[Variant] All-In Mono Red

[redthirst]

If you don't find Loyalist to be especially useful, try out Foundry Street Denizen - if you're looking to kill the opponent by turn 4, it's basically a 2.5/1 for .

[Calamity]

If you don't find Loyalist to be especially useful, try out Foundry Street Denizen - if you're looking to kill the opponent by turn 4, it's basically a 2.5/1 for .

I'm going to try running him over cackler, legion loyalist seems like he's another important card for the deck. I wouldn't feel comfortable cutting him. Plus swinging with a 3/1 foundry street denizen with loyalists battalion active would be hella strong.

The denizen is more vulnerable to electrickery but that's not a common SB option to my knowledge.

[Helios]

If you don't find Loyalist to be especially useful, try out Foundry Street Denizen - if you're looking to kill the opponent by turn 4, it's basically a 2.5/1 for .

I'm going to try running him over cackler, legion loyalist seems like he's another important card for the deck. I wouldn't feel comfortable cutting him. Plus swinging with a 3/1 foundry street denizen with loyalists battalion active would be hella strong.

The denizen is more vulnerable to electrickery but that's
not a common SB option to my knowledge.

I'd speculate Denizen is going to force you to over-commit more often then you are going to want to. Cackler has the advantage of being fine as-is. The question it comes down to is whether or not you are going to be dropping at least one dude a turn; speculatively, going to throw a yes on that one. /roostering.

For those that have played the deck, do you keep playing dudes after you have battalion?

[Valdarith]

If you don't find Loyalist to be especially useful, try out Foundry Street Denizen - if you're looking to kill the opponent by turn 4, it's basically a 2.5/1 for .

I'm going to try running him over cackler, legion loyalist seems like he's another important card for the deck. I wouldn't feel comfortable cutting him. Plus swinging with a 3/1 foundry street denizen with loyalists battalion active would be hella strong.

The denizen is more vulnerable to electrickery but that'
s not a common SB option to my knowledge.

I would not recommend replacing Cackler with Denizen, young Firebat.

I think Denizen has a place in Gruul sligh, but probably not here since you definitely want to run Loyalist.

[Link]

as someone who played all-in Gruul with Firefist strikers, I have to say I don't think he can occupy the same deck as GHC.

That's too many non-hasty drops imo. Especially with the fact that strikers need batallion.


I also do think BTE+LM is a key component of this deck type.

[Link]

If you're running Denizen you HAVE to run Cackler TOO.

You need as many 1 drops that are value, so you can drop 2 a turn or 1 and a 2 drop on turn 3 to keep the denizen swinging for 3. And if one of the 1-drops you dropped on turn 2 was another denizen, its mega-value.

At least that was my experience when using him.

I ran 3 with 2 loyalists, because I felt he wasn't strong enough to be a 4-of 1-drop.


Re: Brimstone Volley- this card is good. I dare say it is "core" potential for an all-in build, since your loyalists et. all are going to die to SOMETHING and making them be terrified of an extra 5 damage burst is huge.


Re: Reckoner- I definitely wouldn't run the full 4 MB. He is way too slow. Seeing two of him in your opening hand is an auto-mull/loss, because you aren't even guaranteed to hit 3 mana on curve with any consistency. Freeing him up frees so much space its crazy.

[Calamity]

Yeah I'm going to move reckoner to the board, you don't need him outside of aggro mirrors

[Helios]

Re: Brimstone Volley- this card is good. I dare say it is "core" potential for an all-in build, since your loyalists et. all are going to die to SOMETHING and making them be terrified of an extra 5 damage burst is huge.


Re: Reckoner- I definitely wouldn't run the full 4 MB. He is way too slow. Seeing two of him in your opening hand is an auto-mull/loss, because you aren't even guaranteed to hit 3 mana on curve with any consistency. Freeing him up frees so much space its crazy.

Brimstone volley is good enough to run off-curve?

[RedNihilist]

I've managed to get pretty much every card I needed except 3 Loyalists and a full set of chainwalkers.
I think I can replace the latter with 4 Mogg Flunkies which could even make some kind of sense, but replacing Loyalists seem to be an harder task - I could try Goblin Arsonists, but they just suck.

I guess I'll play tomorrow's FNM with my usual deck, then start experimenting.

[Christen]

GHC's should be easy to find. Flunkies isn't a good replacement.

[Helios]

GHC's should be easy to find. Flunkies isn't a good replacement.

Gotta say, those shouldn't be too bad. Course, I had to make like 6 phone calls to get ahold of Maulers. Everyone I know is either using them or doesn't have them. I might have time for some testing tonight, will let ya'll know how it goes.

[Link]

Re: Brimstone Volley- this card is good. I dare say it is "core" potential for an all-in build, since your loyalists et. all are going to die to SOMETHING and making them be terrified of an extra 5 damage burst is huge.


Re: Reckoner- I definitely wouldn't run the full 4 MB. He is way too slow. Seeing two of him in your opening hand is an auto-mull/loss, because you aren't even guaranteed to hit 3 mana on curve with any consistency. Freeing him up frees so much space its crazy.

Brimstone volley is good enough to run off-curve?

Yeah, you're
never playing it on turn 3 or want to.

Its a great finisher on t6+ with an alpha, T5 as well. T4 is a bit too soon but can be done if they are dicking around and you have 3 mana and a nuts hand

[Christen]

GHC's should be easy to find. Flunkies isn't a good replacement.

