Subject: Strategy: Manabarbs Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 17:27:38 +1300 From: "Hutton Family" Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy Hello all! Just thought I'd look for some discussion and ideas about how to use Manabarbs. Here are some ..... *New Deck Ideas* Based around a much-maligned and underrated card - Manabarbs. This is an incredibly powerful card if used correctly. These decks are based around 2 ways to use manabarbs. The first way is to use creature mana to avoid taking damage, and to try and cause as much damage to your opponent as possible through creatures and burn. The second way is to use the Barbs' ability to hurt your opponent to knock down their life low enough for you to burn them to death very quickly. It is very important, however, that both decks are still able to perform well WITHOUT mana barbs. The first one can function as a bastardised 4CG, and the second as a creature lite Sligh deck. Barbed Fun/ 4 CG Manabarbs (played 3rd turn!) beats: Buyback, Cursed Scroll, Counters, etc Llanowar Elves 2 - mana - 3 colored with Skyshroud } Mayebe 3/3 Skyshroud Elves 4 - Green/Red/White mana with Manabarbs } Mana Birds 4 - Mana to get around land screwers, + to cast Propaganda Ankh of Mishra 3 - Heh, heh, heh. MORE damage. And after geddon... Can be cut though. Very effective vs Undiscovered Paradise. Armageddon 3 - DUH. I have 10 non-land mana producers. This HAS to go in. Manabarbs 4 - The central Annoying little card. Combos well with Propaganda Incinerate 4 - DUH! Kindle 4 - I think these are needed too - more removal/BURN for cheap. And more versatile than Thunderbolt River Boa - Necessary? Better 2cc critters? Archers maybe? Jorael's Fish 3 - Best 3cc critter in T2 Pincer Beetles 3 - In case I dont have 2 green. Maybe 4/2 with centuars? Or Lancers instead? Disenchant 3 - Removal for Propaganda, Humility, etc Tranquility 1 - In case things REALLY go wrong. Propaganda 4 - Useful in general, combos well with manabarbs/geddon Lands (17) - With 10 creature mana producers, this should be sufficient. 13 Green producers should be enough to play mana critters. Forest 6 Mogg Hollows 2 Vec Townships 2 Mountain 2 - maybe 1 of each + more forests Plains 2 Gemstone Mine 3 Sideboard: Pyroblast 4 (1 mana vs 2+ for counter) Warmth 4 (The hoser from Hell with Mana Barbs - you take 2 and lose a card to do me for 1) Tranquil Domain 3 (Humility would be REAL annoying - maybe 2 and another disenchant cos I have enchantments) Choke 1 (Always good against annoying blue) Light of Day 3 (HOSER!!! - and lots of other things to waste enchantment kill on) I go with 3 or 4 of things like Light of Day and Warmth beacause you WILL want to draw one, and they will either be destroyed or you will have won anyway. Comment: The deck is VERY vulnerable to Wrath of God (and White Weenie with Disenchants/Auras in general), and the sideboard lacks white hosers to deal with it. Havoc is a possibility (with mana barbs making the Wrath cost 6 life - BIG hurt), but I dunno. It is, however, fairly effective in general against most decks. Suggestions? OR.... Barbed Burn 4 Mogg Fanatic - every point counts 4 Goblin Vandal - remove artifact mana 3 Fireslinger - remove creature mana + reduce mutual life totals 2/3 Ironclaw Orcs - pulls anti-critter, cheap damage dealer 3 Ball Lightning - Creates a BIG damage differential 3 SQ Lancer - Knocks them down, and evens out its inital cost 4 Manabarbs - Key 4 Incinerate - Damage advantage - even with Barbs 4 Kindle - critter removal and more direct damage 2 Thunderbolt - more burn, and can kill Waterspouts etc. 4 Fireblast - Kill. 2 Disenchant - Some sort of Removal 12/3 Mountain 2 Quicksand 3 Gemstone Mine 3 Undiscovered Paradise Sideboard Disenchant 2 - or maybe Energy Flux? Cruel with Barbs out Warmth 4 - Burn is this decks biggest threat Cursed Scroll 2 - Against a deck which Manabarbs fails against Havoc 2 - Pain for white morons - burn them before Prot creatures do me. Pyroblast 4 - I still dont like Blue Forsaken Wastes 1/2 - vs control/prison/monastary/ProsBloom Decks this thrashes: Necro!!!, Most mana heavy decks Decks this loses too: Mono-white with Disenchant/Aura + Pro Red critters, tighter burn first game Maybe some other off-color cards in the main deck could help/surprise. Send suggestions or comments to either my email or to this group. -- - Stephen Hutton