[Primer] Devotion Red

[DarthStabber]

Game day report
[Deck]
4 firedrinker satyr
4 rakdos cackler
4 ash zealot
4 firefist striker
4 rakdos shred-freak
4 chandra's pheonix
3 fanatic of mogis

2 hammer of purphoros

4 lightning strike
4 magma jet

2 mutavault
21 mountain

Sideboard
4 boros reckoner
1 mountain
2 mindsparker
2 peak eruption
3 mizium mortars
3 flames of the firebrand
[/deck]

Round 1 vs. My alarm clock
Wake up late and show up late taking a game loss to still get in.

Round 2 vs. Wg lifegain
Despite having a ton of life gain stuff he never really plays out much and I rip him to shreds so thoroughly that going I to details would come across as bragging, and the guy was obviously new. 2-0

Round 3 vs. Esper control.
My best match-up, did exactly what I wanted to do in that match up, run under everything. Even when he hit verdict I just finished him off with hasters. 2-0

Round 4 vs. 'Walkerless gruul.

Don't know what this guy was thinking trying to race me both games. Assess who's the beatdown incorrectly at your peril. 2-0

Round 5 vs. Orzov midrange
So much lifelink, had a hard time keeping him under 20. Many of his critters were 1 butts, and flames of the firebrand did good work games 2 ad 3, but I couldn't hold game 3 together. Buried under lifegain. Making me consider skullcrack after all.

[RaidaTheBlade]

If you're going to run Pyromancer, then you'll want the Shocks to get the most value out of him. You can stall a lot of decks with a Pyromancer on the field and a Shock in hand. It's also good for when you need a Phoenix back.

That being said, Pyromancer doesn't feel right for this build.

I can't argue about yp being a bit of an odd choice here, but in so many matches, only having the 4 cacklers as 1-drops didn't matter as much to the game as my hastey zealots/phoenixes and the beatstick that is the weird.

Cause of that, I feel slowing it down a bit to put in the more burn and yp helps with the aggro mirror I can have some trouble against, while doesn't impact my control matchup too terribly much. It definitely hurts the vs
control some, but i've been 2-0'ing control left rit and center, so I can afford a small hit. Especially when running 4 skullcrack and 4 peak eruption sideboard, which each tend to 'hose' at least one of the big control decks.

I also run as many burn spells mainboard as z's pyrored, which gets masterful use out of phoenix. The difference here is that I have a much slower main, to deal with the heavy aggro around here.

Midrange might give me some troubles, but yp actually helps with dd a LOT, and mroe burn is always good vs mono-u


Overall, i'm trading speed for a bit more value from/amount of burn and a bit grindier of a style. And mogis switches from being the 'focus' to a powerful bomb on a stalled boardstate, which seems like it'll happen a lot here.


(Also thanks for actually being willing to discuss the build. I've been having a hell of a time trying to get anybody to actually converse with about it, since I have no real major playgroup irl)

[DarthStabber]

Apparently I am the only one who lives in a control metagame. 2/3 of the people I talked to or played were in control and all but me and one other guy (in naya) of the remainder were in midrange. I run under everyone, and rofl stomped the hydra solo. But I can see why other metas would favor a slower controlier builds.

[RaidaTheBlade]

I mean, there was an okay amount of everything, but, well... Alright, maybe a bit of background is needed here e.e
I live in a smallish town about 30 minutes outside Atlanta GA. There's no lgs in my town, and the closest one is about 45 minutes away. There's about 3 or 4 roughly that distance away though (in different directions), and so my friends (who there are a few of, but none of them are hugely great) and I tend to store hop a lot.
So since thats the case, the most regular opponents I have are my friends who all run aggro excepts for one Grixis control deck.

So, while each store we go to has different metas, theres usually a lot of control normally, and then my friends skew it as well. There's still decent amounts of midrange and control, but yeah.

That and the aggro matchup has given me more trouble recently then control, so building to that just makes more sense.

Anywho, I digress. I like your build,
but I've never been huge on satyr and reckoner is just too amazing in so many matchups for me to ever really wanna cut him, even with the speed boost I cold get.

