Eay, you might be onto something there with the land...along with that theme, what about that desert that removes the graveyard from the game? that does has its applications....scavager ground....that's it. Could that also be an option....
Tonight, I was soooooo close to going 5-0....losing a really good game three to mono green tron. I beat humans humans, humans, elves, then lost to tron....in that order. In game three, we both had everything and his everything beat my everything because I didn't draw a ritual. I was on the play, but a ritual would have made all the difference.
Ray, we talking seige gang commander again? To quote the person who won the titanium 1K....if Pia and Kiran are good and thats a 3 for 1, then why not seige-gang commander, which is a 4 for 1. I am paraphrasing, but I saw your interview on youtube after the event and I remember ou saying that. Maybe it's time to come full circle and return to the new standard powerhouse.
I love this forum. Great ideas are being talked about all the time and now that jund is starting to die down, I think we can have a resurgence of Pyro Prison. Oh, if you run into John Harakidas in Hartford this weekend, tell him who you are. He's my buffy who just won the IQ and I remember clear as day the moment I founf this deck. we were driving to an fnm and I was looking at mtgtop8 for something different. I had been playing with Todd Stevens' RW prison list, but the deck felt lacking....like it was missing an element of power. I stumbled upon this and my mind was blown. I proxied it up and plaed a few practice games...vs jund of all things, and I was winning and it was a blast. then we tested vs burn, then vs controlm and we still kept winning....thats when I knew that this deck wasn't a one trick pony and we could do something with it.
Ray, keep the ideas flowing. Fluffy and I read everything on here and between the two of us, we'll get ariund to testing it. I am running an extra land, maybe I can test the buried ruin or scavager grounds idea. we'll see. scavager grounds could be good, especially with hollow one and pyromancer running around.....
The enthusiasm is electric, and the roll up to the GP in Hartford is going to be titanic. I'll be sledding into town with my 2 oldest and bestest. Between the 3 of us, we're talking 73 years of Magic experience.
Indeed, we're considering Siege-Gang Commander again. But, there's an even more shrewd secret weapon that I'm going to be adding to the sideboard as a 2 0r 3-of. Well, not so secret. I'll tell you all now.
The Milwaukee SCG premier event top-8 was loaded with Green-Tron and Eldrazi-Tron. Yeah, there was Humans and a smattering of other known decks -- we can handle those kackalacks. But, I'm gunning to take down Tron-variants with some tech that can take out Karn/Ugin (and use them against an opponent in suicide) & stop dead a walking ballista in a split second (and also use them against an opponent in suicide).
So, split second steals of these bastages just might be the key to a Grand Prix win. Hmmmm....scavenger grounds are definitely a thought as well, but probably a runner-up in our limited colorless slots.
Russ for that nearly 5-0 did you run the Dragon Stompy list that Fluff took to 18th in the Modern Challenege? I really like that list. I was thinking of switching PnK for a Scavenger Grounds and maybe a Haz for a Koth.
I'm a little overwhelmed by all the Hollow One graveyard shenanigans going on. It makes me want a Tormod's Crypt safety valve in the board.
I am running the list in posted a few posts back. There's a picture of it on this page.
I thought of scavenger grounds when Ray mentioned a utility land. It also tags goyf, or at least makes it a 0/1. Maybe we can also run ramnuap ruins here. Makes sense, as it comes into play untapped and provides more deserts for the gounds....what deck are we playing again?
I want to get 2 Dragon's Claw in the board. I know there's gonna be a ton of Burn being played at Hartford.
I was thinking about Boil vs Defense Grid and I settled on Defense Grid to slow control and stop the End of My Turn CoCo.... or Coco into queller's and steal my spells. This is the last time Witchbane Orb will protect our PWs so I was thinking I'd give it a spin. Unfortunately, if I want the 2 Claws it seems I need to go down D-Grid and Witchbane. I can't see going down any Eidolons in the board b/c the other 11 cards in my board align with the control roll, and Eidolon is my only way to really turn up the Aggro. I do prefer being in the aggro which, got me thinking about moving 2 removal pieces [1 Abrade and 1 Slag] to the board for 2 Eidolons. Then if I need to go control, I know 8 cards, Rabs, Eidolon and GB that I can cut immediately from the main deck.
