EnigmA Amiga Run 1997 July

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Amigaguide Document | 1980-04-14 | 21KB | 441 lines

@node start " MENU #4" '`;,,,, `;;;;; ,,,,,, ,,,,,, ,,,, ,,,,,; ;;;;;, ;;;; , ';;; ;; ' ;;' ,;; '' ,;;';;;; ;;;;;; ,; ;;;;, ;; ,,; ;; ;; ,;;' ';;;;,;' ;;;; ,;;;' ;;;; ';,,,;; ;; ';;, ,;;' ';;;; ;;;; '' '' '''`; ,''' '''''''' ,;;' ;;;; ;;;;. ,;;; ;;;; ;;;;;. T h e G a t h e r i n g (TM) ,;''' ;;'' ```````` PLAYER GUIDE VOL 1 ` ' Inquest Feature: THE FINAL 4 How to play and beat the top four type II Magic decks. By Jeff Hannes @{ " Introduction " Link "intro"@} @{ " The NecroDeck " Link "nec"@} @{ " The Erhnamgeddon " Link "erh"@} @{ " The Land Destruction " Link "ld"@} @{ " The Turbo Stasis " Link "ts"@} @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 4 " Link "start"@} @endnode @node intro You spent all night getting your Goblin deck ready for the big tournament. It was flowing fast and smooth in the practice runs and the sideboard was ready to deal with anything. In the first round it looked like your hard work was going to pay off. You pounded the heck out of some poor kid who was using Craw Wurms and Basilisks. Things were looking good...until the next round, when you promptly got crushed by a Necropotence deck. You went back to the drawing board for the next tourney, finally coming up with a solid white-weenie deck with four Karmas in the sideboard to handle that pesky all-black deck. This time you managed to beat the Necrodeck but got hammred by an Ehrnam Djinn/Armageddon deck. See a pattern? It's real simple. Despite what some people might try to tell you, there are basically only four deck types that consistently win in Type II play: the all-black Necrodeck, the green/white Ehrnamgeddon deck, the green/red land-destruct on deck and the blue/white Stasis deck. Although it's certainly possible to win a tourney with another type of deck, it's these four decks that consistently dominate. So if you want to win, your best bet is to play one of these decks and know how to beat the rest. Sounds simple enough, but there's more to playing these decks than just throwing together all the cards on the checklist. Anyone can do that-it's how well you play the deck (along with a little bit of luck) that will ultimately determine how well you finish @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 4 " Link "start"@} @endnode @node nec " " THE NECRODECK In a game environment already short on efficient card-drawing tools, Necropotence is the ultimate in card advantage. You can draw a card for the measly cost of one life, and you can do it as many times as you want The only real draw back is that you lose your draw phase. Fortunately, if you're ahead, that's not much of a problem. Necrodecks rely on card advantage to stay ahead, using Hymns to Tourach to knock down your opponent and using the Necropotence to keep your card supply full. Amazingly efficient creatures like Hypnotic Specters and Orders of the Ebon Hand do the dirty work, while Nevinyrral's Disks keep you safe from just about anything. Life-gainers like Ivory Tower, Zuran Orb and Drain Life insure that you'll be able to consistently use Necropotence without drawing yourself to death. Put it all together and you've got the most powerful Type II deck out there. How to Play It Know when to play the Necropotence. It's the first and most important rule of playing a Necrodeck. Too many people make the mistake of throwing down the Necropotence as soon as possible. Their eyes light up when they see a Dark Ritual and Necropotence in their opening draw. We'll make it easy for you: This is bad. The idea behind the Necrodeck is that it gives you a card advantage when you and your opponent are both low on cards. By playing it early in the game, you're denying yourself the free cards of a regular draw phase. Wait until your opponent is low on cards, or until you've only got one or two in hand, and then drop the Necropotence to fill up your hand. Keep a Disk handy. Nevinyrral's Disk is the key to a Necrodeck. Without it, your chances of winning decrease significantly. Besides giving black the necessary capability to deal with artifacts and enchantments, it allows you to off you own Necropotence when you don't need it anymore. If you've got a handful of cards and your opponent has none, you don't need the Necropotence any more. Don't play all your creatures at once. Unless you need them for defense, you should pretty much never have more than two creatures on the board at once. The last thing you want is for four creatures to be knocked out by a single Wrath of God or Pyroclasm. It's also good to save creatures so that when you set off a Disk you've got some attackers in reserve. Take your time. Despite what it looks like, the Necrodeck is not a speed deck. Sure, a first turn Hypnotic Specter never hurts, but the idea isn't to overwhelm your opponent. As long as your opponent has cards in hand, always use the