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U/G Madness Invades Vintage: Petroleum Distillate-Induced Survival Madness
By Alec Buscemi
02/18/2003
I played a Type One tournament using Keeper and lost in the semi-finals to Al Levy's Survival-Madness. I call it Petroleum Distillate-Induced Survival Madness.
Petroleum Distillate-Induced Survival Madness
Type 1 PDIS Madness
Creatures (18)
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
1 Quirion Ranger
2 Merfolk Looter
1 Wonder
1 Anger
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
Spells (18)
4 Fiery Temper
4 Circular Logic
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Frantic Search
1 Time Walk
4 Survival of the Fittest
2 Living Wish
1 Regrowth
Artifacts (3)
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
Land (21)
1 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Forest
2 Mountain
3 Taiga
4 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
TOTAL = 60
Sideboard (15):
1 Whirling Dervish (PsychaGrow, black, combos with Ranger, Genesis)
2 Elvish Lyrist (The Abyss, Arcane Laboratory, Worship, Oath of Druids, Story Circle)
1 Genesis (Not needed main deck, but it's great with other sideboard cards)
1 Gigapede (Good against creature rushes and quick damage decks)
1 Gorilla Shaman (Anti-Stacker, Parfait)
1 Nantuko Tracer (graveyard recursion)
1 Ravenous"Mookie" Baloth (Sligh, Suicide Black)
1 Uktabi Orangutan (Stacker, TNT, Tormod's Crypt, Parfait, Nevinyrral's Disk)
1 Yavimaya Elder (Oath, black, blue)
1 Rootwater Thief (combo, TurboLand)
2 Dwarven Miner (Combo, keeper, Oath)
1 Sylvan Safekeeper (The Abyss, red, Opposition, Parfait)
1 Tradewind Rider (Oath, PsychaGrow, Parfait)
This deck has both explosive in-your-face speed and rebound-from-sure-death-to-win flexibility. The listing is not the same as it was in a Type 1 tournament held two weeks ago, but the essence is the same. The sideboard, though, is very different, realigned with Nanka and Looee tech.
Against most control decks, the Squee-Survival engine kills. Five mana at end of turn and no cards in play with one Survival out and a Squee in hand means that three 1/1 lizards and an arrogant annelid are attacking next turn, probably for nine and with no card loss from the hand. Matched up against speed decks, the cheap accessible fat keeps up with Phyrexian Negator (or Nantuko Shade or Ball Lightning or Jackal Pup), except that it can be cast at instant speed.
Against black discard, Madness takes over. The second match, is given to the PDIS madness, for the pro-black horsepower is hard to deny, and Engineered Plague can't cover all of the different kinds of threats. Perish doesn't stop the Mongrels, and Genesis + Whirling Dervish = game.
PDIS Madness has quick access to the Ravenous Baloth for red and green matchups. If combined with Genesis, the effects are amazing. It races red in the first game, so it's 50/50; Red wins mostly by virtue of Price of Progress. The Safekeeper and the Baloth and the Genesis are subbed for Wonder, Looter, and Frantic Search to help even things out. Generally, red has to slow down and needs Tormod's Crypt to handle this recursion. Living Wish is kept in the deck post-side to ensure that Baloth is returned to the game from an-untimely Tormod's Crypt.
Against Stacker, help is needed. The Yavimaya Elder can be a lifesaver, as it gets the non-basic lands needed to operate under a Blood Moon. The Mox monkey, Gorilla Shaman, must be used in such a way as to clear the board. The Uktabi Orangutan must be kept for Mishra's Helix and Phyrexian Colossus.
Against BBS, the mana curve is in the PDIS Madness deck's favor. The Quirion Ranger combined with a Merfolk Looter win games very quickly. Add Whirling Dervish and the Elvish Lyrist. Remove the Arrogant Wurms from the main deck, and siding out the Living Wish is a good idea as"removal from game" effects are not anticipated.
Land destruction must first deal with cheap powerful creatures, or with Quirion Ranger.
TNT-on-PDIS matches are easily won by PDIS, with access to Genesis and Baloth - and with each PDIS Madness blocker, from the Rootwalla to the Mongrel to a Looter discarding Fiery Temper, is able to kill Juggernaut. Arrogant Wurms come out much faster than the ArtiPhat of Su-Chi. The combo of Genesis and Sex Monkeys rule.
Keeper must get into Tormod's Crypt, the Abyss, the Moat and Plow. Unlike TNT, PDIS MADNESS need not fear Balance or any discard. Madness can be paid after Balance resolves. The Abyss ain't so bad with Genesis and Anger, and Wonder is anti-Moat. Keeper also needs to side in some enchantment hate to keep the Survival engine off of the table.
PDIS Madness can compete against everything but Oath of Druids and Parfait in the first game. A change of strategies is required in the second game, wherein the PDIS Madness player must try various means of keeping many cards in hand but not waiting for the opponent to have control of the board. All at once, the PDIS Madness player must then try to explode for lethal damage or end up with a Survival in play. When Oath or Moat hits play, the Lyrist must be active; that means killing Tormod's Crypt before discarding Anger or Wonder.
Some quip about the silly pizza delivery guy or the Chinese fortune cookie message that came with the Chinese food or the bum on the bus ride to the Magic store or yesterday's confrontation with my sexuality is usually required at this point, but I have none to offer.
Looee
