[Primer] R/g Gruul Sligh

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Postby Christen » Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:12 am

Hmn, I like Rancor. Though Madcap would be more consistent because it's not every game I get a green source. I believe correct handling of Madcap Skills will guarantee you a Searing Spear at worst. I am still torn though as Rancor won me a lot of games due to its resiliency.

IMO it's going to be a meta call. More control favors Rancor, while more midrange favors Madcap.
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Postby Valdarith » Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:29 pm

I never want to have rancor in gruul. And I'm not even saying it's bad. I just prefer more consistent draws over more nut draws.
I'm not sure why you think Rancor would increase your number of nut draws. It will, in fact, decrease that chance since you must necessarily run fewer dudes AND potentially lose tempo by playing Rancor. The benefit of running Rancor is that all of your topdecked dudes are much more relevant in the late game. That's not what I'd call a good card for nut draws.

I ran my list through a few two-mans last night and had horrible luck. 0-3 with going 1-2 in all of my matches. My loses included a topdecked Bonfire with lethal on board next turn and an empty hand, back-to-back topdecked Thragtusk and
Restoration Angel with my representing lethal next turn with a Ghor-Clan Rampager with Volcanic Strength and my opponent on a Mountain, and getting nut drawn on twice in the mirror match. Pretty frustrating, but I found myself wanting Rancor desperately in all but the mirror matches. It's just not enough for me to hope for a Ghor-Clan Rampager to push through a Loxodon Smiter, and Pyreheart Wolf doesn't help when my opponent can clog the board with Voices, Smiters, etc.
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Postby Link » Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:08 pm

rancor is probably pretty house against jund when you handle it correctly. Its slightly better against blue control (I still like going around a t2 augur for big dps. and a 3/1 noble still trades dies to augur).

Rancor goes very well with MB pillar as well, which is probably the "nut" draw that LP was referring to?

I could be convinced either way, it might be another "style" card. Especially if we set LM aside for now and go back to ash zealot. Rancor'd cacklers are something I miss, and then ebing able to follow up with a rancor'd ash zealot on T3 was always nice.

More solid? Zealot+Rancor
More explosive? LM+MAdcap

Will toy around with both, will want to get use out of chinese rancors again >___>b (inb4 sb hounds)

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Postby Link » Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:08 pm

[deck]Gruul Smash 186 Player Side Event, GP Vegas[/deck]
R1 vs. Bant Flash
G1 wasn't very memorable. Was a pretty vanilla flash deck. Didn't see augurs, didn't see smiters, didn't want to board in Skullcracks.Pretty sure I just bloodrushed over some advents.

-4 Nobles
-2 Madcap Skills

+4 Pyreheart Wolf
+2 Ranger's Guile

G2 I extended into a Verdict with a cackler, bte and boar. Was fine because I had two reckoners in hand. Then I drew another. Then I drew
another.... 4 reckoner hand with the beats. I drew ranger's guile here and I was excited.

He was in desperation mode (gl blocking with 2 reckoners with wurms and flash stuff), thought scouring and what not on his turn for answers. I come at him with 2 reckoners, he unsummons one to buy time. He's at 10 life. Instead of going to 7? RANGERS GUILE BOOM. Now he's at THREE. Fucking yes please tempo. He think twices and scours on his turn, digs to a snapcaster mage but he doesn't have enough to snap+verdict. I had more reckoners so w/e
R2 vs. Junk aristocrats
Tough MU. Made a misplay G1 as well.
The board was me:
Madcap Noble
BTE

Him:
Young Wolf
Cartel
Traveler

Hand: Boros Reckoner, another madcap skills.

I decide not to swing. WRONG. I didn't swing because the play from him would probably be: Sac Young wolf, pro-red, block the 6/3 noble with wolf and traveler, block BTE with cartel. I just played reckoner and passed, and he gave
me a look. I should've started trading into his board, or madcap'd the BTE (I wanted to save for reckoner, which was dumb). and got damage through. Big mistake.

Next turn he lays down gavony township and has the mana.

So when I swing into him with madcap reckoner.... Cartel gets pro -red goes infront of him, township, all other shit dies to horesshit.
THEN he throws down sorin. I can't deal with his engines anymore. Trade into their board especially if youc an get damage in.... or else their engines will come on line. I knew this but choked I guess.

-4 LM
+4 Pillar of Flame

If Zealot were in LM spot I don't know what I'd sub out. Probably cackler? seems wrong.

