It has been about 6 months since I last played in a Type ...

[Anonymous]

It has been about 6 months since I last played in a Type I event of any sort, or really discussed any Type I, but I think I may just play in a few tournaments if I get the chance. Maybe I'll start playing sparingly at NG if they have some decent turnouts. Beyond that, we'll see.

Recently, I've been monitoring the discussions on the manadrain.com to get an idea of what the deal is right now. To me, the most interesting discussions have been the ones about Sligh.

For those who don't know this, I have always believed that Sligh is a Tier 1 deck (I don't like the Tier system, but I'll speak in those terms to convey my opinion of the deck). Besides the inherent aggressive goodness of Sligh, I think that it is a top deck because people always take it so lightly for some reason. Much like a vicious dog that hasn't been fed for a few days, you turn your back on it, and it bites your ear off. You already know my thoughts about Suicide black, but I think Sligh is an equally good choice right now, and for me, I think it may even be a better choice, as Suicide was becoming a little too predictable at NG as I was leaving.

Based on my own thoughts, what I've seen on this website, and a talk with Dave Kaplan at an Extended PTQ, this is how I would build Sligh if I was going to an unknown tournament.

4 Jackal Pup
4 Goblin Cadets
4 Gorilla Shaman

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Incinerate
4 Price of Progress

4 Cursed Scroll
4 Ankh of Mishra

1 Fork
1 Wheel of Fortune

1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
17 Mountain

SB:
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Pyrokinesis
4 Mogg Fanatic - unsure about this, maybe maindeck them instead of Ankhs, if I decide to SB Ankhs, or replace them with a TNT hoser like Rack and Ruin, or some other artifact kill, or a Mask hoser like Null Rod. But at NG, nobody plays Mask, TNT may make an appearance, though.
3 Dwarven Miner


I was going to play the Fanatics maindeck, but Ankh seems like it will have more impact against Keeper, Dragon, and any annoying control decks like the U/R Ophidian decks that seem to be roaming the landscape right now. In addition to hampering control decks and their fetchlands, the side benefit against Dragon is important, although I am fairly certain that no one plays it at NG. If that deck was rampant, I think Crypts in the side would be needed.

Ankh also it gives you a two mana threat to diversify the assault against Powder Kegs. Obviously, this version is weaker game 1 versus aggro, but I'll take my chances because the SB is just downright nasty against any aggro deck - although if you do run up against another Sligh deck that is running eight fetchlands, the Ankh will cripple their use of fetchlands and potentially allow you to win the mana battle, which is important since the mirror comes down to who can get an operational scroll or two.

Maindeck versus sideboard- This is a similar approach to the one I took with Legend Black - metagamed maindeck against control, next two games ready for aggro if necessary. I just don't expect to see many Sligh mirror matches right now, but I would imagine that the Nesis and Fanatics would do some good things there.

Ensnaring Bridge is just a great card against Suicide. If it resolves, they are going to have a very difficult time because the only way they can deal with it is with Keg set on 3 - by that time you will likely be set up to burn them out. It can also be good against TNT, although I am uncertain what their artifact removal situation will be. I just haven't been all that impressed with the TNT deck. Its pretty good, but I think Sligh wins that matchup if you want to. I think Rack and Ruin might be nasty against that deck, and Kill Switch has obviously been discussed. But putting those cards aside, I got the chance to play against a TNT deck is a couple of side games at a PTQ, and I just think Sligh has what it takes to win the matchup. Price of Progress is the key card, but the ability to kill Welder and mess with the TNT manabase is another element of the matchup. I think if Sligh is prepared, it wins this matchup.

Meanwhile, the Keeper matchup will come down to the mana denial and Ankhs in the back two games, there is no longer any need to run the eight blast plan. Right now, the good thing about Sligh is that the Sligh player really doesn't have to worry about mirrors, so it can just focuse on lots of hate for supposedly bad matchups - although I always thought of Keeper as a good matchup.

On a side note, I have also come to the conclusion (Kaplan also noted this in our discussion) that playing Stompy is now pointless. If you don't want to play the version of Sligh that I just posted, you should just play a 'red Stompy' deck, or a hyper fast Goblin deck. I would consider this deck if I felt it was called for, it certainly has its own set of advantages.

4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Cadets
4 Jackal Pup
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Reckless Charge
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Barbarian Ring
16 Mountain

Of course, I think the regular version is better, but this one is fast, and worthy of consideration. OK, that's all for now.

[Sylvester]

Currently, the only reason i still play Stompy is that i'm saving my money for christmas (Come on Nortel!!! work up some value , and then i'll build some kind of cheap aggro-control, like Psychatog. In the meantime, i play stompy IRL. But first, i'll be on topic.

This is something I've always found very awkward with Sligh: You only have 20 permanent sources of damage, of which 4 deal 1/turn, another 4 are dependant on your opponent playing lands, and, finally, 4 others only start working turn 3 or later. And yet, the deck's only way to answer to removal is burn, casting another permanent... or, maybe winning with PoP.

Unlike Sui, which can easily disrupt its opponent long enough to keep its creature on the board until the game is won, sligh is not a deck that I think can count on keeping its few permanent threats on the board for very long. Of course, sligh can win... but it does just that! It just wins, topdecking a PoP out of nowhere. The recipe definitely seems to be working, but isn't it extremely fragile?

As for stompy: Why is stompy dead? It still beats well, and the fetch-lands let it use a few red cards(I'm leaning towards PoP) to have a few "I Win" cards.

Finally, I'd like to say it's good to see you back, Legend. I don't know if you can send messages to members, but if you can, I'd have no problem with posting something for you on the other forums if you want(unless it's something I would want to see deleted, eg a flame).

[Puschkin]

Hi, nice to see you back! As far as I know your account hasn´t been terminated. Didn´t you say you sold all your cards?

And ... glad that you didn´t call this "Legend-Red"  
Otoh, if you did, I would be very interested in "Legend Green" and Legend White"  

[Anonymous]

Sylvester:

I believe that Stompy is obsolete because a Goblin Sligh deck can mount a similarly blazing creature assault, and unlike Stompy, it can finish games with direct damage if the creature rush is stopped. Direct damage has always been better than pump, and when you get to use Grenade, well that is too good to ignore.

As for a more typical Sligh deck, it may seem like it wins in random ways, but if you look closer, it is really not as random as just pulling a POP off the top. Its just that most strategies will find it hard to cut off a rush of creatures, burn, and dangerous artifact damage. Suicide seems more focused, but in reality, Sligh is every bit the aggro threat that Suicide is, it is just that Sligh has been devalued. As a hardcore aggro player, I can attest to the power of both decks, but I would especially caution you that you should never underestimate a good Sligh deck or think that it wins for no apparent reason.

Puschkin:

Yes, I sold all my cards. Not that I played any sort of blue deck anyway, since I gave up on that after FOF was restricted. Besides, control is not my thing anyway - I preferred to play even Legend Blue as aggressively as possible. I am not aware of my account still being in existence. In that case, perhaps this discussion would be better off if moved to the Extreme Vintage Forum.

[Zherbus]

Your account exists, but it is locked. Email me @ Zherbus@themanadrain.com if you'd like it unlocked.

Moved to Extreme Vintage.