[Raynbag]

Double Game Day Report

[Deck]
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Stormbreath Dragon

1 Hammer of Purphoros

4 lightning strike
4 magma jet
3 Shock

2 mutavault
20 mountain

Sideboard
4 Frostburn Weirds
2x Chandra Pyromaster
1 Stormbreath Dragon
2x Mizzium Mortars
3 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Burning Earth
[/deck]

Game Day 1 - 18 Players

Round 1 vs. Mono-green devotion (My mate)

Won the first game with ease, second game mulled to 5 and he swarmed the board and trashed me.

Third game I had him up until the point where he landed a disciple of Nylea for 6 and the following turn ate my stuff with polokranos, loss.

Round 2 vs Golgari Midrange (Guy came second)

He beat
me game one, I then proceeded to beat him game two.

Game three he had an 8/8 ooze and some other massive creatures. Played reckoners to keep myself alive, but he kept killing them with putrefy and the G/B planeswalker. Luck was on my side and managed to draw all of my reckoners to keep slamming them down on the table to stall. Eventually won out with a lightning strike to the face after I flew over the top.

Round 3 vs Bye

Someone dropped out, so got a free win which made me sad. Played against the hydra to get my card.

Round 4 vs Dimir

Didn't really see much of the deck, just land and a 2/2 flying, lifelink harpy. THe guy had only been playing for a couple of weeks apparently. 2:0

Round 5 vs Dimir

Got through the first game nicely, spot removing potential blockers etc.

Game two he milled me for half my deck and then pulled out some creature that was a 28/28 or something disgusting. Reckoner hit the table the
turn after and I flew over the top for the win. 2:0

Came 7th overall with 4:1, but the bye dragged me down, second place was 3:2. My mate won the event which was awesome and all my other mates came in top 8.

Game Day 2 - 36 Players

Round 1 vs B/R/W Midrange (My mate)

We had some warm up games while we waited for the round to start, as well as some game the night before, so I was well versed in what he was playing.

I lost game one, just not enough gas and he had all the answers. Won games 2 and 3 with the help of fanatic during board stalls etc. 2:1

Round 2 vs Mono Black

Didn't see much of his deck, lots of read the bones etc. Came screaming out of the gates both games for a 2:0.

Round 3 vs Mazes End (First Place)

Lost my first game, had answers to everything I played, tons of lifegain, boardsweeps etc.

Game two got my burning earths in but didn't draw
a single one, but after the game he said he was sandbagging D-Spheres. Again, had all the answers and got pwned. 0:2

Round 4 vs Esper Control

Bit intimidated, guy had the champion mat from 2014 and after some quick chat found out he had been playing competitively for around 2 years, told him I'd been playing for around 3 months and he laughed and said that would explain why I'm playing red and that I'd eventually move onto a different colour.

Lost my first game sadly, and then side in my burning earths.

Game two, got a burning earth in my opening hand. Screaming out of the gates again and smashing him up, he then d-spheres my phoenix and taps out. My turn 4 and I play burning earth. Game goes downhill for him from then on and I win.

Game three I start with another burning earth in hand and keep. Start smashing him up, and get him to a decent amount of health. He casts Jace and I'm waiting to hit my fourth land. He taps out and I play burning earth. By this point
he is quite low. He responds with a d-sphere to burning earth.

In my turn I hit the fanatic and he concedes. The TO who is his mate said he could have countered the fanatic, but then I had a magma jet in hand I could of hit him with the turn after to finish him anyway. 2:1

Round 5 vs Mono-blue devotion

I win game one amongst tidebinder mages keeping my stuff tapped down with burn and a swarm of phoenixes.

Games 2 and 3 I just ran out of gas and he pulled out enough tidebinders to keep me locked down. 1:2

By this point I was second highest in my bracket for tiebreakers, so I had the potential to hit top 8 if I won my next game.

Game 6 vs Boros Aggro

Won both of these games with ease. He tried to race me with legion loyalists and akroan hoplites. Burned the hoplites down and ignored the loyalists.