Anyway:
G2 I curve out like a beast. Cackler BTE BET boar. T2 he throws down cartel. He doesn't block. T3 he throws down unflinching courage while I'm tapped out (hasted out ANOTHER boar). He DOESNT swing.

So on my turn? I madcap skills my boar and bash him for 6 while he timewalked, can&#
39;t block, can't gain life. He throws down lingering souls, I haste out a LM for lethal even through the lifegain.


G3:
I keep a hand of pillar pillar, promo spear (lucky spears), GCR. I topdeck my way through this game while burning hsi shit to the ground. He runs out of cards. I also run into another play decision:

He has a 2/2 wolf and a 1/1 soul I think, because he has a garruk relentless out at 3 counters. I have a boar, GCR in hand, hellrider in hand.

Now, I can swing at garruk and bloodrush and be sweet, but for SOME reason I figure its better to bloodrush a hellrider next turn...?? So I play hellrider, ping him, swith only with boar at garruk. His board is clear. He uses garruk to kill hellrider (which I didn't think he would, for some reason, I guess I assumed he valued his PW more than my hellrider). Clear board is clear, oops.

Topdeck another hellrider so its k. He's plays a lone aristocrat or some shitty topdeck.

2-1 me!
[
spoiler=R3 vs. Junk Rites]This guy kept some shitty hands. He was in full durdle mode.

G1 he was stuck on 3 land with 2 pilgrims... and his slavage flipped a AoS into the GY. I was scared as fuck, but he didnt have an unburial rites. He was complaining that he had angels stuck in his hand, herpderp.


-4 Nobles
-4 Cackler
+4 Pyreheart Wolf
+4 Pillar of Flame

G2 he kept like a 5 land two pilgrim land I think, maybe a tusk in there. His salvage flipped 3 lands and two elves more. HERPDERP. Ran over him with...iunno anything? I didn't even see unburial rites, maybe he was just playing trash midrange.[/spoiler]
R4 vs. UWr Control
Fuck me. FUCK me. I should've had this guy.
G1 I keep a Noble into TRIPLE BTE hand. Yeah I ended up losing this game. Remember what I said in the BTE thread about them being bears? Yeah I knew that, but I wasn't going to ship this hand against unknown. I drew about 7 land in a row. Not a SINGLE other card to finish him.
Reckoner would've been live, boar, LM, hellrder, GCR ANYTHING. I die to a pillar, snapcaster, pillar hand. He stabilizes easy as I draw more and more fucking land.

Don't think I changed my board. Maybe -2 spears, +2 guile,? Didn't sub in cracks because I wanted to spear augurs out of the way potentially. Ended up spearing a snapcaster mage that was flashed in for a pillar on his turn.

G2 He kept a good hand, but I play mine out better. I don't overextend, force the verdict, and just keep bashing him down.


Boarded out Nobles for Pyreheart wolves, kept the guile and board in cracks.

G3 I keep a so-so hand with no green and a boar. I get the BTE for the boar, but then I draw rampagers. If I had the green for a rampager around t4 or t5, would've been live (bloodrush over a snapcaster and would've had lethal the next turn). I have a skullcrack stuck in hand and I keep hoping he helix's me so I can use my mana for SOMETHING. Would've been better as domri, but
oh well. Skullcrack was better later. I skullcrackd on his last turn just for the lulz then scooped.[/deck]
R5 vs. Naya Blitz
This guy. He scoffs game 1 at his hand, and I keep mine. HE lays out champion, BTE into Firefist. Oh ok. I misplay horribly here, I decide to try and race him with a LM+cackler because I have lethal if I get the 4th land for hellrider or double madcap skills. I have 4 cards in hand and he has none, there was NO reason to race. If I ha dleashed the cackler and held Lm to block, his firefist was dead one way ot the other and I'd take less damage. Instead I topdecka Boros reckoner... (who can't block because I let the firefist engine live and tried to race it).

He has 6 power on board with a champion, Im at 7 life. Any human and I'm dead, I pray like a dumbass but he flips a Mayor. Wow fuck me I should've had this game, guess I need more practice playing defensively (which happens lter so I DID learn).


G2: 5 land hand mull into no
land hand. One of those games. My 5 is ok curve and I keep.
He lays out.... Champion I PILLAR. HE whines because the next turn he lays out BTE BTE Firefist "I coulda had a 4/4 for 1 mana" jesus fuck man, really? I struggle but I just run out of cards. Why do I run out? Oh yeah because he lands a FRONTLINE medic the next turn. The turn after that? NEARHEATH paired with medic. What do you get the guy who has it all? I get a 3/3 noble and finalyl draw a spear for the medic, but he has 5 attackers to 2 blockers because all my other blockers just died to indestructible shit. Was too little too late.

