[Primer] PyroRed

[Solemn10]

Went 3-0 at fnm tonight.
[deck]Lands 23
12 mountain
4 Blood Crypt
4 Rakdos Guildgate
3 Mutavault

Creatures 23
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Burning-tree Emissary
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Boros Reckoner

Spells 14
2 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
1 Dreadbore
1 Ultimate Price
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Sideboard 15
4 Doom Blade
3 Skullcrack
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Act of Treason
1 Dreadbore
2 Slaughter Games
[/deck]

Round 1 Vs Esper Control
2-0
1-0
Both games t1 satyr t2 burning tree into pyromancer. Swing until verdict and burn out the rest.

Round 2 Vs U/w Control
2-1
2-0
Lost game 1 to Aetherling. Game 2 he couldn't find blue and cast a turn 6 jace lol. Game 3 I saw Phoenix and all 3 skullcracks.

Round 3 Vs B/g aggro ???
2-1
3-0
He plays t1 cackler t2 lotleth troll o.O
i mortars it and he dumps his hand to make it a 4/5 and the drops a scavenging ooze to feast on the discarded cards... -.-
Game 2 he makes a t2 lotleth into a 3/4 but I Dreadbore it. He plays an ooze and plays gift of orzhova on it. Act of treason and doom blade it after attacks and lol.
Game 3 double pyromancer keeps him on the defensive and chandra +1 for the win.

Maybe the 4 doom blades in the side should be 3 doom blade and 2 dreadbore... I want to find room for at least 1 more ultimate price tho. Maybe 2 Dreadbore 2 doom blade and 1 price in the side.

[Helios]

windstrider: My current thought is that against a diverse/unknown meta, Walter White is a better choice. I'm going to give it at least another week for my shop's meta to catch up; most of the guys there are hyper competitive, so it wont be long now before our meta is blue/black/red/control.

[Calamity]

I'm definitely on the Walter White plan for paper. Chained to the rocks lets you deal with random bullshit like a T2 fleecemane into turn 3 unflinching courage.

I'm finally trying the Emmy plan with WW using MDU's most recent 75 since there's been a lot more mono U and mono B in my meta lately.

[MattT]

*Disclaimer: Theory incoming*

I just love this plastic deck. Outstanding work everyone who contributed in this thread. Here´s an attempt at Rakdos.

Somehow Tymaret feels like a sleeper. As a one of he can go that extra mile for the last few life and if they are midrange to control he´s the magic damage loop engine. Post board even more so.

YP to have to high variance to merit 4-of (as mentioned at various times in the thread) thus does it feel natural to exchange 1 for Tymaret.

I have a slight dislike of BTE builds as it´s so high variance and meta-dependent. Thus back at Ashley.

Nighthowler!? What does it do? It´s an [mana]2bb[/mana] +x/+x (x=all creature in all graveyards) enchantment that turns into a creature when the guy under dies or simply a [mana]1bb[/mana] guy. An answer to midrange and control. Why should it be a better answer than e.g.
Hammer? Well, it becomes better the longer the match goes on. Thoughtseize has a certain window until we´re in topdeck mode. Hammer eats your lands and produces a possible great number of Golems, but they might simply stand useless in front of Frostburn Weirds. 'howler turns all non-Phoenix recursing spot removal in the deck into "+1/+1 more to myself or any critter I bestow". Synergy. Those late game Cacklers and Satyrs can happily chump-sac that DD knowing 'howler will avenge them. Synergy. Pyro is a mix of agression and control play, but it does miss a fatty cog to simply battle it out with the big guys instead of always working around it with YP or spot removing. Equal to no CA. This guy is one idéa towards solving that.

[deck]Rakdos[/deck]
Creatures
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
1 Tymaret, the Murder King
3 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Phoenix

Planeswalkers
3 Chandra, Pyromaster

[b:
1fnbgn7u]Spells[/b]
4 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
1 Dreadbore
1 Ultimate Price

Lands
2 Mutavault
4 Blood Crypt
4 Rakdos Guildgate
10 Mountain
3 Swamp

Sideboard
2 Thoughtseize
1 Tymaret, Murder King
1 Dreadbore
2 Doom Blade
2 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Act of Treason
3 Nighthowler
[/deck]

[Helios]

Against a control deck game 2, are your really going to have enough creatures to make Nighthowler relevant? We're talking about decks with heaps of instant speed removal. They have far fewer answers to Hammer than to Nighthowler.

You also don't want or need 11 black sources. Especially if Nighthowler isn't a thing.

