0. Document Information
1.
Who are
you and why should I care about reading this?
2. Why do
you have a FAQ for your column?
3. What's
the history of
your columns?
4. How often do your columns
come out?
5. Who do you playtest with and
where?
6. Do you play on Magic Online or Apprentice?
7. Did you really invent the Sligh Deck? If so why is
it
called the
Sligh Deck and not the Schneider Deck?
8.
What is the
mana curve?
9. What other decks have you
created?
10. Who are those people you thank at the
beginning of your
column?
11. You should really use me to
test
your deck
designs...
12. Why does that deck you
published have 61
cards in it?
13. What's the difference
between deck
playing and deck designing?
14. Do you
read/answer your
e-mail?
15. Dear Mr. Schneider...
16. Didn't I see you at GP Lisbon....
17.
Is that you on MTGO?
18. I'm really pissed
off at you
for what you did to Melissa Lang...
19. Did
you test
deck xxx?
20. You don't really play your
decks. You're
sitting on all your best tech. All those Mtg writers never reveal
their really
good stuff.
21. Can you send me some secret
tech decks
you haven't published?
22. I think deck xxx
should have
yyy in it.
23. I built this deck <insert
decklist>
can you help me with it?
24. Can you test
deck
<insert decklist> for me and publish it in your
column?
25. What do you think about spoilers and releasing
spoiler
information before the Pre-Release?
26. Do
you work for
Wizards of the Coast, or another gaming company, and what if any
financial
dealing or other contractual arrangements do you have with
them?
27. A few years ago you published a deck xxx. Do you
have a deck
listing for it?
Document Information
FAQ for
Decks of Jay Schneider
Version: 1.5
Last Updated:
5/14/2003
Source
file location: http://photobooks.com/~j/FAQ/
Author:
Jay Schneider
Contact info: j@spamcop.net
Personal Site:
http://photobooks.com/~j/
Research
Site: http://wearables.cs.uoregon.edu
Who are you and why should I care
about
reading this?
First of all I guess I should introduce
myself. I'm
Jay Schneider. Aside from being a published Computer Science
researcher
(Wearable Computing) and a founder of the Southeastern LARP scene,
I'm best
known in the Magic the Gathering Community as a deck builder,
theorist and
analyst. As for why should you care about reading this FAQ or my
columns,
that's a personal matter. I hope it's because you find my writing
enjoyable,
informative and possibly even thought inspiring. That's why I
write
my column.
Why do you have a FAQ for your
column?
This FAQ has evolved out of my group of stock answers to
reoccurring
questions. Most of these questions in this FAQ are paraphrased
versions of
questions I received dozens or even hundreds of times. I've also
taken this FAQ
as an opportunity to bring up a few things I've wanted to address
but the
format of my columns has never allowed me to present.
What's the history of your
columns?
I have two columns that I regularly write.
The
first and
most frequent is the "Decks of Jay Schneider" column. In this
column I present
one or more new decks that I feel are Tier 1 or at least have the
potential to
be Tier 1. I then analyze and discuss the deck (or decks) in
detail
including
specifics of how to play them, board options, specific matchups in
the metagame
and possible areas for future development. The "Decks of..."
column
began at
The Dojo back when Frank Kusomoto ran it. After a few e-mail
requests I had
written an piece about the Sligh deck for the Mtg strategy
newsgroups. This
piece was well received and heavily cited. David Doust, the owner
of New Wave
Mail Order, had just agreed to sponsor The Dojo (magic sites back
then didn't
have sponsors or ads or even that many hits.) David thought The
Dojo should
have a reoccurring columnist that would be "featured" on the Dojo
and asked me
if I wanted to do it. I said "No. After all what would I write
about?" He
replied, "You have this big case of decks you carry with you. Why
not write up
descriptions of those and update the article as you change your
decks." So I
did and I haven't stopped for over 5 years.
The other column I regularly write is my set preview. Before every set comes out I analyze the spoiler both in preparation for the pre-release and to see which rares to trade for. David once again noticed that I analyzed all the rares for trade value and asked if he could get a copy of my list. As time went on more and more people asked for my list of rare picks. Somewhere along the line it just seemed easier to publish my set reviews as a column. The only other Mtg column I write is the occasional political piece. It's usually about a small Mtg social issue that I think deserves attention. It also needs to be an issue that can be helped by my drawing attention to it. The columns have moved several times over the years as Mtg Strategy sites open and close. They began on The Dojo then they went to New Wave Strategy Zine, followed by Mindripper and now Brainburst.
Recently I've also been writing the MTGTech Deck Clinic on Brainburst.com
How often do your columns come
out?
About every 3 weeks, although there's no set schedule. I
write my
columns when time allows around my work and school schedule and
only when I
have something worth writing about.
Who do you playtest with and
where?
I hang out with the Seven Samurai. We're in the
Seattle area
and play at Coyote Games in Redmond. Duncan the owner is cool
enough to let us
occupy table space for a couple of hours after work on most
weekdays. You can
also find me over at Microsoft testing with their players on
Tuesday and
Gerald's Pizza and Magic Gatherings on Thursdays.
Do you play on Magic Online or
Apprentice?
I occasionally play on Magic Online and
Apprentice,
however not regularly. I prefer the face to face interactions vs.
mediated
gaming and really don't have the time to do both. Also, I find it
much more
beneficial to playtest with people I know. When I'm on Magic
Online
I go by the
handle "Geeborg". I only use Apprentice to test with a few close
friends now in
different cities.
Did you really invent the Sligh
Deck? If so
why is it called the Sligh Deck and not the Schneider
Deck?
Yes.
When I get this question I generally answer with an e-mail from
Paul Sligh that
he sent me just for this purpose:
"Hello, Jay,
I am a little surprised that you still get email questioning your creation of the little red deck which we lovingly called Geeba, but which achieved fame as the Sligh deck. I would think that anyone who has read enough of the history of the deck to find your name and email address would have also run across the proper history of that first Pro Tour. In any event, developing some stock responses for inquiries is probably a good idea, and having short notes from David Doust and myself will hopefully be of help.
