Herpes, a deck and disease

HERPES, co-created by myself and keith johnson.

for those of you who care to know, chances are that you yourself have one or more of the 7 different kinds of herpes :shock:
now for the article...

i have been working on a deck list for a new and possibly good Type 1 deck. it is combo and aggro to an extent. the idea of the deck is based on getting out the 4 combo pieces:krark-klan ironworks, myr retriever 2x, and disciple of the vault. you sacrifice the retriever, they lose 1 life and 2 mana float. play the other retreiver and sacrafice him, return the other, they lose one more. repeat until victorious.
this is most definetly a deck list for 5 proxie tournament play.

How we came up with the name: actually, it was neither of us. originally, we referred to it as ironworks. but i felt that if we are gonna attempt to make this a type1 deck, then it needs a name for people to remember. myself, along with 2 of my friends were thinking, and Ben said" the name has to be catchy, scary, and something people will remember". this is when Steve said "herpes are scary." and thats how it came about, and we stuck with it. i posted this cause steve wanted credit for it. HERE YOU GO STEVE.

HERPES, the deck list:

Land
4 CoB
4 Glimmervoid
2 Gemstone Mine
4 ancient tomb
1 tolarian
1 stripmine

Creatures
4 myr moonvessel
4 myr retriever
4 boneshredder
3 disciple of the vault
2 gorilla shaman
1 darksteel colossus

draw
1 ancestral recall
1 wheel of fortune
1 tinker
1 jar
1 windfall
4 skull clamp
2 conjurer's bauble

tools and such
4 krark-clan ironworks
2 helm of awakening
1 vamp. tutor
1 DT
1 mystical tutor
1 black lotus/ lotus petal (if ur poor like me)
1 mox saphire
1 mox jet
1 mox ruby
1 mana crypt
1 mana vault
1 sol ring
1 grim monolith

SideBoard:
4 rack n ruin
3 FTK
1 sundering titan
1 platinum angel
2 defense grid
2 phyrexian furnace
2 plaguebearer

cards of choice:

lands- this is a three color deck. it collaberates well with todays metagame, as far as the sinister Sundering Titan. the lands are most affected by back to basics and waste-crucible. otherwise, you can tough it out. the ancient tomb is in place of the workshop, originally run by keith. i prefer the tomb, do to its ability to get off a second turn wheel/windfall and for clampage. all other lands correspond with the need of multiple colors, with the exception of the tolarian and the stripmine. i wanted to put in city of traitors for more excel, but is doesnt collaberate with the need for mass mana for turn 3-4 kills. plus, stripmine has won me many a game, whether its saving colored aman, or killing a workshop and blowing through a trinisphere.

creatures-

myr moonvessel- aka baby suchi, he is great for clamping. the clamp basically wins you the game, seeing as how you draw through a third or more of your deck by turn 3. with things such as the helm, you can play him free and clamp him for the backup colorless. in addition, his is a one drop for the aggro in the description.

myr retriever- this guy makes the deck possible. he is the combo himself. not to mention he fetches back a lost skull clamp, jar, helm, or ironworks. great under the helm for optimum draw with the clamp. clamp the suchi, get him back, clamp the suchi. under helm, this costs 3 mana for 6 cards and happens quite often.

bonshredder- i hate welders. i hate dryads. i hate angels. i hate fish of any kind other than salmon and tuna(with tomato soup). this guy kills them all. he is a flying blocker and is clampable also at a 1/1. originally, this slot was for myr servitor, but i always side him in and those guys out, EVERY DAMN TIME. this is just easier, and increases game one wins. 3 mana is hardly a problem. this guy is easily first turn and even easier second.

disciple- the other combo creature. if they play artifacts too, then goody. i have won many a game under the 3sphere due to him. simply get him and ironworks out and win. there is always a way, unless they get a platinum(worst case senario)

gorilla shaman- this guy is simply the shit, so take a big wiff. he can eat up moxen, rings and vaults. he can take out a sphere ot wire on an empty stomach, and has been known to get his iron from stax. some people want to main deck disruption for some reason, and he solves the problem with the decks lack of it. and you guessed it, hes clamp food and a weenie turn one. he grabs attention from the clamp and ironworks cause he is the shit. he is mainly for the chalace for 2 and moxen/ crypts. definetly a must have.

colossus- aka the alternate win. the best combo today in type one is tinker colossus. hes turn one and in this deck, castable by turn 4-5. he'll shut up a titan or blow through a sphere. hes the big guy behind it all. he has won me many a game, as im sure he has for most of you reading this. he subs out for the titan or platinum.

draw

ancestral- blue, one mana, instant. self explanitory

wheel of fortune- helps your opponent on their next turn, wins you the game on your immediate turn...choices, you get alot of them. a great target for mystical or vamp. generally taken if opponent has no cards for a windfall.

windfall- a great card drawing machine in any combo deck it seems. restricted for a reason. i have so very often jared, tutored or searched/ dug for a wheel or winfall and played it turn 3. not to hard. usually, drawing 14+ cards in a combo deck wins you the game, if not next turn. you apply pressure with all of the widespread card draws. it doesnt add up like AKs or brainstorms and such. it gets you the cards right away, same as the wheel.

the infamous memory jar- this is the card tinkered for so very often. this card sets up the win or the lock (in this case, win). 7 cards are great. running into other draw cards after that is amazingly fun. also hard castable turn 2-3 for the win turn 3-4.