G1 should've been mine though, so I won't bitch about double nut draws when g2 is the only one I can complain about.

Now I'm X-2.
R6 vs. B/r Zombies
This guy says I'm usually a good MU for him, I retort that I never have a problem with his deck because of my speed. He's like "i got xx removal spellzzzz" and I go "yeah with my
hasty shit it never matters." He KoI into falkenraths g1, I go hellrider. I won that race.

-4 Cacklers
-3 Madcap
+4 Pillar of Flame
+3 VS

G2 he keeps an all tapland hand and complains about it. Guildgate into dragonskull into cavern or something. I just run over him again. Gravecrawler engines mean little to me when I'm the one swinging. Zombies are resilient but they can't race for shit.
R7 vs. Bye- Guy just didn't show up. Should've seen the writing on the wall that might breakers would be shit and I wouldn't make top16....
R8 vs. Naya Midrange
It was worth it to play this match out though. Super proud here.

G1 Double madcap skills beat the shit out of his attempt at a ground stall with reckoner and something. So I'm proud of my deck choices for this Mu which I figured I'd run into (which I had run into it more than UWr control or the should be dead naya blitz ;P)

-4 Cacklers
-3 Madcap Skills
-4 Lightning Mauler
-1
Searing Spear

+3 Pillar
+2 Skullcrack
+4 Pyreheart Wolf
+3 VS

Decided to keep in spears on a hunch that I'd need them, for a lone reckoner or w/e. Paid off.

I burn some voices, and throw down a reckoner.

He plays a domri and pit fights a Smiter with my reckoner, I redirect to smiter. Full control mode.

THIS turn I'm super proud of: I topdeck noble, and I have a spear, spear, pillar+boar in hand, I have 3 land with a stomping ground in play, he's has 1 card left. I can pillar domri then shock myself ot haste out a board and beat for 3... but I DONT. I figure, he's low on cards, the only way I LOSE this is if I shock and get beat down. So I pillar, play the noble, and stomping ground tapped.

He rips a thragtusk. I go "sometimes you just gotta 2-1 yo self" and double spear it. Well, he could've rules lawyered me, but I corrected it to "spear thrag, then spear the token." then swung with noble. Good thing I kept those spears.

I topdeck a VS, beat
down with my noble and play the boar out.

He gets a reckoner, I beat down some more with my mountain walking god.

He topdecks unflinching courage... Well fuck. Now we're racing. I say to myself "now would be a good time for those skullcracks Kincey had me put in" and I RIP ONE. Holy fucking shit. I'm at 9 life, and I'm dead to a topdeced rampager unless I leave back. But if I DONT swing with boar I'll be dead to any blocker he topdecks because I wont have lethal without the boar's 3 this turn. So I swing out with boar+noble and bring him to 9 life.

He rips ANOTHER unflinching courage, cackles, and swings at me. SKULLCRACK, SON.
He goes on tilt "SKULLCRACK REALLY?!" I went to TWO LIFE. Remember when I didn't shock myself? Fuck. Yes.

I ended up 19th just out of fucking prizes (every time, ffs), but this last match was super worth it. I learned to play more defensively and smarter, and I got to fall in love with skullcrack because I really HATE
the shit out of unflinching courage.

Conclusions: Still a fan of LM. I rather have LM than Zealot for the BTE beat downs, and LM trumps Azo charm a lot harder. Lingering souls sucks yeah, but I boarded him out for pillars in that MU anyway. I just don't know. Zealot is harder but I'd also have to cut a temple garden to play her IMO, and she makes BTE weaker. Though BTE into madcap (or rancor if we go that route) would still be fine as well as boar and spear. I just like being able to haste out 1 drops and BTEs, and miss the LM+Firefist haste play on T4.

Madcap skills: Was always a searing spear at least. Was basically a "I win the game now?" button more than once. Was only bad against junk crats when I fucked up using it, so it wasn't the card's fault. I'm sure I'll get 2-1d by an unsummon or something eventually, but every card gets blown out every once in awhile if you play good players. I love the power it brings.

