Abusing Task Force

T

The Magic Jackal

Guest
task force + jolting merfolk + sever soul = Lots of life
 
Z

Zadok001

Guest
Yeah, I've seen that About Face trick played once or twice. In general, though, Task Force is pretty damn intimidating all by itself. A 1/3 usually isn't that bad, but it can block a lot of stuff. Once your opponent starts pointing General's Regalia at the thing, you get in real trouble.

And you have the remove it. Unfortunetely, you can't burn it. You can't Masticore it. And you sure as hell don't want to Vendetta the thing (I did... Almost died from it, too!). At this point, the simple little 1/3 becomes a HUGE problem. :)

"What do you mean, you Tim it six times in response?"
 
C

Crackdown

Guest
OK, I just had to do it. Brought my new W/R T2 deck to a friendly game.

I won't go into the details, except to say that it was a turn five kill with task force. What looked at first glance like a defensive position . . . wasn't.

Basic Cards: Task Force, Power Matrix, Iron Will and About Face. Add any other 1CC instants of your choice.

The look of astonishment was worth it.
 
C

Crackdown

Guest
The 1/3 is a tough little critter. As the Jackal says, though, if your opponent uses a few fading counters followed by a sever soul, you've just handed him a lot of life.
 
D

Dune Echo

Guest
Crackdown! You've gotta get me that deck list! I wanna see what you've come up with, please!
 
C

Crackdown

Guest
Echo -- OK, here's the decklist I used (without sideboard) at a "friendly" game.

4 Task Force
4 Infantry Veterans
4 Mother of Runes
2 Wall of Glare
2 Alabaster Wall
2 Cho-Arrim Bruiser
2 Blinding Angels


4 Power Matrix
2 General's Regalia

4 Iron Will
4 About Face
4 Disenchant (Cursed Totem a problem)
2 Parallax Wave

4 Thran Quarry
8 Plains
8 Mountains

This isn't meant to be a competitive deck by any means and it could use some good input for T2 use, so I'd appreciate any suggestions.

The deck works about as you'd expect. It looks fairly defensive at first and depending upon the opponent and draw, can make its move in one turn. I've tried to use targeting instants and abilities to increase the toughness of the Task Force prior to damage going on the stack. Trample works best, so there are other cards besides Power Matrix that could work and some should probably be put in to counter an early splinter.

The deck needs a couple of ways to win, although the constant threat of Task force and About Face might be sufficient.

By the way, previous incarnations of About Face were: Transmutation and Dwarven Thaumaturgist. I wonder if WotC will continue the theme in 7th edition.

[Edited by Crackdown (03-28-2000 at 02:03 PM).]

[Edited by Crackdown (03-28-2000 at 02:15 PM).]
 
C

Crackdown

Guest
A couple of other points about this fun deck.

You could include defender en-vec to ping it 4 times. The Regalia/TF synergy gives the deck staying power as does the Wall of Glare. Parallax Wave could be used to set up the TF win or a more traditional win with the Bruiser.

The people I've played against with this deck primarily played green, white and red with the expected results. I haven't played a black deck and I'd probably SB 4 Brand if I played a blue treachery deck.

Please send along your thoughts. My son is thinking of taking the deck to a JSS (he is 10) event in late April.
 
D

Dune Echo

Guest
Hey, two things here. Shouldn't a more consistant mana base be:
4 Thran Quarry
4 (or 6) Mountain
12 (or 10) Plains

However, I don't know what your sideboard looks like. It would really depend on how much red you put in there. If you work with ratios, that is mathematically better, but I haven't worked with the deck either.

Also, wouldn't Ghitu War Cry just rock with Task Force? Each R you have is equal to +1/+2 on Task Force (making it a 2/5 right away) and then About Face it. I'd also like to see Dwarven Warriors with this thing! Shame it's no longer Type 2 for true opponent-confusion! And Defender en-Vec would be awesome if Task Force has trample because it would prevent damage while upping it's toughness.

