I have a question.

I ran a stack that looks like this:

TOP_
Recall
Lotus
Ritual
Desire
R&D
_Bottom

I had two seas and a Petal and I draw the Recall. I cast Recall. I then Cast lotus and crack it for UUU. I crack the Petal for a B and Ritual for BBB.

I use the six to cast Desire with storm 3.

Reveal the R&D to fetch out Yawgmoth's, R&D, Sins, SpellJack.

I reveal Yawg, Sins, R&D.

Cast Yawg, then Sins on a Desire Storm 7 and remove it from the game. Then I reveal SpellJack.

I cast R&D to fetch Desire,R&D,Tendrils,Tendrils. I then reveal all four with the left over Storm. 

I cast in order Tendrils then another Tendrils. I cast Desire and counter it with SpellJack and I leave it removed from the game with the remaining storm count on the stack. I then Cast R&D to fetch out another R&D, Tendrils, Tendrils and SpellJack.

I reveal all four and cast Tendrils, Tendrils. Next I play the Desire that was removed with the SpellJack and I Spelljack it again leaving the Storm count on the stack.  Finally I cast R&D to Fetch out..... Tendrils, Tendrils, R&D, and Spelljack. It becomes an infinite Sorcery loop with those cards and the Desire removed from the game, right?

My question is this: When I spellJack the Desire it will be removed from game and I can go infinately right? I am not missing anything here am I? 

I only ask because a moderator at a Vintage tournament told me I could not Spelljack the Desire that was removed from game with a previous SpellJack with a second spelljack later in the game. Is this a loop that I can take infinately? In addition, my opponent gained infinite life and I can do this for infinite life loss for the win right?

Thanks,

Necropotence is nuts!

If you have a necro out you can win w/o doomsday. What is more, if you use necro to draw into your doomsday, chances are you will have a hand full of unmask and FoW, not to mention a gush or a street. With neco, you almost gurantee that you are going to go off on the same turn that you cast Doomsday without any effective responce from your opponent!

If you get Necro and a ritual on your first turn, your chances of winning on second turn just skyrockets. I would definatley not cut Necropotence.

If you have a Black vise or two in play, you win in just a few turns. It is much more agressive than the old stasis deck.

On the same lines of thinking, why would I play flash when I can counter it and win in just a few turns with a black vise?

Oops, forgot the recall.

I know Stasis is a favorite deck of everyone on these forums! LOL! Anyway, with the unrestriction of both Gush and Black Vise, can Stasis once again be a viable deck? With mono-blue capabilities, this deck can actually be a very control-agressive deck.

Here is a rough idea of a deck that I have put together.

Creatures 
4   Chronatog   


Spells 
4   Brainstorm   
3   Chain of Vapor   
4   Daze   
4   Force of Will   
4   Gush   
2   Thwart   


Enchantments 
4   Stasis   

 
   Artifacts 
1   Black Lotus   
4   Black Vise   
3   Crucible of Worlds   
1   Mox Sapphire   
2   Null Rod   


Lands 
4   Flooded Strand   
16   Island 
 

With Gush/Thwart/daze, there are so many spells that return islands to your hand.

With Chain of Vapor, you can target your own stasis and sack a land to target another threat that your opponent may have. You can then replay your lands with Crucible. You can also use Crucible to return sack lands or discarded islands.

The black vise is just a pain to deal with in a stasis style deck and now we get to have 4!!

Chronatog is an excellent win condition, especially if you have a black vise in play.

I am open to improvments to the deck as well as thoughts on it's viability.  The only thing I ask is that we keep it Mono Blue.

Thanks

Where is Bounty of the hunt?

It is a free pump that can target more than one creature!  What is more, it works great with those unusaeable land grants early in the game!

Edit:
I'm too slow!

Just out of curiosity, if you search out a [card]Spelljack[/card] with R&D, during a Desire resolution, and you use it on the Tendrils would that be an effective way to up the storm count and win easier? As well, it will give you a free counterspell in case your opponent has something in hand to stop you?

What are your thoughts on this?

What is the typical pile of 5 for doomsday?

Are their other options for a kill with this deck?

Speaking of Gamble, I have been working on a version that is more consistant on 2nd and 3rd turn, but still has the power to win on first turn. The problem that I always have with Belcher is running out of steam so fast and having a hard time trying to win after 2nd turn if things go wrong.

Here is my list so far and it is really fun to play, still lacks some consistancy though.

4 ESG
4 SSG

1 Lotus
5 Moxen
1 Sol Ring
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 LED
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mana Vault
1 Grim Monolith

4 Rite of Flame
4 Land Grant
2 Taiga

4 Chomatic Sphere
4 Chromatic Star

1 Channe

1 Burning Wish
1 Living Wish
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Memory Jar

4 Gamble
4 [card]Goblin Lore[/card]

4 Goblin Welder (without it this deck fails fast)
4 Goblin Charbelcher


I really like the Burning Wish because I now have access to Y. Will, Empty the Warrens, Regrowth, tendrils, and anything else I think I may need.

