Lockdown decks have been frequent visitors to the Magic universe ever since a clown and a blindfolded wolf got on a teeter-totter. (Seriously, what was the art description they gave to Fay Jones for Stasis?) And multiplayer Magic? Well, it's no exception. Combo is a common archetype in the free-for-all zone, and a deck that can shut down all its opponents does not care about the number of players it is up against.

So, all you have to do is to Upheaval and float enough mana to play a Tradewind Rider, Goblin Medic, Seedborn Muse, and a couple Sphere of Resistances. Failing that, there is always the backup plan with Words of Wind, Dwarven Pony, and...

Wait a minute ... a casual multiplayer?!? I get to use Unglued?

Woo hoo!

This opens the door to the dreadful Stone-Cold Basilisk — Staying Power combo (which doesn't work as well as you might think — the first guy reads it and warns off all the others), but I’d like to try something different. So without further ado, here is the deck:

Spells (21)
4 Look at me, I’m R&D
3 Rule of Law
3 Enlightened Tutor
2 Replenish
2 Golden Wish
2 Angelic Renewal
2 Sunbeam Spellbomb
2 Renewed Faith
1 Once More With Feeling

Creatures (20)
4 Kami of Ancient Law
3 Wall of Hope
4 Pulsemage Advocate
2 Shieldmage Advocate
2 Eternal Dragon
2 Devout Witness
1 Serra Avatar
2 Glory

Land (19)
19 Plains

Sideboard (suggestion)
1 Peace of Mind
1 Rule of Law
1 Planar Collapse
1 Null Rod
1 Forcefield
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Skull of Orm
1 Words of Worship
1 Penance
1 Scrabbling Claws

Did you notice the lock? It is quite simple: play a Look at Me, I’m R&D, changing all instances of "one" to "zero." Then put a Rule of Law down. It now reads, "Each player can’t play more than zero spells each turn."

Let that sink in for a moment: Not more than zero means none, nada, zilch, bupkiss. Nobody can play spells any more once this two-enchantment combo hits the table. It is even impossible to Disenchant the combo once it is on the table.

Let’s go over the cards in detail:

Look at Me, I’m R&D with "one" set to "zero."

Your main objective should be to put this enchantment into play as fast as possible. Once that’s done, prepare for a lot of things to change.

• Creatures with one toughness are dead. And we are talking really dead. No regeneration or indestructibility will save them. Clean state-based effect dead. Thus, you have no such creatures in your deck.
• Spells with one in the casting just became cheaper. Sunbeam Spellbomb just became a free cantrip, since even the activation is free.
• Entwine spells do no longer work. Notice that clause where it says choose one? That’s "choose zero" now.
• Lhurgoyfs just became pretty pathetic.
• And so forth....

Rule of Law:
This is the bleaker version of Arcane Laboratory. Do not put it down until you have good board position and a R&D out. In combination with R&D, it shuts down all spells. This means:

• No spells can be played. They are not even countered, since they can’t be played. So you can even forget about splice, kicker, buyback, etc...
• Flashback and madness give no relief. It’s still casting a spell.
• Cycling triggers still work. It’s an ability, not a spell. One of those things in life you have to deal with.

Enlightened Tutor:
Search for your components.

Replenish:
If things go wrong, prepare for a comeback from the graveyard.

Once More with Feeling:
Your only reset button. Pretty desperate, but pretty drastic.

Golden Wish:
Fetch magic bullets if needed.

Angelic Renewal:
Protects your creatures once the lock comes down. Note that the Oracle version does not have the word "one" in its rule text.

Sunbeam Spellbomb / Renewed Faith:
99% of the time you will want the "draw a card" option, but it can buy you some time as well.

Kami of Ancient Law:
Early solid creature. It can blow up your lock if you have to, or just take out annoying opposing enchantments.

Wall of Hope:
Defense. No more, no less. If you have them, Isamaru, Hound of Konda can be used here as well.

Shieldmage Advocate:
Her prevention ability is great, and returning a spell to an opponent's hand is not much of a drawback if they can’t play spells anyway. Once opponents start discarding, there will be no shortage of targets to return.

Pulsemage Advocate:
Your secret weapon. Allows you to recoup your discarded creatures to gain board advantage.

Eternal Dragon:
Cycle early for mana. Bring back later via Pulsemage for the kill.

Devout Witness:
In case you expect to find troublesome artifacts and/or enchantments, this gives you something to do with your unplayable cards. Resilient Wanderer can be used in this slot if opposing creatures are more an issue.

Glory:
Use to protect your creatures or break through a defense.

Serra Avatar:
Her main purpose is to prevent you from decking yourself.

The Golden Wish sideboard can handle some of the more persistent problems should your combo be thwarted or if you have problems getting a favorable board position.

Play the deck as a white weenie deck until you can cast R&D — which should be as soon as possible. You will be pleased to notice that majority of the opposing creatures will already have problems passing the one toughness. Keep the pressure on. Let your opponents believe you are playing a whacky weenie deck (mutter about problems finding your Little Girl). Once you have good board position (or a Pulsemage Advocate) in play, drop the bomb and finish the game.

So how well does this fare against other decks?

Affinity
Have you ever read the text on an Affinity card? Check out Frogmite, for example. Notice that "costs one less to play" part. Affinity just became useless. Full price, all the time once R&D is in play. As for the rest, modular creatures are pretty pathetic with their 0/0 counters. And Disciple of the Vault doesn’t do any... wait, he’s a 0/0 creature anyway. To say Affinity decks are thumped with R&D in play is like saying that Jupiter is bigger than a golf ball.

Tooth and Nail:
Entwine is screwed. Cloudpost doesn’t do anything. The Urza’s lands don’t produce any mana when they're not together. Ah, it's great to be R&D.

Elfclamp:
Your average elf is a 1/1. Your average elf is dead. And Skullclamp itself gives +0/-0. Next.

Goblin:
See also: elves.

Necropotence:
A difficult matchup. His Necropotence is a free draw engine with R&D on the table. On the positive side, you have plenty of enchantment removal. And the R&D negates his Drain Lifes. Beware of discard and Nevinyrral's Disks. You should never...

What? Necropotence? In casual multiplayer? Who’s writing this stuff...?

In short, the Rule of R&D is a reasonably effective multiplayer lockdown deck. It should be able to take a couple of games by sheer surprise. Of course, once your opponents realize your deck basically stops them from playing anything, you might no longer be invited to the next game night. That’ll teach you.

Corneel