Ranger's guile was good, only saw it once
though. But when you see against control, how will it NOT be good? They want to buy time? They want to helix something? Fucking blowouts. They think you're a scrub bloodrushing into open mana just for damage? I don't know if it would be good against jund (since they are less about tempo and more about CA, so 1-1 with their removal isn't as devastating even if it does help beat the shit out of them. Also will help massively with bringing in VS and protecting it I'd imagine.)

Skullcrack... yeah its not good for curving out. Needs more testing against junk rites and control (still seems bad against jund kincey, we'll see I'm open-minded now), but I do like it against Naya. Its strange that its actually at its best when racing (because it acts like a fog-esque effect while trumping fog) unflinching courage bs.

Speaking of Fog, if I ever lose my pride enough (or lose to an izzet blitz deck) I might have to give that a go too. Its probably real good in the mirror, bant hexproof, potentially even junk
crats? No way I'm cutting pyrehearts for it though, so it'd go int he ranger's guile flex spot and I like me some guile (and hate me some fuckin control more than I hate racing).

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Postby Link » Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:27 pm

If i DID come up against Jund I think my SB plan for this list would be:

On the draw:
-4 Nobles
+2 Skullcrack
+2 Range'rs Guile
-3 Madcap
+3 VS

Back to on the play:
-3 VS
-Crack/Guile package

+4 Nobles
+4 Pyreheart Wolf

Hmmm thats awkward. Might be able to cut down to 3 wolves and just sub them in for madcap skills against control MUs and the other strat for Jund...

Which would let me play a 3rd skullcrack? A lone Domri? hmmmm

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Postby LP, of the Fires » Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:31 am

There is no universe where this list doesn't want some number of lightning mauler. Card is dope.

Totes right about skullcrack being randomly super awkward. I definitely won a game tonight though where skullcracking a blind obedience extort trigger was relevant.

I'd also like to mention(again) that boarding on the draw against jund does...awkward things to your deck. It's definitely not a science. I'd say 50% math, 30% intuition, 20% solid theory, and 10% of a little magic dust.

I for instance went:
-4 noble
-3 pillar
-1Firefist Striker
-1 Spear

+2 skullcrack
+2 VS
+2 pyreheart wolf
+2 traitorous blood
+1 Mizzium Mortars

Who the fuck comes up with those numbers? I do apparently and it worked fine.

Also won TNM magic today. Beat Jund, Esper, UWR control, and drew with UW agro.

Beat esper by tricking my opponent twice in game 1 to steal the game. First time was mizzum mortars on an aetherling pre-
combat hoping my opponent would misplay and blink it so I could get the full 4 damage in with hellrider. Totes worked. He should have blinked after blocking, but in my experience, people overvalue aetherling and don't think they lose once it's resolved, especially since he had a sphinx in hand that he revealed after a jace earlier.

The other play was my opponent minus 2's jace for the second time earlier in the game revealing watery grave, O-ring, and verdict. He was stalled on seven lands(first world problems) and I knew he had restos in his deck so I gave him verdict and grave since he only had 2 white and I knew I could get in damage with hellrider post wrath and get his obzedat off the table. If I split O-ring land/verdict, he can ring my hellrider, shock himself and either swing with obzedat, blink holding up tricks, or sphinx for 2 which is way worse for me so I think I played that really well.

It happened exactly how I wanted. He plays grave tapped, wraths my 3 dorks and his own own Obzedat,
passes with irrelevant mana up, I get in for 4 with hellrider #2. He plays aetherling, scenario one occurs where I mortar, blink it get in for 4, then play Reckoner. He goes island go. I draw hellrider, do some math, and find I have exact lethal even through sphinx for 6. I play rider, he sphinxs. Swing for win. Apparently he didn't know the power of double hellrider. He tilts because he had a dissipate in hand :yes:

Other then that, none of my games where interesting. Lose game 1 to jund going double tusk into garruk. Win game 2 to him not hitting red because I drew all the mountains for both of us. His hand is all gas. I have a noble that dealt 10 damage before trading with a second nighthawk, then beat him with various cacklers. Drew like 9 lands that game. Game three, I almost lost after going kirk into double burning tree, pig. Luckily, he never drew a tusk and I got there.

Last round against UWR, nut draw
game 1(and he misplayed). Game 2, he couldn't draw a second white source for his verdict. Typical day for those with a soul of fire. Also got a teetering picks from the jund player who opened a pack of zen and got scalding tarn and foil bloodghast. This the week after opening foil ral from a Russian pack.
You gotta understand, I love the beatdown. I really do. I always have.

Beatdown is hard, though.


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Postby Link » Wed Jun 26, 2013 2:00 pm

Did your deck turn up then?

