The people who have posted the link to the CFB thank you. This has made my day. I’m on mobile at the moment but this has been the best news today!
Raystack your little mountainfolk are growing up!! Are you proud of us dad!?
I'm so excited that Eric decided to write another article about this deck. You deserve it, Fluff. You've put countless hours into this deck, testing all sorts of different things (Charbelcher?) and have been a pillar of this forum with your commentary. More importantly, however, is your dedication to streaming every night on a schedule. That's not an easy thing to do, but you make it look easy. Thanks again for all your work and congrats on getting as article written about your deck and positive results with it.
Never mind the Fluffy sheep's clothing, we're talking about a straight up assassin - The Wolf. Congratulations FluffyWolf on the success in league play, and progressions in skill and deck building. Well earned spotlight in a premier article by ChannelFireball, written by Magic legend, Eric Froelich.
Fellow notable, Jeff Hoogland, will be featuring a Legacy version of Mono-Red Prison at the Kentucky Legacy Grand Prix. Indeed, this year's color looks to be bloody Crimson.
Good luck to all at tonight's FNM!
>>> Unfortunately, I'm leaving Chandra, Flamecaller on the bench when it comes to constructing tonight's starting line-up. She, like Tormenting Voice, gets juggled in and out of maindeck play according to the answer to following question, "How many 1/1 and pumpable 0/X creatures are inhabiting today's meta?"
Answer: Too many. There's affinity/pyromancer tokens/infect/humans/lingering souls/etcetera...getting anchored to a 6-cmc spell can be lethal. Sure, we're rocking (8) rituals and (4) more on a Chandra, Torch of Defiance +1. But, 6 mana generation is one helluva hill to climb. So, I've moved Flamecaller to the sideboard & knocked the land count back to (21) which allowed for (2) additions: a maindeck Phyrexian Metamorph and Phyrexian Revoker. The Phyrexian Siblings! Aren't they so dreamy?
Final Note: I was enjoying the most recent stream by Russ - joined by friend John https://www.twitch.tv/videos/251917842
The coverage starts at 1:28:00
The in-game commentary is exemplary. Also, I agree with Russ on the play against KCI regarding 'attack monkeys'. He proposes a lay-out of 3 in a row and no attacks. Tim and John push for immediate attack. Your play would have brought the opponent to 3 life (slagstorm reach). Also, this is another matchup where Word of Seizing is a winner: split second steal their KCI and sack it to itself.
Don't know how you guys put those nice looking decklists in that chart otherwise I'd post my list. Russ my MB and SB is a little diff from your's, I run P&K and koth SB, hazoret main. I also used to run trinisphere and a 2nd shattering spree however I have now dropped those for 2 damping matrix. My deck is tweaked a little bit for the meta of my store as recently there are a lot of coco decks and bant knightfall decks and damping matrix is very good against them. At a GP I would probably only run 1 SB.
Yeah I would never have thought of taking out chalices as chalice on 1 on the play is good and chalice on 2 is great but I didn't really miss the chalices. Eidolon I'm still not sure about though MB as there are times it hurts me almost as much the opponent.
I think if I was to go to a GP I probably would swap t
I think if I was to go to a GP I'd swap abrades for magma jets but I just find I often get mana flooded, mana screwed or get into a top deck situation and magma jets help out immensely with that. I may try swapping and see how much I miss magma jet.
With regards to going online honestly it's mostly just the expense, owning a deck twice is a lot of money and it concerns me with the move to arena what happens to the value of cards on MTGO. For now I just want to be really competitive locally and if I feel the deck is strong enough maybe do the main event at GP vegas but most likely will just do side events (hard for me to concentrate for so many rounds).
With the inspiration flowing from the CFB article I decided to do a warm up for tomorrow, and play some Pyro Prison to the max. We ran the following deck:
If you do not want to know the record prior to watching (if you follow/watch) don't look at the concent below and just look at the image/decklist!
We played a variety of things tonight. I can honestly say I remember these:
Thopter Foundry, UW Control, Humans, Mono White Legendary using Mox Amber (Todd Stevens!), Grixis Death Shadow, Elves, Ad Nauseum (x2 at least), Storm, Death and Taxes (White/Colorless version), Burn (x2), Lantern. - I'm missing 2 don't remember all the decks.
Record:
League 1: 4-1
League 2: 4-1
League 3: 5-0
Biggest Observations: Kozilek's Return is nice, but not when you're playing against Humans (x/3) bodies are very likely the 3rd damage on Slagstorm/Anger matters.
Koth actually played two roles, I brought him in to be aggressive, and I brought him in when it was strictly hard control and I wanted to be 'behind the bridge' if it was some middle ground or the opponent was attacking on two axis he stayed in the board.
Chalice of the Void remains a house.
Blood Moon is still King, even when we took 1 out cause we figured it was not as effective.
We are finding satisfaction from ramping out a Goblin Rabblemaster to have it eat a path... eating a bolt is less satisfying.
The Redirect modes on Slagstorm and Chandra not hitting planeswalkers have hurt us, and yet have made our lives easier with the focus on ignoring cards like Jace. Just do damage, AGGRO away! With the posting of the CFB article, there have been so many "Too many creatures for a bridge deck." Every time I have bridge and rabble in hand I say. "We will play Rabblemaster, and if things go bad we have an oops button." - How many decks can you just play a creature then just decide to change what you're doing by the next card? Most will just have to continue to jam through threats until your opponent runs out of resources. We just go "Welp Plan A didn't work, Plan B Tada!"
Glorybringer is showing up, including a Knock out Kill of a Death Shadow :). It was extremely good against Elves.
x4 Abrades. I'm not leaving the house without them right now, it is too good. We are undervaluing this card I think, wondering if we should be 'filtering' or doing other things.
Remember: Abrade hits: Most Humans, Most Elves, Hollow One, White Taxes Creatures, Aether Vials, Snapcaster/V.Clique, Goblin Guides, Swiftspears, Other Rabble Masters, Affinity Pieces, Lantern Pieces, Enemy Bridges, Our Bridges, BBE, that Pesky Noble Hierarch, Infect Creatures... ... What doesn't it hit? Gurmag Angler and big Death Shadows.
Now that I rambled here: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/format-staples/modern/full/creatures
#3: Street Wraith (And really when does it acutally get cast?)
#8: Thought-Knot Seer
#15: Tarmogoyf
#19: Gurmag Angler
#31: Death's Shadow (putting this on here cause it is normally too big)
#39: Reality Smasher (noting I just skipped #38 Wurmcoil)
#43: Primeval Titan
#45: Obstinate Baloth
(8/50 of the top creatures it does not hit... what?!)
