R/b Aggro aka "Dos Rakis"

[Aodh]

10/10/4 mana is awesome. Lets you run 12 1 CMC bears, then just make sure you don't demand RR or BB until 5 mana.

[deck]Critters

4 FDS
4 Cackler
4 Hero
4 Jester
4 RSF
2 Marauders
3 Exava
3 Dragon

Not Critters
4 Thoughtseize
4 Dreadbore[/deck]

[Pedros]

What is RSF?

[Valdarith]

Shred-Freak

[InflatablePie]

So after taking almost a month break from playing Magic, I'm coming back to try BNG Standard.

Thing is, I sold my Mutavaults for Stormbreath Dragons (3 at $20/ea, now they're a bit over $30/ea) and I really don't want to buy them back at the moment. Because then it feels like I've lost a Mutavault. So I'm going to be trying out MDU's deck, but I'm going to be helpful and try his suggestion on dropping the one-drops (due to all the tapped-lands) and adding a Gate, Dragon, and two other MB cards.

It's helpful because at the very least I'll be testing that idea out for you guys to see if it's better or not. And if we're playing 7-8 tapped-lands, a turn-2 Cackler seems way worse against things like GR Bigstuff. Plus he's a dead topdeck.

I also changed the 'vaults to one of each basic. Which ends up helping the greedy manabase anyway, so...

Anyway, here's the MB 59 I've decided on:

[deck=MDU-inspired
Rb Aggro/Midrange]Lands 25
8 Mountain
5 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
4 Temple Of Malice
4 Rakdos Guildgate

Creatures 17
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
2 Flame-Wreathed Phoenix
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells 17
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Shock
3 Dreadbore
3 Hero's Downfall

Sideboard 15
3 Lifebane Zombie
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
4 Skullcrack[/deck]

...and now I'm left with choices.

I went for another MB Hero's Downfall instead of the MB Zombie MDU suggested. I like HDF, and more removal never hurts. Having one less threat makes it softer to mono-black, I guess, but LBZ wasn't doing anything in that matchup anyway. Having an even split of threats and removal kinda scares me, but our threats are more high-impact and the removal is solid.

So now I have a choice for card 60, which probably should be a threat or permanent. Here's all I can think of:

Lifebane Zombie - allows the full 4 in the 75. Whiffs against MBD though.
nWhip - helps with racing/recurring threats, mana-sink lategame.
Hammer - Not as good with all the haste-dudes in the main anyway, but it makes 3/3s which is useful (and another mana-sink lategame). Plus Hasty Zombies post-board?
Rakdos, Lord of Riots - seems cute, probably not good.
Mogis - see above. Might be better though, since I believe the other permanents add +2 to RB devotion, so you'd need only three other things in play. Actually wait, that seems kinda bad.
Purphoros - may be better than Mogis, but with less than 20 creatures, also seems bad.
Rakdos Keyrune - T4 Stormbreath dragon, with a 3/1 FS in a pinch? Probably not good here.
Trading Post - <_<
Flame-Wreathed Phoenix - all-in on Vexing Devil? (sidenote: new name - Vexing Phoenix?)
Chandra - always a good one-of. Not sure if she's better in this deck when we have less to stay back and protect her though. Although, her falter helps even if it's 4-mana and she dies after, and it gives another threat for the opponent to deal with
while we're beating them down with other big things. This deck kinda lacks CA aside from like, Phoenix recursion, and if she sticks she can provide just that.

Mizzium Mortars - Allows for 3 in the 75, but can whiff against UW Control (sans wiping Elspeth tokens which we usually fly over anyway) and isn't as good against things like Polukranos. Also not a permanent.
Thoughtseize - I could maybe see dropping a Shock and Jet and adding three Thoughtseize main. Eh?
Slaughter Games - MB Games seems hilarious.


Leaning towards Whip, Hammer, or Chandra.

[magicdownunder]

You don't want any more Vexing Phoenix since two is more then enough (its rather dead vs Bx).

I would recommend either Rakdos's Return or Whip, Longtoe is testing chandra right now - but based on my theory crafting, I think she is abit weak in a list filled with evasion and terror effects (none of her ability are really backbreaking).

