John Connor: So this other guy, he's a Terminator like you, right?
The Terminator: Not like me, T-1000, advanced prototype. Made of mimetic polyalloy
John Connor: What the hell does that mean?
The Terminator: Liquid metal.
Is Karn, The Great Creator the T-1000 to our T-100 original Pyro Prison? It's a hot topic of debate. Since being printed, Karn is being mushed into nearly every Modern deck with varying success. But, his most natural home may be on the mountainside with us. Acclaimed player and Twitch streamer, Douglas Wolf - Fluffywolf, just went on a scorching run of 15 wins in a row in competitive tournament play with a Caligula-inspired build. Look below at 'Featured Decklists' to see his construction, and join in our discussion. Aging past its 3rd year of life, is Pyro Prison getting a streak of silver in its hair?
Lock 'Em Down
Are you down with turbo-speed, chaotic boards that are orchestrated prisons? Then look to the Red Side of the Force.
The Initial Intent of Pyro Prison's Design was to Combine the Devilishly Clever Strengths of the Following (2) Mono-Red Outlier Decks - But, it's grown into much much more
Both decks are mono-red and feature Koth of the Hammer, Blood Moon, and accelerated mana spells. The signature contributions are for Free Win Red: Ensnaring Bridge and for Bloody Humans: Chalice of the Void & Speed-Growth Creatures. Add select new cards and you get the following:
So, the synthesis of these (2) decks, along with a healthy dose of new tech, results in a "Sideboard Deck" : it is born of cards normally found in a players 15-stack and not their 60-stack. Some of our maindeck approaches will miss, but others will hit with tiger uppercut force. If you can accurately target the meta, and build accordingly, the win can feel automatic.
By exploiting all of the trademark strengths of Koth of the Hammer {Beats/Mana Generation/Direct Damage} & even moreso Chandra, Torch of Defiance, the unique executions of these 2 decks can be better imposed by a combined vision. How does this all happen? Quickly: Desperate Ritual, Simian Spirit Guide and Gemstone Caverns. These turbo arrows on the race track do come at a cost of card economy, but most decks will get hosed by early disruption and rapid implementation of the The Power Lockdown Suite: Chalice of the Void, Blood Moon, and Ensnaring Bridge
First: Most premier Modern decks struggle mightily against this card. Blood Moon
Next: After you've shunted off your opponent's indulgent fancy lands, it's time to rob them of their ability to fire off spells. Chalice of the Void
Last: For those blessed few who squeezed under our dropping blast doors, they've now got a rising bridge to contend with. Ensnaring Bridge
Keystone Cards
MAIN DECK
PLANESWALKERS: Chandra, Torch of Defiance: Consider that this card didn't exist when Pyro Prison was born. It may be our most valuable card: Card Draw, Removal, Mana Generation, and a Game Winning Emblem. Generally: 3-4 Koth of the Hammer: His emblem is lethal, and it only takes 2 turns create. The 4/4 is gravy, and the mana generation is rarely used. Capture the emblem and the game should be well in hand. Generally: 1-2 Sarkhan, Fireblood At only 3-cmc, Sarkhan is a deceptively powerful ally. It takes a skilled pilot of Pyro Prison to recognize the value of rummaging through our 'air' whilst mustering an impending fleet of 5/5 Dragon doom. Oddly, it's not even that often that we use the dragon casting ability & the dragon spawning ultimate is similarly rare. So, is digging really that important? Summon him to your side, and you'll see. Generally: 0-3
CREATURES Goblin Rabblemaster: Deceptively fast and duplicates are devastating. This bully-boy is part of the transformative sideboard, and a genuine threat to decks that remove their creature kill Generally: 4 {MD or SB} Pia and Kiran Nalaar: The swiss army knife of creatures. The legendary rule can be problematic, but chaining multiples create problems of their own...for an opponent. Generally: 1-3 Siege-Gang Commander: The 5-cmc can be greedy, but it offers 4-for-1 card advantage and pairs beautifully with Goblin Rabblemaster. Generally: 0-1 Magus of the Moon: Pyro Prison personified. Generally: 1-3 Walking Ballista: Although best used in high mana generation decks (Tron & Elves), it's a decent grindy finisher and early ping machine for meddlesome weenies and growing planeswalkers. Generally: 1-2 Sin Prodder: Red has very little for extra Draw spells. This little fella can dig you deep, and sting for 3 damage with the wily assist of menace. It's a little non-bo with ensnaring bridge, but at least his ability is active regardless. Generally: 0-2 Goblin Chainwhirler: The Goblin Ninja! Everything about an opponent that can be damaged will be damaged by his mere casting. Then, it's a Hill Giant with First Strike that grows his brother Rabblemaster in attack. Generally: 0-2 GlorybringerStormbreath DragonAvaricious Dragon -- Dragons. Dragons, Everywhere. If you're looking to splash in the pools of Legacy Dragon Stompy, consider these barrel-chested dinosaurs. Each has a unique synergy. Glorybringer allows a little less removal in the main. Stormbreath is a sideboard card against control. Avaricous is a nefarious associate of Sarkhan, Dragonblood - these partners in crime have been known to trash it up. Generally: 0-X
REMOVAL Abrade: Full 3 damage Lightning Bolt or a Shatter. The perfect answer to Affinity and the bolt component is key against Storm creatures. Generally: 2-4 Magma Jet: Since we run [4] Chalice of the Void, this is our next best option after Lightning Bolt. Surprisingly, the scry often makes it a better option. Generally: 0-4 Anger of the Gods/Slagstorm/Sweltering Suns: Either sweep with permanence or give yourself the opportunity to bolt an opponent or planeswalker. Generally: 2-4 Roast: When the meta starts to see beefy boys on the playground, this hammer blow will cook 'em crispy. Generally: 0-2 Bonfire of the DamnedFireball? Check Earthquake? Check Wrath of God? Check Hero's Downfall? Check. Bonfire can be all of these things. Drawn early, it's a slog. Drawn late? You may have just won the game. Do you believe in Miracles? Generally: 0-2 Collective Defiance Similar to The Parents, this card does a little bit of everything. A good 'game 1' swing-slot card. If you're unsure of your meta, and you're not over-crowded in your 3-CMC slot, consider this spell. Generally: 0-1
MANA ACCELERATORS: Desperate Ritual: It's our baby Dark Ritual, but 1 extra early mana can win a game. We go to 11. Don't forget to splice when possible. Generally: 4 Simian Spirit Guide: 1 extra early mana never felt so good as when it's in the hand of a Spirit Guide. Surprisingly, the 2/2 can also tilt a game towards a win. Generally: 4 Pyretic Ritual: Desperate's li'l cousin. Use with caution. Don't be too greedy with allocating too much deck space to speed. Generally: 0-1
DRAW ACCELERATORS: Tormenting Voice: Our 2-drop slot is pretty light, and Voice sheds duplicate drawn spells. Generally: 0-3 Crystal Ball: Seemingly jank, Ball is slow and doesn't affect the immediate game state. But, it is the undisputed king of digging deep. Consider that you can dig 5-cards deep upon casting: once on your turn and again on your upkeep. No other red/artifact card can offer this assistance. Generally: 0-1 Mishra's Bauble: Although we can't synergize bauble the way other decks can, it streamlines & accelerates our plan. Bauble's biggest drawback is in decks that have critical 1-drops. For them, they hate to see a bauble in the initial 7, since it's taking up that slot. We have no 1-drops. Generally: 0-4 Manamorphose: Superior to the bauble since the cantrip effect is immediate, but the 2 drop cost prevents a turn 1 play. Also, a later Chalice of the Void set to 2 can create a conflict. Without graveyard interactions, prowess triggers, or storm mechanics, cantrips for the sake of cantripping is generally just a lot of hot, ember-filled 'air'.
LANDS: Gemstone Caverns: Speedy, Mono-Color Decks Need This. Blood Moon makes it even easier to run. Gaining ground on the play almost can't be over appreciated. Generally: 2-3 Mutavault: When color requirements are low, this bear can deliver beats or hold up a decent wall. The goblin sub-type is a bonus with Goblin Rabblemaster. Generally: 1-3 Ramunap Ruins: Reach for extra damage and surprisingly, we don't end up pinging ourselves as much as you'd think. Scavenger Grounds: Who needs Relic of Progenitus when it can double as a land? An easy include of a colorless utility land into a mono-color deck. Scrying Sheets: For the tricksy deckbuilder, use snow-covered mountains. You're opponent will mistakenly put you on Skred, and you can gain the advantage of a possible free draws with sheets. Generally: 0-2
SIDEBOARD
CREATURES: Phyrexian Revoker: It's pithing needle on a stick, but also blocks mana activation. It slips past our Chalice set to 1, and can offer quick blocks/beats. Most commonly set nullify: Engineered Explosives, Planeswalkers. Spellskite: Multi-purpose offering that serves to protect lock pieces from aggressive disruption decks. Kargan Dragonlord: Surprise! If we've been identified as a creatureless deck, opponents will side out their removal. In concert with Goblin Rabblemaster, this fella can grow as fast as a weed. Eidolon of the Great Revel: Quick Drop & Recurring Damage - guaranteed. He fills our 2-slot drop, and turns the heat up on decks that cycle through small spells. I'm looking right at you storm. Scab-Clan Berserker This is what would happen if a devil wandered over into the Scab-Clan, you'd quickly have Eidolon 5-8. These headbangers can revel greatly. A bit more expensive than Eidolon, but the pings are only against the opponent. Superb option against Combo/Control. Dire Fleet Daredevil Well, Looky Here. We got ourselves a Snapcaster Mage. First Strike is just the cherry on top. Stealing an opponent's spell and using it against them serves as a 2-for-1 play. But, consider yoinking an electrolyze: 4-for-1 card advantage. Go Pirate against burn, spell heavy decks, and jund. Hazoret the Fervent: It's a God, for Koth's sake. Our 1 and only. Hit and Miss for effectiveness, but it's hard to remove and breaks up stalled board states. A fine bring-in against creature-light decks.
ARTIFACTS: Ratchet Bomb: Mono-Red doesn't have much to remove Enchantments or Planeswalkers, so Bomb becomes a critical, albeit slow, sweeper. Grafdigger's Cage: Despite it's conflict with Chalice on 1, this piece of shiny can nullify decks like Dredge, Reanimator, and an opponent's looping graveyard tricks. Relic of Progenitus: Since we don't use our graveyard at all, this cantrip can dig, tame a tarmogoofy, and be a prickly pear to Storm, Dredge, and Reanimator. Witchbane Orb: Since we can't play counterspells, this beauty sits as a protecter in perpetuity. Pithing Needle: Suit to Taste. Not a personal fave - again a chalice conflict - but, it's adaptable & works. Torpor Orb: Shut down decks that have toolbox/utility creatures. Sun Droplet: Some prefer Dragon's Claw, so the tie-breaker will come down to red spell versus our somewhat elevated artifact count in rounds 2/3 against Burn. Damping Matrix: This can be seen as a 'go wide' shutdown to so many utility decks. A Stony Silence for the others. Rather than focus on a pithing needle or sorcerous spyglass, simply adjust your main deck to make this bauble a devastator for the opponent. Excellent against Affinity/KCI/Eldrazi Tron. Damping Sphere: It taxes us on multiple spells cast, and renders our rituals useless. But, but, but that's nothing compared to what it does to Tron and Storm - designer, targeted vaccine for only 2 mana?!
SPELLS: Shattering Spree: Superior to Vandalblast, Shatterstorm and other options, Spree will replicate through a chalice on 1 and it curves low. Molten Rain: For decks that fetch out early into a limited pool of basic lands, Rain can be the finishing blow on the back of a Blood Moon. Like all land destruction, it is slow, so be wary of bringing it in against speedy decks. Ricochet Trap: Blue Control decks can be among our tougher matchups. After sideboarding out some of our acceleration for more pressure, a Trap at the right time can be clutch. Plus, it's always a shocker. Boil In a world of blue decks, expect to see islands. There is no dedicated land kill card in the pantheon of magic that is more powerful than Boil. Instant. Bring the seas to a Boil!
Method of Madness
Here's the trick: Do you play to win or not to lose? As much as you want to play to win (who doesn't), you don't have to play to win...to actually win. Instead, shut down your opponent's win conditions, and present the specter of your own win. This is similar to facing off against Lantern or U/W control or Tron: you know you're beat if the game goes on too long. In the face of diminishing odds with a ticking clock on the wall, you knock on the table, and say, 'round 2'.
Sometimes - When there are only 50 Minutes on the Clock, Playing not to Lose is often the Same as Playing to Win.
That is our deck. We are forcing the opponent to say, 'o.k. - grrr - let's sideboard for round 2.' I'm taking some exaggerated poetic license here. The vast majority of the time, Pyro Prison delivers 20 points of damage via Planeswalkers and our creature assets. I just find it sadistically enchanting that we can extinguish an opponent's hopes of reaching their finish line with a prison lockdown. I mean we are talking about a Red deck forcing submission, not your typical control colors of blue and white.
Matchup Analysis
A "Sideboard Deck" doesn't have a bad matchup . Owing to our reactive nature, we are best suited to defeat linear, singularly focused decks. When pitted against opponents who also seek to control and overwhelm with selective denial and card advantage, our shrewd use of pro-active win conditions shine. Important Note: we are already partially 'pre-sideboarded' against our opponents in game 1, and then adapt into a full-on Bad Matchup for them after sideboarding. Opponents, on the other hand, rarely have a favorable Game 1 matchup against Red Prison, because they are building against Tier 1 decks. Even worse for them, their sideboards will typically blank on answers. Sure, they'll have some Affinity hate which applies to us as well, but otherwise Pyro Prison is very difficult to sideboard against.
Data for Top Decks: Will be taken from MTGGoldfish of this posting on 5/11/2018 - I know there are other sources, this just happens to be my favorite. https://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/modern#online
Deck: Humans
Tier: 1
Play Style: Aggro Interactive
Game 1: Favored
Game 2/3: Favored
Ace Cards: Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge, Sweepers
Out: - 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Glorybringer
In: - 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Torpor Orb, Hazoret the Fervent, Koth of the Hammer
Opening Hand: We are wanting a way to remove multiple cards with a sweeper or Abrade/Chandra usage. This opponent tries to take advantage of way too greedy of a mana base. Stripping them of the capability to cast cards buys you time to find a win condition. Cards that hide behind an Ensnaring Bridge are nice to have. If you low on life and have a Chandra Emblem, take the time to clear their board if you can, a single Red Human with some ETB triggers can really upset your life total if they have a 'large board.'
Problem Cards: Kitesail Freebooter and the ETB Deal Damage Human (Kessig Malcontents) + ETB Destroy Artifact Human (Usually Reclamation Sage now)
Deck: Hollow One
Tier: 1
Play Style: Aggro Non-Interactive
Game 1: Coin Flip
Game 2/3: Favored
Ace Cards: Abrade, Ensnaring Bridge, Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Out: - 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 4 Blood Moon
In: - 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Relic of Progentius, 2 Grafdiggger's Cage
Opening Hand: Multiple Abrades are nice. An Ensnaring Bridge Game 1 (currently) is lights out. Very rarely will you run into a Hollow One with main deck Artifact Removal. In the successive games you want ways to wipe the board and establish your Ensnaring Bridge. Cages can slow them down, but there is no guarantee. Retaining Fast Mana or Enough lands to play anything is critical. You will be playing on curve to set up your Bridge. Chalice on 2 is more important then 1 to take them off artifact removal (though some are playing K-Command now).
Problem Cards: Hollow One, Flameblade Adept, Gurmag Angler. The first two when deployed quickly are MASSIVE damage and give us no time to get a Bridge and Empty our hand.
Deck: Affinity
Tier: 1
Play Style: Aggro Non-Interactive
Game 1: Favored
Game 2/3: Favored
Ace Cards: Abrade, Ensnaring Bridge, Sweepers
Out: - 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 1 Glorybringer
In: - 3 Anger of the Gods, Hazoret the Fervent, Koth of the Hammer
Opening Hand: If you are on the play Chalice on 0, play it. It protects you from Ornithopters getting under your bridge, and in many ways slows your opponent. Your hand will hopefully have Abrades in it and Angers. The reason for both Glorybringers to not come out is they are a great way if you miss your bridge plan to remove creatures. Most times their creatures are small butts.
Problem Cards: Inkmoth Nexus, Cranial Plating, Bouncing Cranial Plating with 0/X Creatures. - We solve these problems with Blood Moon and Sweepers. If a Chalice on 2 graces you, more power to you.
Worst Card: Etched Champion - We concede to this showing up. It DOES NOT beat us, but is incredibly difficult for us to remove. Hope you have a Bridge down, or if your meta is high in these cards, Kozilek's Return may be your sweeper of choice.
Deck: Jund
Tier: 1
Play Style: Midrange Interactive
Game 1: Bad
Game 2/3: 40/60
Ace Cards: Early Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge, Chandr Torch of Defiance
Notes: - This matchup is difficult. You can decide if you'd like to go hyper aggro or mix. We will assume partial mix here (Aggro brings in Eidolons)
Out: - 3 Abrade, 2 Goblin Rabblemaster
In: - 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Relic of Progentius
Opening Hand: This is tough, the faster the moon the better. Notice what color you shut them off, are they now RB, or RG? This determines your play moving forward. You will have to close this game out, normally will be through lock and into fast win conditions like Emblems or Large Creatures. Because creatures get "Too Big" we can chance the Glorybringer Bridge play, beware of Bloodbraid Elf.
Problem Cards: A LOT... K-Command, Maelstrom Pulse, Abrupt Decay. This deck is meant to beat us. You can win it, it is just unfavorable. Don't think Dark Confidant is your friend, kill immediately. Card advantage wins this game, they have a lot of it, buckle up, this one is probably a loss until you can really read your opponent.
Deck: Mono-Green Tron
Tier: 1
Play Style: Mana Acceleration Minium Interaction
Game 1: 50/50
Game 2/3: 50/50
Ace Cards: Blood Moon, Goblin Rabblemaster, Abrade
Notes: - They Will Naturally Draw 7 Lands. Go go go! DO NOT confuse this matchup with E-Tron. Sideboarding is COMPLETELY different.
