Subject: White Delight (t2 deck)
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 1998 18:53:48 EDT
From: yu_n102@orion.crc.monroecc.edu
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Mr. Kusumoto,

A friend of mine sans e-mail asked me to send this deck listing and his
ramblings (located afterwards) to the Dojo.  If you post the deck, please
credit it to David Jacobowitz.

****************
*White Delight:*
****************

Creatures:
4 Bottle Gnomes
4 Wall of Essence
4 White Knights
4 Longbow Archers
3 Avenging Angel
4 Staunch Defenders

Removal:
4 Wrath of God
4 Disenchant

Life-Gainers (besides creatures):
2 Gerrard's Wisdom

Mana Sources:
4 Marble Diamonds
4 Quicksand
11 Plains
4 Brushland
4 Vec Township

*Sideboard:*
4 Uktabi Orangutan
4 Scragnoth
3 Tranquil Domain
3 City of Solitude
1 Gerrard's Wisdom

*************
*Discussion:*
*************
   The anti-Sligh deck.  If they can't kill you by turn 4, then you'll probably
win with life left over.  The key to remember is that the Sligh deck directly
suffers loss of card economy every time you gain life.  Every Staunch Defender
is a Fireblast, every Bottle Gnomes is an Incinerate (potentially), and the
Wall of Essence effectively blocks two small to medium creatures and gains you
life when your opponent attacks if you block correctly.  Gerrard's is just a
bonus.  The deck has a potential 28 points of extra life to be gained through
creatures alone.
   Every good player "knows" you can't win by gaining more life than your
opponent, but in the current environment, where Sligh is apparently the
official deck archetype of WoTC and assault decks designed to burn your life
down to zero A.S.A.P abound, perhaps life-gaining is a useful metagaming
approach.  Against Sligh, this deck wins by first not losing.  Against other
decks, the deck can be competitive game one, then better after sideboarding.
   5CBlack is troublesome due to the combo of pro-white creatures, creature
removal, plus some burn.  Green decks probably won't be excessively troubling;
quick, solid, first strikers, the gnomes, quicksands, plus Wall of Essence
match up reasonably well against Rogues, Centaurs, Harvest Wurm, Trained
Armodon, Boa (GG excluded).  If one survives until turn 4 or 5, one can Wrath
and/or begin to regain life (via Gerrard's, Staunchie).
   Control decks (Bounce, Big Blue, Fish, etc.) give this deck fits, as this
deck is slowww, and really can't capitalize on an opponent's slow start, such
as is usually the case with blue.  The green allows the sideboard to include
Cities and Scragnoth (move over, Staunchie).  Also, Tranquil Domain, a key anti
-Propaganda anti-Gloom card, is available.  Monkeys help with Cursed Scroll,
Portcullis, Tongs, ORB, Puppet Strings, etc.
   Versus Propa-Pendrell-Orb, basically remake the deck from the ground up via
sideboarding in 14 cards and removing Walls, Gerrard's, Wraths, and Staunchies.
 Trap decks are probably also a challenge, but sideboarding Domains and Monkeys
helps (they need their artifact mana to keep their land alive under the lock).
   Armageddon decks aren;t much fun for this deck, it's only defense is 27 mana
sources (4 Diamonds!).  You HAVE to have the Wrath and the mana on turn 4, plus
a Diamond in play.  Don't even suggest Sacred Ground; sorry, this card is not
the answer for Armageddon, don't delude yourself.  If you don't believe me, see
what happens when you sideboard it in.  Now, if this card was an instant, then
I would say, "yes, this might work," but it's not.  Maybe next set.
   Credit Jamie Wakefield's earlier post (somewhere) re: "Good White Stuff" for
getting people thinking.

   --David Jacobowitz

*E-mailer's note:*
Please direct all comments, suggestions, and monetary donations to
--Nicholas Yu
azif@hotzp.com
http://www.hotzp.com