What does one think when creating a deck for tournament play? Is it the mana curve? Their style, whether it be control or beatdown - or even both? Most people just wait for a deck to appear online and then copy it, feeling that they can win with it. Is that the way to go? It seems like it is, since many people do it all the time... And I can't argue about it, either, for I, too, copy decks that I see and like. But I like to stick with a deck that I play rather keep on changing to a different deck. I play Fires like there was no tomorrow and when a new deck comes around, that means some major deck deconstruction is in need to deal with the new deck. Before Turbo-Chant, I played a regular Fires deck with slight changes that suited my style of playing. Now that Turbo-Chant has been created, tested, and approved, I now have to play against it. You hear about people saying that Turbo-Chant is one of the best decks around now and how people are just beating Fires left and right. But when you think about it, what can Fires do to deal with Turbo-Chant?

One might put in more burn spells, put Obliterate in their sideboard, even going to the extent of splashing White and an Orim's Chant of their own. What can one do to win a Turbo-Chant deck vs. Fires? This took a while to figure out... But then when I began watching how a Turbo-Chant operates, and then built the deck myself and played with it, it hit me: Turbo-Chant is always playing lands most of the time - if not, then they are discarding it for Orim's Chant. So why not put in Obliterate in the main deck? So many people are playing control decks, and what better way to wreck a control deck than to destroy everything on the board? I found that even the best Turbo-Chant decks tend to eventually stutter for a turn somewhere - and then you can take that opportunity to Obliterate everything away. No Howling Mine, no lands to play Orim's Chant, no Millstone, nothing, nada. After that, the game is pretty much Fires.

Now you're wondering how many Obliterates to put in the main, or whether it is necessary at all. Well, depending on the environment where you play at, I put in two Obliterate in main because there is a lot of control decks I have to play against. It helps having two, because it raises your chance of drawing one and doesn't test your topdecking skill by forcing you to draw your one and only one Obliterate.

And now you're probably wondering: "What does this Turbo-Chant deck killer look like?" Well, without further adieu, here it is:

-Creatures-
2x Jade Leech
1x Two-Headed Dragon
4x Blastoderm
4 Birds of Paradise
4x Llanowar Elves
2x River Boa
4x Saproling Burst
2x Flametongue Kavu

-Spells-
4x Fires of Yavimaya
2x Assault/Battery
1x Ghitu Fire
2x Urza's Rage
2x Hull Breach
2x Obliterate (if playing against control; if not, take it out for creatures)

-Lands-
4x Karplusan Forest
4x Rishadan Ports
10x Forest
6x Mountains

-Sideboard-
2x Flashfires
2x Boil
3x Scorching Lava
3x Kavu Chameleon
3x Simoon
2x Hull Breach

Is this deck going to work? I have playtested with it and it does well. I play with a different style than everyone else - but who doesn't? I don't like to rush through my deck unless I know what I am going against and how my opponent's deck works. The two main decks that this deck doesn't like - but can handle - are Counter-Rebel and Turbo-Chant, which is why Obliterate is in the main deck. If you're winning the game, then you don't need to worry about Obliterating your opponent.... But if you're not, then why not do it and hope that you play with one land in your hand at all times?

I gave in to putting in one and only one Two-Headed Dragon. I didn't like that spending six mana to put out a flying creature - but then, when I began playing more decks that consist of Nethers, I found out that having a flying creature helps a lot, since Nether cannot block creatures with flying. I am not going to say how this deck does all the time against all decks, because it is hard to say. I guess you're just going to have to make this deck and test it out on your own - since that's what I do to take a deck and understand how it works. That is important to me when playing against other decks - to play with a deck that I may have to go against just so I know what my opponent may be thinking and what kind of situation they are in.

Now back to what I was talking about when I asked the question of making a deck and what should you do to make it tournament worthy. Well the answer is, if it can handle the decks that are out now, then you have a pretty good deck. I don't care about mana curve; I think it's odd, basing a deck on its mana curve, and what turn to cast a certain card. For me, since I love Stompy decks, I think about what is the lowest casting creature, artifact, enchantment, or spell that I can play that helps me beat my opponent. This is where the deck preparation takes place - finding the cards you need and how they work together. Looking at the decks now, they all go hand-in-hand, but each deck varies to each person's style, once again something about style and environment.

