Boys,I don't undesrstand wizards,they have destroyed modern only to sell more M25,Jund is a super deck and can fight UW control with JMS,wizards is crazy!!!!.
Now only two decks to play,Jund and UW control,only is important How much money do you have?:-(
Jund is a problem for our deck, though I can't say it is warping the format. We also, although it was going to time, grinded out a matchup against our Blue Mage Jace. We were going to lose however there were too many options, and we let our opponent lose on time, mainly cause there was 0 reason for them activating Jace the last two turns before timeout, and clearly had the win but the chose to play with Jace making more decisions. Otherwise we grind out just fine against Jace, it is Jund that is a bit rough.
I figured out why..... I followed the link Fluffy posted for GP Lyon lol. He's at SCG Indy.
Welp that's a thing...
Started our Modern Challenge at 0-2. Most streamers and content providers will just drop and move on. We stuck the course because we believe. We goofed on one of the decks and think we may have turned the corner. We were playing a 'sub-optimal' list as I believe, and this is a real time commitment to see how it pans out over a long day. That being said we came back from that 0-2 and finished 5-3 and reclaimed our entry fee.
Takeaway today: Trading Post - If you show me this card I will happily trade you for it and spit it in two. Ugh... Revenged... making me ponder this Skullmead Cauldron. Hmmmm...
Also of note decks were I believe as follows:
UR Control - Hi Keranos
Eldrazi Tron. We did make a goat and shoot the goat to not have our opponent gain life from Wurmcoil. This was the ONLY activation that was different then gaining life.
BR Pyromancer Shrapnel Blast?...?...
Burn - Chalices win
Goryo's Vengeance - We did use Trading Post to gain a lot of life but it was lock pieces that took this one.
Burn - Struggled here and lost
Merfolk - I'm so sorry opponent... Ensnaring both games, and an incoming Boil was end for them.
I'm missing one, if someone who tuned in knows what I missed share away.
Dog walk time! See ya guys later!
Edit:
Note we were playing a pretty sub-optimal list, which speaks to the core. If there is anything I talk about a lot is the core of this deck, which I believe we have all here (Especially Ray) established. 6 Moons, 4 Bridge, 4 Chalice, 4 D-Ritual, 1 P-Ritual, 4 SSG, 4 Rabble, 4 Chandra
That to me appears to be the core, along with 21 minimum lands. (53 cards) You essentially can then play the "Which 7 cards do I bring in Pre-board" and you move from there.
Double post with a few pictures off of MTGGoldfish. We're pushing the deck as we can Mountainfolk!
Russ is doing a great job bringing us a 5-0 and a 6th in an SCG event. I've tried out two Modern Challenges and just scrapped in at 30 - 32nd place. That being said we are just two people. This deck picks up interest it could easily start to take a share.
I'll highlight Spiderspace briefly. He's a popped into my stream a few times, playing a red/white eldrazi tax list, so we're swinging with Eldrazi.
-- Reason for highlight: Mainboard Chalice of the Void
-- Lock Piece choice Worship post board (2 of)
I'll also highlight that data-wise we are ahead of R/W Sun & Moon which just had a 1st place finish at SCG Modern Classic.
-- Reason for highlight: Mainboard Chalice of the Void & Blood Moon
-- Lock piece choice Ensnaring Bridge post board (1 of) - Relies on sweepers more.
The reason I highlight these is their choices of lock pieces, but where each of our decks sit. I'll ask Raystack, if we reduce the number of bridges, are we still "Pyro Prison" do we need to slide bridge to the board (2 of perhaps?) for x2 something fast and potent, especially with Jace, the Mind Sculptor? These are my questions I pose to our mountainfolk.
Well, I am considering dropping mom and pop nalaar from the main and dropping Hazoret in their place from the side. Dropping 1 shattering spree for a 2nd boil and a thundermaw/Stormbreath in the side to shore up my matches. Local UW grinder said he is entirely afraid of my deck and my match up vs him on Friday showed why in the top 8
Alright, Got new computer, spent half the day figuring how to set up OBS, and now we're ready to go. Sonn as son goes to sleep tonight, I'll be streaming pyro prison in a comp league. Today is also Mayham Monday for Fluffy, so you'll have two streamers tonight. Fluffy's stream will be better in overall quality and fun factor. I just know people have requested this from me, so now I'm ready to go.
changes to deck, dropping one spree for an extra boil. hiopefully we see Jace and not elf.
