Subject: Counterpoke
Date: Thu, 7 May 1998 23:18:09 +0100
From: "Chris Lansdell" <black-lotus@dial.pipex.com>
To: <fkusumot@ix.netcom.com>

I wasn't even gonna play in this tournament. Then I sat down and thought
about how annoying sligh red is. Then I remembered how annoying
counterspells are. So I made me a list of all type 2 counters. Getting rid
of rubbish like Remove Soul and Disrupt I put em all together. Great, so he
won't do much, but where's the kill? Not wanting to stray from blue in
keeping with my anti-sligh plan, I went for the pingers. So originally I
had 24 counters, 12 pingers. Hmm 4 short. Wait, thinks I, not much
attacking going on here...Propaganda! Damn only got 3!!! Oh well shove in a
Hydroblast standard.

Then I remembered things like cad bloom and other enchant decks. Right,
need some white. 2 disenchant standard, 2 in the board. Hmmm I'll be
needing some form of white mana then. In go the Paradise and City.

Right, not much in the way of tie-breakers. 2 quakes it is then. And 4
incins for good measure.  The deck ended up looking like this...

3 Paradise
1 City Of Brass
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Mountain
15 Island

2 Lapse
4 Dissipate
4 Counterspell
2 Power Sink
2 Dismiss
2 Mana Leak
2 Hydroblast (yes as standard)

3 Propaganda
2 Twiddle (Amazingly useful to shut off land early and to straighten Tim
late)
2 Boomerang
2 Capsize (Always came up when I got land number 6...)
4 Tim
3 Swimming Tim
2 Firey Tim

4 Incin
2 Quake

2 Disenchant

SB
2 Mana Leak (versus decks with slow starts)
2 Disenchants (duh)
1 Cap (duh)
1 COP Red (double duh)
1 Honorable Passage
2 Invulnerability
2 Lifetap
2 Hydroblast
2 Volrath's curse (maybe to go out)

I went 5-1 in the Swiss then came second. I was expecting to get hammered!
Feedback/ideas appreciated.

Chris Lansdell