"The Deck" post restriction

The recent round of restrictions (or, perhaps I should say "slaughterhouse massacre") has opened the door to plenty of guesswork about what might be the new dominant decks... It was speculated that Stacks and Ichorid would be the new powerhouses, or perhaps a rogue deck of yore. Brings a wistful tear to my eye of many victories earned against impossible odds... ah, yes... But enough of that, back to the topic at hand.

I will maintain that the time is ripe for a return of The Deck in its original incarnation (more-or-less).

List of Wiseman's original list (1996 era) is provided below for reference:

   1 Black Lotus
   2 Disrupting Scepter
   1 Jayemdae Tome
   1 Mirror Universe
   1 Mox Emerald
   1 Mox Jet
   1 Mox Pearl
   1 Mox Ruby
   1 Mox Sapphire
   1 Sol Ring

   1 Demonic Tutor

   1 Amnesia
   1 Ancestral Recall
   1 Braingeyser
   2 Counterspell
   4 Mana Drain
   1 Timetwister
   1 Timewalk
   1 Recall

   1 Regrowth

   2 Red Elemental Blast

   4 Disenchant
   2 Moat
   2 Serra Angel
   4 Swords to Plowshares

   4 City of Brass
   4 Island
   1 Library of Alexandria
   3 Plains
   3 Strip Mine
   4 Tundra
   2 Volcanic Island

Using this list as a basis, we will see that already it is metagamed against the field to a large degree.

Point 1: Copious amounts of basic lands. This list runs 7 basics already; with the ever-present threat of Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon this is a significant threat. It is also excellent against Stacks.

Point 2: Combo has slowed significantly with the loss of Brainstorm. This means that the traditional both control, and yes, combo killers of Disrupting Scepter and Amnesia/Mindtwist are now extremely potent.

Point 3: With the loss of fast combo, we can definately expect a return of aggro. The 4 Plowshares and 2 Moats make an excellent choice against this.

Point 4: Maindeck Timetwister, combined with Regrowth, drive the nail into the coffin of Ichorid.

Point 5: Four maindeck disenchant effects make for yet more potent offense against Stacks.

Yet, allowances must be made for the times. To modernize The Deck whilst retaining its essential advantages I would propose the following:

   1 Black Lotus
   2 Disrupting Scepter
   1 Treasure Trove (Tome replacement; stronger)
   1 Zuran Orb (better than Mirror Universe post 6th-edition rules)
   1 Mox Emerald
   1 Mox Jet
   1 Mox Pearl
   1 Mox Ruby
   1 Mox Sapphire
   1 Sol Ring

   1 Demonic Tutor

   1 Mind Twist (better than Amnesia)
   1 Ancestral Recall
   1 Braingeyser
   2 Counterspell
   4 Mana Drain
   1 Timetwister
   1 Vampiric Tutor (tutoring > take an extra turn)
   1 Mystical Tutor (tutoring > bad Yawg's Will; no Yawg's Will because of Twister)

   1 Regrowth

   2 Red Elemental Blast (metagame choice; could be Leyline or Tormod's Crypt)

   4 Disenchant
   2 Moat
   2 Serra Angel
   4 Swords to Plowshares

   4 City of Brass
   4 Flooded Strand
   2 Island
   1 Library of Alexandria
   1 Plains
   1 Strip Mine
   2 Wasteland
   4 Tundra
   2 Volcanic Island

The Sideboard would, of course, be completely metagame dependent.

I welcome your thoughts!

-> (masterK) <-