Overview:
I don't play multi-player games much (hell, I don't play magic much anymore) and when I do, this seems like about as unfun as a deck can get. Still, it was worth trying to make a multiplayer deck that revolved around a complete lockdown.
Obviously, this deck revolves around Stasis and trying to get a lockdown in place so that you're the only one playing a horribly slow game of magic.
Vedalken Mastermind and Chronatog - these two are the lockdown pieces of the combo. With either of these pieces, you can ensure the stasis remains in play forever--well, assuming it doesn't get destroyed.
Frozen AEther - This is here to protect the stasis. You generally want to get the combo out quickly and don't wait for this piece, but once you have the mana to do so, you can sneak this out and finish your opponents off.
Daze, Foil, Thwart, & Spell Pierce - These are all free (or at least cheap) counter spells that help protect your combo once it hits the board. The idea is that nobody (including yourself) is going to have much mana to spare, so using these spells to protect when you have little to no mana available helps out.
Ensnare, Snap, & Gigadrowse - These help deal with creatures/permanents that have already hit the board--particularly those with vigilance.
Notable Exclusions:
- Azor's Elocutors, Serra Sphinx, etc. - Original incarnations of this deck involved some large non-tapping creatures to use as blockers and as walls, but they rarely ever saw the table. In fact, the only realistic time to expect them would be when you didn't get your combo and you were sitting on a ton of mana. Frankly, once this deck plays against a group, I can't imagine them letting you live long enough to get your combo out as it's just flat unfun to play against.
Not that the deck is ultra-competitive, mind you, it's just that, when it works, it just isn't fun.
Card Draw and Enchantment/Artifact Removal:
As the decks I make are casual and do not have sideboards, any deck tries to conform to two stipulations: it must be able to deal with artifacts/enchantments (preferably at least two cards) and it should also have some element of card draw. Both of these features should attempt to stay on theme whenever possible.
As this is mono blue, it doesn't have a realistic way to deal with enchantments, short of countering them before they come out. I didn't want to include things like Nev's disk because they would obviously destroy my combo as well.
Blue can do card draw, but these are generally mana intensive. Instead, I opted for tutor effects built into Muddle the Mixture. This isn't true card draw, but the tutor will let you get any of the combo pieces for the deck: Chronatog, Vedalken Mastermind, and--of course--Stasis.
Win Conditions:
Ebony Owl Netsuke is basically the win condition of the deck. Lock up the game to the best of your ability and then watch the bird kill everyone.
Of course, there's also the possibility that you just deck everyone using the Elixir of Immortality as well.
