Guided passage

[zeus-online]

Hey, i was thinking about using Guided passage for something, i'm just not quite sure what....Has any of you guys played with it? and was it good/decent/waste of time...and if possible i'd love to see some decklists for inspiration....

Now my deck pretty much must be viable for multiplayer...since we've been playing it alot.
While i know guided passage requires blue mana, i'm hoping for something that isn't too controllish as most of my decks honestly are hard-control decks with a combo-finish of some sort.

The themes that come to my mind are:
Opposition/Squirrel nest - Maybe with deranged hermit
Morphling and quicksilver dagger, just for kicks! maybe even with some spike feeders/weavers to pump the morphling (aswell as giving the utility they do obv.)
Tradewind rider also came to my mind.

/Zeus

[EnialisLiadon]

Guided Passage has been a card I've tried making a deck with for a long time, off and on.  It puts insane restrictions on deckbuilding, but that's why I'm intrigued by the card.

I know you said you didn't want a control deck, but that's the best use of it I could think of.  If you have one creature in the deck, they have to give it to you.  I thought about maybe making the deck all counterspells, removal, card draw, 2-3 guided passage, and 2 of a finisher of my choice.  Very boring, and doesn't really showcase the uniqueness of Guided Passage.

I also thought about pairing the card with Mindslaver, but playing Gifts or Fact during their slavered turn is way better.  Even so, Mindslaver doesn't really need the help.

Or you could just play with all good cards, so that you always get good cards with Passage.  Probably the simplest approach.

[zeus-online]

I thought about all-creatures (mostly with comes into play abilites) and 4 guided passage.....that way they'll have to give me another guided passage.

Or filling the deck up with synergies, so that they'll eventually hand me the last piece of some puzzle.

/Zeus

[Matt]

It would be cute to pair it with Holistic Wisdom. Don't like the card they gave you? Trade it for a better one...

Alternate idea: play Doomsday or similar effect to guarantee you get what you want. LED, land, Salvagers?

[JustABee]

The last time I saw someone use Guided Passage effectively was in an invasion block deck.

The only creatures were Flametounge Kavu, and Mystic Snake. All the spells were counters, Repulse, Fact or Fiction, or Urza's Rage.

A deck like that could be fun, just don't forget to toss mulldrifter in there.

[Harlequin]

Guided Passage Turbo-Crusher --
4 Guided Passage
4 Countryside Crusher
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Fling

alternate win lands -
4 Petrified Field
4 Mishrah's Factory
3 Urza's Factory
3 Dark Depths

Turn 2 Crusher lands -
4 Sandstone Needle
4 Dwarven Ruins
4 Gemstone Cavern

Color Fixers -
proposed below is what I would call an "Optimal" build, but this could be nearly any 24 lands that will produce the needed for Guided Passage.   Below is hardly "casual" and definatly not "Budget"
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Tiaga
4 Volcanic
4 Cascade Bluffs
4 Fire-lit Thicket


50 lands, 4 Crushers, 4 Guided Passage, 1 Feldon's Cane, 1 Fling
So when you cast passage they have to give you a 2nd passage (or cane), and a Countryside Crusher (+ a land, which will most likely be a Gemstone Cavern). 
So you have something in the range of upper 70% chance to have either crusher or guided passage in your opening 7.  If not you can do the ichorid and mull down to one of either (its not like you even need mana in that hand, you should draw a land basically every turn).
So on turn 3, you should be able to cast either crusher or passage (possibly on turn with the right lands in your opener).  Then on turn 3 crusher will grow to hopefully a good +6-10.  Then each time Passage not only do you get another crusher, but you also thin your deck of non-lands by TWO cards (three if you consider the draw). 

As an alternate win condition, you have a few man-land-plands.  A smattering of Assemblyworker cards, and of course dark depths.

I threw in the Cane and the Fling as an afterthought for multi-player games where you might need the evasion/sustainability.

In place of plan-B stuff, you run more disruptive or protective cards like:

Protective-
Gacial Chasm
The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
Maze of Ith -- for duels
Iceflows -- multiplayer (beause no one wants thier guys disabled)
Arena
Diamond Valley
Quicksand / Desert

Other neat Lands-
Skarrg, the Rage Pits (actually this should be maindeck anyway)
Zoetic Caverns
Kher Keep

Another Approach to having a Plan-B
4 Cloudpost, 4 Vesuvia, 4 Dark Depths ~ and just try to 20/20 ppl to death (if you don't have crusher)

[zeus-online]

That's a nice idea, i might try that one out! oh and since i have way too many fetches i think i'll go with the expensive mana base....maybe sub in a few city of brass (mostly 'caus i got some FBB's) I'm a little worried about having other cards then guided passage that they can give me...won't they just get in the way?

[Harlequin]

I'm a little worried about having other cards then guided passage that they can give me...won't they just get in the way?

