In this conclusion, I am going to write about decks based on other four casting cost spells that I think are going to be prominent.

The first spell I want to look at in this article is Armageddon. I expect two incarnations of this deck in Type II: Quick rebels backed up by Armageddon, and Green/White 'good stuff' decks that pack a ton of firepower. Here are two lists:

Rebelgeddon
4x Ramosian Sergeant
4x Steadfast Guard
4x Fresh Volunteers
1x Ramosian Lieutenant
1x Defiant Falcon
2x Lin-Sivvi
4x Chimeric Idol
4x Parallax Wave
4x Armageddon
3x Crusade
2x Enlightened Tutor
1x Seal of Cleansing

3x Marble Diamond
23x Plains

Rebel searching has been a popular mechanic since its inception. The ability to search for 2/2s has been the basis of decks in both Type II and Masques Block Constructed, thanks to the efficiency and power of simultaneously being able to draw extra cards and put pressure on the opponent. Destroying all lands might seem counter-intuitive to the rebel strategy (which wants to continuously generate card advantage), but if you can get some board advantage and destroy all lands your opponent will never be able to come back before your advantage on the table kills him. Rebels are some of the most powerful early and midgame creatures available, and they definitely force your opponent to either deal with them or lose. Armageddon then cements the game in your favor, and presents yet another threat that your opponent has to answer, which is much more troublesome to the opponent than to your strategy. This deck also beefs up with the inclusion of Crusade and Lin-Sivvi, which were unavailable in Masques block. Enlightened Tutor provides some powerful search and sideboarding flexibility.

G/W good stuff
4x River Boa
4x Blastoderm
4x Chimeric Idol
4x Noble Panther
4x Kavu Titan
3x Tangle Wire
4x Armageddon
4x Parallax Wave
2x Wax/Wane
4x Birds of Paradise
2x Llanowar Elves
4x Brushland

2x City of Brass
9x Forest
6x Plains

This deck is a distant descendant of the old school Erhnam-geddon deck, and has some similarities to the Ben Rubin style Green/White deck of Masques Block fame. This deck abuses Armageddon very well between its non-land mana and its quick pressure and fatties. Parallax Wave shines in this deck as a way to remove the opponent's threats, often for long enough that they are either dead or hopelessly behind before the Wave fades away. Tangle Wire has fantastic synergy with the rest of this deck. After a season of Masques Block Constructed where no decks were truly quick enough to warrant including Tangle Wire, we finally have a top-tier deck where it belongs. This deck is fast enough to make the turns that Wire ties up your opponent lethal, as well as providing combos like Wire-Armageddon and Wire-Parallax Wave. Frequently you will just run over your opponents with higher quality creatures and spells. I chose not to include Elfhame Palace, simply because I was frequently tapping all my mana every turn and I preferred the drawbacks of Brushland and City of Brass to having a land that came in tapped. Test this deck; it is going to be a contender at States.

Since Hypnotic Specter was banned years ago, the DCI has been putting out somewhat lame replacements and attempts at a 'fixed' Specter that would provide a powerful but not breaking effect. The consensus is that previous attempts have fallen somewhat short of the mark, but the new Blazing Specter looks just about right: Intriguing enough to build a deck around, but not totally dominant.

Blazing Control

4x Blazing Specter
4x Vendetta
4x Chilling Apparition
3x Addle
4x Chimeric Idol
4x Urza's Rage
3x Vampiric Tutor
3x Terror
1x Void
1x Perish
1x Tsabo's Decree
1x Yawgmoth's Agenda

3x Charcoal Diamond
1x Fire Diamond
4x Sulfurous Springs
4x Urborg Volcano
10x Swamp
5x Mountain

No, I am not playing Dark Ritual in this deck. Despite having a number of things to Ritual out, I like the consistency that the diamonds provide better. Turn two Ritual-Specter is a fine play, but any later Dark Ritual becomes quite poor. Besides, your opponent will either deal with the Specter, at which point you would rather have a better-developed board position or he won't, in which case you win. I have a Ritual version of this deck too, but I prefer this one. The Diamonds provide some much-needed resistance to Rising Waters and Armageddon, both of which hurt this deck tremendously. The game plan is to control the board and your opponent's hand with the discard and removal, and eventually take over with card advantage. Vampiric Tutor allows you to find your maindeck hate and sideboard cards.

The last list I want to present is a Rising Waters deck. It is currently my favorite, but its success will hinge upon how prepared the environment is to face it. If there are a lot of non-land mana sources in the field, this deck becomes a lot less effective. Other than that, most decks succumb to flying assault and mana control. Here is my list:

Rising Waters

4x Spiketail Hatchling
3x Waterfront Bouncer
4x Rishadan Airship
3x Drake Hatchling
4x Ribbon Snake
4x Opt
3x Gush
4x Daze
2x Thwart
3x Foil
4x Rising Waters

22x Island

Opt is incredible in this deck. It gives you a good turn-one play that aggressive Rising Waters decks have always been conspicuously lacking. It adds consistency to your draws early in the game. This deck functions best when you get a good mix of lands, counters, and threats. In the first four turns of the game, you get your opening hand and three or four draw steps. Ideally, in those cards you would like to see something like four lands, three creatures, two counters, and a Rising Waters. Opt allows you to compensate for some of the variance of a random opening draw. It can almost certainly let you keep a low-land hand rather than mulliganing, and later in the game it helps you search for the crushing Rising Waters or counter you need to put the opponent away. I have found it to be more effective than Brainstorm because you are usually searching for a specific type of card, and Opt lets you look deeper into your library over the course of a couple turns, as opposed to Brainstorm, the alternative one casting-cost search spell.

The reason I like this deck is because the top decks in the environment are mana intensive. The decks that are forming the environment are largely based on four casting-cost spells, sometimes featuring many expensive spells, and Rising Waters does a good job of slowing the opponent's powerful spells down while you attack them with fliers. I recommend playing Waters in Type 2 right now, with control as the backup in case the field gets too prepared for Waters. In any case, practice playing so that you are comfortable with your deck, and of course, practice splitting five cards into two piles. Good luck.

Patrick