Out: - 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Anger of the Gods
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer
Opening Hand: Blood Moon does NOT have to be rushed out. Do not ritual this out unless they are looking at T3 Tron then a bit of help can go a long way. Instead try to ramp and be able to play out a threat quickly. You want to close this game quickly. I don't care what anyone else says in this forum. This matchup is 50/50 at best. This matchup doesn't improve afterwards either. This is "Who's starting hand is better" on G1, and on G2/G3 it is down to you either kill quickly with no Blood Moon, they have an answer for Blood Moon, or you just too slow.
Problem Cards: Oblivion Stone - Abrade can be used against this but also can be used against ramping Expedition Maps. Choose your battles carefully. Chalice on 1 helps to protect you and prevents cantripping.
Deck: G/W Hexproof (Boggles)
Tier: 1
Play Style: Aggro
Game 1: 50/50
Game 2/3: Highly Favored
Ace Cards: Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge, Chalice of the Void
Out: - 2 Glorybringer, 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar, 2 Abrade
In: - 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel (If you have Spyglass, put it on Seal of Primordial)
Opening Hand: Blood Moon shuts this opponent out. You also can hold bridge a few turns. You ironically want to get their creature large enough. Usually dumping hand size is not important in this matchup. An Anger on T2 for 1 Boggle that is a 1/1 is the best thing you can do. DO NOT WAIT. They have Totem Armor, they have minimal creatures. Kill them if you can, and carry on to locking and beating from behind the bridge. Rabblemaster are kept in for some blocking and for speed, they are not worth being trapped into keeping in G2/G3 if that is it in the hand, look for something else.
Problem Cards: Lifelink Enchantments & Seal of Primodrial. Don't lose your lock pieces, don't run Rabblemaster Tokens into lifegain. Can you win with a Chandra Emblem to 70 life? Yes. It just takes longer.
Deck: Burn
Tier: 1
Play Style: Interactive Aggro
Game 1: 30/70
Game 2/3: 50/50
Ace Cards: Chalice of the Void, Blood Moon
Out: - 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 1 Blood Moon, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Koth of the Hammer
Opening Hand: It is tough to run out a Blood Moon on T1 and see Burn. You're looking for Chalice in G1. G2/G3 Chalice or Anger type effects are fine. You're looking for fast Walker or other threats that can be bolted. This damage does not go to face, and buys you time to get other threats. Beware of Searing Blaze G1. No reason to run out Rabblemaster when you're at 4 - 7 life unless they are empty handed. Watch hand of opponent. Cards left and that are 'not ever played' are cards needing creature targets.
Problem Cards: Destructive Revelry, All the Burn to Face especially Boros Charm (2 colors remember). Helix.
Deck: UR Gifts Storm
Tier: 2
Play Style: Combo
Game 1: 50/50
Game 2/3: 75/25
Ace Cards: Chalice of the Void, Abrade, Grafdigger's Cage, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Damping Sphere.
Out: - 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 4 Blood Moon, 2 Glory Bringer, 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Damping Sphere, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 2 Grafdigger's Cage.
Opening Hand: You MUST learn to read your opponents lands. Spirebluff = Wait on Chalice till 2 G1. In many cases with UR colors I will wait to play a Chalice, I need more information. You're looking for your Eidolons, Cages, or Abrades to interact with their spell reduction creatures or ways to interact with their needing to combo off. These DO not mean a win though, you will need to find answers before they win. Fast Rabblemasters and Fast Eidolons pressure their life total reducing cards they can play.
Problem Cards: Baral & Electromancer + Repeal/Wipeout. Since Chainwhirler the Empty the Warrens plan is less scary, but still is a threat. You want to remove these creatures and get that Chalice on 2, otherwise GGs
Deck: Mardu Pyromancer
Tier: 2
Play Style: Value Town, All the Angles, Help
Game 1: 40/60
Game 2/3: 40/60
Ace Cards: I still to this day do not know if we have any 'aces' against this deck. We have good cards, just no aces.
Out: - 2 Blood Moon, 2 Desperate Ritual, 1 Goblin Rabblemaster, 1 Chalice of the Void, 1 Abrade
In: - 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Torpor Orb
Opening Hand: Threats, all the threats. Seems like we play a resource war with this opponent. Don't be afraid to run things out. They may eat bolts, they may eat removal, they may eat removal into your hand from Thoughtseize or IoK. Although "Bridge" is great here you actively have to use sweepers to clear the board. You're usually a topdeck away from a K-Command or Wear and Tear. Multiple Bridges are nice, hopefully you get them around hand disruption.
Problem Cards: Bedlam Reveler - This card generates value. You can sometimes beat the value but the more times they iterate the creature the worse.
Deck: Jeskai Control
Tier: 2
Play Style: Control with Heavy Creature Interaction
Game 1: Favored
Game 2/3: 60/40
Ace Cards: Early Blood Moon, Chandra Torch of Defiance, Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out: - 3 Ensnaring Bridge, 2 Abrade, 1 Anger of the Gods (Thin 1 Ritual and 1 Glorybringer)
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Torpor Orb
Opening Hand: Since they interact with your threats be ready to ramp them out and continue to curve. Unlike U/W where Blood Moon is strong but not an Ace this matchup tries to run too many colors, meaning they usually have less basics. This can lock them down on their threats and in many cases turns off Path to Exile. This gives you Hazoret's power and your other planeswalkers. Creatures that present multiple threats (Rabblemaster and Pia & Kiran) are great, and Glorybringer is hard to remove with just a bolt.
Problem Cards: Bolts, Jace or other Planewalker, Creature Lands.
Deck: Ironworks Combo
Tier: 2
Play Style: Graveyhard Combo
I have actually played against this matchup only twice. Once getting knocked out at the top 4 of a Challenge, the other time in a Friendly. I don't see this enough to know or have collected data. Eidolon seems good, and picking your Abrade targets is critical.
Deck: Grixis Death's Shadow
Tier: 2
Play Style: Mana Efficient Aggro
Game 1: 70/30
Game 2/3: 70/30
Ace Cards: Chalice of the Void, Blood Moon
Out: - 4 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Anger of the Gods
In: - 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Opening Hand: Chalice on 1 Is king. Avoid Stubborn Denial and jam creatures. If you do not have your Ensnaring Bridge or Chalice to prevent large Death Shadow's from attacking you produce creatures to protect yourself until you can. Usually when you go to close with a Planeswalker or Hazoret behind the bridge their life total is Sub 10.
Problem Cards: Death Shadow, Stubborn Denial, and K-Command. - Don't be hesitant to play through a Stubborn denial. Sometimes overwhelming them is just enough.
Deck: Titan Shift
Tier: 2
Play Style: Mana Ramp Combo
Game 1: 50/50
Game 2/3: 60/40
Ace Cards: Blood Moon, Creatures
Out: - 4 Chalice of the Void, 4 Abrade
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Torpor Orb
Opening Hand: Blood Moon shuts down their Green Mana, which they need to function. Fast creatures out and Bridges give you plenty of time behind this. They move to a secondary plan once you Blood Moon them. They normally main 1 - 2 Rec Sages, so be wary. Chalice on 0 is not a bad idea G1. It is not really worth much in the next games because most acceleration is at 2.
Problem Cards: Valakut the Molten Pinnacle, Reclamation Sage, Primeval Titan - This all beats us. It hurts.
Who knows how long it will remain relevant, as decks evolve interminably. I believe this construction is a fair representation of the archetype, and hope this is helpful. The accompanying play-style advice in this 'User's Guide' is a simple reminder, "Fortune Favors the Bold" - Raystack
IZZET PHOENIX
In -- Relic of Progenitus, Grafdigger's Cage, 2 Anger of the Gods, Hazoret, Ratchet bomb, 3 Eidolon
Out -- 4 Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, 2 Abrade, Slagstorm, Koth
GRIXIS DEATH's SHADOW
In -- Hazoret the Fervent, Ratchet Bomb, Spellskite
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm
UW CONTROL
In -- Hazoret the Fervent, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Pyretic Ritual, 1 Ensnaring Bridge
COLORLESS ELDRAZI TRON
In -- Hazoret the Fervent, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, 1 Spellskite, 1 Witchbane Orb
Out -- 1 Slagstorm, 4 Chalice of the Void
BURN
In -- 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Spellskite, 1 Witchbane Orb, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 2 Tormenting Voice, 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 2 Ensnaring Bridge, 1 Magus of the Moon
HUMANS
In -- 1 Torpor Orb, 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Out -- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Tormenting Voice
RGx TITANSHIFT
In -- 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Spellskite, 1 Witchbane Orb, 1 Torpor Orb, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Pyretic Ritual, 2 Chalice of the Void, 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
AFFINITY
In -- Ratchet Bomb, Spellskite, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, 3 Anger of the Gods
Out -- 2 Tormenting Voice, 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 1 Magus of the Moon
UR STORM
In -- 1 Grafdigger's Cage, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Witchbane Orb, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Relic of Progenitus
Out -- 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Merfolk
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 3 Anger of the Gods, Torpor Orb, Witchbane Orb, Sorcerous Spyglass
Out -- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Magus of the Moon, 1 Blood Moon
Living End
In -- Spellskite, Relic of Progenitus, Torpor Orb
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm
Lantern Control
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, Witchbane Orb, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 4 Ensnaring Bridge, Slagstorm, 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Pyretic Ritual
Jeskai Control (this is a highly variable build - allow for flex)
In -- Spellskite, Grafdigger's Cage, Torpor Orb
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm
Death's Shadow Jund
In -- Ratchet Bomb, Spellskite, Hazoret the Fervent
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm
GWx Vizier Company (bad matchup, so I opt for full attack)
In -- 3 Anger of the Gods, 2 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Torpor Orb, Hazoret the Fervent, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 4 Chalice of the Void, 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 2 Tormenting Voice
Abzan Midrange / Junk / BGw Souls / Bg Rock (again high variance deck - allow for flex)
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 3 Anger of the Gods, 2 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Torpor Orb, 1 Relic of Progenitus
Out -- 4 Chalice of the Void, 2 Abrade, 2 Tormenting Voice
Death and Taxes
In -- 3 Anger of the Gods, Spellskite, Torpor Orb, Sorcerous Spyglass
Out -- 4 Blood Moon, 2 Magus of the Moon
Bant Eldrazi
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, 3 Anger of the Gods, Hazoret the Fervent
Out -- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Tormenting Voice, 1 Magus of the Moon
Dredge
In -- 3 Anger of the Gods, 2 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Spellskite, 1 Witchbane Orb
Out -- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Abrade, 2 Tormenting Voice
Gx Tron
In -- 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, Hazoret the Fervent
Out -- 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
R/W Prisons
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, Spellskite, Witchbane Orb, Hazoret the Fervent, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 4 Blood Moon, 2 Magus of the Moon, 1 Pyretic Ritual, 1 Slagstorm
3rd Author - Strategy Guide and Sideboard Swaps offered by Russell Colosi for his Top 8 Deck
Elves: You are the control player in these matches, so the first thing that I look to go are the rabblemasters and the magus of the moons. You should be siding in 2x Anger of the gods, 1x spellskite, 2x spyglass, 2x grafdiggers cage, 1x torpor orb. Take out the 6 creatures I mentioned and 2 blood moon. If you KNOW they are literally 18 forest and a bunch of elves, then take out all the moons and leave in two rabblemasters. You're not going to win with an x/2 creature vs a hoarde of elves, so rabblemaster is not the best card here. I think post board, you should be favorite. 2x walking ballista, 2x abrade, 4 wrath effects and 4 bridges should be enough to get the job done. remember, if they play an elf lord, that could help you with a bridge, so you gotta asses whether it's worth it to kill the lord. sometimes it's correct to leave them hanging out.
Merfolk. Almost everything I said for elves applies here, only you don't need cage. same sideboard except don't side in cage and instead side in boil. mono blue merfolk....one sided armageddon, i'm in. once again, walking ballista, abrage and 4 wrath effects are huge. combine that with 4 bridges and chalices to negate some spells and you're good. Chalice in this match is funny. on one, you can stop aether vial and post board, dispel (for abrade) and ceremonous rejection. So, if you have a brige in hand and need it to resolve, chalice on one first. If you have a bridge in play and need to protect it, chalice on two. Most merfolk lists play non-islands, like muta vault, that UW land, and cavern of souls. Chalice does little to stop the creqtures when Cavern is in play, so I usualy leave all 4 blood moons main. take out the 6 creatures, and side in 2 spyglass (for aether vial, smugglers copter, mutavault in a pinch, 1/1 dude that counters spells), 2 anger, and a single shattering spree.
Mono Black Devotion. I got nothing here. I haven't played this match, but I would assume you CANNOT play the control role. Unlike the previous two matches, this is a deck that plays creatures and you start losing life immediaetly. You cannot sit back behind a bridge becuase you'll just die to ETB effects. So, magus comes out, moons come out. eidolin comes in, haxoret comes inander the gods comes in. exile means that unearth doesn't happen. turn one rabblemaster should do a lot of work here. torpor org should also do a lot of work. actually, if you get a torpor orb out, then the bridge plan will work, but with only one orb, it's not often that happens.
Affinity. This match has recently swung wildly in our favor. I'm played it three times since making the changes and i'm 3-0 against it. you are the control player here.....no if ans or buts about it. If you attempt to even think about going aggro, you will lose. walking ballista plus bridge is your best combo here. On the play, drop a chalice on 0. ALWAYS. you stunt their best draw and force the game to go longer, which is exactly where you want to be. then, go up from there. next chalice is on one, then two. Chalice on one is super important. not only does it stop signal pest and galvanic blast, but more importantly, it stops sprigleaf drum. What, you say, sprigleaf drum? yes, the drum is a problem. No Drum, no instant speed equip of cranial plating. blood moon turns all their lands into mountains and the only way they are getting two black is opal and drum. you can have 14 drums in play, but only one opal. sideboard is simple. take out the 6 creatures (rabble and magus) and a single blood moon for 2 anger, 2 spyglass, 2 shattering spree, and a spellskite. remember, you can redirect ravagers graveyard ability to spellskite. now your deck is just stacked. There's literally one card that is bad in you deck, and it's koth. Everything else it either good or great against them. Unless they have the nut draw, you should win this match.
Skred Red. This match is extremely hard to close to unwinnable. It falls in the same caragory as the RG land destruction deck. I play with Berard Libertari at my local Game store. the bernard that took his RG land destruction deck to a perfect 8-0 finish in modern during the last invitational....yes that bernie. I played him to practice around 8-10 games in a row and I lost EVERY ONE of those games. Here's the problem. Bridge does a great job of shutting down the creatures, but they have more planeswalkers than you. You can't stop the planeswalkers and since chandra is a big part of that package, you can't exactly spyglass that either. another challange is your mana acceleration is on time use while theirs are evles that stick around turn after turn. i'm getting off topic, but the decks are similar. I think with Skred, you are the aggro player. game one you are the control player, but games two and three, you gotta be aggro. they are going to be coming at you with the artifact removal and theres nothing you can so about it. shattering spree gets through chalice and shatterstorm just destroys you. sitting back behind chalice and bridge is a recipe for disaster. chalice on one cn disrupt just enough for rabblemaster to do some work and eidolin can finish the job....maybe. stupid 3/3 that keeps coming back is anotuher problem. Skred is one of those few decks where everything we are trying to do doesn't line up well against them. sideboard, 4 moon out, 2 magus out, one abrade out 3 eidolin, one hazoret, 2 spyglass, and one spellskite in.
Lantern control. Try to stick a chalice on one. then, your next chalice should be on one. then your next chalice should be on one. get the point. their answer for chalice is abrupt decay. make them draw multiples. Abrade, walking ballista are great here. they have CONTROL in their name, so we are the aggressor. out: 4 bridge, 1 pia and kiran nalaar, 2 slagstorm, 2 blood moon. in: 3 eidloin, 1 hazoret, 2 shattering spree, 2 spyglass, 1 spellskite.
Soul sisters. No freaking way rabblemaster goes the distance here. nope, not happening. side out all 6 creatures and 2 moon and side in 2 cage, 1 torpor orb, 2 anger, 1 spellskite, 2 spyglass. remember, spyglass can name proclamtion of rebirth.
titanshift. You are the aggressor here, but not by much. Game one, a bridge and a moon and they cannot win. board. 2 abrade, 2 slagstorm, and a Pia and kiran nalaar out. 3 eidolin, spellskite and a torpor orb in. set chalice on zero and one game two. zero stops summoners trap and one stops natures claim.
Grixis shadow. this is the anti grixis shadow deck. You have to understand what makes that deck so good to draft an effective game plan. this deck only plays 17-18 lands. that meand that as you are drawing lands as the game progresses, they are drawing gas. they inly have 6 lands that produce mana, so we need to use this to our advantage. our locks need to negate as much crap as possible, so, turn one chalice on one is correct on the play and if they fetched a basic land during their turn. If they fetched a dual, maybe try to get them with a blood moon. try to play arounf stubby D if you can, but sometimes you just gotta go for it. if you can stick a chalice on one or a blood moon, the game swings wildly in our favor. if you can't get wither one to stick, then you'r in trouble. to good news is they do a lot of damage to themselves, so even two tokens from pia and kiran can get the job done. sideboard: 2 abrade and two slagstorm out, 2 walking ballista out. 3 eidolin and a spellskite, a hazoret, and a boil in. Boil hits 4 of their six lands that produce mana. even tagging three of there is devestating. use it at the end of their turnto bait out a counterspell if you can.
UW control. this is another hard matchup. basically, any deck that either doesn't care about what we are doing (RG land destruction) or can counter our spells (blue anything) poses a problem. Blood moon is not that big here. I remember during regionals, I dropped a turn one blood moon and my opponents first six lands were all basics. BOIL is the best card here. it's literally lights out. spyglass is also huge to stop the planeswalkers, and there are a lot of the, sideboard. out: 2 abrade, 2 slagstorm, pyretic ritual, 4 bridge. in: 3 eidloin, 1 hazoret, 1 boil, 1 spellskite, 2 spyglass, 1 torpor orb. try to stick a chalice on one. that will stop path to exile and help keep your dudes alive. an early eidolin is big trouble for that deck.
