[Deck] Deadbolt: Aggro prison

[Pago]

---------------------------
Lodestone Myr  
Trample
Tap an untapped
artifact you control:
+1/+1 until end of turn
2/2
---------------------------
First off, the decklist:

//NAME: Deadbolt v.3.0
// Type: Aggro Prison
// Author: Pago & Wuzzyman
// Format: Vintage
// Screws
7 [card]Mountain[/card]
4 Mishra's Workshop
1 [card]Tolarian Academy[/card]
4 [card]Wasteland[/card]
1 [card]Strip Mine[/card]
1 [card]Sol Ring[/card]
1 [card]Mox Sapphire[/card]
1 [card]Mox Ruby[/card]
1 [card]Mox Pearl[/card]
1 [card]Mox Jet[/card]
1 [card]Mox Emerald[/card]
1 [card]Black Lotus[/card]
1 [card]Mana Crypt[/card]
1 [card]Mana Vault[/card]
// Keys
4 [card]Metalworker[/card]
4 [card]Goblin Welder[/card]
4 [card]Lodestone Myr[/card]
1 [card]Karn, Silver Golem[/card]
// Bolts
4 [card]Sphere of Resistance[/card]
4 [card]Tangle Wire[/card]
4 [card]Static Orb[/card]
3 [card]Chalice of the Void[/card]
1 [card]Time Vault[/card]
// Doorknobs
3 Mind's Eye
1 [card]Wheel of Fortune[/card]
1 [card]Memory Jar[/card]

How this deck works: Achieve a "statis" type lock with the mini-combo between Tangle Wire/Static Orb/Myr. Keep them from doing anything with Chalice and Sphere, then wriggle them down / beat them up with Lodestone Myr. Rest of the deckplay is similar to most artifact prison decks. Self Explanatory

The fact that this deck can switch over to aggro anytime using myrs is extremely resilient. Lodestone myr serves as a beatstick while being the centerpeice of your lockshow. It can handle dryads in GAT and tons of other growing things (with 11+ artifacts, easily achievable, you can even beat noughts) The aggro prison is also synergistic as your lodestone myrs are the centerpiece of your aggro and prison (less needed in prison but the mini-combo is a strong point)

Card choices:

Chalice of the Void: Game stopper

Static orb: Combined with Lodestone Myr gives you basically one-way stasis. On your turn, you tap orbs and allow you to fully untap. This also requires fewer smokestacks to actually destroy their permanents as you have them in complete lock with recurring Tangle Wires and Spheres

Why so many critters? Welder and Metalworker are essential to deck functioning, as well as lodestone myr. The point of the deck is to drop a metalworker or welder followed by myrs and karn. Karn is chiefly used to hose moxen and then it can be targeted by welders.

Howling Mine vs. Grafted Skullcap vs. Mind's Eye
Grafted: Consistent one-way draw with ability to dump hands for welder trix
Howling Mine: Cheaper, one way draw with Myr out and can be cast for 2 less, freeing up mana for other tasks, also acts as pumps for Myr.
Mind's Eye: Relatively easy to drop and provides HUGE card advantage even with 2-3 mana open (almost as good as having 2-3 caps out w/out the disadvantage of discard @ end of the turn). It also works against decks that like to cast lots of spells, like budget, and Hulk

Lodestone Myr vs. Karn:
Karn: Animate artifacts for massive one turn kill and can chump block as a 0/8
Lodestone Myr: The key part in making the Orb locks work and can also swing for kill once you have solid lock. Plus the trample effect means sligh and Sui cant easily block it, and you can pump in response to bolts / chains. Also a beat stick and a win condition

Mana base: Stable mono-R

Does this deck work? Hell yeah. In many games I played I can achieve explosive first and second turn hand dumps even without metalworker, and I always get consistent, good draws.

-Updates-
-1 Chalice of the Void
+1 Time Vault

[Jacob Orlove]

Have you considered Time Vault in the side for an instant kill with Lodestone Myr?

[Pago]

I have never tried that before, and it does work. Its also cheap at 2 mana. It also works with the standard type prison.dec lock. Should I even consider 1 MD?

