Postby Wipe Out » Fri Nov 15, 2013 8:31 am
Big Boros rides again. Took it to Thurs Night Magic (16 people), went 4-0, 8-1 on games total all night. On to the details.
[deck]
Creatures: 24
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Ash Zealot
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Stormbreath Dragon
Spells: 9
3 Chained to the Rocks
2 Mizzium Mortars
4 Lightning Strike
Ladies in Red: 2
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
Land: 25
13 Mountain
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Mutavault
Sideboard: 15
1 Chained to the Rocks
2 Assemble the Legion
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Shock
3 Skullcrack
2 Wear // Tear
3 Boros Charm
[/deck]
Round 1: Ivan playing Rakdos Aggro
Ivan's first night at an LGS for a more competitive event. B/R is definitely faster than us but he wasn't really packing much removal so getting a Reckoner or two down allowed me to outrace him game 1. Game 2, -4 Firedrinker Satyr +2 Mizzium Mortars +2 Shock. Played control, removed
what he dropped and came through with some Zealots and Phoenixes for the win.
Record: 1-0
Round 2: Joe playing Jund
Didn't know people were still trying to make Jund run. Game 1 I just ran up the curve and finished him off before much could happen. -4 Firedrinker Satyr +2 Mizzium Mortars +1Chained to the Rocks +1 Shock. Game 2, I'm chipping away at him, get him down to 11. He then drops 2 Deathrite Shamans and I can't draw removal for the life of me after using it up earlier on Polukranos (x2). He stabilizes his life, then gets a Reaper of the Wilds down that I can't get rid of. All that's keeping me in the game are Chandra and a couple Mutavaults. He plays Vraska, kills Chandra and then finishes me with Reaper and Shamans digging through my graveyard. -4 Rakdos Cackler +1 Shock +2 Assemble the Legion +1 Boros Charm. Game 3, keep the pressure on. He drops some Deathrite Shamans, I manage to get rid of one and at 5 mana I have 2 Stormbreath and an Assemble in my hand. I drop the Assemble
and my opponent breathes a sigh of relief that it wasn't a Dragon but it was the end for him. I dropped Dragons over successive turns but he removed them, however a Phoenix and Assemble he couldn't deal with.
Record: 2-1
Round 3: Alan playing U/B Aggro
Hadn't heard of this deck (sounds like it recently placed well in a high profile tournament?). Deck was full of things like Tormented Hero, Nightveil Specter, Rakdos Shred-Freak, Agent of Fates, Rakdos Cackler, Mogis Marauder and Xathrid Necromancer. In addition to some normal black removal, he leaned heavily on Rapid Hybridization as removal and as a combat trick. Game 1, it's an out and out race. I try to remove Shred-Freaks and threats as fast as possible. Things are pretty close and he drops a Xathrid Necromancer thinking he can lock up the board but I hit it with Chains, Mortar Nightveil Specter and let my phoenix air force finish him over 2 turns. -4 Firedrinker Satyr -1 Rakdos Cackler +2 Mizzium Mortars +1 Chained to the Rocks +2
Shock. Game 2, I keep a hand of 2 lightning bolts, a few land, Zealot, Stormbreath. I play control, sitting back and burning whatever threats he drops. He responds to almost all of these by using Rapid Hybridization. However, he doesn't have much more removal and Reckoners clog the ground game long enough for me to ride with a Dragon and Phoenixes to victory. As an aside, Alan is a terrible loser, please don't immediately say the exact words "My deck is really good and I should have won. I just didn't get the land I needed either game, but definitely this is the better deck." He didn't suffer from obvious mana screw, so either he needs to tweak his mana base or practice mulliganing and not be a pill. Alan can suck it, and Big Boros is a lot to suck on.
Round 4: Kirk playing Mono Black Devotion
MonoBlack is a match up I have worried about and have a hard time with. However, this time things went well. Game 1, just kept the pressure on with Cacklers, Satyrs, Zealots and Mutas. He has
some removal but I get to him before he can get anything too stabilizing down. -4 Reckoner, -4 Lightning Strike +3 Skullcrack +2 Assemble the Legion +1 Chained to the Rocks +2 Wear // Tear. Game 2, he removes my early threats after I do some damage and he slams down a Demon turn 4. I put it in Chains and get a little more damage in. Next turn he plays Underworld Connections and proceeds to draw. My turn I hit 5 land and put down Assemble the Legion. He goes, drops another Demon (which he probably just drew). I'm a little low on threats on the board but Assemble starts churning out tokens I can sac to Demons (he drops a third!) all day long while putting pressure on with mutas and phoenixes. As I drop a Stormbreath and think I have the game, he Devour Flesh on his 9/9 Demon but next turn I finish him. Even if he got a whip down I had wear // tear just waiting.
Record: 4-0
Assemble did great work for me. I know sometimes it gets blanked by Jace but against some of these decks especially if theyre relying on stalling or putting down big creatures without trample or flying, Assemble the Legion is such a threat. People seem to be wising up to CttR though, more and more anti-enchantment tech, ratchet bombs, etc. I am still a bit split on the sideboard. There are some cards like Warleader's Helix that I almost want to play there but rarely has it proved as versatile as something like Mortars and even though people are not huge fans of Skullcrack, sometimes it's the only thing keeping me in a game where B/x or U/W/x is stabilizing their life and it deals with the rogue Maze's End decks that can be a pain in the ass. This LGS has a lot of control even though I didn't hit U/W or Esper today. I think that our matchup there is still pretty good, especially first game. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them but for now I have my faith restored in Big B. Some thoughts:
1) How much mainboarded removal that is useless against control is too much? I have 3 Chains and 2 Mortars that
are dead cards against control but are amazing in so many other match ups, especially game 1.
2) Lightning Strike has been great for me. I ran Magma Jet for a long time but that extra damage can really come in handy and man, Nightveils are such a pain it is good to be able to kill them on sight.
3) B/W match up is still tricky for me. Obzedat is a house.
4) x3 Chandra mainboard? She is always something I'm glad to see in my hand and worst case she is a damage magnet because the other person cannot allow her to sit there long. However, using her 0 to draw another Chandra sucks.
5) Stormbreath. I love him, but should we side him out against strong black removal like we do with Reckoner? Is he worth having around if they're handing out doom blades?
- Ok how about 
