Subject: Exodus Deck: Pandora's Box Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 12:04:56 +0000 From: Elisabeth Kurtz To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Dear Frank, after passively reading the Dojo for quite a while the urge finally overcame me to be part of it. I have to admit that I love the way you run things and all the interesting discussions that go on besides the purely strategic posts. Keep up the good work and cheers to all who contribute. (Loved the discussion about women in Magic started by Cathy Nicoloff. Amazing, how well behaved post suddenly can get ;-) That said, I would like to contribute to the new Exodus Decks with a deck based around Pandemonium that turns your creatures into walking Shocks, Incinerates or even Fireblasts ... I cannot believe that they just banned Cursed Scroll in Rath Cycle Constructed and than gave red a much more efficient tool to win. Unless there are some serious errata I think Pandemonium is way beyond broken. I have checked the decks that were posted till this moment. There is only one using the Pandemonium/Phyrexian Dreadnaught combo and the style is quite different. So here is the version of Sligh (formerly this was a version of 5C Geeba) as it turned into SRB without any burn spells, just creatures ... PANDORA'S BOX ... once you open it pandemonium breaks loose and evil rules the world ... -------------------- 4cc: 4 4 Pandemonium (is the damage dealt of red origin? The wording says the creatures controller deals damage, never heard of a controller with a colour, so I think this needs to be clarified. If it is colourless damage this card is too strong! Guess it should have read ... P. deals damage to target oponent of creature controllers choice ... wonder sometimes how they do the playtesting ...) 3cc: 10 4 Ball Lightning 6/1 (now good for 12 damage, or 6 even if it gets incinerated or shocked by an opponent) 4 Viashino Sandstalker 4/2 (nice it comes back to you, reusable Fireblast for 3 mana) 2 Uktabi Orangutan 2/2 (sex monkeys fit the theme better than Goblin Tinkerer or Vandal and are better because of their surprise value, 2 MB, 2 SB) 2cc: 8 4 Mogg Flunkies 3/3 (they were already good before) 4 Wall of Razors 4/1 first strike (finally got the answer why they made this!!!, not so good with Mogg Flunkies but there are plenty of other creatures) 1cc: 14 4 Phyrexian Dreadnought (12 damage for just coming into play and beeing buried ... you might even get it out to stay if you sacrifice a used Ball Lightning and three 1cc 2 power creatures, but by then your opponent should be dead anyway ...) 4 Mogg Conscripts 2/2 (with so many cheap creatures it won't be a problem to cast one each turn) 4 Raging Goblin 1/1 (this guy can attack first turn, loves Mogg Flunkies and Conscripts! Good replacement for Suq Ata Lancers) 2 Jackal Pup 2/1 (what to say here, you can change the ratios if you prefer more of them ...) 4 Mana Vault or Dark Rituals to cast a 2nd turn Pandemonium ... (wow, how would this deck perform with Black Lotus or a couple of Type I Moxes ...) (Might consider taking out two creatures for two Fireblasts as quick finisher) Land: 20 (basically 5C Geeba) 4 City of Brass 3 Gemstone Mine 4 Wasteland 9 Mountains SB suggestions (far from optimal since there will be a lot of surprises with Exodus ..): 3 Slight of Mind (Warmth, Hon. Passage, Hydroblast and whatever comes to mind) 3 Prismatic Lace (to change the colour of Pandemonium should that be a problem, if not then choose a better card ... Hydroblast, Mana Leak, Honorable Passage, City of Solitude ...) 3 Pyroblast (obvious) 2 Uktabi Orangutan (mainly Winter Orb, N. Disk aso. ... Cursed Scroll is no big threat) 2 Nevynirrhal's Disk (who thought up such an unspellable name ...!!!) 2 Mana Web (nice to shut down mana intensive decks, especially those with upkeep costs ... ) I also like Ravenous Baboon ... the Deck could easily be tuned to be monored but I think in the current environment the 5C version is more flexible. Nice is, you no longer have to worry about walls, which is a great relief (everyone here runs Wall of Blossoms and Wall of Roots)!!! No more space for Cursed Scroll, as it is too slow. The deck should perform quite efficient given the mana curve (Suicide Black could be a nuisance but they can't cast creatures as frequently as this deck can and creature removal does not bother it). Best is if you get Mana Vault/ Dark Ritual first turn and Pandemonium 2nd ... then this deck is quite unstoppable but for a Disenchant (and maybe a houndred counters). Still then it can perform almost like a standard Geeba ... Another alternative is a more Black creature base and Dark Ritual instead of Mana Vault plus a more red/black or 5C oriented land mix: Carnophage Hidden Horror (Hatred (2nd turn kill with Land, Raging Goblin, Land, 2 Dark Ritual and Hatred for 18 ... watch out for any counters, passages or rebound however ... if you add some Lotus Petals make it 1st turn kill)) Recurring Nightmare (sacrifice the Ball Lightning you just attacked with and put another creature back into play ... efficient I would call it ... but it slows the deck down and is not necessary for the theme) Living Death (nice effect but see above ...) The point in using Pandemonium should be that all your creatures should have a better power/mana ratio than your opponents and that you have lots of them. That is why I think the Pandemonium/ Dreadnaught as previously posted by M. Giersch won't stand a chance against any creature heavy weenie. It is just like those Booby Trap decks! To make your Pandemonium really work use lots of cheap high power creatures with whatever drawback they might ever have. They cannot counter so many creatures but a single Dreadnought you just tutored for is easily a counter target ... Hope you have fun opening Pandora's Box ... (now where only do I only get those blasted Pandemoniums for my deck ... sure they had to make this one a Rare ;-( ... See you around and ... May the Mana be with you! .... ELI PS ... wonder what you could do with Pandemonium and Aluren out ... hmmm ... ------------------------------- Elisabeth Kurtz presently Sendai, Japan kurtz@imr.tohoku.ac.jp