[Article]Eternal Europe: My Top 5

[Mon,Goblin Chief]

A couple of nostalgic moments for the end of the year:

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/27601_My-Top-5-Decks.html

Enjoy and share!

[Koby]

Neat article, and some of them I barely even remembered existed!

My favorite deck from years gone by has to be Necro Spike, a Classic (MTGO-only) format deck that caused Necropotence and Demonic Consultation to get restricted in that format. Keep in mind this was in 2009, so DCI already showed the precedent of banning them in old Extended. When people bring up the idea of "what would Necropotence to do the format?", I point out this deck list and let them awe in it's wonder. Anyways, the list:

4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder

4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Duress

4 Lotus Petal
3 Cabal Ritual
4 Dark Ritual

4 Demonic Consultation
1 Demonic Tutor

4 Necropotence

4 Soul Spike
4 Tendrils of Agony

3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Overgrown Tomb (the format had not yet received Bayou)
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
4 Underground Sea

Enjoy!

(Source: PureMTGO (http://puremtgo.com/articles/eternal-wisdom-10-death-skull))

[nedleeds]

From after the Legends restriction but before Balance got restricted ...


4 Mana Vault
4 Black Vise
4 Juzam Djinn
4 Juggernaut
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
4 Nether Void
1 Demonic Tutor
4 Swamp
4 Underground Sea
2 City of Brass
4 Strip Mine
4 Sinkhole
1 Black Lotus
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Underworld Dreams
1 Timetwister
1 Mishra's Workshop
2 Relic Barrier
4 Dark Ritual
SB: 4 Gloom
SB: 1 Relic Barrier
SB: 2 Xenic Poltergeist
SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Paralyze

[Bed Decks Palyer]

I loved any kind of Creaturegeddon decks, so to not derail the thread with the many lists, here's my second most loved deck, the old Type II UW Control:

9 Island
9 Plains
4 Adarkar Wastes
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Strip Mine

4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Disenchant
1 Reprisal
3 Arcane Denial
4 Counterspell
3 Force of Will
2 Power Sink
1 Balance
3 Wrath of God
2 Fellwar Stone
1 Crown of Ages
2 Control Magic
2 Jayemdae Tome
1 Jester's Cap
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
2 Serra Angel
1 Clone
1 Air Elemental
1 Mahamoti Djinn

sb something like:
1 Exile
1-2 Disenchant
2-3 Divine Offering
some Serrated Arrows
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Abbey Gargoyle
1 Zuran Orb
0-1 Jester's Cap
some BEBs

[Zombie]

UW Lark-Blink from Time Spiral - Lorwyn Standard. (http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Standard_Reveillark_Combo_deck) It lost to Faeries horribly but horribly murdered basically anything else in the format and pretty much did everything ever. Control, beatdown, shenanigans, comboing out, massive card draw, it had everything. Basically turned Careful Consideration into an instant-speed Draw 4 for 4 in Standard. And yeah, made Wrath of God read "Kill all your dudes. I untap my team and draw 4". That feeling is one of the dirtiest I've experienced while playing this game.

Glimpse Elves (http://www.bazaarofmagic.nl/deck/julian-knabs-elves-1695-bazaar-of-moxen-8-di-14092.html) is the deck that has a similar dirty synergy feeling rivaling the Lark-Blink hilarity. The synergy is, of course, casting Llanowar Elves as an Ancestral Recall+Dark Ritual "5-in-1" Value Pack. And then doing it again. And again... That and all the other absurd broken things the deck does and has done since it's birth at PT Berlin in various formats. I mean, I get to play Academy, Tinker, Ancestral and Demonic Tutor as 4-ofs all in one deck. How's that fair? Plus doing all the Storm-style brokenness with green creatures just feels deliciously wrong somehow.

Pattern-Rector in German Highlander. Originally called "Turbosynergy (http://mtgsuomi.fi/keskustelu/index.php/topic,61811.msg249623.html#msg249623)" by creator Janne Öhman, the deck won by Husk+Rector=> Eldrazi Conscripted Husk or the good old Reveillark loop. Then Hulk got unbanned and it turned into even more lovely a monster than it already was. Imagine playing a RecSur style deck with a robust tutoring suite, a truly humongous amount of interesting creatures, tons of recursion and a combo finish. Sadly, new printings and a combination of bannings/unbannings have made it so there's no point to the deck anymore. Other, more boring combo decks are better and goostuff is just better than random Nantuko Husks. R.I.P.
Amazing Feeling When Playing MTG #3: Killing someone with a 14/14 Cthulhu-ified Nantuko Husk.