I think the guy was fairly new, heard him before the game saying he had won his first game and then lost the second and third, but winning
fourth and fifth to get where he was.

Didn't have any reckoners as he had been screwed over on ebay, and said he didn't like Firedrinker because of the damage backlash.

Really nice guy and a pleasure to play against.

Results

Nail-biting moment waiting to hear, and with my tiebreakers managed to get into the top 8 play-offs in 8th place.

Got placed against first place for the knockouts.

Quarter-finals vs Boros Aggro

Game one I only ever saw one plains on the table, and a couple of discarded flames of the firebrand.

Game two he brought out a favoured hoplite and madcapped skills him, swinging in. I followed up with a lightning strike to him to clear the way for my stuff. He tried to race me and didn't have the speed to keep up. I think it was a bit of a tilt after the poor first game he had.

Cracking bloke and pleasure to play, 2:0.

Semi-Finals vs G\W Aggro

The guy had an
absolutely nasty deck, trostani lifegain etc. Lost the first game as I just couldn't get him down fast enough.

Second game I managed to strike and shock Trostani before she became a problem. Board state stalled and I got him down to 3 health. Top decked a phoenix and flew over and shocked for the win.

Third game I mulled to 6, then flooded out and got stomped. Lost 1:2.

Finished in 4th place.

[Self Medicated]

Considering this list:

[DECK]
Lands (22)
19 Mountain
3 Mutavault

Creatures (28)
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Firefist Striker
4 Rakdos Cackler

Spells (10)
2 Hammer of Purphoros
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet

Sideboard (15)
3 Act of Treason
3 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Frostburn Weird
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Skullcrack
[/DECK]

My local meta is fairly aggro oriented, hence the Reckoners in the main. Trying out Emissarys over Zealot because it can be more explosive. Other than that, pretty standard devotion build. It's either this, or PyroRed for most of the season.

[RaidaTheBlade]

My personal quirks on creature choices aside, my only real issue with your list would be the land.
19 moutains and 3 mutavaults seems way too 'unstable' or irregular to maintain x4 reckoners in the mainboard, and to be able to expect to play them on curve (if you're aiming to, which is usually the case in devotion builds)

It is also an issue with the bte's, cause they need two red to play here, though 2 red is less a problem then 3.

Most of the time you're probably fine, but I feel like it'll result in a few game losses, which is something we wanna minimize, considering.

[Aodh]

I don't think that's enough BTE targets to merit her inclusion. On top of that, since your meta is aggro-oriented, you'll likely want Ash Zealot for blocking when you aren't the beatdown. I'd recommend: 4 AZ / 4 FBW for your 2-drops in that metagame. Will fill out your devotion and ground stall which is exactly what you want with access to Fanatic and Chandra's Phoenix in the list.

RE: lands. Didn't even notice that; yeah, you definitely need to cut the Reckoners or the Mutavaults. 19/3 is the technically correct split for such a deck without Reckoners, but including the minotaurs demands the first 21 lands to produce R/W. If you go back to the 8 RR plan like I suggested, then you'd also want the first 21 to make red.

On another note, what are everyone's opinions about a decked-out list; i.e.,

[deck]Creatures
4 FDS
4 Cackler
4 RSF
4 Zealot
4 Reckoner
4 Phoenix
4 Fanatic
4 Dragon

Spells
4
Lightning Strike

Lands
21 Mountain
3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nix[/deck]

[RaidaTheBlade]

Looking at your list, I'm of two minds. It needs more burn, I'm fairly set on that thought. Whether it be magma jets for scry, or mortars to take advantage of the nykthos ramp for easier overload, I dunno.

I'd almost say either drop the satyr or the shred-freak for the burn. It'd fit with the slightly more midrangey build you've got.

[Aodh]

That's definitely a school of thought, but the Nykthos are mostu there to get dragons online turn 4 with a relevant monstrous ping on turn 5. This isn't midrange, baby; this is sledgehammer. Aggro G1; midrange G2-3.

