Subject: [STRATEGY] "Aluren Flute": The first Urza's Saga-based archetype? Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 03:49:21 -0400 (EDT) From: Pteryx To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com DISCLAIMER: I am not a tournament player. I play Magic solely for fun. My knowledge of the game outside of my little circle comes from the Dojo and my friends. What I hope to do with this post is present a concept, not a complete, fine-tuned deck (though there is a sample deck listing to help you get the idea). Now, with that out of the way... I looked through the Urza's Saga spoiler list a few times before deciding which cards looked good. One card that stood out after the second look was Citanul Flute. Yes, Citanul Flute. Take a closer look: Citanul Flute 5 Artifact XT: Search your library for a creature card with total casting cost no greater than X. Reveal that card and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library afterwards. "So I can fetch any creature in my deck that I can cast," you say. "So what?" Well, think about all those comes-into-play creatures. Wouldn't it be helpful to always have the one you need available? Also, consider Slivers. Wouldn't it be great to be able to play your Crystalline Sliver sooner? There are other possible uses as well. Think about what you could do with a permanent sporting the ability to pull out exactly the creature you want exactly when you need it. One thought I had was to combine Citanul Flute with Aluren. With both out on the table, you could play any Aluren-sized creature in your library or hand anytime you could play an instant. Also, the creature's color wouldn't matter; you can pay Citanul Flute's cost with any kind of mana, and Aluren subsequently lets you play it for free. To add to the creature-based fun, I decided to throw the strangely-phrased Lifeline into the mix. Take a look: Lifeline 5 Artifact Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard and a creature is in play, return that creature from your graveyard to play at end of turn. [I think they meant "its owner's graveyard."] At first, this looks like a poor substitute for Enduring Renewal; the revival isn't instant, making infinite loops impossible, and your opponent is affected too. However, consider these points: one, it's an artifact; two, you can keep drawing creatures which in turn keep getting added to your eternal arsenal; three, the creatures go back into play, not your hand; and four, it's T2 legal! I see two obvious ways to abuse this card by itself: one, use creatures that can be sacrificed for an effect, and two, destroy your own CIP-effect creatures so you can use their power again at the end of the turn. As finishing touches to the core of this deck design, I decided to add Reclaim in case one of the above cards was destroyed, Votaic Key so that any Flutes in play could be reused, and Thran Quarry so that off-color creatures could be played even without Aluren in play. The latter two cards read: Votaic Key 1 Artifact 1T: Untap target artifact. --- Thran Quarry Land At the end of each turn, if you control no creatures, sacrifice Thran Quarry. T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. If one were to take sixteen forests and four of each of the above cards, one would have a nice core for a deck. All one would need to do to complete this "Aluren Flute" deck is fill the other twenty card spaces with good Aluren-sized creatures. There are many decent ones to choose from. The most obvious to me, though, are the Slivers; thus, the sample "Aluren Flute" deck design that will be presented here is a Sliver version. It is listed below: 16 Forest 4 Thran Quarry 4 Aluren 4 Reclaim 4 Citanul Flute 4 Lifeline 4 Votaic Key 2 Acidic Sliver 2 Crystalline Sliver 2 Horned Sliver 4 Muscle Sliver 4 Spined Sliver 2 Talon Sliver 2 Winged Sliver 2 Victual Sliver This deck is not without its problems; it starts slowly, it's much less effective with no Aluren in play, and it can't do anything about an opponent's permanents. However, once it gets going, you should have unprecedented control over when your creatures appear, which is particularly helpful in a Sliver deck. Once Aluren and Citanul Flute are on the board, play a Crystalline Sliver, then any other Slivers you have in hand that won't hurt. As the game progresses, play any Slivers you want as the situation calls for them. Once Lifeline comes out, you can use your Victual Slivers and Acidic Slivers to your heart's content; just make sure there's always a Crystalline Sliver on the board and to sacrifice your actual Victual/Acidic Sliver last. You can win either by attacking or with "suicide" acid attacks. I hope my report on my "Aluren Flute" idea has inspired you to refine it or to at least look at the cards in Urza's Saga in more unique ways. -- Pteryx, who closes by saying, "Cardian Sliver, COME FORTH!" -N. Johnson