Dies to Removal

Yeah i've gone away from YP$ too, SBD seems better, given it plays more naturally into the strategy post board and works in the same matchups.

Oh no no no it doesn't

Dragon seems pretty good against UW. You just burn them out EOT and entice a counter, then slam a Dragon when they're tapped out and force them to either have an Elspeth or die. They're not going to be playing Celestial Flare against us postboard.

I am going to try out some stuff at two games nights this week before the GPT this weekend. I think I am starting to over think the deck unfortunately.

I *may* have had some impact upon the metagame over the last few weeks.

http://mtgo-stats.com/archetypes/Standard/RW1

I am definitely going a bit crazy on this deck. I know it is doing well and all is fine, just getting a bit frustrated I think.

The local Super IQ had a fare bit of RW. Still ended up having more mono black though I think.

Back to brewing "creatureless" variants.

Maybe I am sick of winning so much. Is that a thing?

Zem, remember a week ago when we were all focused on finding the optimal 60th card? That was a sign we had the optimal list...

Barring changes to the meta (which seem to be happening a little, at least) I don't think the deck needs many changes.

Aye for Creatureless.

I think I have just had a downswing in fortune online.

OK, but I still like 3 Chained, 3 Searing Blood, 3 Shock configuration.

[deck=Zemanjaski's Boros Burn as at 6:03pm on 18-March-14]
Creatures
4 Ash Zealot
4 Chandra's Phoenix

Enchantments
3 Chained to the Rocks

Instants
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Searing Blood
3 Shock
4 Skullcrack
4 Warleader's Helix

Lands
3 Boros Guildgate
9 Mountain
3 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
[/deck]

I think I am having panic attacks because I am not able to build competent sideboard plans. Someone help me.

Here is what I want to achieve:

vs. UWx Control
OUT: 3 Chained, 3 Searing Blood (if possible, reduce the number of Shocks too)

vs. MBC
OUT: 4 Ash Zealot

vs. GR Monsters and Mono U
OUT: 4 Ash Zealot, 4 Skullcrack (reduce number of Boros Charm if possible, unless we're using Satyr Firedancer)

Those are really the only decks I expect to face. Maybe some dumb GW Aggro or Mono Black Aggro deck, but those are mostly squash matches.

Build me a competent sideboard for that please.

[deck]1 Chained to the Rocks
3 Viashino Firstblade
2 Blind Obedience
4 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Mutavault
1 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Searing Blood[/deck]

V Esper, + 4 FDS, + 1 Vault, + 1 Dragon, + 3 Firstblade. Optional + 2 BlOb if they run obzedat/baron for 2 magama jet.

V MBC, + 1 Dragon, +1 Chains, + mortars. + BlOb if you're comfortable with the longer games. You can also bring in either satyrs or firstblades if/when they board out there removal.

V RG/Mono Blue, + 2 mortars, +2 Blob, + 1 Searing Blood, +1 Chain, +1 Vault, +1 Dragon. Land for overload mortars and to cast dragon.

Thanks mate.

Your opinion on Firedancer plan vs. Mortars plan?

I know what mortars does. I've played it before and thus it's safe.

I intellectually know what firedancer does and how dominating the card can be, but it's inherent variance scares me.

[deck]
1 Chained to the Rocks
3 Viashino Firstblade
2 Blind Obedience
4 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Mutavault
1 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Searing Blood
[/deck]

This sideboard has too much for control, and not enough against GR? Saying that, Firstblade seems like it should be good against Monsters if you can get it down before Polukranos.

[deck]
2 Blind Obedience
1 Chained to the Rocks
3 Mizzium Mortars
1 Mutavault
1 Searing Blood
2 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Viashino Firstblade
2 UNKNOWNS
[/deck]

You can afford to play more Mortars because it next levels UW's creature package and BBoV?

One/two of the unknowns become Monsters cards if you don't want Mutavault or Searing Blood. Maybe have two slots for the mirror, Annihilating Fire or something unexciting?

Well, actually, I expect to face Esper, GR and Mono U at the GPT. Can someone build me a SB with plans for those decks? I won't face any mirrors in paper. I am kinda burned out and don't want to think about magic deeply for a day or two.

Well, actually, I expect to face Esper, GR and Mono U at the GPT. Can someone build me a SB with plans for those decks? I won't face any mirrors in paper. I am kinda burned out and don't want to think about magic deeply for a day or two.