[Rjayz]

Heya, wanted to ask a question. Took this list to the Game Day here, went 3-2 which is okish. I did feel one thing and that is that Firedrinker can be quite underwhelming, and at the same time that the lists including it are quite low on burn. Is this just a matter of it being not too good against midrange, which was my biggest weakness (got crushed by it more than once), or just a one-time occurrence? I've looked at some lists around the internet and opinions seem to be divided about the Satyr.

EDIT: Also read the thread on the forums about this (the 4x 1-drop thread), might just be I went with a poor sideboarding strategy. I'll do some more testing before making hasty conclusions.

[Aodh]

FDS enables G1 goldfishes against any deck; you remove them (and your other one-drops) for G2-3 against midrange and aggro in favor of removal because you can't always be the beatdown in those match-ups.

[DocLawless]

Bit intimidated, guy had the champion mat from 2014 and after some quick chat found out he had been playing competitively for around 2 years, told him I'd been playing for around 3 months and he laughed and said that would explain why I'm playing red and that I'd eventually move onto a different colour.

Wow. Damned condescending of him.

Maybe it's just me and my personal experiences, but that's not the first time I've heard an attitude like that come out of an Esper player's mouth.

[DarthStabber]

People who play control compulsively tend to be the most condescending as a group. And anything that beats them with speed is "stupid", the only way to beat them and be seen as smart is to out-convolute them. Just run them over and laugh as they bitch and moan.

[zemanjaski]

Smart players play control, even when isn't competitive.

[F.I.A]

I will just quote Aurelia on this matter.

[DarthStabber]

Or to quote a good card ash zealot.

That being said I do want to build a deck around aurelia and medomai, seems good in a kitchen table context. Bash you for and extra turn AND an extra combat in which I will gain another turn. That will be 6 combat steps before anyone else gets a go.

[RaidaTheBlade]

Continuing on from the pyrored forum where I had to decide between that and devotion red for fnm. I decided on devotion, cause im just more comfortable with it. S here's my projected decklist for thought.

[deck]
Creatures:
2 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
3 Frostburn Weird
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis

Burn:
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
2 Shock

Thighs and Friends:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Hammer of Purphoros

Land:
21 Mountain
1 Mutavault


Sideboard:
3 Peak Eruption
3 Act of Treason
2 Skullcrack
2 Electrickery
1 Hammer of Purphoros
4 Mizzium Mortars
[/deck]

My creature curve is 6 one drops, 7 two drops, 8 three drops, and 4 four drops. As well as 2 chandras and 10 burn spells.

[Aodh]

You definitely want the full four FDS and probably want RSF instead of FBW mainboard (it'll let you goldfish more often) unless you expect a heavy aggro presence. The burn suite looks traditional and I really like the rest in general.

[DocLawless]

You're siding Electrickery, so you clearly anticipate a lot of aggro. If you get there and there isn't, that's a dead card. I'm not saying drop it, just that you gotta weigh the space it takes up against how hard it will be to play around aggro.

I'm still going to suggest -1 Mutavault, +1 Mountain. Casting Reckoner on curve is worth more than having the man-land in play. Mutadude isn't necessary to the core build, but red mana is always relevant. That said, some of us have gotten Mutavault to work just fine here.

Here's mine for the sake of posterity. It's been very good to me. I straight jacked the 60 from someone, but can't remember who.

[deck]Creature (28)
4x Ash Zealot
4x Boros Reckoner
4x Burning-Tree Emissary
4x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Fanatic of Mogis
4x Firedrinker Satyr
4x Rakdos Cackler

Instant (10)
4x Lightning Strike
4x Magma Jet
2x
Shock

Land (22)
22x Mountain

Sideboard (15)
3x Act of Treason
1x Chandra, Pyromaster
2x Flames of the Firebrand
4x Frostburn Weird
2x Hammer of Purphoros
3x Mizzium Mortars[/deck]

[Aodh]

Although that build's been around in most of the recent tournaments, I still don't think BTE is optimized with any fewer than 7 permanents to cast off of him. BTE + Lightning Strike or Magma Jet in the mirror is a good way to catch-up, but it really just feels suboptimal in any other situation. You're never going to beat control if you Magma Jet them that early in the game--the fixed draws will quickly be undone by the game going so much longer because of your lack of board presence. I really think we want RSF+Zealot as our 2's so that the deck can consistently put on pressure to our opponent (plus RSF isn't Doom Blade-able). Going into an aggro-heavy meta, I couldn't fault FBW in lieu of RSF, but otherwise I'd rather just get in for two ad nauseum.

