Subject: The EX files Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 05:15:52 EDT From: DBull19002@aol.com To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com ***************************************************************************** The EX(odus) Files-Fighting our Standard Future The five mages gathered in quiet repose, each cautiously observing the other with malicious glances. "We are not here to determine the winner of petty arguments, my brethren. We are he do discern our futures.",rattled the black mage in a haggardly voice. Few had expected such ungodly warbling would come from a body so enervate as the one she possesed....but then again, few understood the black order in general. "Aye, time is upon us sister night.",crooned the beastly green wizard. "Our time is nigh, we must prepare." A strange lavender smelling wind blew about the secret conclave as if to add its agreement to the Keeper's retort. "Such is the ways of change...",added the blue priestess, unaffected by the stares of the emberous red wizard to her left. "...time will not stop for us, we must simply conform to its jestly whims." "I suppose you'd have us scurry to the water like your Rootwater kin...to become what?? Food for the Benth?",scolded the fiery red wizard. Such was the spirit of the red wizards. "Alas, change we must..lest we all become one with the darkness." The black witches words rung as if it were stern gospel to the conclave. Their time of change would be now..... ***************************************************************************** "Sisters of nightfall.. .. Brethren of decay... . Engulph me in nightmares.. .. To show me the way.." -Keepers of the Dead Everyone and their Magic playing Grandmother (Hi Grammy!) is frothing insane about Carnophage.(You were right Grammy, they do taste good with milk!) For a measly 1 mana I get a 2/2 critter. Not bad, black needs speed.(That's sarcasm folks...look it up.) Carnophage is a zombie to boot, so this black monkey is gonna be working hand and hand with our old pal Sarcomancy. Some folks are already making use of Carno's quickness by employing him in a number of creature assault decks. Suicide Black and 5cB/Forgotten Orb seem to be his stomping grounds of choice. So bust out a bottle of brains, and invite ol' Carno over for a snack...cause whether you like it or not..he's coming over to your tournament. Suicide Black _____________ 4 Sarcomancy 4 Carnophage 4 Dauthi Horror 4 Dauthi Slayer 4 Black Knight 2 Barrow Ghoul 3 Erg Raiders 2 Paralyze 4 Bad Moon 2 Unholy Strength 4 Hatred 1 Kaervek's Spite 4 Dark Ritual 4 Wasteland 16 Swamps This deck gets nasty with a quickness. I remember in the good ol' days when you were killed by a sligh deck on turn 4 and by golly, ya liked it! Now with innovations in the Dark Ritual industry, that can be turn 2.(egad) The ever so present possibility of multiple threats on turn 1 is all too good AND all too possible with this deck. Evasion allows you to get around everyone's favorite friend Wall of Blossoms, and Bad Moon gives Sligh a run for their money in the burn race. Hatred. Everyone loves to Hate. This card could wind up being Channel, or just a hyped up Island Fish Jasconious.(Sure...it's big..it's an Island....it's good..right??) With a little play testing, people will fully start to realize the abuse that can be dealt out with this card. Trust me, a few Dancing Gnomes can go along way with a little angst. Expect to see Volrath's Dungeon (an unlikely rare) to appear in a couple of decks. Necro will make sure this card is fully abused as well. Corpse Dance also has a couple of new unlikely targets in this set, as filling the graveyard becomes easy thanks to the Exodus "discard" subtheme. Contrary to belief..Necro will not be dead post Exodus...just "transmogrified" once again. Creature beatdown Necro is a possibility once again thanks to cards like Vampire Hounds, Mind Maggots, and Thrull Surgeon. Take for instance the "Flores Dungeon"...a control Necro with a super driven Mind Twist found in the new black enchantment Volrath's Dungeon. Now those dead draw cards and excess cards can be put to mind numbing disruptive use. Flores Dungeon Necro ____________________ 4 Nevinyrral's Disk 1 Snake Basket 4 Steel Golem 2 Funeral Charm 4 Dark Ritual 4 Diabolic Edict 4 Drain Life 4 Necropotence 1 Necrosavant 4 Rain of Tears 2 Spinning Darkness 4 Volrath's Dungeon 4 Quicksand 1 Volrath's Stronghold 17 Swamp Note that hand disruption is replaced by the long term effects of the Dungeon and Land kill. More "creature kill" can be added to the deck with ease if you expect to see weenie rush decks in your area. So...black comes out with a few winners and a few flops in the new format.(Entropic Spectre and Grollub are likely to see good play in your local paper shredders..keep an eye peeled for em....just in case.) ***************************************************************************** "I am a catalyst for change..I do not fear my fate." --Alia, Keeper of the Mind Blue!