Though:
Whip is good because: it provides CA and games life both are important vs Ux and Gr
RR is good because we're rather creature lite so casting RR for 5 (which is usually your opp. hand) before playing SBD can just result in auto-win.

[InflatablePie]

see I knew I was forgetting a RB rare/mythic...

I'll mull it over (alternatively I'll be real cheeky and run 61).

[Pedros]

MJ was just beaten by Jedy_Knight on stream which looks like is piloting this deck.

[Jedi_Knight]

Who did I beat? Seriously though, I dont know who is that.

Haven't posted in quite some time - failed the entrance exam so I spent the last month drowning my sorrow. Also I got quite hooked with Hearthstone, trying to reach legend. Client is horrible though, MTGO is a paradise in comparison... shitty one, but still.

I've been waiting to try Rb since Theros and as we now have RB temple, I just looked there and saw awesome lists... and as I had great success with MDU's variation of Rw, I took the liberty of netdecking it. All credits due to you guys and ofc MDU.

Had great success with the deck so far - out of 5 dailies I've 3-0 3 of them, splitted 2 times (got paired with the same person both times in the last ) , got 4-0 once. Took
down 2 8men. I've also lost some games, mainly due to having no idea what I am playing against (wgu with both gods for example) and pretty terrible mistakes (like using Shock to finish Elspeth and realizing afterwards that I had Mutavault which I could have used since opp used her to kill my dragon).

I'll try to write some thoughts tomorrow since I'll be going to bed in few moments. Just few quick ones:
I am onboard the Chandra train, even though she isn't as powerful due to aforementioned evasion. The new Phoenix is kinda weird - you won't really get what you want and is next to useless against monob.
Lifebane is a house. Works wonders every time.
Terrors... I am not used to them so excuse my joy when I say the nightmares of whether I'll draw Chains in time are over. Killing everything in sight has never been easier... love it.
Mana base IS shaky. I really do think it's worth trying it without one drops and see what whether it works.
SBing is a mess for me. Really looking forward to the
videos.
Jester is even more powerful than Ashley.
Monou comes down to the same way as in Rw - you either kill him before MoW or pray for HDF. Doom Blades really help.
Not sure about Mortars and whether they are needed. Will elaborate more tomorrow.

OK, time to go bed.

[Deht]

Jedi_Knight --- DarkestMage (Michael Jacob) who was playing RG Monsters --- "Michael Jacob is a two time US National team member, once US National Champion, leading his team to a team Worlds title in 2008. Four grand Prix top 8s along with a Top 4 at Pro Tour Amsterdam round out his professional roster."

http://www.twitch.tv/darkest_mage/b/504987375 - Match Starts at 4:39 (he's also doing a sealed deck game too, so he keeps switching back and forth)

[MegaGreige]

I think mortars will start having more targets in the UW matchup than just tokens. Lists are starting to side into Brimaz and Archangle of Thune and mortars deals with those niceley, though the other removal already hits them just fine.

[InflatablePie]

That's a good point, but the card is still mostly dead game one. After boarding, DBlade/Downfall/Dreadbore are enough to deal with them if necessary, and I'm still not completely sure if I'd side them in. So I'm still wary of including it in the main.

[InflatablePie]

Also, I'm tempted to go -1 Shock MB and add two Bile Blights instead of the one-of Whip (probably better than Return given what the deck wants to do). It helps against mono-U and mono-B, just making the deck a little worse against control. Not sure if it's worth it, especially since adding all this double-black hurts (although I could go down to 2 Downfall instead of 2 Shock). I'm mostly scared of the deck losing to Pack Rat.

[RaidaTheBlade]

I've been taking a break from competitive, but I do wanna throw my thoughts out after reading this forum some.

I actually like Rakdos's Return here as a two-of if we remove cacklers.

Removing cacklers effects 2 matchups the most, U/W/x control and B/x Devotion/Control. Both of these decks love having cards, and rakdos's return acts as a very powerful way to hurt them and stop card advantage.