[hoeiberg]

You think Ashley is better that spike jester?

[DerWille]

I went to Thrusday night magic at a comic book store in another town. It feels like I'm rusty because I've been focusing on stuff lately. I went 2-2 piloting my PyroWhite deck with a few changes in the sideboard because I don't have all the cards.

[deck]PyroWhite[/deck]

Round 1 vs Mono-Green Devotion Fog?

---

I think this guy was testing out a new brew for the night,
but I'm not sure what it's suppose to do. I only saw a Elvish Mystic, Scavenging Ooze, Gyre Sage, and lots of fogs. Both games I was able to mana screw him by burning his elves away while Ash Zealot or [card]Chandra's Phoenix[/card] moped up. 2-0.

Round 2 vs U/W Control (Tietz's list I think)

---

I went first both of these games and I really thought I could win them, but I started noticing that I wasn't playing right. Like I wasn't thinking properly or that I'm rusty even though the last time I played was Friday. It just feels like a long, long time since I played magic last.

I make the same play mistake against this guy twice. When going against U/W Control never, ever play 2 or more copies of the same card. It turns Detention Sphere into a
miniature board wipe. In game 1 I did this was 2 Rakdos Cacklers and in game 2 I did this with 2 [card]Chandra's Phoenix[/card]es. Bad Wille, bad! I also never found a single Chandra in either of these games. A turn 4 or 5 Chandra could have kept me in the game. I really miss having the hammer main board.

Anyway, my sideboard plane for this match up was:

Sideboard: -2 Chained to the Rocks, -3 Shock, +1 Assemble the Legion, +1 Hammer of Purphoros, +3 Boros Charm

Regardless, I lost 2-0.

Round 3 vs G/R Midrange

---

This guy had no clue what I was playing. At first he thought it was a creature based sligh deck from the sligh hand I had game 1, but then I had crazy amounts of burn game 2. I didn't get the
burn I needed game 3 and probably should have mulled my opening hand. I was playing too loose. I lost this 2-1.

Game 1 I made a major misplay. No worse than that, I made a cardinal sin of aggro decks: I didn't count. I'm sitting at 14 with 2 Rakdos Cacklers, 1 Firedrinker Satyr, and 2 [card]Chandra's Phoenix[/card]es and swing with the birdies. The next turn he swings 14 exactly with Ghor-Clan Rampager in hand. Opps.

Game 2 I basically burned everything he had to the ground then stuck an Assemble the Legion which took it home for me.

Game 3 was closeish, but I didn't draw enough burn to stabilize the board.

My sideboard was:

Sideboard: -4 Firedrinker Satyr, -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Shock, +1 [card]Chained to the
Rocks[/card], +4 Mizzium Mortars, +3 Boros Reckoner, +1 Assemble the Legion, +1 Hammer of Purphoros, +2 Traitorous Instinct

Round 4 vs Esper Control

---

This guy was annoyed when I sat down to play. I think my buddy beat him with some hijinks involving large creatures and Fleetfeather Sandals. Anyway I win this one 2-1. During this series I didn't play multiple cards with the same name into Detention Sphere.

I almost take game 1. I get him down to 1 life but I don't draw a single burn spell in 3 draws and he's able to [card]Sphinx's Revelation[/card] back up when I had nothing on the field.

Game 2 I was able to out rush him and recur enough phoenixes to punch him to death.

Game
3, he was mana screwed. A control with 2 land for 3 turns is basically dead.

Sideboard: -2 Chained to the Rocks, -3 Shock, +1 Assemble the Legion, +1 Hammer of Purphoros, +3 Boros Charm

[Helios]

DerWille, care to share your list/SB? Hard to critique sb choices without it.

[DerWille]

Sure no problem. I basically copied and pasted from my thread in the clan forum. So I think I forgot to include that bit. Also, I just realized my sideboard against G/R included 2 more Traitorous Instincts. I think I took my shocks out for it.

[deck]PyroWhite[/deck]

[zemanjaski]

Anyone have experience with a Pyro build against the new Naya Control list?

Yeah currently 3-1 against it, it's basically Dega without Reckoner so a bit easier.

[Elricity]

Against a control deck game 2, are your really going to have enough creatures to make Nighthowler relevant? We're talking about decks with heaps of instant speed removal. They have far fewer answers to Hammer than to Nighthowler.

You also don't want or need 11 black sources. Especially if Nighthowler isn't a thing.

He can have 24 creatures post board which is a bit low but isn't the removal the point? He wants to get value out of his dead creatures and have a threat that instant removal has to probably kill twice.

