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BMoor's Magic The
Gathering
Deck Garage
Today's deck is another "shoebox creation" from a reader who may actually have stumbled onto a more potent strategy than he realizes...
Well, Twayblade, even though your deck looks pretty random, you've actually got a fairly good idea behind it. Using White's defensive creatures and Red's burn and offense, you could create a fairly decent control deck. That's what good control decks do, after all-- they slowly neutralize their opponent's offense, then win the game with their own once the opponent has exhausted all his or her resources.
Some people think that all control decks are blue or black. Blue is quite good at control due to its ability to draw cards and counter spells, but any color or colors can make a control deck. And you've got what it takes to build one.
But first, there are several cards in this list that probably shouldn't be there. Some great professional player once said, "The best decks use the best cards." So what can you safely pull out and never miss? Let's do this checklist style:
1 gruul guildmage [X]
2 amrou seekers
1 loxodon warhammer
4 utvara scalper
1 circle of protection blue [X]
2 swift maneuver [X]
1 reciprocate
1 flame-kin zealot
2 knight of holy nimbus
4 seal of fire
2 samurai enforcers
2 benediction of moons [X]
3 firemaw kavu
1 sidewinder sliver [X]
2 pyromatics
1 sacred necter [X]
1 tarox bladewing
1 circle of protection green [X]
1 griffin guide
1 cage of hands
1 candles' glow [X]
1 kjeldoran outrider
1 faith's fetters
1 kitsune blademaster
1 holy day [X]
1 even the odds
Why are the cards I've X'ed out here bad? Well, I'll leave it to you to figure out the specifics, but for the most part, any card that gains you life or prevents damage and does nothing else to impact the board is not worth a slot. Loxodon Warhammer and Faith's Fetters are good because they actually help you win the game while also gaining you life. Sacred Nectar is basically a wasted slot.
Also, to build a true control deck, you need some way to gain card advantage. If your cards are trading 1-for-1 with your opponent's, you won't be able to win a defensive game like the one you seem to want to play. Every card should gain you some incremental advantage. That's why blue loves to draw cards. Red and white can't really draw cards effectively, so they have to rely on being able to kill multiple cards of the opponent with only one of their own. So now it's time to suggest some replacement cards.
Pyroclasm, Cone of Flame, etc.
On red's side, you want some way to kill opponent's creatures en masse. That way if your opponent comes out of the gates with a one-drop, a two-drop, and then two creatures on turn three, you need not roll over and die right then and there. Having a few ways to "reset" the board is always nice when you're behindin the creature race.
Angelic Wall
This little number, recently reprinted in 10th, makes an excellent way to hold off attackers. If your plan is to use white for defense whiel you sling burn spells, then you could do a lot worse than to sit behind one of these while you sling them.
Lightning Helix
This was one of the nost powerful cards in Ravnica block for many reasons. Now that it's rotated out of Standard, the price on it should have come down a bit. Give it a try for yourself.
Master Warcraft
Just think of it: you could force horrible blocks, swing for the win past his defense, or in a tight spot just stop the other guy from attacking at all for a turn. It gets even more hilarious in multiplayer-- turn your enemies against one another!
Any or all of the above cards would help you out greatly. I know you probably can't afford chase rares like Wrath of God or Brion Stoutarm, but you'd be surprised what you can find in the commons bin at your local game shop. Keep trying, and good luck!
And with that, I'm out of decks in my inbox again. It is coming up on the week of Thanksgiving (in America), so maybe most of my readers are gettign ready to put down the Magic cards for a nice long weekend with family and friends. Or there's a problem with my E-mail link again (probably the first one). At any rate, here's wishing all my American readers a happy Thanksgiving, and encouraging my non-American readers to send in your decks to be fixed at bmoor@pojo.com. I'll probably have some free time over the long weekend, so if I don't have any new E-mails, I'll try and come up with something special for you all in the form of a special article or the like. See you then!
~BMoor
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