The Twelve-Step Program for the Strategy Impaired
with Scott Gerhardt

Did He Say....Green/White Control???

      Number 1 - I told everyone that I wasn't skipping last week.  In my defense, when I wrote that, I had absolutely no intentions of skipping.  Then again, I had absolutely no intentions of it taking me 3 days to get a whole lot of Kamigawa sorted for my business.  I love you guys to death, BUT, I have to take care of a little business sometimes.  My greatest apologies for that.

     Okay, now that I have my apologies out of the way, I have a revamped schedule.  :)  After thinking about it, my schedule will be as follows:  I will write articles the first, second, and third weeks of the month.  The fourth week I will not.  The fifth week will probably be some form of alternation between yes and no.  I wanted to try to get on some form of a more set schedule so that you guys know when you can come here and see when I am or am not going to write.  This sporatic, "Well, maybe I'll skip this week" thing isn't really working for me and I know it wasn't working well for you.  So, we're in the second Monday of the month, so you get me this week and next. 

     Now that we have all the formalities out of the way, let's get to this week's piece of writing.  This week, I want to look at a deck that almost immediately jumped out at me.  Now, for some reason, they decided to give Green and White some random control elements.  I'm not sure why, but they did.  I figure since we have them, why not abuse them.

     I'm gonna start with Shishato, Whispering Hunter.  This little guy will slap the Stasis down on your opponent if you can just smack them in the head.  Okay - no problem - we can do that.  How, though.  Once they see this little 2/2 hit the board, they're gonna kill it, block it, stop it in any way, shape, or form they can.  The trick is for him to come in and you get the upper hand.  Introduce, Hall of the Bandit Lord.  Now we can give our little snake-boy haste.  This certainly can get the job done.  Now they have to cover up ALL the time.  That can be a real problem.  Of course, what happens if they just don't tap out?  Well, if they're not tapping, they're not killing you.  You can handle this little problem with a tidy enchantment called Nature's Will.  If you do manage to smack them, with ANYTHING, you get a free mana untap, and they are all tapped down.  With this on the board, you hit with Shishato, they're tapped out and locked down. 

     Now one of the problem with this strategy is that once they catch on to it, you might have some problems - they're gonna be able to stop you.  You need some other plan.  One is Yosei, the Morning Star.  For one, it's a 5/5 flier.  Nice.  Secondly, if they kill it, you get tap down 5 things, and they miss their next untap.  With a Will on the board, this should tap them down for a turn.  So, bringing in Shishato the next turn becomes child's play.  One of the problems with Shishato is keeping him alive.  You need to play Snakes, and enough of them.  Orochi Hatchery is certainly a nice way to go.  Even with a single charge counter, you can produce enough snakes to lock an opponent down.  WIth multiples, you start dishing death at the same time. 

     Another issue here can be mana generation.  We have that solved as well.  On top of the ever versatile Birds of Paradise, we have a grip of snakes that are just all about helping you with mana.  Orochi Leafcaller is a good sacrificial snake if need be, and it's a mana filter, allowing you to get the color you need fast.  Orochi Sustainer is another one that is a little expensive for a Llanowar Elf, but gets the slightly bigger butt, and is also a snake.  Sakura-Tribe Elder works to get land if you need to fliter some out early, and a good sacrificial snake late.  Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro turns all sorts of your utility snakes into mana generating machines, possibly pumping for a late Hatchery.  Sosuke, Son of Seshiro is a kill card - find it, play it, and swing to victory.

     Another odd card to play, but every good in the current metagame, is Auriok Champion.   Being Pro Red and Black helps against the Sligh (or SRB) decks that exist, as well as the newly-forming Black control decks.  A couple main with enough to go to 4 in the board would be an exceptional choice.  Imi Statue in the board with some form of Naturalize, Oxidize, and Tel-Jiliad Justice in the main and board should allow you to slow down affinity long enough to take over there. 

     In the end, you have a lot of options and ways to go in this deck.  I personally would also strongly consider adding red for Shock and Glacial Ray for the early removal.  It would also give you access to the ever versatile Hearth Kami to further the attack on affinity.  This build requires a little more guts and a good balance of your mana ratio.  Speaking of mana, as much as I have preached this card, do not play Forbidden Orchard in this deck.  While most any deck using multi-colors it's good in, this is one where you are permanent depriving them by keeping them tapped down - you certainly don't want to give them anything they can block with.  Instead, just run City of Brass - it's the best multi-land for this deck. 

     As always, I'm going to leave you with this.  Give a go at making this deck for yourself.  There are probably (hint) other cards I have not mentioned in this article that would be good in the deck.  Remember, though, I'm not trying to build the whole deck for you.  I want you to think about decks and think about what you think might be good.  I will say that when you're done, you shouldn't be in a Time of Need.

     Until next time, keep playing!