New Creation- The Coin Flip Deck

[pox_reborn]

Well when I'm not too busy trying to get the last cards ready for my combo decks I usually build some casual decks for fun. Rules are usually: restricted list enforced but all sets allowed including Unglued and no power. One deck that has pestered for me to build is the coin-flip deck. I have heard of people discussing it but no real list has been formed. Below is my first rough draft of the deck.

V.1
7 mountain
5 island
4 polluted delta
4 volcanic island
3 goblin bookie
3 krarks thumb
2 chance encounter
2 goblin bomb
4 fire/ice
4 force of will
4 squee's revenge
4 fiery gambit
4 gamble
4 brainstorm
1 mana crypt
3 frenetic efreet
2 wirefly hive

I mostly had to go through all my cards to see what coin flip cards there actually are. I think these were the most optimal for the deck. I have done some limited testing but it doesn't help when you say casual on MWS and meet a bunch of people just playing type 1 decks

And of course I can't leave this post just a decklist due to mana drain policy so now here are the explanation of the card choices:

Mana base- fairly simple for a 2 color deck red and blue were basically the only colors that give access to coin-flip effects so it's a no-brainer there. Mana crypt allows a mana boost and coin flip activator all in one.

6 "cheaters"- This is what gives the deck more resillancy and makes it not totally luck based. Goblin bookie and krark thumb allow almost all coin flips for you to end in your favor. Problem right now is finding the right configuration of each since krark is not cumulative whereas bookie is. Further testing will help me find this.

8 "control cards"- the ever so versatile fire/ice and force of will allow light counter elements and generally overall useful against any deck. Blue count: 19 blue cards

8 "support" cards- brainstorm and fetches is an easy engine that gives the deck some gas while gamble is icky at best. the deck wants an early bookie or krark as soon as possible. Further testing will see if it gets the cut or not.

14 "flip activators"-  Squee's revenge and fiery gambit ane very powerful with krark's thumb with bookie backup. Frenetic effreet and wirefly hive are reusable coin flips that help stem the tide of creatures or just strike for the win.

4 "alternate win conditions"- just stall and eventually the counters will pile up in no time. Fiery gambit and squee's revenge work very well once chance enounter is out because there is no limit as too how amny time you can flip, it is just until you lose one. Krark and 1 or 2 bookies allow you to win the majority of your flips and pile up the counters really fast.

Well that's the first draft of the deck any comments would be appreciated.

[MD-Jester]

I have actually almost made this deck.  i was getting all the cards together when I was destracted by Goblins.  The setup you have going is nice with the bue engine and the red flips.  I was actually going to make this a playable 1.5 deck or even a 1 deck, but that got to be a little hard to figure out.  All in all, this looks like a solid build for a fun game of chance.  Kudos.

[pox_reborn]

Anyone else with comments? Later on I plan to post a primer. Might be worth a shot on starcity. Only problem would be no defined guantlet to test against.

V.2 you can come to expect a more aggro-controlish feel. I feel this is the right direction to test the deck. My testing continues and feel free to post if I missed any coin-flip cards or have a suggestion for the deck. Really need to know if there is a replacement for goblin bookie to go alongside krark's thumb but I doubt their is any.

[mikeymike]

I have a similar deck (no Encounters, more beatdown) and all I have to say is Thumb/Gambit is freaking insane if it works (which it does fairly often).

I recommend a couple of cards to check out:
Goblin Archaeologist - I know you are going up against some difficult artifacts.  This will scare your opponents.
Bottle of Suleiman - Great, cheap flying beatdown.
Crooked Scales - Excellent with Frenetic Efreet.  Mogg Assassin works as well.

Get in that 4th Thumb, it is essential to the deck and superior to Goblin Bookie 95% of the time.  I'm not sure of the ruling, but if Sculting Steel and Copy Artifact don't pick up the "Legendary" super-type I'd run those (and will once I find out the ruling).

The reason I don't run Chance Encounter is two-fold.  1) I'm not crazy about its alternative win 2) The important one, my group plays a lot of enchantment/artifact destruction - it has NEVER gotten to 10 for me.  That is why I run more beatdown.

Goblin Bomb is similar to Chance Encounter, but slower.  It will take at least 5 turns for it to work, but most of the time you are looking at 7+ turns (mathematical probability).  I've never come close.

I haven't tried Squee's Revenge with the Thumb yet, I'd love to know how it does.

[Duffy]

This is a great deck, I love this one! The one bugger about this deck is that your opponents will hate to play against it, and once they've done so they usually don't want to play against it again as it's too annoying  

I started this deck around Odyssey when Chance Encounter came out, and lots has changed since then.

Here's my list:

'Holland Casino' (named after the largest chain of Casino's here in The Netherlands..)

Flips:
4 Fiery Gambit
4 Planar Chaos
4 Goblin Bomb
2 Game of Chaos
2 Bottle of Suleiman
2 Wirefly Hive
1 Mijae Djinn

Others:
2 Chance Encounter
4 Krark's Thumb

Early Removal:
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning

Flavor:
1 Wheel of Fortune

Juice:
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
3 Barbarian Ring
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Bloodstained Mire
11 Mountain

People that count see that there's 2 open slots here.    There's quite a number of cards you can fit there, I used to fit 2 Mana Flare in there. Maybe if you squeeze up the Juice and add a Ruby there for good measure

Fiery Gambit: A fixed fit. Like mentioned before, if you can get the full Monty out of it, not just your opponent will be gasping, so will you.

