I was doing my daily surfing on the net, going through the different Magic sites I like, when I passed through Starcity.com and saw an article named"Type One Sucks." Being a Type 1 player myself, I couldn't let pass such a poorly-titled article, since it was very revealing as to why Type 1 isn't popular. Yes, it's true that it isn't actually sponsored anymore, unless it's the Invitational, and most players seem to think that Type 1 is all about the Power Nine and first-turn kills. Nothing could be more wrong.

Unfortunately, most ignorant people — I'm not saying they're bad, just Ignorant — are lead to think that Type 1 is a power format with no interaction, filled with the most powerful cards, decks, and fast kills. This is simply NOT TRUE! What it happens is that most players who played Type 1 before and left a while back only remember the times when some extremely powerful cards were unrestricted — cards like Black Vise, Channel, and a few others... What they don't know is that it Type 1 is very similar to other formats as well: it has its own power cards and has a different metagame, and probably one of the most diverse metagames I've ever seen up until now.

But since this is a reply to Matt Smith's article, I think the best way to point what I've been saying is to quote him:

"The format is too costly, and the decks are all the same. We can tell Type One players how to make a deck: Throw together the power nine, all the restricted cards and some Counterspells — voila! Who bothers to learn deck names?"

This is not true; I've managed to play against several good Type 1 players with both casual and competitive decks, and my White Weenie managed to give them a run for their money. Most Type 1 decks can be suboptimized for those with no Power Nine and less money. The decktypes are there; people just need to give themselves to the trouble of finding them out. Other decktypes such as Parfait (mono-white control), Counter-Oath, Burn, Pox, and others, are available to all and can be easily made with no Power 9, unlike what Matt seems to be saying. (He was saying the opposite, as he goes off about today, but this brings up some good points about T1 anyhow – The Ferrett) And they're all equally playable and competitive versus any other decktype.

As for matters of cost, which format is more expensive? Type 1 or Standard?

Do you think it's type 1? Wrong! Because if you restrict yourself to

Standard, you'll be buying and trading for new cards and spending money for new sets. The fast set rotation of Standard makes this happen, since you have to keep buying new cards to allow yourself to keep playing Standard.

In Type 1 this doesn't happen — so if you're going for it seriously, you don't need to worry about buying power cards, and if you do, take your time. In the long run, Standard is a LOT more expensive than type 1 is (and it doesn't take too much time playing Type 2 to figure this out).

"Every deck in Type One is Power Nine, anyway."

Once again, this is not true, since many decks can be played without the Power 9. The Power 9 do give you an edge, yes, but they won't mean victory. My WW deck packed Null Rods main, and playing them meant that six out of the power nine (the five moxen and the Black Lotus) would be rendered inefficient. Gorilla Shaman, Karn, Silver Golem, Powder Keg, Aura of Silence can all even up the game! All of this means that the Power 9 are overrated by players who don't know type 1. None of the Power 9 wins games by themselves, and many competitive decks can be made without them.

"So what if after every new set comes out — how can they possibly impact Type One? It's not like any of the new cards printed are going to make a difference."

Since you ask for cards in recent sets that have made an impact on type 1, I'll show them all to you:

Invasion: Fact or Fiction - this is a tremendously good card in Type 1.
Planeshift: Orim's Chant has seen play, and the same applies to Hull Breach.
Apocalypse: Probably the best set in the Invasion Block (but that's my opinion), and the one that most cards will bring to Type 1. Based on the available spoiler, here's the cards that are decent enough for type 1:

Spectral Lynx
Penumbra Wurm (my Sneak Attack deck manages to make use of these... And yes, Sneak Attack manages to work fine in type 1)
Opposing-color pain lands
Pernicious Deed
Spiritmonger
Vindicate
Gerrard's Verdict

...

Sure that when a new set comes it doesn't use as many cards as formats as Standard may use, but it can still pick the best there are for them. I can assure you there hasn't been a single set that hasn't brought type 1 at least ONE breakthrough card, even in Masques Block, we have Nether Spirit, Ivory Mask, Blastoderm, Abolish, and Chimeric Idol, which manage to make good examples that there are always good Type 1 cards in ALL sets.

Unfortunately, it's these kind of articles that scare away players from Type 1, since they think that type 1 has no interaction and is all about $2000 decks and early kills. Nothing could be further from the truth. Players who think that are following a stereotype without thinking about something first. They are judging without even playing the format.

"Look at the deck lists and you'll see (If you can find any)."

There aren't many MtG sites that have an accurate insight on type 1, but if you do want a serious type 1 site then I'd advise to all who are interested in checking Beyond Dominia at www.bdominia.com. (As would I – it's a great site, and I just wish I had more free time to troll the mills – The Ferrett)

Everything that I've said here can be checked there, and all players will be most glad in helping you introducing yourselves in the extremely diverse environment that Ttype 1 actually is.

I hope this brought some enlightenment to most of you about the real Type 1.

Pedro Godinho, a.k.a."White Knight" on Beyond Dominia.