Dies to Removal

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 1:04 am**

[deck=Another Br Aggro List ]Lands 24
4 Mountain
8 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
4 Temple Of Malice
2 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Mutavault

Creatures 18
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Spike Jester
4 Herald of Torment
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells 18
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
2 Bile Blight
4 Thoughtseize
4 Hero's Downfall

Sideboard 15
3 Lifebane Zombie
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
4 Skullcrack[/deck]
Yet another Br variant here! Thoughts anyone?

Been practicing all day with this. Such a SOLID deck.
It feels like old school machine head. Man if only we had a R/B discard guy. You have some really good designs LB

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 3:58 am**

One final thought on my most recent brew. It is hilariously cold to Soldier of the Pantheon out of the board in UW if I side out my Ultimate Price and Bile Blights. This is where Thrill-kill starts to look better.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 11:35 am**

I had the same problem when I played basicly similar deck previously. Soldier of Pantheon blockes almost everything from turn 1 and 2.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 1:48 pm**

Been practicing all day with this. Such a SOLID deck.
It feels like old school machine head. Man if only we had a R/B discard guy. You have some really good designs LB

Very hapy to hear you're liking the list Midnight

Is there anything you would change or tweak?

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 3:55 pm**

Morning epiphany: Madcap Skills to get through a Soldier of the Pantheon. Would replace Satyr Nyx-Smith in the board. I'd want to run three so I'd also cut one Duress. I like this option because I can also board in Skills against GW which lack removal to deal with it outside of Selesnya Charm. Siding it in against GR is also a possibility but they play both Mizzium Mortars and Domri to deal with it.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 3:56 pm**

Is Cackler better than Tormented Hero now, that Black decks goes without Ultimate Prices? You get value with Hero plus can block lategame / when you stop being agressor.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 4:22 pm**

Morning epiphany: Madcap Skills to get through a Soldier of the Pantheon. Would replace Satyr Nyx-Smith in the board. I'd want to run three so I'd also cut one Duress. I like this option because I can also board in Skills against GW which lack removal to deal with it outside of Selesnya Charm. Siding it in against GR is also a possibility but they play both Mizzium Mortars and Domri to deal with it.

Sorry, your plan against U/W's Soldier is to give a removal packed deck a nice 2-for-1?

I agree it's a good play against some decks, but in INN-RTR standard (last time I played with Madcap Skills) I'd always board it out against control.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 4:45 pm**

I'm not sure why it matters. We're not going to cut one of them. We need our eight one drops.

If we're blocking with this deck, we are losing.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 4:56 pm**

I'm not sure why it matters. We're not going to cut one of them. We need our eight one drops.

If we're blocking with this deck, we are losing.

I am talking about Lazer's deck where he plays only 4 1 drops.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 5:02 pm**

Morning epiphany: Madcap Skills to get through a Soldier of the Pantheon. Would replace Satyr Nyx-Smith in the board. I'd want to run three so I'd also cut one Duress. I like this option because I can also board in Skills against GW which lack removal to deal with it outside of Selesnya Charm. Siding it in against GR is also a possibility but they play both Mizzium Mortars and Domri to deal with it.
Sorry, your plan against U/W's Soldier is to give a removal packed deck a nice 2-for-1?

I agree it's a good play against some decks, but in INN-RTR standard (last time I played with Madcap
Skills) I'd always board it out against control.

It's tricky because we have two options:

1) Keep in our Bile Blights and Ultimate Price to deal with a narrow situation.
2) Run Madcap Skills and risk the 2-for-1.

I prefer the latter option here because it is easier to deal with their answers with hand disruption. I can't Duress or Thoughtseize a turn one Solider if I'm on the draw, but I can Thoughtseize a Detention Sphere, Azorius Charm, or Last Breath. Either way, a turn one Soldier of the Pantheon slows us down dramatically, and if UW continues with this plan there's no good answer to it with this deck configuration except to mulligan aggressively to hedge against a card they might not even have.

I know Nuwen and Fate had a lot of success with maindeck Madcap Skills. Perhaps they could chime in.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 5:17 pm**

Morning epiphany: Madcap Skills to get through a Soldier of the Pantheon. Would replace Satyr Nyx-Smith in the board. I'd want to run three so I'd also cut one Duress. I like this option because I can also board in Skills against GW which lack removal to deal with it outside of Selesnya Charm. Siding it in against GR is also a possibility but they play both Mizzium Mortars and Domri to deal with it.
Sorry, your plan against U/W'
s Soldier is to give a removal packed deck a nice 2-for-1?