(I just like shouting that out, like a redneck screaming at his dog. It doesn't get me into fancy country clubs, but it is ever so entertaining.) Everyone was waiting to see Forbid. Do you discard 1 card as a buyback?? 2?? We were all dying when this one came out. Heck, Dissipate is soon to be on its way out, and this may be an even better replacement. Any counter that can recycle itself, is Waaaaaaay deadly. Can Forbid be abused? Yes. How? Lets see.:) Hmm...discard two cards...I need alotta cards, huh? I need Howling Mine. Well, what do ya know? Howling Mine just happens to be a popular Turbo Orb card right now. Look closely class....and let's see.(Peering into binoculars) Team Island Magic's Turbo "NO!" _______________________________ 3 Winter Orb 2 Armageddon 3 Gerrard's Wisdom 4 Howling Mine 3 Propaganda 4 Counterspell 2 Forbid 2 Mana Leak 2 Aura of Silence 4 Wrath of God 3 Gaea's Blessing 4 Impulse 4 Mox Diamond 2 Marble Diamond 2 Sky Diamond 4 Adarkar Waste 2 Undiscovered Paradise 3 Ancient Tomb 1 City of Brass 4 Islands 3 Plains Expect to see Forbid in a Cuneo Blue deck, now near you. Some people say,"Ancient Tomb?? Can you afford that damage?" The answer is yes. It is hardly uncommon for this deck to have 4-5 mana on turn 1 or 2 and a combo set up shortly thereafter.(Aint it grand?) Just as with Turbo Stasis..Howling Mine is the key to making the deck work. More cards=More stuff and constant counters. If you aren't familiar with these kind of decks, slap one together just to playtest. It's a wonderful exercise in "Life total management"..and that's something we all need to keep a bead on. OH MY GOD! THEY PLAYED MIND OVER MATTER! YOU BASTARD! The dreaded broken card that Wizards R&D had to fix by upping its colored mana requirements...Mind over Matter...is a pretty kooky card. The card is a bit pricey, but its rewards are instantly reapable. This card alone makes for 10 more combo deck ideas a day for the average Chumly.(And God forbid Chumly get a clue going...uh oh. Reminds me of the time he discovered Fireblast.) Its applications are almost unlimited. A single MoMa can make a hard lock Stasis stick even harder in a green mages Craw.:) Expect to see a variety of Prison decks built around this card. Some decks imploy Curiosity and "Tims" to provide infinite poke loops...while others abuse its mana making potentials. MoMa Turbo Toasty _________________ 4 Mind Over Matter 4 Mana Flare 4 Prosperity 4 Intuition 4 Counterspell 4 Impulse 2 Fireball 2 Forbid 3 Gaea's Blessing 2 Portent 1 Mystical Tutor 4 Svyelunite Temple 3 Ancient Tomb 4 City of Brass 2 Undiscovered Paradise 11 Islands Most versions of this deck will be a basic R/U counterburn with the Prosperity/Fireball for the finish. Green was added to this one to include the Blessing/Intuition recursion of Countermagic and Enchantments. This is just an example of how nasty MoMa can get...going off as early as turn 3 or 4 for a frying finish.(It goes off most consistently on turn 5-6 w/countermagic back up.) As new deck types, emerge we will see MoMa find new and unusual applications. Once again, the card manipulation with Forbid as a counter, is amazingly powerful. If I had a Hammer......and knew it wouldn't rotate out of Standard soon..why I'd....(nevermind). Shard Phoenix is not so shabby folks. A 2/2 flying earthquake that you can recall...not bad.(Somebody say card utility?) SO, what does good ol' Fire and Ice stand to gain? Not a huge amount, but with Hammer, Dissipate, and Fireblast on the way out....we may see Sonic Burst, Forbid, and Shard Phoenix greedily gobble up these spots.(And Phoenixes are known for nasty appetites...just look how hungry Jean Grey's "Dark Phoenix" got..) Cursed Scroll and Winter Orb are notorious for giving R/U decks a hard time. Thanks to Shattering Pulse....those days will be long over. R/U now has enough burn to be nasty and recursive countermagic to get Mad mean control. Did somebody say Red Ice is nice? Lauer School Red Ice ____________________ 4 Shock 4 Incinerate 4 Counterspell 2 Forbid 4 Dismiss 4 Impulse 4 Whispers of the Muse 3 Legacy's Allure 2 Shard Phoenix 4 Nevinyrral's Disk 1 Shattering Pulse 9 Mountain 2 Quicksand 13 Island Granted, the deck is mana intensive....but strong. Notice Treasure Trove is not used...instead Whispers of the Muse takes its place. This is done to reduce the amount of permanents in the deck..making it harder to deal with. Legacy's Allure is used over Earthquake to reduce early life loss(Life Total management folks) and due to the number of Pro Red weenies being used in the present format. Typically there are zero Wasteable lands in this deck...this version smidgens 2 Quicksands due to rapid fire weenie decks. In most cases, the deck can run 2 islands