So, for the record: I was a U/W control deck player whose favorite deck at the time was called "Mother May I". At the time of that tournament, Necropotence was everywhere, and those decks just had too much disruption and card advantage for "Mother" to handle. My friend Jay Schneider's favorite deck at the time was called "Geeba", after the noise that goblins made in a live-action roleplaying game we were both playing at the time. Jay originally built the deck as a challenge; lots of people were complaining that you just couldn't build a deck to compete without using the expensive, out-of-print "power cards" (lotus, ancestral, moxen, etc.), so Jay (being typically perverse) felt compelled to prove them all wrong. The original Geeba was virtually ALL commons, and came in second at the very first tournament(DragonCon) that it played in.
Anyway, there I was without a viable deck to play, when Jay had to go out of town for family reasons, so Jay loaned me Geeba for the PTQ. That particular incarnation of Geeba was, in my opinion, one of the three strongest variants (for the environment it competed in) that has existed. It came in second, losing to a Necro deck in the finals (and it had beaten that Necro once during the preliminary rounds). You can find better analyses elsewhere, but that variant of Geeba was actually a control deck, one of the very few aggressive control decks I have seen. It surprised a lot of people, since it really didn't look like it should be that strong. David Doust said it best, that it looked like a goofy little red deck. In his tournament report, he also tagged it the "Sligh Deck", since I was the one playing it. (Since then, David has come to know both Jay and I pretty well, but you must remember that back then he didn't know either of us, so the mistaken impression was completely understandable.) As a final note, it has afforded me, personally, a great deal of amusement that my name has become famous for a deck design that one of my best friends developed. I do pay for it, though, in that the GOOD players, those whose opinions I value, tease me about it no end.
All part of the fun, I suppose, of a little deck named Geeba. Paul Sligh"
What is the mana
curve?
The
core concept of a Sligh Deck is optimal mana usage. This is known
as the "mana
curve" and there are many advanced articles written on this
concept. The mana
curve was built based on likely mana available each turn and
choosing a suite
of cards the would optimally use the mana base to power an attack
that begins
on Turn 1. The basic mana curve assuming 22 lands and no mana
acceleration
calls for 10-13 1cc (casting cost) creatures, 8-10 2cc creatures,
4-6 3cc
creatures and 2-3 4cc creatures. The remaining cards are support
spells
(generally heat-Shock, Parch) and they should also follow a
similar
curve.
What other decks have you
created?
Aside from the Sligh Deck. There are several other decks
I've helped
design that have gathered some popularity. They include: Pox
(although Andy
Wolf deserves most of the credit), Bushwacker (an Alluren Combo
Deck),
HermitGeddon, 5 color Geeba, Cradle Sligh, The Trap (based on
Chris
Manners
original Natures Revolt/Pendral Mist deck), Cloak Party (the
Suicide Black deck
with Cloak of Confusion), Aggro-Enchantress (Mask Enchantress),
Merc-Burn,
64,000 Lira Solution (a Pauper's version of Zvi's Solution), a new
build of
Sligh for every format. More recently Draino, Frog in a Blender,
Wild
Plagiarization, Tomb Raider, Red Dawn and Slideshow.
Who are those people you thank at
the
beginning of your column?
First of all there's the
Samurai, my team
in Seattle. They are: Gerald Linn, Jeremy Virden, Andrew Ornatov,
Dave
Ferguson, David Engle and D.W. Then there's the people on a
private
deck
designers list, most of whom I've done a lot of testing with in
the
past and
provide me with a sounding board for deck designs. Then there are
a
few people
who I've met on-line via my column, this has led to discussions,
testing and
designs that never would have occurred without their help.
You should really use me to test your deck
designs...
You're possibly correct. There are several
people whom
I've had the pleasure to meet through my column that I do send
early versions
of my deck designs. However, it's taken a great deal of time for
me
to build up
a relationship with these people, usually through face-to-face
meetings. I need
to have a great deal of personal knowledge about a person to make
truly
effective use of their testing results with a deck.
Why does that deck you published
have 61
cards in it?
Many of the decks I publish have 61 cards
in them.
There's not one single reason but several small reasons. The first
reason is
too help dispel the myth of that "all decks that are good have
exactly 60
cards". That rule while a good rule of thumb, is really only true
if a deck has
one or more key cards that you always want/need to draw and even
then not
always. There have been several good articles discussing what the
optimal size
of a deck should be and a full discussion is beyond the scope of
this FAQ.
Basically it boils down to what's in the deck, balancing the
ratios
and not
eliminating things that should be in the deck so that you achieve
the "magical"
60 cards. Most of the decks that I build don't have any key cards.
So one of my
reasons for playing 61 cards is a reminder that blindly following
the 60 card
deck rule is bad idea. Another reason is that the 61st card is my
"experimental
slot" in a deck. I change the card that is in it almost every time
I play a
deck. It gives room to put that single Final Fortune in a Sligh
deck or even up
the mana just a hair. The last good reason is that the way people
shuffle
(especially if you pile shuffle like I do) playing a odd prime
number of cards
in a deck makes it easier to pseudo-randomize the deck. In other
words people
shuffle odd prime numbers of cards much better than they do even
numbers. The
last reason is that 61 cards is like a signature (all my
Sligh/Geeba decks have
always had 61 cards since the very first one back in 1996.
What's the difference between
deck
playing
and deck designing?
In a lot of ways it's like the
difference
between poker (playing Magic) and chess (designing Magic decks.)
Personally,
I'm a much better designer than a player. The skill sets are very
distinct,
many of the top players are terrible designers.
Do you read/answer your
e-mail?
Yes, to the best of my knowledge I've answered
every Mtg
related e-mail I've received that is sent in a polite manner. I
feel it's an
important part of being a good columnist and representative of the
Mtg
community. Also, the feedback I receive helps me know how my
decks/ideas are
doing. However, I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to
answer my e-mail.
The amount of Mtg related e-mail I receive is overwhelming and
growing. I
receive between 5 and 50 messages/day. It takes me about 3-5
minutes to answer
each message. As my available time decreases it gets harder and
harder to spend
the necessary time.
