Subject: 5CU Oath of Angels Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 17:32:34 -0800 From: "Robert S. Hahn, Esq." To: Frank Kusumoto Frank, This is just a whimsical thing, now that Nationals is behind us. I was told by Brian that my deck, played by Pat Chapin, went 3-0 after I left sick. And since I still believe that it is one of the better Oath decks around, I thought I'd send it to you for posting on the Dojo (Mike Donais-style; if I can't play, I can still post). 5CU Oath of Angels Lands: 2 City of Brass 1 Undiscovered Paradise 1 Gemstone Mine 4 Reflecting Pool 7 Islands 1 Plains 2 Forests 2 Brushland 1 Flood Plains 1 Grasslands 2 Quicksand 24 -- 13 "hits" on White, 16 "hits" on Blue, 13 "hits" on Green, 8 "hits" on Red. Without taking Reflecting Pools into account, we're looking at 9 W, 12 U, 9 G, and 4 R. Blue: 4 Impulse 2 Brainstorm 3 Whispers of the Muse 4 Counterspell 2 Dissipate 1 Forbid 1 Mana Leak 17 White: 1 Archangel 1 Gerrard's Wisdom 3 Wrath of God 2 Disenchant 7 Green: 4 Oath of Druids 2 Sylvan Library 3 Spike Feeder 2 Gaea's Blessing 11 Red: 1 Fireball 1 The lands probably need more work, but it often seems adequate. 10 basic lands often make it hurt less from Wastelandage. The deck is essentially a version of Donais 5CU that incorporates the Oath-tech to maximum effectiveness (I think). Against many opponents, it can go into the D5C mode of Whispers beatdown and win with the recursive Fireball. Against most fast rush decks, a turn two Oath is so much better than a turn two Wall of Blossoms that it's not even funny. If the Angel comes out early, all you have to do is protect that for four turns and the game is over. Oath + Wrath is a semi-lock against creature strategies, and the Spike Feeders are actually quite beatdown against creatureless passive strategies. My feeling is that the 3 Feeders and 1 Gerrard's is the ideal mix, since the Feeders can keep you alive until you do the Big Game Swing thing with a 14 point Gerrard's Wisdom. 3 Wrath of God also ensures that you can wreck C&C Magic Factory decks with all those Tradewinds and Walls and such things. In the new environment, I may want to add more insta-removal for Ophidians and Visionaries: 2-4 Incinerates should do the job admirably, but I'm not sure what you'd want to take out. A Fireball, an Oath, and a Sylvan perhaps for 3 Incinerates; you could, after all, go into the Incinerate/Gaea's Blessing thing just as easily as you can do the Fireball/Blessing thing. The sideboard constantly changes, but 4 Pyroblasts are usually necessary. Based on what I've seen recently, I'd probably go with: 4 Pyroblast 2 Disenchant 2 Phyrexian Furnace 2 CoP:Red 2 Null Rod 1 Lobotomy 2 Cursed Totem (stops Ophidians and Tradewinds) Enjoy! -rsh Robert S. Hahn, Esq. The Sophist The Duelist Magazine sophist@wizards.com