Today for class I would like to revisit a previous class discussion. My very first piece here on Mananation was over a concept I called the "Rule of Nine."

In a nutshell the idea is to build a deck with just nine cards. That's right only nine. It’s all we really need. We play 4 copies of each of course and then add 24 lands to make a total of 60. Decks of this type are a model of consistency and are very reliable but lack flexibility. I ALWAYS start with this skeleton structure in every deck I build. In fact you’ll rarely see me using only 3 copies of a card. Let alone 2 or the misers 1 copy.

But that has already been done and you can feel free to reread it here.

What I want to do today is refine this basic concept for different deck archetypes. For each type we will look at not only looking for nine cards but also looking at their mana cost and card type. The mana cost skeleton makes sure that we fit a good mana curve while the card type helps to focus our direction.

We will start by looking at Agro type decks. When I have a student that knows how to play but is just starting to design their own decks I always suggest starting with Agro. Not because it’s easiest to play but because it has the most options. Every expansion that I can think of has more choices for creatures than any other card type. And Agro decks heartbeat comes from creatures therefore yielding the most flexibility for Agro deck designers. CC stands for Converted Costs. So a card that cost GGG would be a 3 cc.

A basic Agro build would go like this

• 2 slots for 1cc creatures
• 2 slots for 2 cc creatures
• 2 slots for 3 cc (or greater) creatures
• 2 slots for 1 to 3 cc Spells
• 1 slot for Anything Else

Of course the mana curve for this deck is very low and quick. In most builds you could easily slip in an extra ½ slot of cards and decrease your total land count but we are going to stick with 9 for all of today's list.

With this list we’ll have at least 8 possible plays on turn 1 and at least 16 for turn 2. That's a lot of early play. Let's say I'm making my focus Goblins. As a tribe Goblins are some of the best creatures to fit this simple curve.

In the 1cc creature slot I'm putting Goblin Guide first and foremost followed by Goblin Bushwhacker. Understand that Bushwhacker plays more like a 2cc since you really want it's kicker as well.

The 2 cc slots for Goblins in Standard only yields 6 options. I personally found that amazing but at least there will be at least one more in Worldwake. (That is if you pushed the right button in MaRo's article on the mother ship Monday). From the short list I only took one actual creature spell. Warren Instigator. For my other 2cc creature I used a spell that creates creatures. Dragon Fodder while not technically a creature it does serve the job. And when I get to my "other" card you may see its value.

For the 3+ cc creatures I'm going to run with the Goblin pumper of Goblin Chieftain. The additional Hasty-ness can also serve some benefit. The addition of Warren Instigator really begs for Siege-Gang commander to be added to the list. Just the idea of seeing an unblocked Instigator hit for two and putting two Siege-gangs in play makes me smile.

Our extra low cc spells we’ll regulate to simple burn. Lightning Bolt and Burst Lightning fill that role rather well and easy. For the "other" slot I’m putting in Eldrazi Monument. For some of you this may be a surprise but a more focused version of this deck has been out there for awhile. It might even predate Eldrazi Green. I mention this because I don't want anyone thinking that I'm taking credit for its creation. I just used it because it is so close to the 'Rule of Nine' version.

The next deck type that we can design is Agro Control. While agro control still gets is win by pounding creatures in the Red Zone it also looks to capitalize on controlling the board so its pounders can continue unmolested. Basically the only shift in the rule of nine is an increase in Casting cost for our critters and an increase in spells slots so we can have a larger control selection.

Agro Control slots would go like this.

• 2 slots for 1 or 2 cc creatures
• 2 slots for 3 or 4 cc creatures
• ½ slot for 5+ creatures. (Note: ½ slot would denote two cards in a deck of 60.)
• 2 slots for 0-2cc spells
• 2 slots for 2-4 cc spells
• ½ slot for 5+ cc spells

The most popular example of Agro Control being used right now is Jund. While a good Jund deck has been refined well past the Rule of Nine skeleton above I will still use if for my focus.

