An Analysis of the Type II Metagame Post 5th Edition
Only twice in my life have I been involved in a tournament
where the luck of the draw, who I played against, how I played,
and how my opponent's played were completely irrelevant. The
first was when I was playing Mono-Black Hand Destruction when I
played against a Mono-Black deck that used a rather odd card that
I had not seen in a tournament before. Although I had thought the
card was weak, he used it to negate my hand destruction and
racks, and dominated me in card advantage. He went on to win with
his Necrodeck, a deck that I hadn't seen before. He didn't drop a
game in that tournament. The second time around was a tournament
where 80% of the field played Necro, and the rest played
anti-Necro. I played a rather odd Blue-White deck that I had
recently lost to in a tournament. I didn't lose a game. No one in
this tournament had heard of Turbo-Stasis before. In both cases,
it was a unique knowledge of an unusual deck that propelled the
tourney winner to victory. I came close to this kind of dominance
when I first saw the Monkey-May-I deck that Matt Place used to go
undefeated with at worlds. That deck won me more than a little
ante, although the Swedish "Gun" decks were able to
beat me 45% of the time. What I am wondering is if there is a
deck that will be able to dominate Type II when 5th edition comes
out. Necro is powerful, but this time people are ready for it,
and WotC has stripped it of many of its power cards. Turbo-Stasis
is common enough that people will prepare for it. I'm not sure
how many people have realized just how irritating Ivory Gargoyle
will be once 5th is out, but if they haven't realized yet, they
will as soon as someone plays one, and they can't kill it. Here
is a listing of decks that people will play, with some comments
about the deck:
*NecroStone: This deck uses Black weenie as the main strategy,
with Necropotence and Tombstone Stairwell acting merely as
support cards. This deck will be quite common and will win more
than its fair share of tournaments.
White Weenie: Although this deck will probably never die, it does
have one huge problem: Jokulhaups. Losing the Swords to
Plowshares' hurts, as does losing Serra and Savanna Lions. This
deck can still pack 20 good creatures, 4 Crusades, Outposts, 24
Mana Sources, and some other support cards, but it isn't anywhere
near what it was when it won Worlds. With the upcoming prevalence
of Jokulhaups decks, the future is not particularly bright for
this deck.
*Jokulhaups-Gargoyle: This Red/White deck uses Red burn, Ivory
Gargoyles, Jokulhaups, and some defensive cards like Pillage,
Disenchant, Wrath of God, and Earthquake.
*Phaselhaups: This deck uses Blue phasers like Breezekeeper,
Taniwha and Sandbar Crocodile, with burn and Jokulhaups. Some
light counterspell capabilities are also common, with some Red
defense again in the form of Pillage and Earthquake.
*Deck USA: This deck uses the best of the above Jokulhaups decks:
The Blue phasers, the White Gargoyle, and Red burn with
Jokulhaups. Another key card in all 3 of these decks is Thawing
Glaciers, as well as Mana Vaults.
*Picnic: This mostly Green deck uses Green weenies like Llanowar
Elves, Mtenda Lions, River Boa's, Whirling Dervishes, and Elvish
Archers, along with Yavimaya Ants (picnic!), Giant Growths,
Incinerates, Sut'Aqa Lancers, Wildfire Emissary's, Deadly
Insects, and maybe a Fireball or two. Sometimes this deck will
use one or two City of Solitude's in the main deck, although they
are usually saved for the sideboard. Maro usually doesn't make
the cut since the deck empties its hand so fast, unless it fears
global destruction.
NecroDrain: This deck uses Lake of the Dead and Drain Life, as
well as Disks and Hand Destruction to protect them. There isn't
any consensus on what creatures this deck should use since the
old creatures (Sengir and Ishan's Shade) are gone. Some people
advocate using Aku Djinn and Necrosavant, while others argue for
using Nekrataals, pumpknights, and other weenies. I'm not a fan
of this deck as it has been weakened so much since McCabe won
Dallas with it. Unlike weenie-Necro, this deck relied on the life
gaining artifacts. It might make a comeback, but I don't see that
happening. Anvil of Bogardan will hurt this deck much more than
NecroStone, mostly because this deck needs Necro and NecroStone
does not.
Maro-Geddon: I don't think this deck will work. It lost Erhnam
(duh), Swords to Plowshares, and didn't gain anything. Whirling
Dervish is its best hope against Necro, and it can't rely on that
to work consistently. Dystopia and Gloom will also hurt this
deck.
*Turbo-Stasis: I don't care what anyone says, this deck misses
Despotic Scepter. Still strong, but Everyone knows to kill the
Howling Mines. Also, Sands of Time will really ruin this deck's
day. If Sands of Time hits the table and lives, the Turbo-Stasis
player will die.
