ProsTides
By Frédéric Meurin on Sunday 10 September 2006, 17:02 - Decks - Permalink
Chris Morling has made an extensive and very good article about this combo deck. It doesn't forbid to bring a stone to the building :)
My point is not to re-write Chris' article, but to update his list. Here is the list he suggests.
4 x High Tide
4 x Frantic Search
4 x Framed!
4 x Cloud of Faeries
4 x Prosperity *** UNCOMMON ***
1 x Feldon's Cane
4 x Brainstorm
3 x Ideas Unbound
3 x Merchant Scroll
1 x Fact or Fiction *** UNCOMMON ***
1 x Peer Through Depths
3 x Impulse
4 x Disrupt
20 x Island
Sideboard:
4 x Power Sink
4 x Blue Elemental Blast
4 x Rushing River
3 x Hydroblast
The real change would consist to update Merchant Scroll into Dizzy spell. They are both sorcery speed tutor, and even if Dizzy Spell, with its transmute ability, costs one extra blue mana, it can search Prosperity, High tide or Feldon's cane.
Hydroblast plus Blue elemental blast seems too much since Gigadrowse exists. I'd rather but 3 Blue elemental blast, and 4 Gigadrowse, since Gigadrowse is an uncounterable Mana short. It can be used against virtually anything trying to be faster than ProsTides. Gigadrowse, played during opponent's upkeep, is an almost Time stop : it leaves you an extra turn to build and start your combo. Moreover, Gigadrowse can be tutored by Dizzy Spell.
Here's how it looks once lifted.
4 x High Tide
4 x Frantic Search
4 x Framed! or 2 x Snap + 2 x Annul
4 x Cloud of Faeries
4 x Prosperity *** UNCOMMON ***
1 x Feldon's Cane
4 x Brainstorm
3 x Ideas Unbound
3 x Dizzy spell
1 x Fact or Fiction *** UNCOMMON ***
1 x Peer Through Depths
3 x Impulse
4 x Disrupt
20 x Island
Sideboard:
4 x Power sink
4 x Echoing Truth
4 x Gigadrowse
3 x Blue Elemental Blast
4 x High Tide
4 x Frantic Search
4 x Framed!
4 x Cloud of Faeries
4 x Prosperity *** UNCOMMON ***
1 x Feldon's Cane
4 x Brainstorm
3 x Ideas Unbound
3 x Merchant Scroll
1 x Fact or Fiction *** UNCOMMON ***
1 x Peer Through Depths
3 x Impulse
4 x Disrupt
20 x Island
Sideboard:
4 x Power Sink
4 x Blue Elemental Blast
4 x Rushing River
3 x Hydroblast
Changes
The main deck is quite powerfull, and actually doesn't need much changes. You shall use Snap instead of Framed ! in a non-Unglued game, but as Chris Morling points out, it makes you more vulnerable to creature removal. 4 Framed could easily be replaced with 2 Snap and 2 Counter spell, just as Force Spike or Annul. I'd personnally choose Annul, since it can counter both artifacts (Clamp, all affinity, Feldon's cane in mirror) and enchantments (one of the greatest fear of Tides should be Underworld dreams, in the already feared MBC. Empyral armor is also a target of choice, since Tides boosts an Armored creature before it truly comboes off)The real change would consist to update Merchant Scroll into Dizzy spell. They are both sorcery speed tutor, and even if Dizzy Spell, with its transmute ability, costs one extra blue mana, it can search Prosperity, High tide or Feldon's cane.
About the side board
Rushing river seems way below the curve since Echoing truth printing.Hydroblast plus Blue elemental blast seems too much since Gigadrowse exists. I'd rather but 3 Blue elemental blast, and 4 Gigadrowse, since Gigadrowse is an uncounterable Mana short. It can be used against virtually anything trying to be faster than ProsTides. Gigadrowse, played during opponent's upkeep, is an almost Time stop : it leaves you an extra turn to build and start your combo. Moreover, Gigadrowse can be tutored by Dizzy Spell.
Here's how it looks once lifted.
