2001)

´´I think I'll call him Stampy!´´ - Bart Simpson

Common fever is catching! I opened a new issue of Inquest magazine and saw an article on common decks. This comes as no surprise as this site supports a surprising number of common sales. Look at the number one card in the resources section - it's common! To my surprise and delight, the latest submission to the site was a common deck article too.

I am in heaven.

However, I couldn't help re-read the Inquest article and analyze the green stompy deck. I applaud them for trying to make it type 2, but as a stompy deck goes, it doesn't have enough OOMPH to smash the opponent. So I have a few recommendations for you, the green player. Most of my ideas were taken from the old Stompy decks and the 12 land green deck from extended that posed a threat to over-swarm the opponent.

Attacking Creatures:
4:Mtenda Lion
4:Pouncing Jaguar
4:Rogue Elephant
4:River Boa
4:Blastoderm

Creature Enhancements:
4:Rancor
4:Seal of Strength
4:Giant Growth
4:Invigorate

Land Development:
4:Land Grant
4:Wall of Roots

Land
16:Forest

The creature block is rock solid. You have 20 creatures, and 12 can be played on the first turn. Pouncing Jaguar and Rogue Elephant set you back a land, but the rest of the deck does very well with a low land count. It is hard to not play with a first turn 2/2 and 3/3 creature. Trust me, once these creatures hit the table, the opposing player will have to respond! The Mtenda Lion is a 2/1 with a minor drawback to blue. Don't worry about playing them in the main deck, their weakness against blue is balanced against the River Boa's almost domination of blue. This snake (common in Visions) is an islandwalking nightmare for the control player and Blastoderm mirror match. Just block and regenerate. Speaking of Blastoderm, this creature tops the mana curve with sheer power. What a beating your opponent will feel as you smash him for three turns. You may not have enough to get him out turn three or four with the deck's land count, but he dominates the long game. At the beginning with two lands, you usually are playing threats through turn three before you get the enhancements out.

All of the creature enchantments are here to serve two functions: apply pressure and protect the creature from death. Since this deck contains zero creature removal, you will have to have yours crush them or block and succeed in battle. The Seal of Strength and Giant Growth are pivotal in saving the creature from direct damage and first strike creatures. Invigorate is a +4/+4 surprise that works wonders against burn. Don't worry about giving the opponent life - you will eventually give them enough creature damage to make the time advantage insignificant. Finally, Rancor is the beating machine that turns any creature into a powerhouse. You really want to start out holding one of these in your opening draw. Paris liberally - you should be ok with one or two land.

Discussing the land count, you may consider the land to be too heavy for a pure stompy deck. However, I believe that Land Grant and Wall of Roots are big boosts to get you to your creatures and mana supply. Land Grant is amazing in getting the land with a small drawback of showing your hand. You may reveal a Giant Growth or Invigorate, but you can play that to your advantage. Your deck will be running so fast, your opponent won't have time to think about the one or two cards in your hand (bluffing is also fun too). The Wall of Roots is just as amazing as Land Grant. I prefer them to the mana elves for several reasons. First they are cheap for a 0/5 wall. Second they can produce mana the turn they come into play. Third, they can be used in back to back turns. Fourth, opponents will often forget that they can be activated during any turn. Take this scenario:

Opponent: ´´Since you are tapped out, I bolt your river boa.´´

You: ´´Ok, I add a counter to Wall of Roots and get one green. I regenerate River Boa.´´

Opponent: ´´Darn! I forgot about that. Well I Shock it for 2 damage.´´

You: ´´Good thing I am holding this Invigorate´´

Opponent grumbles as he faces a Rancor-ed River Boa beatdown.

It is easy to get the idea of the common Stampy. The deck will rip a slow deck to shreds and keep the burn player guessing. That may be just enough edge to smash through any player at the other side of the table. This is one of my decks that really gives my skirge black common deck a rough time. I think you will have fun curshing your opponent with all common, black-bordered, fun cards in the true Wakefield-ian sense of the game.

Play land.

Cast creature.

Smash.

Repeat as often as possible.

Rate Article

5 (best) 4 3 2 1

Discuss Article

Click here to discuss this article in forum or leave comments for the author.

RSS Feed

This article is provided to you by CardShark.com - A Better Way to Buy and Sell Collectable Games Online. Please check out the rest of our site - you won't be disappointed.

View More Articles