I can't wait for November 1^st. It's been four weeks since I've played in a constructed Magic tournament, and even longer since I've played anything sanctioned. That simply will not stand. So I'm waiting for States - and by waiting I mean putting more time into testing than ever before.

Lately, I've been spending my afternoons online, talking Magic with people on Instant Messenger and mIRC, and playtesting with Phil. I've learned a lot of things about the game in the last month or two, and twice that much about the people who play the game. Nothing is quite as cool as a person you don't know telling you how much they enjoy reading your work, or how the decks you talked about are working. All of these things make writing articles something I look forward to, as opposed to the dread I feel towards writing about things that can't hold my interest (read: school). What I like the most about the outpouring of support I've experienced from the Magic community is how they all want to help me playtest. They play boring decks, like Opposition builds, in order to help me learn the matchup. Of course, I do the same thing for them.

Enough of me being happy for everything, cause I've got a lot of Magic stuff talk about.

My last article garnered more responses than all of my previous articles put together. Several questions were raised about my card choices for the deck. I'll use this opportunity to inform everybody about the reasons that certain cards made it in over more suitable cards. When I first sat down to build the Stompy deck I posted, I was shooting for a Sligh-oriented curve. This means that certain cards were not included in the numbers they deserved, like Beast Attack, due to the five-mana cost. Instead, I played Elephant Ambush because it fit the curve well at four mana. What I failed to realize was that it didn't matter too much that the card fit the curve: What's important is that Elephant Ambush simply doesn't posses enough power. Clearly, in a Stompy deck, the issue becomes the power-to-casting-cost ratio. For five mana, Beast Attack makes a 4/4 creature. That's much more powerful than Elephant Ambush. So obviously, there needs to be four copies of Beast Attack. Unfortunately, I don't know how strong Stompy is going to be between Wrath of God, Pernicious Deed, Wash Out, Hibernation, Spectral Lynx, and so on. Therefore, I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about a deck that might (or might not) fare very well in the new environment. If you are interested in building Stompy, and aren't afraid of the plethora of hate for little green men, then just make sure it has Call of the Herd, Beast Attack, Wild Mongrel, and green cards with numbers in the bottom right corner. But if you really want to win your state, play Flametongue Kavu.

Oh, wait - someone else already said that. Damn.

All right; play Questing Phelddagrif. While not as obvious as Flametongue Kavu, the Hippo is a dominating guy once he hits the table. He has single-handedly won me countless games against R/G and Sligh with his Protection from Red and Black ability, not to mention his ability to block and kill every creature in their deck, and survive by pumping up his power/toughness for just one green mana. The thing with the Hippo is making sure that the advantages given to your opponent don't outweigh the advantages given by him to you. Basically, only use his abilities when they will:

a) Keep the Hippo alive
b) Kill an opposing creature

Fairly simple, eh? Okay, so we know that the Hippo can be truly amazing given the right opportunities. The question lies in what those opportunities are. Here's a list I put together that has been testing incredibly well, and gives the Hippo everything it needs:

Counter Hippo
4x Questing Phelddagrif
4x Mystic Snake
4x Sunscape Familiar
4x Counterspell
4x Absorb
4x Opt
2x Rout
4x Fact or Fiction
3x Repulse
4x Coastal Tower
4x Yavimaya Coast
4x Adarkar Wastes
2x Elfhame Palace
6x Island
4x Plains
3x Forest

It's the only deck I've seen using these colors in this way, so I really didn't have much to go on in terms of cards that are widely regarded as being good. Instead, I sat down and looked at all the cards in the three colors of the Hippo, and came up with several options. Some cards that didn't make the cut:

Peek
Damn, this card is good. It might even be playable if it didn't cantrip, but it does, so it's very playable. With only twelve hard counters in the deck, you won't be able to try and stop every one of their threats from hitting the table. Peek allows you to make smarter decisions regarding the use of your limited counterspells. Unfortunately, Opt takes the 1cc Blue Cantrip Slot because it lets me smooth out my mana. In a three-color deck, it's important that I get the right colored lands at the right time. Some may ask, why not run both? That would be too many cards that don't really do anything. I mean, sure they replace themselves, and both have some cool ability, but neither counterspells or can attack and block - and cards with numbers in the bottom right corner are Money.

Wrath of God
Why Rout instead of Wrath? Again, the answer is pretty simple: I like playing it as an instant and then playing a Hippo on my turn. Makes sense, right? You might be surprised how often this happens in a match, even against faster decks like R/G or White Weenie. My early creatures, like Sunny Familiar and Questing Hippo Chief, do a pretty good job of keeping my opponents men from dealing damage. More often than not, a ground stall ensues. That's when End Of Turn Rout, My Turn Questing P-Diddy becomes amazing. So yeah, that's why I run Rout over Wrath of God.

Rushing River
While Rushing River has the potential to bounce cards other than creatures, and more of them than Repulse for that matter, it doesn't replace itself. In a deck that wants to have access to all of its cards at one time in order to play the correct answer for the threat, it's important for cards to not only provide an effect, but to gain card advantage as well. Also, there aren't quite as many problem permanents that stop my deck as there are creatures that wreck me, like that damn Spiritmonger guy, or a kicked Kavu Titan/Skizzik. Therefore, it seems to me that Repulse is the right card for the deck.

There are plenty of other cards that didn't make the deck, but these three are the ones that I had the hardest time keeping out of the deck.

Playing the deck is pretty straightforward. Lay the Hippo, attack with him until the guy across from you has a life total that is less than or equal to zero. Simple, eh? But seriously, the deck is easy enough to learn and play well. The trick comes down to not over-committing. What I mean is, don't play too many Questing Mac-Questagrifs at once because it makes your Routs less one sided. And what's the fun in Routing if it kills too many of your creatures? Yeah, it's no fun at all. So don't do it, alright?

I've said it before, I'm sure... But this time I mean it, I think. This is the deck I'll be playing at my States, give or take some last-minute tuning. It handles all of the different deck types I've tested against so far, and it handles them well. Unfortunately, I'm sure I haven't tested against every good deck out there, but I've played numerous games against R/G, Sligh, Stompy, Finkel stuffs, Turbo Turns (or whatever that random combo thing is), Rice Snack (again, random names or what?), and some random Mono-Blue crap played by my friend Phil. The record so far is something like 27-6-2. Sorry I don't have more specific statistics, such as games played with sideboard and whatnot, but it didn't occur to me to take notes like that until I saw that the deck was winning a lot - and by then I had already played too many games that I couldn't remember the exact details. My bad. Well, I think that's enough of me. As usual, send me the mail, or talk to me on Instant Messenger.

Rock On,
Josh Hill
ewok195 on Instant Messenger
ewok195@yahoo.com