Stasis I

"Turbo-Stasis", Jul '96 - Dec '96

Turbo-Stasis decks were developed during the Black Summer of '96, and proved to be an effective foil for NecroDecks. Developed by the Finn's, Matt Place used it in July of '96 to take him to the semi-finals of the U.S. Nationals. Old Stasis decks used Time Elementals, Obelisks, Instilled Manabirds, etc. to keep a Stasis going while using Black Vice or Serra Angels to kill the opponent. Newer versions on this old theme use Storm Cauldron's to maintain the lock. On the other hand, Turbo-Stasis completely ignores the opponent and slams the lock down quickly, using Lim-Dul's Vault or Enlightened Tutor to get the parts. Multiple Howling Mines ensure a land every turn, and all of them can produce blue mana. It can kill with a lonely Black Vice, but it is more likely to run the opponent out of cards (via Feldon's Cane).

The main differences between Old Stasis decks and Turbo-Stasis are:

1. Old Stasis will attempt to paralyse an opponent with Stasis while avoiding the effects if possible. It relies on Instilled birds, Time Elemental or a Storm Cauldron to keep the Stasis going. Turbo-Stasis will try to freeze everything, adding a Kismet to the mix and dropping a Stasis as soon as necessary (finding it with a Lim-Dul's Vault or tutor), with at least one Howling Mine in play (if possible).

2. Old Stasis relies on damage sources to defeat the opponent that are not affected by the Stasis (Serra, Yotian, Vise, etc.). Turbo-Stasis relies on Howling Mines (Key!) and an average 45% blue mana mix to draw an Island every turn to keep the stasis going, with an occasional Boomerang, (or Despotic Scepter followed by another Stasis) to untap, keep the Stasis going and drop more Howlers, Vise, Tower or Scepter. Turbo-Stasis is not concerned with killing an opponent with damage. Sometimes a lone vise will kill the opponent, but decking is the usual modus operandi. Counting on most tourney decks being 60 cards, decking will usually occur due to the effect of the Howling Mines causing the opponent to draw 1 extra card. Arcane Denial can also contribute to this, but is only an optional draw on the opponents part. The Feldon's Cane is included for backup.

Matt Place's Turbo-Stasis:

Turbo-Stasis - TII, U.S. Nationals, July '96

4 Stasis
4 Boomerang
4 Arcane Denial
4 Force of Will
2 Recall
2 Kismet
1 Land Tax

4 Lim-Dul's Vault
4 Howling Mine
3 Despotic Scepter
1 Zuran Orb
1 Ivory Tower
1 Feldon's Cane

4 City of Brass
4 Underground River
4 Adarkar Wastes
13 Island
Sideboard:
2 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Hydroblast
3 Mana Short
2 Wall of Air
1 Kismet
Sideboard (cont):
2 Disenchant
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Loadstone Bauble
1 Black Vise

After Turbo-Stasis took the scene by storm, counter strategies were formulated and weakenesses were identified. In the final analysis, the key to the deck is the Howling Mines. If you can knock those out, the lock will fall apart.

By December of '96, the Turbo-Stasis deck had changed very little. Many of the decks abandoned the Underground River's (and all their black mana) and Lim-Dul's Vault in favor of more Islands and Enlightened Tutors (cutting the deck down to 2 colors). But with the exception of replacing one card searching mechanism with another, the deck remained unchanged.

With the loss of Ice Age from the Type II card set (1/1/97), the Turbo-Stasis deck was dealt a serious blow, with the loss of the Zuran Orb, Despotic Scepter and the concurrent banning of the Ivory Tower.With the rise of the Weenie decks being played (Black Ice, Sligh, etc.) Turbo-Stasis was not viable without a permanent life gainer.