Hymns before you do anything else. You're much better off knocking that Lightning Bolt out of his hand before you play your Black Knight. Don't think you have to kill your opponent in a frenzy. Wait for the game to settle into a balance and then drop a Necropotence to gain the card advantage that should carry you to victory. How to Beat It Don't get rid of the Necropotence. As strange as it sounds, by knocking off your opponent's Necropotence, you're doing him a great favor. Since Necropotence can always be used the turn it comes into play (destroying it doesn't prevent its controller from getting cards at the beginning of his discard phase), your opponent will get to fill his hand no matter what you do. By destroying the Necropotence, you're allowing him to regain his normal draw. Save your Disenchants for the more dangerous cards, like Ivory Tower, Zuran Orb and the Disks. Direct damage is usually not the way to win. Despite what many people may think, a deck full of Lightning Bolts and Incinerates isn't necessarily the bane of a Necrodeck. If you don't take the time to off his creatures, they'll run all over you. The alternative is to use mass creature-killers like Pyroclasm and Serrated Arrows and defensive beasts like Dancing Scimitar to keep your opponent's weenies at bay. If you can set up a strong creature defense, pound away with direct damage. Otherwise, you'll probably have to rely on hefty creatures (especially flying ones) to do the deed. Of course if all else fails, you could always try using a Juxtapose or Gauntlets of Chaos to give your opponent a Library of Leng... THE BIG BLACK BEAST Black Creatures 4 Black Knights 4 Hypnotic Specters 1 Ihsan's Shade 4 Orders of the Ebon Hand 2 Sengir Vampires Black Spells 4 Dark Rituals 4 Drain Lifes 4 Hymns to Tourach 4 Necropotences Artifacts 2 Icy Manipulators 1 Ivory Tower 3 Nevinyrral's Disks 1 Zuran Orb Lands 4 Strip Mines 18 Swamps Sideboard 3 Dystopias 1 Feldon's Cane 1 Fountain of Youth 3 Glooms 1 Nevinyrral's Disk 3 Serrated Arrows 3 Terrors @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 4 " Link "start"@} @endnode @node erh " " THE ERHNAMGEDDON Not too long after Chronicles came out, people started trying to find the best way to harness the power of the incredibly cheap Erhnam Djinn. When all was said and done, the answer was found in land destruction, and Erhnamgeddon was born The theory is simple-get out a really big creature, blow up all your opponent's land so he can't do anything about the creature, and then run him over like a stray groundhog on the interstate. Not very elegant, but terribly effective As the name of the deck implies, Erhnam Djinns are standard fare. Serra Angels, Autumn Willow, Deadly Insects and Whirling Dervishes generally round out the attack force. Defense comes in the form of Disenchants, Swords to Plowshares and Icy Manipulators, as well as from the ever- present life-gaining Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb. Assorted mana elves and Fellwar Stones give you a mana edge; the Land Tax and Lodestone Bauble help for a quick recovery from the Armageddon. The thing that really makes this deck so powerful is that it can come back to win from almost any deficit. You could be down 20-3 and facing a horde of creatures, but with the right draw, you could easily turn the game around on your opponent and win 3-0. A well-placed Balance or Wrath of God followed by an Armageddon can easily swing the contest in your favor. How to Play It Don't be afraid to cast Armageddon. Ideally you'd like to be able to tap all your lands, play an Armageddon and then throw down a big creature with your leftover mana, but if you sit around waiting for eight mana, you just might get stoped in the process. If there are no big creatures in sight and you've got a couple of elves and/or Fellwar Stones, don't be afraid to fire off an Armageddon. It'll keep your opponent at bay, and by the time you draw that big beastie, you should have more than enough mana to cast it. Use your toys. This may seem obvious, but the Land Tax and Sylvan Library aren't in there just for the fun of it. If your opponent has more land than you, use the Tax-always. It helps you thin out your deck. This is a good thing, because the last thing you want to draw when you need a key card is a plains. The card-drawing ability of the Library is also incredibly useful. If drawing an Armageddon can help you lock up the game, don't be afraid to spend four or even eight life to grab a couple of extra cards. The cards you draw may not be helpful, but it'll bring you that much closer to the cards you do need. Don't fear the Terror or Swords to Plowshares. Don't hesitate to play a creature just because you think your opponent might have the means to get rid of it. If your opponent's got an StP in hand, he's got it, and there's not a heck of a lot you can do about it. Keep playing creatures and eventually one will slip through the cracks. How