D
DÛke
Guest
I've managed to create this deck, mono blue as it is, it is unusually fun to play, and it really highlights blue's ability to be such a trickster. Let me introduce the decklist though:
Creatures (6)
3x Triskelion
3x Keiga, the Tide Star
Control (15)
4x Hinder
4x Mana Leak
4x Echoing Truth
3x Boomerang
3x Confiscate
3x Reweave
Other (8)
4x Serum Visions
4x Thirst for Knowledge
Lands (25)
20x Island
3x Stalking Stones
2x Seat of the Synod
To begin with, there is no such thing as "straight forward" in playing this deck. Nothing is as it seems. Playing it in Magic Online proved a lot of fun to play with and against, and have recieved one too many "nice play!" for the tricks that this deck can pull, even despite the usually negative looks that having 8 counters would get you.
The deck slowly unfolds by defending against faster decks; Echoing Truth and Boomerang prove such great tools here, even Mana Leak and Hinder if necessary, though for the counters playing them is an art form since there are only 8 in the deck and playing them to counter a 2/2 creature or something that does not cause a sense of impending threat should be thought hard about. Usually I hold them when I spot those annoying Shrine decks, or Zubera decks, or those Tooth and Nail decks even. Playing them wisely alone can win games.
Serum Visions is an amazing card. It gets you lands early in the game, thins your deck by giving you a card, and also makes sure that you have that special top deck you need to finish off the game. Thirst of Knowledge is more serious, and I perfer it over Catalog, even if the disadvantage is too high at times; I like digging deeper in into the deck, and by turn 3, I should know exactly what I need and what I don't so discarding 2 cards for the Thrist of Knowledge is not as threatening as it seems.
The fun starts when we look at the creatures, Confiscate and Reweave. The creative manner in which 10s of opponents died to the nasty tricks I pulled using Reweave are moments that still make me smile. There is simply nothing like a Triskelion being Naturalized only to deal 3 damage to my opponent and being replaced by a Keiga in a blink of an eye. Even better, when a Keiga is sacrificed to the Reweave, taking a creature, getting me another Keiga, all after attacking with Keiga and dealing 5 nasty points of damage. I've even used Reweave on a Confiscate: a better permanent hits play and so Reweaving a Confiscate 100% gives me a chance to Confiscate something new. At times I've even used Reweave to remove annoying permanents, like Icy Manupilators, and there is nothing more hilarious then Reweaving such a valuable permanent only to find that its replacement is nothing more than some artifact land. But it always puts a smile on my opponent's face.
The best trick, I must say, is rather simple. Attacking with a creature, which gives the illusion that it's "tapped." So he attacks with one of his creatures only to discover a Reweave being played on the tapped creature, triggering Keiga's ability or simply exchanging a used up Triskelion for another valuable creature which is...untapped. Always fun to watch.
Some basic tips playing this deck:
The deck requires a lot of patience and a lot of thought to play. At times, it requires great leaps of faith, too. Knowing what to play and when to play it is very important. It certainly is not a deck anyone can play because I've played it for 2 weeks now and I still make some mistakes, but the deck almost seem to grow "more powerful" as I learn how to abuse every aspect of it.
The deck's win ratio in Standard casual play is 3:4: I was actually surprised that it wins that much, but quickly figured that no one guesses that a Blue player will ever pull a Reweave from under their sleeve and use it on a Keiga. I always get a pause when I play a Reweave, as if the opponent is in disbelief that a card that bad can actually be that good. And you know what? It is that good.
I also have a Black/Blue version of this deck, with cards like Barter in Blood and Kokusho. The deck is harder to play and requires such incredible patience and attention to detail that most of the time I just rather playing this mono Blue version, which is a lot "lighter," if you will, especially in a casual atmosphere.
Any ideas to innovate even more on this theme would be appreciated...I really like this deck and has been "my deck" for quite a while now. It reflects my moodiness, actually, and how I always change my mind and position - much like in a blink of an eye a Triskelion can change into a Keiga.
Challenges, ideas...all welcome.
(Huscar in MTGO)
Creatures (6)
3x Triskelion
3x Keiga, the Tide Star
Control (15)
4x Hinder
4x Mana Leak
4x Echoing Truth
3x Boomerang
3x Confiscate
3x Reweave
Other (8)
4x Serum Visions
4x Thirst for Knowledge
Lands (25)
20x Island
3x Stalking Stones
2x Seat of the Synod
To begin with, there is no such thing as "straight forward" in playing this deck. Nothing is as it seems. Playing it in Magic Online proved a lot of fun to play with and against, and have recieved one too many "nice play!" for the tricks that this deck can pull, even despite the usually negative looks that having 8 counters would get you.
