Chuck-ese

I used to be into Magic: The Gathering (WARNING: linked site is pure shit). A few short conversations with a couple friends overwhelmed me with nostolgia, and for the past month I’ve been playing Magic constantly. This may just be a psychological defense mechanism against my immanent entry into college, but it’s more fun than, say, developing a neurosis. I built two decks in this time period, both utilizing the color blue, but in completely stupid ways.

The first of these we’ll call Three Color Bastard.

Island x3
Swamp x13
Plains x 6
Tainted Isle x 2
Tainted Field x2
Coastal Tower x1
Salt Marsh x1
Counterspell x3
Gravedigger x2
Grinning Demon x2
Yawgmoth’s Bargain x1
Havoc Demon x1
Morality Shift x1
Healing Salve x1
Mystic Penitent x1
Tireless Tribe x2
Standard Bearer x1
Glory Seaker x4
Starlight Invoker x1
Recuperate x1
Ancestor’s Chosen x1
Scroll Rack x1
Sleeper’s Robe x1
Psychatog x2
Recoil x1
Seer’s Vision x1
Undermine x1
Ertai, the Corrupted x1
Soul Link x2

This deck played one good game. It was a guerilla-style game, with my life fluctuating between 1 and 29, last minute Ancestor’s Chosen plays, and super-draws with Bargain. I was eventually backed into a corner with one card in my library, Ertai out (but with no creatures to sacrifice to him), Mortailty Shif played, and most of my cards removed from the game to fuel two now-dead Psychatogs. I was able to prolong the game by one more turn by sacrificing Yawgmoth’s Bargain to Ertai to counter a burn spell that would surly have done me in. The deck sucks because it lacks focus; it was mostly just a vehicle to give Ertai some play-time. Scroll Rack works well only in conjunction with Bargain, and that whole setup works only if Morality Shift is still buried in the deck somwhere.

This next deck has not been dignified with a name.

Island x10
Forest x7
Irrigation Ditch x2
Treetop Village x1
Unsummon x3
Envelop x1
Veiled Sentry x1
Flight x2
Intervene x2
Psychic Venom x1
Mana Leak x3
Remove Soul x1
Tidal Surge x1
Wind Drake x1
Puppeteer x2
Rystic Deluge x1
Errant Minion x1
Labyrinth Minotaur x1
Vizzerdrix x2
Recall x1
Thalakos Seer x1
Boomerang x1
Phantom Warrior x1
Levitation x1
Temporal Distortion x1
Sunken Hope x1
Confiscate x2
Distorting Wake x1
Norwood Ranger x2
Fog x3
Wall of Wood x1
Urborg Elf x4
Regrowth x1
Tangle x1
Wall of Ice x1
Creeping Mold x1
Desert Twister x1
Mesmeric Orb x1
Chimeric Idol x1
Mirror Golem x1
Phyrexian Hulk x1
Temporal Spring x2
Aether Mutation x2

The premise of this deck was to use the green creatures and blue control spells to survive until you could kill your opponents wtih small unblockable creatures (Phantom Warrior, Thalakos Seer), or with a flying Vizzierdrix. Why not use large green creatures (you know, what the color is known for)? Because I’m an idiot. I’m using two colors out of thier elements. The only redeeming aspect to this deck is Mesmeric Orb, which pisses people off to no end.

Come back whenever the hell I feel like writing the second half of this article to see how I combine these two decks to exploit the true Power of Blue.