to Beat It Hold onto your extra land. This one's real simple-if you've got enough land in play, don't play any more. Against an Armageddon deck, you should never have more land in play than what you need to cast something. And don't rush to put out four lands in anticipation of drawing your Icy. Unless you need it for something else, keep the fourth land in your hand until you actually draw that Icy. Don't hesitate to cast spells. Use it or lose it-that's the philosophy you've got to play by. If you wait a turn to play that Nevinyrral's Disk, you may never get the chance. If your opponent has at least three mana during your turn, there could be an potential Armageddon coming your way. Keep that in mind when you start to think twice about playing something. Fry the weenies. Lightning Bolts on the player are usually fruitless, especially if you're using Swords to Plowshares for creature defense. The Erhnamgeddon deck thrives on the mana production of its Elves and Stones, so do your best to even the field by depriving your opponent of these resources. THE ERHNAMGEDDON DECK Green Creatures 1 Autumn Willow 1 Deadly Insect 4 Erhnam Djinns 2 Fyndhorn Elves 3 Llanowar Elves Green Spells 2 Sylvan Libraries White Creatures 2 Serra Angels White Spells 4 Armageddons 1 Balance 3 Disenchants 1 Land Tax 4 Swords to Plowshares 2 Wraths of God Artifacts 2 Fellwar Stones 2 Icy Manipulators 1 Ivory Tower 1 Lodestone Bauble 1 Zuran Orb Lands 4 Brushlands 7 Forests 9 Plains 4 Strip Mines Sideboard 2 Circles of Protection: Black 1 Circle of Protection: Green 3 Circles of Protection: Red 1 Feldon's Cane 3 Karmas 2 Reprisals 3 Serrated Arrows @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 4 " Link "start"@} @endnode @node ld " " LAND DESTRUCTION When Alliances was released Pillage helped give Type II land destruction a new lease on life, and now it's one of the hottest deck types out there. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the strategy behind a land- destruction deck-kill our opponent's land so he can't cast anything and then crush him with big beasties. The theory is a lot like the Erhnamgeddon, but the red/ green approach is more selective and much more aggressive. The only problem with this kind of deck is that it's possible for your opponent to get a large clump of land, and if that happens you may not be able to recover. However, more often than not, the 16 landkill spells are more than enough to completely screw with your opponent's carefully laid-out plans. The Erhnams are all too familiar, but using red also lets you employ the services of the big bad Balduvian Horde. Unless your opponent's packing cheap creaturekill cards like Swords to Plowshares or Terrors, he's going to be in for a world of pain. Four Lightning Bolts, a Stormbind and a Black Vise round out the damage -dealers, and the must-have Icies give some creature defense (if you should need it) as well some additional land depletion. How to Play It Kill, kill, kill! Always play your land-destruction spells as soon as possible. Never let your opponent get a lot of mana if you can prevent it. The last thing you want to see is an angry Erhnam staring you in the face. First-turn Strip are great, but if you've got other landkill spells in hand and it looks like you'll be needing that Strip Mine for your third mana, hold onto it until you've picked up another land or fired off all the landkill cards in your hand. Attack the mana-producing colors. If your opponent's playing with Elves, get his green mana first so he can't play his Elves. If he's using Dark Rituals, attack the swamps. If your opponent's playing two or more colors, pick one and go after it. Tap away. If you've got an Icy out and nothing better to do, tap your opponent's land during his upkeep. It's almost as good as destroying the land, and you can be selective about which land you tap every turn. Fear the Land Tax and Lodestone Bauble. Yeah, it's not much of a tip, but these cards suck for you. There's not much you can do about the Bauble, but try to get rid of the Tax as soon as possible. How to Beat It Play with artifact and creature mana. "Land" destruction is just that; besides Pillage, these decks usually don't bother with other means of mana deprivation. By using artifacts like Fellwar Stone and Sol Grail and/or creatures like Llanowar Elves and Elvish Spirit Guides, you vastly increase your chances against any deck employing a large amount of landkill. Expect the first land you play to be destroyed. Here's what we're getting at: If you have two mountains and a plains in your opening draw, play a mountain first and expect it to get blown up. The basic rule is to play the land you want least first. So if you don't care much about losing that City of Brass, make it the first land you play. Save your creaturekill for the biggies. Don't bother knocking off the Birds unless your opponent is having serious mana problems. The exception is if your opponent