[Please review, edit, comment, etc. on the following piece - Above all, may you enjoy it. It does need revisions and additions of entire sections such as 'Matchups' - Razor]
Stasis. This card sees play in both the casual and Vintage Type 1 environments. It is one of the most powerful “lock” cards ever printed. Presently, this blue enchantment is out-of-print; however, it was printed from Alpha through fifth edition. This article explores the history of the Stasis archetype and the fine arts of: control, disruption and resource management involved with successful Stasis decks. This Primer will not address: specific tactics for particular matchups, or deckbuilding strategies for particular metagames (though these may later be added as separate appendices).
Stasis
Enchantment
1U
Alpha rare
Players skip their untap steps; At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Stasis unless you pay
.
Stasis. (Stay-sis) Abstract noun. (1) Slowing, stoppage. (2) Stable state. (3) Inactivity resulting from a static balance between opposing forces.
Stasis eventually emerged as both a unique and strong deck archetype of it’s own. Initially however, Stasis was generally considered too fragile a card to play with, since it was difficult to protect and to operate. However, as new synergistic cards were progressively printed, Stasis began to see play as a primary combo card as opposed to a limited “finishing” support card (much like Armageddon).
Stasis was successfully employed in early Blue and White control decks as a support card. Stasis played a key role as a late in the game essentially freezing the game long enough for either Serra Angel or Black Vise to finish the opponent.
Serra Angel
Creature
3WW
Alpha rare
4/4, Flying; Attacking doesn't cause Serra Angel to tap.
Black Vise
Artifact
1
Alpha uncommon
As Black Vise comes into play, choose an opponent; At the beginning of the chosen player's upkeep step, Black Vise deals X damage to that player, where X is the number of cards greater than four in his or her hand.
Stasis was successfully employed in the first Magic: The Gathering world champion's deck:
Zak Dolan Stasis Control 1994
Creatures (11)
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Clone
1 Ley Druid
2 Old Man of the Sea
4 Serra Angel
1 Time Elemental
1 Vesuvan Doppelganger
Spells (15)
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Armageddon
2 Disenchant
1 Mana Drain
1 Regrowth
1 Recall
1 Siren's Call
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Wrath of God
Artifacts (15)
1 Black Lotus
1 Black Vise
1 Howling Mine
1 Icy Manipulator
1 Ivory Tower
1 Mana Vault
2 Meekstone
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Winter Orb
Enchantments (4)
1 Control Magic
1 Kismet
2 Stasis
Land (15)
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Savannah
2 Strip Mine
4 Tropical Island
4 Tundra
Sideboard (15)
1 Chaos Orb
1 Circle of Protection: Red
1 Copy Artifact
1 Diamond Valley
1 In the Eye of Chaos
1 Floral Spuzzem
2 Karma
1 Magical Hack
1 Power Sink
1 Presence of the Master
1 Reverse Damage
1 Sleight of Mind
1 Kismet
1 Winter Blast
It is an interesting side note that key cards often numbered only one or two in decks of the time. Many players reasoned that it kept their opponents off guard by running a greater variety of cards as opposed to a greater number of a few key cards. This improved adaptability at the cost of consistency.
After the Legends expansion was published in 1994 Stasis decks became increasingly focused, making Stasis the primary card as opposed to just a "finishing touch".
Simultaneously, various support combos emerged with which to fuel Stasis indefinitely. Once enchanted with Instill Energy either a Ley Druid or a Birds of Paradise allowed the Stasis player to untap either their Druid or Bird during every upkeep phase. This in turn provided the blue mana required to forever power the Stasis lock.
Stasis decks remained notoriously unstable because they required a large combination of support cards in place. However, they were virtually invincible once the lock was in place making Stasis an attractive archetype.
Instill Energy
Enchant Creature
G
Alpha uncommon
Enchanted creature has haste;
: Untap enchanted creature. Play this ability only during your turn (but only once each turn).
Birds of Paradise
Creature
G
Alpha rare
0/1, Flying;
: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Ley Druid
Creature – Cleric
2G
Alpha uncommon
1/1. ;
: Untap target land.
Time Vault had always provided an alternative emergency escape from one’s own Stasis (read: ‘Tech Panic Button’). By skipping a turn a Stasis player merely avoids paying the upkeep on Stasis for a turn - which is actually helpful. By taking an extra turn (with Time Vault) after sacrificing Stasis during a mana-bankrupt upkeep phase, a player could successfully untap all of his resources. Hopefully, this allows him to maintain control especially if he was able to cast a brand new Stasis card thus preventing the opponent from untapping at all.