His mana base fucks him though and doesn't even leave a tip.

Dreadbore > Doom Blade because of planeswalkers.

[Helios]

My point is that nighthowler is a sometimes giant vanilla dude, sometimes inefficient bear, who doesn't actually do much against a control deck. The stars have to align for him to be useful, whereas cards like Skullcrack, Hammer, etc. fill a specific roll in the deck. SB cards should significantly increase your chances of winning, and not be vanilla beaters that could be good or could be dead cards.

[zemanjaski]

The stars have to align for him to cast the damn thing at a relevant point in the game...

I would definitely play a singleton Bonehoard though.

[Helios]

Yea I'd play the shit out of Bonehoard. He makes everything a threat.

[InflatablePie]

The first two sets of videos which I'll upload will be the version running Act of Treason, as it stands I'm currently testing Boros Charm in its spot.

Any conclusions on this? Looks like Act saved you against big flying demons. But Charm is good against timely Verdicts. And to face an extra 4 and recur a bird. And to... do something else... what was it..
give a creature double strike?

Both are good,

Act of Treason tends to lead to 6-8 damage blowouts when the stars a line - its esp. strong against MonoBlack Devotion.

Boros Charm is very good at protecting us against sweeper effect and is always relevant (anyone who has played RBW Burn in Modern will understand how strong pointing 4 damage to face at instant speed is).

I decided I don't care much for the MonoBlack MU since I'm starting to believe rolling my face on my keyboard would be enough to win that MU, so the real question is - what is better vs B/x/x - its a tough call. (as of now I personal prefer Boros Charm but taking Act of Treason isn't bad at all)

I'm running mine with Boros Charm:

a) with a Pyro out, it's "fuck you, also I get a dude"
b) with BTE (and lack of Ashley/hastey dudes besides Phoenix), it's a
lot easier to get completely fucked by a boardwipe. Going one-drop into 2-drop+2-drop into Phoenix is fine on the play (~10 life assuming no removal) but then you're left with ~2 cards in hand to control's... more than two. on the draw you can just run into a verdict next turn and be screwed
c) helps with getting control low and just needing to topdeck a burn spell
d) splashing white only for Chained makes me feel like a bad person

I might even swap a singleton Flames in the board for a Hammer for tonight. I see way more control than I see mono-red/GR mana dorks/etc. and I'd rather have one extra card there (-3 Shock, -2 Chained // +2 'crack +2 Charm +1 Hammer - seems good to me)

[Purp]

MDU, so far how have you felt about the extra FotF in the board? Is it helping you with MonoU as much as a hammer would?

[Elricity]

My point is that nighthowler is a sometimes giant vanilla dude, sometimes inefficient bear, who doesn't actually do much against a control deck. The stars have to align for him to be useful, whereas cards like Skullcrack, Hammer, etc. fill a specific roll in the deck. SB cards should significantly increase your chances of winning, and not be vanilla beaters that could be good or could be dead cards.

Ah, thought you were saying something else other than the dies to removal argument.

Ah Bonehoard, shame the graveyard hate was so strong in Scars/Innistrad.

[Helios]

Speaking of FotF, how is the one in the main performing over shock? That was a relatively recent thing that didn't get too much discussion.

[Woj]

Anyone have experience with a Pyro build against the new Naya Control list?

Yeah currently 3-1 against it, it's basically Dega without Reckoner so a bit easier.

Yes I agree, I am 1-1 vs it. Just lost to in in a DE due to getting stuck on lands and drawing all my chains vs a stormbreath dragon. Overall not a bad MU if you draw decent and do not get owned by Anger, however you do have to eek out every point of damage/CA you can

[InflatablePie]

Speaking of FotF, how is the one in the main performing over shock? That was a relatively recent thing that didn't get too much discussion.

In theory/solo-goldfishing, sorcery speed is a bit clunky in some hands. But at the same time I can see it being useful in some matchups/situations (on the draw vs mono-red/blue usually). I think I'm gonna run it anyway though especially since I'm probably gonna opt out of the extra in the side for a Hammer, and it's better than having the Hammer in the main.

Of course, I have yet to actually playtest with MDU's list (which runs the one-of main), since I've been kinda sick this week and missed Wednesday Night Magic, but now I have Dayquil and cough drops to curb this, so I'm testing that list tonight at
FNM. I'll make a note of remembering how it did if/when I draw it.