31 mana sources is a lot. I also am not a fan of 9 spells that cost 4 (sorry fluffy). My suggestions are the following:
Take out one pyretic ritual and one haoret. Put in one slagstorm and one walking ballista. both are early interaction and both can have huge impact late game. also, humans is the "best" deck, and slagstorm is great there. Walking ballista off the top can also wreck havoc vs humans.
For sideboard, you definity want a 2nd anger. Goodbye pyroclasm and hello anger #2.
I've thought about playing defense grid vs the blue decks and you might be right here. Protecting a glorybringer and the other big mana spells is huge. when you go up on the curve, you have to make sure those threats stick and defense grid does exactly that.
If you are running scavenger grounds, then you don't need relic. Cage stops the chord/company cards while at the same time forcing storm to draw an answer off the top. You are going to want two cages.
Lastly, Witchbane orb...feels slow, but I see why you want it, however, with only 15 sideboard slots, it is too narrow? Let me make the case....It does nothing vs anything except for burn. It doesn't stop ad nauseum, its too late for discard, and even vs burn, it's late to the party. It's a stabilizing card designed to stop the bleeding. Personally, I wouldn't run witchbane orb. Unless i'm wrong, is it good outside of the burn match? maybe it has an application vs eldrazi tron to stop endbringer from pinging you to death. Remember, most games post board, artifact removal is coming in. so siding in the Orb plays directly into your opponents sideboard plan.
Dev, you have to get on MTGO and start running this deck day after day, week after week. Playing on paper with your local play group a few times a week is not enough. you won't get the variety of decks to see how things run and you won't get the experience needed to take on a large field. Ray and I have posted recently about different builds and idea on how to make this deck better, but the secret is that none oof that matters. Our cared are so powerful, we could win with almost anything. it's the experience that matters most with this deck. Knowing the format and how to play each match will be extremely important. You've all watched Fluffy and I stream this deck a LOT. Its comical whenever we come up against a rogue strategy....neither of us know what to do, how to play, or what to board in. those are the matched that we usually lose, and lose big. More important than individual card choices is knowledge of the format and how they beat you.
Want en example....Hollow-one. Game one, chalice on one is amazing. It shuts down a lot of things and it's definitely the way to go. Noe, what about game two? Is chalice on one the correct number (assuming you only have one chalice)? No, I'd argue that chalice on one is not good enough. Simply put, if you can't find a bridge, you probably aren't winning. you need to protect that bridge at all costs, which means you need that chalice on two. Playing a turn two chalice on one will buy you time, but it will most likely lose you the game if you don't find another one. you would be better off holding that and putting it on two despite that it shuts off your spellskite, rituals, and all your abrades. If you are not familiar with the deck and just approach it as a deck that plays a lot of one cc spells, so chalice on one must be good, you'll lose most of the time....and the best part....you won't even know why. You'll think it's a bad match, when in reality, its your lack of experience that is costing you games.
So, take everything I say with a grain of salt and realize that knowledge is the #1 thing you need for this deck. Last night, I went 4-1. I think I lost game three because I had a chance after playing blood moon to play a rabblemaster or a chalice on one....I opted for rabblemaster because I didn't see any eggs yet and assumed he didn't have one. Well, he topdecked a map, got a forest, then thragtusk ruined my day. If I waited a turn and put chalice on one, I might have won that game because he would be stuck with mountains and no way to generate colored mana.......knowledge.....use it, learn, and dominate.
Cutting relic because scavenger is wrong, because moon shut your Land down. Witchbane is good vs. Storm and valacut too. I tryed it in eldrazy and it was Bad, but i dont used mana ramp there
Awesome Russ. Thanks for the feedback. I'll be able to get some leagues in before the big show and I'll be down there Friday playing side events to polish up.
I'm probably hooked on Witchbane b/c it saved me from a Hurkyl's Recall, but I understand that sort of thinking is backwards.
I'm with the changes too and I look forward to running them in Comp leagues over the next few days.
We have quite a few tools to handle it. Also, I think we are in a good place if someone is tapping out to play a 4 cmc artifact that does nothing on the turn it comes down.
