Shared Fate.dec

[MaximumCDawg]

So I'm looking for something new and funny for this week's Vintage.  I've never played Shared Fate.dec, so I thought this might be a good place to brew.  You know the deck -- basically standstill with no win conditions, the goal being to resolve Shared Fate and then win with the opponent's deck. 

Non-topdeck tutors are right out, because they still let your opponent access his or her deck and that's a no-no.  So we want only cards that draw or manipulate topdeck to find the Shared Fate.  Something like 27 mana, 4 win conditions, 18 counter spell / disruption and 9 draw seems like a fair breakdown.

First Draft, ShardFate.dec:

Win Con (4)
4 Shared Fate

Mana (27)
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
3 Tundra
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
4 Mox Opal
4 Dark Ritual

Disruption (18)
4 Spell Pierce
4 Flusterstorm
3 Force of Will
3 Mana Drain
4 Thoughtseize

Draw (9)
3 Standstill
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Enlightened Tutor

Anyone played with this before, can offer comments?

[TheWhiteDragon]

I don't understand.  How do you win?  What if they have ANY threats (like a tarm) on board?  You just take it to the face until you draw both the mana and the answer from your opponent's deck?

[MaximumCDawg]

Essentially, yes!  The whole point is to have a deck that controls the board turns 1 - 3 and then drops Shared Fate.  This deck has no way to win on its own -- and that's the whole point.  You just get Fate out there and then your opponent has only their hand and board to work with.  If you've kept them off threats and used a timely Thoughtseize, you can nullify their entire deck and leave them with a pile of permission with which they cannot win.

If Goyf resolves, it's bad news.  Pre-Cavern of Souls, I'd be all in the counterspell only plan . Even now, I dont know if it's worth diluting the permission base to add stuff like Snuff Out or other ways to deal with creatures.

[TheWhiteDragon]

Essentially, yes!  The whole point is to have a deck that controls the board turns 1 - 3 and then drops Shared Fate.  This deck has no way to win on its own -- and that's the whole point.  You just get Fate out there and then your opponent has only their hand and board to work with.  If you've kept them off threats and used a timely Thoughtseize, you can nullify their entire deck and leave them with a pile of permission with which they cannot win.

If Goyf resolves, it's bad news.  Pre-Cavern of Souls, I'd be all in the counterspell only plan . Even now, I dont know if it's worth diluting the permission base to add stuff like Snuff Out or other ways to deal with creatures.

Eek.  I dunno about that plan.  Tarm is dirt cheap and flusterstorm/pierce/misstep don't do anything to stop it.  Deathrite, bob, thalia etc coming down on turn 1 is bad news bears (pardon the pun).  Hell, even a mishra's factory is gg.  I can't see this deck taking more than 1 win out of a tourney unless they are playing against critterless storm all day.

[Blue Lotus]

i think this is genius. i also think there is no reason to not go 4x drain. I also would think 4x preordain is a must. Furthermore, there is definitely room for some removal/interaction that cannot effect (affect?) shared fate, ie steel sabotage, rebuild/hurkyl's recall, pithing needle (for walkers), relic of progenitus, swords, etc. Finally, I think standstill is poor draw engine in a deck that has no threats. You play a standstill, but give them no reason to crack it. I think gush would be much better.

[MaximumCDawg]

i think this is genius. i also think there is no reason to not go 4x drain. I also would think 4x preordain is a must. Furthermore, there is definitely room for some removal/interaction that cannot effect (affect?) shared fate, ie steel sabotage, rebuild/hurkyl's recall, pithing needle (for walkers), relic of progenitus, swords, etc. Finally, I think standstill is poor draw engine in a deck that has no threats. You play a standstill, but give them no reason to crack it. I think gush would be much better.

Not my idea, it's a pretty old archetype actually.  And you have a point about Standstill being a big "Who cares" once the enemy realizes you are presenting no clock.  Removal is good, too, but it has to be a really thick blanket of removal to keep you alive long enough to win. Maybe you run some various removal packages?  Maybe load up on 5-color land so you can better use opponent's cards?

Mix something like this between maindeck and sideboard?

(Anti-creature)
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Snuff Out

(Countermagic)
4 Flusterstorm
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will

(Anti-artifact)
4 Steel Sabotage
4 Oxidize

And, actually, now that i think about it, what if you had a transformative sideboard into Oath?  That seems pretty easy to pull off; the rainbow lands from Oath work just fine either way.

Oath - Fate Gambit

Mana Base (28)
4 Forbidden Orchard
4 City of Brass
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
1 Swamp
1 Island
3 Mox Opal
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
4 Grim Monolith // Dark Ritual  (?)