It also works kinda like the sledgehammer lists last season which had bonfire as a way to hit for extra damage late-game.


That said I'm still not sold on dropping the cacklers at all, so... -shrugs-

[InflatablePie]

Return seems more powerful in a Rx Devotion shell now that I think about it. Returning for 5 is usually by turn 7, whereas it's much more backbreaking to be able to pull that off on turn 4/5. It's also better against midrange (MBD) than control (UW) since it can be countered.

[edit] As far as removing Cacklers, after running this through tappedout goldfishing a few times, I love the deck without them. It feels so powerful to draw giant hasty dude after giant hasty/evasive dude, and Cackler is a terrible topdeck.

I'm not impressed with Shock in solo-testing (it just doesn't feel as "big" as the rest of the deck), but I'll have more hands-on experience tomorrow.

[magicdownunder]

I'm glad the list is getting more exposure both online and in large events (though I hated how that article compared it too sledge hammer...).

Some notes:
* Running BB or Mortars would go against my theme of nothing wasted if you noticed all my cards can be used in every MU (including control).
* Shock is a support cards, it would seem horrible when your goldfishing but when you play a game you sees it shine when combined with other spells or creatures.

Other notes:
* Young Pyromancer is strong vs Bx and Gr, I might wriggle in back into the list.
* LBZ is strong vs everything except Bx where its a 3/1 with peak, I may MD it.

Warning:
* DON'T buy Vexing yet let us do more testing - it just feels really cute so far not sure if cute is what we want.

[magicdownunder]

Update:

[deck=MDU's Rb Aggro]Lands 24
7 Mountain
4 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
4 Temple Of Malice
3 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Mutavault

Creatures 20
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
2 Flame-Wreathed Phoenix
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells 16
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Shock
3 Dreadbore
2 Hero's Downfall

Sideboard 15
3 Lifebane Zombie
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
4 Skullcrack[/deck]

Flame-Wreathed Phoenix is just like Vexing Devil... which is good because I like Vexing Devil .

I got another 3-0 thrashing Grx I think I found the list i'm taking to MOCS1

Got another 3-0
with the list above.

Here is a different approach I'm thinking about:

[deck=MDU's Rb Aggro]Lands 23
6 Mountain
6 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
4 Temple Of Malice
2 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Mutavault

Creatures 21
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Young Pyromancer
2 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
2 Lifebane Zombie
2 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells 16
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Shock
3 Dreadbore
2 Hero's Downfall

Sideboard 15
2 Flame-Wreathed Phoenix
1 Lifebane Zombie
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
4 Skullcrack[/deck]

Young Pyromancer improves the curves and provides you profit during T3-5 (the removal phase), its also my answer for T3-4 Xenagos, God of Revels and Bx Devotion.

I may run 1-2 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch in the boards to improve the B MU but I don't really to neglect Red, Blue, White and Green too much.

[Midnight_v]

Warning:
* DON'T buy Vexing yet let us do more testing - it just feels really cute so far not sure if cute is what we want.

I've been running it. It really seems to help vs R/G.
Not sure I want Chandra in that matchup.

[magicdownunder]

I like Vexing Phoenix aka Flame-Wreathed Phoenix mainly for the U and R MU, its good vs G and W as well but Lifebane Zombie just does it better.

Here is my current take:

[deck]MDU PyroBlack[/deck]

Took out two Bx Devo list and split G3, not sure if its better then the top-heavy list but I like running Young Pyromancer whenever he is
strong

[Tyrael]

MDU, I'm very interested in running this list but I wanted your opinion on a certain matter:

My meta is still filled to the brim with R/x and W/x variants, do you think Searing Blood might be a good inclusion in that regard to combat the meta?

[Zooligan]

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/27 ... ndard.html
[deck]
Creatures (26)
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Mogis, God of Slaughter

Lands (25)
10 Mountain
4 Blood Crypt
3 Rakdos Guildgate
4 Temple of Malice
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

Spells (9)
2 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Dreadbore
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Rakdos's Return

Sideboard
2 Dark Betrayal
2 Doom Blade
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Dreadbore
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Rakdos's Return
4 Thoughtseize
[/deck]

[Tyrael]

Seems cute but I wouldn't want to give up so many terrors just to be able to RR more reliably

[Purp]

So MDU, you cut a a land, exava and SBD. Is it worth it for YP$? He is good, I get that. I have been impressed by Exava a lot, and finish with a SBD is just such a strong top end.

