I have a policy not to reveal too much about what I have already found in my past exploration of the Original Type II format. See, one of its main “selling points” is that there’s almost nothing to netdeck (in fact nothing decent from back then, only what we’ve published so far here), that the metagame is for us to establish, which to some people is quite important and quite hard to find. 93/94 is solved, I’d say 95/96 is too, eternal formats almost continually are, with short interruptions now and then. Modern is a bit more affected by newly released sets but still, most decks aren’t, which leaves us with Standard it would seem. But with the amount of people playing Standard (even in dwindling numbers), quickly sharing info about it and the fact that so many pros actively try to solve the format and regularly do two weeks after a new set is released, the independent deckbuilder actually hasn’t got enough time to try and make a foray into the format (probably one of the many reasons why Standard is declining). And the player who don’t enjoy facing the same decks over and over, yet don’t like constructed format with huge card pool has a hard time filling his magic needs. None of that here ! This format is for you to break, solve and develop. Of course you can enjoy it for the nostalgia-trip that it is (and I do that too), or to discover how early magic was without feeling left out or severely constrained because you can’t afford to buy the power 9, but its main feature is to be an historically accurate and relevant format that was actually not even close to be solved or even established (it saw limited play, and even less so competitively, what’s more the internet wasn’t very accessible, and most people didn’t enjoy a regular access) : Challenge #1 : establish/solve/break the first ever Standard format. That one encompasses all the other on that page, so it takes the first spot.

That policy is probably harming. It would only seem natural that, to promote the format, as well as for my enjoyment, I would publish a lot of decklists, combos, techs and tricks in the format. But I find that hard to do without betraying people and the spirit of the format. I write the reports including pictures of the decks. The format isn’t concealed or congealed, but I have many months of leg-up with a lot of decklists, matchup percentages and might spoil the fun if I released it all. I already slipped when I played the Hymn to Trolls deck. I try to console myself by telling me that it’s just the one deck, and that it poses a challenge or two to the players, which is fun : Challenge #2 : can you build a deck that beats the Hymn to Trolls deck consistently ? -or, by extension, “Hymn to Tourach decks” ? Ancillary challenge : can you build a better Hymn to Tourach deck than Hymn to Trolls ?

When I announced the format for the first time, someone joked that it was a very “balanced” format (an allusion to the fact that Balance isn’t restricted in OGT2). I challenged people to show me that unrestricted balance was a problem in this format, to come up with a decklist that would break Balance. Nothing convincing came back, though one admitted not seeing how it could be done. And yet, I sort of know how it could be, but like I said, won’t tell (and am curious to see if you can come up with something different/better). So that’s a challenge for you, dear reader : Challenge #3 : can you build a competitive decklist that plays, abuses if not breaks 4 Balances ?

In our first tournament Bjørn Einar Bjatrnes tested the Goblin Grenade/Fork combo (you only have to sacrifice one goblin, you put a copy of the Grenade spell on the stack, so you don’t need to pay any of its costs), though he only played 2 Forks. Would we have a metagame so infested by Hymn to Tourach (and other assymetrical instants and sorceries like Counterspells, Mind Twists and Braingeysers) that along with your own spells to copy that would make playing four Forks profitable ? Challenge #4 : build a 4 Fork competitive deck.

We didn’t have much efficient token producers in the old days, and this is one of the most playable. It sure is no Lingering Souls, but this is what we have. It’s not incredible to get to 6 mana in modern formats, but in this one you’re gonna have to take your chances, as Armageddon and Winter Orb, although not seeing much play so far, are still very potent in this mox-less format. Also, to really make it worth, you’ll want to play it with Crusade, but Crusade basically gives you no choice but to play lots of white weenies to make them worth the inclusion. Experiences seem to show that those usually go with light manabases, otherwise you’re at risk of flooding. The solution : one could be Fallen Empires sac-land. Mostly the white mana producing one, but you’d probably add a few off-coulours one. Since Gloom is such a danger to white decks, I’d advise using Svyelunite Temple : the Gloom player might think twice before bringing Gloom from the Sideboard if they’ve seen a blue mana source game 1. Challenge #5 : make Icatian Town “happen”.

Unstable Mutation is quite unfair on two levels : it tends to be a bit too good in itself, and off itself it’s definitely not the kind of effect that should be accessible to blue. Blue is probably more of an aggressive colour than you think in OGT2 : Merfolks are a thing with Fallen Empires in the card pool. Lord of Atlantis is great, which is not to say that River Merfolk is bad, that’s already quite a nice pair, to which you can add Merfolk of the Pearl Trident who threatens to become 2/2 for 1 once you get the Lord, and of course while not a Merfolk there’s always the usual Serendib Efreet up the curve, and while typically an adventurous choice, you can always take your chances with Juggernaut especially considering that if they use a bolt on it that’s a bolt that won’t get used on a Lord, and if they disenchant it that’an Unstable Mutation saved. But that’s all if you restrict yourself to mono-blue. Another approach: Unstable Mutation costing one blue means it can come in a splashable blue package. You’d probably want to toss in some Efreets, but Spell Blast and Power Sink can be considered too in an aggro-control project. Challenge #6 : make a solid blue-based aggro(/control) deck.

It’s not that big of a reveal that Deep Spawn is awesome now that Stephen Menedian made his article about reanimator in old school 95, so here’s another : Challenge #7 : can you make Deep Spawn happen in this format ? Deep Spawn has considerable stats, some amount of evasion in the form of trample, fills your graveyard for future reanimation targets and almost has shroud (and there’s no Icy Manipulator in the format, just the lone legal Maze of Ith). There are only two way I know to reanimate it in this card pool : Animate Dead and Resurrection. One of them leave it at the mercy of a Disenchant. Discard outlets are very hard to come by in OGT2, can you find a way, or should you go for big mana with Mana Vault and/or Mana Flare ?

I recently “improved” it by giving it an errata that makes it as powerful when using the modern rules as it was using the old errata : you can untap it any time, even outside of the upkeep ! So far we’ve seen very little of it in our tournaments. How could such an overpowered piece of mana acceleration remain outside of the race ? It’s true that there aren’t that much big creatures or spells to ramp to. In those old school formats you often wondered what would be the point to play something huge if it were to be destroyed by a one or two-mana removal like Swords to Plowshares or Disenchant, countered by a two-mana counterspell like, well, Counterspell, or just not even worth the mana investment in the first place. That being said, that was just the usual turn of events, and exceptions might exist and would be for you to find : Challenge #8 : build a competitive deck that abuses Mana Vault.

Isn’t that card supposed to be a terror, I mean, terrifying ? Or at least when Moxes aren’t available ? Armageddon, Winter Orb, Manabarb and Ankh of Mishra are all OGT2-legal, each of which is a good mean to choke people’s land development or use, thus reinforcing Black Vise. But so far we haven’t seen much of that, Dave Firth Bard came up with a “Fish & Ships” deck sporting as much Ankhs as he could at our second OGT2 tournament (also an interesting attempt at making blue aggro work by the way), but that wasn’t in combination with the four legal Black Vises. Also, the old “Howling Mine, Black Vise, you’re screwed” is completely available in Original Type II, so what are people waiting for ? Challenge #9 : build a competitive Black Vise deck.