Dies to Removal

Planeswalkers bro.

What about Risen Executioner?

The deck was just awful for me. There were times I went Dragon Fodder into Raise the Alarm into Stoke and felt like a real boy, bout it turns out Butcher still dies to everything, Outpost Siege still gets countered and Green Midrange decks are still stronger. I lost to Abzan midrange ( Siege Rhino is still very good), Ojutai Bant (Dromoka's Command making Butcher fight Hornets nest did me) and Esper Dragons (If you can't crackle, SDD beats your entire deck). They play bile blight and drown in sorrow and virulent plague too.

Deck Tech: http://www.starcitygames.com/events/cov ... by_jo.html

The SCG list beat Esper several times.

I played the Chapin / Flores list this weekend and was not impressed. I am going to play the list from the open that finished top 16 if I go to GP Toronto this weekend.

Brews from the open:

[deck=Mardu Aggro by Benjamin Nikolich, 10th Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/24/2015]

Creatures (18)
3 Akroan Hoplite
3 Brutal Hordechief
2 Butcher of the Horde
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Seeker of the Way

Spells (18)
4 Chained to the Rocks
2 Crackling Doom
2 Lightning Strike
4 Stoke the Flames
2 Wild Slash
4 Hordeling Outburst



Planeswalkers (1)
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Lands (23)
4 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Caves of Koilos
1 Mana Confluence
4 Nomad Outpost
3 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard (15)
2 Hushwing Gryff
2 Crackling Doom
2 Erase
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Arc Lightning
2 Glare of Heresy
3 Thoughtseize[/deck]

[deck=Mardu Midrange by Derek Campbell, 22nd Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/24/2015]
Creatures (10)
4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury

Spells (22)
4 Chained to the Rocks
4 Crackling Doom
2 Lightning Strike
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Hordeling Outburst





Planeswalkers (3)
3 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Lands (25)
6 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Caves of Koilos
4 Nomad Outpost
4 Temple of Silence
4 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard (15)
2 Hushwing Gryff
3 Erase
1 Utter End
1 Valorous Stance
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Liliana Vess
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Thoughtseize[/deck]

[deck= Mardu Midrange by Jon Goss, 33rd Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/24/2015]
Creatures (21)
2 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Soulfire Grand Master
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells (13)
3 Chained to the Rocks
4 Crackling Doom
2 Fated Conflagration
4 Lightning Strike





Planeswalkers (1)
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker

Lands (25)
5 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Caves of Koilos
4 Nomad Outpost
1 Temple of Malice
1 Temple of Silence
4 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard (15)
3 Hushwing Gryff
2 Erase
1 Utter End
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Glare of Heresy
3 Thoughtseize[/deck]

[deck=Mardu Midrange by Robert Palevac, 38th Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/24/2015]
Creatures (23)
3 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Wingmate Roc

Spells (10)
4 Crackling Doom
2 Murderous Cut
4 Thoughtseize





Planeswalkers (2)
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Lands (25)
3 Mountain
2 Plains
2 Swamp
3 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Caves of Koilos
4 Nomad Outpost
4 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard (15)
2 Bile Blight
2 Erase
1 Utter End
1 Valorous Stance
1 Arc Lightning
2 Drown in Sorrow
1 End Hostilities
3 Glare of Heresy
2 Read the Bones
[/deck]

[deck= Mardu Midrange by Richard Nguyen, 41st Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/24/2015]

Creatures (21)
2 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Soulfire Grand Master
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells (13)
3 Chained to the Rocks
4 Crackling Doom
4 Lightning Strike
1 Murderous Cut
1 Utter End



Planeswalkers (1)
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker

Lands (25)
5 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Caves of Koilos
4 Nomad Outpost
1 Temple of Malice
1 Temple of Silence
4 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard (15)
3 Hushwing Gryff
2 Erase
1 Utter End
3 Anger of the Gods
1 End Hostilities
2 Glare of Heresy
3 Thoughtseize[/deck]


[deck= Mardu Midrange by David Fulk, 43rd Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/24/2015]
Creatures (13)
3 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Soulfire Grand Master
2 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells (18)
3 Chained to the Rocks
4 Crackling Doom
4 Lightning Strike
1 Murderous Cut
2 Stoke the Flames
4 Hordeling Outburst





Planeswalkers (4)
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Lands (25)
6 Mountain
1 Swamp
2 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Caves of Koilos
4 Nomad Outpost
3 Temple of Silence
4 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard (15)
2 Wingmate Roc
2 Erase
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3 Anger of the Gods
2 End Hostilities
1 Glare of Heresy
3 Read the Bones[/deck]

