Otaku Punk

The Merrits of Mono: Part One

Why do people play single (or mono) coloured decks? Are they confused? Did they foget to read the instruction
manual advising 2 or 3 colours? Did they just forget that there is actually more than one civilisation? Maybe
they're just color blind.. Well, the answer is none of those things (i hope). Its about time people realised
the beauty of mono decks, and i feel im the one to enlighten you. First i'll explain why mono rocks, then i'll
give some examples of mono deck types for different civilisations in the second part of my analysis.

Whats the point?

Im glad you asked! Playing mono has many advantages over multi coloured decks, namely speed, mana, focus, style
and evolution.

Speed?
One of the main problems with playing more than one colour is speed. On your first few turns, youll be playing
mana and creatures nearly every turn and what you definitley dont want is to get stuck with the wrong mana. Which
is what happens all to often with multi-decks. With mono, you'll always be able to play anything you've got
assuming youve got enough mana, without having to worry about what colour it is. Its almost idiot proof. Admittedly
speed is more to do with what theme your deck is, but the focus of mono definitley ups the pace.

Mana?
One colour means more mana..sort of. Tough decisions about what to play as mana and what to summon
are seriously reduced with mono, so chances are you will be playing more of it. In a game where you'll
be drawing one but playing two+ cards per turn, this flexability is a real advantage. Like i said, you'll
never have the wrong color either. Playing mono really losens the restrictions on what you can and cant play
(within the limits of your own deck, of course).

Focus?
Like speed this also has to do with theme, but it is undeniable that a good deck needs a focus, and nine times out of ten
a mono deck does! Youll rarely find anyone trying unsuccesfuly to manage two or no themes in mono, providing a much
smoother ride.

Style?
You may dismiss this as a pointless category, but if you cant feel cool playing this game whats the point?
And believe me, nothings cooler than a mono coloured deck. Everything makes sense, it all works in sync.
Green-Black is a prety popular deck type. Sure, it may be effective (for a dual colured deck)
but if you read the flavour text you'd realise the darkness and nature civilisations hate each other, why would
they work together? You'll never find plot holes in a classic mono deck. You can even theme it around
flavour text..

Evolution?
Evolution creatures rule the roost, and thats not gonna change any time soon. And how do you play an evolution
creature? By putting it on a creature of the same species. And since each species only exists in one civilisation,
less colour equals more evo! This is one of my favourite aspects of mono (as you'll see in the deck examples).
Playing two+ colours really limits your evolutionary options but with mono you can go all out. Youll still need to
theme your deck around the species, but it hardly matters whewn you swarm your opponent with your favourite
evolutions (barkwhip).

Check out the second part for some awesome mono deck ideas- Otaku Punk
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