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'''The Deck''' is a [[control deck]] created by [[Brian Weissman]]. It functions on the same premise as modern control decks: gradually gaining card advantage while answering opposing threats, then playing a single large threat which is sufficient to win the game.
'''The Deck''' is a [[control deck]] created by [[Brian Weissman]].<ref>{{DailyRef|making-magic/deck-2014-02-17|The Deck|[[Mike Flores]]|February 17, 2014}}</ref> Fundamentally, it functions the same as modern control decks: gradually gaining card advantage while answering opposing threats, then playing a single large threat that is sufficient to win the game. However, historically it has been constructed using many single-copy card drawing, deck searching and answer cards from every color. The result is a highly complex and variable deck, regularly said to be one of the most skill intensive decks in the history of Magic. Some players have even gone on to say that the deck contains no bad matchups, but only good matchups depending solely on skill of the player navigating it.


This is the version he ran in 1996.<ref>http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=sb20010607a</ref> (Note that this version of the deck is not legal in any tournament format, as Strip Mine was later [[restricted]] in [[Vintage]].)
==Description==
The Deck used <c>Counterspell</c>, <c>Mana Drain</c>, <c>Red Elemental Blast
</c>, <c>Disenchant</c>, <c>Strip Mine</c> and <c>Swords to Plowshares</c> to trade on a one-for-one basis with the opponent's threats. Then, when the Weissman Deck had somewhat stabilized, he could use <c>Ancestral Recall</c>, <c>Braingeyser</c>, <c>Amnesia</c>, <c>Jayemdae Tome</c> or <c>Library of Alexandria</c> to gain card advantage. In the environment of the day, <c>Moat</c> usually spelled the end, as could a <c>Disrupting Scepter</c>. <c>Demonic Tutor</c>'s use is fairly self explanatory, but it is important to note how it streamlines the deck since it justifies having fewer copies of [[silver bullet]] cards. (That is, specific solution cards.) <c>Regrowth</c>, <c>Timetwister</c> and <c>Recall</c> gives the deck some resilience if unexpected things happened. A final strength of The Deck of course, is its sheer volume of "broken" cards (generally considered to be quite overpowered). Sometimes it could "just win" by getting a <c>Serra Angel</c>, <c>Black Lotus</c>, <c>Tundra</c>, <c>Mox Emerald</c> draw, or something of the like.


<d title="The Deck by Brian Weissman">
The Deck later evolved to use <c>Fireball</c> as a win condition instead of Serra Angel, when Weissman was having serious troubles dealing with <c>Necropotence</c> decks of the time.  While previously objecting to the use of Fireball to render the opponent's creature removal useless, it was an inevitable change to keep up with a changing game.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/19990224013740/thedojo.net/history/thedeck3.html "The Deck", Chapter II: Jan '96 - Aug '96]</ref>
 
===Original version===
The following is Brian Weissman's original 1996 version.<ref>[http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=sb20010607a Mike Flores "Finding the Tinker Deck", Sideboard]</ref> (Note that this version of the deck is not legal in any tournament format. For example, <c>Strip Mine</c> was later [[restricted]] in [[Vintage]].)
 
<d title="The Deck by Brian Weissman, 1996">
Lands
Lands
4 City of Brass
4 City of Brass
Line 61: Line 68:
</d>
</d>


The Deck later evolved to use <c>Fireball</c> as a win condition instead of <c>Serra Angel</c>, when Weissman was having serious troubles dealing with Necropotence decks of the time. While previously objecting to the use of Fireball to render the opponent's creature removal useless, it was inevitable change to keep up with a changing game.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/19990224013740/thedojo.net/history/thedeck3.html]</ref>
===Donais U5C===
Although The Deck was designed for [[Vintage]] (i.e. [[Type 1]] or [[Classic]]), its ideas and unique style of play complexity soon influenced decks in [[Standard]] (i.e. [[Type 2]]). For example, from December 1997-July 1998 many variants emerged. One of the earliest and most popular was [[Mike Donais]] 5-color Control deck, or "Donais U5C" for short. It arrived following the release of [[Tempest]] and was popularized on [[The Dojo]] and during the United States Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship.<ref>Flores, M. J. (2006). ''Deckade: 10 years of decks, thoughts, and theory!'', 136. New York City, NY: To Be Continued LLC.</ref> The core is a U/W Control deck supported by life-gaining/mitigating cards, targeted removal, card drawing and graveyard recursion (<c>Gaea's Blessing</c>). <c>Whispers of the Muse</c> replaced <c>Jayemdae Tome</c> as the card-drawing engine, <c>Wall of Blossoms</c> replaced <c>Swords to Plowshares</c> as a card advantage solution to single creatures and <c>Fireball</c> dual-functioned as a removal and game-winning condition.
 