Why not use Final Fortune?

Also, why not use gamble to find a Belcher? If you have a welder in play, it could be a perfect way to search it out and get it into play for cheap. It may be a bit conditional, but it could be worth trying.

Has anyone ever tried to use [card]Eon Hub[/card] with stasis with much success? It seems like it would have some good synergy with this type of deck.

You should consider [card]Thwart[/card] and [card]Gush[/card]. They are a great way to get your islands back to your hand.

Another great card to add is [card]Rescue[/card], it will allow you to return Stasis to your hand during your opponents EOT.

I have even seen [card]Claws of gix[/card] used to remove Stasis at the EOT.

[card]Chronatog[/card] is huge since you will never have to take another turn, EVER! He is the lock if you have Stasis and Kismet on the board or a [card]Turnabout[/card] in your hand.

[card]Forsaken City[/card] can also be a bonus to have, I have seen that card be the winning factor in many games with stasis.

As for adding any tutors, there really is no need for them since you will draw into most everything you need.

I think a great addition to the deck would be Yawgmoth's Bargin. If you ever get stuck in the middle of your comboing by a counter some other disruption, it will help you get your other combo pieces out.

Infernal Tutor will work well too. You can use it to find another Top or Brainfreeze when you need it.

Maybe even Remand. You can use it the same way it is used in IT.

I know I have been critical of your deck, but that is how we get a better deck, right?

I can understand wanting to go with black control style rather than the Force of will style. I do have a few cards that just seem to be poor choices. I may not fully understand their function, so if you can go into a little more detail maybe I will understand why they are in the decklist, or maybe we can develop a better card choice to get the desired results.

The cards are:

1) Trinket Mage. This guy seems like a 3cc search card. I know there are better search cards than that.

2) Diabolic Intent. I think it is too dependent on a creature being in play.

3) Crop Rotation. It seems very random.
 
4) Artificer's Intuition. I am only concerned about the number of them. 3 seems to be too many. I would suggest Yawgmoth's Bargin in place of one.

Those are just some thoughts that concern me in your decklist.

How do your early shaman and swarm work for you if you are sacing them for cabal therapy or diabolic intent? You need to keep those creatures in play.

Your disruption seems a bit slow to me. You have to have a creature in play for most of your disruption. By that time you are in a losing position.

If you were to focus on adding in Force of Will, I think the deck could become more consistent as will as provide a first turn counter.

Here are some Changes I would suggest.

Lands (12)
3 Polluted Delta (These work well with the early game Top)
4 Underground Sea
1 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Island
1 Swamp

Artifact Mana (11)
1 Black Lotus
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
5 Moxen
1 Sol ring

The Win (12)
2 Future Sight
4 Sensei's divining Top
4 Helm of Awakening
2 Tendrils of Agony/Brain Freeze (Take your pick on your win condition)

Search (16)
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Dark Confident (Wow! This guy works well in this deck!)
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Imperial Seal
4 Impulse (I found this to work better than Brainstorm with the Tops. It gets the unwanted cards off the top of your deck)
1 Artificer's Intuition
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Bargin (Once this hits play, you win)

Disruption/Protection (9)
4 Force of Will (first turn Disruption)
1 Echoing Truth (Gets rid of Null Rod and Chalice)
1 Rebuild/Hurky's Recall (Gets rid of Null Rod and Chalice)
1 Cunning Wish
1 Burning Wish
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Side
1 Tendrils/Brain Freeze
1 Rushing River
13 ????

I think a perfect addition to your deck would be the famous [card]sizzle[/card]! Another great card would be [card]Slice and Dice[/card].

Thanks! More than likely I will see you there!

Does anyone know the date of the next tournament at Dreamers? I live in southern MN and I would love to attend the next one. Also, where is Dreamers?

Thanks.

What does any deck do against Counter?

If someone counters your artifacts then you get them back with a Junkdiver or a Myr retriever.

This is just an amazing deck!! A friend of mine (who originally came up with a Grinding Station deck) has really taken a liking to this too and here is what we have now developed it into:

//Creatures 16
4 [card]Myr Retriever[/card]
4 [card]Junk Diver[/card]
4 [card]Myr Servitor[/card]
4 [card]Myr Moonvessel[/card]

//Artifacts 8
4 [card]Grinding Station[/card]
4 [card]Helm of Awakening[/card]

//draw 'n search 8
4 [card]Skullclamp[/card]
1 [card]Demonic Tutor[/card]
1 [card]Demonic Consultation[/card]
1 [card]Vampiric Tutor[/card]
1 [card]Yawgmoth's Will[/card]

//Disruption 2
2 [card]Duress[/card]

//Mana 26
1 [card]Black Lotus[/card]
1 [card]Mox Emerald[/card]
1 [card]Mox Pearl[/card]
1 [card]Mox Sapphire[/card]
1 [card]Mox Ruby[/card]
1 [card]Mox Jet[/card]
1 [card]Sol Ring[/card]
1 [card]Lion's Eye Diamond[/card]
1 [card]Mana Vault[/card]
1 [card]Mana Crypt[/card]
1 [card]Lotus Petal[/card]
4 [card]Ancient Tomb[/card]
4 [card]City of Traitors[/card]
5 [card]Swamp[/card]
2 [card]Polluted Delta[/card]

On more than one occasion we have dropped a first turn win! (I know, I know, I look like some newbie calling out a first turn win deck, but test it for yourself, please!) But most of the time it is 2nd to 4th turn win.

