Extended The Solution deck
From MTG Salvation Wiki
The Solution was originally an Invasion block constructed deck by Zvi Mowshowitz. However, today the same name is in general used to refer to any blue-white aggro-control deck, most of which using Meddling Mage. Most of them use small efficient creatures for early board advantage and then keep the opponent off with counterspells or white removal. Some card draw and sometimes a finishing big flyer such as Exalted Angel or Meloku the Clouded Mirror is used.
Sometimes these decks have additional colors, primarily black or red under different names such as Dump Truck, Raka Deck Wins or Trinket Angel.
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[edit] The Original Solution
As said, the original Solution build was created by Zvi Mowshowitz for the heavily red environment of Invasion block constructed. This cunning plan won him Pro Tour Tokyo 2001.
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| Lands 4 Coastal Tower 10 Island 10 Plains Creatures 4 Crimson Acolyte 4 Galina's Knight 4 Meddling Mage 4 Stormscape Apprentice 4 Voice of All | Other 4 Absorb 4 Exclude 4 Fact or Fiction 4 Repulse | Sideboard 2 Aura Blast 3 Crusading Knight 4 Disrupt 3 Gainsay 3 Pure Reflection | |
[edit] Temporary Solution
In 2005, The Solution was adapted for the Tempest-Darksteel Extended environment. The deck heavily relied upon Enlightened Tutor to set up its hand. The deck employed some shenanigans such as stealing opposing creatures with Gilded Drake, then bouncing the exchanged Drake with Waterfront Bouncer or removing the opponents creatures or lands with Parallax Wave and Parallax Tide, then countering their leaves play triggers with Stifle to permanently get rid of the removed cards.
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| Lands 4 Adarkar Wastes 1 Ancient Den 4 Flooded Strand 6 Island 7 Plains 1 Seat of the Synod Creatures 3 Exalted Angel 4 Gilded Drake 4 Meddling Mage 4 Silver Knight 3 Waterfront Bouncer | Other 4 Stifle 4 Brainstorm 3 Parallax Wave 4 Enlightened Tutor 1 Parallax Tide 1 Energy Flux 1 Worship 1 Engineered Explosives | Sideboard 3 Chill 2 Energy Flux 2 Engineered Explosives 1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror 3 Parallax Tide 1 Parallax Wave 1 Seal of Cleansing 1 Seal of Removal 1 Waterfront Bouncer | |
[edit] The Age of Trinket Mage
After the Tempest, Urzas and Masques blocks rotated out of the format the deck lied dormant for some time since key elements such as Enlightened Tutor were gone and nobody thought of developing the archetype. However, with Ravnica block easing mana bases the deck saw a renaissance when Trinket Mage was used to access small artifacts like Pithing Needle, Sensei's Divining Top and Engineered Explosives. The decks were first used with black for Shadowmage Infiltrator and Vindicate. Later they replaced black with red for direct damage spells and Lightning Angel. When Counterbalance was released in Coldsnap it was also adopted for it's synergy with Divining Top.
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| Lands 4 Flooded Strand 4 Island 2 Polluted Delta 2 Watery Grave 2 Skycloud Expanse 1 Swamp 1 Caves of Koilos 2 Plains 1 Ancient Den 1 Vault of Whispers 3 Adarkar Wastes Creatures 4 Galina's Knight 4 Shadowmage Infiltrator 4 Meddling Mage 3 Exalted Angel 3 Trinket Mage | Other 3 Umezawa's Jitte 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Sensei's Divining Top 3 Pithing Needle 3 Thirst for Knowledge 4 Vindicate 4 Counterspell | Sideboard 3 Arcane Laboratory 2 Crimson Acolyte 3 Worship 4 Duress 3 Kataki, War's Wage | |
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| Lands 3 Island 3 Plains 4 Flooded Strand 4 Sacred Foundry 2 Battlefield Forge 4 Adarkar Wastes 1 Great Furnace 1 Seat of the Synod 1 Ancient Den 1 Coastal Tower Creatures 4 White Knight 4 Silver Knight 4 Meddling Mage 3 Trinket Mage 4 Lightning Angel | Other 4 Pithing Needle 4 Fire/Ice 3 Umezawa's Jitte 2 Engineered Explosives 4 Prophetic Bolt | Sideboard 1 Reprisal 3 Devouring Light 2 Exalted Angel 1 Sword of Light and Shadow 1 Engineered Explosives 4 Mana Leak 3 Kataki, War's Wage | |
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| Lands 1 Ancient Den 1 Flagstones of Trokair 4 Flooded Strand 1 Great Furnace 3 Hallowed Fountain 2 Plains 2 Polluted Delta 2 Sacred Foundry 2 Snow-Covered Island 2 Steam Vents 3 Windswept Heath Creatures 3 Exalted Angel 4 Meddling Mage 4 Silver Knight 3 Trinket Mage | Artifacts 3 Sensei's Divining Top 1 Pyrite Spellbomb 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Pithing Needle 1 Tormod's Crypt 2 Umezawa's Jitte Other 3 Counterbalance 4 Fire // Ice 4 Lightning Helix 3 Stifle | Sideboard 1 Deep Analysis 1 Disenchant 1 Disrupt 1 Divert 3 Dwarven Blastminer 1 Flametongue Kavu 4 Kataki, War's Wage 1 Pithing Needle 2 Pyrite Spellbomb | |