Or did you refinish it asap because you can't get away from dat smash.

Also mortars against esper? <_<? Tryin to kill Resto angels post combat or somthin mang?

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Postby rcwraspy » Wed Jun 26, 2013 2:23 pm

Fate, thanks for the write-up of your rounds in the side event. Great read!

A few of your "misplays" can be related to the question of "who's the beatdown?" I'm referencing Aristocrats and Blitz in particular. I'm trying to force myself to ask that question (to myself) every turn, not just every game or every match. Board states can swing so much that sometimes even if your deck is technically faster, it's right to hold back a turn or trade more or burn a dude instead of get power on the board, etc. All things you know, but consciously asking yourself "this turn, am I aggro or control?" every turn REALLY helps in my experience.

Great write-up!
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Postby LP, of the Fires » Wed Jun 26, 2013 4:00 pm

Oh, that was game 1 fate. I'm actually not opposed to leaving like, one in against esper on the draw though. And Q DID have the deck. Monday me him and his little apprentice(13 year old idiot savant who he's been teaching magic tricks and got an acting gig for a target commercial. Q's a magician and an actor) where hanging out at the store, I pick up one of the deck boxes and the deck was there. We laughed while/where relieved and I just kept telling Q how he was a terrible human being.

Also, very relevant points rc. I do something similar, though it's usually along the lines of "how do I win this game?" when behind and "how do I lose this game?" when ahead.

I will say, on the draw in agro mirrors, my strat is usually aggressively trade one-for-one for the first X turns of the game, and in a perfect world, you end up ahead a card in the midgame and can win with a single hellrider or ghor-clan if
done right. I'm even thinking that it's probably usually wrong to bloodrush ghor-clan on the play in the mirror unless it wins you the game that turn or the next turn since the 4/4 is just so powerful, outclassing everything on the board.
You gotta understand, I love the beatdown. I really do. I always have.

Beatdown is hard, though.


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Postby Link » Wed Jun 26, 2013 4:26 pm

yeah your idea is solid rc but I use LP's questions myself.

Or should have against the Naya blitz, where I instead asked "how do I win next turn" when I was up 3 cards on him instead of how do I lose, and later finally asked myself instinctually against the naya midrange where normally I'd just say "I don't want this to go late" and go faster no matter the cost.

Also I'll bloodrush on the play, but only through a reckoner. Every day of the week. Especially since, in a perfect world, 2/2 noble bloodrushes over and becomes 3/3 (7/7 for that turn) noble and can't be killed with redirect damage.

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Postby Valdarith » Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:00 pm

After some thought I've realized I REALLY want Rancor back in the deck as well as Boros Reckoner. I just want more power and reach, especially in midrange matchups.

In fact, I'm debating even switching to a mono red build like Alex posted yesterday. It's either that or this:

[deck]
Creatures (35)
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Firefist Striker
4 Flinthoof Boar
3 Boros Reckoner
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager

Spells (7)
4 Pillar of Flame
3 Rancor

Lands (18)
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
9 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Electrickery
2 Ranger's Guile
4 Volcanic Strength
4 Ash Zealot
3 Pyreheart Wolf
[/deck]
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Postby LP, of the Fires » Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:04 pm

I think with 12 1 drops and ash zealot in the board, I'd just cut temple garden for a mountain. Garden is just very bad in that deck methinks.
You gotta understand, I love the beatdown. I really do. I always have.

Beatdown is hard, though.


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Postby Link » Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:13 pm

I'd just go with Alex's list because dynacharge is the "I dont need to hit 4 mana" hellrider and denizen+krenko's and loyalist are house. Plus reckoner and boar mean you need to hit 3 mana, and I think if youre gonna go low you might as well limbo it down to running smoothly on 2 land all game

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Postby Valdarith » Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:16 pm

I'd just go with Alex's list because dynacharge is the "I dont need to hit 4 mana" hellrider and denizen+krenko's and loyalist are house. Plus reckoner and boar mean you need to hit 3 mana, and I think if youre gonna go low you might as well limbo it down to running smoothly on 2 land all game
I'm beginning to think the same thing. Though Rancor gives me a legitimate late game, the mono red list can win much more quickly with much more consistency and has no reliance on green mana.
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Postby Valdarith » Thu Jun 27, 2013 4:42 pm

Tried the mono red list yesterday and it just did not perform. Felt much more comfortable with my 18-land Gruul deck which I'm trying to get away from. Then I had this idea.