<d title="Donais U5C by Mike Donais, 1998">
Lands
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 City of Brass
1 Flood Plain
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Quicksand
4 Reflecting Pool
1 Svyelunite Temple
2 Thalakos Lowlands
1 Undiscovered Paradise
1 Vec Townships
1 Wasteland
1 Forest
3 Island
1 Plains
 
Creatures
2 Uktabi Orangutan
4 Wall of Blossoms
 
Instants
4 Counterspell
1 Disenchant
4 Dismiss
3 Dissipate
4 Impulse
4 Whispers of the Muse
 
Sorceries
2 Fireball
3 Gaea's Blessing
3 Gerrard's Wisdom
4 Wrath of God
 
Sideboard
2 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Hydroblast
2 Lobotomy
1 Mangara's Blessing
1 Null Rod
1 Phyrexian Furnace
2 Pyroblast
2 Teferi's Realm
2 Warmth
</d>
 
===T2===
The popularity of Donais U5C quickly led players to target its unstable manabase, using <c>Wasteland</c>s, <c>Dwarven Miner</c>s and other cards that punished non-basic lands (e.g. <c>Price of Progress</c>). Responding to this, [[Cathy Nicoloff]] and Brian Weissman developed a version for the 1998 United States National Championships, called ''The 'T2' Deck''.<ref>Flores, M. J. (2006). ''Deckade: 10 years of decks, thoughts, and theory!'', 137. New York City, NY: To Be Continued LLC.</ref> It reduced the manabase weakness by limiting the amount of non-U/W spells, increasing colorless spells, and nearly-halving the number of [[nonbasic land|non-basic lands]].
 
<d title="The 'T2' Deck by Cathy Nicoloff & Brian Weissman, 1998">
Lands
2 Adarkar Wastes
4 City of Brass
2 Thalakos Lowlands
1 Undiscovered Paradise
9 Island
7 Plains
 
Artifacts
3 Nevinyrral's Disk
 
Instants
4 Counterspell
2 Disenchant
3 Dissipate
4 Impulse
3 Power Sink
4 Whispers of the Muse
 
Sorceries
2 Fireball
2 Gaea's Blessing
4 Gerrard's Wisdom
4 Wrath of God


Basically, the deck used <c>Counterspells</c>, <c>Mana Drains</c>, <c>Red Elemental Blasts</c>, <c>Disenchants</c>, <c>Strip Mines</c> and <c>Swords to Plowshares</c> to trade on a one-for-one basis with the opponent's threats. Then, when the Weissman Deck had somewhat stabilized, he could use <c>Ancestral Recall</c>, <c>Braingeyser</c>, <c>Amnesia</c>, <c>Jayemdae Tome</c> or <c>Library of Alexandria</c> to gain card advantage. In the environment of the day, <c>Moat</c> usually spelled the end, as could a <c>Disrupting Scepter</c>. <c>Demonic Tutor</c>'s use is fairly self explanatory, but it is important to note how it streamlines the deck since it justifies having fewer copies of [[silver bullet]] cards. (That is, specific solution cards.) <c>Regrowth</c>, <c>Timetwister</c> and <c>Recall</c> gives the deck some resiliance if unexpected things happened. A final strength of The Deck of course, is its sheer volume of "broken" cards (generally considered to be quite overpowered). Sometimes it could "just win" by getting a <c>Serra Angel</c>, <c>Black Lotus</c>, <c>Tundra</c>, <c>Mox Emerald</c> draw, or something of the like.
Sideboard
1 Disenchant
1 Dissipate
4 Legacy's Allure
2 Lobotomy
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Power Sink
1 Rainbow Efreet
4 Warmth
</d>


