Sligh/Geeba, Chapter I: Origins - Jun '96

Introduction The Sligh Deck, so named after the person that popularized it, Paul Sligh, first made a splash at the Atlanta Pro-tourney Qualifier by ending up in the final four. n the end it lost to a !ecro deck "but had beaten se#eral to get there$. The Sligh deck, originally created by %ay Schneider, is an odd looking deck that utilizes many scoffed at cards - for good reason usually - but is illustrati#e of ho& a &ell designed mono-color deck can get by &ith slightly substandard cards by utilizing its color's strengths "and a good sideboard$. t is also instructi#e to see ho& the concepts of selecti#e mana-denial and card ad#antage can be integrated successfully &ith a fast, offensi#e-o#erload, theory of deck construction. n many &ays think this mirrors the successfulness of the !ecro deck, &hich stri#es to do much the same. n essence, the Sligh deck is a mono-red &eenie control deck, (ust as many #ersions of the !ecro deck are mono-black &eenie control decks. t also illustrates ho& a deck that begins &ith an good o#erall strategy can be competiti#e &ithout a ma(or e)penditure of money "less than *+, &-sideboard$. t is also important to note that the Sligh decks. popularity is partly due to its status as a /meta-game/ deck, as it is &ell e0uiped to beat the standard !ecroDeck of its time 0uite handily. Principles o Construction The Sligh deck is some&hat uni0ue in that it uses si) base deck construction guidelines. These guidelines, &hen obser#ed, &ill create an efficient and deadly deck. The guidelines, in order of importance, are1 2. The 3ana 4ur#e. A true Sligh deck "and any good acti#e deck$ is optimized to use the mana cur#e that comes from playing one land per turn, and using A55 of it.s mana on e#ery turn. This is done using a /tiered/ system. 6hen you look at a Sligh deck you should see 7slots8, not specific cards. Taking this approach Sligh looks like this1 2 mana slot1 9-2: ; mana slot1 +-< : mana slot1 :-= > mana slot1 2-: ? spell "fireball, etc.$1 2-: @ne-shot Artifact-5D1 ;-= @ne-shot Direct Damage "Aolts, ncinerates, etc.$1 <-2, Btility land "3ishra, Strip, etc.$ >-< Ced 3ana 5and 2=-2< n a deck designed to use it, it is highly effecti#e to use all of your mana each turn. The tiered progression makes it fairly certain that you &ill be casting your spells 0uickly and steadily. The Sligh deck's 2 casting cost critters, &hile often maligned, usually do = - 2, points of damage before they are neutralized or dealt &ith, bringing the opponent into bolt or fireball range. ;. 4ard Ad#antage. t doesn.t look like it but Sligh is built on card ad#antage. The key is selecti#e card ad#antage. All of the cards in Sligh are effecti#e by themsel#es. Sligh is #ery effecti#e at killing all of an opponents creatures, thereby rendering creature support cards useless. The @rcish Artillery

represent the culmination of this principle, i.e. a useful card in and of itself that also gains card ad#antage if it's special ability is used (ust once. The card ad#antage is on the table. Ay the time you hand begins to be depleted, you.re casting persistent direct damage dealing creatures such as the @rcish Artillery-4annoneers and Arothers of Dire. Eou may ha#e fe& cards in hand but you.ll still be doing damageF The ne&er additions of Tha&ing Glaciers, Gorilla Shaman.s and D&ar#en 3iner.s represent another &ay to gain card ad#antage. :. @ffensi#e o#erload. An a#erage ;>-;+ creatures "more than most tournament decks$ and a large dose of Direct Damage. Si) or so of the creatures ha#e reusable direct damage, so the a#erage Sligh deck &ill ha#e 2= sources of Direct Damage. >. Hn#ironment control. The Sligh deck has effecti#e &ays to remo#e creature, land, and artifact threats, and has built in counters to enchantment threats. =. 4ombination free deck. There are no combo's in the Sligh deck. Hach card is a good stand-alone card, and any combinations that are inherent in the interactions bet&een the cards do not detract from the general usefulness of the card by itself. +. 4onsistent mana-de#elopment. The Sligh deck is a mono-color deck. 6ith the correct percentage of land, the Sligh deck is less susceptible to bad mana dra&s. The tiered system of casting costs ensures that &orth&hile spells can be cast from the beginning through end-game. The o#erall lo& casting cost of the deck makes it relati#ely fast and 0uick to de#elop. @ther Sligh concepts1 Artifact Damage, i.e., the Arass 3en and 3ishra's, pro#ide a colorless source of damage, thus circum#enting the 4@P1 Ced problem to some degree. 6ith the current hea#y use of mass creature destruction 3ishra's Dactories pro#ide a hedge. The use of Tha&ing Glaciers also gi#e you card ad#antage, thus strengthening guideline I;, and further protects against bad mana dra&s. Pillage &orks &ell, a stone rain and shatter rolled into one, &hich makes it the red counterpart to a Disenchant. The Pillage's, combined &ith a D&ar#en 3iner or t&o, can suddenly make a good portion of your opponents land go a&ay. Bsing e)actly t&o @rcish 5ibrarians came about through trial and error. The 5ibrarian is an e)cellent card in this deck, it is the red e0ui#alent of a Aro&seF 3any people do not realize the po&er of this little creature until he is used once or t&ice, then they try to kill him 0uickly. @ne criticism of the deck is that it is hosed by 4@P1Ced. Aesides the use of Artifact damage sources and 3anabarbs, another common solution to the 4@P is the siege. Attack &ith &a#es e#ery turn, don.t let them use their mana and e#entually dra& more critters than they ha#e mana. Another effecti#e solution is the use of 6inter @rbs. The manabarbs in the sideboard are the ans&er to 4@P1Ced and 2,, other 0uestions. "/6hat do you do against ..../ /Play a 3anaAarb/$. Specifically, they also &ork against 3illstones, pump-knights, !e#.s Disk, 6rath of God, StormAind, %ayemdae Tomes, %alum Tomes, 4on#ersion, %ustice, nfernal Darkness, Disrupting Scepters, etc. - anything that re0uires continuos mana e)penditure. They are massi#ely disrupti#e.