Gotta say, those shouldn't be too bad. Course, I had to make like 6 phone calls to get ahold of Maulers. Everyone I know is either using them or doesn't have them. I might have time for some testing tonight, will let ya'll know how it goes.

Well, Maulers are uncommon and from the previous block. Also a staple of most R/G and Naya Blitz decks, so there's a big difference in that.

[Alex]

I'll probably play this on Saturday, there's a free tournament nearby. I'll post results.

[zemanjaski]

Looking forward to seeing the results guys.

I would test, but, you know, birthday and wolf stuff.

[Helios]

@Z: Man, you just missed it Have fun though, and many more birthday wishes! This will be waiting when, turgid, limp, exhausted, and thoroughly pleasured, you arise from the pit of ecstasy to rejoin us. May it bring you some small joy

Alrighty, I got to play 20+ games tonight, so here's some results:

First 6 games were against Bant. I got him one game, the rest weren't even close. It really came down to being on the play, having the nuts (Emissary + Mauler), and him NOT having Farseek. Way too many games went Farseek -> Resto or Farseek -> Verdict. You'd think that wouldn't be so bad, but if they can stabilize, you just fold. I feel like I played fine those games, and it was the fact that after they drop some of their stronger cards, your draws
are no longer relevant.

In a fit of red mage fury, I changed it up a wee bit. Here's the list I played for the rest of the night:

[deck]
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Legion Loyalist

4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Ash Zealot
4 Firefist Striker
4 Lightning Mauler
1 Gore-house Chainwalker

2 Fervent Cathar

3 Dynacharge
4 Searing Spear
2 Boros Charm
1 Brimstone Volley

4 Sacred Foundary
4 Clifftop Retreat
11 Mountains

[/deck]

Before I explain the choices, these are the changes I'd make (reasoning in the choices section):

-Drop the white splash.

-1 GHC, -2 Boros Charms, +2 Stonewright, +1 Brimstone Volley


About a few of the choices:

-White Splash: I had the lands, so I figured why not give it a shot. Turns out I could only find 2 Boros Charm. It was fine when I drew it, though I would've been happy with pretty much any instant-speed burn spell. The only real boon would have been against a Supreme Verdict, but that seems like a lot to give up for just one card.
I'd be happy with straight mountains.

-No GHC: Most of these guys do things when they hit the field, and he didn't. There's one in because I just forgot to take him out, and really didn't have a better choice of creature. Dropping the Boros Charms, I'd probably add in Stonewrights. He was a blatant omission that I just forgot, but the deck has a hard time not over committing, and Stonewright let's you both play through the odd flood and keep guys back.

-Fervent Cathar: I expect to be lambasted for this choice, because of the mana numbers. He was a shot in the dark, but I was honestly never sad to draw him. The ability to swing with impunity is absolutely huge, and he just gets that damage through in addition to putting another dude on the board. The games I played him, he mattered. My only issue would be mana; I got lucky, and didn't get stuck, but he wasn't always on turn three anyway. He helped get through some cloggier board states, and basically functioned like a
spell.

-3 Dynacharge: I don't remember seeing this many in the original list, but this card fucking WORKS in this deck. It is beautiful.

-1 Brimstone Volley: I absolutely loved the reach this provided, and having more Searing Spear was fine too. Not 100% sure I want another, but it seemed good.


After those changes, I ended up playing about 8 games against Bant Elfball. Biomancers, Archdruids, mana guys, Gyre Sage. The matchup (with no sideboards) generally came down to whether or not I had removal, or a Firefist striker. Some games I was too fast for him, some games I was able to just kill the dudes that mattered. It was largely favorable; Firefist Striker and Cathar did work. I lost the games where I didn't go off fast enough, and then the one game where he had 4 archdruids and a Biomancer, and I had a lone Searing Spear. Not that I expect anyone to see this deck alot, but siding in Pillars and Mortars would just make this match a breeze. Since they aren't playing our problem cards (Angel,
ramping into Tusk [Tusk being fine if he comes down on turn 5, it is the ramp into him that is a problem]), it was all about getting in the damage.

Finally, about 12 games against a standard Naya Blitz build; 20 lands, standard stuff. Some games he was just too fast for me, but overall Dynacharge provided me with out of nowhere wins. Swinging for 11 or 12 is super satisfying. I felt confident the entire time, and was able to out-race him the majority of the games. Post-sideboard (these were the only games I sideboarded, and only for 3 of them), bringing in Pillars and Reckoners, they just cry. Between Zealot, Reckoner, and your removal, it was pretty easy-peasy. To be fair, my opponent didn't sideboard, so that may not be a good analysis.

Assorted thoughts:

-Legion Loyalist was meh. I don't think these were the matchups that he is most relevant in, but he was never legitimately bad, and when battalion happened the first strike was pretty good.

-Firefist Striker: I thought this card was garbage
until I played with it. Wow, is it good. Just wow.

-Fervent Cathar: The argument could definitely be made that Traitorous Blood is essentially the same, and sometimes better, and that seems fair to me. I was impressed, but 'blood may be just as good. The blocking prevention was very important in the games I played. The cute trick with him (or Striker) is to prevent their little guy from blocking, when you're swinging in with a battalion'd Loyalist, to force bad blocks.

Overall, it was pretty fun. Unfortunately I didn't get to play against Reanimator, the match-up I really want to try. From my few early games I think the deck could be a contender, with some tuning. It seems strong, we just need to get the numbers right.

