Hello, everyone in Reader-Land! Today I’m going to share with you an article including a decklist, a history on the deck, a card-for-card evaluation of the deck, and a psuedo “tourney report” involving the deck’s performance against popular T2 decks.

The History of the Deck
The idea of the deck came to me suddenly while I was plinking away on Apprentice. I was re-reviewing all the cards in Apocalypse, and I realized how so many of them mimicked cards found in the traditional Necropotence deck. Here’s a sample Necro deck:

18 Swamp
4 Strip Mine
4 Dark Ritual
4 Demonic Consultation
4 Necropotence
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Zuran Orb
4 Knight of Stromgald
4 Hypnotic Specter
2 Ihsan's Shade
3 Serrated Arrows

Unfortunately, most of the new “Necro” deck cards require either B/W or B/G. I realized that Invasion block has enough similar cards to “recreate,” if you will, the Necro decks of old. So I worked for a little while building a deck on Apprentice that would, theoretically, work rather well. Here’s the list:

"New World Necro":
4 Caves of Koilos
10 Plains
9 Swamp
3 Phyrexian Scuta
4 Vindicate
2 Voice of All
3 Wrath of God
3 Steadfast Guard
3 Longbow Archer
2 Desolation Angel
3 Spectral Lynx
4 Phyrexian Arena
3 Glorious Anthem
3 Death Grasp
4 Dark Ritual

Sideboard:
2 Plague Spitter
1 Voice of All
1 Death Grasp
1 Glorious Anthem
3 Thermal Glider
3 Nightwind Glider
3 Rout
1 Wrath of God

It looks very different, I know, but it runs on the same generic principle, which we’ll get to in the:

Card-by-Card Analysis
Originally, Necropotence was used to retain huge card advantage, so one could put weenies out fast. However, it eventually came to be used to search out combo cards. Since Phyrexian Arena is more of a personal Howling Mine than a card-drawing engine, the latter use is impractical.
We take a look now at some of the cards and why they were chosen.
· Spectral Lynx-- One of the best weenies in Standard, the Lynx’s regenerating ability and protection from green allow it to not only hit quickly, but also dominate against Fires and 5-Color Green.
· Steadfast Guard-- A good, solid bear, the Guard’s ability to attack without tapping can come in useful.
· Longbow Archer-- Not only is the Archer a very good second-turn bear, he can also lead the assault, especially with a Glorious Anthem in play.
· Voice of All-- The Voice’s evasion ability and protection from any color make it a good blocker and attacker when the need suits it. It can have some trouble against fires, but if it comes into play against control, it rocks.
· Phyrexian Scuta-- Able to come out on the second turn as a 5/5, the Scuta helps lead the offensive quickly. The three life it costs to pump him is not a problem, because it is not only
simple to defeat your opponent before the life becomes an issue, but gaining massive amounts of life is quite easy.
· Vindicate-- Although it can’t stop regeneration, Vindicate is generally useful enough to outweigh its downside.
· Death Grasp-- The Death Grasp is not only powerful for taking down creatures. Late in the game it can be a devastating finisher.
· Wrath of God-- Fires is no longer such a big problem, as you can quickly clear the board of all creatures.
· Glorious Anthem-- It could be said that this really makes the deck, as the additional power/toughness it grants your weenies suddenly make them a much larger problem for your opponent.
· Dark Ritual-- It allows you to pull out turn one Arenas, turn two Scutas, turn 5 Desolation Angels, and can fuel huge Death Grasps. What’s not to like?
· Desolation Angel-- Although not as useful, I’ve found, as the Scuta, the Angel can take control of the game quickly. The problem is that it doesn’t really take any preasure off you in a tight space, as it cannot get rid of creatures except in open combat. However, expect one to be useful by turn seven.
· Phyrexian Arena-- This really makes the deck. Some people would argue that the Arena is just to focus the deck and can be taken out if necessary. To them, I’d have to disagree. The Arena allows you to pull an additional card a turn, which gives you a huge advantage on the opponent.

I opted to leave out the Nevinyrral's Disks (Pernicious Deeds) and ‘Mongers so as to not over-strain the mana. Whereas Necro decks of old had the advantage of consistency that comes with only one color, our Neo Necro will have some trouble with mana as it is. I decided not to try and compound it with Green, since I wanted to include Longbow Archers and Steadfast Guards, which are intensive on the White.