I have no idea

I just came up with the deck on the fly.  I was thinking to myself: In order to run Passage you really should just run like 50 lands... and a creature that is amazing in a deck like that - OMG Countryside Crusher!!  Actually the idea came from Jer was telling me about a guy who played a deck of like 56 mountains and 4 crushers at an extended PTQ.   I think he said did it as a dare to play a deck that cost less than $10 (or something). 

So I wouldn't run too many cards that arn't cursher or passage.  But I think 1-2 are acceptable.  Especailly if its stuff like Fling or Berserk... because they will likely just give you another passage rather than give you evasion.  Also keep in mind that the turn after you play crusher - you won't draw a land (unless you fetch during your upkeep) This means that your post-resolved-crusher draws will only be: an extra crusher, another passage, or your random 1-ofs.  I'd be more worried about decking yourself in a multiplayer game where your opponent ends up with a blocker or two...

[zeus-online]

Well, i could go green and add a rancor?...Seems like the crusher really should be big enough without fling or berserk

I doubt this deck would work all that great in multiplayer, unless using the "points system" (I.E. +1 point for killing someone, -1 point for suicide, +1 point for being the last man standing) Seems like someone should be able to kill the crusher sooner or later...volrath's stronghold might fix that, but then i'm up to 5 colors... Anyways, its a very good suggestion! They are certainly way more creative then my ideas...Although i think a highlander list could be fun, although very time consuming.

[Rubik_3x3x3]

This card has me excited because I have a lot of new friends who aren't really prepared to play Vintage and I need a casual deck to play with them. I think a deck based around Passage needs to somehow cheat on either creature or noncreature cards. The simplest way to do this is to play token-generators in place of creatures. The only question is, what creature (run as a 4-of, most likely) would make the tokens previously created able to smash the red zone for lethal damage when played?

I'm quite interested in seeing where this goes, and hope that what I said can spark an idea because I got nothin' right now. (Will tokens even work? I'm not sure an aggro-esque deck needs t a turn-3 tutor.)

Best of luck and I'll certainly check this thread tomorrow.

EDIT: Evoke can give us Terror, Counsel of the Soratami, and Shattering Spree x1 in creature form. Low-cost spells disguised as creatures. This opens up Birds of Paradise as well, which seems like a great turn one play for a deck based on a 3-color card.

[zeus-online]

Deranged hermit could pump the (squirrel) tokens....there's also kamahl, fist of krosa..Then there's tribal forcemage....and as always Mirror entity could make the tokens huuuuuge.

[Harlequin]

22 lands (with like 1 Plateu splashed in for outpost)

4 Sandstone Needle
4 Dwarven Ruins
4 Gemstone Cavern

4 Petrified Field

2 Riftstone Portal
2 Forbidding Watchtower
2 Mistveil Plains
1 Springjack Pasture / Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Diamond Valley
1 Arena
1 Glacial Chasm

2 Skarrg, the Rage Pits
1 Dark Depth


4 Crusher
4 Passage
1 Crucible of Worlds


Ok new spin on the idea (to possibly make it multiplayer).  Run crusher, Passage, and crucible.  Eventually you'll get crucible in hand (either by Passage or by using a crusher to draw into it).  With curcible and a little set up you can make yourself immune to decking. 
The key is Mistvail Plains... but you need lands that can make white permenants.  In the short term you have Forbidding Watchtower with two of them in play you can return a card for the small fee of ... .  Rifstone portal makes it so you can afford the white cost.  After that you can get a more permanent white count in play, like Spingjack Pasture or Kjeldoran Outpost (requires a plains to play it).

The issue once you've decked yourself is that you won't be able to pump crushers huge any more.   A possible solution to to run a spell that allows you to reshuffle your graveyard into your deck.  Timetwiser or Timespiral would be interesting.  You could recur either via Mistvale Plains.   Or you could just say screw-it an win via recurable 3/3's with an indestructable 20/20 every few turns.

Crucible gives you some solid outs to multiplayer problems:  Diamond Vally gives you some sweet "in response to removal/death" life gain.  Arena can eventually answer plats or Worship.  Chasm will save you late game, and you should have no problem keeping it up with crucible and/or diamond vally.  And finally Skarrg gives you that much needed evation for "chumps."

-------------

The final option is to run the crucible and throw in the fastbond, chasm, wasteland, cephalid colliseum... that might be too good for multiplayer casual.  It all depends on the group though, some groups outlaw combos that kill everyone at once.

[Rubik_3x3x3]

Thought of something today. How about a combo deck? If we can find a reasonably efficient combo that involves one creature, then Guided Passage will automatically tutor that piece of the combo, plus our next land drop, and one other semi-relevant card. I'm off to find creature-based combos. We'll see what I come up with but I'm sure someone here knows at least a decent one.

Found one: Swans of Bryn Argoll + Chain of Plasma into a massive Conflagrate.

[Matt]

Auriok Salvagers + Lion's Eye Diamond