Type 1.5

Here we have it, my Howilng Mine + Relic Barrier deck. I got the idea for it when I was playtesting Howling Giant Wurmies against a land destruction deck. I had played a Howling Mine in the hopes of digging my way out of the lack of mana. But the problem was you can only play one land per turn, and my opponent was pulling enough land destruction to keep pace with the lands I was putting down. I was never able to dig myself out of that hole. So I determined to build a deck with my favorite new card combination that had at least a little land destruction. Once it's rolling and you're drawing 2-1 just two pockets (sets of four) of land destruction becomes like four, and suddenly you can lock down their primary color.

For land destruction I added Strip Mine and Sinkhole. Earlier drafts included a couple Stone Rain, but later they were dropped because of their high cost. A couple Icy Manipulators go with the Howling/Barrier combo, and can also be used to tap mana sources during the opponent's upkeep. I was also surprised how often I would use a Relic Barrier to pin down a Mox until I got a Howling Mine out.

After observing the Giant Wurmies deck struggling to cast all it's high cost spells I knew this deck would need a lot of one-drop spells to operate effectively – what's the use in drawing all those cards with the Howling Mine if you can't cast them? So I went with Lightning Bolt and Paralyze for creature removal and Birds of Paradise for fast mana. Dark rituals didn't make the cut, but without x-damage spells they had little use mid to late game. The Paralyze work particularly well in that they either neutralize the creature (if your land destruction has them locked) or neutralize most of their land, slowing them down. That's what this deck is all about, slowing them down while it is simultaneously speeding up.

Without Hymn to Tourach my old Type 1 deck has never been what it should be in this game. Since this deck's primary color is black (because sinkholes require ) and red/green were playing support I decided to pull out my favorite three creatures: Hypnotic Spectre, Sedge Troll and Kirk Ape. The Spectres work perfectly with the land destruction, Sedge Trolls are a solid answer to opposing Djinns or Juggernauts, and Kird Apes kick White Knights to the curb.

As a first candidate for my new deck testing regimen this deck turned out to be a poor choice. By the time I had established the categories this deck was finely tuned enough that it ran through each category three times without a loss, or even a single close game. That's 18 straight games without a bad draw. Sounds like my old type 1 deck that swept through the double-elimination Black Lotus tournament without losing a match. Guess that shouldn't be too surprising as two thirds of the deck is identical to my old one.

So that's my answer to building a deck around that card combo. I'd still like to see the Two-Headed Giants make their way into a deck. Maybe another week.

posted by Nils T. Devine  # Sunday, June 05, 2005