If you've been ready "the classroom" for any length of time you know that I do basically two types of articles.

First is the teaching design where I try to delve into some fundamental of Magic and maybe give you new insights to help your game. I try to gear these articles with a beginner in mind. I do realize that many of you are beyond the level of beginner but I feel that reexamining the basics can often help even the best pro. That is not what I'll be writing about today.

The second type of classroom that I write doesn't really teach much but instead opens the mind to other possibilities. These articles are the ones that flow easiest for me. I don't have to worry about being technical and precise. I can relax and write the first idea that springs to mind. And I can write on the basic assumption that the reader knows what I'm talking about. These are the articles where I generate some off the wall deck concept. I do try to power out a deck that is playable but not flying all around the internet. As a fan of Magic I do feel that too many players run a deck that is not anything of their own creation. I can only speak for myself, but when you carry a deck that was just some copied list then the game just isn't as fun.

Today I'm going down a different path. So many people seemed to love my Orthogonal design deck that I decided to delve a little deeper into it. Rarely does a deck stay sleeved in my backpack for long. I just like to fly from one idea to next. I'm just not very deck loyal. But sometimes I hold on to one for quite awhile. The Super Surprise was like that for quite some time. It has stayed in circulation for well over 3 months now and has either won or took second at every FNM I've ran it.

[easybox]Sidebar: If you borrow a deck from someone so you can play you should at least offer any prizes you won to the owner of the deck. The second place finish for Super Surprise was at the hands of a different pilot. He didn't even blink an eye when he grabbed the Promo Foil for himself.[/easybox]

So the question is, should you pilot this build? Well that depends on what you think you'll be facing that day. Let's look at some of the more common matchups and make our decision.

Jund

[easybox]Sidebar: Have you ever heard of the Luddites? They were a group in history that refused to accept technological change. They did more than avoid technology they actually tried to destroy it. Many players are Jund Luddites. They just grab a recent Jund list and go play when they should actually be making the required changes for the Meta.[/easybox]

In my opinion Jund has two major strengths. First is its ability to slowly gain incremental card advantage. While no card is capable of going 4 for 1 like a Day of Judgment is able to, Jund has so many cards that go 2 for 1 like Blightning does. Eventually Jund wins the war of attrition. The second strength is its versatility. Right now the mixing of Red, Green, and Black allows for so many possibilities that the term "Jund" can be radically different builds. That choosing of the right build is the difference between going top 8 or going home early.

In the Super Surprise match up the first advantage is all Jund needs for game one. While the Super deck can extend the game well into the 20th turn eventually the wear and tear grind us down to little or no resources. There are some creature heavy Jund builds that are a bit easier but when building a practice deck based on the most popular cards for the archetype we are the underdog in game 1.

Game 2 however is often interesting. For game 2 this is how I board. – 4 Bolt, -2 Chandra Ablaze, -3 Volcanic Fallout, -4 Day of Judgment, -2 All is Dust and bring in the entire sideboard. Now we run like a Boros build with 'Walker support. Now we find ourselves with a potential advantage. IF they boarded like Jund should board when seeing no critters other than Elspeth tokens the Jund deck only real removal is Maelstrom Pulse. That isn't enough to stop our Lynx's and Geopedes. Cards like Blightning do little more than 3 damage since we are pretty empty handed by the time it comes on line and we can trade blows with almost anything they play and come out on top.

If they realize the potential orthogonal move we become a 50/50 at best. That's what makes Game 3 so tricky. Really you have to go with your gut here. My most common play is to take out Chandra and Elspeth and bring Journey and Day back in. Once he answers your early threats then you can answer his. But in the long run the grind that is Jund will probably come out on top.

U/W Control

The strength of UW Control comes from big swings in card advantage. The big Wrath effect or a major X value on Martial Coup or Mind Spring yields the win. The only question is survival until the big bomb hits. Couple that with the 'Walker package and it's quite a force to be reckoned with.

In game 1 you really want your opponent to draw into a Day of Judgment so it can sit in his hand all game long. I can't stress how dead that card will look in his eyes. Even when you drop a Chandra instead of a Jace he'll still put you on Super Friends. Game one is in your favor but just slightly. The UW player has too many dead cards against you. Most games should see the UW player go 10 to 15 sideboard cards. Once you see this just smile to yourself.

The game two switch goes as follows. -2 All is Dust, - 4 Day of Judgment, -3 Volcanic Fallout, -2 Chandra Ablaze, - 2 Journey to Nowhere and bring in everything but the Summons since they are not fun versus 4 Negate. Once again you are planning on the switch being successful. If our ruse was good then game 2 is cakewalk. If not we're going to have to work for it.

Conscription

If it isn't obvious Conscription is the aggro deck in the current format. As such it want to turn sideways as much as possible. We pretty much have this main aspect of the deck well under control. Answers from the left and right. Little hits like Bolt and Journey to big bombs like Day and a well timed fallout. Really the only games that go against us are when the Conscription deck rides the back of Jace or Colonnade and those are either Pathable or O-ring bait. The only real bummer with this match up is the fact that we become a dog if we go Boros. Really the only board answers you may see are Negate and Pridemage.

So for game two I would recommend staying main. Still "look" like your boarding 15 however. That should always be done with this deck. Put all 15 in the deck. Shuffle once. Then remove 15. It'll keep your opponent guessing.

Super Friends

The real strength of Super Friends is the fact that there are more Walkers in the deck than there are answers available. Because of this each Walker basically gives a Sorcery speed spell for free each turn. That is fundamental card advantage that rival both the incremental of Jund and the Bombastic of UW control. Look at Gideon Jura as an example. Each turn he is in play he can give you a Fog, an Assassinate, or a 6/6 hasty that can't be damaged. All without committing any mana.

Our game one match-up is an uphill battle. We have so many potentially dead cards that it ridiculous to think of anything else. Basically our only means to dispose of enemy walkers is O-ring or if our opponent walks a Giddy into a Path. In a pinch we can also play our Walker to get rid of theirs as well but that only works on Ajani and Elspeth. Jace and Giddy still come out ahead.

Game 2 however is a better battle. It's classic speed Vs. grinder. If we can get our landfallers on line and swinging then we can easily trump their Walkers. I go with the following board plan -2 Journey to Nowhere, - 2 Chandra Ablaze, - 3 Volcanic Fallout, -4 Day of Judgment, -2 Path to Exile, - 2 All is Dust and bring in the whole side. Even then we are only marginally above 50/50 against tight play.

Conclusion

If you want to carry this deck be my guest but I wouldn't try to PTQ with it. It's fun and the mental surprise of the orthogonal board is worth it. There are two big problems when looking at a big tourney. First is the Jund issue. Even though Jund isn't the only big kid on the block anymore you're still going to have to face it. Second is the fact that at a bigger tournament there will be many games where future round opponents and their friends will be watching your game. The transformation won't be such a surprise and without that our odds go down.

Notice how often I boarded out Dust and Chandra Ablaze? That's because they get in the way. I often didn't want to play Dust because of what was under an O-ring or Journey. Chandra Ablaze should be removed because the double red plus landfall was too slow for my taste. I would love to hear what you would put in their place in the comments.

That's all for today. Hope your enjoying Summer School.