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Minga's Monthly Bitchin - Overrated

"It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak - Dream"
(From The Sandman, Vol 3 - Dream Country by Neil Gaiman)

Well I tried the non-sarcastic approach to writing Magic articles last month and suffice to say that I didn't think too much about it myself and the responses I received were generally bad. For example, when I asked my editor (Rebecca, better known as the chick with the Angel fetish or the Matriarch of posts on the Paradise) last month what she thought about the article, she said "It was OK, interesting." Which I thought was similar to lines like "I see you as a friend..." where people try to tell you that you are crap without actually saying it.

Since that approach didn't work I thought I would get back writing in my old style, which is filled with bitterness, sarcasm, and outlining who and what I didn't like about the game. Fitting to the theme, I am going to comment on Odyssey Block Constructed this month, as it is without a doubt the next big thing for people who are not attending the worlds. With the introduction of Judgment, the format is relatively untested and as usual people begin to post what decks they think will win on various Internet web sites. Well, as usual the online Magic community is being congested by dodgy deck lists and the only deck I've seen that is even remotely playable online is G/U Speculating Bears. However, it really doesn't take a genius to work out that Quiet Speculation is good with Green so I can't say that I am too impressed with that deck either. In the following article, I will point out what are the decks that you SHOULD NOT play in OBC and why. For I believe that people who criticize without justification are just as bad as those being criticized. It is simply a waste of everyone's time and attention.

White Weenie

In extended, white weenie decks are built around the concept of beating down with fast weenie shadow creatures, remove your opponent's big creatures with Swords to Plowshares and deplete their resources with Armageddon to prevent them from ever regaining the upper hand. At first glance, Odyssey block does provide us with a healthy selection of white weenie creatures and it seems like a plausible concept with the aid of Divine Sacrament.

However, the deck is utter crap when you are up against Green players as they can bring in 2nd turn Wild Mongrels, which pretty much put all of your weenies on defense duty even with the benefit of Divine Sacrament because it can change colors. In addition, without the benefit of Swords to Plowshares, you will find it pretty difficult to deal with their 4th turn Roar of the Wurm and with about 70% people out there playing Green in OBC, I don't like your chances if you are actually trying to win a tournament.

Some people might think that adding Green is the solution to solve this problem but if you are adding Green, then why not just play a W/G beat down deck? Why rely on an enchantment that could possibly benefit your opponent when you can just summon fatties to do the same job? You may argue that your white weenie can add Glory to make your creatures unblockable and go for one turn kill, but 4 Glories in a 60 card deck with no search is too unstable for my taste, especially if you depend on it to win.

Black Graveyard Removal Deck

This deck is built around the concept that you either get card advantage from cards like Gravestorm, fat creatures for cheaper costs like Carrion Wurm/Rats or you get the choice of destroying their graveyard, which is a valuable resource for most decks in OBC. The problem with this deck is that YOU don't actually get to do the choosing but your opponent does. Playing decks like this introduces too much unpredictability to the game, as the cards will never do what it does when you need it. Unlike Fact or Fiction and Browbeat where both alternate effects are good even if you opponent gets to choose, the choice between taking damage or loosing cards in the graveyard is not that great. This is because not only does your opponent get to choose the option that will suit them best, but they can also choose WHICH card he/she wants to remove from their graveyard.

For instance, when your opponent is on high life he will choose to take the damage from the rats instead of loosing his Roar of the Wurm in his graveyard. When he is on low life, he will remove his lands from his graveyard, block your Wurm with his and make yours deal no damage. If you think about it, your opponent probably has more say in your deck then you do.

Some may argue that you can reduce these scenarios by playing Rat's Feast and/or Steam Claws but what if you play against a deck that isn't reliant on graveyards like a White/Blue bird deck? Half of your deck would then be rendered useless and your creatures are little more then toys against your opponent's arsenal of angry birds.

Mono Red

The mono red punisher deck is another popular one at the moment and the best build I have seen so far is from my fellow columnist Scott Hunstad, which he posted last month on his column. Compared to the 2 decks mentioned above, Scott's deck is very comprehensive and the idea is quite original. However there are a few things that I would like to point out about the current build and by doing so, I have no intention undermine Scott's skill as a player or deck builder. They are merely friendly suggestions on my behalf that are not HARSH but eh, fair, yeah.

I have played against that mono Red deck a couple of times and it has about a 50/50 chance against the deck that I am going to play in OBC (which shall remain a secret till the OBC PTQ is over. If any Sydney players who have seen the deck feel compelled to post it online, just remember that I might be the one writing your psychological report if you ever need parole, bail etc.). The deck has a good chance in winning the first game but the chances are not so good in second game because it has wasted a healthy amount of cards in the sideboard to correspond with Burning Wish.

Furthermore, mono Red deck lacks answers against the Genesis/Solitary Confinement combo and though the combo takes a while to get off but I have seen the mono Red deck taking longer then 5 turns to kill due to bad draws. Mono Red has always suffered from draw dependant since it lacks card-drawing spells (Browbeat is more often 5 damage then 3 cards). Slow starts, mana screw and mulligan can all attribute to your lost and with my luck, I don't fancy my chances with that deck.

Finally, mono Red will have a pretty hard time against B/U Speculating Bears deck, which I think will be the most popular deck in the format since it lacks answers to kill multiple Wurm tokens. The game might still be even before sideboard since Red can depend on the Firecat Blitz/Rites of Initiation combo for the win, but that combo will be worst then useless when the G/U player side their Moment's Peace in if they didn't have it in their main deck already.

That's it for this month since I have my birthday coming up. As usual, comments, money, presents and article ideas are welcome. Oh and don't worry about the title, it will be back to Theory Behind Magic next month because I can't see the new title sticking to a "Family" site like the Paradise.

Minga

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