plays one on the first turn. In that case it depends on what you've go in your hand. If buying an extra turn before you start losing land will let you play something important, like a Fellwar Stone, then knock off the bird. Otherwise, save it for something much more troublesome, like an angry mob of Balduvian THE HORDES Green Creatures 1 Autumn Willow 4 Birds of Paradise 4 Erhnam Djinns Green Spells 1 Sylvan Library 4 Thermokarsts 1 Tranquility Red Creatures 4 Balduvian Hordes Red Spells 4 Lightning Bolts 4 Pillages 4 Stone Rains Gold Spell 1 Stormbind Artifacts 1 Black Vise 2 Icy Manipulators 1 Zuran Orb Lands 8 Forests 4 Karplusan Forests 8 Mountains 4 Strip Mines Sideboard 3 Burnouts 2 Hurricanes 3 Incinerates 1 Jokulhaups 2 Nature's Wrath 2 Primitive Justices 2 Tranquilities @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 4 " Link "start"@} @endnode @node ts " " TURBO-STASIS Although knocking your opponent down to zero life is the most common way to win, it's not the only way. If you can pull it off, running your opponent out of cards is just as effective. After all, in tournament play it's not how you play the game-it's whether you win or lose. The deck-removal standard used to be Millstones, but now it's Turbo-Stasis. The theory behind Turbo-Stasis is simple but incredibly effective. Play a Howling Mine on the second turn and a Stasis on the third turn, and then use cards like Boomerang, Recall and Despotic Scepter to keep the Stasis effect going for the rest of the game. Kismet completes the lock, and if your opponent doesn't have any untapped lands at that point, he might as well give up. Thanks to the Howling Mines, you should be able to play another land just about every turn. And with Boomerang and the Scepter, you can negate the effects of your Stasis before your untap phase, allowing you to untap everything and set up another Stasis. The Force of Wills are invaluable, as they allow you to thwart your opponent's plans without slowing down your Stasis payments. Arcane Denials are easy to cast, give you an extra card, and the option they give your opponent to draw to more cards actually helps you more than him (since you're trying to run him out of cards). Overall, the Turbo-Stasis deck may not seem that great at first glance, but when it works, it's absolutely devastating. How to Play It Don't worry about your life total. Once you get the Stasis/Kismet lock into play, the only damage you should be taking will be from your own pain-lands. Don't worry if your opponent hits you early or if you have to spend five life on a Lim-D l's Vault. As long as you stay alive, you have a chance to win. Get those Mines out! The Howling Mines are probably the most important card in the deck, so if you don't have one to play on the second turn, use a Lim-D l's Vault to go fetch it. Don't counter anything you can neutralize with a Stasis. Deadly Insects may seem like a horrid thing against this deck, but if you've got a Stasis in hand, it shouldn't really be a problem. Just suck up six points of damage and then keep it locked down for the rest of the game. Save your counters for more devastating effects like Armageddon or Disenchants that would bother your Stasis or Howling Mines. How to Beat It Get those Mines out! Out of the game, that is. The Turbo-Stasis deck need the Mines to support its lock, so if you can eliminate them early on, you'll be going a long way towards thwarting the deck's plans. Save your mana. Don't tap your lands unless you're casting something really key. Once the Stasis comes out, you may never get another untap phase, so make all of your spells count. Use Feldon's Canes. One way to beat the Stasis deck is to beat it at its own game. Make sure you play the Canes as soon as you draw them (but don't use them until you need them) as a Kismet will neutralize them if it comes out first. Use Winter Orbs. Even more devastating to the Power-Stasis deck than the Canes, one Winter Orb can ruin a Stasis player's day. It neutralizes the effects of Boomerangs and the Despotic Scepter, making it very difficult for your opponent to maintain the Stasis lock. Yotian Soldiers? They worked at Nationals, and they can work for you. Creatures that don't tap are the bane of the Power-Stasis deck. Serra Angels are also an effective tool, so if you've got room, put some of these critters in your sideboard. THE TURBO-STASIS DECK Artifacts 1 Black Vise 2 Despotic Scepters 1 Feldon's Cane 4 Howling Mines 1 Ivory Tower 1 Zuran Orb Blue Spells 4 Arcane Denials 4 Boomerangs 4 Forces of Will 2 Recalls 4 Stasis White Spells 1 Balance 2 Kismets Gold Spells 4 Lim-D l's Vaults Land 4 Adarkar Wastes 4 Cities of Brass 13 Islands 4 Underground Rivers Sideboard 2 Blue Elemental Blasts 2 Disenchants 2 Hydroblasts 1 Kismet 2 Mana Shorts 3 Swords to Plowshares 3 Walls of Air Copyright 1996 Gareb Shamus Enterprises, Inc. @{ " Back to Main Menu " Link Main @} @{ " Back to Sub Menu 4 " Link "start"@} @endnode