Ah, Nationals have come and gone for most Magic Players. Congratulations to all of the winners – and I hope that all of you represent your countries well at Worlds! The time of Type Two has also passed us by, and now it is time for Pro Tour Chicago qualifiers! With a renewed interest in Magic, and more money pumped into the Tour itself, Magic has never been better for the serious tournament player. However, with the recent bannings in mind MBC is a fresh and almost unexplored format, with possibilities yet to be considered. Let us look at three decklists, the changes that are made after Prophecy (and the bannings), and the chances that they have in the qualifiers.
Rising Waters. (Control Deck of MBC)
This is the archetype that won Pro Tour New York. Most people expect that Waters can not win without Rishadan Port, but it is a very strong deck with out the card. The decklist below is an example of one that was played at PT:NY before Prophecy.
4x Counterspell
2x Daze
4x Eye of Ramos
4x Gush
4x Thwart
18x Island
As you can see, Prophecy can bring many new cards for this mana-intensive deck. Rishadan Port is out. Four more islands could not hurt in its place, right? Drake Hatchling is a three-mana casting cost creature that can stand to be replaced. Two creatures out of Prophecy immediately spring to mind: Chimeric Idol (I know it really isn’t a creature), and Ribbon Snake. Both cost three mana to cast. Both have a form of evasion (the Idol really isn’t a creature, and the Snake has "Rhystic" flying). However, I would play with the Chimeric Idol. If you activate it while any of the Prophecy "punishment" (Citadel of Pain) cards are in play, you really don’t have to face the consequences. So far the creature base of my Waters deck looks like this:
Four Rising Waters and four Seal of Removals are standard. They should be in just about every Waters deck. The counter base of the deck got stronger when Prophecy was released. Foil and Rethink are both options for this deck, but Foil should see more play time than Rethink on account of Foil’s Alternate Play Cost. You discard an island and a card and you counter a spell for free. The last time any counterspell like this was released was Force of Will, and the Force changed the environment during those days. My spell base now looks like this:
4x Eye of Ramos
4x Gush
4x Counterspell
4x Thwart
2x Foil
The biggest obstacle that this deck has to face is the loss of Rishadan Port. When this card hit play, basically your opponent never had another untapped land, sort of creating a "soft" lock down. It could be broken out of, but it was very frustrating to do so. Prophecy offers no new exciting lands for this deck. Wintermoon Mesa, however is a card that could see some play. Otherwise worthless, this card can help you set your opponent up for the Waters slowdown. The Mesa needs some serious consideration in this deck
20x Islands
My sixty card Rising Waters deck now looks like this:
4x Eye of Ramos
4x Gush
4x Counterspell
4x Thwart
2x Foil
20x Islands
The sideboard should include Foils, Withdraws, Hoodwinks, Misdirection, and whatever else you need to keep up with your local metagame. Remember this, it is you that plays the deck – only you can make it win, and not the advice of some random guy online! If you have something better and you believe that it is, play it. And then send me your tech at [email protected]!!!
I hope that you enjoy my modifications to the deck that so many people have played. Waters by no means is a dead deck and should see considerable play time. I hope to see many of you during the Qualifiers for PT:Chicago. If there are any Minnesota Magic players, get a hold of me, I am planning on moving north and would love to meet and play some of you.
Join me next week for an update on the Death Pit Offering deck (My choice for combo in MBC). Enjoy!
D-lo on Mirc
www.geocities.com/teampikapuff