Subject: Networking and The Metagame
Date: 13 Mar 98 07:28:09 EST
From: John.P.Wiggins@Dartmouth.EDU (John P. Wiggins)
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

        After reading the previous postings on the supposed metagame in the
Best of the Net section, I felt compelled to add my own small contribution to
this topic.  What follows is the summation of the experience I have had with
Magic and competitive play thus far (as well as a gratuitous listing of my own
opinions as to what are the current T2 "Decks to Beat")


        Communication is the key to competitive play.  That is where
information stores, like The Dojo, come in.  Networking is becoming, perhaps
the most important skill in Magic.  If you can foresee what will be played in a
tournament (large or small), then you are ahead of most if not all of the
field.  The best way to do this is to contact the players themselves.  If you
are willing to go beyond the reports and actually contact the players that
wrote them, you will find they are a much richer source of information than
their tournament journals.  Finding out why they chose certain cards for their
deck, what changes were made before playing, and how they built and used the
sideboard are as simple as an email in most cases.  Networking brings
knowledge, and  the best players use this knowledge to get ahead in the
tournament.

        Reading through the reports on PTLA, I notice one common theme.  Those
players that played superior decks, had no real need to ask for or share advice
on construction.  The deadguys showed up at the Queen Mary and went to sleep.
Indeed, it was much the same for several top 64 finishers. They needed the
information about what was going to be played tomorrow as much as anyone else.
The difference between those who went to sleep and those who stayed up cramming
desparately was Networking.  Those players who slept were already aware of what
would be played tomorrow.  Those who were not (either after sleeping or
cramming), were soundly defeated by a flood of unexpected Red decks and their
own inexperience with a new deck.  Once again, the important commodity here was
not "top-decking skillz" or matchups, but information about what was to be
played and how your deck interacted with this decks.  Unfortunately, many very
good players failed to network correctly, and consequently were prepared for
the wrong environment (this is witnessed by the astounding number of Blue/X
control decks not featuring a single Chill, and the almost total lack of
monoblue which could have done quite well in the environment).

        Another underestimated power in the game is playtesting.  Playtesting
is the most obvious and yet most neglected method of preparing for a
tournament.  Playtesting alone is the best reason to begin a team.  By trying
out deck after deck, matching against archetypes and past champion decks, you
give yourself the advantage of familiarity.  How is it that great players of
the game can go through tournaments and PTQs with records like 21-0?  How is it
that they can play complex decks which offer so many choices, and surprisingly
make no errors in play or strategy?  The single best answer is playtesting, its
value cannot be overemphasized.  By testing against as wide a variety of decks
as you can you improve your playing skills, deck-building ability, and
understanding of the strategies and problems faced in each deck.  There is
nothing more frustrating than thinking a deck looks superior on paper, only to
find it is a dismall failure.  Playtesting is the easiest and best way to guard
against this sort of error.

        Lastly, I want to address playing against oneself or goldfishing.
Either exercise is easy to become accustomed to, and hard to break away from.
The practice of playing against yourself with just one deck or playing for 2
decks takes away from several elements of the game.  Playing a duel out from
both sides tells you next to nothing about the decks involved and can in fact,
lead to the temporary loss of certain dueling skills.  It is all to easy to
become used to not tapping mana before you play a card, taking back moves that
were a mistake, skipping and revisiting phases, and countless other play
errors.

        Now that all that is over with, here is a listing of the decks I
believe to be Top Tier, and why it is so.    (Note: These are the decks I am
currently aware of, so I leave room to be dazzled by top secret decks in the
months to come)

          Monored Sligh  "King of Consistency"
                This is *THE* deck to beat, it is the deck against which all
other decks in the format are measured.  If you can beat Sligh (before or after
boarding) then you MIGHT be viable.  The ability to beat Sligh should be first
and foremost in the minds of deck builders and players.  Deceptively simple
decks like T. Bui's Cursed Sligh set the tone for the format and are just
all-around good.  Amazingly, thanks to the additions from Tempest, Sligh is
more ready than ever to get around its personal hosers.  Cop: Red is useless
unless you can kill the scrolls and drop it early enough, with enough mana back
to stop the weenie rush.  Chill is ineffective without Worb or geddon to back
it up, all Cursed Sligh has to do is wait until turn 2 to do anything and drop
Ankhs and Pyroblast attempts at stoping them or Boil.  Warmth, like Cop: Red,
must be played early and you must somehow stem the tide of weenies that are
more than willing to reclaim the two life they gave you.

  Prosperous Bloom-  The archetype for Combo decks
        Ever since its incarnation, bloom has been either feared or laughed at.
Like many "gimmic decks,"  Bloom has an undeserved rap as fragile and
inconsistent.  To be sure there are better and worse versions out there, but on
the whole Bloom is a force to be reckoned with in type 2.  With the lack of
popularity in heavy white (white weenie, or white control), bloom rarely sees
its nemsis Aura of Silence.  The problem when playing against bloom is that
there are very few things other than Heavy discard (ie Pox) that stop Bloom.
With Abeyances, Cities of Solitude, and counterspells, bloom can out power most
counter-heavy decks in the first 10-12 turns.  Sligh and Stompy can sometimes
kill bloom before it goes off, but that's not exactly a comforting strategy.
The sheer speed of Bloom is its best asset, out playing decks that, in the
later rounds, would eat it for breakfast.