BR pack rat. I have never played this match, but I have to assume that you need to be the aggressor. Walking Ballista and abrade should do some serious work here. Keep the rabblemasters. Drop the moons and the magus and one bridge. put in spellskite, 2 spyglass, 3 eidolin and a hazoret. I honestly don't know enough about this match, but being agressive seems to be the right way to go. Slagstorm can clean up the rats if you're behind or finish the job if your ahead, so it stays.
** GENERAL SIDEBOARD OPTIONS **
AFFINITY: Ratchet Bomb, Shattering Spree, Anger of the Gods, Phyrexian Revoker, Pithing Needle, Ghirapur Æther Grid
Gx TRON: Magus of the Moon, Molten Rain, Shattering Spree, Phyrexian Revoker, Eidolon of the Great Revel
COLORLESS ELDRAZI TRON: Roast, Magus of the Moon, Shattering Spree, Witchbane Orb, Molten Rain, Phyrexian Revoker, Pithing Needle
ABZAN COMPANY: anger of the gods, grafdigger's cage, ratchet bomb, molten rain
LANTERN CONTROL: pithing needle, phyrexian revoker, ratchet bomb, shattering spree, magus of the moon, witchbane orb
JUND: molten rain, magus of the moon, ratchet bomb, phyrexian revoker, pithing needle, roast, batterskull
Strategy Guide
It's a Channel/Fireball deck as much as it's a Red Pillow Fort variant. Similar to Ad Nauseam / Scapeshift, when victory is secured (actual or a soft prison lock), we don't care about our life total or how many cards are in our hand. Thus, resource utilization is unconventional. Much of our deck is duplicate/redundant, although devastatingly effective, and the rest is acceleration. When you draw the 'wrong half' sometimes you have to lose ground to gain ground. O.K., so what's that mean as a step 1:
Mulligan. 7 cards with no scry isn't all that different than 6 cards with a scry. For those doubters, I'll argue by example. Consider other decks which rely upon Leyline of Sanctity or Leyline of the Void. If they don't draw a leyline, but do draw a good hand, they'll keep it. But, if their starting hand is only average without a precious Leyline, which equals a free, uncounterable casting and what might be a free win against the right opponent, then they will certainly mulligan! The power lock suite in Pyro Prison can be even more lethal than a pre-game free casting of a Leyline. So, carefully study the makeup of your hand, and try to forecast its ramp out. A Blood Moon without a Mana Accelerator, Chalice of the Void, Tormenting Voice or Gemstone Caverns on the draw? Ship it.
Tormenting Voice. Tormenting Voice. It was the New Kid on the Block - but it's recently been replaced by Sarkhan, Fireblood. Both speak to a 'rummage' effect leveraged into card advantage. Pyro Prison players can't be afraid to fall behind in an effort to muster forces for a charge ahead. Consider, I played (10) rounds in that 1K I won in June of 2017. Guess how many times Tormenting Voice was counterspelled. None. Zero. Guess how many times I drew this card while hellbent? To the best of my recollection, Once. One time I drew this card while hellbent with an ensnaring bridge out looking at multiple Eldrazi Scion. But, it was a stalled board state, so no big deal. 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. Again, Sarkhan has outclassed the Voice these days.
Know your opponent's deck. This is a 'sideboard deck', and you need a consummate understanding of the meta. There are (4) corners to this prison cell: Chalice of the Void, Ensnaring Bridge, Blood Moon, and Goblin Rabblemaster. An early drop of 1 or a combination of these cards can equal a near Scapeshift like win. So, the proper allocation of resources to speed these spells into play is critical.
If I know my opponent's deck, I must have this question already answered: It's Turn 1 - Given the choice, do I Chalice or Moon? Tip: Ensnaring Bridge can typically come out later than you think, but not against a deck that uses discard spells or one whose win-con is attack, but they also have counterspells. Lastly, a Turn 1 Goblin Rabblemaster off of Mutavault and (2) Simian Spirit Guide or Ritual effects will deliver 20 damage in (3) Turns. Three Turns: 1 damage, 9 damage, 10 damage. I wasn't kidding when I said Channel/Fireball deck.
Original Concept - Explosive Innovation Followed Which Renders This Decklist Listed Below Underdeveloped and Underpowered. Click Spoiler for Giggles...
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< A Mini-Primer by the Amabassador & Mad Scientist FLUFFYWOLF >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Prison - An Archetype Breakdown
Magic has main categories for their deck definition which are defined here on MTG Salvation, but also are defined within the community Deck Archetypes defined by MTG Gamepedia. These range from essentially, Aggro, Combo, and Control. That being said there are 35 breakdowns within the wiki linked.
To quote mtg gamepedia:
A Prison deck is a deck which tries to slow down the opponent or bring his gameplan to a complete halt and preventing him from regaining any momentum. Cards such as Winter Orb, Kismet and Opposition are popular to construct such decks as they heavily rely on tapping down the opponents resources and other permanents. Early decks used Icy Manipulator to tap the one land the opponent had available.
In essence, we seek to limit our opponent from playing their gameplan. I define their gameplan as to define 'playing magic' as our goal would be near impossible and untainable, but I will give an example of a deck which attempts to do this. There is also the essence of what can be a 'True Lock' and in the world of magic that can be extremely difficult, and I'll give an example that may be confusing but provide also an example of why it is not a true lock, and once again provide the deck that attempts to establish this.
Finally I will link an old article (there are certainly newer ones) The Art of Transformation. This article talks about sideboards that transform. I add this to the discussion as a talking point for later.
If you'd like you may skip ahead to the Deck headers, but if you'd like to hear my comments on locks and transformation, then please continue reading
==Locks==
We define a lock as the moment in which an opponent should have No Outs to the board state, and it is a matter of drawing a win condition or decking out the opponent of cards. A very primitive example would be a Burn opponent having only spells that target an opponent and you playing a Leyline of Sanctity. The card itself is not a "Lock" however if the totality of cards in your opponents deck lacks interaction to remove the card, along with then dealing the appropriate damage, you have essentially locked your opponent out. Other examples can include:
Lock Examples
A hexproof creature Troll Ascetic and Worship - against an opponent with no sweepers and targeted removal.
Establishing a Platinum Angel and hooking up Lightning Greaves to give it that 'hexproof' style - against an opponent with no artifact removal/no sweepers.
A favorite, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and Knowledge Pool prevents opponents from casting any cards as the resolving Knowledge Pool trigger is at instant speed - Note this is not a lock against Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger cast trigger which can exile the components of the lock.
Example of a Non-Lock but perceived as a Lock
Infinite Combos - Gaining absurd amounts of life may be a way to define that you are now 'unkillable' but this does not eliminate other win conditions or an equally infinite damage combo in return.
Infinite Loops with No Progression - If your opponent can infinitely take turns, it does not mean they have won. They may lack a win condition. A great example of this was the recent Arena issues with Nexus of Fate.
There is a critical line to play between online and paper though. The Clock or Time in the Round. Unlike online where you have the ability to time out your opponent, paper if you cannot complete a game it becomes a draw and the person with the most wins does win. This doesn't mean you must concede as soon as an appeared lock is established. In many cases, you can attempt to play on for some time but then allow your opponent to play 'another' card and then scoop up your cards to save time. What this does is allows you to acquire more knowledge if your opponent is playing cards, while giving your opponent more cards to consider in your pull of playable cards. Keep in mind time in the round though, you do not want to give yourself too little time to complete the rounds, and Enough of a Lock may be sufficient grounds to concede versus waiting for a Full Lock.
==Transformational Sideboards==
I simply want to note this briefly before the analysis. Many people find cute and fun ways to 'transform their sideboards' to try and trick their opponents by going a different line of attack. Keep in mind that transformational sideboards tend to be one dimensional. The critical piece for a transformational sideboard is to determine the weak matchups and tune the transformation around these. If you are heavy control, you play against an opponent that is heavy control, and transform into a midrange, it likely is not a good idea. If you instead trasnform into an aggro package it will work wonders. That being said if you are a softer control deck with an aggro tansformational sideboard, and play against a fast linear deck, you may have minimal extra disruption. This is what I'd call a under prepared, bad matchup, or a narrow focus of the deck building strategy. There is nothing wrong, in fact having an exact mission is great, just note your focal mission, if it has a flaw or a bad matchup, nothing much is going to change and you will have a higher percentage chance of taking a match loss due to this building decsion.
For what you are all here for the analysis, review, commentary, and discussion on the deck types below.
Red Prison
AKA: Pyro Prison, Mono Red Prison, Red Prison, (Legacy) Dragon Stompy
The deck is what most people here are familiar with. We have several variations of the deck to include Aggro packages (+ Legion Warboss and +Eidolon of the Great Revel main), and Control packages (usually planeswalker or more sweeper based). The deck hinges on fast explosive starts to get ahead of an opponent regardless of the dice roll. The package can have elements of 'all-in' but attempts in the Prison Fashion to limit the opponent's ability to play on curve to bide time in our all-in approach.
Pros
Fast and Explosive to apply pressure or apply locks
Proactive end game. Established locks usually have good quick follow up to minimize opponents time to draw out
Meta Targeting - When tuned can establish easier wins against Top Tier Decks while not straying far from the main focal gameplan.
Cons
All In Strategy - If you put your resources all in one line, and it is easily removed the battle becomes uphill.
Consistency - I only put this here as people argue it frequently. It may have some issues here, but the principal of lengthening a game out provides the ability to draw out. Yes it may not have filtering, your opponent should not have much either once you've put a lock piece out.
Single Color - This I'll put more in the con section then pro for now. The con being the limited access to an alternate sideboard, the pro being you should rarely have mana issues.
Pyro Prison || Classic
Locks (13)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
1 Magus of the Moon
Creatures (5)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (5)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Sweeper Removal/Utility Removal (7)
3 Abrade
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Slagstorm
2 Walking Ballista
Card Decisions
Pyro Prison's fundamental approach is a stronger lock piece and a fast finish. The card choices to help this include:
Ensnaring Bridge - Preventing large creatures attacking gives planeswalkers or hordes of goblins to be created to swing in for victory
Blood Moon - Limiting the opponent's ability to play magic or ability to remove threats
Rabble Master or Planesalker - These are the finishers, and many planeswalkers Emblem quickly or Rabblemaster + Tokens finish the game quickly if unanswered.
Chalice of the Void - With Modern's overall Mana curve reducing for efficient spells, the more the deck becomes susceptible to fast Chalices.
Ritual/Fast Mana - You'll note in the decklist I call these fast mana. Their only purpose is to power things out ahead of curve. This is a downfall later in the game but is a card and deck building decision to get ahead of the curve.
The other cards not highlighted depend on your flare or version and your meta. Because this deck attacks the meta probably the strongest of the three examples tuning your utility is important. In this example, it is Abrade the Sweepers and Walking Ballista. This final card can be a win condition or removal for pesky bigger creatures/planeswalkers.
The Sideboard
Because of limited access to colors targeting specific matchups is important. A concession for Leyline of the Void is Ravenous Trap as many decks interacting with their graveyard do attack via creatures, thus having an uncastable card, not in the opener conflicts with your main lock pieces of Ensnaring Bridge. There are additional sweepers, aggro pieces, and artifact-based lock pieces. The downside to this and not branching to Enchantments or other abilities is your opponent's artifact removal packages will be coming in for games 2 and 3. This is a deck building concession for staying in a singleton color, but you'll note that some of these along with mainboard locks do present a difficult time for our opponents to cast their necessary removal.
RW Prison
AKA: White Pyro Prison (Only in this thread really), Sun & Moon Prison, RW Taxes, PLATEAU PRISON (By Raystack), Eclipse Prison
The common theme among any white based deck or proposal of white based decks is the sideboard. Sun & Moon presents incredibly powerful threatening sideboard cards, but becomes softer with the locks and proactive gameplan mainboard. The deck itself functions on two axis one is the Prison "Sun & Moon" utilizing similar strategies to Red Prison while attempting a planeswalker (control) based finish. The other entirely different build lends itself more to the "Tax" variant, not necessarily limiting the resources for which an opponent may attack, but rather, providing decision choices for your opponent because the curve has been adjusted due to the taxing/higher cost imposed on performing actions during the game.
Pros
Diversification into another color allows a great card pool for deck building
Powerfull top end can allow for a more diverse Mid/Late game then a more all-in prison build
Typical builds are not as tuned to one set of 75 cards, leaving some unknowns for your opponent, the deck can be tuned towards a meta, albeit it goes extremely hard on that tuning, example Supression Field.
Cons
Locks tend to be softer. The list provided making a Top 8 finish happens to use Bridge but many have opted for Ghostly Prison.
Multi Colors, Multiple Pips, and Blood Moon do not always go to gether nicely.
Locks without aggro or midrange threats tend to give opponents longer to find solutions. The version linked to me removes this con by going more Red Prison like.
Sideboard tends to be in one direction (control), removing typically threats slowing the deck down for stronger lock pieces. You can say this is a pro or a con, based on meta.
Sun & Moon || RW PrisonMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Locks (12)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Creatures (10)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Legion Warboss
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
SIDEBOARD
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Damping Sphere
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Rest in Peace
1 Sorcerous SPyglass
2 Stony Silence
1 Torpor Orb
2 Wrath of God
Card Decisions
Sun & Moon's fundamental approach is a softer lock piece broader flexibility for matchups and control based finishes. The list provided has done well recently and is melding towards Pyro Prison/Red Prison. I'll note card choice differences below.
Lack of Rituals - Gives the deck not as explosive of a start, but removes air for top decks. The deck performs closer to "Mid Range Prison" then "Aggro Prison"
Planeswalkers - There are typically more planeswalkers or top end. Once you get to these land counts your threats are that much more important for an opponent to deal with.
Rest in Peace, Leyline of Sanctity, Stony Silence - These are what I'd call 'silver bullets' which shut down a large portion of an opponents deck and are very strong.
The Sideboard
I pick three cards to talk about from the sideboard noting they are strong, some of the strongest shut downs to decks that care about Targeting a player, graveyard, or artifacts. Because typically there is removal of speed and proactive cards for this controlling piece you are on a hinge for if your lock piece stays in. Remembering your opponent is bringing in ways to unlock their deck the sideboard has to be one of the strongest hate cards in magic, and white does this very well compared to most. The sideboard though is filled with strictly control based cards, alternatively going another route post board becomes that much more difficult, and if you need to step on the gas you've lost this. Although the sideboard is not strictly transformational, it focuses on answering issues which inherently pushes it one direction.
RB Prison
AKA: Master Prison (Creator's name), Red Black Prison, Dark Pyro (I disagree to some extent this name, but know some are calling it this).
This is the new kid on the block for some, for others, it is a tried and old tale of a variation we've yet to master or establish within the community. I believe many people will actually start to consider this list as an alternative to their Mono Red Variants for a taste of something 'with more'. Whether you want to call it a splash from Pyro, or a side page of Jund the deck features a mid-range prison style with powerful answers while taxing the mana base to the fullest in any prison archetype (I'm ignoring you 4c Whir, you just cheat stuff in). This list I'll go a touch more in depth I think in my analysis strictly as Red Prison is the thread, and RW has been talked about frequently.
Pros
Power level of cards has been upped to the next level. Concessions for staying in one color are thrown out the door deliberately in the main deck
Heavy creatureless build blanks a large portion of removal, and many lists will retain creature removal post-board due to Red Prison's Rabblemaster side effect
Black provides a level of interaction to the opponent that Red or White does not provide. Red interacts typically with the field of play, White typically reacts with the state of the board or protecting self. You'll have heard me say this Pyro Prison presents a proactive solution attempting to end the game with our card options. White variants try to be reactive. - This version does both
Flexibility of card choices and targets is widened. Abrade versus Kohlagan's Command. It could be deemed as RB's version of Cryptic.
Cons
The mana base is brutal. There are a significant number of double black pips that have to be considered, and this can awkwardly strand cards in hand when using a bridge lock.
The kill for the game tends to be a bit slower, but this is countered with the lock pieces have a lot more help staying afloat in many cases.
Self Inflicted damage or card discard can make lines of play more interesting but much more detrimental to the end game result. Fetching/Shocking is giving your Dredge or Burn opponents a free spell, versus simpler mana bases avoid this.
The elements don't always work 'together' as optimally as you think, but there is a fine line between knowing 'should I activate' or 'should I wait' and this many people picking up the list to try out will argue is the reason they lost. Essentially the learning curve I'd put almost higher then Pyro Prison.
Master Prison - JakesMTG || (RB Prison, Dark Pyro)Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Locks (12)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
1 Magus of the Moon
Creatures (13)
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Master of Cruelties
Planeswalkers (4)
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Utility (12)
1 Abrade
4 Collective Brutality
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Bedevil
2 Kolaghan's Command
Mini Threat/Fast Mana (4)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Lands (22)
3 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Graven Cairns
3 Mountain
9 Swamp
1 Temple of Malice
SIDEBOARD
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Crumble to Dust
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Slaughter Games
1 Kolaghan's Command
Card Decisions
RB appears to try and answer the Red Prison's flaws with the decks. Creatures too big to kill, just enough interaction, and ways to prevent the runaway of our opponent's control on the game. Below I'll give card discussion and then talk sideboard with a final note of an opinion on this newcomer versus Pyro Prison. I will ignore card choices that overlap (The lock pieces) as these should be apparent.
Graven Cairns and Bloodstained Mire - Notably missing Gemstone Caverns - This is a nod to "I do not need to be fast." Actually starting with a fetch land or a dual land usually intices your opponent to not fetch basics, at least for now while the deck is not as obvious. This likely will change. Specifically, these cards though give you the "Double Black" without Blood Moon, or give you the opportunity to fetch a Basic Swamp. The 9 swamps are critical though and you are looking at double pips on both red and black. There is no room for Gemstone in the greedy manabase, versus RW where it is not as heavily reliant on double pips.
Bedevil - The card is hyper flexible, kills the creatures we tend to struggle with, and picks off a few artifacts on route. Planeswalkers that establish and we get stuck under (LOTV, Jace, Teferi, Other Chandra's) are problem cards. We attempt to deal with them by swinging in Goblins or picking them off with Walking Ballista. This card just says "No thanks" and can be left open. It is a card you don't wish to dump to get to 0 for bridge, and it is a card you hold and don't uptick with Liliana of the Veil if you don't have to. This card if I could just take it and splash for it in Red Prison... I probably would. Assassin's Trophy is just better some will say. I'll pay 1 more and prevent the search of a basic land. Blood Moon thanks you for your extra pip.
