The Control Player’s Bible, Book I (The Fundamentals of 5-Color Control)
Table of Contents for Book I
The Control Player’s Bible, Book II (“The Deck” v. Aggro)
Part XVI: Why Control Sucks
Part XVI: The Inquest Idiocy Quiz
Part XVIII: Head to Head: Sligh
Part XIX: Head to Head: Stacker 2
Part XX: Head to Head: Stompy
Part XXI: Head to Head: Zoo
Part XXII: Head to Head: The Funker
Part XXIII: Head to Head: German Tools ‘n’ Tubbies (TnT)
Part XXIV: Head to Head: White Weenie
Part XXV: Deck Deconstruction:”The Deck” v. Aggro
Part XXVI: Deck Deconstruction: Aggro v.”The Deck”
Part XXVII: Sleazy”The Deck” Sideboarding v. Aggro
Channel op Chris Flaaten, a.k.a. CF, sent in this log about #bdchat on EFNet’s latest IRC denizen. (Oh, and Chris also sent this little tidbit for people who enjoy making proxy cards: The Demonic Milkman.)
<PatJank> hello, my name is patrick and i am new to the online t1 community, I was refered to this channel for discussion on both the type 1 enviroment and for suggestions on next years type 1 world championships, which i will hopefully be in charge of…
<MattTG> is your last name chapin?
<CrazyLich> chapin doesn’t have a computer does he? 🙁
<PatJank> lol
<PatJank> yes i am he
<PatJank> i didnt until i got this job at wotc
<CF> PatJank: so that means we have to be serious? uh oh 😉
<PsychoCid> ph33r wotc jobs
<PatJank> r&d
<PsychoCid> WotC jobs cause people to um…deteriorate
<PsychoCid> randy sucks now :/
<PatJank> lol
<PsychoCid> I used to like him
<PsychoCid> =P
<PatJank> i still like him 🙂
<PatJank> he is my boss
Incidentally, the log and attached e-mail address was authenticated by Eric“Danger” Taylor and Randy Buehler..
R&D’s latest employee will also be personally rooting for the promised official Type I tournament. Randy e-mailed,”I’m sure he will be an advocate for Type 1 causes, and you guys do have reason to be happy he’s coming here.” Hopefully, the people who live near the venue will bring good decks and play skills, and give those of us on other ends of the Pacific and Atlantic a good show.
Pat himself e-mailed,”Look for Chapin Grow 2003….. May actually be the
best deck ever… hehe. Still trying to find bad match-ups, any suggestions? So far we have covered dragon, academy, keeper, oath, mono-u, dreadnaught, old grow, suicide black, sligh, black disruption, Enchantress, TnT, and Parfait. I am eager to hear other suggestions. Chapin Grow 2003 includes meddling mage and plow, among other changes….”
(I called his deck”Chapin Grow” but past editorial changes spelled it”Gro.” There you have it, Ferrett.. The man saw it and wants it spelled”Grow.”)
(That’s as may be, and I’ll keep it as such because it’s his… But he’s wrong. Alan Comer, the creator of the deck, called his original creation”Miracle Gro,” after the fertilizer, and then later”SuperGro.” Chapin can name it what he wants because it’s his deck, and I’ll respect that… But in doing so, he’s completely missed the point. – The Ferrett, who has corrected Oscar’s legitimately incorrect version of Miracle GroW approximately five trillion times; Oscar’s brilliant, but has never changed a single misspelling of his despite the sledgehammer of editorial correction)
Wanting to goof around with a blue aggro-control with Voidmage Prodigy and maybe Meddling Mage, I can say that the Brainstorm/fetch land combo works well there, and in Grow as well. Just don’t let Rosewater hear about Chapin Grow 2003…
Reviving the Abyss/Juggernaut deck
David Price, Teletubbies, 2000 Sydney Invitational
Creatures (9)
4 Juggernaut
4 Su-Chi
1 Karn, Silver Golem
Disruption (12)
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Duress
Others (12)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Tinker
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Mind Twist
1 Memory Jar
1 Icy Manipulator
Mana (27)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra’s Workshop
1 Tolarian Academy
2 City of Brass
4 Underground Sea
4 Underground River
Sideboard (15)
4 Hydroblast
3 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Bottle Gnomes
1 Triskelion
2 Misdirection
1 The Abyss
In 1999, David Price brought Mishra’s Workshop back into the public eye with an Andrew Cuneo design called Teletubbies. Randy Buehler dubbed it the”easily the coolest deck” of the 1999 Kuala Lumpur Invitational. After the Trix combo mania, JP”Polluted” Meyer, brought Workshop out of aggro-control and into the even more popular Stacker 2 red/artifact decks that abused Goblin Welder.