Though Magic has changed tremendously in the 11 years since this deck's creation, the fundamentals behind The Deck still apply.  It requires a skillful pilot to win consistantly against everything that Classic has to offer, but it has no terrible matchups and many that are extremely favorable.
===2006 version===
Though ''Magic'' has changed tremendously in the 20+ years since The Deck's creation, the ideas behind it still apply: a skillful pilot is required to navigate consistently against every possible matchup. Its matchups depend more on skill than nearly any other deck. In fact, when played correctly it could be said to have no unfavorable matchups, but rather only those that are favorable.


For those interested, this is an exact list of The Deck that Brian is using now.
In 2006, Weissman posted an updated version of The Deck.


<d title="The Deck by Brian Weissman circa 2006">
<d title="The Deck by Brian Weissman, 2006">
Lands
Lands
3 City of Brass
3 City of Brass
Line 134: Line 228:
</d>
</d>


===Old School===
In 2018, Weissman posted an updated version of The Deck following his experiences of competing in '[[Old School]]' (aka 93/94 Magic) format tournaments that year.<ref>Weissman, B., & Edwin the Magic Engineer. (June 19, 2018). ''Brian Weissman and ETME discuss their GP Vegas 2018 Old School decks''. Retrieved on August 5, 2018 from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AijNR1pmLHQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AijNR1pmLHQ].</ref><ref>Levine, E. (April 28, 2016). ''New Format: Old School''. Retrieved on August 5, 2018 from [https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/new-format-old-school/ https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/new-format-old-school/].</ref>
<d title="The Deck by Brian Weissman, 2018">
Lands
4 City of Brass
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Strip Mine
4 Tundra
4 Underground Sea
Artifacts
1 Black Lotus
1 Chaos Orb
3 Fellwar Stone
3 Jayemdae Tome
1 Ivory Tower
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
Enchantments
1 Copy Artifact
2 The Abyss
Instants
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Counterspell
3 Disenchant
1 Divine Offering
1 Mana Drain
4 Swords to Plowshares
Sorceries
1 Balance
1 Braingeyser
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mind Twist
1 Time Walk
1 Recall
1 Regrowth
Sideboard
3 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Control Magic
1 Disenchant
1 Divine Offering
1 Dust to Dust
3 Hymn to Tourach
1 Ivory Tower
1 The Abyss
2 Wrath of God
</d>
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Tournament decks]]
[[Category:Tournament decks]]

Latest revision as of 16:26, 15 June 2022

The Deck is a control deck created by Brian Weissman.[1] Fundamentally, it functions the same as modern control decks: gradually gaining card advantage while answering opposing threats, then playing a single large threat that is sufficient to win the game. However, historically it has been constructed using many single-copy card drawing, deck searching and answer cards from every color. The result is a highly complex and variable deck, regularly said to be one of the most skill intensive decks in the history of Magic. Some players have even gone on to say that the deck contains no bad matchups, but only good matchups depending solely on skill of the player navigating it.

Description

The Deck used Counterspell, Mana Drain, Red Elemental Blast , Disenchant, Strip Mine and Swords to Plowshares to trade on a one-for-one basis with the opponent's threats. Then, when the Weissman Deck had somewhat stabilized, he could use Ancestral Recall, Braingeyser, Amnesia, Jayemdae Tome or Library of Alexandria to gain card advantage. In the environment of the day, Moat usually spelled the end, as could a Disrupting Scepter. Demonic Tutor's use is fairly self explanatory, but it is important to note how it streamlines the deck since it justifies having fewer copies of silver bullet cards. (That is, specific solution cards.) Regrowth, Timetwister and Recall gives the deck some resilience if unexpected things happened. A final strength of The Deck of course, is its sheer volume of "broken" cards (generally considered to be quite overpowered). Sometimes it could "just win" by getting a Serra Angel, Black Lotus, Tundra, Mox Emerald draw, or something of the like.

