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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Eiganjo's Prison Block Deck

04.27.06

How's it goin'? I haven't played magic in about a year, and I just wanted some updates on any cards since Champions of Kamigawa that would fit well in my deck, as well as any other suggestions. The basic strategy of this deck is to immobilize the enemy's creatures with cards like Arrest, Cage of Hands, and Pacifism, after which I pummel them with my legion of Samurai. Another part of my strategy is to get out one or two Ghostly Prisons, and then play Armageddon, causing the opponent to have to wait 2+ turns just to attack with one creature. Anyway, here it is.
 
Lands:
1x Eiganjo Castle
20x Plains
 
Creatures:
4x Devoted Retainer
3x Konda's Hatamoto
4x Mothrider Samurai
1x Nagao, Bound by Honor
1x Takeno, Samurai General
2x Konda, Lord of Eiganjo
2x Samurai Enforcers
 
Other Spells:
2x Ethereal Haze
1x Konda's Banner
4x Pacifism
1x Hold the Line
1x Armageddon
4x Arrest
4x Cage of Hands
4x Ghostly Prison
1x Tatsumasa, the dragon's Fang
 
With this combo of immobilizing my opponent and attacking with my combination of Samurai, I feel I have a pretty strong deck. I would like to hear your opinion.
 
Thanks alot.
-Jordan G.

This strategy looks quite solid, Jordan.  I have a few misgivings about the mana curve, as well as a few subpar card choices, though.
 
First of all, I'm a bit wary of the high mana costs of some of your Samurai.  That's forgivable for a creature like Konda, and your deck is focused on slowing your opponent's offense to a crawl, but still, you're not going to hold off armies with your formidable blockers if they don't come down until Turn Six.  Replace the two Samurai Enforcers with two Hand of Honor, Paladin en-Vec's cousin from Japan.  if that seems too "early aggressive" for you, also try Inner-Chamber Guard or Opal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo.  Either of those can dissuade an attack quite effectively.  Also, replace one of the Kondas with another Nagao, Bound by Honor.  Legendary permanents, especially legendary permanents with complicated casting costs, are the one type of card I don't mind seeing single copies of.  And Konda is a particularly difficult card to have in your opening hand, because it's a dead card until turn seven.  Nagao, on the other hand, can be played on turn four and has abilities powerful enough that you won't mind drawing one with another already in play.
 
Next, there's the question of the spells you're using to stop your opponent cold.  Hold the Line is nice, but too situational.  You really want to be blocking with multiple creatures for this to be useful, and it doesn't seem like you'll have that many instances of your opponent attacking with a lot of creatures that you can block, but can't kill without this.  More often, your opponent will attack with creatures you can't block, creatures with flying or fear.  And Ethereal Haze?  I doubt you'll need it with so many Ghostly Prisons.  I recommend replacing these three cards with three copies of Three Dreams.  Each Three dreams will allow you to fetch one Arrest, one Pacifism, and one Cage of Hands, ensuring that you can completely lock down your opponents' creatures, and then swing for the win with your Samurai.  Good luck!

 
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