Type 1.5

This deck is a bitch. Despite it's colors (white, artifacts and a touch of blue) it is the antithesis of all things good in deck construction. It leans heavily on card combinations: Mishra's Factory + Consecrate Land = invincible creature, Greater Realm of Preservation + Sleight of Mind = Circle of Protection from anything. It also sucks mana resources, you just can't draw enouh to fuel the Greater Realm, Jade Statues, Mishra's Factories and Jalum Tome.

So what does it have going for it? The 4 Jalum Tomes work nicely in a card combo deck. Playing 4 of them you'll probably draw 1 or 2, but when you draw an extra one the original just recycles it. Same goes for that extra Greater Realm or Slight of Mind. Unfortunately, with the heavy mana dependancy you won't be cycling away extra land very often.

But the bottom line with this deck is that it's really hard to kill. Hard to kill the creatures, they're only vulnerable when you activate them, so they can usually only be killed by instants. (The creatures are also uneffected by your Wrath of Gods.) And it's hard to kill you with what is in essense a circle of protection from 2 of the 3 most damage oriented colors.

Here's my play strategy with this deck. ASAP get up a Greater Realm and Sleight it. Hide behind it while you build up mana resources, Mishra's and Jade Statues. When you're ready, and only when you're ready, clear your opponent's creatures with a Wrath of God and go on the offensive.

posted by Nils T. Devine  # Sunday, April 24, 2005