We seem to have a few variations we could play.

3 YP$, 23 land.

No 1 drops, 25 land. 4 SBD, 2 RR or Whips/Chandra.

Or the previous version from the past couple pages.

I guess it comes down to, how good was FWF for you? I will be attending an IQ tomorrow, then tuesday&thursday night magic, then the atlanta open next saturday. Atlanta is typically control/midrange heavy(UW, GR and Mono B/BW), and loves mono u. I need to decide which variant will be best to grind with this week.

[dauntless268]

For whatever its worth here's the heavier red list I've been running (and Pedros was mentioning), along with a few notes. No Cackler, but 8 hasty 2-drops...

[deck]Dauntless Rb Aggro[/deck]

Let me know your
thoughts, thanks!

[magicdownunder]

@Tyrael: Searing blood is strong vs x/2 builds, if your meta is filled with them then run it.
@Zooligan: That is a devotion build

@Purp: Out of the three variations which I designed only the 24 land version was been tested in a large event (by Longtoe, which he did well in and lost to variance - he came 9th I think), the 25 land version with no 1-Drops is completely untested but I imagine it would do better vs all non-Black and Control builds, while the new 23 land version has only seen one SE so far which I 3-0 in.

I can see merit in all variations, pick the one your most comfortable with.

[InflatablePie]

Bad weather means no FNM for me since I bike everywhere, bleh.

Probably changing my main to -1 Whip/-2 Phoenix, +3 LBZombie, replacing them in the SB with +1 UPrice +1 DBetrayal and ???. Both help against monoB to make up for LBZ being worse game one, and UPrice is a 7th MoW killspell postboard. Might add in the 4th Zombie. Still leaves the main with no dead cards: LBZ is worse against black decks, but something that trades with Specter and lets me know when a Gary is coming in might be helpful. Whip just felt clunky in goldfishing, as I'd rather drop threats than take a turn to lay down a Whip.

Tempted to also just fill the board with Thoughtseize too.

[magicdownunder]

Last Time

---

[deck]MDU PyroBlack[/deck]

Took another 3-0 this time beating BW Aggro, Bx Devotion and Bx Devotion - I finally hit 35 QP and reach 51st place on the ladder so i'll be taking a break until Thursday.

[Deht]

FNM was at their cap when I arrived so I just played side games with people between rounds. Had some decent success running the Greedy PyroRakdos list with the Malice / Guildgate counts switched. Everyone is playing G/R Devo/Monsters or UW Control. Shooting for a Rb Aggro list for the PTQ in 2 weeks, just need more playtesting.

And Xenagod is an insane, insane card.

Oh and one other comment, a lot of 3 or 4 color decks are popping up with ridiculous mana bases (no basics). I saw about 5 people running crazy chromanticore decks and the hilarious part is that they were ripping it up. Might try a straight up RDW list again with 4 Burning Earth in the SB after the PTQ for laughs.

[LaZerBurn]

Took another 3-0 this time beating BW Aggro, Bx Devotion and Bx Devotion - I finally hit 35 QP and reach 51st place on the ladder so i'll be taking a break until Thursday.

Well done, well done and well done Enjoy your break

[Guttler]

I made top 4 (we usually chop after that) at my FNM with MDU's old build. I was heavily debating between either R/W Burn or this deck and choose this one because it plays creatures. I only lost 2 games all night, one vs R/G Monsters where I misplayed vs SBD's monstrous and Xenigod and the other loss was vs R/B weenie aggro when we came down to a top deck war; I had him on a 3 turn clock but he top decked the a burn spell to force a game 3. No match losses, only game losses. I was very pleased with the deck.

Things about Firewing Phoenix; all your opponents have to read him and they have to take a long time to think about the decision. I feel like this makes him more of a win-win card, unlike browbeat and vexing devil where one mode was usually the clear and immediate choice.