Somewhere in between all this, on the other side of the Atlantic, was one Benjamin Rott, a.k.a. Teletubby (also the moderator of German forum Die Zusammenkunft). He adapted Price’s Tubbies and took the 2000 Dülmen, arguably the toughest Type I field in Germany. The following year, he tried blue/artifact, red/artifact and blue/red/artifact, and kept on winning.
He figured that green was his next challenge, since everyone said green sucked. Adding Survival of the Fittest and several green utility creatures, he came up with what was then considered a slower, more controllish version of Stacker 2. Benny stuck with his variant, calling his personal build”Tools ‘n’ Tubbies” – or TnT for short.
Then came Judgment and the Incarnations. In one expansion, Benny put Germany on the Type I map and cemented his reputation as the best aggro deckbuilder on his side of the Atlantic.
This article was delayed by ISP problems in Germany and electrical storms in Manila. Benny and I finally got together one Saturday, with me coming home at midnight from a party and gin, and him on his way to his own party and beer. (Yes, excuse the tipsy comments.) We got in two hours’ of games, all unsideboarded, to test our in-flux, post-Onslaught configurations.
I hope it was worth the wait. Several weeks ago, TnT went toe to toe against the best control players in Virginia and New York at the Virginia States Black Lotus tournament.
This is a glimpse of the aggro deck that won.
Presenting: German TnT
04:54:25- — teletubby says: ”Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to Hate, Hate leads to Suffering”
04:54:25 – — Rakso says: ”Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”
04:54:31 – Rakso drew 7 cards.
04:54:34 – teletubby drew 7 cards.
04:55:02 – It is now turn 1.
04:55:13 – Rakso says:’mise’
04:55:20 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
Yes, we are editing out the games with broken hands in this series…
I slap the burning hulk of the last enemy Mech aside with the arm of my Timber Wolf. Seventy-five tons of metal stride forward with the arrogance of a lone survivor, moving out of the ambush site in search of vengeance.
Several steps of its massive birdlike legs take me to the mouth of the mountain pass. The rock cliffs give way to a sky filled with the residue of reactor breaches and smoke from multiple ammunition explosions. In the middle of what used to be Bravo Beak stands a defiant, 10-meter tall humanoid figure.
An even, menacing voice fills my ear:”This pass is mine to ward. I offer all who oppose me a warrior’s death.”
04:55:24 – It is now turn 2.
04:55:27 – teletubby draws a card.
04:55:31 – teletubby plays Mishra’s Workshop.
04:55:33 – teletubby plays Black Lotus.
04:55:35 – Rakso says:’!!!’
04:55:35 – teletubby buries Black Lotus.
04:55:38 – Rakso says:’Don’t tell me’
04:55:38 – teletubby says:’Green’
04:55:40 – Mishra’s Workshop is tapped.
04:55:41 – Rakso says:’Survival + Jug’
04:55:43 – teletubby plays Juggernaut.
04:55:48 – Rakso says:’k’
04:55:50 – teletubby plays Survival of the Fittest.
04:55:52 – Rakso says:’k’
04:55:53 – Rakso says:’ugh’
Anyone familiar with Stacker 2or Teletubbies knows that a control deck that can’t deal with first-turn artifact fat soon rolls over. Anyone familiar with”The Deck” knows that seeing first-turn fat and a card drawing permanent should make this one short game.
The original Survival of the Fittest-based decks were control-oriented. They took a few turns to set up a mana base, and had to use small utility creatures in the meantime. Pairing Mishra’s Workshop with Survival broke the mold, however. With what is practically a permanent Dark Ritual on the table, Survival can be used to fetch and cast more expensive aggressive creatures, and just muscle past everything.
As Benny will soon demonstrate…
“I salute you, warrior of the Inner-”
My reply is cut off as an invisible fist slams me forward against my cockpit restraints.