Kolaghan's Command has been discussed. I've heard time and time again "There are no creatures to recur with it" and... that's correct. Artifact removal, small creature removal, and discard removal. Against Tron this is amazing. We get to top decking and you can just clear a turn out because very little is at instant speed. Review this card like a utility swiss army knife, and know when it doesn't do enough, but know when it does just more.
Collective Brutality - is an odd one to help with Bridge, to remove or check for counters and clear the way, or remove spells/gain a little life. It helps undo the fetching we are doing to correct manabases, and is a nice premium removal with flexibility. We praise Abrade and this just has an extra mode while enabling our bridge. Oh, it backs the rule of thumb, no 1 CMC spells.
Master of Cruelties - The first card I'd cut before playing the deck. The absolute last card I would cut now. Incidental life gain, difficult opponents, needing to 'flip the switch' in a turn or two. This card is for you. It is a wall, it blocks, it threatens, its small enough for bridge, yet big enough to miss Bolt/Fatal Push. It falls short to Disemember & Path to Exile, as does Hazoret. If it connects, you have numerous cards that just win you the game, and it didn't matter how much life your opponent was at. It blocks big things and small things. Basically, give it a try... don't just cut it before you get a game or two with it.
Leyline of the Void and Slaughter Games - Are two sideboard cards. See sideboard section.
The Sideboard
Ravenous Trap is considered a lot for our graveyard-based decks. It is like firing a bullet on target and hitting home. That being said they reload the target and move forward. This can be the case. I would call this card just shy of a silver bullet. Silver bullets are in the forms of shutting a deck down. Stony Silence as an example for artifacts. So what does this deck do? Leyline of the Void just does this. I have personally scooped against dredge showing no cards to just put this card in. Because we spoke to the no-air rituals and power level of the cards being higher you can normally find enough win conditions post board to risk the Leyline silver bullet.
The other card is a pet card of mine in BTL Scapeshift. Many a times BTL Black Scapeshift I can get away with casting BTL, they want to counter the next card. Fine, I'll go get Slaughter Games oops you can't counter. Let me tell you the power level here. The opponent is Ad Nauseum. On T3 I opt to use SSG (which cannot be countered) and cast Slaughter Games. I name Ad Nauseum, opponent scoops. Against Amulet Titan I've named Primeval Titan... I took 4 shots from Azusa, Lost but Seeking before finally finding removal for it, but that was 4 turns extra. The card just eats important cards in opponents decks. To boot, it is a sorcery (so what?) it doesn't stick around, no removal, no getting those cards back, they're gone.
An Opinion
Pyro Prison struggles against some of the more powerful and flexible midrange decks. It also falls to Dredge though I know some are working to get that to work. This deck seems to answer those issues, this is why I'd call it the Yin/Yang to Pyro Prison. If you can navigate the tricky manabase, appropriately cement powerful cards, and put your opponent on the back foot, this deck can just roll over them.
Alternate Prisons
I'm not going to list decklists here, but talk briefly about the two I can think of.
Whir Prison (4c Prison) - Is an extremely good toolbox based deck. It looks to take any of those hard/soft locks, and find them in time. If you needed 6 cards to lock it out, this deck will do it. This comes close to the 'true lock' but falls short to board wipes aimed at artifacts.
Lantern Control - This my friends is the only deck in my opinion which can create the true lock. What is meant by this is that we can play 4 of cards. Lantern control utilizes deck knowledge, top deck information, and controlling your opponents draws. It is essentially "Mind Slaver Lite" but establishes a true lock by preventing enough consecutive answers from being potentially drawn. It takes patience to not 'attempt to mill faster' and suffers from time management by newer pilots. A seasoned pilot though, a quick thoughtseize, and a pair of mill stones with lantern out and game is likely locked out.
Green Land Destruction - I'll place this in prison only because it tries to Plow Under or Primeval Command the opponent enough to time walk them into losing from creature attacks. It restricts mana similar to taxing but falls under prison/control by limiting resources. It is an honorable mention.
Stax Lists - not as prevalent in modern, but do the same concepts and something to watch for. At FNM level they are a blast! Have fun, honorable mention #2
Concluding Prison
There are many archetypes, versions, variations, and styles of magic decks. This is the beauty of magic. I always recommend you determine the style of player you wish to be, and build towards that or find the deck that does this. Prison offers a lot of styles. Finally, prison decks are tuned towards metas in many cases and sideboard plans will vary drastically on the style of play you wish to attempt to manipulate your opponent into playing. Have a blast trying these, talk, discuss, and find that sweet card you want to run at FNM, find that optimized list for a GP, and good luck as you lock'em out of the game, and lock in the wins. I'll see you in discord, on stream, on twitter, in here! Happy Locking Mountainfolk!
what up raystack
i was thinking about how skred would develop in the new meta and i came up with monored turbo bs.dec
im rocking moon trinisphere chalice bridge molten stone fulminator pyretic and desperate ritual
took a lot of the idea from free win red but decided magus of the moon was too much a liability with pyro and now return from tron
figured fulminator mage would be a nice swap
also contemplating a singleton goblin dark dweller...if trinisphere is not out it gets a free molten or stony our the yard
koth chandra and sarkhan rounding out the deck
For a single color deck, there are a lot of different directions we can look. For game 1, I like the greedy approach of Chalice of the Void, Ensnaring Bridge, and Blood Moon. But, we must mind the artifact hate that will undoubtedly come in on round 2. Perhaps a transitional sideboard is the answer? Go Big Red?
Do you have a decklist that you can share wushambudo? Fulminator Mage may not be the best option, since I'd rather have a land kill spell that can target basic land drops: Molten Rain, for instance.
I think this deck can press to 5-CMC options, and one of the first cards considered was Thundermaw Hellkite - but too often I'm catching conflict with the bridge. Your thought of Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker is inspired! Auto-Include.
I play the MTGGoldFish, "All in Red", deck, so I am pleased to see your new topic. I seek advice on how to adapt to the new metagame. The OP's starting point includes more creatures yet less acceleration and search, but I like the low creature count of "All in Red". So, given I want to play a modest adaptation of that deck list this weekend, what advice can anyone kindly offer me to tweak - but not transform - "All in Red", either sideboard or main? My first thought before coming here was some land destruction spells, but, admittedly I find Serum Powder and Chalice of the Void intriguing. Thanks in advance.
When you mention that you're looking to 'tweak - but not transform' the signature hallmarks of "All in Red", I guess I would ask what elements you're looking to enhance:
- Offense
- Defense
- Lock/Control
You did cite an interest in Land Destruction. Definitely. Even with the right matchups, opponents can still squeak out a basic land here and there. My thought is Molten Rain since the two damage can spill into hitting common planeswalkers: Liliana of the Veil or Jace, Vryn's Prodigy.
I am sure you are also looking for some form of recurring damage to control mana dorks or 1st turn weenies that squeaked out. I like the idea of Jaya Ballard, Task Mage. Grim Lavamancer isn't an option as we don't fill our GY with enough spells or fetchlands. Honestly, I love Pia and Kiran. They necessitate the artifact to stay high, so they are keeping Chalice, Bridge, Serum Powder in the mix. There is Chandra, Pyromaster and Koth of the Hammer as well.
I highly encourage you to look at Chalice of the Void since it can keep you alive against opponents with favorable matchups: Burn, Infect, Tron (16+ 1 drop spells) which are known for their 1 drop spells, but when you escalate to a chalice on 2, you can lock out any number of competitive decks.
For me? I struggle with the right balance of creatures and bridge and ability to close out the win. The lock pieces? Heh, the Hammer's got that covered...
Not a bad call, Sled_Dog as you get to play a stone rain for 2. It gets really exciting when you throw in Goblin Dark-Dwellers to pair up with boom // bust. Sweety Ruling: You can cast Boom or Bust off the Dwellers which can leave your opponent with a crippled board and you with planeswalkers of doom and a blood moon to take care of freshly drawn land.
Even further down the line of land destruction, I was getting jazzed with the idea of a T1 or T2 Pyretic Ritual into a Seething Song into a Deus of Calamity. Game, Set, Match.....and, then it occurred to me. Seething is banned. Wonder why?
The next cards getting explored are Faithless Looting and Wild Guess.....let's get this jackwagon up to 88 mph!
What a fascinating idea, Kohulk: Trinisphere instead of Chalice...huh. It does the solve the question of ruling out all of our own 1 drop spells (Lightning Bolt and Faithless Looting as well SB cards like Relic of Progenitus), and most of our stuff costs 3 anyway. I can imagine that such a card would stifle the heck out of so many decks. It's almost like an ethersworn canonist after turn 3, and Nether Void until turn 3 (rough comparison).
I'd love to see your decklist.
The thought of Chandra, fire of Kaladesh // Chandra, Roaring Flame is similarly mint. you get a body (human) and a ting machine (sure extra drawn rituals stink, but at least they can chain for a ping and potentially flip into a beast. I am behind that as it is very difficult to protect chandra, pyromaster without a bridge. And, most of the time she really just acts as a very vulnerable Outpost Siege.
And, you are still going 4 blood moon and 4 magus of the moon, eh? I'm down to 5 effects, as they are just so terrible as a cumulative stack - plus I do run serum powder to fix draws. My question on running Trinisphere is that it makes the 3-cmc slot very crowded, no? What do you think about mixing in the Chalice as well. If not, I think I like the idea of doing Faithless looting (maybe 2) to fix draws and further the drop on running 8 moons. Plus, Faithless Lootingon a flashback can help trigger Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh. Hell! a Top decked Looting will flip Chandra all by itself (with Flashback). That's 5 damage to an opponent's face.
"All in Red" sure is shiny . . . When you mention that you're looking to 'tweak - but not transform' the signature hallmarks of "All in Red", I guess I would ask what elements you're looking to enhance:
- Offense
- Defense
- Lock/Control
Thanks for the inquisitive reply. I played the deck enough to recognize two types of frustrating losses occurring before I found and activated Koth of the Hammer: a) against those with enough burn spells (plus Snapcaster Mages) who were otherwise locked out by Ensnaring Bridge or Blood Moon, and b) Tron players, who eventually accumulated enough Mountains to cast big colorless threats and destroy Ensnaring Bridge. I could imagine Chalice of the Void, land destruction, Wild Guess, and Jaya Ballard helping differently. Now the question is what to remove from the maindeck, or whether to simply adjust the sideboard? My maindeck has five categories of cards: lands, acceleration, lock pieces, planeswalkers, and burn. I could imagine that 2 Pyretic Ritual, 1 Magus of the Moon, 2 Relic of Progenitus (I do not think I understand the value or utility of this card), and maybe some Lightning Bolts could be removed (I really like the scry of Magma Jet to find Ensnaring Bridge). My first thought is to simply remove two Relic of Progenitus, one Magus of the Moon, and one, say, Lightning Bolt or Pyretic Ritual, for some combination of Wild Guess and Chalice of the Void maindeck, and then alter the sideboard. What are your opinions on flexible cards in the mainboard and sideboard of SaffronOlive's "Free Win Red"?
It was constructed by Saffron Olive, and he does a superb write-up on its design and proven effectiveness in online play (pre-TWIN ban) see link in primer. I don't believe it's placed in a premier event, top 16. I love the deck. As I said in the primer, I think we all want just a little bit more. In the wake of the Twin/Titan ban, the door is opened. I believe that we will see very long-form creative decks that don't have to pack an answer in the form of Path to Exile or Terminate. For that reason, I'm not crazy about a couple elements:
REMOVAL
This deck does Ensnaring Bridge lock down, a couple sweepers, and 1-shot removal: Lightning Bolt and Magma Jet don't take down Eldrazi or Tarmogoyf, and Elves and Merfolk can race past them. For me, I'm thinking multi-shot kill (like the Anger of the Gods selection):
1.) Pyroclasm
2.) Forked Bolt
3.) Fall of the Titans
Fall of the Titans can be a double instant fireball without much effort. Even if you simply blow out a couple birds, robots, elves, or weenies on turn 2, that's enough to set folks back. I'm just starting to test Fall, but with lots of rituals and even dropping a chalice for 0 in order to trigger the 'surge' mechanic, it looks promising.
I don't want to pretend that I'm an expert on this original deck, as I did start adding components of a similar deck, pictured below, relatively quickly. This deck is far more aggro with early lockdown and no ensnaring bridge.
Again, pretty sharp offering. Free Win Red does Blood Moon and Bridge while Bloody Humans does Blood Moon and Chalice of the Void. I'd like to get these two kids out on the dance floor together and see if some magic can happen. As for the 2nd deck, Bloody Humans, Pete freely admits that, although he's played for 20 years, he is brand new to Modern. And, now, Modern has changed again with Ladytwin gone. Sooooooo, that's where I saw Hammer's Slammer // Koth's Mono-Red Prison: Somewhere in the middle of these two decks with some added spice.
I call this idea, "3rd Base, Already Got There". So, the concept follows: Start the game with 3 mana. Boomshanka. 3 mana ready to fire. If you defer starting the game, and go for the draw, you are afforded the following start -
(4) Simian Spirit Guide
(4) Desperate Ritual
(4) Pyretic Ritual
(4) Gemstone Caverns
(13) Mountain
This gives you a Turn 1 with 3 Red Mana. Not since Vintage! So, what are your Turn 1 plays? Trinisphere (your opponent can presumably do nothing more until turn 3) Blood Moon/Magus of the Moon
What follows is a deck construction that is almost exclusively 3cmc+, since it's safe to assume that you'll always have 3 mana ready to go. Fundamentally, this gives you an enormous advantage over your opponent. It's fair to note that this mana explosion comes at cost. Living like a lion, not a lamb, usually does. You'll be doing 2-for-1 effects to source 3 mana, but who cares when you're ahead. Soooo, what follows?
Here's a rough first draft. 1st......Draft. Feel free to tear into it. I'd love to see more brainstorm lists, as this firecracker has got so much potential...
KudosPhil, it's good to hear from someone that has piloted a Bloody Humans variant at a tournament. Prior to the ban, both humans and free win red seem so matchup dependent. That's the 'more', I was referring to in what we are looking to achieve. So, the question becomes, 'how many more lines of attack can you enact to accelerate into a win without losing control of the board'?
With Bloody Humans, you won't out-aggro an aggro deck. Blood Moon won't slow down many (burn/merfolk/zoo), but Chalice of the Void will....and so will bridge. With Eldrazi tron, you better Ensnaring Bridge up or land a moon, and chalice is worthless. There's a whole lot of Rock, Paper, Scissors out there. But, as I'm sure you've noticed, we've got all three. I anticipate this forum will go wide with its deck designs. The signature tenets are Mono-Red and Lockdown with Koth swinging rock fists.
Back to the aggro Human approach, which is to say "Bridge is Out": can it stand up without bridge? I don't think I like the Wild Cantor and without them, it becomes a little hard to justify a Sword of War and Peace. In my testing I found that I wasn't gaining much life from a full hand, and my opponent wasn't getting jammed up (due to Moon/Chalice) to the point that his hand was full. The concept seems good on paper, but if that sort of scenario is playing out, then isn't sword just a 'win-more' card?
Mana dorks definitely ruin the moon plan, but I'd like to see cards that are a little less narrow than a bolt or magma jet as answers. Bolt or Magma Jet will not win you the game. We need something like a Cursed Scroll. In the following iteration, I've put up a deck that can fire off repeated damage from onboard permanents...that's a huge leap forward from what we've seen from either of the original decks. Let's roll out another brainstorming deck idea.
Here in Massachusetts, there was an historical weapons museum, The Higgins Armory, that had a collection which rivaled that of any in the world. One of my favorite items was a 16th century-ish device called a "Shield Gun". They had the original prototype (it was never thought to have actually been used in battle). It was a round shield with a small pistol that was situated in the middle, within the shield, with its barrel protruding from the center of the shield. The user could defend against weapon blows while blasting hot lead. Best of both: Offense and Defense....
Quick Notes: Cavern of Souls can cast every creature in the deck (monkeys don't count, cuz they're monkeys). The acceleration is unmatched (8 rituals, Gemstone, 4 monkeys, & 3 faithless looting). This provides for near-immediate implementation of defense with the hopes to formulate win conditions and not sit back on the heels of a chandra, pyromaster +1 ping. Flippy Chandra is the machine gun behind the bunker - Faithless Looting helps a lot in this respect. 6 moon effects are adequate, methinks. Jaya and Pia came to play, and can chuck firebombs over the wall as well as maintain control against creatures that can slip under a bridge. Shield Gun...what do you guys think?
EDIT: Trinisphere provides a speedbump for an opponent, but once they get to 3 mana, they are essentially churning out one spell a turn. For a lot of decks, that's not all that much of a hinderance. Even Burn will eventually smoke me out when I have no counterspells or lifegain. The other issue with Trini is that it renders my (8) Red Dark Rituals worthless. Trinisphere doesn't have the stopping power of Chalice of the Void....Do other folks have experience evaluating these cards against each other?
LAND DESTRUCTION ANGLE
I can see how Koth's Shield Gun could easily morph into a land destruction deck. It's the best way to keep that Trinisphere lock going. Best Options? Molten Rain: Target any one of your opponent's lands and zing for 2 damage Fulminator Mage: Target only non-basic lands which can be an issue after a blood moon has dropped
--> Kolaghan's Command: Recycle Fulminator Mage (Darned Black Mana) Avalanche Riders: Target any one of your opponent's lands and swing for 2 damage Deus of Calamity: Pop this guy out early, and few can measure up - plus, your opponent almost has to sacrifice something in front of him, otherwise it can turn into a mana vortex lock. Goblin Dark-Dwellers: Recur a Molten Rain.
Feverish testing has led me to this iteration as my favorite Bridgeless Option for the current meta. Very recent adjustment were made according to the most recent Modern Premier Tournament this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia: StarCityGames Classic.
This Deck is greatly Improved in a 2.0 Version Five Posts Down.