For reference, my board is

4 REB
4 R&R
4 Crypt
3 Blood Moon

[zero]

Just make sure it doesn't get disenchanted after you give your opponent  x number of extra turns...  (opponent)  :shock:(you)

[Pago]

If the deck works out right (as in using a statis type lock) then hopefully (after i give them a few extra turns) they will be mana locked. I can also activated this ability just before damage goes on stack, opposed to activating at beginning of the combat phase

And it shouldn't matter anyhow. Even if they disenchant, they still got a X/X trampling Myr they couldn't possibly handle (swords gives me near inifnite live, and i don't see lots of edicts around anymore)

[Misemaster]

Well the swords point is true but they wouldnt disenchant time vault they would hit your myr leaving them with however many turns you decided to skip.

[Carlos El Salvador]

Yay, Abstract lock decks

I have seen a similar deck in local 1.5's we have... funny as hell to watch work

[DEA]

Have you considered Time Vault in the side for an instant kill with Lodestone Myr?

heyyyy, make it or break it, i like
but the problem of spot removal is still hanging over the poor lodestone's head
lightning greaves will make it better if you're counting on infinite lodestone smackdown

i've seen weird jank (fog, tangle, moment's peace) screwing up an alpha strike in my meta (DON'T ASK)
ph34r the random n00b, i say

it's basically a way to win faster, imo
if you can lock the opponent down enough to prevent him from casting any spells to stop the lodestone, AND you have a lodestone in play, you're already winning
it's all up to personal preference, no?

[MadManiac21]

Very nice Pago. I believed I repliead to your deadbolt testing on the old TMD back when you were still baronsengir. I really like the idea of this deck, but I do have several questions about it.

How are 4x chalice of the void working out? I understand that null rod is public enemy #1 against this deck as it shuts down your kill, but do you very often ramp up the 4 mana to drop the chalice turn 1-2 to stop it? This may explain why you're running four, so as to make sure you see one in you opening hand or soon their after.

I definately like the Mind's Eye tech, as I've seen Mr. Broughton draw a re-DUNC-ulous amount of cards with this time and time again. I do also like how the static orbs combo with the myrs, but I'm wondering why you're not running any smokestacks. You noted that orb allows you to run "less" smokestacks, but aren't they jsut too good not to include? Or does this deck work differently then other wMud builds that utlize the smoke spewing artifacts to such great effect?

I also hope to hear some testing results on this, as I'm interested in the deck build. I would also look at time vault (Jacob beat me to the punch!) as I actually ran into the player who was using it last weekend in Waterbury. Very kool stuff.

[Pago]

As Breathweapon from Old TMD stated (I hope hes still here), static orbs actually take the role of smokestacks:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While I love Smokestack, I'm not sure how much the deck needs it. If you can keep the opponent at 2 untapped permanents per turn with Wire/sOrb, then all Smokestacks does is clear disabled permanents. Instead of using Smokestack as a key threat like wMUD, this deck uses Smokestack for a win more card. Smokestack also weakens your win condition by removing tapable permanents. This deck just isn't looking for the hard lock of Smokestack. Its too time consuming, and it doesn't feel like its in sync with this decks tempo ... which is significantly faster than normal wMUD decks.

From my experience, Smokestack doesn't belong in the deck. Lodestone Myr is VERY permanent hungry. I have never felt that Static Orb and Tangle Wire wasn't enough to lock my opponent. Every time I dropped Smokestack, it seemed completely counterproductive. Why destroy tapped permanents and reduce the strength of my Myr? I decided to toss the 2 Smokestacks and replace them with Jester's Caps, which I have always loved.

In an ideal world, Smokestack and Tangle Wire are intended to interact with one another in order to control the board. Smokestack reduces the number of permanents, and Tangle Wire locks down any remaining targets. In this deck, Static Orb performs the same function as Smokestack. The sOrb limits the number of permanents on the board by reducing the amount that can be untapped. Similarly, Tangle Wire will disable any untapped permanents after Static Orb has limited the number of the Wire's potential targets.

The two cards, Smokestack and Static Orb, perform the same function in "Deadbolt," albeit by different means. However, Lodestone Myr allows you to break the symmetrical nature of the lock with Static Orb. So in effect, you have a variant of wMUD that has the potential of a one-way Smokestack. While Smokestack may be superior than sOrb on its own, sOrb and Wire are a significantly faster lock mechanism than the Smokestack and Wire. If you factor in Lodestone Myr to the equation, you will produce a deck with significantly superior synergy than classical wMUD.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, smokestack chews up artifacts and can otherwise tap to pump Lodestone Myr up, limiting its effectiveness.

