[Primer] Devotion Red

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Postby zemanjaski » Fri Oct 11, 2013 1:08 am

I should really write something on red aggro mirrors, there are a lot of ways to get an edge:
- red divinations; Reckoner, Flames of the Firebrand
- red baneslayers; Thundermaw Hellkite
- playing less land (so you draw more spells than them = VCA)
- mana sinks
- difficult to interact with win-con (cursed scroll)

So many options, too many other articles. Player skill is the big one, I'd estimate I'm about 20-3 in red mirrors this week.
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Postby LP, of the Fires » Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:31 am

Aggro's only really a coinflip if neither player knows what they're doing and are just swinging out at each other.
You were right when you picked the title condescentron. It also still is a coinflip if both players know what they are doing (my usual assumption since if only one player knows what they are doing that player is probably going to win regardless). It's not so much the die roll for who goes first, but more what they are packing main and side, and who has more tools to deal with the other.
Well, if you actually put work into the matchup and your
deck, you'd find that you can easily make mirror matches advantageous. It's basically a rule that if you're gonna play a tier one deck that are prepared for the mirror and this site has content littered with resources for those willing to educate themselves.

Or you can just be content flipping your coins.
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Postby DarthStabber » Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:48 am

I am operating under the assumption that my opponent has put in the same effort in prepping for matches that I did, otherwise I would have a significant advantage regardless of deck.
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Postby rcwraspy » Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:03 pm

So I think this is the list I've landed on for tomorrow at states:

[deck]
Creature (28)
4x Ash Zealot
4x Boros Reckoner
4x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Fanatic of Mogis
4x Firedrinker Satyr
4x Rakdos Cackler
4x Rakdos Shred-Freak
Instant (7)
2x Lightning Strike
3x Magma Jet
2x Shock
Land (22)
21x Mountain
1x Mutavault
Enchantment (1)
1x Hammer of Purphoros
Planeswalker (2)
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
Sideboard (15)
2x Act of Treason
3x Burning Earth
3x Flames of the Firebrand
3x Mizzium Mortars
4x Skullcrack
[/deck]

Although Magma Jet and Lightning Strike are technically each in the 2-slot, I was feeling a severe lack of aggression from this deck with only Ashley as a 2CMC creature. Enter Shred-Freak. As others have noted, he's underwhelming late but he helps tremendously when I'm trying to hit my curve and his devotion addition is nice. I've also upped Fanatic to the full playset from 3 since I
rarely if ever don't want to see him by turn 4. 8-8-8-4 seems like a decent curve to me, with some burn, 1 hammer as a MB hedge against flood and for longer game 1s, and 2 Chandra.

I've also really trimmed down the board to what I feel is necessary. I was debating a 2nd Mutavault in place of the 4th Skullcrack - and that change may happen. I'm also thinking of finding space for a 3rd Act of Treason.

I think in this deck I need Act over Instinct for the threaten effect. I'm only running 22 land unless I throw a 2nd Mutavault in the board.

To accomplish all of this I've cut down my burn package. It used to be 10 cards - 4 strikes, 4 jets, 2 shocks. Now it's 7 cards. This makes Phoenix a bit less effective, but I still have 9 burn and 2 Chandra. Flames from the side are great for recurring Phoenix also. But she's still great as just a 2/2 flying haste that gives 2 devotion.
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Postby Lightning_Dolt » Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:40 pm

Sup RedBros.

Back from FNM with a report. Went 3-0 tonight for second place (fucking tie-breakers :flame: )

List:

[deck]Creatures (30)
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Firefist Striker
2 Goblin Shortcutter
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Fanatic of Mogis

Spells (8)
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet

Land (22)
22 Mountain


Sideboard (15)
2 Mutavault
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Act of Treason
3 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
3 Stormbreath Dragon[/deck]

Round 1 VS Esper Control (2-1)

G1: He throws down T3 Ashiok, The Nightmare Weaver. I chose to ignore it and go after his life total, since he was low. T4 2x [card]Azorius Charm[/card:
1rqwb814]s, then mill your Phoenixes ground me to a hault. He then Revs a couple times while beating me to death with my own reckoners. Felt bad man.

G2 -4 Firefist Striker, -2Goblin Shortcutter, -4 Boros Reckoner
+2 Mutavault, +3 Flames of the Firebrand, +2 Chandra, Pyromaster, +3 Stormbreath Dragon

T1 Cackler > T2 Cackler + Firecrotch > T3 CP > T4 FotF.

G3 No Changes
T2 BTE > BTE > MJ, T3 CP, T4 Chandra, T5 FotF + LS, T5 FotF x2. He shows me a grip of 3x Essence Scatter and land.

Round 2 VS GW Aggro (2-1)

G1 He's colour screwed and only shows forests and T3 [card]
Boon Satyr[/card] which I MJ (I curved FDS> BTE + FFS > CP) for the concession.

G2 I SB incorrectly, because I put him on mono green.

- 4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr
+1 Mutavault, +3 Mizzium Mortars, +2 Act of Treason, +2 Chandra, Pyromaster

He goes T2 Voice of Resurgence, I go T2 BTE > BTE > MJ (VoR). He plays T3 Smiter, passes. I play T3 CP, in for two pass. He plays T4 Trostani and makes a voice token / gains stupid amounts of life every turn. I get bored, triple falter him, steal his best guy, and knock him down to 15 with my alpha strike, then shuffle up for G3.

