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BMoor's Magic The
Gathering
Deck Garage
Well, today is an unusual day in the
Garage, isn't it? Not only do I get to help an aspiring
tournament player prepare for The Big Day, but I also
get to add Turkey to the list of foreign countries where
I have fans! One of these days I'll have to start
sticking pins in a map.
Anyway, let's get right down to
business. For this deck to take all comers in a
high-scale event, we're going to have to go over this
deck with a fine-tooth comb. Is there anything in this
deck that just feels... sub-optimal? I will say right
now that it's already a good deck, but we need it to be
better than that. All the cards here are playable, but
you can't expect to win with a jack if your opponent has
a deck full of queens.
The first red flag I see here is Lotus
Bloom. It looks good on the surface, but remember: it
can't hit the board until turn four. Which means it
accelerates you to seven mana. Yes, a Jhoira's Timebug
could speed up the process, but if you're in a position
to be able to power out suspended cards, then you likely
are already set for mana or you'd rather be using that
capability on suspended creatures or other business
spells. Plus, I don't see anything in this deck that
really requires a burst of mana like that besides
Timecrafting.
And Timecrafting is another card I want
to pull. You've already got Rift Elemental, Shivan
Sand-Mage, Jhoira's Timebug, and Fury Charm to speed up
the suspenders. I think Timecrafting is surplus. Yes,
it's an X spell, but how often will you need to
Timecraft for more than 2 time counters (the same amount
Fury Carm and the Sand-Mage can remove)? The only
instance where this outperforms any of your other time
counter tinkerers is if your opponent has a big nasty
suspend spell you want to keep out of the game for a
long time. That relegates it to sideboard material. If
you really need more time counter shenanigans, just add
more Shivan Sand-Mage.
So, what can you add in those slots?
Well, you mentioned a vulnerability to board sweepers
like Wrath of God. Quite frankly, I wouldn't wait until
after sideboarding for an answer; I'd say a few choice
counterspells in the maindeck could be a great boon.
But which ones? Well, your deck is already prepared to
get great mileage out of Delay. You could also try the
old reliables Mana Leak and/or Rune Snag. And of course
Cancel is the final word, but in a two-colro deck you
might not want to leave two blue mana open. Obviously
no countermagic will save you from a Molten Disaster if
the kicker cost is paid, but I think you'll find having
an answer to nearly any type of spell at the ready can
be useful.
Now, I dropped five cards, which means t
 hat
countermagic can only fill 4 slots at most (unless you
pick more than one countering card). What else can you
add? Okay, suggestion time. The first card that came
to mind was Electrolyze-- solid burn, plus an extra
card. It'd be a fine addition, but you do already have
both card draw and burn, so I'll throw out some more
ideas.
My next consideration was Sage of Epityr.
Yes, it's a dinky little 1/1 with a little card
filtering ability, but it makes sense for two reasons.
One, you're playing you're game three turns in advance,
meaning you're going to need a warm body on the table
that actually HITS the table on turn one as opposed to
coming down on turn five or six. And also, if you're
counting on future turns, it could help to be able to
exercise some control over what you're going to draw.
Not the most exciting card, but it might fit in.
Another contender would be Paradox Haze--
now THAT would really hit fast forward on this deck. Of
course, I did drop Timecrafting on the grounds that you
had enough accelerants, but the Haze is arguably better
than the Timecrafting.
Then I thought of Infiltrator il-Kor.
You can always use more aggressive suspend creatures,
right? And this may be beter than Keldon Halberdier
because while the Halberdier is a 4/1, this guy has
shadow, meaning his 3-power will actually get dealt to
the oppoent much more often. Then again, the Halberdier
does cost less to suspend, and cna kill a good deal of
creatures in combat.
Finally, there's Haze of Rage.
Haze of Rage is excellent in a suspend deck for two
reasons: suspend creatures count as being played towards
storm the turn they hit play (not the turn you suspend
them) and they always have haste when they come into
play. With all your "time management", it shouldn't be
too hard to get two creatures to suspend into play on
teh same turn, right? Then you play Haze of Rage, to
give them both a minimum of +3/+0 for their fist
attack. And of course you have the option of buying it
back, and maybe playing it again for an even higher
storm count?
Well, you've got a month until that
tournament, Volkan. I purposely let you cut in line at
the Garage to make sure you'd have time for playtesting,
so you could figure out which option you feel gives you
the most power, the most versatility, and the most
chance of winning that tournament. Go forth and make me
proud!
~BMoor
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