I may or may not end up going to FNM, because the plan has changed an my ride is going out of town way early than I can (the FNM is an hour away). That plus the fact that I'm still missing several cards means I might not make it (I just don't feel like spending the gas money + 2
hours of driving alone, another factor). We'll see how things shake out, I'll keep you guys updated.

Hopefully these thoughts help

[Link]

You know who is 3 CMC and really forces bad blocks?

Pyreheart wolf.

I'll be honest, I just don't know what this list has over the R/g version. In place of GCR, Rancors, and Flinthoof Boars, you get Dynacharge and consistency (impossible to get color screwed). Worth it? Dyna forces you to overcommit your hand to get the most value, so as you can see Verdict stomped Helios hard. Whereas R/g you can put a few creatures on, they get wiped, come back with boars and zealots.

Stonewright might be interesting for the rare occasions you do flood a bit much, and binding him with a loyalist seems like sweet tech.

Still interested for where this list will go, but still skeptical.

[Alex]

So I've been goldfishing the deck with 2-of Rubblebelt Raiders instead of Brimstone Volleys and I've found that she is actually fairly hilarious in a list with so many Lightning Maulers. Obviously I want to test the practicality of it in actual play, but I can see this deck getting absolutely shit on by Supreme Verdict, so I might be dipping into white just a tad more so that I can get more Boros Charms in the mainboard.

[Helios]

@AF: I feel the same way, they seem very close. Pyreheart v. Cathar: Fair point.

@Alex: If I'm playing a 4 drop, I'm playing Hellrider. And yes, without Stonewright getting Verdicted just sucks. But if you're dipping into white and losing the color consistency, you're kind of bypassing the point of the deck. See my comments on how Charm was meh outside of the control match-up.

[Alex]

@Alex: If I'm playing a 4 drop, I'm playing Hellrider. And yes, without Stonewright getting Verdicted just sucks. But if you're dipping into white and losing the color consistency, you're kind of bypassing the point of the deck. See my comments on how Charm was meh outside of the control match-up.

Rubblebelt Raiders does something Hellrider doesn't do: It lets you fight through basically any threat in the game and lives to tell the story. They're not good in the same matchups.

Also playing 4 shocks and 4 checks does literally nothing to hurt the consistency of your mana unless the gods align against you REALLY hard. It isn't like taking 2 is going to make or break you in a deck where you're already going balls deep, and I know that 4
damage is a good enough reason on its own to play Boros Charm in a deck that just wants to reach as far as possible.

[Helios]

well in a fit of irony I didn't actually have time to change the deck before FNM and I'm having to drive myself so it looks like I'll be splashing white

[Helios]

Went 3-2 at FNM to take 7th out of 17~18 guys. Was very content with how the deck performed. I'll post a full write-up after tomorrow, when I'm attending another noon "FNM" style event.

Quick run-down:

R1: GB Fight Bears

G1- This game was moderately close, he played Dreg Mangler, Strangleroot, Arbor Elf, etc. I was just faster.

G2- He kept a hand with Arbor Elf, 3x Thragtusks post-board, 2 lands, and Strangleroot geist. I Pillared the Geist, and he got stuck while I played dudes and swung.

R2: America

G1- I had threats, he had answers; I did make one bad play here that probably costed me the game.

G2- Same as G1, but he was just totally on the ropes. I was ahead the whole game, Stonewright being totally pro here; he was only able to pull it off with an exceptionally timely, top-decked Revelation. The fact that he was under so much pressure makes this game a victory for the deck, though I did
lose.

R3: RW This Guy's First FNM

This guy was here with his dad and younger brother, and they've played Magic a very long time; however, he wasn't prepared for competitive standard. He was playing a slightly underpowered RW Humans. I hope that I was able to steer him on the right path so that they won't get disillusioned and quit. He was a super nice guy and I'd hate to see that happen.

R4: RW Legit Humans

We went to three games,with his clutch play in game 3 being a Madcap Skills on Reckoner, Boros Charm Reckoner, and swing for lethal. I completely forgot that Madcap skills game +3, so when I was mathing to see if he could kill me before deciding to push all of my mana into Stonewright the previous turn, I came up with him being 2 short. Had I left the mana open I had the Brimstone Volley for Reckoner

The games were really tight, and this guy was great. This was his first time playing a creature deck,
coming from Esper control. I quote: "I really liked how I had to think in these games; normally, it's just 'Verdict you, Jace, mill," but these games were really fun." That made my night.

R5: Naya Blitz

We went to 3 games again, again because I forgot about a 3 vs. 2 damage scenario. I calculated that even if he had Mauler + Burning Tree, I still won next turn. Well, turns out he had Mauler + Boros Elite, and so I died, not having left up any blockers. Learned my lesson again. However, I took game two by idiotically keeping a 1 lander (on the play, no less) that contained Stromkirk, Loyalist, 3 Burning Trees, and Mizzium Mortars. Drew the 2nd land on turn 3, but since I was on the play and he didn't have Tree + Mauler, I got there. G3 was Red Deck Plays Control, and went great. My opponent did misplay by not Bloodrushing onto his Mayor when I speared it, and instead letting it die and saving a Zealot-blocked Emissary. I'm confidant that my hand was good enough to take that one anyway,
but the misplay helped.

3-2

Overall, I had a super good time and won enough to purchase a set of Stromkirks of my very own (I'd been borrowing before). I was very happy about how the deck performed against the field I played against; however, I faced 0 Thragtusks, 0 Reanimator, and only 1 deck with Verdict, so bear that in mind.

