Articles

Playing of the Decks
Due to feedback from the previous challenge, I will be changing the way I play the decks against each other. As last time, the 5 best decks will be played against each other. Each deck will play each other 6 times; 3 times before sideboarding, 3 times with sideboarding. A deck will receive 3 points for each game win, 1 point for each game draw and 0 points for a game loss. The deck that has the highest points will be declared the winner. Due to the additional number of games being played, my report will be shorter, glossing over the games instead of a blow-by-blow account of one game from each match; instead I will give highlights as to why the decks won or lost, making special mention of any key plays or interesting scenarios.

Prizes and Entries

• The prize is 8 boosters for First and 4 boosters for 2nd.
• One entry per person. If you do choose to make multiple entries, your last entry will be the only one considered (this gives entrants a chance to submit a modified deck, or a completely different deck if they think they made an early wrong deck choice or card decision)
• The last day for entries is 12.4.06. Please send them to the e-mail listed at the bottom of this page.

Ravnica really only gave us 4 major deck types to play with. 3 colours were possible (and one was a finalist in the last competition), but due to the lack of excellent rare mana fixers (such as duals that Peasant Decks can't Farseek for and Birds of Paradise), they are less consistent. This still applies with Guildpact in the mix. This doesn't mean 3 colour decks aren't playable, it just means they will have to be finely balanced, and may be more prone to mana screw.

However, now we have 7 basic archetypes to look at, plus those 3 colour combinations. As I said in the last installment, the guild model was designed to work well in limited, meaning many of the commons are strongly linked to the guilds.

In the results for the last deck challenge, I also posted an Izzet deck that could be viable for this competition.

        24 Creatures
        4 Drift of Phantasms        
        4 Viashino Fangtail        
        4 Gelectrode        
        4 Tidewater Minion        
        4 Torch Drake        
        4 Wee Dragonauts        

        
        13 Other Spells
        4 Leap of Flame        
        4 Pyromatics        
        1 Electrolyze        
        4 Izzet Signet        
        
        23 Lands
        12 Mountain        
        11 Island        

As I write this, I see another potential wrecking ball. Here's an Orzhov deck fragment:

        4 Last Gasp
        4 Pillory of the Sleepless
        4 Disembowel
        4 Faith's Fetters
        4 Douse In Gloom

Now that is some control, before even touching uncommons, and Pillory of the Sleepless even gives you a potential path to victory. Add some win conditions, preferably ones you can protect or are hard to remove, and you're set. I've got some in mind, but I can't give you all of the ideas on a silver platter!

With the right creatures, Gruul could also get off to a quick start and get bloodlusted up to keep your opponent on the back foot.

Let's also have a look at our winner for the last competition:

        22 Lands
        10 Swamp        
        12 Island        

        22 Creatures
        4 Snapping Drake        
        4 Surveilling Sprite        
        4 Dimir Infiltrator        
        2 Drake Familiar        
        4 Stinkweed Imp        
        2 Dimir House Guard        
        2 Moroii        

        16 Other Spells
        4 Disembowel        
        4 Last Gasp        
        3 Consult the Necrosages        
        2 Flight of Fancy        
        3 Halcyon Glaze        

        15 Card Sideboard
        4 Convolute        
        3 Strands of Undeath        
        3 Clinging Darkness        
        3 Shred Memory        
        2 Muddle the Mixture        

Is this deck still a viable contender? Are there now cards in the environment that make this deck a bad choice? Are there new cards in Guildpact that make this deck even better? You decide!

As usual, remember to pick your uncommons wisely; you only have 5 in total across your sideboard and main deck. I see one Guildpact uncommon in particular being a very powerful control tool in this format. I won't give any hints, try to guess what it is on the message boards! I'll be disappointed if I don't see that card in some decks.

Remember, your deck is supposed to be competitive. You should be designing your deck based on what decks you expect to face, and have strategies to defeat them. Remember your sideboard!

It's time to begin the deck building process! Feel free to discuss anything related on the boards; your deck prediction, popular cards you expect to see, or tech you think will be good for the sideboards. I might throw a few subtle hints on the board as well. Have fun!

Michael Howell
Bacchus in the forums
gr24159@bigpond.net.au