We’re up to second place here, and the decks are getting really creative and really well-built!  I almost want to build a few of these decks myself and take them for a spin!  Today, we hear from Deck Garage frequent flyer Sean from NY, who I knew from the get go would rise to the occasion.  Behold what he cooked up:

Sean from NY never backs down from a challenge!  Unless it involves real life spiders, in which case, pardon my dust.  So, no red huh?  Interesting, interesting.  Well, Blue is full of tricksy, combolicious cards so I think I'll throw my hat in with that lot...though white can be pretty brutal in it's own way...  *ahem*  The combo is simple: Stuffy Doll + Followed Footsteps, ah, though simple it is, it's never quite so easy!  Those are both 5cc spells in a color with little mana acceleration, so we're going to have to stall for time.  Now, if I'm going to make Stuffy Doll copies, I might as well have creatures that can do it as well!  I mean, who doesn't like turning into a dinky little indestructible artifact creature with a masochistic streak, hmm???  So, my contribution to the challenge involves the untapping/tapping powers of puppeteer and icy manipulator, the 'humbling' powers of the serendib sorcerer, and the Doll itself with it's copy cat fan club!  May I present:

Stuffy Doll Revolutions

18 Creature Spells:          Mana Cost:
4  Puppeteer                    2U
3  Serendib Sorcerer            1UU
3  Clone                        3U
4  Vesuvian Shapeshifter        3UU
4  Stuffy Doll                  5

16 Non-creature Spells:
4  Mana Leak                    1U
4  Rune Snag                    1U
4  Compulsive Research          2U
4  Followed Footsteps           3UU

4  Artifacts:
4  Icy Manipulator              4

22 Land
1  Academy Ruins
21 Island


Try and guess why I named it that heh (I'll take lame pop culture references for 200 Alex!) 

Unlike the movie it’s named for, this deck does not disappoint.  Ever the innovator, Sean chose to win with Stuffy Doll by simply having a lot of Stuffy Dolls out.  Followed Footsteps, Clone, and Vesuvan Shapeshifter seem certain to ensure enough Stuffy Dolls to fill a dollhouse.  I approve of Follwed Footsteps instead of Body Double; since Stuffy in indestructible, you’ll likely get quite a few more Dolls out of the Aura than you will out of the Body Double, since you can’t be guaranteed a Doll in the graveyard.

So, is this deck built well?  It does have a good amount of cards dedicated to copying Stuffy Doll, but with one problem: Followed Footsteps and Clone all require you to already control a Stuffy Doll first.  Vesuvan Shapeshifter you can play face down, or even face up to copy something else that’s good, and still make it a Stuffy Doll later when one comes out.  But with only Compulsive Research to hasten a Doll into play, I’m worried that the Clones and Footsteps may accumulate in your hand.
 

It also has a good array of control elements to hold an opponent at bay until your Doll collection builds up: Serendib Sorcerer, Puppeteer, and Icy Manipulator will each make any creature-based assault stall badly.  Puppeteer even can switch to offense by untapping a Doll, and the Sorcerer can save it from a -1 toughness effect.  Heck, Stuffy’d be grateful to be a 0/2!  And of course there’s the counterspells du jour, for the noncreature strategy.  Academy Ruins is the icing on the cake, recovering dead or discarded Dolls.  Clearly Sean has considered every angle.

Is the deck original?  Yes, it is.  Almost everybody focused on either untapping or damaging Stuffy Doll; Sean focused on simply producing an abundance of them.  Not only will this increase your pinging power, but Stuffy Doll’s excellence as a blocker only increases with each additional Stuffy.  It’s not exactly innovative to have a few Clones on hand, but using them to copy your own creature is—typically it’s used to piggyback off of whatever your opponent managed to get out.

Will Sean’s victory be humorous and unexpected?  Well, everyone has to admit there’s something funny about an army of stuffed dolls holding back attackers and slinging voodoo pins at you.  Most opponents will have to commend you for finally getting good use out of junk rare Followed Footsteps.  And if you manage to unmorph a Shapeshifter to supply the final point of damage, that will be pretty unexpected.

Can Sean achieve a victory?  With no way to play Stuffy before turn five, and so many cards dependant on Stuffy before they can be played, it may be tricky.  Of course, Clone and Shapeshifter can always copy other things if the game looks grim.  I already mentioned the suite of delaying tactics at Sean’s disposal, and Vesuvan Shapeshifter is a pretty good card one way or another.  My only wish is that there was some room here for a kill spell.  Either Pongify (great with the Doll) or Shaper Parasite (good with the Shapeshifter) would work I suppose.  But I just wouldn’t know what to take out, and the deck seems all right without them, so I guess I’m just paranoid.  Sean has had a history of having really fun, well-built, quirky decks.

I knew Sean from NY would make himself known in this contest even as I was declaring it.  I was almost worried someone would accuse me of conspiring with him to rig the contest.  But lo and behold, one deckbuilder rose from obscurity to win it all!  And you’ll get to see that ingenious piece of work on Monday.  Until then!

~BMoor