Oath Config (6)
4 Oath of Druids
2 Grislebrand

Shared Fate Config (6)
4 Shared Fate
2 Enlightened Tutor

Disruption (19)
2 Flusterstorm
3 Mana Drain
2 Spell Pierce
4 Force of Will
3 Thoughtseize
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Snuff Out

Draw (7)
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Vamp Tutor
3 Preordain

I mean, enchantment hate hits both, but its a very different kind of deck you're playing in either case...

[jam3sbob]

I used to have a shared fate deck a long time ago when it was still in standard. It ran counters and removal of the same mana cost (3, because you know, standard  ).

The plan was to drop shared fate then chalice of the void for that cost, lock my own deck out and win with my opponents deck. It also ran discard (which would be useless once shared fate was online) and all the dig I could think of (scry spells).

I also ran spineless thugs and some other can't block creatures for early pressure, once our decks have switched, even if my opponent would play my creatures, they still can't block 

fun deck was fun lol

[Wagner]

Why are you running 4 Mox Opal with a total of 3 other artifacts? The odds of activating an Opal are absurdly low.

[MaximumCDawg]

They go in with 4 Grim Monolith, in all liklihood.  I'd run a full set of the Solomoxlotus, but I don't own a full set of power, so...

[Wagner]

They go in with 4 Grim Monolith, in all liklihood.  I'd run a full set of the Solomoxlotus, but I don't own a full set of power, so...

There are no Grim Monolith in your list. And you only have 58 cards.

[Samoht]

They go in with 4 Grim Monolith, in all liklihood.  I'd run a full set of the Solomoxlotus, but I don't own a full set of power, so...

There are no Grim Monolith in your list. And you only have 58 cards.

There is, maybe you should check it again.

[d8dk32]

My bro played a deck like this at a tournament a few months ago (he didn't do so hot, I think he went 1-2-1). His was very combo-ish, in that it really tried to crap out Shared Fate ASAP. The biggest problem he faced was creatures on the opponents board. It's a pretty huge issue. I think a fair amount of maindeck removal is important. I also think the 5-color lands are the way to go, to guarantee you can play your opponents cards. The main thing his deck lacked was a draw engine. I think he would have done better if he had been able to see more of his opponent's cards.
 
Another card that presents a lot of problems for this deck is Sensei's Divining Top. They can control their topdeck to keep you from getting useful cards. A threat onboard and an active Top is practically gg.

That said, I think this deck is hilarious and if you can come up with a build that is more competitive than my brother's, by all means play it. The looks you get from the opposition are the best.

[Wagner]

They go in with 4 Grim Monolith, in all liklihood.  I'd run a full set of the Solomoxlotus, but I don't own a full set of power, so...

There are no Grim Monolith in your list. And you only have 58 cards.

There is, maybe you should check it again.

My bad, I was checking original post, not revised list.

[MaximumCDawg]

Okay, this deck does not work as an Oath transformation, because a single Spirit token can totally go the distance.  Suffice to say things did not go well last week.

I'll recalibrate and try a different tack next week.

EDIT:  Okay, so here's my next thought.  Oath doesn't work worth a darn because it magnifies this deck's weakness (resolved creatures).  Milling strategies, however, work perfectly well.  Once Shared Fate is online, if they mill out your library, then they just deny themselves any draws.  So this might be a viable complimentary strategy.  Of your options there, you have Helm or Painter.  Painter gives them a dork, so that's not ideal.  Helm, however, gives them jackall if your library has no creatures in it, so that seems fine.  Helm's partners-in-crime (Leyline and RiP) are also complimentary with Shared Fate because they shut off the enemy's yard as a resource.

Here's a new working model:

Win Con (10)
3 Shared Fate
3 Helm of Obedience
4 Rest in Peace

Lands (20)
4 Undiscovered Paradise (A good splash for using enemy cards, doesn't hurt like City)
2 City of Traitors
4 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Marsh Flats
3 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp

Accelerators (8)
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
4 Grim Monolith
1 Voltaic Key

Search / Draw (10)
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
4 Preordain
3 Enlightened Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

Countermagic (14)
2 Flusterstorm
2 Steel Sabotage
3 Mental Misstep
3 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will

Removal (8)
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Snuff Out
1 Balance
2 Shattering Blow

Sideboard (15)
1 Snuff Out
2 Steel Sabotage
1 Shattering Blow
1 Dust to Dust
2 Flusterstorm
2 Leyline of the Void
3 Duress
4 Circle of Protection: Red (It's a local concern)

EDIT2: Yes, this is a much better deck in this configuration.  I still went 1-3, but it was actually interesting and fun to play.  Particularly in figuring out how cards worked with Shared Fate on the field.  I beat GB Rock, lost a close match to Salvager, and was curbstomped by mono-blue control and black stacks.  (Seriously, what the hell do you do when you board in the Steel Sabotages and they drop - Braids?!)