Mirrodin is in grave peril.
Created by the sentient, planeswalking golem Karn to be the perfect artificial world, Mirrodin has proved anything but. Mirrodin's caretaker fell into madness, and while the plane itself was spared for a time, it has slowly been crumbling from within due to Karn's old enemy, the Phyrexians. Growing their army from a small oily taint unknowingly left by Karn himself, they have been growing... spreading... corrupting the plane and its creator as Karn slumbers in Mirrodin's core.
As the planeswalker golem began to lose control of his world and his own mind, the planeswalker Tezzeret arrived on Mirrodin, working from within the Phyrexian ranks to get close to Karn as an "advisor" with aspirations of dethroning him and taking the plane as his own.
But before Tezzeret could act, old friends liberated Karn from his captivity, freeing his mind and soul from Phyrexian control for a final stand against Tezzeret and his horde of poisonous monstrosities. Who shall prevail? The fate of the entire plane rests on the answer....
I'm having a lot of fun creating these Duel Decks. I started with another Planeswalker matchup (http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/duel-deck-elspeth-vs-xenagos) and last did a more generic duel between beaters and weenies (http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/duel-deck-strength-vs-numbers). Now, just as with Wizards, I'm going to alternate back and forth, which means another Planeswalker duel this time around.
(The opposing deck is here: http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/duel-decks-tezzeret-vs-karn)
Just like Wizards' Duel Decks, this is centered around one mythic and features primarily Modern-legal cards with some older ones mixed in (which, if printed, would get the new, current border and in some cases updated art as well). It also sticks to just a handful of rares and tends to go with a lot of one-ofs among other cards, with a small handful of key cards that may get multiple copies (and even then, usually only two). Also, unlike Event Decks and other feature decks from Wizards, Duel Decks lack sideboards. I tried very hard to keep with all those restrictions here... believe me, if this were your more typical constructed deck, it would look a lot different!
The mythic here is Karn (Liberated) and the rares are Mirran Crusader, Blade Splicer, Melira, Tempered Steel, Power Matrix, Blinkmoth Nexus, and Karn...again (the Silver Golem creature version). There are some decent chase cards in there, but mainly they were chosen to fit the overall theme.
And what is that theme? Basically, the Mirran resistance to the Phyrexian takeover of Karn's world of Mirrodin. Artifact creatures make a big showing, including the white and green "Splicer" Artificers who create and boost Golem creature tokens. (Golems are very fitting when Karn leads this army, right?) With so many artifacts running around (literally!), the Mirran resistances' signature keyword--metalcraft--also makes a big splash. with several creatures and spells that get very powerful as long as you control at least three artifacts. Considering even some of your lands get in on that act, triggering metalcraft shouldn't be too big of a problem.
I took great pains to try and balance these two decks against each other. As you'll see, Tezzeret's deck focuses on the keyword you love to hate--infect--which means an above-average (for a Duel Deck) amount of first (or double!) strike here and some powerful creature removal spells. And Melira, of course, can immediately shut down an infect strategy as long as you keep her alive. As you compare and constrast the two decks, let me know what you think of the balance.
I appreciate any feedback you can provide here, good or bad. Anything I can improve? Any gaping holes that you see? Useful comments will get you +1 rep points and a virtual slap on the back. :-P Thanks for reading...hope you like it!