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Total Votes : 1
corvus
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:05 am
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
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This article is here to show you hou can kill a player just with two monsters: Phage the Untouchable and Taunting Elf!
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Hasn’t it been often that you wished to have the crazy effects of both control and quickplay? This article focuses on such a tactic. Phage the Untouchable, has been a source of inspiration for many players. Her ability to actually end the game with just an attack is admittedly superb. But then come the problems...



Such a high cost! Three colorless and four black mana is the high fee of having Phage the Untouchable on your side. The lady herself does not approve of tricks like Elvish Piper’s ability, since that would mean she would backfire at you. How can we counter this problem? By just having a high number of lands in our deck and have faith in our luck? There is a much more simple way....

A combination with Green! Green is the colour widely known for its ability to generate mana fast. Creature cards like Birds of Paradise can produce mana themselves, while cards like Explosive Vegetation can help bring out more lands than usual. So a mix with Green would be the solution to this problem. The use of cards like Dark Ritual would be a fine choise as well.



Enemy control! What if the opponent controls the game to the point of disgust? Many players have ways to destroy any creature, render any permanent useless, and of cource the great NPE that responds to the name of counterspell (and its copies like mana leak) are always a pain in the neck.

The only way to undo this, is using control cards of our own! Pieces of darkness like Dark Banishing or Smother can take care of many enemy monsters, while Duress helps control the enemy’s hand. Having Phage the Untouchable in hand is a must, so why not throw in a few copies of Demonic Tutor?



Make sure the attack will get through! Phage is a magnificent creature, and her ability is asewome as she can break any creature as well, but should the opponent have an oncoming swarm to block her, or monstrosities that would destroy Phage with their strength?

And the response to this minor problem brings the one and only: Taunting elf! Imagine having the two of them on the table! They both attack, The brave elf is blocked by all of the opponent’s creatures, but Phage the Untouchable touches the enemy player, and takes him out of his misery!



So here are the best choises of cards to support our strategy:



Lands (other than basic lands):


Llanowar wastes. A must for every dual-colour strategy to have 4 copies of its pain land. A helpful generator of either black or green mana.

Overgrown tomb. Another great choise for a dual land which helps set up more easily.

Barren Moor. Since this deck has many ways of getting its mana, it should have a way to cycle through when it is unused as well. Barren Moor has proved to be invaluable throughout the game.

Tranquil Thicket. Exaclty the same as Barren Moor, only for Green.



Instant and Sorcery tricks:


Explosive vegetation. It fetches lands from our draw deck. Most useful.

Duress. Control in all its glory! Discard one card of your choise from the opponent’s hand after having seen what he is up for...

Demonic tutor. Usually used to get Phage out more swiftly, but many crazy things can work for this deck-thinner, like using Duress twice, when only having one. A must.

Dark Ritual. How about getting Phage out during your fourth round with the help of creatures like Birds of Paradise and one hell of an instant? A life savior in many ways.

Putrefy, Ghastly Demise, Smother and Chainer’s Edict. Destroy all those pesky creatures (or enchantments your opponent controls, repeatedly while working on your Phage strategy....


Enchantments:


Utopia Sprawl. One and only. Upgrades our lands and helps set up everything much faster.

The Faithful Servants:


First and foremost: Phage the Untouchable. The killer whale. Or what this deck is based on... No further recommendations needed...

Taunting Elf. The second main hero of our deck, the creature that sacrifices itself with joy to bring victory to its controller.

Ravenous Baloth. A beast that protects you with not only its high statistics but also its valiant ability to burn itself for life.

Birds of Paradise. A mana generating machine which can protect you from flying pests need be...

Llanowar elves. Non-flying Birds of Paradise that can only give green mana. Self-explenatory in everything else...

Elves of Deep Shadow. Sadistic creatures that copy Llanowar elves’ ability, only with black mana.


