Mono U Stasis

With the advent of Black Vise, Stasis finally becomes a competitive Legacy format legal deck.

Now with this being said I present:

Mono-U Stasis

4 Stasis
4 Force of Will
4 Black Vise
4 Forsaken City
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
6 Island
4 Spell Pierce
4 Ponder
4 Arcane Denial
4 Flusterstorm
4 Swan Song
4 Preordain

SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Vendilion Clique
SB: 3 Chain of Vapor
SB: 2 Energy Flux

You can replace a set of counterspells with a set of Snapcaster Mage if you want more dig draw. But it's better to use other dig draw methods if your going that far usually.

So you might be asking, how do I win with this pile?

The earliest possible win sequence plays out something like...

Island, Black Vise w/ Daze backup go.
Forsaken City, Stasis w/Fow or Daze backup.

Why play this over other Stasis variants? Your mono-colored and your win condition is a colorless 1 drop Artifact.

Seems simple enough right? Be sure to post your flavor on a Stasis deck.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shax

With the advent of Black Vise, Stasis finally becomes a competitive Legacy format legal deck.

Now with this being said I present:

Mono-U Stasis

4 Stasis
4 Force of Will
4 Black Vise
4 Forsaken City
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
6 Island
4 Spell Pierce
4 Ponder
4 Arcane Denial
4 Flusterstorm
4 Swan Song
4 Preordain

SB: 4 Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 4 Relic of Progenitus
SB: 2 Vendilion Clique
SB: 3 Chain of Vapor
SB: 2 Energy Flux

You can replace a set of counterspells with a set of Snapcaster Mage if you want more dig draw. But it's better to use other dig draw methods if your going that far usually.

So you might be asking, how do I win with this pile?

The earliest possible win sequence plays out something like...

Island, Black Vise w/ Daze backup go.
Forsaken City, Stasis w/Fow or Daze backup.

Why play this over other Stasis variants? Your mono-colored and your win condition is a colorless 1 drop Artifact.

Seems simple enough right? Be sure to post your flavor on a Stasis deck.

---

gix probe over preordain.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shax

4 Force of Will
4 Spell Pierce
4 Arcane Denial
4 Flusterstorm
4 Swan Song

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Did you consider Thwart? If yes, why you didn't use it?

And what about Misdirection? With Abrupt Decay widely used, you want to protect your soft lock somehow.

Finally, what is your plan B if Black Vise comes late into game? Do you have any hard lock?

Back in the day, I played Mono-U stasis, but back then Morphing was super strong and Gush was just broken. However, there were some cool cards printed since then that can be used in Stasis deck these days. For instance, Frozen AEther and Serra Sphinx to lock them and kill them. Stasis though is hungry for mana and either you need to feed it through Forsaken City (which will be Wastelanded quickly) or get rid of Stasis before your turn starts using Claws of Gix or Rescue. Did you consider any of these options?

I've always liked Tezzeret the Seeker. You can fetch seat of the synod as well as orb of dreams for the lock.

I used to jam Stasis for the lolz every now and then and spent a bit of time working on it. Obviously with Black Vise coming back my interest has been piqued.

I haven't tested this at all, but it's just been updated from what I had before.

Lands-
14 Islands
4 Ancient Tombs
4 Forsaken City.


Cantrips-
4 Ponder
2 Git Probe
2 Preordain
Ponder is obviously the best with Preordain backup, and Git Probe lets you check to see what's going on. You should probably have Brainstorm but... whatever. Is the life loss from fetchlands worth it when you're already taking huge chunks out of yourself with tomb? Idk.

Counters-
2x Counterspell
4x Force of Will
Pretty self explanatory. Daze sucks in this deck because you don't really achieve anything without having a way to pressure them. Thwart is ok, but with 4 Tombs and 4 Cities it's pretty hard to actively turn on when you need it.

The rest-
4 Frozen Aether
4 Stasis
4 Howling Mine
3 Propaganda
3 Black Vise
2 Ivory Tower
2 Pithing Needle.

Again it's all pretty self explanatory, Pithing Needle solves Planeswalkers and Wasteland, Ivory Tower/Propaganda help you live and just squeeze your opponents mana

The current sideboard I have listed is garbage, but for reference -
1 Boomerang
2 Misdirection
1 JaceTMS
1 Pithing Needle
4 Counterbalance
4 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Ensnare

You can hope to beat Show and Tell by countering all their Show and Tells and using Frozen Aether to neuter Sneak Attack. I didn't say it was a good plan...
The counter-top plan is all hyper theoretical and probably shit but there are heaps of decks that just cannot beat Counter-top floating a :1: and :2:

Matchups that are beatable - any land light Delver deck.
Matchups which feel close but aren't at all - Elves (they can make so much mana with Nettle Sentinels, it's a joke)
Matchups you'll never win - Miracles.

