U
Ura
Guest
Greetings all!
For some reason, just the other day I dug out all my old Scrye, Inquest, and Duelist <--(god I miss these) magazines and started re-reading them, maybe for memories, but who knows. I just couldn't help but laugh while reading Inquest #1 and seeing an article called, To Beat the Moxes. It brought back fond memories of when people actually played with them and they weren't worth your first born child. But the coolest part was the deck strategy of the article. I couldn't help but compare to the newest thing in the latest Inquest and wonder if this evolution has been good or bad, power gained or innocence lost. Some of the cards they use most new players have never heard of and I remember then being great, fun cards.
So lets compare:
To Beat the Moxes, page 22, Inquest #1:
Deck name: Bayou Lightning
Green
4 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Force of Nature
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Berserk
2 Desert Twister
4 Giant Growth
2 Hurricane
1 Tranquility
Black
1 Carrion Ants
1 Fallen Angel
1 Hypnotic Specter
1 Juzam Djinn
1 Royal Assassin
2 Segir Vampires
1 Sorceress Queen
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Howl from Beyond
1 Mind Twist
2 Simulacrum
Artifact
3 Fellwar Stone
1 Icy Manipulator
3 Juggernaut
1 Sol Ring
Land
4 Bayou
3 Forest
1 Maze of Ith
2 Strip Mine
1 Pendelhaven
2 Swamp
1 Urborg
Sideboard
1 Deathgrip
1 Island of Wak-Wak
1 Lifeforce
1 Gloom
1 Pestilence
2 Simulacrum
3 Terror
1 Titania's Song
2 Tranquility
1 Tsunami
1 Underworld Dreams
As you can see, there are no cute combos and it isn't win in 3 turns deck, but its just cool to look at and to play. I threw it together cause I hadn't used half the cards in it in far too long.
Now lets take a deck from Inquest #64, page 58:
Deck archtype: Replenish (whatever happened to deck names?)
Blue
4 Lilting Refrain
4 Atunement
4 Frantic Search
4 Paralax Tide
White
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Seal of Cleansing
4 Paralax Wave
4 Opalescence
4 Replenish
Land
4 Adarkar Wastes
10 Plains
10 Islands
This deck is simple and to the point and has CHEESE written all over it. I had a Replenish deck before that was only slightly differant than this and I felt guilty for playing it. It was too easy to win. But it kinda shows how far the game has evolved over the last 7 years. Some would argue that this is good, but I can't agree, there was just to much fun with the old style to really believe its fun to win in three or four turns and walk away. There was interaction just by being there and playing your opponent for 30 minutes +. I like that masques block has tried to bring back a little of this, especially in Prophecy, but it feels like some things are too far gone to ever regrasp.
Cheers!
For some reason, just the other day I dug out all my old Scrye, Inquest, and Duelist <--(god I miss these) magazines and started re-reading them, maybe for memories, but who knows. I just couldn't help but laugh while reading Inquest #1 and seeing an article called, To Beat the Moxes. It brought back fond memories of when people actually played with them and they weren't worth your first born child. But the coolest part was the deck strategy of the article. I couldn't help but compare to the newest thing in the latest Inquest and wonder if this evolution has been good or bad, power gained or innocence lost. Some of the cards they use most new players have never heard of and I remember then being great, fun cards.
So lets compare:
To Beat the Moxes, page 22, Inquest #1:
Deck name: Bayou Lightning
Green
4 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Force of Nature
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Berserk
2 Desert Twister
4 Giant Growth
2 Hurricane
1 Tranquility
Black
1 Carrion Ants
1 Fallen Angel
1 Hypnotic Specter
1 Juzam Djinn
1 Royal Assassin
2 Segir Vampires
1 Sorceress Queen
4 Dark Ritual
1 Demonic Tutor
2 Howl from Beyond
1 Mind Twist
2 Simulacrum
Artifact
3 Fellwar Stone
1 Icy Manipulator
3 Juggernaut
1 Sol Ring
Land
4 Bayou
3 Forest
1 Maze of Ith
2 Strip Mine
1 Pendelhaven
2 Swamp
1 Urborg
Sideboard
1 Deathgrip
1 Island of Wak-Wak
1 Lifeforce
1 Gloom
1 Pestilence
2 Simulacrum
3 Terror
1 Titania's Song
2 Tranquility
1 Tsunami
1 Underworld Dreams
As you can see, there are no cute combos and it isn't win in 3 turns deck, but its just cool to look at and to play. I threw it together cause I hadn't used half the cards in it in far too long.
Now lets take a deck from Inquest #64, page 58:
Deck archtype: Replenish (whatever happened to deck names?)
Blue
4 Lilting Refrain
4 Atunement
4 Frantic Search
4 Paralax Tide
White
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Seal of Cleansing
4 Paralax Wave
4 Opalescence
4 Replenish
Land
4 Adarkar Wastes
10 Plains
10 Islands
This deck is simple and to the point and has CHEESE written all over it. I had a Replenish deck before that was only slightly differant than this and I felt guilty for playing it. It was too easy to win. But it kinda shows how far the game has evolved over the last 7 years. Some would argue that this is good, but I can't agree, there was just to much fun with the old style to really believe its fun to win in three or four turns and walk away. There was interaction just by being there and playing your opponent for 30 minutes +. I like that masques block has tried to bring back a little of this, especially in Prophecy, but it feels like some things are too far gone to ever regrasp.
Cheers!