On another note for discussion, is there a better choice in the main over the two Chained? On one hand, Chained is good/awesome in every matchup that isn't control. In some matchups (mono-Black, GR) it's the only out to big creatures. But against Control, it's completely dead (okay, you can Chain an Elspeth token, but that feels bad). In the decks running the 2 Fanatic SB, could it be more useful than the Chained? It seems meh against the control matchups, but also doesn't seem completely dead.

I'm probably keeping the Chained main anyway because it's amazing most of the time, but I thought it'd be an interesting discussion point. I'm not sure if Chained being dead in one or two matchups is worth weakening the other game 1 matchups, I just feel kind of iffy knowing my deck has sometimes completely dead cards in the main, especially in red where we don't have as many card advantage options as control, even if it's a mere
two cards.

[edit] I'll also make a note of any matchups where I'd rather have a different two-of over Chained. If it doesn't really come up then I guess it's not a huge deal.

[Elricity]

I think the choice to put 2 chained main is due to the fact that you beat the uwX matches effectively enough that 2 dead cards should have a negligible impact game 1.

[InflatablePie]

I figure, but it's worth mentioning.

It just makes me paranoid/oh dear god I hate it when I draw two Chained game 1 against Esper. Maybe I have bad luck.

[Elricity]

You could easily get away with having them all boarded if you're on modo. The meta there clearly doesn't need it.

[Pedros]

Played yesterday in daily event, 2 * 8man queue and 4 * 2 man queue.

Daily:

1. Lost vs mono red devo from nyktos into reckoner into fanatic on empty board.
2. Won vs mono black
3. Lost vs mono red devo from hammer of Purphoros (after that time I made changes (About them later) and also tried it, it is really good in mirrors for stronger later game)

2 * 8 Man Queue

Win vs Mono Red
Win vs Mono Red
Win vs Mono Black
Win vs Esper

Win vs Collosal Gruul (Extreamly good draw game 1 (cackler into 3 BTE + Striker on a play...), Game 2 punted (Act of treason on Fighting Hydra, lost by 2 damage as I couldnt chain to the rocks it after attack), Won game 3 with Act of Treason on Arbor Collosus ( overloaded mizzium mortars earlier to kill 0/3 walls, withstalkers and nyleas disciples)

Lost vs Mirror (someone from this forum I assume, as we played same lists mostly. Won game 1 after he ultimated Chandra to not find
burn, Lost game 2 and 3 to Chandra)

2man queue:

2-1 Turbo Maze - End Fog. Los game 1 when I couldnt find burn to kill him and he foged me every turn.
2-1 Mono Black
1-2 Mono Black - probably made an mistake somewhere, however in both sb games he had demon into erebos (I am like wtf it doesnt matter) into whip killing my chandra. I didnt have skullcrack, planned to control demon with recuring chandra phoenix.
1-2 vs Mono Blue - I dont know if I did something wrong, however by turn 6 he had nothing on board or in hand, I had 2 pyromancers, phoenix 3 elementals + 20 life. Topdeck Frostborn Weird, I attack with phoenix + 3 elementals, Topdeck Tidebinder Mage to tap phoenix, I draw land and dont attack. Topdeck Master of Waves, I topdeck magma jet, topdeck 2nd MAster of Waves, After magma jeting in response and seeing 2 lands, I untap draw and concede.

Game 3 on a draw following situaton:

My opp:
Frostborn Weird, 2 Islands, 5 cards in hand.

Me:
Board:
Temple of Triumph

Hand: Mountain,
Sacred Foundry, BTE, Young Pyro, Mizzium Mortars, Chandra Phoenix, Reckoner, Lightning Strike

I cast BTE and young Pyro

Next turn:

Island, Nightveil Specter

Me:

Draw chandra, Tapped foundry + mortars on Weird.

Him:
Land, Master, next turn Thassa.

What should I do on turn 2 and 3? Should I cast BTE into mortars on weird? Should I kill specter, not weird on turn 3? Or should I kill both on turn 2 and 3??

In my opinion I did wrong, and I should play BTE + mortars on 2, tapland + Strike on 3. What do you guys think?

I played MDU mainboard (version with BTE, Strikers and Flames of the Firebrand) + tweeked SB:

1 Act of Treason
1 Hammer of Puprhoros
3 Skullcracks
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Chained to the Rocks
4 Boros Reckoner
2 Fanatic of Mogis

SB Plan:

Agro:
+2 Mortars
+2 Chained
+4 Reckoner
-8 1 Drops

I am sometimes trying Hammer for something else like 1 shock or 1 firefist striker, and it is awsome for late game.

