This is the deck that I plan on playing at SCGP9 in October. So far I have had doubleplusgood results with it and wondered if I could get a tune up.
Here is the list:
// Bread of the Desert
3 Island
2 Volcanic Island
4 Polluted Delta
R Mana Crypt
R Mox Sapphire
R Black Lotus
R Lotus Petal
// Lock
2 Stasis
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Forsaken City
2 Archaeological Dig
// Disrupt
4 Disrupt
2 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
4 Wasteland
R Strip Mine
// Draw
4 Brainstorm
R Ancestral Recall
4 Accumulated Knowledge
R Fact or Fiction
R Gush
// Util
2 Isochron Scepter
R Mystical Tutor
2 Intuition
2 Fire/Ice
// Wins
1 Donate
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Barbarian Ring
// Sideboard
SB: 1 Volcanic Island
SB: 1 Crucible of Worlds
SB: 3 Rack and Ruin
SB: 2 Gilded Drake
SB: 3 Null Rod
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Stifle
This deck plays like a Mix of 4CC and Gay/r.
Now for my horrible Card by Card Analysis.
// The Mana
Island: Wasteland proof. The main source of Blue Mana. This deck only needs R for Fire and Barbarian Ring MD. Post SB one can come out for a Volcanic Island giving access to very power Side Board Options.
Volcanic Island: Wasteland Bullseye. This card is used to Fire and Barbarian Ring MD. Post Side Board one more may come in.
Polluted Delta: This normally grabs an Island until my Mana Base is stable. After that it turns into a Volc. Isle.
Mana Crypt: This card gives broken Mana followed by a Win condition. The only applicable replacement in a budget version would be Mana Vault.
No other card fills this role.
Mox Sapphire: On color Mana Acceleration. Allows the turn one Brokeness that is Mana Drain.
Black Lotus: Tempo, its a kick in the ass.
Lotus Petal: This card may seem glaringly obvious a bad choice. People will fight all day for Sol Ring to be in this slot. However Sol Ring is the wrong choice. Petal allows you to Drain turn one. It also allows you to develop your board without devoting a turn to cast Sol Ring.
// Lock
Stasis: The long outdated Prison card is back. This time the deck isn't devoted to prison. Prison however, gives the deck time to "go broken" in its own way. It builds up everything it needs while destroying the opponents lands with Strip/Waste recursion. It also allows you to sneak in three of your four main routes to victory.
Crucible of Worlds: So...Powerful. This is why the deck plays Drains. Resolve these and the game is yours. Strip Recursion is very powerful. When you add "Shock" recursion and "AR" recursion it gets broken in a hurry. It also allows you to Recur Dig to continually fuel your Stasis Brokeness.
Forsaken City: The old and outdated way of keeping a Stasis lock. It still has relevance here since it Makes Mana under Stasis while your Digs keep it going. A must have. Don't be like horrible.dec and play more then two. I personally only like one however.
Archaeological Dig: This makes Mana of any color, Untaps every turn, and fuels a long Stasis. Day in and Out this card proves itself.
// Disruption
Disrupt: Wow. This card is stupidly good. Many decks like 4cc or Various Prison builds use Brainstorm to allow and shaky mana base to function quite well. Disrupt punishes them for this. For no loss of card advantage you can have the game won on your end step. This also stops any opponent from resolving brokeness. It keeps combos from Drawing 7 and YawgWins from Winning. The tempo you will gain from your opponent playing around this is amazing.
Daze: Like Disrupt this punishes your opponents Brainstorms. Nothing is more annoying them having to leave two open whenever you cast a spell. The opponent must play around these, however if they do you will have generated enough time to add all your catalysts together for the win. Later after the lock is achieved this untaps a land to sustain it longer or give you more mana.
Force of Will: Yet another free counterspell and the glue to this deck. You all know why it is good.
Mana Drain: Whether you power out a Crucible Lock or go Broken with AK/INT your opponent will never be happy. Sometimes you will burn but it is always worth it. This card is another reason why you beat shoppery ALL.DAY.LONG.
Wasteland: These never seem to go away with all the broken Crucible tricks. They also allow you to nuke your opponents board under a City fed Stasis lock.
Strip Mine: Even raperyer then the previous contestent Strip Mine offs any land. Don't Ask. Don't tell. Just tears for the opponents Mana Base.
// Draw
Brainstorm: Ancestral Recall 2-5 with fetchlands. This card yoinks Counterspells, Brokeness, or Win Conditions from your Library. Then it grabs cards from a Mystical Tutor or Hides cards from Duress/Therapy. Its good.
Ancestral Recall: Drawing cards is good. Drawing at Instant speed is better. Drawing Three at Instant Speed for just U is the best.
Accumulated Knowledge: Your draw engine. With Intuition this card is a BEAST. With Magic Stick this is a BEAST. Hell, this card is always good. Drains feed it.
Fact or Fiction: This gets broken in hand and lands into the graveyard. It also gives a great outlet for Drain Mana and a way to inititiate a Resource War on your opponents end step.
Gush: Cast it hard with Drain mana, Cast it for free to keep a land safe, or cast it during Stasis to palm some cards and retain the lock.
// Util
Isochron Scepter: 22 Things can fit on a stick. It generates Massive Card Advantage, Trades with an opponents counter, and provides a win condition. All good things it seems to me. Just cast it smart and make shure you get at least one activation.
Mystical Tutor: Get anything your heart desires. A great way to feed the deck.
Intuition: A great tutor. Start the AR Chain. Grab City and 2 Digs. Grab Wastes to stop an opponents crucial Mana source. Grab 3 FoW's for a counterspell. This card is the decks workhorse.
Fire/Ice: A Win condition, Mana Denial, Fat Tapper, FoW Pitch Card, and Removal spell all packed up in one card. Its good stuff.
// Wins
Donate: The simplest win condition. Give your opponent the Mana Crypt before starting the lock. Sounds janky eh? It isn't. Your oppinent will succumb to coin flips while you use Free counters to stop any threat they attempt under the lock.
Cephalid Coliseum: This generates massive card advantage throughout the game. Under a lock you can use it to deck your opponent.
Barbarian Ring: This card is a colorless, uncounterable damage source. This kills any Welders and such during the early game. As the game progresses it becomes a clock/recurring kill spell.
And there you have it. The side board is self explanitory. I see myself piloting this in October. It is a wonderful deck with many wonderful matchups. It takes time to see how much synergy is here but it is at work. This deck is a machine of one purpose. A machine to win.