Hey Jackal_Pup - the Raiders are a thought...the five mana is pretty prohibitive, so the most common way of casting them would be for the Morph and the discarded card to create a 5/5 - if I'm hellbent. Perhaps. The thought of driving in on a 5/5 attacker is neat, and I could cast him on T1. I doubt I'd be able to attack turn 2 for 5....but, if I did empty down just right, say with a Ritual - 3 drop or a Chalice on 1 and a land drop. It could happen. I'd agree that if these guys were to be used anywhere....why not in a '3rd Base, already got there' construction. Still, the 2-for-1 requirement gets me nervous when any number of easy creature kill is out there.
As I approach designing a deck in this archetype, there is always a 'Fork in the Road'. One goes over a bridge and one goes....I don't know - not over a bridge. I'm trying to say, Ensnaring Bridge or No Ensnaring Bridge.
The path that goes over the bridge: The deck above with Trinisphere (Koth's Shield Gun)would, upon further deliberation, get quickly reworked to swap out (4) Trinisphere for (4) Chalice of the Void. Aside from a few minor tinkers, Koth's Shield Gun would be my favorite 'Bridge Hammer'. It gives me Rock/Paper/Scissors = Chalice/Bridge/Blood Moon, and it has win outlets from behind the bridge. Essentially, this deck is trying to be a Swiss Army Knife of stopping all comers and squeaking out a victory. But, can it stand up to Affinity or a silly fast draw by Zoo or Burn? I'm concerned that it has no real lifegain and no card draw. Any help in this regard would be appreciated?
The path that doesn't go over the bridge: The immediate preceding deck, 2 Koths and a Chalice, is far more aggressive. It doesn't use bridge and goes for enormous amounts of mana generation and card draw. The control elements are Chalice and Blood Moon. Again, it starts the game with 3 mana most of the time. Cards in the running are Rift Bolt (sidesteps Chalice) and more sweepers.
Anyone else have some brainstorming decklists to share?? I'd love to get some more ideas for the sideboard as well. Do we go for a transformational approach where Bridge is in for game 1, and then removed entirely in game 2 for the option of some red beefcakes to come storming in?
Temur delver number 1. Welcome back
Dang that event wanted bridge and chalice on 1
Early power leveraged by countermagic
So that's not what my meta looked like.
I have infect and tron and midrange
And that was pre ban pre return
This thursday is our first attempt so I think I'm going to go safe with moon chalice trinisphere ld
I'll post a list shortly but yea boom/bust with goblin dark dwellers works
Ok testing with a friend today has shown me actual land destruction is super unnecessary. I am just doing 4x all lock pieces (including loadstone golem) 7x rituals 4x gemstone cavern 4x spirit guide 4x koth 2 Pia (to unlock bridge if necessary).
Turn 1 chalice into ritualed loadstone is lights out so he made the deck. Basically keep excelled hands into locks or on the draw get that gemstone cavern.
Why play modern when you can play legacy...amiright?
My tests have been all on the draw with friend usually turn 1 hand disruption. He sees multiple locks and has hard choices. Usually he takes a trinisphere because he is playing esper with new jace into goroyo's vengeance shenanigans
Lodestone Golem, Wushambudo? Don't we run too many non-artifact spells for that fella? Would love to see that bruiser hit the board and run it. I'm in agreement that land destruction presents a scenario where you'll be playing from behind too much. Still, you see Trinisphere continuing to work without the LD? Looking forward to seeing the deck.
I feel like I almost rushed into this thread a li'l too fast. The ideas were fast and furious.....and untested. I offered 'em all, (Apologies)but am starting to realize:
- "3rd Base, Already There" at the expense of heavy mana generation, 2-for-1 cards like rituals/apes, may be ill-advised. We do have 1 and 2-Drops of worth
- Sweepers are certainly necessary and bolts too
I'm still partial to running The Power Suite: Chalice of the Void, Blood Moon, and Ensnaring Bridge. But, if I had to do without the bridge, this is the variant I'm liking the most right now. What I essentially did was back away from (8) Red Dark Ritual and (4) Simian Spirit Guide to better develop my early game. I'm still doing (4) Chalice, but other early drops include Pyroclasm, spellskite, Tormenting Voice, Ratchet Bomb, Kargan Dragonlord, and Rift Bolt. These cards don't require 3-mana start, but they still present effective early game tactics. Bridgeless just seeeems very dicey, right now. If they get out some fat creature like a Tarmogoyf, straight red doesn't have many ways of felling large trees. If I'm bridgeless, I at least want to look at something like Pia and Kiran Nalaar as a stopping measure, but they become so vulnerable to pyroclasm - so, I'm stuck on one. I will say that Prophetic Flamespeaker and my 1 Batterskull do kind of act like bridge as folks either don't attack into them or they don't want to be left open for the swing.
Noteworthy MVP Question: Which is better Chandra, Pyromaster or Outpost Siege? They both give you card advantage and the planeswalker gives you more, but is far easier to remove in a non-bridge build. Well, the answer is simple on which is better. Avaricious Dragon. As much as I'd never play more than 2 Pyromaster or Siege in a non-bridge build, I was foolish to have started with playing more than 2 dragons. Testing. It follows - keep that rule of thumb. By the time I reach 4 mana, I want to see a howling mine. I also want to see damage inflicters. None are better at this task than the dragon.....when my hand is exhausted, then drop the phat flier.
I'm gonna go on record and say I'm not a fan of the dragon in one of two things; A much more aggressive build, OR a dragon synergy build where you more need a 4 drop that's also a dragon to keep the curve on time. I see how well the idea works with bridge though, so I get where you were going with it. Drop bridge, hang back, drop dragon, discard into zero cards or have none left meaning the bridge locks while next turn you open back up drawing 2 so you can hope to start swinging right away. I haven't read the full primer first post so I'm not sure if you touched on that or not.
I agree that Bridge seems to be needed and something like maybe a Torchling to mix well with it.
Chandra over Siege is the choice I feel. Flexibility as the game state changes is more important that not having them be able to burn your choice. The other part is. They either have enchantment hate or they don't, more likely they do and it gets 1-1'd but to burn out planeswalkers often can take 2 spells or force them to swing into an opening to get rid of her. Her +1 also allows you to swing past unfavorable blockers as well.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Official Bor-Whore of my play group...
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Graphic Design: jeanfmajor.com
John Connor: So this other guy, he's a Terminator like you, right?
The Terminator: Not like me, T-1000, advanced prototype. Made of mimetic polyalloy
John Connor: What the hell does that mean?
The Terminator: Liquid metal.
Is Karn, The Great Creator the T-1000 to our T-100 original Pyro Prison? It's a hot topic of debate. Since being printed, Karn is being mushed into nearly every Modern deck with varying success. But, his most natural home may be on the mountainside with us. Acclaimed player and Twitch streamer, Douglas Wolf - Fluffywolf, just went on a scorching run of 15 wins in a row in competitive tournament play with a Caligula-inspired build. Look below at 'Featured Decklists' to see his construction, and join in our discussion. Aging past its 3rd year of life, is Pyro Prison getting a streak of silver in its hair?
"Bloody Humans" http://modernnexus.com/bloody-humans-15th-at-scg-vegas/
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Prophetic Flamespeaker
4 Wild Cantor
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Kargan Dragonlord
Artifacts (6)
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Sword of War and Peace
4 Blood Moon
Instants (7)
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Pyretic Ritual
Planeswalkers (2)
2 Koth of the Hammer
Lands (21)
13 Mountain
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Gemstone Caverns
2 Trinisphere
3 Shattering Spree
3 Pyroclasm
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Relic of Progenitus
COMBINED WITH...
"Free Win Red" http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/much-abrew-about-nothing-modern-free-win-red
3 Magus of the Moon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Magma Jet
2 Pyretic Ritual
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Blood Moon
4 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Koth of the Hammer
22 Mountain
1 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Rending Volley
3 Vandalblast
4 Dragon's Claw
1 Pyroclasm
2 Roast
Both decks are mono-red and feature Koth of the Hammer, Blood Moon, and accelerated mana spells. The signature contributions are for Free Win Red: Ensnaring Bridge and for Bloody Humans: Chalice of the Void & Speed-Growth Creatures. Add select new cards and you get the following:
0 Goblin Warboss
0 Simian Spirit Guide
0 Desperate Ritual
0 Pyretic Ritual
0 Hazoret the Fervent
0 Ensnaring Bridge
0 Chalice of the Void
0 Blood Moon
0 Gemstone Caverns
0 Mutavault
So, the synthesis of these (2) decks, along with a healthy dose of new tech, results in a "Sideboard Deck" : it is born of cards normally found in a players 15-stack and not their 60-stack. Some of our maindeck approaches will miss, but others will hit with tiger uppercut force. If you can accurately target the meta, and build accordingly, the win can feel automatic.
By exploiting all of the trademark strengths of Koth of the Hammer {Beats/Mana Generation/Direct Damage} & even moreso Chandra, Torch of Defiance, the unique executions of these 2 decks can be better imposed by a combined vision. How does this all happen? Quickly: Desperate Ritual, Simian Spirit Guide and Gemstone Caverns. These turbo arrows on the race track do come at a cost of card economy, but most decks will get hosed by early disruption and rapid implementation of the The Power Lockdown Suite: Chalice of the Void, Blood Moon, and Ensnaring Bridge
First: Most premier Modern decks struggle mightily against this card.
Blood Moon
Next: After you've shunted off your opponent's indulgent fancy lands, it's time to rob them of their ability to fire off spells.
Chalice of the Void
Last: For those blessed few who squeezed under our dropping blast doors, they've now got a rising bridge to contend with.
Ensnaring Bridge
Keystone Cards
MAIN DECK
PLANESWALKERS:
Chandra, Torch of Defiance: Consider that this card didn't exist when Pyro Prison was born. It may be our most valuable card: Card Draw, Removal, Mana Generation, and a Game Winning Emblem. Generally: 3-4
Koth of the Hammer: His emblem is lethal, and it only takes 2 turns create. The 4/4 is gravy, and the mana generation is rarely used. Capture the emblem and the game should be well in hand. Generally: 1-2
Sarkhan, Fireblood At only 3-cmc, Sarkhan is a deceptively powerful ally. It takes a skilled pilot of Pyro Prison to recognize the value of rummaging through our 'air' whilst mustering an impending fleet of 5/5 Dragon doom. Oddly, it's not even that often that we use the dragon casting ability & the dragon spawning ultimate is similarly rare. So, is digging really that important? Summon him to your side, and you'll see. Generally: 0-3
CREATURES
Goblin Rabblemaster: Deceptively fast and duplicates are devastating. This bully-boy is part of the transformative sideboard, and a genuine threat to decks that remove their creature kill Generally: 4 {MD or SB}
Pia and Kiran Nalaar: The swiss army knife of creatures. The legendary rule can be problematic, but chaining multiples create problems of their own...for an opponent. Generally: 1-3
Siege-Gang Commander: The 5-cmc can be greedy, but it offers 4-for-1 card advantage and pairs beautifully with Goblin Rabblemaster. Generally: 0-1
Magus of the Moon: Pyro Prison personified. Generally: 1-3
Walking Ballista: Although best used in high mana generation decks (Tron & Elves), it's a decent grindy finisher and early ping machine for meddlesome weenies and growing planeswalkers. Generally: 1-2
Sin Prodder: Red has very little for extra Draw spells. This little fella can dig you deep, and sting for 3 damage with the wily assist of menace. It's a little non-bo with ensnaring bridge, but at least his ability is active regardless. Generally: 0-2
Goblin Chainwhirler: The Goblin Ninja! Everything about an opponent that can be damaged will be damaged by his mere casting. Then, it's a Hill Giant with First Strike that grows his brother Rabblemaster in attack. Generally: 0-2
Glorybringer Stormbreath Dragon Avaricious Dragon -- Dragons. Dragons, Everywhere. If you're looking to splash in the pools of Legacy Dragon Stompy, consider these barrel-chested dinosaurs. Each has a unique synergy. Glorybringer allows a little less removal in the main. Stormbreath is a sideboard card against control. Avaricous is a nefarious associate of Sarkhan, Dragonblood - these partners in crime have been known to trash it up. Generally: 0-X
REMOVAL
Abrade: Full 3 damage Lightning Bolt or a Shatter. The perfect answer to Affinity and the bolt component is key against Storm creatures. Generally: 2-4
Magma Jet: Since we run [4] Chalice of the Void, this is our next best option after Lightning Bolt. Surprisingly, the scry often makes it a better option. Generally: 0-4
Anger of the Gods/Slagstorm/Sweltering Suns: Either sweep with permanence or give yourself the opportunity to bolt an opponent or planeswalker. Generally: 2-4
Roast: When the meta starts to see beefy boys on the playground, this hammer blow will cook 'em crispy. Generally: 0-2
Bonfire of the Damned Fireball? Check Earthquake? Check Wrath of God? Check Hero's Downfall? Check. Bonfire can be all of these things. Drawn early, it's a slog. Drawn late? You may have just won the game. Do you believe in Miracles? Generally: 0-2
Collective Defiance Similar to The Parents, this card does a little bit of everything. A good 'game 1' swing-slot card. If you're unsure of your meta, and you're not over-crowded in your 3-CMC slot, consider this spell. Generally: 0-1
MANA ACCELERATORS:
Desperate Ritual: It's our baby Dark Ritual, but 1 extra early mana can win a game. We go to 11. Don't forget to splice when possible. Generally: 4
Simian Spirit Guide: 1 extra early mana never felt so good as when it's in the hand of a Spirit Guide. Surprisingly, the 2/2 can also tilt a game towards a win. Generally: 4
Pyretic Ritual: Desperate's li'l cousin. Use with caution. Don't be too greedy with allocating too much deck space to speed. Generally: 0-1
DRAW ACCELERATORS:
Tormenting Voice: Our 2-drop slot is pretty light, and Voice sheds duplicate drawn spells. Generally: 0-3
Crystal Ball: Seemingly jank, Ball is slow and doesn't affect the immediate game state. But, it is the undisputed king of digging deep. Consider that you can dig 5-cards deep upon casting: once on your turn and again on your upkeep. No other red/artifact card can offer this assistance. Generally: 0-1
Mishra's Bauble: Although we can't synergize bauble the way other decks can, it streamlines & accelerates our plan. Bauble's biggest drawback is in decks that have critical 1-drops. For them, they hate to see a bauble in the initial 7, since it's taking up that slot. We have no 1-drops. Generally: 0-4
Manamorphose: Superior to the bauble since the cantrip effect is immediate, but the 2 drop cost prevents a turn 1 play. Also, a later Chalice of the Void set to 2 can create a conflict. Without graveyard interactions, prowess triggers, or storm mechanics, cantrips for the sake of cantripping is generally just a lot of hot, ember-filled 'air'.
LANDS:
Gemstone Caverns: Speedy, Mono-Color Decks Need This. Blood Moon makes it even easier to run. Gaining ground on the play almost can't be over appreciated. Generally: 2-3
Mutavault: When color requirements are low, this bear can deliver beats or hold up a decent wall. The goblin sub-type is a bonus with Goblin Rabblemaster. Generally: 1-3
Ramunap Ruins: Reach for extra damage and surprisingly, we don't end up pinging ourselves as much as you'd think.
Scavenger Grounds: Who needs Relic of Progenitus when it can double as a land? An easy include of a colorless utility land into a mono-color deck.
Scrying Sheets: For the tricksy deckbuilder, use snow-covered mountains. You're opponent will mistakenly put you on Skred, and you can gain the advantage of a possible free draws with sheets. Generally: 0-2
SIDEBOARD
CREATURES:
Phyrexian Revoker: It's pithing needle on a stick, but also blocks mana activation. It slips past our Chalice set to 1, and can offer quick blocks/beats. Most commonly set nullify: Engineered Explosives, Planeswalkers.
Spellskite: Multi-purpose offering that serves to protect lock pieces from aggressive disruption decks.
Kargan Dragonlord: Surprise! If we've been identified as a creatureless deck, opponents will side out their removal. In concert with Goblin Rabblemaster, this fella can grow as fast as a weed.
Eidolon of the Great Revel: Quick Drop & Recurring Damage - guaranteed. He fills our 2-slot drop, and turns the heat up on decks that cycle through small spells. I'm looking right at you storm.
Scab-Clan Berserker This is what would happen if a devil wandered over into the Scab-Clan, you'd quickly have Eidolon 5-8. These headbangers can revel greatly. A bit more expensive than Eidolon, but the pings are only against the opponent. Superb option against Combo/Control.
Dire Fleet Daredevil Well, Looky Here. We got ourselves a Snapcaster Mage. First Strike is just the cherry on top. Stealing an opponent's spell and using it against them serves as a 2-for-1 play. But, consider yoinking an electrolyze: 4-for-1 card advantage. Go Pirate against burn, spell heavy decks, and jund.
Hazoret the Fervent: It's a God, for Koth's sake. Our 1 and only. Hit and Miss for effectiveness, but it's hard to remove and breaks up stalled board states. A fine bring-in against creature-light decks.
ARTIFACTS:
Ratchet Bomb: Mono-Red doesn't have much to remove Enchantments or Planeswalkers, so Bomb becomes a critical, albeit slow, sweeper.
Grafdigger's Cage: Despite it's conflict with Chalice on 1, this piece of shiny can nullify decks like Dredge, Reanimator, and an opponent's looping graveyard tricks.
Relic of Progenitus: Since we don't use our graveyard at all, this cantrip can dig, tame a tarmogoofy, and be a prickly pear to Storm, Dredge, and Reanimator.
Witchbane Orb: Since we can't play counterspells, this beauty sits as a protecter in perpetuity.
Pithing Needle: Suit to Taste. Not a personal fave - again a chalice conflict - but, it's adaptable & works.
Torpor Orb: Shut down decks that have toolbox/utility creatures.
Sun Droplet: Some prefer Dragon's Claw, so the tie-breaker will come down to red spell versus our somewhat elevated artifact count in rounds 2/3 against Burn.
Damping Matrix: This can be seen as a 'go wide' shutdown to so many utility decks. A Stony Silence for the others. Rather than focus on a pithing needle or sorcerous spyglass, simply adjust your main deck to make this bauble a devastator for the opponent. Excellent against Affinity/KCI/Eldrazi Tron.
Damping Sphere: It taxes us on multiple spells cast, and renders our rituals useless. But, but, but that's nothing compared to what it does to Tron and Storm - designer, targeted vaccine for only 2 mana?!
SPELLS:
Shattering Spree: Superior to Vandalblast, Shatterstorm and other options, Spree will replicate through a chalice on 1 and it curves low.
