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The previous build of The Disruptor deck worked out well during the
tournaments I played over the weekend.  It beat Fires (without using
Perish!) and U/W Control, but was only able to stall Counter Rebels,
eventually succumbing to the onslaught.  I tried to force Wash Out through
but got beat in the counter war.  Counter Rebels is a tough match-up,
especially in my area, where the decks consist of 12- 14 Rebels and the rest
is counter spells.  No kidding.  I think part of my success with this deck
vs. the "net decks" was simply the Rogue element.  Several people said
something about not having faced some of the cards I used before, catching
them off-guard.

Anyway, after going 2 - 2 in a small Type II, double elimination tournament,
I decided the current decklist is good, but it could be better.  So I
thought about the strengths and weaknesses I faced against the decks that
beat me and have v2.0 ready for testing this coming weekend.  The original
decklist can be found at the end of this article, or in the Pojo Strategy
archive.

The Disruptor v2.0

CREATURES (18)
---------
Cavern Harpy x4
Cloudskate x4
Marsh Crocodile x2
Nightscape Familiar x4
Ravenous Rats x4

SPELLS (20)
------
Counterspell x4
Fact or Fiction x4
Power Sink x4
Probe x4
Recoil x4

LAND (22)
----
Islands x12
Swamps x8
Salt Marsh x2

Alright, let's get into the changes made and why I decided on them.

First comes the Cavern Harpy.  This little monster is truly amazing, gating
Rats and Cloudskates, blocking and bouncing, etc.  I originally ran only
three, but there were a couple of times I really needed her and didn't have
her.  So one more is the order.

Notice that Daze is now gone.  It's just too easy to play around, so I
replaced it with Power Sink.  In my experience, Power Sink can mimic Daze in
every way (U1 is minimal casting cost to be effective) except alternate
casting cost, which may be missed in the long run.  Time and testing will
tell.  Daze and Foil have good synergy, so I may switch back to Daze.

I also decided to run Fact or Fiction maindeck, as I found myself needing to
move through my deck faster than Probe allows by itself.  I kind of liked
having them as a surprise in the sideboard, but they will be more effective
maindecked.  That first win is important!  Unfortunately, this pushed
Rushing River to the sideboard, but as you'll see, I have a new strategy
there as well.

The next big change was removing the Urborg Drake from the deck altogether.
This is a scrapper, but the drawback hurts too much in the wrong situation.
I'd rather have something that can take a defensive stance when the need
arises.  Flying is good, always having to attack is not so good.  In their
place I added two Marsh Crocodiles, which work better with the overall theme
of the deck, i.e. discard.  Plus, his two CIP effects allow for some
distressing (for your opponent) bounce/discard tricks.  These are the only
change made to the creature base.

That is pretty much all the changes made to the maindeck.  I would like to
point out something here that I only realized after the second build was
done.  This deck contains no Rare cards, excluding the sideboard which we'll
discuss below.  All you will find are Uncommon and Common cards here, making
this an affordable deck for most players.  I like cheap, cheap is good.

On to the sideboard:

Foil x4
Rising Waters x4
Rushing Rivers x4
Washout x3

You can see from this list that the sideboard strategy is to go Blue Control
for game two.  The addition of four more counters, plus the added bounce
with Wash Out and Rushing Rivers all combine nicely with Rising Waters to
lock down the game and keep it locked.  Granted this is not an original
idea, as you'll see Skies decks doing something similar, although not quite
as focused.  I am trying this approach to beating Counter Rebels, which
seems to be the toughest matchup for this deck.

Some of you might wonder why the sideboard changed so dramatically.  The
truth is I found myself unable to use the Dust Bowls effectively, as I
rarely had the mana free for the activation cost, or wound up not drawing
enough mana.  Perish wasn't needed against Fires, so it's gone, Fact or
Fiction is maindeck now, and I still can't quite get the hang of Yawgmoth's
Agenda.  I am opting for a strategy I can play, rather than the cool factor
the Agenda gave me.  In fact, only one other deck even played Agenda in the
tourney besides myself.  I just need more practice with it so I can use it
to best effect.  It may make it back in as the deck gets honed to a razor's
edge.  What a cool phrase.  Last but not least, Massacre.  I only put it in
to battle the Rebels, but it got countered every time I tried to play it
out, as did Wash Out.  I may do a little swapping between Wash Out and
Massacre as I continue testing to see what works best.

I would like to add a note here:  I fully realize that there are better
counter spells in the Type II format, but I personally don't feel like
dropping nearly $100 to get four Undermines and four Absorbs into this deck.
It would be nice, and if I get some through boosters, tourney packs or
trading, I'll put them in.  :-)


The Disruptor v1.0
CREATURES (18)
---------
Cavern Harpy x3
Cloudskate x4
Nightscape Familiar x4
Ravenous Rats x4
Urborg Drake x3

SPELLS (20)
-----------
Counterspell x4
Daze x4
Probe x4
Recoil x4
Rushing River x4

LAND (22)
---------
Island x11
Swamp x8
Salt Marsh x4

SIDEBOARD (15)
--------------
Dust Bowl x2
Fact or Fiction x2
Foil x3
Massacre x4
Perish x2
Yawgmoth's Agenda x2