Bless-Go

<p align=justify> <a href=http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/expandsub.php?Article=1982>From our friends at Star City Games</a> <br><br> September 26, 2001<br> Bless-Go In Extended<br> by Jesse Hyde <br><br> I’ve been searching for some decks from Worlds that seem to be good competitors. After some testing, I’ve come to the conclusion that Forbidian is still very strong in Extended, despite the vast array of anti-control cards around now. While I like the focus of the deck, I believe it achieves its goal in an unsuitable way with Ophidian. I know that the ‘Phid is very powerful... But with Oath decks everywhere, it will lose you the game at some point. Therefore, as an appropriate metagame call, I have altered the Bless-Go deck to my own liking. <br> Bless-Go<br> By Jesse Hyde<br><br> 4x Counterspell<br> 4x Force of Will<br> 4x Force Spike<br> 2x Forbid<br> 2x Annul<br> 4x Fact or Fiction<br> 4x Impulse<br> 2x Gaea’s Blessing<br> 1x Nevinyrral`s Disk<br> 4x Powder Keg<br> 2x Morphling<br> 2x Masticore<br> 4x Thawing Glaciers<br> 4x Wasteland<br> 1x Dust Bowl<br> 2x Forest<br> 14x Island <br><br> Sideboard:<br> 4x Hydroblast<br> 2x Masticore<br> 3x Hibernation<br> 3x Back to Basics<br> 2x Annul<br> 1x Nevinyrral`s Disk<br><br> The deck is very solid against everything you will come up against. I have personally tested against many of the most common decks you can expect to see in an Extended tournament. <br><br> Matchups <br><br> Mirror-Match <br> Well, its expected that you can face a similar deck to your own at any tournament, so this matchup is important. Many Bless-Go decks still use Ophidian as a card-drawer and make themselves vulnerable to tapping out during their turn. This is where Fact or Fiction excels, because you can force them to tap out, use a counter on it, and leave an opening for a win condition. And when it does resolve, it totally wrecks your opponent anyway. Do not get Bless locked, because sometimes it is your win condition for some reason that a Morphling won’t do it (which doesn’t happen often). Side in two Annuls for Masticores if there are no Ophidians, but side in Masticores and Annuls if they run ‘Phids for Powder Kegs. <br><br> Turbo-Land<br> Wow - even I would have to say that this is very close. If they run Obliterate, you must be very tactful with Thawing Glaciers. Always hold one in your hand when they reach six mana so you can recover. Never, ever play more than six lands until after they Obliterate or it is a good chance you will lose. You should be able to out-counter them. All that is necessary is to counter Explorations so they can’t gain extra cards over you. Side in Annuls and Disk for Masticores and a Powder Keg. <br><br> White Weenie<br> Well, the speed is pretty good and they have enough control-type cards to hold you off - fortunately, they won’t counter back or come out with blazing speed like Stompy. Use Powder Keg and Masticore to dominate the board. Meddling Mage and Seal of Cleansing are major threats, so save your counters for them. Side in Annuls and Masticores for a Disk, a Morphling, and the two Blessings. <br><br> Sligh<br> Well, you should dominate this matchup. While they come out fast, they run out of gas very quickly. Powder Keg is amazing, as is Masticore. Save your counters for the big Fireblasts or Incinerates. Ball Lightnings should be countered as well to keep your life total up. Side in Hydroblasts and Masticores for Disk, a Blessing, two Impulse, and two Fact or Fiction. <br><br> Stompy<br> This is another fairly easy matchup. Powder Keg and Masticore are great once again, and the only must counters are the life-threatening pump spells. Force Spike is also very useful as well since there are very little lands in their deck. Side in Hibernation and Masticore for the Disk and four Fact or Fictions. <br><br> Mono-Blue Forbidian/Draw-Go<br> This match is much like the mirror match, since similar cards are involved. The key element is Gaea’s Blessing, since you get to reuse everything and they don’t. Counter wars are fairly straightforward, and the most important thing is saving up for their Morphling or Masticore. They will also be vulnerable once again because of Ophidian, which taps them out on turn three and allows you to out-counter them. Sideboarding: See Mirror. <br><br> Donate<br> Well, you should win the counter wars as long as you concentrate on arranging your hand throughout the early game. Make sure to counter Accumulated Knowledge so that they don’t gain card advantage over you. Hitting their mana is also very important, so try to counter their Medallions if possible, but save up for the ensuing war over Donate and Illusions. Side in two Annuls and a Disk for the Masticores and a Morphling. <br><br> Counter-Oath<br> A very easy match, in my opinion. Oath has no effect on this deck until Morphling comes down, and Disk will clear everything out of the way. Sylvan/Abundance is very important to them so counter the two enchantments if at all possible. You should always out-counter them - and if worst comes to worst, Bless-Lock them and deck them. Side in three Back to Basics, the Annuls, and a Disk for Powder Kegs and Masticores. <br><br> All in all, the deck is very solid and is a good choice for New Orleans or any Extended tournament. The deck is chock full of utility for all of its matchups and is very consistent as well. I hope you enjoy the deck and e-mail me with any questions. I will continue to analyze the extended field so people can prepare for Pro Tour: New Orleans. <br><br> Jesse Hyde<br> Piccolo1277@yahoo.com<br> Booyah!!!<br> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br> Do you have an opinion about what you read? Let us know about it, <a href=mailto:editor@starcitygames>editor@starcitygames</a>.