The Mech is already running forward, smaller but clearly faster. Its right arm is raised, pointing at me with a muzzle where a fist should have been. A massive Gauss Rifle, the source of the metal slug magnetically accelerated into my Timber Wolf’s already damaged left side.
I realign my Mech’s torso as half a dozen chiplights go off. Steam rises from the wound, evidence of a destroyed heat exchanger and breached fusion shielding.
04:55:55 – Underground Sea is tapped.
04:55:56 – Rakso plays Mystical Tutor.
04:56:03 – Rakso moves Ancestral Recall from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
I hate to be the one saying this – but I need brokenness, and fast!
04:56:04 – It is now turn 3.
04:56:05 – Rakso drew a card.
04:56:07 – Rakso plays Ancestral Recall.
04:56:08 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
04:56:13 – Rakso plays Mox Jet.
04:56:14 – Rakso plays Mox Pearl.
04:56:16 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
04:56:18 – Rakso plays Sol Ring.
04:56:19 – Mox Jet is tapped.
04:56:19 – Sol Ring is tapped.
04:56:21 – Rakso plays Mind Twist.
04:56:22 – Rakso says:’2′
04:56:32 – teletubby randomly buried Strip Mine.
04:56:35 – teletubby randomly buried Wooded Foothills.
My Timber Wolf takes a step forward, then lets loose with thirty shoulder-mounted missiles and arm-mounted laser pods. Detonations churn the ground behind my running opponent, but others appear all over his armor, wreathing him in a halo of fire. A cerulean beam gouges a scar in the middle of his chest.
I smell blood and ignore the waves of heat that wash over me.
04:56:37 – It is now turn 4.
04:56:43 – teletubby draws a card.
04:56:53 – teletubby plays Wasteland.
04:56:53 – Wasteland is tapped.
04:56:56 – Rakso says:’oh crap’
04:56:58 – Rakso buries Underground Sea.
04:57:34 – Juggernaut is attacking.
04:57:34 – Rakso’s life is now 15. (-5)
A curious game, with both sides missing their primary colors in just the second turn. Unfortunately, all he needs is one Forest… And that’s not counting the 5/3 already hitting.
The opponent hardly even pauses despite the barrage. My Mech breaks into its own measured run, but not before another Gauss slug shears off a ton of armor just below my cockpit.
The smaller Mech continues its run, using the rolling terrain to augment its battered armor.
04:57:37 – It is now turn 5.
04:57:41 – Rakso draws a card.
04:57:52 – Rakso says:’this is nuts I tell you’
04:57:55 – Rakso plays Black Lotus.
04:57:57 – Sol Ring is tapped.
04:57:57 – Black Lotus is tapped.
04:57:58 – Rakso buries Black Lotus.
04:58:02 – Rakso plays Morphling.
Without time for the usual finesse, I’m forced to improvise.
The solid hit throws off my aim, and half the missiles fly wide. The first clumsy large laser volley hits low, disappearing into his left shin. The second capitalizes on missile damage, melting the last of the armor protecting the vicious right arm rifle.
I almost hear an ominous click as another set of lights flashes. My missile ammunition, depleted by the earlier battle, has just run out.
04:58:03 – It is now turn 6.
04:58:09 – teletubby draws a card.
04:58:17 – Juggernaut is attacking.
04:58:18 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
04:58:20 – Rakso plays Swords to Plowshares.
04:58:24 – teletubby removes Juggernaut from the game.
04:58:28 – teletubby’s life is now 25. (+5)
04:58:29 – teletubby plays Forest.
04:58:35 – Rakso says:’uh oh’
I only had two mana open, and Benny was probably smiling at the prospect of trading for a 1/5 Morphling. Fortunately for me, I had something in hand.
Now all I have to do is handle an active Survival…
The range figures flash on the other end of my console. Five hundred meters… four hundred and fifty…
04:58:39 – It is now turn 7.
04:58:41 – Rakso draws a card.
04:58:43 – Rakso plays Tundra.
04:58:44 – Morphling is attacking.
04:58:51 – Sol Ring is tapped.
04:58:55 – teletubby’s life is now 20. (-5)
04:58:58 – Forest is tapped.
04:58:59 – teletubby moves Angerfrom teletubby’s hand to teletubby’s graveyard.
04:59:08 – teletubby moves Squee, Goblin Nabobfrom teletubby’s library to tabletop.
