Subject: Deck: NecroPox by Tom Gibes Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 16:02:28 -0700 From: "Tom Gibes and Co." To: This is it. This is -the- deck for type II in my opinion. I've been keeping it a secret for quite a while, but I decided it's about time I let it out. It is viscious. It attacks a deck from all side, using Land Destruction, Hand Destruction, Creature Destruction, and Direct Damage. It also has life gain to stop those pesky burn decks. You can also gain immense card advantage with Necropotence. I've playtested it for a -long- time, and it can beat any deck out there. It is definately a tournament contender and could easily win some. The deck also function without MVW cards, so it will not be hurt when they rotate out. This is the deck I will be playing until they ban Pox. Try it, please. You will see the power. NecroPox by Tom Gibes 4 Necropotence (Card Advantage. Crucial after Pox / With Bottomless Pit) 4 Pox (Attack from all angles) 4 Nevinyrral's Disk (Global Destruction. Get rid of Bottomless Pit, Necropotence) 4 Bottomless Pits (Hand Destruction. Kills control) 4 Rain of Tears (Land Destruction) 4 Drain Life (Direct Damage. Life Gain) 4 Bottle Gnome (Only Creature. Life Gain) 4 Dark Ritual (1st Turn Pit. Very important. Good w/ Drain Life) 2 Diabolic Edict (Great creature removal) 2 Brush With Death (Mini-Drain life. Direct Damage and Life Gain) 1 Evincar's Justice (Vs. The Weenies) 18 Swamp (Um... Just Cause, OK? :)) 4 Wasteland (Land D and mana producing. Important) 1 Volrath's Stronghold (Kill card w/ Gnomes) The sideboard can vary greatly. You can use Gemstone Mines and have Lobotomies. You can have swamps in the sideboard to make it more effective against mono-colored decks (Siding out Wastelands for swamps). You could also use Cursed Scroll, Scalding Tongs, Ensnaring Bridge, or Null Brooch against decks without Disks (More on this later.) This is the sideboard I would use: 4 Gloom (Against WW. Disenchant / Aura really hurts. Side out 4 Pits) 2 Thrull Surgeon (Against Control / Combo decks. Side out Edicts and Brushes) 2 Perish (Vs. Green, obviously. Side out Brushes or 2 Pits) 2 Brush With Death (Vs. Burn. Side out Edicts or 2 Pits) 2 Evincar's Justice (Vs. Weenies. Side out Brushes or 2 Pits) 2 Jester's Cap (Vs. Combo decks / Gaea's Blessing. Side out Edicts or Brushes) 1 Stalking Stones (Vs Control. Side out Volrath's Stronghold) Mini-FAQ Q: Why no Cursed Scroll / Scalding Tongs / Ensnaring Bridge / Null Brooch? A: Nevinyrral's Disk. This thing will kill this deck if it uses all those permanents. I've playtested it. It's much better if it leaves out all of those artifacts and you put in Disks. Disks are key in this deck, anyways, clearing out artifacts and enchantements, as well as clearing out your Pits, Potences, when you no longer need them. Q: Why no creatures? A: Having only bottle gnomes as your creatures makes this deck very effective, because it will gain you a card advantage against decks having lots of creature removal. Ensnaring Bridges, Firestorms, Propoganda, etc become virtually useless against this deck. Q: How does it work? A: It works much like "The Deck", believe it or not. You disable your opponent by attacking them from all sides. Eventually they run out of cards, because of the card advantage from Necropotence, Pox, Pit, etc. Then, when they're out of cards, you just have to peck them down with Bottle Gnomes or Drain / Brush them to death. Q: Is this deck easy to learn? A: Well, probably not. This deck has a lot of different aspects and you must play test with it for a while to discover it's strength and weakness (Which are very few). Also, you must gain a knowledge of when to Pox, lay a Pit, lay a Necropotence, blow a Disk, etc. The sideboard can also be tricky. Q: Will it win? A: Yes! Very much so. It can beat Control (1st turn Pit = Win most of the time. Land Destruction also hurts control). It can beat sligh / burn (10 methods of life gain: Bottle Gnomes, Drain Lifes, Brush With Deaths). It can beat Oath of Druids (The only creatures, Bottle Gnomes, are sacable. If they Verdant Touch, you can always Rain of Tears / Pox that land). Also, it is not suspected at all, and would be very hard to sideboard against in a tournament (Artifact / Enchantment removal is probably the best way to beat this deck). Q: Where can I reach the creator? A: At tgibes@execpc.com -Tom Gibes tgibes@execpc.com