Anybody who has played Magic for a while has heard of Sligh decks. They are decks that typically run very efficient creatures and lots of burn in order to kill your opponent as quickly as possible. Looking at the card pool for Type 2, I found a decent basis to start building a good Sligh deck. Sligh has always been present in some form, but recently there was never enough good burn around. The release of 8^th Edition changed that. Mostly it was the inclusion of the insanely good Hammer of Bogardan in the Core Set that helped Sligh return, but the addition of powerful color hosers like Flashfires helps in sideboarded match-ups. Without further ado, here is the deck.

Creatures:
3 Raging Goblin
4 Slith Firewalker
4 Viashino Sandstalker
3 Blistering Firecat

Spells:
4 Shock
4 Shrapnel Blast
3 Starstorm
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
3 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Hammer of Bogardan
4 Naturalize

Land:
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Tree of Tales
4 Great Furnace
1 Forest
11 Mountain

Sideboard:
3 Choke
3 Flashfires
3 Molten Rain
3 Detonate
3 Lava Hounds

The deck is almost purely an aggro deck but includes some light control elements to help out certain match-ups. Here are my explanations for the inclusion of certain cards.

Blistering Firecat
Some people in the forums have been pushing this card while others have been pushing Lava Hounds. In my opinion, the Firecat is strictly better. This is very similar to deciding whether to run Ball Lightning or Keldon Champion in Type 1.5 Sligh. The issue is whether you want a one-shot creature that deals more damage, or one that sticks around for a price. Because of the way Sligh operates, I believe the creature that acts like a burn spell is the right choice.

While both creatures are about even early game in non-Astral Slide match-ups, Firecat takes the cake in the late game. The seven power it provides at the economical cost of 1RRR is enough to often force large creatures like Broodstar and Exalted Angel into a blocking role, often sending those problems to the graveyard. Play this as a burn spell, not a creature.

Shrapnel Blast
Some have questioned the inclusion of this card, as it fools with the manabase by forcing me to run more artifacts. It costs 1R and it deals five damage. That's a quarter of your opponent's life total. I see no reason to not run this.

Sulfuric Vortex
Wow, this card is amazing! The only deck where I do not want one on the board in game 1 is against Goblins, but there are situations where I will cast it even against that deck. It is simply fantastic in every other matchup. It shortens the game by requiring you to have less burn to kill your opponent.

Naturalize
The maindeck splash weakens the mana base but not too much. Naturalize is useful against too many decks to not make the main, and since Affinity is officially everywhere, it makes sense. It also allows me to play Shrapnel Blast by justifying the use of four more artifact lands. I can see you taking this out of the maindeck in certain metagames, but most of them will demand it stay there.

Affinity
I'll start with the most popular deck. Initially, the match-up against Affinity was pretty bad. However, after modifying the sideboard it worked much better. Initially my sideboard was packed full of artifact hate. I quickly realized that this is not the way to beat Affinity. I still need artifact hate, but the deck could not deviate too much from the idea of applying constant pressure until they are dead. Whether it is a build similar to Geordie Tait's Sarnia Affinity or a more aggressive build, it doesn't matter, as Sligh still needs to go for the throat. With this in mind, Lava Hounds entered the sideboard and Dwarven Blastminer left.

Problem cards:
Broodstar - It will ruin your day every time it comes down, either forcing a Shrapnel Blast to kill it or just ending the game by itself.
Lightning Greaves - This card is more annoying than Myr Enforcer, as it keeps you from targeting Broodstar and makes him harder to kill while making the deck another turn faster.
Myr Enforcer - Cheap 4/4s are bad for this deck.
Steel Wall - Some builds run this card. Four toughness on a one-caster is a very good stall card. Since you can't apply pressure effectively with this on the board, it becomes very tough to win quickly, since attempting to control the board against Affinity is impossible. This becomes much easier to deal with post sideboard as Detonating it is very useful. Fortunately, the only builds running Steel Wall happen to be bad ones, so you aren't very likely to face them

In game one, the idea is to apply constant pressure. Use your Naturalizes conservatively, as they are valuable resources. Myr Enforcer is one of my favorite targets. Affinity has many spells in its arsenal to disrupt your plan. Some builds will run lots of counterspells. Other builds will do stuff like drop Frogmites and spellbombs to try to stall you. Still more will play Steel Wall.

Your job is simple: react to whatever they do and deal twenty damage before a Broodstar larger than 5/5 comes out. Game one is difficult but not unwinnable as Affinity has the clear advantage, because all they have to do is slow you down enough for Broodstar to take over the game. Occasionally you will mise a Shrapnel Blast and be able to finish them off, but that doesn't happen often enough. If they stabilize, you are in trouble.

Sideboard: +3 Detonate, +3 Lava Hounds, +1 Molten Rain, -4 Viashino Sandstalker, -3 Starstorm

Games two and three should go much better for you. Lava Hounds is an absolute beast. The only thing you need to be careful of is Aether Spellbombs coming out and bouncing them, forcing you to take eight damage. Starstorm comes out because it is utterly useless. Myr Enforcer hits play too fast for you to deal with it using Starstorm, and Broodstar should never even be within Starstorm range. Viashino Sandstalker is good but it is not quite as good as Lava Hounds. The deck needs to make room for the Detonates (which absolutely shine) so Sandstalker, being the next worst large threat, gets sideboarded out.