04:59:10 – It is now turn 8.
04:59:14 – teletubby draws a card.
04:59:23 – Forest is tapped.
04:59:25 – teletubby plays Quirion Ranger.
04:59:27 – Rakso says:’k’
04:59:30 – teletubby moves Forest from tabletop to teletubby’s hand.
04:59:31 – teletubby plays Forest.
Yes…. Just an active Survival with the Workshop in place to cast everything it gets. Small consolation that the pesky Quirion Ranger doesn’t untap Workshops.
Trying to get a bead on the darting Mech, I notice something strange. Though the Gauss Rifle generates practically no heat, the Centurion is glowing on infrared, almost as though all his heat sinks were deliberately brought off-line.
He’s up to something…
04:59:36 – It is now turn 9.
04:59:42 – Rakso draws a card.
04:59:44 – Rakso plays Flooded Strand.
04:59:47 – Morphling is attacking.
04:59:54 – teletubby says:’no block’
04:59:55 – Sol Ring is tapped.
04:59:59 – teletubby’s life is now 15. (-5)
05:00:03 – Forest is tapped.
05:00:05 – teletubby moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from teletubby’s hand to Teletubby’s graveyard.
05:00:28 – teletubby moves Karn, Silver Golemfrom teletubby’s library to tabletop.
I lead the reticle and fire, but the laser burns ineffectually into a mound of earth in front of him as he pivots with uncanny speed- my sensors clock the overheating Mech at over a hundred kph.
05:00:35 – It is now turn 10.
05:00:37 – teletubby moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from teletubby’s graveyard to teletubby’s hand.
05:00:37 – teletubby draws a card.
05:00:40 – teletubby plays Taiga.
05:00:44 – Rakso says:’uh oh’
05:00:46 – Mishra’s Workshop is tapped.
05:00:47 – Forest is tapped.
05:00:47 – Taiga is tapped.
05:00:48 – teletubby plays Karn, Silver Golem.
05:00:50 – Rakso buries Flooded Strand.
05:00:51 – Rakso’s life is now 14. (-1)
05:00:56 – Rakso moves Underground Sea from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
05:00:59 – Tundra is tapped.
05:00:59 – Underground Sea is tapped.
05:01:01 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
05:01:03 – teletubby buries Karn, Silver Golem.
05:01:11 – Quirion Ranger is attacking.
05:01:13 – Rakso’s life is now 13. (-1)
He goes for the jugular with Karn, Workshop-based decks’ Gorilla Shaman, trying to cut my mana while beating down. I have answers, but the most I can do now is trade cards for time (or turn Mana Drains into Time Walk) – not the most elegant of strategies.
Still, with Wonder probably still in his sideboard, he has no way to stop me from bringing him to zero in three turns.
Except to get me down to zero first.
A near-miss from a Gauss slug tears a crater into the ground behind me, the heat probably interfering with his own sensors.
I bring up the other arm and score a glancing hit on the left side of his chest.
05:01:16 – It is now turn 11.
05:01:19 – Rakso draws a card.
05:01:22 – Rakso plays Tundra.
05:01:35 – Rakso says:’4/2′
05:01:36 – Rakso says:’3/3′
05:01:37 – Rakso says:’4/2′
05:01:38 – Rakso says:’3/3′
05:01:44 – teletubby says:’lol’
05:01:52 – Rakso says:’4/2′
05:02:00 – Mox Jet is tapped.
05:02:02 – Rakso says:’5/1′
05:02:03 – Tundra is tapped.
05:02:04 – Rakso says:’fly’
05:02:05 – Morphling is attacking.
05:02:12 – teletubby’s life is now 10. (-5)
I smile to myself, thinking it’s only a matter of time as my medium-range weapons come into range.
All I have to do is stay far enough from the shorter-range Inner Sphere lasers – and pray that his wicked main gun doesn’t penetrate into an already damaged area of my Mech.
05:02:12 – It is now turn 12.
05:02:17 – teletubby draws a card.
05:02:19 – teletubby plays Wooded Foothills.
05:02:29 – Mishra’s Workshop is tapped.
05:02:30 – Forest is tapped.
05:02:30 – Taiga is tapped.
05:02:31 – teletubby plays Memory Jar.
05:02:33 – Tundra is tapped.