in their spot instead. Have we forgotten Fish? Is it likely this deck will rear its ugly underwater head again after the new format change? With a plethora of new merfolk to dive into (pun intended), the Fish deck may get a slightly new lease on its freezy life. Rubber Fish! _____________ 4 Rootwater Diver 4 Lord of Atlantis 4 Counterspell 4 Mana Leak 4 Winter Orb 2 Tradewind Rider 4 Man O War 1 Equilibrium 2 Erratic Portal 4 Manta Riders 2 Legacy's Allure 3 Impulse 3 Svyelunite Temple 3 Quicksand 16 Island Erratic Portal and Equilibrium are both powerful in themselves...even more so under the dreaded Winter Orb. Reusable Man O Wars and instant save Lords are a pretty powerful tool...not to mention you can lock up your opponents land and creatures as well. Don't simply deny the power of the fish, lest you be beaten down with a flounder.( I have absolutely NO idea what the heck that means.) So in general, Blue has very little to lose and some great economy to gain. Then again, Exodus adds a plethora of hand destroying cards to blue. It is uncertain where blues future will lead....but rest assured that Forbid and Mind over Matter will be leading it by the nose. ***************************************************************************** "Without me..you would be little more than shapeless pitch." --Trorian, Keeper of the Light to the shadow of Ybarra White gets some gold out of Exodus...some good..some Iron Pyrite.(Looook it up kiddies...do good to get ya away from the cards and into an Encyclopedia for a change.) Traditional weenie white gets some bolsters as does the possibility the solid U/W or G/W control deck. In general...white gets a little kooky. If you haven't noticed lately (maybe you've been asleep for the past thousand years..) Weenie White is going 2 directions right now... 1.)Abuse Cursed Scroll. 2.)Abuse Empyrial Armor. Simple enough. The first version simply deploys numerous weenies and either empties its hand for the Scroll or loads it with basic plains via Tithe. Its armored counterpart does the opposite...returning bounce lands and hoarding lands via Tithe for massive evasive creatures. The second also employs a hefty amount of mana denial to truly hose hapless opponents. Weenie Denial _____________ 4 Soltari Monk 4 Soltari Priest 4 White Knight 4 Paladin En Vec 2 Freewind Falcon 3 Disenchant 2 Cataclysm 4 Tithe 4 Mox Diamond 4 Empyrial Armor 1 Enlightened Tutor 2 Armageddon 4 Wasteland 18 Plains The deck is about as straightforward as it gets. Beatdown, whitey style. The ability to Mox Diamond and Tithe on Turn 1 is huge. The Armor along with the Geddons can become a serious setback for you opponent. With an Armored up weenie in play, Cataclysm can spell the end for almost any deck. Paladin en Vec is super Mad strong against 2 of the more common deck types right now...Suicide Black and Mono Red Sligh(or SRB). This may very well be the apex of a new era for weenie white. Peace of Mind also seems to be the super healing salve that Necro fans are drooling over as well. Don't be suprised to see these logistically popular decks popping up as well.(hey, lets face it..that could equal alota cards.) This card can combine witha number of key cards to do some serious stuff. Limited Resources and Oath of Lieges will also see some play in the tournament setting. With Land Denial becoming popular again...thinning your library and denying your opponent his mana becomes key. Both of these cards actually create a deck thinning/Land lock route when used with certain cards.(It's a secret....) Overall, there's some possibilities here...you just have to dig for em. ***************************************************************************** "It is not for me to ask, but to simply know that it is the way. Are we any different...I think not? I kill. You kill. The wolf knows no better." --Elberan , Keeper of Beasts Green....everyone whines nonstop about how green is getting screwed. This card sucks...that card blows..blah blah blah. Stop and read some of these cards...they are VERY potent..if not overly so. Mike Donias gave us an example of what one such card can do, Oath of Druids. At a first glance, this cards seems rather substandard..but note..the creatures go INTO play..not your hand..thats a free creature. Oath fills up your graveyard, a strategy currently employed by a number of tournament level decks. So, you get a free creature and a free Milstone..what do you do with it? You bless yourself...and get em all back. Donias' Sylvan Promise _______________________ 4 Wrath of God 4 Firestorm 2 Earthquake 3 Armageddon 3 Disenchant 3 Gaea's Blessing 2 Verdant Touch 1 Cataclysm 4 Spike Feeders 4 Bottle Gnomes 1 Blinking Spirit 3 Sylvan Library 4 Oath of Druids 3 Marble Diamonds 3 Moss Diamonds 2 Quicksands 4 Plains 4 Forest 4 Brushland 2 Undiscovered Paradise 2 Vec Townships Donias' Promise does just that. It