Dies to Removal

LP, thank you the sideboard seems awesome, I loved Hammer pretty excited to play it again. But I don't understand the Mastery of the Unseen MD, what are they for ? Replacing Outpost Siege to take value of it earlier ?

6 2-drops might be a good solution to keep RDW. I had almost the same idea after my last tournament, only 4 is not enough to keep the ground safe.
Still not decided on which pack (dragons or removal/phoenix) to play. But yeah Dragons gives also acces to Haven which is nice.

One more point, I wouldn't play Valorous Stance MD. It has not a good synergy with SGM.

I prefer to see my opponents wasting 2 removals on the Phoenix than 1 removal and 3 life.

I played a classic RW with main differences being maindeck :
+3 Thunderbreak Regent + 1 Phoenix (couldn’t find the last one)
+2 Draconic Roar +2 Lightning Strike
Sideboard :
+3 Gryff which I think its still a very good card against all the ETB trigger (Exploit !) in the field.

1st Round 2 - 0 against Jeskai
I did not see a lot of his deck, he had some burn for my first creatures but couldn't handle 2 Hordeling Outburst on G1. Then he proceeded to give an advice to the guy sitting next to him telling him "Why didn't make your lion Monstrous" (in a Abzan vs Control matchup). Just after G1, judge calling by the opponent. My opponent was totally upset and in a very aggressive position, the HJ gave him a game loss.

2nd round 2 – 1 against UB Control
A friend of mine, playing a really slow UB with 4 Ugin maindeck for the lulz. All his wrath were actually Downfall for 5 against me. He had no chance on G1 and didn’t know I’d play things like Mastery the Unseen and Outpost Siege after board.

3rd round 1 – 2 Against Mono U
I crushed him G1, don’t remember exactly how but I only saw Gudul Lurker and Omenspeaker, I was confused how the hell he went 2-0
I put him at 4 life after some turns then drew only lands. He managed to kill me with Thassa making unblockable UUU Elemental. Not a very bright player, he could have finished me 3 turns before -_-
G3 I kept a removal heavy (with erase and chained to deal with everything) hand with 2 lands. Never saw the 3rd before he played a fucking stupid blue siege on mana leak mode ffs.

4th round 2 – 1 against Abzan Aggro/Midrange
I remember that one game was removals into triple Rhino for him, the other one was removals into triple SBD for me. 3rd game I surprised him with my Gryff to negate a drain from a Rhino, then Regent into SBD to win the race with flyers.

5th Round 2 – 1 against Abzan Control
A friend of mine, I made slightly mistake as for example slow playing a Sidisi to find an exploit enabler instead of just slamming it for its presence on the board.
He won a game due to a Rhino into Feed the Clans, won 13 life, game (I actually lent to him the Feed the clan the morning to replace a sideboard card he couldn’t find).

6th Round ID into Top8

Quarterfinals 2 – 0 against Jeskai with Monastery Mentor and Alesha.
It was the quickest match ever in a Top8. He kept a hand without W mana on G1 and I think, only white costed spell. He conceded turn 4… Then on G2 he kept again a risky hand and I saw my 3 Wild Slash with Seeker and Soulfire to kill everything. I slammed a turn 4 Siege into value for the win.

Semifinals 2 – 0, against RDW, no green.
I mulliganed both games to find exact solution to his deck, blockers and removals to stay on defense. Never saw a lifelinker…
And the best part, he just played 20 damage of burn to my face at EACH FUCKING GAME

As I expected, Chains was still good in our metagame. Next week-end is ProTour so I’ll see what I’d like to play after RW more precisely.
The synergy between Thunderbreak Regent and Draconic Roar does not justify playing a quite less impressive 4 drops flyer. I still prefer the Phoenix at this spot with flexible Lightning Strikes. I was disappointed by this point.
The rest of the deck is well known by everyone here, I won’t go further into details. It was my goodbye to this deck I love

Yes, I have the same feeling as we all drifted from Mardu to RW. Mardu was just a worst RW. Now RW feels like a worst Jeskai.

Saw 0 of them. Did a bit of scouting at every table, 2 or 3 players were actually playing them.

I know I wouldn't play again this deck but I hadn't enought to test other deck but I'll certainly switch to Jeskai or RDW in the next weeks.

