[Deck] reviewing old school stasis

[agesga]

It has been one of my favourite decks, the following list is my particular version
of the deck. I have always thought that the "classical" strategy for playing it
was a bit difficult. This version depends on quirion ranger.


Mana (still working) (-14 lands  -7 alternative + help of quirion)

2 - Underground sea
1 - Taiga
1 - Bayou
1 - Savannah (will stay if i include balance on the deck)
3 - Polluted delta
1 - Wooded foothills
1 - Volcanic island
4 - Tropical island
1 - Black lotus
4 - Birds of paradise
1 - Mox Sapphire
1 - Lotus petal

Protection - 14

4 - Force of Will
4 - Mana drain
2 - Duress
2 - Fire/ice
1 - Misdirection
1 - Chain of vapor

Combo (12)

3 - Stasis
4 - Quirion ranger
4 - Exploration
1 - Tangle wire

Draw (11)

4 - Brainstorm
1 - Ancestral recall
1 - Demonic tutor
1 - Vampiric tutor
3 - Meditate
1 - Mystical tutor

Other(2)

1 - Yawgmoth's will
1 - Regrowth

Sideboard (working)

What i see:
For the moment the winning strategy (attacking with quirion) is too weak.
Possibility of substituting mana drain by mana leak (of course not due to economical reason)
Meditate maybe too dangerous.

Let me know what you think about it, and suggest me other cards that may fit on the deck.
Thanks.

[EnialisLiadon]

You could Tinker-->DSC.  This requires that you bounce Stasis at opponent's eot so you can swing for two unmolested turns.  Black Vise is an option as well.

That said, I think Stasis is garbage deck in constructed play.  They will just draw cards and sculpt their hand and position while you're waiting for a kill-condition.  Mana Short taps them out, but that seems really janky.

Other ideas include Chain of Vapor (or other cheap bounce) and Reset.  A Gush could work well, too.  Daze, too, but that could be too situational.

[netherspirit]

Why no Fastbond beings you're running 4 Explorations?

[GrandpaBelcher]

Ahh, Stasis, such a clever idea and a pain to play against but so hard when it comes to actually executing the concept.

Why Birds of Paradise and you're not running Instill Energy?  I believe that's Stasis combo extraordinaire.

Also Capsize and 8 mana is pretty good, which probably means running all of the Moxen.

The problem I see in this deck is that it's pretty much a one-trick pony.  As soon as your opponent realizes you're playing Stasis, they will put everything they have into stopping Stasis.  That's probably surmountable, especially in game one when the won't be expecting it.  Even then, though, I'm not sure the tools are available to capitalize on the situation.  Sure, you can lock them down and maintain Stasis, but if you do that, they fill their hand with control so that when you do bounce Stasis and go for your win condition you won't be able to do anything either.

My suggestion: Niv Mizzet.  At least with him on the board, you won't have to untap ever.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Root Maze could function to keep combo-ish opponents from winning during your set up and also to keep the opponent locked down.

Black Vise would be an effective win condition.

There's also a 5 color land in Planeshift that would allow you to maintain the lock indefinitely by rfg-ing cards from your hand in exchange for mana.

[agesga]

Why no Fastbond beings you're running 4 Explorations?

Do you mean adding fastbond ? or substituting exploration?

[netherspirit]

I'd go with adding Fastbond, doing this would probably allow you to cut one Exploration though. Oh, and having played masses of Stasis decks in my time I seriously suggest you try Mind Over Matter, I know it may sound clunky, but once you get it in you've won.

[rmn]

Feel free to mix and match, but I'll just put all my ideas into one decklist:

4 Birds of Paradise
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Tradewind Rider
4 Pygmy Hippo
4 Ophidian/Ohran Viper

4 Stasis
4 Force of Will
1 Ancestral
1 Time Walk
4 Impulse
3 Daze
2 Misdirection
2 *

1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
4 Tropical Island
6 Blue Fetch
1 Forest
5 Island

This deck just tries to be a mass of synergy.  As has already been noted, when someone realizes you play Stasis, they'll usually do whatever they can to make sure it doesn't stick around, so it's best if the other cards in the deck have uses beyond enabling Stasis.

Tradewind Rider: Good with birds and ranger.  Creates infinite Stasis, just like the Ranger, while still being infinitely useful without Stasis.  Downside: cost.

Pygmy Hippo: Janky.  Still, attacking with him is a perfect setup for Stasis against players with land and he'll help you cast Tradewind while simultaneously protecting him from Mana Drain.

