What's going on in Type 2? (Part the third)

Corrections, Retractions, and Apologies:
Well, I really haven't gotten any notices this week,
so I guess I've managed to avoid any trouble. I did
notice that Brian Kibler sent in a report, and
hopefully he will start contributing to the site. Now
all we need is Chris Piluka (yeah, I've got no clue on
the last name), as they're probably the best Pro Tour
personalties (unlike several other more reclusive PT
regulars, who shall remain nameless). Maybe its a
little much to hope for, but oh well. Now we move on.

Well, welcome to the 3 Ed and final part in this
series. In this part, I'm going to examine the Tier
2/2.5 field. I cant go full into every deck last time,
as this would end up 20 pages long. However, I will
give you an idea, by separating the different decks
into different groups. In case you don't remember,
here are the decks in the field.

The Red Zone
G/W Geddon
U/B Control
U/W Fish
U/B Fish
Nether-Go
Eye-Go
Rebel Bears
Void
Rising Waters
Draw-Go
 They break down into groups like this-

Beatdown:
Rebel Bears
G/W Geddon
The Red Zone (aka., G/w/r Geddon)

Aggressive Control
Void
Nether/Eye-Go
Fish (in 2 or 3 colors)

Control:
Rising Waters
Draw-Go

Beatdown:
When the Invasion spoilers went up, actually, even
before then, there was a large buzz over the new
'Ehrnam Geddon' decks, that everyone said were going
to return. When States came, and therefore the dreaded
juggernaut that is Fires of Yavimaya. Fires proved to
be more than a match for the deck, which I learned
from experienced. Because of this, people shied away
further from these decks, many opting to play Fires
itself. Not to say that its completely gone from Type
2, but it certainly didn't become the deck some slated
it to become.
The Red Zone, a variant on the above deck, fared much
better. Many times in the Fires mirror match, the
Fires itself is sided out, as it is not incredibly
effective there. Because the deck is very similar to
the 3 color version of Fires, its almost as if the
deck was pre-sideboarded. Also, the deck can be
confused with Fires, and improper sideboarding may
occur (as well, it should also may be know that Fires
could do this too, by not showing the Fires, making
the opponent believe that its actually Red Zone). It
shows the most promise in becoming a Tier 1/1.5 deck.
However, Type 2 is not being played as much recently-
that place goes to IBC. I think it would be a fine
choice to take to Regionals (which is in 9 weeks,
April 21), which is what I will probably do (we'll see
what 7th ed. Produces).
Finally, we come to Rebel Bears. This deck, which was
played quite a bit in MBC after the banning of Lin
Sivvi, generally tries to pump out as many 'bears' (2
mana 2/2 creatures) as possible (using a short rebel
chain), with Lin Sivvi as an after thought. This has
started to go the way of G/W Geddon, as the 'real'
rebel decks, based on Lin Sivvi, did much better in
Chicago (wining the day, as a matter of fact).
So, how do you beat these decks, on the chance you
play them? If you too are playing beatdown, in the
form of Fires I presume, make sure to get out that
Fires quickly. Against G/W or Rebel Bears, this is
especially important, as a Blastoderm with haste can
easily plow its through steadfast Guards or Chimeric
Idols. Also, with multiple 5/5's ready for beatdown,
your opponent will think twice about casting an
Armageddon.
Against Red Zone, you have a difficult time. Most of
your fat can be matched by their fat. Fires serves
less purpose here, unless to pump, as it will at best
sneak through an extra 3-5 points, but then will be
fairly useless as its unlikely you'll need that
Blastoderm with haste when a Shivan Wurm or Rith is on
the other side of the table. It then becomes only
useful as a Wax/Wane on a stick, with out the 'wane'
part to it. For sideboarding, go ahead and put out the
Fires and put in Simoons, for those pesky Elves,
Birds, and Familiars after Planeshift. Still, I will
be a hard matchup, and not in your favor.
With Aggro-Control, Skies and Counter Rebels, your
best bet is to drop and early Airship and keep their
threats off the board, with Counters/Boomerang. It
doesn't take long for a Rishadan Airship and
Troublesome Spirit to win the game. Make sure too keep
any of their fliers away- Rith is never fun, and
Longbow Archer isn't either. With Counter Rebel, Lin
Sivvi is usually key, as the opponent has few ways to
stop the 'machine', and eventually you will be able to
win the race as they don't have the power of
recycling. Make sure to counter Armageddon, as that
tends to ruin your day.
Next, when playing U/W control, Wrath/Rout is Key. You
should be playing 3-4 main deck, with 2 more SB. As
well, Mageta is definite SB card too. A Blinding Angel
usually gives these decks headaches, unless they can
fire back with Rith- don't let them. However, with an
Angel Lock going, remember never to counter anything
that doesn't directly endanger the lock.