In normal Jund there are barely any 1 or 2 cc creatures other than Putrid Leach. Keeping the Leach as my first slot I'll also add Birds of Paradise as my second. Jund can often have mana issues and the acceleration could prove useful. The big delimma is the fact that so many lands have to enter the battle field tapped so the Birds won’t often see play on turn 1 like you would want them to. I also debated Elvish Visionary since it does add to the card advantage engine that Jund thrives on.

In the 3 or 4 cc creature slot most Jund decks have 3 slots full (the extra coming from only having 1 slot used for 1 or 2 cc). I’m going to slip in the two most popular from the Jund list that I have seen. Bloodbraid Elf and Sprouting Thrinax go on my list.

The ½ of a slot for a big creature goes easily to Broodmate Dragon though I have also seen SGC in this slot as well.

For the 0-2cc spells we have Lightning Bolt and Terminate. Doom Blade gets an honorable mention since it is a little easier on the mana requirements but it stinks in the mirror.

The Two slots for 2-4 cc spells are greatly contested. Many a forum is full of arguments about which card is better and why for Jund to play. Most of these arguments are correct and should be resolved by using 3 or 2 copies in a deck for versatility in different game scenarios. Since the Rule of Nine only allows for 4 of’s we’ll select Blightning and Maelstrom Pulse.

The final ½ slot will go to Bituminous Blast. A close runner up is Garruk but being forced to use 4 of by the Rule makes Garruk a potential headache.

The Final Agro type of deck we’ll look at today is Agro-Ramp. With this archetype our goal is not to make small increments of Red Zone damage early but instead make large increments sooner than expected by accelerating our mana base.

The Agro –Ramp Skeleton would go something like this.

• 2 Slots 0-2cc mana acceleration
• 3 Slots 3-5cc creatures with extra abilities
• 3 Slots 1 – 4cc spells
• 1 Slot Mana funnel. A card which we can channel our high amount of lategame mana into.

Naya Lightsaber is probably the closest deck to this concept though it is so far from the Rule of Nine our list won't even compare. In fact the California State winners deck only carry 4 cards that were 4 of’s and had just as many cards that were just singletons. Go figure.

For our build I’ll begin with Noble Hierarch as my first accelerant. Her extra Exalted ability is a real bonus when our creatures hit. The second slot is a tough choice. I looked hard at both Birds and Trace of Abundance. I like the Abundance because there is less removal choices and the fact that it can protect a non-basic land from a Goblin Ruinblaster (a card spoiled by Mananation) that every red deck seems to run nowadays. In the end I went with the Birds for the quickness aspect. Going from 1 to 3 mana seemed more valuable in the build than going from 2 to 4.

In the Beatdown department that is the 3-5cc creature slots I’ll start with the Walletslayer (not my nickname but it sounds cool). The next slot I’ll use Knight of the Reliquary with the idea of run a multitude of fetchlands which should cause him to be fairly large fairly fast. In many Naya decks the last slot goes to Ranger of Eos with a package of 1cc’s for him to fetch. The Rule of Nine makes this a hard case to swallow so I like dropping Woolly Thoctar in this slot. Note that if I had ran with Trace earlier I probably would have used Spellbreaker Behemoth or Cliffrunner Behemoth instead of Woolly.

For the Spell slots I start with Garruk. As a Planeswalker he counts as a "spell." His plus ability helps us ramp and the Beast maker supplements our beatdown. Rarely but sometimes none the less his Overrun will break stalemates. The namesake card Naya Charm has to go in. Finally the Path to Exile takes the final slot though Oblivion Ring may be more useful in some Meta's.

For our funnel card I went with Thornling. There are just so many exquisite plays that you can make if you have the mana available. And this deck should often have mana to spare.

Next week we’ll look at Control and Combo Skeletons. Finals are soon approaching so prepare yourself.