[deck]
Creatures (29)
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Hound of Griselbrand
2 Zealous Conscripts

Spells (8)
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Searing Spear

Lands (23)
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Temple Garden
11 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Frostburn Weird
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Ground Seal
2 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Pyreheart Wolf
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Kessig Wolf Run
[/deck]
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Postby Link » Thu Jun 27, 2013 4:58 pm

gotta have the rancors if youre gonna hound. Ive had vanilla hounds out and they just match up really poorly against a lot of decks. I'd also want the full 4 of GCR every time with hounds too, but not sure where I'd make cuts. Maybe move all the 5 drops to the side?

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Postby Valdarith » Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:08 pm

gotta have the rancors if youre gonna hound. Ive had vanilla hounds out and they just match up really poorly against a lot of decks. I'd also want the full 4 of GCR every time with hounds too, but not sure where I'd make cuts. Maybe move all the 5 drops to the side?
Well I have Wolf Run as my Rancors, which act as both a spell and a land. If I moved the Conscripts I could drop one KWR and that would be room for three Rancor. But then again that's why I like KWR - it gives me late game reach like Rancor while being a land I can cast dudes with in the early game.
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Postby Link » Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:48 pm

both are good.

I mean I used to run 4 rancors AND 2 KWR with hounds, and thered STILL be games where he was just a 2/2 that couldn't swing into a thragtusk resto board for shit...

More enablers are better than less if youre going hound mode

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Postby rcwraspy » Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:14 pm

Tried the mono red list yesterday and it just did not perform. Felt much more comfortable with my 18-land Gruul deck which I'm trying to get away from. Then I had this idea.

[deck]
Creatures (29)
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Hound of Griselbrand
2 Zealous Conscripts

Spells (8)
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Searing Spear

Lands (23)
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Temple Garden
11 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Frostburn Weird
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Ground Seal
2 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Pyreheart Wolf
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Kessig Wolf Run
[/deck]
-1 Reckoner, -2 Pillar
+1 GCR, +2 Rancor
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Postby Valdarith » Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:24 pm

Tried the mono red list yesterday and it just did not perform. Felt much more comfortable with my 18-land Gruul deck which I'm trying to get away from. Then I had this idea.

[deck]
Creatures (29)
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Hound of Griselbrand
2 Zealous Conscripts

Spells (8)
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Searing Spear

Lands (23)
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Temple Garden
11 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Frostburn Weird
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Ground Seal
2 Flames of the Firebrand
3
Pyreheart Wolf
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Kessig Wolf Run
[/deck]
-1 Reckoner, -2 Pillar
+1 GCR, +2 Rancor
That may actually work. This deck won't have as hard a time dealing with Voice of Resurgence or midrange strategies so I shouldn't miss Pillar as much.
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Postby Pyreheart Bezerra » Thu Jun 27, 2013 10:18 pm

All in red was the TITS for me yesterday at WNM. Lost to the mirror only, as he was playing hellriders and reckoners and I was not. Got too behind and reckoner took the game over. It was not a good feeling having to Dynacharge a blocker to trade. All in all thought it was super explosive I was proud I even beat the the turbo fog deck without a single skullcrack (just never drew any). However I do miss the raw power that a green splash adds. Depends on your play style, I guess. Both are equally explosive just Gruul sligh has a little more late game power in reckoner and GCR where as AIR's biggest creature is a Ash Zealot at 2/2.
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Postby Link » Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:47 pm

definitely considering Fog more and more as another out to unflinching courage/mirror

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Postby Self Medicated » Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:50 pm

Got a GPT tomorrow and this is my deck so far:

[DECK]
Lands (20)
10x Mountain
4x Rootbound Crag
4x Stomping Ground
2x Temple Garden

Creatures (28)
4x Boros Reckoner
4x Burning-Tree Emissary
4x Flinthoof Boar
4x Ghor-Clan Rampager
4x Hellrider
4x Rakdos Cackler
4x Stromkirk Noble

Spells (12)
4x Madcap Skills
4x Pillar of Flame
4x Searing Spear

Sideboard (15)
2x Electrickery
2x Gruul War Chant
3x Mizzium Mortars
2x Naturalize
3x Skullcrack
3x Volcanic Strength
[/DECK]

Not really sure about the Madcap Skills, but I was considering taking them out for Lightning Mauler. I'm getting all worked up about this and second guessing myself. Could use a little help here. Thanks in advance.
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Postby LP, of the Fires » Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:58 pm

Mauler is probably better in madcap for your list. Madcap and pillar don't really need to be in the same deck as one kills blockers and the other goes around blockers. Use that information however you see fit. FWIW, I really like your sideboard.
You gotta understand, I love the beatdown. I really do. I always have.