A few exceptions are things like Kitchen Finks, Tireless Tracker, Knight of the Reliquary which can get too large or persist. Mantis rider may get too big, etc. But looking at when the card is initially out... if it's too big that's why we have Bridge.
Fluffy, how good has glorybringer been? I keep going back and forth between that and eidolon. Dragon is better call midrange and eidolon is better vs control and combo.
Good question on the Eidolon of the Great Revel, Russ. It can sometimes be lock #4. And, other times it's a bear that can Siegfried and Roy you as much as the opponent.
Overall, I just love the simple creature ramp. I'm on (3) Eidolon, (1) Spellskite, (1) Phyrexian Revoker and then Rabblemaster / Phyrexian Metamorph as a 'stage 3' development. The spike cards of the other power-lock-suite cards of chalice/moon/bridge provide, as Fluffy said, an outstanding plan B approach.
Sure, Eidolon is gas against control/combo. But, it also provides pressure and needed block/trade off attrition to more fair decks. Bear in mind that we do 0 damage to ourselves in land progressions. It's not uncommon for a 3-color deck to do 6+ damage to itself off of fetching/shock. Eidolon now becomes a percentage play.
Bonfire of the Damned
I'm not seeing this in folks' decks, and I think that's a real opportunity missed. Versus the Anger/Storm/Sweltering option, they are all rubbish on an opening draw. Fast forward to turn 3, that's 10 cards in. A bonfire is a ping and an allowance for our growing horde to charge. Take us past turn 3, and it's titanic. When I get into late game, and things get desperate.....there is no saviour more powerful than a bonfire. Forget the anger/storm/sweltering! It's just one of those cards that you have to play to truly appreciate.
Also, tip of the hat to those who have been championing the use of a playset of Abrade. I do not know what happened in the last few months, but holy Koth almighty....yeah, you gotta have this card as a 4-of in your (75).
Fluffy, how good has glorybringer been? I keep going back and forth between that and eidolon. Dragon is better call midrange and eidolon is better vs control and combo.
some thoughts...
1 -I think the deck must have at least 1 magus of the moon from main because we need blood moon on turn 1, blood on turn 1 can set the course of the game.
2 - With glorybringer from main or another dragon like stormbreath (my favorite) from main we can re-use the original name that comes from legacy: dragon stompy kekekekekekek
3 -I think using 2 or more spellkite will help the deck.
4 - Molten rain is fantastic.
5 - I still can not reconcile glorybringer and 4 bridges on the deck is illogical if it is working is why magic is crazy !!! kekekeke
finally, I will play today an event that are predicting 6 rounds I will post the result later. my list follows the one from Russ with the exception that I use 2 walking ballista and 1 magus of the moon.
... Also, tip of the hat to those who have been championing the use of a playset of Abrade. I do not know what happened in the last few months, but holy Koth almighty....yeah, you gotta have this card as a 4-of in your (75).
Hey Ray,
What I believe has happened is we're really understanding that "Destroy Target Artifact" is not just a "Oh... the card is a Lightning Bolt with a weird other cost," to the "Cryptic Command is great because of versatility... Abrade just happens to have the two modes we always want to pick."
I believe that is the case, along with my mentioned 42/50 targets in the creatures alone.
some thoughts...
1 -I think the deck must have at least 1 magus of the moon from main because we need blood moon on turn 1, blood on turn 1 can set the course of the game.
2 - With glorybringer from main or another dragon like stormbreath (my favorite) from main we can re-use the original name that comes from legacy: dragon stompy kekekekekekek
3 -I think using 2 or more spellkite will help the deck.
4 - Molten rain is fantastic.
5 - I still can not reconcile glorybringer and 4 bridges on the deck is illogical if it is working is why magic is crazy !!! kekekeke
finally, I will play today an event that are predicting 6 rounds I will post the result later. my list follows the one from Russ with the exception that I use 2 walking ballista and 1 magus of the moon.
Hey JoandsonPaul,
You have a good set of points here, let me address each with my opinion and experience thus far, and see if this helps.
Magus of the Moon is one of our creatures we bring out as it is just another Blood Moon. That alone is fantastic, but why are we not playing him right now? Currently the meta is ripe with removal that takes care of Magus easily. The other reason is actually Blood Moon albeit a very punishing card does not influence as many of the top decks. It may hinder and slow them down but normally decks are working their way out of the Basic Land Lock. An example is where a Jund player would instantly on T1 fetch a basic Forest seeing a Mountain. They may not have as explosive as a start but they are set for the game. So currently 0 Magus, that's my thought.
I've heard a lot of people telling me to call it "Dragon Stompy" I'm not opposed to it being referenced. In fact Raystack I put in for our deck to move up from Deck Creation to Established. I actually call out that this is a deck archtype that transcends two formats, having something referenced in both formats would be beneficial but also shows the deck is Established.
A 2nd Spellskite I would never say no to. The little Horror is so good at times. Just have to find if you feel you have room in your sideboard or main.
Fluffy, I like how you are playing PnK in your Glorybringer version. Being able to sac a bridge to shock and turn on your Dragons seems super good.
Hey 1003Ooze,
Thank you. Simply put. Thank you. Since the publishing of the CFB Article (seen here) the backlash is "The Deck has too Many Creatures" or "Ha, a deck with creatures and bridge? Bad deckbuilding, horrible deck, can't ever win," or similar comments. Let me show a different deck I have created that literally gets comments like "Can you even win with this deck?"
In the example here, I have had plenty of people say "How does this deck win." It is not really some quirky combo, it has nothing strange going on here where you have to assemble things in different locations or wait for your opponent to deck or anything like that. The deck wants to beat your face in and get you to 0. So why does this get that question? Probably due to this card Demonic Pact. In fact this card literally has an option of "You lose the game." Awful right? I've even been told Oblivion Ring is too slow. Alright so what is a play we've done countless times?
Oblivion Ring our Demonic Pact. Opponent literally at times says "Neat." as I was about to have to choose to lose the game. The next turn they play a threat "Ha, they used their O-Ring on something else!" Following turn, Flickerwisp the Oblivion Ring removing their threat and returning Demonic Pact which is now reset, I'll be able to pick any options.
These synergies and interactions within your own deck are what make decks tick. So thank you for realzing we not only have x4 Abrade to do this with but x2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar also, which by the way I have now won a game by pitching x3 Bridges at my opponent, thank you Top 8... Top 8 I said? See below.