Cutting relic because scavenger is wrong, because moon shut your Land down. Witchbane is good vs. Storm and valacut too. I tryed it in eldrazy and it was Bad, but i dont used mana ramp there
Forgot about Valakut. It's been in hiding ever since a deck arrived that can place multiple 4/4s in play turn one. as far as scavenger grounds goes, since moving to only 4 blood moons, there a chance you won't see one. also, you could choose not to play a moon if you realize the graveyard is more important than the lands, like vs dredge, pyromancer, and hollow-one. This speaks to experience like I mentioned above. I haven't tested this yet, so it's just an idea for now, but the logic is sound. also, theres a good chance vs the blue snapcaster decks that you just can't get a moon through a counterspell or vs jund it gets discarded.
I'm up to three abrade maindeck with one in the board. But, this could pose a problem if it untaps. what are they bringing into play....sundering titan?
Gnarly Tech on the Orb Russ. Thanks for that. So yeah alright... I'm coming around to letting go of the Witchbane.
And the Tech with the Scavenger Grounds and Blood Moon - awesome heads up. I definitely didn't think about that ahead of time - I might have encountered that interaction playing on MTGO - but either way, now I'm prepped for it.
The main deck seems to play fine. I liked drawing Hazoret more often, and Eidolon proved to be super effective. I didnt hit too much removal, so not having a maindeck Spellskite didnt hurt as much as I thought it would.
I really loved having Ferocidon in during multiple matchups. Humans they helped me get to the finish line faster, and it crippled Mardu game 2. I drew both of them and had them both in play on turn 4 with an Eidolon in play. He thoughseized and put himself down to 12 on turn two. He had a pyromancer on the board and three linger souls in the yard. Each soul cast cost him 4 life, and I had two menacing 3/3's. I even brought them in against control and they ran away with game three simply because he couldnt get rid of them...game three I t1 moon, t2 eidolon, t3 fercodicon, t4 hazoret, dead. It was gross.
I didnt get to do much of anything with Dire Fleet Daredevil, but I also didnt run into any Jund or draw them against pyromancer, which are he matchups I think they will be best in and the reason I am testing them.
The other change I am considering is a Walking Ballista instead of Magus. I didnt miss Magus tonight, but having access to a 5th moon effect might come in handy. Ballista is great, though, so I just don't know.
I wont be able to play this Friday...going to see The Book Of Mormon with the girlfriend. I might find an event on Saturday or Sunday, though.
Hey Russ, if you’re moving bridges to the sideboard would it make sense to maybe add madcap experiment and one copy of platinum emperion as a backup win con?
ButteryNugs... nice slice. What happened with Green Tron? Main deck Haz, Eidolon and 3 Abrade couldn't get it done? Did you moon them?
I'm 3-0 in a comp league right now. I got tired last night and had to shut it down.
Beat Lantern, Mono-Green Revolt Stompy and yup... the mirror. It was dope. He was on the main deck Eidolon build.
I ripped a Turn 1 Rabs, with Abrade in hand.... and on his Turn 2 he.... wait what? Abrade-ed my Rabs? With 2 basic mountains? How is this possible? Goblins doesn't run MD Abrade. What freakin' deck is this? Then his turn 3 said it all. He follows up with Rabs. I was blown away, maybe naively. He got me Game 1. Game 2 I brought in my Eidolons and Rabs 1, then Rabs 2 got to work on the ground FTW. Then game 3 he had a Rabs and Eidolon early. I had Slag into Haz into GB [GloryBringer] into GGs for my not-so-up-to-date-with-the-fresh-lava-flowing-down-the-mountain friend.
He was not familiar with the forum, so I sent him the link. It was cool to be reminded of how the hard work and energy that a lot of people in the forum have invested in Pyro Prison has created a whole new archetype.
Even though I'm 6-3 in games, the deck has never felt better. I feel confident in the amount of answers, locks and win-cons.
This is what I'm rolling with... can't wait for Hartford this weekend.
Hey Russ, if you’re moving bridges to the sideboard would it make sense to maybe add madcap experiment and one copy of platinum emperion as a backup win con?
