Which is the best?

[Anonymous]

Greetings, fellow Magic players!

During the last week or so, I've been considering the different type one deck varieties and how they fare against other dominant decks.

After much thought, I desided to have some fun with the topic and type up a rather "off the subject" post on the Mana Drain newbie forum (where I am currently restricted to, obviously). The purpose of this post is simply to generate some feedback from part of the magic community concerning the dominant type one decks that are currently "shining" in many different metagames.

I don't really know if I expect any feedback at all on this subject, as the topic has undoubtably been brought up again and again. I guess I'm just hoping for a few replies on player's personal picks (no matter how questionable or slanted they are) for the most powerful deck/deck build in present day type one.

If you choose to respond, just list your fav. deck and state briefly why you feel that it's currently the best out there.

Thanks for the input guys! Keep up the playing.
                     -Arcanis

[Anonymous]

Ugh! How did I spell 'decided' wrong?!

By the way, TnT has my vote, as I've seen it take on all comers and rip through most, if not all, of the opposition.
(this is just off the top of my head).

[MoreFling]

I think I'd have to go for Keeper, and especially the Combo version.
If you have no clue what I mean exactly, follow This Link.

[Anonymous]

I will second MoreFling in the statement that Keeper is the best deck out there right now.

Keeper is a strong deck, because it contains weapons to combat aggro, control and combo decks. Against aggro, it packs cards such as Swords to Plowshares, Balance, and The Abyss, with additional sideboard cards if needed. Against control, Keeper can use its restricted spells such as Yawgmoth's Will in addition to sideboard hate like Red Elemental Blast to secure victory. Against combo, Keeper uses the disruption in the form of countermagic to stop the combo player from going off.

While these strategies do not always go according to the plan, Keeper can beat virtually anything if played to its full potential.

[Anonymous]

Its all about a fast R/G zoo.
Naw, acually I do not really now, its a hard choice as every deck has its strengh and weakneses.
                  Jamino

[Zherbus]

You get a huge fat DEPENDS from me. Keeper is the best by virtue of having no bad matchups, but it also is often not the best choice for each specific metagame.

[MoreFling]

Although Zherbus is correct, I think the original post ask for that one deck that has a chance against everything, and that is keeper.

[Zherbus]

Yes, for shizzy. Also consider Gro-A-Tog and Hulk Smash which, unlike TnT, also haven't had any horrible matchups.

[j_orlove]

Quote (Zherbus @ Feb. 15 2003,18:31)Yes, for shizzy. Also consider Gro-A-Tog and Hulk Smash which, unlike TnT, also haven't had any horrible matchups.

Actually, I understand that they have some trouble with TnT itself.  

[ShadowLotus]

Keeper.  No doubt about it.

Even though some players "claim" it's dead, it sucks, and isn't good enough for today's metagame, I still feel it's _the_ benchmark in the Type I format.  Regardless of the fact that it's a difficult deck to play flawlessly, in the hands of a player who knows what (s)he is doing, and a decklist that's optimal (nothing is worse than seeing people complain about a certain archetype, when they're playing suboptimal choices for no reason at all), it's able to take on everything with reasonable-to-great success and won't have bad match-ups on any given day.  That's the definition of being "the best" in my eyes.

Also, Keeper rapes awful rogue decks.  It's great playing Keeper and being like, "oh, so that's how your deck works?  Nice... I'm going to win now."  I love it.

However, as some have pointed out, there are just certain times where it's not the best deck to take in a certain metagame.  Everyone knows this - it isn't hard to understand.  It's called metagaming; just look at player's sideboards for examples of this.  Sometimes I'd rather play TnT, Mask, or combo (I'm especially fond of ReapLace because of how well it does against control) if I know what other people are bringing.

Keeper is a deck that reflects the environment's current metagame, and is a deck that's amazingly versatile and streamlined.  As well, it has some of the best players backing it and working towards making it even stronger as other archetypes emerage and/or evolve.

Until I start losing to a handful of archetypes out there consistently (and I don't see that happening anytime soon), I'll continue to consider it the epitome of T1 decks.

[Spizzard]

The metagame is quite balanced if you ask me.  Anything can win.  You see tournament reports of various decks winning all the time.  But, the three decks I see consistently doing well are gro/gro-tog, mask, and keeper.  I'd have to go with one of those.

[MoreFling]

Quote (Spizzard @ Feb. 16 2003,04:55)The metagame is quite balanced if you ask me.  Anything can win.  You see tournament reports of various decks winning all the time.  But, the three decks I see consistently doing well are gro/gro-tog, mask, and keeper.  I'd have to go with one of those.

Metagame means the local variety of decks.

your answer does not at all reflect that you have any clue about what the word actually means  

Quote Yes, for shizzy. Also consider Gro-A-Tog and Hulk Smash which, unlike TnT, also haven't had any horrible matchups.

GroAtog has more troubles with certain matchups (sui/void) then keeper does, since it's more open to be fucked up by any handwrecing-landwrecking deck then keeper is.\n\n

[Zherbus]

Dammit you guys, I said 'HORRIBLE' not bad.

[MoreFling]

Heh, lol, riiiiight.

[Spizzard]

Quote The metagame is quite balanced if you ask me.  Anything can win.  You see tournament reports of various decks winning all the time.  But, the three decks I see consistently doing well are gro/gro-tog, mask, and keeper.  I'd have to go with one of those.

I meant metagame as in decks everywhere.  I probably should have said field, but there really isn't a field as such in standard and extended.  Anything can play in t1, and anything can win.

[MoreFling]

Spizzard, I read your post as a direct reply to Zherbus's mentioning of the metagame. The way you just explained it, it seems a more seperate post, and then I guess it looks less weird.

[Puschkin]

As I understand Arcanis post, he wanted to know what you think is the best deck for various purposes and metagames, for example, what would be the best deck to beat aggro, what is the best deck to go into a comboinfested metagame, what is the best deck to go to Neutral Ground, the best in a unknown field etc.

Topic Title changed
so that one does not expect a discussion about who is the best player

[Anonymous]

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for your insightful replys on my post. Intrepret the post however you want, but I think that the response that I got was good and honest.

Second, I wanted to explain my own choice.

I picked TnT in part because I haven't really seen Keeper played at all in my usual tournament scene. I don't really understand why this is the case, as the metagame is shifty, yet almost predictable. I think Keeper has a good chance in my meta, but the fact is that I see, or at least saw, TnT wreck the environment consistently every week. TnT smashed everything, including some of the crazy t1 combo decks!

Regardless, this is just my opinion, and it's not even that in line with my post! You guys have it pretty much pinned: the ever-lasting Keeper, Gro varients, and perhaps even Mask.

Again, thanks for the feedback guys. I was pleased to see such big-guns as Zherbus, Puschkin, and the rest of the account-holding crew post replys here.

@Puschkin: Dude, thanks for trying to clarify the intent of my post. (same for MoreFling)

@ShadowLotus: I agree that Reaplace is cool as well... (or at least a fun deck to goof around with)

Peace out all, and let the debate continue as long as Magic exists!
                         -Arcanis

[Anonymous]

Right now I would have to say the growatog is the top deck. It can beat everything else in the field as long as it is played correctly. Sui black gives it the hardest time but growatog can pull out the victory. Other than I have never seen growatog go up against keeper so I don't know if I should really make this comment. Keeper would be my second choice though.