The Deck later evolved to use Fireball as a win condition instead of Serra Angel, when Weissman was having serious troubles dealing with Necropotence decks of the time. While previously objecting to the use of Fireball to render the opponent's creature removal useless, it was an inevitable change to keep up with a changing game.[2]

Original version

The following is Brian Weissman's original 1996 version.[3] (Note that this version of the deck is not legal in any tournament format. For example, Strip Mine was later restricted in Vintage.)

The Deck by Brian Weissman, 1996

Lands (21)

4 City of Brass

4 Island

1 Library of Alexandria

3 Plains

3 Strip Mine

4 Tundra

2 Volcanic Island

Artifacts (11)

1 Black Lotus

2 Disrupting Scepter

1 Jayemdae Tome

1 Mirror Universe

1 Mox Emerald

1 Mox Jet

1 Mox Pearl

1 Mox Ruby

1 Mox Sapphire

1 Sol Ring

Creatures (2)

2 Serra Angel

Enchantments (2)

2 Moat

Instants (17)

1 Ancestral Recall

2 Counterspell

4 Mana Drain

2 Red Elemental Blast

4 Disenchant

4 Swords to Plowshares

Sorceries (7)

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Amnesia

1 Braingeyser

1 Timetwister

1 Time Walk

1 Recall

1 Regrowth

Sideboard (15)

2 Red Elemental Blast

2 Circle of Protection: Red

2 Dust to Dust

1 Zuran Orb

1 Balance

2 Blood Moon

1 Tormod's Crypt

2 Mana Short

1 Amnesia

1 Feldon's Cane

Donais U5C

Although The Deck was designed for Vintage (i.e. Type 1 or Classic), its ideas and unique style of play complexity soon influenced decks in Standard (i.e. Type 2). For example, from December 1997-July 1998 many variants emerged. One of the earliest and most popular was Mike Donais 5-color Control deck, or "Donais U5C" for short. It arrived following the release of Tempest and was popularized on The Dojo and during the United States Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship.[4] The core is a U/W Control deck supported by life-gaining/mitigating cards, targeted removal, card drawing and graveyard recursion (Gaea's Blessing). Whispers of the Muse replaced Jayemdae Tome as the card-drawing engine, Wall of Blossoms replaced Swords to Plowshares as a card advantage solution to single creatures and Fireball dual-functioned as a removal and game-winning condition.

Donais U5C by Mike Donais, 1998

Lands (22)

1 Adarkar Wastes

1 City of Brass

1 Flood Plain

3 Gemstone Mine

1 Quicksand

4 Reflecting Pool

1 Svyelunite Temple

2 Thalakos Lowlands

1 Undiscovered Paradise

1 Vec Townships

1 Wasteland

1 Forest

3 Island

1 Plains

Creatures (6)

2 Uktabi Orangutan

4 Wall of Blossoms

Instants (20)

4 Counterspell

1 Disenchant

4 Dismiss

3 Dissipate

4 Impulse

4 Whispers of the Muse

Sorceries (12)

2 Fireball

3 Gaea's Blessing

3 Gerrard's Wisdom

4 Wrath of God

Sideboard (15)

2 Circle of Protection: Red

2 Hydroblast

2 Lobotomy

1 Mangara's Blessing

1 Null Rod

1 Phyrexian Furnace

2 Pyroblast

2 Teferi's Realm

2 Warmth

T2

The popularity of Donais U5C quickly led players to target its unstable manabase, using Wastelands, Dwarven Miners and other cards that punished non-basic lands (e.g. Price of Progress). Responding to this, Cathy Nicoloff and Brian Weissman developed a version for the 1998 United States National Championships, called The 'T2' Deck.[5] It reduced the manabase weakness by limiting the amount of non-U/W spells, increasing colorless spells, and nearly-halving the number of non-basic lands.

The 'T2' Deck by Cathy Nicoloff & Brian Weissman, 1998

Lands (25)

2 Adarkar Wastes

4 City of Brass

2 Thalakos Lowlands

1 Undiscovered Paradise

9 Island

7 Plains

Artifacts (3)

3 Nevinyrral's Disk

Instants (20)

4 Counterspell

2 Disenchant

3 Dissipate

4 Impulse

3 Power Sink

4 Whispers of the Muse

Sorceries (12)

2 Fireball

2 Gaea's Blessing

4 Gerrard's Wisdom

4 Wrath of God

Sideboard (15)

1 Disenchant

1 Dissipate

4 Legacy's Allure

2 Lobotomy

1 Nevinyrral's Disk

1 Power Sink

1 Rainbow Efreet

4 Warmth

2006 version

Though Magic has changed tremendously in the 20+ years since The Deck's creation, the ideas behind it still apply: a skillful pilot is required to navigate consistently against every possible matchup. Its matchups depend more on skill than nearly any other deck. In fact, when played correctly it could be said to have no unfavorable matchups, but rather only those that are favorable.