Planar Chaos: This is a madman. It serves like your everyday counterspell. Your opponent will get only 1 flip where you (assuming you have the Thumb out) will have 2. It fuels your Encounter like crazy and it has gotten me to 10 on a few occasions (out of a zillion duels that is, but still). Still, maybe 4 of this is too much here and you could cut a copy.

Goblin Bomb: A fixed fit here too imo.

Game of Chaos: A tad too much maybe, and better things can be put here, but in a game where I was at 1 and my opp at 14 (2 bolts) it saved my hide. And, it fuels your Encounter well if you keep it up a while. Remember to quit when you're winning  :lol:

Bottle of Suleiman/Wirefly Hive: Creating flyers this easily is fun, though the 5 hurt can stomp you in the bullocks.

Mijae Djinn: He's just a pounder. If he's not attacking, it's a formidable blocker to keep you going that extra turn for your Bomb.

Chance Encounter: His 4 CC is nasty, but with all the extra coin flips you can take in 1 turn (Planar Chaos/Game of Chaos) it's certainly a member of the team. Don't play 4 though.

Krark's Thumb: duh.

Chain/Bolt: keeps you out of a tight spot early game and then hang in there for your Chaos or Bomb.

Wheel: Just flavor.

Hope you can use this somewhat, I very much enjoy this deck! Too bad the new Flip enchantment in CHK isn't that good.

The reason I don't play blue is, I feel, it get's in the way of your mana base, which will be mostly red. Squee's Revenge is a tricky one, on the other hand the Efreet is a heavy hitter and nearly unkillable.

Have fun  
If you have any questions here, LMK


EDIT: slight error..  

[Pizzatog]

Id love to play vs this with my chicken - clam-I-am dice roll deck. Maybe Ill see you on mws?

// Lands
    9  Island
    2  Mountain
    2  Forest
    2  Grand Coliseum
    3  Mirrodin's Core
    1  Seat of the Synod
    1  Shivan Reef
    3  Wooded Foothills
    1  Yavimaya Coast

// Creatures
    2  Mistform Dreamer
    1  Mistform Ultimus
    2  Mistform Wall
    2  Proteus Machine
    4 [UG] Chicken a la King
    4 [UG] Chicken Egg
    3 [UG] Clam-I-Am
    4 [UG] Free-Range Chicken
    3 [UG] Goblin Bookie
    2 [UG] Urza's Science Fair Project

// Spells
    3 [UG] Goblin Tutor
    2 [UG] Growth Spurt
    1  Riptide Replicator
    1 [UG] Strategy, Schmategy
    2  Unnatural Selection

[mikeymike]

Too bad the new Flip enchantment in CHK isn't that good.

Really, you are not a fan of Tides of War?  I'm giddy for that card in our big Multi-player games.  Let's say I have Tides of War and Krark's Thumb both in play: If I also have a single Wirefly, Frenetic Efreet, whatever back to block, would you attack me considering there is a 75% chance that you'll lose all of your creatures before combat damage even hits the stack?  I'm telling you, that thing will be a monster in MP.

Anyway, that is a nice looking deck.  Interesting to see it in mono-Red.  What is your opinion of Planar Chaos?  Honestly I'm afraid to play it in MP b/c I'm afraid that my group will ban me, but man have I been tempted.  Seems like such an evil trick to pull off.

And Pizzatog, I'd love to see that deck in action!

[Duffy]

Really, you are not a fan of Tides of War?  I'm giddy for that card in our big Multi-player games.  Let's say I have Tides of War and Krark's Thumb both in play: If I also have a single Wirefly, Frenetic Efreet, whatever back to block, would you attack me considering there is a 75% chance that you'll lose all of your creatures before combat damage even hits the stack?  I'm telling you, that thing will be a monster in MP.

Ah, yes, I can see it could be a monster in MP, but as for myself, I don't play MP games actually.. so I wasn't taking that fact into account  

Anyway, that is a nice looking deck.  Interesting to see it in mono-Red.  What is your opinion of Planar Chaos?  Honestly I'm afraid to play it in MP b/c I'm afraid that my group will ban me, but man have I been tempted.  Seems like such an evil trick to pull off.

Thanks I still needs work though. As you can see most cards CC is 3, which slows up your game considerably. But having a Thumb out makes up for all that  :lol:
Planar Chaos is a great card here, but ofcourse only when you have the Thumb. Otherwise it's an even shot. It can fuel your Encounter like nothing else and you have a 50% shot at countering their threats. Especially in MP, you would disrupt all of your opp's turn 3 before your next turn, even without a Thumb.
Just give it a try I say

I'm still tempted to use blue, if only it were for a Tinker that would make me have a certain turn 3 Thumb at the max and Efreet is good, it can also fuel your Encounter if you still play one.
I'd use 4 Great Furnace if you decide to play blue and use Tinker, as this deck wouldn't even come close without Thumb.