YOU WIN THE GAME

School is back in session and you know what that means?  This site gets updated way more often because I sit there bored in a lecture and make some lists!

I have two for today.  Both started with a common theme: the clause YOU WIN THE GAME.

There aren't a lot of effects played like this in modern and for good reason - they're narrow and usually bad.

I want to get the first list out of the way since it isn't interesting.

MORTAL KOMBAT

4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Street Wraith
4 Twisted Abomination
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Jungle Weaver
2 Dimir House Guard
2 Gnaw to the Bone
4 Mortal Combat
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Faithless Looting
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Ridge Rannet
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Bloodcrypt
1 Stomping Grounds
1 Copperline Gorge
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Swamp
2 Mountain
1 Forest

Yeah, so this deck is super boring.  I think it's just a worse version of Living End.  You have to work SUPER hard to get to 20 creatures in your yard.  Sure, you can transmute the Dimir Houseguard to go get Mortal Combat.  Whoooooo.  I think you'll probably just die before you even get to ten creatures.

deck two

Near-Death Experience

4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Street Wraith
4 Manamorphose
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Silence
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Angel's Grace
4 Plunge into Darkness
4 Pentad Prism
4 Near-Death Experience
4 Remand
4 Mana Confluence
4 Gemstone Mines
1 Gemstone Cavern
1 Bloodcrypt
1 Godless Shrine
1 Watery Grave
2 Marsh Flats
2 Bloodstained Mire

This deck is a sweet one.  You use Lotus Bloom or Pentad Prism to ramp into a Near-Death Experience.  There are a lot of cards to let you use life as a resource.  It's okay to take damage from your manabase because your opponent will be dealing damage to you as well.  Your opponent has to play very carefully so that you don't accidentally win.  An alpha strike / burn spells / and basically anything other than infect and mill will put you at 1 life and you will win during your upkeep.  Silence is to keep your spells from being counter / randomly dying to cards during the turn you need to stay alive at one life.  Plunge through Darkness helps you find the enchantment and a lot of spells are designed to deal 1-2 damage to you.  A clever opponent will try and keep you at an even life total.  That's what the fetchlands and Mana Confluence are for.

My idea for a sideboard currently is:

4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Greater Aurmancy
4 Moltensteel Dragon
3 Mana Leak

Yeah, not so interesting.  An opponent will likely not have anything mainboard to deal with the enchantment, but you're probably all-in on your first copy.  Five is a lot of mana, especially for a deck with sixteen lands.   The dragon is just an idea.  It fits with the theme of the deck, this should be good against decks heavy with enchantment hate and counterspells.  Also, I can't imagine this deck has a good matchup against burn.  Or maybe it does.  Who knows.

I'll bring you guys more craziness later.  Expect some tournament reports on the weekend.