Monogreen Elf Vengevine Survival. I never got to play the deck, because Survival got banned right after I saw the list. It was a thing of beauty, run by (IIRC) Sam Black in some tri-format team event.

[nedleeds]

I beat Alexander Blumke in German highlander at Origins. It was my Rocky vs. Drago moment.

[ESG]

Nice one, Carsten.

My favorite deck has to be the Survival deck I played in my very first PTQ, on Nov. 24, 2000, in the old Extended:

4 Survival of the Fittest
3 Recurring Nightmare
3 Goblin Bombardment
1 Enduring Renewal
1 Shield Sphere
1 Stormbind
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Wall of Roots
4 Academy Rector
2 Squee: Goblin Nabob
2 Spike Feeder
1 Masticore
1 Verdant Force
1 Uktabi Orangutan
1 Bone Shredder
1 Monk Realist
1 Spike Weaver
4 City of Brass
4 Bayou
3 Savannah
4 Brushland
2 Phyrexian Tower
2 Karplusan Forest
4 Taiga
2 Forest

Sideboard:
1 Sacred Ground
1 City of Solitude
2 Scragnoth
1 Spike Feeder
1 Phyrexian Plaguelord
1 Aluren
2 Junk Diver
1 Ghitu Slinger
1 Thorn Elemental
1 Wall of Souls
1 Avalanche Riders
1 Spike Weaver
1 Gaea’s Blessing

The sideboard was pretty loose and there were a couple of deficiencies maindeck due to card availability, but this deck had so many angles of attack. To this day, toolbox decks are my favorite to play.


Another standout for me was the deck I played at Regionals on April 13, 2002, for Type II. This was my first collaborative deck, with the bulk of the designing done by my testing partner at the time, Granger.

4 Force Spike
4 Memory Lapse
4 Counterspell
4 Syncopate
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Mystic Snake
4 Opt
4 Repulse
3 Peek
3 Bearscape
12 Islands
6 Forest
4 Yavimaya Coast

Sideboard:
3 Gainsay
3 Glacial Wall
2 Millstone
2 Juntu Stakes
2 Compost
2 Rushing River
1 Jade Leech

I typically didn't play control decks back then, but this one gave me a new appreciation for the strategy and solidified Fact or Fiction as one of my favorite cards in Magic.

[Megadeus]

I didn't get to play during survival... That card looks like it would be SOOOOOOOO fun. I know its sweet as hell in cube. The only deck I have ever won an FnM with. Koth of the Hammer

2 Koth of the Hammer

4 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Volt Charge
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Tezzerets Gambit
2 Galvanic Blast
2 Arc Trail
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Red Suns Zenith
1 Assault Strobe

4 Ember Hauler
2 Kuldotha Phoenix
1 Moltensteel Dragon
2 Goblin Wardriver

21 Mountains

SideBoard:
3 Mark of Mutiny
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Crush
2 Manic Vandal
2 Shatter
2 Perilous Myr
1 Assault Strobe
1 MoltenSteel Dragon
1 Slagstorm

Apparently (after reading the post that I posted this list) the night I won I used mark of Mutiny on a Precursor Golem and won with it

[Ozymandias]

I still get to play my favorite deck--Vintage Dredge. It has evolved over time, to be sure, but Bazaar is still my boy. As far as decks that I loved but will pretty much never be good again, Odyssey-Onslaught-7th MBC, with 4 coffers, 4 mutilate, 12 1-1 removal spells, and Skeletal Scrying.

[Darkenslight]

I still get to play my favorite deck--Vintage Dredge. It has evolved over time, to be sure, but Bazaar is still my boy. As far as decks that I loved but will pretty much never be good again, Odyssey-Onslaught-7th MBC, with 4 coffers, 4 mutilate, 12 1-1 removal spells, and Skeletal Scrying.

Hell, my favourite was Mirrodin-Kamigawa-8th Standard SuiBlack. They don't print any good suicide cards any more (the last good printing was Death's Shadow, and Thoughtseize is A Thing that I could have done with). The curve went T1 Bile Urchin, T2 Blind Creeper, T3 Ebon Drake, T4 Jitte-Equip or removal GG.

[klaus]

Hey Carsten,

beautiful decks you pulled out of the hat indeed! I was a bit confused however about your: "I'm such a format-breaking badass" complete lack of humbleness, which just doesn't seem to suit you.

"I firmly believe I'd have crushed GP Amsterdam with it"

"This is what got Gifts Ungiven on the Vintage restricted" [...] "After that people finally knew what was up and came prepared, which turned the deck from dominant into just the best deck in the format"

Just my 2 Pence.

[Lemnear]

Hey Carsten,

beautiful decks you pulled out of the hat indeed! I was a bit confused however about your: "I'm such a format-breaking badass" complete lack of humbleness, which just doesn't seem to suit you.

