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01:05
Not a deck I see often, but first time I managed to win against mono-white Stax on the Timeless ladder:
It helped that I was able to Thoughtseize my opponent for Approach of the Second Sun and follow up with Surgical Extraction on turn two, shutting down my opponent's primary win condition.
The game kept going, though, and it was basically draw-go for several turns before I managed to play Lumra. While that was removed the next turn, and the game stalled out again, I had enough mana to hard-cast Valgavoth later.
Opponent tries to stop that with a fog spell (Eerie Interference) as well as Orim's Chant. But with Valgavoth on the board, I was able to use the latter against my opponent, then remove that from the game with Surgical Extraction.
Val was then taken out with a board wipe, and I could not get Phyrexian Fleshgorger to stick, either. But I drew Demonic Tutor, and guess what I decided to fetch? Boseiju, Who Endures.
Why? Because I expected to see an artifact or enchantment that woud lock me out again. And I was right: my opponent played Phyrexian Vindicator, but not before a Chalice of the Void for X=2 in an attempt to stop me from removing the Vindicator. I then activate Boseiju from my hand to destroy the Chalice and cast Bitter Triumph on the Vindicator.
The One Ring makes an appearance, but it only delayed the inevitable with Valgavoth in play again.
Not once did I cast Reanimate, because I knew this was going to be an endurance game. Even at 20 life, I was concerned that the blood price for reanimating Valgavoth or a Fleshgorger could cost me the game if things dragged on.
The length of this match got me thinking: even with Second Sun removed on turn 2, there's a certain kind of sadistic joy in playing a prison deck and making your opponents feel powerless. That's not my cup of tea, and I know Stax is very much hated in Commander, but it's ultimately just another way to play competitive Magic.
What are your thoughts on prison decks?

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