Two days and three weeks.

That is how much time is left before Regionals, if you are going. The format is Standard (Type II), the expected decks are a mystery. That's right, a mystery! Torment has shaped up the format more than you would ever know - not because of the cards in the set forming new deck types, but singular cards changing strategies enough to make them not as popular. The consensus #1 deck, the Psychatog deck, has met many evils with things like Chainer's Edict and maindeck Spellbane Centaurs. While 'Tog isn't as great as it once was, it is still nothing to sneeze at. People will be playing it, and people will be winning with it.

The biggest up-and-comer of recent has been Red-Green beats, either in Rocket Shoes variants or as Frog in a Blender. Enough has changed in everyone's mind on the type of decks to play that Red/Green has became the top deck. Why? An abundance of creatures to throw away to things like Edict, and maindeck hate with Spellbane Centaur and Yavimaya Barbarians for the 'Tog decks.

But what is the main draw to playing Red/Green? Consistent beatings. The decks come out similar most of the time, providing with a very likeable theme. You aren't scrapping for wins, you are in control, your pace is controlling the game. Every game in magic comes down to one factor: Control. The type of control I am talking about isn't a deck that sits back and deals with problems until you can net the upper hand; the type of Control I am talking about is controlling game play, how things happen, the pace of play, and the focus your opponent needs to put in the game. Every game of Magic ends because one player has taken control of the game, has gained the upper hand, and dominated the current point in the game to net victory.

When you can put out creatures or threats every turn of the game starting on turn 1 and put your opponent into the"already losing" mentality, you are in control. They are trying to recover the game state to a neutral or beneficial state. When your opponent is playing from behind, that is usually a good sign for you. Red/Green right now is so hate-filled for the other top decks, and is potent enough against any strategy, that it is a contender on that premise alone.

Thus, we see in abundance the amount of Red-Green decks at the Regionals taking place around the world. Sure there are other decks to fear, but Red/Green is larger than it has been since the Fires of Yavimaya/Saproling Burst days merely a year ago. Red/Green was touted as the deck to play and beat last year - and it turned out that everything said about it was right, proving to be the most prominent deck in the field. Maybe it is something about spring, maybe the fact that summer is coming soon that we see the colors bloom, changing from the old time phrases of Black Winter to more of a full foliage colored strategy of Red/Green.

Maybe it is just a lot of coincidences happening - maybe Wizards of the Coast is telling us what to play. But for some reason, Red/Green has been fighting to stay alive every spring, every year. Many a year ago, at the end of the Ice Age block, there was one dominant deck around - Red/Green, also known as the ICE AGE deck. So here I am, living in Vermont, watching snow fall recently on a daily basis, icy roads, below-zero temperatures on a few select days... The spring is coming up, and joy is risen in my heart. I can't wait for the snow to melt away and the temperatures to rise so I can go outside and do stuff - like play basketball, roll down my windows while I am driving, and not have to go out to warm up my car for fifteen minutes before I go anywhere.

To me, the end of the Ice Age is every spring, every year. At the end of the Ice Age, we say the ICE AGE deck come to rise, a Red/Green monstrosity. Maybe it is fitting that it is the deck to play come spring, and is why it dominates. It is Red/Green's time of the year. Time to blossom, time to grow, time to crawl out of the snow and ice, and become a fixture.

At the State Championships just months ago, I played Red/Green Rocket Shoes. I played it because everyone said that control was all there was in the format, be prepared for less creatures than you would expect, no matter how much Seth Burn and others told us to play four Flametongue Kavus. In Invasion block, I built up a Red/Green Rocket Shoes deck, and instantly became enamored in it. Aggressive and controlling, with some of the best cards in the format, and just enough stuff to drive the other decks crazy, with Urza's Rages and other great cards.

That was control then, in Invasion Block. That was control then, at the State Championships. Now, things are not control, but aggressive beatdown. Red/Green has taken center stage, and is being touted as the best.

Last year everyone said that about Fires, and you know what I did. I vowed not to play it at Regionals, and I stayed true to that. I play something that is good versus the field, but generally considered either weak or rogue. I was to play Skies - the same card-for-card version that I had worked on with Theron Martin for over a month. Now Theron is a memory for us in the Magic community with his unfortunate and surprising discoveries.

As for Skies? I chickened out, and made something on my own, Red/Black/Blue with Hammer of Bogardan and Nether Spirit, like I played at States that year. I have to admit, Hammer of Bogardan is a very cool card to me, I like it a lot and still have four put aside that aren't for trade. I wanted to try and win with Hammer just one more time - and with two days to work on a deck, I made a new idea, which played out great. Of course, that is the biggest mistake you can make. Changing your deck last minute and learning something completely new to you will cost you - and it cost me big, as I did horribly.