I agree it's a good play against some decks, but in INN-RTR standard (last time I played with Madcap Skills) I'd always board it out against control.
It's tricky because we have two options:

1) Keep in our Bile Blights and Ultimate Price to deal with a narrow situation.
2) Run Madcap Skills and risk the 2-for-1.

I prefer the latter option here because it is easier to deal with their answers with hand disruption. I can't Duress or Thoughtseize a turn one Solider if I'm on the draw, but I can Thoughtseize a Detention Sphere, Azorius Charm, or Last Breath. Either way, a turn one Soldier of the Pantheon slows us down dramatically, and if UW continues with this plan there's no good answer to it with this deck configuration except to mulligan aggressively to hedge against a card they might not even have.

I know Nuwen and Fate had a lot of success with maindeck Madcap Skills. Perhaps they could chime in.[/quote:
326xw1dj]
That's a very good point. I haven't played Madcap in a list featuring hand disruption, so hadn't thought that you could protect it for hopefully at least 1 turn. And if you get 1 turn out of it, it's basically done its work. More than 1 turn is gravy.

That said, be wary here. If you have 1 Duress/Thoughtseize in hand to use and you see something that can deal the 2-for-1 now but also a power card for a couple turns down the line, that could be a tough decision. Definitely a test of skill.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 6:24 pm**

Just leave in the Bile Blights. They also clear out Elspeth tokens if they're desperate to cast her on 6-7 mana.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 6:37 pm**

Is Cackler better than Tormented Hero now, that Black decks goes without Ultimate Prices? You get value with Hero plus can block lategame / when you stop being agressor.

Cackler is easier to cast T1 but that aside you may well have a point. Testing so many different lists at the same time is dangerous though, I'm looking at this now and wondering where my Pack Rats and Duress's are

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 6:44 pm**

After getting some test games in last night here is what my list has evolved to. Skullcrack takes care of Soldier of the Pantheon when they think its safe to block our multicolors.

[deck]
Creatures (28)
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Tormented Hero
4 Pain Seer
4 Rakdos Shred-Freak
3 Herald of Torment
4 Mogis's Marauder
3 Lifebane Zombie
2 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch

Spells (10)
4 Thoughtseize
2 Bile Blight
2 Dreadbore
2 Hero's Downfall

Lands (22)
4 Temple of Malice
4 Blood Crypt
2 Mutavault
10 Swamp
2 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
4 Dark Betrayal
1 Doom Blade
3 Lightning Strike
3 Skullcrack
4 Xathrid Necromancer
[/deck]

edit: fixed card names

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 6:50 pm**

I left you feedback in the other thread; if you want to continue discussion, reply to it back over here please! Lookin' good.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 7:46 pm**

You literally added zero reach to the mainboard. That said, looks fine, albeit in the wrong thread. Throw it in Dos Rakis and you'll get better feedback. Lightning Strikes out of the board seem weird, 4 Dark Betrayal seems excessive, but other than that just a pile of good cards.

I agreed with you about Lightning Strike. It does seem weird to not have it main board. I was thinking of switching it with the zombies since they are duds in the MBD matchup. The 4 Dark Btrayals is for my local meta. Lots of MBD in my area.

Posted: **Wed Feb 12, 2014 8:55 pm**

How about something like this?

[deck]
Creatures (20)
4 Ash Zealot
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Xathrid Necromancer
4 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch

Spells (14)
3 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
3 Ultimate Price

Planeswalkers (2)
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Lands (24)
4 Temple of Malice
4 Blood Crypt
2 Rakdos Guildgate
10 Mountain
4 Mutavault
[/deck]

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 4:45 am**

Played around with a super-conservative PyroSeer build today.

[deck]Creatures
4 Hero
4 Cackler
4 Seer
4 Pyromancer
1 Burger King
1 Mogis

Spells
4 Thoughtseize
1 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Downfall
4 Rakdos's Return

Lands
4 Crypt
4 Temple
12 Swamp
5 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Duress
1 Erebos
4 Dreadbore
6 more terrors[/deck]