I love the amount of haste. The pressure you can put on a deck early is great vs early game stumbles, I had several games where the number of
spells cast by both players was in the single digits. Even games where my opponent played only 2 spells.

I did win a game by top decking a Rakdos Cackler when I had Exava out to give him haste and force in the last few points.

[magicdownunder]

Well done Gutter

I think I'll give the variation names to make it easier to call them out:

Top-Heavy version with Vexing Phoenix and extra Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch + Stormbreath Dragon = MDU's Rados Aggro
Young pyromancer version = MDU's Young Rados

I don't think I ever said one version was better then the other, its just all about the small sacrifices - with Rados Aggro your just playing 75 strong cards with some random synergies like with Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch or Burns + [card]Chandra's Phoenix[/card], this set-up means you get the most from your top-deck since nothing is horrible alone - though all these powerful cards obv. come at a heavy cost so your need to up your
land count and run some risk of having clunky opening hands.

Young Rados however runs its iconic Young Pyromancer card in order to lower curve and turn all your spells into creature fodder which can help you block all day against builds without sweepers. The down side to this is when you compared with Rakdos Aggro your more likely to have "bad" top-decks and your top-end creatures are not as aggressive.

I like both - pick which ever your more comfortable with.

[RaidaTheBlade]

So, at the open this weekend G/R Monsters and a varient of it took up 5 of the top 8.

So now the question is (as we inevitably see a massive rise in said deck) how does this deck fair? Both the top heavy builds (with and without cacklers), and the pyro build seem like they'd be okay against it, but I personally favor the top heavy in that sort of meta.

It makes me even more tempted to drop the cacklers for the fourth dragon and potentially some lbz's main, though I doubt b/x devo is gonna stop being a thing.


But yeah, mdu, what's your experiences vs that list so far, and what do you think would be a good idea to combat it?

[magicdownunder]

If I was going into a meta knowing that Gr would be the deck to beat (75%) I think I'll go with 25 land version, no 1-Drops for extra dragons, removals (6 terrors) and other fun cards like Whip, RR (4x SBD is good vs Control as well ).

Though I doubt Gr will ever be that dominate since Bx can adapt with LZB again or UBx Control can just rise up (again...) so I'll go with Young Rakdos for now.

[Tyrael]

MDU, you have convinced me, I'll be running Young Rakdos next week

[Jedi_Knight]

Wall of text incoming. I am NOT a man of few words.

Ok, so here are my thoughts - made another 4-0 and I am 9QP away from the dreaded 35 this month.

We do want Spike Jester. This is the card that makes the explosive starts able to happen. Cackler help against Bdevo and slow builds, but Jester is what makes it tick. He surprises just about anyone, trades (with a burn spell) with just about everything short of BBoV and pisses on Sylvan Cariatid. This may seem obivous but for my own sake I needed to mention my undying love for this Rakdos crazy bastard.

Mana issues are present and with the manabase we are trying to run I do think variance will get tous some of these games especially if we are trying to run both Phoenix and LBZ and cast them on curve. Easy solution would be to cut Mutavault completely, but that softens to deck to any slow matchup and still doesn't
really eliminate variance. I ran 2 Mutas in the beginning of the season in my Big Boros deck with MD Reckoners so I'll settle for that here too. Yet it does feel awkward sometimes.

I tried the version with Young Pyromancer but I did that without further reading. After playing 2 games with him I realized that I lack both the theoretical and practical experience to make him "awesome". Those of you coming from the PyroRed/PyroWhite/Walter White (that's MDU included if I remember correctly) are probably used to playing him, but to those of us new to this guy he really steepens the learning curve. I do consider reading the PyroRed primer and articles from zemanjaski a must if one wants to play him correctly and to max potential even though he isn't the backbone of the deck like he was in PyroRed.