G3 -4 Firedrinker Satyr, -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 [card]Magma Jet[/
card]
+2 Mutavault,+3 Mizzium Mortars, +2 Act of Treason, +2 Chandra, Pyromaster, +3 Stormbreath Dragon

My favourite game of the night. I keep a hand of Mountain, Mountain, BTE, BTE, CP, CP, MJ. I draw fanatic and play T2 BTE > BTE > MJ. I scry away Reckoner and Mogis #2. T3 I play hit a mountain, play CP and get it. His T3, he plays Smiter. My T4 I play CP #2 and draw a lightning strike. He casts Unflinching Courage on his smiter, attacks six and goes to 14. I top a mountain, cast mogis, dome him for nine, then swing 8 to put him to -3. He stares in disbelief, checks the math, then scowls, then signs the slip and leaves without a word.

Round 3 VS Junk Midrange (2-1)

G1 He nut draws, stone walls
me with hexproof plants, smiters etc. then brings the beats with advent token + Ghost Dad V 2.0

G2 -4 Firedrinker Satyr, -4 Rakdos Cackler, -2 Goblin Shortcutter, -4 Firefist Striker
+2 Mutavault,+3 Mizzium Mortars, +2 Chandra, Pyromaster, +3 Stormbreath Dragon, +2 Act of Treason, +2 Flames of the Firebrand

He color screws (no green), Chandra's 0 draws all the cards and I lay the smack down. Mogis on 10 devotion ends it.

G3 No changes. Hardest game of the evening (fitting enough). I keeps a hand of 4 Mountains, Chandra, MJ, MM. I draw more burn / Chandras while he durdles with 3x hexproof plants. I work Chandra's 0 until he [card]
hero's downfall[/card]s her. I cast the second one. We are both on top decks, but I'm getting double. I commit about 6 power to the board and start slugging. He finds a scavenging ooze, which quickly becomes a 10/10, but he is at 9 life and I have 6 power, so he can't attack. He EoT Advent of the Wurms, then tops a Whip of Erobos, attacks and goes to 23. I go to 5 or something (I had chumps to keep me alive for the rest of the game). I (finally) get to cast my first dragon. Dragon + Lightning Strike smack down the Wurm Token (pro-white bitch!), and reckoner trades with the 10/10 ooze. Then he tops Elspeth. This fucking luck sack. He +1's her and makes soldiers. I send Dragon + CP to dispatch Elspeth, the MJ a soldier token. I keep one land on top (so I can go monstrous on the next turn) and ship the other. I go monstrous and start taking chunks out of this 35 point life
total. He drops Obzedat, I overload Mizzium Mortars to kill his tokens, then swing into Ghost Dad, who he doesn't want to trade. He attacks with GD, I activate Mutavault and chump, then crack back for exactsies with CP / Monstrous Dragon (with FotFB in hand, just in case). He shows me a grip of 2 land. Fucking tight game.

Thoughts

I am not crazy about the 2 drops. They really under performed (except BTE). I think the Goblin Shortcutters should be changed out.

The one time I got to cast dragon, it was very good. Only one time though, hard to tell.

Magma Jet was the MVP of the night. Fucking great card.

Act of Treason under-performed.

Mutavault never conflicted, and won games.

Fanatic of Mogis hit for 1
damage against Esper. Probably correct to board them out. Hit for 9 and 10 elsewhere.

To complete what was already a very good night, I got the Ghor-Clan Rampager promo. I used my credit to get packs, and cracked Thrassa, Goddess of the Sea, Temple of Abandon, Hexproof plant, and Foil Soldier of the Pantheon. The the store owner told me he had some cards set aside for me. I was like :? Then he hands me a Japanese foil [card]Pyromancer's Gauntlet[/card], and 2x Japanese foil Hammer of Purphoros. He only wanted Y500. Fuckin' Eh! :jam:

Moving Forward

I think I want to try something like this (unless something sexy comes out of the pro-
tour):

[deck]Creatures (28)
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells (7)
4 Lightning Strike
3 Mizzium Mortars

Land (25)
21 Mountain
3 Mutavault
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx


Sideboard (15)
3 Burning Earth
4 Skullcrack
4 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Pyromancer's Gauntlet
1 Mizzium Mortars [/deck]
Last edited by Lightning_Dolt on Sat Oct 12, 2013 1:27 am, edited 7 times in total.

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Postby Lightning_Dolt » Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:43 pm

So I think this is the list I've landed on for tomorrow at states:

[deck]
Creature (28)
4x Ash Zealot
4x Boros Reckoner
4x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Fanatic of Mogis
4x Firedrinker Satyr
4x Rakdos Cackler
4x Rakdos Shred-Freak
Instant (7)
2x Lightning Strike
3x Magma Jet
2x Shock
Land (22)
21x Mountain
1x Mutavault
Enchantment (1)
1x Hammer of Purphoros
Planeswalker (2)
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
Sideboard (15)
2x Act of Treason
3x Burning Earth
3x Flames of the Firebrand
3x Mizzium Mortars
4x Skullcrack
[/deck]

Although Magma Jet and Lightning Strike are technically each in the 2-slot, I was feeling a severe lack of aggression from this deck with only Ashley as a 2CMC creature. Enter Shred-Freak. As others have noted, he's
underwhelming late but he helps tremendously when I'm trying to hit my curve and his devotion addition is nice. I've also upped Fanatic to the full playset from 3 since I rarely if ever don't want to see him by turn 4. 8-8-8-4 seems like a decent curve to me, with some burn, 1 hammer as a MB hedge against flood and for longer game 1s, and 2 Chandra.

