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The Magic Chest 1: Rhystic Study

Rhystic Study 2U
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent plays a spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays 1.

The first time I used Rhystic Study in a deck, I made the mistake of assuming I'd be able to draw some cards off of it. Boy was I wrong. When it comes down to it, even at a fun level, Magic is all about card advantage. Nobody is going to allow you to draw any card from this, unless they have to. Or unless it doesn't matter anymore, because you're as good as dead.

Then what's the use? Look at it as a Sphere of Resistance that doesn't affect you. Sure, the effect isn't as dependable as that of a Sphere of Resistance, but it can't be ignored either or you'll end up winning by sheer card advantage.

How can you make this card work for you? It fits pretty well in any deck that runs Sphere of Resistance or Winter Orb and can support the blue mana. In both cases, it's probably inferior, though. Both come out faster and give a more solid lock, which is what you want in a weenie deck. You want to make that Wrath of God impossible to cast, not draw a card when it does get cast.

You can also try it in a land destruction deck. By nuking your opponent's lands, you'll force him or her to use all available mana and thus allow you to draw extra cards. Against land destruction, you just can't afford not to use whatever mana you have available, because next turn you might not have any left. Still, that's a rather boring use and most of the time you'd rather have extra land destruction.

The most interesting use I could come up with is in a blue mess-with-your-mana deck. The basic idea is to give your opponent as much trouble as possible keeping enough mana open to get anything cast. Possible candidates for inclusion are:

Mystic Remora: an Ice Age common, similar to Rhystic Study, but it has a cumulative upkeep 1 and only works on non-creature spells. On the other hand, it only costs U and your opponent has to pay 4 to prevent you from drawing a card. I like this card a lot, but it's sideboard material. It doesn't do enough against creature decks, but against creatureless decks it's the perfect way to slow your opponent down for a while.

Propaganda: the perfect creature defense card for this deck.

Rhystic Deluge: another good creature defense card, but getting more than one of these out isn't useful, so keep the number low.

War Tax: yet more creature defense, but it has the same problem as Rhystic Deluge.

Energy Flux: An in-theme anti-artifacts card. A must for your sideboard.

Aura Flux: Considering this gives your enchantments the upkeep as well, I don't think so. If enchantments are a problem, you may want to use Steal Enchantment or Power Leak.

Slow Motion: In this deck, this should be reusable creature destruction. You may not need it if you're using Propagandas, but it's a safe feeling to have them anyway. You never know if your opponent is going to hit a land clump and be able to attack in spite of the Propaganda later on.

Sunken Field: At the price of keeping a land untapped, you force your opponent to do the same.

Confiscate: Your solution to most problems. Resist the temptation to use this on creatures as much as possible. Sometimes you'll have to, but most of the time this gets rid of bad enchantments or artifacts before sideboarding. If you use it on a creature, you've just given your opponent something to do with his or her creature destruction, because you don't have any creatures yourself.

Mana Breach: This is one of the most overlooked cards from Exodus if you ask me. It can really mess with people's mana supply if they have a deck that is sensitive to it. And against a deck like the one we're building, every deck has trouble with its mana supply. You have to know when to cast it, though. Cast it when you already have plenty of mana and think twice before casting a second one, because you'll both end up under a pretty irritating lock if you aren't careful.

Lilting Refrain: A counterspell is better, but this saves you from needing to keep mana open later on.

Daze: As good as a Counterspell in this deck and the alternate cost makes it even better.

Counterspell: No blue deck would be complete without a few of these.

Crystal Chimes: A sideboard card, just in case of massive Tranquility usage from your opponent. If you play this deck a lot, start expecting sideboards filled with 'em!

That leaves a victory condition. That's not really mandatory when playing this deck, but it's nice to have one in case your opponent catches on that you're playing without one and thus refuses to give up. Four Faerie Conclaves should do it, because they'll only be creatures if your opponent doesn't have any mana free to kill them.


So, I give you the finished deck:

Please Don't Cast Tranquility
4x Rhystic Study
4x Propaganda
1x Rhystic Deluge
1x War Tax
4x Slow Motion
4x Sunken Field
3x Confiscate
4x Mana Breach
4x Lilting Refrain
4x Daze
2x Counterspell

4x Faerie Conclave
21x Island

Sideboard:
4x Mystic Remora
4x Energy Flux
3x Steal Enchantment
2x Crystal Chimes
2x Counterspell

Have fun!

 
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