Recently, I've moved my e-mail address from the main page of my column to only being listed in my FAQ. The reason for this change is the volume of my Mtg related e-mail has hit a new high (about 100/day in the days from the last columns.) In an effort to keep up my policy of reading and replying to all my e-mails and equally important to keep the quality of my responses at a high enough level, I've made it slightly harder to find my address. So I do read and answer all of my e-mail and as mentioned in the above paragraph, I'm glad to receive it (I just need to keep it the volume at a manageable level.) Please e-mail me at: j@spamcop.net
Dear Mr.
Schneider...
Please,
when contacting me I go by "Jay". After all I live on the West
Coast.
Didn't I see you at GP
Lisbon....
Probably not, nor at any other Mtg event
outside of the
U.S. since I've never been out of North America. There are several
other
Schneider's of note in the Mtg Community. Probably the most famous
are Brian
and Justin Schneider. Brian is one of the best deck builders and
Justin is
considered by many to be one of the top pro-players. For some
reason a lot of
people specifically ask me about Lisbon. I don't know why.
Is that you on MTGO?
Right now,
no. I was
on MODO during the Beta period but under the current pricing MTGO
is too
expensive for me. When I was on MTGO I used the handle "Geeba".
However, that
handle is now in use by someone else.
I'm really pissed off at you for
what you
did to Melissa Lang...
Remember the previous answer
about there
being several other Schneider's in Magic? The person you're
referring to is not
me but rather Justin Schneider. He has had several encounters with
the DCI and
is currently banned until sometime in 2003. Once again, I'm not
Justin nor am I
related to him. An interesting aside, at one event someone
threatened my life
because they thought I was Justin Schneider.
Did you test deck xxx?
Yes.
There isn't a single deck that I've published that hasn't been
tested. Most
decks I publish have evolved far from their initial design. Decks
don't spring
from my head like Athena stepping out of Zeus's skull. I start
with
an idea,
build it, then I test it. I lose a lot with those early builds. I
then take the
deck home, make changes. Test again the next day. Repeat. It takes
about 10-20
iterations for most of my decks to become sufficiently high
quality
for me to
consider them tournament worthy much less play them. And many
decks
never make
it out of testing (like the Squirrel-Enchantress-Opposition deck.)
You don't really play your
decks.
You're
sitting on all your best tech. All those Mtg writers never reveal
their really
good stuff.
I can't speak for the other writers, but
for as for
myself I don't sit on any tech relating to a deck I'm presenting.
Period. When
I present a deck, I have tested it, I feel that it is a
competitive
tournament
quality deck based on my understanding of the metagame and I try
to
present all
information regarding the deck that I deem relevant. I and my
teammates
regularly play in tournaments the decks that I have written up in
my columns.
This doesn't mean that I write a column about every deck I have or
have been
testing. It does mean that I believe everything I write about my
decks and
haven't kept anything back. I'm one of those people that believe
information is
meant to be free.
Can you send me some secret tech
decks you
haven't published?
No. It wouldn't be secret then
would
it? :-)
Seriously, I do publish everything I have about a deck. If
something has come
up either from user feedback, a shift in the metagame or just
something that
crops up from further testing I'm glad to send it to you. However,
in general I
don't send deck lists out to people of new decks that I'm working
on. There are
several reasons for this, first of all it's too time intensive as
I
usually
don't have the deck typed into the computer. Second of all I hate
sending out
incomplete work. Lastly, if I have a deck that I'm not ready to go
public with,
it's usually because I'm working with someone(s) to find them a
deck for a
particular event. If I do come across a good design and it's not
being built
for someone privately, I do publish it.
I think deck xxx should have yyy
in
it.
I get suggestions like this a lot. I try to answer
them
proactively in the body of my article but if I didn't address a
point or you'd
like to send a counter argument, testing results or suggest
something that
should be added, please do so. This feedback helps me make better
decks and I
try to answer your question as best I can.
I built this deck <insert
decklist>
can you help me with it?
For a long time I did look at
every deck
that came my way. However, the load on my time just got to be too
much. So in
conjunction with Brainburst I now author and work with the MTGTech
deck clinic.
So if you'd like me and a group of some of the top deckbuilders I
know to look
at your deck please submit it to the
MTGTech
Deck
Clinic on Brainburst.com.
Can you test deck <insert
decklist>
for me and publish it in your column?
Aside from decks
that I work
on with my team or friends, I can't playtest decks that people
send
me. I don't
even have the time to test all the decks concepts that I and my
team design.
Besides, testing your deck, is your job! Aside from it being fun
& exciting
to see how a deck compares to the current decks to beat, the only
way to tell
if a deck idea is good or chaff is to test it.
As for publishing your deck in my column. You can do that yourself. Brainburst accepts submissions and the person who knows your deck best is you! You had the original idea, you've designed the details, you've tested it. Now put it out for the world to see. You don't need me to do that.
What do you think about spoilers
and
releasing spoiler information before the Pre-Release?
I
have pretty
strong beliefs on the matter (which is why the question is here)
and if you'll
pardon me I'm going to get on my soapbox for a minute. The issue
that isn't
that important to me is the issue of "do card spoilers before the
pre-release
spoils the fun or not." That's a personal matter and if it spoils
your fun to
read a spoiler by all means don't read them. The issue that is of
concern to
me, regards the morality and legality of publishing the
information
against
Wizards wishes.
I'm a free speech activist. I come pretty close to believing the slogan that "Information wants to be free." I certainly believe information wants to disseminate at the maximum possible rate based on the communications mediums available. I also believe this is a good thing. I also believe that morally people can not "own" information. Information exists and is discovered. It's not a physical item that can be created, owned, stolen, borrowed. The only thing you can do is discover and duplicate/spread information and information duplicates at effectively zero cost. So as to the question is it "bad or good" to publish spoiler information, I'd clearly say this is a moral question and from my viewpoint disseminating information is moral/good.
