From: exeter@lni.net
Subject: The Prison (Strong or Just Plain Wrong) [Weatherlight]
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 10:16:33 GMT

In my last article on the Prison, I promised to cover WL and its
additions to the deck, as well as Prison hosers.  This article covers
WL additions.   I'll cover new things the Prison has to worry about in
a later article.

Unfortunately, the Visions article didn't quite recieve the responce I
was hoping for.  Maybe too many people consider the Prison to be
overdone or boring.  Maybe it is.  A properly done Prison deck,
however, can utterly hose a lot of decks right out of the blocks,
leaving the sideboard to win game 2 for the hapless opponent.   While,
as Mr. Hahn pointed out in his responce to the Visions article, some
WL cards do put a chink in the Prison's strong defencive armour of
artifacts, I think it can easily hold up.  Here's why:

Abeyance:  It's not Time Walk for sure, but it does prevent an
opponent from doing much of anything useful other than attacking and
drawing a card.  If you read any of the other threads in .strategy or
.misc on this card, you'd know it's probably worth of its own deck.
What makes it good for the Prison is the fact that it's a "super
cantrip", replacing itself immediately.

Aether Flash:  I wasn't going to include this, since most Prisons will
likely not include sufficient red to support its RR2 casting cost, but
this is a good hoser for those Ashen ghoul/buried alive decks, as well
as outpost tokens, etc.  (Check out the thread 'Prison deck' for a
deck that does use this card.)

Ancestral Knowledge:  Two words: deck thinning.  This kind of card
looks ripe for abuse.  If you pay the upkeep just one round, it's
almost a Demonic Tutor.  

Argivian Find/Argivian Restoration:  Decent cards, but neither can
bring back that last 'geddon that might be needed for supreme board
control, or that Arcane Denial to keep control of a locked game.
Recall probably gives more mileage.

Aura of Silence:  Da bomb!  This thing is great in Prison vs Prison
battles, Prison vs anyone likely to cast Serenity, Prison vs anybody
with loads of artifact mana.  Five stars!

Chimeric Sphere:  Look, it's an artifact!  No, it's a 3/2 artifact
creature!  No, it's a 2/1 artifact creature with flying!  Like the
Jade Statue, this thing can be hard to kill just because it's not
always vulnerable to creature destruction.  Best of all, you can
freely Wrath, and then activate the sphere later in the turn or in the
next turn.

Dingus Staff:  With lots of creatures dying (most of them not your
own, hopefully!), this could deal some heavy damage.  I'd rather use
the spot for an Icy or Kismet, though.

Gaea's Blessing:  Recurse your deck infinitely, tossing those Geddons,
Arcanes, whatever back in, or hose the ashen ghoul/buried alive decks.
:)

Gemstone Mine:  Good for off coloured mana, since you'll be destroying
it soon enough anyway with Armageddon.

Gerrard's Wisdom:  Some think this is the new tower/zorb.  In any
case, it's a decent lifegainer, yielding 10-12 life for WW2 most of
the time.

Mana Chains:  Under a worb, this is almost as good as a blue plow.  It
can take out Emissaries in game 1 (hopefully you'll have sided in
Hydroblasts for game 2), and ties up precious mana in any case.
Against a player likely to drop a worb, that can spell the end of the
game.  Or, you could disenchant it, wasting valuable artifact kill for
later in the game.  Nice card.

Mana Web:  What can I say, this is a powerful card in a lot of decks.
It utterly hoses monoblue's ability to counter (except FoW), and helps
lock down other decks when combined with the worb, not to mention the
enemy outpost-hosing properties. :)

Mind Stone: Basically a diamond that doesn't come into play tapped,
since the Prison doesn't need too much coloured mana.  The cantrip
ability is okay if they decide to destroy it, too. 

Paradigm Shift: Maybe.  I haven't made up my mind on this one yet. 

Pendrell Mists: Excellent creature control under worb, since it is a
global effect. Nice in multiples.   See Mana Chains for other
comments.

Phyrexian Furnace:  Well, it's no Tormod's Crypt, but I suppose it has
uses against those graveyard recursion decks. 

Relearn:  Gets back Geddons, Wraths, and Arcanes.  Again, Recall
probably gives more mileage.

Steel/Straw Golems:  Prison decks usually don't have too many summons
or artifact creatures, nor is the opponent going to be casting many.
Might see some use, but I'd rather have a Mana Web or Feldon's for the
price.

Tariff:  Creature kill under worb, or set up to cast worb.  Nuff said.

Touchstone: Diamond control?  Tap the diamonds in their upkeep?
Maybe. :)  Time will tell.