Is there anyway to recycle the About Faces to use them over and over again? And you need fast mana too. God, I'd love to see Mana Crypt again just for fun decks like this and not combo decks.

This would be fun in extended just because of all the options you have there:

Dwarven Thaumaturgist
Mob Mentality
Angelic Protector
Flickering Ward
Worthy Cause
 
C

Crackdown

Guest
That's a good comment on the mana curve. Admittedly, my only concern was to be certain of having enough to cast TF on turn three and having a mtn on turn 5. Should I include a GC for acceleration? I'll have to play with the land changes to see how it goldfishes.

Also, the Ghitu war cry sounds great, but the CC is a bit high and the need for red mana to activate could be a problem, especially if I reduce the number of mountains as suggested. OTOH, if the game slows down with Regalia/TF and a pro-color Blinding Angel applying beatdown, then a Mercadian Bazaar and Ghitu War Cry could be interesting.

Or I could sideboard the deck to change it completely with Laccolith/Laccolith Rig/War Cry. What do you think?

Interestingly enough, I played the deck again against a friend whose stompy died to it earlier. This time he was prepared with Kor Haven and Dawnstrider.

The game took an entirely different course, with the General's Regalia stabilizing things until I could get a multiple threat going with Blinding Angel/Task Force/ Bruiser. Parallax Wave and blinding angel turned out to be the key to winning.

That raises an issue. Should I include Sowing Salt for Kor Haven or splash blue (possibly with Eye of Ramos) for a parallax tide? I had brought along the Sowing Salt just in case Kor Haven or Rishadan Port showed up, but I'm leaning towards using the Ramos with a GC for a surprise Parallax Tide.

I'd like to keep the deck fun, which for me means multiple threats and different ways to play it. It doesn't have to be a world-beater against all decks, just competitve against the non-combo/accelerated mana ones in T2. I wonder how this would play against Replenish? It can go off pretty quickly with a good draw.

Worthy cause? Omigosh, now wouldn't that be fun if one had another TF ready?
 
D

Dune Echo

Guest
What the heck is "GC?" I can't for the life of me, figure it out.
 
G

galtwish

Guest
Bloodshot Cyclops is a possibility, although a little expensive for the current mana set up. Consider Rupture as an awesome board clearer/finisher w/the Force.

Erik
 
C

Crackdown

Guest
Hmm . . . rupture . . . what a great idea for a finisher. Now, I need to find the mana and a way to work it into the deck.
 
D

Dune Echo

Guest
Popular misconception here: Rupture does NOT hit your opponent, only creatures.
 
C

Crackdown

Guest
Rupture
Color=Red Type=Sorcery Cost=2R NE(U1)
Text(NE): Sacrifice a creature. ~this~ deals damage equal to that creature's power to each creature without flying and each player.
 
D

Dune Echo

Guest
Well, shit. I could have sworn it was a Pyroclasm variant. I actually checked it somewhere and just misread it or something before I posted that. Crackdown, you're right, sorry, bud.

From Wizards site itself:
RUPTURE
2R
Sorcery
Sacrifice a creature. Rupture deals damage equal to that creature's power to each creature without flying and each player.

___________________
Dune Echo

"Don't I feel like a horse's patoot!" -Chris Farley


[Edited by Dune Echo (03-30-2000 at 07:56 AM).]
 
D

Duel

Guest
Just as a note of interest, do Laccoliths have first strike? If they're blocked, they deal damage equal to their power to target creature, doesn't this happen before the opposing damage?
 
C

Crackdown

Guest
Laccolith's are pre-first strike. Their ability resolves as an ability/fast effect before damage goes on the stack. With a laccolith rig on a laccolith, you could do this twice in one attack.
 
T

theorgg

Guest
why not just put a bunch of en-kor in with them? check out the 6th ed rewording of them.

A thought: if this is extended, why not put in a dracoplasim or two? it's a permanant HUGE huge critter.

[Edited by theorgg (03-30-2000 at 09:24 PM).]
 
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