SCG Elite IQ 3-3 drop
[deck]4 Ash Zealot
4 Hellrider
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Stromkirk Noble
3 Stonewright
3 Pyreheart Wolf
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
20 Mountain
2 Hellion Crucible
2 Brimstone Volley
4 Searing Spear
4 Pillar of Flame
SB: 3 Volcanic Strength
SB: 4 Boros Reckoner
SB: 2 Traitorous Blood
SB: 2 Legion Loyalist
SB: 4 Mizzium Mortars
[/deck]
Round 1 vs. Golgari something
Lost to a homebrew round 1. I won the dice roll, but he had removal for days, so I put him on Golgari control. Except he threw down Lotleth trolls. It was a grindy game, going back and forth until I have a choice, chump my noble or go down to 1 and hope to draw the 4th land for hellrider (or something to that effect). So I don't chump, and figure I can lethal him with the extra trigger for noble, but then he throws down another thragtusk. Then we stalemate for awhile, I finally draw
into Pyreheart and am abotu to alpha for the win, but he draws a tragic slip for the noble and I don't have enough blockers while at 1 life, gg.
Board in 2 traitorous bloods, 4 reckoners, and 2 mortars for nighthawks or whatever. Take out the slow nobles and the pillars because I'm not afraid of lotleth troll and would be happy for him to discard creatures
Take out pillars because I figure he'll board out Lotleth troll (he never discarded anything to it, so I wasn't too worried about it anyway), and G2 I curve out with Cackler, Zealot, LM+Cackler, Hellrider.
G3 I keep a two cackler hand, he throws down a T2 Strangleroot geist. I pretty much scooped there because I had no pillars, and he threw down a second one after a VNH and a lotleth troll.
Off to a great start.
Round 2 vs. Esper Control
This is the same guy from states that I got a game loss against for being in the bathroom. He talked to me more this time and turns out he's actually very chill guy.
nG1 He doesn't stumble and I'm just not fast enough to pressure him in time. I think he got some augurs and resto angels out, so I was less afraid of a board wipe, but I just couldn't get him down. Once he Sphinx'd for 3 I knew it was going south.
-4 Pillars
I realized I don't have much at all in my SB for control MUs, and wished I had put hound in. Then remembered I've bloodrushed hound with GCR and I can never go back to just vanilla hound. I think I throw in some mortars and two 2 bloods for his creatures.
This game I misplay badly. I have 2/2 noble and cackler, he had just cast lingering souls. My hand is Ash Zealot, Hellion crucible, land. I throw down ash zealot to get in for two extra damage, when I could've charged up a crucible instead. I knew he could have a verdict, but for some reason I thought stopping him from stalling with souls would be more important. What I should've realized is stalling is useless when I'm charging up the Demon.
He untaps, throws down a land and verdicts.
I spend the next two turns charging a crucible and throwing downa lone pyreheart. WAAAAAAAAAY too slow. If i had been charging crucicble and hitting with ash zealot, it would've made literally all the difference.
He gets blood baron out. I draw a thundermaw, think about it, and swing. He had flashed back two think twices at this point, so the CA was getting too much. I knew he had an answer to thundermaw, and my outs were few. He goes down to 7 life, swings with blood baron and goes up to 11. My friend watching said I should've kept the maw back to block, I said that was stupid. Stalling a board against Esper? Yeah fucking right.
I proceed to rip the second thundermaw in my deck after that, swing for 10 he went to 1! Nah just kidding, he had far and away waiting for it and I scooped.
Round 3 vs. GB Control (for real this time)
Hate this frickin deck. G1 was close but he gets out two thragtusks and I have to start saccing all my shit to desecration demon. Thanks ot his
lifegain (mono black control really shouldn't have access to that much lifegain), Thundermaw was dead in my hand because he had lethal with the demon next turn. Should've ran LP's list with the conscripts ;P
-4 Pillars
+2 TBloods
+2 Reckoners
G2 he has all swamps, and I'm sitting pretty. He slips and victim of nights some things, but I'm still gettnig in. I get pyreheart down, he goes desecration demon, I'm fine to race. I have him at lethal with hellrider next turn.....he throws down a woodland cemetery, and thragtusk. WHY IS IT SINGLE GREEN. Fuck. I had a few nobles to sac to his desecration demon and everything while I got in for damage, but now the game's just out of reach for me.
0-3, play on NP right? My friend playing 20 land Mono R with BTE combo is 3-0.
Round 4 vs. Junk Rites
So this guy, we're literally at this lone table with no other players in the back, and I'm joking it up, because I
want to haev a good time at least. I tell him about the junk rites deck that took me down after a mull to 5, and he smirks and I can tell that's the decks HES on. I laugh to myself and we go into it.
I think he just kept some really shitty hands and didnt' care, because I just rolled over him. He kept like land+thragtusk both games or something, with some salvages or mulches. Pyreheart didn't blink at the G1 thrag.
-4 Nobles
-1 Hellion Crucible (21 land 2 hellkites? NP!)
-1 Searing Spear
+2 T Bloods
+4 Reckoners
G2 Stonewright shines bright as fuck finally! I get him with the wombo combo, Stonewright+LM Soulbound friends. T4 I don't have a play? (hand was tblood+LM) that's ok! Stonewright+LM swing pump=7 damage. Awww yeah.
