Subject: T2 modified Sylvan Oath Deck Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1998 21:46:47 EDT From: SGibson175@aol.com To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com This Oath of Druids deck is a modified version of M. Donais' "Sylvan Promise" deck. I feel the changes increase the flexibility of the deck. This deck was built for competitive league play. This league lets you to choose a deck before each match but does not allow sideboards. Therefore, I was faced with the challenge of building a 60 card deck that was very versatile. The fringe benefit of this design is that it works great in friendly matches or group games, which generally do not utilize sideboards. Here is the listing: 3 Wrath of God (Kills protection red shadows) 1 Cataclysm (Reset their lands, hopefully you will have the Diamond in play) 2 Disenchant 1 Aura of Silence (Tutor for this when they play a Disk or Armored Shadow) 2 Enlightened Tutor (15 artifacts or enchantments to choose from) 1 Light of Day (Hate black) 1 Warmth (Hate red) 1 Penance (Lets you put an un-castable creature on top of your library) 1 Island Sanctuary (Stall game until you have 100 life and a 20/20 Angel) 1 Arch Angel (This is your beatdown creature) 1 Warrior Angel (Beatdown AND extra life is always good!) 4 Oath of Druids (The deck engine) 3 Gaea's Blessing (Recycle your graveyard) 1 Verdant Touch (Just in case!) 1 Sylvan Library (Library manipulation) 1 Choke (Hate blue) 3 Spike Feeder (Pump your Angels or get even more life!) 3 Earthquake (Works great with Shard Phoenix) 2 Firestorm (Ditch any useless hate cards to the Storm) 1 Disintegrate (This could really hurt a recursion deck) 1 Shard Phoenix (A flying blocker with a free 2 pt. earthquake!) 1 Scroll Rack (Library & Hand manipulation) 1 Jester's Cap (Remove Disenchant, Disk, or Blessings) 1 Phyrexian Furnace (Vital against recursion decks) 1 Marble Diamond (Tutor for this when you need the second white mana for Wrath) 1 Wasteland (Save for the Volrath Stronghold) 1 Quicksand (Take out pro-red shadows) 1 Gemstone Mine (Go ahead and use it, it recycles!) 1 Reflecting Pool 2 Undiscovered Paradise 1 Grasslands (Get that second forest or plains) 2 Brushland 1 Mogg Hollows 5 Plains 4 Forest 2 Mountain As you can see, the changes are minor but really alter the way the deck plays. I find this version more fun to play. The initial changes came about after I lost a match to speed black because I had a hand full of artifact mana and Armageddons. I realized these nine card slots that could be replaced by tutors and what would ordinarily be sideboard cards (As stated above, this was built for league play). I traded out 2 Sylvan Libraries and replaced with Scroll Rack and Penance. These cards work well because if you draw one of your un-castable creatures, you can use them to place it right on top and oath it into play next turn. This is better than ditching a useful Angel to a Firestorm that can be powered by useless hate cards. The Island sanctuary works extremely well, especially if you have a castable Wrath of god in hand. With the Oath in play, you DON"T NEED to draw, your creatures go directly into play!! Just sit back, gain life, and then beat them down with the biggest, baddest Angel they have ever seen!!! The Shard Phoenix also works great. I had previously considered the Phoenix unplayable due to the 5 mana casting cost. However, the oath negates this drawback. The Disintegrate is versatile because it can provide direct damage or remove a recurring creature from the game. Just make sure they can't sacrifice the creature when you target it. The rest of the deck plays like the original "Sylvan Promise". If anyone is playing the original version, try these modifications and see if you like it. I would love to hear what you think. I am currently working on a Green/Red Oath deck that abuses Shard Phoenix, Crimson Hellkite, Shivan Dragon, Verdant Force, Spike Feeder, Spike Weaver, Spike Hatcher, Emerald Charm (Untap your Hellkite and block), Pandemonium, and Altar of Dementia. This deck is so full of fatties that the Pandemonium and Altar could really hurt. It is still in preliminary design so I don't know if it is truly feasible yet. If anyone has any suggestions or comments please e-mail them to Alex Gibson. My e- mail address is SGibson175@aol.com.