But I’m sure you’re more curious as to how the deck works against some of the more popular T2 decks. So my friend Ronald C. (who gets notice in this handsome display note) and I rigged up some popular builds of the popular decks. We’ve tried it on six decks: Fires, Aggro-Blue, U/W Millstone, CounterOrb (with Sap tokens), CounterBurn, and the traditional B/W Arena build.

“Tournament” Capabilities

Some of the reports are a little sketchy, since I was writing them while playing. You should be able to get the basic idea, though.

Match 1: Aggro-Blue
Game 1:
I win the die roll and decide to play. I keep an opening hand with 4 spells and 3 lands. I lay a Plains and pass. He lays down an Island and says go. I draw, put down a Plains, and drop a Steadfast Guard. He Dazes it, however, and I pass the turn. He re-lays his island and says go. I draw an Arena. I lay down a Caves and tap for black. Using the black, I put a Ritual on the stack. I then put the Arena in play. He doesn’t counter it. He draws, lays an Island, and then produces a Cloudskate. He passes. I decide he must be low on counters, since he lets me Vindicate his Island. He puts down another Skate on his turn. I draw another Arena, which I don’t want against Agro-Blue. I try to Grasp the Skate. However, he ACC Foils my Death Grasp. He plays a Chimeric Idol and serves for four with his Skates. Again I Grasp one. This time it goes through, gaining me 4 life. He serves for 5 and plays a Coral Merfolk. He eventually overwhelms me, as I draw few creatures.

Game 2:
I side in a Wrath. He manages to lay a Cloud Sprite. All I have for white is a Cave. I can’t draw a second source of white. But I get a Plains next turn and force through a kicked Scuta. Although I can keep his land forces back, the Sprite is nibbling away at me. Then I screw-up. I Wrathed, like an idiot. He begins to beat down on me with some small creatures. He eventually gets through a Troublesome Spirit and an Idol. Needless to say, I lose fairly quickly.

Match 2: Fires
Game 1:
I keep a hand with large potential but no creatures. Fortunately, he also starts slow. I Vindicate his first threat, a third-turn Idol. Unfortunately, he gets a Derm out. I now hope to draw either a Wrath or a Lynx. Somebody up there is smiling on me, as I get the Lynx, which I wanted more. I proceed to lay out a kicked Scuta. It looks as though the game has turned in my favour. He lays a Burst. Now I hope for a Vindicate. All I get is an Anthem. However, he doesn’t do anything with his Burst, since it’s useless without the blazing forest that is Fires of Yavimia. And I can’t find a Vindicate. I do, though, have a D. Angel in my hand! He brings out the Saps, but they can do little. Nothing is really happening. I am able to slowly kill him with a pro-red Voice and the Lynx, with the Scuta in back and two Anthems in play. The game is mine, even though he plays another Burst. I easily blow through him for the win.

Game 2:
I side in the Routs over the Wraths, but opt not to do anything else, as I am not too used to this deck. I keep a low-mana, high-creature hand. Again, he is slow off the line, but I can’t seem to draw another Plains or a Cave to match the one already in play. I Vindicate his turn 3 Fires. I bring out a kicked Scuta to deal with his stupid Elf. I’m still stalled at three lands, but I bring out an Arena. He Flashfires, knocking off my only Plains. I kill his elf in open combat. He brings out a Burst, but no fires. I’m stuck with four Swamps and no Plains. He hits me with Saps, and kills my Scuta. Not good, and I still can’t get a Plains. I’m down to 5 life. He kills me with an Urza’s Rage.

Game 3:
Same sideboard job. I keep a creatureless hand, with the opportunity to deal butt-loads of damage with a Death Grasp. He gets the traditional great Fires hand, but I pull out a Lynx to stall. Things aren’t looking good, as I keep drawing land. I Desolation all the lands away with the help of a Dark Ritual. I block one of the Idols he attacks with using the Angel, but he sacks Fires to it. I can still hang in, though, since he isn’t drawing lands. I kill his elf in open combat. He’s ahead on life, but I have two lands (Cave and Plains) and have two creatures (Lynx and a Longbow Archer I just brought out). I bring out an Anthem, stopping the rush. He finally pulls a Forest. He’s at 17, I’m at 6. However, he now has to discard because of his huge hand. I Grasp him for four, and hit him with the Archer. It’s now me at nine, him at ten. But he pulls a Forest. Not good. I have four lands, though, and if I pull a Vindicate… He plays a Bird, which I Grasp for 3, putting me up to twelve. Now I’m kicking butt. I pull out a Guard, but he pulls a Forest and plays an Idol. Now we’re racing. I kill an Idol, but he gets the Guard, too. He Tranquilities, killing my Anthem. But I pull out an Arena. He kills the Archer with a Flametounge, but I Vindicate the Idol. He’s at one, and has to block the Lynx with the Kavu, so I kill it and regenerate my creature. He Rages it on my next turn, so I can’t attack. He plays a Fires, but it’s too late, and I finally vanquish him.