Aggro Control
Both Void (or Machine Head) and Nether-GO suffered a
fate similar to that of The G/W deck I covered above.
All three created quite a buzz prior to states.
However, for the same reason, the  fact they all lost
badly to Fires, is what keeps them from being played
heavily. Nether-Go, which made up a large percentage
of the field at States here in Georgia, just couldn't
handle a bunch of 4/4 Saproling tokens and Blastoderms
- what good is a 2/2 blacker there?- as well, it also
has problems with Rebels.
Void, though fairly strong against Rebels and U/W,
looses to just about every other deck out there,
except for the few Tier 3 decks, unless in very
competant hands. It, like Nether go, looses to most of
the Tier 1/1.5 decks.
Finally, we come to Fish. Not much has really been
printed. Its a little better than the other than the
other 2 decks, but not by a hole lot. The deck can be
played in U/W, U/B, and U/b/w control deck forms, with
the 3 color and U/B versions being more popular.  I
would probably shoot for U/B version, which packs
Recoil, Volidian Zombie (very good against Fires),
Undermines, Specters among other things. It combines
light Aggro creatures, some control magic, and
Discard.
So, how do these decks face up to the beatdown decks
in the format? Its about even. In the Tier 2 field,
the deck fairs fairly well. Fish can trade bear for
bear with rebels, and counter the Geddons. Then, Lord
of Atlantis hits and it becomes another game. If
another Lord hits, and it isn't over already, it
usually ends pretty quick. Void has a decent chance
against rebels, especially after sideboarding.
Nether-go does differently, however, as its usually
ran over by the rebel machine. However, it matches
differently against Fires and Red Zone. Most of the
decks cant handle the speed. Then, when a few more
threats, backed by Urza's Rage, the game can be over
quickly. This is most true with Void and Nether go,
which usually don't kill fast enough to handle either
decks. However, Fish does pack 2 important weapons-
Volidian Zombie and Galina's Knight. These pro color
bears can be a pain to Fires, especially the Zombie,
even more so when backed up with Lord of Atlanties.
However, even then, Urza's Rage can take care of that.
Against control, these decks have the best shot.
Aggressive Control usually beats Control. Still, the
odds aren't incredible. W/U control is just the better
deck. Most of the time, Void doesn't play more than
1-2 threats a turn, and most of thoughts are
wrathable. Fish may have some chance, if it can
protect itself from Wraths and Angels. Nether Go can
be tricky- Nether Spirit isn't the best card to
counter. However, a protected Angel or Jeweled Spirit
usually ends the game here. Actually, they tend to do
that a lot.

Control
Their is a very good reason these decks don't see much
play. Blue White is just a beater deck. Flat out.  The
primary advantage that these deck don't have is the
game-stopping Wrath of God and the flying hellbringer,
Blinding Angel. The fact that the only real way to
deal with in-play permanents is Wash Out. The fact is,
sooner or later, they're either going to
A) Throw down 1, game-ending creature, protecting it
with their counters
B) Overwhelm you with stuff you cant counter
C0 Get enough threats through to win, countering your
spells that occur in effort to thwart you (such as
with Skies & Fish)
This may not always happen, given, but with no real
'clear all' spell, things that get on the board, often
stay their. Waters has a slight advantage over Draw
GO, as it can add some lock-down ability (obvisouly,
the Waters). This can keep the flow of creatures
lower, though not well against Fires, which is the
most PLAYED deck. As well, if a few threats get out,
and Waters cant lay a sufficient blocker in time, then
they are usually going to loose. Beyond which, Air
Elemental is the only thing that Draw Go has (usually
2 or 3), so they absolutely have to counter all lethal
threats (Ramosian Sargent, Saproling Burst, and some
other things). They may or may not be able to do this
(especially when your casting more than 1 threat a
turn). It shares the weakness of Waters, having no
real end-all wrath ability.
As I've said before, both of these decks usually loose
to Aggro Control decks (Counter Rebel, Skies, Fish,
Nether-Go, and possibly even Void, but not
necessarily). They also have a tough time against
Blue-White. Beatdown fares better against Draw Go than
Waters, but its still a favorable match up. Honestly,
I would have to think long and hard about picking up
either of these for a tournament. Maybe they were
somewhat decent before Chicago, but with the influx of
Skies and Counter Rebel, which have both counter magic
and good creature pressure, I would think they were
both below par. Also, if you're dead set on playing a
full out control deck, Blue White is just the best
deck. Honestly, I'd just shy away from these decks.