[deck= Mardu Midrange by Joshua Taylor, 55th Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/24/2015]
Creatures (11)
2 Butcher of the Horde
4 Seeker of the Way
2 Wingmate Roc
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos

Spells (19)
4 Crackling Doom
2 Hero's Downfall
3 Lightning Strike
4 Mardu Charm
2 Utter End
4 Thoughtseize







Planeswalkers (5)
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Lands (25)
1 Mountain
4 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Battlefield Forge
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Caves of Koilos
4 Nomad Outpost
3 Temple of Malice
2 Temple of Silence
2 Temple of Triumph
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Sideboard (15)
2 Butcher of the Horde
1 Resolute Archangel
3 Nyx-Fleece Ram
2 Bile Blight
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Despise
2 End Hostilities[/deck]

My list was basically trying to mash Pardee's and Black's lists together.

I feel like phoenix is good enough to have a place here. Kolaghan is also quite good.

Hey LD, cool looking deck. Any thought to running Mardu Ascension and/or Mardu Charm? The deck seems pretty soft to Drown/Anger post-board which I expect to see a lot of if Monastery Mentor picks up steam on top of the Rabblemaster decks.

Drown doesn't matter that much, anger hurts. Just keep throwing haymakers.

How does Sultai Emissary perform? I can see the benefit of sacrificing him and immediately having a replacement body. Just wondering if there was another purpose I'm not seeing?

Ranges from worse than doomed traveller to completely ridiculous.

Kolaghan too, but it's really ok if flamewake dies for the reasons stated above. You have Ashcloud postboard as well.

Not sure how you're arriving there. I think it's really important to have tge scry / fixing though. This deck has no problem stalling if it needs to for cipt.

Or if it's in play, Haste + Lifelink or Attack for 7. Both of which are awesome.

Bird dies often, but I like that it gets in, then gives you the flexibility to play butcher with haste for 5cc.

Manabase feels solid. It was designed by Sam Black.

After a few testing sessions I've arrived at this:

[deck]Creatures:20
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
4 Sultai Emissary
2 Tymaret, the Murder King
4 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Butcher of the Horde
2 Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury

Spells:17
3 Chained to the Rocks
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Crackling Doom
4 Hordeling Outburst
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Lands:23
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Evolving Wilds
1 Mana Confluence
4 Mountain
4 Nomad Outpost
1 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Temple of Silence
3 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard:15
3 Erase
3 Wild Slash
1 Glare of Heresy
2 Arc Lightning
2 Ashcloud Phoenix
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Outpost Seige
1 Dictate of Erebos[/deck]

Deck is playing really well. Me gusta.

Back to work!

http://www.channelfireball.com/articles ... e-phoenix/

Good stuff.

Check out the updated list here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/cove ... 8decklists

Why not run his 75?

I like you LP.

It's the closest thing we have to demonstrable evidence

I think it's fair to say both are good / competitive decks.

Win / top 8 GPs a day ago, must be bad

Mardu is still playable, but the consensus is that RW is better atm.

Both? You should have both.

This list is pretty spicy:

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat ... ckID=77681

Bad call.

It doesn't play on the opponent's turn primarily.

With all those tokens, I think Butcher would shine.

Why aren't you playing Butcher?

Kind of partial to this list:

http://www.mtgo-stats.com/decks/128974

Glad I got a foil set of Arc Lighting signed at GP Ottawa. Knew it would be good eventually.

Thoughts on the version in Craig's article?

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=12266

You should be playing jeskai tokens until it's banned.

Thanks for contributing

That deck looks very tight, and really good.

A few small updates to the primer + video from GP: San Antonio added today.

Lost the second round 1-2 vs Abzan.

Game 1, mull'd to 6, then drew 11 lands.

Game 2, mulled to six, played a decent game oh magic, got there.

Game 3, kept 7, decent game, but I drew lands while my opponent drew gas.

Dropped.

Trading Chain for Glare worked well.

Unfortunately, that means I am more or less out of contention. I think even if I win out I could miss Top 8. Not the start I was looking for.

He also had scouring sands for my goblins.

Lost the first round VS Gruul Beats in three.

Game 1, I mulled, he won the roll, he had Mystic > Fanatic > Fanatic and my hand was way too slow.

Game 2, he stumbled on 2 mana and I smashed.

Game 3, I kept a 4 land hand with seeker, outburst and chained. I drew 5 lands in a row. He grinds me out with Chandra and Xenagos. I fail to draw a creature or planeswalker for the rest of the game. Just drew the wrong half of my deck.