So that leaves the question is it legal to publish a spoiler for a Mtg expansion before Wizards does. This hasn't gone to court and so there's no definitive ruling. However, I'd expect that it's perfectly legal for a Mtg news or another Mtg Strategy site to publish any information on upcoming expansions they might have. The legal protections that Wizards has on their cards are as a copyrighted item and as trade secrets.
In the case of copyright this prevents you from duplicating the work until the copyright expires (70ish years under the current laws.) There are several issues here. One issue is that copyright doesn't prevent you from using a subset of the information, for example quoting a section from a book, movie or Mtg card nor does it prevent you from discussing said work. Another important issue is that copyright protects expression not facts. So statements of power/toughness abilities are also protected from copyright issues. The images and flavor text are another issue but at least in the case of images are never seen in spoilers. Lastly and possibly most significantly, the copyright holder has to show damages (in order to be awarded anything). I'd be hard pressed to see them showing damages. So from a copyright perspective there seems to be no legal issue with publishing spoiler information.
That leaves trade secrets. Well if it's a trade secret you're bound by whatever the terms of your business relationship with the secret holder. In the case of most Mtg Strategy sites and Wizards there is not such relationship/contract. The person who gives the site the information might be violating their contract with Wizards/their employer/whoever. But it's not the responsibility of the news organization to monitor this relationship, as long as they don't believe the information is stolen goods. So far there is no evidence that anyone has broken into Wizards headquarters to steal spoiler information.
So it seems indicitive that there's no trade secret reason. So why is there an issue? Well many of the news sources don't want to endanger the informal relationship they have with Wizards. That's a business decision and a perfectly reasonable one to make. However, I don't appreciate Wizards of the Coast applying pressure to gaming news/strategy sites in order to protect their trade secrets.
So you now probably have some idea of why my columns appear on the free side of the Mtg Strategy sites I write for. With all this said, these are my opinions and very much not necessarily the opinions of anyone I work for, their employees, advertisers affiliates or other related parties. I'm also not a lawyer and I suspect in most of these issues a lawyer wouldn't be certain of the legal details.
Do you work for Wizards of the
Coast, or
another gaming company, and what if any financial dealing or other
contractual
arrangements do you have with them?
I am not an
employee
of Wizards
of the Coast, their parent company Hasbro or any other gaming
company. However,
I do work as a independant non-exclusive columnist for Ascension
Gaming Design
(Brainburst.) I am a Shareholder of Hasbro Inc. and am a Magic the
Gathering
judge (Level II). I also work as a consultant for the Seattle area
Tournament
Organizer judging some of the Premier Mtg Events.
A few years ago you published a
deck xxx.
Do you have a deck listing for it?
Yes. I have copies
of almost all
my articles. Follows is a listing of decks from my articles that
I've had
requests for over the years or that I find intriguing. Note that
many of these
decks were built in collaboration with one or more people and as
with most
things have been based on the works of many others. They are
divided into two
groups, various decks (the first set) and then Geeba/Sligh decks.
Requested Deck Listings:
Various Decks:
Black J, Schneider Pox,
The Trap, Bushwacker,
Intruder Alert, Gypsy
Pox,
Blue Stompy, 5 color
Geeba,
Settlers Buyback, Racer
X,
Survival of the Fattest, Combolisious, Oat
Riders,
Cloak Party, Pump Momma,
Aggro-Enchantress, Merc-Burn,
Jolt Cola, 64,00 Lire
Solution,
Modified Chapin.dec, Draino,
Elvis at the Buffet Line, Frog
in a
BlenderWild Plagiarization, Tomb
Raider, Tomb Raider 2, Red
Dawn, Draino Redux, Slideshow
Geeba/Sligh
Decks:
Geeba Type I, Geeba
95,
Geeba '97, Geeba
SR-1,
Geeba 98, Sligh 98,
5 color Geeba, Sligh
Invasion
(Throat-Rip Geeba), Sligh Assault, Sligh Burst, Cradle Sligh,
