landstill

[chris92]

i've been testing the casual life deck, and i wasn't too happy with its peformance, it didn't have any form of disruption.
too bad. so i decided to make this one instead:

lands
4 shivan reef
4 mishra's factory
3 faerie conclave
4 strip mine
5 island
3 mountain
1 flooded strand

control
4 force of will
4 counterspell
2 annul
2 stifle
2 chain of vapor

burn
4 fire/ice
3 lightning bolt

card advantage
4 standstill
4 brainstorm

others
4 nevinyrral's disk
2 crucible of worlds
1 lotus petal

this is my very first build, i hadn't had enough time to test it adequately. need some help. thanks in advance

 

[Oversoul]

Landstill is being used successfully in Legacy, or so I've heard...

I would imagine Fact or Fiction would be nice...

The only thing that would weaken your build by making it Legacy legal is replacing the Strip Mines with Wastelands...

 

[Gizmo]

Standstill really isnt a great card, all it does in the end is translate into drawing three cards. If the rest of your deck doesnt stand up for itself, then who cares how many cards you draw?

99% of the time the correct response to your opponent casting Standstill is to simply carry on regardless and ignore it. Maybe wait a bit until you can give him like 11 cards in his hand in his discard phase or something.

Building a deck around Standstill seems entirely futile.

 

[chris92]

yea, landstill is doing great in 1.5

i'm not entirely sure if the mana base would support fact or fiction but i'm willing to try it out.
this build's for casual play, so the strip mines are fine for now, plus i only have a couple of wastelands.

to gizmo
the deck can hold its own even without drawing standstill. drawing three cards is always great.
how could he ignore standstill?

 

[Chaos Turtle]

Standstill is generally fabulous in decks that aim to counter spells. Of course, Counterspell really isn't all that great either. All it does is trade card-for-card and is only useable in a limited time frame (i.e. while the spell in question is on the stack). If you have no threats, your Conterspell is pointless.

I think what Gizmo means is that, if one plays Standstill against you (assuming he didn't foolishly do so while you have a board advantage) you might as well break it. What else are you going to do? Refuse to play cards? Unless you have the advantage, all you do by waiting to break a Standstill is allow your opponent to get closer to the card you don't want him to draw (counters, Upheaval, whatever). If it's obvious the cards are going to be drawn, might as well get it over with. Just don't break it with something passive; break it with a threat.

 

[Oversoul]

But that is how Landstill works: you want your opponent to break the Standstill!

You get an Ancestral Recall effect and are able to maintain card advantage with relative ease. Meanwhile your manlands are beating your opponent to a pulp.

I guess the opponent not playing spells at all would be even better, since you could commence the beatdown using your manlands without breaking the Standstill yourself...

Landstill decks dominated the old 1.5 for a time, are seeing success in Legacy, and used to be highly viable in Vintage. Also, Standstill has often been used in U/R Fish decks in Vintage. People hate the card, but it is still very good and not futile by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[chris92]

changed the brainstorms to fact or fiction fact or fiction is now my favorite card

 

[train]

I not fond of the change to FoF... but don't like to see this deck played... no matter what...

Seems like a better build with the FoFs - but you may also be able to use ghitu encampments with their first strike abilities and blocking...