With the departure of rebels, free counters, and all the other goodness that Masques block had to offer, we are now staring down the face of an entirely new beast; that beast is Odyssey. Some have said that it lacks the general power that Invasion, as the first set of the block, had. Others say that they love it. I believe it's not too overly powerful, without nearly as many "bombs" as Apocolyse had, but it has it's fair share of gems. Now, for your perusal, I present some of my favorite new decks for t2, along with commentary. Please note that I don't have a sideboard ready, as the environment really isn't even here yet!Note: I am not saying these are the best builds at all, they are just builds I like so far, so take them with a grain of salt. But most of all, enjoy! Also, feel free to also post your decks while your at it; I love seeing new ideas.
Deck #1 Squirrel Prison
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Static Orb
4 Opposition
4 Counterspell
4 Mystic Snake
10 Forest
10 Island
4 Yavimaya Coast
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Squirrel Nest
4 Memory Lapse
This deck employs around the Static Orb/Opposition control combo, but that isn't the deck's only way of winning. Sometimes, you can simply lay some elves/birds, use Snakes as aggro tools, and lay a Nest and protect it to eventually swarm the opponent. For any non-believers, Squirrel Nest is simply amazing. It provides a continuous stream of blockers/tappers/attackers, and with an Opposition, it's usually game if you are holding a good hand of counters. The Lapses are very good under a Static Orb, because almost always will your Lapse cost less than the spell you are delaying, so you gain tempo. Fact or Fiction is just too good not to include; it gives you continuous gas. This deck doesn't fall apart against anything. It's also very fun to play with, and the greatest part is, nobody can stand losing to squirrels! (PS: Props to Tedman for showing me the power of the Nest!)
Deck #2: WW 2001
4 Meddling Mage
4 Devoted Caretaker
4 Mystic Penitent
4 Longbow Archer
2 Repulse
4 Syncopate
4 Memory Lapse
5 Island
4 Adarkar Wastes
13 Plains
4 Spectral Lynx
4 Divine Sacrament
4 Standstill
This deck is reminiscent of Counter-Rebels in that it wants to drop a few threats, and then find ways to protect them while they finish the job. Meddling Mage serves as a way to stop mass removal and a 2/2 body that can get larger under a Sacrament. The deck has 8 one drops, because this deck really does want to use all it's mana for the first 4 turns. A very important part of the deck is the Standstills. If you can get a Standstill down with a few creatures, you have a very good chance of winning the game. You force the opponent to cast spells to deal with your threats, and the Standstill just gets you 3 cards closer to a counterspell (and hopefully another Standstill). The only problem with this deck is sometimes, it just runs out of gas. That is why I may pull the Sacraments for some more card drawing, such as Fact or Fiction. This deck is a blast to play, and the joy of watching your opponent cringe as they 1.) give you 3 cards, and 2.) get their spell lapsed into oblivion, only to watch you play another Standstill off the 3 cards they gave you is something you have to see to believe.
Deck #3: Finkel-Go
4 Duress
4 Counterspell
4 Force Spike
4 Opt
4 Shadowmage Infiltrator
3 Memory Lapse
3 Undermine
3 Syncopate
2 Mahamoti Djinn
2 Fact or Fiction
2 Repulse
1 Fervent Denial
13 Island
4 Underground River
4 Salt Marsh
3 Swamp
This deck is all about getting Shadowmage Infiltrator out and protected, and then winning off of the stream of card advantage. Duress is a proactive counter to Urza's Rage, the only real threat to Finkel once you assemble some counters in-hand. (Obliterate also exists, but is not nearly as much of a threat due to the lack of play it seems to be getting lately.) Repulse is used to get rid of early threats that you did not or could not counter, and it's also a way of protecting the Infiltrator once it gets going. There are only 2 Fact or Fictions because other decks that run FoF's use it as one of it's card drawing spells. However, in this deck, the Infiltrator is the main card drawing spell, and in this deck, you DO NOT want two FoF's in your starting hand. Have fun Finkeling your opponents!
So, I hope you all enjoy these submissions, and I also hope they inspired you to make your own decks. Creativity is key! Until next time, my faithful readers, this is da-odd-templar, signing off.
__________________
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[Edited 2 times, lastly by da-odd-templar on October 07, 2001]