If possible, I would like some thoughts on the deck going forward. I've been playing it for 18 months and it has been really fun. A few months ago I had to pay some bills and sold the deck. I've been saving to buy it back, while still being able to play it thanks to a gracious friend. I'm at the point where I can buy it back, but I feel it might not be viable anymore. Jund is bad for us and Jace isn't good either. Kolaghan's Command plus Abrupt Decay and Pulse is not what I want to sit across from. Blood Moon always gets taken by IoK or Thoughtseize, BBE hastily kills our Walkers and Jace is Jace. How have things gone on MTGO with the new unbans? Has my favorite deck effectively been removed from contention? I don't know what to do and any help would be greatly appreciated!
So I did some Fluffy style "research" last night. I keep hearing people saying that the decks that will benefit from the meta shift the most are Burn and Tron, so I tried both for a few matches each, and while I can't really give you a definitive yes or no on their viability, I can tell you one thing for sure; I missed Pyro Prison badly. People playing Tron are going to be put to the test, especially in the patience department. Control with JTMS vs Tron is a grindfest of epic proportion, as you may have seen when Fluff played UW Miracles. Jace slows the game down so much, I can see eventless matches going to time over and over again until Wizards is forced to make a decision.
People whine all the time about Moon, Chalice and Bridge, but decks that stall for an hour and a half before game 3 even starts.. well, that's a level of unfun I'm not used to in Modern. An influx of players trying to play Control that don't necessarily play it well, coupled with the time involved activating Search for Azcanta and Jace, Countering a million spells and not actively trying to win the game is a much larger short-term concern for me than our matchup with Jund. As Fluffy mentioned before, people are playing around with Jace so much, they forget they can just win the game.
Superb news on the new computer and upcoming streams, Russ! Competing viewing opportunities: 2 streams of Pyro Prison or the Olympics (with a little betting on the side). Fellow streamer, Fluffy, asked about our opinions on Bridge count getting split into the SB in the interest of a faster win clock card. I'll argue by example: Pale Sun and Moon has (2) distinct variants - A) Bridgeless with Nahiri/Emrakul win or B) Bridge with Planeswalker win. I was just having this exact discussion with another Pyro Prison pilot at my LGS.
How does Pale Moon handle this question? They have to subscribe to one or the other on bridges -- either A) or B). Now, if we drop on bridge counts, then we'll have to increase our removal suite, and the problem with that is 2-fold: we don't have the resources of powerful white spells which also denies us any real life gaining spells. I think it's a dead end. Although that Pale Moon did just put up a 1st place finish, it must be mentioned that Pale Moon has not been appearing in Top 8 lists at all lately - and, it has had a lot more publicity and pilots trying it out than us.
TOURNAMENT TIME
Well........what about good ole Raystack Kalhoun? He was supposed to have a Magic-filled weekend, right? Hmmmm.... Friday Night Magic: skipped going Saturday: 12-person $500 Titanium final, qualified players only [you had to win the most rounds of a given month at FNM during the year, thus, 12 players]: We split the prize purse evenly, so there was no tournament. Sunday: 32-person 5K Titanium final, free entry for qualified players only [you had to win a previous 1K event in the year or top-4 a 5k event]: OK, this one happened.
1st place got $1,200 and 17th-32nd place got $50. I got...............fifty bucks. Whaaaaa Happen??? It wasn't mistakes, just some bad draws and matchups - happens. Hey, it happened to 15 other competitive players there on Sunday.
First, the deck -- and, then an answer to obvious 1st question: "What would you change, if you had to play it again?" Impossible to answer as Jace and Bloodbraid Elf just became legal today, and that changes everything. But, for that meta and based upon this very specific variant of Pyro Prison: Turbo-Cycle/Draw/Loot with no dedicated removal spells || (7) swing slots. I don't think I would change the build in hindsight - It's very fluid, but it does have a specific weakness. As I wrote in the Official Primer about a year ago:
Quote from Commentary on Tormenting Voice »
This 2-cmc sorcery blends beautifully into our mana curve, and it cycles out a redundant or ineffective lock piece. Lastly, an underwhelming starting 7 can be saved by a single Tormenting Voice. Of course, it's not without its faults. So, if the meta shifts from large creature attack (Eldrazi/Death's Shadow/Tarmo) to more of a lingering souls/affinity theme, then consider a pivot.
With Mardu Tokens on the scene, is it time to make that pivot?? Well, let's review the final decklist, the tournament report, and a full breakdown on sideboard swap in/out before we pound the gavel down on that decision.