Time Vault
Artifact
2
Alpha rare
Time Vault comes into play tapped; Time Vault doesn't untap during your untap step; Skip your next turn: Untap Time Vault and put a time counter on it;
, Remove all time counters from Time Vault: Take an extra turn after this one. Play this ability only if there's a time counter on Time Vault.
Reset, from the Legends expansion, proved a boon to Stasis. It allowed the Stasis player to untap all of his or her lands during an opponent’s turn - provided that he had two blue mana available with which to cast it.
Reset
Instant
UU
Legends uncommon
Play Reset only during an opponent's turn after his or her upkeep; Untap all lands you control.
Land Tax, from the Legends expansion, allowed a player to fetch extra Islands from their library with which to prolong Stasis.
Land Tax
Enchantment
W
Legends uncommon
At the beginning of your upkeep, if an opponent controls more lands than you, you may search your library for up to three basic land cards, reveal them, and put them into your hand. If youdo, shuffle your library.
Kismet, from the Legends expansion, provided the capability for an intractable ‘lock’ once the opponent was tapped out; everything he ever played again was hopelessly tapped. Both Power Sink and Mana Short saw use as means to tap opponents out.
Kismet
Enchantment
3W
Legends uncommon
Artifacts, creatures and lands your opponents control come into play tapped.
Power Sink
Instant
XU
Alpha common
Counter target spell unless its controller pays
. If he or she doesn't, that player taps all lands he or she controls and empties his or her mana pool.
Mana Short
Instant
2U
Alpha rare
Tap all lands target player controls and empty his or her mana pool.
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, a Legends expansion Legendary Land, proved an invaluable and uncounterable ‘free’ defensive card. Eventually, it forced opponents to either sacrifice all of their creatures or else to tap all of their lands - a win/win for Stasis.
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Legendary Land
Legends rare
All creatures have "At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this creature unless you pay
."
Use of Time Elemental, from the Legends expansion, and 6 mana allowed for a repetitious and ‘personalized’ Stasis lock. Time Elemental could ‘bounce’ Stasis out of play (back to the Stasis player’s hand) at the end of an opponent’s turn. Next, having completely untapped all of his or her resources the Stasis player could simply recast Stasis again. Alternatively, either Boomerang or Obelisk of Undoing served as a Stasis ‘engine’ allowing the Stasis player to ‘bounce’ Stasis back to their hand in a similar fashion.
Time Elemental
Creature – Elemental
2U
Legends rare
0/2; When Time Elemental attacks or blocks, at end of combat, sacrifice it and it deals 5 damage to you;
,{Tap}: Return target nonenchanted permanent to its owner's hand.
Boomerang
Instant
UU
Legends common
Return target permanent to its owner's hand.
Obelisk of Undoing
Artifact
1
Antiquities uncommon
,{Tap}: Return target permanent you own and control to your hand.
Aside from the Stasis combo cards, these decks weren't very different from other blue and white Control decks of the time. Note the combo: Mystic Decree, Moat, Black Vise Backed up by Counterspells.
Mystic Decree, Gravity Sphere and Moat served as creature defense.
Mystic Decree
Enchant World
2UU
Homelands uncommon
All creatures lose flying and islandwalk.
Gravity Sphere
Enchant World
2R
Legends rare
All creatures lose flying.
Moat
Enchantment
2WW
Legends rare
Creatures without flying can't attack.
In addition to Serra Angel and Black Vise, two other creatures served as both win conditions and early defense: Zephyr Falcon and Yotian Soldier due to their immunity to Stasis.
Zephyr Falcon
Creature – Bird
1U
Legends common
1/1, Flying; Attacking doesn't cause Zephyr Falcon to tap.
Yotian Soldier
Artifact Creature
3
Antiquities common
1/4; Attacking doesn't cause Yotian Soldier to tap.
Leviathan is probably the most entertaining of win conditions. It becomes playable only late game and requires that all the Stasis players’ Islands are untapped.
Leviathan
Creature – Leviathan
5UUUU
Dark uncommon
10/10, Trample; Leviathan comes into play tapped and doesn't untap during your untap step; At the beginning of your upkeep, you may sacrifice two islands. If you do, untap Leviathan; Leviathan can't attack unless you sacrifice two islands.
