Subject: Counter-Stomp Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 15:24:43 -0700 From: "Neil Shah" To: Please post this in the deck workshop. The control of blue and the stomp of green: that's the basis of the deck. Green and Blue are the two most flexible colors, so I thought I'd improve Blue's counter-bounce with Green's mana and creature phattiness. Please send me ideas and comments. Counter-Stomp Creatures (23) 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Quirion Elf 4 Wall of Blossoms 3 Stampeding Wildebeests 3 Jolrael's Centaur 3 Man-o-War 2 Uktabi Orangutan Spells (17) 4 Harrow 4 Counterspell 4 Mana Leak 2 Capsize 2 Gaea's Blessing 1 Hurricane Land (20) 11 Forest 5 Island 4 Quicksand I build mana/take control in the first few rounds, or I bust out the creatures and protect them from global or targeted threats; I have a viable early game capsize/counter lock w/ recycling, which I don't think mono blue could create. Beest/WoB is mid-game draw engine/stomp to solidify capsize lock; I can bounce WoB or Orangutan for recurring effect with Beest, Man-o-War, or capsize. Hurricane is a nice finisher, since I don't think any deck SB's vs. Green DD and I have tons of mana. Blue helps me counter/recover from Perish pretty well, though that hasn't been tested. Blessing recycles the counters, capsizes, & quicksands. 2nd or 3rd round shadow will be countered, man-o-war'd, capsized, or quicksanded; I'm bound to have 1 of the 4 in my hand. I don't have trouble getting to the cards because of the beest/WoB combo or harrow, which puts land into play quickly for counter/capsize and thins the deck so i'm drawing counters, creatures, quicksands, etc. Empyrial armor is a bitch to deal with, but it is for every deck. the combination of m-o-w and capsize helps out, but it's luck of the draw to see if i have what i need to deal with the threat. I was thinking of trying to fit spike feeder in, but i don't know where. I can hose any color but white (since I'm playing its allies), so that's where my sideboard could use improvement. SB 2 Light of Day (or Elephant Grass; help me decide) 1 Lifeforce (counter/bounce galore; I don't think mono black has a prayer after I sideboard unless it's *super* fast) 3 Natural Springs (I can do it 3rd or 4th turn latest, if need be) 3 Scragnoth (Scrag + Centaur = death to blue) 2 Emerald Charm (die enchantment combos, die!!!) 1 Creeping Mold (this way I have three potential artifact killer, 3 enchantment killers, plus all the counter/bounce) I have 3 slots open (they used to be there for Choke when this was mono green), but I don't know where to go. I was thinking more bounce vs. WW/Shadow-EmpArmor, but I'm not sure that's the most effective way to go. If I did, I could add a Man-O-War and 2 Undo, or something like that. Propaganda is an option. Maybe dump the Light of Day/Elephant Grass thing and just throw 4 Propaganda in the SB; what do you think? Sleight of Mind could also work vs. all the protection creatures, but that looks a little too specific. Hope Charm might be workable, since I can destroy a local enchantment or gain 2 life. Tell me what you think. Neil Shah clearblue@worldnet.att.net