Results: Sligh 11 - Affinity 9

U/W Control
This is another very popular deck. U/W can establish parity really quickly with a good draw, and there isn't too much you can do if that occurs. Those draws are few and far between, however, so probability is your friend here. Once again, apply constant pressure.

Game one you may not know what exactly they are up to so you will have to be careful. With all of your hasted creatures, Wing Shards can be absolutely devastating if you are not prepared for it. Wrath of God, and its six-mana counterpart Akroma's Vengeance are not really an issue, though, as the only permanent creatures you have are Raging Goblin and Slith Firewalker. Often, a resolved Sulfuric Vortex will force a U/W player to Vengeance and reset the board, but your deck is usually too quick for them to stabilize.

Problem Cards:
Exalted Angel - The Spirit Link ability is the main issue here. It allows a U/W player to recover and get out of burn range very quickly. If this Angel swings twice, you probably have lost. Save Shrapnel Blasts to answer her.
Decree of Justice - This is a real issue. Game one you can save Starstorm to answer it but Games 2 and 3 you will just have to play around it or just make sure it doesn't do too much with your mana denial. If you suspect more than two copies, you can consider leaving Starstorm in, and not side in the Lava Hounds/Molten Rains.

Sideboarding: +3 Lava Hounds/Molten Rain, +3 Choke, +3 Flashfires, -3 Starstorm, -4 Viashino Sandstalker, -1 Blistering Firecat, -1 Shock

The idea here is to limit the amount of mana U/W has available and thus limit their options. Eternal Dragon becomes a pain when using this strategy, and if the game goes on long enough it can beat you by itself. Don't let that happen. With all the mana denial that you are boarding in, you walk a fine line between having enough disruption and not having enough pressure against them. Mulligans will be common.

They will bring in Circle of Protection: Red to counter your damage sources. You can either Naturalize them (if you have it) or try to overwhelm it with a combination of land destruction plus the damage sources you have. This is why I like Lava Hounds here. It is a 4/4 threat that stays on the board and will help you overwhelm the CoP.

Sligh 11 - U/W Control 7

Astral Slide
The more I test against Slide the worse I seem to do. Initially it seemed to be an okay match-up, but more and more I am seeing little holes here and there. Overall, it turned out to be a very tough match-up for modern day Sligh.

Game one will depend almost solely on how many Renewed Faiths they draw. Six life is a really big swing. Just be the aggro deck and attack. Play around Astral Slide and Lightning Rift as best you can, as both will ruin your attacking fun.

Problem Cards:
Exalted Angel- Same problems as U/W except they don't have the counter backup for it. This is a double-edged sword, as Astral Slide is sometimes more effective at protecting this than counters.
Lightning Rift - It will likely kill all your creatures so Naturalize them immediately. Astral Slide is only an issue if they have an Angel on the board.

Sideboarding - +3 Flashfires, +3 Molten Rain, -3 Starstorm, -3 Viashino Sandstalker

Once again, we try to attack a mana-hungry deck's mana base. If you board in Lava Hounds for this match-up you are asking to get killed, and if you complain to me about it, I will hunt you down and smack you upside the head very hard.

Games two and three depend more on what they bring in. If they don't have too much, the match becomes relatively even, but, if they have a good sideboard and bring in something like the CoP: Red, then you have to just pack it in.

Sligh 8 - Astral Slide 11

Goblin Bidding
Aggro Goblins died out in my opinion, but the Bidding deck is still around. I did some limited testing against Goblin Bidding with this build and the matchup seems favorable. They can really do nothing to hurt you that much and must resolve a lethal bidding to kill you. This will usually entail a Siege-Gang Commander first. You have some time against this deck. I am about winning about 70% of my matches in my limited playtesting.

Sideboarding: +3 Lava Hounds, +1 Molten Rain, -4 Naturalize

MBC
This is another deck that I haven't tested extensively, but I'll give you my impressions. Grid Monitor proved to be an issue whenever I saw it. Wrench Mind is also annoying, so I recommend saving an artifact land or Pyrite Spellbomb to pitch to it.

Sideboarding: +3 Lava Hounds/Detonate, -3 Starstorm

If you see Grid Monitors then bring in Detonate.

All in all, I am fairly satisfied with the results. I am toying with the idea of a Black splash instead of a Green one. Here is a preliminary deck that could go into testing.

Old-School Sligh v2:

Creatures:
3 Raging Goblin
4 Slith Firewalker
4 Viashino Sandstalker
3 Blistering Firecat

Spells:
4 Shock
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
3 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Hammer of Bogardan
4 Dark Banishing
3 Ambition's Cost

Land:
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Tree of Tales
4 Vault of Whispers
2 Swamp
10 Mountain

Sideboard:
2 Execute
3 Flashfires
3 Cabal Interrogator

Some unconfirmed slots remain. I'm considering a Black source of damage or potentially just more disruption in the form of Coercion and maybe even Persecute. I believe that the Black splash would perform better against U/W and Affinity, but worse against Goblins, White Weenie, and Slide. The loss of Starstorm hurts, but I think Ambition's Cost is strong enough as a card drawer to compensate.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you like my look at the latest rendition of an old-school deck.

Chingsung Chang