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Pojo's MTG
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BMoor's Magic The
Gathering
Deck Garage
Face to face, out in the heat,
Hanging tough, staying hungry...
They stack the odds 'til we take to the street--
just a kid with the skills to survive
Risin up, straight to the top,
Got the guts, got the glory...
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive!
Sorry for the Eye of the Tiger quote, but it seemed so appropriate. After the delay created by the Stuffy Contest, I feel bad that some submitters are still waiting, but deck garage policy is to put a rush job on any deck that needs to be fixed in time for a tournament. And today's deck fix is for one humdinger of a tournament-- the Scholarship Series Qualifier! The nameless correspondent who sent this one in is going to need all the help and Survivor lyrics he can get to take the prize here-- a scholarship provided by Wizards of the Coast! If you have a chance to enter this one, jump on it-- trust me, college is expensive.
April 28th-- I've made the deadline, but can I deliver the goods? It's going to take serious skill to rise to this challenge-- for both of us.
Now, your problems are control decks and early pressure, eh? I hate to say it, but you'll be seeing a lot of that. How can we fix that? We need to speed you up somehow, as well as give you more individual card quality and probably a comprehensive sideboard.
First of all, I'm going with my gut reaction to this deck-- it looks like the Rituals of Rebirth precon deck. You're going into a tournament with a modified precon? You've got guts, I'll say that for you. But we need to fix that, and I think the best way is to simply drop a third color. If your mana base is split three ways, you're going to have trouble in the early game while you look for your colors. That's why fast aggro decks are able to wreck you. Unless you can afford to gibe your land the tech nonbasic treatment, one of your colors needs to come down to a splash-- and I think it needs to be Green. Black is the core of your reanimation, and white helps with Icatian Crier and Resurrection. Green's role is currently nothing but mana fixing, and... Hedge Troll? Pull out the Green cards (all except Teneb, the Harvester) and all but one or two of the Forests (since you have Terramorphic Expanse already anyway, we'll leave it as a splash so you can cast Teneb just in case). That takes out Greenseeker, Llanowar Elves, Search for Tomorrow, Harmonize, Hedge Troll, and two other large reanimatables. The only thing there I regret removing is Harmonize, but double-green is just not an option here unless it's a reanimation target.
Speaking of reamination targets, you don't have very good ones. Teneb, Akroma, the Avatar, and possibly Twisted Abomination are the only
 ones I like here-- and I'm counting Kjeldoran Gargoyle as a reanimation target because six mana is too much for that. If you're riding your hopes of SSQ glory of pulling a superbaddy out of the graveyard, make it a superbaddy worthy of smashing face with! Krosan Cloudscraper! Sisters of Stone Death! Autochthon Wurm! Verdant Force! Liege of the Pit! Liege of the Pit and Krosan Cloudscraper you barely even need to reanimate: they come with a way to cheat them out! Also try Waning Wurm. As a 7/6 for 4 mana, you can get a huge creature out fast without Dread Return. And with Vanishing 2, it'll die soon, but you don't care! You can get it back! Take this under advisement.
Speaking of getting things back, I notice your reanimation suite consists of 3 Dread Return, 2 Resurrection, and Teneb. That's less than I'd like if it's your whole strategy. You really need four each of Dread and Ressurection. That second copy of the precon you said you'd get should have then, but if you can't get them, use Zombify or Vigor Mortis. You might also try Crime//Punishment. The Crime half only works on your opponent's graveyard, but it should be good regardless. And since you're splashing the Green, you might get some use out of Punishment too. Just a thought.
And also, you'll need to make sure you have either 2BB or 2WW as soon as possible. And I did yank your mana elves, didn't I? No matter-- Orzhov Signet or Prismatic Lens will get you to four mana just as quickly if you think it's necessary. SInce Dread Return needs double-black, and Ressurection needs double-white, and you can't guarantee which you'll need first, I'd value the Signet over the Lens.
Next, since I yanked Greenseeker, I'd like to give you another discard outlet. The best one I'm finding is Undertaker, who was tailor-made for your deck. If early rushes are giving you headaches as well, you could also try Peace of Mind. That might be a sideboard card though. We'll come back to that.
Finally, you should really try to get a few Mortify. I want to suggest a good card drawer to replace Harmonize, but all there is is Phyrexian Arena,
 Null Profusion, and Nihilistic Glee. Phyrexian Arena is the best of the three, so use that if any. With your discard outlets, you're going to need some way to refill your hand. Null Profusion costs six mana-- by then it might be too late. And Nihilistic Glee takes a lot of mana too. It could serve as both card draw and discard outlet, but it's pretty bad at both. The one life a turn is worth it, especially if you find room for Peace of Mind in the main deck.
That reminds me: you need a sideboard. Each card in a sideboard should be singularly very good against a certain deck. Against aggro, Wrath od God or Damnation is your safe bet, followed by Sudden Spoiling. If you can't afford them, Dawn Charm can hold off an attack and buy you the key turn you need. It can go to the sideboard to make room for these maindeck goodies I've suggested. Against control, if it's counterspelling control, you need Split Second spells. Sudden Death works great to kill Teferi, Dralnu, and most of the other creatures those decks rely on. Another card you could use against them is Svogthos, the Restless Tomb. They can't counter lands, and if they're countering your reanimation spells, then you must have some creatures inthe graveyard, right? If you face land destruction, try Weathered Wayfarer. Against a combo deck that goes off in one turn, Angel's Grace can make trouble for them, as can the Seek half of Hide//Seek seeking out one of their combo pieces. Against the mirror match (a deck very similar to yours), try Extirpate if you can afford it, or Jotun Grunt-- their graveyard is their weakness, so a 4/4 for 1W that can eat away their graveyard should give you the edge. Incidentally if your opponent uses Jotun Grunt, kill it. That's another reason for Sudden Death, or hopefully Mortify. Now that I think of it, Peace of Mind is probably good enough for maindeck consideration. Whichever fifteen cards you think best shores up your weaknesses-- it depends on what kinds of decks you expect to be up against.
That's all I can do here. Best of luck to you at the SSQ, showing your opponents the Eye of the Tiger. Please, if you read this in time, E-mail me back and tell me how the tournament went for you, and what changes you made to the deck. Give 'em hell out there!
~BMoor
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