Greetings, fellow multiplayer denizens! I would tell you my Magic autobiography - but I know no one cares, so I'll cut right to the chase.
When I saw the Ferrett giving away money for a good multiplayer combo, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I mean, multiplayer is just about the only form of paper Magic that I play anymore - so it's easy, right?
Well, it depends on what you consider a combo deck.
Back when I first started playing, what are now generally referred to as "Prison" decks were considered combos just as much as Pros-Bloom was. So, gentle reader, I will attempt to give you that early-combo flavor to try and stand out in this contest for $20 that The Ferrett is generously giving away.
The first flavor, and my pet deck, is centered around a rather obscure card that can abuse a rather obscure block mechanic. That card is Equipoise.
I'll wait for you to look that card up.
...Back yet?
All right - you are probably wondering, "How can one possibly abuse a card like that?" Well, it was right there on magicthegathering.com yesterday...
502.15b During each player's untap step, before the active player untaps his or her permanents, all permanents with phasing the player controls phase out. Simultaneously, all objects that had phased out under that player's control phase in. (See rule 217.8, "Phased-Out," and rule 302.1.)
502.15c If an effect causes a player to skip his or her untap step, the phasing event simply doesn't occur that turn.
So all we have to do to have total board domination is to remove that pesky untap step from the equation. There are, sadly, only two cards in Magic that remove the untap step entirely: Stasis and Sands of Time. I chose Sands of Time because it doesn't require an upkeep payment. (And, to be honest, because I didn't want to feel like a dirty Stasis player. Stasis is not a very popular multiplayer card.) Also, Sands requires no upkeep cost and can be dropped the turn after Equipoise.
Next, we need ways to find our combo:
4 Enlightened Tutor
2 Academy Rector
Academy Rector also doubles as a good blocker because many are loathe to kill it and give you a pick of any enchantment in your deck (and who plays this in a non-combo deck?).
Next, we need ways to dig the combo out of our deck and draw more cards. Personally, I always like using Howling Mine in multiplayer because of its positive political effects within my group. For card quality, I have grown quite fond of Sensei's Divining Top.
The Deck So Far...
The Lock
4 Equipoise
4 Sands of Time
Search/Drawing
4 Enlightened Tutor
2 Academy Rector
4 Howling Mine
2 Sensei's Divining Top
With at least twenty lands needed, this gives us another twenty slots to play with. We need a way to stave off assaults while we set up our combo. White decks have traditionally done this in two ways: blocking and life gaining. Wall of Hope, a Legions common, does both of these for us - and all for the bargain basement price of W! Another great stall tactic and great protection device if you have one piece of the combo out but not the other is Peace Talks.
Go ahead, read that one too... My article will still be here while you wait.
We also need a way to make sure that no one does anything we don't approve of during the lock - and my favorite way to do that is to make sure that no one has anything to work with, which entails decimating your own side of the board to spite everyone else. And there is no card better at cutting off your nose with Claws to spite your face than Claws of Gix.
Finally, we need a way to win that is relatively safe for us, does not give our opponents much of a chance to retaliate (i.e., no creatures). This leaves us with enchantments and artifacts to find a kill card with all those cards piling up in your opponents' hands. The combination of Black Vise and Miser's Cage work perfectly towards you winning. In case our opponents start getting any funny ideas with Honden of Infinite Rage (like my brother did last week), or any other damage/removal (like Aura Fracture) that could escape our lock components, Seal of Cleansing is a nice early drop that avoids Equipoise and deals with things we can't.
In review, the deck is:
18 and Life to Go v1.0
The Lock
4 Equipoise
4 Sands of Time
Search/Drawing
4 Enlightened Tutor
2 Academy Rector
4 Howling Mine
2 Sensei's Divining Top
Defense
4 Peace Talks
4 Wall of Hope
4 Seal of Cleansing
3 Claws of Gix
1 Zuran Orb
Kill
1 Black Vise
2 Misers' Cage
Lands
4 Windswept Heath
4 Flooded Strand
12 Plains
For a name, I turned to one of my favorite genres: 80s Rock.
Now a few words on playing the deck: for the first few turns, you want to maintain a low profile, playing out your walls, Seals, and cheap stuff. Howling Mines are good for getting people off your case for a while. Don't drop Black Vise first turn, as tempting as that may be: it's only going to arouse ire from the rest of the table.
Sensei's Divining Top has very positive interactions with Enlightened Tutor and the fetchlands. You want to drop Equipoise first (ideally under Peace Talks protection) because it will phase everything out and then the Sands will come and keep everything out. Peace Talks is also great at protecting you until you have the chance to phase everyone's stuff out of existence, and staving off vicious Hundroog beats. (Hundroog? Now that's old-school! - The Ferrett)
Hate mail, comments, discussion, and so forth is always welcomed
Xenophanes@SPAMTHISTODIEcoolgoose.com
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