So what am I to do? I really like Red/Green more this time around then before, and feel I have a very great amount of experience with it now than I ever have. But you see, I don't want to be one of those sell out type of guys who plays a deck because it is the deck to play. While I admit, I have the backing to represent that I have been playing the deck before the touting of its greatness of recent, your opponents will still feel the same about you in either event, thinking that you are just playing"the deck to play." I will not vow this time to not play Red/Green... But I will try my hardest to not play it, to train myself with a new deck....

...And I think I have found it.

I wanted something good versus creatures, solid versus control, and with enough disruption and potent cards to be a contender versus anything, even at the sacrifice of not having any"auto-win" match-ups.

This is what I generally do. I now have four decks together. One isn't for me, so that is not important for me to know how to play correctly. One is Red/Green - and I am ready for that already; all I need is a little tweaking with some new cards. The other two decks, Red/Black/Green and Black/White/Green (Junk), are what I am trying to make the best decks for me to play. I have time to work with them - and plan to. I have to admit, if Regionals was tomorrow, I would play Junk. I like it a lot, feel I can compete with it, and have a respect and understanding of the deck.

Last weekend (the 16^th of April) I held a tournament in our area, St. Albans, Vermont. Type II was the format - a prep for a lot of us for New England Regionals. I wasn't able to play in the tournament, as I was the Tournament Organizer and also selling cards while acting as Head Judge... But I did get to see a lot of new deck ideas, old ideas revamped, new things to beware and some ideas crash and burn. I also got to see how Type II Junk performed as I lent the deck out to my right-hand playtester - Jake Conner. After five rounds of Swiss, he was 5-0-1 with an intentional draw in the final round. Also, finishing top 4 after losing to only one deck the whole day: Millstone Blue/White (it is important to note the color of the Millstone deck, as we were enlightened to a new idea that Alan Webster had created).

For a brief summary of the tournament, here is the top 8 and how they finished. For more, check the Tech Center here at StarCity as I have submitted the top 8 decklists:

1^st (tie)- Alan Webster with Black-White Arena-Millstone (a.k.a. Pox, as he calls it)
1^st (tie)- Josh Trudeau with Blue/White Millstone
3^rd/4^th- Jake Conner with Black/White/Green Junk
3^rd/4^th- Ben Morway with Psychatog
Top 8- Mark Haverty with Red/Green Rocket Shoes
Top 8- Rob Wyatt with Red/White/Blue Tempo
Top 8- Andrew Roystan with Psychatog
Top 8- Andy Watts with Psychatog

First let me iterate how Blue/White Millstone with Life Burst, Reviving Vapors, Absorb, Ancestral Tribute and the usual counters and mill equipment can just own 'Tog.

Now the Junk deck. Jake, Alan, Jeremy Holbrook, and myself all gave our ideas on what we thought of the deck and what needed to be changed. Jake spent the whole night playtesting and never seeming to get more than two land out... In a twenty-five land deck! Come the next day, and some minimal changes, the deck was just great. Maybe the inclusion of something like Ray of Distortion in the sideboard would help versus the Millstone match-up.

3x Duress (a change from Addle after knowing the room would have a lot of Control)
4x Gerrard's Verdict
4x Vindicate
3x Pernicious Deed
4x Chainer's Edict
4x Spectral Lynx
4x Phyrexian Rager
3x Spiritmonger
2x Mystic Enforcer
4x Call of the Herd
4x Elfhame Palace
2x Caves of Koilos
2x Tainted Field
3x Tainted Wood
1x Llanowar Wastes
10x Swamp
2x Plains
1x Forest

Sideboard currently being remodeled.

One of the biggest changes was to make the deck sixty cards, and hopefully increase the online recent problem of drawing mana. Something had to be pulled out, and a Duress was the card that was least needed but still important. Duress had been used - and we are still not sure if that is a better option than Addle, since both seem to work very well. I guess it comes down to what you expect to see; Addle snags up those creatures and works as more creature removal when it gets rid of pesky Skizziks, Psychatogs, and other goodies. Duress goes without its merits too, snagging all kinds of nasty spells.

As you can tell right now, I am still a little torn on the whole subject.

Okay, first lets talk about how this faces up against Red/Green, as I talked so much about it being the best deck before. There is a lot of removal and hate for Red/Green in this deck; Edict, Vindicate, Deed, and Spectral Lynx, not to mention a late-game Spiritmonger shutting their offensive end down. There are not very many ways to instantly get rid of a very annoying Skizzik and other creatures with haste (Raging Kavu, Hell-Bent Raider) outside of blocking them. With this deck, though, so many of the cards can net you some sort of game or card advantage that you can pull out victory often enough. Keep wary of your life total, though; getting to the five or less range is always a bad spot to be when you're facing Red/Green or Sligh.