Match 3: Opp-Orb
Game 1:
I have to mulligan twice (no lands) into a pain-land hand with only one caves. He wins the roll and plays. He drops an Island, and I drop a Caves on my turn. He drops a turn-2 Howling Mine. He dazes my Guard. However, I get one through the next turn. Long story short, I stall at three lands, but Vindicate his Mine. He so far has no answers. I get out an Archer, but he Spontaneous Generations. However, I get a Scuta. But he pulls out another. I pull out an Arena. Time to Wrath. I put him down to three saps and decide not to Wrath of God. I play it anyway, but he foils. He gets out a Coat, which spells doom for me. He attacks with his three 3/3s, and puts me down to one. My own Arena kills me. And I had a Death Grasp in hand.

Game 2:
Not sure how to board, so I don’t. I keep a hand with a single Plains and lay it down. He starts with a Coast. I draw a Ritual, which I can’t use. Not good. I draw a Swamp and kick a Scuta, but he Foils. He orbs, but I’m good as I draw a Cave and bring out the Guard. I then bring out the Arena. But he brings out the evil Opposition! He pulls a Mine and counters the Angel I try to play. He brings out the Burst… I scoop.

Match 4: CounterBurn
Game 1:
He wins the roll and plays. I have a land-rich hand, with two Arenas. We trade lands for a while, and I get out a Guard. He counters my Voice and Fires my Guard. Not cool. My Arena hits, though. He plays a Tahngarth, which I try to Grasp on my turn, but he ACC Thwarts the Grasp. Not cool. However, my kicked Scuta hits play. I kick out a D. Angel, but he taps and Bolts it, screwing us both, but mostly me. He’s at 19, though, and I’m at 9. The game is so his. He ends up throwing an unckicked Rage at me.

Game 2:
I play. I try to out-tempo him by Vindicating his Reef. I try to take advantage of the one-blue mana thing, but he Foils my kicked Scuta. However, I get out an Anthem, making his Burn next to useless. I then pull out the Archer. Yes! I try to play a Guard, but he Suffocating Blasts it, killing both the critters. He brings out Big Maha, but I Vindicate it. Tee-hee. I pull out another Anthem. Let’s see him deal with this! Then I bring out the Arena. I’ll be ruling this, once I pull a creature… I Wrath the next Djinn. I have both D. Angel and D. Grasp in my hand… Just waiting… He facts into a Rage and a Counterspell, though. He counters my Grasp, leaving me, hopefully, able to bring through the Angel. He Thwarts the Angel. Bummer. I’m dead, as he’s almost to kick Rage area. He burns me out, dealing nine damage in a single turn.

Match 5: U/W Millstone
Game 1:
I win the roll and go first. I keep a fairly aggressive hand that he should have trouble with. I bring out a Guard. Bad for him, as it could go the distance, or at least most of it. He pulls out a Mine. I try to kick out a Scuta turn three, but he is ACC Foiled. I bring out an Arena. He brings out another a Millstone and Mine. I’m losing six cards a turn. Not good. But I bring out two Lynxes, which make him so dead. I use Vindicate as a ploy to make him ditch an Absorb, then bring out an Anthem that he can’t answer. He’s dead unless he pulls a Wrath. Which he does. But drawing four cards a turn provides oh so many answers. I bring out an Archer and a Voice to replace the fallen heroes. He’s dead at this point. He Routs away my creatures, but that takes out his mana, and lets me Death Grasp for eight.