Modern Challenge 4-21 Report
Firstly, we took the deck to a 4-1, 4-1, and 5-0 leagues on 4/20. This set us up and we learned we did not want Kozilek's Return so we dropped that for x2 more Anger of the Gods bringing our total up to 3 in the sideboard + 1 main. I'm not sure if the 4/20 list will be posted as I saw Stickballruss got his published, but it may not be within that week. We will see if I show up in the next one or not (we have 9 cards different so we can eclipse each other based on WOTC algorithmn currently). ONTO THE REPORT!
Match 1: Bye
Okay... so we started off with a Bye. Not totally expected but there were 105 People. Guess someone had to get the bye. Record: 1-0
Match 2: Bomat Red Game 1: This is a nail biter, our opponent led off on a Mountain. 'Must be burn... great... a difficult matchup to start with.' Then they immediately played the little Bomat... What? We soon find out that our Chalice on 1 is really good here and when they finally crack Mr. Bomat we notice their hand was 1 drops (good!). There is a plethera of creatuers this deck plays with little burn elements showing up. We take the game but with note that Glorybringer has already shown its worth by taking out creatures. Someone say the Red Menace Dino? Game 2: This game if I recall we just get smashed down too quickly, they get numerous threats out and we cannot win. There is a flipped Chandra in this game that I think has flipped incorrectly but we reread the card and determine it was correct. Game 3: This one is just removal, destruction, and we establish a healthy lead with only taking a few points of life. I believe we note they are at 13, we are at 17, and we have a fist full of ready to bash creatures. Glorybringer closes this one out with Chandra backup. Record: 2-0
Match 3: Knight of the Reliquery Combo (Bant) Game 1: & Game 2: These games both went very typical. We locked one of them out and won through the air, the other they made a large knight and won. Game 3 is where this one got interesting. Game 3: In Game 3 we are attempting to prevent their board presence from overwhelming us. We do establish ourselves behind a bridge, but our opponent has double Courser of Kruphix down. We do have though x2 Grafdigger's Cage and our opponent what we thought was shuffling actually admitted that they did not understand why their Collected Company was not doing work. We establish a Chandra Emblem. Now, last time we did this with an opponent as substantial health point (40+) we went for face to close the game out. In this case we start going after creatures. Our opponent does get down a Gideon's Intervention naming Chandra however her Emblem is excluded, Emblems are not cards kiddos. We eventually clear enough of the board and go for face. Our opponent is unable to find a piece to remove our bridge and we end up Double Embleming to finish teh game out with x2 spells for 20 damage. Game Over. Record: 3-0
Match 4: Storm
At this point we are feeling pretty decent. Let's keep the train rolling! Game 1: We see a Spirebluff Canal and hold our Chalice. We are unable to establish the Chalice on 2 due to a Remand and our opponent goes off. Game 2: As we are now on the aggro plan we board in Eidolon of the Great Revel and other fast paced cards. Our opponent here goes for an early Empty the Warrens which we clean up. We then win through beats and our opponents card adventage has disappeared. (I think we had a cage out for this matchup). Game 3: We have an incredibly fast hand if we can find a land on top, and we do. We turn 2 Rabblemaster, follow up with Eidolon, and stare down our opponent, 6 spells opponent or you're out. Baral, Manamorphose. Long Pause. A Ritual. 3 Spells left. Grapeshot. Remand. Kills Eidolon. We have Rabble, Token, they have Baral, we have another Rabble in hand. They continue to play cards, eventually comboing off to kill us. They were at 2 life. There is a long discussion after as we also had a Spellskite. Knowing the card information we saw would it be better to Eidolon, Spellskite, then Rabble? Rabble was going to close out the game next turn, it was a hard call. Loss in the books. Record: 3-1
Match 5: Humans (MVP Opponent MoonGlow)
We are strongly reminded that you must play precisely. Food has arrived. We are distracted. We press on filling our belly and hydrating. Game 1 & Game 2: This is fairly typical, one game we lock them out, the other game many Mantis Rider smash our face. Onto Game 3. Game 3: This opening hand was Anger of the Gods, Slagstorm, Abrade, x2 Mountains, and a card I honestly cannot remember, I want to say it was Blood Moon or Chalice of the Void. Essentially our opponent gets Noble out, we get x2 Mountains, they Freebooter and then the game just halts. The opponent is staring at x3 removal spells and I want to say they were on the 1 land. The game literally pauses for about 5 minutes. The short and sweet of this is we can clear anything, literally anything, and we then lock them out. Our opponent asks if they think we could've done anything, and I have to admit I'm not sure there was a single thing our opponent could do, we had the nuts. They wish us well and tell us they'll see us in Top 8, you go MoonGlow, MVP. Record: 4-1
Match 6: Living End
This is more then likely a Win and In game, let's do this Chat! Game 1: We are starting to get numerous people in the chat. One of them states this person is a "Living End Only Player" okay, but lets see. Turn one land, Turn 2 land, doing nothing on G/B. Cycles Street Wraith, yep. This is Living End. Chalice on 0 holds down the fort until Beast within. We take a mega hit to the face. Game 2: Here, we are fast enough, we have a Chalice on 0 again, and race. We close this one out quickly. Game 3: Although we establish a Bridge, and a Chalice our opponent is able to find Ingot Chewer and Beast Within. This crushes us as they then cascade into living end and close the game out... Ouch. Record: 4-2
We are doing the math here, noting we are actually the top 4-2 player, we think if we can win we will be in, we're not sure though, the race is close. Our tiebreakers are looking strong though. MoonGlow is just below us at 4-2 and our Storm Opponent is up in the 5-1 bracket. Our opponent we just played is 6-0. Not to mention we were paired up one game.
Match 7: Hollow One Game 1: R/B Land, pass. Hmmm could be many things, we play. They play Goblin Lore. Chat... we have a winner! The deck we are literally built to beat, the reason we are playing x4 Abrade the reason we have Ensnaring Bridge, the value train that is Glorybringer. We do just that Game 1, we are able to remove what we need to and end up winning via Goblin Rabblemaster. Sideboard: During sideboard I am so laser focused on how great Goblin Rabblemaster is I start telling Russ, "Naw we got this!". He convinces me to pull Rabblemaster out. Game 2: We end up establishing a Bridge here and get in some beats. We are able to remove the Flame Adept. Now, we have a Bridge and we end up drawing Glorybringer. Our opponent ends up actually having Grim Lavamancer. We take punches to the face from the Phoenix, but refuse to block with Glorybringer. We end up getting to 4 cards, and utilize Glorybringer to punch face. They get another Pheonix down, and instead of redirecting the Exert to Hollow One we clear the way for our Dragon to get in picking off the Phoenix. We crush this game, no contest with literally the two cards that people say 'don't work together.' Bridge was holding back both Hollow One and Gurmag Angler. Record: 6-2-0
Did we make it?
