"The Decks to Beat", August '97


The top decks in the Australian, Canadian and U.S. Nationals, along with decks from the recent World Championships, are listed below. These decks are the decks to either play, or be prepared for... because you will be playing against them. To be competitive it is extremely important to have the answer to massive creature swarms, graveyard manipulation, and strong board control. The environment so far has proven to be wide open, with no deck dominating. Perhaps the strongest decks have proven to be the "Buried" and "Burned" Alive decks, along with its cousin deck, the 4 Color Black deck (4CB). With the reintroduction of Ice Age and Homelands, Swords to Plowshares, Serrated Arrows, and Icy Manipulator have all made a strong return along with Ihsan's Shade and Ashen Ghouls. Board control is the name of the game, so expect Man 'O Wars every which way you turn, along with his less friendly chum, Nekrataal. Be prepared for the occasional Armageddon as well. Abeyance is the super card (so far) to emerge from the Weatherlight set, along with the versatile Gemstone Mine and Gerrard's Wisdom.  Senor Stompy, CounterPost, "Buried Alive" and "Abeyance" decks should be all the rage, while the depndable U/R, Sligh, MaroGeddon and NecroDecks will remain consistent and viable. I'm still looking for strong deck archetypes, so if you have a deck listing you're willing to share of a strong tourney winning deck, please send it in.
Gallagher's "Senor Stompy" Deck
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Fyndhorn Elves
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Ghazban Ogre
4 Rogue Elephant
4 Spectral Bear
3 Whirling Dervish
2 Harvest Wurm
3 Jolrael's Centaur
2 Lhurgoyf
4 Giant Growth
2 Bounty of the Hunt
1 Nature's Resurgence
4 Winter Orb
2 Heart of Yavimaya
16 Forest
Sideboard:
2 City of Solitude
2 Tranquil Grove
1 Whirling Dervish
3 Emerald Charm
Sideboard (cont):
3 Uktabi Orangutan
2 Serrated Arrows
2 Hurricane


Dave Price's "Deadguy" Sligh Deck
4 Goblin Vandals
3 Goblin Digging Team
4 Ironclaw Orcs
2 Dwarven Soldier
4 Ball Lightning
2 Viashino Sandstalkers
4 Lava Hounds
4 Incinerate
4 Hammer of Bogardan
4 Fireblast
3 Kaervak's Torch

4 Dwarven Ruins
18 Mountain
Sideboard:
4 Anarchy
4 Detonate
Sideboard (cont):
4 Straw Golem
3 Pyrokinesis


Justin Gary's U/R Deck
4 Man 'O War
3 Rainbow Efreet
1 Air Elemental

4 Counterspell
4 Dissipate
4 Force of Will
2 Binding Grasp
3 Wildfire

2 Incinerate
3 Disintegrate
3 Earthquake

1 Frenetic Efreet
2 Serrated Arrows
2 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Thawing Glaciers
10 Island
8 Mountain
Sideboard:
1 Pyroclasm
2 Hydroblast
1 Incinerate
2 Shatter
Sideboard (cont):
3 Pyroblast
2 Energy Flux
3 Anarchy
1 Mind Harness


Szwedowski's 4Color Black Deck
2 Shadow Guildmage
4 Fallen Askari
4 Skulking Ghost
4 Nekrataal

2 Contagion
1 Vampiric Tutor
4 Suq'Ata Lancer
4 Incinerate
1 Pyrokinesis

4 Man 'o War
4 Arcane Denial

2 Uktabi Orangutan
3 Winter Orb
3 Quicksand
4 Undiscovered Paradise
3 City of Brass
3 Mountain
2 Island
7 Swamp
Sideboard:
4 Dystopia
1 Contagion
1 Winter Orb
3 Pyroblast
Sideboard (cont):
3 Hydroblast
1 Uktabi Oragutan
1 Dwarven Miner
1 Knights of the Mist


Eric Tam's "Buried Alive" Deck
2 Nether Shadow
4 Fallen Askari
4 Black Knight
4 Knight of Stromgald
2 Erg Raiders
4 Ashen Ghouls

2 Dark Ritual
3 Contagion
1 Drain Life
2 Choking Sands
4 Buried Alive
2 Necropotence
4 Bad Moon
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
3 Quicksand
18 Swamp
Sideboard: *UNKNOWN*
4 Dystopia
1 Contagion
Sideboard (cont):
3 Nevinyrral's Disk


Erik Lauer's "Control" NecroDeck
4 Black Knight
4 Knight of Stromgald
1 Ihsan's Shade

4 Dark Ritual
3 Demonic Consultation
4 Necropotence
3 Coercion
2 Choking Sands
3 Contagion
4 Drain Life
1 Soul Burn
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
2 Quicksand
2 Lake of the Dead
19 Swamp
Sideboard:
4 Dystopia
2 Choking Sands
1 Contagion
Sideboard (cont):
3 Serrated Arrows
2 Agonizing Memories
3 Gloom


Mike Donais' Counter Post Deck
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
2 Dissipate
3 Impulse
1 Steal Artifact
4 Wrath of God
3 Disenchant
1 Greater Realms of Preservation
4 Icy Manipulator
1 Serrated Arrows
1 Winter Orb
1 Mana Web
1 Soldevi Digger
1 Phyrexian Furnace
3 Sky Diamond
1 Marble Diamond
3 Thawing Glaciers
4 Quicksand
2 Kjeldoran Outpost
2 Adarkar Wastes
2 Flood Plains
6 Island
6 Plains
Sideboard: *UNKNOWN*
2 Swords to Plowshares
3 Exile
2? Karma
Sideboard (cont):
2 Mana Web
1 Disenchant


Weissman/Nicoloff/Robaina "Turbo-Abeyance" Deck
4 Abeyance
2 Disenchant
3 Wrath of God
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Armageddon
2 Gerrards Wisdom
1 Island Sanctuary
1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Arcane Denial
2 Counterspell
4 Impulse
2 Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Paradigm Shift
1 Relearn

4 Howling MIne
3 Mind Stone
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
2 Gemstone Mine
4 Adarkar Wastes
7 Plains
8 Island
Sideboard:
2 Jesters Cap
2 Time Elemental
2 Political Trickery
2 COP: Black
Sideboard (cont):
2 Disenchant
2 Divine Offering
1 Gerrard's Wisdon
2 Sleight of Mind


Josh Timberman's G/W "Maro-Abeyance" Deck
3 Wall of Roots
4 River Boa
4 Whirling Dervish
2 Uktabi Orangutan
4 Jolrael's Centaur
4 Maro
4 Abeyance
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Wrath of God
2 Disenchant
3 Armageddon


1 Kjeldoran Outpost
4 Thawing Glaciers
3 Brushland
6 Plains
10 Forest
Sideboard:
1 Wrath of God
2 Gerrard's Wisdom
3 Thermokarst
2 Honorable Passage
Sideboard (cont):
2 Disenchant
2 Tranquil Domain
1 Serrated Arrows
2 Phyrexian Furnace


Sheppard's "Comerish" Turbo-Xerox Deck
3 Waterspout Djinn
3 Suq'Ata Firewalker
3 Man'o War

4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
3 Dissipate
4 Memory Lapse
3 Power Sink
4 Portent
4 Brainstorm
4 Foreshadow
4 Impulse
1 Foresight

2 Quicksand
14 Island
Sideboard:
2 Knights of the Mist
1 Suq'Ata Firewalker
1 Man'o War
2 Disrupt
2 Dream Tides
Sideboard (cont):
1 Island
2 Phyrexian Furnace
2 Remove Soul
2 Political Trickery


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