Geeba 99, Geeba 2K,
Extended Sligh, Propha-Sligh,
Brawler Sligh, SluGh,
Pauper Sligh, Mon's
Goblin Sligh
Black
J:
5/1997
16 Swamps
1 Strip Mine
3 Demonic
Consultation
4 Dark
Ritual
4 Insidious Bookworm
4 Sewer Rats
4 Black
Knight
7
Pump Knights
4 Nether Shadow
4 Bad Moon
1 Hymn to
Tourach
3
Hypnotic Specters
4 Ashen Ghoul
2 Krovikan Horrors
Sideboard:
3 Pox
2 Forsaken Wastes
2 Contagion
4
Aelopiles
4
Dystopia
Schneider Pox
2/1998
16 Swamps
4 Wastelands
4
Stalking Stones
4 Funeral Charms
4 Cursed Scroll
4 Diabolic Edicts
2
Charcoal Diamonds
4 Stupors
4 Pox
4 Steel Golems
3 Coercion
2 Evicnars Justice
2 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Spinning
Darkness
Sideboard:
3 Phrexian Furnaces
4 Bottle Gnomes
2
Nevinyrral's
Disk
2 Dread of Night
2 Perish
2 Touchstones
The
Trap
2/1998
3 City
of
Brass
2 Undiscovered Paradise
2 Gemstone Mines
1 Reflecting
Pool
3
Brushland
3 Skyshroud Forest
3 Vec Townships
3
Ardakar Waste
2 Plains
1 Forest
3 Marble of Diamond
2 Moss
Diamond
2
Sky Diamond
3 Enlightened Tutor
1 Sylvan Library
3
Impulse
4 Intuition
3 Gaes Blessing
3 Aurua of Silence
3
Propaganda
3 Wrath of God
3 Gerrards Wisdom
3 Armageddon
3
Pendral's Mist
3 Nature's Revolt
Sideboard:
3 City of Solitude
1 Wrath of
God
1 Gerrards Wisdom
1 Armageddon
3 Hydroblast
3 Chill
3 Light of Day
Bushwacker
4/1998
9
Forest
4
City of Brass
3 Undiscovered Paradise
2 Gemstone Mines
4 Birds
of Paradise
4 Quiron Ranger
3 Incinerate
2 Gaes
Blessing
4
Intuition
3 Alluren
2 Natures Resurgence
3 Living
Death
4
Llandowar Sentenials
4 Man O War
4 Viashino Sandstalker
3 Spike
Feeder
3 Ukatabi Orangutang
Sideboard:
3 Light of
Day
3
Chill
3 Gloom
3 Pyroblasts
3 Firestorm or Null Rod
Optional: Disrupt, Spike Feeder, Hydroblast
Intruder
Alert
4/1998
4 City of
Brass
2
Gemstone Mines
10 Islands
4 Forests
4 Wall of Roots
4 Wall
of Blossoms
4 Wall of Tears
4 Whispers of the Muse
3
Earthcraft
3 Intruder Alarm
4 Shrieking Drake
4 Intuition
4
Counterspell
2 Capsize
3 Gaes Blessing
2 Dismiss
2 Thalokos
Seer
Gypsy
Pox (Schneider Pox/Wolf Pox)
5/1998
10 Swamps
2
Undiscovered Paradise
4 Wastelands
4 Quicksands
2
Volrath's
Strongholds
4 Cursed Scrolls
2 Phrexian Furnaces
4
Funeral
Charms
4 Mox Diamonds
4 Abyssal Gatekeepers
3
Diabolic Edicts
4 Bottomless Pits
4 Poxes
4 Paupers Cages
3
Bottle Gnomes
3 Ensnaring Bridges
Sideboard:
3 Terror
3
Honorable Passage
3 Pyroblast
4 Disenchant
2 Phrexian Furnace
Blue Stompy (Flying
Fish)
5/1998
16 Island
4 Wastelands
4 Mox Diamond
4
Spindrift
Drake
4 Manta Riders
4 Unstable Mutation
3
Skyshroud
Condors
4 Thalakos Seers
3 Teferi's Veil
4 Man O War
4
Fog
Elementals
3 Waterspout Djinn
4 Reigns of Power
Sideboard:
3 Null Rod
2 Zur's Wierding
3 Energy Flux
4
Propaganda
3
Counterspells
5 color Geeba:
6/1998
11 Mountains
4 City
of Brass
2 Undiscovered Paradise
1 Gemstone Mine
4
Wastelands
3 Goblin Vandals
4 Mogg Fanatics
4 Jackal Pup
4
Cursed
Scrolls
4 Shocks
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Incinerates
4 Suq'Ata
Lancers
2 Viashino Sandstalker
3 Ball Lightnings
2
Invasion
Plans
1 Fireblast
Sideboard:
4 Pyroblasts
3
Mana Leaks
2 Sleight of Mind
4 Honorable Passage
2 Tranquil Domain
Settlers
Buyback:
6/1998
5 Mountains
6 Swamps
4 Sulfurous Springs
4 Rocky Tar
Pits
2 Volrath's Strongholds
3 Wastelands
4 Dark
Rituals
4
Phyrexian Furnace
4 Orchish Settlers
4 Bottle Gnomes
4 Starkes
of Rath
4 Corpse Dance
3 Nekrataals
2 Fallen Angels
4
Living Deaths
4 Earthquakes
Sideboard:
4 Pyroblasts
4
Bottomless Pit
4 Mindstab Thrulls
3 Spinning Darkness
Racer X:
6/1998
17 Swamps
4 City of Traitors
4 Dark Ritual
4
Carnophage
4 Sacromancy
4 Sewer Rats
2 Blood Pets
4 Daulthi
Slayer
4 Daulthi Maurader
1 Kaervecks Spite
4
Nekrataal
4
Volrath's Dungeon
4 Hatred
Survival of the Fattest:
6/1998
11 Forests
4 Swamps
3 Gemstone Mines
2 Undiscovered Paradise
4 Bird of
Paradise
4 Wall of Blossoms
4 Survival of the Fittest
2 Hermit
Druid
2
Wall of Roots
4 Spike Feeders
2 Ukatabi Orangutang
2
Wood Elves
3 Recurring Nightmare
2 Corpse Dance
2 Nekratall
4 Llyrgoph
3 Living Death
2 Verdant Force
1 Spirit of the
Night
Combolisious:
2/1999
12 Forest
4 City of
Brass
4 Wild Growth
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Llanowar
Elves
4
Fertile Ground
4 Wall of Blossoms
4 Earth Craft
4
Survival of
the Fittest
4 Argivian Enchantress
1 Monk Realist
4
Recurring
Nightmare
3 Vendurian Enchantress
1 Horseshoe Crab
1
Monk
Idealist
1 Priest of Gix