"I firmly believe I'd have crushed GP Amsterdam with it"

"This is what got Gifts Ungiven on the Vintage restricted" [...] "After that people finally knew what was up and came prepared, which turned the deck from dominant into just the best deck in the format"

Just my 2 Pence.

Yep, this sounded strange. I could swear, Stephen Menendian writes the same achievement on his flag :/

Discussing origins of decks is a pointless debate, or I could start to rant about RG Wish/EtW Belcher or Vintage Gifts with Dark Ritual and Duress

[Mon,Goblin Chief]

@Koby: Now that looks like something I'd enjoy!

@nedleeds: that one's actually before my time - scary Nether Void deck, that!

@bed decks player: Oh yeah, I was playing Prison-Counterpost UW in that Standard - still love Thawing Glaciers *g*

@zombie: Those are nice synergy decks - looks like we know what you like to do, huh?

@ ESG: that Survival deck looks like lots of fun actually for a deck full of creatures ;)

@Megadeus: Nice Big Red deck that^^

@Ozymandias: Lucky you - Vintage Dredge is a pretty sweet deck to play, admittedly.

@Darkenslight: That curve out looks sooo hilarious *g*

@klaus and Lemnear: I can see where the article might come over as arrogant but that's how I honestly feel about those decks. Remember that I've been working on Eternal decks for more than a decade, I think finding something broken a couple of times is actually about average given the amount of time I put in. It isn't that I'm a format breaking badass, just that those are the couple of actually insane decks I've managed to hit :p

As to Smmenen and Gifts, publishing history speaks for itself. He claimed the deck as his after finding the mass Merchant Scroll engine and turning Duresses into MisDs - I'll let you decide if that counts as making a new deck. And yes, for the first couple of months until people knew the deck it was actually that much better than everything else. I've literally never touched a deck that good before or since.

[joretapo]

Good old erhnam gueddon was the name of my game back in the days

[Zombie]

@zombie: Those are nice synergy decks - looks like we know what you like to do, huh?

@ ESG: that Survival deck looks like lots of fun actually for a deck full of creatures ;)


What, is there a... pattern?

ESG's deck probably looks fun because Survival-esque toolbox decks are fun.

[Admiral_Arzar]

While this wasn't the first magic deck I ever played, it was the first combo deck. Budget Mirrodin-era Ironworks, the deck that started my decade-long combo obsession. If artifact lands were unbanned in modern I would play this deck again in a heartbeat.

4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Great Furnace
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Tree of Tales

4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Myr Retriever

1 Goblin Cannon
1 Fireball

4 Chromatic Sphere
4 Talisman of Dominance
2 Talisman of Indulgence
4 Pentad Prism
4 Krark-Clan Ironworks
4 Myr Incubator

4 Thoughtcast
4 Fabricate

[Mewens]

I loved, loved, loved Owling Mine in Kami-Rav Standard. (Really, I love any deck that turns conventional wisdom on its head – "Stop making me draw cards, I can't handle it" – but it's rare to see a deck that so completely and totally inverted Magic logic. And it was a playable in Standard, of all things!)

Legacy Thresh/Gro back before 'Goyf was a thing is near and dear to me, too. It was the first deck that really made me think about tempo in any kind of deep way, and it was such an exciting concept – it was a little like playing counter-burn, but you had control over the throttle. (I get that players were thinking about and tinkering with tempo before we had an agreed-upon term for it, but this deck was the first time that I really got the concept.) I have a soft spot for that cold, polished machine that is RUG because of its descent from Quirion Dryad and Werebears, and I'll still impulse-buy foil Mystic Enforcers now and again.

[dontbiteitholmes]

This was one of my favorite older decks. The meta was when Legacy was a brand new format and ATS and Landstill were the decks to beat. People still hadn't figured out Goblins was a real deck yet. Tried to remake it from memory so the list isn't exact but you get the idea.

1 Blood Moon
4 Brainstorm
3 Vedalken Shackles
1 Thawing Glaciers
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
10 Island
1 Mountain
3 Volcanic Island
3 Stifle
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Ophidian
1 Lu Xun, Scholar General
2 Morphling
1 Forbid
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
2 Fact or Fiction
2 Fire // Ice
1 Isochron Scepter
1 Capsize
1 Oblivion Stone
SB: 1 Blood Moon
SB: 2 Pyroclasm
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Amnesia
SB: 1 Oblivion Stone
SB: 1 Hibernation
SB: 1 AEther Flash
SB: 1 Crucible of Worlds
SB: 1 Rainbow Efreet
SB: 1 Forbid
SB: 2 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 1 Chill