As for the cards presented in MDU's builds:
[card]Hero's Downfall[/card] - I am on edge about this card. the double B cost is punishing, but it
serves as MD answer to just about anything short of BBoV. I completely agree with the idea that we do not want dead cards against certain MUs in main and that we need an option to get rid of MoW once it hits the table. By replacing HDF with Ultimate Price we open ourselves to Obzedat and have less walker answers coupled with the unability to use it on Specter (which we still really don't want to, since HDF is best used on DD) and Reckoner (which isn't that much common). All in all if we are running this manabase we may as well run HDF. Also how many of either UP/HDF and Dreadbore? 2/3 seems ok, 6 terrors would be OK still, higher than that I do think is a little too much which punishes our reach.
Mizzium Mortars - Aren't there better answers for us to SB? I am currently trying Fated Conflagration, but that card makes the manabase even more luck based, although it solves just about
every problem it is designed to solve (short of Obzedat + Spear of Heliod, which I faced yesterday). Mortars are able to kill Dragon, BBoV, Brimaz and that nightmarish lifegiving Angel. But we're playing black! Except BBoV all the creatures mentioned will die to every B spell we SB (short of Dragon not discarded by LBZ). Besides I don't really consider Mortars an answer to Angel: first we have to have it turn he comes in and second it is otherwise a dead card against UW. Also, the sweeping ability of Mortars seem handy only against MonoU currently... which on the other hand is where Mortars are just about the best red removal we can have.
Shock - well... Shock is a Shock. I always end up looking at it and finding myself wanting it to replace with just about anything. Haven't done it yet mainly because it is not that bad - like it was said here on the forums, when Shock is good, it is really good. And here it works.

If I may I would like to
hear your thoughts on this.

The new Phoenix I replaced with Chandra after a few games. I do admit it may be a win-win card and it makes the G/R matchup even easier, but against everything else it is and overcosted flyer. The usability of this card and it's effectiveness will be decided when the metagame settles, at least for me. Chandra on the other hand and this one I hate to admit is not as strong as she was in other builds. But she solves one glaring problem: lack of CA. I tried Whip of Erebos in her place and was utterly dissapointed by it. Sure I gave it only 1 8man, but out of the three games I drew it, I always wish it was either Chandra of Phoenix. Don't really think Whip is where we wanna go with MB card.

For now, I'll run Chandra mainly because of her second ability... but then again in deck like this drawing Dreadbore while nothing is on the table can piss you off.

As for the different builds - I will probably try the heavier red one but I do find the
lack of LBZ disturbing, because this card can really makes the matches it shines in much easier. Also considering switching Cacklers for YPs and see how much explosivness I lose by doing so. Just for kicks.

My current 75, whici is nearly identical to the first iteration. I commented on what I do think warrants further discussion
[deck]
Creatures
4 Rakdos Cackler (whether yes or no)
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch (2 or 3 being the right number)
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells
3 Shock (well... it's a Shock! )
4 Magma Jet
4 Lighning Strike
3 Dreadbore (number of copies)
2 Hero's Downfall (number of copies)

Our fiery lover
2 Chandra, Pyromaster (whther she is worth it here)

Lands (manabase as a whole needs... well... little bit of luck )
4 Blood Crypt
4 Rakdos Guildgate
4 Temple of
Malice
2 Mutavault (number of copies)
7 Mountain
3 Swamp

Sideboard
3 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
1 Ultimate Price (works as 4th terror against both B or U devo)
3 Skullcrack
3 Lifebane Zombie
2 Fated Conflagration (whether Mortars, this or something else entirely)
[/deck]
And ofc whether to include Ashley, YP, the new Phoenix, [card]Rakdos' Return[/card] (currently toying with that idea, just don't want to spend 8 tix on 2 and the find out it does nothing) etc.

[Tyrael]

Not a big fan of Mortars personally but it's the best answer we have to BBoV currently

[Guttler]

I can understand how Mizzium Mortars seems like it doesn't belong on the deck. It's really only in there to answer one specific card, BBoV, but as a 2 cost kill spell it can also be boarded in as just an extra terror vs aggressive decks where you want to play the control game; usually a 4 cost card like Fated Conflagration would be meaningless in those matches anyway, while MM at 2 mana allows for faster interaction with the board and the possibility of being able to cast it and another spell on the same turn.