I'm back on the bridges main deck. In this meta when everyone is playing hollow one and humans, you're going to want bridges more often than not. Madcap works if you are also on the no chalice plan. Madcap into chalice feels terrible. drawing platinum feels terrible. there's a lot that can go wrong there. I know the ceiling is high, but you'll lose a lot more games than you'll win by just throwing in one and one. For example, there's a 50% change you'll draw the creature before drawing the madcap. then, if you do draw the madcap first, then there's an 80% chance you hit a chalice before hitting the 8/8. that's a lot that needs to go right. If you are thinking post board, they are bringing in artifact removal, so you are playing right into their sideboard strategy against you. not good.
When I analyze cards and strategies, I look at it over the course of a 15 round tournemtn. sure, you can spike an FNM here and there, but can you go the distance and put up good, consistent results over an entire weekend facing 12 different types of decks and playing vs people woth all sorts of skill level? Cards that are good sometimes and not others are typically not seent hat often in top 16 deck lists because you need your cards to be effective all the time. Instantly winning a game by drawing the right combo is nice, but if you are going to lose a few matches because you have dead cards, then you won't do well. sure, you might go 9-6 or 10-5, but that's not top 8 material. we need cards to be effective ALL THE TIME, in virtually every situation, to maximize our win %. This is why walking ballista is so good. Also why abrade is so good. and chandra. and pia and Kiran. All of these have multiple applications and can be useful in almost every spot. Also why I'm down on magus. it's a 2/2 bear that is only effecitve if you haven't already drawn a moon and the opponent doesn't have instant speed removal. it used to be great when it would shut down grixis shadow and be a clock, but that's not the meta anymore. also why I'm down on Koth lately. When behind a bridge, he's great. when opponent is not playing creatures, like vs tron and ad nauseum, he's great. when playing vs humans, jund, or hollow-on, or affinity, hes terrible....unless you have a bridge. So, imagine you need a bridge to stabilize....would you rather draw Koth or glorybringer? Koth does nothing, glorybringer can kill something or block. It's all about versatility in this deck.
Buttery Nugs...nicely done....Rampaging Fericodon in the board huh? Thats another great option for this deck. really punishes the creature strategy and can also be an aggro card vs tron and others. I might have to take that for a spin. I think you are the first to post the little dino, so if that works, full credit goes to you.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Tonight, I was soooooo close to going 5-0....losing a really good game three to mono green tron. I beat humans humans, humans, elves, then lost to tron....in that order. In game three, we both had everything and his everything beat my everything because I didn't draw a ritual. I was on the play, but a ritual would have made all the difference.
Ray, we talking seige gang commander again? To quote the person who won the titanium 1K....if Pia and Kiran are good and thats a 3 for 1, then why not seige-gang commander, which is a 4 for 1. I am paraphrasing, but I saw your interview on youtube after the event and I remember ou saying that. Maybe it's time to come full circle and return to the new standard powerhouse.
I love this forum. Great ideas are being talked about all the time and now that jund is starting to die down, I think we can have a resurgence of Pyro Prison. Oh, if you run into John Harakidas in Hartford this weekend, tell him who you are. He's my buffy who just won the IQ and I remember clear as day the moment I founf this deck. we were driving to an fnm and I was looking at mtgtop8 for something different. I had been playing with Todd Stevens' RW prison list, but the deck felt lacking....like it was missing an element of power. I stumbled upon this and my mind was blown. I proxied it up and plaed a few practice games...vs jund of all things, and I was winning and it was a blast. then we tested vs burn, then vs controlm and we still kept winning....thats when I knew that this deck wasn't a one trick pony and we could do something with it.
Ray, keep the ideas flowing. Fluffy and I read everything on here and between the two of us, we'll get ariund to testing it. I am running an extra land, maybe I can test the buried ruin or scavager grounds idea. we'll see. scavager grounds could be good, especially with hollow one and pyromancer running around.....
Indeed, we're considering Siege-Gang Commander again. But, there's an even more shrewd secret weapon that I'm going to be adding to the sideboard as a 2 0r 3-of. Well, not so secret. I'll tell you all now.
Word of Seizing
The Milwaukee SCG premier event top-8 was loaded with Green-Tron and Eldrazi-Tron. Yeah, there was Humans and a smattering of other known decks -- we can handle those kackalacks. But, I'm gunning to take down Tron-variants with some tech that can take out Karn/Ugin (and use them against an opponent in suicide) & stop dead a walking ballista in a split second (and also use them against an opponent in suicide).