We wait patiently. It was our first 2-0 match of the day. Our our tiebrakers good enough?
Ansewr?
Yes! We're 7th!
Top 8 Match 1: Living End (Opponent from Match 6) Game 1: Look who it is!? Our Living End Buddy. We know we want a Chalice, we know we want a fast clock. Chalice is in hand, we top deck Rabble master. Deck is telling us "We want you to go the distance." We are smashing face, they are frantically searching for answers. Land, Anger, Chandra we play her for more damage, rabble is ready for lethal next turn, they find Beast within the chalice... They cascade... Crap. We are staring down all big creatures with our poor Anger of the Gods in hand that cannot do anything... Bridge? Can we find a bridge, we need a stop. We have the draw + Chandra draw... please deck... Draw: Slagstorm our eyes literally bug out, we have x2 Sweepers main, did we just draw another, DO WE HAVE CHANDRA OUT, oh my gosh we have 6 mana... CHAT! Tick up for Mana, Slagstorm, Anger, Board clear, active chandra. WE'RE DOING IT! Concession. Game 2: We know what to board, we're on auto pilot, we know the cards we need. The game leads off with a Chalice again, our opponent must be upset at this point, but now we know they have more. Chalice into Chandra. We pause, we go to play out a bridge and stop ourselves, good call because they have an Ingot Chewer in the graveyard. They End of Turn Beast our Chalice, Main Phase Living End (they have to, what if we Chalice again?). Bridge played... Another Bridge... Another Bridge... We are assembling the Great Wall here. We get Pia and Kiran down. The end of this game results in us attacking with Thopters and throwing excess Bridges at our opponents face. We're going to Top 4 baby! Top 8 Record: 1-0
As we are watching Top 8 matches we notice our Storm player (Round 4) is playing against someone. A member of chat notes the player is a well known KCI player online, with several 5-0 finishes... So we're playing combo, which combo?
Top 8 Match 2: KCI Game 1: We are elated that we are even in Top 8, and the fact we are in Top 4 is crazy. How does this game go? We are able to remove a Scrap Trawler looking to buy us time, but they have a secondary Scrap Trawler in hand. We lose via the Spellbomb. Game 2: We bring in Eidolon's to counteract this 'storm like play' the one card we wish we could be playing is the DOM Dapening Sphere. Seems like it could be good? This game we establish a quick Eidolon, we're set. Our opponent? Spellbombs... they had it in hand. They end up comboing off that turn I believe stranding x3 Abrades in hand (we played Eidolon thinking that they'd need to dig for their answer and we'd then have Abrade backup). Alas, a loss and our journey ends. Top 8 Record: 1-1
Finsihing us in 4th place.
After Thoughts?
I've heard from countless people, "This deck is bad. How can you play so many creatures with Bridge?" I believe most people review this deck immediately and go "They want a Bridge, Blood Moon, or Chalice on T1" forgetting that... you can wait to play a card. The waiting though my Mountainfolk is where practice comes in. If you've ever noticed that Bridge is almost never ritualed out then you're getting there, why do it? Yes we could get Thoughtseized/Inquisitioned but those are our chances. Decks it he meta are not stripping your hands as much. This primes us to 'wait on bridge' and maybe, just maybe, slam huge creatures.
MVP Cards?
Glorybringer - Removal, big, closes game. I stated way back in January that I love this deck over Free win, because we have Proactive strategy to winning, we don't have to sit back and wait for a million Chandra activations or Koth to show up.
Eidolon of the Great Revel - I cannot get behind this in the main, but it is a true powerhouse out of the sideboard. Card is insane in the right matchup.
Ensnaring Bridge there are just some decks right now that fold to this more then Blood Moon and you never have to ramp it out. Crazy huh?
Abrade - It is our Cryptic Command it just simply has the two modes we would want to pick from always. Not bad right?
If you have any questions please feel free to ask as always. Twitch and Youtube videos should be up by today. Happy Sunday Mountainfolk!
** Top 4 Finish **
105 Combatants come to play Pyro Prison comes to rumble
Our Champion - FluffyWolf
Riveting story, Fluffywolf. Terrific write-up. Certainly one of the best that this thread has ever seen! Congratulations.
Questions for the Champ:
1. Glorybringer. So, this is your MVP, eh. I am surprised. Courteously, as you know, I'm not a fan of including a 4/4 beater in Pyro Prison - main deck. As most observe, it doesn't 'seem' to make sense in a bridge deck. You make a case for how it can co-exist with a slow roll-out of a bridge. Indeed, to your credit, your design allows for it. (4) Abrade and (2) sweepers sets the scene for late game development. Late game is your strong game. We have never seen (6) 4-cmc + (2) 5-cmc before. You've obviously made it work. Good on you - ever the tinkerer.
What about Siege-Gang Commander? This pushes you away from the (2) main deck sweepers, but allows you to better win through the bridge? The 4-for-1 advantage is a house. You could also trim a Pia and Kiran Nalaar at this point as they overlap in advantages --- this opens a free slot in your maindeck. I've had the insta-chuck ability of S-GC work well against creatures with lifelink (like Wurmcoil). Keeping a 2 mana activation shock machine online is pretty boss against Affinity and G/W combo decks. Just a thought.
2. Lands. You're on the (3) gemstone caverns. I've swapped out one of those and moved to a Buried Ruin and Scavenger Grounds. If we are down to only (4) Blood Moon effect spells, this allows for an opportunity. Mono-color decks have such a rare ability to diversify their land base with colorless/utility lands. What do you think?
When I review your accounting of the Living End matchup, this is prime matchup for both of these lands. Blood Moon is most likely worthless here, so I wouldn't even roll it out in G1. Buried Ruin is the 5th bridge/chalice. I mentioned that you may have a free spot if you siege-gang commander swap in for a piran/glorybringer. I'd suggest a phyrexian metamorph. The beauty of metamorph is that it can 'copy' a chalice on 0. Heck, while I'm mentioning it, I do run a spellskite in the main deck as well. Soooooo, between buried ruin/metamorph/spellskite, that's really (7) bridges or (7) chalices. Again, just a thought.
One more time on your performance: Huzzah!!!
Oh, as for FNM. I went 3-1. My one loss was to Mardu Pyromancer which I went 1-2 against (our worst matchup??). Otherwise, Jund/Tezz/Amulet-Titan were wins.
Fluffy, thanks for the small recognition(?)! I love how cards interact with each other and I feel like understanding these interactions are what help make a good player great!