Went 4-1-1 into top 8 then lost in semi-finals with a RW list at our 36 players French nationals qualifier.

Will do a more accurate report later but here is my explanation of RW.

Our meta is not reactive or very slow, so I wasn't expecting a lot new decks coming from last week-end lists. I chose RW because I know well the deck and how to play it. It was a gamble but worth it, did much better than last year nationals qualifier (0/2 drop)

During my testing, Thunderbreak Regent was a great choice in R/W. It also allow you to play Draconic Roar instead of Lightning Strike.

Is everyone going in a different way and still sticking to pre-DTK version of the deck ? (the classic one or Ben Stark)

Edit : I just checked Top64 Decklist from this week-end. 1 Mardu Midrange is actually R/W splashing for Crackling Doom and few black cards in a Ben Stark RW shell. The other one is like old Mardu with Butcher.

Nothing much to report. I played against casual decks and only one great player/deck who was on Sultai midrange. He was playing 4 Charms to try to beat my ass but it didnt work out.

First playing Pilgrim/Abzan advantage/SGM. I liked your style Khaos !

I will try your last list this afternoon Khaospawn. I would like to switch to Bne Stark RW but hadnt the time since 3 weeks to find additionnal SGM. Plus even less time to try it in good conditions so I will stick to a kind of deck I know very well.

Okay, I'm at that point where my "fuck it" sense kicks in. I'm done over analyzing minutia and attempting to break the meta. I'm at that crucial point where I'm just going to play what I know and have fun with what I got.

I'm gong to be proactive. I want to play some Dragons. I'm going to go with what I know; it's honestly the best approach. I have no expectations for this event and I just want to be able to do the best I can with what I have, which is what I've always done.

Win or lose, I'm going to play what I enjoy and do what I know how to do best. #scrumper4lyfe

That's the perfect way of thinking if you don't want to tilt

Also looks like a perfect deck apart from the Mana Confluence and the Magma Jet but well, it is only personnal preference based on my limited own experience. If you're feeling fine with it, go and win some boxes !

Is wingmate roc a good defensive card ? I don't think so.

Again 3-0 this week-end with the same decklist. Faced B/W Warriors, Temur and Sidisi Whip with Tasigurs, Whisperwood Elemetal and Torrent Elemental. The last one is a very good card agaisnt us, blocking efficiently SBD and they can play it even if we chain it.

I might switch to Ben Starck to test it for incoming bigger event but I couldn't find at the moment 4 Soulfire Grandmaster

Because Brimaz is WW, you often do not play him on turn 3. I mostly see him as a 4-drop slot, he's not on the same level as Rabblemaster/Outburst in our plan.

Also thinking about the 2 Wild Slash in the mainboard. I'd think that 2 VS instead could more valuable against control (kill a Tasigur or protect a creature from a removal).
Maybe doing 2 to the dome is still something.

I will try 1 Soulfire Grand Master when I find one.

I wouldn't play Gryff maindeck but Ashcould Phoenix instead.

Yes but I may need more training with the deck to evaluate it.

I formerly planned to switch him with 2 wild slash in mainboard for more removal and less pressure again control/midrange but was finally expecting some control decks. Ashcloud on turn 4 + SBD on 5 is always a huge swing for your opponent.
He is also really hard to remove from the game so my opponnents focused more on other threats allowing him to do at least 8dmg per game, which is awesome.

8 Players Gameday report :

Round 1 : 2-0 against homebrew BW Warriors
Not a vero good player, he let me start with him winning the dice roll. He was playing a modification of the event deck, which can really put some pressure.
He almost caught me off guard with 2 dash Mardu boss. Game 1 I saw a Chandra on turn 4 to open the way and he chose to not attack it, she drew me burn spells to kill his creatures.

Side in : 2 Wild Slash / 2 Arc Lightning
Side out : 4 Rabblemaster (I wanted to be able to trade/block my goblins in case of critical situation)

Game 2 I killed him to exact on turn 5, he could have killed the turn after.


Round 2 : 2-0 against Sultai control
Game 1 was a battle between his Ashiok against my Chandra, he had no removal for her and I kept attacking as his Ashiok didn't reveal enough creatures to put enough pressure. Killed him with Chandra's Ultimate for style points.