I've also really trimmed down the board to what I feel is necessary. I was debating a 2nd Mutavault in place of the 4th Skullcrack - and that change may happen. I'm also thinking of finding space for a 3rd Act of Treason.

I think in this deck I need Act over Instinct for the threaten effect. I'm only running 22 land unless I throw a 2nd Mutavault in the board.

To accomplish all of this I've cut down my burn package. It used to be 10 cards - 4 strikes, 4 jets, 2 shocks. Now it's 7 cards. This makes Phoenix a bit less effective, but I still have 9 burn and 2 Chandra. Flames from the side are great for recurring Phoenix also. But she's
still great as just a 2/2 flying haste that gives 2 devotion.
Fix that burn package... Lightning Strike > Magma Jet > Shock.

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Postby rcwraspy » Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:55 pm

So I think this is the list I've landed on for tomorrow at states:

[deck]
Creature (28)
4x Ash Zealot
4x Boros Reckoner
4x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Fanatic of Mogis
4x Firedrinker Satyr
4x Rakdos Cackler
4x Rakdos Shred-Freak
Instant (7)
2x Lightning Strike
3x Magma Jet
2x Shock
Land (22)
21x Mountain
1x Mutavault
Enchantment (1)
1x Hammer of Purphoros
Planeswalker (2)
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
Sideboard (15)
2x Act of Treason
3x Burning Earth
3x Flames of the Firebrand
3x Mizzium Mortars
4x Skullcrack
[/deck]

Although Magma Jet and Lightning Strike are technically
each in the 2-slot, I was feeling a severe lack of aggression from this deck with only Ashley as a 2CMC creature. Enter Shred-Freak. As others have noted, he's underwhelming late but he helps tremendously when I'm trying to hit my curve and his devotion addition is nice. I've also upped Fanatic to the full playset from 3 since I rarely if ever don't want to see him by turn 4. 8-8-8-4 seems like a decent curve to me, with some burn, 1 hammer as a MB hedge against flood and for longer game 1s, and 2 Chandra.

I've also really trimmed down the board to what I feel is necessary. I was debating a 2nd Mutavault in place of the 4th Skullcrack - and that change may happen. I'm also thinking of finding space for a 3rd Act of Treason.

I think in this deck I need Act over Instinct for the threaten effect. I'm only running 22 land unless I throw a 2nd Mutavault in the board.

To accomplish all of this I've cut down my burn package. It used to be 10 cards - 4 strikes, 4 jets, 2 shocks. Now it's 7
cards. This makes Phoenix a bit less effective, but I still have 9 burn and 2 Chandra. Flames from the side are great for recurring Phoenix also. But she's still great as just a 2/2 flying haste that gives 2 devotion.
Fix that burn package... Lightning Strike > Magma Jet > Shock.
You value strike over magma jet? Didn't you just get done saying magma jet was the MVP of your FNM 3-0? I could always put Chandra in the side and replace her 2 slots with burn. But I'd likely go 4 Jet, 3 Strike, 2 Shock. The other cut would be either 1 Fanatic or even 1 Shred-Freak if I wanted to go back up to 4-4-2 on Jet-Strike-Shock.
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Postby Khaospawn » Fri Oct 11, 2013 5:48 pm


Mutavault never conflicted, and won games.
It's because you played 22 Mountain. The Mutavaults were the icing on the cake at that point.

I was playing last night with a 21xMountain and 2x Mutavault package, and swear to gods, I saw a Mutavault every frickin' time I need double Red (or triple Red). Changed over to 22x Mountain and 1x Mutavault and it never happened to me again. Mutavault even won me a game in that configuration.

I think for "going big," you've got it right: 22x Mountain 2x Mutavault. It's consistent for colors and can still cast those dragons.
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Postby dpaine88 » Fri Oct 11, 2013 11:12 pm

That list looks great JS. Might try that at States depending how PyroRed goes tonight at FNM.

Love the Stormbreath!
Burn baby burn!

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Postby Lightning_Dolt » Sat Oct 12, 2013 1:35 am

@ raspy, it wS really good, and the scry was oh so relevant, but LS is still just much more efficient.

@ KS Sorry about your luck. Maybe 22/x is correct to play safe?

@ Dpaine, what is your local meta like? Mine is a good mix, but control / midrange heavy.

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Postby dpaine88 » Sat Oct 12, 2013 4:01 am

Mine is pretty similar for your meta actually.

How was the shrine for you?

Also, how has Mizzium been in the main? Do you just have so many threats you don't need the reach?
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Postby Lightning_Dolt » Sat Oct 12, 2013 4:25 am

Mine is pretty similar for your meta actually.

How was the shrine for you?

Also, how has Mizzium been in the main? Do you just have so many threats you don't need the reach?
That's a test deck. I haven't played it yet.

I tested Nykthos, and found it was only really relevant against midrange.

Mizzium Mortars has been good when siding it in. I just want more mana dumps to work with Nykthos.

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Postby dpaine88 » Sat Oct 12, 2013 4:33 am

Yea, I'm thinking that with the high curve of the deck, Magma Jet might be the right call to smooth out the draws and ensure land drops etc. Mizzium in the SB.