Molten Rain: For decks that fetch out early into a limited pool of basic lands, Rain can be the finishing blow on the back of a Blood Moon. Like all land destruction, it is slow, so be wary of bringing it in against speedy decks.
Ricochet Trap: Blue Control decks can be among our tougher matchups. After sideboarding out some of our acceleration for more pressure, a Trap at the right time can be clutch. Plus, it's always a shocker.
Boil In a world of blue decks, expect to see islands. There is no dedicated land kill card in the pantheon of magic that is more powerful than Boil. Instant. Bring the seas to a Boil!
Method of Madness
Here's the trick: Do you play to win or not to lose? As much as you want to play to win (who doesn't), you don't have to play to win...to actually win. Instead, shut down your opponent's win conditions, and present the specter of your own win. This is similar to facing off against Lantern or U/W control or Tron: you know you're beat if the game goes on too long. In the face of diminishing odds with a ticking clock on the wall, you knock on the table, and say, 'round 2'.
Sometimes - When there are only 50 Minutes on the Clock, Playing not to Lose is often the Same as Playing to Win.
That is our deck. We are forcing the opponent to say, 'o.k. - grrr - let's sideboard for round 2.' I'm taking some exaggerated poetic license here. The vast majority of the time, Pyro Prison delivers 20 points of damage via Planeswalkers and our creature assets. I just find it sadistically enchanting that we can extinguish an opponent's hopes of reaching their finish line with a prison lockdown. I mean we are talking about a Red deck forcing submission, not your typical control colors of blue and white.
Matchup Analysis
A "Sideboard Deck" doesn't have a bad matchup . Owing to our reactive nature, we are best suited to defeat linear, singularly focused decks. When pitted against opponents who also seek to control and overwhelm with selective denial and card advantage, our shrewd use of pro-active win conditions shine. Important Note: we are already partially 'pre-sideboarded' against our opponents in game 1, and then adapt into a full-on Bad Matchup for them after sideboarding. Opponents, on the other hand, rarely have a favorable Game 1 matchup against Red Prison, because they are building against Tier 1 decks. Even worse for them, their sideboards will typically blank on answers. Sure, they'll have some Affinity hate which applies to us as well, but otherwise Pyro Prison is very difficult to sideboard against.
Highly Favored: Bogles - Humans - Infect - Merfolk - Zoo - R/G Titan Scapeshift - Lantern - Dredge
Favored: Burn - DnT - G/x Tron - Grixis Death's Shadow - RG Breach - Hollow One(Roulette) - Death's Shadow Jund - Collected Company Elves - Grishoalbrand/Griselbrand Reanimator - Ad Nauseam
Even: Colorless Eldrazi Tron - UR Gifts Storm Challenging: Vizier Coco/Chord - Blue Tron - Mardu Tokens - BBE Jund
3 Sideboarding Guides: Fluffywolf/Raystack/Stickballruss
Data for Top Decks: Will be taken from MTGGoldfish of this posting on 5/11/2018 - I know there are other sources, this just happens to be my favorite.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/modern#online
1st Author - Fluffywolf
3 Gemstone Caverns
13 Mountain
4 Ramunap Ruins
1 Scavenger Grounds
Fast Mana (Spell/Creature)
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Lock Pieces:
4 Blood Moon
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
Aggro Win Conditions:
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
Control Win Conditions:
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Goblin Chainwhirler
2 Glorybringer
4 Chandra, Roch of Defiance
Flex Utility:
4 Abrade
Control Utility:
1 Slagstorm
1 Anger of the Gods
Aggro Utility:
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Control:
3 Anger of the Gods
Aggro & Bridge's Best Friend:
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Koth of the Hammer
Graveyard Utility:
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
Other Utility:
1 Damping Sphere
1 Torpor Orb
HERE WE GO!
Deck: Humans
Tier: 1
Play Style: Aggro Interactive
Game 1: Favored
Game 2/3: Favored
Ace Cards: Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge, Sweepers
Out: - 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Glorybringer
In: - 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Torpor Orb, Hazoret the Fervent, Koth of the Hammer
Opening Hand: We are wanting a way to remove multiple cards with a sweeper or Abrade/Chandra usage. This opponent tries to take advantage of way too greedy of a mana base. Stripping them of the capability to cast cards buys you time to find a win condition. Cards that hide behind an Ensnaring Bridge are nice to have. If you low on life and have a Chandra Emblem, take the time to clear their board if you can, a single Red Human with some ETB triggers can really upset your life total if they have a 'large board.'
Problem Cards: Kitesail Freebooter and the ETB Deal Damage Human (Kessig Malcontents) + ETB Destroy Artifact Human (Usually Reclamation Sage now)
Deck: Hollow One
Tier: 1
Play Style: Aggro Non-Interactive
Game 1: Coin Flip
Game 2/3: Favored
Ace Cards: Abrade, Ensnaring Bridge, Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Out: - 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 4 Blood Moon
In: - 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Relic of Progentius, 2 Grafdiggger's Cage
Opening Hand: Multiple Abrades are nice. An Ensnaring Bridge Game 1 (currently) is lights out. Very rarely will you run into a Hollow One with main deck Artifact Removal. In the successive games you want ways to wipe the board and establish your Ensnaring Bridge. Cages can slow them down, but there is no guarantee. Retaining Fast Mana or Enough lands to play anything is critical. You will be playing on curve to set up your Bridge. Chalice on 2 is more important then 1 to take them off artifact removal (though some are playing K-Command now).
Problem Cards: Hollow One, Flameblade Adept, Gurmag Angler. The first two when deployed quickly are MASSIVE damage and give us no time to get a Bridge and Empty our hand.
Deck: Affinity
Tier: 1
Play Style: Aggro Non-Interactive
Game 1: Favored
Game 2/3: Favored
Ace Cards: Abrade, Ensnaring Bridge, Sweepers
Out: - 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 1 Glorybringer
In: - 3 Anger of the Gods, Hazoret the Fervent, Koth of the Hammer
Opening Hand: If you are on the play Chalice on 0, play it. It protects you from Ornithopters getting under your bridge, and in many ways slows your opponent. Your hand will hopefully have Abrades in it and Angers. The reason for both Glorybringers to not come out is they are a great way if you miss your bridge plan to remove creatures. Most times their creatures are small butts.
Problem Cards: Inkmoth Nexus, Cranial Plating, Bouncing Cranial Plating with 0/X Creatures. - We solve these problems with Blood Moon and Sweepers. If a Chalice on 2 graces you, more power to you.
Worst Card: Etched Champion - We concede to this showing up. It DOES NOT beat us, but is incredibly difficult for us to remove. Hope you have a Bridge down, or if your meta is high in these cards, Kozilek's Return may be your sweeper of choice.
Deck: Jund
Tier: 1
Play Style: Midrange Interactive
Game 1: Bad
Game 2/3: 40/60
Ace Cards: Early Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge, Chandr Torch of Defiance
Notes: - This matchup is difficult. You can decide if you'd like to go hyper aggro or mix. We will assume partial mix here (Aggro brings in Eidolons)
Out: - 3 Abrade, 2 Goblin Rabblemaster
In: - 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Relic of Progentius
Opening Hand: This is tough, the faster the moon the better. Notice what color you shut them off, are they now RB, or RG? This determines your play moving forward. You will have to close this game out, normally will be through lock and into fast win conditions like Emblems or Large Creatures. Because creatures get "Too Big" we can chance the Glorybringer Bridge play, beware of Bloodbraid Elf.
Problem Cards: A LOT... K-Command, Maelstrom Pulse, Abrupt Decay. This deck is meant to beat us. You can win it, it is just unfavorable. Don't think Dark Confidant is your friend, kill immediately. Card advantage wins this game, they have a lot of it, buckle up, this one is probably a loss until you can really read your opponent.
Deck: Mono-Green Tron
Tier: 1
Play Style: Mana Acceleration Minium Interaction
Game 1: 50/50
Game 2/3: 50/50
Ace Cards: Blood Moon, Goblin Rabblemaster, Abrade
Notes: - They Will Naturally Draw 7 Lands. Go go go! DO NOT confuse this matchup with E-Tron. Sideboarding is COMPLETELY different.
Out: - 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Anger of the Gods
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer
Opening Hand: Blood Moon does NOT have to be rushed out. Do not ritual this out unless they are looking at T3 Tron then a bit of help can go a long way. Instead try to ramp and be able to play out a threat quickly. You want to close this game quickly. I don't care what anyone else says in this forum. This matchup is 50/50 at best. This matchup doesn't improve afterwards either. This is "Who's starting hand is better" on G1, and on G2/G3 it is down to you either kill quickly with no Blood Moon, they have an answer for Blood Moon, or you just too slow.
Problem Cards: Oblivion Stone - Abrade can be used against this but also can be used against ramping Expedition Maps. Choose your battles carefully. Chalice on 1 helps to protect you and prevents cantripping.
Deck: G/W Hexproof (Boggles)
Tier: 1
Play Style: Aggro
Game 1: 50/50
Game 2/3: Highly Favored
Ace Cards: Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge, Chalice of the Void
Out: - 2 Glorybringer, 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar, 2 Abrade
In: - 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel (If you have Spyglass, put it on Seal of Primordial)
Opening Hand: Blood Moon shuts this opponent out. You also can hold bridge a few turns. You ironically want to get their creature large enough. Usually dumping hand size is not important in this matchup. An Anger on T2 for 1 Boggle that is a 1/1 is the best thing you can do. DO NOT WAIT. They have Totem Armor, they have minimal creatures. Kill them if you can, and carry on to locking and beating from behind the bridge. Rabblemaster are kept in for some blocking and for speed, they are not worth being trapped into keeping in G2/G3 if that is it in the hand, look for something else.
Problem Cards: Lifelink Enchantments & Seal of Primodrial. Don't lose your lock pieces, don't run Rabblemaster Tokens into lifegain. Can you win with a Chandra Emblem to 70 life? Yes. It just takes longer.
Deck: Burn
Tier: 1
Play Style: Interactive Aggro
Game 1: 30/70
Game 2/3: 50/50
Ace Cards: Chalice of the Void, Blood Moon
Out: - 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 1 Blood Moon, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Koth of the Hammer
Opening Hand: It is tough to run out a Blood Moon on T1 and see Burn. You're looking for Chalice in G1. G2/G3 Chalice or Anger type effects are fine. You're looking for fast Walker or other threats that can be bolted. This damage does not go to face, and buys you time to get other threats. Beware of Searing Blaze G1. No reason to run out Rabblemaster when you're at 4 - 7 life unless they are empty handed. Watch hand of opponent. Cards left and that are 'not ever played' are cards needing creature targets.
Problem Cards: Destructive Revelry, All the Burn to Face especially Boros Charm (2 colors remember). Helix.
Deck: UR Gifts Storm
Tier: 2
Play Style: Combo
Game 1: 50/50
Game 2/3: 75/25
Ace Cards: Chalice of the Void, Abrade, Grafdigger's Cage, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Damping Sphere.
Out: - 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 4 Blood Moon, 2 Glory Bringer, 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Damping Sphere, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 2 Grafdigger's Cage.
Opening Hand: You MUST learn to read your opponents lands. Spirebluff = Wait on Chalice till 2 G1. In many cases with UR colors I will wait to play a Chalice, I need more information. You're looking for your Eidolons, Cages, or Abrades to interact with their spell reduction creatures or ways to interact with their needing to combo off. These DO not mean a win though, you will need to find answers before they win. Fast Rabblemasters and Fast Eidolons pressure their life total reducing cards they can play.
Problem Cards: Baral & Electromancer + Repeal/Wipeout. Since Chainwhirler the Empty the Warrens plan is less scary, but still is a threat. You want to remove these creatures and get that Chalice on 2, otherwise GGs
Deck: Mardu Pyromancer
Tier: 2
Play Style: Value Town, All the Angles, Help
Game 1: 40/60
Game 2/3: 40/60
Ace Cards: I still to this day do not know if we have any 'aces' against this deck. We have good cards, just no aces.
Out: - 2 Blood Moon, 2 Desperate Ritual, 1 Goblin Rabblemaster, 1 Chalice of the Void, 1 Abrade
In: - 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Torpor Orb
Opening Hand: Threats, all the threats. Seems like we play a resource war with this opponent. Don't be afraid to run things out. They may eat bolts, they may eat removal, they may eat removal into your hand from Thoughtseize or IoK. Although "Bridge" is great here you actively have to use sweepers to clear the board. You're usually a topdeck away from a K-Command or Wear and Tear. Multiple Bridges are nice, hopefully you get them around hand disruption.
Problem Cards: Bedlam Reveler - This card generates value. You can sometimes beat the value but the more times they iterate the creature the worse.
Deck: Jeskai Control
Tier: 2
Play Style: Control with Heavy Creature Interaction
Game 1: Favored
Game 2/3: 60/40
Ace Cards: Early Blood Moon, Chandra Torch of Defiance, Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out: - 3 Ensnaring Bridge, 2 Abrade, 1 Anger of the Gods (Thin 1 Ritual and 1 Glorybringer)
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Torpor Orb
Opening Hand: Since they interact with your threats be ready to ramp them out and continue to curve. Unlike U/W where Blood Moon is strong but not an Ace this matchup tries to run too many colors, meaning they usually have less basics. This can lock them down on their threats and in many cases turns off Path to Exile. This gives you Hazoret's power and your other planeswalkers. Creatures that present multiple threats (Rabblemaster and Pia & Kiran) are great, and Glorybringer is hard to remove with just a bolt.
Problem Cards: Bolts, Jace or other Planewalker, Creature Lands.
Deck: Ironworks Combo
Tier: 2
Play Style: Graveyhard Combo
I have actually played against this matchup only twice. Once getting knocked out at the top 4 of a Challenge, the other time in a Friendly. I don't see this enough to know or have collected data. Eidolon seems good, and picking your Abrade targets is critical.
Deck: Grixis Death's Shadow
Tier: 2
Play Style: Mana Efficient Aggro
Game 1: 70/30
Game 2/3: 70/30
Ace Cards: Chalice of the Void, Blood Moon
Out: - 4 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Anger of the Gods
In: - 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Opening Hand: Chalice on 1 Is king. Avoid Stubborn Denial and jam creatures. If you do not have your Ensnaring Bridge or Chalice to prevent large Death Shadow's from attacking you produce creatures to protect yourself until you can. Usually when you go to close with a Planeswalker or Hazoret behind the bridge their life total is Sub 10.
Problem Cards: Death Shadow, Stubborn Denial, and K-Command. - Don't be hesitant to play through a Stubborn denial. Sometimes overwhelming them is just enough.
Deck: Titan Shift
Tier: 2
Play Style: Mana Ramp Combo
Game 1: 50/50
Game 2/3: 60/40
Ace Cards: Blood Moon, Creatures
Out: - 4 Chalice of the Void, 4 Abrade
In: - 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 1 Goblin Chainwhirler, 1 Torpor Orb
Opening Hand: Blood Moon shuts down their Green Mana, which they need to function. Fast creatures out and Bridges give you plenty of time behind this. They move to a secondary plan once you Blood Moon them. They normally main 1 - 2 Rec Sages, so be wary. Chalice on 0 is not a bad idea G1. It is not really worth much in the next games because most acceleration is at 2.
Problem Cards: Valakut the Molten Pinnacle, Reclamation Sage, Primeval Titan - This all beats us. It hurts.
2nd Author from late last year: Raystack
Date: 11/4/17 - SCG Regionals - 300 Players - "POINT-for-POINT SIDEBOARDING SWAP GUIDE"
Who knows how long it will remain relevant, as decks evolve interminably. I believe this construction is a fair representation of the archetype, and hope this is helpful. The accompanying play-style advice in this 'User's Guide' is a simple reminder, "Fortune Favors the Bold" - Raystack
Creatures (8)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Legion Warboss
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Accelerators (11)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
2 Tormenting Voice
Planeswalker (5)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Disruption (3)
2 Abrade
1 Slagstorm
Lands (21)
15 Mountains
2 Ramunap Ruins
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Mutavault
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Spellskite
1 Torpor Orb
1 Hazoret the Fervent
IZZET PHOENIX
In -- Relic of Progenitus, Grafdigger's Cage, 2 Anger of the Gods, Hazoret, Ratchet bomb, 3 Eidolon
Out -- 4 Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, 2 Abrade, Slagstorm, Koth
GRIXIS DEATH's SHADOW
In -- Hazoret the Fervent, Ratchet Bomb, Spellskite
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm
UW CONTROL
In -- Hazoret the Fervent, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Pyretic Ritual, 1 Ensnaring Bridge
COLORLESS ELDRAZI TRON
In -- Hazoret the Fervent, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, 1 Spellskite, 1 Witchbane Orb
Out -- 1 Slagstorm, 4 Chalice of the Void
BURN
In -- 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Spellskite, 1 Witchbane Orb, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 2 Tormenting Voice, 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance, 1 Koth of the Hammer, 2 Ensnaring Bridge, 1 Magus of the Moon
HUMANS
In -- 1 Torpor Orb, 3 Anger of the Gods, 1 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass
Out -- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Tormenting Voice
RGx TITANSHIFT
In -- 1 Hazoret the Fervent, 1 Spellskite, 1 Witchbane Orb, 1 Torpor Orb, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Pyretic Ritual, 2 Chalice of the Void, 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
AFFINITY
In -- Ratchet Bomb, Spellskite, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, 3 Anger of the Gods
Out -- 2 Tormenting Voice, 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 1 Magus of the Moon
UR STORM
In -- 1 Grafdigger's Cage, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Witchbane Orb, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 1 Relic of Progenitus
Out -- 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Merfolk
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 3 Anger of the Gods, Torpor Orb, Witchbane Orb, Sorcerous Spyglass
Out -- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Magus of the Moon, 1 Blood Moon
Living End
In -- Spellskite, Relic of Progenitus, Torpor Orb
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm
Lantern Control
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, Witchbane Orb, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 4 Ensnaring Bridge, Slagstorm, 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Pyretic Ritual
Jeskai Control (this is a highly variable build - allow for flex)
In -- Spellskite, Grafdigger's Cage, Torpor Orb
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm
Death's Shadow Jund
In -- Ratchet Bomb, Spellskite, Hazoret the Fervent
Out -- 2 Abrade, 1 Slagstorm
GWx Vizier Company (bad matchup, so I opt for full attack)
In -- 3 Anger of the Gods, 2 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Torpor Orb, Hazoret the Fervent, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 4 Chalice of the Void, 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 2 Tormenting Voice
Abzan Midrange / Junk / BGw Souls / Bg Rock (again high variance deck - allow for flex)
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 3 Anger of the Gods, 2 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Torpor Orb, 1 Relic of Progenitus
Out -- 4 Chalice of the Void, 2 Abrade, 2 Tormenting Voice
Death and Taxes
In -- 3 Anger of the Gods, Spellskite, Torpor Orb, Sorcerous Spyglass
Out -- 4 Blood Moon, 2 Magus of the Moon
Bant Eldrazi
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, 3 Anger of the Gods, Hazoret the Fervent
Out -- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Tormenting Voice, 1 Magus of the Moon
Dredge
In -- 3 Anger of the Gods, 2 Grafdigger's Cage, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Spellskite, 1 Witchbane Orb
Out -- 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 2 Abrade, 2 Tormenting Voice
Gx Tron
In -- 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, Hazoret the Fervent
Out -- 4 Ensnaring Bridge, 1 Slagstorm, 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
R/W Prisons
In -- Ratchet Bomb, 2 Sorcerous Spyglass, Spellskite, Witchbane Orb, Hazoret the Fervent, 3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
Out -- 4 Blood Moon, 2 Magus of the Moon, 1 Pyretic Ritual, 1 Slagstorm
3rd Author - Strategy Guide and Sideboard Swaps offered by Russell Colosi for his Top 8 Deck
Elves: You are the control player in these matches, so the first thing that I look to go are the rabblemasters and the magus of the moons. You should be siding in 2x Anger of the gods, 1x spellskite, 2x spyglass, 2x grafdiggers cage, 1x torpor orb. Take out the 6 creatures I mentioned and 2 blood moon. If you KNOW they are literally 18 forest and a bunch of elves, then take out all the moons and leave in two rabblemasters. You're not going to win with an x/2 creature vs a hoarde of elves, so rabblemaster is not the best card here. I think post board, you should be favorite. 2x walking ballista, 2x abrade, 4 wrath effects and 4 bridges should be enough to get the job done. remember, if they play an elf lord, that could help you with a bridge, so you gotta asses whether it's worth it to kill the lord. sometimes it's correct to leave them hanging out.
