[Premium Article] The Fastest Deck Ever, By Far

[Smmenen]

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12009.html

Props to Rich Shay for bringing to my attention this new tech.

Steve

[Disburden]

For reference on here, I will post the list:


Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
4 Chromatic Sphere
1 Chrome Mox
4 Darkwater Egg
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
   

Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Consultation
4 Repeal
4 Spoils Of The Vault
1 Vampiric Tutor

Sorceries
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Imperial Seal
4 Land Grant
3 Night's Whisper
4 Tendrils Of Agony
1 Yawgmoth's Will

Lands
1 Bayou
1 Polluted Delta
1 Tropical Island

[Machinus]

I've been waiting for someone to make use of this card in combo. Good work!

[Tobi]

Nice article. I would love to see some thoughts about goldfishes assuming your opponent has Force of Will, or Duress with you on the draw. The play decisions become much more complicated, but also more interesting 
Something like "how to win through Force of Will".

Note: There has been a rules change since I last wrote about Meandeck Tendrils.  When I wrote about it last in early 2005, you could play Land Grant, reveal your hand as the cost, then respond with Brainstorm. Then your opponent would have to decide to counter the Land Grant based upon cards in your hand they can't see - cards that are different then when you revealed your hand.

What is the change that happened here?

[Roxas]

If the cost to play a spell or ability includes revealing something, that something (in this case, your hand) remains revealed from the time the spell or ability is announced until it resolves.  This was made when [card]Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant[/card] was printed. 

[Whatever Works]

Besides the fact that repeal itself speeds the deck up with tricks including mox sapphire/mana crypt (a billion other cards)... Its greatest use could be bouncing the cards that originally made Meandeck Tendrils scoop like chalice at 0 or 1, or null rod.

I know several teams have been playing around with repeal for well over a month, and we have already tried it in meandeck tendrils with modest success. However, are general conclussion is that the deck would be extremely difficult to pilot in a 8 round tournement, because #1 its combo... #2 its risky combo at that... #3 Playskill would have to be almost perfect, because there is very little room for play error within the deck.

Good article. people shouldnt be shocked if this deck kills them on turn 1 even if they play a chalice at 0 or 1 on there opening turn.

Kyle L.

[Roxas]

You can't Repeal a Chalice set to one. 

Repeal
XU
Instant
Return target nonland permanent with converted mana cost X to its owner’s hand.
Draw a card.

[AngryPheldagrif]

Repealing a Null Rod requires a Dark Ritual and both of your land in play. It also requires them not to have a counter.

[Smmenen]

whoa whoa.

Chalice and FOW are the two biggest threats to this deck because they reliably come online on turn one. 

Stax doesn't have FOW, so I'd be happyto play this against Stax, win the die roll and win the match  or win one game on turn one and then steal another on the draw by winning on turn one.

Plus, remember you SB in Force of Wills against lots of decks. 

[AngryPheldagrif]

whoa whoa.

Chalice and FOW are the two biggest threats to this deck because they reliably come online on turn one. 

Stax doesn't have FOW, so I'd be happyto play this against Stax, win the die roll and win the match  or win one game on turn one and then steal another on the draw by winning on turn one.

Plus, remember you SB in Force of Wills against lots of decks. 

May I ask exactly how Force of Will is supposed to improve anything in a deck with 9 blue cards, five of which are vital draw spells?

[BreathWeapon]

You have 8 rituals, isn't Necropotence an auto include over Chrome Mox or Lion's Eye Diamond?

[Juggernaut GO]

You have 8 rituals, isn't Necropotence an auto include over Chrome Mox or Lion's Eye Diamond?

Your missing the point of this deck, which is to win on turn 1.  Necropotence forces you to pass the turn.

[BreathWeapon]

You have 8 rituals, isn't Necropotence an auto include over Chrome Mox or Lion's Eye Diamond?

Your missing the point of this deck, which is to win on turn 1.  Necropotence forces you to pass the turn.

Isn't resolving a Necropotence turn 1 against control just that? What is Gifts, Slaver, Oath going to do in a single turn to stop you from comboing with 15 additional cards?

That deck has made some obvious concessions from its previous philosophy, Vampirc Tutor and Imperial Seal were rejected because they didn't maintain card parody, both of them require you to skip a turn if you don't have a cantrip, and they are in the list now (not that I disagree with either being in the deck, I'll take as many black tutors for Will as I can get).

I don't have premium, so excuse me if this was addressed in the article.

[Brapp]

What are the reasons for leaving Mind's Desire out of the maindeck?

Helm of Awakening also sounds pretty fun. But it's not worth it

[Disburden]

You have 8 rituals, isn't Necropotence an auto include over Chrome Mox or Lion's Eye Diamond?

Your missing the point of this deck, which is to win on turn 1.  Necropotence forces you to pass the turn.