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 2:44 pm**

Lazer I ran your list nearly verbatim. I did a 2/2 split of LBZ and herald otherwise list was virtually the same. 3-1.
Round 1 G/R monster- 2-0 this matchup is a joke post board got even more hilarious.
Round 2 Mono black pile 1-2- Lost to mana issues which I assume is going to happen due to the nature of the beast
Round 3- Jund coloured with devotion to black theme- 2-0 He lost to mana issues also never drew a bile blight when I had two cacklers on board. Exava is extremely obnoxious for them to deal with
Round 4- RDW- Actually a terrifying matchup very difficult. 2-1 game one I just out aggroed him 2 cackler 1 3/1 goblin thing 1 exava for the beats. Game 2 perfect curves out with multiple Emily (I never get multiple Emily when I play her). Game 3 Landed a whip (one of the difference in board) went to town with a mouthbreather dragon.
Overall I like the deck. I am seriously contemplating focusing on more red
based deck with more fliers though. I feel that this version is somewhat clunky, but on paper the control matchup looks AMAZING. We need to shore up the hyper aggro-weenie matchup.

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:05 pm**

Thanks for the feedback Longtoe

Check MDU's list here - it runs more Red and fliers. I was really curious to see how the Herald played and HDF and TS is never bad

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:03 pm**

Pedros, I figured I'd let you know that I'm warming up to Thrill-kill over Shred-Freak now after thinking about it hard for the past couple of days. Let's go over the reasons.

1) Isn't cold to Soldier of the Pantheon. I was most worried about this card coming out of the board in UW but I expect we will see a lot of Wx aggro strategies start to pop up as well and I'd rather err on the side of caution rather than have the extra speed.

2) An analysis of the past couple of weeks of MODO results indicates that UW is playing either Soldier of the Pantheon or Fiendslayer Paladin in the board, many times in combination with Archangel of Thune. Thrill-kill is very well positioned against all of these.

3) Thrill-kill attacks into fatties with complete disregard.

4) Thrill-kill outright wins against Nightveil Specter, Ash Zealot, Courser of Kruphix, Precinct Captain, Voice of Resurgence, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
n
5) Thrill-kill doesn't die to Shock, Magma Jet, Searing Blood, or Pharika's Cure.

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:59 pm**

So I played in a 16man event last night and went 2-2 of 4 arounds. Overall I like how the deck performed. The card I didn't like the most was Pain Seer. In all my match ups if I had Shred-Freak and Pain Seer in hand turn two I would play the Shred-Freak. I was trying to play as aggro as possible but maybe thats not what we should be doing? The card I had the hardest time dealing with was Frostburn Weird if I had no removal. This is my first time writing a match review I will try to take notes next time after each round.

Round 1 vs. R/U control (2-0)
This matchup wasn't very hard to beat. My opponent was running both spell goblins, frostburn weirds, spellheart chimeras, and Stormcaller of Keranos. Nothing to scary but the weirds were good at blocking. Luckily I kept drawing into removal and getting guys in. Game 2 I was able to get him to six life before he cleared my board and put me
into top deck mode. I had a Skullcrack in hand and took 2 turns before drawing a second one. He taps out to cast a Steam Augery and I respond with double Skullcrack for the win.

Round 2 vs. 5 color control? (2-0)
No idea what this decks game plan was... I saw some Chromaticores, Sphinx Rev, and Supreme Verdicts. I curved out well in both games to end it pretty quickly. Game 2 was fun cause I got to suit up a Cackler with two Herald of Torment.

Round 3 vs. RDW (1-2)
This was a hard matchup. We both were really fast with creatures but I didn't draw into any of my removal. Once the Boros Reckoner landed I had no good attacks at all. Marauder wasn't good in this matchup since a lot of my creatures have red. I sided in Nercos and Lifebanes to replace of Marauders and Pain Seers. Games 2 and 3 I saw almost no removal and just got overwhelmed by his slightly larger creatures. All the games were pretty close in terms of life points I just didn't have the reach in time.

Round 4 vs. G/R Bloodrush Aggro (
0-2)
I was fearing this matchup all night cause I just kept hearing horror stories from his opponents. He was playing Xenagos God, Fanatic, Gor Clan, Burning Tree, Domri, and Scav Ooze. Game 1 I get him to 3 life and I'm still at 20. I'm tapped out on his turn. He pumps Scav Ooze to a 10/10 with double strike to win... Would have never seen that coming. Game 2 was looking good for me since I had a great curve. I get him within burn range again and he gets out an Ooze and pumps it to a 6/6. He stabilizes at that point and I just kept drawing land and 1 drops.

Overall I think this deck has potential just need tweeking. I'm considering dropping 4 Pain Seer for 4 Thrill-kill Assassin and putting a Mogis God in my side. I'm going to playtest the Pain Seers more first.