Here is what I was thinking about as a starting point :
4 Stasis
3 Frozen Aether
3 Boomerang
4 Black Vise
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Flusterstorm
2 Misdirection
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
2 Preordain
2 Teferi, Temporal Archmage
4 Forsaken City
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Flooded Strand
6 Island
2 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors

What are the advantages of the mono u list over the ur one splashing for ral zarek (cheaper walker mana wise, arguably a better one) and pyroclasm/reb?

I'm amazed that Tezzeret was mentioned but no one talked about Despotic Scepter has an artifact to blow stasis...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rubblekill

What are the advantages of the mono u list over the ur one splashing for ral zarek (cheaper walker mana wise, arguably a better one) and pyroclasm/reb?

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$$$ to build and less blue producing Wasteland targets are all I am seeing right away.

Tezzeret is MVP but is expensive. He fetches Bridge to defend himself. He upkeeps Stasis. He can also fetch Claws of Gix (0cmc) or Tel-Jilad Stylus, better than Despotic Scepter. Tezzeret is also the kill sometimes. Use Claws or Stylus on Stasis at end of opponent turn. Untap, activate Tezz' Ultimate and attack.

You can lower your hand by fetching or playing Mox Diamond and Chrome Mox to make Bridge good.

I dropped the cantrips because under Stasis they are not good. Imagine you upkeep Stasis with Crucible, you have no mana to cantrip. I chose to play Chalice of the Void but it is hard to cast it turn 1 with both Moxen and without Sol-lands. Unless I go close to 8Tezz' mana base with Sol-lands and mana-rock like Talisman... I really want to play Chalice but I don't know if I can support it.

Game plan: Mana acceleration, Chalice early, Bridge, Tezz/Crucible/Forsaken City, Stasis, Win 1-0-1 XD
All in all it sucked in the end. I can't remember my shitty list but I'll post a list without the exact number.

N Island (combo with Stasis lol)
Y Fetclands for Crucible
4 Forsaken City for Stasis
4 FOW
1 Misdirection
2 Daze
4 Stasis
4 Chalice of the Void (powered turn 1 with Moxen)
3 Mox Diamond (empty your hand for Ensnaring Bridge, dodge Wasteland)
3 Chrome Mox (same as above)
2 Seat of the Synod (2 because Tezz untaps 2, dodge Explosives)
2 Crucible of Worlds (upkeep Stasis until you have find Forsaken City)
4 Tezzeret the Seeker MVP
1 Transmute Artifact (the fifth Tezz in a way)
1 Claws of Gix (when you have that one mana, cost -0 loyalty to fetch)
1 Tel-Jilad Stylus (when you don't have that one mana, cost -1 loyalty to fetch)
3 Ensnaring Bridge (protection)
1 Tangle Wire (same as above)
1 Batterskull (when you miss Serra Angel)
1 Pithing Needle (fuck you Jace xD)
1 Ivory Tower (when you don't need anymore a low hand for Bridge because Stasis)
1 Zuran Orb (with Crucible and Island: lifegain and upkeep Stasis unlike Crucible and fetchlands)
...

Maybe Black Vise can help. I know it seems to conflict with Chalice but you can use Tezzeret or Transmute Artifact to get it. I am sure some people tested a similar list. Don't be shy.

Not quite mono blue, but I'm going to give something like this a rumble in the jungle at my LGS next week. Not sure on SB yet...

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Quirion Ranger
2 Scryb Ranger
1 Dryad Arbor

4 Stasis

4 Black Vise

4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Misdirection
1 Thwart
2 Flusterstorm
1 Rescue

4 Tropical Island
2 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Forsaken City

Why isn't anyone talking about Standstill in any of these black vise threads? It seems like an amazing card with vise. It's win-win no matter who breaks the standstill.

I honestly don't think Black Vise will be more then a SB card for us. Mono U has the severe disadvantage of loosing half their games because they cannot find Stasis (unless they play slow cards like Muddle the Mixture). In U/G/w Stasis there are just better win conditions: Derevi!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dissection

Not quite mono blue, but I'm going to give something like this a rumble in the jungle at my LGS next week. Not sure on SB yet...

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Quirion Ranger
2 Scryb Ranger
1 Dryad Arbor

4 Stasis

4 Black Vise

4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Misdirection
1 Thwart
2 Flusterstorm
1 Rescue

4 Tropical Island
2 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Forsaken City

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This is very close to the kind of list I've been working on for so long. Without E.Tutor you will often not find Stasis though (about half the time). Cantrips are often really awful under Stasis; I do not know how Ponder plays out for you but I ended up cutting it for Gitaxian Probe. As stated above, Derevi does a better job at winning imho because he acts as Kismet under a Ranger (creature removal is not a real problem with that many counterspells).
Because I also splash white for Derevi and E.Tutor, I have an E.Tutor sideboard. But maybe it can provide some ideas. If you find my list fairly effective, I have a draft for a primer. Maybe this is the time to release it since Stasis will get some attention due to the unbanning of Black Vise.

