Let's innovate! Isn't that what the State/Province/Territory/Teferi's Isle Tournament is all about? What? It's not? Coulda' fooled me! I mean it doesn't lead to anything. And there's no great reward! Sure you can get some free cards, a cool play mat, and in some lucky areas you get to play free at events for an entire year. All of those things are completely in the back seat when compared to having some creative fun with Magic! I mean how often do you get to compete in a state-wide, low level event that doesn't mean much aside from bragging rights? And if you ride the coat-tails of the already established metagame archetypes to victory then really...that's not too terribly much to brag about, unless of course you live in the Ohio Valley area where there are 10,000,000 competitors at any given event. Then I guess you can brag... a little... but only if you played the good opponents. And then again, only if they too were playing an established archetype.

For God's Sakes Man... Play For Fun Once In A While! Play to win, but can't you do it with something new and amusing? No? Well, click on the back button now then.

Go ahead... click on it if you can't be convinced to play anything in Standard other than Affinity.

Good, you're still with me. That must mean you tried and tried to make a Samurai deck work. No? A Zubera/Obliterate deck? No? Shared Fate? No? What gives man? What did you try? Sheesh, let's just get on with this then.

First off, let me say that I played this deck in the Mississippi State Championship, held in Tupelo this year. Mississippi, where the record for attendance at States crests out at 61! Some may say that you can easily get away with playing a different deck at a smaller event like this, but I say that you have to still play a good deck, and you have to play even tighter to do well as you are even more likely to run up against an archetype deck with so few folks, not to mention it would only be six rounds, so two losses and you better have the tiebreakers to be the lucky one. I'm no statistician. I'm simply talking from experience. And the deck I ran was good, although I wish I would have playtested more. I usually put a great deal of preparation into States, as I want to make sure my mad Klaukwork Creation^tm will actually perform well. I am renowned in these parts for putting together some insane rogue deck and slapping it down on the table to compete at States. I've done fairly well over the last six years, netting four Top 8s, including one 2^nd place finish in that mix. Not many of the State competitors can claim this, though Jerry Stablein has made Top 8 every year for the past seven years I believe. Eventually he is gonna' win it. My prediction is he'ss take it home when he finally faces me in the Finals, as I am obviously destined to never finish 1^st in anything larger than an 8K tourney. Well, except for GPT Trials. I'm allowed to win those because my work always finds ways to keep me in town during the weekend of the corresponding Grand Prix event.

That's a different story for another time though...

Now, where was I? Ah, yes...Let's innovate! How different is this gonna' be you ask? Is it a true Klaukwork Creation^tm? I mean is this gonna' be anything close to your Temporal Bounce Deck that romped during the Year of the Replenish? It couldn't possibly be as much fun as your Keldon Firebomber/Veteran Brawler Barfight shenanigans? Does it reach the levels of insanity that was your Battle of Wits/Psychatog Tower of Power?

Hmm...good questions. Let's see how things are comparably, on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being Da Nutz! and 1 being Da Sux!)

Power: Temporal Bounce was about an eight when compared to Replenish at about a 9, as it would very often lock down that deck with three mana or less, making it impossible to cast Replenish. In fact, my inability to draw a third Island cost me a spot in the Semi-finals that year....grrrrr....

Kamikaze gets a 7-9 when compared to the 10+ that is Affinity. Hey, I never said it was the best deck. It falls on the lower end versus Affinity, but goes way up versus the rest of the field, falling in the middle in the "mirror".

Overall Amusement Value: Bombing with Kelds and Brawling with the Vets ranks an easy 10 for entertainment. I can't express how much replay value this deck had as it beat Rebels over and over. Whereas Rebels gets a 3 for fun. That's less than harassing the Vintage community - I think that gets around 5 or 6. I'd have to ask Bleiweiss.

Kamikaze rates a 9 according to my games with it. It's a cool deck with powerful spells and darkly, evil monsters. But the real amusement comes in destroying your opponent with the Sunflower of Doom that is Hana Kami. Anytime you can get a dominate board position setup with a Rebecca Guay card, the amusement value goes up at least two notches in my book.

