having nothing to do for a number of turns due to drawing absolutely nothing. Hanna corrects that problem by giving you the option of returning faded Tides to your hand. In this environment, with a complete lack of combo decks, this is sure to appeal to certain players.
Blue/White Control gained a powerful creature in Hanna. She can return three key cards that the deck abuses: Parallax Tide, Parallax Wave, and Tangle Wire. I have a nasty feeling that this deck will make an appearance at States. Something about it makes me think of a precision strike Replenish. The biggest threat, of course, is that nearly every non-land permanent in the deck can be returned via Hanna, including Seal of Cleansing, Teferi’s Moat, and Chimeric Idol. If the Hanna recursion has been doing its job correctly, your opponent will have no choice but to scoop when Mageta hits the table. I’ve played against this thing, and believe me, Hanna is a must kill/counter.
The last concept is still on the drawing board, from what I understand. I don’t have a full deck list at the moment (neither do the people that are helping to design it, for that matter), but it revolves around U/W/R and setting up a Moat lock that you can sit behind and burn your opponent to death with infinite Seals of Fire. As I said, I haven’t seen it yet, but I hear that it’s pretty good, and the people working on it are some of the best in the business.
There are a few problems that come with playing a Hanna deck. The first and foremost is that Hanna must be protected at all costs. Against a creature-unfriendly deck, this becomes a very real problem. Think of it this way: you’re running very few creatures in most cases, which means that your opponent doesn’t have many targets for his creature elimination. Translated, Hanna’s going to be taking a beating if you’re not careful. Another problem is created if Hanna is somehow removed from play (or, God forbid, Lobotomized). Since the decks are so heavily enchantment-based, it’s difficult or even impossible to win if the Hanna engine isn’t working. The unstableness of the deck designs has made some players shy away from the archetype.
Nether-Go
I have to tread carefully here. This is the archetype that I’ll be playing at States, and I need to be careful so as not to allow my personal tech to leak out. I’ve got something of a rogue version, and I want to keep it that way.
In the past few weeks, I’ve seen more versions of Nether-Go than you can shake a stick at. For the deck to succeed, it must be U/B, of course. Any other split with Black tends to lead to an incredibly vulnerable deck. However, once you’ve established the U/B base, it’s a wide open field. Splash Red, Whie, or Green as you see necessary. Hell, I’ve even see someone trying to wield 5 Color Nether-Go. It didn’t work, but it sure did look impressive.
So far, Red seems to be the best splash color. Things such as Pyre Zombie, a creature that can get around the poor interaction with Nether Spirit, and Void can be used, as well as the powerful Hammer of Bogarden. Even better, Earthquake and Shock can be put in without any mana problems. The deck sacrifices denial for a more aggressive style that some players find comforting. Some people simply have a problem with patience.
White is obvious, as it brings Disenchant to the table. However, Green is the enigma, isn’t it? How do you splash Green without taking away from the winning percentage? It’s a somewhat involved answer, actually, and it requires three cards to be successful. Massacre, Death Pit Offering, and Natural Affinity. The deck actually changes, with Blue only being kept for card drawing. Going against all conventional wisdom, BLUE becomes the splashed color, with Green showing its power through Natural Affinity, Hurricane, and Creeping Mold. If this deck gets a chance to go off, the game is over, no questions asked. If anything shows the versatility of Nether-Go deck design, this is it.
Still, the best Nether-Go deck might just be the original concept. U/B is definitely a strong enough combination to be used on its own, which is what I’m using at the moment. Without splashing a third color, the amount of permission is raised, allowing for greater control of the board. Counters like Foil and Daze become more attractive, especially Foil since it can dump Nether Spirit into the graveyard as early as the first turn. Probably the hardest choices to be made focus on what card drawing should be used. After all, there are a ton of good spells to fill the slots, such as Fact or Fiction, Probe, Brainstorm, Opt, Gush, and even Inspiration. Here’s a free hint, kiddies: FOUR FACT OR FICTIONS.
A common problem with players putting together a Nether-Go deck is that they don’t know where to draw the line between permission and problem solvers. Problem solvers are things like Snuff Out, Recoil, Terror, Massacre, etc. Nether-Go is incredibly complex in its division between permission and problem solvers, and the wrong mix can leave you without answers when you need them the most. This is where playtesting comes in. Even more than usual, you have to sit down and evaluate the parts of your deck in actual games. It was because of playtesting that I came to realize that Vampiric Tutor and Dark Ritual were wasted slots, at least in my version.
Call
A new twist on an old theme, Call tries to duplicate the success that the dreaded Living Death deck had at one point. Only two problems: Buried Alive and Hermit Druid aren’t T2 legal, and creatures with good coming-into-play effects are few and far between. Call attempts to balance this out by filling the creature slots with the most powerful creatures in the environment.
