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By: gimlicolby, Steven Colby
Apr 16 2009 11:13am
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A little about myself to show my progression to the eternal format, I began playing magic back in 7th grade. Ice Age had just been released and the best card to have was Jester’s Cap. The big expenditure was buying revised packs and it always sucked to open a dual land…. “I got a land as a rare. This sucks!” I continued playing Magic until after Weatherlight. In college I played competitive Lord of the Rings TCG. I won a couple state championships and qualified for worlds for LOTR. I then rejoined the magic playing community during Darksteel. I played for a while then stopped playing again due to time constraints and working in the real world. Then I found out about magic the gathering online, the perfect answer to my reduced playing time. I started playing MTGO at about the time Future Sight was released. I played limited exclusively all the way to Shadowmoor. I then started playing Standard and Block. I found that I enjoyed playing constructed more than limited. Then around this past November, I wanted to give Classic a try. I sold all my standard cards and bought a Dreadstill deck. I rocked it in the tourney practice and then in the daily events. I was hooked. Playing standard was like driving a Honda Accord, a nice reliable car that serves it purpose. Where playing Classic is like driving a Bentley, everything is pimp when you drive a Bentley.

Now how can you afford the Bentley of formats? Its simple you’re going to play decks that prey upon the metagame. The decks are going to be roguish and still viable against most of the field. The decks I am going to discuss all have one thing in common; you do not need force of will to be competitive in Classic. YOU DO NOT NEED FORCE OF WILL TO BE COMPETITIVE IN CLASSIC.

The first deck in hopefully a long line of articles is Dragon Stompy. I have provided a deck list and side board for your perusal. I have also supplied prices from Mtgotraders.com. Lets show the list then discuss its strengths, weaknesses, and some match ups. 

Dragon Stompy

Chrome Mox x 4 $13.75 = $55.00
Chalice of the Void x 4 $4.50 = $18.00
Trinisphere x 4 $3.00 = $12.00


Arc-Slogger x 4 $.60 = $2.40
Gathan Raiders x 4 $.03 = $0.12
Magus of the Moon x 4 $4.00 = $16.00
Rakdos Pit Dragon x 4 $.90 = $3.60
Simian Spirit Guide x 4 $0.05 = $0.20
Taurean Mauler x 3 $2.00 = $6.00
Blood Moon x 2 $2.00 = $4.00

Seething Song x 4 $0.10 = $0.40
Mountain x 11 $0.02 = $0.22
Ancient Tomb x4 $2.00 = $8.00
Crystal Vein x4 $1.25 = $5.00
 

Sideboard:
Boil x4 $0.04 = $0.16
Pithing Needle x 1 $4.75 = $4.75
Relic of Progenitus x 2 $0.08 = $0.16
Winter Orb x 2 $3.50 = $7.00
(Tormod’s Crypt) x 2 $1.75 = $3.50
Blood Moon x 2 $2.00 = $4.00
Pyroblast x 2 $0.65 = $1.30
 


Total of Deck with sideboard: $151.81 ($136.00 with Paypal Discount)
Minus Sideboard: $ 130.94 ($116 with Paypal Discount)
 


The decks idea is to disrupt and limit what your opponent can play , while you are playing your powerful threats. Your creatures outside of Magus of the Moon can end the game in short order. Let’s discuss the stars of the deck. 


Magus of the Moon & Blood Moon:  Attack the non-basic lands of your opponent (true duals, shock lands, and even fetchlands). In matches where your opponent is playing mostly non-basics then if you resolve either of these powerhouses it can be game over.

Trinisphere Chalice of the Void: These two stars are your disruption package against the super fast decks that play low converted mana cost cards. CoTV set to zero or one against the right decks can hamper their playing abilities (Sensei’s Divining Top, Brainstorm, Ponder, Dark Ritual, Swords to Plowshares, Path to Exile, Orim’s Chant). 

 

Seething Song, Chrome Mox, Ancient Tomb, Crystal Vein: These cards are your mana accelerants. They are the speed that you need to stay competitive with other decks. It is not unheard of a turn one Magus of the Moon or even a turn one Arc-slogger from all the acceleration. These are some hard big beaters for your opponent to handle. Ancient Tomb will allow you to set CoTV to one on turn one if necessary. The deck is consisted of a lot of 3 and 4 costed cards.