RE: Electrickery; I think it's a fine card. It'll shore up both the MUD match-up (which is horrendous) and the WW match-up (which is bad)...

[DocLawless]

I tested Shred-Freak extensively. He wasn't awful. I've just started testing BTE, and so far she's only "okay". I don't play the mirror very often so I'm inclining to agree with you and already anticipate switching back to RSF, or humoring Firefist Striker. But my natural inclination is towards red/black so... Shred-Freaks it will probably end up being. That, and having green makes me feel like a dirty Gruul...

[Khaospawn]

Continuing on from the pyrored forum where I had to decide between that and devotion red for fnm. I decided on devotion, cause im just more comfortable with it. S here's my projected decklist for thought.

[deck]
Creatures:
2 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
3 Frostburn Weird
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis

Burn:
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
2 Shock

Thighs and Friends:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Hammer of Purphoros

Land:
21 Mountain
1 Mutavault


Sideboard:
3 Peak Eruption
3 Act of Treason
2 Skullcrack
2 Electrickery
1 Hammer of Purphoros
4 Mizzium Mortars
[/deck]

My creature curve is 6 one drops, 7 two drops, 8 three drops, and 4 four drops. As well as 2 chandras and 10
burn spells.

I actually like the list. I'd definitely move the Weirds to SB and go with 2 more FDS and 1 more Mountain, because I love Mountain. Replacing the Electrickery and the extra Hammer in the board will make room for the Weirds.

[Zooligan]

Although that build's been around in most of the recent tournaments, I still don't think BTE is optimized with any fewer than 7 permanents to cast off of him.

So what's the deal there? Are these tourney players net decking a suboptimal build, or is there something about that build we aren't seeing?

[RaidaTheBlade]

Continuing on from the pyrored forum where I had to decide between that and devotion red for fnm. I decided on devotion, cause im just more comfortable with it. S here's my projected decklist for thought.

[deck]
Creatures:
2 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
3 Frostburn Weird
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis

Burn:
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
2 Shock

Thighs and Friends:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Hammer of Purphoros

Land:
21 Mountain
1 Mutavault


Sideboard:
3 Peak Eruption
3 Act of Treason
2 Skullcrack
2 Electrickery
1
Hammer of Purphoros
4 Mizzium Mortars
[/deck]

My creature curve is 6 one drops, 7 two drops, 8 three drops, and 4 four drops. As well as 2 chandras and 10 burn spells.

I actually like the list. I'd definitely move the Weirds to SB and go with 2 more FDS and 1 more Mountain, because I love Mountain. Replacing the Electrickery and the extra Hammer in the board will make room for the Weirds.

I'd prefer to keep the weirds, cause they usually do more work for me then FDS, it's a compromise on my part to even put in 2 to shore up my 1-drop count.
I also tend to expect a fair bit of aggro at the store I'm going to. I store-hop, so I'm not 100% on the meta there, but last few times I've gone, it's had a good bit of aggro decks. I also like hanging on to electrickery, cause there's one absolute ass there who runs mono-u.

(The story on him is that the day before gameday he spent $200 and bought the deck straight from the pro tour decklist, just to win the mat and
sell it on ebay. When I faced him in the gameday finals, I mentioned offhand how Mono-u seemed cool to play, but so,ething abot its style left a bad taste in my mouth. His response was that he agreed. He didn't like playing it at all. Only did to win. Nobody likes that guy.)

