The first Magic: The Gathering World Championships took place in 1994 at GenCon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a small event by today’s standards, but it set the tone for competitive Magic. Most players remember that tournament for one deck above all others: Angel Stasis, piloted by champion Zak Dolan.

The list became iconic, studied, and discussed for decades. Yet the finals also featured another deck that deserves just as much attention, one that quietly hinted at where Magic deckbuilding was headed.

That deck belonged to Bertrand Lestree of France. While it didn’t win the championship, Lestree’s Zoo-style aggro list arguably had a deeper impact on how players thought about building decks. In an era when many strategies were still raw or experimental, his approach showed a clear, focused plan. It wasn’t just about playing strong cards. It was about efficiency, pressure, and understanding the metagame.

Check out the decklist below.

At its core, the Lestree Zoo deck looks surprisingly familiar even in 2025. The creature base is built around high-power, low-cost threats like Kird Ape, Argothian Pixies, and Whirling Dervish. These creatures come down early and hit hard, forcing the opponent to react. Backing them up is a suite of spells that pull double duty. Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Psionic Blast, and Fireball all clear blockers while also pushing damage directly to the opponent’s life total.

What makes the list especially impressive is how tuned it already was for its environment. Argothian Pixies, for example, weren’t just random green creatures. They were excellent at blocking Juggernaut, a very real threat at the time. A 5/4 artifact creature for four mana was no joke in early Magic, and Lestree clearly expected to see it. That kind of metagame awareness feels normal now, but in 1994 it was far from standard.

The sideboard choices tell a similar story. Serendib Efreet, despite dealing damage to its controller each turn, survived Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, making it a strong option in certain matchups. Psionic Blast may also have been included with specific threats in mind, such as Serra Angel or opposing Serendib Efreets. These decisions show a player thinking beyond raw power and toward answers, resilience, and matchup dynamics.

Viewed through a modern lens, Lestree’s list isn’t perfect. There are inefficiencies and card choices that would be questioned today. But that’s not the point. What makes the deck remarkable is how clearly it captures the early DNA of aggro strategy. Just one year into Magic’s life, the fundamentals were already there: cheap threats, efficient burn, and conscious metagame choices. In that sense, the Lestree Zoo deck isn’t just a historical curiosity. It’s one of the earliest blueprints for how aggressive Magic decks would be built for decades to come.

Thanks for reading this MTG throwback deck.

Magic: The Gathering has seen plenty of control decks over the years, but few inspire the same mix of awe and frustration as Stasis. This classic strategy, built around the namesake enchantment from Alpha, represents one of the most notorious ways to lock an opponent out of the game. Whether you love or hate it, Stasis remains a defining example of MTG’s ability to reward creative (and sometimes cruel) deckbuilding.

Let us discuss it further in this blog article.

The Core of Stasis

At the heart of the deck is Stasis, a blue enchantment that prevents all players from untapping their permanents. This effect alone would be symmetrical, but Stasis decks break that symmetry using ways to avoid paying its upkeep cost or bypass its limitations.

Key components include:

• Stasis (Alpha) – The deck’s centerpiece, stopping both players from untapping.
• Boil Down the Cost – Early versions used Chronatog to skip turns and ignore the cumulative upkeep. Later iterations used cards like Forsaken City or Gush to keep resources flowing.
• Bounce and Reset – Boomerang, Chain of Vapor, or Capsize allow the pilot to return Stasis to their hand and replay it before their opponent gets a chance to untap.
• Card Draw and Resource Management – Howling Mine, Ancestral Recall, and later Standstill provide card advantage, ensuring the Stasis player never runs out of answers.
• Win Conditions – In the old days, Black Vise punished opponents for holding cards. Later decks used Mishra’s Factory, Chronatog, or Jace, the Mind Sculptor as finishers.

Why Stasis Works (and Frustrates)

Stasis functions by making Magic unplayable for the opponent. They can’t untap lands, play spells, or develop a board. The deck is a test of patience, both for the pilot and their opponent. It requires precise sequencing, knowing when to bounce Stasis or find an alternate win condition before its own lock crumbles.

The Evolution of Stasis

While Stasis has seen less competitive play in modern formats due to power creep and more interactive designs, its influence remains. Variants like Turbo Fog and prison decks continue the legacy of resource denial. In casual and legacy play, Stasis is still a deck that makes opponents groan.

Playing Stasis Today

For players looking to relive the old-school MTG pain train, Stasis is still a viable deck in Vintage and Legacy, though far from top-tier. Newer tools like Narset, Parter of Veils and Teferi, Time Raveler can complement its lock strategy, while classic blue control elements like Force of Will ensure it can survive in a fast metagame.

Here below is an example decklist:

Love It or Hate It, Stasis is MTG History

Few decks embody the essence of control like Stasis. It’s a relic of a time when Magic’s designers were still exploring what was possible, and players were pushing those boundaries to their limits. If you want a deck that will test your endurance and your opponent’s patience, Stasis might be your perfect throwback challenge.

Recalling my first time encountering the Magic: the Gathering TCG vice err hobby, I started playing in Urza’s Destiny expansion as the recently released set. I think that was way back in 1999 during my fourth year in high school. A classmate introduced me to it and let me borrow decks to try and get familiarized with the gameplay.

At that time, I only knew that winning the game was by attacking with creatures. Hence, my first deck was a Red Green Aggro deck. It was composed of cards I bought from the local hobby card shop located in Marymart Mall and a mix of cards from an Urza’s Saga Preconstructed deck. It was Urza block at that time so Echo creatures were pretty popular.

The deck’s creature lineup was Viashinos, Goblins, Simian Apes, Pouncing Jaguars, and spells such as Giant Growths, and Rancors to get ahead of the damage. The finishing touch was a burn to the dome with spells like Shock and Arc Lightning, which can also act as creature removal of the opponent. It was funny as I was enjoying its gameplay that I wanted it as my deck for the local Magic: the Gathering tournament.

Here below is what I think that deck would look like. I could not afford to buy Rares at that time and only had a few Uncommons that were already available:

Lands
10 Forest
10 Mountain

Creatures
4 Pouncing Jaguar
4 Goblin Patrol
4 Goblin War Buggy
4 Viashino Sandscout
2 Viashino Cutthroat
2 Simian Grunts
2 Goblin Berserker

Spells
3 Arc Lightning
4 Giant Growth
4 Rancor
4 Shock
2 Symbiosis
1 Jagged Lightning