Revising an old Tempest-era Tradewind Rider deck

[rakso]

I brought out my Tradewind deck yesterday, and revised it as I had forgotten to use Impulse!

It won every game except just one against a weenie where i had a lousy draw and another against an all-wall deck where I let a Sunweb through out of courtesy and suddenly didn't draw anything but counters instead of bounce or creatures for my active Tradewind!

I was disappointed to find the deck less exciting to play than it used to be, though, since it plays like a weaker Draw-Go with the printing of Morphling and half the time, you just don't bother with the entire deck if you can play a protected Morphling. (Of course, in impatience, I slapped down Morphling in one game since I was about to leave, then my open mana got bluffed and I walked into a Control Magic. ) At least it's more resilient against creatures.

One change I've been thinking about is to turn the Powder Kegs back into Wall of Air.

Here's the slightly revised list:
Buyback package (9)
4 Sapphire Medallion
2 Capsize
2 Whispers of the Muse

Creatures (10)
4 Tradewind Rider
4 Ophidian
2 Morphling

Counters (9)
3 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
2 Forbid

Others (10)
3 Powder Keg
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Recall
1 Sunder
3 Impulse
1 Sol Ring

Land (23)
4 Thawing Glaciers
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
12 Island

plus:
(1 Maze of Ith)
(1 Ancestral Recall)

There might be a mistake somewhere since I clearly remember 62 cards but 12 Islands.

(The original list and notes are on http://www.bdominia.com/discus/articles/tradewindFAQ.html)

 

[Duel]

2 mana drains? You have 2 mana drains? Um, wow! What the hell do you expect us to change? this is expensive, effective, and illegal! I might add in another sunder, because with the riders, it's very effective.

 

[Purple_jester]

Duel: Err, 2 Mana Drains isn't illegal. It's not even restricted. And Rakso doesn't have 2. He uses 4 .

Rakso: Could you explain why you want to change the Kegs into walls? Is it because you need more creatures for your Tradewinds? If fliers aren't much of a problem for this deck, then I recommend Wall of Tears instead of the Air Walls. They're cheaper to cast, and have an added irritating ability of unsummoning blocked creatures, thus blending with the deck's theme.

And I know what you mean about the Morphlings. they tend to dampen the joy of combo decks like this becuase of their power all on their lonesomes. Think about it this way: With it's untap ability, you can use it with the Riders even after it has attacked. Then you won't feel so bad about ignoring the rest of the deck.

 

[Duel]

Wall of fog.
Besides being flying, AND cheaper, they're also harder to kill, typically.

Oh, and a quote:

You would have to run the entire WOTC R&D team over with a bus before they'd EVER reprint Mana Drain

From WOTC R&D

 

[rakso]

Originally posted by Purple_jester
Rakso: Could you explain why you want to change the Kegs into walls? Is it because you need more creatures for your Tradewinds? If fliers aren't much of a problem for this deck, then I recommend Wall of Tears instead of the Air Walls. They're cheaper to cast, and have an added irritating ability of unsummoning blocked creatures, thus blending with the deck's theme.

And I know what you mean about the Morphlings. they tend to dampen the joy of combo decks like this becuase of their power all on their lonesomes. Think about it this way: With it's untap ability, you can use it with the Riders even after it has attacked. Then you won't feel so bad about ignoring the rest of the deck.

Kegs to Walls: Mainly, I find that I can kill half of a wave of attacking creatures, but then what? The deck isn't particularly fast, so I might lose life if the Keg wasn't in the opening hand, and when the next weenie is dropped, my defense might not be ready yet.

Honestly, it might be worth it to just drop the Medallions because waiting for buyback action isn't always worth it with the Morphlings.

And yes, the Walls provide an immediate blocker and immediate Tradewind fodder. However, I'd go with Wall of Air because the flying and one power (which kills a lot of commonly played weenies) is a good bonus. Imagine bouncing 187 creatures with Wall of Tears!

Fog Bank might not be useful at all in this deck because Rancor is so common, and it's simply Bolt bait.

As for the Morphling, sure it can untap, but you're not really thinking about bouncing when it's dealing 5 a turn! The only reason to play this deck, it seems, is that it is more resilient against weenie decks, otherwise, I'd just play Draw-Go!

 

[I8Piggo]

I've been playing around with Tradewind Riders since that day when I bought four of 'em on a whim. I've found that they work better in a U/G creature deck. I haven't even tested this thing yet...

4 Tradewind Rider
4 Man-o'-War
4 Wall of Blossoms
4 Deranged Hermit
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 Spike Weaver
2 Spike Feeder
1 Gilded Drake
1 Archivist

2 Quirion Ranger
4 Wall of Roots
4 Birds of Paradise

4 Survival of the Fittest
3 Awakening
1 Opposition

4 Mana Leak
4 Force of Will

4 Land Grant
4 Forest
4 Tropical Island