Insanity and Guts Check Rating: Battle of Wits gets a 10 during the saga of Domain and Red/Green beatdown. What am I saying? Battle of Wits gets a 10 during any format epoch (c'mon Vintage community, don't let me down)! [They didn't. Check this insanely long article for more details. - Knut, who has a tolerate/hate with Ben Kowal and his infinitely long articles]

Kamikaze gets a 7. It's not the craziest thing, but it plays some cards that I guarantee the current masses are not. And that merits a slight peak on the Oddometer.

So what is Kamikaze you ask? It's the new B/G archetype shell with a devoted twist. The twist all lies in the Flower O' Power that is Hana Kami, this set's Recurring Nightmare. Don't laugh until you witness the wrath of the puking plant. Okay, you can laugh a little... I know I did the first time I thought about it. Of course my laugh was of the diabolical, internal variety, but suit yourself.

Kamikaze
4 Hana Kami
4 Sakura Tribe-Elder
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Eternal Witness
2 Phyrexian Plaguelord
4 Kokusho, the Evening Star

4 Kodama's Reach
4 Rend Flesh
3 Wear Away
3 Soulless Revival
4 Death Cloud

11 Forest
9 Swamp

Sideboard
3 Nezumi Shortfang
4 Oxidize
4 Terror
4 Cranial Extraction

At a glance, it is most definitely the shell of the standard B/G designs. It runs Sakura Tribe-Elder, arguably one of the best Constructed-worthy cards from Champions. It has Eternal Witness... don't leave home without 'em in B/G. The legendary dragon that is as good as its hype, Kokusho earns his spot. And it is running both Death Cloud and its new best enabler, Kodama's Reach along with a classic counterpart, Solemn Simulacrum. I don't' think I can offer any more insight into these card choices than has already been said, so let's move on and look at the really fun insertions.

Hana Kami
This thing is so good and yet so underrated. Almost every opponent I played picked it up and read it when it first came into play and then chuckled or smirked. Many of those same opponents were giving it evil glares several turns later. It even generated a "That thing owns me!" comment.

Yeesss! Mission accomplished!

It is essentially Eternal Witness 5-8 in this deck. It gets to freely trade with more creatures in combat than you might initially think. You eventually want it in the graveyard, so when it draws fire, it almost puts a smile on your face. And I promise you, nothing makes papa prouder than watching this thing block Arc Slogger.

Soulless Revival
Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Hello?"

"Yes, I'd like to order Eternal Witness 9-11"

"That'll be $0.40 sir!"

And that is what this becomes in this deck more often than not - Eternal Witness. Or, for the truly finer moments, it shapeshifts into Recurring Nightmare 1-3. In conjunction with any Arcane spell to splice off and a Hana Kami in the graveyard (oh look...there's one that just blocked an Arc-Slogger) this scenario equals whatever Arcane spell(s) you are holding at least once a turn. With Kodama's Reach, this scenario is not unreasonable to maneuver into. Heck, sometimes it's Kodama's Reach you are repeatedly casting as you build up to Uber Death Cloud advantage.

Wear Away
Let's face it, if you want an artifact dead now, Oxidize is the better card, but this is an Arcane spell and therefore reusable in a sickening amount of ways in this deck. As a bonus, it can hit the enchantments that will crop up in decks from the introduction of Champions into the Standard scene. There haven't been good enchantments like these in at least a year. Well, unless you want to count Shared Fate. Anyway, expect to start seeing some enchantments in the new breed of decks.

Rend Flesh
This may not be such an unusual card choice, but I saw a lot of folks playing this in their sideboards. No freaking way! This thing is maindeck material for sure! Arc-Slogger...dead! Molder Slug...dead! Atog...dead! Dead I tell you! I don't lose life for killing it. I can kill it if it's black. Why would I not want this in my main deck?

Lightning sideboard discussion:

• Nezumi Shortfang is for control decks and the "mirror".
• Oxidize is for the the deck and Ironworks.
• Terror is for any deck that has monsters such as Big Red, Freshmaker, and SamuraiRUs.
• Cranial Extraction is for Tooth and Nail and the "mirror".

Now is time on Sprokets when have tournament report!

Would you like to touch my deck? Touch it! Touch my deck!

Moving on...

We had 57 competitors, so it would only be a six round tournament. A vote was taken and there would be no lunch break as only the few fat guys voted for it. Though they outweighed us, we outnumbered them so on to the games it was with no breaks.