1 Spike Weaver
1 Peregrine
Drake
1
Shivan Hellkite
1 Stroke of Genius
Sideboard:
4
Pyroblast
2
Boil
3 Gloom
3 Disenchant
3 Worship
Oat
Riders 3/1999
5 Forests
4 City
of Brass
4 Karplusan Forest
2 Sulfurous Springs
2
Gaea's Cradle
1 Phrexian Tower
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1
Reflecting
Pool
3
Mox Diamond
4 Bird of Paradise
2 Llanowar Elf
4
Wall
of Blossom
1 Monk Realist
1 Thrull Surgeon
4 Survival of the
Fittest
4
Oath of Ghouls
4 Raven Familiar
1 Bone Shredder
3
Stone Rain
1 Intuition
4 Avalanche Riders
1 Radiants Dragoons
1 Spike
Weaver
3 Living Death
Cloak Party
4/1999
16 Swamps
4
Wastelands
4 Sewer Rats
4 Carnophage
4 Dark Rituals
4
Duress
4 Funeral Charms
4 Hasran Ogress
4 Dauthi
Horrors
4
Hymn to Tourach
4 Cloak of Confusion
4 Priest of Gix
1 Necratog
Pump
Momma:
11/1999
10 Forests
2 Swamps
3 City of Brass
4
Treetop
Village
4 Wild Growth
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Duress
4
Fertile Ground
1 Tranquil Grove
4 Albino Trolls
3
Argothian
Enchantress
4 Yavimaya Granger
4 Yavimaya Elder
3
Attrition
3 Diabolic Servitude
4 Deranged Hermits
Sideboard:
4
Phrexian
Plaguelords
4 Cursed Totems
2 Tranquil Groves
2
Splinter
2
Engineered Plague
1 Dense Foliage
Aggro-Enchantress
11/1999
12 Forest
4 Treetop
Village
4 Land Grant
1 Gaea's Cradle
4 Exploration
4 Wild
Growth
4 Bird of Paradise
4 Rancor
3 Worldly Tutor
2
Tranquil Grove
4 Argothian Enchantress
4 Ancestral Mask
4
Yavimaya Elder
4 Yavimaya Enchantress
1 Ukatabi
Orangutan
1
Masticore
1 Deranged Hermit
Sideboard:
4 Cursed
Totems
2
Tranquil Groves
1 Swamp
2 Diabolic Servitude
3
Rapid
Decay
2 Splinter
1 Dawnstrider
Merc-Burn:
6/2000
20
Swamps
4 Dark
Ritual
4 Rampart Crawler
1 Molting Harpy
3 Cateran
Summons
4 Cateran Persuaders (a.k.a. Brian Boitano)
4 Spineless Thugs
1
Silent Assassin
1 Agent of Shaku
4 Rathi Intimidator
1 Phrexian
Driver
2 Rhystic Tutor
3 Rathi Fiend
3 Highway
Robber
1
Snuff Out
1 Cateran Enforcer
2 Dark Triumph
1
Delraich
1
Avatar of Woe
Sideboard:
3 Snuff out
2 Vendetta
1 Molting
Harpy
1 Strong-arm Thug
4 Unmask
3 Death Pit
Offering
1
Rebel Informer
Jolt Cola
6/2000
20
Islands
4 High Market
4 Overtaker
4 Cloudskates
4 Daze
4 Withdraw
4 Drake Hatchling
4 Rishadan Airship
4
Ribbon Snake
4 Jolting Merfolk
2 SeaHunter
2 Rhystic Scrying
Sideboard:
4 Hoodwink
4 Chimeric Idols
4 Thwart
3
Rootwater Commando
64,00 Lire
Solution
8/2001
11 Island
7 Plains
4 Coastal Tower
4
Faerie Squadron
4 Stormscape Apprentice
4 Galina's Knight
3
Vodalian
Merchant
2 Sky Weaver
2 Spirit Weaver
3 Silver Drake
2
Voice of All
4 Disrupt
4 Evasive Action
4 Repulse
3 Exclude
Modified
Chapin.dec
9/2001
5 Swamp
5 Island
3 Mountain
4 Salt
Marsh
4 Urborg
Volcano
4 Shivan Reef
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Blazing
Specter
4
Fire/Ice
3 Terminate
4 Undermine
2 Urza's Rage
2
Recoil
4 Fact or Fiction
2 Lobotomy
3 Void
2 Yagmoth's
Agenda
2
Prophetic Bolt
Sideboard:
4 Gainsay
4 Emblazoned
Golem
2 Pyre
Zombie
2 Disrupt
1 Void
1 Terminate
1 Slay
Draino:
11/2001
7
Forest
4
Island
4 Yavimaya Coast
4 Centaur Garden
4
Chromatic
Sphere
4 Lay of the Land
4 Diligent Farmhand
4 Nimble Mongoose
4
Werebear
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Call of the Herd
2 Beast
Attack
4
Roar of the Wurm
4 Tolarian Winds
3 Rushing
River
Sideboard(15):
4 Spellbane Centaur
3 Divert
3
Standstill
2
Elven Lyrist
2 Moment of Peace
1 Rushing River
Elvis at the Buffet
Line:
12/2001
5 Forest
4 Savannah
4 Brushland
3
Treetop Village
2 Cradle
1 Yavimaya Hollows
4 Land Grant
4
Soul
Warden
4 Skyshroud Elite
4 Auratog
2 Argothian Enchantress
4 Llanowar
Sentinel
3 Fleetfoot Panther
4 Phrexian Furnace
2
Wax/Wane
4 Rancor
4 Seal of Cleansing
3 Alluren
Sideboard:
4 Swords
to Plowshares
3 Skyshroud Warbeast
2 Mirri, Cat Warrior
2 Cursed
Scroll
2 Winter Orb
1 Armageddon
1 Bearscape
Frog in a Blender
2/2002
4 Karplusan Forest
7 Mountain
6 Forest
4
Barbarian
Ring
4 Raging Goblins
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Basking
Rootwalla
4 Yavimaya Barbarian
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Reckless Charge
4 Firebolt
4 Sonic Seizure
4 Fiery Temper
4 Violent Eruption
4 Elven
Lyrist
3 Flametongue Kavu
2 Jade Leech
3 Mages
Contest
2
Engulfing Flames
1 Keldon Necropolis
Wild Plagiarization
3/05/2002
8
Island
8
Mountain
4 Shivan Reef
3 Urborg Volcano
2 Salt Marsh
1
Darkwater Catacombs
2 Compulsion
4 Wild Research
4
Merfolk Looter
