Magic: the Gathering Standard Tournament Deck






Deck: 4-color White Weenee ( W / R / B / U ) 5.6 -- Tempest

January 10, 1998

I played this deck in my 7th Tempest Standard (Type 2) tournament.

The tournament was a 5-round Swiss system, with the top eight of the 33-person field advancing to a single-elimination final.
The tournament was larger than usual, which makes for better prizes (that's always good). This deck, which won last week (with a slightly different sideboard), again proved strong against the field.
My score was 4-1; 8-4 in the Swiss; I was the 4th or 5th seed in the finals (don't remember which).
I won in the Quarterfinals, lost in the Semifinals to the top seed, to finish 1-1; 3-3 in the single-elimination rounds, and 5-2; 11-7 on the day, good for a third place tie.


The round-by-round was as follows:
Round 1 v. mono-Black, 2-0 --
I won fairly easily. When his second turn was Swamp (#2), Bog Imp, I was certain that I could win this one. However, I recalled that I had lost to a weaker deck a couple of months ago by playing carelessly (because of overconfidence), so I forced myself to play with care and precision. That attitude paid off with the 2-0 win.
This was his first tournament. After the duel, I told him that he'd gotten a bad pairing by having to play me right off, since I had won the tournament last week, and wished him good luck the rest of the way.
1-0, 2-0

Round 2 v. mono-Green, 2-0 --
This deck featured Eladamri's Vineyards. The last time I faced a Vineyard deck I lost 1-2, mainly due to 1st turn Vineyard mana burn and no Disenchants showing up. This time it was different. I saw Disk after Disk, but I kept recovering faster, and dealing faster damage. I remember that the first game we both had mana problems, but I was able to get going with two lands, and he couldn't do the same. The second game, I was able to force the pace, and finally got to him.
2-0, 4-0

Round 3 v. Black/Red, 0-2 --
After such a fine start, this match was a bit of a letdown. This guy was due, though, because I'd beaten him several times in a row. He ended up 4-1 I believe, but lost in the first round of single-elim.
Its strange how a deck can play so well, then suddenly refuse to cough up any helpful card. I ended up creature and creature-removal poor, drawing a little more land than I wanted, and too much enchantment removal. He crushed me quickly in both games.
In the first game of this match I made an error, putting an Empyrial Armor on an Infantry Veteran. Something was nagging at me, saying "That's an error", but I did it anyway, and the Black Knight my opponent played the next turn exposed my error fully.
2-1, 4-2

Round 4 v. Green/Black, 2-1 --
In the first game of this one, the trend of the last two games continued, but then in games two and three things started to click again.
The first game was very interesting. He pushed through a Dervish, and got it up to 4/4, then I killed it with a White Knight/Incinerate. I Armored the Knight, only to have a Quiron Ranger/Elvish Fury buyback/Elvish Fury kill the Armored Knight, and finally he just beat me down. In the second game, as I recall, he had trouble pulling a Forest early, but other than that I don't remember much about the last two games. I do know that Serrated Biskelions were strong, getting two-for-one removal. I didn't see River Boas, which was a bit surprising.
3-1, 6-3

Round 5 v. White/Blue, 2-1 --
Didn't want to play this one. I like this guy, and knew one of us would be disappointed, because he was 2-1-1, and had to win to get in, plus, my tiebreaks were poor too. He was playing a control deck, which gives me a lot of problems. I lost the first game, which didn't surprise me much. He played the game very well, establishing card advantage with Wraths and Disks, and finally beatdown with a Rainbow Efreet. In came the Pyroblasts, which proved critical to victory. In the second and third games I got a lot of early beatdown. In the second game I got an early Armor down, and a Pyroblast of a Capsize was strong. In the third game, I beat him down to two life, and it looked like he might grab board control, but Incinerate, response Dissapate (tapping out), response Pyroblast was game, and I made the final eight for the fourth straight week.
4-1, 8-4


Single-elimination -- final eight, 4th or 5th seed, with a 4-1 record.

Quarterfinals v. Blue/Red, 2-1 --
An unusual deck, with a bunch of counters, some burn, Snake Basket, Capsize, Mana Flare?! As seems to be usual against counterdecks, I lost the first game after he got card advantage, then a Snake Basket for six and Capsize/buyback on my lone Blacksmith was game. In come the Pyroblasts. Game two, he's mana-hosed, discards for a while, doesn't recover, I win easily. Game three, I don't draw many creatures (I get an Infantry Veteran alone down, and he counters my Soltari Priest and a couple of Armors. I'm biding my time with a 'Geddon in hand. Down comes a Mana Flare, and he has two untapped Islands. I play Crusade, no counter. I Disenchant the Mana Flare, and he taps out to Capsize it. In response, I tap my last two lands for four White and Armageddon gets through. He's obviously demoralized, and the Veteran gets to work (but he's at 17). Turns out that he's not holding land, and doesn't draw any soon enough, and that's game.
5-1, 10-5

Semifinals v. mono-Black, 1-2 --
Interesting deck that uses Blood Pets, Barrow Ghouls, and Crypt Rats to complement the usual stock of Black stuff. I win the first game, but lose the last two; in the last two games I just didn't draw what I needed. In the last game, I got a third-turn Armored Death Speaker, but I only had the one creature, and could sense the Diabolic Edict even before he played it. The last game was a little frustrating in that a Dread of Night comes down, and where are my three Sleights? I spent the last two games reacting to threats.
I think that this duel and the third round duel against the Black/Red deck exposed a bit of a hole in my sideboard.
5-2, 11-7

Some general comments -- Knight of Dawn didn't play well for me, as I tend to run on three lands in play, and the Knight's ability ties up two. Propaganda was never a factor. I'll probably put Death Speakers into those slots, ideally setting up first turn Death Speaker, second turn White Knight, third turn Armor sequence against Black, and with two creatures in play, Diabolic Edict is less effective. Other than that, what can I say? It was a good day, and for the last four weeks I finished 3rd, 3rd, 1st, 3rd, which is my best run ever. Strong showings against control decks and no apparent weaknesses (except v. Wrath of God, since Arcane Denial is gone), makes the deck competative no matter what the metagame.



61 Card deck:

15 Card sideboard:



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

Back to Hobbies 'n Games