 

 Rakdos Pit Dragon Gathan Raiders Taurean Mauler Arc-Slogger: These guys are absolute beats. The Raiders and the Pit Dragon go hugenormous when you have zero cards in hands. The Pit Dragon by itself can end the game in two turns if left unanswered. The bull is a beating, that loves it when you opponent decides to try and play spells. The Arc-Slogger is able to take out weenie blockers and or take the burn straight to the dome of your opponent. Out of this list of creatures, the mauler in my opinion is your fifth starter and could be sent down to the minors if you find it lacking. 

 

Some Matchups: 

 

VS Combo (Necrospike and ANT): These match ups are in the favor of the dragon stompy player. You are playing the disruption necessary to slow down their turn two kills. Your all-stars in these matchups are CoTV and Trinisphere. These cards slow them down to the point where it gives you a chance at winning. If you are unable to drop these cards on turn one or two, your odds of winning are considerable lower. Against Necrospike, I would set CoTV to one to combat Dark Ritual, Ponder, Duress, and Brainstorm. The opposite is true for ANT. I would set the chalice to zero to try and combat the (lion’s eye diamond), lotus petal, Mox Diamond, and Mana Crypt. Those are the main fuel that the ANT player uses to fire off a turn one or two  Ad Nauseam. If you’re able to get down both a CoTV and a Trinisphere then your odds of winning are extremely high. They are the aggro deck, you are the control deck. 

 

VS Counterbalance/top: This match up is very interesting. The CB player is looking to set up a lock with counterbalance and (sensei’s divining top). The CB player has many different builds to choose from and you need to adjust your strategy depending on which one you are facing. For the most part CB decks are packing converted mana cost cards from one to three with the majority being two. They are also packing a lot of non-basic lands. A turn one blood moon effect can be crippling to the CB player. The whole disruption package is sweet against the CB player. Even if the CB player gets the balance/top going your big threats are higher cmc’s and are usually immune to this combo. The plan of attack should be an early Magus of the Moon followed by trinisphere or CoTV set to one or two (if you can). These decks do run engineered explosives and this can be quite annoying when they blow up your CoTV’s and Chrome Mox. A CoTV set to zero will make sure they all stay safe from this nasty card. You are the aggro deck, they are the control deck.

 

VS Dredge: This is a really tough match up for Dragon Stompy to win. The dredge opponent has a very quick clock to deal with and it has an abstract way of winning. In game one, I would hope that I won the die roll and am able to set a CoTV to one to counter their discard outlets. A turn one blood moon is also tough for the dredger to deal with since they are playing with all non-basic lands. You’re racing the dredger in game one. Drop as many threats as fast as you can and hit your opponent in the dome as fast as Ali. In game two, sideboard in the relic’s and crypts and out the maulers to make the match up a little easier to handle. This game you have to be the control aggro deck. You need to control early but still get your beats in fast. 

 

VS RDW: An easy matchup if you get the right disruption down early. A turn one trinisphere or CoTV set to one can slow down the opponent enough for you to survive. You are the control deck. They are the aggro decks. Play accordingly. 

 

Other card Options:

There are a multitude of cards you could play depending on the meta. You could play pyroclasm if you are expecting to play a lot of  fast aggro creature decks, such as merfolk, goblins, and elves. You can add Umezawa's Jitte or sword of Fire and Ice if you want some more options. For the sideboard,  is not a bad choice. It battles annoying white enchantments such as Humility, COP: RED, and Moat. 

 

This deck has a lot of strengths against a lot of decks. This deck can serve as a good spring board to allow you to be competitive in any premiere event. It also has its weaknesses. It’s a dog in match ups where you fail to get any disruption down. The best way to learn to play the deck is to take it to the 2 man queues. Hit those queue’s, practice hard and if you have any questions you can pm me on MTGO. 

 

Thanks for reading folks. Until next time keep slinging those magical cards. 

Gimlicolby on MTGO

14 Comments

A good article! by hamtastic at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 12:12
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This is a very needed article for the Classic format. There's a lot of 'expense fears' around Classic, some founded, some are exaggerated. This is a good introduction to the format that is pretty strong.

Thanks for this!

Thanks by gimlicolby at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 12:26
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Classic is an amazing format that can be played without the truly expensive cards.....I hope to make this a regular column. I want to grow the Classic format player base. A bigger player base means more events and support for the players. A truly win-win situation.

CoTV for zero often won't by Anonymous (not verified) at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 12:35
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CoTV for zero often won't protect your Chalices / Moxes. They can still play EE off a Mishra's Factory or other colorless mana to get around Chalice.

