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Osion
Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 11:56 pm
Joined: 17 Dec 2005 Posts: 62 Location: MD
--- description ---
1 mana hard counters. Total lockdown. Enough lifegain and stall to make decks burn themselves to death to end the game. Yep, it’s an Azorious party alright.
--- end description ---


Regionals have finished, and results are in. Hmmm... 50 different decks that made top 4 or better you say? Yep, its a diverse T2 format alright. for those of you who have no idea what I’m quoting, I reference you to this excellent article about Regionals: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mf96.

If you’ll look down the list, you’ll see "U/G/W Control Variants" -- 5 wins, 6 T4. Not bad, but not great either. Of course, this "variants" is very vague, with some decks opting for Simic Sky Swallower, some for Dovescape. Let’s define the U/G/W Control right now, and start kicking Ghost Huck out of its throne.

(P.S. Before I get into the article, I’d like to give major props to the person that managed play GOBLINS to a T4 in a STANDARD REGIONALS. How this person managed to defy the laws of physics and run Goblin tribal in T2 is beyond me, but kudos!)


Formal Education
U/G/W Control T2 deck


Land (22)
4 Breeding Pool
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Temple Garden
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
4 Forest
3 Island
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Plains

Creatures (12)
3 Kami of Ancient Law
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Loxodon Hierarch

Legendary Creatures (4)

3 Hokori, Dust Drinker
2 Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

Artifacts (3)
2 Azorious Signet
1 Simic Signet

Enchantments (4)
4 Faith’s Fetters
4 Ghostly Prison

Instants (Cool
4 Remand
4 Mana Leak

Sorceries (3)
3 Supply/Demand



Sideboard (15)
4 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
4 Repeal
4 Umezawa’s Jitte
3 Annex


Overview:

Grand Arbiter Augustin IV is an annoyance to most decks, but usually he is only that: an annoyance. Sure, they have to pay 4 for that Char and can’t do the killer double Promise of Bunrei turn, but eventually a Char comes down to kill your legend and they go back to doing their thing.

Now Agustin’s sad. He’s all for being anal about your opponent’s actions, but having so many answers to him in T2 is a real downer. That’s where Augustin’s buddy Hokori, Dust Drinker comes into play.

Your opponents get access to one land a turn, AND their spells cost 1 more to play?!?

And you get Mana Leaks and Remands for a lone blue mana that are instant hard counters because it asks them to pay an impossible 3 mana or an impossible 2 spells a turn?

And Ghostly Prison makes them not able to attack you at all?

*lightbulb lights* I think we’ve got something here!


Reason for Being:

This deck stomps Zoo. It slows Husk down considerably. It blows through Owling Mine and Heartbeat as if they weren’t there. Greater Good and Dovescape and Wildfire have no chance of resolving their hard counters.

(these bold statements are all explained in the matchup section)

If that wasn’t reason enough I think I’ll start missing the days of Affinity and Anti-Affinity standard where making a new deck wasn’t so complicated: you just make Affinity.

Card Choices:

The Karoos -- there are 3 in there for a reason. These double-lands are golden when you can only untap one land a turn.

Kami of Anchient Law -- Just in case they pull some Heartbeat of Sping or Worship tricks

The Signets -- These were Wood Elves, but because they can come down on turn 2 to play a turn 3 Augustin and helps you immensely once Hokori is out, they were a no-brainer.

Grand Arbiter Augustin IV -- only 2 copies because you have Supply/Demand to tutor for him 3rd turn.

Hokori, Dust Drinker -- Ah, who knew bureaucrats and dust-drinkers got along so well? His drawback is largely assymetrical; You’ve got Birds, Signets, Karoos, and all of your spells cost one mana less to play. Hmm...

Supply/Demand -- Tutors for your Augustins and Heirarchs. All around excellent utility.

Repeal -- If Hokori is out and you repeal them, expect not to see the bounced creature for a very long time.

The Matchups:

--Zoo--
You have the awesome 8-pack of Faith’s Fetters and Loxodon Heirarch. Once Hokori comes down their burn is shut off; be wary of Shock, and always leave blue open for mana leak. Board out the Kami of Anchient Law for the Isamarus.

--Heartbeat--
They can’t touch you. Their "combo" turn involves them transmuting and playing about 6+ spells. Augustin sneers and then proceeds to sodomize them with his "opponents pay 1 more" ability. Hokori shuts them out completely, so much so that if they don’t find a removal spell, it is game. Board into Umezawa’s Jitte and Isamaru to give more aggressive pressure. Their "combo" turn involves them transmuting and playing about 6+ spells. Augustin sneers and then proceeds to sodomize them with his "opponents pay 1 more" ability.

--Owling Mine--
Again, they can’t touch you. With Hokori in play, They can\’t fill your hand and burn you in the same turn. Fetters and Heirarchs earn you the life that could have been decreased by the Owl. Board out Hokori (!), Ghostly Prison for Isamaru and Umezawa’s Jitte.

--Ghost Husk--
Okay, we come across a challenging matchup. Last Gasp and Mortify see the end of Augustin rather quickly, and don’t even get me started on the evil that is a "free" Sickening Shoal. Accelerate your board early on. A counter-defended Hokori is pretty much game. Post-board, Repeal is a must as it is one of the only ways you can kill a pumped Husk.