But I had fun and am going back tomorrow, so this is a success in my book.

Props:
Guys at the store were real casual, store owner was kind enough to hold some stuff for me when I called ahead. A nice gent let me borrow the Stonewrights and Mortars I needed to finish off my list. Props to the guy who realized that red is the thinking man's color.

Slops:
Not familiarizing my self with some of the cards *facepalm*
FNM being 1 hour away.

More detail tomorrow, with the updated list!

[Calamity]

[deck]
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Foundry Street Denizen
3 Legion Loyalist
4 Ash Zealot
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Firefist Striker
3 Gore-house chainwalker

2 Brimstone Volley
3 Dynacharge
4 Searing Spear

19 Mountian[/deck]
[deck]sideboard[/deck]

So here's the 75 I ran yesterday at FNM, went 2-2. Was a trial by fire for me, since i hadn't gotten the time to play test at all before FNM and only acquired the last 5 or so I needed 10 minutes before the tourney. I wasn’t sure what to do with my last two slots so I decided to experiment with foundry street denizen.

Round 1: Wolf Run Bant w/ huntmaster
G1: The first game was a little confusing, with his first two lands I thought he was in pure bant control, then farseeked into a stomping ground for a turn 3 huntmaster. Firefist striker picked him as the
non blocker and legion loyalist prevented him from blocking the rest, so I killed him pretty quick.
G2: Forced him to verdict a stromkirk noble and a chainwalker, then I lay down a BTE and a firefist striker. He plays thragtusk, and I topdeck a land (with two lands in hand) and pass. He eventually plays resto angel and just gains tons of life and I can’t do anything. One cool play I made this game was stealing his thragtusk with traitorous blood and using it to trigger the battalion on firefist striker so his only blocker couldn’t do anything and hit him for 10 damage in one turn. This interaction seems very powerful, but it sucks to have more than one traitorous blood in hand without anything on the board.
G3: He mulls to 5 and I run train on him, with a turn one denizen into a turn 2 BTE + GHC that I beat with for the rest of the game until he verdicted, which I brimstone volleyed him and proceded to win with hasty beats next turn.
Won 2-1, guy said it was a ‘homebrew’ where he mashed naya midrange
and bant control together lmao. He said he just started playing at FNMs, which probably explained a lot of his play mistakes.

Round 2: UWR Flash
G1: I forgot this deck existed. He had answers to everything I played, and had an empty board turn 4. He beat me down with a resto angel and just countered/killed everything I tried to play.
G2: I actually did some good damage early in the game with a turn one foundry street into a turn two GHC + BTE. I had more guys in my hand but I didn’t want to overextend into wrath, get him down to like 3 and he stabilizes and I draw like 3 lands in a row and lose to resto angel beats.
Lost 0-2, this matchup is hard ‘cause their whole deck is answers against us. I think it’s winnable since I almost got there game 2, but I would have been able to win if I had an ash zealot on the board since he flashed back a lot of shit with snapcaster. Seems like you’ll need tight play and a little luck to win this matchup.

Round 3: Weird Gruul list
G1: This guy seemed kind of bad.
He went T1 experiment one into a turn two giant growth on him and attacked lol. I played lots of dudes and had legion loyalist so he couldn’t block well at all.
G2: He is on the play and has a pretty fast start with strangleroots and ghor clan rampagers and rancored cacklers. I manage to stall the board with ash zealot, burn, and boros reckoner and stabilize at one life. We play dudes and pass the turn for like 5 turns until he finally topdecks a burn spell to kill me.
G3: Similar story to game one, except to kill him he attacked with some three power dude that I blocked with boros reckoner, and then he fuckin’ bloodrushes a ghor clan rampager on it while he’s at 6 life… he was pretty pissed but he’s bad so it doesn’t matter.
Won 2-1, the aggro mirrors are in your favor it seems with reckoner and pillar in the board. You are as fast or faster than they are but you have more removal than gruul/naya blitz, and have access to reckoner. I’m a little worried about what I’d do about enemy boros reckoners
besides hope I have firefist striker lol. Maybe traitorous blood?

Round 4: Travis woo omniscience enter the infinite fog borborygmos gay fuckin’ bullshit
Not even going to break this down by game since they went exactly the same. He does nothing but farseek or play chromatic lantern first two or three turns, then fogs 2 or 3 times, then plays sphinxes revelations with x>4 twice a game, and plays thragtusks and supreme verdicts and shit. Basically just stalled the game until he got mana for omniscience, used it to play increasing ambition and get enter the infinite, and then plays borborygmos to throw all his lands at me. I literally couldn’t do anything despite having 5-7 power worth of creatures on the board for 5 turns. It was the most frustrating round of magic I’ve ever played in my life and wanted to fucking strangle him when he had the nerve to say good game to me after he won the second game.

More Notes:
Minus this last game I had a good night of testing. The biggest challenge so far
seems like trying to play around supreme verdict, or just going balls deep and shitting your hand on the board to try to go for lethal, since there comes a point where you really just can’t win verdict or not. Decks than can turn 3 verdict from a farseek or mana dork are problematic and I’m not sure what I can really do about them with my current build besides hold creatures back in anticipation.

I also usually never wanted more than 3 lands on the board, though having four was usually fine (and sometimes desired so I could play a dude and leave searing spear mana open, or play reckoner and give him first strike on the block on the same turn). For the most part I didn’t flood, though the times I did I really wish I had a stonewright. Problem is he’s worthless most of the other time.

