Comer - Chicago '97

Alan Comer's 1.x Deck at PT Chicago '97

Props go out to Alan Comer who finished a heart-breaking 65th place, out of a field of 324 participants, at PT Chicago '97 today. His record of 5-2 was the only 5-2 record not to make the cut to the round of 64. Although Alan didn't make the cut, his deck is presented here with some notes on it's design and playing because out of the entire field, Comer's was probably the most unique in it's design, bending and breaking many preconceived notions. Alan was kind enough to provide this information to the Dojo. *NOTE* - You must use Netscape or IE version 3.0 or better to view this page (otherwise you will see empty boxes).

Alan Comer's Eccentric Orb Deck
4 Counterspells 4 Powersink 1 Hurkyl's Rcall 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Pyroclasm	3 Wrath of God 2 Gerrard's Wisdom 2 Disenchant 1 COP: Red 3 Enlightened Tutor 4 Tithe	1 Serrated Arrows 4 Icy Manipulator 3 Winter Orb 3 Howling Mine 2 Felwar Stone 1 Marble Diamond 1 Sky Diamond 1 Feldon's Cane
2 Kjeldoran Outpost 1 Undiscoverd Paradise 1 Volcanic Island 4 Plateau 4 Tundra 4 Flood Plain 1 Island 1 Plains	Sideboard: 1 Jester's Cap 2 Hydroblast 2 Disenchant 1 Helm of Obedience 1 Tormod's Crypt 2 Gerrard's Wisdom	Sideboard (cont): 2 Pyroblast 1 Red Elemental Blast 1 Sleight of Mind 1 Karma 1 Teferi's Realm

Alan had these comments on the deck:

"This deck was made to beat the toughness 1 and 2 creature decks. I heavily metagamed against the white and black pump-knights because they are so strong in this environment, and so many people were using them. The deck shouldn't do very well against Counter'Post, but I ended going 3-1 vs. it, so that was a bit lucky.

I made the deck 66 cards to guard against "lock" decks. Against those types of deck it puts you in a good postition. Due to cards like Feldon's Cane and outpost, having 66 cards doesn't automatically make you win, but it causes you to win if nothing happens/ we counter everything the other person does. I didn't include Swords to Plowshares in the deck because I expected to see alot of B/r Necro, and the Swords would have been useless. The Powersinks were not as good in my matchups because I faced so much permission, but were decisive when I could tap my opponent's out and lay down an Orb.

Overall the deck worked extremely well. Although the deck was designed to win through decking the opponent, I ended up winning all but one game through Outpost tokens. The main deck COP: Red was fantastic, and I'm grateful to Scott Johns for recommending it to me. The low land count (16 land, not including the Outposts) in a 66 card deck actually worked extremely well for me, although I also consider the Tithes to be mana sources, bringing the count up to 20. I was only mana-hosed in one game, and still managed to make a decent showing in that game. The sideboard was very decisive in matchups, with the best card being Teferi's Realm. Larry Janiec originally suggested the realm to me as a solution to Forsaken Wastes, because since the realm and the wastes are both Enchant Worlds, the realm buries the wastes when it comes into play. The versatility of the Realm is great, and it was definitely the star card of the sideboard.

If I were to redesign the deck I would probably take out the Feldon's Cane from the main deck and move it to the sideboard, and remove the Helm from the sideboard. In place of the Feldon's cane in the main deck, I would add a Teferi's Realm."