Okay, I have to apologize straight up. By now, everyone who's read my articles knows that I don't like to write about the "hot topic" of the day. Seriously; it bothers me when I log on the internet, sign on to StarCityCCG.com (yes, I am loyal), and then go around to all the other Magic websites (I'm loyal, not stupid) and see the same topic discussed over and over again. I can only stand so many analyses of anything before I start to go into sleepy land. Not even Magical articles can entertain me forever.

Whoops, sorry about the mini-rant - I'm working on cutting down on those. Like I was originally saying though, I'd like to apologize. You see, Invasion is like a slot machine. You play, you play, and you play some more; even when you're down to your last few quarters, it's hard to get away from the thrill of the game. Therefore, this week's topic is Invasion... again. Sorry, but I truly love this set and it's so hard to put a good article idea to rest. I promise you this, though: this article won't be boring. At least I hope not.

All right, now that that's out of the way it's time to discuss a topic almost as important as sliced bread: What will be good in Type II when Urza's Block rotates out and Invasion rotates in. Obviously, the environment is going to be focused on longer games and multi-color decks, but it'll be a lot more than glorified Mercadian Masques Block constructed (okay, maybe not, since most of the good MBC decks will be great in Type II). Let's take a look at some old favorites that'll gain from the rotation, and some of the young whippersnapper decks that'll emerge to duel with them.

The first deck that comes to mind is Rising Waters. If you don't know what Waters is, then please do everyone a favor. Go into the archives quietly and find some articles on Masques Block Constructed. Now then, Waters is definitely going to be a powerhouse in the new Type II, but probably not in it's current shape. There are a lot of cards that punish mono-colored strategies, and Invasion has just dropped an insane amount of non-creature mana acceleration into Type II. Don't get me wrong, mono-blue Rising Waters will probably still be a good deck, but it's not going to be the strongest version of Waters available. Instead, I see a Blue-Green version. While Blue and Green aren't friendly colors and don't get much in the way of gold cards, they can still make a very potent team. Green would provide creature-based mana acceleration, while blue uses a few limited counterspells and the usual suspects of Rising Waters to lay the beats on opponents. This deck could easily employ Jade Leech and some other Green fat to help in beating the crap out of its opponents, as well. Look out for it, because this deck has massive amounts of potential.

Speaking of potential, another deck to watch out for is Rebels. These little guys can be surprisingly hard to kill both in the late and early game; once I saw a Rebel deck get hit with four Wraths of God and still almost pull out a win (it lost to a quick topdeck and a mean War Tax). Not only that, but Rebels are incredibly fast compared to the other decks that will be Type II viable. Mono-white Rebel players can take advantage of Blinding Light from Invasion to end creature standoffs and get in that last attack. Even the mono-colored version of Rebels isn't all that great, though there's always green or blue to splash. Counter-Rebel could become a very potent deck with little rebels to pick at the opponent, counterspells to keep your opponent from doing anything nasty to the Rebels, and Crusade to make Rebels a whole lot more threatening. Plus Teferi's Moat can be used to lock down mono-colored opponents, since it won't affect you at all. A Green-White version can use Green fat and mana acceleration and the gold card Noble Panther to help beat opponents senseless. With Lin-Sivvi being kosher in Type II, it's going to be pretty funny to see Rebel decks taking unsuspecting players right and left.

Another deck type that will probably be very strong is Snuff-O-Derm. This deck is an absolute monster in Mercadian Masques Block Constructed, and it translates well into Type II with Invasion. It's a shame that R&D didn't design taplands for the non-friendly colors, but Snuff-O-Derm can still lay the smackdown without one. Invasion gives Snuff-O-Derm a few potential creatures, as well as more options for mana acceleration. One card to look out for in this type of deck is Kavu Titan. It's not really all that impressive, or at least it wouldn't be if the environment didn't have such a huge lack of cheap creatures. A 2/2 for two was never all that bad, and a 2/2 for two that can become a 5/5 Trampler if you pay an extra 2G when it's cast is really nice. Snuff can use it as an early attacker or as another fatty to help with the Blastoderm beatings. Snuff was one of the best decks in Mercadian Masques Block constructed, and it's shaping up to be one of the strongest decks in Type II as well.