Long story short, I really don't wanna let him win again. So electrickery will help some e.e

Oh, and the 21 mountain 1 mutavault split already works pretty well for me. Rarely mana-starved, though I am occasionaly mana-flooded. Magma jet and chandra have done work in helping me sort keep going despite that. (And of course hammer).

[Khaospawn]

If I were building on a budget, this is what I'd play:

[deck=Khaos's Budget Devotion]
Creatures 28
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis

Burn 10
2 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike

Land 22
1 Mutavault
21 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Skullcrack
1 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Act of Treason
2 Shock
2 Flames of the Firebrand[/deck]

[RaidaTheBlade]

So basically my list with no chandra ;P (or hammer main)

[Khaospawn]

Truth be told, it's actually my MTGO Standard deck. I haven't had time to actually play it (work is hell and money is tight), but I based my suggestions that I gave you on what I already have built.

Raida, get a set of Satyrs in that deck!

[DocLawless]

So basically my list with no chandra ;P (or hammer main)

I choose to see it as your list with two more Firedrinker Satyrs and a fourth Weird.

Raida, get a set of Satyrs in that deck!

[RaidaTheBlade]

Ugh... Do I really have to? ;-; He's good, I'll admit it, but I just like weird more e.e

And like I said, I'm expecting a good bit of aggro, so I like my 2/3 split.

[LP, of the Fires]

[deck=LP's Vanilla Devotion]
Creatures 28
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Firefist Striker
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis

Burn 10
2 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike

Broken Card 1
1 Hammer of Purphoros

Land 21
21 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Mizzium Mortars
1 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Traitrous Instinct
3 Skullcrack
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Flames of the Firebrand[/deck]

[zemanjaski]

[Deck]
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning Tree Emissary
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Firefist Striker
4 Gor-Clan Rampager
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Rakdos Cackler

3 Domri Rade

3 Mizzium Mortars

4 Stomping Ground
3 Temple Garden
4 Temple of Abandon
11 Mountain
[/deck]

[LP, of the Fires]

inb4khaosrages@templeofabandon.

[RaidaTheBlade]

...Why do I see 3 domris and no Chandras? Z! What is this blasphemy! Give me 3 Hail Chandras and a Purphoros's Prayer as repentance!

[DarthStabber]

I'm really not sure the deck is really "devotion oriented", at least not the aggro versions. I'm running 3 fanatics and even when I don't see him I'm still pulling wins. This is purely an issue of nomenclature, I am not suggesting cutting him (though I think 3 copies is better than 4 when pushing the aggression, just because 4 mana is a lot), I am just stating that when you are only running 1 devotion card and a bunch of cards that, while very synergistic with our fanatics, we would probably be running anyway. Last season we were just red deck wins, not hellrider red (though that sounds pretty bad ass, and maybe we should have been). Fanatic is a fine dude, he's the closest thing to hellrider or hero of oxid ridge we have, but like then we aren't winning solely on that card, the core sligh strategy is what makes the deck work, the cards used are just the best cards to fit the skeleton.

[Khaospawn]

KHAOS SMASH!!!

[LP, of the Fires]

Yeah, I was fairly nonplussed by the idea that I couldn't name my primer Devotion Red.

Fuck you Khaos.

[LP, of the Fires]

[Deck]
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning Tree Emissary
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Firefist Striker
4 Gor-Clan Rampager
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Rakdos Cackler

3 Domri Rade

3 Mizzium Mortars

4 Stomping Ground
3 Temple Garden
4 Temple of Abandon
11 Mountain
[/deck]

This decks missing a 3 power 2 or three drop from being awesome. The strength of Domri rade is it's a draw engine vs. control and a bully vs. smaller creatures. I'd probably play mogg flunkies in this list of the card was legal.

[F.I.A]

But zem, why no Nykthos if you are playing permanents? An overloaded mortar is always devastating.

[LP, of the Fires]

Because Z wants to cast his spells. Theoretically, I could see cutting 1 temple garden for 1 nykthos and that would maybe be fine, but at the end of the day, he has no real manasinks.