For my money, nothing in Magic is as enjoyable as the expression on an opponent's face when an unexpected trick snatches away victory from his overconfident hands. Winning by itself is usually fun, sure -but winning with STYLE is twice as nice. With this in mind, I'm here to discuss a deck I've been working on that utilizes some unusual cards to achieve the always-gratifying come-from-behind victory.

Background:

This deck originally evolved from an idea sparked around the time of last year's States. I ran into a guy online playing a U/R/B creatureless deck running four of every counter known to man, with only Undermine, Earthquake, and Urza's Rage as his win condition. The deck was interesting, but testing revealed the deck just couldn't handle threats that made it into play, and Kavu Chameleon from the opponent's sideboard was almost an auto-loss. The notion of counter and burn in a three-color deck was intriguing, however, so I continued to tinker with the concept. I added one of the superfly new dragon Crosis, some tutors, tweaked the card drawing engine, and tossed in Tahngarth from Planeshift. Here's the decklist:

Decklist:

2 Live Crew

(The name derives from Crosis and Tahngarth, to cool cats that lay down some wicked beats - bad pun intended, unfortunately)

The Beats:
2x Crosis, the Purger
2x Tahngarth, Talruum Hero

Bass (or Counter Base):
4x Counterspell
4x Exclude
4x Undermine
2x Foil
2x Thwart

Samples:
2x Pyrotechnics
1x Tsabo's Decree
1x Washout
1x Tsabo's Web

Turn-table Funk (or deck manipulation):
2x Vampiric Tutor
4x Opt
4x Accumulated Knowledge

Land (that's right, just plain old boring land):
4x Sulfurous Spring
3x Urborg Volcano
2x Underground River
14x Island
2x Crosis's Catacombs


Sideboard: This deck is all about the sideboard, relying on it heavily to help in key matchups. It depends on the metagame in your area, but I usually run something like this:

2 Obliterate, 4 Nether Spirits
- The transformational sideboard for the U/W match-up

4 Perish, 2 Tsabo's Web
- Attack the mana base of Fire decks after sideboard, Elves, Birds, Port's and Dust Bowl = 14 dead cards post-sideboard (take that Zvi netdeckers!)
3 Rebel Informer
- A little more help to go with maindeck hate for rebels


Key Cards:

Crosis - This guy, like the rest of the Invasion Dragons, is just plain fun to windmill-slam onto the table. Crosis' ability really fits well in a counter-based strategy because he empties the opponent's hand just when you begin to run low on counters.

Tahngarth - A ton of fun in this deck. Attacks, blocks, and kills other creatures all in the same turn, this guy is a one-man show. Would be god-like if it helped you deal with Blastoderms, but nobody's perfect.

Counters - Only a few things to note:

(1) Four Excludes are necessary to give the deck a chance against Fires - you really need that extra card to draw counters and get your victory condition set up.
(2) The Foils and Thwarts are nice in that they allow you to drop early Tahngarth or Crosis and still have a counter to protect them or stop other silliness by the opponent.

The Sample Cards - Pyrotechnics is being tested now instead of Ghitu Fire - often times you need to kill a couple of little guys and just don't need the extra firepower from Ghitu.

The Wash Out is great off the Tutors, and can make for the sweetest play in the deck: Turn 6 Crosis, Turn 7 land drop, Wash Out, then use Crosis' ability to clean house. I run just a single copy of Tsabo's Web maindeck: it's necessary to stop Dust Bowl and helpful with Port-heavy decks, but more than one just doesn't fit.

Tsabo's Decree - main deck hate for rebels that also helps in a lot of other instances, "Tsabo Decree - Kavu" or "Tsabo Decree - Wizard," for example.

Deck Manipulation - Fact or Fiction doesn't make it into the deck because:
(1) It's too slow for the critical first three turns when you can use Opt or Accumulated Knowledge to accelerate into needed counters or land, and
(2) The deck can't run the risk of putting what few win conditions it has into the graveyard off of a Fact or Fiction while searching for an answer.

Just two Vampiric Tutors because getting one early on is no good, let alone getting two or three. Mid-game, however, these cards get answers and threats and vastly increase the deck's functionality.

How it Plays: Like your typical base-blue counter deck, for the most part it looks to counter especially troublesome early threats (River Boa, Chimeric Idol, and searching rebels are especially bothersome) while dropping land and setting up a Crosis or Tahngarth for the win. A combination of Undermine life loss, just a few points of creature damage, and then a surprise Pyrotechnic to the head win most of the games.

The result: A counter-based deck that finishes quick when it stabilizes - none of that waiting around to deck your opponent nonsense or that stupid "two points a turn for the next twenty minutes" crap. Accordingly, there's less chance of picking up too many draws in a tournament, especially with the sweet U/W sideboard hate.

Match-Ups:

But first, a quick caveat. This deck won't make you the next John Finkel, and I'm sure as heck not the next Zvi Mowshowitz. This is a tier 2 deck that often has trouble with the tier 1 decks main deck and relies on the sideboard to help in the second and third games. Accordingly, this deck is neither environment breaking nor Pro Tour powerful. It's just fun to play and a nice change from the usual. With that said, on to the matchup analysis.

Fires: A troublesome matchup. Boa or Idols often slip past counters, and both present problems. Kavu Chameleon is trouble out of their sideboard. Overall, Fires has more threats than you have answers. But, the main deck does have the cards to let you grab a win if you can get them when needed. Even then, you're looking at winning only one out of three against Fires. The sideboard attacks their mana base, so if you get a little help from lady luck you just might pull off the upset. This matchup is why I probably wouldn't run this deck at Regionals.

Skies: This matchup is in your favor; you have more counterspells than they do, they can't overwhelm you with threats, and main deck Pyrotechnics, Tahngarth, Crosis, and Wash Out are all tough for them to deal with.

Rebels: Rebels are a problem, and the main reason why Tsabo's Decree is maindecked. If you don't get Decree turn six and can't slow them down with Tahngarth or Pyrotechnics, you lose. Games 2 and 3, however, actually swing in your favor because of the wicked hoser Rebel Informer and the swift kick in the pants he delivers to those good-goody white dorks.

Blue-White Control: Hope you brought your pillow, because this matchup will put you to sleep. But then again, that's what blue-white does against everything. The first game is a long, boring tossup. Sideboard out the Crosis, Tahngarth, and some Excludes, side in Nether Spirits and Obliterates, and the second and third games not only move faster but also swing to your advantage. This transformational sideboard is also one of the gratifyingly sneaky plays the deck can deliver.

There you have it - a different take on the standard blue control strategy that can provide some uncharacteristically fun games. What the deck lacks in brutal efficiency, it often makes up for in surprise. Players not completely familiar with their version of a netdeck can be profoundly punished with this deck. The creature mix and absence of Disenchant targets makes many opponents' cards useless. Access to sideboard hosers in blue, black, and red via Vampiric Tutor nullify most opponents sideboards and often swing the odds in the second and third games in your favor.

If you're looking for the strongest deck in the field, look somewhere else. If you're looking for a fun deck that gives you an outside shot at top 8, then maybe this is something you should try.

Until Next Time,

Russ Prophet