Ophidian/Viper: This deck needs some sort of draw engine, and these guys help out Tradewind.  Ophidian is probably better due to the colorless cost.

*: I believe there's an artifact which does 2 damage to its controller during upkeep, and whose controller may sacrifice a creature to give it away.  Sorry, I don't have the name.

Free counters: Are there any other kind?

18 Mana sources: With 12 mana-making creatures, this is probably enough.  With a Ranger, your mana base is entirely safe from Wasteland.  Tha'ts why I don't use Forsaken Outpost; it's just too vulnerable, which is deadly in a deck like this.

[agesga]

Feel free to mix and match, but I'll just put all my ideas into one decklist:

4 Birds of Paradise
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Tradewind Rider
4 Pygmy Hippo
4 Ophidian/Ohran Viper

4 Stasis
4 Force of Will
1 Ancestral
1 Time Walk
4 Impulse
3 Daze
2 Misdirection
2 *

1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black Lotus
4 Tropical Island
6 Blue Fetch
1 Forest
5 Island

This deck just tries to be a mass of synergy.  As has already been noted, when someone realizes you play Stasis, they'll usually do whatever they can to make sure it doesn't stick around, so it's best if the other cards in the deck have uses beyond enabling Stasis.

Tradewind Rider: Good with birds and ranger.  Creates infinite Stasis, just like the Ranger, while still being infinitely useful without Stasis.  Downside: cost.

Pygmy Hippo: Janky.  Still, attacking with him is a perfect setup for Stasis against players with land and he'll help you cast Tradewind while simultaneously protecting him from Mana Drain.

Ophidian/Viper: This deck needs some sort of draw engine, and these guys help out Tradewind.  Ophidian is probably better due to the colorless cost.

*: I believe there's an artifact which does 2 damage to its controller during upkeep, and whose controller may sacrifice a creature to give it away.  Sorry, I don't have the name.

Free counters: Are there any other kind?

18 Mana sources: With 12 mana-making creatures, this is probably enough.  With a Ranger, your mana base is entirely safe from Wasteland.  Tha'ts why I don't use Forsaken Outpost; it's just too vulnerable, which is deadly in a deck like this.

Like the idea. I'll test it.
Thanks also to:

netherspirit
AmbivalentDuck
Lochinvar81
EnialisLiandon

i take into account all your proposals.

[agesga]

The artifact you metioned maybe: Jinxed Idol (2)
During your upkeep  Jinxed Idol deals 2 damage to you.
Sacrifice a creature: target opponent gains control of Jinxed Idos permanently.

[EnialisLiadon]

Ebony Owl Netsuke is also a nice kill if you choose the vise-route.

I think I would go with a U/b/g route with Root Maze and Forsaken City as the lock.  Consult could be nice, since all the lock pieces can be 4-ofs and you can have 3-4 Netsukes or whatever kill condition you want.

[netherspirit]

Ebony Owl Netsuke is also a nice kill if you choose the vise-route.

Ebony Owl is cool and all but 1 Black Vise and 3 Iron Maiden should be enough.

[agesga]

Ebony Owl Netsuke is also a nice kill if you choose the vise-route.

Ebony Owl is cool and all but 1 Black Vise and 3 Iron Maiden should be enough.

Starting from rmn's idea i will try switching jynxed idol, black vise and iron maiden for the best results.
I've decided also to choose ohran vip rather than ophidian due to this additional hability.
This will require to add more UG "dual lands" (in this case the pseudo duals from Ravnica or dissension).
Another interesting addition i've considered is replacing two cards (perhaps 1 tradewind rider and other)
by two eternal witness. This will allow to recover cards from graveyard since tradewind is on play;
helping sacrifice creatures to jynxed idol, and allowing an addional combo:
time walk 
eternal witness -> time walk
tradewind -> eternal witness
infinite turns;
I think it may be a good idea.
I will test other suggested options too.

[SiegeX]

What about adding cards with suspend such as Lotus Bloom and Ancestral Vision?  Although I don't think Stasis breaks suspend, it certainly makes it more paletable.

[Zombie Shakespeare]

Someone in our area has been working on a UG Statis deck with Vinelasher Kudzu as its primary win condition. It uses the Time Spiral card Scryb Ranger in addition to Quiron Rangers to help maintain the Stasis lock and keep the Vinelasher Kudzu swinging.

