You CAN’T Play T1
By Mark Rosewater

I’ve been hit lately with a lot of criticism for my stand on the T1 format. People have been e-mailing me hate mail saying I am “ruining the game” (which Ritchie said I’m not!) and “killing T1 to make more money.” I assure you that it is not true. First, a pokemon-type game is more fun, more shiny, less fantastical, and simpler, meaning that more people will be able to play! I don’t know why everybody hates pokemon so much, by the way. Hopefully that will change, because you shouldn’t be surprised to see “Creature – Pokemon” cards when they appear in Onslaught. (You can thank me for the sneak preview later.) Well, anyway, my second point is that Magic is NOT about making money. Aaron Forsythe was just being silly when he said “…anyone with sense will realize that the constant revenue stream from people buying new products is what allows Magic to exist.”. Aaron is such a joker sometimes.

Now, what I came to tell you about was that, while some cruel people like Oscar Tan are encouraging all kinds players to play T1, I am here to tell you that it is impossible to do without selling your car, and not to even try it unless you are overly rich and want to play games that last 1 turn and are decided by a coin flip. Now, take a look at this deck, made by my nemesis, Will Mistretta:

Split:
1 Fire/Ice
Green:
1 Regrowth
1 Sylvan Library
White:
1 Balance
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Swords to Plowshares
Black:
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Mind Twist
1 The Abyss
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Blue:
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Braingeyser
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
2 Morphling
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
Artifacts:
1 Zuran Orb
Mana Sources:
1 Black Lotus
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Undiscovered Paradise
2 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
3 Tundra
3 Wasteland
4 City of Brass
4 Underground Sea

Anyone can tell by looking at this deck that it is a jumbled mess that relies on brokenness and luck to win. Look, he doesn’t even run four of most cards! And also, it runs a card from HOMELANDS, and doesn’t run Urza’s Rage, Call of the Herd and Finkel. However, it is the reigning champion, so I decided to try it out.

My experience was that the deck was complicated to play, with no clear strategy whatsoever. It was supposed to be control, but it only had 8 Counterspells, none of which were the incredibly broken Counterspell. Such a deck was only possible because of the degenerate state of T1, which reduces strategy to packing more of the Power 9 into one deck than your opponent.
Also, the deck is amazingly expensive. To get all the cards, in mint condition, black border, and signed by the artist as any decent player desires, you would have to expend $40,000, NONE OF WHICH GOES TO WIZARDS OF THE COAST!!! Such a tragedy must be averted. I tried to make this deck more affordable, following the example of the fine strategy magazine Inquest.

Here are the substitutions I came up with.

Split:
1 Fire/Ice
Green:
1 Regrowth
1 Sylvan Library
White:
1 Balance Balancing Act
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Swords to Plowshares
Black:
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Mind Twist
1 The Abyss Plague Wind
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Blue:
1 Ancestral Recall Concentrate
1 Braingeyser Prosperity
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Stroke of Genius Oppurtunity
1 Timetwister Diminishing Returns
1 Time Walk Time Stretch
2 Morphling
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain Drain Power
Artifacts:
1 Zuran Orb
Mana Sources:
1 Black Lotus Lotus Petal
1 Library of Alexandria Library of Lat-Nam
1 Mox Emerald Moss Diamond
1 Mox Jet Charcoal Diamond
1 Mox Pearl Marble Diamond
1 Mox Ruby Fire Diamond
1 Mox Sapphire Sky Diamond
1 Sol Ring Sisay’s Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Undiscovered Paradise
2 Tropical Island Yavimaya Coast
2 Volcanic Island Shivan Reef
3 Tundra Adarkar Wastes
3 Wasteland
4 City of Brass
4 Underground Sea Underground River

Not surprisingly, this cheaper deck did not work well. I lost, in fact, every game I played on Apprentice (which, I would like to add, is INFERIOR IN EVERY WAY TO MAGIC ONLINE) and also every game I played in real life, even against my goldfish. However, the Diamonds were far safer from Gorilla Shaman than their Moxen counterparts. I question Mistretta’s judgment.
Some people claim that Keeper, which doesn’t even use the expensive T1 necessary Juzam Djinn, is the most expensive deck in the format, and that there are cheaper alternatives. I must refute that statement now, by analyzing every deck they have mentioned.

Suicide Black: Well, just look at the name! It’s SUICIDE Black, which means it must kill itself before it wins, which, under current rules, causes it to lose. Also, this deck is by no means cheap: You must buy 4 Juzam Djinns, and people who don’t include these Djinns are playing a far inferior version of the deck.

Sligh: Well, well. Sligh, (invented by Professor Jimmy Von Sligh) is nice and dandy, but how is it supposed to win against a deck like Keeper that counters every card it plays? Sure, Urza’s Rage gives it a chance, but you can only run 4 Urza’s Rage in one deck. This is obviously a poor choice.

Deck Parfait: Okay, give me a second to stop laughing. Say it with me: “I eat Parfait for breakfast.” Not only do I eat it, but expensive decks with all the Moxen also do. And how is this deck supposed to control without the Moxen, or win with Sacred Mesa, a card that costs a lot of mana to play? Also, what’s this about Land Tax? Couldn’t I just not play any lands and beat this?

Stompy: Now, this I like. However, I notice a big lack of Might of Oaks, Squirrels, and Wild Mongrel (the most broken card in the game of Magic) in every decklist I’ve seen. I guess if you play stompy, you can play T1 cheaply. But, be sure to get foil Calls of the Herd, and buy boxes of Oddysey until you get them. Secondhand dealers are known to be unreliable.