I wonder a little if 4 Dragon is too much without ramp in a deck. Maybe 3?

Definitly bringing something just like this tomorrow for States.
Burn baby burn!

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Postby Lightning_Dolt » Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:03 am

Yea, I'm thinking that with the high curve of the deck, Magma Jet might be the right call to smooth out the draws and ensure land drops etc. Mizzium in the SB.

I wonder a little if 4 Dragon is too much without ramp in a deck. Maybe 3?

Definitly bringing something just like this tomorrow for States.
We used to do it with the sledgehammer decks. 25 lands right?

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Postby dpaine88 » Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:21 am

I was having trouble remembering exactly... I remember doing 4 Falkenwrath, 3 Thundermaw on 24 land... so another dragon would probably require a 25th land like you said.
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Postby Narcasus » Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:31 am

You can smooth your draws with magma jet, so 24 would probably work.

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Postby dpaine88 » Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:36 am

Yea I'm thinking 22 Mountain/ 2 Mutavault with 4 Magma Jet, 3 Lightning Stike
Burn baby burn!

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Postby Lightning_Dolt » Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:37 am

You can smooth your draws with magma jet, so 24 would probably work.
That might just be correct. I'm not sure.

Dpaine, as I said above, I think Lighning Strike > Magma Jet.

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Postby LaZerBurn » Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:58 am

@ Johnny - what are you bringing in the Burning Earth's against please? I love the card but simply can't justify running it over Mortars based on what decks I'm seeing overall.
That said I'm running a different build - viewtopic.php?p=123114#p123114 - and I suspect this is why - I need to clear their blockers to attack, you can stall the ground and let Earth nip away until you cast Fanatic for lots :)
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Postby LaZerBurn » Sat Oct 12, 2013 11:03 am

I'm running 21 Mountain and 4 Mutavault's with 4 Dragons, 4 Ashley, 4 Phoenix and 3 Chandra main deck and Reckoner post board and the mana is working fine. I just rely on the maths; thanks to hamfactorial for making them so clear viewtopic.php?f=92&t=845 :)
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Postby dpaine88 » Sat Oct 12, 2013 1:09 pm

Hmmm the mana is tough.... Not sure if I really want 24 or 25 but States is like in 2 hours... Kinda leaning 24 lands
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Postby Khaospawn » Sat Oct 12, 2013 1:39 pm

I think JS 's 22x Mountain and 2x Vaults is good for 3x Mouthbreather Dragon.
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Postby Tyrael » Sat Oct 12, 2013 1:53 pm

Erggh, I'm quickly realizing just how hopeless the situation looks for any sort of placings with this deck if I don't have chandra and/or stormbreath >.>

Looks like ashiok and elspeth will have to say good bye from my edh, and then maybe some other stuff to try and get a chandra or 2 e.e Ergh. I hate it when that's the case... I don't even know if I can get the 2 chandras, let alone the stormbreaths for handling g/w e.e

Any ideas o great titans of red? I am in need of your wise words of wisdom
I honestly believe this is the best deck available to anybody on a
budget:

[deck]
Creatures 28
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Rakdos Shred-Freak
4 Ash Zealot
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis

Burn 10
2 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike

Land 22
22 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Skullcrack
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Frostburn Weird
2 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Act of Treason[/deck]

And yes, it is perfectly capable of beating some of the top decks right now.


Money and brains are what drive Pyro Red. This deck, however, wins with a hook to the gut. Very little thinking, not a lot of money, and a huge jolt of force to the opponent.
Ran this list last night with the slight addition of 2 Mutavaults to the MB and 3 Burning Earths to the SB, ending in a very disappointing 0-3, losing to G/R ramp, B/W Midrange and a G/U aggro. I knew for a fact a lot of people were going to be running three color control decks but I did not get matched up against any of them, which was really disappointing.

Few notes:

- Don't
know how you guys are winning all your matches but I never got a good curve all night, I had to mulligan several times, being forced to keep hands with no 1 or 2 drops and never drawing into them until it was too late.
- Boros Reckoner is awesome!
- Scavenging Ooze is a massive pain in the ass, it's the only reason the G/U aggro guy could do anything.
- Mana seemed to be a big problem for me, as I was either mana screwed or flooded in 4 of the 6 games I played.
- Fanatic is good, but I never seemed to draw him when I needed to.
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Postby LaZerBurn » Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:25 pm

Kamiel Cornelissen Monored Devotion
Standard – Top 8 Pro Tour Theros
[deck]
Land
21 Mountain
1 Mutavault
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Creatures
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Ember Swallower
4 Frostburn Weird
3 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells
2 Hammer of Purphoros
4 Magma Jet
1 Mizzium Mortars

Thighs
1 Chandra, Best Card In Standard


Sideboard
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Burning Earth
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Peak Eruption
[/deck]

Interesting choices here - 3 Purphoros and 4 Nykthos being the most surprising. Made T8 though...
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Postby NerdBoyWonder » Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:35 pm

Kamiel Cornelissen Monored Devotion
Standard – Top 8 Pro Tour Theros
[deck]
Land
21 Mountain
1 Mutavault
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Creatures
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Ember Swallower
4 Frostburn Weird
3 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells
2 Hammer of Purphoros
4 Magma Jet
1 Mizzium Mortars

Thighs
1 Chandra, Best Card In Standard


Sideboard
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Burning Earth
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Peak Eruption
[/deck]

Interesting choices here - 3 Purphoros and 4 Nykthos
being the most surprising. Made T8 though...
The 3 Purphoros does not surprise me but the 4 Nykthos does. Also having 4 BTE with no chainable targets beyond Magma Jet is a bit surprising. Going to assume he saves chains for after Purphoros hits the board to get devotion up on top of burning them to the face.
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Postby dpaine88 » Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:51 pm

Ugh...started 3-0 at states then lost 2 mirrors in a row.