Round 1 -- G/b TRON // Loss
Facing off against a formidable Tron master and friend, we groaned to see ourselves paired up right away. Candidly, we agreed I'm favored before throwing the dice. But, then I looked down to see snake-eyes. It isn't going to be one of those days is it? My opening draw was Gemstone Caverns, 2 SSG, 1 Chalice, and Mountains. Not a good start, but I'm on the draw, and a Turn-1 Chalice will shut off 20 spells. The ritual apes will speed into action drawn threats and remember that I do play (6) loot/cycle draw spells. KEEP. After the cup, I draw nothing but mountains. My threats were you guessed it: SSG followed by another SSG. He assembles and wins. |||| Game 2: I come out fast and secure a Chandra Emblem. The high point was my response to his turn 3 Oblivion Stone: Damping Matrix. He outraces the 5-damage Emblem with a pair of Wurmcoil Engine. I brought out all of my bridges, and now believe that I should keep in a couple. We are fast, but not that fast. NOTE: the only reason that I need to keep in a couple bridges is that I do not play Abrade or Walking Ballista in this build -- both are critical in stymying the W. Engine. So, another design flaw is revealed in Tormenting Suns.
Round 2 -- Titan/Shift // Win
In game 1, I am so land screwed that I come across only 1 mountain in my first 14 cards. And, I still won. That's how favored we are in this matchup. I monkey-ritualed out a Blood Moon, tossed out a chalice on 0 to stop his Summoner's Pact, and somehow he never drew a Primeval Titan. Tormenting Voice was fired off during the drought with an SSG activation just to dig a couple cards deeper to find land, and that absolutely did win that game for me. ||| In game 2, I opened with a Turn 1 Chandra and a Turn 2 Koth. Tough beats as this fella was also a friend from the store.
Round 3 -- Mardu Tokens // Loss
Finally, a stranger. My opening hand, on the play, is (3) sweltering suns, (1) tormenting voice, (3) mountains. Against an unknown opponent, it's a keep. And, this starting 7 showcases the high adaptability of this build. He opens with a inquisition of kozilek, and I lose my 'grooming' card. I don't think he even read it, just said "that card". He hits me with 2 collective brutality - double modes and ditches 2 blood moons. While, I drop a chalice on 1 and then 2 and a Chandra. I'm feeling good. He slams Hazoret and I'm bridgeless. Trouble. She ran the table. ||| Game 2: as we have debated in this forum before, 'what is the correct way to sideboard against this damned deck?!' Well, in this case, I was able to hide the rabble rabble, and he even told me that he believes I'm playing Free Win Red. So, I think he'll drop his fatal push and bolts in favor other options. Time to pivot and pounce! I drop the moons and go full aggro. Didn't matter. I draw 4 spells and a whole lot of mountains. Flooded and knocked out of Top-8 contention.
Round 4 -- Boros Eldrazi Death'n'Taxes // Loss
The tournament is already over, so my foot is off the gas pedal. I beat him in game 1. He takes me in game 2. In game 3? I get mana screwed, and he does aether vial tricks with blinking plays....so, that's my story, kinfolk.
As I said, I think reading the report helps to illuminate the logic behind T. Voice & Sweltering Suns as a (6) spot slot. Unfortunately, I never did draw Chandra, Flamecaller. As an easy toss to an early (3) T. Voice or (3) Gemstone Caverns, and a mid-late game powerhouse (think: swiss army cannon ala the swiss army knife of pia and kiran nalaar). 6-cmc is very doable when you consider that a Chandra, ToD +2 covers 1/3 of the cost.
Finally, I do have my detailed notes on swap in/outs for each matchup which I can share. The problem is that A.) it's for a bygone meta as of today and B.) it's all handwritten & transcribing would be a bear and C.) I haven't heard from other folks on the thread that they are trying out this prototype and D.) it's not that different from the existing guide that I have offered in the Official Primer.
I am bummed about the finish, as I don't travel for premier events - opportunity lost. BUT, I will be chucking paper at the StarCityGames Open in Hartford, CT in April. Until then......
Alright, Got new computer, spent half the day figuring how to set up OBS, and now we're ready to go. Sonn as son goes to sleep tonight, I'll be streaming pyro prison in a comp league. Today is also Mayham Monday for Fluffy, so you'll have two streamers tonight. Fluffy's stream will be better in overall quality and fun factor. I just know people have requested this from me, so now I'm ready to go.
changes to deck, dropping one spree for an extra boil. hiopefully we see Jace and not elf.