05:02:34 – Underground Sea is tapped.
05:02:35 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
05:02:41 – teletubby says:’:((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((‘
05:02:44 – Rakso says:’YEAH BABY!!!’
05:02:54 – teletubby says:’last card HAD TO BE a Mana Drain’
05:03:01 – Rakso says:’hey’
05:03:02 – Rakso says:’had you used Jar’
05:03:07 – Rakso says:’I would’ve drawn something too, right? :)’
Fortunately, I did have some room to maneuver. Had he already drawn a Mox, he could’ve fetched Goblin Welders instead.
When Judgment first came in, Genesis was naturally the talk of TnT. Then someone mentioned how strong Anger was, Juggernauts gaining haste for free. Then I replied it wasn’t the fat… Imagine one-mana, Survivaled Welders that can’t even be killed by spot removal before they go to work.
I twist my Mech, veering away from him in an attempt to buy a few more crucial meters before his speed cuts the distance. A laser misses, then another. A Gauss slug slams into my left thigh. Pulsed laser bolts from my secondary weapons play across his head, distorting the metallic face. The last volley eats into his damaged right arm.
Gauss rifle capacitors overload and a massive explosion consumes the limb. The Centurion misses a step, the pilot probably screaming from the neural feedback.
05:03:11 – It is now turn 13.
05:03:13 – Rakso draws a card.
05:03:54 – Underground Sea is tapped.
05:03:56 – Rakso plays Skeletal Scrying.
05:03:57 – Rakso says:’6′
05:04:00 – Rakso’s life is now 7. (-6)
05:04:01 – teletubby says:’k’
05:04:02 – Rakso moves Mana Drain from Rakso’s graveyard to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
05:04:03 – Rakso moves Mana Drain from Rakso’s graveyard to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
05:04:05 – Rakso moves Flooded Strand from Rakso’s graveyard to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
05:04:08 – Rakso moves Mind Twist from Rakso’s graveyard to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
05:04:17 – Rakso moves Underground Sea from Rakso’s graveyard to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
05:04:18 – Rakso moves Black Lotus from Rakso’s graveyard to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
05:04:22 – Rakso drew 6 cards.
05:04:36 – Rakso plays Mox Ruby.
05:04:38 – Rakso plays Wasteland.
05:04:43 – teletubby buries Mishra’s Workshop.
05:04:44 – Rakso buries Wasteland.
05:04:45 – Morphling is attacking.
05:05:02 – Rakso says:’block?’
05:05:05 – teletubby buries Quirion Ranger.
05:05:22 – teletubby’s life is now 9. (-1)
05:05:24 – teletubby buries Wooded Foothills.
05:05:29 – teletubby moves Taiga from teletubby’s library to tabletop.
05:05:31 – Taiga is tapped.
05:05:46 – teletubby moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from teletubby’s hand to teletubby’s graveyard.
05:05:51 – teletubby moves Goblin Welder from teletubby’s library to tabletop.
I mentioned Skeletal Scryinga long time ago as a possible Fact or Fictionlot replacement. With Sylvan Libraryout because of the mana base, it was the first thing I went back to. It’s been okay so far, but feedback from Shane Stoots also has me checking Brainstorm again, since it works better than I first thought with fetch lands. (Boy, did John Ormerod get a chuckle when I e-mailed him about reconsidering his new version of Brainstorm/Impulse.)
Well, Scrying worked here.
Sensing the drastic turn of events, he barrels straight in. He covers a third of a kilometer in seconds, trying for a head-on collision that may just catch my breached chest armor.
I take a few steps forward as if to brace myself for the smaller Mech’s impact, then thumb a button.
I imagine my opponent’s surprise as the nonstandard jets on my Mech’s back ignite, carrying me above his charge and right behind his vulnerable rear armor.
Unbelievably, he manages a hit with his rear-mounted pulse laser, but my own weapons savage his back. His catlike steps degenerate into a seeming drunken stupor, evidence of gyroscope damage.
05:05:52 – It is now turn 14.
05:05:55 – teletubby moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from teletubby’s graveyard to teletubby’s hand.
05:05:56 – teletubby draws a card.
05:06:06 – Rakso says:’fortunately’
05:06:07 – Rakso says:’no Mox’
05:06:08 – Rakso says:’:)’
05:06:11 – teletubby plays Windswept Heath.