Not-surprisingly, there's another strategy that could be very, very, powerful in Type II once Invasion rotates in: Land Destruction. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that an environment that requires a lot of land and that's based on multi-colored decks won't take kindly to having its land blasted. Even with all the acceleration, taplands, and dual-mana artifacts in Invasion, it's still going to be hard to get up enough mana to cast things of multiple colors, especially when your land is getting burned. Red and Black are the obvious land destruction colors, although playing Red-Green could be interesting if there's plenty of mana acceleration. A Red-Black deck would probably be the best bet to do the insane amount of removal it has. Shock, Thrashing Wumpus, Vendetta, Seal of Fire, Hammer of Bogardan, Snuff-out, Forced March, and of course Void make up an all-star cast of removal to back up Pillage, Stone Rain, Blight, Despoil, and Rain of Tears in rounding out the deck. With lands being important as they are, and creatures being the only good way to win, a Black-Red Land Destruction deck could easily become one of the best decks out there since it also has access to some good removal. Blazing Specter would also go well in this deck to knock out opposing hands - and Skizzik, Avatar of Woe, or Ascendant Evincar make great finishers. Throw in Vampiric Tutor to get what you need when you need it, and it's party time for Red and Black.

A final idea for a good deck would be something along the lines of Five-Color Green. I entered into tournament level Magic after the days of Five-Color Green, but from what I've heard of the deck it must have been truly awesome to behold. It could easily play the best spells from all five colors (hence the name), and that's nothing to laugh at. A modern version of Five-Color Green could use green for mana acceleration and then splash red and black for removal (Void), Blue for countermagic and library manipulation (although if you're playing Black you could use the insane Vampiric Tutor, since it's a better manipulator than any of the blue cards), and white for some enchantment removal and defensive cards (Story Circle, anyone?). This deck isn't a pipe dream; with Harrow, Fertile Ground, Wild Growth, Land Grant, Birds of Paradise, Llanowar Elves, and Utopia Tree, it's easy to play anything from any color within four turns. This deck would use Blastoderm, Kavu Titan, and Rith, the Awakener as kill cards with Saproling Burst in case things got messy. Why Rith, you might ask? Because it's almost a free attack. You serve with Rith, name the color with the most permanents, and get yourself some chump blockers. Usually Rith's ability can provide enough Saprolings to keep your opponent from killing you over the four attacks it takes for Rith to work his magic. With this type of deck you can either go aggressive, or you can control the game and win later with Rith and his buddies.

So there we go - just a few ideas of decks that could be insane in Type II once Invasion rotates in. Keep in mind, though, that these are just some of the decks that should be good; there are still a lot of decks out there that no one has even thought up yet. My advice is to keep your eye out for Blue/White control, Mono-white control, and Blue Skies variants, which while they might not be as strong as the decks above, could become strong as time goes on. Also be on the lookout for crazy decks; today's rogue is tomorrow's tier one. So that's it for my discussion of Type II in November when Invasion becomes legal.

By the way I'm not sure I made this all that clear in my last article, but I'm looking for FOIL Carnival of Souls. Not even I'm crazy enough to want a regular one. Please drop me a line about that or anything at all. Seriously, you have no idea what it feels like to a writer when someone responds to an article. Go ahead write your favorite authors and tell them how much you care. They'll be grateful; I guarantee it. Okay, I think that covers my philosophical episode for the month; sorry, those just kind of slip in.

Oh well, back to the slave pit - I mean work place - for me.

-Israel Marques, II
-Cymagus913@aol.com

(Surprise, surprise - no footnotes this time. That has to be some kind of miracle.)