Let the Spirit Move You
By Hero- on August 29, 2001

Zylo writes,

I'm Zylo & my deck is a UB defense/control deck. Its theme is the Spirit of the Night and the three night stalkers that bring him out. My deck is best at defending against and killing the opponents offence, while building up a good attack strategy.

Lands
2x islands
5x swamps
3x Faerie Conclave (Land that becomes a creature)
2x Peat Bog (two swamps at once)
1x Undiscoved paradise (mana is always nice)
1x Crosis's Catacombs (three types of mana)
1x Mogg Hollows (two types of mana)
1x Terrain Generator (get land out quick)

Creatures
4x Urborg Panther (helps bring out SOTN)
3x Breathstealer (also helps bring out SOTN)
2x Feral Shadow (last needed to help out SOTN)
1x Spirit of the Night (great offence)
2x Undertaker (In case opponent kills a good creature)
1x Avatar of Woe (kill enemy creatures with just a tap)
1x Blind Seer (SOTN pro' from black, & change mana)
1x Crosis, the Purger (strong flier & discard ability)
1x Rootwater Thief (Get rid of future problems)
1x Ertai, Wizard Adept (a creature & a counterspell)
1x Duskwalker (good early on, almost unblockable)

Other
1x Seal of Doom (kill big or troublesome creatures)
1x Megrim (works with discard effects)
3x Dark Ritual (quick mana)
1x Stupor (discard twice)
1x Festering Wound (cumulative damage)
1x Subversion (slow life drain)
4x Agonizing Demise (Kill creatures and deal damage)
1x Capsize (strong boomerang, & a buyback)
1x Bloodstone Cameo (mana producing artifact)
2x Rhystic Syphon (big life drainer)
1x Eradicate (kills all copies of opponent's creature)
1x Alexi's Cloak (can't be target of spells or abilities)
1x Drain Life (another life drainer, of course)
1x Mana Short (opponent has NO mana this turn)
3x Counterspell (it...counters spells...)
1x Levitation (for fly-by attacks)
1x Vampiric Embrace (a boost that gets better & better)
1x Confiscate (the cooler the enemy's card, the better)
1x Backlash(causes creatures to attack their controller)
1x Hypnotic Cloud (discard up to three cards)

Side Board
3x Feast of the Unicorn (attack booster)
2x Thran Golem
2x Braidwood Cup
2x Pestilence
3x Snap

That's about it for my deck.

... why me? I usually see a lot of... "unique" decks in this crazy world we call Deck Clinic. This by far is the most strangest and most confusing deck. It's not the concept of the deck that is difficult, it's its content. The best thing I can say to sum up what is wrong with the deck is that consistency is your best buddy. All these 1-of's and 2-of's make me want to stick my head in a pot of dirt. What is worse, is that (assuming this Extended or 1.x legal, which is the way I will be revising the deck) you do not use ANY types of tutors. It just seems like more of a casual deck you play when you don't have enough good cards to make a good deck so you smashed your cards together to make a monstrosity of magical cards. Okay, I could go off for like a century about what I dislike about the deck, but I have to revise this deck to make it look and feel better.

What the Hell.dec (revised by Hero-)

Lands
4 Savannah
4 Bayou
4 Scrubland
4 Undiscovered Paradise
4 Reflecting Pool
2 City of Brass

Creatures
4 Urborg Panther
3 Breathstealer
3 Feral Shadow
3 Spirit of the Night

Other
4 Eladamri's Call
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Vampiric Tutor
4 Oath of Druids
3 Tithe
3 Pernicious Deed
3 Gaea's Blessing

Sideboard
3 Perish
3 City of Solitude
3 Seal of Cleansing
3 Sanctimony
3 Samite Ministration

I totally threw out your U/B control and made it G/W. Why? Because I can. You're lucky I didn't come to your house and eat your hat. Anyways, I made the deck Extended legal, but it could be just a casual deck since in your original listing, you had Dark Rituals. Whatever the case may be, these decks can always be edited to your liking. I don't wanna do this but I gotta...

Card-by-Card Analysis

Land - Well, in your version, you sported a mighty 16 land. That isn't even enough for a booster draft deck. I increased the land count to 22 and added duals for the colors that the deck now uses.
Urborg Panther/Breathstealer/Feral Shadow - When our powers combine... we make Captain Spirit of the Night!
Spirit of the Night - Spirit of the Night, he's our hero, gonna take my opponent's life down to zero!
Eladamri's Call - With the new G/W build, you can use this nifty card to get the components for the SotN.
Swords to Plowshares - Gotta kill something.
Vampiric Tutor - Anything you want, for only 2 life.
Oath of Druids - Another alternate way of getting the creatures you need for the SotN, or for the SotN itself.
Tithe - Need that mana. Gimme.
Pernicious Deed - Good disk-like ability. Very handy vs quick decks like Sligh or Stompy.
Gaea's Blessing - This and Oath make a happy camper.

And sideboard...
Perish - Vs Cradle Elf and Stompy.
City of Solitude - Vs blue decks like Stasis or Turbo-phid
Seal of Cleansing - Vs Stasis and Oath, and maybe the random Tinker deck.
Sanctimony - Vs Sligh and Sped Red.
Samite Ministration - Vs red and black decks, naturally.

Many decks don't come around as unique as this, and they shouldn't. We're here to make decks more competitive for tournaments and such, not to fool with your casual 100 card decks with every card you and your mother own. I may be at the end of a sick joke, but who goes to the trouble of making a dumbass deck to be edited. If this is a joke, get a damn life. Otherwise, have fun random! [editor's note: I laughed my ass off when I saw this deck and threw my hands up in the air in hilarity/disgust. I laughed even more reading this clinic and seeing all the hard work Hero- put into this. Luv ya, man. you are to be commended.]

Keep topdecking!

Jimmy Mekaroun
Hero- on IRC
fallen_hero_326@yahoo.com