05:06:28 – Taiga is tapped.
05:06:30 – teletubby plays Goblin Welder.
Recovering almost immediately, he whirls and closes once again. He raises his left arm and I pivot my torso, bringing my undamaged right torso to face him, and my own arm weapons into line.
Suddenly, his left arm snakes forward, fingers closing into a fist. A solid punch connects on the side of my cockpit, tearing away the canopy. Blood drips from my lips.
I black out for a second from the impact, and spend another disbelieving that a Mech twice the size hadn’t just risen from the ground.
I hit the jets to avoid a savage kick, wary of the musculature hidden beneath the smaller Mech.
05:06:32 – It is now turn 15.
05:08:14 – Rakso draws a card.
05:08:24 – Rakso plays Strip Mine.
05:08:30 – teletubby buries Forest.
05:08:31 – Rakso buries Strip Mine.
05:08:31 – Tundra is tapped.
05:08:32 – Rakso says:’fly’
05:08:34 – Morphling is attacking.
05:08:35 – Sol Ring is tapped.
05:08:37 – teletubby’s life is now 4. (-5)
05:08:44 – teletubby buries Windswept Heath.
05:08:44 – teletubby’s life is now 3. (-1)
05:08:56 – teletubby moves Tropical Island from teletubby’s library to tabletop.
One turn to go. Even at this point, he may yet do something with Angered Welder tricks. Do note that Memory Jar just aching to get back into the game from the grave.
I ease the controls back, my Timber Wolf gently jetting backwards. He shuffles forward, not giving me the benefit of my longer-ranged weapons.
Suddenly, I violently throw the stick forward, a short burst from the jets sending the descending Mech hurtling straight at the Centurion.
My opponent calmly sidesteps and fires his left-arm pulse lasers. Armor from my legs melts away, and the last burst rips the foot off my damaged left.
I trigger a subtle burst of the jets and brace myself. My seventy-five-ton machine seems to float in midair, with all the grace of a falcon swooping down onto helpless pray.
05:08:59 – It is now turn 16.
05:09:00 – teletubby moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from teletubby’s graveyard to teletubby’s hand.
05:09:02 – teletubby draws a card.
05:09:04 – teletubby plays Mox Ruby.
05:09:20 – teletubby says:’enters?’
05:09:39 – Rakso says:’not with that Jar there’
05:09:41 – Tundra is tapped.
05:09:41 – Underground Sea is tapped.
05:09:43 – Rakso plays Mana Drain.
05:10:01 – teletubby says:’your game’
05:10:16 – Rakso says:’the most DAMN EXCITING I ever played’
05:10:24 – teletubby says:’yes’
My legs slam into the smaller Mech’s chest. The violent sounds of metal striking metal fill my broken cockpit. Chest armor plating buckles on his Mech. My damaged left leg rips off at the hip. I lose consciousness as both battered machines fall to the ground.
Minutes later, I wake to the smell of blood. I open my harness and climb out of my disabled Mech. Behind me lies the Centurion, spreadeagled on the rocky floor with a crushed cockpit.
Above me, I hear the roar of aerospace fighters offering cover for the reinforcements coming out of the pass. I tip my head in a silent salute to my fallen foe, savoring my Clan’s victory on this pitiful ball of rock, another stepping stone taken on the way to Terra.
It must be some deck if countering a Mox can win you a game you couldn’t possibly have won.
Incidentally, you might wonder why the Welder wasn’t countered; he could easily have searched for another, baiting the counter with a Welder that had no artifacts on the table to play with.
Isn’t it fun when the little details can kill you?
Another Sample Game
As you saw, the series of threats from TnT is almost unbelievable and extremely difficult to deal with. Half the games (all unsideboarded), Benny just punched through with a fatty or Survival left alone for a couple of turns. The other half, I managed to keep things off the board and later Cunning Wished into Shattering Pulsefor a soft lock or Ebony Charmto neuter his pre-sideboard engine.
Morphling is suddenly far less invincible.
05:13:17 – — teletubby says: ”Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to Hate, Hate leads to Suffering”
05:13:17 – — Rakso says: ”Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”
05:13:22 – teletubby drew 7 cards.
05:13:24 – Rakso drew 7 cards.
05:14:29 – It is now turn 1
05:14:33 – teletubby plays Windswept Heath.
