Subject: Deck Workshop Type 2 Date: 16 Nov 98 15:48:42 EST From: John.P.Wiggins@Dartmouth.EDU (John P. Wiggins) To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com From talking to members of the Dartmouth community, among which are Tom Guevin (alum) and Justin Gary, these are the deck archetypes for the new Type 2 (Rath Cycle plus Urza's Saga). I noticed that there has been little development of the t2 decklists since November 3rd, so here is my contribution: Tolarian Academy- Everyone knows of this monstrosity. This deck did quite well in States all across the country and won the Extended PTRome. With that in mind, unless or until components of this deck are banned, you should either play it or prepare for it. From playtesting and experience I know how well this deck does in the hands of an experienced player. With that in mind, here is a list that should make sense to people who know how to make this deck sing: 3 Powersink 3 Intuition 4 Meditate 4 Windfall 4 Time Spiral 3 Stroke of Genius 3 Mind Over Matter 2 Scroll Rack 3 Voltaic Key 4 Mox Diamond 4 Mana Vault 4 Lotus Petal 4 Tolarian Academy 4 Ancient Tomb 11 Island SB: 4 Chill: Sligh, Pheonix 3 Hydroblast: Sligh Pheonix 4 Tidal Warrior: Mirror Matchup 4 Wasteland: vs. Wasteland Counter Pheonix- Pheonix is probably the best control/permission deck in type 2 at the moment. The intuition/forbid/pheonix lock made popular in Rath Cycle by team CMU is deadly in t2 as well. The nice thing about this deck in t2 is that it gains Nevinyrral's Disk, a card that would have solved so many problems in Rath Cycle. The deck has trouble against Soltari Priest and Recurring Scragnoths, but that's nothing a good sb card (evacuation) couldn't cure. I think Evacuation is the answer because it is an instant, which allows you to have up mana during their turn to counter things like Armageddon or Disenchant on your disk. Legacy's Allure takes away your ability to counter most times, and has a way of being disenchanted early. Thalakos Drifters, while great in Rath, are narrow and cumbersome in a format such as the current t2 where WW packs up to 8 Armageddon/Cataclysms as well as other nasty treats. 4 Counterspell 4 Mana Leak 4 Forbid 2 Dismiss 4 Intuition 4 Shock 4 Shard Pheonix 4 Nevinyrral's Disk 2 Scroll Rack 2 Wasteland 4 Reflecting Pool 12 Island 10 Mountain SB: 4 Pyroblast 4 Sea Sprite: Sligh and Mirror Matchup 4 Meltdown: Academy 3 Evacuation: WW and Living Death Living Whale- The RecurSurvival deck has gone through a few important changes with the addition of Urza's Saga and the loss of Mirage Block. Most important is the loss of good 5 color land and the exit of Uktabi Orangutan. The good news is that there is now a better Cloudchaser Eagle (Monk Realist), and the monk Idealist is superb. Even better is the fact that Great Whale offers infinite mana in combination with Recurring Nightmare. Throw in Wall of blossoms to draw some cards and the uncounterable affect of Ogre Shaman and you have a lethal early combo. The Shaman/Whale combo is nicer than the more popular Whale/Priest of Gix/Argothian Enchantress/Drain Life combo in that it requires fewer cards devoted to the combo. 4 Survival of the Fittest 4 Recurring Nightmare 2 Living Death 2 Scroll Rack 1 Lobotomy 1 Meltdown 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Hermit Druid 4 Wall of Blossoms 2 Spike Feeder 2 Spike Weaver 1 Scragnoth 1 Monk Realist 1 Monk Idealist 1 Anarchist 1 Ogre Shaman 1 Tradewind Rider 1 Great Whale 1 Dark Hatchling 1 Volrath's Stronghold 1 Underground River 2 Brushland 2 Karplusan Forest 4 City of Brass 8 Forest 4 Swamp SB: 2 Living Death: Weenie decks 3 Oath of Ghouls: Control 3 Lobotomy: Control, mirror matchup 3 Meltdown: Academy 3 Crumble: Disk, Disk, Disk 1 Coffin Queen: Mirror Matchup White Weenie- What can be said about White Weenie? You probably have most of the cards for the deck, it is an archetype that will be seen, but rarely do well, and it stomps Sligh and Suicide Black (two decks that are not necessarily doing well at the moment). Anyone who reads EDTs posts, knows that WW needs a gimmick maindeck such as geddon to beat the control decks, but that WW without Cursed Scroll loses to WW with Cursed Scroll. Over importance is the introduction of Humble, which as I saw at states is about 1976198711987 times better than Shackles or Path of Peace. 4 Soul Warden 4 Elite Javelineer 4 Warrior en-Kor 4 White Knight 4 Soltari Monk 4 Soltari Priest 2 Paladin en-Vec 4 Disenchant 4 Armageddon 1 Cataclysm 3 Worship 4 Humble 4 Wasteland 18 Plains SB: 3 Cataclysm: Control 3 Karma: Necro, Suicide 3 Warmth: Sligh 2 Torture Chamber: Mirror Matchup 4 Cursed Scroll: Mirror Matchup Sligh- We all know what Sligh is about. The biggest question nowadays is what to do about the loss of Fireblast. Answer? More burn. 4 Jackal Pup 4 Goblin Patrol 4 Goblin Cadets : With this much removal, he should never be blocked (or you just don't attack) 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 Ball Lightning 4 Shock 4 Kindle 4 Incinerate 2 Sonic Burst 4 Cursed Scroll 4 Wasteland 17 Mountain SB: 4 Pyroblast 4 Ankh of Mishra: WW, Control 4 Price of Progress: Recur decks 3 Meltdown: Academy Suicide Black- There are so many things that simply destroy this deck in t2, but the fact is that with a good draw it can defeat nearly anything. The other plus is that there is so little Suicide Black out there right now that you don't have to worry about Light of Day and Energy Field/Propaganda as much as otherwise might be the case. US gives us very little to put in this deck other than Duress and Possibly Priest of Gix/Skittering Skirge. 4 Carnophage 4 Sarcomancy 4 Dauthi Horror 4 Dauthi Slayer 4 Dauthi Marauder 3 Priest of Gix: Great with either Scroll or Hatred or simply to put out early creatures with Ritual 4 Dark Ritual 4 Duress 4 Hatred 4 Bad Moon 17 Swamp 4 City of Traitors SB: 4 Cursed Scroll: In for Hatred when they can disrupt it 4 Gloom: We *hate* WW. 4 Planar Void: It's not about stopping Recur, it's just about delaying them 3 Wall of Souls: Sligh. Yuck.