From: Moses Liskov Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy,rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc Subject: New Deck concept and Tourney Report 8/23 Date: Sat, 23 Aug 1997 22:49:46 -0400 Hi all! Just wanted to share my new Mirage-Visions-Weatherlight constructed deck which fared well at the tourney today (Toronto Grand Prix Qualifier). Basic idea: U/R/B land destruction. I won't post the specifics because I haven't figured out what I'm going to change after this experience, but these cards are in it: Rocky Tar Pit Bad River Mind Stone Sky Diamond Fire Diamond Charcoal Diamond 4 Army Ants 4 Orcish Settlers 4 Stone Rain 2 Choking Sands Dwarven Miner Pendrell Mists Miser's Cage Desolation Builder's Bane Man-o-war Dark Ritual Undiscovered Paradise *Gemstone Mine *Vampiric Tutor Sideboard: Reign of Chaos Frenetic Efreet *Disenchant DreamTides *Spatial Binding Mind Harness Phyrexian Furnace (* indicates a card I didnt' have in but would add after this) So a bit of a tournament report - First round (intentional draw), I was playing a friend of mine, etc. We played anyway. He was playing W/U sleights & otherwise big blue stuff. I mana hosed him and he died a horrible death. Man-o-wars hurt me, I discovered, when I'm trying to get an army ants lock. Second Round - Philip McLaughlin. Philip was playing a G/R speed creature / burn deck. At least I assume so, I hardly saw any of it. I locked him town hard and fast games 1 and 3. Desolation & Pendrell Mists is so powerful. Third Round - Darwing Kastle. Darwing played a B/R deck with Aether flash (never came out) which would've hosed me badly. (Disenchants are added for this, and against Cursed Totem, which I didn't happen to see but I know there probably were some.) He was mana screwed game 1 (slam!) and game 2 he didn't get red mana, and I suppressed him. Fourth Round - (forget his name) Guy playing mostly blue with a little white. He has too much stuff game one, man-o-wars my ants for 3 turns, and wins. Game 2 I lock him hard. Game 3 I'm mana screwed (very odd for this deck as I've got 22 lands, 7 artifact mana and 3 dark rituals) and can't do any of my quality suppression. I make it to the final 8 anyway, where I lose my first match. 1st round finals - Mike. Plays Equipoise/Sands of time. I'm so hosed. Every land I kill helps him. I can't beat him down. Since this hurts me so bad, I decide Spatial Binding needs to go in the sideboard. Please let me know any comments you all have, preferably by email (I can't read news at work, because of a Firewall). My 2nd round opponent gave me very high praise on this deck, which he called the most creative he'd seen in a long time. I don't think it's that impressive; but it works, and what's more, the popular MiViLite deck archetypes all have a very hard time dealing with mana problems. Type II side note: This deck dies a horrible death to Buried Alive since Nether Shadows and Ashen Ghouls bypass the Pendrell Mists, my most important piece of creature suppression. -Moses Liskov (mliskov@math.harvard.edu, mliskov@securid.com)