[Free Article] The Eternal Spotlight: The Prison-Industrial Complex

[Islandswamp]

My latest article on Puremtgo went up today. http://puremtgo.com/articles/eternal-spotlight-prison-industrial-complex

Many thanks to everyone here at the Mana Drain, without all the information that I've learned here, I wouldn't know enough to do these Vintage articles.

This particular article is about Mishra's Workshop-based Prison decks, an archetype that I've recently adopted. I plan on doing more content on this topic as I play with the deck more.

If anyone has any feedback, or constructive criticism, I'd love to here it. Thanks for reading!

@josephfiorinijr on Twitter Islandswamp on MTGO

[Will]

I liked the article, but I don't think that the line of play with the hand you mentioned is as cut and dry as you made it seem. Here is a different lines which I would at least consider:

T1: Mana Crypt, Sphere of Resistance/Thorn of Amethyst, Mishra's Workshop, Sol Ring, Thorn of Amethyst/Sphere of Resistance
T2: Lodestone Golem

This line of play allows you to bait out a Force of Will on Sphere/Thorn which can then be followed up with Mishra's Workshop into Sol Ring and Lodestone or Thorn/Sphere (whichever is left in hand) if your Sol Ring get's Missteped. One important thing to note is that this line of play plays around Mental Misstep which could be very important if you are playing Martello which needs more than 5 mana to operate optimally with a Sphere of Resistance in play.

The line which you took of Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Workshop, Thorn, Lodestone is only able to play a Lodestone Golem on turn 1 if the Sol Ring is Mental Missteped. On the other hand, the line that I suggested dodges Misstep and should give you an extra turn to draw a Chalice of the Void to play on 0 which would hit any Moxen which are still stranded in their hand assuming they didn't Force of Will one of your Sphere effects on turn 1.

I think that this decision on the line to take is based upon which version of Shops you are playing, as well as if you have any read on what your opponent is running.

[Islandswamp]

Will, i'm certain that you are correct. I'm new to the archetype still.

Thanks for reading. And thanks for the advice. People are always disrespecting the deck, saying that the choices are easy. And you showed a better line than I would have chosen.

I figured I'd try to bait a fow too, but what you said makes more sense. I've been sticking with the deck, and i'm currently playing Roland Chang's shops list from worlds.

I'm probably guilty of trying to be too aggressive with casting lodestone golem.

I'm always open to listen to people who have good advice, if you have anything else to teach me, don't hesitate.

[evouga]

I liked the article, but I don't think that the line of play with the hand you mentioned is as cut and dry as you made it seem. Here is a different lines which I would at least consider:

T1: Mana Crypt, Sphere of Resistance/Thorn of Amethyst, Mishra's Workshop, Sol Ring, Thorn of Amethyst/Sphere of Resistance
T2: Lodestone Golem

This line of play allows you to bait out a Force of Will on Sphere/Thorn which can then be followed up with Mishra's Workshop into Sol Ring and Lodestone or Thorn/Sphere (whichever is left in hand) if your Sol Ring get's Missteped. One important thing to note is that this line of play plays around Mental Misstep which could be very important if you are playing Martello which needs more than 5 mana to operate optimally with a Sphere of Resistance in play.

The line which you took of Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Workshop, Thorn, Lodestone is only able to play a Lodestone Golem on turn 1 if the Sol Ring is Mental Missteped. On the other hand, the line that I suggested dodges Misstep and should give you an extra turn to draw a Chalice of the Void to play on 0 which would hit any Moxen which are still stranded in their hand assuming they didn't Force of Will one of your Sphere effects on turn 1.

I think that this decision on the line to take is based upon which version of Shops you are playing, as well as if you have any read on what your opponent is running.

I just want to add to this that sequencing the mana sources is also more subtle than it often appears. If you play a lot of mana sources and then cast a Sphere, it will slightly decrease the chance of Sphere getting countered because the opponent will suspect the sphere is bait for a worse threat that is also coming. (To magnify this effect, tap way more mana than you need to cast the Sphere, as if you were planning to play two permanents back to back and are being "sloppy" with the mana tapping.) Conversely, you are more likely to bait out a counterspell by sandbagging your mana sources: your opponent might decide that Sphere is the only thing you are going to do on your turn, and countering is worth it.

[Flash_Hulk]

Essentially this archetype is 99.99% sequencing IMO; from your mana sources, mana denial, and lock pieces. Because a draw engine is not applicable, the aforementioned is especially true, imperatively so on turn 1.

I also think the most new pilots may not grasp how important mulligans are to this deck. I have never played an archetype (Dredge excluded) where mulligan decisions come up so frequently.