Mono B:
+2 Mortars
+2 Chained
+3 Skullcracks
+1
Act of Treason
-3 Shocks
-1 Flames of the Firebrand
-4 Magma Jet

Same as before, here also Hammer seams extremely good, and I sometimes bring it to just test it - really hard to answer presure.

Esper:
+3 Skullcracks
+1 Hammer
+1 Mizzium Mortars
-3 Shocks
-2 Chained to the Rocks

I dont take Flames of the Firebrand out, as they sometmes bring Soldier of the Pantheon for SB games, also it is very good vs Elspeth Stabilization.

RG/UG Nyktos Ramp

+4 Boros Reckoner
+2 Fanatic
+2 Chained to the Rocks
+1 Hammer
+1 Act of Treason
-8 1 Drops
-1 Flames
-1 Magma Jet

Cant decide about SB, I would love to have access to:

1 Traitorous Instinct / Act of Treason (had both times one, not the other would win me game, cant decide yet)
2 Boros Charm
3 Skullcrack
2 Chained to the Rocks
2 Mizzium Mortars
4 Boros Reckoner
2 Fanatic of Mogis
1 Hammer

It is 17 slots, will have to decide what to cut - Dont know if SB can support 3 Skullcracks AND 2 Boros Charms. Also might put hammer into
the MB over something - it is extremely good vs every kind of matchup.
Can't decide over what exactly, as I would love to have access to 12 burn.

What do you guys think about this SB plan?

Did you try hammer in agresive matchups when we try to play a control role?

As always sorry for my English for not being native speaker and for really long post.

[InflatablePie]

I'm assuming you're running MDU's current 60 main.

It was probably better to BTE into Mortars when you're trying to keep them off devotion, but hindsight is a bitch.

My sideboard is minus the Act and a Skullcrack. I could see running 'crack over Hammer if you're expecting more mono-B and Esper, Hammer if you're expecting more UWx control. You could also cut a Skullcrack and run the Act over Hammer as the one-of if you're expecting more midrange. I like Hammer personally (also turns BTE into pseudo-Zealot!), but for the mono-B heavy MODO meta 3 'crack might be better. Not sure, ask MDU or Z.

Hammer is worse in aggressive matchups because it's a do-nothing card the turn it drops, when we'd rather remove their creatures. If you want the one Hammer main I'd probably opt for that over the Flames.

[MattT]

Against a control deck game 2, are your really going to have enough creatures to make Nighthowler relevant? We're talking about decks with heaps of instant speed removal. They have far fewer answers to Hammer than to Nighthowler.

Mehaps it´s a bad idéa. Mehaps not. I don´t see that compelling arguments beyond artifact removal is rarer. Howling Phoenix = answer or face a very fast recursive clock (which is half the point). Hammering out a 3/3 is slower and not sweep resistant.

[Link]

The mana is the issue with nighthowler, because I do think it can be a pretty sweet card. Double black on 11 sources is very ambitious

Even if the mana was perfect and you cuold have either, Hammer is a much stronger card against control whereas nighthowler shines against midrange/mirror decks

[Pedros]

@InflatablePie

Yeah I agree hammer is really bad on a turn you drop it. However it also is something around the lines "Go bigger" in the new article Zemanjaski posted about red mirrors.

I will try it out and post results later.

[magicdownunder]

Speaking of FotF, how is the one in the main performing over shock? That was a relatively recent thing that didn't get too much discussion.

Its has been great, its a good answer to Nightveil Specter which I see everywhere and can do 2-4-1 vs the harder MUs.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

WARNING: RANT IN PROGRESS

I know that at first glance Flames of the Firebrand just looks bad, 3cc 3 damage sorcery speed burn can't be good esp. when you compare against other cards which may occupy its slots such as Shock, Mizzium Mortars or Hammer of Purphoros. However you'll
really need too look at your 75, you should notice that with only 75 cards you don't really have much room to take everything thus you need to pick the correct cards rather then fall into the trap of win-more cards - are you really losing against control do I need Hammer of Purphoros? Is Shock relevant in every MUs do I sometimes wish I had a higher quality burn to hit that 2/3 bugger? Is the option to hit the opp. or more creatures at once worth losing Flame Slash for?

Once you notice that Pyrored or PyroWhite already has a strong MU across the board with the only exceptions being MoW.deck (MonoU or UW) and GR (Colossal Gruul version) where we have a less then >50% chance of winning that's when you can see that Flames of the Firebrand is back breaking, nothing is better then swinging a [card]Chandra's Phoenix[/card] into [card:
3bany7u5]Nightveil Specter[/card] only to Flames of the Firebrand targeting the player, Nightveil Specter and [card]Judge's Familiar[/card] or Cloudfin Raptor.