*Turbo-Millstone: Howling Mines, Millstones, Wrath's of God, lots
of Counters, an Anvil of Bogardon or two, Tutors, perhaps Exiles,
and in some unusual but strong versions, Armageddon. This deck
would be prepared with Diamonds, and while the other deck is
rebuilding, he/she is drawing more cards. Another powerful card
some of these decks use: Prosperity. If this deck gets going it
can be hard to beat. Some versions even add an Outpost or some
Gargoyles for defense. This deck hasn't settled on a good way of
killing protection from White creatures, apart from Wrath of God,
but Quicksands seem to be the most likely solution. Disenchants
are necessary for this deck, since City of Solitude can ruin its
day. If someone tunes a good version of this deck, look out! One
other card perhaps worth running in this deck: Greater Realm of
Preservation. This deck should keep at least a few Mind Bends in
the Sideboard, if only for Gloom and Dystopia.
*Fortress USA: This deck is quite similar to the above deck, but
it adds Incinerates, Earthquakes, and perhaps a Fireball. The
problem is that the calculus is very hard for Turbo-Millstone,
and nearly impossible for Fortress USA. However, if anyone
figures out the ratios to use, this deck could be another beast.
I'm inclined to believe U/W will be stronger than U/W/R, since
U/W will be more focused and have fewer mana problems. However,
since STP is gone, Red's creature elimination is quite welcome in
this deck.
Sligh: *Sigh*. I think this deck has seen its best days. Greater
Realm of Preservation is just another COP that it can't get rid
of, unless...
Sligh, R/G: See Picnic...
U/W Counterpost: I don't like this name since it is misleading.
With Icy Manipulator, Swords to Plowshares, Black Vise, Ivory
Tower, Balance, and Zuran Orb gone, this deck must change.
Visions did not really help this deck. Jayemdae Tome, Sacred
Mesa, Blue Control, Wrath of God, and Exile might allow for this
deck to be strong, but I doubt it. I suspect most of the strong
U/W decks to try to win by running the opponent out of cards.
*Taniwha-'Geddon: Before Visions this deck was very strong, after
Visions it was merely strong. Now that it has lost Serra and
Plowshares, and Necro has returned, has this deck gotten
weaker... tough call. It still uses 8 Diamonds, 4 Taniwha's, 12
Counterspells (Counterspell, Dissipate, Force of Will), 4
Armageddons, 4 Wrath of Gods, 20 Lands, but must now fill the 8
spots left by Serra and Plowshares. 4 Ivory Gargoyles is
relatively obvious for 4 of the slots, but the other 4 are tough.
Sandbar Crocodile, Breezekeeper, Exile, Disenchant, Desertion,
Arcane Denial, Impulse, Three Wishes, and Greater Realm of
Preservation all come to mind, as do the Tutors. I'm leaning
towards 2 Disenchants, 1 Greater Realm, and 1 Mystical Tutor.
Mono-Green: This deck didn't really have the tools to deal with a
first turn Hyppy, but with that gone, this deck might thrive.
With Plow and Bolt gone, a creature blitz is much harder to stop.
Counter-Hammer: Yawn... This deck is the most boring Type II
deck, rivaled only by Turbo-Stasis. This deck uses Frenetic
Efreets, Blue Control, Red Burn, and perhaps some disks or other
creatures. again, yawn.
Browse-Digger: The Cap is back, and this deck loves that.
However, with Bolt gone, I'm not sure if the Earthquakes and
Incinerates will be enough to stop a Necro or Picnic. [Editor's
Note: Due to the selective quality of Browse, there are various
other variants to Browse, most popularly Blue/White Browse
Permission]
Black-Red Beatdown: This was popular in the new year, but it is
much weaker now without the Bolts and Hyppies.
*B/U/G Prosperity-Bloom-Drain: An experimental deck, but also
capable of a first turn kill. On a sidenote, I think this deck
might win Paris in MiVi (Mirage / Visions).
Hammerpost: This deck lost both the Bolts and Plowshares, and
probably died because of that. However, it used to be strong
against Necro, and perhaps still is, although I doubt it.
R/G City of Solitude: This deck uses City of Solitude to allow
Ball Lightnings, Yavimaya Ants, and Sut'Aqa Lancers to attack
freely. Also uses a lot of weenies and some burn.
I think that this list probably has most of the type II decks
that will win tournaments, although a W/U/G or a R/G/W might
manage to pull in an occasional victory. I put a * next to all
the decks that I think might become quite strong. Some are
experimental like BloomDrain and Turbo-Millstone, while others
like Picnic and NecroStone are relatively sure bets. I see Necro,
Jokulhaups, and the pain lands being the biggest additions to
5th, with Hyppy, Plowshares, Bolts, and Erhnam being the biggest
losses [Editor's Note: Although maybe not as widely used as the
above mentioned, Mishra's Factories will also be dearly missed].
I hope this overview and list helps you prepare for tournaments.
I suspect some of these decks will never show up in your local
tournaments, but many will. Good luck y'all! Later...
Seth Burn