Assuming this list:

[deck]Creatures (8)
4 Ash Zealot
4 Chandra's Phoenix

Enchantments (2)
2 Chained to the Rocks

Instants (27)
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Searing Blood
3 Shock
4 Skullcrack
4 Warleader's Helix

Lands (23)
3 Boros Guildgate
9 Mountain
3 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard (15)
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Blind Obedience
2 Chained to the Rocks
4 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Spark Trooper
3 Viashino Firstblade[/deck]

VS Esper:
IN: 3
Viashino Firstblade, 4 Firedrinker Satyr, 2 Spark Trooper
OUT: 3 Shock, 2 Chained to the Rocks, 4 Searing Blood

VS Gr:
IN: 2 Spark Trooper, 2 Blind Obedience, 2 Chained to the Rocks, 2 Mizzium Mortars
OUT: 4 Ash Zealot, 4 Skullcrack

VS Mono U:
IN: 2 Spark Trooper, 2 Chained to the Rocks, 2 Mizzium Mortars
OUT: 4 Ash Zealot, 2 Skullcrack

This is what I'd do -

[deck]
4 Firedrinker Satyr
3 Satyr Firedancer
1 Chained To The Rocks
3 Viashino Firstblade
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Blind Obedience[/deck]

And why

Here is what I want to achieve:

vs. UWx Control
OUT: 3 Chained, 3 Searing Blood, -1 Shock (if possible, reduce the number of Shocks too)
IN: 4 Firedrinker Satyr 3 Viashino Firstblade

The Control match up is favourable. This plan is tried and tested by a lot of people, including you You mentioned giving away points
against it the other day so I don't think that the extra Vault is needed; it's nice but it's not essential. SBD is fantastic against UW but against Esper it's not so good and as the match up is already favourable I don't think it's needed. Again it's nice but it's not essential.

vs. MBC
OUT: 4 Ash Zealot 1 Shock - if they are running NVS
IN: 3 Viashino Firstblade 1 Chained To The Rocks 1 MM - if they are running NVS

I've noticed a definite shift away from LBZ back to NVS in which case I like VFB over Ash. I like a singleton MM over a Shock for NVS (hate how it walls off my Phoenix) but this is purely a personal preference. I prefer Ash to VFB if they are running LBZ. I've also noticed that MonoB is learning not to go all in on Pack Rat against us and that discard over
removal post SB is good and no-one runs DIS at the moment in which case I can see an argument for bringing in FDS and leaving Ash in too. By 'can see an argument' I mean that I think it may merit testing not that I think it is right.

vs. GR Monsters and Mono U
OUT: 4 Ash Zealot, 4 Skullcrack 2 Vs MonoU(reduce number of Boros Charm if possible, unless we're using Satyr Firedancer)
IN: 2 Blind Obedience (Vs GR only) 2 Mizzium Mortars 3 Satyr Firedancer 1 Chained

This is based on your plan Vs GR, a match up that you've improved to 50/50. I like BO and MM and I personally like SFD (I'd run 4 and 1 MM myself). I do like SBD but I don't feel that a single SBD will have a significant impact on the match up to warrant it's inclusion. I may be wrong of course.

Against MonoU SFD is insane. Unless they deal with it they just lose. I don't think BO is as good here as against GR but again I may be wrong.
n
Those are really the only decks I expect to face. Maybe some dumb GW Aggro or Mono Black Aggro deck, but those are mostly squash matches.

MonoB aggro is easy and SFD wrecks GW so you're covered there too

Lazerburn that's the exact 15 I have laid out infront of me, hahaha.

Lazerburn that's the exact 15 I have laid out infront of me, hahaha.

Glad to know I'm on the right track

Dragon seems pretty good against UW. You just burn them out EOT and entice a counter, then slam a Dragon when they're tapped out and force them to either have an Elspeth or die. They're not going to be playing Celestial Flare against us postboard.

I do, dragon or no dragon

I say try Dragon. I will be testing it tomorrow night. This deck needs creatures for pressure and they all should have haste (IMHO). Haste creatures + 800 burn spells = your opponent shitting their pants.

I would be in the market for one more threat maindeck. Dragon is the most appealing option its true.

I might be completely off, but shouldn't s/b be to beef up the matches we have problems with? That's how I've always done it, and it has worked very well in the past. I brought a less than optimal version of this deck before I found you guys to the PTQ in tampa, with a s/b that focused on the matchups I knew were bad -- b/w and g/r and such. As we've continued to tweak it over the last few weeks, the s/b feels to me that we've given a large bias to control and g/r. G/r is definitely still a rough matchup, with our odds improving if we get to play first. But b/w and hexproof are such bad matchups, that it almost feels we need to combat that. My s/b right now is aimed toward control, g/r monsters, and b/w midrange. I've lost so much to hexproof, I'm close to saying F it and putting glaring spotlight in there. Our main deck is solid against the majority of the meta, and doesn't need a whole lot of changes. If we devote
the s/b to the matchups that we already have a disadvantage against, doesn't that improve the over-all consistency of our wins? I'm almost fine saying that we just can't beat hexproof, but is that true with glaring spotlight? I think if we draw it we have a chance. In the 75 we've been using for a while, we can't beat whip/obz. With wear/tear and fated conflag we have a chance at least. I'm nowhere near as good as a lot of you are, and you all generally get in a good bit of testing more than me, but if we could improve our worst matchups without *too* drastically hurting our other matchups, doesn't that improve the deck overall? I'm not saying the choices for my s/b are 100% correct, but I have noticed an increase in my win % against matchups that previously we abysmal. Thoughts? (note: fated conflag is strictly worse than mortars, but at least it hits obz/baron/sbd/angel, not just baron/sbd/angel). Also my testing with dragon has been great. I'm only running a 1 of in the main, and I almost never
draw it opening hand and it always comes when I've got 4 land down, so even land is a live draw.