--Critical Graft--
This matchup is also challenging as Vinelasher Kudzu can get stupid big and out of hand. Board in Repeals. If you can stabilize with a Hokori fast enough Ghostly Prison should be game.

--Wildfire--
Wildfire will not resolve. Simple as that. They will be spending resources to rid themselves of Augustin and Hokori as fast as possible, by which case you have your 1 mana hard counters. Did I mention that Heirarch can regenerate your creatures in the unlikely event that they do Wildfire?

--Greater Good--
This largely depends on whose acceleration is better; you’ll want to watch out for Mortifies if they run them. If Hokori and Augustin hit play you can rest on your counters until Heirarch shows up to crush their crippled board.

--URtron--
A deck that is focused on acceleration versus a deck that nullifies acceleration? Hmm... Post-board Annex after a Hokori lockdown makes grown opponents cry.

--Dovescape--
Uh-oh, a deck that could be paking more counters than you. It might be meaningless to say this, but do not let Dovescape resolve. Mana Leaks aren’t going to get you many birds. Search for Ghostly Prison ASAP



This deck shines against decks that need lots of resources (Heartbeat, Greater Gifts) and creature decks (Zoo). Just watch out for excess cheap removal (Sickening Shoal and the like) and you’ll be on your way to extra-stalling extended turn match wins in no time!
Guest
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 12:00 am
Joined: Posts: Location:
Gaaah, My computer is going haywire.

(This is me, Osion)

My keyword puts slashes whenever I type \\\’ or \\\" and I can\\\’t log in to edit my article.

Update later.

P.S. yes, I know I mispelled Azorius.
Felipe Musco
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 12:46 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Very nice deck, Osion! I still think it may get mana screwed, sometimes, but at first glance it seems pretty solid (or at least, really neat). I’ll post again later, after a deeper analisys, with suggestions (if I can find any, of course!).
I don't like YOU.
La_Sin_Grail
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:26 pm
Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 806 Location: Maryland
4 Koal intended? I only see three but 12 total creatures. I pretty much told you everything I would say here in school except a couple things.

1) I’d like to see three or even four augustin. There’s no disable they can do to him, so killing him is the only option. Hence, having 4 is a good idea.

2) Utopia Sprawl would get the same "double untap" effect from your lands with hokori in play, and is faster than karoos.

3) Use the same concept as in #1 for hokori. You yourself complained today about how augustin is so helixable and gaspable, and hokori is the same way.

And not to be rude, but there is no way I’ll agree that you beat Howling mine or vore, the more common version of a similar deck.
Felipe Musco
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:17 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
I must agree with Grail. Hokori seems to be the deck’s centerpiece, maybe even more than Augustin, should you only be allowed to play one of them. Also, there are entire decks revolving around enchantments, but a lot of them barely uses them, and not dangerously to have you worried. In this basis, I’d suggest SBing the 3 Kamis and losing the 3 karoos, so you could add a Hokori and an Augustin (or another Supply//Demand, so you could use the Saprolings, in desperate cases, but it wouldn’t solve the problem of Augustin being "helixable" and "gaspable"), and adding the 4x Utopia Sprawl for deck speed. Of course, a lot of opponents will be more prepared to destroy Utopia Sprawl rather than a land, but I think speed here is the main concern.
I don't like YOU.
La_Sin_Grail
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:07 pm
Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 806 Location: Maryland
Kamis are a must. Find something else to take out. Kamis are great becasue they allow you to eliminate heartbeat, fetters, cloaks, etc.
Ilvaldi
Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:21 pm
Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Posts: 59 Location:
At regionals, my R/W control deck ran into a problem: other control decks.

So, lets say your opponent is playing a passive control deck and is waiting for you to do something. What will you do? Your deck is may be facing W control that drops only isamarus for their win condition and save the rest for hard counters. They will wreck your Arbiter and Hokori.

I wonder how this deck would work in a mirror matchup... Think
Ilvaldi
Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:26 pm
Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Posts: 59 Location:
Um, Grail, I think you posted in the wrong spot...
La_Sin_Grail
Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:36 pm
Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 806 Location: Maryland
whoops. Right on, Ilvaldi.
Memnarch Mastermind
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:18 pm
Joined: 24 Jan 2006 Posts: 49 Location: Bochum/Germany
I like that kind of deck, although I am wondering how you make this work fast enough.

I have some creatures like my Ghost Council in FOIL who seems kind of loyal to me because he’s just in every game in my opening hand, but despite this I can’t see how you manage to get your Legends fast enough. Okay, Supply / demand is good but helps you only with the Arbiter, why not Time of need?

And what if someone plays Wrath of God? You got 8 counter spells which cost you only (U), that’s quite hard but they are SB not MD.

And what if someone counters Arbiter or Hokori or demand? And cranial extraction could easily disable Horoki, eradicate could do as well.

Fetters. Do you really need them? I once built a WU deck using fetters and Mark of eviction, but you also have horoki as a sort of problem.

One of the cards I use most time is Ghostway. Would also make sense in your deck. For 1W you’ll remove all creatures you control EOT so you won’t have any trouble with Horoki while he’d be right back to stop your opponent.

All in all it is a very exciting deck which seems to be hardly stoppable. Homage

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