Well, I ran about a dozen test games with variants of the suggestions people made, and then compared them to about a half dozen games of Smmenen's deck for comparison. One particualar thought jumped out at me.

This deck needs Bazaar.

It's funny how you can play a deck casually for years and not really notice some fundamental things about it, but that is what happened here, and it all comes down to Solitary Confinement.

Confinement is practically auto win against a whole range of decks but you can only cast it after you have your draw engine in place. And it Parfait that means Tax/Rack. There were a couple of games where I was sitting there Confinement & Squee, but I just couldn't find one of the parts of my draw engine. I was reduced to top decking.

Now, I found myself in a similar situation with Meandeck Parfait, but at least with Meandeck I could drop some of my small beats and actually do something. That was not the case with Solitaire. In Solitaire, you are practically defenceless if you can't get Confinement onto the table.

Which leads me on to Bazaar. Bazaar would almost certainly sort this problem out. But unfortunately it is simply too expensive and to difficult to get a hold of for me to seriously run.

Perhaps I should look at running Meandeck Parfait with Chrome Mox in place of the Moxen.

-Silent Requiem

There is definitely good synergy with Squee, but poor synergy with Charbelcher. I can't really play any non-basic lands as long as Charbelcher is my win condition. This is why you see no Strip Mine or Wastelands in my deck. Charbelcher really limits my mana/land selection, but until a better (as opposed to simply different) win condition is suggested I think I need to stick with it.

The more I think about it, there are two fundamental questions that need to be answered:

a) Is this deck trying to play a proactive game (with combos like Zuran Orb/Balance/Planar Birth) or a slow and steady game (protected by Rule of Law or similar)?

b) Is this deck trying to kill via Charbelcher, or something else (beats, Sacred Mesa, etc)?

I'd love opinions on these questions.

I have also wondered if Chrome Mox might also be useful in this deck.

-Silent Requiem

Put like that, there is no real reason not to include all 4 Scroll Racks.

Speaking of Pithing Needle, do you think that Seal of Cleansing or Aura of Silence is better in this deck?

-Silent Requiem

I am glad you like the deck; it has been a favorite of mine for a long while.

You talk about adding artifact mana, but I suspect that you mean moxes. Any cheaper artifact manan to suggest?

Path to Exile: The more I think about it, the more this fits. It doesn't work at all in Smmenen's deck, as he is trying to put pressure on mana. This deck says "take what you want, but if you don't have an answer to Solitary Confinement it just won't do you any good.

Balance: As long as the deck is creatureless, it acts as a cheap wrath of god. That should take care of untargetable creatures if Confinement goes down.

Planar Birth: This card is truly broken with Zuran Orb and Balance. Provided that I lead with Orim's chant, and my opponent has at least one card in hand, I can safely wipe out all non-artifact based mana and walk out smiling. However, this, and other "combos" go out the window if I add Rule of Law or the equivalent. Which, do you think, is the better option?

Goblin Charbelcher: This is definately a more interesting win condition than beats, and I turn all creature removal into dead cards as long as the deck is creatureless. I am willing to change up the win condition, but I think I would need to be pursuaded that it was an actual improvement, rather than a change for change's sake.

-Silent Requiem

Path to Exile: A very interesting card. I get all twitchy at they idea of giving my opponent card advantage, but there is good synergy here... probably such that a clever opponent declines the land any way. Would this replace Swords to Plowshares completely, or would it be an addition?

Mana: I am quite happy to experiment with a larger mana base. 25 mana sources seems a little high, though. On the other hand, Mox Diamond actually costs 2 mana sources, so he is really only running with 21. I shall have to give it a go and find the right balance. It would seem though that I can increase my odds of a fast start (via Diamond) at the cost of my late game (too many dead land cards).

Scroll Rack: Rack is indeed amazing, but it does not stack well. Having more than one at a time is pointless. I am happy to try four (again), though.

All of the above is great feedback, but are difficult to judge without knowing what my win condition is. Adding too much land, for example, actively hurts a belcher win condition. Are there any suggestions?

-Silent Requiem

You are absolutely right about the mana count, but remember that:

a) I need to keep fewer lands in play than my opponent, so additonal lands are dead cards;

b) If I do a), then I am searching my deck for 3+ lands per turn with one or more Land Tax in play; and

c) My current win condition requires me to remove all but one land from my library.

I have never had a problem with lack of mana/land with this deck... it is very efficient. However, the deck does not like casting costs of 4+, which is one of the reasons why Solitary Confinement is superior to several other silver bullets.

Which reminds me of a suggestion I forgot to add to my original post: I think that wrath of god can be safely dropped. StPS hits the important (combo) creatures, while Solitary Confinement protects me from the beat creatures.

-Silent Requiem

Hello, everyone. I have been following this board on and off since 2002, though I believe this is my first post. I am a casual, unpowered vintage player, and I have never lived anywhere that supported vintage tournaments. I am hoping, however, that a recent move has brought me to a more competitive metagame. As a result, I would appreciate advice and assistance in tuning my own Parfait variant, especially given the unrestriction of Mox Diamond. My goal would be to enter small local tournaments.

I hope this post is up to the high standards of the forum.

Evolution of the deck to date.

My all time favourite deck is Parfait, a mono-white control deck that I am sure that many of you are familiar with. Although it has never been a top tier deck, I  have played with it (and its variants) for years and with great success; it very much suits my play style. It is also a comparatively inexpensive deck to put together, less the moxen required to play the powered version.

For those unfamiliar with the deck, it was originally designed to take advantage of the synergy between Land Tax and Scroll Rack, which together create a very powerful and very consistent draw engine. Because Parfait could dig so deep into its library, it was able to rely on a “silver bullet” approach very similar to Keeper, which was probably the top deck when Parfait was developed. The original victory condition was Sacred Mesa, a token generator that was brought out once the deck had assembled an insurmountable defense. When the deck won, it won very slowly.

