Subject: deck Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 13:36:40 -0000 From: "annette hooper" To: "Blue Machine" This deck is a variant of the typical blue weenie with a strong midgame, taking advantage of many of the new Exodus cards. 4 Spindrift Drake SIDEBOARD 4 Manta RIder 4 Hydroblast 4 Thalakos Seer 4 Propaganda 4 Man o War 2 Null Brooch 4 Suqata Firewalker 2 Chill 2 Mindless Automaton 3 Mind Over Matter 2 Dominating Licid 2 Ertai 4 Unstable Mutation 2 Curiosity 2 Boomerang 2 Capsize 2 Null Brooch 2 Equilibrium 2 Erratic Portal 2 Portent 18 Islands Mana Curve 1 2 3 4 16 6 16 6 This deck has had a good amount of success against many of the decks popular currently. It wins the majority against suicide, 5cg, most tradewind variations, stompy and white weenies. The decks it has great problems with are combo decks (ProsBloom). Also, I can not figure out a way to make this deck perform against Oath! It seems its only chance is to boomerang the oath and then counter it using brooch/ertai. The idea of the deck is reasonably simple. There is the usual beatdown element with a first turn flyer and unstable mutations. It usually gets out to a reasonably fast start. However, it usually controls the field well beginning around fourth/fifth turn. This deck is very heavy on bounce although it does not use tradewind riders. The manowars, erratic portals, and equilibriums all contribute to keeping the opponents force at bay. The firewalkers and licids have extreme power as well. The strongest part about this deck is its synergy. The erratic portals allow you to somewhat control your opponents mana, which is especially valuable when you keep sending creatures back to their hand. But it can also be extremely helpful in use with your own creatures. You can protect your ertais and blocking creatures. However, they are also good for returning seers to draw or send back manowars for more unsummoning. The automatons are good for ditching cards for power and the ability to draw cards is valuable as well. The sideboard is iffy at this point. The prop's and hydroblasts are right. The mind over matters are in there by whim. If your opponent isnt playing some type of control, you can side them in for that great combo of tim+curiosity+mom=death. I'm not sure if this is really worth three slots of the sideboard. Other cards to be considered are scroll, ensnaring bridges, and tradewind riders. If you have any kind of suggestions for me (especially on beating oath!), please let me know. Geoff Hooper akahooper@worldnet.att.net