From Chris Cade after the announcement of the Hymn/Strip restrictions we had this reacton and commentary on changes to "The Prison":

Well, restriction day has come again, and yet in another month "The Prison" will undergo some serious change... much for the better. The restriction of the only cards which disrupt "The Prison" will now make this deck more powerful than ever before (and all control decks, in general, are strengthened). There are many reasons for this, however, I will address only a couple.

The Hymn is the only significant form of random discard which can prevent "The Prison" from holding cards to be played at the most advantageous times.

The Strip Mine is one of the few forms of land destruction which is prevalent in many decks, and can stunt the development of the position that "The Prison" strives to develop.

So what am I going to do about all this?

I think that in  exchange for two of the Strip Mines, I will definitely be adding two more Armageddon's. :) Just kidding. Actually, in place of two Strip Mines, I will replace them with Mishra's Factories. Perhaps another Strip Mine will be replaced with an Outpost... possibly.

I will be removing the Recall from the standard deck, and perhaps placing it in the sideboard. In general, I only Recall for one card - usually a Hymned card. Now I will be able to get maximum usefulness out of all cards, and thus the Recall is virtually unnecessary. Also, Recall costs too much mana for this deck. "The Prison" prides itself in using cards which are maximally useful for minimum mana requirements - this is much the reason why I don't play with Jester's Cap anymore, and also why I am removing Recall from the standard deck.

Perhaps I may be adding a Serrated Arrows to the standard deck, replacing the Recall. Just a thought though. The third Strip Mine may be replaced by yet another Factory. The Factories were not very playable in my previous versions of "The Prison" due to the inclusion of 4 Strip Mines, and I never wanted to worry about mana ratios. Now that won't be a problem, so the Factories will be a definitely strong addition. (And for all those Cap freaks out there, now my deck won't be as Cappable.)

Also, with Strip Mines out of the general environment, I will definitely be adding 3-4 Ruins Of Trokair to this deck. The Ruins will allow "The Prison" to have the speed it never had before, and thus enable it to keep up with many other decks out there, as well as give me an advantage over other Armageddon decks.

I am considering putting in a second Serrated Arrows in standard somewhere as well, I'm just not sure where yet.

It used to be all-black, or all-white (Type II environment I mean). Now it's all white. Well, enough about the standard deck, now it's time for the sideboard.

The standard NecroDeck as we know it (or at least one worth playing), is virtually gone after restriction day. With this in mind ("The Prison" will rule Dominia, ha ha ha ha ha!!!! ;), the sideboard will become significantly different.

I will be removing the three Karma's entirely from the sideboard since mono-black will not be a significant threat (most likely). In place of them, I will be considering Sleight Of Minds. This is because U/W, R/W, and G/W will become rampant all over, and Gloom will become a much more played card again (here on the west coast at least). Dystopia will also become popular, but as well all know, Dystopia was the best addition to the NecroDeck that "The Prison" ever experienced.

The four Arcane Denials will definitely remain in the sideboard, as will 1-2 Serrated Arrows (depending on how many I play standard). I will also keep the three Divine Offerings in the sideboard.

The Recall may move to the sideboard (if not completely removed from the deck entirely).

Two Winter Orbs will definitely stay in the sideboard, since they are generally useful against many deck types.

The remaining places in the sideboard are debatable. There are many cards I am considering playing, and need to play test each to deterring the best possible options.

-C.Cade

The following deck won several small tournies is TX, and is a good example of where "Prison" style decks would be heading, i.e., main deck counterspell ability and the aggressive use of special land (Outposts, Mishra's, Glaciers and FE Sack Lands).

TJ Pitt's "Playpen", Oct '96
	4 Armageddon 4 Disenchant 4 Swords To Plowshares 4 Wrath of God 1 Land Tax 1 Balance 3 Arcane Denial	4 Icy Manipulator 4 Fellwar Stone 3 Winter Orb 2 Millstone 1 Feldon's Cane 1 Zuran Orb 1 Ivory Tower 1 Black Vise
4 Mishra's Factory 2 Kjeldoran Outpost 2 Thawing Glaciers 1 Ruins of Trokair 2 Adarkar Wastes 1 Island 11 Plains	Sideboard: 4 White Knight 4 Order of Leitbur 3 Order of the White Shield	Sideboard (cont): 3 Crusade 1 Yotian Soldier

Ed. Note - Please note that the sideboard is conceived as a strictly Anti-Necro sideboard. It is probably not suitable for general play unless there is a resurgence in Necro due to the release of Mirage (i.e. - Stupor). It was made as an experimental deck to test out the post-October 1st restrictions and the effect it would have on the "White Ice" style deck. Still, the transformative sideboard is interesting in taking the deck from creatureless to creature-full, and points out the road to an interesting strategic attempt to jump a hapless opponent who sideboards out all of their creature removal. All being said though, a sideboard emphasizing blue is probably still more effective.

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