Merfolk. Almost everything I said for elves applies here, only you don't need cage. same sideboard except don't side in cage and instead side in boil. mono blue merfolk....one sided armageddon, i'm in. once again, walking ballista, abrage and 4 wrath effects are huge. combine that with 4 bridges and chalices to negate some spells and you're good. Chalice in this match is funny. on one, you can stop aether vial and post board, dispel (for abrade) and ceremonous rejection. So, if you have a brige in hand and need it to resolve, chalice on one first. If you have a bridge in play and need to protect it, chalice on two. Most merfolk lists play non-islands, like muta vault, that UW land, and cavern of souls. Chalice does little to stop the creqtures when Cavern is in play, so I usualy leave all 4 blood moons main. take out the 6 creatures, and side in 2 spyglass (for aether vial, smugglers copter, mutavault in a pinch, 1/1 dude that counters spells), 2 anger, and a single shattering spree.
Mono Black Devotion. I got nothing here. I haven't played this match, but I would assume you CANNOT play the control role. Unlike the previous two matches, this is a deck that plays creatures and you start losing life immediaetly. You cannot sit back behind a bridge becuase you'll just die to ETB effects. So, magus comes out, moons come out. eidolin comes in, haxoret comes inander the gods comes in. exile means that unearth doesn't happen. turn one rabblemaster should do a lot of work here. torpor org should also do a lot of work. actually, if you get a torpor orb out, then the bridge plan will work, but with only one orb, it's not often that happens.
Affinity. This match has recently swung wildly in our favor. I'm played it three times since making the changes and i'm 3-0 against it. you are the control player here.....no if ans or buts about it. If you attempt to even think about going aggro, you will lose. walking ballista plus bridge is your best combo here. On the play, drop a chalice on 0. ALWAYS. you stunt their best draw and force the game to go longer, which is exactly where you want to be. then, go up from there. next chalice is on one, then two. Chalice on one is super important. not only does it stop signal pest and galvanic blast, but more importantly, it stops sprigleaf drum. What, you say, sprigleaf drum? yes, the drum is a problem. No Drum, no instant speed equip of cranial plating. blood moon turns all their lands into mountains and the only way they are getting two black is opal and drum. you can have 14 drums in play, but only one opal. sideboard is simple. take out the 6 creatures (rabble and magus) and a single blood moon for 2 anger, 2 spyglass, 2 shattering spree, and a spellskite. remember, you can redirect ravagers graveyard ability to spellskite. now your deck is just stacked. There's literally one card that is bad in you deck, and it's koth. Everything else it either good or great against them. Unless they have the nut draw, you should win this match.
Skred Red. This match is extremely hard to close to unwinnable. It falls in the same caragory as the RG land destruction deck. I play with Berard Libertari at my local Game store. the bernard that took his RG land destruction deck to a perfect 8-0 finish in modern during the last invitational....yes that bernie. I played him to practice around 8-10 games in a row and I lost EVERY ONE of those games. Here's the problem. Bridge does a great job of shutting down the creatures, but they have more planeswalkers than you. You can't stop the planeswalkers and since chandra is a big part of that package, you can't exactly spyglass that either. another challange is your mana acceleration is on time use while theirs are evles that stick around turn after turn. i'm getting off topic, but the decks are similar. I think with Skred, you are the aggro player. game one you are the control player, but games two and three, you gotta be aggro. they are going to be coming at you with the artifact removal and theres nothing you can so about it. shattering spree gets through chalice and shatterstorm just destroys you. sitting back behind chalice and bridge is a recipe for disaster. chalice on one cn disrupt just enough for rabblemaster to do some work and eidolin can finish the job....maybe. stupid 3/3 that keeps coming back is anotuher problem. Skred is one of those few decks where everything we are trying to do doesn't line up well against them. sideboard, 4 moon out, 2 magus out, one abrade out 3 eidolin, one hazoret, 2 spyglass, and one spellskite in.
Lantern control. Try to stick a chalice on one. then, your next chalice should be on one. then your next chalice should be on one. get the point. their answer for chalice is abrupt decay. make them draw multiples. Abrade, walking ballista are great here. they have CONTROL in their name, so we are the aggressor. out: 4 bridge, 1 pia and kiran nalaar, 2 slagstorm, 2 blood moon. in: 3 eidloin, 1 hazoret, 2 shattering spree, 2 spyglass, 1 spellskite.
Soul sisters. No freaking way rabblemaster goes the distance here. nope, not happening. side out all 6 creatures and 2 moon and side in 2 cage, 1 torpor orb, 2 anger, 1 spellskite, 2 spyglass. remember, spyglass can name proclamtion of rebirth.
titanshift. You are the aggressor here, but not by much. Game one, a bridge and a moon and they cannot win. board. 2 abrade, 2 slagstorm, and a Pia and kiran nalaar out. 3 eidolin, spellskite and a torpor orb in. set chalice on zero and one game two. zero stops summoners trap and one stops natures claim.
Grixis shadow. this is the anti grixis shadow deck. You have to understand what makes that deck so good to draft an effective game plan. this deck only plays 17-18 lands. that meand that as you are drawing lands as the game progresses, they are drawing gas. they inly have 6 lands that produce mana, so we need to use this to our advantage. our locks need to negate as much crap as possible, so, turn one chalice on one is correct on the play and if they fetched a basic land during their turn. If they fetched a dual, maybe try to get them with a blood moon. try to play arounf stubby D if you can, but sometimes you just gotta go for it. if you can stick a chalice on one or a blood moon, the game swings wildly in our favor. if you can't get wither one to stick, then you'r in trouble. to good news is they do a lot of damage to themselves, so even two tokens from pia and kiran can get the job done. sideboard: 2 abrade and two slagstorm out, 2 walking ballista out. 3 eidolin and a spellskite, a hazoret, and a boil in. Boil hits 4 of their six lands that produce mana. even tagging three of there is devestating. use it at the end of their turnto bait out a counterspell if you can.
UW control. this is another hard matchup. basically, any deck that either doesn't care about what we are doing (RG land destruction) or can counter our spells (blue anything) poses a problem. Blood moon is not that big here. I remember during regionals, I dropped a turn one blood moon and my opponents first six lands were all basics. BOIL is the best card here. it's literally lights out. spyglass is also huge to stop the planeswalkers, and there are a lot of the, sideboard. out: 2 abrade, 2 slagstorm, pyretic ritual, 4 bridge. in: 3 eidloin, 1 hazoret, 1 boil, 1 spellskite, 2 spyglass, 1 torpor orb. try to stick a chalice on one. that will stop path to exile and help keep your dudes alive. an early eidolin is big trouble for that deck.
BR pack rat. I have never played this match, but I have to assume that you need to be the aggressor. Walking Ballista and abrade should do some serious work here. Keep the rabblemasters. Drop the moons and the magus and one bridge. put in spellskite, 2 spyglass, 3 eidolin and a hazoret. I honestly don't know enough about this match, but being agressive seems to be the right way to go. Slagstorm can clean up the rats if you're behind or finish the job if your ahead, so it stays.
** GENERAL SIDEBOARD OPTIONS **
AFFINITY: Ratchet Bomb, Shattering Spree, Anger of the Gods, Phyrexian Revoker, Pithing Needle, Ghirapur Æther Grid
Gx TRON: Magus of the Moon, Molten Rain, Shattering Spree, Phyrexian Revoker, Eidolon of the Great Revel
COLORLESS ELDRAZI TRON: Roast, Magus of the Moon, Shattering Spree, Witchbane Orb, Molten Rain, Phyrexian Revoker, Pithing Needle
DEATH'S SHADOW JUND: Ratchet Bomb, Phyrexian Revoker, Batterskull, Roast, Molten Rain
ABZAN MIDRANGE/JUNK: Anger of the Gods, Rathcet Bomb, Magus of the moon, molten rain, grafdigger's cage
BURN: anger of the gods, ratchet bomb, sun droplet, witchbane orb, batterskull, spellskite
BANT ELDRAZI: roast, ricochet trap, molten rain, ratchet bomb, phyrexian revoker, pithing needle
RG TITAN SCAPESHIFT: magus of the moon, witchbane orb, phyrexian revoker, batterskull, spellskite
RG BREACH: grafdigger's cage, witchbane orb, molten rain, spellskite
INFECT: magus of the moon, ratchet bomb, phyrexian revoker, roast
GRIXIS DELVER: ratchet bomb, roast, anger of the gods, ricochet trap
UR STORM: ratchet bomb, witchbane orb, boil, relic of progenitus, ricochet trap, eidolon of the great revel
COLLECTED COMPANY ELVES: grafdigger's cage, ratchet bomb, anger of the gods
MERFOLK: anger of the gods, ratchet bomb, ricochet trap, witchbane orb, sun droplet, boil
DEATH AND TAXES: anger of the gods, ratchet bomb, pyroclasm, bonfire of the damned, ghirapur Æther grid
JESKAI HARBINGER: pithing needle, ratchet bomb, grafdigger's cage, phyrexian revoker
GRISHOALBRAND/GRISELBRAND REANIMATOR: grafdigger's cage, pithing needle, phyrexian revoker, relic of progenitus, spellskite
DREDGE: relic of progenitus, anger of the gods, grafdigger's cage, molten rain
AD NAUSEAM: pithing needle, phyrexian revoker, ratchet bomb, witchbane orb, shattering spree, magus of the moon
ZOO: anger of the gods, ratchet bomb, sun droplet, witchbane orb, spellskite, batterskull
GRIXIS CONTROL: magus of the moon, boil, ricochet trap, molten rain, batterskull
R/W PRISON: ratchet bomb, pithing needle, phyrexian revoker
ABZAN COMPANY: anger of the gods, grafdigger's cage, ratchet bomb, molten rain
LANTERN CONTROL: pithing needle, phyrexian revoker, ratchet bomb, shattering spree, magus of the moon, witchbane orb
JUND: molten rain, magus of the moon, ratchet bomb, phyrexian revoker, pithing needle, roast, batterskull
Strategy Guide
Mulligan. 7 cards with no scry isn't all that different than 6 cards with a scry. For those doubters, I'll argue by example. Consider other decks which rely upon Leyline of Sanctity or Leyline of the Void. If they don't draw a leyline, but do draw a good hand, they'll keep it. But, if their starting hand is only average without a precious Leyline, which equals a free, uncounterable casting and what might be a free win against the right opponent, then they will certainly mulligan! The power lock suite in Pyro Prison can be even more lethal than a pre-game free casting of a Leyline. So, carefully study the makeup of your hand, and try to forecast its ramp out. A Blood Moon without a Mana Accelerator, Chalice of the Void, Tormenting Voice or Gemstone Caverns on the draw? Ship it.
Tormenting Voice. Tormenting Voice. It was the New Kid on the Block - but it's recently been replaced by Sarkhan, Fireblood. Both speak to a 'rummage' effect leveraged into card advantage. Pyro Prison players can't be afraid to fall behind in an effort to muster forces for a charge ahead. Consider, I played (10) rounds in that 1K I won in June of 2017. Guess how many times Tormenting Voice was counterspelled. None. Zero. Guess how many times I drew this card while hellbent? To the best of my recollection, Once. One time I drew this card while hellbent with an ensnaring bridge out looking at multiple Eldrazi Scion. But, it was a stalled board state, so no big deal. 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. Again, Sarkhan has outclassed the Voice these days.
Know your opponent's deck. This is a 'sideboard deck', and you need a consummate understanding of the meta. There are (4) corners to this prison cell: Chalice of the Void, Ensnaring Bridge, Blood Moon, and Goblin Rabblemaster. An early drop of 1 or a combination of these cards can equal a near Scapeshift like win. So, the proper allocation of resources to speed these spells into play is critical.
If I know my opponent's deck, I must have this question already answered: It's Turn 1 - Given the choice, do I Chalice or Moon? Tip: Ensnaring Bridge can typically come out later than you think, but not against a deck that uses discard spells or one whose win-con is attack, but they also have counterspells. Lastly, a Turn 1 Goblin Rabblemaster off of Mutavault and (2) Simian Spirit Guide or Ritual effects will deliver 20 damage in (3) Turns. Three Turns: 1 damage, 9 damage, 10 damage. I wasn't kidding when I said Channel/Fireball deck.
Decklists
Date: May 2019 - MTGO Modern Competitive Leagues: 15-0
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1871210#paper
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Karn, the Great Creator
10 POWER LOCKS
4 Blood Moon
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Chalice of the Void
9 CREATURES
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Legion Warboss
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
5 REMOVAL
2 Slagstorm
3 Abrade
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Pyretic Ritual
1 Desperate Ritual
21 LANDS
11 Mountain
4 Ramunap Ruins
3 Gemstone Caverns
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Blast Zone
2 Torpor Orb
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Walking Ballista
1 Welding Jar
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Liquimetal Coating
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Spellskite
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Trinisphere
1 Mycosynth Lattice
Date: 4/13/19 - MKM Series, Ghent Belgium - Top 8 - 393 Competitors
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=21670&d=345570&f=MO
3 Gemstone Caverns
14 Mountain
4 Ramunap Ruins
14 CREATURES
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Legion Warboss
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Abrade
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Dismember
1 Pyretic Ritual
16 OTHER SPELLS
4 Blood Moon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Crumble to Dust
2 Damping Sphere
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Shattering Spree
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Torpor Orb
Date: 11/27/18 - MTGO Modern Competitive League - Top 8 - Muddy15
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=20646&d=335977&f=MO
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Creatures (9)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Legion Warboss
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (4)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Mana Accelerators (9)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Abrade
Lands (22)
14 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
4 Ramunap Ruins
1 Mutavault
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Damping Matrix
1 Torpor Orb
1 Spellskite
2 Boil
4 Leyline of the Void
Date: 11/23/18 - MTGO Modern Competitive League - Tom Van Lamoen - Top 8
https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=20651&d=336042&f=MO
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Creatures (10)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Legion Warboss
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (4)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Pyretic Ritual
Removal (3)
1 Slagstorm
2 Abrade
Lands (21)
14 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
2 Ramunap Ruins
2 Scavenger Grounds
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Molten Rain
2 Damping Matrix
2 Torpor Orb
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Koth of the Hammer
3 Ravenous Trap
Date: 8/4/18 - MTGO Modern Challenge - 122 Players - Ray Karkman - Top 8
http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=19792&d=327602&f=MO
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Creatures (9)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Avaricious Dragon
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (7)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Sarkhan, Fireblood
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Pyretic Ritual
3 (+) Gemstone Caverns (+)
Lands (21)
12 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
4 Ramunap Ruins
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Damping Matrix
2 Torpor Orb
1 Spellskite
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Damping Sphere
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Goblin Chainwhirler
1 Shattering Spree
Date: 4/21/18 - MTGO Modern Challenge - 102 Players - Douglas Wolf - 4th Place Finish
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-challenge-2018-04-22
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
Date: 12/2/17 - StarCityGames Modern Open - 306/300+ People - Roanoke VA & Pennsylvania - (TWO!) Top 8 Finishes - Russell Colosi
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=117704
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=118606
Planeswalker (5)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Power Locks (12)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Disruption (4)
2 Abrade
2 Slagstorm
Creatures (9)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Magus of the Moon
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Walking Ballista
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 Anger the Gods
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Grafdiggers Cage
2 Shattering Spree
1 Boil
1 Spellskite
1 Torpor Orb
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Titanium Series 1K - 72 People - 6/3/17, Milford MA - 1st Place Finish: Undefeated
http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=15802&f=MO
YOUTUBE VIDEOS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS3jiZSEE6c&t=398s -- Semifinals: Pyro Prison vs. Abzan Aggro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICqzzQ72U9g&t=1660s -- Finals: Pyro Prison vs. Patriot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDgOgwMHVfc&t=20s -- Post-Tournament Interview
Creatures (8)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Magus of the Moon
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Siege-Gang Commander
Accelerators (12)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
3 Tormenting Voice
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Artifacts (8)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
Disruption (3)
2 Sweltering Suns
1 Magma Jet
Lands (21)
17 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Mutavault
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Shattering Spree
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Spellskite
1 Torpor Orb
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Ricochet Trap
1 Dragon's Claw
1 Word of Seizing
1 Hazoret the Fervent
StarCityGames IQ - 3/19/17, Columbus OH - shared 1st Place Finish: intentional split in Top 8 Finals
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=112406
3 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Spellskite
1 Walking Ballista
1 Magus of the Moon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Planeswalkers (5)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Lands (22)
18 Mountain
2 Mutavault
2 Gemstone Caverns
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Blood Moon
3 Desperate Ritual
4 Magma Jet
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Nahiri's Wrath
2 Roast
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Ratchet Bomb
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Roast
2 Shattering Spree
Premier 1K Event - 1/28/17, Milford MA - 1st in Swiss / 5th Overall
http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=14579&d=287439&f=MO
Creatures (5)
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Pia Nalaar
2 Spellskite
1 Walking Ballista
Accelerators (8)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Removal (7)
4 Magma Jet
2 Slagstorm
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Koth of the Hammer
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Artifacts (9)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Crystal Ball
Lands (22)
18 Mountains
2 Mutavault
2 Gemstone Caverns
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Shattering Spree
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Sun Droplet
1 Dragon's Claw
1 Witchbane Orb
StarCityGames IQ - 2nd Place - November 2016, Westborough Massachusetts
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=109860
Creatures (8)
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 Spellskite
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Goblin Rabblemaster
Accelerators (6)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Desperate Ritual
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Removal (6)
3 Arc Trail
2 Magma Jet
1 Earthquake
3 Koth of the Hammer
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Artifacts (8)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
Lands (23)
19 Mountains
2 Mutavault
2 Gemstone Caverns
3 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Shattering Spree
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Sun Droplet
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Torpor Orb
1 Ratchet Bomb
My Current Decks
TRADITIONAL STOCK LIST VARIANT
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Magus of the Moon
Creatures (14)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Legion Warboss
4 Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
Removal (4)
4 Bonecrusher Giant
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
Lands (22)
12 Mountains
4 Gemstone Caverns
3 Ramunap Ruins
1 Mutavault
1 Castle Embereth
1 Sunbaked Canyon
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Dire Fleet Daredevil
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Torpor Orb
2 Leyline of Combustion
2 Dire Fleet Daredevil
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Word of Seizing
TOURNAMENT COMPETITIVE LIST 9/3/19 MTGO Modern 5-0
KARN PYRO PRISON VARIANT
3 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Creatures (13)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Legion Warboss
2 Seasoned Pyromancer
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Magus of the Moon
4 Karn, the Great Creator
Removal (1)
1 Bonfire of the Damned
Accelerators (9)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
Lands (22)
12 Mountains
4 Gemstone Caverns
3 Zhalfirin Void
3 Ramunap Ruins
3 Leyline of Combustion
2 Torpor Orb
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Arc Trail
1 Dire Fleet Daredevil
1 Walking Ballista
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Liquimetal Coating
1 Mycosynth Lattice
Original Concept - Explosive Innovation Followed Which Renders This Decklist Listed Below Underdeveloped and Underpowered. Click Spoiler for Giggles...
