1995 United States National Championship/Other decks
| 1995 US Nationals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | July 13-16, 1995 | |||
| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||
| Attendance |
"Meat grinders": 8 qualifying tournaments of 256 players "Semi-finals": 64 players | |||
| Format |
Type II (Standard) Sealed Deck | |||
| Winner |
Mark Justice Henry Stern (finalist) Mike Long (semi-finalist) Peter Leiher (semi-finalist) | |||
| ||||
In addition the the Type II decks played by the Top 8 of US Nationals, several other decklists are known. These were played in side events or the Swiss rounds part of the tournament.
Mark Justice's Type I deck
Mark Justice occupied himself in the first two days of the event by winning two large Type I tournaments. He played the same 
deck each time.[1]
| “ |
I'm cautious when playing this deck, which is in line with my defensive philosophy. I like to wait for the right moment to make my move and be as canny as I can be. The official name of the deck that I've always used is the Bolt Me Not. The reason for that is because every creature is unboltable in the deck. That is, every one has a toughness of at least four, meaning that they can't be killed by a single Lightning Bolt.[1] |
” |
Henry Stern's Sealed deck
Henry Stern received strong black cards in his sealed pool, and so choose swamps for his four bonus basic lands (in addtition to the lands he got in his Sealed deck).
| “ | OK, so here's something different than the normal "help me fix my deck" or "this card is better than that one" that seems to take up most of our time here on .strategy. Listed below are the 120 cards that I received durring the sealed portion of the US National Championships and the deck that I wound up constructing. I'm curios as to what the others would have come up with.[2] | ” |
Scott Burke's Type II deck
Scott Burke tied for 11th place in the main event, claiming to have missed the Top 8 due to a play error in his final round match against Dana Rossi.[3][4] He published his decklist in a tournament report for Scrye Magazine;[5] it was a 
deck which splashed for Mind Twist.
| “ |
This includes the adjustments from the previous night's playtesting. I have borrowed five black Ice Age multilands for the Mind Twist. The Creature mix is more balanced, and I have switched the Disintegrate to a Fireball for better anti-weenie defense. I have cut back on the expensive Control Magics and, because of my belief that most players will be playing red, I've added a single Hydroblast to the main deck. I've removed two Pyroclasms from the main deck, to hedge my bets in case fewer weenie decks are present, and added a third Shatter and an Ivory Tower, both anti-Vise cards.[5] |
” |
Enchantments (2)
References
- ↑ a b Matt Forbeck (June 1996). "Masters of Magic (pdf)". Inquest #14, June 1996, pp. 28-31. Wizard. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved on July 8, 2025.
- ↑ Henry Stern (July 25, 1995). "What would you do with this sealed deck? (Usenet psot)". Newsgroup: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy. Usenet. Retrieved on July 8, 2025.
- ↑ JasonVorthos (February 27, 2024). "Scott Burke Disco Counterboat - US National Championship 1995 (website)". MTG Goldfish. Retrieved on July 4, 2025.
- ↑ Scott Burke (July 18, 1995). "Justice at Origins (Usenet post)". The Dojo. Retrieved on July 4, 2025.
- ↑ a b Scott Burke (November 1995). "Justice At Origins: The Quest For The National Title: Part Two (Twitter post)". Scrye Magazine #10, pp. 96-97. Scrye Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 Apr 2024. Retrieved on July 2024.