3 Pitchstone Wall
3 Psychatog
4 Circular Logic
4
Obsessive
Search
4 Fiery Temper
3 Violent Eruption
1
Hibernation
1 Fact
or Fiction
1 Rushing River
Sideboard:
3 FTK
3
Gainsay
2
Disrupt
2 Flaming Gambit
2 Hibernation
1
Divert
1 Repulse
1 Plagiarize
Tomb
Raider
9/14/2002
21
Swamp
2
Cabal Coffers
4 Zombie Cannibal
4 Mesmeric Fiend
4
Crypt Keeper
4 Nantuko Shade
3 Faceless Butcher
4 Balthor the
Defiled
4 Innocent
Blood
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Chainer's Edict
3 Tainted
Pact
Sideboard:
4 Braids
4 Rancid Earth
4 Slithery
Stalker
3
Gravestorm
Tomb Raider
2
11/05/2002
16
Swamp
4
Barren Moor
4 Cabal Pit
4 Festering Goblin
4 Nantuko
Shade
4
Mesmeric Fiend
4 Nantuko Husk
4 Faceless Butcher
4
Braids
4
Smother
4 Chainer's Edict
4 Oversold Cemetery
Sideboard:
4
Blackmail
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Duress
3 Slithery
Stalker
Red Dawn
11/05/2002
11 Mountains
4 Bloodstained
Mire
4
Wooded Foothills
1 Goblin Burrows
4 Grim Lavamancer
4
Goblin
Sledder
4 Goblin Taskmaster
4 Sparksmith
4 Goblin
Piledriver
4
Goblin Raider
1 Goblin Pyromancer
4 Reckless Charge
4
Firebolt
4 Lava Dart
3 Final Fortune
Sideboard:
2 Flaring
Pain
2 Flash
of Defiance
2 Threaten
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Goblin
Sharpshooter
3 Fledgling Dragon
Draino
Redux
11/05/2002
8
Island
4
Forest
4 Flooded Strand
4 Windswept Heath
3 Centaur
Garden
1
City of Brass
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Basking Rootwalla
4
Werebear
4 Seton's Scout
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Wonder
3 Roar of the
Wurm
4
Tolarian Winds
3 Quiet Speculation
1 Moment's Peace
1
Deep
Analysis
1 Ray of Revelation
Sideboard:
2
Hibernation
2 Ray of
Revelation
3 Circular Logic
3 Compost
1 Plains
2
Worship
2
Upheaval
Slideshow
12/13/2002
4 Slippery Karst
4
Tranquil Thicket
4 Drifting Meadow
4 Nantuko Monastery
3 Forest
2 Plain
2 Sungrass Prairie
4 Fluctuator
3 Krosan
Tusker
4 Wall
of Blossoms
4 Wall of Mulch
4 Disciple of Law
4
Living
Wish
4
Clear
4 Astral Slide
4 Radiant Judgment
2 Repopulate
Sideboard
(15):
1 Deranged Hermit
1 Wasteland
1 Dustbowl
1
Genesis
1
Cartographer
1 Teroh's Faithful
1 Auramancer
1 Krosan
Tusker
1
Monk Realist
1 Ukatabi
1 Terravore
2 Light of Day
2
Worship
Geeba
Mono Red
3/27/95
1
Ruby Mox
1 Sol Ring
X Mountain
X Strip Mine
4 Mishra Critter
1 Wheel
Of Fortune
4 Black Vise
4 Lightning Bolts
4 Chain
Lightnings
X Fireballs
4 Atogs
X Goblin Baloon Brigade
X
IronClaw Orcs
X Orchish Artillery (preferably Alpha)
X Brothers of
Fire
X
Dragon Whelp
Type II Geeba Mono Red
11/20/95
X Mountain
4 Strip Mine
4 Mishra
Critter
1 Eron The Relentless
4 Black Vise
4
Lightning Bolts
X Incinerates
X Fireballs
X Brass Men
X
Orchish
Captains
4 Dwarven Lieutenants
X Orchish Librarians
X
Orchish
Artillery/Cannoneers
X Brothers of Fire
X Dragon Whelp
Geeba '97 aka Sligh '97
8/26/97
16 Mountains
4 Quicksand
2
Sheltered
Valley
4 Goblin Soothsayer
4 Goblin Vandals
3
Goblin
Tinkers
4 Dwarven Miners
4 Ironclaw Orcs
4 Orchish
Artillery
2
Viashino Sandstalker
4 Death Sparks
4 Incinerate
4
Hammer of
Bogardain
1 Phrexian Portal
1 Thawing Glacier
Sideboard:
4
Pyroblast
3 Anarchy
3 Earthquake/Dwarven
Catapult/Pyrokenesis (choose
based on local enviroment)
3 Phrexian Furnace
2 Pillage
Geeba SR-1
10/30/97
7 Forest
6 Mountain
1 Mountain Valley
2
Undiscovered
Paradise
4 Karplusian Forest
3 Scryb Sprites
2
Quiron Rangers
4 Granger Guildmage
4 River Boa
3 Ukatabi
Orangutang
4
Landowar Sentenials
2 Lhyrgoph
4 Death Spark
4
Incinerate
4
Hammer of Bogardain
4 Stormbind
3 Thawing Glaciers
Geeba
1/07/98
18 Mountains
4 Wastelands
3 Stalking Stones
4
Goblin
Vandals
4 Mogg Fanatics
3 Mogg Conscripts
4 Cursed Scrolls
1 Goblin
Bombardment
2 Orcish Settlers
4 Fireslingers
4
Incinerate
2
Starke of Rath
2 Palimud
4 Hammer of Bogardain
1
Ralthi Dragon
1 Lightning Elemental
Sligh 98
13 Mountains
4
Karplusan Forests
1 Mogg Hollows
4 Wastelands
3 Stalking Stones
4
Goblin
Vandals
4 Mogg Fanatics
3 Mogg Conscripts
4 Cursed
Scrolls
1 Goblin Bombardment
2 Orcish Settlers
4 Fireslingers
4
Incinerate
2 Starke of Rath
2 Palimud
4 Hammer of
Bogardain
1 Ralthi Dragon
1 Lightning Elemental
Sideboard:
4
Pyroblasts
2 Boil
1 Tropical Storm
2 Phrexian Furnace
2
Tranquility
2 Tranquil Domain
2 Bottle Gnomes
5 color Geeba:
6/1998
11 Mountains
4 City of Brass
2 Undiscovered
Paradise
1 Gemstone Mine
4 Wastelands
3 Goblin Vandals
4
Mogg
Fanatics