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:00 pm**

I'm no expert but I would think playing your shred freak before your pain seer is a misplay unless the board state dictates such. You need the pain seer in play and attacking to get te card draw and te earlier the better. Shred freak can be played the next turn and attack right away so you aren't really losing any damage (of course the board state has probably changed and maybe they have a blocker now but that's what removal is for and you would have needed to use that anyways, therefore delaying your seer trigger another 2 turns)

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:13 pm**

Your assessment is correct. 90% of the time running out Shred-Freak before Seer is wrong.

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 8:58 pm**

I'm going to continue working on Zemanjaski's original Rakdos Suicide concept.

I want to start off with a quote from the RDW primer:

You want to win your games. There is a difference between trying to win them as quickly as possible (say, always a turn 4 kill) and trying to kill them as quickly as is feasible, that is, through resistance. I can build a deck that goldfishes a Turn 4 kill without resistance, but if my opponent interacts meaningfully, by win rate might only be 50%.

I've seen a lot of deck building in this thread and others going into a turbo aggro direction, which not to say that a hyper aggressive deck can't be good; but they are usually hamstringed by the general metagame around them. In Theros standard, AIR was deck that received a fair bit of play, however, I'd classify a deck like AIRs popularity as stemming more from it's extremely cheap
card cost, then due to it's ability to win tournaments. AIR was a great deck against metagames that were soft to it, but often struggled greatly vs decks that could stop it from goldfishing.

I don't think going all in with a hyper aggressive deck is the way to go right now. I know that the additional temple lands are often clogging up the early turns and making control and midrange decks look even weaker to hyper aggression, but unless you can kill on turn 3, you are not going to just goldfish a opponent.

After game one, an opponent knows you are on the hyper aggression plan, they are not going to keep a hand of scry land, scry land, scry land, and irrelevant cards.You are going to have to fight vs an opponents interaction with your early turns and unlike white based Boros aggro, you wont have cards like BtE and Boros Charm to buy you that last turn you need, which makes keeping a high burn count relevant.

One card I'd be extremely careful of in any deck building, is [card]Chandra,
Pyromaster[/card]. It's not a card we red mages have a lot of experience playing against and overloading a deck with x/1 creature can make a turn 4 (or turn 3 Chandra out of Gruul decks) absolutely backbreaking.

Either way, be really careful about making decks that struggle to win through resistance. They might be the correct call, depending on how the metagame pans out, but I wouldn't discount the wisdom of the RDW primer just yet.

Anyway, here is some theory craft stuff on Rakdos Suicide.

1. In what match up exactly is Xantrid Necromancer bad? He is awesome vs other small aggressive creature decks, often mucking up their plans to attack or block. The only aggro deck that can outclass a 2/2 with ease is G/W. He is great vs Supreme Verdict decks. He blanks their verdict and makes their out a card Last Breath or DSphere, which they may have already used on an earlier creature. Generally, making control decks have a very specific set or sequence of cards in
order to not lose puts too much pressure on them. Even vs a deck like G/R, he represents multiple chump blocks, which can buy time to draw burn, black removal, or fliers that can swing the game in your way. He even plays a good feed the demon game vs BDevotion.

2. Is YP just completely dead vs control? Before, in Pyrored, YP always got sided out vs control decks. Jace, Architect makes 1/1 tokens irrelevant, but she is a human for Necromancer. I really want to find some card that I can sideboard into the place of YP in that matchup. YP seems pretty well positioned against newer G/R deck though, althought she is poorly positioned vs Polokranos. Trample is a thing, but instead of Nylea, we are seeing Ghor-Clan Rampagers, which either come out as a one time effect or have to be hardcast, which makes then vulnerable to removal.

I really like seeing all the new brews, keep up the good work.

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:47 pm**

It would seem I have a lot to learn about this deck still. I will try and slow down my plays during my next playtesting and see how that goes. Would one of you more experienced guys write out some guidelines on piloting this deck? I was under the impression we just get in there as fast and hard as possible.

Posted: **Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:53 pm**

Guttler, I actually disagree with your premise completely. I like Zem's list a lot but it has a glaring weakness to UW and to a smaller extent mono blue devotion which are two of the popular and best performing decks. With a more aggressive black heavy approach you give up a little against aggro strategies preboard but gain a lot more against the two named decks while maintaining a decent mono black matchup. Gr is actually a better matchup for a black-heavy build too since you get Lifebane Zombie.

