Subject: Dojo Report: The day before Date: Sat, 4 Jul 1998 08:12:35 -0700 From: "Chris" To: "'fkusumot@ix.netcom.com'" There is no better example of cutthroat competative magic than the U.S. opens. While the whole point of the U.S. open is to get to nationals, it is also a proving ground for new decks and concepts. The open is unique in that it occurs 6 times in a span of 20 hours. This particular setup creates the ultimate metagaming effect. Rob Hahn put it perfectly when he said that "you can see a weeks worth of metagaming every 3 hours." As a result, the open not only affected peoples chances to play in nationals, but also the entire environment, as the entire standard portion of nationals shifted to compensate for new decks. New decks to come out of Regionals Oath of Druids. The oath of druid deck was the brainchild of Team Legion. They showed up in the midnight open 6 strong, with the finals of the open being oath on oath. 4 Oath of Druids 3 Sylvan Library 4 Spike Feeders 3 Gaeas Blessings 1 Spirit of the Night 4 Counterspell 3 Forbid 1 Dissipate 2 Force Spike 4 Propoganda 4 Impulse 4 Brainstorm 1 Verdant Touch 5 forest 3 Reflecting Pools 2 Gemstone Mine 2 Undiscovered Paradise 2 City of Brass 8 Islands The oath of druid deck uses an engine based on spike feeders and the oath of druids. Spike feeders come out every turn, netting the owner massive life in the long run and finishes off the opponent with spirit of the night. Any creature that is killed comes back because the oath of druids will usually mill off a gaea's blessing when finding a creature, recursing the graveyard into the library. Variations of this deck use a white base for creature control in wrath and also use archangel for a kill card. Bottle Gnomes are also used as they are easily castable and also are sacraficable. Spike Weavers are the "tech" of the deck, creating fogs for the player while creating an initial setup. The deck varies, but the constant is the oath of druids, life gaining, and a huge fat creature for the kill. Look for this deck to become prominent in the next coming weeks. Pandemonium Dreadnaught Originating from several locations at once, the Pandemonium Dreadnaught is one of the latest combination decks that came out of exodus. This particular version from Larry Janiec is run with the fastest kill in mind. 4 Pandemonium 4 Phryxien Drednaught 4 Reanimate 4 Argivian Find 4 Abeyance 4 Vampiric Tutor 4 Enlightened Tutor 4 Mana Vault 4 Lotus Petal 4 Impulse 4 Dark Ritual 4 Sulferous Springs 4 Gemstone Mine 4 City of Brass 3 Undiscovered Paradise 1 Ancient Tomb The deck uses very little land, relying on artifact mana and dark rituals to spit out the combination as fast as possible. Pandemonium, Dreadnaught, and Reanimate is usually the finishing combination, and it is not to rare to get a 3rd turn kill 60% of the time. Survival of the Fittest Several Variations of this deck are run. Using various 187 creatures and Tradewind Riders, the deck maximizes the utility created by these creatures and eventually kills with a tradewind lock, and an onslaught of creatures. 3 wall of blossoms 3 wall of roots 4 birds of paradise 3 spike feeders 2 tradewind rider 2 utkabi orangutang 2 man o war 2 nekrataal 3 mana leak 2 living death 2 armageddon 3 propaganda 3 survival of the fittest 3 Firestorm 2 recurring nightmare 1 volrath stronghold 5 forest 3 underground river 2 undiscovered paradise 2 gemstone mine 2 city of brass 2 island 4 reflecting pool This deck uses a 5cg engine to quickly gain mana and create a tradewind lock as fast as possible. Varients include a more controlled version based upon Andrew Pacifico's 5cFlagpole deck. This deck play fairly fast and furious using the survival and recurring nightmare to find and recurse creatures. Living death or armageddon is usually the final blow after the opponent has exhausted their resources. Part 2 [Enhancements to Existing Decks] to come soon -Christopher Wong chrisw@uci.edu