That is precisely what playtesting has felt like the past two weeks, 'prying' being the operative word. No Arabian words of command to the rescue this time, I'm afraid. Day after day over the winter respite, the screen stared back through me, numbing my resolution.
Many a time did indecision come a-rattling its chains, moaning of this or that percentage, mana denial, unfavorable matchups. Many a time did I stare into that abyss of hated indecision, wasting away precious time. But, even indecision pales before my resolution, eventually.
"I am as constant as the Northern star."
Red, black, and a splash of artifice; that would be just delightful for my game play. Thus, was developed many a decklist to whom no reliable results were forthcoming.
The Twenty-To-The-Head philosophy brought me down a lane that was brutal, but stalled against such luminaries as and Circle of Protection. Thus was my attention diverted to one of my favorite old-school realms - that of land destruction.
The land destruction environment right now is rich... oh, it is rich. Sample this list, if you will:
Stone Rain
Pillage
Bend or Break
Seismic Mage
Pain/Suffering
Tectonic Break
Blight
Rain of Tears
Despoil
Trench Wurm
Merely a taste, dear reader, merely a taste. Never have a beheld such a lovely variety...a smorgasbord, if you will, a plethora of mass destruction.
Lament that list, dear reader, for we are plagued by the hated and overused powers of , and the most distasteful . Which brings to focus a combination of damage-dealing green tokens that can end a game rather abruptly; and . Disgusting. Truly disgusting.
But such is life and Magic: the Gathering. was overcome, and so will this be.
Now, returning to my discussion, land destruction was a most enjoyable strategy and provided some truly memorable moments. Imagine, if you will, sitting across from a beleaguered soul bereft of land, holding as many cards as his fingers will allow with not a scrap of mana about to play any of them. Delicious.
Alas, Fires.dec (a la the illustrious and most celebrated Jon Finkel) was kicking around land destruction roughly sixty-percent of the time. Well, certainly not the worst results that have ever been posted by a 'rogue' collection of cardboard, but hardly worth 'trying out' at the next tourney event, especially at fifteen to twenty US dollars.
So we return to the heart of red and black mixed strategy. Wizards of the Coast, in their wisdom, have most generously posted the listings of all winning decklists from State Championships around the country, as well as the results of many decks at Pro-Tour: Chicago.
Chicago provided little to nothing not already provided via State Championships as far as red/black strategy goes, having posted only a single decklist. Thus it was States that would provide the most options.
The first step, as they say, is always the hardest. Or most lengthy, in this case. Each decklist was copied and brought over to a standardized list format in Microsoft Word, where card choices were carefully scrutinized and compared for symmetry. There's that word, again.
I digress. After tallies were finished, there was but a single card that every single winning State Championships decklist shared, with regards to the six red/black decks examined: .
To call amazing would be an understatement in the degree that dubbing the Manhattan subway system 'interesting.' In the right situation, the spell is everything. In every other situation, the spell is morphine for a wooden leg.
It does the impossible; it denies counter-magic, making it quite possibly one of the greatest spells ever printed. Think about it for a moment, if you will...you cannot counter this spell. At all. Ever. Under any circumstance. Take it.
And, suppose you could pay the Kicker cost...what then? It cannot be countered. It cannot be prevented. It barrels through your opponent's well-laid plans and devastates their backside. It single-handedly eliminates seventy to eighty percent of the headaches that red mages everywhere have lamented since 1994.
Thus, was I most pleased to see that one of my favorite cards of all time not only made the cut, but also surpassed all others to achieve the coveted 'cement slot.' To explain, the 'cement slot' is a fixed figure; in this case, four copies of are to be included, and cannot be altered for any reason short of altering the focus of the deck.
Sadly, no other card currently legal made the 'cement slot.' Tallies indicated strong showings for , , , , and . A good, solid foundation to work with. I was particularly pleased to see and make the cut, as I have grown somewhat fond of these. Doesn't the Specter remind you of a Nazgul?
All of these choices were strong at showings of four copies each used. That is to say that the majority of players who used the above cards used them over hundreds of other choices and used four copies as a standard as well.
Blazing Specter showed up in no less than five out of the six decks examined, and held at four copies for all but one decklist, indicating another strong card to compliment the Rage.
Dark Ritual was another spell showing up often; four out of six times, unanimously running four copies. Thus, those mages who chose to use the power of a twilit night unanimously agreed that four copies should be a given. Another powerful card. Excellent.
Seal of Fire, and showed up in only fifty-percent of the decks examined, indicating an even division of opinion over the cards. The Idol, on the one hand, showed strong, unanimously agreed upon for four copies in those decks choosing to run them. and showed equal consistency, carrying three copies in two out of three decks.
