I really cant see the value in Ictian Javelneers. I know they are weenies that can ping for a bit, but the really are probably too small to be much of a help. You would probably only use them to ping creatures, but you already have Vindicates and StPs to take care of creatures. and obviously their power isnt great compared to other options out there. I would suggest savvanah lions instead, becuase they give you a faster clock, which is what every aggro decks needs.

but plague doesnt need to have the wielders out at the same time to deal with them. you can play it and kill one, then keep all of the other ones off the table with it. great idea, Nocturnal. seeing as I run mask, welders have been my death-knell for a long time. I'll try running 2 plagues in my sideboard and see what happens

what do you think is the neccisary amount of blue spells needed to be able to include Force of Will? right now my Ninja Mask deck is running 13, including the forces, and Im finding that its just not enough. too often Ive pulled up a force and not seen another blue spell, or the only other blue spell would be a shapeshifter that I needed.

It depends on how many times you plan on casting Force of Will.  If you only need to cast it once, like in say, Dragon, you can get away with only running around 13 blue cards.  In a deck like Mask though, you might need to cast it more than once (combined with the fact that you can't really count Shapeshifter as a blue card since that's what you'd probably need to protect with Force) so I like to use 16 as a general rule.

-jpmeyer[/color]

AIM: terrisare
T1
Apprentice
No firewall, but a router

as long as you are very careful, online trading can be wonderful. I have been on MOTL for over a year now using the same username. I think I have completed about 50 transactions, including trades, sales, and buyings. I have never been ripped. the main thing to remember is to try and trade with people who have solid refs, and if a deal seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. I highly recomend MOTL, it opened up a whole world of cards that I wouldn't have had access to otherwise.

why are you playing competative T1 if you dont want to play a good card because its new look "offends you?"

EDIT: He isn't playing it because it offends him, but because it generally seems to lose him a lot of life, as referenced by the part where he mentions the life loss would have killed him.  The new look is obviously an ancillary thing.  Maybe if you posted a couple reasons to use spoils instead of what he has, then an actual discussion could occur.  - Dante

speaking as a powerless teenager who is currently unemployed, I personaly think that no proxies at all should be allowed. the people who have power have spent time and money getting them, so why should someone who doesnt want to have to put the same amount of effort but wants the same competativeness get that? I am happy that my local tournament scene does not allow any proxies whatsoever. some people have power, some dont. the people who have power win more often than not, but then they are also just plain better deckbuilders and players as well. I am planning on starting to invest in power, and I do not want my investment to lose value so that other people will be able to get the cards that I have worked so hard for for free. just my ($.o2)

what do I take to make room for them? the rangers? it seems that my mana base is already pretty well covered, so I might not need them. I decided to take out the chills for welders to help with the ravager matchup, seeing as they were just in there to take up a slot anyways

here's the list that I updated to:
Ninja Mask
        4 Illusionary Mask
        4 Survival of the Fittest
        4 Volrath's Shapeshifter
        4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
        1 Gigapede
        1 Phage the Untouchable
        1 Psychatog
        1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
        1 Lotus Petal
        4 Birds of Paradise
        4 Elvish Spirit Guide
        2 Quirion Ranger
        4 Duress
        4 Force of Will
        4 Brainstorm
        1 Vampiric Tutor
        1 Demonic Tutor
        4 Tropical Island
        4 Bayou
        4 Windswept Heath
        2 Forest
        1 Wooded Foothills
SB:  3 Misdirection
SB:  1 Plaguebearer
SB:  2 Circle of Protection: Red
SB:  2 Goblin Welder
SB:  3 Naturalize
SB:  4 Xantid Swarm

some explanation: I didnt want to run red because of the non-basic hate in my meta (mostly PoP with some Wastelands too), so I stuck with splashing black. I replaced the impulse with the tutors, and after playing a little on apprentice I feel pretty confident about having enough blue spells for force. the tutors are great for later games when I run out of gas. Im also loving the spirit guides, the only problem is that I removed permantent mana sources (2 gemstone mine, 1 fetch, 1 chrome mox) to make room for them, so I feel like Im a little light on the permanent mana sources when games go later.

