Dies to Removal

I've been so spoiled with Ascendancy and Outpost Siege that I absolutely dread playing a deck without them in the 60. I just want to be able to play my broken cards again.

I can see moving one Stance to the board for the fourth Ashcloud since it on can deal with bigger fliers and can also trade with Stormbreath.

Valorous Stance is necessary to deal with big fliers while being a flex spell for every matchup. Thunderbreak Regent is running rampant, especially in my meta where probably 40% of the field is running it.

Cut a Plains and a Mountain, add a Crag and a Haven?

Changed my mind on Mentor.

4 seeker of the way
3 soulfire grand master
4 goblin rabblemaster
2 brimaz, king of oreskos
3 ashcloud phoenix

4 wild slash
3 lightning strike
2 roast
2 valorous stance
4 hordeling outburst
4 stoke the flames
2 chandra, pyromaster

4 battlefield forge
4 temple of triumph
2 wind-scarred crag
9 mountain
4 plains

2 erase
2 anger of the gods
2 roast
2 surge of righteousness
1 valorous stance
4 outpost siege
1 glare of heresy
1 ashcloud phoenix

Surge of Righteousness seems like nice tech.

4 seeker of the way
4 soulfire grand master
4 goblin rabblemaster
4 monastery mentor

4 wild slash
3 lightning strike
2 roast
2 valorous stance
4 hordeling outburst
4 stoke the flames
2 chandra, pyromaster

4 temple of triumph
4 battlefield forge
2 wind-scarred crag
4 plains
9 mountain

Considering this.

I would straight up run the list but I won't be able to get the Thunderbreaks in time.

I'm considering RW, Mardu, or Jeskai for Gameday. This list caught my eye. I'm looking at Ashcloud Phoenix and Flamewake Phoenix in particular. I'm expecting a ton of GR Dragons and mono red with a few UBx control and Abzan aggro.

Get out your Lightning Berserkers and get ready to melt faces ladies.

Instant speed is also a big draw to the card.

It's certainly a consideration, especially if token builds start to run fewer Outbursts in favor of Dragon Fodder.

We will have to see how the meta develops, but again, with the efficiency that now exists in the format, I feel like eventually a low curve RW list will come out on top. I think tokens and red decks will be dominant strategies, and as you said, Stark RW shines against them.

Needs more Outpost Siege.

To be honest I think these top 8 decks are pretty far away from what we'll see at the Pro Tour. I see a lot of suboptimal choices and not a lot of innovation. As maligned as DTK is, I actually feel like the set will have a major impact on the meta, especially the red cards. Ire Shaman in particular is a card I think a lot of people are sleeping on and I've even gone deep on the card as a spec.

I think the best way to approach RW right now is a Ben Stark list now that we have access to so many mana efficient spells. I've been wondering if Myth Realized belongs in the deck. I was initially low on the card and to an extent I still am. A lot of people have been talking about it for control decks but I think it actually belongs in RW.

My best advice is to be stoic. That's hard to do, but eventually you'll be able to train yourself to be unphased by missing your third land drop or having to mull to four.

Yeah that list sucks.

I'm personally on the Stark train, but I'm deciding between it and Jeskai for an IQ next weekend.

Try to move a third Mastery in the board. It's insane vs control and basically serves to overload targets for Sultai Charm against Sultai control much the same way we used to board in more walkers to overload Hero's Downfall against mono black last season.

If I wanted to go that deep I'd run four Outpost and one Chandra.

Ari Lax posted a video series of RW on the premium side today. One of the rounds was against Abzan control and he resolved all four Outpost Siege! In his situation Chandra would have been much worse. Check it out. The entire match was very entertaining.

I would expect a lot of RW so I would load my sideboard to fill out Wild Slash and run 1-2 Magma Spray. I also think it's a mistake to run less than four Outpost Siege, and in the same light, more than 0 Ashcloud Phoenix is too many. Finally, I wouldn't run less than four Seekers.

Harder to kill Courser after it blocks a goblin token.

Listen to LP.

Jsilv - 27 lands?

Seems a lot less powerful now that Outpost Siege is the defining card in the mirror. Chained to the Rocks isn't nearly as good in the mirror as it is in other matchups, and you DID posit your question in interest of breaking the mirror, so...

Nice sarcasm.

I spent about 4 hours yesterday playing against the mirror and Heliods Pilgrim was very relevant.

No sarcasm in there. This is genuinely my opinion. Paying three mana for a 1/2 that tutors up a low impact card in the match up just isn't good.

Seems a lot less powerful now that Outpost Siege is the defining card in the mirror. Chained to the Rocks isn't nearly as good in the mirror as it is in other matchups, and you DID posit your question in interest of breaking the mirror, so...

Seems pretty bad now.

Dat Mastery of the Unseen tech.

I like the idea on having more early plays so I don't mind the Soulfires and no Stormbreaths. Outpost Siege probably makes up for it.

Depends on your expected meta. If you expect a lot of green decks or UB control, play Ashcloud. For all other metas play Brimaz.

I'd play the fourth Seeker before the first Grand Master. I'd also play Brimaz over Hushwing. The latter is mediocre in a lot of match ups whereas Brimaz is great in some, good in others, and average in very few.

Which card to play at any given point within the next two months is going to be rather fluid. It's all dependent on how much enchantment hate people are playing, how many Hero's Downfalls people are playing, and how aggressive the meta is. I currently like Chandra maindeck in any list running Brimaz, and Outpost Siege coming out of the sideboard.

SCG winner:

http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/264700#paper

Ashcloud is very good.

Should have called judge so there would be a record of the occurrence.

I wouldn't play the deck without Brimaz, but that's just my opinion.

No.

People still play Whip decks?

Tilt less, drink more.

[deck]
Creatures (16)
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells (20)
4 Chained to the Rocks
4 Lightning Strike
2 Valorous Stance
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Stoke the Flames
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Lands (24)
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Battlefield Forge
1 Evolving Wilds
10 Mountain
5 Plains

Sideboard (15)
3 Erase
3 Glare of Heresy
3 Hushwing Gryff
2 Arc Lightning
2 Outpost Siege
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
[/deck]

Final list. Swapped Wild Slash for Outpost Siege as it's a bit more high impact and flexible.

Yeah I've done that before too, but I still find it less flexible than Arc Lightning when it comes to postboard games. I'd bring in Arc Lightning vs tokens, Queen decks, and the mirror, but I wouldn't bring in Sands against the mirror.

Agree with Khaos re: Arc Lightning. It's great in the mirror at killing Rabblemaster and its token if he gets it down with me tapped out. It also doesn't look stupid when I need to clear out a blocker with toughness 2 or 3.

Nope. I keep trying but I really like Chandra. She's such a huge tempo play.

I'm back on the Ashcloud Phoenix bandwagon. Here's the 75 I'm planning on running at the PPTQ this Saturday:

[deck]
Creatures (16)
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells (20)
4 Chained to the Rocks
4 Lightning Strike
2 Valorous Stance
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Stoke the Flames
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Lands (24)
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Battlefield Forge
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Wind-Scarred Crag
9 Mountains
4 Plains

Sideboard (15)
3 Erase
2 Wild Slash
3 Glare of Heresy
3 Hushwing Gryff
2 Arc Lightning
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
[/deck]

My 60 is set in stone. The sideboard is something I'm looking to tune. I feel like I want some tech against control like Outpost Siege. Wild Slash may be too low impact to play in the board as I feel like I'm already a favorite against the decks I'd bring it in for.