Dies to Removal

Nicely done!

Congrats' !

What are the Phoenixes in the side for ?

Hordeling Outburst is terrible against the big dumb green decks, so my plan is to just fly over them.

Gratz from a long time lurker!!!
Could you please share a SB guide and what you would change if anything.
Would you favor the Jeskai list you linked to in the other post over your own even though it did not win?
Thanks in advance!!!

So I got drunk and won a TCG Player 5K yesterday with this pile:

[deck]Mono Red Scrumper Khaos Deck Wins v2.1[/deck]

Most of it is pretty self explanatory -

2 Magma Spray
1 Scouring Sands
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Outpost Siege

is what you're bringing in against most other aggro decks. I say mostly because Sands is only good against token decks, and I could also use that spot to bring in Smash to Smithereens. What I take out is totally dependent on my position.

3 Flamewake Phoenix
1 Harness by Force
2 Exquisite Firecraft
3 Roast

This is the Green deck/ Abzan midrange package. A lot of what I take out depends on the exact matchup and my position, but the Phoenixes are straight swaps for the Hordeling Outbursts every time.

The only thing that I can think of changing is adding the 4th Thunderbreak and a 22nd Mountain, since sticking a Regent was clutch every time. I can't decide what I'd want to take out, but I may start with the Titan's Strength.

Shawn's Jeskai deck is really solid and it's his own original design. I'd like to make a few tweaks to it, should I ever decide to play it. But on the other hand, I still like bashing face with a Zurgo -> Eidolon curve, so who knows?

4-0 tonight with the gp Prague top 16 atarka list. Deck ran awesome. Replaced the impact tremors with flamewake

Thanks for your time!
I just finished reading about the 5K Tournament and it was even cooler to know that it was won by one of the people on this forum I lurk about...

After Saturday's WMCQ I'll try and make a final deck choice for the last WMCQ...

I'll also take a look into Purp's choice...

Hey, no problem.

I take it you read the TCG Player article?

Here's a response I typed out from the reddit thread that may help people asking about the land count in my deck:

"The mana felt right for this deck. I've seen lists before that featured a set of four drops running only 21 land (like the original Red Fliers list from the beginning of Dragons Standard or the old R/g Hellrider lists), but those were terribly inconsistent for me and they always felt like I needed to get lucky hitting the right curve. My rule of thumb is that 21 lands will support 2-3 four drops and 4-6 3 drops, while 22 lands can support 4-5 four drops and 6-7 three drops. However, Ashcloud Phoenix lets you “cheat” those numbers a bit with its morph ability – I've cast that card for 3 mana more times than I care to remember.

What confounds this “21 Land Rule” of mine is Stoke the Flames. The old Mono Red Fliers ran the full set of Stokes and Dragons, and I lost more times with uncast Stokes in my hand than I'd like to admit. Sure, the convoke ability is a great feature, allowing you to cast it at a discount, but at the cost of sometimes not being able to attack with a perfectly good creature. The Pro Tour Red list also has a hard time casting Stoke when it needs to close games out early, especially when the deck has to spend its third turn casting an Exquisite Firecraft, a card that is terrible in the mirror.

With people advocating bringing back the Atarka Red strategies and swarming past the Abzan decks, I was able to make a lot of things click for my deck by playing Hordeling Outburst in the 3 CMC slot. Hordeling Outburst allows the deck to play Stoke for “free”, especially when stuck on 3 lands. The wall of tokens also provide a two-fold benefit in the ground war: it turns Goblin Rabblemaster into a faster clock in the games where you need to close fast, and the tokens allow you block and trade, thus preserving your life total while you can drop a flier to win the game.

Regarding Heelcutter, I cast the card 99% of the time as a three drop. Most of the time, he snuck in for 3 damage when on curve before I dropped a flier, and then locked out a blocker on turn 5 when I went for the big swing. In one game, I did hard cast him late to enable a Rabblemaster knockout, but that game went on very long and I already had a comfortable amount of mana.