Mulliganed to 6 all 4 games and didn't hit more than 2 lands through magma jet till like turn 5 or 6 nearly all games.
Burn baby burn!

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Postby LP, of the Fires » Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:57 pm

Kamiel Cornelissen Monored Devotion
Standard – Top 8 Pro Tour Theros
[deck]
Land
21 Mountain
1 Mutavault
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Creatures
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Ember Swallower
4 Frostburn Weird
3 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells
2 Hammer of Purphoros
4 Magma Jet
1 Mizzium Mortars

Thighs
1 Chandra, Best Card In Standard


Sideboard
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Burning Earth
1 Chandra,
Pyromaster
2 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Peak Eruption
[/deck]

Interesting choices here - 3 Purphoros and 4 Nykthos being the most surprising. Made T8 though...
The 3 Purphoros does not surprise me but the 4 Nykthos does. Also having 4 BTE with no chainable targets beyond Magma Jet is a bit surprising. Going to assume he saves chains for after Purphoros hits the board to get devotion up on top of burning them to the face.
BTE adds devotion and when played, you dump the mana into nykthos.

It's also worth noting that Kamiel is playing a "sketch" of the actual deck CFB is playing. His playtesting was literally 2 prereleases for limited and his first match of the day was basically his first match with his untested sketch of the deck. Guess he's a hall of famer for a reason.
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Beatdown is hard, though.


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Postby NerdBoyWonder » Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:10 pm

Figured as much BTE is for Devo like all the others. Good to see that a card that forced us into hyper aggressive haymaker plays is finding other uses.
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Postby dpaine88 » Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:45 pm

The John Larkin deck tech was pretty interesting...running BTE and Zealot.

Cant stand losing like this...might double down at States tomorrow
Burn baby burn!

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Postby Tyrael » Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:49 pm

^ To compliment dpaine's comment, here's Larkin's list:

John Larkin
Pro Tour Theros
[deck]
Lands (22)
18 Mountain
4 Mutavault
Creatures (30)
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Ash Zealot
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Firefist Striker
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Boros Reckoner
3 Fanatic of Mogis
Spells (8)
4 Shock
4 Lightning Strike
Sideboard (15)
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Act of Treason
3 Skullcrack
3 Frostburn Weird
[/deck]

I like this deck, but hitting 3 mana for the reckoner might be tricky, let alone drawing the 4th for fanatic...

By the way, what setup were you running in states dpaine?
Last edited by Tyrael on Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Yarpus » Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:51 pm

4 Nykthos seems to work. It's all about going one turn Nykthos, then activate it, play another Nykthos and using the floating mana generate even more mana.
Add that to sick amount of mana sinks - and here goes the top 8 decklist.
I like this deck for playing lots of lands. Still, would probably cut BTE.
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Postby dpaine88 » Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:57 pm

I ran a Devotion list with 3 Stormbreath. THey barely mattered as I barely saw them. Ran 24 lands but god damn, couldn't buy a 3rd land most games =\
Burn baby burn!

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Postby Tyrael » Sat Oct 12, 2013 11:05 pm

I ran a Devotion list with 3 Stormbreath. THey barely mattered as I barely saw them. Ran 24 lands but god damn, couldn't buy a 3rd land most games =\
Sounds like you just had a batch of bad luck. I had exactly the same problem this friday :( .

I will try running Larkin's list this friday as I have all the required cards except for the mutavaults, I only have 2 atm. Will report back after :) .
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Postby Khaospawn » Sun Oct 13, 2013 12:12 am

6-2 at States for 19TH place put of 169 players. Places 9-20 were a tie at 18 win points.

List and report to be posted after the celebration. Or probably just tomorrow.
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Postby Lightning_Dolt » Sun Oct 13, 2013 3:33 am

@ lazerburn Greedy three colour decks seem to be making a come back at my LGS. Esper and Junk would have been much easier if I ad burning earth.

@ Tyreal just variance man. Try to shrug it off and move on.

@ The devotion deck That thing just looks awful. It is the polar opposite of everything our testing tells us lol.

@ DPaine Sorry about your luck man. Sounds like tough breaks.

@ KS congrats!

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Postby Tyrael » Sun Oct 13, 2013 1:54 pm

Johnny, what do you think about Larkin's list? It seems to be all over the place but he was winning most of his matchups either way...
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Postby Khaospawn » Sun Oct 13, 2013 8:25 pm

Here is my States Report, guys:
States Results
This is what I took to States for a 19th place finish out of 169 players:

[deck=Khaos's 19th Place States List]
Creatures 24
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Ash Zealot
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis

Goodstuff 3
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Hammer of Purphoros

Burn 10
2 Shock
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet

Land 23
1 Mutavault
22 Mountain

Sideboard 15
2 Burning Earth
3 Skullcrack
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Act of Treason
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Frostburn Weird
[/deck]

There isn't much to tell about the deck that hasn't already been explained in the threads. It just does what it does, and then either grinds out a win with Chandra or ends it with a Fanatic.