[agesga]

Someone in our area has been working on a UG Statis deck with Vinelasher Kudzu as its primary win condition. It uses the Time Spiral card Scryb Ranger in addition to Quiron Rangers to help maintain the Stasis lock and keep the Vinelasher Kudzu swinging.

Interesting combination.
How does Vinelasher behaves when playing fetch land and then searching for a land?
+2 +2?

[Acenought]

Someone in our area has been working on a UG Statis deck with Vinelasher Kudzu as its primary win condition. It uses the Time Spiral card Scryb Ranger in addition to Quiron Rangers to help maintain the Stasis lock and keep the Vinelasher Kudzu swinging.

Interesting combination.
How does Vinelasher behaves when playing fetch land and then searching for a land?
+2 +2?

It Gets +2/+2. It says when a land comes into play, not played.

[wethepeople]

I played a Stasis deck for a while also. I used Gush and Daze to get more mana, and Daze helps when trying to tap out their's even more. I used Forsaken City (see below) to keep Stasis going forever and I had Black Vise and Tinker/DSC ftw.

Forsaken City  Land   
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.

T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.


Ebony Owl doesnt seem like a bad card to use as a backup Vise, I played Stasis before Champions even came out so that card never crossed my mind. Stasis is a perfectly good deck to me, it's just it is far too slow for me to enjoy playing, hence why I dropped the deck.

[netherspirit]

@agesga: Do you have a current decklist? Btw, some Resets might be quite nice if you can find the room for them.

[rmn]

I've never liked Forsaken City at all.  The fact is, Wastelands are very much prevalent and the City would be your only Waste-able land, assuming Ranger is in play.  It also makes it impossible to develop your position since you don't draw cards anymore, so while your opponent is slowly building up a hand to break your lock, you're just sitting there waiting for him to do it.

Maybe it has uses as a backup, but never rely on it.

[wethepeople]

I've never liked Forsaken City at all.  The fact is, Wastelands are very much prevalent and the City would be your only Waste-able land, assuming Ranger is in play.  It also makes it impossible to develop your position since you don't draw cards anymore, so while your opponent is slowly building up a hand to break your lock, you're just sitting there waiting for him to do it.

Maybe it has uses as a backup, but never rely on it.

It never really became much of a problem to me because when I played this deck very few Wastelands saw play [at the tournament I brought it to]. I never thought much of Quirion Ranger. To tell you the truth I had never heard of it being used for a Stasis-lock, but it does seem very strong, I must say. Using both wouldnt be a bad idea at all.

[agesga]

@agesga: Do you have a current decklist? Btw, some Resets might be quite nice if you can find the room for them.

This is the current decklist

creatures 20

tradewind rider 3
birds of paradise 4
quirion ranger 4
eternal witness 2
ohran viper 4
pygmy hippo 3

mana 19 (birds not included)

polluted delta 4
tropical 4
breeding pool 4
flooded strand 2
forsaken city 1
forest 1
mox sapphire
mox emerald
black lotus


combo and protection 21

impulse 4
stasis 4
ancestral recall 1
daze 3
force of will 4
misdirection 2
cunning wish 1
chain of vapor 1
time walk 1

sideboard

root maze 3
tormod's crypt 2
swords to plowshares 1
stiffle 1
blue elemental blast 1
counterspell 1
mana leak 1
research/develop 1 -> in case of game "blocked" it will help running out of cards latter than the opponent
misdirection 1
chain of vapor 1
energy flux 2

That is the point where the deck has evolved to (now i'm trying switching pigmy <-> vinelasher kudzu)
I'm not sure about the usefulness of dark vise in t1.
I think (in my opinion) that chain of vapor is slightly better than reset for that deck, you can use it for
return stasis to your hand or maybe returning a creature (or permanent) from the opponent to hand.
Answering to rmn's: quirion ranger is not the classical option to keep the lock, but i have always thougth that the "typical"
deck that was to much difficult to play.
Providing that this deck doesn't deppend to much on P9 neither on restricted cards it may have a "straight" conversion to T1.
But anyway this was not the objective when building this deck.
 

[agesga]

In the previous post i mean a straight conversion into type 1.5

[Tbhiggins]

Would Sterling Grove and Root Maze (and maybe even Enchantress's Presence, although that might be a bit of a stretch) be efective

[agesga]

Would Sterling Grove and Root Maze (and maybe even Enchantress's Presence, although that might be a bit of a stretch) be efective

May be a good idea. I'll try.