I’m not sure about foundry street denizen. He’s best when you play him turn one, with a turn two double one drop or BTE + two drop and swing for three, and is pretty good when you play two or more dudes in a turn and
attack with a legion loyalist battalion trigger, but that’s about it. I like his surprise burst damage capability in order to use him you need to overextend which I don’t like. I think he warrants more testing but if I’m going to cut anything he’s probably going to be the first to go right now.

Didn’t get to cast dynacharge much but everytime I did except once I won the turn it was cast for overload. It’s the hellrider of this deck IMO. Especially ridiculous with a legion loyalist battalion trigger.

Brimstone volley provided some good reach too. I think two is the right number, though maybe you could go a 3/2 split on volley/dynacharge, not sure.
Gore-house chainwalker is probably the worst card in the deck but he’s 2 mana three damage so he probably belongs in here.

I’ve been wondering if a white splash for 3 or so boros charms would help any. Theoretically it won’t mess up your mana too bad but there were one landers I kept that I couldn’t have if it was a clifftop retreat and not a mountain/
foundry. Thalia from the board could help against verdict decks too but she could be risky since you can’t cast her from BTE. Maybe having games where you lay down a one drop and a thalia and just beating with them, THEN playing a bunch of dudes to finish them off? Something for me to test.

For the white splash i'd probably go
-8 mountain
-1 foundry street denizen
-2 brimstone
+8 R/W duals
+3 Boros Charms

or something like that.

Overall this deck was a blast to play and i look forward to playing it more.

[Link]

if he blood rushed a GCR over a reckoner he should have only taken 3 damage...

[LP, of the Fires]

Dynacharge is definitely OP in this deck. I've done a little testing and every time you overload it, you win the game period. As calamity said, it is the hellrider of this deck only cheaper and more versatile. I'll do some more tweaking, but dynacharge is probably a 3 or 4 of and brimstone volley deserves its spot in the deck as well.

[Valdarith]

if he blood rushed a GCR over a reckoner he should have only taken 3 damage...

Yep. Oooooooooh you cheated!!!

[Helios]

Here's another quick write-up before I go back through these posts and add more detail.

Summary: Went to a Saturday Noon Magic, split for first out of over 20 guys. Went 3-2, cut to top 8, and then proceeded to be matched up against my two losses in the quarter and semi finals...this time I beat 'em though.

[deck]
3 Legion Loyalist
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Stonewright

4 Burning Tree Emissary
4 Firefist Striker
4 Ash Zealot
4 Lightning Mauler

2 Fervent Cathar

2 Dynacharge
3 Boros Charm
4 Searing Spear
1 Brimstone Volley

4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Sacred Foundry
11 Mountains

Sideboard:
2 Stonewright
3 Pillar of Flame
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Boros Reckoner
2 Frostburn Weird
1 Pyreheart Wolf
2 Madcap Skills
[/deck]

Round 1: RB My First FNM
I swear this store attracts so many new players. This poor kid (he couldn't have been more than 13) had a birth defect that caused his right arm
to essentially be immobile, so he needed me to shuffle his deck. He still called the creatures Fire and Darkness creatures. Very inexperienced, so it wasn't much of a game, but I really hope I was able to encourage him. He got dream-crushed pretty hard every round after as well.

Round 2: Naya Blitz
I walked around the store after my first round to check out who was playing what, and lo and behold I sit down across from the one guy who's deck I didn't see. He's got purple sleeves and a blue box, and looks like one of the more experienced players, so I incorrectly assumed control and kept a slower hand. Needless to say, he was faster out of the gates. I lost game two post-sideboard to a Frontline Medic after I mistakenly wasted a Mortars on a Mayor of Avabruck, instead of using Pillar.

SB: Bring in Frostburn Weird, Pillar, Reckoner, Mortars, take out some of the one drops and probably the Cathars.


Round 3: BUG Tempo
So, Deathrite Shaman. About that. I lost the roll but kept a very strong hand
with Stromkirk on one, Striker on 2, and some other two drops, only to see him drop a Deathrite Shaman. He was able to counter both my turn three and turn four plays by playing Spell Rupture on 1 (After I intentionally didn't shock myself to avoid the damage...last time that happened) and then Spell Rupture on 3 after Rancoring his Shaman. He drew into Strangleroots and Dreg Manglers from there, but I was able to barely fend him off and just get there for lethal when he finally ran out of gas.

SB: Same as last game.

This game was ridiculous. At one point he had a field of Snapcaster, 3 Strangleroots, and 2 Dreg Mangler to my Frostburn, Stonewright, Burning Tree, and double Reckoner. He swung once he dropped the third Dreg Mangler, but I was able to do the math better than he was and absorb most of the damage (he had no cards in hand so all of the math was on board) and return for exactly lethal.

I was so freakin tense after these games, and having had my lunch delivered just as the round was
beginning, I had to stuff my face before the next round (since we were the secccond to last pair going).

Round 4: Blitzy Naya

I had seen this guy's deck last night, and knew he was playing the low end of Blitz with a high end of Hellrider -> Thundermaw (which just doesn't seem like the right way to do it to me). He won the roll and had the nut draw game one, I just wasn't quite fast enough. I was doing ok until he dropped Frontline Medic, which I only have 4 main deck answers to, and didn't get them.

SB: Same as last time...I just played against all of the aggro forever.

