MtG Players, I need your help in deck building for an FLGS vs FLGS competition

[DarthCoercis]

My friendly local game store has recently been holding an MtG competition with another nearby FLGS. The store team I'm on lost the first round of games, 2 to 3, and the next round starts in a month. We players were just given the format for the 1st round of the next comp, and I'm totally at a loss.

I normally come up with a silly theme or story idea, then build a deck around it. I don't normally win a lot of games, but everyone has a lot of fun (For example, one of my Commander decks is named "Grandpa's Bad Day Out" and all of the cards in the deck allow me to tell the story of an Archmage who goes to the beach and has a very bad day). I'm going to be competing for my FLGS's honour, a plaque for their wall and a pretty sweet reward this time though (1st place is half a box of Kaladesh boosters and 2x Commander 2016 decks), and my usual "entertain everyone at the table" play style won't work.

The format for the 1st round is a variation on Commander. It's a 100 card singleton deck that uses only cards allowed in a Standard deck. Standard Commander with no commander, is how they're describing it. The main colours I run with are black & blue, but I'm thinking I should expand this to either White, Black & Blue or Green, Black & Blue.

As an entertaining gamer, not a competitive gamer, I need your help. I'm not overly concerned if I win the overall competition, only that the store I'm representing does. If you have any ideas, or themes, or even card suggestions, throw them at me. Please.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

I normally come up with a silly theme or story idea, then build a deck around it.

I don't want to be that 'Final Destination Only No Items' guy, but that may be the problem. Competitive decks are built to win as fast as possible, not to tell a funny story. I haven't played seriously in a while, but part of the reason I don't is because most of the decks I was playing against then could put together a game-winning combo in 3 turns maximum. One I still remember acutely is one that quickly summoned Mindslaver, a 6-cost Artifact creature that, when sacrificed, allows the player to decide his actions, and combined that with numerous cards that allowed you to retrieve Artifacts from the graveyard or search your deck for Artifiacts. Still lots of Mono-Red burn out there too.

What I'm saying is if you want to have less curbstomp matches, I'd look up top meta archetypes online and modify your deck to be closer to whatever one it is already most similar too with whatever cards you can find. Try to find combinations that, if completed, would leave the opponent either dead or crippled, and fill out the rest of your deck with things that let you quickly acquire the pieces of your combo and pay to cast them (not sure if Door to Nothingness is considered a viable archetype any more, but look it up). I always try to carry at least 10-12 cards in my deck that disrupt whatever my opponent is doing, either countering or destroying cards but again I haven't played seriously in a while, so maybe pure speed is still the best approach.

 

[RaikuFA]

I haven't played seriously in a while, but part of the reason I don't is because most of the decks I was playing against then could put together a game-winning combo in 3 turns maximum.

Go Commander. A lot more focused on just showing off combos with the main rules being "Have fun" and "don't be a dick"

 

[DarthCoercis]

Perhaps I didn't explain myself well enough? I admit that writing my thoughts out is... tougher... than I'd like it to be these days. Usually most of the players at the FNM I show up to are more like myself, very laid back, preferring experimental or entertaining decks. We don't really get that many power gamers.

What I need to make now though *is* a competitive, win fast deck. The store we're up against is pretty much exclusively power players. I just don't know how to do that any more. I've been going through my cards and I will happily admit that I'm out of my element and at a complete loss for ideas.

The 1st match of the new tourney is, I believe, a custom ruleset for deck building. 100 card singleton, standard-viable cards only, colour choice limited by a theoretical commander. I haven't found anything like it mentioned anywhere on the MtG forums and sites I've looked at. Current meta for standard decks can't help me in this case unfortunately. That's why I asked here for assistance.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

To be honest, making a 100 card, singles only deck (which sounds a lot like Highlander to me) will end up with you just shoving your best singles in there with some consideration taken to mana curving. Getting the card(s) you want out of 100 is a longshot at the best of times and without a commander to base your deck around, you'll be hard-pressed to get something combo viable, especially since you are limited to Return to Zendikar, Return to Innistrad and Kaladesh for blocks.

If you like going black/blue, I'd suggest making a deck based around having blue draw you cards and scry, to get you draw advantage where you can, using cards like Anticipate and Divination spin-offs and have black focus on killing creatures. The up side of some odd 60 singles is that removal can really mess with their plan, as once you are rid of a creature it is unlikely to come back unless they are going graveyard heavy (which is hard but not impossible with the current standard).

 

[DarthCoercis]

So lots of draw, lots of counters and lots of removal. Ok, cool, thank you kindly. I appreciate the ideas. What sort of creatures do you think I should include? A bunch of cheap stuff with flying/skulk/etc or larger scarier looking things?

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

You might want to get a New Hampshire Broiler chicken. They're the best for White Mana. Try to find one raised to do well with protection and sorcery cards, although green necromancer with lost of earthy incantation and growth cards might work too.

Just stay away from free range chickens. They're primarily control-deck players that slow the game down with board control cards.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

So lots of draw, lots of counters and lots of removal. Ok, cool, thank you kindly. I appreciate the ideas. What sort of creatures do you think I should include? A bunch of cheap stuff with flying/skulk/etc or larger scarier looking things?

You are going to need both. I am unfamiliar with control decks in the 100 cards, single meta, but my initial reaction is that you should go for the splashier creatures more than the small meat shields. If you can, try to go for things like Sphinx of the Final Word and Mindwrack Demon, which will really put the pressure on your enemy and mix them up with other beefy fliers.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

So lots of draw, lots of counters and lots of removal. Ok, cool, thank you kindly. I appreciate the ideas. What sort of creatures do you think I should include? A bunch of cheap stuff with flying/skulk/etc or larger scarier looking things?

Personally, not that I really play singleton formats but if I understand them correctly, I would go with evasion. If you're going with counter/removal, you won't want to invest too heavily in any particular creature that won't leave you mana for countering. Flying/skulk/menace will let you do consistent damage while you hold off whatever plans your opponent has. I don't personally like skulk much as a mechanic since it presupposes that your opponent has bigger creatures than you, but with a lot of removal that hopefully won't be a common problem.

 

[DarthCoercis]

Thanks for the suggestions. You've given me some good ideas and places to start. I'm making a pile of potential cards. Hopefully I'll have a deck list in a week or so and I'll post it here for appraisal.