Another alternative (albeit slow) win condition is the Timetwister, Tormod’s Crypt combo. When used together, the caster’s library invariably contains more cards than his opponent’s does. Thereafter, he is able to win by “decking” his opponent provided he can survive long enough.
Timetwister
Sorcery
2U
Alpha rare
Each player shuffles his or her hand and graveyard into his or her library and then draws seven cards. Then put Timetwister into its owner's graveyard.
Tormod's Crypt
Artifact
0
Dark uncommon
,Sacrifice Tormod's Crypt: Remove target player's graveyard from the game.
Here is a sample decklist from the 1995 era:
Stasis1995
Spells (9)
4 Counterspell
2 Disenchant
3 Swords to Plowshares
Artifacts (7)
4 Black Vise
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Ivory Tower
1 Sol Ring
Enchantments (16)
4 Instill Energy
2 Kismet
2 Land Tax
2 Moat
2 Mystic Decree
4 Stasis
Creatures (10)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Serra Angel
2 Time Elemental
Lands (22)
2 Forest
3 Island
5 Plains
4 Savannah
4 Tropical Island
4 Tundra
Zuran Orb, from the Ice Age expansion, provided protection by giving two life for every land a player sacrificed. What were previously useless lands, once tapped, became an accessible life-giving resource with Zuran Orb.
Zuran Orb
Artifact
0
Ice Age uncommon
Sacrifice a land: You gain 2 life.
Despotic Scepter, from the Ice Age expansion, provided emergency escape from one’s own Stasis (read ‘Panic Button’). Destroying one’s own Stasis at the end of an opponent’s turn was much better than missing an untap phase when unable to pay for Stasis during the following upkeep phase.
Despotic Scepter
Artifact
1
Ice Age rare
: Destroy target permanent you own. It can't be regenerated.
Howling Mine had always granted Stasis decks myriad good things: faster combo assembly, faster solutions, consistent Island drops (to pay Stasis upkeep), and accelerated drawing in order to deck opponents faster. However, players were reluctant to use it as it was considered to give opponents too much card advantage. Much like Arcane Denial, playing these at the wrong time or playing these at all could sometimes cost the game.
Howling Mine
Artifact
2
Alpha rare
At the beginning of each player's draw step, if Howling Mine is untapped, that player draws a card.
By the time the Alliances set was released in 1996 ultra-fast Necropotence decks reigned supreme. The Finns pioneered TurboStasis to defeat the near-invincible Necrodecks of the time. TurboStasis won by simply running the opponent out of cards via Howling Mine.
It is noteworthy that Howling Mine did not and could not force a player with Necropotence in play to draw cards because Necropotence allowed them to safely skip their draw step. Boomerang was one of the only plays available to force a player ‘hiding’ behind his own Necropotence to start drawing again.
Necropotence
Enchantment
BBB
Ice Age rare
Skip your draw step; If you would discard a card from your hand, remove that card from the game instead; Pay 1 life: Remove the top card of your library from the game face down. At the end of your turn, put that card into your hand.
TurboStasis managed to save itself from running out of cards by reshuffling its graveyard into its library as late as possible via Feldon's Cane. Generally, this was just a safety precaution, because each Howling Mine caused the opponent to draw an extra card first, effectively decking him progressively sooner.
Feldon's Cane
Artifact
1
Antiquities uncommon
,Remove Feldon's Cane from the game: Shuffle your graveyard into your library.
The Alliances expansion provided the key support card for TurboStasis: Force of Will, the first ‘free’ counterspell. Force of Will revolutionized Stasis decks by providing protection without having to use up precious blue mana.
Force of Will
Instant
3UU
Alliances uncommon
You may pay 1 life and remove a blue card in your hand from the game rather than pay Force of Will’s mana cost; Counter target spell.
The Alliances expansion also provided a new Stasis ‘engine’ in a card called Storm Cauldron. Storm Cauldron allowed players to bounce lands back to their hand and to play an extra land each turn. By unsummoning lands as they tapped, Stasis’ upkeep became easily affordable. However, Storm Cauldron helped the opponent just as much, so it was necessary to use in conjunction with Kismet in order to cramp the opponent’s mana development.