Game two was remarkably similar to game 1, but he dropped a Reckoner that I 2-for-1'ed myself on (you gotta do what you gotta do)...and then he dropped another Reckoner. I 2-1'd again, only for it to be followed up by Frontline Medic with two Boros Elites on the field. The two removal spells I used on the Reckoners were the only ones I saw those games, so that was quickly that.

I have to say that I hate losing to
Blitz, especially post sideboard. We just have such a good game against them post-board that it's not even funny...and if they don't see a Reckoner, they just lose to our post-board. Honestly, I just hate losing to Blitz because I feel like the match-up is a good one. I think that my mistake was not recognizing when I really did need to mull to 6, even if my 7 was "keepable." Sometimes hands just don't do enough.

Round 5: What At First Glance Seemed Blitz, But Was Not
He led off with a turn 1 Experiment one after shocking himself with a Stomping Grounds, so I just assumed he was playing Blitz and had a fairly bad hand. I only later discovered that he was actually playing either straight Gruul, or just had Cacklers in as well. I really don't remember much else about these games, but he mulled into oblivion g2, and my sideboard cards showed up G3 to control the day.

Since we were both 2-2 going into that round, that bumped me into top 8.

Quarter Finals:
I was matched up against my
round 4 loss again. Which actually made me feel really good, because I wanted vindication that our deck is better, or at least on-par, with Blitz. Game one was very back and forth, with me using the 3 Searing Spears that I drew to take out Maulers at instant speed and carefully manage my life total until I could turn the game around.. Game 2 I had to mull to 5, so needless to say that didn't go well. Game 3 he kept playing dudes and I kept killing them (burning through Frontline Medics feels so good) while he got stuck on green and was unable to cast the two Mayor of Avabrucks in his hand.

Semi Finals:
This time I was paired against my round 2 loss, so this time I wasn't going to make the mistake of keeping a hand that was too slow. Unfortunately, he had a blisteringly fast draw with Frontline Medics to back it up, so the trades I didn't make came back to haunt me. Game 2 he had to mull all the way to five, and my turn two play of Burning Tree -> Burning Tree -> Pillar to play the one guy he
dropped was just too much. Game 3 the deck did it's post sideboard thing of basically playing control, while I kept an opener of two Reckoners and was able to kill guys, prevent him from attacking by holding the Reckoners back, until I was able to make a lethal strike. Frostburn Weird was huge here.

Finals:
We were both getting $30 in store credit off of a $6.00 entry fee, so we did decide to go ahead and split. However, we played one game to determine who got to be the winner in the system. This kid is playing a mono red deck with maindeck Flames, Mortars, Pillars, Spears...and Vexing effin Devil. He had Stromkirk -> Ash Zealot to my Legion Loyalist -> Burning Tree -> Striker, and because I idiotically swung with Loyalist on my first turn, the stromkirk got to 2 and his third Ash Zealot + Searing Spear + Brimstone Volley was able to take it away.

I requested another post-SB game, for vindication, and I took it fairly easily. Had to make myself feel better. I didn't count the lands, but in
addition to the above he was running Cackler and Shredfreak. He was clearly doing at least something right because he had made it all the way to the finals, but...Vexing Devil man.

Either way, we both got $30 store credit and walked away happy campers.

Some comments on the deck:

-I REALLY NEED TO PLAY AGAINST MORE CONTROL. For right now, Boros Charm has been very meh and I've always wanted more creature kill, but the whole inclusion of Boros Charm was a concession to control existing. It is a super tough matchup and I am glad for my ranking's sake that I haven't had to play against it, but I think it is an important part of the meta (along with Reanimator, another deck I haven't had to play) 13 rounds of magic in two days and not a Thragtusk in sight.

-BTE is soooo good in this deck. However, when you side in the Frostburns, the mana definitely gets a little more awkward. Not a reason to change anything, just an observation. The card is still huge, when you can go BTE -> Mortars/Searing
Spear/Pillar to knock out their turn 1/turn 2 dude.

-Loyalist: I was content with three. He draws removal quite nicely, and the token clause is great. He wasn't as effective in my matchups today and yesterday because I didn't play against Lingering Souls decks, but I'm not cutting him yet.

-Boros Charm: This is one that, like many of the cards in this deck, just seems fine. Not great, not bad, but fine. I imagine that it is much better against control, but again, control decks are conspicuously absent in my local meta.

-Fervent Cathar: I'm a champion of this card, in this deck only, until someone finds me a good, hasty substitute. The haste is just huge, and no one plays around him. Plus, you get another body if need be.

-Dynacharge: As you can see I'm running only two, the third being cut for the third Boros Charm. Next week I'll have to pay more attention to whether or not I want more, but as of right now I am content with 2. It really underperformed for me against aggro, because I'd
rather just have removal. These got sided out g2 against aggro.

-Stonewright: "Another time, another place, two other people....especially the part about two other people." Despite him winning me a game as a mana sink, I don't know if this guy is actually good in the main here. I even got to live the dream of soul-bonding with an Ash Zealot, but because in the aggro match-up you have to play dudes or burn every turn, he just doesn't get there. Two may stay main deck as a concession to control, but I may just move them into the side based on my local meta. It seems counter-productive to what this deck wants to do, which is swing.

-More burn main board: In my meta, I think that it would be appropriate to run some number of Mortars and/or Pillars in the main deck. Not sure what I'd take out (probably the 2 Stonewrights). This is to acknowledge the fact that the field is chock-full of aggro, and only having Spear doesn't cut it.