I'll attempt to explain my sideboarding. I actually expected to see a lot of Esper, G/W Aggro, Mono Red
Aggro, and G/B Midrange. The plan for the aggro matchups was pretty simple: take out my 8x1-drops and replace them with “anti-aggro package,” consisting of 2xWeirds, 3xAct of Treason, and 3xMizzium Mortars.

For the G/W matchup, I wanted to take out the Hammer and replace it with a Dragon since 3/3 Golems are outclassed pretty easily, and they pretty much cannot answer a Stormbreath Dragon (much less a Monstrous one). Everything else is pretty much textbook “sword-and-shield” manuevers – just play defense, form a stonewall with First Strikers as you burn away their dudes, and nip away with Phoenixes.

For Esper, I just wanted to take out 2x Fanatic of Mogis and replace it with 2x Burning Earth. Additionally, I swapped Shocks for Weirds, and swapped out 2xLightning Strike and 2xMagma Jet for 3xSkullcrack and 1xHammer of Purphoros. You're a pretty big underdog once they resolve Elspeth, so you need to just go in fast.

For the G/B Midrange and other fatty-driven decks, like R/G Monsters, I
just wanted a bunch of Act of Treasons. Play as the Beatdown and steal their big dude for the win.

I don't want to bore you guys with major details so I'm just going to give you “short and sweet” version.

Round 1 VS UWR Control w/Guttersnipe – Win, 2-1

I actually lost Game 1 when he landed a Guttersnipe and I didn't kill it. He actually dealt me 11 damage on Turn 4 by casting a Boros Charm and a Lightning Strike. Game 2 was rather unexciting since all I had to do was kill Guttersnipe on sight and keep attacking, but in Game 3 I resolved a Burning Earth and just watched him bleed out. Card is so good. I didn't even have to try to win – the card did it for me. I now know how Thragtusk players feel.

Round 2 VS G/W Aggro – Win, 2-1

I aggro'd out in Game 1 (surprisingly), but in Game 2 was such a clusterfuck with Voice of Resurgence and Boros Reckoner both on the field. After trading some early blows, the board stalled and the game degenerated into a “draw,go” match
until my Phoenix got him so low that he was forced to make a move. That move was called Unflinching Courage, and it allowed a Voice token to trample through for some exactsies. Game 3 was textbook defense as I removed his guys with Burn, walled-up with First Strikers, landed a Dragon, and used Act of Treason on a Smiter to nail for lethal.

Round 3 VS Esper – Loss, 1-2

Man, Game 1 was such an epic blowout on my end. I had to mulligan to 5 while he lands a Turn 3 Ashiok, followed by a Turn 4 Jace, Architect of Thought. He passes on Turn 5. I play a Fanatic with an Ash Zealot on the field, hoping to burn for 3, but he play Far//Away to get rid of both creatures with the devotion trigger on the stack, netting me ZERO damage. Turn 6 is the coming of Elspeth and I have no chance of winning at this point with no presence and no hand. I win Game 2, but in Game 3 I fail to punch through Elspeth's Army, eventually succumbing to 6 Soldiers backed by an Emblem.

Round 4 VS U/B Devotion – Win, 2-1

I won
Game 1 easily enough, but Game 2 was strange. I failed to improve on the 2 lands in my opener and he starts milling the shit out of me with Ashiok, which is where all of my lands went – to exile. Dude actually ultimates Ashiok, but he's been stuck on 3 lands himself, which allows me to draw Mountain, Mountain, and Burning Earth. I resolve the Burning Earth and watch his life total start to tick down as he cast some kill spells on my freshly drawn guys. He plays Desecration Demon and I topdeck Act of Treason it, but it's not enough. A second Desecration Demon finishes me off. I show him the power of the haste in Game 3 to take the match when I Act of Treasoned my own Cackler to deal the final 2 points of damage.

Round 5 VS U/W Control – Loss, 1-2

I was on the draw Game 1 and managed to kill him, despite him resolving an Eslpeth. In Games 2 and 3, however, Jace and Elspeth team up to make aggro efforts look childish. Game 2 involved Jace going ultimate, resulting in him
stealing my girl, Chandra. I felt like a chump. Game 3 was close, but since I had to mulligan to 5, I ran out of critical gas.

Round 6 VS Boros Beatdown, Win 2-1

Not much to tell here, unfortunately. I really believe that this match was primarily a skill battle, since we both were playing the Reckoner sub-game. In fact, I probably should have lost this whole match because in Game 3, he follows up casting a Fiendlsayer Paladin with an Ajani, Caller of the Pride, giving the Paladin a +1/+1 counter. This was bad for me, since I had him at very low life and I needed to keep applying pressure. I was winning the race in the air with a Phoenix, but my lead wouldn't hold out if he even gained the slightest amount of life. And not to mention, that Ajani could turn just about anything into a game-winning threat. So, I did the best thing I could think of – I played Mizzium Mortars on my Reckoner to deal the Paladin lethal damage. This is a great plan when it involves a Shock or
Lightning Strike, but you cannot – I repeat, CANNOT- play Mortars on your own guy. How we both missed that is beyond me, but it was enough to put the match in my favor. It is what it is I guess. This would also not be the only time I got lucky in the tournament.

