Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 19:29:08 +0800 From: "Selwyn Clyde M. Alojipan" Subject: Re: Help! I wanna play in PTChi My comments are based on experience with a U/G deck using nearly unblockable creatures and creature enhancements. My deck has 10 creature enhancers (Unstable Mutations, Giant Growths, and Briar Shields--it's Type 2) but you probably need more creatures and control ability so there are only about 4 such enhancements. You don't have to follow my suggestions. I just wanted to share my strategies when playing U/G. Test it out. This deck embodies a number of such concepts in several different U/G decks. My comments are marked by ##. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 18:47:02 PDT From: Chris Warren Subject: Help! I wanna play in PTChi Howdy, folks. Welp, I've decided to suck it up and give it a shot for the PT again -- this time, PT Chicago, since that's my home town. Translation: I reeeeeeealy want in this time. I've done well in big events, most of them T2, and I've never played MVW. Here's a deck I've been bumping around for MVW, I'm extremely interested in ideas: Land [25] 10 Island 8 Forest 4 Undiscovered Paradise 3 Quicksand ## Too many lands. Use 3 Quirion Elves instead; reduce land to 3 Quicksand, 3 Undiscovered Paradise (optional, may not be needed), 8 Forest, 8 Island = 22 land. Critters [19] 4 River Boa ## I'd add 2 Political Trickery to give an island with to the opponent for the Boas to walk on, and to steal any special land. Try not to summon the Boas if you have no extra green mana for regenerating. They also make good blockers except against flankers. 4 Cloud Elemental 4 Man-o-War ## Awesome with Dragon Mask and lots of mana! 4 Jolrael's Centaur ## Still vulnerable to Savage Twister, etc. ## Replace 2 of these with 1 Barishi (recharges your library with creatures after a mass kill) and 1 Stampeding Wildebeests 1 Hazerider Drake ## I'd put this in the sideboard because it's an off-color 4cc. 2 Breezekeeper ## No need for expensive and slow Breezekeepers. Replace with 2 Wall of Roots for more mana/blocking creatures that will work with Wildebeests. Remember, there are lots of flankers around that you wouldn't normally have the means to block. ## If you want to retain extra flyers, try 2 Shimmering Efreets to remove opposing blockers in front of your attackers. Or go with 2 Vodalian Illusionists to neutralize opposing creatures and save your own--the 2 U-mana you keep untapped for them is gonna warn off your opponent from casting any funky spells. Counter/Control [17] 4 Power Sink ## These are wasteful of your mana. Use 2 Mana Web and 1 Shimmer to slow down your opponent instead. Replace the 4th with a Dragon Mask to give your Men-o'-War a continuous way of clearing away blockers. 2 Memory Lapse (prob. replace with Dissipates) ## Go with 4 Dissipates standard, you'll have the mana for them. Counter only the most critical spells and try to win quickly (delays may be bad for you versus other decks). 1 Dissipate (AIH) 4 Ray of Command ## These are too expensive and/or passive. Replace with 3~4 Armor of Thorns or Briar Shields to place on the flyers or islandwalking Boas. You may like to try a couple of Fire Whips to turn some of your creatures into snipers (they're awesome on the Vodalian Illusionists or Wall of Roots). Try 1~2 Abduction if you want to steal an opposing creature. 4 Impulse ## Nice to have if you have the slots for it. Be willing to go with less than 4 if necessary. I'd rather have a Preferred Selection and a Rowen for these slots for better long-term library manipulation. 1 Mystical Tutor ## Here's a deterrent tactic: If you have lots of mana, Tutor for a Dissipate just to warn off your opponent from any come-from-behind tactics while your creatures win the game for you on the next 2 turns. 1 Kaervek's Torch ## Why not? After a few turns you should have the mana to send your opponent to the loser's bracket. ------------------ 61 Cards ## Sideboard should include 2 Uktabi Orangutan (anti-artifact); Creeping Molds or Tranquil Domains (anti-enchantment); Mind Harness (anti-green or red creature/s; Warthogs (anti-black); Barbed Foliage (anti-weenie/flankers); Phantom Warriors (anti-big creatures/walls). Since I'm not decking anyone with this thing (due to Impulses) I'd like to cut it down to 6. Some notes on what I'm trying to do: * Use the best creatures available. No question on the Centaurs and River Boa. Cloud Elementals are cheap fliers as are Breezekeepers, and the Hazerider is anti-red and a reasonably-costed flier. Impulses should let me find an Undiscovered if the need arises. * Control with a decent amount of countermagic and Ray of Command. I'd like to get 3 more Dissipates and move Memory Lapse to the side for Counter vs Counter wars. In this environment, there are so many creature decks, I think Ray of Command should nearly always be a good draw. ## It forces you to leave 4 mana untapped when you could be attacking. I'd rather use evasive attackers boosted with a few enhancements. * Add a little touch from the other colors. This is not a 5cg deck... those depend heavily on their off-color spells for control. Think of it as a two-color deck with a spash of a third, and the third color is "any." The blue provides the real control here, I just thought the Hazerider is especially good in the environment, and that a Torch is never a bad thing to have available (why not? and a Tutor to go get it). I'd like to splash especially for the side... I think Odyllic Wraith will just kick butt in the sideboard, as well as Dark Banishing (would only use one or the other... no good DB targets against a black deck), Wildfire Emissary (main deck?), and maybe Scalebane's Elite or Honorable Passage. Things I've been thinking about: * Fog Elemental is ok, but isn't Breezekeeper better? Actually, I know Waterspout Djinn is the current favorite, but I think the stop in mana production would kill me... I need to be able to play and react. * I thought about Cloud Djinn, but it just keeps saying to me "Fireblast, Thunderbolt..." Two cards I can probably plan on seeing quite a bit of, and it's 6 mana. Where have you gone, Joe Mahatmoti... How about a Maro or 3? Only problem is, Maro doesn't fly. * I even considered Stampy and Arctic Wolves, but came across the mana thing again. The Stampy's are no good without another green critter, although the green critters I have are pretty darned resillient. Also thought about Uktabi Efreets. * I'm somewhat weak against flankers and first strikers, except for the Ray of Commands. I was thinking of Triangle of War(!) in the side. Especially good with Maro. In any case, any comments would be much appreciated. Besides, I've always had a hankerin' to play a good U/G deck. Maybe MVW is the format for it... --Chris ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ## I didn't snip the original text because I want to forward this to some of my teammates on Team Rogue (where rogue decks find a home). Send us your comments (by CC email), anyone. -------------------------------------------------- Every generalization is false, including this one. ================================================== /) /) Selwyn Clyde M. Alojipan TIP#2704 /______/ E-mail: selwyn@mozcom.com OPPA \_/^\_/ Quezon City, Philippines