Subject: Re: The ultimate STASIS deck!!! Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 20:48:19 -0800 From: Colin Creitz Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy JSilva2452 wrote: > > i will try to make a new one with ROOT MAZE instead of KISMET > ill send a new one every time i update my deck > here it is: > > idea: run opponent out of cards > 4 stasis > 4 chronatog (skip turn) > 4 howling mine (better chance of drawing a card) > 4 vampiric tutor (get cards out quicker) > 2 kismet (lands come in tapped) > 2 gerrard's wisdom (gain lots of life when howling mine is in play) > 4 boomerang > 4 counterspell > 4 dissipate > 2 dismiss > 2 jester's cap (gets rid of fire blast, serra's blessing, quirion ranger) > > 13 island > 4 something for any color mana > 4 something B/U > 4 something W/U > > sideboard: > 4 hydroblast > 3 cop red > 2 cop black > 2 karma > 2 wrath of god > 2 propaganda (makes opponent tap lands) You've got some serious probelms here. Realistically, Stasis needs to be able to come out safely on 4 if you want a chance against WW/Stompy/Sligh/[insert fast deck here]. After that, mana will be tough to come by, especially in blue. Therefore, DISMISS HAS NO PLACE IN THIS DECK. In the counterspell department, Stasis is crippled by the loss of Force of Will. In my own Stasis deck (which still does not reflect Tempest), I was using four each of FoW and Arcane Denial, plus a couple of Power Sinks mostly for after Stasis was down or for the turn right before. In the configuration I'm testing now, I'm using Memory Lapses, Power Sinks, Disrupts, and (grudgingly) Dissipates. Dismiss and Dissipate might work OK if you're confident about getting a blue or two Medallion out. Another definite possiblity for the sideboard is Hydroblast - good call there. Great idea: four Howling Mines. They're essential. A good way to capitalize on these is to sideboard some Serra creatures (Bay Falcons) and some Empyrial Armors, so as to completely change the theme of your deck through the sideboard. Bad idea: 4 Boomerang. Captialize on your Mines by using Disempower, which requires no blue (you have better things to do with it anyway) and can also be used offensively. Good idea: capitalize on your 4 Stasis by putting in some Disenchant, which is more offensive then Disempower. My deck runs three each of Disenchant and Disempower, plus two Boomerang. Howling Mines love Island Sanctuaries, which as it turns out are awesome passive defense. Put in a couple. Those Jester's Caps are ridiculously expensive for this deck. While around turn 10-12 you will have 8-10 mana and your opponent will have 0, util then you can't count on having that much sitting around. As long as you're using black, which I think is a bad idea, try Lapse/Lobotomy, eh? That also gets one out of the opponent's hand. Boomerang and counters get rid of the Ranger, which isn't as dangerous as one might at first think (it's kind of zero-sum to use it), and Disenchant or Disempower gets rid of Serra's Blessing. Boomerang will deal with any of those threats. As for Fireblast - your Chronatog can take up to one, or you can counter it. You should have at least a couple of mana sitting around anyway when you decide to stop drawing. And if your Tog goes away, just play traditional Kismet/Stasis until you find a new one. It's bad to have black here. You'd be better off as U/W rather than U/b/w. Replace the Vampirics with Enlighteneds and (if you're paranoid) paranoid) Mystics. If you insist on black and like your chances at getting mana early, Lobotomies and sideboard Perishes would be in order. As for Root Maze, I like it a lot better than Kismet for this deck in so many ways. Getting out Kismet is undoubtedly the hardest part of playing this deck, due to its high cost (this is related to my prejudice against Dismiss, since on turn N with Stasis in effect, you can never have more than about N-2 mana available), so Root Maze is pretty good-looking at G. While we're throwing in Green, we can add the Birds of Paradise/Instill Energy combo, and maybe even remove some Chronatogs since the lock is pretty strong this way too. Add two Gaea's Blessing as well, and we're set. I'd probably leave in one Kismet, for dealing with weenie decks equipped with some way to wiggle a mana or two out of the lock. This makes us U/W/g. Karma is silly. At 2WW in a deck with 4 known white sources, it's approximately as useful to this deck as a Force of Nature. Colorscrew is just not as useful as it should be, and since the deck looks to win by decking, concentrate on that. With the maroskin sideboard I suggested, the theme is massive damage under control situations; there, we concentrate on that. Counterspells are the best kind of screwage. Against Burn/PB: The COPs feel good at first, and then you realize that they're not too useful either. Go to two COP-Reds and an extra Enlightened Tutor. Burn is the antithesis of this deck and you should be prepared. I haven't seen any ProsBloom action here, but my guess is that you just have to get control before they run the combo. They can and will counter your COP:Black. Root Maze or Kismet ruins their day, doesn't it? I'm not sure. Some off the wall ideas: Spirit Link or Pacifism for creature control. Wrath of God for last-ditching. Artifact mana (diamonds/Petal) for possible speed increases. Prosperity for late-game, finishing the lock, or finishing off an opponent after turtling him down to 15 cards with Island Sanctuary. A couple of Feldon's Canes. SB Anvil of Bogardan to screw Necropotence up and capitalize on your Mines (no discard phase, remember?). Mana Web (!). Splash red for minor burn, Pyroblast. An infinite engine in the background (you have PLENTY of time with this deck). Bosium Strip. Hurricane for flyer control in the green version. Worldly Tutor - acts, for drawing purposes, like an extra Bird. Finally, land. Basic lands are underrated, especially given that new LD land. Try either 65% islands/35% plains or 50% islands/30% plains/20% forests. Maybe a little bit of nonbasic overlap is OK here, but not necessarily desirable. Pain lands are especially stupid, given this deck's propensity to win at 1-4 life, and the new depletion lands suck because there aren't enough untap phases to go around, so maybe Undiscovered Paradise or even (GASP!) pay lands would work better, although I don't know about the latter. How about Quirion Elves in the green version? They can give you up to 8 multicolored mana sources with the Birds. --------------- "You'd /like/ to Tsunami..." -- Alternate flavor text for Arcane Denial Colin Creitz (remove the obvious part from my email address to respond)