Decktech from Worlds '94
Last Saturday I got to play some Magic at the old Rotary Pub again. I don't think I've had the chance to play since I had my Oslo showdown at the central station about a month ago, and playing at Rotary has become even more rare. Good times were had in the closed pub, with trash talk and beer aplenty.
I played a few games against Freespace's awesome new deck. At one point I really though I had the game locked, after some sweeping I had stabilzed around 15 with a Forcefield in play, and tapped out for a Mirror Universe. You should never underestimate a single Juzam on the board though.
Anyway, I was thinking about Berserk, and new tech, and my mind wandered to one of the original Berserk-abusing decks from the way-back time. This deck was played in the World Championships 1994, back when Berserk where restricted as "failure to have a fog should not warrant 80 damage". This deck is still very good with only a one-off Berserk.
This deck was played by the current lead designer for Magic, Mark Rosewater. He wrote something of a tournament report of his experience, which can be found here. It's a very nice read with suave pics of old players.
The deck is surprisingly well built for being 1994, and there's very little to complain about. Concordant Crossroads is a great way to handle Nether Void, Land's Edge and Abyss (apart from having a great effect with 8 elves/birds and hasty beats). The mana looks good, and the deck seem very focused compared to many of the decks from that time. Worlds '94 was however a single-elimination tournament, and Maro lost in the third round to fall short of the top64.
Let's finish today with another deck list. Here's Hjalmar Backlund's slightly less agressive deck, with no wincons:
If you have any decklists you'd like me to post, please feel free to send me a mail :)
I played a few games against Freespace's awesome new deck. At one point I really though I had the game locked, after some sweeping I had stabilzed around 15 with a Forcefield in play, and tapped out for a Mirror Universe. You should never underestimate a single Juzam on the board though.
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| Double Berserk on Juzam is how every game should end. |
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| I was as awestruck and shocked as this guy :) |
| CREATURES (20) 2 Argothian Pixies 4 Birds of Paradise 2 Elvish Archers 4 Flying Men 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Scryb Sprites ENCHANTMENTS (8) 4 Concordant Crossroads 4 Unstable Mutation SORCERIES (3) 1 Recall 1 Regrowth 1 Time Walk INSTANTS (6) 4 Giant Growth 1 Berserk 1 Ancestral Recall | ARTIFACTS (4) 1 Black Lotus 1 Mox Emerald 1 Mox Sapphire 1 Sol Ring LANDS (19) 6 Forest 4 Island 4 Mishra's Factory 1 Pendelhaven 4 Tropical Island SIDEBOARD (15) 2 Argothian Pixies 13 Unknown |
This deck was played by the current lead designer for Magic, Mark Rosewater. He wrote something of a tournament report of his experience, which can be found here. It's a very nice read with suave pics of old players.
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| Suave I said. |
Let's finish today with another deck list. Here's Hjalmar Backlund's slightly less agressive deck, with no wincons:
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| Ok, I guess Feldon's Cane is a wincon. Or something like that. |
Good job! I didn't know the Worlds94-deck of MaRo yet. It's already very streamlined for a 1994-built.
SvaraRaderaHow could it have been built better? I don't know, maybe splashing red for Kird Ape, Bolt and/or Blood Lust.
At that time, I'm not really sure how to improve it. Maybe cut a Concordant Crossroads for another Pixies, perhaps cut Recall for Sylvan Library? Recall is horribly good in a deck with this many restricted cards though. Very impressive build in all.
SvaraRaderaIf someone wants to create a version of the deck with our current Banned & Restricted list, the first thing would be to open up slots for the full playset of Berserks. I also think that Avoid Fate can be really good in the sideboard here.