Subject: Mono-Blue type II Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 15:16:29 -0500 From: Aaron Lewis I playtested a mono-blue type II deck with a friend of mine last night, and ended up going 7-0 against a WW and a R/U counterburn. Something tells me this has potential. ;) This is what I ended up playing (plus a few changes I plan to make ASAP) Neo-Velvet v1.0 4 Counterspell 4 Dissipate 4 Dismiss 3 Capsize 4 Propaganda 3 Whispers of the Muse 4 Man-o'-War 2 Vodalian Illusionist 2 Air Elemental 1 Tradewind Rider (AIH) 1 Time Elemental 1 Floodgate 1 Wall of Air 4 Sapphire Medallion 18 Island 4 Quicksand 1 Winding Canyons Total: 61 cards Sideboard: (still sketchy) 3 Chill 2 Helm of Posession 3 Knight of the Mists 2 Dream Tides 2 Puppet Strings 1 Snake Basket 2 Legacy's Allure It plays basically like a normal permission deck, stalling with the counters and building up land, but when the buyback spells show up, it turns vicious. Usually, I would set up control within the first 10-15 turns, and once a Whispers or a Capsize showed up, the deck just explodes. Returning 3 permanents a turn or drawing 3 cards a turn is not something to be sneezed at. Key cards in the deck turned out to be: Propaganda - Alone, this is annoying at least. In multiples, it's simply abusive. I was only playing with 1 last night (AIH at the moment), but the effect it had on the games convinced me to go to 4. Screws weenie decks (he couldn't Geddon because his creatures wouldn't be able to attack), and even permission can't afford to spend much mana to let creatures attack. This is going to be abusive in type II. Sapphire Medallion - If you're only casting one spell per turn, sure, it acts like a Diamond. However, with 6 buyback spells in the deck and plenty of stuff to do on your opponent's turn, multiple Medallions are EXTREMELY dangerous in this deck. Once I can Capsize AND buy it back for UU2 or UU1, you have serious problems. Tradewind Rider - Not exactly key, because he didn't show up much, but very nice when he did. I tend to think of him as a Wall of Air that can attack and has a really nifty special ability. Tapping a couple Man-o'-Wars to boomerang something at the end of your opponent's turn can be very handy. The sideboard is heavily geared against burn and weenies. The Chills, backed up with counters, should shut down most mono-red decks. Dream Tides should shut down Stompy fairly well, and the Puppet Strings and Legacy's Allure give me more creature control on the board. I had the Allures main deck last night, but decided to drop them for more Propagandas. Scragnoth can be handled by the Tides, Helms, or Strings. I'd love to get a Meditate or two in here, but I don't have any yet and I'm not exactly sure of what to drop for them. Any opinions? Is Big Blue back? -Aaron Lewis It is said that the wind will blow the world past if you wait long enough.