I wish I could give you a good idea of what this deck could do, but we have not done much play testing against anything except creature based decks and the rogue burn decks. This does, however, eat oath alive. This deck is Forbidden Orchards worst nightmare with a skullclamp in play.

Also, I need to find more room for disruption, but I don't know what to cut.

Any comments or assistance is apprectiated.

I agree with you that using a Mana Drain on a Dark ritual is the best thing for an opponent to do! I really think it is funny though. I have trained myself to wait to counter what comes after the DR in any other deck that I just find humor in this situation. On a more serious note, Mana Draining a DR really is a fruitless answer for the opponent in the long run, but effective short term.

Tobi,

I was reading your report on the mono-black with a blue splash. I see that you thought Timetwister was a bad idea to add in your list. Did you do any play testing with that? I was just curious if it would have still given you a better advantage than your opponent. I think in the long run it would give you the slight advantage, especially with all the stax and CS decks running around now. Taking away their graveyard can really put the game's tempo in your favor.

I can't help but think at the point where you get a new hand your opponent will have to chose what they want to counter, and chances are it won't matter much to you what they counter, you will still get your 9 spells to Tendrils with.

The only thing they could really counter to slow you down would be your Rituals, and what a waste of a counterspell, especially when you drop a Yawg will the next turn.
I would love to see a perfectly good Mana Drain go to waste on a Dark ritual.

Here is a mono-black Tendrils deck that came across from Karlsruhe 05.11.2005. It took 2nd place. Maybe you could get some ideas from this list. It looks really good!!

2. Tobias Egelhof
"Horden Tendrils"
Maindeck (60 cards):
   
Sideboard: (15 cards)
1 Black Lotus
4 Chromatic Sphere
1 Chrome Mox
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Sol Ring
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Duress
4 Infernal Contract
1 Necropotence
4 Night's Whisper
4 Spoils of the Vault
2 Tainted Pact
4 Tendrils of Agony
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Yawgmoth's Will


Lands (8):
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
2 Snow-Covered Swamp
2 Swamp

Side   
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
4 Forbidden Orchard
1 Krosan Reclamation
4 Oath of Druids
4 Unmask
1 Woodripper

I love this deck idea and so I have have been playing something in casual using your deck list.

Here is what I have come up with.
//creatures 16
4 [card]Myr Retriever[/card]
4 [card]Junk Diver[/card]
4 [card]Myr Servitor[/card]
4 [card]Disciple of the Vault[card]

//Artifacts 12
4 [card]Ashnod's Alter[/card]
4 [card]Grinding Station[/card]
4 [card]Helm of Awakening[/card]

//draw 'n search 7

4 [card]Skullclamp[/card]
1 [card]Demonic Tutor[/card]
1 [card]Vampiric Tutor[/card]
1 [card]Tinker[/card]

//Utillity 2
2 [card]Psychic Drain[/card]

//Mana 23
4 [card]Urza's Mine[/card]
4 [card]Urza's Power Plant[/card]
4 [card]Urza's Tower[/card]
4 [card]Vault of Whispers[/card]
4 [card]Seat of the Synod[/card]
3 Swamp


This sucker is fast!! On more than one occasion I was able to deck 3 people in a multi-player game by turn 4!!

I am considering a Vintage update to the mana base and taking it to a tournament. I played a version of fish one on one and beat it 5 out of 7 times! The only reasons I lost was to a freaking [card]Null Rod[/card] and one good timed FoW.

This deck is so consistant and when you are missing pieces the skullclamps really help locate what you need. This deck also has TfK written all over it. I haven't tested that yet, but I will.

I am more of a casual non-tournament player, but I do play against alot of players in casual as they are developing decks. I play a crude version of CS and I have seen a few people building Oath decks with [card]Juntu Stakes[/card]! It is a real pain in the butt!

Has anyone else run into this? What is a good plan to deal with this? It seems to slow me down just enough that Oath will take control before I can recover!  If Oath decks continue to grow as they have and utilize Juntu Stakes, maindeck CS may have to change a little.

For me, Gorrilla Shaman works sometimes, but I have to pray I find him in time and Rack N Ruin works, but again, I have to find it in time! It really puts CS on a clock!

I can weld it out but it can be a tough deed against Oath!

Are there any suggestions? Again, I am not the best player but I see a trend coming.

You should take out the Ashnod's alter and replace it with 4 helm of awakening. It will create and infinite combo and you can deck your opponant. I would also consider adding 4 skullclamps to help you draw. It has great synergy with both the myr retriever and the Servitor.