Abbot of Kheral Keep, while a great card, always felt kind of clunky to me in large numbers. More often than not, I used him to dig for land when I needed it, which ended up paying off in a few matches. The body is okay most of the time, but Adam nailed it when he said that aggressive X/1's aren't that well positioned right now. I'm okay trading Goblin tokens, but you're usually in a bad spot when you have to trade away an Abbot. But with all that said, Mr. Keep was great in helping me keep my land count low.

The sideboard games do tend to go a little bit longer, which let me play a fourth “true” four drop in Outpost Siege. Since my removal package is beefed up in the aggro matches, I can afford to wait a bit longer to hit my lands.

Ultimately, I wanted to play a deck that was capable of fast, punishing starts that had a solid late game and a plan to use all my mana when I inevitably flooded out in long games. Lightning Berserker (who also enabled me to trigger my Ferocious Flamewakes), Ashcloud Phoenix, Thunderbreak Regent, and Stoke the Flames let me play that game plan out.

Looking back, however, I would definitely like to add another land and the fourth Regent. Thunderbreak was absolutely game changing whenever I cast him. The responses ranged anywhere from “Oh, well, that's a card!” to “Crap, I didn't expect that from you!” The Regent and Phoenix changed combat plans from my opponent and added more pressure in the games where I curved Zurgo into an Eidolon of the Great Revel."

Good fuckin job man!!! Way to get fucked up and kick some ass. I bet you won some serious coin.

Was really hating magic lately but this deck has me excited. I get to play with my set of gameday regents =)

Few questions-

How many rounds was the event? What did you play against?

Hows the matchup vs Hangarback abzan?

Hey, no problem.

I take it you read the TCG Player article?

Yes I did.
The reddit part was also very enlighthening and adressee some concerns/issues I also ran into but did not know to fix.

Thinking of what to cut alongside Titans Strength for the 22nd land and 4th Thunderbreak.

My instincts tell me to cut a Stoke as I dont really want to cut any of the early drops. Stoke is another expensive spell so I think cutting something on the higher end of the curve makes sense.

Usually dont want to see 2 Stokes early anyways.

A Stoke doesn't seem like a bad idea. Still, of the most powerful things you can do is cast Outburst and then a Stoke.

Good fuckin job man!!! Way to get fucked up and kick some ass. I bet you won some serious coin.

Was really hating magic lately but this deck has me excited. I get to play with my set of gameday regents =)

Few questions-

How many rounds was the event? What did you play against?

Hows the matchup vs Hangarback abzan?

Thanks. It was 8 rounds and then the Top 8. I played against G/R Dragons twice, Jeskai twice, UW Heroic, Mono Red, and an Abzan Elf Rally deck in the Swiss. Top 8 was Abzan Aggro, Naya Walkers, and Atarka Red.

Split top 4 of iq today, 3 of the 4 of us were already qued so we conceeded to him.

Ran atarka red, deck was and has been insane. Went 4-0-2 and won my quarters beating abzan aggro, esper control, gr, abzan control, and rw in the quarters.

Purp, what's your list?

Khaos, any updates on your list?

Trying to prepare for the last WMCQ...

List is here, on mobile or else I'd type it out: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat ... ckID=91204

I'd cut the 2 rablemastrrs for a 2nd heelcutter main and a 4th outburst.

My sb would probably get changed to something like this:
[deck]
2 flamewake Phoenix
2 magma spray
1 rending volley
2 exquisite fire craft
2 hall of triumph
4 roast
1 arc lightning
1 Chandra
[/deck]

Well goodbye Lightning Strike but it does feel like Atarka Tokens may be good enough even without it since Drown and Bile are rotating.

