From: Andrew McIntire [seminole782001@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, December 10, 2001 1:28 PM Subject: Deck Tech: Bear Hug by Andrew McIntire Deck Tech: Bear Hug Yoo-hoo name’s Andrew and this past Friday night I won a FNM taking first over 11 others this was the deck I used which was made against the Red Green heavy metagame. Around my local shop Blue and Green are also popular choices. Bear Hug 9 Plains 7 Islands 4 Caves of Koilos 3 Salt Marsh 3 Adakar Wastes 4 Spectral Lynx 4 Meddling Mage 4 Longbow Archer 4 Galina’s Knight 2 Lieutenant Kirtar 4 Counterspell 4 Vindicate 3 Standstill 3 Dark Banishing Sideboard 3 Angelic Shield 3 Gainsay 3 Reprisal 3 Wash Out 2 Disenchant 1 Wrath of God This deck as you may know is built against the Red Green Fat Crank that dominated in States (and I thought we were done with Red Green) In this article I will give a reason for the cards in the deck. Creatures- The name of the deck is Bear Hug and that’s because its full of bears all the creatures minus the Kamikaze Birds. Meddling Mages- are to ban the spot removal including FTK and any kind of counterspell that may arise even calling Counterspell won’t take a dent out of your deck. Galina’s Knight was chosen for its immunity to most common removal but even without red in your opponent’s deck they can provide the beat down necessary. Longbow Archers have been a staple in weenie decks since Visions this should be no different, not many bargains like this are in Magic so I included a full 4 of them. Spectral Lynx is a must in the current environment as it can stop Spirtmongers until I draw a removal spell and all the flashback token creatures Lastly the Lieutenant Kirtar provide an evasion creature along with the means to take out anything that attacks. Non-creature- I chose not to base the deck around counters simply for more flexibility some of you may be asking why not Absorb? Besides that I don’t have any. It’s not worth the 3 mana to counter a spell and the life isn’t that important. Vindicate is an all around good card in flexibility above all else it is a must counter and can take out islands in the early game if needed Dark Banishing is an unsung hero from the days of old. Its only weakness is its limited amount of targets which unfortunately include Mongers and Finkels. I chose Standstill over FoF because of its pure card advantage, and its stalling capabilities, however they do seem to get in the way against other control decks giving some fodder for the sideboard. Wrath of God is a reset button nothing more. Lands- these are generally self-explanatory. I chose the land total to the colors needed in the deck. I picked Salt Marsh over Underground River because there are not any one drops in the deck. I am considering picking up Dromar’s Cavern instead. Sideboard- The sideboard in my opinion is more important then the main sixty cards. And each SB card must be chosen with the utmost scrutiny. You could have a couple weak links in the main deck but a weak link in the sideboard is your own fault. Angelic Shield once upon a time was an excellent limited card but the times are changing and I think we should look at all kinds of tech not just those we have seen in the past or the auto-tech Wizards builds into the set. I placed Angelic Shield in to take most of my creatures out of Shock or Fire range and allow them to escape a Rage or Terminate. It also acts as a Seal of Doom against the Call of the heard and Beast Attack. Gainsay is an excellent card if you are facing a heavy counter opponent It’s been a staple of Blue’s sideboard and I’m not one to argue with results. Reprisal is a bit of a toss up for me, there are plenty of good targets for the instant although I would much rather run Terminate I don’t fell like entering a 4th color to this deck. Reprisal will do for the Spiritmongers and FTK’s out there. I included the Disenchants in case I needed more spot removal or if I was wearing my Vindicates too thin. Wrath of God is actually in for the mirror and to have a spare for that rainy day. Well that concludes the trek through my mind. If you have any questions or comments send them to seminole782001@hotmail.com. I’m always willing to hear some advise on the tweaking of this deck. Andrew “SpectralBobcat” McIntire “It’s been five years and I still think I’m a chicken…I’m a chicken Marge.” - Homer Simpson