Planeshift Update

Well, the new set is here, and people are wondering
what its going to bring. The main cards I see coming
out of this are-
1) Orim's Chant
2) Phyrexian Scuta
3) Doomsday Specter
4) Meddling Mage

Orim's Chant
W, Instant
Kicker- W
Target player can't play spells this turn. IF you paid
the kicker cost, creatures can't attack this turn.

Is it the new time walk? Not a chance. Is it Abeyance?
No, not really. Is it good? You bet. This card has a
number of elements, its primary element being an
excellent stall card. It also makes a great cover
spell, as no control deck wants it resolving. However,
it does have 1 flaw- it cant stop the rebel search
engine. Oh well, if nothing else, it negates Fire's
1-drop mana producers. Why? Because that blastoderm is
supposed to come out on turn 4, and with this, you can
prevent them from casting it turn 3 (fire it off in
their upkeep). Then, they cast it the next turn, when
it would normally be cast. I don't think it will
spring any 'turbo Chant' decks, but it will still be a
sought after card, making its way into Rebels for the
most part. Bah, like they needed the boost.


Phyrexian Scuta, 3B
Creature- Zombie, 3/3
Kicker- Pay 3 life
If you pay the kicker cost, Phyrexian Scuta comes into
play with two +1/+1 counters

Well, I don't agree that this is, in any sense, 'the
new Juzam'. I'm not doubting its a good card, but
still. Heres what I mean. First, so what if its a 5/5
(with kicker)? Fires can stare down that, and laugh.
Jade Leech, backed by the pump power of either the
Fires itself or Wax/Wane, it may be a virtual
Lightning Bolt/Ostricize/Time Walk (they loose a
creature, 3 life, and the turn spent casting it), all
for G! Remember, when cast with kicker and countered
(which can and will happen turn 2), you still loose 3
life. This really comes into effect when playing
Skies. The other part of the argument is that you
don't HAVE to pay kicker. Well, first off, you then
are casting hill giant. Second, what makes you think I
cant race with a Troublesome Spirit or Rishadan
Airship. Plus, if your opponent puts on the right game
face, they may not even have a counter (courtesy of
Bob Maher, mizer extraordinary). Then, Rebels has
Parallax Wave and W/U has Wrath, and counters. All in
all, I expect it to go the way of the Skizzik. Still,
expect debate in the months to come.

Doomsday Specter, 2UB
Creature- Specter, 2/3
When Doomsday Specter comes into play, return a Blue
or Black creature you control to its owners hand.
When Doomsday Specter deals combat damage to a player,
that player reveals their hand. Choose a card from it.
That player must discard that card.

Well, this makes a nice addition to Blue Black
control/discard decks. The best thing to combine it
with would be Ravenous Rats, though no guarantee can
be made that the rats will be in play. Its not
environment breaking, a nice card. It will give Blue
Black control a boost in popularity, adding muscle,
but I don't think enough to make it anything near 'the
best deck'. As well, it can still be Raged. And when
it comes back in from a P.Wave, you still have to
bounce a creature. It should see a good bit of play.

Meddling Mage, WU
Creature- Mage, 2/2
As Meddling Mage comes into play, name a non-land
card. That card cant be played.

Does this push Counter Rebel over the top? No, not
quite. Nevermind that, its still a good card. Great
card. The only concern I've heard is that "Its
Rageable". The idea is that you should name Rage first
and Burst later. Well, that's not true. Think about
this. On turn 3 after he comes out, your opponent
should be playing Blastoderm. But instead they've had
to take the time to Rage him. So, you've delayed them
a turn, which might be that turn you need to draw a
Wrath or counter that eventually saves the game. Also,
when casting him, remember, he should be treated as if
he had an activated ability to counter the named
spell. Here's what I mean. Why would you cast him
naming Saproling Burst on turn 2? If he gets raged,
you really haven't saved all that much time. You
should wait until the turn before Burst is castable,
thus delaying its casting. This is the better use. I
could go into a long article of 'what to name when',
but that article is as long as 'what to Void for
when'- thus, I don't want to do it right now. If you
look around the net, some insomniac will post one
eventually. For now, ill leave it to your own
intuition.


If you have any questions, like to know what some of
the decks I have listed are/do, If you want to worship
me, have any kind of online-discussion or wish to
contribute any advice or deck ideas, feel free to drop
me a line at captainsimian99@yahoo.com or contact me
on the Pojo message boards, where my nick is, of
course, Captain Simian. I usually check the boards
around 5:00 P.M. And 8:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time.

Further Note: I'll probably write more stuff for Pojo
in the weeks and months to come (hopefuly, it will get
printed). Im more intrested in draft than anything
right now, so if anything, that's what it'll be about.
Dont expect anymore 18-page series (like this one has
been). Thats a lot of work. I have ti say that,
through these 3 articles, my respect for regular
writers has grown, thats for sure.