Well, here it is, folks.  The finale, the forte, the culmination of BMoor and Pojo.com’s Stuffy Contest.  It started out as a whim of mine, I’ll admit, but it unfolded gloriously.  The entries have been judged and tabulated, the prizes are wrapped up in a cardboard box ready to be dropped in the mail, and regular deck garage articles will resume most likely tomorrow, maybe sooner or later depending on how much other work I have to do this weekend.  Hopefully soon; the decks have really been piling up here and I feel bad about it.  It’s unlikely I’ll have any more contests for a while, but I do want to do this again at some point, and when I do, I’ll be much better about getting it all done without disrupting the Garage too much.

But enough Azorius stall tactics.  You’ve waited, and it’s time.  Here finally, is the deck that won it all, submitted by Matt DesAutels:

Stuffy Beatdown! (Standard Legal)

Creatures:

4 x Llanowar Elves           G

3 x Ohran Viper                1GG

4 x Stuffy Doll                  5

3 x Durkwood Tracker       4G

Non-Creature Spells:

4 x Giant Growth                  G

3 x Keen Sense                     G

2 x Magewright's Stone          2

4 x Search for Tomorrow       2G (Suspend 2 - G)

3 x Loxodon Warhammer       3

3 x Blanchwood Armor           2G

4 x Stonewood Invocation      3G

4 x Might of Oaks                  3G

2 x Shape of the Wiitigo        3GGG

Lands:

18 x Forest

The idea of this deck is to do what no one expects when you play a 

Stuffy Doll - attack! If your opponent doesn't block, throw down a 

Stonewood Invocation on ol' Stuffy to smash for 5. If your opponent DOES block, 

throw down the Stonewood on THEIR creature, making them take 5 plus the 

power of their blocker. A real lose-lose situation for them, 

reminiscent of Rhox and his buddies that could deal damage whether or not they 

were blocked.

In addition to creature pumpers, Included are utility cards for mana 

acceleration (Search for Tomorrow, Llanowar Elves), Card draw (Keen 

Sense, Ohran Viper), and creature control (Durkwood Tracker, Ohran Viper). 

Why Durkwood Tracker? If you don't need to take out their creatures, 

pump up Durkwood with a Loxodon Warhammer and aim him at your Stuffy. Then 

untap Durkwood with the Magewright's Stone, and do it all over again! 

One thing I've learned about combo decks is that you have to have a 

backup plan. So, if you can't get Stuffy out (or keep him out), hopefully 

you can sneak through with a Tracker or  a Viper with a Might of Oaks 

and a Stonewood! 

Thanks for the fun idea! I love deck-building!

There she is, folks.  Is it well-built?  Yes indeed.  Llanowar Elves, Search for Tomorrow, and Ohran Viper are a great way to ensure you’ll draw a Doll and be able to cast it as early as possible.  Once out, you simply attack.  There are twelve pump instants in this deck and three Blachwood Armor, so you’ll have no trouble making someone’s creature huge and piling on damage.  The Durkwood Tracker combo is fun and fits in well with the idea of Stuffy Doll “swinging for zero”.  Keen Sense and Magewright’s Stone are also really clever cards that go great with Stuffy Doll, although the Stone might be better used on the Tracker here.  And who could deny recognition to a deckbuilder who found good use for Shape of the Wiitigo?

As far as creativity goes, this deck is seething with it.  It’s clear that Matt scoured the spoiler lists of all the Standard-legal sets—even Coldsnap—to find rarely-used cards that would serve his turn.  Not only that, the deck is pivoting on a very unexpected idea.  When you first saw Stuffy Doll, did you ever imagine attacking with it?  I have to give credit where credit is due—a few other contestants sent in decks that seek to attack with a Doll.  Most were like Natsume’s sixth place deck—full of white “range strike” damage that can only target an attacking or blocking creature.  Two people sent in Stuffy Doll/Lure combo decks, but somehow they didn’t impress me as much.  This deck just has a more original feel to it.

Not only that, the deck looks like a lot of fun to play—both with and against.  You see Elves and Searches accelerating into a Stuffy Doll.  Okay, you think, he’s gonna untap it with Seeker of Skybreak, or maybe try Unyaro Bees or something.  Maybe a Magewright’s Stone came down earlier, so your opponent’s thinking you have some sort of tap ability theme.  Then you throw a Shape of the Wiitigo on Stuffy, or maybe you don’t.  Maybe you just swing for zero.  Now, your opponent knows you’ve got something sneaky going on, but what?  Most players forget what Durkwood Tracker does and won’t remember he only works on attacking creatures.  Then when the hammer comes down, it’s all “oh, that’s how that works?”  Your opponent has fun trying to figure out your angle, and you have fun saying you won by attacking with a 0/1 creature.

Of course, there’s always the possibility you won’t win.  But the deck certainly looks competitive.  With so many pump instants, you can pretty much always guarantee that you can block and kill a creature or swing and punch through a blocker.  Don’t forget, Stonewood Invocation also makes its target untargetable, so it can be used to save Stuffy Doll from any targeted spell or ability, not just a –X/-X effect.  And with such card quality as Llanowar Elves, Ohran Viper, and… uh… Shape of the Wiitigo… I’d feel comfortable bringing this build to any FNM, or even PTQ, and still it works just fine around the kitchen table.  It would seem Matt has a gift for deck building.

Speaking of deckbuilding, I have quite the list of decks piling up here I need to get to.  This was fun, but now it’s time to break out the wrench and get back to work!  Stop by again tomorrow, because it seems I have a long night ahead of me…

~BMoor