[deck]Land (21)
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Cinder Glade
1 Forest
7 Mountain
1 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

Creature (15)
4 Abbot of Keral Keep
2 Goblin Heelcutter
2 Lightning Berserker
4 Monastery Swiftspear
3 Zurgo Bellstriker

Instant (12)
4 Atarka's Command
1 Become Immense
3 Collateral Damage
4 Wild Slash

Sorcery (12)
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Exquisite Firecraft
4 Hordeling Outburst[/deck]



Purp posted this deck in the clan thread and i think its a great starting point

Ultimate daggers getting 9th at pptq today by 3% on 2nd tiebreaks.

Traded in my mana confluences and rabbles.

Time to brew!

[deck]
Currently testing this tonight:

4 Foothills
4 Bloodstained
4 Heath
2 Cinderglade
3 Flrest
6 Mountain

4 Scythe Leopoard
4 Swiftspear
3 Zurgo
4 Makindi Sliderunner
4 Abbot
2 Heelcutter

4 Wildslash
4 Atarka Command
2 Firecraft
1 Become Immense
3 Titans Str
2 Temur Battle Rage
[/deck]

Now that is interesting, how were the two landfall guys?

deck was sweet! battle rage is a little cute. i think i would cut one for the 3rd firecraft, and maybe the other for another titans str.

i was testing the abzan matchup a lot and it felt good, despite the misbuilt battle rages.

I was thinking of ways we can beat the deck postboard. i was thinking about self inflicted would, but i think i would just prefer roast. then it dawned on, despite could be a GREAT SB card vs abzan.

+3 Despise +3/4 Roast could be very good!

leopard swung for 3 EVERY turn 2. sliderunner swung for 4 MOST of the times on 3.

[deck]
Update:

4 Foothills
4 Bloodstained
4 Heath
2 Cinderglade
3 Forest
5 Mountain
1 Smoldering Marsh

4 Scythe Leopoard
4 Swiftspear
3 Zurgo
4 Makindi Sliderunner
4 Abbot
2 Heelcutter

4 Wildslash
4 Atarka Command
4 Firecraft
1 Become Immense
3 Titans Str

Sb:
4 Roast
3 Despise
2 boiling earth
2 fiery impulse
1 molten vortex
2 scab clan
1 outpost siege
[/deck]

Brilliant idea! I goldfished it for few minutes and i already want to add tasigur thanks to 12 fetchlands;D Ok this may be not so good idea (hooting mandrils?), but anyway new standard mana base is awesome if it lets us play 12 fetchlands in a red deck. Tomorrow i'm definitely going to test this version above.

Glad you like the base, let me know your thoughts after you jam some games

Deck is great. Although my testing was not super significant as i tested with only one friend who plays ramp decks with almost no interaction mainboard, I learned some things about the deck itself. It's good idea to aggressively mulligan if you don't have one drop (kinda obvious?), but some hands with sliderunner are also fine. I tried to play with openers like Abbot + Heelcutter but I either lost or won because my opponent durdled.

The biggest issue with this deck seems to be postboard plan. One of my friends (when i showed him this list) said that it's gonna be great presideboard against anything and heavily hated in games 2 and 3 by everything. And it's true, my ramp-playing friend boarded something like 11 cards against me (Radiant Flames, Feed the Clan and Roast) and mathup turned from extremely good to average.

So for now I don't have any suggestions for mainboard as I think it's good enough, except that I want to try two-color version for maximum consistency. But I do have some thoughts for sideboard: what about a little bit of transformation? I like those kind of sideboards and it could help to avoid all the hate people gonna have first weekend (which is inevitable cause atarka's red is very popular in testing, people mention it in every thread about new standard).

My proposition:


[deck]
SIDEBOARD
4 Thunderbreak Regent
3 Ashcloud Phoenix
2 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Roast
2 Arc Lightning // Boiling Earth // Seismic Rupture[/deck]

EDIT: Seismic Rupture could be great as mass token killer in "flying sideboard" version (and landfall creatures are easy to get 3 toughness with fetchland).