Game 2:
I side in the Thermals over the Wraths to give me extra creatures. He plays. I keep a hand with only two spells, but I should be good. He pulls a turn-two Millstone. Darn. No creatures save a Scuta in hand. He Absorbs my Lynx. I bring out a Guard, which he lets pass after much consideration. He’s either sitting on a single counter or he’s playing Jedi Mind Tricks. He shaves lands off my deck, and counters my next turn Scuta. I have another in hand, and I’m hoping it will pass through unharmed. I fake him out with a Vindicate to the Millstone, which he taps out to protect. I then pull out the Anthem waiting in my hand. He taps out to Wrath. I then play the Scuta in my hand, which goes through. He needs a Wrath to take care of a rampaging 6/6. Then he Routs. Lucky dork. I restore myself to twenty with a Grasp, taking him down to 13. I draw a land. He then shaves a D. Angel and a Vindicate off my deck. This sucks. I then bring in the Thermal Glider. Woo-Hoo! He then takes my last Scuta off of my deck, with a Swamp. He brings out another Millstone, but I have an Archer to help. Unless he Wraths or Routes, I should be okay, with 36 cards left. He shaves off three more creatures and an Arena that I frankly don’t want. He proceeds to Rout. His luck is wearing on my nerves. He shaves off spells that I don’t need or want. I should get a creature next turn. He counters my fatal Death Grasp. He pulls out a Djinn, just about sealing the game for him. He wins.

Game 3:
I don’t board, but go first. I pull out a first turn Arena. The idea is that it will give me fast card advantage, fast enough to win the game. If not, I’m dead. So far, it seems to be working. I’ve got enough fake-out cards, I should be good. He brings out a Mine. I Vindicate it. He ACC Foils it. Excellent. Wasting counters. He brings out a Millstone that is successfully Vindicated. He brings out another Millstone. I Vindicate it. I then pull out a Scuta same turn, making use of a Ritual. It lives. I then try with a Guard next turn. It dies to an Absorb. I’ll keep the other critters back in case of Rout/Wrath. He counters the Anthem I play. The game was mine already. He pulled so little mana (four at this point) he could do almost nothing. He Absorbs the Death Grasp that would have killed him. I swing again, and hit him with another Grasp for the win.

Strengths and Weaknesses
Here’s a list of how it preformed in the matches against each deck type:
Aggro-Blue: 0-2
Fires: 2-1
Opp-Orb: 0-2
CounterBurn: 0-2
U/W Millstone: 2-1
So, as you can see, it performs well against decks that have a hard time hanging on to creature superiority. With the Anthems, Scutas, and Lynxes, the deck does well against anything Green or without counters. It does poorly against anything with counters or a larger number of quick creatures. It also has serious trouble with flying creatures.

Final Verdict…
The final question is: is this deck viable? I would say that yes, it is. But only if you give it a serious overhaul. It needs SERIOUS attention. I would suggest maybe changing it around by focusing more on beat-down and less on weenies. I would throw in Green just for this. Here’s a revised deck list:

4 Death Grasp
2 Pernicious Deed
4 Vindicate
4 Phyrexian Arena
3 Phyrexian Scuta
4 Dark Ritual
3 Wrath of God
3 Necravolver
3 Spiritmonger
3 Voice of All
3 Spectral Lynx
1 Forest
6 Swamp
6 Plains
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Caves of Koilos
3 Elfhame Palace

I’m not sure yet about the ‘Board, but it should remain basically the same.
But this is only half of the final analysis. The other half is: should you expect this at a tournament? Yes and no. Expect something like this in Friday Night Magic, but you can forget about it in a Qualifier, Regionals, Nationals, or Pro Tour.

How do I prepare for this deck?

As if you need to worry. This is such a pile, I wouldn’t worry about it unless you play a lot at FNM. But, if you can connect the dots, here’s the two different ways you can out-do it:
1. Hordes of Creatures
2. Counters
The deck didn’t do well at all against Control or Beat-down. That’s why it got beat so bad by Aggro-Blue. The combination of counters and flying creatures was too much for the stupid pile to handle.
It did well against Fires strictly because the tempo of the creatures was faster. Plus, the Vindicates and Death Grasps helped eliminate creatures or enchantments and keep life up. The Voice of Alls and the Lynxes made it so they couldn’t be blocked. The Desolation Angels had flying, and they pretty much screwed both of us up. That’s why they’re not in the final draft.

Thanks to:
I’m not going to have a whole “props and slops” section, because I personally feel that they’re insolent and stupid. However, here’s a list of the people I’d like to thank:

· Ronald C. (remember him?)
· David Price (He created a similar Neo Necro deck, and helped inspire me to write this article. He only had a deck list, though. Not like mine.)
· Star City, for publishing this (assuming they do…)
· You, for reading this all the way through. Assuming you did.

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have any cards drawn by chris rush let me know
If we rearrange the atoms in dirt, water and air , we can make potatoes

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if a frog had wings it wouldnt bump its arse when it hopped.- Red Foreman-That 70s Show

I want as many last caresses as is out there, ill trade for them

i also want your leeches

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Stickdeath 4 life!

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Email: darkdamion@hotmail.com