Round 1: vs. Drew Smith (U/W Angel Control)
Drew had a nice deck that made good use of Sensei's Divining Top, but both games basically ended the same way. A turn 1 Hana Kami swung for early damage. The rest of the games revolved around me relentlessly trying to get the same Kokusho, the Evening Star into play. Eventually, a combined five Eternal Witness and 4 Soulless Revival spliced about a total of seven times or more later, and the legendary Dragon made it into play both games. With no Vedalken Shackles in play, the attack phase along with Death Cloud ended the games. The only differences between games was that I actually got to Rend Flesh an attacking Pristine Angel in game 1. Not the hardest fought match ever, as my opponent made several mistakes, but still a W. Still, this matchup felt in my favor the majority of the time. Nezumi Shortfang just never showed up in my hand to make it a breeze.

Match Record: 1-0 Game Record: 2-0

Round 2: vs. Brandon Odle (B/G "Mirror")
So, this match started off with a deck check chat session. Turns out Brandon is from a small town about 30 minutes away. Lucky guy...I live in a small state, yet still somehow have to drive for 5 hours to get to the competition site. All was going well, and then he got a game loss for marked sleeves. Oh well, on to game 2. I told him that we would play game 3 if he just "had to know".

Game 2 was all about five Kokusho, the Evening Star, with me having the extra odd copy. A Phyrexian Plaguelord showed up to join in the festivities. We played a quick third game that ended quickly thanks to a turn 6 Death Cloud after double Kodama's Reach and a Solemn Simulacrum had been thrown down. It was just too much of an advantage. At least Brandon felt better about his game loss.

Match Record: 2-0 Game Record: 4-0

Round 3: vs. Blake Giles, this year's undefeated Champion (Vial Affinity)
No suspense here! I got smashed! Well, I say that, but really it was a better match than what I give initial credit for. I needed to Rend Flesh a Disciple of the Vault and then Death Cloud to steal the first game, but never found the Rend Flesh, and we all know how much time you have to wait for cards to come to your hand in this matchup. The second game was all about my double mulligan...nothing much to say there, except that Affinity is so powerful that you can destroy someone even through bad playing. I should have been dead several turns before I was. I think Blake was nervous, but this round really settled him down. Hat's off to winning the title this year sir.

Blake was kind enough to play the third game with me so I could get in some more practice (yeah, I know...the tournament is not the place to practice, but you take what you can get). Naturally, when it didn't matter, I destroyed him. Oxidize, Eternal Witness, Wear Away, and Hana Kami was the early game, and Kami recursion with the Wear Away sealed the deal. That gave me a glimmer of hope in the Affinity matchup. At least I knew what I wanted to see in the future.

Match Record: 2-1 Game Record: 4-2/5-2 (depending on your point of view*)

Round 4: vs. Jerry Lewis (B/G "Mirror")
Great Balls of Fire! Yes...he's related! He's got the custom H2 to prove it. Nice burnt orange color to boot. Jerry did most of the work the first game, casting four Night's Whispers. Death Cloud was very effective this game with Kokusho in play swinging. That tends to be the killing blow with this deck, though it can be harder to setup in the mirror. Even so, it makes me like the new Legend Rule. I would have lost both mirrors if not for this rules change.

Game 2 got silly, as I was able to resolve Cranial Extraction every turn via Hana Kami recursion. Eventually, the only threat he had remaining was a lone Sakura Tribe-Elder that he actually drew the turn before I removed it. Thank God I had a Sad Robot to block it, or twenty turns later it would have killed me!

Side Note: Jerry is one of the more entertaining opponents to play around these parts, and no slouch of a player, having recently won a GP trial. I hope to face off against him more in the future.

Match Record: 3-1 Game Record: 7-2

Round 5: Geoff Jeffreys (R/G Freshmaker)
Hana Kami recursion in conjunction with Eternal Witness allowed me to Rend Flesh each and every critter he played. I hear using the same spell to take out two Arc-Slogger, and a Molder Slug plus their minions is good stuff. I ended this game at 17 life finishing him off with, you guessed it...Kokusho.