        Schneider Pox
        This is perhaps the most popular "rogue deck" I've ever heard about.
Rogue hardly fits it, but that is the most used term in its description.  It
kills control of all kinds.  Counter decks, creatureless, Bloom, The Trap, 5cX,
and many creature-based strategies die to Pox.  It is full of
creature-elimination and hand destruction.  Pox coupled with wastelands is
enough to mana screw many decks alone.  Its main weakness comes in the form of
Sligh.  It is so very good against everything, but Sligh.  Not even by siding
in Bottle Gnomes, can the Pox player expect to win even half his games against
Sligh.  This inability to beat the most popular deck in the format, is perhaps
the main reason Pox is still considered a "rogue deck."

        5cG -  w/ Tradewind/ Geddon Combo and can stop Perish
        5cG, much like Pox, is great against almost every deck in type 2.
However unlike Pox, its nemesis isn't Sligh, it is black decks.  Perish can
single-handedly kill the 5cG strategy if played early enough.  With this in
mind, many 5cG decks must take up valuable sideboard space with Lifeforce and
Sleight of Mind.  This is a shame, because the sideboard is a 5 color deck's
best resource.  5cG more than any of the other varieties provides a stable
source of alternative color mana.  It is more consistent, faster, and better
prepared for a wide variety of decks than wither 5cB or 5cW.  It has the
ability to play with the best creatures in type 2 (Jolrael's Centaur, River
Boa, Wall of Roots, BoP, Tradewind, Uktabi, Granger).  It kills weenies and
kills control.  When watching a well-built version of this deck played, I no
longer wonder why Perish was ever printed.  5cG is literally that powerful.


Those are (IMO) the top tier decks.  Of course, there are many other 'good'
decks out there, but each has its own problems which inevitably outweigh the
rewards.  For example:

CounterHammer (P. Chapin Version)
        Is killed by so many strategies its pitiful.  Pox kills it, mana denial
rapes it, Sligh explodes on it, but it does have a chance against Bloom and The
Trap (on a good draw).

Canyon Stasis or Bouncy Blue
        The problem here is that it doesn't do what it is built to do, mainly,
to kill Sligh.  Bottle Gnomes are great if you can cast them, but if you're
worried about countering ball lightnings, boils, and ankhs as well as playing
your own anti-red cards, then you're playing right into Sligh's hands.
Excellent against many other decks, with the exception of mana denial, Pox, or
Bloom.

Propaorb or Steel Curtain
        Shares many of the problems of Bouncy Blue.  The problem here is that
dropping an orb and Propaganda (assuming you draw or get to them early), still
doesn't stop Sligh.  This is especially true sincy the creation of decks using
the cursed scroll.  On the bright side, Chill works MUCH better with worb than
alone and can spell the end of a match against Sligh if dropped early.  This is
also a fairly good strategy against mid-speed creature decks (such as 5cB).
Once again, can't handle Pox and is too busy setting up its defense (diamonds,
worbs, enchantments) to win against bloom first game.

5cB
        This deck nearly was posted above with the top tier decks, but it
shares one major fault:  It must have the *PERFECT* sideboard to do well.
Without such a finely tuned board (it requires almost psychic powers to do it
well enough), 5cB is a mediocre creature elimination deck with the possibility
of mana denial.

5cW
        I often wonder if this deck was created simply because 5cB was.  It
packs disenchants and aura of silence, and as such offers huge problems to
Bloom and The Trap decks, as well as giving some problems to slower
enchantment/artifact decks.  The problem here is that 5cW simply cannot beat
blue consistently.  Unless it's holding an incinerate when blue plays Ophidian,
it has no answer.  This says nothing of the manner in which Man O War and
Capsize kill the Empyrial Armor idea.  This deck dies horribly to Pox.
Discard, creature elim., land D, and life loss just don't sit well with 5cW.
(but what does it sit well with other than Pox?)

Monastery
        Simply great against creature decks.  Simply horrible against creature
light/creatureless decks.

Necroanything (bottle, steel, etc)
        Great deck, that unfortunately, is in the end mediocre.  The deck
itself is great, and the card drawing engine is second to none.  The problem is
that you can only really prepare for two kinds of decks.  You either fight
Sligh or you fight everything else.  If you fight sligh then Dancing Gnomes is
the way to go.  Unfortunately that will most likely be countered, discarded, or
simply never have enough mana to reach that stage.  If you go against control
and the other decks, you will be burnt out by Sligh and the Ball Lightning
band.  Sligh was built to defeat Necro, remember.  Its weaknesses to Burn and
mana denial spell doom in the current environment.  Nevertheless, a great
concept and a solid deck.

Stompy
        Let me say a few things about Stompy.  Perish, Wrath of God,
Propaganda, Tradewind-Lock,  Earthquake, Firestorm, Evincar's Justice,
Nevinyrral's Disk.  Thank you, that's all I have to say about Stompy.

Well thank you for reading, and staying with me if you made it all the way
through.  If you did like this report, then please feel free to email me.  If
you didn't like this report then may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your
armpits, and I'll still respond to your mail =)

JP