Addressing the issue with KCI again, should Phyrexian Revoker take the place of/be used with Sorcerous Spyglass/Damping Matrix? Revoker CAN shut off KCI, which is pretty huge. We can protect it with Spellskite and it can push for damage to try and finish the game quickly too!
Pithing Needle is hopelessly outclassed these days. I've always argued against that damned card: A solution in search of a problem.
Sorcerous Spyglass is serviceable. It's very popular these days. I believe it to be too narrow (similar to pithing needle). The ability to glasses of urza at time of casting is seductive. But, it is training wheels, unless your (75) construction includes many activated creature/artifact abilities. Nonetheless, I do respect its usage - just my personal opinion.
Damping Matrix is lethal. The most under-rated card in Modern. It assassinates our tough matchups: G/W combo/Affinity/Tron & much more at a minimal cost of self limitation.
Phyrexian Revoker is damage on a stick. It can stop almost any card with an activate ability. Revoker is colorless, ramps smoothly, and I challenge you to name a deck where its 'lock' ability falls flat. Again, at a minimum, it's a 2 powered attack & quick exchange on a block as removal.
For maximum impact: P. Revoker and D. Matrix FTW. This is where I've landed with my most recent deck.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/competitive-modern-constructed-league-2018-04-20
https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/deck-of-the-day-red-prison-modern-2/
Raystack your little mountainfolk are growing up!! Are you proud of us dad!?
I'm so excited that Eric decided to write another article about this deck. You deserve it, Fluff. You've put countless hours into this deck, testing all sorts of different things (Charbelcher?) and have been a pillar of this forum with your commentary. More importantly, however, is your dedication to streaming every night on a schedule. That's not an easy thing to do, but you make it look easy. Thanks again for all your work and congrats on getting as article written about your deck and positive results with it.
Russ
Never mind the Fluffy sheep's clothing, we're talking about a straight up assassin - The Wolf. Congratulations FluffyWolf on the success in league play, and progressions in skill and deck building. Well earned spotlight in a premier article by ChannelFireball, written by Magic legend, Eric Froelich.
Fellow notable, Jeff Hoogland, will be featuring a Legacy version of Mono-Red Prison at the Kentucky Legacy Grand Prix. Indeed, this year's color looks to be bloody Crimson.
Good luck to all at tonight's FNM!
>>> Unfortunately, I'm leaving Chandra, Flamecaller on the bench when it comes to constructing tonight's starting line-up. She, like Tormenting Voice, gets juggled in and out of maindeck play according to the answer to following question, "How many 1/1 and pumpable 0/X creatures are inhabiting today's meta?"
Answer: Too many. There's affinity/pyromancer tokens/infect/humans/lingering souls/etcetera...getting anchored to a 6-cmc spell can be lethal. Sure, we're rocking (8) rituals and (4) more on a Chandra, Torch of Defiance +1. But, 6 mana generation is one helluva hill to climb. So, I've moved Flamecaller to the sideboard & knocked the land count back to (21) which allowed for (2) additions: a maindeck Phyrexian Metamorph and Phyrexian Revoker. The Phyrexian Siblings! Aren't they so dreamy?
Final Note: I was enjoying the most recent stream by Russ - joined by friend John https://www.twitch.tv/videos/251917842
The coverage starts at 1:28:00
The in-game commentary is exemplary. Also, I agree with Russ on the play against KCI regarding 'attack monkeys'. He proposes a lay-out of 3 in a row and no attacks. Tim and John push for immediate attack. Your play would have brought the opponent to 3 life (slagstorm reach). Also, this is another matchup where Word of Seizing is a winner: split second steal their KCI and sack it to itself.
Don't know how you guys put those nice looking decklists in that chart otherwise I'd post my list. Russ my MB and SB is a little diff from your's, I run P&K and koth SB, hazoret main. I also used to run trinisphere and a 2nd shattering spree however I have now dropped those for 2 damping matrix. My deck is tweaked a little bit for the meta of my store as recently there are a lot of coco decks and bant knightfall decks and damping matrix is very good against them. At a GP I would probably only run 1 SB.
Yeah I would never have thought of taking out chalices as chalice on 1 on the play is good and chalice on 2 is great but I didn't really miss the chalices. Eidolon I'm still not sure about though MB as there are times it hurts me almost as much the opponent.
I think if I was to go to a GP I probably would swap t
With regards to going online honestly it's mostly just the expense, owning a deck twice is a lot of money and it concerns me with the move to arena what happens to the value of cards on MTGO. For now I just want to be really competitive locally and if I feel the deck is strong enough maybe do the main event at GP vegas but most likely will just do side events (hard for me to concentrate for so many rounds).
If you do not want to know the record prior to watching (if you follow/watch) don't look at the concent below and just look at the image/decklist!
4 Blood Moon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ensnaring Bridge
Mana Sources (9)
1 Pyretic Ritual
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Lands (21)
18 Mountain
3 Gemstone Caverns
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Glorybringer
Fast Finishers (4)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
Utility (6)
4 Abrade
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Slagstorm
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Kozilek's Return
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Spellskite
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Torpor Orb
1 Koth of the Hammer
We played a variety of things tonight. I can honestly say I remember these:
Thopter Foundry, UW Control, Humans, Mono White Legendary using Mox Amber (Todd Stevens!), Grixis Death Shadow, Elves, Ad Nauseum (x2 at least), Storm, Death and Taxes (White/Colorless version), Burn (x2), Lantern. - I'm missing 2 don't remember all the decks.
Record:
League 1: 4-1
League 2: 4-1
League 3: 5-0
Biggest Observations: Kozilek's Return is nice, but not when you're playing against Humans (x/3) bodies are very likely the 3rd damage on Slagstorm/Anger matters.
Koth actually played two roles, I brought him in to be aggressive, and I brought him in when it was strictly hard control and I wanted to be 'behind the bridge' if it was some middle ground or the opponent was attacking on two axis he stayed in the board.
Chalice of the Void remains a house.
Blood Moon is still King, even when we took 1 out cause we figured it was not as effective.
We are finding satisfaction from ramping out a Goblin Rabblemaster to have it eat a path... eating a bolt is less satisfying.
The Redirect modes on Slagstorm and Chandra not hitting planeswalkers have hurt us, and yet have made our lives easier with the focus on ignoring cards like Jace. Just do damage, AGGRO away!
With the posting of the CFB article, there have been so many "Too many creatures for a bridge deck." Every time I have bridge and rabble in hand I say. "We will play Rabblemaster, and if things go bad we have an oops button." - How many decks can you just play a creature then just decide to change what you're doing by the next card? Most will just have to continue to jam through threats until your opponent runs out of resources. We just go "Welp Plan A didn't work, Plan B Tada!"