My (very vague) sideboarding plan:

Aggro (pretty much no
matter what kind):
Since I've played against aggro nearly every time, I find that having removal in these match-ups is key. Most of the guys I've played against are too smart to let you 1 for 1 them with creatures, so the burn is what has to get there. Frostburn Weird and Reckoner are also very key, so my plan is generally:

On the draw~
-4 Rakdos Cackler (I haven't really needed/had to, but I can see taking Stromkirk out instead if your opponent is running Deathrite Shaman)
-1 Legion Loyalist
-2 Fervent Cathar
-2 Stonewright
-1 Dynacharge/Firefist Striker (kinda just depended on how I was feeling)

On the play~
Pretty much the same, but because I didn't have a solid plan I would sometimes take out Loyalists instead of Cathar, because he is very good for clinching the game off of BTE/Firefist hands. Where Loyalist forces bad blocks, Cathar says no blocks.


I really can't comment on the other matchups, because I didn't have the opportunity to play a lot of control. I'm pretty sure
though that we want Skullcrack in the side. I really, REALLY hate that card, but it is the only thing we have to stop them from stabilizing with Sphinx's Rev. In the games I played last night, two of the three revs were cast as a response to lethal damage, and a skullcrack would have sealed the game.

SB Choices:
I think that most of these are fairly obvious, Stonewrights are for control, as was the singleton pyreheart. I have no anti-reanimator, other than ideally killing them quickly. I don't know when I want to bring in Madcap skills, because post-board aggro sides in more removal, and control with just two for one you. I can see Volcanic Strength being better here against the mirror, or to be unblockable against blitz, but this is probably just me being inexperienced and not understanding exactly what the SB'd auras are for.

-Lack of Traitorous Blood: Only because i don't have them, I'd much rather be playing these than the auras.

-Gorehouse Chainwalker: I think that this would be a strong
choice against control, because he runs over Augur. Striker is great for stopping Augur from blocking at all, but requires you to over commit (into a Supreme verdict).

Cards I think would be good that aren't here:
-Another Brimstone Volley
-Traitorous Blood
-an extra Mountain
-more Reckoner?

Please discuss! I need some feedback:)

[Helios]

My comments in bold.

G2: I actually did some good damage early in the game with a turn one foundry street into a turn two GHC + BTE. I had more guys in my hand but I didn’t want to overextend into wrath, get him down to like 3 and he stabilizes and I draw like 3 lands in a row and lose to resto angel beats.
Lost 0-2, this matchup is hard ‘cause their whole deck is answers against us. I think it’s winnable since I almost got there game 2, but I would have been able to win if I had an ash zealot on the board since he flashed back a lot of shit with snapcaster. Seems like you’ll need tight play and a little luck to win this matchup.

Heck yes, this matchup is super hard. I do agree though that it is winable, I think the key for us is only
keeping strong hands that have gas.

Won 2-1, the aggro mirrors are in your favor it seems with reckoner and pillar in the board. You are as fast or faster than they are but you have more removal than gruul/naya blitz, and have access to reckoner. I’m a little worried about what I’d do about enemy boros reckoners besides hope I have firefist striker lol. Maybe traitorous blood?

Yup yup. With enemy reckoner you often just have to 2-for-1 yourself, just to get him gone, but Firefist striker can do the job otherwise. I think that Traitorous blood might be a very good option here like you suggested, might give that a shot.

More Notes:
Decks than can turn 3 verdict from a farseek or mana dork are problematic and I’m not sure what I can really do about them with my current build besides hold creatures back in anticipation.

So much this. I'm hoping that I can play against the Bant control list my friend has...once we can tune it to beat decks with
Farseek-> Verdict, I think we've got the magic formula.

I also usually never wanted more than 3 lands on the board, though having four was usually fine (and sometimes desired so I could play a dude and leave searing spear mana open, or play reckoner and give him first strike on the block on the same turn). For the most part I didn’t flood, though the times I did I really wish I had a stonewright. Problem is he’s worthless most of the other time.

I actually wanted 4 most of the time, because I like being able to cast two guys in a turn or leaving mana for reckoner. Agree with your thoughts on Stonewright, I think that I might just move them both to the board.

Didn’t get to cast dynacharge much but everytime I did except once I won the turn it was cast for overload. It’s the hellrider of this deck IMO. Especially ridiculous with a legion loyalist battalion trigger.

How many times did it sit in your hand not doing anything? That happened to me
several times, but I also won games off of it. I need to start keeping better notes.

Brimstone volley provided some good reach too. I think two is the right number, though maybe you could go a 3/2 split on volley/dynacharge, not sure.
Gore-house chainwalker is probably the worst card in the deck but he’s 2 mana three damage so he probably belongs in here.

Agreed that 2 Brimstones seems right, but I'm not sold on GHC (in the main at least) because having the option to block and play defensively in the blitz/aggro matchup is really key.

I’ve been wondering if a white splash for 3 or so boros charms would help any. Theoretically it won’t mess up your mana too bad but there were one landers I kept that I couldn’t have if it was a clifftop retreat and not a mountain/foundry. Thalia from the board could help against verdict decks too but she could be risky since you can’t cast her from BTE. Maybe having games where you lay down a one drop and a thalia and just
beating with them, THEN playing a bunch of dudes to finish them off? Something for me to test.

