Subject: The Piley Blast Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 16:12:42 -0700 From: "Christopher E. Otwell" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com After a few people noticed and posted the deck (killing the surprise factor that I have had till now) and after a few weeks of others posting about the HERMIT DRUID, I've finally decided to make my deck public. I'm been working on this deck since the week that Stronghold was released. Currently, the only 2 archetype decks that have been given me trouble in the first game of a match, are the Basic SLIGH/Blast and the Mono-blue deck with capsizes, propaganda and too much permission for it's own good. SLIGH/blast can be beat with either the slower game mode of the deck, or with the continuos returning of my druids to play, and they run out of burn to kill them with. SOULSHRIEKS are a great game ender, as well, but with the deck being as tight as it is, I can't put the 2 that I want into it, without exceeding 60 cards. Have tried it with both, and for the longer game, it is definitely better to have 60 cards than 62 cards. The Benefactor, I was originally using 3 then took one out for a Vhalti Il Dal. Eventually, I went to 2 Vhaltis. I’m still wondering if 2 Benefactors are better than 2 Vhaltis. It's given me several situations whereas my opponent wont attack me, knowing that if I blocked, he was dead the next turn. Amazing for the Mental Game. I also originally tried Knights of Stromgald originally, but then later decided that Black Knights are more stable for longer games. After all, you have to plan for the longer games for a real tournament viable deck, not just the quick kill game. My sideboard includes a few other creatures (like more Orangutans to stop cursed scrolls, cloudchasers to stop propagandas, etc...), pyroblasts, disks, but rarely were any of these cards actually useful to me. Most everything else will die to either a quick kill or the prolonged weenie horde deck concept, due to the versatility of the creatures themselves. To-Date, I've had over 35 Turn 2/3 kills with it (against live opponents), against current power Type 2/1.X decks, among a variety of styles and types. For the record, this is what Magic has degenerated into: Turn 2 Kills. The Piley Blast 4 Haunting Miseries 4 Vamperic Tutors =-=-= 8 Spells 4 Hermit Druids 4 Manowars 4 Neckrataals 4 Black Knights 2 Orangutans 2 Cloudchasers 2 Gravediggers 2 Vlhati IlDals 1 Benefactor =-=-= 25 Creatures Never go below 25 for this, otherwise you might screw yourself out of quick kills by 1 point of damage. 4 MOX DIAMONDS (This card should of never made it to print) 4 Gemstones Mines 4 Reflecting Pools 4 Cities of Brass 4 Undiscovered Paradises 4 Dark Rituals 1 Volrath's Stronghold 2 Pine Barrens =-=-= 27 Mana Sources If you want more speed for combo kill, but less stability for standard slower game wins, replace 1 Reflecting Pool, 2 Vlati-Il Dals and 1 Benefactors with 4 Birds of Paradise. Email me @ OTWELL@WORLDNET.ATT.NET or OTWELLC@JNTF.OSD.MIL with any comments and stats that you generate on this deck. I'm collecting information for "person uses". Thanks Christopher E. Otwell