Subject: The Followup: T2 Blue Bouncer v2.0 Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 22:17:04 -0600 From: Shining Shadow Hello again, fellow listers. Thanks to all who sent me advice on the Blue Bouncer both on this list and via private e-mail. Many people had similar ideas on how to improve the deck; other than the debate over Whispers of the Muse and one or two rather odd-ball suggestions. This second version of Blue Bouncer is undoubtedly superior to the old one. Right now, it "feels" about five cards away from perfection. Strategic "musings" of my own follow the listing. BLUE BOUNCER Standard Format (Type 2) Deck Design Version 2.0 Card Casting Cost Expansion (Anti-Creature Defense) 2 Legacy's Allure UU TE 4 Propaganda 2U TE 3 Floodgate 3U MI 2 Pendrell Mists 3U TE (Disruption) 4 Counterspell UU 5E 2 Dissipate 1UU MI 4 Dismiss 2UU TE 1 Jester's Cap 4 5E (Library Manipulation) 2 Urza's Bauble 0 5E 4 Whispers of the Muse U+5 TE (The Bounce) 3 Capsize 1UU+3 TE (Finishers) 1 Grindstone 1 TE 2 Air Elemental 3UU TE (Mana) 4 Sapphire Medallions 2 TE 4 Quicksand - VI 18 Island - -- Sideboard: 1 Feldon's Cane 1 5E 2 Mana Chains U TE 4 Hydroblast U 5E 2 Chill 1U TE 2 Dissipate 1UU MI 2 Steal Enchantment UU TE 2 Steal Artifact 2UU 5E Mana Curve: (no medallions (one medallion (two medallions in play) in play) in play) 2 @ 0cc 2 @ 0cc 2 @ 0cc 5 @ 1cc 5 @ 1cc 9 @ 1cc 10 @ 2cc 19 @ 2cc 24 @ 2cc 9 @ 3cc 9 @ 3cc 2 @ 3cc 10 @ 4cc 3 @ 4cc 1 @ 4cc 2 @ 5cc 22 land 22 land 22 land Clearly, the greatest weakness of the old version was in the area of creature defense. The Floodgates are simply better than the Volrath's Curses and Mana Chains were. And if the opponent is playing blue, then the Legacy's Allures will have no trouble taking those Ophidians and Tradewind Riders away. One person told me that my deck has too many Sapphire Medallions (???) and that I should add Nev Disks. Um, if the Disk didn't destroy all of _my_ pernaments too, then I would. Unfortunately it does, and splashing black just to add Lobotomy isn't worthwhile as long as I can use Jester's Cap. I am not overly worried about losing my Air Elementals for two reasons: 1) An Elemental doesn't see play until the opponent is locked, and 2) there is no way to kill a large creature in Type 2 with just one mana (except maybe with Mana Chains). If by some miracle the opponent gets a second mana source out (like Lotus Petal) and tries to cast Terror or Edict, I just Capsize my Elemental. I don't even have to waste a Counterspell. As to my thoughts on using four Whispers of the Muse: Whisper early, Whisper often. Remember the _old_ (pre-Cursed Scroll) Pox decks with Urza's Baubles? The same deck thinning principles apply here. I have heard the argument of "If you use up the Whispers just to draw a card then you are just drawing the card you would have drawn anyway". This argument is simply not logical. The deck must contain 60 cards no matter what. If I take a Whispers out, I have to replace it with another card. This has the effect of slightly lowering the probability of drawing any given card. Whispers without the buyback may not be as good as Impulse, but it is even cheaper and I never bury needed cards at the bottom of my library. And with the buyback, it starts to rival Necropotence (especially once I have enough land and Sapphires to cast it more than once a turn). Remember, your library is your enemy. Never pass up an opportunity to draw a card. Until the day they reprint Underworld Dreams, that is... =:-) Regards, The Shining Shadow -- "I can't use what I can't abuse..."