Actually, Time Vault is fool proof either way, heres why:

1) With the 1000 turns they get, and since if Iam taking such a "risk", I should have multiple statics, tangle wires, spheres, etc, out. Each turn furhter locks then down completely, until they deck themselves. Not a pretty way to win, but works
2) Swords gives me infinite life, basically, and I wait out until they deck themselves
3) Usually, I have more than 1 Myr out, so I can just pump both.

Iam considering:
-1 Chalice
+1 Time Vault

It not only makes instant kills with Myr, but helps me to lock them down while I sit behind my little prison curtain and expand my hand with Mind's Eye.

As to the null rod problem, usually I can drop a chalice for 2, or either resolving a few spheres will do the job. However, game 2, SB R&R and REB go into MD, giving me a fair matchup against fish / Gay/R, etc.


If time vault goes in the deck, (and I think its worth some playtesting)
a) how many copies?
b) what to replace?

[lovenhate]

First of all hello and sorry for my worse english cause I'm from Germany.

So: I think this version of prison looks really interesting. About the power i can't say anything, yet. But I'll test this deck here in my area and will post my results when you guys want so. When I saw the idea of time vault i had an idea, too. What about that new card from darksteel, named Trinisphere? Each spell which costs less than 3 mana costs 3 now. with the static-wire lock and a trinisphere in play your opponent CAN'T do ANYTHING against it. No land, mox disenchant!

I'll write some more feedback when you guys let me do that.

Cya Vampire!

[MadManiac21]

The +1 vault -1 Chalice should be good enough for now. I personally don't think you need to run multiples, because then you're going to be coing across it when you don't yet have the game state locked down. Taking x^n number of turns before you have the game state locked down is very risky. You also have a good amount of card draw in your 3x mind's eye, along with your wheel and (hopefully) recurring memory jar.

That arguement also seems very valid about the smokestack's inclusion in the deck, and it helps clears up my thinking a bit more. I just assumed it was too good to be left out, but I see my error (because of using lodestone and not Karn for kill).

It would be great to hear some playtesting results on this deck, namely DWLong, TPS, wMud and Tog. I would think most should be favorable (up in the air about the wMud matchup).

[Razvan]

Pago: While you are right that Static Orb and Tangle Wire have a great synergy, and maybe throwing the Smokestack in there might be superfluous, what happens when you run against the great artifact hate that is out there?

Almost every deck nowadays runs either Null Rod and Energy Flux, and against those 2 cards, an artifact deck with no possible way of removing permanents from the game will roll over and die.

Sometimes, you need the board clearing effect of Smokestack, and this deck doesn't have it. Might want to think about that.

Otherwise, it's probably smooth sailing.

[Pago]

My partner is doing the playtesting, although if I find some time I usually pop onto Apprentice (yes yes, I don't have the money to put into MtG).

About the Trinisphere, it sounds alrite, but its definetly not a 4 of card. Early game when its dropped, it slows down my ability to drop the lock quickly, but once it has been established, it will most definetly stop them from doing anything. However, its almost the same with a Time Vault out. Trinisphere sounds interesting, but its situational because its utility is only fully revealed once a lock has been fully established.

