Subject: Exodus deck Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998 17:00:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Shane Roney To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- Deck listing and ideas: Scholar Brooch From: Shane Roney Two cards from Exodus looked to me like they would function quite nicely together: Oath of Scholars and Null Brooch. Trying to make these work to their full potential requires getting at least the Oath in play quickly. The Brooch helps to continually satisfy the Oath requirement for the caster. Anyway, here is the listing: Scholar Brooch - version 1 4 Manta Riders 4 Tidal Warrior 4 Rootwater Diver 4 Merfolk Looter 4 Lord of Atlantis 2 Suq'Ata Firewalker 2 Dominating Licid 3 Man-O-War 3 Brainstorm 4 Impulse 3 Oath of Scholars 3 Null Brooch 1 Coat of Arms 19 Islands The Null Brooch is most effective when you have no cards in hand to discard when you activate it. In this case, it acts as almost a free Counterspell, except for the non-creature drawback. Since the creature compliment here is basically a speedy fish deck, with 4 mana in play you should be able to cast most of the spells drawn from the Oath each turn, emptying your hand. The major library manipulation cards (Impulse, Brainstorm, and Merfolk Looters) should help you get the Oath and Brooch very quickly. Since the Brooch can't counter creatures, some creature control is needed. This is gained from the Dominating Licid (probably better than Legacy's Allure) and the Man-O-Wars. Also, the Firewalkers can pick off those annoying shadow guys. This deck should remain viable when the Mirage block leaves T2. The Firewalkers can be replaced with Rootwater Hunters, the Impulses can be replaced by Portent and another Brainstorm, and the Man-O-Wars can be replaced by Equilibrium. The Equilibrium substitution may be a good idea now, but I'm not sure about how many. With so many cheap creatures, this could be devastating to another creature-based deck. The combination of Brooch, Oath, and Equilibrium is a soft-lock that many decks won't be able to battle out of. The Coat of Arms is a finisher card, so make sure you can back it up with the Brooch if you fear a Counter. Also, there is a decent casting cost distribution here as follows: 16,12,7,6,1 for 1cc, 2cc, 3cc, 4cc, and 5cc respectively. Well, that's it for now. If anyone does well with this deck, please credit me in your report. Feel free to send comments to Shane Roney at: roostersoup@yahoo.com.