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/deckshow.php?&t[C1]=28&start_date=2018-04-08&end_date=2018-04-08&event_ID=36&city=Milwaukee&state=WI&t_num=1&order_1=finish&order_2=last_name&limit=8&start_num=8&start_num=0&limit=8
In the top-8, there were:
Walking Ballista - 10
Karn Liberated - 8
Endbringer - 8
Wurmcoil Engine - 7
Ulamogs/Smashers/Ugins - A lot of them
So, split second steals of these bastages just might be the key to a Grand Prix win. Hmmmm....scavenger grounds are definitely a thought as well, but probably a runner-up in our limited colorless slots.
I'm a little overwhelmed by all the Hollow One graveyard shenanigans going on. It makes me want a Tormod's Crypt safety valve in the board.
I thought of scavenger grounds when Ray mentioned a utility land. It also tags goyf, or at least makes it a 0/1. Maybe we can also run ramnuap ruins here. Makes sense, as it comes into play untapped and provides more deserts for the gounds....what deck are we playing again?
4 Blood Moon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ensnaring Bridge
Accelerators -9
1 Pyretic Ritual
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Lands -22
18 Mountain
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Scavenger Grounds
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Troops -8
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Glorybringer
2 Hazoret the Fervent
Removal -4
3 Abrade
1 Slagstorm
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Abrade
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Spellskite
1 Torpor Orb
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Pyroclasm
1 Defense Grid
1 Witchbane Orb
I want to get 2 Dragon's Claw in the board. I know there's gonna be a ton of Burn being played at Hartford.
I was thinking about Boil vs Defense Grid and I settled on Defense Grid to slow control and stop the End of My Turn CoCo.... or Coco into queller's and steal my spells. This is the last time Witchbane Orb will protect our PWs so I was thinking I'd give it a spin. Unfortunately, if I want the 2 Claws it seems I need to go down D-Grid and Witchbane. I can't see going down any Eidolons in the board b/c the other 11 cards in my board align with the control roll, and Eidolon is my only way to really turn up the Aggro. I do prefer being in the aggro which, got me thinking about moving 2 removal pieces [1 Abrade and 1 Slag] to the board for 2 Eidolons. Then if I need to go control, I know 8 cards, Rabs, Eidolon and GB that I can cut immediately from the main deck.
Thanks crew.
Take out one pyretic ritual and one haoret. Put in one slagstorm and one walking ballista. both are early interaction and both can have huge impact late game. also, humans is the "best" deck, and slagstorm is great there. Walking ballista off the top can also wreck havoc vs humans.
For sideboard, you definity want a 2nd anger. Goodbye pyroclasm and hello anger #2.
I've thought about playing defense grid vs the blue decks and you might be right here. Protecting a glorybringer and the other big mana spells is huge. when you go up on the curve, you have to make sure those threats stick and defense grid does exactly that.
If you are running scavenger grounds, then you don't need relic. Cage stops the chord/company cards while at the same time forcing storm to draw an answer off the top. You are going to want two cages.
Lastly, Witchbane orb...feels slow, but I see why you want it, however, with only 15 sideboard slots, it is too narrow? Let me make the case....It does nothing vs anything except for burn. It doesn't stop ad nauseum, its too late for discard, and even vs burn, it's late to the party. It's a stabilizing card designed to stop the bleeding. Personally, I wouldn't run witchbane orb. Unless i'm wrong, is it good outside of the burn match? maybe it has an application vs eldrazi tron to stop endbringer from pinging you to death. Remember, most games post board, artifact removal is coming in. so siding in the Orb plays directly into your opponents sideboard plan.
Dev, you have to get on MTGO and start running this deck day after day, week after week. Playing on paper with your local play group a few times a week is not enough. you won't get the variety of decks to see how things run and you won't get the experience needed to take on a large field. Ray and I have posted recently about different builds and idea on how to make this deck better, but the secret is that none oof that matters. Our cared are so powerful, we could win with almost anything. it's the experience that matters most with this deck. Knowing the format and how to play each match will be extremely important. You've all watched Fluffy and I stream this deck a LOT. Its comical whenever we come up against a rogue strategy....neither of us know what to do, how to play, or what to board in. those are the matched that we usually lose, and lose big. More important than individual card choices is knowledge of the format and how they beat you.