Storm Cauldron
Artifact
5
Alliances rare
Each player may play an additional land during each of his or her turns; Whenever a land is tapped for mana, return it to its owner's hand.
A number of variations were played including: mono-blue, splash black, splash white, and splash black and white. Black was particularly noteworthy for its supportive Tutoring capabilities via cards such as: Demonic Tutor, and Lim-Dul’s Vault. The Abyss was also a reasonable consideration for added defense against creatures. Noteworthy White cards included: Balance, Kismet, Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God and Moat.
Demonic Tutor
Sorcery
1B
Alpha uncommon
Search your library for a card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Lim-Dul's Vault
Instant
UB
Alliances uncommon
Look at the top five cards of your library. As many times as you choose, you may pay 1 life, put those cards on the bottom of your library, and look at the next five cards of your library. Then remove the top five cards from your library, shuffle it, and put those cards back in any order.
The Abyss
Enchant World
3B
Legends rare
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, destroy target nonartifact creature that player controls of his or her choice. It can't be regenerated.
Balance
Sorcery
1W
Alpha rare
Except the player who controls the fewest lands, each player sacrifices lands until all players control the same number of lands as the player who controls the fewest. Players do the same for creatures and discard cards from their hands the same way.
Swords to Plowshares
Instant
W
Alpha uncommon
Remove target creature from the game. Its controller gains life equal to its power.
Wrath of God
Sorcery
2WW
Alpha rare
Destroy all creatures. They can't be regenerated.
The following is the TurboStasis deck used by Matt Place in the 1996 U.S. Nationals:
Matt Place TurboStasis 1996
Spells (18)
4 Arcane Denial
4 Boomerang
4 Force of Will
4 Lim-Dul's Vault
2 Recall
Artifacts (10)
3 Despotic Scepter
1 Feldon's Cane
4 Howling Mine
1 Ivory Tower
1 Zuran Orb
Enchantments (7)
2 Kismet
1 Land Tax
4 Stasis
Land (25)
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 City of Brass
13 Island
4 Underground River
Sideboard (15)
1 Black Vise
2 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Disenchant
2 Hydroblast
1 Kismet
1 Lodestone Bauble
3 Mana Short
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Wall of Air
The next major change to the Stasis archetype came in the form of Squandered Resources from the Visions expansion set. Commonly comprised of four or five colours, Squ'asis was simply an evolved TurboStasis deck that aimed to keep a single Stasis in play throughout the entire game by sacrificing otherwise useless tapped lands for additional blue mana via Squandered Resources.
Squandered Resources
Enchantment
BG
Visions rare
Sacrifice a land: Add to your mana pool one mana of any type the sacrificed land could produce.
TurboStasis had suffered when the Ice Age expansion rotated out of Type 2 losing both Despotic Scepter and Zuran Orb. TurboStasis also lost the other major life gainer of the time Ivory Tower when it was banned in 1997. Squa’sis used the newly discovered ‘tech’ of Sheltered Valley, from the Alliances expansion, as a very mediocre replacement for both Zuran Orb and Ivory Tower.
Sheltered Valley
Land
Alliances rare
When Sheltered Valley comes into play, sacrifice each other Sheltered Valley you control; At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control three or fewer lands, you gain 1 life;
: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool.
Squandered Resources enjoyed excellent synergy with: Equipoise and Sheltered Valley. Equipoise presented a new defensive card able to phase out opposing: lands, artifacts and (more importantly) creatures for the duration of Stasis. Phased out cards could not phase back into play during the untap phase until Stasis left play because Stasis forced players to skip every untap phase.
Equipoise
Enchantment
2W
Visions rare
At the beginning of your upkeep, for each artifact target player controls in excess of the number you control, choose an artifact he or she controls. Repeat this process for creatures and lands. The chosen permanents phase out.
Elvish Spirit Guide proved a useful means of acceleration with good synergy with Equipoise.
Elvish Spirit Guide
Creature – Spirit
2G
Alliances uncommon
2/2; Remove Elvish Spirit Guide from the game: Add
to your mana pool. Play this ability only if Elvish Spirit Guide is in your hand and only any time you could play an instant.
In addition to the established searchers such as: Demonic Tutor and Lim-Dul’s Vault Squ’asis utilized two new tutors to great effect, namely: Vampiric Tutor and Impulse.
Vampiric Tutor
Instant
B
Visions rare
Search your library for a card, then shuffle your library and put that card on top of it. You lose 2 life.