Glorybringer is showing up, including a Knock out Kill of a Death Shadow :). It was extremely good against Elves.
x4 Abrades. I'm not leaving the house without them right now, it is too good. We are undervaluing this card I think, wondering if we should be 'filtering' or doing other things.
Remember: Abrade hits: Most Humans, Most Elves, Hollow One, White Taxes Creatures, Aether Vials, Snapcaster/V.Clique, Goblin Guides, Swiftspears, Other Rabble Masters, Affinity Pieces, Lantern Pieces, Enemy Bridges, Our Bridges, BBE, that Pesky Noble Hierarch, Infect Creatures... ... What doesn't it hit? Gurmag Angler and big Death Shadows.
Now that I rambled here:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/format-staples/modern/full/creatures
#3: Street Wraith (And really when does it acutally get cast?)
#8: Thought-Knot Seer
#15: Tarmogoyf
#19: Gurmag Angler
#31: Death's Shadow (putting this on here cause it is normally too big)
#39: Reality Smasher (noting I just skipped #38 Wurmcoil)
#43: Primeval Titan
#45: Obstinate Baloth
(8/50 of the top creatures it does not hit... what?!)
A few exceptions are things like Kitchen Finks, Tireless Tracker, Knight of the Reliquary which can get too large or persist. Mantis rider may get too big, etc. But looking at when the card is initially out... if it's too big that's why we have Bridge.
Playset. Try it. See what you guys think.
I'm out! Enjoy if you wanna watch it:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/252653240
That would be the ultimate hate card. I don't think they can stop that.
Overall, I just love the simple creature ramp. I'm on (3) Eidolon, (1) Spellskite, (1) Phyrexian Revoker and then Rabblemaster / Phyrexian Metamorph as a 'stage 3' development. The spike cards of the other power-lock-suite cards of chalice/moon/bridge provide, as Fluffy said, an outstanding plan B approach.
Sure, Eidolon is gas against control/combo. But, it also provides pressure and needed block/trade off attrition to more fair decks. Bear in mind that we do 0 damage to ourselves in land progressions. It's not uncommon for a 3-color deck to do 6+ damage to itself off of fetching/shock. Eidolon now becomes a percentage play.
Bonfire of the Damned
I'm not seeing this in folks' decks, and I think that's a real opportunity missed. Versus the Anger/Storm/Sweltering option, they are all rubbish on an opening draw. Fast forward to turn 3, that's 10 cards in. A bonfire is a ping and an allowance for our growing horde to charge. Take us past turn 3, and it's titanic. When I get into late game, and things get desperate.....there is no saviour more powerful than a bonfire. Forget the anger/storm/sweltering! It's just one of those cards that you have to play to truly appreciate.
Also, tip of the hat to those who have been championing the use of a playset of Abrade. I do not know what happened in the last few months, but holy Koth almighty....yeah, you gotta have this card as a 4-of in your (75).
I dunno... how good has it been Russ?
1 -I think the deck must have at least 1 magus of the moon from main because we need blood moon on turn 1, blood on turn 1 can set the course of the game.
2 - With glorybringer from main or another dragon like stormbreath (my favorite) from main we can re-use the original name that comes from legacy: dragon stompy kekekekekekek
3 -I think using 2 or more spellkite will help the deck.
4 - Molten rain is fantastic.
5 - I still can not reconcile glorybringer and 4 bridges on the deck is illogical if it is working is why magic is crazy !!! kekekeke
finally, I will play today an event that are predicting 6 rounds I will post the result later. my list follows the one from Russ with the exception that I use 2 walking ballista and 1 magus of the moon.
Hey Ray,
What I believe has happened is we're really understanding that "Destroy Target Artifact" is not just a "Oh... the card is a Lightning Bolt with a weird other cost," to the "Cryptic Command is great because of versatility... Abrade just happens to have the two modes we always want to pick."
I believe that is the case, along with my mentioned 42/50 targets in the creatures alone.
Hey JoandsonPaul,
You have a good set of points here, let me address each with my opinion and experience thus far, and see if this helps.
Goodluck in your event!
Hey 1003Ooze,
Thank you. Simply put. Thank you. Since the publishing of the CFB Article (seen here) the backlash is "The Deck has too Many Creatures" or "Ha, a deck with creatures and bridge? Bad deckbuilding, horrible deck, can't ever win," or similar comments. Let me show a different deck I have created that literally gets comments like "Can you even win with this deck?"
4 Gideon of the Trials
4 Demonic Pact
1 Obzedat, Ghost Council
Pact Removal:
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Flickerwisp
2 Felidar Guardian
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Gideon Jura
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Wrath of God
1 Damnation
2 Path to Exile
3 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Collective Brutality
4 Wall of Omens
Mana:
23 Lands
In the example here, I have had plenty of people say "How does this deck win." It is not really some quirky combo, it has nothing strange going on here where you have to assemble things in different locations or wait for your opponent to deck or anything like that. The deck wants to beat your face in and get you to 0. So why does this get that question? Probably due to this card Demonic Pact. In fact this card literally has an option of "You lose the game." Awful right? I've even been told Oblivion Ring is too slow. Alright so what is a play we've done countless times?
Oblivion Ring our Demonic Pact. Opponent literally at times says "Neat." as I was about to have to choose to lose the game. The next turn they play a threat "Ha, they used their O-Ring on something else!" Following turn, Flickerwisp the Oblivion Ring removing their threat and returning Demonic Pact which is now reset, I'll be able to pick any options.
These synergies and interactions within your own deck are what make decks tick. So thank you for realzing we not only have x4 Abrade to do this with but x2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar also, which by the way I have now won a game by pitching x3 Bridges at my opponent, thank you Top 8... Top 8 I said? See below.
Modern Challenge 4-21 Report
Firstly, we took the deck to a 4-1, 4-1, and 5-0 leagues on 4/20. This set us up and we learned we did not want Kozilek's Return so we dropped that for x2 more Anger of the Gods bringing our total up to 3 in the sideboard + 1 main. I'm not sure if the 4/20 list will be posted as I saw Stickballruss got his published, but it may not be within that week. We will see if I show up in the next one or not (we have 9 cards different so we can eclipse each other based on WOTC algorithmn currently). ONTO THE REPORT!
4 Blood Moon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ensnaring Bridge
Mana Sources (9)
1 Pyretic Ritual
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Lands (21)
18 Mountain
3 Gemstone Caverns
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Glorybringer
Fast Finishers (4)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
Utility (6)
4 Abrade
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Slagstorm
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Spellskite
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Torpor Orb
1 Koth of the Hammer
Match 1: Bye
Okay... so we started off with a Bye. Not totally expected but there were 105 People. Guess someone had to get the bye.