In 2006, Weissman posted an updated version of The Deck.

The Deck by Brian Weissman, 2006

Lands (21)

3 City of Brass

1 Island

2 Polluted Delta

1 Flooded Strand

1 Library of Alexandria

1 Strip Mine

4 Wasteland

1 Tundra

4 Volcanic Island

3 Underground Sea

Creatures (3)

2 Gorilla Shaman

1 Morphling

Artifacts (8)

1 Black Lotus

1 Crucible of Worlds

1 Mox Emerald

1 Mox Jet

1 Mox Pearl

1 Mox Ruby

1 Mox Sapphire

1 Sol Ring

Instants (22)

4 Brainstorm

1 Cunning Wish

1 Fact or Fiction

1 Mystical Tutor

1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Skeletal Scrying

1 Stroke of Genius

1 Ancestral Recall

4 Mana Drain

4 Force of Will

1 Red Elemental Blast

2 Swords to Plowshares

Sorceries (6)

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Mind Twist

1 Yawgmoth's Will

1 Balance

1 Time Walk

1 Regrowth

Sideboard (15)

1 Blue Elemental Blast

1 Circle of Protection: Red

1 Darksteel Colossus

1 Tinker

1 Fire/Ice

1 Disenchant

2 Pyroblast

1 Red Elemental Blast

1 Skeletal Scrying

1 Shattering Pulse

2 Gorilla Shaman

1 Diabolic Edict

1 Zuran Orb

Old School

In 2018, Weissman posted an updated version of The Deck following his experiences of competing in 'Old School' (aka 93/94 Magic) format tournaments that year.[6][7]

The Deck by Brian Weissman, 2018

Lands (21)

4 City of Brass

1 Library of Alexandria

4 Mishra's Factory

4 Strip Mine

4 Tundra

4 Underground Sea

Artifacts (15)

1 Black Lotus

1 Chaos Orb

3 Fellwar Stone

3 Jayemdae Tome

1 Ivory Tower

1 Mox Emerald

1 Mox Jet

1 Mox Pearl

1 Mox Ruby

1 Mox Sapphire

1 Sol Ring

Enchantments (3)

1 Copy Artifact

2 The Abyss

Instants (14)

1 Ancestral Recall

4 Counterspell

3 Disenchant

1 Divine Offering

1 Mana Drain

4 Swords to Plowshares

Sorceries (7)

1 Balance

1 Braingeyser

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Mind Twist

1 Time Walk

1 Recall

1 Regrowth

Sideboard (15)

3 Blue Elemental Blast

2 Control Magic

1 Disenchant

1 Divine Offering

1 Dust to Dust

3 Hymn to Tourach

1 Ivory Tower

1 The Abyss

2 Wrath of God

References

  1. ↑ Mike Flores (February 17, 2014). "The Deck". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. ↑ "The Deck", Chapter II: Jan '96 - Aug '96
  3. ↑ Mike Flores "Finding the Tinker Deck", Sideboard
  4. ↑ Flores, M. J. (2006). Deckade: 10 years of decks, thoughts, and theory!, 136. New York City, NY: To Be Continued LLC.
  5. ↑ Flores, M. J. (2006). Deckade: 10 years of decks, thoughts, and theory!, 137. New York City, NY: To Be Continued LLC.
  6. ↑ Weissman, B., & Edwin the Magic Engineer. (June 19, 2018). Brian Weissman and ETME discuss their GP Vegas 2018 Old School decks. Retrieved on August 5, 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AijNR1pmLHQ.
  7. ↑ Levine, E. (April 28, 2016). New Format: Old School. Retrieved on August 5, 2018 from https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/new-format-old-school/.
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