Impulse
Instant
1U
Visions common
Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library.
Here is a sample decklist of the time:
Squandered Stasis - "Squ'asis" 1997
Spells (19)
4 Arcane Denial
2 Boomerang
2 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
2 Impulse
2 Lim-Dul's Vault
3 Vampiric Tutor
Artifacts (5)
4 Howling Mine
1 Feldon's Cane
Enchantments (10)
1 Equipoise
1 Kismet
4 Squandered Resources
4 Stasis
Creatures (2)
2 Elvish Spirit Guide
Lands (24)
4 City of Brass
10 Island
2 Sheltered Valley
4 Underground River
4 Undiscovered Paradise
Sideboard (15)
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Contagion
2 Counterspell
2 Disenchant
1 Equipoise
3 Hydroblast
1 Island Sanctuary
2 Shield Sphere
Stasis rotated out of standard game play when it was dropped from the basic set after fifth Edition. Stasis lives on in Extended, and to a lesser extent in Type 1.
When Mercadian Masques came out, it gave Type 1 and Extended Stasis players two excellent new cards: Gush, and Thwart. They bounced Islands back into their controller’s hand as an alternative casting cost. This was useful to help keep paying for Stasis via successive land drops. Hence, both Gush’s and Thwart’s alternate casting costs helped more than they hindered under a Stasis lock.
Gush
Instant
4U
Mercadian Masques common
You may return two islands you control to their owner's hand rather than pay Gush's mana cost; Draw two cards.
Thwart
Instant
2UU
Mercadian Masques uncommon
You may return three islands you control to their owner's hand rather than pay Thwart's mana cost; Counter target spell.
Misdirection became the second ‘free’ counterspell, in addition to Force of Will. Foil was also another noteworthy ‘free’ counterspell.
Misdirection
Instant
3UU
Mercadian Masques rare
You may remove a blue card in your hand from the game rather than pay Misdirection's mana cost; Change the target of target spell with a single target.
Foil
Instant
2UU
Prophecy uncommon
You may discard an island card and another card from your hand rather than pay Foil's mana cost; Counter target spell.
Mind Over Matter, from the Exodus expansion, provided an alternate Stasis ‘engine’. However, it rarely saw play even in Stasis due to its prohibitively high casting cost. It was later restricted.
Mind Over Matter
Enchantment
2UUUU
Exodus rare
Discard a card from your hand: Tap or untap target artifact, creature, or land.
Chronatog offered both an innovative (and bizarre) Stasis engine and win condition. By casting just three cards, namely: Stasis, Root Maze (or Kismet), and Chronatog the Stasis player could repeatedly skip turns to maintain a single copy of Stasis until his opponent had ‘decked’ himself. The major obstacle to this victory were match time constraints.
Root Maze
Enchantment
G
Tempest rare
Artifacts and lands come into play tapped.
Chronatog
Creature – Atog
1U
Visions rare
1/2;
: Chronatog gets +3/+3 until end of turn. You skip next turn. Play this ability only once each turn.
The Urza’s Saga expansion gave players a more flexible alternative to Reset albeit at twice the mana cost:
Turnabout
Instant
2UU
Urza’s Saga uncommon
Tap or untap all artifacts, creatures, or lands target player controls.
Another strong Stasis-friendly adaptable win condition came in the form of Morphling.
Morphling
Creature – Shapeshifter
3UU
Urza’s Saga rare
3/3;
: Untap Morphling;
: Morphling gains flying until end of turn;
: Morphling can't be the target of spells or abilities until end of turn;
: Morphling gets +1/-1 until end of turn;
: Morphling gets -1/+1 until end of turn.
The Nemesis expansion brought another Stasis-friendly counterspell similar to Thwart, namely Daze.
Daze
Instant
1U
Nemesis common
You may return an island you control to its owner's hand rather than pay ~this~'s mana cost. ; Counter target spell unless its controller pays
.
Claws of Gix serve the same ‘Panic Button’ escape-from-Stasis function as did Despotic Scepter in earlier decks.
Claws of Gix
Artifact
0
Urza’s Saga uncommon
,Sacrifice a permanent: You gain 1 life.
