Subject: Analysis of Oath of Druids Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 22:48:23 -0400 From: Jason Culvert To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com There is no doubt in my mind that the biggest card to impact the scene from Exodus is the Oath of Druids. It creates a lock very quickly, it gets out creatures it wins games. There have been two schools of thought dedicated to it so far. One is the control method. It allows for a permission game w/ 4 life being gained each turn until the player is finally finished off with a Spirit of the Night. The deck looks something like this. 2 Force Spike 4 Counter Spell 3 Mana Leak 2 Forbid 4 Impulse 3 Brainstorm 3 Propaganda 1 Spirit of the Night 4 Spike Feeders 1 Spike Hatcher 1 Verdant Touch 2 Sylvan Library 2 Gaea's Blessing 4 Oath of Druids 2 Creeping Mold 1 Reflecting Pool 1 Gemstone Mine 1 Undiscovered Paradise 8 Forest 12 Island As you see the deck ensured that the Oath of Druids got out and worked using Verdant Touch. It ensured the Oath stayed out using permission. There is also a second school of thought concerning Oath of Druids, this is the power version of it. It does not require Oath of Druids to win, it just speeds the process. Here is the deck 4 Oath of Druids 2 Creeping Mold 4 Shock 3 Gaea's Blessing 2 Shattering Pulse 4 Incinerate 3 Shivan Dragon 1 Verdant Touch 4 Kindle 2 Viashivan Dragon 3 Sonic Burst 1 Spirit of the Night 2 Thunderbolt 2 Fireball 2 Fireblast 1 Lightning Blast Land: 6 Forests 3 Karplusan Forests 11 Mountains Sideboard: 4 Spike Feeders 2 Price of Progress 1 Boil 2 Firestorm 2 Scragnoth 2 Verdant Touch 2 Jester's Cap As you can see this is more of a burn deck than an Oath deck. You basically burn your opponent and get out large flyers to destroy them and block whatever they have out. It works better than Permission oath and constantly beats it, by destroying Spike feeders, and preventing the opponent from gaining life. It gets constant 5th-6th turn kills, depending on whether you need to use Verdant touch. The spike feeders are for WW decks that use protection from red creatures. The Jester's caps in the side board remove gaea's blessings from another Oath deck. All in all it plays as a burn deck, with 22 targeted spells. With enough control and speed and creatures to win constantly. Have Fun. Jason Culvert "Every deck should have green!"