Magic: the Gathering Standard Tournament Deck




Deck: 3-color White ( W / U / R ): White Weenee version 5.4


Standard tournament: December 20, 1997.

I played this deck in my fourth Tempest Standard (Type 2) tournament.

The tournament was a 5-round Swiss system, with the top eight of the 28-person field advancing to a single-elimination final.
When I looked at the field, I knew that it would be a good field -- the top two players in the state were there to play (and I ended up playing both of them, going 1-1).
My score was 3-2; 8-6 in the Swiss; I was the 6th seed in the finals.
I won in the Quarterfinals and lost in the Semifinals to finish 4-3; 11-9 on the day, good for a 3rd/4th place tie.
In the final analysis, my three losses were to the other three top finishers (who ended up 5-0/4-1/4-1 in the Swiss), and I took a game from all three in our matches.


The round-by-round was as follows:
Round 1 v. mono-Red Sligh, 2-1 -- Close match, with the first two games decided by who played first. In the first game I played first, and finished him off a turn before he could Disk. In the second game he played first, and he finished me off a turn before I would've gotten to him. The last game was over early when I Spirit Linked a Soltari Priest on the second turn and beat him down while gaining life.
1-0, 2-1

Round 2 v. White/Red, 2-1 -- Another close match, against the top-ranked Type 2 player in the state. I lost the first game (don't remember the details). The second game I took a lot of pain land damage, and was about to lose to multiple Wildfire Emissary beatdown when a second Empyrial Armor on my Soltari Priest finished him. The third game, he was slow to draw lands, and I got out two Empyrial Armored creatures (Soltari Priest and Freewind Falcon), and an Armageddon sealed the game before he could put down a fourth land and play the Wrath of God that was in his hand.
2-0, 4-2

Round 3 v. Blue/Red, 2-0 -- I won both of these relatively easily. He had problems drawing Red mana producers (Mountains or the Red/Blue pain land), and I was just too fast.
3-0, 6-2

Round 4 v. White, 1-2 -- This was a close, hard-fought match. I lost the first and third games, and won the second. I don't remember details of the first game. The second game, I took out two knights (including a Knight of the Dawn) with Knights of the Mist (strong v. knights). Even his Wrath of God couldn't stop me -- I recovered first, and beat him down with a Soltari Priest, finally burning him out with an Incinerate. The final game came down to the draw -- in the end, I couldn't stop a Knight of the Dawn enchanted with a Flickering Ward (Blue). we traded two-point beatdown for several turns, but I couldn't draw a Disenchant to free up a Pacified creature for more beatdown, or an Incinerate, or an Empyrial Armor, or a Spirit Link, or a Quicksand ... you get the picture. Oh well.
3-1, 7-4

Round 5 v. Green, 1-2 -- This match was the reverse of the previous match. Three lighting fast games. The first and third matches were decided by a first or second turn Eladamri's Vineyard. Where were those three Disenchants, anyway? They went into hiding for three critical games, going back to the last match, and I only needed ONE to change the outcome of each MATCH. The result: I was dealt a mana burn and big creature beatdown death in games one and three. The second game I blistered him with an Empyrial Armored Soltari Priest. Made the finals anyway because of good tiebreaks. I liked his deck design -- I like big fast Green swarms, but with Perish out there, its risky. What was WoC thinking when they added Perish to the card mix, anyway? "Green will be the creature color", they say, then add a 2B CC sorcery that DESTROYS Green to an environment with all sort of ways to get off-color mana. If this type of card was really needed in the mix to balance things, at least make it cost 1BB or more.
3-2, 8-6

Quarterfinals v. Black/Blue, 2-1 -- A well-designed deck, including Shadow Guildmage/Nekrataal/Man O War recursion. I got the win in the first and third games, he won the second. I don't remember a lot of details, except that his recusion hurt me in the second game, but a Knight of the Mist gave me a strong card advantage in the third game.
4-2, 10-7

Semifinals v. Red Sligh, 1-2 -- Easily the most frustrating match of the day. I gave this one away. I won the first game with an Empyrial Armored Soltari Priest. He burned me out in the second game. The third game I threw away with two critical errors. First, I put Empyrial Armor on an Infantry Veteran (he became 4/4). The next turn he hit it with an Incinerate-Fireslinger, and I promptly pull a Freewind Falcon with my Empyrial Armor in the graveyard. Later I have a chance to 'Geddon -- in play, I had a Freewind Falcon and a Crusade, he had a Fireslinger and a Raging Spirit (3/3; 2: ...colorless until end of turn) -- and I really needed some time to draw something helpful (an Empyrial Armor, a Spirit Link, an Incinerate...). I didn't 'Geddon, thinking that I can't take the 3/3 beatdown -- but his ability takes two colorless mana to activate, what was I thinking? He puts down another Raging Spirit, Fireballs for three a turn later, and I pull an Empyrial Armor too late. It was very painful to make TWO critical errors to throw away a win and $25 or $100 in credit (depending on the outcome of the Final). I really let myself get distracted by the other Semifinal between the two players who I lost to in the 4th and 5th rounds of Swiss -- the White player won that Semi -- and was thinking that "when" I won this game, I'd have a real shot at winning the tournament. I tried to force things with the Empyrial Armor on the Infantry Veteran -- that was an unthinkable error with eight protection from Red creatures in the deck. The failure to 'Geddon was just as bad. I got punished severely for my incompetent play (and I deserved it).
4-3, 11-9



Deck: White Weenee Rush 5.3 -- Standard / Type 2

December 20, 1997

61 Card deck:

15 Card sideboard:



This page is in no way affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.

Back to Hobbies 'n Games