Just won FNM with my version. "Flying sideboard" worked perfectly, people were really surprised to see Regent into Phoenix into Phoenix;D. Of course one small (really small, unfortunately) tournament is almost meaningless, but until late October I won't have any chance to test it more seriously than local events.

EDIT: ok, i found big weakness of this deck - it's called mono red They have too many cheap spells to interact with our creatures

I jammed couple of games using Purp's list above with my brother who was on the Zulaport sacrifice deck. Did not manage to win a single game, the lifegain and the swarm of tokens was just too much.

Any tips for the matchup? Atarka's Command stops them from gaining life with Zulaport Cutthroat, but they still drain your life with it.

Mind posting your brother's list, in a new topic maybe? Sounds fun.

Mind posting your brother's list, in a new topic maybe? Sounds fun.

Sent you a PM.

Atarka red won the first SCG open, a version with titan's strength become immense and temur battle rage. I think no one was expecting so many pump spells in atarka aggro, but going forward it will probably be better to switch to a more normal version.... titan's strength and 1-2 become immense are still playable i think.
I feel like there a lot of decision to be making when building red aggro currently. First of all, play mono red, atarka, or jund ?(self inflicted wound out of the board is a fantastic card). Then there is a lot of competition in the 2 mana and 3 mana slots. here are all the options i can remember:

- 1 mana : zurgo, swiftspear, berserker, glory chaser, titan's strength, scythe leopard, wild slash, fiery impulse
-2 mana: dragon fodder, abbot, makindi sliderunner, dragon whisperer, draconic roar, temur battle rage, atarka's command, roast, self inflicted wound, war name aspirant, boiling earth, forerunner of slaughter, hangarback walker, smash to smithereens
-3 mana: firecraft, chandra, flamewake phoenix, outburst, heelcutter, arc lightning, vaultbreaker, scab clan berserker, kolaghan's command
-4 mana: thunderbreak regent, outpost siege, akoum firebird, ashcloud phoenix,

I for sure missed some relevant sideboard cards, but i think it's quite a complete overview.
My instinct is to play atarka red maindeck then add 1-2 red/black duals in sideboard to go with 4 self inflicted wound and maybe kolaghans command and help you cast thunderbreak regent. Something like this

[deck]
4 Monastery Swiftspear
3 Zurgo, Bellstriker
3 Lightning Berserker
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Abbot of Keral Keep
4 Hordeling Outburst

4 Wild Slash
4 Titan's Strength
4 Atarka's Command
4 Exquisite Firecraft
1 Become Immense

4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Cinder Glade
10 Mountain

1 Smoldering Marsh
4 Self-Inflicted Wound
3 Roast
2 Fiery Impulse
1 Boiling Earth
4 Thunderbreak Regent
[/deck]

Probably the manabase could need some tweaking. I am interested in hearing how would you change this deck/build something completely different.

Outburst+Firecraft are nonebo's with the abbot. I prefere Dragon Fodder and Forerunner of Slaughter if you dipping into black.

Needs Makindi Sliderunner. Card's sweet, and gives very few fucks about Hangarback Walkers.

I'm just going to virtually sleeve up the RG pump list when I have time - I think the format is really lacking effective removal spells right now which the pump more effective.

I really liked seeing den protector in some of the atarka lists at the PT. I've been running a couple and its been awesome with titans strength and become immense to just get in, and late game you can grab a command back or something to finish them off. Fun little tech.

I'm currently testing Den Protector. It's an excellent addition and adds another dimension to the deck.

Atarka overall is kind of depressing me lately. Feels solidly a tier behind the other good decks like GW and jeskai.

Totally agree, I've played the different builds of Atarka - tokens, Flamewakes, landfall and none of them really cut it as every other list has gazillions of life gain effects. Standard is terrible right now, IMHO

The list pv top 8d the pro tour with looks really fun and very strong. Paulo thinks it's entirely unfair and wicked hard to play against.