If possible, I would like some thoughts on the deck going forward. I've been playing it for 18 months and it has been really fun. A few months ago I had to pay some bills and sold the deck. I've been saving to buy it back, while still being able to play it thanks to a gracious friend. I'm at the point where I can buy it back, but I feel it might not be viable anymore. Jund is bad for us and Jace isn't good either. Kolaghan's Command plus Abrupt Decay and Pulse is not what I want to sit across from. Blood Moon always gets taken by IoK or Thoughtseize, BBE hastily kills our Walkers and Jace is Jace. How have things gone on MTGO with the new unbans? Has my favorite deck effectively been removed from contention? I don't know what to do and any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank You!
The meta is in absolute turmoil right now, and with so many unfamiliar decks popping up it can be tough to nail down a game plan without a fair amount of guesswork. I think it's up in the air for just about everybody right now, so it'll take a couple months to see exactly how well we're sitting against the field.
Release the Kraken or the Hounds or whatever we are calling Elves with Crimson-Colored Hair and Shady Cats in Blue Cloaks. Totally agree with you, Caligula: excrutiatingly slow games with Jace back in the game. But, like you've repeatedly said, he is not a win condition. Let's put them to the test.
Whereas my previous prototype was also a little light on firepower (a game 1 pithing needle on Chandra, Torch of Defiance was purty-near devastating), I'm moving towards steeper grades of threats and defenses - that means less 'air' like tormenting voice.
With the rise of an Unbanned New Moon on this eve, I'll toss out my first take on competitive Pyro Prison.
Jund is a problem for our deck, though I can't say it is warping the format. We also, although it was going to time, grinded out a matchup against our Blue Mage Jace. We were going to lose however there were too many options, and we let our opponent lose on time, mainly cause there was 0 reason for them activating Jace the last two turns before timeout, and clearly had the win but the chose to play with Jace making more decisions. Otherwise we grind out just fine against Jace, it is Jund that is a bit rough.
Goes by a different name by chance? I ask since he's not showing in the standings from Wizard's website.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gplyo18/round-5-standings-2018-02-17
Welp that's a thing...
Started our Modern Challenge at 0-2. Most streamers and content providers will just drop and move on. We stuck the course because we believe. We goofed on one of the decks and think we may have turned the corner. We were playing a 'sub-optimal' list as I believe, and this is a real time commitment to see how it pans out over a long day. That being said we came back from that 0-2 and finished 5-3 and reclaimed our entry fee.
Takeaway today:
Trading Post - If you show me this card I will happily trade you for it and spit it in two. Ugh... Revenged... making me ponder this Skullmead Cauldron. Hmmmm...
Also of note decks were I believe as follows:
I'm missing one, if someone who tuned in knows what I missed share away.
Dog walk time! See ya guys later!
Edit:
Note we were playing a pretty sub-optimal list, which speaks to the core. If there is anything I talk about a lot is the core of this deck, which I believe we have all here (Especially Ray) established. 6 Moons, 4 Bridge, 4 Chalice, 4 D-Ritual, 1 P-Ritual, 4 SSG, 4 Rabble, 4 Chandra
That to me appears to be the core, along with 21 minimum lands. (53 cards) You essentially can then play the "Which 7 cards do I bring in Pre-board" and you move from there.
31st Place: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournament/modern-challenge-11176218#paper
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/7yf90w/february_17th_modern_challenge_decklists_jace_bbe/
From Reddit post:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2018-02-18
1st: Burn
2nd: Burn
3rd-4th: Grixis Shadow (Baubles, no JTMS)
3rd-4th: Grixis Control w/ JTMS
5th-8th: Living End
5th-8th: Uw Taking Turns w/ JTMS
5th-8th: BRg Hollow One
5th-8th: Gb Tron
Russ is doing a great job bringing us a 5-0 and a 6th in an SCG event. I've tried out two Modern Challenges and just scrapped in at 30 - 32nd place. That being said we are just two people. This deck picks up interest it could easily start to take a share.
I'll highlight Spiderspace briefly. He's a popped into my stream a few times, playing a red/white eldrazi tax list, so we're swinging with Eldrazi.
-- Reason for highlight: Mainboard Chalice of the Void
-- Lock Piece choice Worship post board (2 of)
I'll also highlight that data-wise we are ahead of R/W Sun & Moon which just had a 1st place finish at SCG Modern Classic.