Want en example....Hollow-one. Game one, chalice on one is amazing. It shuts down a lot of things and it's definitely the way to go. Noe, what about game two? Is chalice on one the correct number (assuming you only have one chalice)? No, I'd argue that chalice on one is not good enough. Simply put, if you can't find a bridge, you probably aren't winning. you need to protect that bridge at all costs, which means you need that chalice on two. Playing a turn two chalice on one will buy you time, but it will most likely lose you the game if you don't find another one. you would be better off holding that and putting it on two despite that it shuts off your spellskite, rituals, and all your abrades. If you are not familiar with the deck and just approach it as a deck that plays a lot of one cc spells, so chalice on one must be good, you'll lose most of the time....and the best part....you won't even know why. You'll think it's a bad match, when in reality, its your lack of experience that is costing you games.
So, take everything I say with a grain of salt and realize that knowledge is the #1 thing you need for this deck. Last night, I went 4-1. I think I lost game three because I had a chance after playing blood moon to play a rabblemaster or a chalice on one....I opted for rabblemaster because I didn't see any eggs yet and assumed he didn't have one. Well, he topdecked a map, got a forest, then thragtusk ruined my day. If I waited a turn and put chalice on one, I might have won that game because he would be stuck with mountains and no way to generate colored mana.......knowledge.....use it, learn, and dominate.
I'm probably hooked on Witchbane b/c it saved me from a Hurkyl's Recall, but I understand that sort of thinking is backwards.
I'm with the changes too and I look forward to running them in Comp leagues over the next few days.
We have quite a few tools to handle it. Also, I think we are in a good place if someone is tapping out to play a 4 cmc artifact that does nothing on the turn it comes down.
Forgot about Valakut. It's been in hiding ever since a deck arrived that can place multiple 4/4s in play turn one. as far as scavenger grounds goes, since moving to only 4 blood moons, there a chance you won't see one. also, you could choose not to play a moon if you realize the graveyard is more important than the lands, like vs dredge, pyromancer, and hollow-one. This speaks to experience like I mentioned above. I haven't tested this yet, so it's just an idea for now, but the logic is sound. also, theres a good chance vs the blue snapcaster decks that you just can't get a moon through a counterspell or vs jund it gets discarded.
And the Tech with the Scavenger Grounds and Blood Moon - awesome heads up. I definitely didn't think about that ahead of time - I might have encountered that interaction playing on MTGO - but either way, now I'm prepped for it.
lol...i actually meant to get by our own locks
R1: 2-1 (Humans)
R2: 0-2 (Green Tron)
R3: 2-0 (Mardu Pyromancer)
R4: 2-1 (UW Control)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Thunderbreak Regent
4 Glorybringer
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Enchantment
4 Blood Moon
Land
15 Mountain
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Scavenger Grounds
3 Ramunap Ruins
4 Chalice of the Void
Instant
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
2 Abrade
Sorcery
1 Sweltering Suns
Planeswalker
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Sarkhan, Fireblood
2 Scab-Clan Berserker
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Damping Matrix
3 Norn's Annex
1 Torpor Orb
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Kozilek's Return
1 Shattering Spree
1 Anger of the Gods
The main deck seems to play fine. I liked drawing Hazoret more often, and Eidolon proved to be super effective. I didnt hit too much removal, so not having a maindeck Spellskite didnt hurt as much as I thought it would.
I really loved having Ferocidon in during multiple matchups. Humans they helped me get to the finish line faster, and it crippled Mardu game 2. I drew both of them and had them both in play on turn 4 with an Eidolon in play. He thoughseized and put himself down to 12 on turn two. He had a pyromancer on the board and three linger souls in the yard. Each soul cast cost him 4 life, and I had two menacing 3/3's. I even brought them in against control and they ran away with game three simply because he couldnt get rid of them...game three I t1 moon, t2 eidolon, t3 fercodicon, t4 hazoret, dead. It was gross.
I didnt get to do much of anything with Dire Fleet Daredevil, but I also didnt run into any Jund or draw them against pyromancer, which are he matchups I think they will be best in and the reason I am testing them.