1 out of 13 matches did I have a double Clifftop opener, and only once was I unable to find a white source. Since you only need to one white, and a little less than half of your lands can make it, it generally isn't a problem by the turn you need it. Don't know if that lines up with the math, but that's what my experience was. I'd consult the math gods for a final answer though.

Overall this deck was a blast to play and i look forward to playing it more.
I KNOW RIGHT? It is so fun

[Valdarith]

It scares me that this deck STILL has problems against UWR flash. Is there any red deck we can play that ISN'T weak to this brainless deck? Are there any improvements we can make here to beat this deck silly?

[Link]

Domri Rade is a huge problem for them usually. They p.much have 2-1 themselves to get to him I've found

Other than that UWr is just a BS deck vs. us

[Helios]

Hounds of Griselbrand is super duper good against them, maybe we could put them and some lands in the side? Theoretically Boros Charm should handle some of the removal, but 3 cards just isn't enough imo. Hounds and Pyreheart both seem good, Hounds probably being the better option if we side in the lands as well.

Stonewright + Hounds against a control deck? Sounds juicy

There is also the option to play Rancor and Domri instead of the white splash.

I'd love to get some more feedback on this thread, I'm really not good at this standard thing.

[Link]

if you start splashing green you'll just be full circle with Saito's 18-land Gruul list...

<_<
>_>

The main problem against UWr is stalling, its so easy for them to survive to verdict or use reckoners with creature based UWr to get there. Throw in some Azo charms and its extremely difficult (I'd almost say I've never done it) to win by T4, T5.

Even Hound (without trample) can be chumped while they find two removals or azo charmed or 2-1'd (they would 2-1 themselves I mean) to be dealt with because by that time they often have enough advantage to be able to deal with hound. Hound with rancor and KWR is a different story because its a much shorter and immediate threat they have to deal with. but here I am proposing R/g again as the solution to all your problems.

[Link]

Honestly I think the best position for MonoR atm is to go bigger with Hellriders and Wolves, old school.


Just a simple 22-23 land curve with Pyreheart Wolves/Reckoner split into Hellriders, Pillars, Spears, Volleys, Mortars etc. in the side. Stonewright for all around champ (better with more R), hounds in the side. Resillient (wolves) consistent, powerful, great removal. Zealous Conscripts and Crucibles in the side for certain match-ups too.

For all-in I think Rancors represent more damage over time then a game finishing dyna charge, and Flinthoof Boars are still house. The only thing not splashing gives you is not being color screwed 10% of the time (thanks to BTE mana fixing usually). You can even just run boars and not rancors to be screwed even less (I remember seeing lists placing with 4 pillars and 3-4 BVolleys instead of rancors and being fine)

[Calamity]

I was running a 22 land boros build like the mono red build you described, and while it did well vs. non UWR control and reanimator, the fact that reckoner is in the deck meant that i couldn't comfortably run more than 1 utility land, so i didn't have as many mana sinks as i would have liked. Good draws were nigh unbeatable for some decks but if you drew one or two too many lands you were pretty much fucked.

Also in my game i 'cheated' he would have gone down to 3 and i had spear in my hand for lethal, so I would have won anyway.

[Helios]

I wish we didn't have such different metas, because in my meta I'm pretty sure the best thing to do is play a very removal (i.e. burn) heavy build. It sacrifices your control match-up in order to just make the aggro match-up super easy.

For me, MD Reckoner is probably a good decision. That's totally a meta call though.

[zemanjaski]

I would love to play a burn deck, but there just aren't the cards to make it work right now against such a diverse meta (even if lifegain is seemingly a little less rampant than it has been previously).

[Helios]

I would love to play a burn deck, but there just aren't the cards to make it work right now against such a diverse meta (even if lifegain is seemingly a little less rampant than it has been previously).

Agreed. I think in my local meta it would work, because out of about ~20ish folks that attend the FNMs, only 3 run control. Legitimately everyone else is on Blitz or some equally aggro deck, with a few midrange.

That's the only thing that can explain how the kid I played against in the finals made it that far. His deck was chock full of burn, and he only matched against 1 control deck. MD Flames, Mortars, Pillars, the works. Didn't even have a SB.

I mean, he had VD for goodness' sake.

[zemanjaski]

To be fair, there are only two standard archetypes in which VD is remotely playable:
1. Burn when you don't care about not being able to beat heavy lifegain decks (which is a completely reasonable position to take IMO)
2. Some sort of GRx evolve deck; where VD being a 4/x is going to make him add a couple of +1/+1 counters to your creatures in addition to either 4 damage or making them discard 1. That is actually pretty playable.

The problem is that I see people argue for the card in every other context, and they're just flat out wrong.

[LP, of the Fires]

To be fair, there are only two standard archetypes in which VD is remotely playable:
1. Burn when you don't care about not being able to beat heavy lifegain decks (which is a completely reasonable position to take IMO)
2. Some sort of GRx evolve deck; where VD being a 4/x is going to make him add a couple of +1/+1 counters to your creatures in addition to either 4 damage or making them discard 1. That is actually pretty playable.

The problem is that I see people argue for the card in every other context, and they're just flat out wrong.

Glad I'm not the only one who saw a VD in an Experiment one/Gyre Sage deck and thought, "That actually makes a modicum of sense."

[zemanjaski]

Yeah; I saw him crop in a few decklists and I was like "that actually seems reasonable". I imagine it is one of the first cards sideded out, but the actual concept seemed pretty defensible to me. Its a deck that wants to win on turn 4-5 anyway.