Beatdown is hard, though.


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Postby Self Medicated » Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:18 pm

Mauler is probably better in madcap for your list. Madcap and pillar don't really need to be in the same deck as one kills blockers and the other goes around blockers. Use that information however you see fit. FWIW, I really like your sideboard.
Yeah, I'm not really seeing the value in Madcap. I'm going back and forth about what I should replace it with. This is my short list:

[cards]Ash Zealot
Lightning Mauler
Firefist Striker
Mogg Flunkies
Gore-House Chainwalker[/cards]

Concerning my sideboard, glad you like it. I put in Naturalize because I was sick of Blind Obedience fucking with my whole game plan.

EDIT: Does Domri belong in this deck?
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Postby Link » Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:43 pm

Domri's been discussed a lot SM.

Now I have to lend my Reckoners to nwuen because someone is coming back that needs hers, so I'm doing this and calling it:

"The Lean Mean Gruul Race Machine"

-4 Reckoner
+4 Pyreheart

SB
-4 Pyreheart
+3 Fog
+1 Skull crack.

GOIN

TO TOWN


LES RACE

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Postby LP, of the Fires » Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:46 pm

I really want you to win a large tourney and do a tourney report.

Random Veiwer: "Why pyrehearts instead of reckoners? They only beat for 1!"

Fate: "GF has the reckoners. Figured pyrehearts fine and I want to troll people with fog."
You gotta understand, I love the beatdown. I really do. I always have.

Beatdown is hard, though.


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Postby Platypus » Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:52 pm

Hello, I'm entering a GPT next Saturday. I haven't been able to play for weeks so I'm a bit lost about the current meta. So I'm planning to run what I ran last time I went to the FNM, with some slight modifications:

[deck]Lands (21)
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Temple Garden
11 Mountain

Creatures (33)
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Lightning Mauler
3 Firefist Striker
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Hellrider
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager

Spells (10)
4 Searing Spear
2 Pillar of Flame

Sideboard
4 Ash Zealot
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Volcanic Strength
4 Pyreheart Wolf
2 ?[/deck]

I'm dropping 1 each of Lightning Mauler and Firefist Striker in order to get 2 PoF in the maindeck. Which leaves me with two empty spots in the SB. Any thoughts and suggestions? I have no idea about the local meta, but I expect it to be quite current.
Last edited by Platypus on Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby LP, of the Fires » Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:54 pm

Skullcarck/domri? Either one is fine. You're going to want something else against control I'd imagine, though I could total respect just boarding in ash zealout and calling it a day.
You gotta understand, I love the beatdown. I really do. I always have.

Beatdown is hard, though.


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Postby Link » Sat Jun 29, 2013 6:08 am

freakin lost to junk tokens... he's at 4 life, I have a hellrider and 3 land (I cut the 4th pyreheart for a 22nd land just to curve out) topdeck a pyreheart. Play him out. He shocks and goes to 2, plays lingering and flashes it back.

He has 6 blockers, oh yeah, with intangible horseshit so he's swinging in the air too np.

draw a noble
I have BTE BTE Pyreheart. All my shit gets blocked. Next turn he has vault activation to go 10.... No way I can get lethal now. Unraceable combo asssembled.

IF ONLY YOU COULD BE LIKE RECKONER AND BE GOOD ALL THE TIME PYREHEART. Nah its my fault I still had pyrehearts in the deck postboard, should've just kept the spears in and I would've been good (pyreheart does shit against vigilant lingering suols and 5 human 1/1 fuckers.)

Nuwen went 4-0 though (got paired down against me in the final round so... fuck my luck today), so my reckoners got there somewhere.

Played against 5-color
control and then bug control without tragic slips... so it was a pretty scrubby fnm n I got nothing important to report.

Didn't get to troll with fog either, even when I brought them in against Dos Rakis.