05:14:38 – teletubby plays Mox Pearl.
05:14:38 – teletubby plays Mox Sapphire.
05:14:40 – Rakso says:’!!!’
05:14:43 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
05:14:43 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
05:14:45 – teletubby plays Time Walk.
05:14:48 – Rakso says:’WHAT???’
05:14:55 – Mox Pearl is untapped.
05:14:55 – Mox Sapphire is untapped.
05:14:55 – teletubby draws a card.
05:14:56 – Rakso says:’no fair!’
05:14:59 – teletubby plays Forest.
05:15:05 – Forest is tapped.
05:15:06 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
05:15:08 – teletubby plays Survival of the Fittest.
05:15:08 – Rakso says:’your deck is too broken!’
05:15:10 – Rakso plays Force of Will.
05:15:12 – Rakso moves Morphling from Rakso’s hand to Rakso’s removed from game pile.
05:15:12 – Rakso’s life is now 19. (-1)
Leading with Survival isn’t typical, but I’m not complaining.
05:15:28 – It is now turn 2.
05:15:30 – Rakso draws a card.
05:15:34 – Rakso plays Flooded Strand.
05:15:36 – Rakso buries Flooded Strand.
05:15:36 – Rakso’s life is now 18. (-1)
05:15:41 – Rakso moves Underground Sea from Rakso’s library to tabletop.
05:15:42 – Rakso plays Mox Sapphire.
05:15:42 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
05:15:43 – Underground Sea is tapped.
05:15:44 – Rakso moves Demonic Tutor from Rakso’s hand to Rakso’s graveyard.
05:15:46 – Rakso moves a card from Rakso’s library to Rakso’s hand.
05:15:48 – It is now turn 3.
05:15:53 – teletubby draws a card.
05:15:55 – Forest is tapped.
05:15:55 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
05:15:56 – teletubby plays Survival of the Fittest.
05:15:59 – Rakso says:’WHAT???’
05:16:00 – Rakso says:’k’
Neither is Benny.
05:16:03 – It is now turn 4.
05:16:06 – Rakso draws a card.
05:16:08 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
05:16:09 – Rakso plays Ancestral Recall.
05:16:10 – Rakso drew 3 cards.
05:16:15 – Rakso plays Volcanic Island.
05:16:18 – teletubby buries Windswept Heath.
05:16:19 – teletubby’s life is now 19. (-1)
05:16:25 – teletubby moves Taiga from teletubby’s library to tabletop.
05:16:28 – Taiga is tapped.
05:16:29 – teletubby moves Masticore from teletubby’s hand to teletubby’s graveyard.
05:16:39 – teletubby moves Anger from teletubby’s library to tabletop.
05:16:40 – It is now turn 5.
05:16:42 – teletubby draws a card.
05:16:48 – teletubby plays Tropical Island.
05:16:53 – Rakso says:’ugh’
05:17:07 – Forest is tapped.
05:17:10 – teletubby moves Anger from teletubby’s hand to teletubby’s graveyard.
05:17:28 – teletubby moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from teletubby’s library to tabletop.
05:17:29 – Tropical Island is tapped.
05:17:30 – teletubby moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from teletubby’s hand to teletubby’s graveyard.
05:17:38 – teletubby moves Quirion Ranger from teletubby’s library to tabletop.
05:17:40 – Taiga is tapped.
05:17:48 – teletubby plays Quirion Ranger
05:17:49 – Quirion Ranger is attacking.
05:17:51 – Rakso’s life is now 17. (-1)
As you can see, he has his entire Survival of the Fittest engine in place by the third turn, complete with that pesky elf protecting his land. Bah; Elven Rangerhad better art.
05:17:54 – It is now turn 6.
05:18:01 – Rakso draws a card.
05:18:06 – Rakso plays Tundra.
05:18:07 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
05:18:08 – Rakso plays Sol Ring.
05:18:09 – Sol Ring is tapped.
05:18:10 – Tundra is tapped.
05:18:12 – Rakso plays Dismantling Blow.
05:18:17 – teletubby buries Survival of the Fittest.
Getting the chance to play Benny, I wanted to see replacing how your maindeck Disenchant effect with Cunning Wish feels, before and after. This is one of those moments I guess you’re glad to draw a Disenchant. Still, no matter how naked you feel without any copy of that removal effect, having Cunning Wish for the same effects may be more flexible overall, albeit slower.
