Subject: The Wakefield Stomp Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 14:17:21 -0600 From: Tim Kilgore To: "'Frank Kusumoto'" Over the last few months I've seen posts about the death of Green, all of them quite sure that mono-green was no long viable as a tournament calibre deck. The reasons given for the demise of green was primarily Perish followed by green's lack of creature control. Green isn't my favorite color, although it has treated me well. In the Missouri State championships I placed 3rd with a Stompy deck. Anyhow, I have a soft spot for green and probably always will. When I read Jamie Wakefield's review of Tempest green cards on the Dojo, I got excited and started working on a tournament calibre mono-green deck. With Tempest, green was given the BEST card in Type II today. Game Overrun. In the blink of an eye a game can conclude. I attack for 16. I attack for 21. No other color can accomplish this so easily. So the number one asset of the Green Mage is Game Overrun. Game Overrun requires a number of things that are difficult to accomplish. First, you need 3 or 4 creatures on the table when Overrun is cast. Second, you need 5 mana to cast Overrun. Third, a counterspell can ruin it. And finally, you need to have an Overrun in hand when the time comes. I'll address each of these issues and provide the solutions for each one. With the amount of creature removal being used these days, getting 3 or 4 creatures on the table can be tough. Green has Jolreal's Centaurs and Pincher Beetles, both of which cannot be targeted. They can allow you to build creature mass and have a side-effect of hurting bounce decks. I also use a lot of 4 toughness creatures, including Scragnoth who can become another potentially untargetable creature. When you pass 3 toughness, your creatures usually generate card advantage or cannot be dealt with. Finally, these high toughness creatures limit the utility of Cursed Scroll. Getting 5 mana on the table for an Overrun can also be tough. Winter Orbs, Static Orbs, Propaganda, Armageddon, Tradewind Riders, Pox, and the usual land destruction spells make it difficult at times. Between Uktabi Orangutans, Walls of Roots, Tranqulity and Vineyards, Green has more than enough solutions to these problems. The deck below will generally break Geddon-Rider decks following a sideboarding. Avoiding counterspells is hard to do, especially once you've attempted an Overrun. The solution is to provide more threats than can be countered and to win via an over abundance of must-counter spells. Taking a Blue Mage out of a reactive role is crucial and both City of Solitude and Vineyards can potentially take him out of his game plan. Having an Overrun in hand takes a little luck, but having one is hand is more likely if you play with three of them. So the solution is to add one more to the deck than most deck designers recommend. Perish, in and of itself, is a card that must be dealt with. The solution is called LIFEFORCE. If a deck can produce black and does not use any green creatures, you should give careful consideration to boarding in Lifeforce since it will keep you alive and well. Finally, today's Type II environment is diverse and can produce many threats both expected and unexpected. The deck below is designed to be extremely flexible, with ways to recover from almost any problem. It maximizes your chances in a broad field and even when it looses, your opponent will feel lucky to have beaten you. Here then, is the deck.... ======================================= THE WAKEFIELD STOMP v1.5 (aka GAME-OVERRUN) being a Type 2 Mono-Green Tournament Deck CREATURES (28) 4 x Wall of Roots 3 x Uktabi Orangutan 3 x Canopy Spider 3 x Trained Armodon 2 x Trumpeting Armodon 4 x Jolreal's Centaur 3 x Pincher Beetles 2 x Scragnoth 3 x Heartwood Treefolk 1 x Lhurgoyf SPELLS (10) 2 x Tranquility 3 x Overrun 3 x Natural Spring 2 x Creeping Mold LAND (22) 22 x Forest SIDEBOARD 3 x Lifeforce 3 x Eladamri's Vineyard 3 x Phyrexian Splicer 3 x City of Solitude 2 x Needlestorm 1 x Tranquility ======================================= Upon initial review, any respectable Green Mage is going to want to know just where in the hell are his beloved Elves or mana-Birds. Between Fireslingers, Mogg Fantatics, Guildmages, Tims, Cursed Scroll, and other forms of ping damage, I felt it best if all weaker forms of mana production were removed. Replacing land with mana elves is no longer wise. Our only alternate form of mana production are the Walls of Roots and I recommend that you protect them well as the deck tends to stall for a l For someone wanting to build this deck, it is very inexpensive until you get to the sideboard. You should be able to build the main deck for less than $15 as it contains only 1 rare. The deck is viable without Lhurgy, so if you are on a budget, you can probably make it without a 'Goyf for under $7. Since this deck is a little slower than the rest of field, I have included 3 Natural Springs. Each one represents 2 Anti-Fireblasts and it's rare that you'll mind drawing one. Drink and be merry. The unexpected stars of the deck are the Heartwood Treefolk. Wakefield noted that green was being splashed in many decks. These guys make them pay dearly for regarding green as being a splashable color. A 3/4 forest-walker can make an incredible impact on a game and most standard Stompy decks just curl-up and die when he arrives. The sideboard is strong against a number of the leading deck types out there. Correctly sideboarded, The Wakefield Stomp can ruin Pox, Tradewind-Geddon, and can deal with mana deprivation. If Splicers were custom designed for Green, it couldn't be better. The Splicers can turn the strengths of an opponent's creatures into the strengths of your creatures. When you shadow-walk a 7/8 'Goyf in for the win, be sure to give your blessings to the Priest that so kindly lent you the ability. When you fly a pair of Armodons in for some tough loving, wave your trunk at the grounded Air Elementals on your way to victory. [Design Credits: Tim Kilgore with input from Bryan Maun and Dan Berg. Thanks to Jamie Wakefield for the inspiration he provided.]