*Three Deuce Control (U/G/b)*

4 Rancor

3 Sleeper's Robe

4 Vodalian Zombie

3 Duathi Horror

4 River Boa

4 Weatherseed Faeries

1 Hunted Wumpus

4 Lay of the Land

3 Terror

2 Recoil

4 Repulse

1 Rushing River

1 Capsize

10 Forest

6 Island

5 Swamp

1 Terminal Moraine

With no first turn drops and only 17 creatures this deck plays more like a control deck than the usually aggressive Three Deuce set up. Don't be fooled, however. This deck will tend to stabilize much sooner than normal control decks (around turn 4 or 5) and once stabilized this deck goes in for heavy beats.

The creature selection, as with all Three Deuce designs, is the key to it's strength and flexibility. The Vodalian Zombies are a pretty good pick 2 mana for a 2/2 is always a decent deal but the Protection from Green is huge in this environment. As a matter of fact, the protection theme continues with the Weatherseed Faeries who will show all kinds of Red hate and they fly so they are useful against non-red decks. The River Boa is also good against Red because of it's ability to Regenerate but is also the bane of Blue. Against White, the Horror can sneak through unblocked and against other decks it isn't even an issue. The only real odd ball is Hunted Wumpus. This 6/6 bad boy is cheap and he comes out just about the time you start laying down control through your bounce spells. Whatever your opponent puts out the Wumpus is bigger and you should be able to take care of any thing that is a threat. Blastoderm is another choice for this spot, but the Wumpus is bigger and he will stick around. Traditionally, this spot could be filled with Llanowar Elite, but at 9 mana for the cost plus the kicker they are a little expensive for this deck since you want the extra pressure to start coming as you begin to bounce your way into control. If you want more creatures, I would consider Harvest Mage instead of Lay of the Land, but I feel that the mage is too vulnerable to direct damage.

You probably noticed the standard 4 Rancor but right below it is the not so standard Sleeper's Robe. Casting one of these on a creature is just too good. With Black an uncommon color in this environment and Artifact scarce (although I think you should see more Phyrexian War Beasts) this card makes your creature unblockable 90% of the time. Better yet you draw a card when he does get through and when this starts happening your deck builds some big time momentum and is well on it's way to the win. There are also 6 other cantrips to get help this deck move better than similar decks and it will need that little speed boost because it is running 3 colors.

The real threat to this deck comes from direct damage since there are no counterspells. Running Blue, you may think that counterspells would be standard but the decision to leave them out reveals an important part of this deck. Even though this deck does play like a control deck, in the end it is meant to put on the beat down. You can probably win before the direct damage builds up as long as you can keep other permanents off the table. Look to remove creatures first and then look at the rest of the board.

- chaps_man@hotmail.com