-- Reason for highlight: Mainboard Chalice of the Void & Blood Moon
-- Lock piece choice Ensnaring Bridge post board (1 of) - Relies on sweepers more.
The reason I highlight these is their choices of lock pieces, but where each of our decks sit. I'll ask Raystack, if we reduce the number of bridges, are we still "Pyro Prison" do we need to slide bridge to the board (2 of perhaps?) for x2 something fast and potent, especially with Jace, the Mind Sculptor? These are my questions I pose to our mountainfolk.
changes to deck, dropping one spree for an extra boil. hiopefully we see Jace and not elf.
Thank You!
So I did some Fluffy style "research" last night. I keep hearing people saying that the decks that will benefit from the meta shift the most are Burn and Tron, so I tried both for a few matches each, and while I can't really give you a definitive yes or no on their viability, I can tell you one thing for sure; I missed Pyro Prison badly. People playing Tron are going to be put to the test, especially in the patience department. Control with JTMS vs Tron is a grindfest of epic proportion, as you may have seen when Fluff played UW Miracles. Jace slows the game down so much, I can see eventless matches going to time over and over again until Wizards is forced to make a decision.
People whine all the time about Moon, Chalice and Bridge, but decks that stall for an hour and a half before game 3 even starts.. well, that's a level of unfun I'm not used to in Modern. An influx of players trying to play Control that don't necessarily play it well, coupled with the time involved activating Search for Azcanta and Jace, Countering a million spells and not actively trying to win the game is a much larger short-term concern for me than our matchup with Jund. As Fluffy mentioned before, people are playing around with Jace so much, they forget they can just win the game.
How does Pale Moon handle this question? They have to subscribe to one or the other on bridges -- either A) or B). Now, if we drop on bridge counts, then we'll have to increase our removal suite, and the problem with that is 2-fold: we don't have the resources of powerful white spells which also denies us any real life gaining spells. I think it's a dead end. Although that Pale Moon did just put up a 1st place finish, it must be mentioned that Pale Moon has not been appearing in Top 8 lists at all lately - and, it has had a lot more publicity and pilots trying it out than us.
TOURNAMENT TIME
Well........what about good ole Raystack Kalhoun? He was supposed to have a Magic-filled weekend, right? Hmmmm....
Friday Night Magic: skipped going
Saturday: 12-person $500 Titanium final, qualified players only [you had to win the most rounds of a given month at FNM during the year, thus, 12 players]: We split the prize purse evenly, so there was no tournament.
Sunday: 32-person 5K Titanium final, free entry for qualified players only [you had to win a previous 1K event in the year or top-4 a 5k event]: OK, this one happened.
1st place got $1,200 and 17th-32nd place got $50. I got...............fifty bucks. Whaaaaa Happen??? It wasn't mistakes, just some bad draws and matchups - happens. Hey, it happened to 15 other competitive players there on Sunday.
First, the deck -- and, then an answer to obvious 1st question: "What would you change, if you had to play it again?" Impossible to answer as Jace and Bloodbraid Elf just became legal today, and that changes everything. But, for that meta and based upon this very specific variant of Pyro Prison: Turbo-Cycle/Draw/Loot with no dedicated removal spells || (7) swing slots. I don't think I would change the build in hindsight - It's very fluid, but it does have a specific weakness. As I wrote in the Official Primer about a year ago:
With Mardu Tokens on the scene, is it time to make that pivot?? Well, let's review the final decklist, the tournament report, and a full breakdown on sideboard swap in/out before we pound the gavel down on that decision.
Creatures (5)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Power Locks (14)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
2 Magus of the Moon
Draw/Disruption (11)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Sweltering Suns
3 Tormenting Voice
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
Lands (21)
17 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Mutavault
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Damping Matrix
1 Torpor Orb
1 Kozilek's Return
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Spellskite
1 Koth of the Hammer
Round 1 -- G/b TRON // Loss
Facing off against a formidable Tron master and friend, we groaned to see ourselves paired up right away. Candidly, we agreed I'm favored before throwing the dice. But, then I looked down to see snake-eyes. It isn't going to be one of those days is it? My opening draw was Gemstone Caverns, 2 SSG, 1 Chalice, and Mountains. Not a good start, but I'm on the draw, and a Turn-1 Chalice will shut off 20 spells. The ritual apes will speed into action drawn threats and remember that I do play (6) loot/cycle draw spells. KEEP. After the cup, I draw nothing but mountains. My threats were you guessed it: SSG followed by another SSG. He assembles and wins. |||| Game 2: I come out fast and secure a Chandra Emblem. The high point was my response to his turn 3 Oblivion Stone: Damping Matrix. He outraces the 5-damage Emblem with a pair of Wurmcoil Engine. I brought out all of my bridges, and now believe that I should keep in a couple. We are fast, but not that fast. NOTE: the only reason that I need to keep in a couple bridges is that I do not play Abrade or Walking Ballista in this build -- both are critical in stymying the W. Engine. So, another design flaw is revealed in Tormenting Suns.
