The Retired: Prisoner

I really wanted this to be a clever thing...

4 Frost Raptor
4 Mistfolk
3 Blinding Angel
4 Somnophore

4 Coalition Flag
3 Martial Law
2 Faith's Fetters

4 Mana Leak
3 Dismantling Blow

3 Boreal Shelf
9 Snow-Covered Island
5 Snow-Covered Plains
2 Flood Plain
4 Island

3 Ponder
3 Supreme Verdict

And I suppose it is? Using certain creatures to draw the opponent's removal spells with Coalition Flag then the abilities of those creatures-especially Mistfolk-to render that removal useless is clever.

The problem of course is that it isn't good. Sure, creatures matter far more than when I first built this deck, but so what? The plan to win is terrible-and by terrible I mean it's grindy without locking an opponent out, taking far, far too long without nearly enough disruption.

I can put the Flood Plains, Ponders, and Supreme Verdicts in a deck where they will be a lot more helpful. 

1-1

Well, I'm getting a better handle on what kind of decks Prisoner can handle now. Only two matches last night but they still gave me some perspective on what kind of key this deck will unlock.

First I went against a UW spirits deck. It was working a midrange aggro thing, with creatures that left flying tokens when they died, along with Favorable Winds to keep the pressure on. The 'aha!' moment for me was in game 2 when I got a Martial Law down, allowing my opponent swing for 4, then casting Supreme Verdict and being able to use a Mistfolk enhanced Flagbearer and Somnophore followup to lock down my opponent forever.

In this instance, the few counterspells I had were fine, because I could use the global reset to start things over and then ensure an edge with the Mana Leak in my hand. Since Martial Law isn't affected by creature control, opponents had to find another way to get around my stalling tactics and even though I was only doing two damage at a time, I was doing it with creatures that locked down victory conditions.

The opposite problem bit me in my games against a UR Guttersnipe deck. My Mana Leaks were not enough to stop my opponent's strategy, my locks were meaningless and he had a fuckton more removal. It's very difficult to land a Frost Raptor/Coalition Flag combo though countermagic and burnination. That was my only viable plan though and having to waste Supreme Verdict on Guttersnipes left me open to other creatures coming through, as you can see.

I was able to Faith's Fetters the Consecrated Sphinx but that didn't prevent the card draw and I was forced to use my mass removal before Talrand took over the game. Both times I cast Supreme Verdict it was in the face of countermagic, which was awesome. Unfortunately, it put me in the same position: having Guttersnipes combine with instants do 4-5 points of damage per spell cast and I couldn't come back from that.

Most of the time, Blinding Angel and Somnophore are good enough to lock down creature decks, with Faith's Fetters running support but things with triggered abilities necessitate the big guns of removal. I was overwhelmed by them and I'm not sure how I could tweak this deck to take down that angle. Could just be a bad matchup.

All in all however, I feel that this deck is still a bit of a work in progress. It's in a good place for now and it's certainly time to move on.

It's not data but I'll take it

I only got to play one matchup since making changes, last night against a B/W deck that wanted to use Sanguine Bond and cards like Mourning Thrull, Pillory of the Sleepless, Chalice of Life and Leechridden Swamp to whittle the opponent down.

And that deck worked. I played three games against it and I could handle the creatures easily enough but the combination of artifacts and enchantments I had to manage kept me from getting a proper toehold in the game and finishing it off. Prisoner just isn't fast enough to execute its game plan before a combo deck like this one. The Coalition Flag/Mistfolk combo created problems but because the angle of my opponent's deck was so different than what I was geared up to handle, I found myself losing again.

However, I felt much better about those losses. I'm still learning how to manage this deck; how long I need to hold out before using Supreme Verdict, for example or using the Coalition Flag lock as long as I can to create disruptions for my opponents before tapping out to do something. Playing a waiting game like that can make one a little panicky.

Nevertheless, it seemed as though I was in the game, each time. My deck was creating problems that had to be answered and answers to problems were available. I just need more practice and preferably a matchup that isn't inherently bad for me.

Which I'm going to get, because I'll be traveling during the holiday and won't have a new deck to talk about Thursday. One more week of this deck to see if I can get it into better shape!

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone; I'll be back Tuesday.

What I Did

I have made changes to Prisoner and am left with a slight dilemma. Here's the  new list:

4 Coalition Flag
3 Martial Law

4 Frost Raptor
4 Mistfolk
3 Blinding Angel
2 New Prahv Guildmage
4 Somnophore

3 Ponder
3 Supreme Verdict

4 Mana Leak
3 Dismantling Blow

9 Snow-Covered Island
9 Snow-Covered Plains
2 Flood Plain
3 Boreal Shelf

I am currently most dubious about New Prahv Guildmage. This is because I'm dubious about everything in this deck right now.

I went snooping through the Coldsnap block to see if there was anything that could help me. With 21 'Snow' lands, it seemed like it may be possible to find something beyond Frost Raptor to improve this deck. Rimefeather Owl was the closest I came. As much as I like a 7/7 flyer that can get bigger, I don't see it contributing to the deck enough to make it valuable. When you cast something for 7 mana, it should make a statement or cause your opponents to make one.

I took a long hard look at Kismet and it's blue brother, Frozen Aether, to see if they would fit but I'm just not feeling it. In conjunction with Detain, maybe but this deck has already demonstrated that one-time Detain effects are not helpful.

Having permanents ETB tapped and then Detaining for a turn? That could work out very nicely but it's a different deck--one I'm keeping on the back burner of my brain. Anything that annoying should be awesome.

So I'm thinking about something that might be a little more helpful: Faith's Fetters. It's expensive but it affects any permanent, including Planeswalkers and lands (I'm looking at you, Maze of Ith) and extends my game by at least one card, using Magic math that says: 2 life = 1 card. This could allow me to continue my soft lock and finish the game off; or at least, I hope so.

There's Nothing You Can Really Do

I lost every game I played with Prisoner. Worse: I didn't even feel hopeful when I was playing the deck. The games all felt like I was starting from a disadvantage and nothing I could do was going to even those odds nor give me an edge and the games against Fuz and stonethorn were pretty definitive in the experience they handed out to me.

That is a bad trial run.

I was talking about this run of losses to stonethorn who expressed some sympathy but I shrugged it off. I told him the following:

I think that decks have a personality of their own. If you do something to them they don't like, they'll tell you. 

And the changes I made to Prisoner? Oh, those were not liked at all.

Now, underlying cosmic forces imbuing decks with a persona of their own aside, I think that it's worth taking a look at the other mechanics here.

The core of the deck: I force all spells onto a creature that can counter the ones I don't like, doesn't mesh with the Detain mechanic.

It just doesn't. There's nothing there to get along with, aside from color. I have a soft lock that I need to maintain into a win. With the exception of Martial Law, none of the detain cards I have are repeatable. That doesn't give me enough juice to win over any deck that is even working to half strength.

It's back to the drawing board. I'm starting to think that a card like Somnophore might have a place here. With the removal spells being directed elsewhere, Blinding Angel and Somnophore can keep decks on lockdown and Martial Law can catch whatever they miss. Add in some Supreme Verdict and perhaps even Kismet to allow me to recover and I may just have what I need to win the long game.

It certainly can't be any worse than what I've been doing.