Subject: Re: Supporting Extended (Issues) Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 19:18:37 EST From: "GRYCZAN KEVIN M" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com R. M. Schellhas has hit the nail on the head. In October, I played in a non-sanctioned Type I tournament. I'll list the deck I played below (most expensive cards are marked with *) Land 15 Mountain 3 Wasteland 2 Dwarven Ruins 1 Strip Mine Artifact * 2 Juggernaut * 1 Sword of the Ages Red 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Mogg Fanatic 2 Orcish Artillery 3 Goblin Vandal 2 Dragon Whelp 2 Shattering Pulse 2 Fireslinger 2 Goblin Grenade 3 Fireblast 2 Goblin Balloon Brigade * 1 Fork * 1 Wheel of Fortune 3 Raging Goblin 3 Price of Progress 2 Mogg Conscripts Sideboard 1 Red Elemental Blast (vs blue) 3 Pyroblast (vs blue) 2 Zuran Orb (vs aggression) 3 Spellshock (vs permission) * 2 Nevinyrral's Disk (vs enchantments and weenie hordes) 2 Anarchy (vs white) 2 Goblin Grenade (vs Ehrnams/Juzams) My deck for that tournament (without sideboard) cost me just over $60 to assemble. The key cards I had to get were the Sword of the Ages and a Wheel of Fortune. My Type II Sligh deck cost me more because I had to hunt down three Cursed Scrolls. The point that R. M. Schellhas and I are trying to make is that you don't need to spend a fortune on cards to be competitive in Magic. I could have gone with cheaper cards, but after falling victim to a Sword of the Ages in casual play, I decided to get one for my tournament deck. To reduce the cost of the deck, the Sword can be replaced with a Fireblast. Though Juggernauts can't be beat in Type I and Extended, they can be replaced with 2 Dragon Whelps. The Fork and Wheel replaced a pair of creatures and can be easily swapped for a Raging Goblin and a Fireslinger. After these changes, the price of the deck has been reduced to below $20. The only drawback to swapping out the mentioned cards is that the deck is vulnerable to decks tuned to beat red. So the question to ask yourself is "Do I want to spend $40 to win a tournament that has a top prize of $15?" In some cases, the answer would be "yes" if you are planning to take your deck to local tournaments to prepare it for professional-level events, where there is greater potential for a huge payout, but people would answer "no" if all they want to do is just play locally for fun and bragging rights as the best player at any particular game store/card shop. It's been awhile since the tournament, but I had to put in my two cents on the issue. Kevin Gryczan gryc5537@stu.ashtabula.kent.edu http://www.angelfire.com/oh/magicthegathring