If I thought game 1 was a beating, then game 2 was simply ridiculous, now having 4 Terror to add to the answers (Bye bye Wear Away). I ended this one at 16 life, having slaughtered anything that had a power and toughness. This is by far the best matchup for this deck. Just be careful with Death Cloud. After all, they are running burn, and it's their only chance versus you, well...that and an unanswered Arc-Slogger. Your hand better be rifreakingdiculous if you don't see a Rend Flesh or Terror in the opener. Otherwise, be a good player and take the mulligan, like I did in game 2. It will be the better choice. I promise.

Match Record: 4-1 Game Record: 9-2

Round 6: vs. Jackson Price, 2003 defending MS State Champion (Speed Affinity)
I could probably have drawn in, but it was not a certainty so we shuffled up. All I can say is,..

"Affinity God Mode Online!"

I did one point to him in 2 games. Of the different designs of Affinity, this is by far the one you need a full hand of 7 cards and not the 6 I played game 1 with. Game 2 was also a beating. My scratch pad shows 20 7 0. I should have thrown back and hoped for a good 6 card hand, but I just couldn't do it after the last drumming. Bad, bad choice.

I shook Jackson's hand and knew that I should be out at this point, unless everything fell into place. I mean, my only losses came to players that collectively had 1 match loss at the end of this round and my other opponents all finished with winning records, so it could happen. It could...

Match Record: 4-2 Game Record: 9-4

As the Top 8 were announced it was 5 Affinity decks, 1 KCI deck, 1 R/W Sligh/Weenie deck, and BAM! 1 Kamikaze deck! Go tiebreakers! With almost 10 players at 12 points, I slid in as the only 4-2 player. Destined to play Affinity, everyone cheered me on, hoping to finally pull the upset.

Quarter-Finals: vs. Blake Giles, this year's undefeated Champion (Vial Affinity still)
Well, we both know how this story ends, but what a fight I tried to put up. I was closer to locking him out game 1 with recursion than he will ever know (unless he reads this I guess), and I probably would have if it hadn't been for the second Disciple of the Vault.

Game 2 I made a mistake by Rend Fleshing an Atog during his EOT instead of letting him attack for lethal. It was a bad play, pure and simple. Chances are he would have gone for it, as I already had 3 Rend Flesh in the graveyard. I later resolved Death Cloud with a significant mana advantage; however, while I followed the next five turns with land draws, when all I needed was to rip one threat, Blake showed what a true Champion does and got just enough land to drop back to back Myr Retrievers and then Arcbound Ravager having Cranial Plating in his graveyard. What can you do? He owned me all day long with the good deck, staying ahead the entire time. Still, it would have been nice to beat Affinity at least once.

Match Record: 4-3 Game Record: 9-6

8^th place, some cards, a playmate, and a cool new deck to me. You may pat me on the back now.

By no means do I think this deck has the percentages in the Affinity matchup I'd like to have, but not many, if any decks currently can claim this. You can steal the Affinity matchup with a good draw though, even if there hand is good (not insane, good). This deck does however, have some great plays against the remainder of the field. The sideboard is strong, and I used every card it contained effectively, or at least would have if the Nezumi Shortfang would have ever come my way.

Regardless, now with some real tournament experience under my belt, I would make the following main deck changes:

-1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
-1 Death Cloud
+1 Wear Away
+1 Soulless Revival

I'll take the beats out to get the recursion going easier. Anytime I got it going, I won and that's all there is to it. The recursion is hard to disrupt and when it is, it is easy enough to get going again.

Who knows, I may have actually made a States deck that I will continue to play for months to come. It is certainly worth further investigation. I will be keeping a watchful eye open on future Arcane spells, that's for sure!

Banzai!

John H. Klauk
Klaukwork Wizard on MtGO

End Rant: Did I see that correctly? Did Mark Rosewater say that Buyback was a mechanic that they would one day bring back? O' good lord, let's hope not!

"Wreck you with buyback?**" was not my favorite thing to hear in Tempest block Limited. Well, not unless I was the one saying it. But still, whenever they do reinsert this mechanic, I hope they put more answers for it in the block because they're certainly weren't quite enough last time!

* We all know what Obi-Wan has to say about points of view, and I am of the Obi-Wan school of thought.

** Not 100% certain, but pretty sure this is Sceadeau Di'Tela ^tm. At least that's where I first heard it...over and over and over...