Singleton

I've got to come up with a singleton deck in a couple of weeks, but I'm
not sure where to begin.

I think the best thing to do is take a standard archetype, like Red
Deck Wins or Sligh, on Mono-Blue Control, and play "synonyms", with
lots of cards that do approximately the same thing. But, I'd also like
to include some big-bang rares that I have that I rarely use because I
don't have 4.

So, that being said, does anyone have any tips on building singleton
decks? Or know of any sites with appropriate tutorials/guides/etc.?


For a mono-blue deck, I was thinking of something like so:
24 Island
12 counters (3 mana or less)
8 bounce
4 fatties
4 tutors (gifts ungiven/fact or fiction)
8 walls/speed-bumps w/ effects

that makes 60.
I could up the fatties to 6 and drop a couple of counters, or a counter
and a bounce.
But again, this is a stab. I'm not a blue mage at heart, so I'm sort
of swinging in the dark.

Also, I originally thought about adding black, but then I decided
against it.


Another I'd like to try is RG beats, with some Gruul, some classic R
speed, G mana fixing, big R & G fatties, Red removal, and so on. Maybe
something like so:

24 land (Mtn/Forest/duals)
8 fatties
4 mana-boosting weenies (lawnmower, BoP, werebear, caryatid...)
8 speedy 1& 2 drops (raging goblin, jackal pup, kird ape, wild
mongrel...)
4 board clearers (pyroclasm, savage twister, slice/dice)
8 pinpoint killers (shock, k's torch, fireball, rolling thunder,
fanning flames)
4 land grabbers (harrow, K's reach, sakura elder, farseek)

I don't know. It seems a little all over the place.
Any ideas?

Peter

Risser <peterrisser.RemoveThis@gmail.com> sent:
> I've got to come up with a singleton deck in a couple of weeks, but I'm
> not sure where to begin.

I'm assuming that you're allowed cards from way back, given that you
quote Jackal Pup and the like below.

> I think the best thing to do is take a standard archetype, like Red
> Deck Wins or Sligh, on Mono-Blue Control, and play "synonyms", with
> lots of cards that do approximately the same thing. But, I'd also like
> to include some big-bang rares that I have that I rarely use because I
> don't have 4.

> So, that being said, does anyone have any tips on building singleton
> decks? Or know of any sites with appropriate tutorials/guides/etc.?

Selection, flexibility, synergy and recursion. Selection lets you find
the right card for the job, flexibility means that more of your cards
do the job you need doing, synergy means that your cards all complement
one another and recursion lets you make those one-ofs go the extra
distance. Not that these aren't perfectly good strategies for any
deck, but they're especially important when you can't duplicate cards.
Cards with buyback or similar effects (Eternal Dragon, Hammer of
Bogardan) will see a lot of play as they're both flexible and
recursive. It's also a good idea to pack in creatures that have useful
CIP or activated abilities. Kicker is rather powerful in this format,
especially if you're crossing multiple colors.

> For a mono-blue deck, I was thinking of something like so:
> 24 Island
> 12 counters (3 mana or less)
> 8 bounce
> 4 fatties
> 4 tutors (gifts ungiven/fact or fiction)
> 8 walls/speed-bumps w/ effects

> that makes 60.
> I could up the fatties to 6 and drop a couple of counters, or a counter
> and a bounce.
> But again, this is a stab. I'm not a blue mage at heart, so I'm sort
> of swinging in the dark.

I have a blue/white deck that packs in Propaganda and Soothsaying;
the Soothsaying is pretty good as a selection enabler. The only
recursion is one Mnemonic Nexus and one Reminisce, which is really
a last resort measure as it's too fragile to be generally useful.

> Also, I originally thought about adding black, but then I decided
> against it.

Black is pretty powerful, you have a wide selection of removal and
reanimate options available, and creature recursion makes for a
fairly consistent game.

> Another I'd like to try is RG beats, with some Gruul, some classic R
> speed, G mana fixing, big R & G fatties, Red removal, and so on. Maybe
> something like so:

> 24 land (Mtn/Forest/duals)
> 8 fatties
> 4 mana-boosting weenies (lawnmower, BoP, werebear, caryatid...)
> 8 speedy 1& 2 drops (raging goblin, jackal pup, kird ape, wild
> mongrel...)
> 4 board clearers (pyroclasm, savage twister, slice/dice)
> 8 pinpoint killers (shock, k's torch, fireball, rolling thunder,
> fanning flames)
> 4 land grabbers (harrow, K's reach, sakura elder, farseek)

> I don't know. It seems a little all over the place.
> Any ideas?

I played a B/G one a long time ago, with Mtenda Lion and Wild Dogs
being the stars. Anything that ups the tempo is a problem for the
opponent, as they will often need to build up a little before being
able to consistently find answers. I have an acquaintance with a
B/R/G thing with Stormbind, Shattering Pulse, Thundermare, Xira
Arien, Inferno and all sorts of other neat spells. There are lots
of options, and you don't necessarily have to fit into a specific
archetype - a rogue singleton can stand just as much change, make
the opponent think more and be much more fun to play.

--
-- zoe