Record: 1-0
Match 2: Bomat Red
Game 1: This is a nail biter, our opponent led off on a Mountain. 'Must be burn... great... a difficult matchup to start with.' Then they immediately played the little Bomat... What? We soon find out that our Chalice on 1 is really good here and when they finally crack Mr. Bomat we notice their hand was 1 drops (good!). There is a plethera of creatuers this deck plays with little burn elements showing up. We take the game but with note that Glorybringer has already shown its worth by taking out creatures. Someone say the Red Menace Dino?
Game 2: This game if I recall we just get smashed down too quickly, they get numerous threats out and we cannot win. There is a flipped Chandra in this game that I think has flipped incorrectly but we reread the card and determine it was correct.
Game 3: This one is just removal, destruction, and we establish a healthy lead with only taking a few points of life. I believe we note they are at 13, we are at 17, and we have a fist full of ready to bash creatures. Glorybringer closes this one out with Chandra backup.
Record: 2-0
Match 3: Knight of the Reliquery Combo (Bant)
Game 1: & Game 2: These games both went very typical. We locked one of them out and won through the air, the other they made a large knight and won. Game 3 is where this one got interesting.
Game 3: In Game 3 we are attempting to prevent their board presence from overwhelming us. We do establish ourselves behind a bridge, but our opponent has double Courser of Kruphix down. We do have though x2 Grafdigger's Cage and our opponent what we thought was shuffling actually admitted that they did not understand why their Collected Company was not doing work. We establish a Chandra Emblem. Now, last time we did this with an opponent as substantial health point (40+) we went for face to close the game out. In this case we start going after creatures. Our opponent does get down a Gideon's Intervention naming Chandra however her Emblem is excluded, Emblems are not cards kiddos. We eventually clear enough of the board and go for face. Our opponent is unable to find a piece to remove our bridge and we end up Double Embleming to finish teh game out with x2 spells for 20 damage. Game Over.
Record: 3-0
Match 4: Storm
At this point we are feeling pretty decent. Let's keep the train rolling!
Game 1: We see a Spirebluff Canal and hold our Chalice. We are unable to establish the Chalice on 2 due to a Remand and our opponent goes off.
Game 2: As we are now on the aggro plan we board in Eidolon of the Great Revel and other fast paced cards. Our opponent here goes for an early Empty the Warrens which we clean up. We then win through beats and our opponents card adventage has disappeared. (I think we had a cage out for this matchup).
Game 3: We have an incredibly fast hand if we can find a land on top, and we do. We turn 2 Rabblemaster, follow up with Eidolon, and stare down our opponent, 6 spells opponent or you're out. Baral, Manamorphose. Long Pause. A Ritual. 3 Spells left. Grapeshot. Remand. Kills Eidolon. We have Rabble, Token, they have Baral, we have another Rabble in hand. They continue to play cards, eventually comboing off to kill us. They were at 2 life. There is a long discussion after as we also had a Spellskite. Knowing the card information we saw would it be better to Eidolon, Spellskite, then Rabble? Rabble was going to close out the game next turn, it was a hard call. Loss in the books.
Record: 3-1
Match 5: Humans (MVP Opponent MoonGlow)
We are strongly reminded that you must play precisely. Food has arrived. We are distracted. We press on filling our belly and hydrating.
Game 1 & Game 2: This is fairly typical, one game we lock them out, the other game many Mantis Rider smash our face. Onto Game 3.
Game 3: This opening hand was Anger of the Gods, Slagstorm, Abrade, x2 Mountains, and a card I honestly cannot remember, I want to say it was Blood Moon or Chalice of the Void. Essentially our opponent gets Noble out, we get x2 Mountains, they Freebooter and then the game just halts. The opponent is staring at x3 removal spells and I want to say they were on the 1 land. The game literally pauses for about 5 minutes. The short and sweet of this is we can clear anything, literally anything, and we then lock them out. Our opponent asks if they think we could've done anything, and I have to admit I'm not sure there was a single thing our opponent could do, we had the nuts. They wish us well and tell us they'll see us in Top 8, you go MoonGlow, MVP.
Record: 4-1
Match 6: Living End
This is more then likely a Win and In game, let's do this Chat!
Game 1: We are starting to get numerous people in the chat. One of them states this person is a "Living End Only Player" okay, but lets see. Turn one land, Turn 2 land, doing nothing on G/B. Cycles Street Wraith, yep. This is Living End. Chalice on 0 holds down the fort until Beast within. We take a mega hit to the face.
Game 2: Here, we are fast enough, we have a Chalice on 0 again, and race. We close this one out quickly.
Game 3: Although we establish a Bridge, and a Chalice our opponent is able to find Ingot Chewer and Beast Within. This crushes us as they then cascade into living end and close the game out... Ouch.
Record: 4-2
We are doing the math here, noting we are actually the top 4-2 player, we think if we can win we will be in, we're not sure though, the race is close. Our tiebreakers are looking strong though. MoonGlow is just below us at 4-2 and our Storm Opponent is up in the 5-1 bracket. Our opponent we just played is 6-0. Not to mention we were paired up one game.
Match 7: Hollow One
Game 1: R/B Land, pass. Hmmm could be many things, we play. They play Goblin Lore. Chat... we have a winner! The deck we are literally built to beat, the reason we are playing x4 Abrade the reason we have Ensnaring Bridge, the value train that is Glorybringer. We do just that Game 1, we are able to remove what we need to and end up winning via Goblin Rabblemaster.
Sideboard: During sideboard I am so laser focused on how great Goblin Rabblemaster is I start telling Russ, "Naw we got this!". He convinces me to pull Rabblemaster out.
Game 2: We end up establishing a Bridge here and get in some beats. We are able to remove the Flame Adept. Now, we have a Bridge and we end up drawing Glorybringer. Our opponent ends up actually having Grim Lavamancer. We take punches to the face from the Phoenix, but refuse to block with Glorybringer. We end up getting to 4 cards, and utilize Glorybringer to punch face. They get another Pheonix down, and instead of redirecting the Exert to Hollow One we clear the way for our Dragon to get in picking off the Phoenix. We crush this game, no contest with literally the two cards that people say 'don't work together.' Bridge was holding back both Hollow One and Gurmag Angler.
Record: 6-2-0
Did we make it?
We wait patiently. It was our first 2-0 match of the day. Our our tiebrakers good enough?
Ansewr?
Yes! We're 7th!