Now, for red based lists you are absolutely correct. They need to be prepared for longer games and in that regard need to eek out as much value out of every card as possible. My suggestion? Consider running Young Pyromancer, Chandra's Phoenix, and Satyr Nyx-Smith together. This hedges against UW while maintaining a lower curve for aggressive starts. You're still weak to mono blue and Gr preboard but you can design your spell
suite with those matchups in mind. Maindeck Mizzium Mortars is looking better than it ever has with all the x/4s in the format now.

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:19 am**

So, I came up with this.

[deck=R/b Slash! Thrust! Burn! Aggro]
Creatures (23)
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
1 Flame-Wreathed Phoenix
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells (12)
2 Dreadbore
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
2 Ultimate Price

Land (25)
4 Blood Crypt
4 Temple of Malice
2 Rakdos Guildgate
3 Mutavault
9 Mountain
3 Swamp

Sideboard (15)
3 Dark Betrayal
2 Duress
4 Doom Blade
3 Skullcrack
2 Ultimate Price
1 Flame-Wreathed Phoenix
[/deck]

This deck is not complicated. It wants to play a creature, any creature, pick your favorite, and then kill absolutely everything in its way. If your opponent kills it, pick another, all of them but 5 have haste. Post board, it sides into even more creature hate or burn. The 2 Duress are there because I don't have Thoughtseize, but [
card]Thoughtseize[/card] would be strictly better.

In particular, this deck wants to hate on black post sideboard. My general experience when going against black is that they win in two major ways:

1. Strip your hand, remove your guys, and play Desecration Demon when you've run out of gas.
2. Remove your guys, remove even more of your guys, and then play Desecration Demon when you're out of gas.

Mainly, it's just Desecration Demon that pisses me off. The demon is only annoying because he's a 6/6 for 4 and with no sacrificial lambs to offer him to snack on because the deck is a pile of kill. I board in a ton of kill so I can for sure have a kill spell waiting for him.

I think my frustration toward black is coming through. It's been a pain coming up with something that can consistently be at least "fair" against it from all the testing I've done this week. From game 1
testing I've done so far, I'm thinking that pre-board it's sitting around 50~60%. If the black deck drops the soap at all, this deck is hard, ready, and oozing from the tip. I haven't gotten to post board testing just yet.

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:34 am**

I don't know if its anygood... bu the way you right about that deck turns me on... "WHERE IS MONO BLACK AT? . . YOU GON' LEARN TODAY."

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:35 am**

It's VERY similar to the list in my OP except it's not playing Chandra.

I'm not a fan of Flame-Wreathed Phoenix personally. I'd rather play the fourth Stormbreath Dragon since you're on 25 land. Other than that it looks good.

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:48 am**

@Midnight - I expect the meta for an upcoming local tournament to be infested with mono-black. I want to beat the deck so hard that people will ask if the mono-black player had a night with redthirst.

@Val - Thanks for looking at it. I haven't checked the op in a bit, but there's some small differences between our decks. Mine is a bit more scorched earthy.

So far I'm on the fence about the big phoenix. He does combo well with Exava but he's a bit worse than the dragon. I only have 3 dragons (thus 3), but I've been tempted to take them down to 2 and move 1 to the side board. I expect a lot of mono-black and it's almost a dead card against them. One idea I've had is to go -1 Dragon, -1 Big Phoenix, +2 Chandra. I expect the big phoenix to do better in any sort of green deck where I can board out my weak ground guys for an air force and removal.

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:53 am**

If you did make that adjustment, you could safely cut a land for a third Dreadbore or Ultimate Price.

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 5:48 am**

Hmm, thinking about it a bit more, I'm not sure if I want Chandra in the deck. Her +0 post board will come up removal more often than burn. What are your feelings on +1 or +2 Hammer of Purphoros? The haste is wasted but sacking excess lands could be more useful than a big phoenix.

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 2:25 pm**

I was play testing MDU list last night and it is very solid. The new phoenix plus exava is AMAZING! Very consistent I was 60/40 against the UWR control list from star city and the mono U matchup isn't terrible.

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 3:15 pm**

Thanks for the feedback Longtoe

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 3:27 pm**

One reminder about Flame Wreathed Phoenix.

The way Tribute works is that if the tribute isn't payed the creature then gets a trigger ability that in FWP's case grants it 2 abilities. The kicker is that your opponent can respond to that ability with a kill spell, Lightning Strike is the most relevant one, and kill your 3/3 before it gains it's resurrection from ashes ability.

