Dr. No

Piloted this thing to Masters twice, figured I'd put it up here. Turns out countermagic really works after all.

This deck is similar to some of the popular Jennev midrange decks, with a few innovations. First, the deck runs Unraveling Fanatic, which in combination with other changes is a major win condition for the deck. Second, the deck runs four copies of Mirror Image, which can be devastating in combination with a Fanatic about to pop, but can duplicate any large beater, or pull an extra card and burn off a Heart of the Vault. And finally, the use of countermagic is vastly expanded - a total of ten counterspells are in the deck. This allows the deck to protect an early fanatic (which can often be duplicated *and* protected the turn before it goes off on 5 mana), as well as counter mass removal or single-card win conditions such as Maul.

How to play: Mostly played like you would play another Jennev midrange deck, however, the first turns require some attention to detail. The deck should be mulliganed somewhat aggressively, and ideally will start with some ramp or a Teacher of Humility. If you get a Fanatic or a Disciplinary Weights to stick early, you will usually win. If not, the game basically devolves into a normal Jennev game. As far as the market is concerned, you should generally pull Zal Chi, Herald of War provided you will be able to play him immediately. Otherwise, pick whichever beater is most useful. Novaquake Titan is there to fix certain problems no other card will fix, and he has won me many an unwinnable game.

Notable Matchups:

Worst: Chainbrei and that stupid weapon deck. You know the one. Martyr's Chains is an unbeatable card for this deck, and Chainbrei will often get it out before you can be ready. Even Kaleb's Choice is not a perfect solution, as they will generally get a trigger off before you can play it. As for the weapon deck, you can defend yourself against most aggro decks, but this deck is just too insane, often facing you with some sort of 9/7 flying Hojan, Crownbreaker nonsense on like turn 3.

Best: Maul and Reanimator. Anything that depends on a single spell to win, really. Just save a counterspell for their win condition, and counter it. You should have plenty to go around, and your value will overwhelm them shortly thereafter.