Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Moxie Fish

Even though I haven’t been writing much, I have been testing quite a bit of Magic in between moving out of one apartment and into another. It’s a great way to spend time since I don’t have Internet or TV for the time being.

I’ve been trying to figure out if there’s anything that beats GAT. And the answer, of course, is, yes, there are a lot of things that beat it. It just happens that if you put these elements into one deck, you lose to a lot of other things.

Chains of Mephistopheles and Uba Mask can both hamper a draw engine (though Uba Mask is a bit of a double-edged sword in that regard, since it turns Brainstorms into Ancestral). Creature removal and control can stick a Dryad or Tog, assuming you draw it in time and are able to cast it. Extirpate and Mindcensor have been really good in testing, and land destruction can be crippling to a deck with only eight mana-producing lands.

Oh, and there’s always the win first plan, which is pretty much Flash right now, though I like to throw Belcher in there as well.

My personal feeling is that land destruction is the best, most versatile answer to GAT. Every deck plays some lands, even Belcher. As such, the new project I’ve been working on that’s shown promise is UW Moxie Fish:

4x Tundra
3x Flooded Strand
2x Polluted Delta
4x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
1x Plains
1x Island
5x Moxen
1x Black Lotus
1x Lotus Petal

4x Aven Mindcensor
4x Meddling Mage
3x Jotun Grunt
3x Stormscape Apprentice
3x Martyr of Frost
3x Ninja of the Deep Hours

4x Brainstorm
4x Force of Will
4x Stifle
2x Swords to Plowshares
1x Time Walk
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Mystical Tutor

GAT’s draw engine is facilitated by Merchant Scroll, and it’s mana base is nearly half composed of fetchlands; that makes it really vulnerable to Aven Mindcensor. To flip them the bird in the first few turns when it matters most, though, you have to accelerate into it with Moxen. This deck has a good chance of being able to drop either Mincensor or the Meddler by turn two.

Another perk of the Mindcensor is that it flies over Psychatog.

Unfortunately, the Moxen don’t provide a lot else in this deck. Accelerating into Jotun Grunt is usually a good way to kill a Giant Soldier, for example. It’s way worse than first turn Dark Confidant.

The next best card to use Moxen in this deck is actually Martyr of Frost. I’ve used this guy before in UB Fish, and I always thought he was great and overlooked. Marty McFrost is the closer thing available to the card secretly I hope they’ll print every time a new set comes out.
Spaniard in the Works
U
Creature – Human
Sacrifice Spaniard in the Works: Counter target spell unless it’s controller pays 1.
1/1
Actually, the card I secretly hope they’ll print is pitch Stifle. But this is good too since it fixes so many of the problems I have with both Daze and Spiketail Hatchling.

Anyway, Martyr of Frost is surprisingly versatile. He’s an uncounterable counter, for example, and can really mess up the math that goes into spellcasting. Do you hold off on a spell until you can pay some extra, or do you throw it out there hoping your opponent isn’t holding too many blue cards? Plus, Marty is so often a Ninja, which is convenient since Ninjas fill the hand with blue cards to use with the little Wizard who Can and Often Does.

Another thing I like about this deck is that it has a full 20 creatures. That’s a lot, especially for Vintage, and they all have their uses. Mindcensor, Mage, and Marty give your opponent dead cards; Grunt is your big threat and can help keep Yawgmoth’s Will offline; Ninja can keep you in control; and Stormscape Apprentice is there to keep the ground clear. One of the problems I had with Feinstein Fish is that Savannah Lions and Isamaru were just beaters, and this deck has none of that.

One question I’ve wrestled with (and am still wrestling with, right now, in a singlet) is the number of Stifles. Stifle isn’t a card that is hard to play around, but an unexpected one at the right time can be crippling. Against GAT, their worth drops quickly, and after the third turn they’re practically useless except for pitching to Force of Will. Being useful in the first few turns makes me want four of them, but I’m also a little more attached to Stifle than others are.

If you feel differently, there are a lot of choices that might be good in the Stifle slot. The third Swords to Plowshares is an obvious choice, along with Daze, Spell Snare, Echoing Truth, Rushing River, Wipe Away, Engineered Explosives, Powder Keg, Shadow of Doubt, Misdirection, and a host of other things I’m sure I’m forgetting. Me, I’ll stick with Stifle and see what happens.

Also, I’m not convinced yet on Mystical Tutor in UW Fish. It’s nice having the second copy of Ancestral and especially Time Walk (Walking Ninjas—whew!), but there never seems to me that there are enough targets to make it worthwhile. Why get Ancestral when you’re playing Fish anyway? You’ll draw a creature and, at best, Force of Will and Brainstorm.

Finally, of course, the guy who made all this anti-GAT technology necessary, Stephen Menendian won the Vintage World Championship at GenCon. It sounds like it was round after round of hard-fought domination, even in the mirror-match finals against Rich Shay. You put countless hours into Vintage—writing, playing, designing, representing—I can only imagine it must have felt like it was about time. Congratulations, Smmenen!

Unfortunately, Steve will not be at the upcoming RIW tournament to defend his title.

I’ll be there to defend my title, though! At least as soon as someone gives me a title worth defending.

RIW has been a bad matchup for me in the past, and I realize now that I let that get in my head. So instead of saying I’m unsure of my deck choice, I’ll just assume that I’m playing Belcher to a T4 finish and will be taking home a Timetwister or something for my trouble. Belcher is fun and has been good to me in the past, so I’ll just throw it out there and see if it catches anything.

Here’s the info:

RIW HOBBIES
29116 Five Mile Road, Livonia MI
(734) 261-7233
www.RiwHobbies.net

$30 Entry gets 10 Proxies

1st through 4th places will draft Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Mox Sapphire, and Timetwister.

Not too shabby.

The event starts at 1 p.m. (registration at noon), and there will be a side event for four Underground Seas if you scrub out.

See you there!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ghost Quarter!!
Eh, I donno.
But either way, I'll see you Sunday.