As to null rods, usually a fast Sphere, Wire, or Chalice can stop that. Second game, in goes the R&R and REB (which help by blowing up Fluxes and giving me some surpirse element in a counter war for a lock)

~~~~~~~
Quote from BreathWeapon:

Long.Dec

It doesn't matter what Workshop deck your playing, you either drop a Sphere or Chalice for 0 on turn 1 or die. I have noticed that by being more aggressive with 4 kill conditions, that Long should have even less of a chance to break out from under a Chalice for 0. I can't tell how significant this really is, but its something to consider. If Deadbolt does have an advantage here ... its probably negligable. I'd say this match up is in your favor, if only slightly.

Dragon.Dec

I have received mixed results vs Dragon. In this match up, Smokestack is significantly better than Static Orb. However, having 4 kill conditions that can "Gro" aggressively has stolen entire games after a turn 1 drop. So, you lose and win a few games based on these differences. I haven't noticed a significant shift in either direction of wins or losses. That said, Mind's Eye and Jester's Cap have really pulled their weight vs Dragon. I'm very glad I decided to pull the Memory Jar and replace it with the Cap, it does make all the difference in the world. After sideboard, 4 Jester's Caps and 4 Tormod's Crypts you should have acceptable odds vs Dragon, its definately your roughest match up.

Rector.dec

This match up is significantly better game 1 for "Deadbolt" than wMUD. By replacing Smokestack with Static Orb, you completley prevent the opponent from sacking his Rector for free. sOrb/Wire will pin the Rector down long enough for Loadstone to take home the game. That said, Chalice of the Void, Mind's Eye and Jester's Cap are just insane vs Rector. Regardless of Deadbolt's fundamental differences from wMUD, you should have an awesome game. After Side Board, you should own Rector without mercy. You have great odds here.

Keeper.dec

These games seem to go back and forth depending on how much Hate Keeper has in its Side Board. It is very difficult to accurately judge and record the differences between Deadbolt and wMUD vs Keeper. I have enjoyed several "Oops I Win" games on account of having 4xMyr. The sOrb/Wire likes seems to be superior than Stack/Wire vs Decree of Justice and Goblin Trenches. That said, the individual power of Smokestack over Static Orb is definately felt in this match up ... as it is vs all control. This match up is up in the air. I'd say Deadbolt has the definate edge game 1, but after sideboard things could change. On the plus side, Mind's Eye and Jester's Cap are a HOUSE ... and you can effectively use REB now. Hopefuly, that should counter balance the additional Artifact Hate we are bound to see from Keeper. I'm going to say the match up is roughly even.

Scepter.dec

I haven't had any experience with this match up. Nothing is standardize yet, so it isn't worth the time.

Hulk.dec

Testing has been minimal here, on account of the deck's current hibernation. I'm not sure what the current builds look like. I imagine that with; Mind's Eye, Chalice of the Void and Jester's Cap you should have the advantage. If this deck does come out of hiding, I imagine it will be packing its Pernicious Deeds MD and Hukyl's in the SB. I'll wait and see here.

TnT.dec

TnT will post strong results vs any Artifact Prison from what i've seen. Survival is a pain in the ass and Triskelion gives them the Welder advantage. It greatly depends on what version of the deck they run, but its definately an unpleasant match up. I seem to have horrible luck here, TnT just scores points on me like a cheap whore, so do your own testing ... as my bad luck really makes me biased here.

Stacker.dec

Having 4xLoadstone Myr really shines in this match up, and Static Orb is definately superior than Smokestack. The decks major changes from wMUD definately give it a small edge. That said, Stacker is still a very strong deck, and your Rack and Ruins will undoubtably cancel each other out. The Jester's Caps are total **** in this match up, side them out first. Stacker's direct damage will give it the ability to remove your Welders from the board, so be sure and drop Chalice for 1 as soon as possible to keep Welders out of the game. I'm not done testing this match up.

Madness.dec

Once again, 4xLoadstone Myr and Static Orb really shine vs the tougher Aggro match ups. Mind's Eye makes Madness players cry. sOrb/Wire lock is HUGE after Madness brings in 4 Artifact Mutation. Your game should definately be better than normal wMUD. If you win the coin toss, Chalice and Sphere are HUGE. The 4 Crypts from the side board are of minimal worth surprisingly, but they are definately better than the Main Decked Caps. You should have the edge here.

Fish.dec