4 Jackal Pup
4 Cursed Scrolls
4 Shocks
4 Mogg
Flunkies
4 Incinerates
4 Suq'Ata Lancers
2 Viashino Sandstalker
3 Ball
Lightnings
2 Invasion Plans
1 Fireblast
Sideboard:
4
Pyroblasts
3 Mana Leaks
2 Sleight of Mind
4
Honorable Passage
2 Tranquil Domain
Sligh Invasion (Throat-Rip Geeba):
5/21/98
17
Mountains
4 Wastelands
3 Goblin Vandals
4 Mogg Fanatics
4
Jackal Pup
3 Cursed Scrolls
3 Shocks
4 Mogg Flunkies
4
Incinerates
3 Suq'Ata Lancers
2 Viashino Sandstalker
4 Ball
Lightnings
2 Invasion Plans
4 Fireblasts
Sideboard:
4
Pyroblasts
4
Havocs
4 Chaos Charm
2 Shatterstorms
1 Detonate
Sligh Assault
6/26/98
18 Mountains
4 Wastelands
1
Raging
Goblin
4 Mogg Fanatics
4 Jackal Pup
4 Cursed
Scrolls
3
Shocks
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Incinerates
4 Suq'Ata
Lancers
1
Viashino Sandstalker
4 Ball Lightnings
2 Seismic Assault
4
Fireblasts
Sideboard:
4 Pyroblasts
3 Spell Shock
2 Mogg
Maniacs
2 Firestorms
4 Price of Progress
Sligh Burst
7/13/98
17 Mountains
4 Wastelands
4 Mogg Fanatics
4 Jackal
Pup
3 Cursed Scrolls
2 Shocks
4 Mogg Flunkies
4
Ironclaw
Orcs
4 Incinerates
2 Sonic Burst
3 Suq' Ata Lancers
4 Ball
Lightnings
2 Furnace of Rath
4 Fireblasts
Sideboard:
4
Pyroblasts
1 Orgg
3 Hammer of Bogardain
4 Phrexian
Furnace
2 Shattering Pulse
1 Price of Progress
Cradle Sligh
1/12/99 17
Mountains
4 Gaea's Cradles
4 Goblin Lackeys
4 Mogg
Fanatics
3
Goblin Patrols
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Goblin Raiders
4
Incinerates
4 Spheres of Resistance
1 Goblin Bombardment
4
Goblin Matrons
4 Coat of Arms
4 Fireballs
Sideboard:
4
Pyroblasts
3
Boil
4 Shock
2 Jokulhaups
2 Hush
Geeba 99
6/7/99
15
Mountains
4 Ghitu Encampment
4 Wastelands
4 Jackal Pup
4 Mogg
Fanatic
2 Goblin Welder
3 Cursed Scroll
4 Shock
4 Goblin
Raider
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Pillage
4 Hammer of
Bogardain
4
Avalanche Riders
1 Smokestack
Sideboard:
3
Smokestack
3
Boil
3 Bottle Gnomes
2 Earthquake
3 Ticking Gnomes
1 Parch
Geeba 2K
10/26/99
12
Mountains
4
Ghitu Encampment
3 Gaea's Cradle
2 Rishadan Port
2
Dust Bowl
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Kris Mage
4 Molten Hydra
4
Scent of
Cinder
4 Goblin Princess (I mean Matron)
1 Arms Dealer
4 Pillage
4 Avalanche Riders
3 Masticore
1 Goblin Marshal
2 Wake of
Destruction
3 Blaze
Sideboard:
4 Powder Keg
3
Boil
4
Shock
3 Thran Foundry
1 Sowing Salt
Extended Sligh
3/5/2000
16
Mountains
4
Wastelands
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Jackal
Pup
2
Cursed Scroll
4 Death Spark
4 Mogg Flunkies
4
Incinerate
4
Price of Progress
3 Ball Lightning
4 Goblin Mutant
4
Fireblast
Sideboard:
3 Keldon Vandals
2 Pyroclasm
2
Anarchy
2
Burnout
2 Sphere of Resistance
4 Pyroblast
Propha-Sligh:
6/08/2000
13 Mountains
4 Ghitu Encampment
4 Rishadan
Ports
2
Gaea’s Cradle
4 Goblin Cadets
4 Goblin Patrol
4
Veteran
Brawler
3 Goblin Raiders
4 Spur Grappler
4 Rhystic
Lightning
3 Hammer of Bogardain
4 Tangle Wire
4 Keldon
Champion
4
Blaze
Brawler Sligh:
8/17/2000
15
Mountains
4
Ghitu encampment
4 Rishadan Port
4 Goblin Cadets
4
Goblin Patrol
4 Seal of Fire
4 Shock
4 Veteran Brawler
2
Spur
Grappler
2 Keldon Vandal
4 Rhystic Lightning
4 Tangle Wire
3 Hammer
of Bogardan
3 Keldon Champion
Sideboard:
4 Thran
Foundry
4
Earthquake
3 Mogg Salvage
2 Boil
2 Scald
SluGh:
10/28/2000
8 Forests
4 Mountains
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Shivan Oasis
1
DustBowl
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Stampede Driver
4
Assault/Battery
4
Veteran Brawler
4 Kavu Titan
4 Raging Kavu
4 Tangle
Wire
4
Rhystic Lightning
4 Urza's Rage
2 Jade Leech
2
Skizzik
IBC
Pauper Sligh
8/2001
13 Mountain
4 Shivan
Oasis
2 Terminal Moraine
1 Forest
1 Keldon
Necropolis
4
Bloodfire Dwarf
4 Thunderscape Apprentice
4 Mogg Jailer
4 Rogue
Kavu
4 Kavu Aggressor
2 Flametongue Kavu
4
Assault/Battery
4 Fire
4 Scorching Lava
4 Mages Contest
2 Magma
Burst
Sideboard(15):
4 Thornscape Apprentice
4 Thunderscape
Apprentice
3 Dodecapod
4 Slingshot Goblins
Mon's Goblin Sligh
12/2001
4 Mountains
4 Taiga
4 Plateau
2
Savannah
4
Wasteland
4 Land Grant
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Mogg
Fanatic
4
Goblin Recruiter
4 Goblin Legionnaire
4 Mogg Flunkies
3 Goblin
Ringleader
1 Goblin Mutant
2 Phrexian Furnace
4
Swords to
Plowshares
4 Incinerate
4 Fireblast
1 Furnace of
Rath
Sideboard:
3 Clear
4 Pyroblast
1 Furnace of Rath
1 Mogg
Maniac
1 Goblin Tinker
3 Reprisal
2 Cursed Scroll