Thus, we have our 'four-of' club. I prefer, always, to carry a deck that runs only 'four-ofs,' as I consider anything less than four copies random and randomness breeds chaos, which is not often good in a game. However, instead of ///Etc.'s random-retrieval, we are running s, which fetch a specific card at a given time. This should eliminate some of the randomness and allow more of a 'silver bullet' approach.
In the 'three of' slots, we find a pair of world-altering cards: and . While the Wumpus showed up in only fifty-percent of the decks examined, showed itself in no less than five, indicating a very strong card. The only disagreement was over the Wumpus amount, which averaged out to three copies, as three decks ran three copies with the remaining two each running four.
The Wumpus was a closer race, relatively, with two decks running three copies and one decking running a single Wumpus. It must be further mentioned that the deck running a single Wumpus ran only a single copy of nearly every 'business' card, indicating a strong belief in the 'silver bullet' theory. This theory, while perhaps valid, held for only a single deck among the six. Something to consider, at least.
Down in the 'two-ofs' we find and the fearful elemental . Both have I tested extensively and found to be incredible cards, well balanced and powerful. However, I tend to agree that they are fairly mid- to late-game answers, and would perhaps do well being 'tutored' for. Testing will tell.
Statistically the Zombie was a clear split, having been run in three decks, with each deck running a separate amount: One, two and three copies, respectively. To shore up any random slots, we will be going with two copies. This may change with testing.
Skizzik was a bit clearer, although barely. The elemental showed its...um, face...in no less than four decks, two of which ran two copies, one three and one four. Personal experience favors three to four; however, we will court the conservative here for now, and go with the statistics.
Finally, there are a pair of cards in the completely random, only-tutored-for-never-drawn 'one of' slots; and . Both of which can be amazing in the right situation, or dead weight in the wrong one. Thusly, 'one-of' doesn't seem such a terrible option given the nature of the cards and the presence of Tutors.
Statistically, opinions were two-to-three in favor of a single , with a single player running two copies. The Hammer, in the oppositions' corner, carried two players with a single copy and a third player running no less than four copies. Obviously a proponent of long, slow beatdown. We'll favor the statistics without much argument here, as I prefer to cave in my opponents' life total as fast as possible, with no preamble or pomp.
Thus, our composite has taken the following shape:
4x
4x
4x
4x
4x
4x
3x
3x
2x
2x
1x
1x
Voila! Red-black beatdown with a splash of artifice.
"Now, I'm happy...you arrest 'em, and I'll...I'll just stand over here being happy..."
If the random feel of the deck gives you pause, fair reader, I implore you to read no further, for the mana-mix is even more terrifying. No less than twenty-four lands are being included in this listing, an amount I have personally never ran in my life, especially not with and present. Alas, testing will tell.
Tallies from the winning decklists' land-count were like sifting through a maintenance hatch on some spherical, moon-sized battlestation. To a competitor used to running twenty or twenty-two land, at the most, imagine my horror at seeing a twenty-six and twenty-eight land mix! Gasp! Nearly half the deck taken up by real estate! Oh, the horror...
"Turn three; tap Elf, Bird, two forests, lay . You're go. My Turn Three; three lands in hand, two on the table and topdeck reveals... Land. *Sigh*"
Needless to say, those fellows were obviously on to something of their own with a land-count that high. Something I shall not endeavor to follow, hopefully ever.
Thankfully, statistics saved us from the fate of a bad real estate agent, posting strong showings both at the twenty-three and twenty-four land-counts. Although I would have preferred going with the less liberal twenty-three, conservatism again ruled out with a twenty-four count, which, again, may be altered after testing.
The specific breakdown rounded out to about eleven basic lands; five Mountains and six Swamps, showing favoritism for black. Judging by the power of Ritual and , this makes perfect sense. You will want that first-turn Swamp to compliment a Tutor, dropping a Mountain on turn two to Ritual out Nazgul and start attrition warfare.
In the 'four-of' slots, no surprise, and all make strong showings, being ran as a 'four-of' accompaniment in no less than five out of six decks. showed up weaker, being ran in only four out of six, but also unanimously agreed-upon as a 'four of.'
A lone won out statistically, in the end, and provided the twenty-fourth land, both explaining and complimenting such a high land-count. This, I can hardly wait to test against Mr. Finkel's Fires.dec...
Thus, our final listing comprises as follows:
4x
4x
4x
4x
4x
4x
3x
3x
2x
2x
1x
1x
6x Swamp
5x Mountain
4x
4x
4x
1x
The mana-curve, as you'll likely notice, places six at the five casting-cost slots, four at the four casting-cost slots, eleven at the three casting-cost slots, twelve at the one-casting cost slots and one at the open-ended casting cost slot, indicating a strong pyramid of development. The eight red-and-black mana lands should help eliminate the majority of Mulligans waiting in line to disrupt game play, with the s hopping about, willing to introduce Mulligan to your opponent.
A balanced deck? Let's hope. Next time, results and musings.
Until then,
The Bruce
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