Counter-Rebel:
4x Ramosian Sergeant
2x Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
4x Defiant Falcon
1x Rebel Informer
4x Defiant Vanguard
1x Jhovall Queen
1x Ramosian Sky Marshal
4x Absorb
4x Counterspell
4x Powersink
1x Dismantling Blow
1x Disenchant
1x Rout
4x Brainstorm

You never need to cast anything during your turn, since you are just recruiting Rebels at the end of your opponent's discard phase. Just recruit and counterspell any threats that may hurt you. Just remember to keep your Lin-Sivvi out of harm, since that is the heart of Counter-Rebel.

Turbo-Chant:
4x Orim's Chant
4x Howling Mine
4x Recall
4x Absorb
4x Counterspell
2x Enlightened Tutor
2x Mystical Tutor
3x Wrath of God
2x Disenchant
2x Millstone
3x Tsabo's Web
3x Relearn

Just keep on Chanting your opponent while you deck him/her out and hope you draw answers to whatever your opponent may want to play. What are the threats against this deck? Urza's Rage, Obliterate, and small fast creatures like River Boa.

Urza's Rage isn't a big threat if you play Ivory Mask in the main deck - which is a good idea, since so much land will be put into play from Howling Mine.

U/W Control and U/W Nether-Go:

U/W Control
4x Blinding Angel
4x Absorb
4x Counterspell
2x Powersink
4x Orim's Chant
2x Tsabo's Web
4x Wrath of God
1x Rout
2x Recall
1x Story Circle
4x Fact or Fiction
4x Accumulated Knowledge

U/W Nether-Go
2x Nether Spirit
4x Absorb
4x Counterspell
4x Fact or Fiction
4x Accumulated
4x Wrath of God
2x Story Circle
1x Rout
3x Tsabo's Web
2x Dismantling Blow
1x Dominate
3x Powersink
2x Recall

Which is better, I can't say. Both are good decks, but slow in killing - and I can't take slow killing decks. They make me sleepy, for some odd reason. Both decks rely on having card advantage over the other player, taking their time, getting a few life points knocked down a little, and then taking control of the game with a creature or something. Why the need for card advantage? Counterspells, and whatever card that will ensure the safety of their creatures, or kill cards.

Blastogeddon:
4x Noble Panther
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Armadillo Cloak
4x Blastoderm
4x Armageddon
4x Parallax Wave
4x Kavu Titan
4x Wax/Wane

Don't see many Blastogeddon decks around now - and I don't know why. I thought they were okay, but not as strong as Fires. Blastogeddon worked by casting out fast creatures, Noble Panther, Trained Armodon, River Boa, Blastoderm, whatever dealt a lot of damage quickly, so Armageddon could be played. The mana curve in this deck was quite amazing - but as I said before, I don't think about the mana curve as something crucial when making a deck.

Fires:
At the top.
Now when people talk about Fires, they mainly talk about the mana curve and how it fits just perfectly...

First Turn: Land, Bird, or Elf
Second Turn: Land, Fires of Yavimaya
Third Turn: Land, Fat creature.

Yeah, yeah, yeah - but really, you're not always going to get that hand, that is what playtesting is for; for a person to make a deck and then try it out and see if it kicks butt. If not, then it is back to the drawing board, or maybe you should find a deck online and use that one.

After making a deck and playtesting it against other decks that are well known, the next thing to do is make a sideboard for it. Now you really want to pay attention to the people that you play with - depending on what they play most of the time, you can figure out what kind of player they are, cautious, aggressive and so on. In the environment I play in, most people play control decks - so I figure out what kind of control decks are there right now and what are their colors. Blue and White are the main colors you will see in a control deck, so what is good against those decks and what do they need to make their deck work? Well, mana of course - so if you're playing Red and you don't have Boil or Flashfires in your sideboard, there is something really strange about you.

The second part to making a deck, I feel, is your style. I can play control, but I prefer fast Stompy decks. There is just something about having creatures out and dealing damage your opponent while they wait for an answer. I have a theory about who plays what - because if a person prefers Stompy, then they have the mindset in that mode of play. They don't wait, but beat their opponent down as quickly as they can. While a person whose style is playing control has the mentality of waiting for the right card to counter. I have a friend that plays all control the time, and does not like to play Stompy because he doesn't have the feel for it that I do. Also, he likes to win people in what he calls style, unlike me - I just want to beat my opponent the fastest way, and I don't care how I do it as long as I CAN do it.

Well, from all the decks that I have played and people I have played, there are just times when you can't win against one person. For me, it is my good friend Minh Duong - and boy, I don't care how good my deck is, he will always have the answer to anything I put out. This is a quote that I have heard many times, and I leave it to everyone to know who kicks butt:

"Maybe Minh is just a better player."
Judge Tim Valdez,
Dave
Nate

- Kamui Toriyama