promises to recurse,and recurse,.. .and recurse some more. I just think the synergy in this deck is peachy. There are more offensive uses for Oath...but I just find this one horribly entertaining. Any deck that allows you to cast anywhere from 20-30 Spike Feeders in one game gets a gold star in my book. Some green based decks will benefit from Exodus' artifacts as well. Why not use Sphere of Resistance to solidify a Tradewind soft lock or make Prop/Locks even uglier. A mana depleting G5C could easily push around this newly heightened mana curve. Sphere Lock ____________ 3 Man O War 4 Tradewind Rider 4 Mana Leak 2 Sphere of Resistance 4 Propaganda 3 Armageddon 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Quirion Ranger 2 Wall of Blossoms 3 Wall of Roots 3 Uktabi Orangutan 2 Spike Feeder 3 Winter Orb 1 Reflecting Pool 4 Undiscovered Paradise 1 Adarkar Waste 1 Brushland 1 City of Brass 6 Forest 6 Island Slow and steady is the pace of this deck. It's about building a creature base and dropping a Geddon with a Tradewind or Spheres. From that point on, the weenies in this deck get plain mean. Nothing spells shocking like dying to Monkey beatdown.(I've heard of spanking the monkey, but Getting spanked by the monkey??) Cards like Survival of the Fittest,Reclaim,Cartographer,Jackalope Herd, Avenging Druid, and Mirri are likely to see ample amounts of tournament play. Recursion and "something for nothin" cards seem to be green's forte in this set. Suggestion: Use em' and abuse em'. ****************************************************************************** ******************** "Your ashes are but my breaths of victory." --Pyrius, Keeper of the Flame Just because it's hot...doesn't mean it's bad. Red has always been a power color, dishing out severe damage for minimal costs. Exodus' addition to red is no different. Flowstone Flood will see some play as LD hits the major leagues once again this year. Pandemonium. I really don't even need to explain this one, outrageous damage.....eety beety casting cost. Spellshock may become a bolster for monored beatdown decks, and Shattering Pulse insures to be a staple side card for any red deck. Remember when Shock was just an idea, and everyone paid 2 for Kindle instead? Sonic Burst may become the damage card of choice in SRB and Scroll driven burn decks. Empty your hand AND do 4 damage for 2 mana..not too shabby. "Deadguy" Red _____________ 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 Jackal Pup 3 Raging Goblin 4 Ironclaw Orc 4 Fireslinger 4 Ball Lightning 4 Sonic Blast 4 Fireblast 4 Incinerate 4 Cursed Scroll 4 Wasteland 17 Mountain Let's face it...burn is fast, burn is cheap, and burn can beat any unprepared deck. Expect to see these things become more popular than that crappie movie about that Damn boat. Speaking of LD....monored may be the perfect color for this, as it is totally self supportive. With a mix of fast damage and fast depletion, this deck may pop its head up in more than a few places. Team Island Magic's LDSRB ________________________ 4 Stone Rain 4 Jackal Pup 4 Suq Ata Lancer 4 Mogg Flunkies 4 Fireslinger 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 Incinerate 2 Ravenous Baboons 2 Flowstone Flood 4 Fireblast 4 Anhk of Mishra 4 Wasteland 3 Ancient Tomb 13 Mountain Fast damage and fast LD make great bedfellows in the Standard format. Expect to see off-color LD as well from White, Green, and Black in the coming months. Note that I am not listing any Pandemonium decks due to the fact that even Chumly uses Pandemonium. Overall, red doesn't make out too bad either from Exodus. The buyback on Flood is a bit steep, but useable in certain situations.(See above) ****************************************************************************** ******************** A quick final few notes. On Artifacts, expect to see Null Brooch become a way popular card. Colorless countermagic is some seriously strong stuff folks, so don't blow it off. Memory Crystal may see some game time from M:tg coaches as well. A Mind Games bought back for U is nasty strong. Don't panic, just destroy it. As far as land goes.....get all of your City of Traitors and Sorrow's Paths together for a power Limited Trash deck....other than that, they make great pre dinner snacks.(That's the only practical application..) So we see it's gonna get kooky, and it will get even rockier when MiViLight goes kabonk. So we duck and cover...(As our SP friends might say.) and prep to do some beatdown. Expect a number of suprise decks (5 color Necro DOES exist and can function..beware) as they won't get shared with the rest of the world all at once.....remember, Nationals is right around the corner. Take these decks as examples, build, learn,...and if you fail.... ...There is another. (Wait..that's Star Wars CCG..nevermind....) "Study and Grow Strong" Dave Bull Team Island Magic(v2.0) DBull19002@aol.com