Heck if I recall Z's latest list is running 03x Flames of the Firebrand!

[Helios]

Thanks MDU, didn't mean to start a rant just wanted some playtest info. I totally agree with you.

Going 0-2 vs junk by flooding out feels bad.

[Zooligan]

Hey Helios,

In the OP, could you put the as-of date in the deck tags for the reference builds {deck=as of 11/01/2013} or something similar please? It would help to know the last time they were updated.

[Link]

3+ FotF is definitely recommended, MBing them has really solid reasoning behind it and I know Z's earlier list always had a 1x of Flames MB.

Its just been soooo goddamn good versus mono blue and black. Mono blue is surpsingly easy to burn out ESPECIALLY because I've found most mono U playesr willl snap keep any 7 with MoW in it so they can be very slow at actually killing you, so YOURE the one that has an inevitable late game if you've punched through about 10 damage early (aka weirds didnt fuck up your early draw)

[InflatablePie]

Went 2-2/drop tonight at FNM because I'm dumb.

Match 1, Junk - lost game 1, couldn't find two more points of damage. Game 2 I just flat-out punted: lightning striked a Scooze to prevent him from eating a phoenix when he had another green mana up. Had I ignored the Ooze, I could have struck the Boon Satyr he proceeded to enchant with U-Courage. Then forgot to scry off a Magma Jet and couldn't topdeck removal... I would have sent the two cards to the bottom and hit two Chained. I don't honestly know what happened here.

Match 2, RG Bigstuff - This list had the GR hydra from DGM. I only won 2-1 because he swung in with a monstrous Polukranos as his only other creature and forgot Chandra's +1 falters. I got lucky.

Match 3, Esper - 2-0, nothing special.

Match 4, White Weenie. Same guy I played Game Day against. Where we said we wouldn't keep one-landers. He took Game 1, I took Game 2, I
kept a one-lander on the draw Game 3 (Foundry, BTE, FFS, L-Strike, three Chained to the Rocks). I missed my first 2(3?) land drops, had to L-Strike two Reckoners, and eventually I stopped topdecking removal and he overpowered me with dudes. I should have mulled but I got greedy. =/ He also boarded in Glare of Heresy, which I didn't expect, getting back two of his creatures.

Dropped because it was 4 rounds so I couldn't make top 8. Bleh. I was just off my game today. I'll blame it on still being sick and not playing Magic in a week since I missed Wednesday night.

[magicdownunder]

Went 2-2/drop tonight at FNM because I'm dumb.

Match 1, Junk - lost game 1, couldn't find two more points of damage. Game 2 I just flat-out punted: lightning striked a Scooze to prevent him from eating a phoenix when he had another green mana up. Had I ignored the Ooze, I could have struck the Boon Satyr he proceeded to enchant with U-Courage. Then forgot to scry off a Magma Jet and couldn't topdeck removal... I would have sent the two cards to the bottom and hit two Chained. I don't honestly know what happened here.

Match 2, RG Bigstuff - This list had the GR hydra from DGM. I only won 2-1 because he swung in with a monstrous Polukranos as his only other creature and forgot Chandra's +1 falters. I got lucky.

Match 3, Esper -
2-0, nothing special.

Match 4, White Weenie. Same guy I played Game Day against. Where we said we wouldn't keep one-landers. He took Game 1, I took Game 2, I kept a one-lander on the draw Game 3 (Foundry, BTE, FFS, L-Strike, three Chained to the Rocks). I missed my first 2(3?) land drops, had to L-Strike two Reckoners, and eventually I stopped topdecking removal and he overpowered me with dudes. I should have mulled but I got greedy. =/ He also boarded in Glare of Heresy, which I didn't expect, getting back two of his creatures.

Dropped because it was 4 rounds so I couldn't make top 8. Bleh. I was just off my game today. I'll blame it on still being sick and not playing Magic in a week since I missed Wednesday night.

Ouch... You might want to switch to the Ash Zealot list it seems it would do better in your more aggressive meta, keep in mind BtE is a meta call.

Here was my reasoning encased you missed it:

BtE

---

Here is my new list which I've have used to take 3/3 finishes during the DE, my rank is now back on 1900+ so you'll see more innovators preparing for large scale events.

[deck]Australian Winter[/deck]

Card Choices Explained:

PART ONE

Burning-Tree Emissary vs Ash Zealot is
highly debated, from my stand point - in a meta filled with WW, RDW, GW, Jund and Jank you shouldn't leave home without Ash Zealot, her First Strike leads to many favourable trades G1, G2 + G3 combined her with Boros Reckoner and almost nothing can get through.