Isn't resolving a Necropotence turn 1 against control just that? What is Gifts, Slaver, Oath going to do in a single turn to stop you from comboing with 15 additional cards?

Counter your spells, play Null Rod, Drop Chalice for 1, Duress you, etc. The longer you wait for the deck to goldfish you a win, the more you're going to lose with the deck. A TON of disruption available in this format makes the deck extremely complex to win games with (let a lone matches). I know some builds had Necropotence in the sideboard when the deck debuted last year, but I am unsure how good it was, since the deck didn't do that well at all. I actually love this deck. I play it off and on in casual Vintage games with my girlfriend all the time. Of course she wins a lot though...

Grim long is way better to pilot in a tournament, but the design of this deck is indeed genius. It is the frankinstien's monster of Magic in general (not just Vintage). The compact design of four-of's and one-of's is beautiful.

[Tha Gunslinga]

What are the reasons for leaving Mind's Desire out of the maindeck?

Helm of Awakening also sounds pretty fun. But it's not worth it

Because generating 4UU is going to be virtually impossible.

[Disburden]

What are the reasons for leaving Mind's Desire out of the maindeck?

Helm of Awakening also sounds pretty fun. But it's not worth it

Because generating 4UU is going to be virtually impossible.

I think all these questions wouldn't need to be asked if anyone just played the deck in a FEW games vs. the format as it is right now.

[AngryPheldagrif]

What are the reasons for leaving Mind's Desire out of the maindeck?

Helm of Awakening also sounds pretty fun. But it's not worth it

Because generating 4UU is going to be virtually impossible.

I think all these questions wouldn't need to be asked if anyone just played the deck in a FEW games vs. the format as it is right now.

And why would that be? Because they would throw the deck down in disgust and forget about it?

[Disburden]

What are the reasons for leaving Mind's Desire out of the maindeck?

Helm of Awakening also sounds pretty fun. But it's not worth it

Because generating 4UU is going to be virtually impossible.

I think all these questions wouldn't need to be asked if anyone just played the deck in a FEW games vs. the format as it is right now.

And why would that be? Because they would throw the deck down in disgust and forget about it?

Well, I mean that they would see that the cards in question would be useless in the deck 99% of the time, but if you want to go to the mega extremes, ok.

[Smmenen]

What are the reasons for leaving Mind's Desire out of the maindeck?

Helm of Awakening also sounds pretty fun. But it's not worth it

Because generating 4UU is going to be virtually impossible.

I think all these questions wouldn't need to be asked if anyone just played the deck in a FEW games vs. the format as it is right now.

And why would that be? Because they would throw the deck down in disgust and forget about it?

Are you speaking from experience ?

I highly recommend Justin Walter's article on it - or my any one of my articles.  They'll help guide anyone who is interested through the intricacies of the deck.  

His article is truly brilliant:
http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/8929.html

It was selected by Ted Knutson as THE best magic strategy article on the web last year. 

[AngryPheldagrif]

What are the reasons for leaving Mind's Desire out of the maindeck?

Helm of Awakening also sounds pretty fun. But it's not worth it

Because generating 4UU is going to be virtually impossible.

I think all these questions wouldn't need to be asked if anyone just played the deck in a FEW games vs. the format as it is right now.

And why would that be? Because they would throw the deck down in disgust and forget about it?

Are you speaking from experience ?

I highly recommend Justin Walter's article on it - or my any one of my articles.  They'll help guide anyone who is interested through the intricacies of the deck. 

I've played the deck a dozens of times in practice, but it really gets boring after awhile. Figuring out how to win on the first turn most of the time isn't terribly challenging for me and knowing the deck simply cannot consistently withstand 8 or 9 rounds of tournament play precludes me from ever wanting to run it outside of testing.

[arj]

I was thinking about the about the probabilities regarding choice 1 (chance of drawing draw spell) and 5 (synergy between brainstorm and consultation) and found an error: The total storm count for your example actually is only 9. You play sapphire twice.

For choice 1) Probably the only draw spell that the brainstorm will find that will help you out (generating enough storm) is night's whisper (since you can't cast a second brainstorm, unless you break land grant for blue, in which case you second brainstorm will need to reveal a black mana source for you to cast dark ritual) and the probability of getting a night's whisper on the brainstorm in 20%.

Another play would be to go for will on consultation and then replay everything from the yard, ending with a consultation for tendrils. The chance of the consultation ending up removing will if you pust two non-will card back on top is only 8%.

So I would definately go for choice 5.

[Brapp]

What are the reasons for leaving Mind's Desire out of the maindeck?

Perhaps I should have elaborated.