Round 7 VS ???, Win 2-0

My opponent is late and is awarded a Game Loss. When he arrives, he looks at the match sheet, concedes, and then drops to go play in the Triple Worldwake Draft. He later tells me that he was playing U/W Master of Waves with Sphinx's Revelations. Hooray for luck, I suppose.

Round 8 VS RDW, Win 2-1

I come out of the gates swinging to smash him Game 1, but Game 2 was a completely different story. He only sides in 3 cards and I quickly find out what they were. He keeps me from reaching 3 land by playing back-to-back Peak Eruptions while he beats my face in with a Cackler. To add insult to injury, he finishes me off with a third Peak Eruption for lethal damage. Game 3 was another test of
combat skill while we both stonewalled the ground with Reckoners. Three to be exact, and on both sides. What are the odds? However, I landed my Phoenix first to start the air race and by the time he found one of his own, I had enough burned chained together from my Magma Jets to take the match.

Final Record: 6-2

When the dust cleared, 9th through 20th were all tied with 18 Game Win Points. The Game Win Percentages were used to determine rankings, and I was less than a point below 14th -18th. Even though I got 19th place, I feel very satisfied with the event as a whole. For one, I beat my personal record from last year - 34th place out of 200-something players. Two, I still feel like I “Top 16'd.” Third, I played something that I truly felt comfortable with. I stood by my convictions and played the deck I wanted to play, the way I wanted to play it. And lastly, I felt like I had mentally and physically prepared myself by more or less following Z's advice from his “
Preparing for Big Events” article. While most of what he says is straight common sense, he is absolutely right – there is no substitute for sleep and nutrition. I skipped FNM, strip clubs, and booze-chugging in order to get 7 hours of solid rest. I made a lunchbox complete with sammiches, apples, 5-Hour Energies, water bottles and gatorade, peanuts, protein bars, cigarettes, and ibuprofen. The extra time it took me to prepare actually saved me time, stress, and money later on as I didn't have to rush out and order something between rounds from an overpriced local joint. I stayed mentally focused and energized all freaking day, much to the amazement of my testing party. And despite having to piss like a racehorse between every single round and fighting to get into the bathroom, I had a blast at States.

9/10 – would do it all over again.

Deck Notes:

Knowing what I know now after the event, I would definitely like to make some changes to the deck. For one, Hammer of
Purphoros, while good, didn't deliver the goods for me. I've considered removing it. Shock also underperformed, and I'm starting to think it's an all-or-nothing card. Act of Treason is a great card, but I would consider cutting it down to two copies to make room for Peak Eruption in the sideboard.

The 22xMountain and 1xMutavault combination worked great for me. There was only one game where the Mutavault kept me off of a Turn 3 Reckoner and I'm okay with that. In other games, my lone Mutavault did some work, but I never really want to see more than 1. Maybe I'm just weird like that?

Frostburn Weird was a soldier. I think he stays in for the time being.

I've also considered moving the maindeck around a bit to accommodate 2 dragons. I'd probably have to up my land count for this and I think the 22x Mountain and 2xMutavault configuration seems fine. Testing will have to be done to confirm how effective this is.

Overall, the deck performed as expected and I made us of
every card in the sideboard.
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Postby Khaospawn » Sun Oct 13, 2013 8:29 pm

Also, I neglected to mention that I think going forward, Flames of the Firebrand will probably need to be considered maindeck for the current blue Devotion lists.
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Postby rcwraspy » Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:31 pm

Hi Folks,

I brought Devotion Red to Massachusetts States yesterday. So did half the other players, it seemed. My first 3 rounds were all the mirror, with the caveat being that the third round was DPaine and he had Stormbreath Dragons to go over the top. Here's what I brought:

[deck]
Creatures - 30
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Burning Tree Emissary
4 Firefist Striker
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Boros Reckoner
3 Fanatic of Mogis

Spells - 8
4 Lightning Strike
4 Shock

Land - 22
20 Mountain
2 Mutavault

Sideboard - 15
4 Skullcrack
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Flames of the Firebrand
1 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Act of Treason
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
[/deck]

Magma Jet was a last minute cut because I wanted to move back to the Emissary+Firefist plan. I also dropped to 20 Mountains to bring in a 2nd Mutvault because of its synergy with Firefist. I feel for the most part the decision was a
good one. The only 2 times land were an issue for me will be highlighted in the report. Once in the first game of the day, and once in the last game of the day.

68 people attended, which made for 7 rounds of swiss with a cut to top 8. They gave prizes through top 16.

Round 1: Devotion Red. 2-1

Game 1, on the play, mull to 6: I make the first of 2 stupid land-based mistakes of the day. I kept a hand of 6 that was Mountain, Mutavault, BTE, Ash Zealot, and 2 other non-Reckoner cards. I was on the play. My turn 1 land drop I decided to play Mutavault, thinking I could activate it T2 for an attack due to bad odds of drawing into a Mountain. I also didn't know what my opponent was on. Well, turn 2 I ripped a Mountain off the top that could have set up either a BTE chain or Ash Zealot on curve. Instead, my opponent out-races me, but barely.

Game 2, on the play, keep 7. I don't have many notes here other than life tallies. Mine stops at 17. His goes from 20 to 16
(so I had one-drop into Ash Zealot apparently) to 9 to 4 to dead.