However in a meta moving towards the Top4 deck lists: Mono Black Devotion, Mono Blue Devotion, Esper Control and Colossal Gruul where you can't build those types of exchanges - Burning-Tree Emissary is just better due to her ability to explode the most important turn in the match.

PART TWO

Why do I have a 3/3 split with Firefist Striker and Young Pyromancer - I don't believe Young Pyromancer to be the ultimate game winning God in every MU, sometimes you really need Firefist Striker and in
other times he is horrible. Thus 3/3 Split like the 2 Chained to the Rocks made sense to me, I don't want a full play-set of cards which can be blank in one or two MUs.

P.S. I'm uploading one set as we speak - ever since I foiled my deck though I notice the file sizes increased into 2-3 gig range, I might need to change the way I do things and upload more then 1-set per day.

Based on Z's last post on MTGS I'm sure he went through the topic quite allot as well.

[InflatablePie]

Yeah, I might go back to Ashley. Emily did perform well enough tonight though, relevant body and either dropping lots of power or having a body + removal came in handy.

Having access to FFS was also not completely necessary in my matches though, so I might just switch back to standard PyroWhite. Maybe with a 3/1 split of YP$+FFS. Dunno yet.

[RaidaTheBlade]

Went 4-1 with my weird-ass overburn build, for 5th place. (tiebreakers be damned)

[deck='Overburn'?]
Creatures:
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Ash Zealot
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Phoenix

Burn:
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
4 Shock
4 Mizzium Mortars

Thighs:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Land:
21 Mountain
1 Mutavault


Sideboard:
3 Act of Treason
2 Skullcrack
4 Boros Reckoner
1 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Frostburn Weird
[/deck]


Game 1, I lost 2-0 to a dega deck I could have beat, but played a not-suitable hand game 1 cause I didn't know it was dega, and game 2 I lost by not finding the last burn.
0-1 (0-2)

Game 2, I was up against a sliver aggro, and just burned him off his ass both games. Nothing special.
1-1 (2-0)

Game 3, I faced a monored aggro! It was pretty much how you'd expect. I burned him out and then came in with phoenix and chandra. Nothing
fancy.
2-1 (2-0)

Game 4, I played the aggro mirror again. It was a red devotion deck, really similar to what I played last week. Game 1 he got me by 2 life. Game 2 and 3 my sideboard did work, and I basically just burned him out and walled him out, then phoenix, burn, and chandra for the win.
3-1 (2-1)

Game 5, I was up against a b/g control build. Had some okay removal, but I just went too fast game 1 and then used phoenix and chandra recursion to stop the demon, and game 2 I had both young pyro to stop his demon and an act of treason to use it against him.
4-1 (2-0)

[Calamity]

Went 1-2 drop at FNM, got fucked by variance. Playing MDU's most recent 75.

Round 1: Mono U Devotion 1-2
Game 1 he manages to get lots of devotion on the board because i drew no burn, and manages to resolve a master of waves with 5 devotion and Thassa on the board. Game 2 I go BTE BTE turn 2, phoenix turn 3, reckoner turn 4, and fanatic for 10 damage of turn 5 and he scoops. Game 3 I draw my 7, one lander and lowest cmc is 3. Next hand, no land, Draw 5, nothing, go down to four and keep and lose by not drawing more than one land. After he reported we played some casuals and of course i fucking stomp him 3-0 easy in preboard games. The guy was pretty chill so it was all good though.

Round 2: BW midrange 2-1
My friend was playing this, it's a really strange deck, looking through it afterwards it seemed like white weenie with shit like soldier of the pantheon and precinct captian but it also had desecration demon,
doomblade, hero's downfall, and Obzedat. Wat

Game one I'm on the beatdown and the only permanent he manages to cast is a desecration demon, which I chain to the rocks and he scoops while i have lethal on board. Game 2 he plays 2 soldiers of the pantheon, which I can't block with the only two creatures I've drawn this game I can cast (drew both fuckin' mutavaults); Reckoner and BTE. By the time I manage to cast something else he's got out a Whip of Erebos and resolves an Obzedat. Game 3 I get a fast start with BTE and firefist striker and beat him down while burning everything he plays, finishing him off with a fanatic of Mogis for 4 or so

Round 3: RG Devotion 0-2
Game One i have to mull to 5 and draw nothing. Game Two I get two reckoners and a pyromancer on the board while he's got a BTE, ash zealot and frostburn weird. Then he plays anger of the gods (what the FUCK? who plays that card in a deck with this many creatures?) and I draw land for the rest of the game while he uses nykthos to power
out a stormbreath dragon on 3 lands and i die.