As time passed and more cards were released, I have found my own take on Parfait has evolved. The most significant changes I have made are the change of the win condition from Sacred Mesa to Goblin Charbelcher, and the addition of Solitary Confinement.

The first change, switching Sacred Mesa to Goblin Charbelcher, is a change that I have seen other Parfait players make. While quite mana intensive, and therefore slow to bring out, once it is brought out you generally win the following turn. This speeds up the deck significantly; though at the cost of some of the utility of Sacred Mesa (Sacred Mesa was a significant defense in its own right against aggro, especially when combined with Humility).

The other change, the addition of Solitary Confinement, is not something that I have seen elsewhere and this surprises me. The downside to Solitary Confinement (skip draw phase and then discard a card) is a very minor one indeed when you have a tax/rack draw engine running, even before including a card like Squee.

What Solitary Confinement does offer, however, is speed and consistency. The card doubles as any number of silver bullets: it replaces Story Circle, Ageis of the Just, Humility, Moat, Ivory Mask, etc. And for the most part it is cheaper (2W), and thus faster. This means that you can more consistently draw the solution you need, and get it into play more quickly. As I am not playing with power it is the difference between a turn 2/3 “lock” and a turn 3/5 lock.

I would also argue that it is no more vulnerable, either. I have been told that I rely too much on Solitary Confinement to protect me and that a well timed disenchant could destroy me. While this is true, I do not see it as any more true than if I were relying on Ivory mask or Humility, etc. From my experience it will be only one of these “silver bullets” holding back the enemy (though which card will vary from deck to deck), and a well timed disenchant on my Humility is just as likely to kill me as a disenchant directed at Solitary Confinement.

My current deck.

1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Diamond
1 Sol Ring
3 Scroll Rack
2 Ivory Tower
2 Zuran Orb
3 Goblin Charbelcher
1 Tormond’s Crypt

4 Squee

2 Aura of Silence
2 Seal of Cleansing
4 Land Tax
4 Solitary Confinement
1 Humility

1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Argivian Find
4 Orim’s Chant
4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Balance
1 Wrath of God
1 Planar Birth
1 Replenish

10 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Plateau

Explaination of unusual card choices.

The Zuran Orbs are main decked because they allow me to drop a land, use it, and then sacrifice it before my upkeep, when Land Tax goes off. It's like having additional Lotus Petals, and is largely a work around because I am unpowered.

Planar Birth is practically a Yawgmoth’s Will in this deck, allowing me to explode into action on a given turn. If I lead with Orim’s Chant, I will probably win that turn. Great synergy with Zuran Orb.

Ivory Tower is a bit of a “win more” card against aggro, but even against control it has made a huge difference because of the hand sizes and game lengths. Also useful against "this damage cannot be prevented".

Squee is not strictly necessary, but allows Solitary Confinement to become an additonal win condition (by decking) if I need it (Jester's Cap, etc). It also allows me to dig deeper with Scroll Rack, as my hand size is artificially increased.


A modern day comparison.

The Vintage Open Forum has recently had an excellent thread on modern Parfait based on an article by Smmenen. I post the deck list here for a comparison. The sideboard has not been reproduced but contains a number of silver bullets that can be rotated in.

1 Black Lotus
4 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Scroll Rack
1 Sol Ring
1 Trinisphere
1 Zuran Orb

4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Aven Mindcensor

4 Aura of Silence
4 Land Tax
1 Seal of Cleansing

2 Abeyance
3 Argivan Find
1 Enlightened Cutor
2 Orim’s Chant
3 Swords to Plowshares

1 Balance

10 Plains
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland

In my opinion, this excellent deck is a much more aggressive version of Parfait (though it is still a defensive deck). Early Aura of Silence, Trinisphere, Wasteland and similar cards all aggressively attack or limit the opponent’s mana base, while cards like Ethersworn Canonsist and Aven Mindcensor limit the oponent’s ability to escape the soft lock.

The victory condition is a straightforward beatdown. Although slow, it can start early, and I doubt the game clock on this deck is not much different from the belcher version.

I very much like the focus of this deck, but I fear that if it were to be played unpowered the soft lock would be too slow to actually prevent a fast opponent from gaining the upper hand.

Parfait Solitaire, on the other hand, simply locks a person “out” as opposed to “down”. The deck should probably focus on getting the defense into play and then protecting the lockout while arranging its own kill. Views on this would be appreciated.


Improvements to Parfait Solitaire.

Using my current deck list as a base, and Smmenen’s deck list for inspiration, how can unpowered Parfait be made as competitive as possible, while using Solitary Confinement?

In this vein, is Charbelcher still the best win condition, or is it just “win more”? I have found that if I can actually get the thing into play I have probably locked my opponent down so hard that I could probably have killed him with anything.


My own suggestions, for comments.

Adding 3 Mox Diamonds. I have clearly cheated and taken the obvious suggestion. Not only is the deck capable of running 4 Diamonds, but the synergy with Land Tax is incredible.

I also think that Replenish can go. Looking at things objectively, it was great when Sacred Mesa was the win condition, but the deck is progressively moving away from enchantments if Smmenen’s deck is anything to go by.

Ivory Tower can be cut. Great against aggro, it’s a bit “win more” if I have Solitary Confinement out. I also hear that aggro is not competitive right now (though it is still common in unpowered metas).

Planar Rebirth still has a place, I think, especially with the additional Diamonds. However, might there be another way to get a similar effect? Crucible of Worlds springs to mind.

Ethersworn Canonist/Rule of Law. This deck is quite happy with one spell per turn (though other card choices would obviously be affected). Should one of these cards be included?

-Silent Requiem