Until next week, may you draw your Thwart to protect against Channel Fireball.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

You CAN’T Play T1
By Mark Rosewater

I’ve been hit lately with a lot of criticism for my stand on the T1 format. People have been e-mailing me hate mail saying I am “ruining the game” (which Ritchie said I’m not!) and “killing T1 to make more money.” I assure you that it is not true. First, a pokemon-type game is more fun, more shiny, less fantastical, and simpler, meaning that more people will be able to play! I don’t know why everybody hates pokemon so much, by the way. Hopefully that will change, because you shouldn’t be surprised to see “Creature – Pokemon” cards when they appear in Onslaught. (You can thank me for the sneak preview later.) Well, anyway, my second point is that Magic is NOT about making money. Aaron Forsythe was just being silly when he said “…anyone with sense will realize that the constant revenue stream from people buying new products is what allows Magic to exist.”. Aaron is such a joker sometimes.

Now, what I came to tell you about was that, while some cruel people like Oscar Tan are encouraging all kinds players to play T1, I am here to tell you that it is impossible to do without selling your car, and not to even try it unless you are overly rich and want to play games that last 1 turn and are decided by a coin flip. Now, take a look at this deck, made by my nemesis, Will Mistretta:

Split:
1 Fire/Ice
Green:
1 Regrowth
1 Sylvan Library
White:
1 Balance
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Swords to Plowshares
Black:
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Mind Twist
1 The Abyss
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Blue:
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Braingeyser
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
2 Morphling
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
Artifacts:
1 Zuran Orb
Mana Sources:
1 Black Lotus
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Undiscovered Paradise
2 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
3 Tundra
3 Wasteland
4 City of Brass
4 Underground Sea

Anyone can tell by looking at this deck that it is a jumbled mess that relies on brokenness and luck to win. Look, he doesn’t even run four of most cards! And also, it runs a card from HOMELANDS, and doesn’t run Urza’s Rage, Call of the Herd and Finkel. However, it is the reigning champion, so I decided to try it out.

My experience was that the deck was complicated to play, with no clear strategy whatsoever. It was supposed to be control, but it only had 8 Counterspells, none of which were the incredibly broken Counterspell. Such a deck was only possible because of the degenerate state of T1, which reduces strategy to packing more of the Power 9 into one deck than your opponent.
Also, the deck is amazingly expensive. To get all the cards, in mint condition, black border, and signed by the artist as any decent player desires, you would have to expend $40,000, NONE OF WHICH GOES TO WIZARDS OF THE COAST!!! Such a tragedy must be averted. I tried to make this deck more affordable, following the example of the fine strategy magazine Inquest.

Here are the substitutions I came up with.

Split:
1 Fire/Ice
Green:
1 Regrowth
1 Sylvan Library
White:
1 Balance Balancing Act
1 Dismantling Blow
1 Swords to Plowshares
Black:
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Mind Twist
1 The Abyss Plague Wind
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Blue:
1 Ancestral Recall Concentrate
1 Braingeyser Prosperity
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Misdirection
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Stroke of Genius Oppurtunity
1 Timetwister Diminishing Returns
1 Time Walk Time Stretch
2 Morphling
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain Drain Power
Artifacts:
1 Zuran Orb
Mana Sources:
1 Black Lotus Lotus Petal
1 Library of Alexandria Library of Lat-Nam
1 Mox Emerald Moss Diamond
1 Mox Jet Charcoal Diamond
1 Mox Pearl Marble Diamond
1 Mox Ruby Fire Diamond
1 Mox Sapphire Sky Diamond
1 Sol Ring Sisay’s Ring
1 Strip Mine
1 Undiscovered Paradise
2 Tropical Island Yavimaya Coast
2 Volcanic Island Shivan Reef
3 Tundra Adarkar Wastes
3 Wasteland
4 City of Brass
4 Underground Sea Underground River

Not surprisingly, this cheaper deck did not work well. I lost, in fact, every game I played on Apprentice (which, I would like to add, is INFERIOR IN EVERY WAY TO MAGIC ONLINE) and also every game I played in real life, even against my goldfish. However, the Diamonds were far safer from Gorilla Shaman than their Moxen counterparts. I question Mistretta’s judgment.
Some people claim that Keeper, which doesn’t even use the expensive T1 necessary Juzam Djinn, is the most expensive deck in the format, and that there are cheaper alternatives. I must refute that statement now, by analyzing every deck they have mentioned.

Suicide Black: Well, just look at the name! It’s SUICIDE Black, which means it must kill itself before it wins, which, under current rules, causes it to lose. Also, this deck is by no means cheap: You must buy 4 Juzam Djinns, and people who don’t include these Djinns are playing a far inferior version of the deck.

Sligh: Well, well. Sligh, (invented by Professor Jimmy Von Sligh) is nice and dandy, but how is it supposed to win against a deck like Keeper that counters every card it plays? Sure, Urza’s Rage gives it a chance, but you can only run 4 Urza’s Rage in one deck. This is obviously a poor choice.

Deck Parfait: Okay, give me a second to stop laughing. Say it with me: “I eat Parfait for breakfast.” Not only do I eat it, but expensive decks with all the Moxen also do. And how is this deck supposed to control without the Moxen, or win with Sacred Mesa, a card that costs a lot of mana to play? Also, what’s this about Land Tax? Couldn’t I just not play any lands and beat this?

Stompy: Now, this I like. However, I notice a big lack of Might of Oaks, Squirrels, and Wild Mongrel (the most broken card in the game of Magic) in every decklist I’ve seen. I guess if you play stompy, you can play T1 cheaply. But, be sure to get foil Calls of the Herd, and buy boxes of Oddysey until you get them. Secondhand dealers are known to be unreliable.

Until next week, may you draw your Thwart to protect against Channel Fireball.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!