Round 2 -- Titan/Shift // Win
In game 1, I am so land screwed that I come across only 1 mountain in my first 14 cards. And, I still won. That's how favored we are in this matchup. I monkey-ritualed out a Blood Moon, tossed out a chalice on 0 to stop his Summoner's Pact, and somehow he never drew a Primeval Titan. Tormenting Voice was fired off during the drought with an SSG activation just to dig a couple cards deeper to find land, and that absolutely did win that game for me. ||| In game 2, I opened with a Turn 1 Chandra and a Turn 2 Koth. Tough beats as this fella was also a friend from the store.
Round 3 -- Mardu Tokens // Loss
Finally, a stranger. My opening hand, on the play, is (3) sweltering suns, (1) tormenting voice, (3) mountains. Against an unknown opponent, it's a keep. And, this starting 7 showcases the high adaptability of this build. He opens with a inquisition of kozilek, and I lose my 'grooming' card. I don't think he even read it, just said "that card". He hits me with 2 collective brutality - double modes and ditches 2 blood moons. While, I drop a chalice on 1 and then 2 and a Chandra. I'm feeling good. He slams Hazoret and I'm bridgeless. Trouble. She ran the table. ||| Game 2: as we have debated in this forum before, 'what is the correct way to sideboard against this damned deck?!' Well, in this case, I was able to hide the rabble rabble, and he even told me that he believes I'm playing Free Win Red. So, I think he'll drop his fatal push and bolts in favor other options. Time to pivot and pounce! I drop the moons and go full aggro. Didn't matter. I draw 4 spells and a whole lot of mountains. Flooded and knocked out of Top-8 contention.
Round 4 -- Boros Eldrazi Death'n'Taxes // Loss
The tournament is already over, so my foot is off the gas pedal. I beat him in game 1. He takes me in game 2. In game 3? I get mana screwed, and he does aether vial tricks with blinking plays....so, that's my story, kinfolk.
As I said, I think reading the report helps to illuminate the logic behind T. Voice & Sweltering Suns as a (6) spot slot. Unfortunately, I never did draw Chandra, Flamecaller. As an easy toss to an early (3) T. Voice or (3) Gemstone Caverns, and a mid-late game powerhouse (think: swiss army cannon ala the swiss army knife of pia and kiran nalaar). 6-cmc is very doable when you consider that a Chandra, ToD +2 covers 1/3 of the cost.
Finally, I do have my detailed notes on swap in/outs for each matchup which I can share. The problem is that A.) it's for a bygone meta as of today and B.) it's all handwritten & transcribing would be a bear and C.) I haven't heard from other folks on the thread that they are trying out this prototype and D.) it's not that different from the existing guide that I have offered in the Official Primer.
I am bummed about the finish, as I don't travel for premier events - opportunity lost. BUT, I will be chucking paper at the StarCityGames Open in Hartford, CT in April. Until then......
The meta is in absolute turmoil right now, and with so many unfamiliar decks popping up it can be tough to nail down a game plan without a fair amount of guesswork. I think it's up in the air for just about everybody right now, so it'll take a couple months to see exactly how well we're sitting against the field.
Whereas my previous prototype was also a little light on firepower (a game 1 pithing needle on Chandra, Torch of Defiance was purty-near devastating), I'm moving towards steeper grades of threats and defenses - that means less 'air' like tormenting voice.
With the rise of an Unbanned New Moon on this eve, I'll toss out my first take on competitive Pyro Prison.
Creatures (6)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Walking Ballista
Power Locks (14)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
2 Magus of the Moon
Draw/Disruption (4)
3 Slagstorm
1 Abrade
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Koth of the Hammer
Accelerators (9)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
Lands (21)
17 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Mutavault
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Damping Matrix
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Spellskite
1 Torpor Orb
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Kozilek's Return
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Fluffywolf2
Stickballruss