I havent had a chance to try this out in a tournament yet, but I added the CoP because the sligh and r/w hate deck both often finish with PoP. Im still looking for two more SB cards, maybe some anti-welder things? the r/w deck just started running a playset of them, which is going to make that matchup even worse. also, there is now also a cherry parfait deck in the area running the belcher combo, are there any different things I shoudl side in against it, our just use my naturalizes? thanks for your help, this deck has already improved quite a bit

Mods: I looked all over and I couldnt find an apprentice directory. if there is one, feel free to close this. If not, can you please sticky it? Thanks.

I have a hard time finding people to play on apprentice, seeing as the list I have is rather outdated. if you play, please just post your AIM/MSN/Yahoo handle (specify which) and what formats you play (presumably T1). hopefully we can get quite a few names on here so that lack of people to play isnt a problem. thanks

AIM- terrisare
Format- T1

I like that idea, and Ill probably cut the mines for them, seeing as they werent doing very well. someone suggested axing the impulses for a demonic tutor and consultation. what do you think?

embarrisingly enough, I lost to a build very similar to the one you listed when playing my Mask deck. this definatly has potential, but do you think that it will be able to stand any hate at all? the deck scoops to null rod

do you think that P9 is absolutly neccisary for Ninja Mask? Im not sure becuse it does run pretty slowly without it. if so, what can be left out and what cant?

The basic truth is that while you CAN run a deck without its normal p9 component, it's going to be much weaker and much worse. I don't think anything can really be "left out" as you say; it really comes down to how underpowered are you willing to go and still want to play the deck? I personally opt to not play anything I can't fully power.

-- Azhrei

Every deck that uses power uses it in different ways.  For instance, not having all the Moxes isn't so bad in Tog since you can always run like 3 Moxes, a Sol Ring, and a Mana Crypt or something like that and it probably won't be much different.  Tog might even be able to get away without Ancestral, but Keeper never would.  Then again, Tog really really needs its Time Walk and I wouldn't play it without one.

With Mask, it's really important to have Moxes so that you can cast Mask or Survival either before your opponent has counter mana up or so that you can Duress and follow up with a Mask or Survival.  Otherwise, it becomes a lot harder to win as quickly as you need to.

-jpmeyer

I tried spoils mask, but bringing myself down to 5 when facing sligh didnt appeal to me, so I went over to Ninja. my deck is almost identical to Kowal's, minus the power. I like the deck, but without any power, I am having problems with speed. I also am kind of at a loss for what to do with my sideboard, so I have gone with a basic one for now, but I know that I will need to change it. here's the deck.

"Budget" Ninja Mask

4 Illusionary Mask
4 Survival of the Fittest
4 Volrath's Shapeshifter
4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
1 Gigapede
1 Phage the Untouchable
1 Psychatog
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Lotus Petal
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
2 Quirion Ranger
4 Duress
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Tropical Island
4 Bayou
4 Windswept Heath
2 Forest
1 Wooded Foothills

SB: 3 Misdirection
SB: 1 Plaguebearer
SB: 2 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 2 Goblin Welder
SB: 3 Naturalize
SB: 4 Xantid Swarm

I was thinking of running Sol Ring or Mana Crypt for acceleration, but I really need colored mana. running more birds isnt a good option, becasue they still are kind of slow. my meta consists of:
-landstill
-a r/w hate deck (blood moon, null rod, StP, Disenchant, PoP) that usually ends up killing via PoP after your life is taken down some be a few weenies
-enchantress
-pillerank, a sligh deck running no creatures, but anhk of mishra and pyrostatic pillar
-a T1 version of Ravager Affinity, which quickly overwhelms me
-workshop
any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks