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Control in the 2004 Vintage Metagame

The past year has changed control decks a lot. Fetchlands have strengthened mana bases. Stifle, coupled with the classics, Gorilla Shaman, Wasteland, and Strip Mine, have given control decks the tools expand their repertoire of mana denial, helping to slow the game to a point where they can effectively answer everything the opponent throws at them. Psychatog emerged as one the best kill cards ever, while Decree of Justice provided a virtually uncounterable and, thanks to cycling, never dead win condition.

Today I’m going to take a look at more decklists than you can shake a stick at and pinpoint the control decks to beat for the 2004 metagame.

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The Magic University: I See Dumb People

So I was talking to Mike Flores the other day, and Mike told me,”You know, the great thing about writing Magic Theory is that it immediately rules out all the dumb people from reading your articles.”

I replied,”Well, Mike, the fact that they can’t talk never seems to hinder their ability to type ‘STFU n00b!’ in response to my theory articles.”

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The Power of Bad Cards

When Mirrodin first came out I constantly joked about finding a way to break this card. Apparently, I’ve come close to doing it, as I’ve drafted”The Hysteria Deck” three times with a total record of 8-1 in matches. Basically the only constraint here is that you need lots of large Green men and you can basically count the Hysteria as a”trick” of sorts, since there’s no way your opponent is going to be playing around it right off the bat. I’ve stolen games with a surprise Malachite Golem or Clockwork Condor before, even when my opponent knew the awful Red rare was lurking in my deck.

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18,000 Words: Randy’s Game

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve cast an eye towards the state of White in Magic. One might think from these articles that I’m wholly unhappy with how the game has been developed. This couldn’t be further from the truth. As far as I’m concerned, Magic is healthier than it’s ever been before, and the person who deserves the most credit for surge of vitality the game experienced from Invasion forward is none other than Randy Buehler.

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Why Green Loves Fireshrieker

No clear consensus emerged from my last article about where to go next. Some folks wanted me to try and turn one of my Betrayal of Flesh decks into something worthy of Friday Night Magic, others wanted me to do the same kind of pseudo-brainstorming I did with Betrayal but using another one of my Mirrodin Class I cards. In the end, there seemed to be slightly more people wanting me to move on from Betrayal of Flesh (due in large part, apparently, to people thinking Betrayal is a pretty boring card), and more people mentioned Fireshrieker than any other choice.

The people have spoken. Fireshrieker it is.

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Teddy Bear Christmas

Welcome, welcome to the corner of all that is janky and fun, where high casting cost doesn’t matter, just as long as the card is boooombtastic! See the deck that is loads of fun to play, and is just scary if it gets rolling! Hear the screams of the damned as they suffer a miserable death to your amazing deck of Junk! Feel the flames of Oblivion licking at your feet, just waiting to snuff out your essence!

A Darksteel legal deck containing an infinite damage combo is just a click away!

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Effective Card Advantage Theory

Greetings from Russell’s old room. Some have thought me a fool for remaining silent on this card advantage issue for so long, but now I’m about to open my mouth, as the old saying goes, and remove all doubt. After what seems like an eternity, it’s time to wrap it all up, a package from mama, signed, sealed, and delivered with care. Along the way, I have a lot of things to say about theory in general, alternative card advantage solutions, and why you shouldn’t bite down on a piece of tinfoil.

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pWN3D: Recollections of Spectacular Defeats in Multiplayer Magic

As a consequence of losing… a lot, I have accumulated far more tales involving the “agony of defeat” than those concerning the glory of victory. In fact, sometimes I get so wrapped up in the feelings of anguish and impending doom while losing a match that I just can’t separate fact or fiction into two neat little piles. The blows to my psyche actually feel like physical blows to the head. Defeat on Dominaria is almost a palpable death. Losing a game hits me harder than losing my job (hah!), my wife (done!), or my beer (Nooooooo!) — in that order.

Guaranteed to make you crack a smile or two or your money back, even for you non-Multiplayer-article-reading-persons!

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10 Ways to Get Better at Magic (in the key of Inquest Magazine)

Not a true story: One time a guy was watching another guy play. The dude playing was a Hollywood producer and liked the look of the observer, so he cast him in a bunch of commercials and everyone made millions, except the guy’s twin brother, who thought he was too good at Magic to watch other people, and was possibly getting high.

What does this have to do with becoming better at Magic? Enquiring minds want to know!

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Finding the Sharp Edge of Darksteel, Part II

Greater Harvester

I was a huge fan of Braids, Cabal Minion and played Pirates and other Braids decks to some success while Psycho-B*tch was around. Greater Harvester might be even better. There’s a ton of things going for this card; as a 5/6 it’s got a huge threatening body that can put away a game quickly if it’s ability disrupts your opponent for a turn or two. And that disruption ability! Having your opponent sacrifice two permanents each time you hit them is amazing. The only hiccup is the fact that your opponent will likely want to chump block, trading his worst creature for your least-needed permanent.

Wait just a minute though – that’s not really a hiccup at all since Black is chock full of removal!

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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #88: Darksteel

A new set is out, so it’s time for set reviews. Since I doubt Ted has seen enough of these so far, I’ll write one. However, I’m writing from the perspective of multiplayer and casual. That means I will simply skip all the cards aimed at limited, and many of the constructed-worthy but un-amazing cards. If I want a Blue flier for 2U in casual games, I will play Serendib Efreet or Skywing Aven before I consider Neurok Prodigy.

That does make the review a lot shorter, so I will flesh it out with some deck concepts, to make sure you get your money’s worth.

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Angry F***ing Trolls

The big question I had about this deck was its ability to deal with Pernicious Deed. Like a lot of people probably assumed about my Threshold deck, I thought this deck would roll over to Deed. The thing is, the main deck that has Pernicious Deed – The Rock – has no plan against the central focus of this deck. I mean, what are they really going to do about a Troll Ascetic with Rancor? The Rock’s plan is to win with card advantage over a long game (which is why it is generally weak against combination decks, even with its compliment of six to eight hand destruction spells); it cannot execute this plan against Troll Ascetic as long as the Troll is big enough to knock over Ravenous Baloths and 0/4 walls.

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The Multiplayer Dilemma

Three players are convicted of the ultimate crime: liking casual! If the any player confesses to the crime, and helps the police convict his fellow players, then the police will look kindly upon him. In fact, a player who confesses and convicts their partners will get away without being charged. However, the players who are convicted will go away for ten years plus five probationary years. If all players happen to confess, each will receive three years of jail time. Of course, if none confess, then all players get off with six months of jail time and then go free.


What do you do?

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