Urza’s Saga also enjoyed an anti-creature defensive spell in Curfew. It’s greatest drawback is of course its inflexibility but it functioned in a similar fashion to Snap. Stasis players are rarely required to unsummon their own creatures in response to this spell. It is a wonderful addition to Stasis deck Sideboards to help them cope with fast creature-threats such as Phyrexian Negator or with untargettable threats such as an opposing Morphling. Snap’s primary advantage over other defensive bounce cards like: Curfew, Capsize or Boomerang is its ability to untap two lands, effectively costing nothing upon resolution.
Curfew
Instant
U
Urza’s Saga common
Each player returns a creature he or she controls to its owner's hand.
Snap is a noteworthy defensive bounce card.
Snap
Instant
1U
Urza’s Legacy common
Return target creature to owner's hand. Untap up to two lands.
Rescue, Temporal Adept and Capsize serve the same Bounce functions as did earlier cards such as: Boomerang, and Time Elemental.
Rescue
Instant
U
Urza’s Destiny common
Return target permanent you control to its owner's hand.
Temporal Adept
Creature – Wizard
Urza’s
Destiny Rare
1/1;
,{Tap}: Return target permanent to its owner's hand.
Capsize
Instant
1UU
Tempest common
Buyback
. ; Return target permanent to its owner's hand.
Two interesting defensive enchantments were: Propaganda and Rhystic Study. Propaganda was the card most responsible for the modern mono-blue Stasis deck. Propaganda gave Stasis a way to handle creatures without wasting bounce spells or mana and without having to splash another colour. Rhystic Study is risky in that it promotes self-destruction in the form of “decking” thyself so be sure to play a means of graveyard recursion with it.
Propaganda
Enchantment
2U
Tempest uncommon
Creatures can't attack you unless their controller pays
for each creature attacking you.
Rhystic Study
Enchantment
2U
Prophecy common
Whenever an opponent plays a spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays
.
Stasis may also employ global colourless removal in the form of either Nevinyrral’s Disk or Powder Keg. The Powder Keg has generally replaced Propaganda since it is more versatile (many threats are best destroyed by Powder Keg as opposed to slowed down by Propaganda). Aside from 3 or 4 Powder Kegs maindeck, it is advisable to slot a couple of Propaganda in your sideboard, to better handle fast creature-based decks. One of the prime threats to Stasis well worth “kegging” is Quirion Ranger.
Nevinyrral's Disk
Artifact
4
Alpha rare
Nevinyrral's Disk comes into play tapped;
,{Tap}: Destroy all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments.
Powder Keg
Artifact
2
Urza;s Destiny rare
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a fuse counter on Powder Keg;
,Sacrifice Powder Keg: Destroy each artifact and creature with converted mana cost equal to the number of fuse counters on Powder Keg.
Quirion Ranger
Creature – Elf
G
Visions common
1/1; Return a forest you control to its owner's hand: Untap target creature. Play this ability only once each turn.
Aside: I have been meaning to build a Stasis deck based on using the following Stasis Engine: Land Grant, Tropical Island, Quirion Ranger (Root Maze may prove worthwhile, too).
Land Grant
Sorcery
1G
Mercadian Masques common
If you have no land cards in hand, you may reveal your hand rather than pay Land Grant's mana cost; Search your library for a forest card, reveal that card, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
Tropical Island
Land
Alpha rare
Tropical Island is an island and a forest in addition to its land type.
Mono-Blue Stasis
Eventually, mono-blue became the strongest Stasis decks. Mono-blue decks enjoyed a wide range of synergistic cards including: ‘free’ counterspells, ‘free’ drawing, ‘free’ bounce, global removal and a superman-strength creature.
GushStasis, a mono-blue Stasis deck, revolves around using cards like Gush, Thwart, and Daze to return Islands back to hand with which to fuel Stasis. It generally kills in the late game with Morphling. It is very similar to TurboStasis. Their kill and fuel mechanisms differentiate them only slightly. The old bounce mechanism is necessary in GushStasis to free up enough mana to play a Morphling at some point (ie.bouncing Stasis back to hand during the opponent’s end of turn phase).
TurboStasis and GushStasis are the two most widely played versions and are generally considered the best. Both have evolved considerably since 1996 in terms of their components, but not at all in terms of their governing concepts.
