In The End, There Will Only Be Cockroaches and White Weenies

If the title is any indication, today's lesson is on White weenies. As long as Magic has been around, there has always been a white weenie deck. In tournament play, however, the deck seems to make an appearance in a different form every year. It's also worth noting that White Weenie hasn't usually dominated, it has rather acted as a foil deck to the metagame at the time. Only recently has the deck become a major force in tournaments. Ok, enough idle chat, on to the deck!

As I said before, White Weenie has been around in some form or another since the beginning of Magic, but it didn't make a true impact until the World Championships in 1996. Tom Chanpheng played a white weenie deck designed to beat the rampant Necropotence decks to become the 1996 World Champion. One thing that struck a lot of players as odd was the lack of Crusades in the deck. Even without the Crusades, Champheng still won the tournament, beating Mark Justice in the finals.

White weenie
World Championships 1996

2x Phyrexian War Beast
1x Lodestone Bauble
1x Zuran Orb
4x Order of Leitbur
4x Order of the White Shield
4x Savannah Lions
4x White Knight
2x Serra Angel
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Disenchant
1x Slight of Mind
1x Armageddon
1x Balance
1x Land Tax
1x Reinforcements
1x Reprisal

11x Plains
4x Adarkar Wastes
4x Strip Mine
4x Mishra's Factory
1x Kjeldoran Outpost

(note, in the actual tournament, Chanpheng mislabeled the Adarkar Wastes as Plains, and had to play them as Plains for the entire tournament)

There was also another White Weenie deck played at Worlds that year, during the type1.5 portion of the tournament. Scott Johns played it to a first place finish during that time, and it is similar to the current extended White Weenie deck PT Jank.

Star Spangled Slaughter
World Championships 1996

4x Order of Leitbur
4x Order of the White Shield
3x Savannah Lions
2x Serendib Efreet
2x White Knight
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Disenchant
3x Arcane Denial
2x Psionic Blast
2x Incinerate
2x Fireball
1x Binding Grasp
1x Control Magic

6x Plains
4x Plateau
4x Tundra
3x Volcanic Island
3x Mishra's Factory
2x Adarkar Wastes

During the 1996/97 Pro Tour season, White Weenie went pretty much unplayed, as there were many better deck options available. During the 1997/98 season, however, there were two types of creatures printed that made White Weenie viable again. The first was shadow creatures, such as Soltari Priest and Monk. The second type was the En-Kors, which allowed them to redirect damage from burn spells to a protection from red creature. This ability was important as Sligh was the dominant decktype during this time.. Matt Linde won the US Nationals with a White Weenie deck, beating Mike Long in the finals. Brian Hacker played the deck card for card to a top eight finish at the 1998 World Championships.

White weenie
1998 US Nationals and World Championships

3x Nomads En-Kor
3x Paladin En-Vec
4x Soltari Monk
4x Soltari Priest
1x Soltari Visionary
4x Soul Warden
4x Warrior En-Kor
4x White Knight
1x Aura of Silence
4x Cataclysm
3x Disenchant
4x Empyrial Armor
4x Tithe
17x Plains

read full article by Matt Ladwig

Comment:
I guess it's true, the white weenie will prevail in the end!

1996 MTG World Champion

The rarest card of all is the 1996 World Champion. This card was given out to the winner of Worlds in 1996, and all other copies of it, plus the printing plates, were ceremonially destroyed. The winner of that tournament was Australia's Tom Chanpheng, who, at last word, still has the card at his home in a screwdown plastic case.

Chanpheng won the title playing a White Weenie deck:

Main Deck

60 cards:
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
4 Mishra's Factory
15 Plains
4 Strip Mine
24 lands

4 Order of Leitbur
4 Order of the White Shield
2 Phyrexian War Beast
4 Savannah Lions
2 Serra Angel
4 White Knight
20 creatures 1 Armageddon
1 Balance
4 Disenchant
1 Land Tax
1 Lodestone Bauble
1 Reinforcements
1 Reprisal
1 Sleight of Mind
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Zuran Orb
16 other spells

Sideboard

2 Arenson's Aura
1 Black Vise
4 Divine Offering
1 Energy Storm
1 Exile
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
1 Reprisal
2 Serrated Arrows
1 Sleight of Mind
1 Spirit Link
15 sideboard cards

The funny thing about Chanpheng's deck was that it contained a Sleight of Mind with no way to cast it. He misregistered his deck, forgetting the Adarkar Wastes. DCI rules forced him to fill out his empty slots with basic Plains, and so the Sleight of Mind was "stranded." It didn't matter, however, as he went on to win the Championship anyway.

article from:http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/arcana/91

Comment:
I have been playing MTG for years now. I guess Tom made an impression on me that until now, i only construct white weenie decks.