The other change I am considering is a Walking Ballista instead of Magus. I didnt miss Magus tonight, but having access to a 5th moon effect might come in handy. Ballista is great, though, so I just don't know.
I wont be able to play this Friday...going to see The Book Of Mormon with the girlfriend. I might find an event on Saturday or Sunday, though.
I'm 3-0 in a comp league right now. I got tired last night and had to shut it down.
Beat Lantern, Mono-Green Revolt Stompy and yup... the mirror. It was dope. He was on the main deck Eidolon build.
I ripped a Turn 1 Rabs, with Abrade in hand.... and on his Turn 2 he.... wait what? Abrade-ed my Rabs? With 2 basic mountains? How is this possible? Goblins doesn't run MD Abrade. What freakin' deck is this? Then his turn 3 said it all. He follows up with Rabs. I was blown away, maybe naively. He got me Game 1. Game 2 I brought in my Eidolons and Rabs 1, then Rabs 2 got to work on the ground FTW. Then game 3 he had a Rabs and Eidolon early. I had Slag into Haz into GB [GloryBringer] into GGs for my not-so-up-to-date-with-the-fresh-lava-flowing-down-the-mountain friend.
He was not familiar with the forum, so I sent him the link. It was cool to be reminded of how the hard work and energy that a lot of people in the forum have invested in Pyro Prison has created a whole new archetype.
Even though I'm 6-3 in games, the deck has never felt better. I feel confident in the amount of answers, locks and win-cons.
This is what I'm rolling with... can't wait for Hartford this weekend.
1 Walking Ballista
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Hazoret the Fervent
2 Glorybringer
Planeswalkers (5)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Spells (9)
3 Abrade
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Slagstorm
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ensnaring Bridge
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Lands (22)
3 Gemstone Caverns
18 Mountain
1 Scavenger Grounds
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Abrade
1 Defense Grid
1 Dragon's Claw
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Spellskite
1 Torpor Orb
2 Anger of the Gods
I'm back on the bridges main deck. In this meta when everyone is playing hollow one and humans, you're going to want bridges more often than not. Madcap works if you are also on the no chalice plan. Madcap into chalice feels terrible. drawing platinum feels terrible. there's a lot that can go wrong there. I know the ceiling is high, but you'll lose a lot more games than you'll win by just throwing in one and one. For example, there's a 50% change you'll draw the creature before drawing the madcap. then, if you do draw the madcap first, then there's an 80% chance you hit a chalice before hitting the 8/8. that's a lot that needs to go right. If you are thinking post board, they are bringing in artifact removal, so you are playing right into their sideboard strategy against you. not good.
When I analyze cards and strategies, I look at it over the course of a 15 round tournemtn. sure, you can spike an FNM here and there, but can you go the distance and put up good, consistent results over an entire weekend facing 12 different types of decks and playing vs people woth all sorts of skill level? Cards that are good sometimes and not others are typically not seent hat often in top 16 deck lists because you need your cards to be effective all the time. Instantly winning a game by drawing the right combo is nice, but if you are going to lose a few matches because you have dead cards, then you won't do well. sure, you might go 9-6 or 10-5, but that's not top 8 material. we need cards to be effective ALL THE TIME, in virtually every situation, to maximize our win %. This is why walking ballista is so good. Also why abrade is so good. and chandra. and pia and Kiran. All of these have multiple applications and can be useful in almost every spot. Also why I'm down on magus. it's a 2/2 bear that is only effecitve if you haven't already drawn a moon and the opponent doesn't have instant speed removal. it used to be great when it would shut down grixis shadow and be a clock, but that's not the meta anymore. also why I'm down on Koth lately. When behind a bridge, he's great. when opponent is not playing creatures, like vs tron and ad nauseum, he's great. when playing vs humans, jund, or hollow-on, or affinity, hes terrible....unless you have a bridge. So, imagine you need a bridge to stabilize....would you rather draw Koth or glorybringer? Koth does nothing, glorybringer can kill something or block. It's all about versatility in this deck.
Buttery Nugs...nicely done....Rampaging Fericodon in the board huh? Thats another great option for this deck. really punishes the creature strategy and can also be an aggro card vs tron and others. I might have to take that for a spin. I think you are the first to post the little dino, so if that works, full credit goes to you.