Now that we have the main components of the deck, let it be forged:


Swamp x 6
Forest x 6
Llanowar wastes x4
Overgrown Tomb x4
Barren Moor x2
Tranquil Thicket x2

Explosive vegetation x2
Duress x4
Dark Ritual x3
Demonic Tutor x3
Smother x2
Putrefy x4
Ghastly Demise x2
Chainer’s edict x2

Utopia Sprawl x2

Phage the Untouchable x3
Taunting Elf x4
Ravenous Baloth x2
Birds of Paradise x4
Llanowar Elves x2
Elves of Deep Shadow x3



Most playtests show that during the sixth round you have in play: 6-8 lands, 2-3 creatures and 2-3 spells in hand, along with a 50% possibility of having drawn (or taken into hand) Phage. Now go show them what quickplay control means!
Last edited by corvus on Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:32 pm; edited 4 times in totalClick here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
Felipe Musco
Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:55 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
You’re kinda behind on cards... You suggest Llanowar Wastes, but what about Overgrown Tomb? You suggest Dark Basnishing, but what about Putrefy? Not to mention, Dark Ritual is banned in almost all formats, and in the formats is IS legal, there are MUCH more killer combos...
I think you need some upgrading, corvus, although I’ve seen some of your work and I like your style. All in all, a so-so deck, pretty disruptable but a cool article. I mean, what about Boseiju, Who Shelters All and Cranial Extraction?
I don't like YOU.
corvus
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:29 am
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
Thanks for the cool tips, i am indeed a bit behind with MTG.... I am not sure what i should do about the choise of pain lands, but both seem great. Putrefy is indeed a goodie i haven’t even heard of...

Why do you think Boseiju, Who Shelters All and Cranial Extraction fit with this strategy?
Click here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
c3poquino
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 10:10 am
Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 47 Location:
Actually, he meant they disrupt the strategy. See? If all you can do is "Phage" them, all they have to do is name her and it’s all over. You have to have some backup. And about the lands, you could use both, most dual colored decks nowadays use both. I like where you’re going, but I think you could try Aspect of Mongoose or something, to protect your own creatures. As it is, it’s a nice idea, but not a nice deck. Start by picking a more suitable format, like extended, because in the format this deck is built, it just takes too long to have a shot. You can try a build with Utopia Sprawl, Birds of Paradise, Kodama’s Reach for more speed, Phyrexian Arena to draw morw, etc. But I liked your style, will we read more from you?!?
corvus
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:55 pm
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
Yup you will. Very Happy
And thanks, i will consider each of your ideas and edit accordingly. No hard feelings if you want to vote now though... Wink
Click here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
r2d2quino
Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 11:00 pm
Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 49 Location:
I kind of like this kind of deck. Problem is, my bro’ usually beat me when I play with one like it. I’m kind of a newbie, but I believe that the deck has to have more means of playing Phage, maybe Urza’s Mine, Urza’s Tower and Urza’s Power Plant?
corvus
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:09 pm
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
Thanks for the cool tip, but Phage mostly needs black mana, so Urza’s toys cannot help much. I am gonna fix it maybe tomorrow guys! Very Happy
Click here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
Felipe Musco
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 8:58 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Hey, corvus, it just occured to me. Since this is Extended anyway, why not making it monoblack with only Overgrown Tomb (counts as a Swamp) and use artifacts like Mana Chalice, Chromatic Sphere, Chromatic Star, etc... to cast Taunting Elf and/or use the ability on Mortipede, and use Cabal Coffers? It’s an uncommon, non-legendary land from Torment, which reads: "2, Tap: Add Black to your mana pool for each Swamp you control". You can use Phyrexian Arena for card-drawing, Consume Spirit to stay alive, and one thing that I forgot the name, which gives -X/-X for all creatures for each Swamp you control, so you can sweep the board if you need. And even add in some discarding, which also reads "Target player discards a card for each swamp you control" (I also forgot the name. Makes for a pretty cool Extended deck! Maybe you don’t even need Mortipede and Taunting Elf after all, since you could easily discard all their hand, wipe the board, play Phage and then play Consume Spirit or Tendrils of Agony on any blocker they might pop up. Could even consider 1-2 copies of Plague Wind!
I don't like YOU.
corvus
Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 7:37 am
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
Thanks for the great ideas and your support everyone. Unfortunately, i only used a couple of them, as i didn’t have much time to work on the deck much. FM, your ideas are quite strange and nice... almost diabolic my tutor.... Laughing

Ready to be voted! Tomorrow the month ends... *coughs*
Click here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
physcosick
Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 11:33 am
Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 229 Location:
7 fetchlands and 4 Overgrown tombs are plenty to support a low Green mana curve.

And musco, tendrils of agony can’t get rid of a potential blocker. The discard card you are thinking of is Mind Sludge.

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