The buzz is in the air, the slow building excitement of a new Type 2 ready to be explored and exploited in the months leading up to Regionals. How will Darksteel shake up the metagame? Will any of the anointed Tier 1 decks stumble and fall? Will any Tier 2 or completely new archetype rise up to take their place? Will there be any secret tech that flies under the radar long enough to surprise and conquer like Ralphie Treatment or Turbo-Haups in years past?
Brian Kibler recently posited that with the release of Darksteel and the I-can’t-believe-it’s-a-three-dollar-uncommon Skullclamp, White Weenie, or, more accurately,”Equipped White” (somebody find a cool name for the deck!) is primed to take a run at Tier 1-dom. I agree… to a point.
Ken is sneaky like the Brass Man. I had agreed to debate the merits of Steel Wall, while Ken wanted to argue his points about Clockwork Condor. I agreed to this dilemma since I felt it is very close and that either card could win. I like that kind of argument, because I feel that our arguments often sway the readers’ opinions more than anything else.
So, I go off to Grand Prix: Oakland thinking about how cool it is to be debating Steel Wall… but sneaky Ken ran off with the Brass Man and started cackling.
If you recall my last article, you’ll remember it was about Chittering Rats, and a Black/Green Cemetery deck that has still been testing well. I’ve put it on the back burner and have started to work this little number. It was something I have been working on since the spoiler was released. The Indestructible creatures jumped out and caught my eye. I loved NetherHaups when it was played, and thought hey, maybe it is possible to make a deck like it for this control heavy format.
Oscar continues to look at Darksteel for more bang for his buck. Is he going to find any Chasey Lain videos here, or is”Cinnamon Buns” going to strike out with the Darksteel sorceries? Click on the link to find out!
The cycle continues. Every few months or so, the Five Color Council has a larger ballot. February appears to be the largest one in a while. This month, we take a close look at three new cards and try to see if an old card should be put out to pasture. We also have an interesting question of succession.
The dilemma this week is something I would not have expected at the beginning of this format, and is certainly not what I would have expected when I was told this was the artifact block…
Over the past few weeks, my columns have included additional sections that tended to be about the laws of randomness and probability, what laymen (“Heh, he said ‘lay’ and ‘men.'”) call the law of averages. A lot of people seem to be confused about these topics. Others just wanted to know more. I’ve typically not gotten involved in these types of detailed columns about complicated theories that seem to exist in the Magic universe. However, it was suggested by one of my readers that given my background, I might, you know, get involved and write something that was both informative and enteratining on the subject…
Turn 5 – At this point, I was generating infinite mana. It was turn 5 because everyone had been targeting me, and I had had my turn 2 Metalworker and turn 3 Thran Dynamo killed. Not good enough. As I put 500 Blue mana in my pool, a bystander asked”But how do you kill them?” I dropped Memnarch, turned to the bystander and said”This game, I’ll kill them with an FTK, a couple elves, that Steelshaper and whatever Steve has under that Bonesplitter. But since I’m stealing everything on the board, including lands, they’ll probably concede.”
The real question was, could I take what I learned about Voltaic Construct and build a competitive Type Two deck capable of generating infinite mana? Well, I could certainly try…
As promised, here’s Jeff’s response to Antonino De Rosa’s article.
White Weenie is such a strange deck – it doesn’t try to mise. It doesn’t burn out players or use fancy tricks. It plays guys. Stand up guys that you can depend on, like Savannah Lions. They will arrive, swing, and get the job done. No frills, just beats. Somehow I always find myself writing about White Weenie every year. It is very stable – very White. It is always a contender even the harshest of environments.
Magic’s greatest crank succumbs to Flores’s relentless pestering, and finally writes another article! Today, Jon discusses the idea of one correct play, set reviews, pokes fun at Elliot Fertik (again), and goes no holds barred with his opinion of Geordie Tait’s recent theoretical excursions.
Did you read Becker’s piece yet? Good. Now we can move on.
I asked Jon to talk about his different play style from Derek Rank’s in those ancient days of the Frenetic Efreet, back when Invested cards like Browse were good, for a reason. Though I will stand by the fact that there is One Right Play on any stack (or any of those non-stack moments when you can play or tap land or whatever), that is not to say that there is necessarily one right Plan. Probably you are scratching your head right now. What do you mean one right Plan? What is a Plan?
I know what you’re thinking.”A sixty-two card Cleric deck!? The kids are too much for him; Rob’s finally gone off the deep end.” Okay, I admit it may look that way, but this deck is actually good. No, really. Five PT top 8’s, four of which were Constructed, remember. You’re going to have to trust me on this one.
I was thinking about doing the usual tournament report thing, but I played Tog four out of the seven rounds, and almost all of the games went the same way. Oh sure, I could’ve hammed them up a little more and all. I mean, it’s a lot more entertaining to read”FINALS: JP”The Irresistible Force” Meyer vs. Kevin”The Immovable Object” Cron, but giving you strategic advice on your Tog deck and how the various matchups should play out will save everyone time.
