Subject: SVC Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1998 20:25:06 -0400 From: Carl M Jarrell To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com [Deck] T2, at least for a few weeks This deck's a bit janky for a mono-blue control, but once it takes control, it's pretty damn iron-clad. I guess this would be a mono-blue control for those people who get bored playing traditional control (i.e. me, on occasion :P). So I somewhat proudly present, SVC (for SICK Veil Card-drawing) The Creatures: 4 Fog Elemental (the creature that can only be played with one other card...I'll get to it in a sec) 4 Thalakos Seer (harmless at first, but part of a brutal card drawing engine I'll explain shortly...worse comes to worse, they get picked off and you still come out a card ahead) 2 Steel Golem (decided on just two...still tinkering) The Goods: 4 Teferi's Veil (the centerpiece of the deck...here's the gimmick: once you've stabilized, you play either a Elem or a Seer, ideally, then next turn you drop a Veil and attack. You get to phase the Fogster out before his drawback triggers, and when you phase out the Seer, you get to draw a card...remember, phasing doesn't trigger come-into-play effects, but it DOES trigger leaving-play effects. In effect, with a Veil, Seers become more efficient Ophidians, getting through for damage AND allowing you to draw a card at the same time...although 'Phids are better blockers, of course. Also, whenever a Golem is phased out, you can summon all the creatures you care to) 4 Counterspell (duh) 2 Mana Leak (remember, variety is better than just slapping 4 of everything, sometimes) 2 Force Spike (you almost have to play with at least a few of these now, as ridiculously fast as the environment is) 3 Forbid (good on it's own as a counter, but once the Veil engine kicks in, the buyback is no sweat...you can chuck redundant Veils or whatever) 1 Dismiss (you don't want to get stuck with one early in the game when you need to counter something for cheaper) 4 Propaganda (swarms give the deck fits, so this is pretty much standard) 4 Impulse (MAN, they had BETTER reprint this card) 3 Whispers of the Muse (not as vital to this deck, especially due to the sick amount of cards you'll be drawing anyways with a Seer and a Veil) 1 Capsize (remember, saves your permanents too, in a pinch) The Land: 16 Island 2 Stalking Stones (yet another path to victory) 4 Quicksand Which brings this stack o' jank to 60 cards even. Sideboard: 4 Chill (duh) 2 Hydroblast (decided on just two because the deck has massive countering power as is, and 4 Chills are sufficient to go with it) 2 Null Rod (primarily for Scrolls, but also for Disks....Disks can SUCK if you've got multiple Props and a Veil out...which more than one game, you will, if things go right) 2 Phyrexian Furnace (anti-Death, Nightmare, Oath and even D5C) 3 Bottle Gnomes (for extra anti-creature/beatdown measures) 2 Suq'Ata Firewalker ('nother anti-red measure, and worse comes to worse, another weenie plinker or path to victory against a slower deck) Strengths: Excellent countermagic capability: Rarely does this deck go for long stretches where it is helpless. It's hard for any deck to combat 12 counterspells anyway, especially if you draw them in clusters. Doesn't take all day to set up game-win: Faster than your average Draw-Go or similar style deck (faster, of course, being a relative term), a big reason being the fact that you can draw cards AND deal damage with the Seers, whereas other blue decks tend to have to do one or the other. Downright SICK card-drawing given a decent start: Once the Veil card-drawing engine kicks in, you might wish that you WEREN'T drawing so many daggone cards....well, maybe not. :P One Seer and one Fogster/Stalker should be sufficient to end the game...just remember, if you don't have a Forbid to chuck dead cards to, you might want to limit yourself to just one Seer on the board, since having two (and definitely three) on the table might overwhelm you with cards, and overcommiting on your Seers could lead to a situation where mass-removal could hurt...but the Veil also remedies any non-instant removal that could be thrown your way. In any case, once you've taken control and you're drawing 2 to 3 cards a turn to your opponent's one, your hand will quickly fill up with countermagic or Forbid-bait and he'll/she'll be locked. Weaknesses: Fast Swarms: The bane of practically every blue deck known to man. Impulse and Whisper for Props as soon as possible, since your Fogsters are good for only one block regardless and your Seers aren't much for blocking period. A bit too combo-happy: Game-ending situations can be achieved without a Veil, but it is difficult, mind you. The Veil makes the deck hum, so protect it at all costs and never play it without something to back it up (unless your opponent has no way to remove it, of course, but still, better safe than dead) Ideas: This isn't the greatest mono-blue in the world, I'll be the first to admit. I designed it primarily to be a contender AND to be entertaining for me to play (I like Draw-Go and the like, but it burns me out to play over long periods of time). I still tinker with it and add and remove cards, such as Cunning (interacts with the Veil superbly, but makes the deck more combo-reliant), Legacy's Allure, 'Walkers in the main deck, Tolarian Whats-their-faces (you know, the Weatherlight guys that phase creatures out for UU and tap), Etc. Etc. Once this deck leaves T2, I'm sure it could be improved with a few things from Urza's (seeing how blue got about the only cards worth much) like Energy Field, as well as some stuff from older sets. Feel free to praise me or to tell me I'm an idiot (although I'd prefer the former :P). Carl (Found some people to play with, but could always use more) Jarrell jarrel19@marshall.edu