@Jonnymagic I agree with you. That's why I think FDS is winning more on a already favorable MU. Those 4 slots could be allocated for tougher MU's, that's why FDS are not in my 75. I could be wrong with this, but I have a feeling that hex proof is going to make a push.

1(?) Maindeck Dragon on 23 land, or with the 4th Mutavault/24 land?

[deck]One Dragon, Twenty Four Land[/deck]

With the 4 FDS slots in the Sideboard in contention, seeing as though the maindeck is pushed towards beating control. Maybe +1 Mortars, +3 YP$/Firedancer?

I personally would not play SBD, unless I had 24 lands, and that's why I went to 24 lands. Regarding SB, I went +1 Mortars, +1 BO, and +2 Wear/Tear. My store I have noticed an increase in Aura/Bestow decks and Whips. Wear/Tear handles all 3. One of those numbers will change, because I might side in an extra SBD (if testing is positive).

Two on 23 is fine.

Lightning_Dolt have you tested that yet, because I at times, have been stuck on 4 lands for awhile. That's not a problem for the current build, but add 2 5 drops and JohnnyfnB gets beat by his own deck. : (

Remember sb is also for their sb. Even yoj are favored game 1 after sb tides might change. Being able to improve chances after sb is also important.

What are problematic decks for this deck? I would say naya hexproof is one and only as Zem says every other deck is quite favorable. If deck is well positioned in the metagame (50%+ win) game 1it is better with securing the win after sb than trying to sb stuff for mediacore deck choices.

Most likely Z will face:
B or Bw control
Uw or esper control
U or uw devotion
Gr or jund monsters

And then some mediacore decks in:
Ahite based wheenies
Gw agro
Mono black agro
Red based devotion
Naya hexproof
Green based devotion
Junk reanimator

Only problematic decks from this list would be naya hexproof and junk reanimator.

For the first one you would need glaring spotlight, celestial flare or anger of the gods. However they arent reliable answers if they manage to put
something. Forlifegain you still have skullcracks.

Junk reanimator might be hard as they have really big bodies with whip of erebos. Blind obedience solves half of whip problems (reanimate does not work as intended) plus it stops obzedat. I dont really know if you want to run any gv hate in sb...

G/R, Jund has the potential to be a tough match up. B/W Mid is also a tough match up. Hex is very tough. Junk Reanimator isn't a popular deck yet, but can cause problems, especially if you don't have a way to remove Whip.

Logged back in, won six straight matches and 10 packs. Still got it.

Never liked two 5s on 23 land, but that is mostly personal preference.

Logged back in, won six straight matches and 10 packs. Still got it.

Never liked two 5s on 23 land, but that is mostly personal preference.

Keep rocking Zem, your our digital hero! Have you tried SBD yet? If not, will you?

Lightning_Dolt have you tested that yet, because I at times, have been stuck on 4 lands for awhile. That's not a problem for the current build, but add 2 5 drops and JohnnyfnB gets beat by his own deck. : (

We have used two dragons on 23 land for a year and a half in our clan.

I've actually played a decent amount of the b/g deck, and its not a terrible matchup. I have wear/tear in my s/b so it makes that matchup even better. The problem matchups are g/r (and sort of jund), b/w, and hexproof. Those are the three hardest matchups. I've tuned my s/b to playing those decks since they are the most trouble. There is tremendous incidental s/b value in other matchups, but my win % has increased against the ones that I had the most trouble. If I can pull the bad matchups up 10-15% I'm more than happy to take a 2-5% less against the decks I have not really had issues with. @pedros I 100% agree that post board is a much different game, but our deck is so versatile its easy to make them s/b poorly or even terribly. We have the option to completely blank removal, or go more creature heavy. We have the option of racing, controlling, tempo-ing (word? is now haha), or even grinding out the long game.

I will try the dragon, but I won't have time before the weekend.

If I had to add 1 MD threat, it would be Spark Trooper over SBD. A) 4 mana is easier to acheive B) I believe it is much more inline with our G1 plan C) I don't think SBD as a 1 of will truely increase our problem matchups D) Spark Trooper helps us vs GR, Hex and Mono U