Platypus to catch you up on the meta its pretty Naya heavy and definitely unflinching courage saturated. Go the Skullcrack route or sell your soul like I did and fog it up. People are geared to stop Domri since Naya plays him, between D-Sphere and Abrupt decays he can't steal as many games as he used to IMO, and he still dies to resto angel beats

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Postby Valdarith » Sat Jun 29, 2013 6:09 am

[deck]
Creatures (29)
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Hound of Griselbrand
2 Zealous Conscripts

Spells (8)
2 Pillar of Flame
4 Searing Spear
2 Rancor

Lands (23)
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Temple Garden
11 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Frostburn Weird
4 Mizzium Mortars
2 Ground Seal
3 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Rancor
2 Pillar of Flame
[/deck]

Did three 8-mans with this deck tonight and it wrecked face despite me mulliganing a lot of hands due to land flood or screw. This deck performs very well in a meta full of aggro and punches through midrange and control much more confidently than my old 18-land list. I love the Hounds! Don't miss Hellrider at all.

I found that I rarely wanted Rancor and almost always boarded them out, but then again that could be due to the number of aggro decks I faced. I
found myself wanting the Pillars in the mainboard most of the time.

Going to keep on with this list as I feel it has promise.
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Postby Link » Sat Jun 29, 2013 6:10 am

Looks like it belongs in the RAGEHAMMER thread and we can teach Kaits that Hound is the real deal! glad to hear it performed

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Postby Platypus » Sat Jun 29, 2013 8:08 am

Domri is still a no-go for me, so Skullcrack it is then. Might drop one Wolf in order to get 3 Skullcracks in the SB. That's the current plan, we'll see how it goes. Now it's time to read up on that meta...
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Postby RDW » Sat Jun 29, 2013 9:40 am

6-0 at FNM (technically 5-0-1 ID into split top-eight, but played it out and got it 2-0). The rounds were: Jund Midrange (2-1), Naya Midrange (2-0), Junk Aristocrats (2-1), American Control (2-1), UW Flash (2-1), RDW (2-0). Lots of variety and close games; not sure how my reanimator match-up is, but I think aggro decks have the edge. My decklist was:

[deck]Creatures
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Lightning Mauler
2 Firefist Striker
2 Ash Zealot
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Ghor-clan Rampager
2 Hellrider

Spells
4 Searing Spear
2 Pillar of Flame

Lands
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Temple Garden
11 Mountain

Sideboard
3 Domri Rade
3 Skullcrack
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Electrickery
2 Ash Zealot
1 Volcanic Strength
2 Gruul War Chant[/deck]

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Postby Link » Sat Jun 29, 2013 4:48 pm

Gruul fog fighting for 500 while the pros are in Miami!

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Postby Link » Sat Jun 29, 2013 4:54 pm

cut madcap for lucky 35 dudes. firefist better with pyreheart anyway right?

whoneeds reckoner.dec is a go

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Postby Link » Sat Jun 29, 2013 9:14 pm

LOLOLOLL FOG GOT THERE

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Postby Link » Sat Jun 29, 2013 9:39 pm

leave up oe green so they don't play around spearrampage

gg.

can even go farther and pretend I missed land drop precombat and fake tilt.for.rampager

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Postby Platypus » Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:07 pm

Hmm...maybe I should troll with Fogs next Saturday...

Edit: Hey, I own a Beta Fog...I totally doing this!
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Postby RDW » Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:35 am

Took the same deck to a local IQ (Arizona Magic Invitational Qualifier) to a 2-2 (into top-eight [lolz], then knocked out) finish. My rounds were: Naya Aggro (2-0), Junkcrats (1-2), Esper Control (2-1), and The Rock (1-2). Only 12 people so 2-2 got into top-eight, then played against the Junkcrats guy again and lost 1-2 again. Both of the decks I lost to prey on these BTE decks, so I'm not too upset. Some notes: I think Electrickery is too narrow. I brought it in against Junkcrats (2 Firefist Striker, 4 Stromkirk Noble -> 2 AZ, 2 Electrickery, 2 Pillar) and it failed me both times. In games 2 of each round against it, I drew 1-2 Electrickery, but he was on the mono-x/2+ plan and I just got owned; in games 3 of each round, I drew 0 Electrickery against triple- then double-Lingering Souls draws. I know this is variance, but I am considering swapping the Electrickery and Volcanic Strength for Gruul Charms. The way I see
it, Gruul Charm can do work independent of the draw they have, and it can fulfill a similar role as VS in the mirror as a 1-of. Either aggressively trade with their dudes and let Domri Rade get us some cards, or get a stalled board-state and draw the one-of in the late-game to swing through. Introducing Gruul Charm's falter effect into the board lets us bring the Gruul War Chants out (I think 5 falter-like effects is sufficient) for--perhaps--2 Traitorous Blood, which can replace the Electrickerys in the Reanimator match-up, and probably are very good against Desecration Demons. What do you all think?


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