Game 2, on the play, keep 7. This was more of a race. He got me to 7, but he had mulled to 6 and I won.

Round 2: Devotion Red. 2-1. This was a battle of who had a BTE chain first.

Game 1, on the play, keep 7. Raced, and hit BTE-BTE-Firefist on T2, domed him with a big Fanatic on T4, won on T5.

Game 2, we both keep. He had a shock for my Zealot and he had the first BTE chain.

Game 3, we both keep. I'm not sure what he kept but my life total stopped at 18 and his went 20-16-11-5-dead.

Round 3: Devotion Red: 0-2. DPAINE!!!!!!!

Both games were somewhat of a race, but DPaine is much better at the turn maths than I am apparently. He also saw his Stormbreaths for the first time in the day against me, and I couldn't deal with them. DPaine won the die roll.

Round 4: Dega Midrange: 2-0

Game 1, on the play, keep. Ripping action off the top
just out-swarmed his removal. He had blood baron and stormbreath, but firefist makes blood baron useless and phoenix+shock deals with a blocking stormbreath well enough. Especially when you have another shock to bring the phoenix back :)

Game 2, keep. Opponent mulls to 6. He kept all red cards and 2 non-red lands. I won with 20 life and didn't lose a creature.

Round 5: Esper Control. 1-2.

Game 1, on the draw, keep. I beat him down incredibly easily. All I saw were some Azo Charms, his land-base, and a Doom Blade.

Game 2 I mulliganed to 5. I just barely didn't have enough gas to put him away before he started chaining revelations, then brought out Aetherling and Blood Baron to put me away.

Game 3 I kept the full 7. Again, I barely didn't have enough gas for him. My Skullcracks were ripped out of hand by Sin Collectors. I would have cast them in response, but didn't hold up
the mana that early in the game. He stabilized the board and ended up getting me with that new Sphinx that has Scry3 whenever it attacks. It's janky, but this guy made it into top 8 and that card won a game against me and at least one other round later in the day.

Round 6: Mono-Black. Devotion? Control? 2-0. I don't have much experience playing against female magic players. She wasn't attractive, but she was definitely playing up the "I'm a girl, be kind to me" line. I mean, she was nice and all, but it was there. I didn't hold back...

Game 1, on the draw. We both mulliganed to 6. I saw a couple doom blades and a Desecration Demon, but who needs to sacrifice when you can activate Battalion with Firefist? I don't know why people love Doom Blade-ing Mutavault when you activate it. That seems like a horrible play for them. I'll only ever activate it if I don't care about it or if I'm forced to. Since she died with me still at 20 life, I obviously
wasn't forced to.

Game 2, keep 7. This game was over even faster than the first. The last turn consisted of attacking her down to 4 and then double shock to the dome.
-----------------------------------
Round 7 was the last round. Before it, they put up the standings. I was 4-2 and #16, with good breakers. I had a shot at being the only X-2 in the top 8 if I won cleanly.
-----------------------------------
Round 7: Domri Naya: 1-2 I had seen this guy playing against a G/W Aggro deck and knew what he was on. I knew he leaned heavily on Unflinching Courage.

Game 1, on the draw. We both mull to 6. Domri+Reckoner+Unflinching Courage was too much for me that game. I blocked his Reckoner with mine. I redirected the damage to his Reckoner, and his Reckoner redirected damage to my Firedrinker Satyr. I was tempted to Shock my Satyr with that redirect on the stack to avoid 3 damage, but didn't. I saved it for his face EOT to bring back a Phoenix, but he had some well-
timed Rootborn Defenses for his ground crew and Phoenix wasn't enough.

Game 2, keep full 7, opponent mulls to 6. Beatdown. He was at 2 life and attacked me with his Loxodon Smiter that had an Unflinching Courage on it. He went up to 8 and dropped me to 14. Fanatic off the top for the win.

Game 3, he kept his full 7. I mulliganed to 6. My 6 was Mountain, BTE, BTE, Firefist Striker, Lightning Strike, Lightning Strike. I thought about it for a while, but convinced myself that I had 2 draw steps to be able to hit a Mountain for the BTE chain on-curve. If it was a Mutvault, I could still Lightning Strike his plays. I kept that 6 and never saw a 2nd land. He beat me down with a Scavenging Ooze with Unflinching Courage on it.

I was disappointed that I punted a potential top 8 and a guaranteed pay-out like that. I ended the day at 22nd overall. I felt I did fairly well, other than those 2 egregious land-based mistakes (game 1 round 1 mutavault first turn, and the 1-land keep in the last game of
the day).

Ironically, I was just watching the finals for the SCG Open in Milwaukee this morning. The Devotion player in the finals had the EXACT same 6 as me in that last game. He mulliganed to 5. What he drew with that 5 could have likely won me the game against the Naya player. He lost to the G/R Monsters opponent, and Riki Hayashi, who was commentating, said he would have kept the 6. I honestly don't know what's right with that kind of hand. I think it proves the bad decisions you make because of BTE.
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rcwraspy
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Postby rcwraspy » Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:33 pm

Also, I didn't resolve Chandra once all day. I brought her in against the midrange and control decks. The only time I tried to cast her was against Esper, and she was countered. In our list, I think that becomes Burning Earth honestly.
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Thanks to NerdBoyWonder for the amazing sig!
Son, I want you to know that no matter what happens between your mother and me, it's all your fault.


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