The Planeshift expansion gave us Forsaken City, which may prove to be one of the best Stasis engines yet:
Forsaken City
Land
Planeshift rare
Forsaken City doesn't untap during your untap step; At the beginning of your upkeep, you may remove a card in your hand from the game. If you do, untap Forsaken City;
: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Sample 2001 decklists:
TurboStasis 2001
Spells (22)
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Force Spike, Daze, or Misdirection
2 Gush
4 Mana Leak
4 Thwart
Artifacts (10)
1 Feldon's Cane
4 Howling Mine
4 Powder Keg
1 Spellbook
Enchantments (4)
4 Stasis
Land (24)
3 Forsaken City
21 Island
Gush-Stasis 2001
Spells (24)
2 Boomerang
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Gush
4 Mana Leak
2 Rescue
4 Thwart
Artifacts (6)
2 Claws of Gix
4 Powder Keg
Enchantments (4)
4 Stasis
Creatures (2)
2 Morphling
Land (24)
3 Forsaken City
21 Island
Appendix A: Stasis Deck Card Considerations
Interestingly enough, some cards considered staples in many other blue-based Type One decks are not nearly as helpful in Stasis decks. Let's review some of the more popular cards:
-Ancestral Recall: This is a great addition to any Stasis deck. It helps get Stasis going. Gush is a mediocre replacement.
- Black Vise: This is a very good win condition. Consider using the Timetwister/Relearn combo in case it gets destroyed/discarded or add an Iron Maiden or two for redundancy.
- Braingeyser: This is a bit too slow to be worth a slot, especially since Stais decks don’t run Mana Drains to fuel it. It’s also a mediocre win condition, as well.
- Stroke of Genius: See Braingeyser.
- Dream Halls: This is not much help in that it is too slow and superfluous.
- Frantic Search: Without a Replenish behind it, an Academy to get re-energized by it, or some other way to abuse it, this is simply not a worth a slot.
- Hurkyl's Recall: Most likely you won't be running enough artifacts to make this useful.
- Library of Alexandria: This card is always a great first turn drop. However, you’ll wish it was an island more often than not.
- Lotus Petal: This is a consideration, but usually not worth the slot.
- Mana Crypt: This card is far more dangerous than it is worth in the long, drawn out games you’re hoping for.
- Mana Vault: This card is far more dangerous than it is worth in the long, drawn out games you’re hoping for.
- Grim Monolith: Stasis doesn’t need this for colourless mana.
- Moxen: Sapphire is fine. Off-coloured moxen are a waste of valuable slots.
- Black Lotus: This is a worthy addition in that it can get you started sooner and can give you vital mana with which to cast support spells later such as: Counterspell, Capsize, Boomerang, Howling Mine, etc.
- Sol Ring: Stasis doesn’t require much in the way of colourless mana so this card is a wasted slot.
- Strip Mine: This is a fine addition; however, it is inadvisable to dilute the mana base with extra Wastelands. Stasis is disruptive enough.
- Mystical Tutor: This is not worth a slot since you have few cards worth losing a draw for.
- Time Walk: This card helps set up Stasis faster so should be included. However, once Stasis is un effect this card becomes quite weak.
- Time Spiral: This is a mediocre consideration since Timetwister is preferable as it can help set up winning conditions long before Time Spiral possibly can.
-Timetwister: This card could be a good choice if you're running either a Tormod's Crypt or Black Vise for a win condition.
- Memory Jar: While usually a consideration with Tinker, it is not worth the slot in Stasis.
- Tinker: What card would be worth sacrificing or fetching?
- Tolarian Academy: This could be useful only mid to late game to provide extra mana for use in your upkeep with which to cast instant support spells such as: Capsize, Boomerang, Snap, etc.
- Windfall: This is just not reliably useful enough to warrant a slot in Stasis.
Appendix B: Sample of an Extended Stasis decklist:
TurboStasis Extended by Razor v.1.2 Feb 2002
Wins (1)
1 Feldon's Cane
Counters (17)
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
4 Daze
3 Mana Leak
2 Thwart
Disruption (8)
4 Powder Keg
4 Boomerang
Stasis Engine (10)
4 Howling Mine
4 Stasis
4 Impulse
Mana (22)
18 Island
4 Forsaken City
Sideboard (15)
4 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Masticore
4 Back to Basics
3 Misdirection
It is usually quite a coup to Sideboard out all four of your Stasis for four Masticores.
If you have any questions, comments, or contributions to make to this document regarding the Stasis archetype please don’t hesitate to contact me:
Ray Mitchell aka Razor
ray@webinmotion.net