You should have a good game vs Fish game 1. Loadstone Myr will walk all over them silly Merfolk. Mind's Eye makes a significant difference than Skullcap in this match up, no doubt. Even after the sideboard for Fish, assuming 4x Energy Flux, their game still isn't very good. Now that we can use REB, the one bullet Fish had vs Workshop is significantly weaker. Fish decks just aren't prepared for an Aggro/Prison deck. As it stands, this match up is favorable unless Fish evolves some how, and Fish players are pretty damn resourceful at that.

GATr.dec, this is purely specualtion.

From what I have seen of the new GATr lists, we shouldn't have a great deal of trouble here. Loadstone Myr can go pound for pound vs any Dryad, and the card advantage you can force of a Tog is huge. Mind's Eye should really shine here. Pernicious Deed is less of a threat in GAT than it is in Hulk as well. I'll get back to you on this.

Monoblack.dec

These match ups are a Joke. Loadstone Myr eats Negator and Shade for lunch. Your Prison > Their Prison. Unless they are packing Green for Deeds and Naturalize out of the side board, this match up is extremely favorable. Even after the side board, you have little to fear.

Ankh Sligh.dec, with Sideboard of pure Artifact Hate.

This is an interesting match up. Game one is yours with little trouble. Game 2 is insane. You gain nothing from your side board and Ankh Sligh sides in 15 answers to everything in your deck. Rack and Ruin, Crash, Meltdown are all very painful. Don't laugh off this match up, if their Side Board is gunning for you it wont be an easy match ... and I learned this the hard way. It should be in your favor, but Sligh just steals games.

wMUD.dec

The "Mirror" is in your favor. Smokestack is a dead card for wMUD, Static Orb is awesome for you. Game 1 should be to your advantage. Game 2 the wMUD player will side out his Smokestacks for Rack and Ruin, while you have greater flexibility in what you side out for your own Rack and Ruin. You can attempt to gun for Karn with Jester's Cap, while that strategy is far less effective vs Deadbolt and its 4 win conditions. You should definately watch out for the instant Karn drop = Win, but as long as you have sOrb/Wire in play your fine. I'll be bold enough to say that this match up will be favorable until wMUD adapts to the presence of Deadbolt.

Heh, that only took an hour. In short, things look promising. The only match ups I feel that i'm at a disadvantage against is Dragon and TnT, and that is more than acceptable.

Other advantages i've noticed with Deadbolt over wMUD,

1) The deck has the ability to turn into a raw aggro deck by dropping a couple of artifacts and a Loadstone Myr first turn. Unlike Karn, who gets chump blocked, Loadstone can roll over the opponents creatures with relative ease. The Myr behaves in a similar manor to Dryads in Grow, but far superior. Your not dependant on "Growing" the Myr after you have put it into play, it immediately gains the benefit of every permanent under your control. You don't have to worry about the opponent removing your "Artifact Dryad" from play and having to start back at square one, you can simply drop another Myr and remain at the same power level. To top it all off, you get Trample for free.

2) When you consider the rather awful synergy Smokestack has with Karn, you have to admire how well "Deadbolt's" key lock piece and win condition, Loadstone Myr and Static Orb, get along.

3) Artifact Mutation is significantly less destabilizing with the sOrb/Wire lock than it is with the Stack/Wire lock.

In short, I have fallen in love with the deck and favor it over traditional wMUD.

Where are Deadbolt's improved matches? Stacker and Madness are definately MUCH easier to handle with this deck than normal wMUD. It has an improved game vs Enchantress and ReAnimator, yes I know they aren't played much but its there. It seems to have a definate edge in the mirror match vs conventional wMUD, and it has a signifcantly higher percentage of, "Oops I Win" games across the board with 4-6 kill conditions. Artifact Mutation is much less of a threat as well. With Deadbolt being significantly more aggressive than wMUD, it is much more resilient to Hate of all kinds.

[waSP]

Jacob, shame no you.  Time Vault is a replacement effect.  ~If you would take a turn, instead you may untap Time Vault and put a time counter on it~.

This deck is fun, but I don't think its better than the other workshop decks out there.  It seems to be on par with Stacker, which has seen better days.

[SpencerForHire]

I dunno, there are somethings I think you would have a much harder time with, it looks ALOT like stacker with just a bit more prison, but seems slower then its aggro brethren.
Also, what about landstill.. That would be an interesting matchup, I think they could definately give you a hard time.... Unless the match is like fish.. But fish doesnt usually run disk... I'd be interested to see that.  Especially because the metagame around here is:
Workshop Decks
Landstill
Gay Fish
And unpowered stompy..
BTW, how bout oshawa..

[Pago]

waSP:

Color= Artifact  Type= Artifact  Cost= 2 A(R)/B(R)/U(R)  
Text (ABU+errata): ~this~ comes into play tapped. ; ~this~ doesn't untap during your untap step. ; Skip your next turn: Untap ~this~ and put a time counter on it. ; ,Remove all time counters from ~this~: Take an extra turn after this one. Play this ability only if there's a time counter on ~this~. [Oracle 2001/08/24]

Before the errata, there were a lot of tricks to getting infinite turns. The errata stops all of them. [D'Angelo 1998/02/03]
You can play the untap ability any time you can play an instant. It causes you to skip your next turn. [D'Angelo 2001/08/31]
If you untap this Vault more than once or untap multiple Vaults, then you will end up skipping multiple turns. In other words, the skipping is saved up until you skip that many turns. [D'Angelo 2001/08/31]
If you try to use the Vault before you skip a turn, then you will end up skipping the newly created turn. [D'Angelo 2001/08/31]
If multiple "extra turn" effects resolve in the same turn, take them in the reverse of the order that the effects resolved. [CompRules 2002/02/20 - 300.6] See Rule 300.6.
Type 1 tournaments (see Rule 801) banned this card from 1994/03/23 to 1996/04/01. It was made legal again when errata was issued. It was previously on the restricted list from 1994/01/25 to 1994/03/22.
Extended tournaments (see Rule 803) have always banned this card.
Note - Also see Skipping a Phase, Rule 419.6e.
Note - It is of type "Artifact" and not "Mono Artifact".

[BreathWeapon]

Ah, good ol' Deadbolt, still my favorite prison deck to date. Sadly I have been forced to shelve the deck for awhile on account of Damping Matrix, damn Zherbus, and Null Rod, stupid budget, running rampant in my meta in favor of Smokestacks

That said, I have played around with Trinishpere and from my play testing experiences, I think its an easy replacement for Sphere of Resistance in the deck. I posted my thoughts in the 2k04 Prison thread on the front page of this forum.

I also tweaked the Manabase a little, -1 Mountain -1 Grim Monolith for +2 Ancient Tombs, but its no big deal. The real issue is Trinisphere's place in this deck.

Good to see this thread is alive and kicking.

[Pago]

Breathweapons back!  

What does your list for Deadbolt look like?

Have you tried the -1 Chalice +1 Time vault? As said before, instant kill with Myr and helps with the focus of the deck's lock

I just read trinisphere, and it has the "as long as it is untapped" clause. possibly another toy for myr, or should the ability be ongoing as they can take advantage of it your turn when you tap it (?). Its a debate whether to replace sphere with it or not, but Trinisphere is a good tempo blocker in the beginning. Overall, I still think sphere is better, but it might be optimal to have a combination of both

Cutting mountains for ancient tombs, how has your success been in grabbing the red mana for a goblin welder? Why have you favoured ancient tombs over the mountain / grim (I don't run grim, but vault)?

latest decklist is in the first post

[BreathWeapon]

I've always found that 7 sources of Red was more than enough to support the Welders, so I cut it down to 6 and added 1 Ancient Tomb to help deal with Wastelands hitting my Workshops. It was pretty much the exact same results as the version with 7 Mountains. After that, I decided that I should add a 2nd Ancient Tomb to make the card more relevant to the deck. I figured, removing the Monolith would help reduce the amount of damage caused by Null Rod against my mana acceleration while simultaneously making the deck stronger vs Wastelands. It seemed like a logical step to take, so I took it and its worked out very well for me.

As far as Trinisphere goes, I don't think the inherent synergy it has with the Myr is very useful. I wouldn't break the Tempo lock for any reason I can think of, but if for some reason it should ever become relevant to turn it off, REB or Welder, its an option. Since Deadbolt is a deck that is much more concentrated on the early-middle game, I think Trinisphere makes a lot more sense than Sphere for this deck. If it helps bridge that small time gap between sOrb's early weakness in the first few turns in comparison to wMUD's Smokestack by drawing the match out another turn its worth it. Its also important to note that the 2cc spot is gone from the deck, making Chalice for 2 THAT much stronger (I hate Null Rod). It is still up for testing, but I haven't really missed the Sphere's mutch at all, after replacing them with Trinisphere.

I haven't tested the addition of the Time Vault, it looks nifty ... it might be a win more card. Ofcourse, you know how much of a Chalice whore I am

BW's Deadbolt

Creatures (12)
4xLoadstone Myr
4xMetalworker
4xGoblin Welder

Locks (16)
4xStatic Orb