The most accepted version of the deck is U/B, using cards like Probe to draw cards and fill the graveyard with creatures. What many players don’t realize is that you really only need one or two creatures in the graveyard when you cast Twilight’s Call. After all, you’re just looking for fast creature superiority. When playtesting the deck, I found that I was winning most games with a single Avatar of Woe and some random creature.
Creature selection is the key to this deck. Obviously, the Avatars are the most impressive creatures in the environment, so the Avatar of Woe and the Avatar of Will can almost be viewed as staples. After that, though, what should be added? Sticking with the U/B theme, it becomes obvious that this isn’t Extended. The pool of cards just isn’t what it used to be. Blue has the mighty Tidal Kraken, so that can be considered. Black has Devouring Strossus, which, while sub-optimal, is still a 9/9 trampling flier whose upkeep cost is somewhat negated by Twilight’s Call. So it’s somewhat obvious that a third color needs to be brought in to strengthen the deck.
Green is the obvious choice. Birds of Paradise help to stabilize the mana base, which is sort of an added bonus. Let’s review the tournament-quality beats that Green has to offer, shall we? There’s Rhox, Avatar of Might, Rushwood Elemental, and Blastoderm. Those are the ones that come readily to mind. However, two options may not be obvious at first: Silverglade Elemental and Nestling Wurm. The Elemental fetches you a land and is still a 4/4 that can be cast straight from your hand if necessary. Nestling Wurm is a bit more obscure, but it can create a devastating swarm effect if used correctly. Even better, it can force you to discard once you have those three extra cards in your hand, which works nicely towards the deck’s theme.
Hopefully Planeshift and/or Seventh Edition will bring things such as Buried Alive back, though, as Call is unstable at best. Definitely not a deck that will see a lot of play just yet.
Blue/White Control
I already went into the Hanna version of Blue/White Control, so this section will be focusing on the Hanna-less version.
Do you realize that you can now play twelve versions of Wrath of God? Wrath of God, Rout, and Mageta the Lion. Now then, what does that mean exactly? It means that you can take advantage of what looks to be a creature-heavy environment. Running ten Wraths (four Wraths and Routs, two Magetas) is perfectly acceptable, and I expect to see just that at States. It won’t take people long to realize that Wrath of God and Chimeric Idol is a combo, after all.
Blue is the support color; in fact, it’s basically in the deck to protect your Idols and ensure successful Wraths. It’s quite possible to play without the Blue (see White Control below), but there are some players that just don’t feel comfortable without that added control. From what I’ve seen, every counter in the deck, with the exception of Counterspell itself, can be exchanged for another of the deckbuilder’s choice. Even Desertion (which I like in the new environment) is usable.
Still, I tend to prefer White Control to U/W Control. Blue was severely weakened when the Urza’s Block rotated out, while the new pace really benefits White. The addition of Blue also makes casting one of your Wraths more difficult mana-wise, especially since the sub-par Costal Tower (a basic land is almost always better) must be used with Adarkar Wastes. Counters take up slots, which means that bombs like Blinding Angel have to be removed. I know that I’m going to take some heat for this, but Blue drags the deck down. If you want to play U/W, play Hanna.
White Control
This deck is basically a bunch of Plains with bombs. Mageta, Blinding Angel, Parallax Wave, Wave of Reckoning, Wrath of God, etc. The deck is mana intensive, but unlike Dark Ponza, its high-costing spells are normally enough to wipe the board clear.
There’s an ongoing debate as to whether or not Chimeric Idol belongs in the deck. On the one hand, you get a 3/3 artifact creature for three mana that doesn’t die to a Wrath. On the other hand, tapping out to use the Idol means that Cho Manno’s Blessing and Disenchant become playable only at a sorcery speed, which diminishes their power. And with Kor Havens and Rishadan Ports important to the equation, it becomes a real conundrum.
Story Circle equals Must Play, by the way.
One last thing on the Idol controversy. If you decide to play it, use Seal of Cleansing over Disenchant, and if you decide against it, use Disenchant. It’s all about synergy.
Sligh
I’m not going to waste my time on this deck. For it to be successful, it has to run land destruction, which makes it Ponza. Skizzik doesn’t win games by itself, people. You can play it if you want, but at States, you better hope that you play against nothing but combo decks that don’t do anything until turn twenty-three.
The next article will be the final one in the series, which I guess can be called “Basic Survival Training for States”. It will probably open with the normal rant, go into a few decks like Counter Rebel and B/G Beats, and finish it all up with a quick recap. Until then, good luck with your deckbuilding, and please, for the sake of humanity, don’t play Sligh. It’s not quite dead, but it’s in the coma and on the way out.
[Edited 1 times, lastly by iakae on October 25, 2000]
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posted October 25, 2000 07:45 AM
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