4 x High Tide
4 x Frantic Search
4 x Framed! or 2 x Snap + 2 x Annul
4 x Cloud of Faeries
4 x Prosperity *** UNCOMMON ***
1 x Feldon's Cane
4 x Brainstorm
3 x Ideas Unbound
3 x Dizzy spell
1 x Fact or Fiction *** UNCOMMON ***
1 x Peer Through Depths
3 x Impulse
4 x Disrupt
20 x Island
Sideboard:
4 x Power sink
4 x Echoing Truth
4 x Gigadrowse
3 x Blue Elemental Blast
Last reviewed : 17 July 2007
Last reviewed : 21 January 2007
Last reviewed : 25 September 2006
Last reviewed : 16 August 2006
Affinity
Goblin Sligh
White winnie
Stompy
Phantom Cloak
Goblin storm
Elf-ball / Elf-Clamp
Mono black
Psychatog
Tortured existence / Reanimator
Ritual agony
Life
ProsTides
Kobold-Clamp
IsoBurn/Burn
Satin doll
IsoMUC
UG Tempo
Paradise Medics
Comments
Ok, not to be critical, but this version can only go off on your own turn, as it is relying partially on could of faries comboing with snap / or whatever to generate some mana loops. If you are allowed uncommons, go with turnabout from Urza's Saga which also acts as a one turn delay if you target your opponent (if they are getting ahead of you). You also really want some way of forcing your opponet to draw at instant speed in case you need to trigger multiple brainreeze to get around some sort of graveyard protection (gaea's blessing?)
Basically what this deck allows you to do is to go off at any time, in response to anything. And you can go off in response to someone else going off to your going off (confused?). If Gaea's blessing hits the graveyard from the library, that is itself a trigger... simply start all over again IN RESPONSE to that trigger, digging into your deck until you find another brainfreeze and do it again. In order to kill them though, you HAVE to get them to draw a card before the gaea's blessing resolves, otherwise their graveyard goes back into the library before they have to draw, which is where words of wisdom comes in, if they cannot draw the card... they lose. The best time to go off, if you have a choice is on your opponents turn in their draw step, BEFORE they draw so that when everything resolves... they lose!
Here is a revised, ALL instants decklist (which I actually use... slightly modified... for competitive play):
4 x high tide
3-4 x turnabout *UNCOMMON*
(this is a key card, I recommend 4 and 1 flash of insight)
4 x words of wisdom (can use to get opponent to draw)
4 x frantic search
4 x obssesive search
4 x disrupt
4 x opt instead
1-2 x flash of insight *UNCOMMON*
(flash allows insane dig, you want to discard it and use it from the graveyard)
2 x gush
2 x peer through depths
4 x brainstorm
3 x impulse
(normally restricted, can substitute for 3 whispers of the muse)
20 x island
SIDEBOARD
4 x echoing truth
4 x snap
3 x chain of vapour
2 x gush
2 x peer through depths
(sideboard is not perfect, but playable ... really need another couple of counterspells)
Errr... There's something I don't understand. Actually, two things. You've got 1 Flash of insight, and 4 Turnabout. Ok. But what's the kill ? Moreover, you're talking about Brainfreeze (which is NOT in your list), you oughta know this card is banned, according to Official Peasant rules (as you can see them on this site, or on the official Geocities one).
Anyway, ProsTides was a good deck, but out there in France, we just banned Frantic Search, as the Ritual Agony deck was just too strong. We also banned its spin off, known as Warren Agony, which didn't use Frantic Search but could kill on Turn 1 or 2 nevertheless...
But if you could precise what your kill is, I'd be happy to update the site with an all instant ProsTide list.
*chuckle*
Well, I guess the banning of brainfreeze is the reason my decklist is now useless! Sorry about that, I just got into peasant and am not quite up to standards on the lists of banned cards. 4 x Brainfreeze is of course the kill card, you have to love the storm mechanic...
My apologies for "spamming" your comment board!
I guess the other problem would be that brainfreeze is uncommon, which would mean you could only run 1-2 with 3-4 turnabouts and no flash of insight? *sigh* Which would ruin the consistency of the deck. The Prosperity deck makes more sense in this case I guess, but would defeat the whole purpose for me, as it just slows it down so much.