The deck slowly unfolds by defending against faster decks; Echoing Truth and Boomerang prove such great tools here, even Mana Leak and Hinder if necessary, though for the counters playing them is an art form since there are only 8 in the deck and playing them to counter a 2/2 creature or something that does not cause a sense of impending threat should be thought hard about. Usually I hold them when I spot those annoying Shrine decks, or Zubera decks, or those Tooth and Nail decks even. Playing them wisely alone can win games.
Serum Visions is an amazing card. It gets you lands early in the game, thins your deck by giving you a card, and also makes sure that you have that special top deck you need to finish off the game. Thirst of Knowledge is more serious, and I perfer it over Catalog, even if the disadvantage is too high at times; I like digging deeper in into the deck, and by turn 3, I should know exactly what I need and what I don't so discarding 2 cards for the Thrist of Knowledge is not as threatening as it seems.
The fun starts when we look at the creatures, Confiscate and Reweave. The creative manner in which 10s of opponents died to the nasty tricks I pulled using Reweave are moments that still make me smile. There is simply nothing like a Triskelion being Naturalized only to deal 3 damage to my opponent and being replaced by a Keiga in a blink of an eye. Even better, when a Keiga is sacrificed to the Reweave, taking a creature, getting me another Keiga, all after attacking with Keiga and dealing 5 nasty points of damage. I've even used Reweave on a Confiscate: a better permanent hits play and so Reweaving a Confiscate 100% gives me a chance to Confiscate something new. At times I've even used Reweave to remove annoying permanents, like Icy Manupilators, and there is nothing more hilarious then Reweaving such a valuable permanent only to find that its replacement is nothing more than some artifact land. But it always puts a smile on my opponent's face.
The best trick, I must say, is rather simple. Attacking with a creature, which gives the illusion that it's "tapped." So he attacks with one of his creatures only to discover a Reweave being played on the tapped creature, triggering Keiga's ability or simply exchanging a used up Triskelion for another valuable creature which is...untapped. Always fun to watch.
Some basic tips playing this deck:
- The two artifact lands in this deck are there for a reason. They can be Reweaved to give access to Triskelion, in all likely probability. They also function as fodder for Thirst for Knowledge every now and again.
- It may require some guts, but don't be afraid to Reweave an annoying permanent that's growing more threatening, especially if you're certain he has other permanent that share the same type with it. At worst, you will only replace the permanent with itself, but most likely you will only replace it with something that really is not as offending, buying you more time .
- The most important thing in this deck is time. Time is really of the essence here; if you're on the verge of losing but can survive just 1 turn, chances are you can pull off a very tricky win. Many times has this deck won when winning seemed impossible.
- Keiga is Legendary. Attacking with it, and then casting another Keiga to steal two of your opponent's creatures can win you the game, if done wisely.
- Never forget that Boomerang and Echoing Truth combine nicely with Triskelion.
- In almost all cases, given the choice between Boomerang and Echoing Truth, always play Boomerang first and save Echoing Truth just in case multiple copies of a threat make their presence.
The deck requires a lot of patience and a lot of thought to play. At times, it requires great leaps of faith, too. Knowing what to play and when to play it is very important. It certainly is not a deck anyone can play because I've played it for 2 weeks now and I still make some mistakes, but the deck almost seem to grow "more powerful" as I learn how to abuse every aspect of it.
The deck's win ratio in Standard casual play is 3:4: I was actually surprised that it wins that much, but quickly figured that no one guesses that a Blue player will ever pull a Reweave from under their sleeve and use it on a Keiga. I always get a pause when I play a Reweave, as if the opponent is in disbelief that a card that bad can actually be that good. And you know what? It is that good.
I also have a Black/Blue version of this deck, with cards like Barter in Blood and Kokusho. The deck is harder to play and requires such incredible patience and attention to detail that most of the time I just rather playing this mono Blue version, which is a lot "lighter," if you will, especially in a casual atmosphere.
Any ideas to innovate even more on this theme would be appreciated...I really like this deck and has been "my deck" for quite a while now. It reflects my moodiness, actually, and how I always change my mind and position - much like in a blink of an eye a Triskelion can change into a Keiga.
Challenges, ideas...all welcome.
(Huscar in MTGO)