That is a true statement. In by gimlicolby at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 13:11
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That is a true statement. In the CB deck I am currently playing with..the only colorless mana I have is singletons of wasteland and academy ruins.......Playing CoTV for zero is not perfect but it does make it harder for your opponent to willy nilly ee your moxes. By playing coTV for zero you may cause your opponent to subconsiously disregard EE as an option even though that may not be the case. Power perceived is power achieved. There will always be ways around every play. That is why magic is great.

COTV for Zero - pretty good by dangerlinto at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 13:24
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It's hard to pay colorless mana for EE when Magus of the Moon is out.

Several things by dangerlinto at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 13:16
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First gimli, I think if you want to tout Dragon Stompy as a budget deck, you had better go on to show how well it plays vs *at least* the decks you are likely to see in a Top 8.

How does it fare vs

- Merfolk (not well - you will probably not resolve Boil, and Aether Vial makes both Trinisphere and Chalice meaningless.)
- Pox? (not bad).
- Bant Aggro (practically an auto-loss)
- Elves! (Chalice and Trinishpere are good, but you still need to beat down because they will find 3 mana and they will grip and they will combo out)
- Zoo (not well)

What is bad about missing these types of decks is if someone follows your assertion that this deck will play well vs the meta, and goes on to face mostly decks it losses too (of which there are many), they will tend to think badly of your original assertion: That you don't need to spend money to win.

Personally, I don't think long term that if you were thinking about a deck that t is light an the wallet but heavy on beating on classic for a while, that this is the deck you will choose.

PS - if ANT is running Hurky'ls Recall, and can get at it, short of having pyroblast in your hand ready it spells certain doom if you haven't beat their life total to a pulp already. I've won this way numerous times in TP.

PPS - Boil is terrible. I'd rather run more Needles or Null Rods for Vial, Factory and Top. Though I guess that ups the cost, and Rods would hurt your Mox.

Thank you Danger for the by gimlicolby at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 13:37
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Thank you Danger for the comments. I do appreciate them. It will help me with further decks I would like to talk about. For the merfolk and even Elves! matchups maybe volcanic fallout (an instant uncounterable pyroclasm can help out). And in future articles I will make sure to hit every big match up! :-)

Volcanic Fallout would be good to test by dangerlinto at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 13:53
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See how it goes. It's extra mana cost means that they might have a couple of lords out and give you problems, but it is definitely better than Boil, IMHO

Missing Card by Parabola01 at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 16:50
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"For the sideboard, is not a bad choice. It battles annoying white enchantments such as Humility, COP: RED, and Moat."

What's supposed to be in the blank?

Disk? by Katastrophe at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:35
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Maybe Nevinyrral's Disk. I don't know what else could possibly be sideboarded against enchantments.

EDIT: actually, this deck dies to Disk. If you ever draw one in this deck, and you need it, you'll probably have some regrets over using it.

I think I got it... by Parabola01 at Fri, 04/17/2009 - 00:12
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I think i got it now. The clue is that these are WHITE enchnatments. I'm thinking the left out card is Anarchy.

Ding Ding Ding by gimlicolby at Fri, 04/17/2009 - 08:36
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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!! you are correct for some reason Anarchy is missing.

i think this is the first by LOurs at Thu, 04/16/2009 - 19:43
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i think this is the first article from you i rade. Honestly, i enjoyed it. I have to agree about the fact a complete match up analyzis would have been better, but you'll do next time ;)

About Dragon Stompy, i think the deck is good, has weapons to perform in classic sometimes. It is a good aggro deck to begin in classic but the fact is the best classic deck are tutored and this isnt at all. That is its biggest weakness and probably one reason that could explain PE results with this deck (no way to escape to a bad draw by fetch, tutor, top ....). You also have no way to draw, even if you dont need to do it all the time.
About sideboard, i wont play any boil. Ruination, Volcanic and shattering spree could be nice, but i think if you need a blue hate card that i would take Vexin Susher instead : it is a 2/2 for CMC2, an uncounterable creature (chalice isnt a problem) and a useful ability vs blue.

Against ANT you still want to by rukcuss (not verified) at Fri, 04/17/2009 - 21:51
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Against ANT you still want to set your first CotV on 1.

Artifact mana is nice and all, but the only ones that produce B without making the opponent discard their hand is Lotus Petal and Chrome Mox. More often than not, they will draw more Dark Ritual effects than artifact mana.