5ack of 4ombos plus mono-color e0uals JHCE consistent performance in tournaments. 5ack of 4ombos also means that the deck has good resistance to early Kymns and Stupors. Ees, ; or : of them early &ill hurt, but they.ll hurt this deck less than many other decks. t.s still a fight, not a rout. 3ost of this deck can function &ith : mana or less in play. Aeing able to get your game going and to disrupt the opponents game e#en during a bad mana dra& allo&s you to sa#e game after game that more mana-intensi#e decks lose. @ne of the more interesting aspects of the Sligh deck is that it is constructed &ith a large amount of common cards, and e#en the cards that are not common are relati#ely cheap. n addition, most of the cards are fourth edition cards, making it e#en easier to find the cards to construct. t also has the ad#antage that the di#ersity of the Sligh deck's threats guarantee that it cannot be capped or countered into obli#ion. The Sligh deck, in and of itself, is more of a deck concept than a specific deck. t is a deck that emphasizes creature combat, and re0uires a good grasp of the basic concepts of 3agic to utilize the strengths of the deck to its full capacity. @ne of the more entertaining aspects of Sligh is the looks on opponents faces as they die to a @rc or a D&arf. 3any opponents only realize &hat this deck does after the second game. 3ost opponents do not take it seriously, and figure anybody playing it is a ne&bie "after all, &ho plays &ith @rcish Artillery and roncla& @rcsL$. n many of my games &ith the Sligh deck people look at it and gi#e me ad#ise on ho& to impro#e it. "Adding &hite, bigger creatures etc.$ Also, don't e)pect to get much respect &ith this deck "the first time around$. 4omments such as 7 shouldn.t ha#e lost to this, 3y deck al&ays beats this deck...8 etc., &ill abound. 3ake no mistake though, the Sligh deck is a strong deck, and &ill get stronger &ith the addition of Jisions... the Goblin Cecruiters and 5ightning 4loud alone &ill make up for the loss of the 5ibrarianF !he Orcish "ibrarian #ec$ Kere is the deck that started it all at the Atlanta Pro-Tourney Qualifier !ote1 This deck &as constructed under the 7= of all current e)pansions8 rule used in the pro-tourney. As such it is not optimized for Standard Type play. "e.g., note Goblins of the Dlarg plus D&ar#es, not a good combo to play on yourself.$ Paul Sligh's %Sligh/Geeba% #ec$, Jun '96
2 Dwarven Trader 2 Goblin of the Flarg 4 Ironclaw Orc 3 Dwarven Lt. 2 Orcish Librarian 2 Brothers of Fire 2 Orcish Artiller 2 Orcish !annoneer 2 Dragon "hel#s 4 %tri# &ine 4 &ishra)s Factor 2 Dwarven *+ins $3 &o+ntain 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Incinerate $ Fireball $ %hatter $ Detonate 4 Brass &an $ Blac' (ise

%ideboard, 4 &anabarbs 2 %errated Arrows $ %hatter $ Detonate $ Fireball

%ideboard -cont., $ &ee'stone $ /+ran Orb 3 Active (olcano $ An0/errin *+ins