Side in : 2 Sarkhan / 2 Outpost Siege
Side out : 4 Chained to the rocks

Game 2, straight forward opened a hand with 3 Stoke the flames, we traded my creatures to his removals until he couldn't wrath both a rabblemaster and a SBD with Crux of fate. Once he was at 12 it ended.

At this point I was already sure to get my playmate (for the finalist) if I drew with my next opponents but our local judge decided to go for 4 rounds to avoid this.

Round 3 : 2-1 agaisnt Sidisi no whip but with Rhinos and Tasigurs
I do not remember exactly game 1, I finished him with SBD turn 5 + SBD turn 6.

Side in : 3 Hushwing Gryff / 1 Outpost Siege
Side out : 4 Rabblemaster (again wanted to be able to chump with my goblins)

I kept a risky 6 cards hand with 2 chained to the rocks, 1 battlefield forge and 1 temple of triumph (+ 2 creatures); I scryed the 3rd Chain to the bottom to draw the 4th just after. I died with not being able to cast one against his good start (Turn 3 sidisi -> 4 Rhino -> 5 Soul of Theros)

Side in : 4 Rabblemaster
Side out : 4 Hordeling Outburst


A well curved Turn 3 Gryff with no removal on his side blocked his game development. He finally saw a removal when I had a Valorous Stance to protect it from Outpost Siege in drawing mode. A bunch of fliers he couldn't block with his ground forces killed him.


Round 4 : 2-1 Against Abzan aggro (sort of with Soldier of Pantheon)
he kept too much lands and got mana floouded, easily killed his 2 creatures to finish him later on.

Side in : 2 Glare of Heresy / 3 Hushwing Gryff / 2 Outpost Siege
Side out : 4 Rabblemaster / 2 Chandra / 1 Brimaz (not sure of this one)

I again was able to cast a Gryff on turn 3, I could have easily won this match but I got tricked at 12 life with 2 rhinos with 2 abzan charms for the kill. I had tokens to chump but I wanted to keep them because of the Outpost Siege in my hand for value, not my best move.

Side in : 4 Rabblemaster
Side out : 4 Hordeling Outburst

I won the race with the help of a Gryff to counter his Rhinos.



Overall, the deck was very good. I did not get screwed with mana flood/death or mulliganing like the other time which come from variance but also mainly from better choices being done (more experience).
For those who are wondering why this is better than Mardu, being able to play 4 SBD and 4 Stoke the flames can very quickly recover you from a bad situation and put a lot more of pressure than Butcher (which also not protected from a lot of removal).
The flying ability is also really relevant in this meta, that is old school tech but still working.

Valorous Stance, Brimaz and Ashcloud Phoenix are exactly numbered at 2, they are never awkward draws it is always a good surprise to see them and your opponents does not often predict them.


I still have trouble with Outpost Siege because I really like the flexibility from Chandra. Extra drawing is good but sometimes you'd prefer to pass over a blocker and drawing a land/dead card does not help you.
I saw also some opponents adding naturalize or erase after game 1 against our Chains, but Outpost takes collateral damage from it so the argument of "its almost never removed" is not so sure.

Went 4-0 at gameday with the same 75 than for the pptq.

Will post a complete report on Monday but thank you again for your support, I kept playing this deck and will do.

Best way to get over tilt is to come to the realization that you're not as good as you think are, and that magic is a game of variance with a really high skill ceiling in mechanical play and deck building. There is always room for improvement and getting mad isn't going to get you anywhere.

That's easier said then done though, it's easy to blame top decks and mana screw.

It took me one day to realize it but now I'm fine with it. If they were good players I would have deal with it but all my loss were to newcomers (the ones who didn't know there was a RPTQ after that). My last competitive turnament was months ago so I was expecting a lot by playing it. It doesn't help either.

Drinking also help but there is no beer available at our LGS in France

[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.

I played the exact same list to our 20player PPTQ. Scrumped hard to 2/3 finally losing out of top 4. Then I heard they all splitted because THEY WERE NOT FUCKING AWARE OF THE QUALIFICATION and none of them could go to the PTQ.

The deck joked me a lot, with mana full/death and almost mulliganed every game.

But for the last "normal" games it was awesome.

I was expecting a classic metagame but instead I only faced aggro rogue decks, maybe I should have kept 2 Wild Slash maindeck instead of 2 Phoenix to pressure control decks.

Thank you guys for reassuring me that is a good deck, I tilited the whole day.