Welcome to the next installment of A Deck a Day, the column where we rustle up a deck for you casual players. Many of my regular readers probably know that I’m on the Five Color Ruling Committee (or Council, I can never remember which, and I always see it abbreviated 5CRC, so I don’t even know). What many of you may not recall is that I also sit on the Peasant Magic ruling body as well. Although I recently had a Peasant Magic article published in Scrye, I haven’t written here about Peasant Magic for a while. Let’s change that today.
Every set is legal in Peasant Magic (Pez), and that includes Unhinged. There are several powerful Unhinged cards that we can take advantage of in creating an interesting Pez deck. Remember, in Pez, you can only play with up to 5 uncommons. The rest of the deck must consist of commons only.
Blew Skies
4 Carnivorous Death-Parrot
3 Cheatyface (Uncommon)
2 Waterspout Djinn (Uncommon)
4 Waterfront Bouncer
4 Manta Riders
4 Cloud Sprite
4 Cloud Spirit
4 Unstable Mutation
4 Spiketail Hatchling
3 Counterspell
4 Daze
20 Islands
The basic concept of this deck is rather simple. Play fast Blue flyers, stop anything that keeps you from swinging for game, win. You have a limited amount of cards that stop your opponent, so you use them only for the important stuff.
My favorite Cheatyface trick is to tap three mana, put Cheatyface directly into play, start a conversation, wait a bit, and then use the three mana for something, like a Cloud Spirit. This may not be in spirit for tournaments, so watch that sort of play there. Be perfectly honest if asked.
“What are you doing?”
“Sneaking Cheatyface into play.”
If you use the right sarcastic, nonchalant tone, they’ll likely think you’re joking and move on. I can regularly sneak the Efreet of Trickery into play without worrying about being caught, but if your mileage varies, pull them for another Waterspout Djinn and grab a pair of Foils or something for the deck.
This deck is difficult to expand, but the choice of cards used can be quite different depending on the circumstances. Man-o’-war can be an effective bounce spell that also doubles as a road block. Maybe you prefer having a few shadow creatures as well, and thus you play a Thalakos card or two. Curiosity might be a solid uncommon to use in lieu of Cheatyface to help you continue the pressure.
Otherwise, just play out your flyers and beat with them. Always play a Spiketail Hatchling second if you have one, even over a more powerful Death-parrot. It’s worth it, trust me. Otherwise, play the biggest creature you can every turn, Unstable Mutation something that flies, bounce annoying flyers, never play more than four lands, and keep the pressure coming.
That’s the quick and dirty of the deck. Remember that if you play it against non-Pez foes, you have to expect cards like Wrath of God to appear. You’ll need to prepare for that eventuality by keeping a nice reserve.
If you like your games to end in a win or a loss quickly, then this is the deck for you. Good luck with it!
Until Later,
Abe Sargent