I've tested the deck. The deck's so loaded with Tutors that it doesn't need the Desire to win consistently. However, saying that getting to 6 mana is too hard is incorrect. With 8 Rituals and Eggs/Chromatic Spheres, I find that getting 4UU for Desire isn't too hard. The philosophy of Desire here is good. With 4 Tendrils in the deck and only 3 land, a Desire for storm count of 4 or 5 on Desire will probably win right there, either by storming into 2 Tendrils or any of the multiple tutors.

[MaxxMatt]

I'm not going to dismiss that build without any test...

...but

Aside of FoWs and CotV or Rods, I see soooo many commonly played cards that can singlehandly stop you from playing anything into it, that I don't think that you cannot play it at a tourney, without coupling that deck with a tweaked dice.

If you win the roll, you are going to win on turn 1 or 2 consistanly enough to choose to play that deck
If you lose that roll, you could be able to win only a game, because ANY good deck would AT LEAST pack in it FoW, Rods, CotVs, SoR, Trini, Cheap Counters. And I'm not talking about playing with sideboarded spells ( Pyrostatic Pyllar, ReBs, Additional Counters, Jesters, Wires and so on ).

On the other hand, nice work.
I find Repeals really duttile not to play them, too.

[klu]

Playing against stax is quite a bit unwinnable...
chalice for 0 is a bad card to see, chalice for 1 and sphere of resistance are just win cards.
You can expect to win the first game because he has not mulliganed to the right disruption and you won the roll.. the second game is for him and you have to win the 3rd game on 1st turn.
Fow is the worst card you can expect, and there are enough blue based deck and merchant scroll in the format to be able to have it quite consistently on the first turn.
In all case you have to win the roll and win during your first turn.

The matter is not how good is the deck and how lucky you will be playing this deck.. but only how lucky will be your opponents.
Another matter is that anybody can't play this deck because it requires to be played perfectly to have a chance of winning consistently.
I have to say that the best players will not play a deck where the win condition is based on how unlucky is your opponent..
I don't know how you play your top8, but here (in france) we are able to look at opponent's decklist before playing. So you loose the surprise factor and have only the luck to relie on.

I like the deck, but imHo, it's a good deck to goldfish on mws during the long winter nights... not more.

[Machinus]

That deck has made some obvious concessions from its previous philosophy, Vampirc Tutor and Imperial Seal were rejected because they didn't maintain card parody, both of them require you to skip a turn if you don't have a cantrip, and they are in the list now (not that I disagree with either being in the deck, I'll take as many black tutors for Will as I can get).

I don't think humour was one of the criterion used in building this deck.

Seriously though, there are 24 cards that draw off the top, so those two tutors work very well in the deck.

[BreathWeapon]

I haven't the slightest clue what you are talking about Machinus, Steve himself rejected the use of Vampiric Tutor and Imperial Seal in the original SX based on that argument (I'm not saying that argument is correct, I'm saying that Steve's perception of the deck has changed beyond including Repeal). Chrome Mox was also absent from the original build for the same reason.

As far as Necro is concerned, you have to be kidding me if you think a Force of Will, Mana Drain or Duress is going to make a difference against an additional 15 cards. Yes, Null Rod or Chalice of the Void would be problematic, but considering you can still storm off all of the Moxen and resolve enough Rituals to cast one or two Tendrils you should still be able to win.

[Smmenen]

Yeah, you are right.  Some of my views shifted on which components were better or worse. 

Somewhere along the way I changed my mind on Vamp Tutor.  There were slightly more goldfishes where Vamp tutor was useful than those where it was dead.  In like 50 recorded goldfishes, I think there were two where it was bad and like 3 or 4 where it was great. 

The list I ran at the waterbury in Jan of 05 had Necro main.  Chrome Mox was cut after that tournament. 

I also learned that FOW in the SB is amazing. 

I want to find Justin Walter's tournamnent report where he made top 4 at the Waterbury

I think he had 80% turn one wins.  LIke 14 turn one wins in 8 ronds and two top 8 matches. 

[BreathWeapon]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Necropotence is worth using in the MD regardless of the decks over all design.

Steve, how are you supporting Force of Will? When I used them in SX I boarded in Tinker/Jar, Twister and Windfall just to have 16 blue cards, and it was incredibly effective vs Stax. Are you using something along the lines of the ESG/Hurkyl's plan that was used in Long?

Definately would appreciate some pointers on side boarding with this, sideboarding with combo is the most complicated and underdiscussed subject in Vintage, really do wish you'd write something on it.

[Smmenen]

It's been SO long since by mind was totally into this deck - I honestly can't remember the answer to these questions.

I do remember that FOW was awesome in the SB.  I think we were boarding 2 Chains and 4 FoW.  Justin found it really, really worked. 

My team boards imploded some late last year and we lost EVERYTHING we had stored on the deck.  Maybe if we can find Justin's report we'll find answers to this question.