The main draws it has is as a turn one removal versus a mana ramp creature or it’s ETB trigger being able to nab something like Reality Smasher. I feel like the flexibility of instant speed and resilience to land destruction makes Path still a stronger choice in most cases though.
Guys, pls explain me whats the idea of chained to the rocks?
Its a quasibl-removal card operating at sorcery speed. Any reason to pick it over pte?
Two articles by Mike Flores about it are linked in the first post of the primer. You can read all about his reasoning there, and he's the source of why people are trying that card lately. The titles are something like "the chained to the rocks dilemma" and "the chained to the rocks experiment".
The short answer is that it's a turn 1 Noble hierarch answer and it kills reality smasher without a discard.
To be fair, Mike Flores spends way too much effort on trying to give his articles an unnecessary narrative than actually explain his reasoning behind card decisions. Trying to figure out the actual reason he likes Chained to the Rocks takes way more effort from the reader than should be required. He could learn a lot about how to get to the damn point.
I’m genuinely not sure what else you’re looking for as far as an answer goes at this point. We’ve discussed the two main strengths of it over Path to Exile and given you the two main articles that discuss its results. Using it over Path is entirely meta dependent and neither is inherently better (although I would argue Path is more flexible in a more open/unknown meta). It’s had enough positive results that it is “worthy” of being considered a useful sideboard card, but whether it is better for you personally is something you’ll need to test.
I tried it a little bit but ran into matchups that were quite bad for it. If you read Flores' articles, he talks about success he had and success that a friend of his has had. Pretty much anything you want to know about Chained to the Rocks can be found in those two articles.
So there's been some talk about Vexing Devil as a card in Burn. While I agree that it's bad against Jeskai control and stuff because it can be answered so easily, it does perform well against non interactive decks where you need to race them. So I propose playing 2-3 copies in the sideboard as an option to lower the overall mana curve while doing more damage. There are many non-interactive decks out there that are sometimes too fast for us, and we don't need to bring in Vexing Devil against decks where it would be bad.
So there's been some talk about Vexing Devil as a card in Burn. While I agree that it's bad against Jeskai control and stuff because it can be answered so easily, it does perform well against non interactive decks where you need to race them. So I propose playing 2-3 copies in the sideboard as an option to lower the overall mana curve while doing more damage. There are many non-interactive decks out there that are sometimes too fast for us, and we don't need to bring in Vexing Devil against decks where it would be bad.
On the play, your opponent will take 4 if they can't kill it on their turn and will take zero if they can (they have 4 outs for this, P=0.399 that they can kill it). On the draw, your opponent will take 4 if they can't kill it on their turn and will take zero if they can (let's say they have 8 outs now, P=0.706 that they can kill it). Vexing Devil on T1 is worth 1.79 damage. It's worse than Shock. That's why I call it trash. It's not just because it offers your opponent a choice, it's because the card is actually awful. You simply can't evaluate the card by looking at "but 4 damage Lava Spike!" because it's just not a 4 damage Lava Spike. You have to evaluate it as if it's worth less damage than Shock. On later turns, it's even worse than that. If they have a creature that outclasses it, they'll just let Vexing Devil sit there doing nothing.
I have zero desire to play a card that's worse than Shock. Vexing Devil is unplayable trash.
I'd think that the first things that you'd swap out from the sideboard would be those or Deflecting Palms, since I consider those to be kind of "flex spots".
Jon Stern’s list in general was spicy. 3 Ensnaring Bridge and 2 Leyline of Sanctity in the side almost makes it a pseudo RW prison deck instead of Burn.
So am I correct that the unbanning of both Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf are just strictly bad for us? Are there any upsides to these unbannings at all for Burn?
Why are they "strictly bad" for us? BBE probably won't do much of anything in Jund. The combination of the two might make a RUG midrange deck worth playing, but that's a lot of 4 drops.
JTMS costs 4 and comes down at a time when you're close to winning. It will help them dig for answers, though. You should keep fetches up in order to shuffle out of fate seal locks. I'd almost prefer UW to be playing JTMS than be Gideon emblem tribal.
One of the guys played 2 copies of Shrine of Burning Rage in the sideboard. I know it's bad, despite it winning another gp a while ago, but sideboard copies seem interesting.
I'm pretty sure it's bad in certain matchups so mainboard wouldn't be good, and maybe it's bad in ALL matchups, but I just want to know for sure if we're going to exclude the card as a choice altogether, whether it be in the main or in the side.
Its a quasibl-removal card operating at sorcery speed. Any reason to pick it over pte?
DnT! I'm a power-load
DnT! Watch me Explode
Two articles by Mike Flores about it are linked in the first post of the primer. You can read all about his reasoning there, and he's the source of why people are trying that card lately. The titles are something like "the chained to the rocks dilemma" and "the chained to the rocks experiment".
The short answer is that it's a turn 1 Noble hierarch answer and it kills reality smasher without a discard.
DnT! I'm a power-load
DnT! Watch me Explode
2. You want 4 or 0.
If you want more creatures, consider Wild Nacatl
If you want a 1 mana 4 damage spell, consider prayer.
On the play, your opponent will take 4 if they can't kill it on their turn and will take zero if they can (they have 4 outs for this, P=0.399 that they can kill it). On the draw, your opponent will take 4 if they can't kill it on their turn and will take zero if they can (let's say they have 8 outs now, P=0.706 that they can kill it). Vexing Devil on T1 is worth 1.79 damage. It's worse than Shock. That's why I call it trash. It's not just because it offers your opponent a choice, it's because the card is actually awful. You simply can't evaluate the card by looking at "but 4 damage Lava Spike!" because it's just not a 4 damage Lava Spike. You have to evaluate it as if it's worth less damage than Shock. On later turns, it's even worse than that. If they have a creature that outclasses it, they'll just let Vexing Devil sit there doing nothing.
I have zero desire to play a card that's worse than Shock. Vexing Devil is unplayable trash.
the one in second place had a fun-of vexing devil
Still think it's not significant, but this time it's actually in a modern tournament (not a draft/modern)
Also both list had a splash of green for d-rev
"Are you serious?" Chandra replied.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gptor18/gptor18-top-8-decklists-2018-02-11
JTMS costs 4 and comes down at a time when you're close to winning. It will help them dig for answers, though. You should keep fetches up in order to shuffle out of fate seal locks. I'd almost prefer UW to be playing JTMS than be Gideon emblem tribal.
I'm pretty sure it's bad in certain matchups so mainboard wouldn't be good, and maybe it's bad in ALL matchups, but I just want to know for sure if we're going to exclude the card as a choice altogether, whether it be in the main or in the side.