D  E  C  K  B  U  I  L  D  I  N  G

by Grantfly Shriekerz I’ll admit it, I didn’t think of this deck. Well, that’s not totally true. I didn’t think of the combo for the deck independently, I got it from a post on the strategy mill, and well, infinite mana just had too many possibilities for me to turn down. But I managed to turn them all down and make another deck drainer deck. I’m so ashamed of my repetitiveness. I’m so ashamed of my repetitiveness. Anyway, I should probably tell the uninformed the combo post haste, so they don’t think I’ve totally gone nuts for using Shrieking Drakes in a deck: Two Birds of Paradise are out, as is Intruder Alarm. Play Shrieking Drake using one of the birds. It will untap because of the Alarm. Now Use the Drake’s ability to return it (the drake) to your hand. Use the other bird to produce however much mana you want, and keep using the other bird to bring into play the drake, which untaps both. Since birds can produce any kind of mana, a Drain Life or Fireball would finish the opponent. However, you probably would include Prosperity first, as a way to get to those cards, so I decided just to use a Prosperity to drain both decks for however many cards you can (without killing yourself of course). If they have one or two (or up to 24) more cards in they’re deck than you, you can then eliminate the rest of the deck with Vision Charms, using each one twice with Bosium Strip. Otherwise, I have a fail-safe of three Drain Lifes. If you get the componenets for the combo, but don’t have a Prosperity or Drain Life, a Tradewind Rider can keep untapping to send all the opponent’s cards back to they’re hand in a snap. Wall of Blossoms, and Mirri’s Guile help you to get that crucial card. Lobotomy, and Counterspells provide some extra insurance, and the Quirion Elves and Verdant Touches are backup for Bo’Ps. Bosium Strip is useful for every single non-creature spell, except Prosperity or Drain Life, but even then, if they’ve been countered and are lying in your graveyard, a Strip is as good as another copy. Rootwater Depths were included so that if you had the combo running using a verdanted land instead of birds, you could use the land for a Drain Life or Prosperity. Last but not least, I should mention that a while a third turn kill is normally the best possible, the inclusion of Lotus Petals allows for a small chance, but a chance nevertheless, for a second turn kill. Here’s how: Turn 1 (you can do this even if you play first and only draw to 7) : Play forest (or skyshroud or mine) and cast Bird of Paradise. Play lotus, and sac it to play another birds.   Turn 2 (you should draw to 4 cards): Play any land. Tap a birds for blue and your two lands to play Intruder Alarm. Then tap the other birds to play a drake, use the combo, and the one card in your hand should be a Prosperity or Drain Life. Well, here is the deck: Blue (19 cards) : 4 Shrieking Drake 4 Intruder Alarm 3 Vision Charms 4 Prosperity 2 Counterspell 2 Tradewind Riders   Green (15 cards) : 4 Bo’P. 4 Quirion Elves 3 Wall Of Blossoms 2 Verdant Touch 2 Mirri’s Guile   Black, Gold, and Artifact (10 cards) : 1 Lobotomy 3 Drain Life 2 Bosium Strip 4 Lotus Petals   Land (10 cards) : 8 Forests 7 islands 3 Rootwater Depths   Deck Total: 63. Note: Deck was not Playtested Grantfly thinks his decks are great. However, he has been suffering lately from an inflammation of the ego, and needs readers help to tell him whether his decks are good, bad, or merely square man. E-mail him at Grantfly [ Back to September 1998 Table of Contents ] [ Back to Beyond Dominia ] Magic: the Gathering is a Registered Trademark of Wizards of the Coast