He throws down his thragtusk, I have 5 land. Traitorous blood thragtusk? Soulbound my LM to YOUR thragtusk? Extend hand.
At least I'm having fun now.
Round 5 vs. Gruul Midrange
I don't know what this guy's on, and mull to 6. Keep a
hand of pillar pillar, spear, hellrider. Sure w/e.
He plays out two strangleroot geists, haha! He's got some hellriders, I got some spears. I finally kill him with two of my own hellriders, but it sure was a bloodbath. Didn't see any gyre sages or silverhearts.
-4 Nobles
-4 Cacklers
-1 Hellion (who needs to curve out!? Can't msis my reckoner drop!)
-4 Lightning Mauler
+4 Reckoners
+3 VS
+4 Mortars
+2 TBloods
Hey that's all my SB isn't it?
I mull to 6 again and keep a hand of pillar, mortars, 4 land. Sure why not!
He lands BTE into Boar, I throw down Ash Zealot with VS to block. I'm holding off on mortars to overload it since I have 5 land.
Instead of the 6th land... I keep drawing mortars! I start mortaring his board down, but with hellrider he gets me to 7 life. I drew two mortars, and then FINALLY overloaded the 3rd one I kept back to kill a hellrider and a BTE and start swinging with my Zealot
16-7.
He throws downa Rampager. I didn't know it at the time, but he had
an armed/dangerous in his hand! I flip over the FOURTH mortars. More evidence that pile shuffling is bullshit. I apologize and swing out with hellrider and zealot.
He draws another green sources, but it just isn't enough. he shows me a strangleroot geist and the armed... that would've been just 6 damage. Ow.
I'm on a streak now!!
Round 6 vs. Aristocrats
We both flip over cards, I think mine was a spear, while shuffling. I first see Zealous conscripts then gear up for a mirror/naya/aristocrats, but he lifts his deck up to riffle and I see a sacred foundry on one half and a blood crypt on the other. Juicy juicy intel!!!
G1 he throws down a reckoner and I bide my time in dealing with it, I'm at 17 so I know I won't die to Bact, and I spear his priest instead (because I had hellkite in hand and demons suck). He lingering souls and flashes them back, I throw down hellkite! VALUEEEEEEEEETOWNNNNNNN He shows the slip. Oh ok.
Hellion crucible gets cracked for more
value. My board was huge, it was like 1/1 noble, pyreheart wolf, ash zealot, 4/4 crucicble, 1/1 noble. I'm biding my time while he's topdecking nothing relevant (he had a blood artist reckoner, aristocrat out I think). I go hellrider after EoT cracking crucible, count 6 triggers. He scoops. Yay wolf!
Hmmm I think I board in some VS and maybe some mortars for nobles. Oh and my own reckoners for maulers so his acts are dead. Also legion loylaists, but I didn't get to see him and the ultimate combo of stonewright+Loyalist
Ash Zealot+Stonewright makes an appearance in G2!! Course he sacs the priest to the aristocrat for pro red to kill my zealot, NOPE spear! He slips my zealot I think.
Now my board is just two stonewrights soulbound (lulz), because I drew all 3 this game. I pound away at him with cackler too, get him to 4 and cast my first brimstone volley of the tournament (he chumped cackler with aristocrat)
wheeeeee! Comeback king!
My friend comes up to me. "Did you drop?" "
No I'm on a roll!"
"we're fuckign leaving I ust lost to JUNK RITES AGAIN."
So sadly I pack up and go. He rants abotu the asshat he played against who he had to mull to 4 against g2 and junk rites went: Voice-> Voice-> Trostani -> Thragtusk.
yeah fuck that shit.
Thoughts:
I like stonewright, and I saw a list in saint louis with gruul place top 16 with stoneys, so I might try that out. I'm much more comfortable with Gruul, and hellkite was pretty underwhelming, but I haven't played enough with it to say. I don't think I got a single hellkite to connect all tournament, besides the esper guy I raced. LP's list looks a lot more solid with MB mortars, more land (aka less greed), and Zealous Conscripts.
I'd try this build out more, but I felt kinda gross with my gruul dice and gruul deckbox playing mono red, plus Nuwen is using Ash Zealots and Hellkites in Dos Rakis. Her aristocrats are ni the mail so I could play one last time with MonoR this season, and I can't say
it was bad. I think I just had awful matchups (GB control) and misplayed due to inexperience against Esper.
We got home and I re-sleeved my gruul and she proxyd some cards, and I lost pretty much every game she got stonewright out. Being able to use mana efficiently is just too sexy, plus those games where she got low, burned me out of steam, then was able to two-turn clock me with a soulbound flier is huge. So the elements of this deck put into the dos rakis shell are amazing, which I think is its weakness.
Is hellion crucible really worth not splashing another color? Black is just awesome for aristocrats and dreadbore (this deck DOES get wrecked by reckoner often still), and Green for rampager and speed.
Hellion is a bit slow for the format, but when you're playing a mirror and are burning them out, its like no other. Or against any deck that goes topdeck mode tbh, I'm sure it has huge game against Jund and even UWr.
Its hard to say, but I think the mana is just a bit
too[/i:
2q6yu3nc] good to justify playing MonoR for consistency.