05:18:19 – It is now turn 7.
05:18:24 – teletubby draws a card.
05:18:34 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
05:18:35 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
05:18:35 – Forest is tapped.
05:18:35 – Taiga is tapped.
05:18:35 – Tropical Island is tapped.
05:18:37 – teletubby plays Karn, Silver Golem.
05:18:39 – Rakso says:’!’
05:18:49 – Rakso says:’ugh’
05:19:02 – Rakso says:’sure’
05:19:13 – teletubby says:’return forest’
05:19:13 – teletubby moves Forest from tabletop to teletubby’s hand.
05:19:13 – teletubby plays Forest.
05:19:13 – Forest is tapped.
05:19:27 – Rakso buries Mox Sapphire.
05:19:35 – Quirion Ranger is attacking.
05:19:35 – Karn, Silver Golem is attacking.
05:19:39 – Rakso’s life is now 12. (-5)
05:19:59 – Rakso says:’may I play now?’
Note how Angerhas sped up the deck, even without a Welder being cast. Then note that the Karn can untap in a pinch to go on defense.
05:20:02 – It is now turn 8.
05:20:04 – Rakso draws a card.
05:20:08 – Rakso plays Underground Sea.
05:20:12 – Underground Sea is tapped.
05:20:14 – Underground Sea is tapped.
05:20:15 – Sol Ring is tapped.
05:20:17 – Rakso plays The Abyss.
05:20:18 – Volcanic Island is tapped.
05:20:19 – Tundra is tapped.
05:20:20 – Rakso plays Balance.
05:20:24 – teletubby says:’arg’
05:20:27 – teletubby buries Quirion Ranger.
05:20:29 – teletubby buries Karn, Silver Golem.
05:20:30 – Rakso buries Underground Sea.
05:20:32 – Rakso moves Mind Twist from Rakso’s hand to Rakso’s graveyard.
I’m holding a single Morphling in hand, thinking I might actually recover.
05:20:34 – It is now turn 9.
05:20:41 – teletubby moves Squee, Goblin Nabob from teletubby’s graveyard to teletubby’s hand.
05:20:42 – teletubby draws a card.
05:20:48 – Mox Sapphire is tapped.
05:20:49 – Mox Pearl is tapped.
05:20:49 – Taiga is tapped.
05:20:49 – Tropical Island is tapped.
05:20:49 – Forest is tapped.
05:20:50 – teletubby plays Memory Jar.
05:20:55 – Rakso says:’HOPELESS’
Notice how he practically shrugged off the first-turn counter and kept on going. I didn’t have much of a choice, and he intentionally held back the Memory Jar, checking to see if Karn could go through. The Jar was the last card and I had nothing but a Morphling in hand. There was little point in continuing since he’d topdeck more threats and just play more off the Jar when I tapped out for the Morphling.
But again, pay attention to the details: In his strong position, he left Squee in the graveyard, costing me another card to my own Balance. Some of this deck’s interactions aren’t as obvious as sinking Su-Chi mana into Grim Monolith or finishing with Welded Triskelion damage..
Benny and I hope you enjoy TnT, an aggro deck that does well against so many archtypes, and relies on brains instead of random hate.
Benjamin Rott a.k.a. Teletubby, German Tools ‘n’ Tubbies, November 2002
Tubbies (20)
4 Juggernaut
4 Su-Chi
1 Masticore
1 Karn, Silver Golem
2 Triskelion
4 Goblin Welder
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Anger
1 Elvish Lyrist
1 Quirion Ranger
Tools (8)
4 Survival of the Fittest
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Tinker
1 “Memory Jar
Mana (32)
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Sol Ring
1 Grim Monolith
1 Strip Mine
3 Wasteland
4 Mishra’s Workshop
4 Taiga
3 Tropical Island
2 Forest
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Windswept Heath
By the way, did you pay attention to the time codes for that last game?
A little over seven minutes…
Oscar Tan
rakso on #BDChat on EFNet
University of the Philippines, College of Law
Forum Administrator, Star City Games
Featured Writer, Star City Games
Author of the Control Player’s Bible
Maintainer, Beyond Dominia (R.I.P.)
Proud member of the Casual Player’s Alliance