Overall pretty shitty, but I bought a Marsh Flats for 30 bucks with store credit I've been saving from my winnings with some left over, so it wasn't a complete loss.

BTE lead to some seriously ridiculous starts, I'm glad I switched over when I did. Ashley's a great gal for going steady but damn Emmy and her friends make sure the red zone party never stops!

I was looking around the tables and there's a decent amount of mono black, i just managed to not play any of it tonight.

Not even mad

[Keftenk]

2nd place FNM; 32 attendees: 5-0 in Swiss

[deck]
Creatures
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
3 Young Pyromancer
3 Firefist Striker
4 Burning-Tree Emissary

Other Spells
2 Chained to the Rocks
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Shock
1 Flames of the Firebrand

Planeswalkers
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Lands
2 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
12 Mountain

Sideboard
1 Assemble the Legion
4 Boros Reckoner
2 Chained to the Rocks
1 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Skullcrack
2 Boros Charm
1 Flames of the Firebrand
[/deck]

I decided to try and run a list something like magicdowunder's after a week of testing PyroRed and then always returning to PyroBoros. This seemed like a good middle ground level that may push me towards one or
the other. I don't have very detailed match write ups, it was a long night of 8 rounds X.x;; but I do have some thoughts...

Match 1 vs GR Ramp: 2-0 (otD)
Match 2 vs Devotion to Black: 2-0 (otD)
Match 3 vs BW Midrange: 2-0 (otP)
Match 4 vs GR Aggro: 2-1 (otD)
Match 5 vs Big Boros: 2-0 (otP)

Top8 Match 1 vs GR Aggro: 2-1 (otD)
Top8 Match 2 vs UW Control: 2-0 (otP)
Top8 Match 3 vs BW Midrange: 1-2 (otD)

* I never was able to get use out of any of my Firefist Strikers until Match 5.
* In Match 3 I was able to do a BTE > YP once and a BTE > Lightning Strike 2 turns later, other wise I didn't get any chains of any kind with BTE until Match 5, when BTE > FFS and BTE > YP was rolling straight over and through my opponent.
* I never once saw Flames of the Firebrand, so I can''t say
anything about it really other then I didn't see any value from it because I never got to play it.
* FFS definitely produces a different kind of board-presence than Ash Zealot did 2 weeks ago for me. My opponents almost instantly dealt with it if I had 1 or 2 other creatures out and ready to start swinging in.
* Lost my last match because the Whip kept recurring dead Sin Collectors, ultimately taking my Mizzium Mortars I needed for Blood Baron in Game 2 In Game 3, I couldn't do shit against Obzedat.
* Obzedat is a thing. I think we all knew this. It won Game3 for my opponent...
* I'm absolutely terrible at rolling dice lol...


I'm torn whether I want to continue playing BTE and FFS or run Ash Zealot. Honestly, I felt the lack of power from my YP's that I had 2 weeks ago by just having 1 less. I understand that's pretty tough to make a decision like that, but those tokens are so incredible. I also had no problems
casting Assemble the Legion, but honestly it was only boarded in for 3 of my matches, which I only saw it in my UW Control match up. My opponent was dead though by the time I got 1 counter on it. Just thinking about casting a 5MC on 22 lands is a bit frightening...

I did miss swinging Ash Zealot and seeing them block with Polukranos, hitting it with Lightning Strike on block to keep my Ash Zealot alive. Instead, I relied on top decking or having Chained to the Rocks in my hand...

Ultimately it snagged me a Promo Grisly Salvage and 8 packs, which I proceeded to open to garbage. Temple of Deceit being the card with the most value ;\

[Helios]

Good work everyone! Glad to see that most folks did well. I went 4-1 with Walter White for 4th, $30 worth of store credit minus the $10 entry fee. My only loss was to Junk, pretty much due to mana flood (which was fair, because I won the last match we played due to him flooding). Full report tomorrow.

Last game, my Esper opponent and i were both 3-1 going in and it was game three - his only card in hand was Rev and it was turn ~15. Waited til he cast the Rev and put it away with Shock and Lightning Strike good times.

[magicdownunder]

Woot! Good wins Keftenk & Helios, I took my first important 1-2 drop in weeks today (the inf. streak is over) - giving me a reason to rework the side boards.