tinker- scariest card in the game. what are they gonna get. jar is for win. colossus is for first turn or last resort. gets out the plat and titan easy. gives more search for a retriever or ironworks.

conjurer's bauble- not the best choice you'd think, but you're wrong, not me. this is another turn one draw/search card. he gets a card to the bottom of the deck for re-tutoring, or to replace a lost disciple or ironworks. fixes the jet/lotus inplace for when you draw your whole deck and need the 1 black for the win. better than it seems by far. try it.

tools and such

ironworks- the combo itself. this will win you the majority of your games. kills artifacts for the disciple and produces mana for a hardcast colossus or to kll a mana crypt. only 4 mana for an easy 2nd turn casting.

helm of awakening- only 2 so not to help your oppenent so much, but enough to be considered broken. cast this turn 1, and follow with a free clamp, creature, creatue/ bauble. very handy indeed. allows for the creation of infinite mana with the ironworks and 2 retrievers, and draw your deck with the clamp. cancels out the lesser-played SoR. nuff said...

tutos of all kinds- self explanitory. step 1- get card needed to win. step 2- win. gets you out of a one land senario with an ancestral or clamp. even a monkey can be fetched with these bad boys. as in any combo deck, a must.

mana excel of all kinds- sadly, type 1 is all about speed. the longer a control deck drags the game out, the better the chance of it winning. you dont want this deck to be dragged out if ever possible to prevent. mana means first turn possibilities. so fast, makes your opponent furious. the rest is plainly understood as cards for winning.

SideBoard:

what i think is the weakest part of the deck, i am open to any and all suggestions for this segment. i struggle in general with SBs, and this is a hard deck to SB with. im thinking about taking out the PBers, and trying Cran. Extractions. as far as im concerned, those are 2 empty slots. as for the rest...

Titan- side in for colossus to stop tog/ dryad and 4cc or maybe even fish.

platinum angel- for other combo and weenie. the ultimate game staller. a tinker choice for sure

rack n ruin- in almost every red SB for a reason. i kill not one but to artifacts in my way for only 3 mana. perfect for your opponents first-second turn blow your mind crap. GOD against any workshop/aggro artifact deck. known to win games all in itself.

FTK- as we all have either read or posted about, 5/3 is HUGE. this guy is gor basically this type of deck. i have been known to go all out and kill the combo for complete control of my opponents field with my permanents. kill control if you will, or not.

the furnace- i think this is under rated and better than a crypt. great for dragon, going all in, and vs tog-ish decks. first turn idea follower, and you can get a card out of it. i may develop this further in another post/ arguement.

defense grid- for counter of any kind. this turn one is game by turn 4. another part of all in vs. Control Slaver and other such decks. sooooooo good. FoW target, along with RnR and shatter type stuffs.

Please dont leave posts about ashnods alter being better as in the newb forum. it isnt better in any way shape or form. trust me. this deck has won me many tournaments at my local store, so i think im doing it right.

THE MATCH-UPS:

not many tough match-ups
honestly, the hardest 2 would be 4cc and mono blue. kegs and counter hurt. fish is tough, but nullrod has nothin on DC.

ravager- perfect if you get the disciple out quick. normally a win.

stax of all kinds- i tend to go all in depending on the game count and type of deck. in any case, RnR powns all. shred the welders and your set. you'll have many more permanents then they will for the wire and/ or stax.

cerebral assasin- 50-50, it depends on whether or not they can get the portal lock on or not. side in the plat. since they tend to use the dragon in this case.

Long/TPS/D-DAY- tendrils in general, side out the helms. definetly the plat comes in. this is the best you can do. watch the draw 7s and such, until you have the win. chances depend on hand and player.

the tough match-ups- side in FTK for anything PHID, maybe fish. plaguebearer for fish and decree 4cc. fich and chips/tokens= full tummy for the sick one.

tog/dryad(if anyone still plays this)- let it be. nuthin but the titan and grids go in, unless they have some abstract version of the deck. you are about 60-40 for win percentage. this is still a good deck today.

slaver- i refuse to lose to a heavy artifact based deck. go all in, side out the combo. every card in the SB but plat. and the PB should go in. so much fun watching them scream on the inside .

dragon- just gets the titan and furnace. so simple, yet so good. easy win. about 70-30 depending on both hands and whats in the SB.

oath- clamp the tokens and your set till you go off. side in the grids and titan. play this carefully, a tough matchup for any deck.

FCG- a tough matchup for any deck, especially when some of the lands deal you damage. but you can still win by 4th turn or throw out blockers. shredder kills lackey and such, so you should be sittin fine. like 90-10 win percentage.

turboland- with the added draw of the horn, you should have this game. just watch out for the crucible- waste combo. this is by far worse than a lousy trinisphere.

landstill- basically try to blow through the standstills and be wary of the disc. remember that you can always reset with a retreiver or bauble.

for a tip on playing this deck, paris and clamp aggresively. dont be affraid to kill of a disciple or monkey. and if u can, almost always clamp a creature for possible kill that turn.
this about sums up HERPES. I am still looking for suggestions on the Sb, so leave a post or PM me with your thoughts. THANKS!!!

P.S.- dolphins are the best team 1-8. ask anyone.
p.S.S- i was thinking Xantids either main or SB. leave feedback on this also.

You posted this before, I don't understand why you're starting a second thread on the same topic.

Hyperion