Deck of the Month: July 2008: Lots of Babies

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Lots of Babies" played by Ira Fay. The deck is a Trophy deck, which first uses multiple master phase actions to put as many "Trophy: Progeny" into play as possible, then kill a red-listed soft target, preferable a weenie or a weak ally and put 10, 20 or 30 progenies into play at once. With "Miller Delmardigan" as the Trophy collector all of the progeny become "Toreadora antitribu", so with a "Palla Grande" in play, you have 20+ weenies all with bleed of 2 ready to overrun the table.

Celestial Harmony #2
6/22/08
Eudemonia in Berkeley, CA
10 Players

Deck Name: Lots of Babies
Author: Ira Fay
Description: It's a little tricky to acquire 30 Trophy: Progeny irl (thanks gNat and Ian!), but once you get them, this deck can be fun to play. It reliably takes advantage of turns 1-3 master phases, which are often wasted in most decks. Miller's special is incredibly good - he is so perfect for this deck, and Anson compliments him beautifully. My goal in designing this deck was to get a trophy deck in the TWDA, and assuming I didn't make any stupid illegal deck errors, I'm excited to post the first one. Trophy: Progeny is very powerful in such large numbers, especially because it can act that same turn. Choosing the right Red List target is tricky, because you want something that you can burn, but other players can't. Whenever possible, choose a target that your prey controls. Then, just sit back and wait as long as possible, building the perfect combat hand, holding the Palle Grande, playing 2-3 Trophies per turn. Try to convince the table that you're not a threat (much easier when the Palla Grande is in your hand, and not on the table.) If things are flowing smoothly, you'll have 10+ Trophies on the table by turn ~8, and then you can lunge when you're ready. If you have a fast predator, bring up Anson first because he can Deflect, Parity Shift, and 2nd Trad to keep you in the game. If you draw The Parthenon early, you can consider bringing up Miller first. Without The Parthenon, you'll hand jam on Masters. It's very rare that I discard a Trophy: Progeny in this deck. Golconda was very helpful to keep me (or an ally) in the game long enough for the combo to go off.

Crypt: (12)
5x Anson (G1)
5x Miller Delmardigan, Teacher of Bahari (G2)
2x Carter (G2)

Library: (90)
Master: (37)
29x Trophy: Progeny
1x Trophy: Diablerie
3x Palla Grande
3x The Parthenon
1x Golconda: Inner Peace

Action: (8)
7x Red List
1x Aranthebes, the Immortal

Action Modifier/Combat: (7)
7x Resist Earth's Grasp

Combat: (29)
6x Psyche!
5x Amaranth
5x Pursuit
3x Majesty
3x Sideslip
2x Blur
2x Wolf Claws
1x Bone Spur
1x Claws of the Dead
1x Fast Hands

Political Action: (3)
2x Parity Shift
1x Political Stranglehold

Reaction: (6)
3x Second Tradition: Domain
3x Deflection