I'm beginning to think that running SBD and Pain Seer in the same deck may not be so strange after all. Dragon gives you the ability to go big into late game with a glut of lands. Sure, flipping for 5 hurts, but you just drew a SBD. One thing to consider is that while 4 dragons require 25 lands, you can run 2 dragons on just 23, which lets the list trim some slots while still keeping a high end threat, although not one you will see every game.

Posted: **Fri Feb 14, 2014 11:19 pm**

Might aswell share my current brew after leaving Zems Pyro build. It´s mostly Dos Rakis of Theros with some small shifts in the low end of the curve. I really liked the recursive aspect which Spiteful Returned expands on aswell as being quite the pain. I dropped the Cacklers after quite some back and forth. They are only better in the starting hand compared to Returned which I find acceptable so far. Searing Blood is hilarious G2+ vs all these Pain Seers and Pack Rats people insist on bringing. Thanks for promoting MBA guys

[deck]Creatures
3 Spiteful Returned
4 Ash Zealot
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells
2 Dreadbore
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
2 Ultimate Price
3 Chandra, Pyromaster

Land
4 Blood Crypt
4 Temple of Malice
3 Mutavault
n10 Mountain
3 Swamp

Sideboard
3 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
3 Mizzium Mortars
1 Ultimate Price
3 Searing Blood
2 Erebos, God of the Dead[/deck]

Posted: **Sat Feb 15, 2014 4:05 am**

MattT --- How's your UW control matchup with that list?

My Temple of Malices should arrive this weekend, looking forward to sleeving them up!

Posted: **Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:18 pm**

Tournament Report for the TCG 5K Flint Michigan with MDU Rbfliers only differences from his list were one whip of erebos in board and one fated conflagaration in board
Round 1 RW Burn (Appeared to be Brad Nelson's List) 2-1 The matchup isn't particularly difficult if you can con the burn player into killing your creatures. Resolved Whip game 3 easy victory
Round 2 RW Devotion- Game one he rick rolled me with a beautiful use of emily to trigger shrine. Game 2 He punted because he missed purphoros triggers I capitalized and won the game. Game 3 had plenty of removal and finished him off with exava and new phoenix
Round 3 RW Devotion (this player made top

- 2-0 He did what all RW devotion decks do sometimes play like a shitty version of RDW. he did this for two straight games
Round 4 RG Monsters (This player made top - 0-2 Neither game too memorable other than I was in a decent race game 1 but he landed two coursers, Kill that thing on site. Game two stuck on 3 lands
Round 5 mono black devotion 2-0 you play this matchup exactly like the R/W aggro decks MDU had be very aggressive and burn them out
Round 6 Bant Flash- 2-0 You out class most of his creatures with your fatties. He did run Avent of the Wurm and the odd flash creature where you gain life for each card draw. He was on the back foot most games.
Round 7 GW aggro- 0-2 I was the saddest panda this match. Game 1 ton of removal Killed about 7-8 creatures and drew one spike jester all game. Game 2- mana flooded, it happens
Round 8 RB midrange/control- 2-0 I was too fast for this deck. I did not see any evidence of life gain. he played an interested card choice of Mogis main.
Round 9 GR (Team Perfect Storm member) GR Monsters- 2-1 Game 1 he mulled to 6. I just out raced and killed any fatty he
had. Game 2- Very good roll out for him. I was stuck on 3 mana. Game 3- Was a thing of beauty. to finish the game he was at 10. I had Double shock in hand and one mutavault(for creatures) in play. We know what I topdecked, Mouthbreather dragon.
Final Standing a big kick in the junk, 9th out nearly 300 players. The only pro lurking at the event was Raymond Perez Jr. who ended up with a game loss at the tournament for tardiness. Decent tournament. I like the deck. I would cut the fated conflagaration for 2nd whip. The meta appeared to be at the tournament VERY high RG monsters like 30% of field. Control variants were probably 2nd. Mono black was 3rd for present. RW devotion 4th for frequency. If the meta continues as it, I would recommend a black heavier build as Thoughtseize and lifebane makes the RG monster matchup comical. The reach with the red burn is mandatory as well and I think with further testing we can come to a very good compromise of black cards with taking advantage of the great burn
available to us in the format.

Posted: **Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:47 pm**

Thanks for the report, I do agree on the Black Heavy Comment - not sure how I feel about cutting Phoenixes and Dragons but I can work on something for that direction.

I'm also very glad you appreciate the semi-burn approach I took with the build

Dies to Removal

R/b Aggro aka "Dos Rakis"

Work in progress.