On the topic of YP, I understand she is the best value creature available to red decks, but value isn't everything. In my experience playing PyroRed, YP was sideboarded out in many matchups of the pre-BotG meta, but was excellent in other ones.

I always sideboarded YP out vs:

G/R Devotion and G/R Monsters: G/R Devotion got trample from Nylea and
giant Pollokranos monsterouses powered out by Nyktos can eat your whole board. G/R Monsters also plays pollokranos and can gain trample from Ghor-Clan and their other threat is SBD, which flies right over.

U/x Contron and Mono U Devotion: Control builds completely shut off YP with Jace. Mono U Devotion selects it's creatures for their devotion count, which means that all their ground creatures are 1/4's, 2/2's, or 2/1's with pro red; their fliers tend to be pretty beefy also, NVS and Cloudfin.

That is a large % of the metagame that YP was not good against last season. YP did lots of work against other creature decks, like white weenie boros, G/W aggro, and AIR, but I think Rakdos can already beat those decks by playing as the control, often we can sidebord in 5-8 cards for those matchups with the current SB. YP was also fairly good vs Mono B Devotion, because they had to trade 1 for 1 with all your creatures, but now their is Drown in Sorrow, although it is not clear
how many and if black decks will even add it to their arsenal.

In summary, YP seems much weaker in the current metagame.

[magicdownunder]

@Guttler:

Young Pyromancer is actually really strong against current Gr since they have mostly replaced Nylea for Xenagos God of Revels - I think you'll find that the games where Gr go T3/4 Xenagos God of Revels are the games where we will lose - with Young Pyromancer you get a fighting chance.

Vs Bx Devotion: with Young Pyromancer make G1 a cake walk while making G2-3 a side-boarding nightmare for the Bx Devotion player.
Vs Ux: yeah YP isn't that impressive.
Vs R Devotion: again not very impressive
Vs Wx: YP = Win

@Jedi_Knight:

Glad the list is working for you, the main change you made was Ultimate Price and Fated Conflagration from the SB and Chandra, Pyromaster MD.

Fated Conflagration: Read Gutter's comment, Mortar is better - sweeping is underrated
Ultimate Price: Not horrible, looks like it would making SB'ing make harder though.
Chandra,
Pyromaster: A 4cc Jace 1, which is kinda ok G1 when we only run 5 terrors but is HORRIBLE G2-3 when the terror numbers goes up the roof. (+1 and Ultimate are horrible in this build).

[deck=MDU's Rakdos Aggro]Lands 24
7 Mountain
4 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
4 Temple Of Malice
3 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Mutavault

Creatures 20
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
2 Flame-Wreathed Phoenix
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells 16
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Shock
3 Dreadbore
2 Hero's Downfall

Sideboard 15
3 Lifebane Zombie
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
4 Skullcrack[/deck]
Standard Elimination Report (Event 6765020)
Standard Elimination R1 Rakdos Aggro vs Bx Devotion Event 6765020
Standard Elimination R2 Rakdos Aggro vs Ux Devotion
Event 6765020
Standard Elimination R3 Rakdos Aggro vs Naya Tokens Event 6765020

This Week video order (Mon-Fri):
Standard: Rakdos Aggro
Standard: Young Rakdos
Modern: Rx Burn
Standard: Rakdos Aggro
Standard: Young Rakdos

[Tyrael]

MDU, I've tested the aggro list on cockatrice and 2 vaults seems way too greedy to me, leads to a lot of awkward draws

By the way, it's Rakdos Cackler, not Crackler (in reference to your videos)

[magicdownunder]

Cutting the vaults would make the whole thing run smoother, the only issue that you'll have many turns doing nothing when your in control mode.

I should note: these are videos which I shot last week, so some changes to the manabases and creatures could be made.

[Tyrael]

Heh, I'll take your word for it

I also love how this list has evolved over time from the beginning when people were trying to fit Spike Jester and Ash Zealot together in this deck (is there a mana base that would actually allow this? I'm curious) along with Thoughtseize and Pack Rat while none of them are anywhere to be found right now.