Subject: Re: Lan_D (deck submission) Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 02:46:37 -0400 From: Johann Loke To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hi Frank, I've been getting into LD overdrive lately and have decided to post yet another LD deck, though this time round, it's monochrome red. This deck actually arose from the frustrations of the periodically incompetent Winter Rain deck, which had the admitted difficulty against really speedy decks. Terrors and Edicts notwithstanding (and I strive to avoid playing [as well as paying] Cursed Scroll), red offers the best solution to critter removal. Red LD decks have been around since M:tG began. The introduction of a buyback LD spell and a new 187 friend does lesser in terms of impact than an improvement of that ludicrous Ancient Tomb, the City of Traitors, although I think R&D should've just made it uncommon since how many decks out there can utilize this card? Monstrous Hounds are monstrous in their drawbacks and absolutely insignificant for its supposed advantage; goodness knows whether WotC had one cocktail too many to pass this off as a rare. Still, red LD decks probably have an edge over any other one-color LD decks. There've been suggestions to throw together funky combos like U/G (employing Fade Away) or R/W (employing Limited Resources) and I think they deserve more analysis, but for the meantime, here's the juice on Lan_D: Land Destruction: 20 2 Dwarven Miner \ 3 Orcish Settler - these guys aren't here to fight, never forget that. 2 Hurloon Shaman / 4 Stone Rain 2 Flowstone Flood don't bother with the buyback, unless you can make the opponent landless. 2 Aftershock 1 Ravenous Baboon don't think he's really great, since he's merely 2/2. 2 Goblin Grenadier 2 Scorched Earth now you can spend mid-game Cities wisely. Removal: 11 never burn the opponent. Save these for the 1 and 2cc critters. 4 Shock 4 Incinerate 3 Quicksand Critters: 8 4 Wall of Diffusion underrated Wall. Stops all Shadows but Priest, Knights, Goblins, Elves, Fish... 4 Flowstone Mauler 8/1 Trample, anybody? Mana Sources: 21-24 3 City of Traitors 4 Lotus Petal speeds up LD process. 14 Mountain not forgetting Quicksand... SB: 4 Kindle sub these over Walls if not in danger of weenie onslaught 3 Shattering Pulse vs. frigging Scroll/Brooch/Bridge types 3 Pyroblast vs. U stuff 3 Earthquake vs. mass weenie hordes 2 Ruination (or Solfatara) vs. Donais 5Uc, Godzilla or some such stuff Hope some people enjoy this deck. Meanwhile, I gotta get back to unravelling the synergy of dual-colored T2 LD decks. Anyone with a special interest in this 'LD tech' subject, feel free to drop a note on czene@pacific.net.sg. Johann Loke