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Secret Force.

Description of deck by Mike Flores @ www.wizards.com (quoted):
To look at the deck without foreknowledge of Jamie's love of green, his legend, or legacy, Secret Force doesn't really look like a product that Vermont's favored son would have built. Though one color, the version of Secret Force he used to qualify for PT-New York 1999 seems almost oddly... conventional. It is only 60 cards, and plays considerably fewer than 26 lands.* It lacks the "Wakefield reset", that Nevinyrral's Disk or Jokulhaups (or Wrath of God, Armageddon, or Wildfire in some decks we have not studied) that Jamie used to sweep the board. Secret Force can't kill even a single creature, except via combat. If we look a bit closer at the deck, though, it becomes possible to see where Jamie was going with each individual card choice, and why some elements of the Wakefield School seem to be ignored or changed.

The first conflict seems to be in terms of mana ratio. While Jamie consistently played 26 land, Secret Force has only 22, and three of those lands do not necessarily generate mana on the first turn. However, where The Brothers Very Grimm had "only" Dark Ritual for mana acceleration, Secret Force runs three to four times that boost. Besides the obvious turn-1 plays of Fyndhorn Elves and Llanowar Elves, Secret Force also has Wall of Roots to speed it to the midgame, and Natural Order - which can be cast as early as the third turn - is a mana boost itself, giving the deck access to the unusually costly Verdant Force at a relatively inexpensive .

While Secret Force is, on its face, unable to take out creatures (the most common targets of Wakefield spot elimination spells), it nevertheless boasts Uktabi Orangutan and Creeping Mold. Uktabi Orangutan often finds himself suited to Cursed Scroll patrol, acting as a card advantage-generating answer to artifacts. If Uktabi Orangutan plays Nekrataal in Secret Force, then Elvish Lyrist is the deck's analogue to Carrionette. An early-drop 1/1 with the ability to destroy enchantments, Elvish Lyrist can disrupt enchantment-based combination decks like Fruity Pebbles, or remove the now-defunct Survival of the Fittest (one of the best cards in Extended against Secret Force) from play. Jamie also considered Creeping Mold one of the best green cards ever. Not only does it deal with everything from Sylvan Library to Phyrexian Colossus, but Creeping Mold is never a "dead" card: at worst it deals with an opponent's land. As a corollary to that application, this versatile spell is also capable of serving as a green disruptive element; especially in concert with the twelve mana creatures of the Secret Force deck, Creeping Mold can be used early to exacerbate a land-light draw, or remove an opponent's access to one color of mana in a polychromatic deck.

Besides the obvious artifact/enchantment removal capabilities of green, Secret Force uses its heavy Spike component as a sort of faux removal suite. When even a lone Spike Feeder tussles with Sligh's creatures, it invariably takes one of them off the board. Should it also be headed for the graveyard, the four life that the Spike Feeder provides will also absorb the next two Shocks of the opponent, or even one costly Fireblast. Similarly, a Spike Weaver can dominate the board against Stompy or Sliver opponents while Secret Force sets up its own expensive and powerful spells. Just one can negate an entire opposing army for three turns or more, often allowing Jamie to strike back at will. Besides the obvious card advantage and virtual card advantage afforded by these specific Spikes, that they are Spikes is also an important advantage for Secret Force. Because their +1/+1 counters can be moved from creature to creature, Secret Force has won many games by creating problematic permanent combinations, such as troublesome attacks and blocks, potentially turning walls into creature killers, or pulling Elvish Lyrists out of Firestorm range.

A practiced Secret Force player can turn his creatures - the bread and butter of the deck - into spot elimination, forcing both interaction and play mistakes from opponent. Ostensibly mundane game elements like lifegain baffle burn players and force additional combination attempts from Illusions of Grandeur/Donate decks. Persistent "fog" tricks from Spike Weaver heavily disrupt single-minded offenses from monoblack or Stompy attack decks. Even while simply playing creatures and light elimination with no burn or hand destruction plan, the mark of the Wakefield school is on Secret Force: the opponent must always take Jamie's cards into consideration: playing non-interactively is not a realistic possibility.

Natural Order is the card that ties Secret Force together. Not simply going for the super-cool turn-three Verdant Force, Natural Order can fetch Spike Feeder after Spike Feeder against burn, the decisive Spike Weaver against beatdown, or an Elvish Lyrist or Uktabi Orangutan to keep the deck in the game against the opponent's best permanents. Secret Force doesn't have to play overt creature elimination spells, as it has an equally effective negation plan in pitting the opponent's threats against its own versatile, even superior, creature base. Why Shock or Terror a Jackal Pup when a Wall of Roots will contain it just the same, and also generate mana? A Spike Feeder counters that Pup three times over. Against aggressive decks, even simple 1-for-1 trades with early-drop Elves will buy Secret Force enough time to set up its own powerful mid-game.

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by Jamie Wakefield shown on www.magicthegathering.com (PT-New York 1999)

BEATDOWN: Verdant Force - Natural Order (Secret Force)