4xTangle Wire
4xTrinisphere
4xChalice of the Void

Engine (5)
3xMind's Eye
1xMemory Jar
1xWheel of Fortune

Mana (27)
1xTolarian Academy
4xMishra's Workshop
1xStrip Mine
4xWasteland
6xMountain
2xAncient Tombs
7xSoLoMoxen
1xMana Vault
1xMana Crypt

[Pago]

The problem I see with trinisphere is that although it will effect spells with CC at 0,1, and 2, it does nothing beyond that. It is effective early game, but early-midgame, when you should have most of the lock (or ideally, all of it) then sphere is more potent as it applies to everything.

However, since most decks run spells within the 0-2 range, trinisphere is definetly a good tempo blocker in the early game.

About your ancient tomb dicission, I see that you were already running an extra mana source, because I was wondering where your grim came from (I cut it early on because it was not needed)

[BreathWeapon]

That right, you had the 1 Karn in your deck list in the old thread and I kept the Monolith instead.

The thing about Trinisphere, is that it either acts as 3 Spheres of Resistance vs Moxen AND Force of Will, 2 Spheres of Resistance vs Brainstorm/Duress/Stifle, 1 Sphere of Resistance vs ManaDrain and AK's or does nothing at all. The cool thing about the Sphere tho', is that it doesn't increase the CC of your spells at all (-) Acceleration and Welders. Not only will you be killing the opponent's early tempo boosts and Nid Game threats, but you will be accelerating your path to the Mid Game by decreasing the average CC's of your cards, which would otherwise be higher under a Sphere of Resistance.

Its definately a Pro's vs Con's kind of card I grant you, but when you take into consideration the key Tempo differences Deadbolt has with wMUD, using faster pressure to establish a superior and instantaneous Mid-Late Game lock, I think you can quickly see the cards role in this deck.

That said, i'm still considering its place in wMUD. I'm not sure if its the right card to replace Sphere of Resistance. Nevertheless, Deadbolt has always been that Aggro-Prison deck to use the latest tech availabe, and I am more than happy to differentiate this deck as far as I can from wMUD.

[walter]

Trinisphere is a beast when it hits in the early game.  I have never been disapointed to see it in my opening hand, and have always been able to play it first turn too.  At first I thought I would like sphere more because it costs less, but the more I test the more I like trinisphere. On the same note I have been disapointed to top deck the trinisphere midgame or draw multiples.

trinisphere is also less symetrical than spheresince your mana curve is built on workshop.  It is a devastating against any control deck, but it doesn't stop spot removal if they have a land in hand.

[Pago]

I think all in all, sphere is probably the better choice as it works under a variety of situations, and acts as trinisphere for spells that hit 2 (big targets being balance, mana drain, regrowth, sylvan library, DT, etc). Its also cheaper, and although puts less pressure on moxen, is sufficient delay for any prison.dec to throw down the remainder of their hand the second turn.

side thought: what do you think of the voltaic construct / metalworker gimmick?

[BreathWeapon]

Trinisphere vs Sphere of Resistance comes down to the deck your playing, not the comparison of the cards by themselves. Trinisphere is going to be best in pro-active Workshop decks like Stacker, TnT and Deadbolt because its more important to establish a foot hold in the early and middle game than it is in the late game. For instance, Workshop + Mox = Trinisphere on turn 1 followed by Juggernaut + Strip Mine turn 2 is game over. In order to really break Trinisphere, you have to play it in an aggressive Aggro deck. I'll tell you this tho', TnT with Trinisphere and Chalice is bad ass.

[Pago]

The one thing I like about Trinisphere is that once I put it out, it affects nothing but the mana base (although this is a big ouch, it hurts opponents more, as they cannot benefit from Workshop), as all my other lock pieces are 3 + up.

How does Trinisphere effect Chalice of the Void? Is it 3 + mana for the counters?

[Jacob Orlove]

How does Trinisphere effect Chalice of the Void? Is it 3 + mana for the counters?

Chalice for 0 would cost 3. Chalice for 1 would cost 3. Chalice for 2 would cost 4, and the rest are also as normal.

[Pago]

*Ding ding!* Points to Mr. Orlove!

Question number 2: How do Trinisphere and Sphere of Resistance work togethor? Does it make, say, a [card]Balance[/card] cost 3 or 4?

[RoadTrippin]

I'm not absolutely 100% on this.. but by reading the cards one could infer that Balance would cost 3.

[BreathWeapon]

If both a Trinisphere and a Sphere of Resistance was in play, Balance would only cost 3. Sphere doesn't push the upper limit of a cards CC after it has been adjusted to 3 by Trinisphere. So, its one or the other in any Workshop deck.