Red/Green Rocket Shoes (my current variant, which needs to be updated but still potent, as you can see - Mark Haverty, playing my deck, still made top 8)

4x Birds of Paradise
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Wild Mongrel
4x Yavimaya Barbarian
4x Raging Kavu
4x Skizzik
3x Flametongue Kavu
4x Call of the Herd
4x Urza's Rage
3x Scorching Lava/Firebolt (this is something being discussed, as it may
change to Lava)
1x Keldon Necropolis
4x Karplusan Forest
1x City of Brass
2x Mossfire Valley (weren't in the deck originally, but I now own them, so they're in)
5x Mountain
10x Forest

Sideboard:
4x Spellbane Centaur
2x Obliterate
3x Thunderscape Battlemage
3x Scorching Lava (may go in main deck..)
2x Shivan Wurm
2x Jade Leech

Now, this is more of an older style of Rocket Shoes, as I haven't updated too many of the cards, but have began to transition it to the current format. I still like the fatter versions of Red/Green than Frog in a Blender. You are by no means that much more slower than they are, and you are significantly larger, as you bust out big creatures one after another versus their puny creatures that need assistance via mana or cards to compete with yours.

Lastly, I would like to show you my more tested and revised version of Red/Black/Green, something I really enjoy playing currently, but still need to play around with it more to get to that level I really want it to be at (if possible). This is another deck that falls into the Aggro strategy that I seem to really like. Beatdown with some control aspects, not a lot of removal in some respects, but enough. This is something that really plays in that middle ground right now... I'm not sure of if it belongs or not - but gosh darn it, I'm a gonna try!

4x Nantuko Shade
4x Wild Mongrel
3x Flametongue Kavu
3x Spiritmonger
4x Phyrexian Rager
3x Spellbane Centaur
4x Call of the Herd
4x Pernicious Deed
4x Urza's Rage
4x Chainer's Edict
2x Tainted Peak
2x Tainted Wood
4x Llanowar Wastes
10x Swamp
4x Urborg Volcano
2x Mossfire Valley

So what has changed in a few weeks time? Birds of Paradise came out. I liked them a lot - but they were taking up space that I should have just used from the beginning for Call of the Herd. I have added more Deeds, as I have increased the average casting cost of the deck - and since I do not usually play everything as I draw it with this deck, but play more of a"one or two threats at a time" approach, the Deeds work out great. One thing to make note of is that only two lands in the deck can't provide you black mana at any time: Mossfire Valley. Everything either does or can provide black mana at some point in the game.

I have made a lot of changes to the mana base to make things run at a much smoother pace. There is no need to play a three-color deck that has problems reaching certain colors with all the non-basic land available to us. This deck is also my usual 61 cards. Don't ask why, but that is how I make every one of my decks. If it works for me, then it works. No need to tamper with my ratios.

Currently this deck (Red/Black/Green) it in the most rough draftish shape of all my decks. It originally started as a pile of cards with a lot of the cards coming in twos. Things are now shaping down to the fours or three-ofs, and things are starting to flow a lot better with the mana. With how this deck played before, it runs like water now, and there is still more to change with things in this deck. I have to admit I am excited, but I wonder if I will be able to devote the amount of time necessary to make this solid enough so that I feel it can contend at Regionals? As I said, time is short right now, but we still have a lot of time. Deadlines always do that to you.

I hope that John Friggin' Rizzo is in attendance at New England Regionals and I get paired against him and get a feature match. It probably wouldn't happen (the feature match part) as, well... I've never thought I would get one before, so why start now? Course, since I have wanted to meet Mr. Rizzo for some time now but haven't gone to any tournaments where he was at, it would be great to meet the guy in person, shake his hand, talk about some good and bad times, find out more about this hilarious fellow, and get in a few games (and maybe get my picture taken with him, if he still does that!)

Over the next few weeks, I will explore a few other decks that are floating around. I will continue to let you all in on my progress, successes, and failures with the above decks as I develop them. Hopefully, we can all be prepared for the massacre known as Regionals 2002.

Feel free to contact me.

Jeremy Muir
Elven Disciple
ElvenDisciple on Magic Online
Keiichibell@go.com

-"Eenie, Meenie, Minee Mo.. Catch a Tiger by the toe..." I try to not do that too often when choosing which deck to play... But sometimes...

What do YOU think? Share your opinion with the community and you just may walk away with some FREE Magic cards... courtesy of your friends at StarCityGames.com!