Top 8 Match 1: Living End (Opponent from Match 6)
Game 1: Look who it is!? Our Living End Buddy. We know we want a Chalice, we know we want a fast clock. Chalice is in hand, we top deck Rabble master. Deck is telling us "We want you to go the distance." We are smashing face, they are frantically searching for answers. Land, Anger, Chandra we play her for more damage, rabble is ready for lethal next turn, they find Beast within the chalice... They cascade... Crap. We are staring down all big creatures with our poor Anger of the Gods in hand that cannot do anything... Bridge? Can we find a bridge, we need a stop. We have the draw + Chandra draw... please deck... Draw: Slagstorm our eyes literally bug out, we have x2 Sweepers main, did we just draw another, DO WE HAVE CHANDRA OUT, oh my gosh we have 6 mana... CHAT! Tick up for Mana, Slagstorm, Anger, Board clear, active chandra. WE'RE DOING IT! Concession.
Game 2: We know what to board, we're on auto pilot, we know the cards we need. The game leads off with a Chalice again, our opponent must be upset at this point, but now we know they have more. Chalice into Chandra. We pause, we go to play out a bridge and stop ourselves, good call because they have an Ingot Chewer in the graveyard. They End of Turn Beast our Chalice, Main Phase Living End (they have to, what if we Chalice again?). Bridge played... Another Bridge... Another Bridge... We are assembling the Great Wall here. We get Pia and Kiran down. The end of this game results in us attacking with Thopters and throwing excess Bridges at our opponents face. We're going to Top 4 baby!
Top 8 Record: 1-0
As we are watching Top 8 matches we notice our Storm player (Round 4) is playing against someone. A member of chat notes the player is a well known KCI player online, with several 5-0 finishes... So we're playing combo, which combo?
Top 8 Match 2: KCI
Game 1: We are elated that we are even in Top 8, and the fact we are in Top 4 is crazy. How does this game go? We are able to remove a Scrap Trawler looking to buy us time, but they have a secondary Scrap Trawler in hand. We lose via the Spellbomb.
Game 2: We bring in Eidolon's to counteract this 'storm like play' the one card we wish we could be playing is the DOM Dapening Sphere. Seems like it could be good? This game we establish a quick Eidolon, we're set. Our opponent? Spellbombs... they had it in hand. They end up comboing off that turn I believe stranding x3 Abrades in hand (we played Eidolon thinking that they'd need to dig for their answer and we'd then have Abrade backup). Alas, a loss and our journey ends.
Top 8 Record: 1-1
Finsihing us in 4th place.
After Thoughts?
I've heard from countless people, "This deck is bad. How can you play so many creatures with Bridge?" I believe most people review this deck immediately and go "They want a Bridge, Blood Moon, or Chalice on T1" forgetting that... you can wait to play a card. The waiting though my Mountainfolk is where practice comes in. If you've ever noticed that Bridge is almost never ritualed out then you're getting there, why do it? Yes we could get Thoughtseized/Inquisitioned but those are our chances. Decks it he meta are not stripping your hands as much. This primes us to 'wait on bridge' and maybe, just maybe, slam huge creatures.
MVP Cards?
If you have any questions please feel free to ask as always. Twitch and Youtube videos should be up by today. Happy Sunday Mountainfolk!
Modern Challenge Posted Results:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2018-04-22
Reddit - ModernMagic Sub:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/8e4bl2/mtgo_modern_challenge_april_22_2018/
105 Combatants come to play
Pyro Prison comes to rumble
Our Champion - FluffyWolf
Riveting story, Fluffywolf. Terrific write-up. Certainly one of the best that this thread has ever seen! Congratulations.
Questions for the Champ:
1. Glorybringer. So, this is your MVP, eh. I am surprised. Courteously, as you know, I'm not a fan of including a 4/4 beater in Pyro Prison - main deck. As most observe, it doesn't 'seem' to make sense in a bridge deck. You make a case for how it can co-exist with a slow roll-out of a bridge. Indeed, to your credit, your design allows for it. (4) Abrade and (2) sweepers sets the scene for late game development. Late game is your strong game. We have never seen (6) 4-cmc + (2) 5-cmc before. You've obviously made it work. Good on you - ever the tinkerer.
What about Siege-Gang Commander? This pushes you away from the (2) main deck sweepers, but allows you to better win through the bridge? The 4-for-1 advantage is a house. You could also trim a Pia and Kiran Nalaar at this point as they overlap in advantages --- this opens a free slot in your maindeck. I've had the insta-chuck ability of S-GC work well against creatures with lifelink (like Wurmcoil). Keeping a 2 mana activation shock machine online is pretty boss against Affinity and G/W combo decks. Just a thought.
2. Lands. You're on the (3) gemstone caverns. I've swapped out one of those and moved to a Buried Ruin and Scavenger Grounds. If we are down to only (4) Blood Moon effect spells, this allows for an opportunity. Mono-color decks have such a rare ability to diversify their land base with colorless/utility lands. What do you think?
When I review your accounting of the Living End matchup, this is prime matchup for both of these lands. Blood Moon is most likely worthless here, so I wouldn't even roll it out in G1. Buried Ruin is the 5th bridge/chalice. I mentioned that you may have a free spot if you siege-gang commander swap in for a piran/glorybringer. I'd suggest a phyrexian metamorph. The beauty of metamorph is that it can 'copy' a chalice on 0. Heck, while I'm mentioning it, I do run a spellskite in the main deck as well. Soooooo, between buried ruin/metamorph/spellskite, that's really (7) bridges or (7) chalices. Again, just a thought.
One more time on your performance: Huzzah!!!
Oh, as for FNM. I went 3-1. My one loss was to Mardu Pyromancer which I went 1-2 against (our worst matchup??). Otherwise, Jund/Tezz/Amulet-Titan were wins.
Addressing the issue with KCI again, should Phyrexian Revoker take the place of/be used with Sorcerous Spyglass/Damping Matrix? Revoker CAN shut off KCI, which is pretty huge. We can protect it with Spellskite and it can push for damage to try and finish the game quickly too!
Phyrexian Revoker is vaaaaastly underrated, 10032Ooze. Good call. In the world of shutdowns, there is:
For maximum impact: P. Revoker and D. Matrix FTW. This is where I've landed with my most recent deck.
Creatures (8)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Spellskite
Power Locks (14)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Phyrexian Revoker
Planeswalkers/Gods (5)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Hazoret the Fervent
3 Abrade
1 Bonfire of the Damned
Accelerators (8)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
Lands (21)
17 Mountains
2 Gemstone Caverns
1 Buried Ruin
1 Scavenger Grounds
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Damping Matrix
2 Torpor Orb
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Dragon's Claw
1 Spellskite
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Abrade
1 Word of Seizing