My current List:

Lands
4 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
4 Forsaken City
8 Blue Fetchlands

Creatures
4 Quirion Ranger
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Scryb Ranger
2 Derevi, Empyrial Tactician

Spells
4 Stasis
4 Daze
3 Stifle
2 Thwart
2 Enlightened Tutor
1 Misdirection
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
1 Spell Pierce
1 Sterling Grove
4 Gitaxian Probe

Sideboard
2 Enlightened Tutor to enhance all the SB options
2 Meddling Mage vs Abrupt Decay and Combo
1 Misdirection to shift the countersuite against Decay/discard
1 Divert to shift the countersuite against Decay/discard
1 Ethersworn Canonist vs combo
1 Confusion in the Ranks best card vs Omnitell
1 Pithing Needle vs Planeswalker heavy decks like Tezzeret
1 Ensnaring Bridge vs Sneakattack and Reanimator
1 Null Rod vs Mud, Affinity and Tezzeret
1 Rest in Peace nicest GY hate available to us


Those are only the SB cards I would consider essential. Some more options for open slots:
Black Vise could help vs draw-go strategies with mass removal (i.e. Miracles)
Phyrexian Dreadnought tech to have a better clock vs combo
Detention Sphere good card vs show and tell
Grafdigger's Cage another great piece of GY hate
Elephant Grass good vs fast aggro, probably our best choice

Even more options for the sake of listing possible E.Tutor targets. These are very likely sub-optimal.
Limited Resources very situational hardlock, good vs 12-Post
Counterbalance good vs combo (better then canonist without top?)
Choke Stasis without upkeep vs some decks, probably bad use of slots
Moat good against aggro, probably too slow though
Island Sanctuary faster then Moat but with a big drawback

SB cards requiring a splash:
Dread of Night good vs Death and Taxes
Engineered Plague good vs Elves and Goblins

no love for the new Kiora?

Choke. In Stasis. Wow this site really ... just ... the best.

Tezzeret the Seeker is great.... grabs Ensnaring Bridge, Trinisphere, Smokestack, Winter Orb, Seat of the Synod for Stasis upkeep payment..
Through in some Propaganda too and you have yourself a deck.

This way you don't need to play bad cards like Black Vise.

... By bad I mean worse than the cards we are already playing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nedleeds

Choke. In Stasis. Wow this site really ... just ... the best.

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And trolling makes it so much warmer. Seriously you are picking on the card marked as bad choice in the list of cards marked to be there for sake of completeness. But if you are so sure about my utter stupidity, maybe you can enlighten me with a better Stasis list or with actual constructive criticism.

@Blastoderm: Trangle Wire might work too. The problem with Tezzeret is his 5 CC. I never liked the 4 CC planeswalkers in Stasis because there where cheaper ways to play the deck and they really don't help in tight games. Tezzeret is a bit of a different story because I assume an artifact control environment which might help you get there. The question is though, whether Stasis is really needed anymore when you already got to the point of reliably shutting the game down till Tezzeret hits the field.

How about Orb of Dreams? This could be obnoxious and unfun, totally belongs in a stasis deck. The stasis deck can run Amulet of Vigor and some of those lands they run in Modern that produce two colors.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SpoCk0nd0pe

And trolling makes it so much warmer. Seriously you are picking on the card marked as bad choice in the list of cards marked to be there for sake of completeness. But if you are so sure about my utter stupidity, maybe you can enlighten me with a better Stasis list or with actual constructive criticism.

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Boil. Boiling Seas. Scald are the only cards I can muster to top your selection of Choke.

First the thread title is Mono-U Stasis and you produce a 3 color Stasis deck, of which there are already multiple threads. Which you can find using a simple search

http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ghlight=stasis

http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ghlight=stasis

there's a bant colored stasis thread in Established decks as well

http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ghlight=stasis

this shares 80% of your list ... so it makes sense that you solicit feedback there.

To actually post something constructive concerning Mono U Stasis:
Mono U Stasis has the problem of missing out on the best engine (Quirion Ranger). You are still vulnerable to wasteland because you probably want to run Forsaken City. If you go Vedalken Mastermind you need to stay ahead in counterspells all game. I never tried Crucible though, maybe something like Tangle Wire -> Transmute Artifact -> Crucible + Stasis might work.

If you decide to go heavy on the Forsaken City route, I'd definitely play 4 Daze, 2-3 Thwart and some lair lands (like Dromar's Cavern). The lair lands not to fix mana but to get cards into your hand.

@Needles: I will keep this at a minimum to not derail the thread further. Your post was needlessly rude. Choke is not Boil, it has a very narrow use against some old mono U control approaches where it acts as Stasis without upkeep (especially when relying on Forsaken City vs draw-go). Greed Stasis has a completely different strategy, it runs a bigger engine for card advantage and plays no counterspells.