Creatures (14)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Kargan Dragonlord
2 Prophetic Flamespeaker
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
2 Magus of the Moon
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Instant/Sorcery (7)
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Pyretic Ritual
1 Faithless Looting
3 Koth of the Hammer
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
Artifacts (8)
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ensnaring Bridge
Lands (22)
14 Mountain
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Gemstone Caverns
3 Dragon's Claw
3 Pyroclasm
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Avaricious Dragon
1 Shattering Spree
1 Boil
1 Magus of the Moon
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< A Mini-Primer by the Amabassador & Mad Scientist FLUFFYWOLF >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Prison - An Archetype Breakdown
Magic has main categories for their deck definition which are defined here on MTG Salvation, but also are defined within the community Deck Archetypes defined by MTG Gamepedia. These range from essentially, Aggro, Combo, and Control. That being said there are 35 breakdowns within the wiki linked.
To quote mtg gamepedia:
A Prison deck is a deck which tries to slow down the opponent or bring his gameplan to a complete halt and preventing him from regaining any momentum. Cards such as Winter Orb, Kismet and Opposition are popular to construct such decks as they heavily rely on tapping down the opponents resources and other permanents. Early decks used Icy Manipulator to tap the one land the opponent had available.
In essence, we seek to limit our opponent from playing their gameplan. I define their gameplan as to define 'playing magic' as our goal would be near impossible and untainable, but I will give an example of a deck which attempts to do this. There is also the essence of what can be a 'True Lock' and in the world of magic that can be extremely difficult, and I'll give an example that may be confusing but provide also an example of why it is not a true lock, and once again provide the deck that attempts to establish this.
Finally I will link an old article (there are certainly newer ones) The Art of Transformation. This article talks about sideboards that transform. I add this to the discussion as a talking point for later.
If you'd like you may skip ahead to the Deck headers, but if you'd like to hear my comments on locks and transformation, then please continue reading
==Locks==
We define a lock as the moment in which an opponent should have No Outs to the board state, and it is a matter of drawing a win condition or decking out the opponent of cards. A very primitive example would be a Burn opponent having only spells that target an opponent and you playing a Leyline of Sanctity. The card itself is not a "Lock" however if the totality of cards in your opponents deck lacks interaction to remove the card, along with then dealing the appropriate damage, you have essentially locked your opponent out. Other examples can include:
Lock Examples
A hexproof creature Troll Ascetic and Worship - against an opponent with no sweepers and targeted removal.
Establishing a Platinum Angel and hooking up Lightning Greaves to give it that 'hexproof' style - against an opponent with no artifact removal/no sweepers.
A favorite, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and Knowledge Pool prevents opponents from casting any cards as the resolving Knowledge Pool trigger is at instant speed - Note this is not a lock against Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger cast trigger which can exile the components of the lock.
Example of a Non-Lock but perceived as a Lock
Infinite Combos - Gaining absurd amounts of life may be a way to define that you are now 'unkillable' but this does not eliminate other win conditions or an equally infinite damage combo in return.
Infinite Loops with No Progression - If your opponent can infinitely take turns, it does not mean they have won. They may lack a win condition. A great example of this was the recent Arena issues with Nexus of Fate.
There is a critical line to play between online and paper though. The Clock or Time in the Round. Unlike online where you have the ability to time out your opponent, paper if you cannot complete a game it becomes a draw and the person with the most wins does win. This doesn't mean you must concede as soon as an appeared lock is established. In many cases, you can attempt to play on for some time but then allow your opponent to play 'another' card and then scoop up your cards to save time. What this does is allows you to acquire more knowledge if your opponent is playing cards, while giving your opponent more cards to consider in your pull of playable cards. Keep in mind time in the round though, you do not want to give yourself too little time to complete the rounds, and Enough of a Lock may be sufficient grounds to concede versus waiting for a Full Lock.
==Transformational Sideboards==
I simply want to note this briefly before the analysis. Many people find cute and fun ways to 'transform their sideboards' to try and trick their opponents by going a different line of attack. Keep in mind that transformational sideboards tend to be one dimensional. The critical piece for a transformational sideboard is to determine the weak matchups and tune the transformation around these. If you are heavy control, you play against an opponent that is heavy control, and transform into a midrange, it likely is not a good idea. If you instead trasnform into an aggro package it will work wonders. That being said if you are a softer control deck with an aggro tansformational sideboard, and play against a fast linear deck, you may have minimal extra disruption. This is what I'd call a under prepared, bad matchup, or a narrow focus of the deck building strategy. There is nothing wrong, in fact having an exact mission is great, just note your focal mission, if it has a flaw or a bad matchup, nothing much is going to change and you will have a higher percentage chance of taking a match loss due to this building decsion.
For what you are all here for the analysis, review, commentary, and discussion on the deck types below.
Red Prison
AKA: Pyro Prison, Mono Red Prison, Red Prison, (Legacy) Dragon Stompy
The deck is what most people here are familiar with. We have several variations of the deck to include Aggro packages (+ Legion Warboss and +Eidolon of the Great Revel main), and Control packages (usually planeswalker or more sweeper based). The deck hinges on fast explosive starts to get ahead of an opponent regardless of the dice roll. The package can have elements of 'all-in' but attempts in the Prison Fashion to limit the opponent's ability to play on curve to bide time in our all-in approach.
Pros
Fast and Explosive to apply pressure or apply locks
Proactive end game. Established locks usually have good quick follow up to minimize opponents time to draw out
Meta Targeting - When tuned can establish easier wins against Top Tier Decks while not straying far from the main focal gameplan.
Cons
All In Strategy - If you put your resources all in one line, and it is easily removed the battle becomes uphill.
Consistency - I only put this here as people argue it frequently. It may have some issues here, but the principal of lengthening a game out provides the ability to draw out. Yes it may not have filtering, your opponent should not have much either once you've put a lock piece out.
Single Color - This I'll put more in the con section then pro for now. The con being the limited access to an alternate sideboard, the pro being you should rarely have mana issues.
Pyro Prison || Classic
Locks (13)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
1 Magus of the Moon
Creatures (5)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (5)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Sweeper Removal/Utility Removal (7)
3 Abrade
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Slagstorm
2 Walking Ballista
Rituals/Fast Mana (9)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
Lands (21)
14 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
3 Ramunap Ruins
1 Scavenger Grounds
SIDEBOARD
3 Ravenous Trap
3 Anger of the Gods
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Torpor Orb
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Grafdigger's Cage
Alternate Sideboard
1 Damping Matrix
1 Spellskite
1 Witchbane Orb
Card Decisions
Pyro Prison's fundamental approach is a stronger lock piece and a fast finish. The card choices to help this include:
Ensnaring Bridge - Preventing large creatures attacking gives planeswalkers or hordes of goblins to be created to swing in for victory
Blood Moon - Limiting the opponent's ability to play magic or ability to remove threats
Rabble Master or Planesalker - These are the finishers, and many planeswalkers Emblem quickly or Rabblemaster + Tokens finish the game quickly if unanswered.
Chalice of the Void - With Modern's overall Mana curve reducing for efficient spells, the more the deck becomes susceptible to fast Chalices.
Ritual/Fast Mana - You'll note in the decklist I call these fast mana. Their only purpose is to power things out ahead of curve. This is a downfall later in the game but is a card and deck building decision to get ahead of the curve.
The other cards not highlighted depend on your flare or version and your meta. Because this deck attacks the meta probably the strongest of the three examples tuning your utility is important. In this example, it is Abrade the Sweepers and Walking Ballista. This final card can be a win condition or removal for pesky bigger creatures/planeswalkers.
The Sideboard
Because of limited access to colors targeting specific matchups is important. A concession for Leyline of the Void is Ravenous Trap as many decks interacting with their graveyard do attack via creatures, thus having an uncastable card, not in the opener conflicts with your main lock pieces of Ensnaring Bridge. There are additional sweepers, aggro pieces, and artifact-based lock pieces. The downside to this and not branching to Enchantments or other abilities is your opponent's artifact removal packages will be coming in for games 2 and 3. This is a deck building concession for staying in a singleton color, but you'll note that some of these along with mainboard locks do present a difficult time for our opponents to cast their necessary removal.
RW Prison
AKA: White Pyro Prison (Only in this thread really), Sun & Moon Prison, RW Taxes, PLATEAU PRISON (By Raystack), Eclipse Prison
The common theme among any white based deck or proposal of white based decks is the sideboard. Sun & Moon presents incredibly powerful threatening sideboard cards, but becomes softer with the locks and proactive gameplan mainboard. The deck itself functions on two axis one is the Prison "Sun & Moon" utilizing similar strategies to Red Prison while attempting a planeswalker (control) based finish. The other entirely different build lends itself more to the "Tax" variant, not necessarily limiting the resources for which an opponent may attack, but rather, providing decision choices for your opponent because the curve has been adjusted due to the taxing/higher cost imposed on performing actions during the game.
Pros
Diversification into another color allows a great card pool for deck building
Powerfull top end can allow for a more diverse Mid/Late game then a more all-in prison build
Typical builds are not as tuned to one set of 75 cards, leaving some unknowns for your opponent, the deck can be tuned towards a meta, albeit it goes extremely hard on that tuning, example Supression Field.
Cons
Locks tend to be softer. The list provided making a Top 8 finish happens to use Bridge but many have opted for Ghostly Prison.
Multi Colors, Multiple Pips, and Blood Moon do not always go to gether nicely.
Locks without aggro or midrange threats tend to give opponents longer to find solutions. The version linked to me removes this con by going more Red Prison like.
Sideboard tends to be in one direction (control), removing typically threats slowing the deck down for stronger lock pieces. You can say this is a pro or a con, based on meta.
Sun & Moon || RW PrisonMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Locks (12)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Creatures (10)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Legion Warboss
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Planeswalkers (7)
1 Ajani Vengeant
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Sarkhan, Fireblood
Removal (2)
2 Abrade
Rituals/Fast Mana (8)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
Lands (21)
4 Arid Mesa
3 Gemstone Caverns
4 Inspiring Vantage
4 Mountain
3 Plains
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Wooded Foothills
SIDEBOARD
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Damping Sphere
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Rest in Peace
1 Sorcerous SPyglass
2 Stony Silence
1 Torpor Orb
2 Wrath of God
Card Decisions
Sun & Moon's fundamental approach is a softer lock piece broader flexibility for matchups and control based finishes. The list provided has done well recently and is melding towards Pyro Prison/Red Prison. I'll note card choice differences below.
Lack of Rituals - Gives the deck not as explosive of a start, but removes air for top decks. The deck performs closer to "Mid Range Prison" then "Aggro Prison"
Planeswalkers - There are typically more planeswalkers or top end. Once you get to these land counts your threats are that much more important for an opponent to deal with.
Rest in Peace, Leyline of Sanctity, Stony Silence - These are what I'd call 'silver bullets' which shut down a large portion of an opponents deck and are very strong.
The Sideboard
I pick three cards to talk about from the sideboard noting they are strong, some of the strongest shut downs to decks that care about Targeting a player, graveyard, or artifacts. Because typically there is removal of speed and proactive cards for this controlling piece you are on a hinge for if your lock piece stays in. Remembering your opponent is bringing in ways to unlock their deck the sideboard has to be one of the strongest hate cards in magic, and white does this very well compared to most. The sideboard though is filled with strictly control based cards, alternatively going another route post board becomes that much more difficult, and if you need to step on the gas you've lost this. Although the sideboard is not strictly transformational, it focuses on answering issues which inherently pushes it one direction.
RB Prison
AKA: Master Prison (Creator's name), Red Black Prison, Dark Pyro (I disagree to some extent this name, but know some are calling it this).
This is the new kid on the block for some, for others, it is a tried and old tale of a variation we've yet to master or establish within the community. I believe many people will actually start to consider this list as an alternative to their Mono Red Variants for a taste of something 'with more'. Whether you want to call it a splash from Pyro, or a side page of Jund the deck features a mid-range prison style with powerful answers while taxing the mana base to the fullest in any prison archetype (I'm ignoring you 4c Whir, you just cheat stuff in). This list I'll go a touch more in depth I think in my analysis strictly as Red Prison is the thread, and RW has been talked about frequently.
Pros
Power level of cards has been upped to the next level. Concessions for staying in one color are thrown out the door deliberately in the main deck
Heavy creatureless build blanks a large portion of removal, and many lists will retain creature removal post-board due to Red Prison's Rabblemaster side effect
Black provides a level of interaction to the opponent that Red or White does not provide. Red interacts typically with the field of play, White typically reacts with the state of the board or protecting self. You'll have heard me say this Pyro Prison presents a proactive solution attempting to end the game with our card options. White variants try to be reactive. - This version does both
Flexibility of card choices and targets is widened. Abrade versus Kohlagan's Command. It could be deemed as RB's version of Cryptic.
Cons
The mana base is brutal. There are a significant number of double black pips that have to be considered, and this can awkwardly strand cards in hand when using a bridge lock.
The kill for the game tends to be a bit slower, but this is countered with the lock pieces have a lot more help staying afloat in many cases.
Self Inflicted damage or card discard can make lines of play more interesting but much more detrimental to the end game result. Fetching/Shocking is giving your Dredge or Burn opponents a free spell, versus simpler mana bases avoid this.
The elements don't always work 'together' as optimally as you think, but there is a fine line between knowing 'should I activate' or 'should I wait' and this many people picking up the list to try out will argue is the reason they lost. Essentially the learning curve I'd put almost higher then Pyro Prison.
Master Prison - JakesMTG || (RB Prison, Dark Pyro)Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Locks (12)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
1 Magus of the Moon
Creatures (13)
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Master of Cruelties
Planeswalkers (4)
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Utility (12)
1 Abrade
4 Collective Brutality
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Bedevil
2 Kolaghan's Command
Mini Threat/Fast Mana (4)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Lands (22)
3 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Graven Cairns
3 Mountain
9 Swamp
1 Temple of Malice
SIDEBOARD
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Crumble to Dust
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Slaughter Games
1 Kolaghan's Command
Card Decisions
RB appears to try and answer the Red Prison's flaws with the decks. Creatures too big to kill, just enough interaction, and ways to prevent the runaway of our opponent's control on the game. Below I'll give card discussion and then talk sideboard with a final note of an opinion on this newcomer versus Pyro Prison. I will ignore card choices that overlap (The lock pieces) as these should be apparent.
Graven Cairns and Bloodstained Mire - Notably missing Gemstone Caverns - This is a nod to "I do not need to be fast." Actually starting with a fetch land or a dual land usually intices your opponent to not fetch basics, at least for now while the deck is not as obvious. This likely will change. Specifically, these cards though give you the "Double Black" without Blood Moon, or give you the opportunity to fetch a Basic Swamp. The 9 swamps are critical though and you are looking at double pips on both red and black. There is no room for Gemstone in the greedy manabase, versus RW where it is not as heavily reliant on double pips.
Bedevil - The card is hyper flexible, kills the creatures we tend to struggle with, and picks off a few artifacts on route. Planeswalkers that establish and we get stuck under (LOTV, Jace, Teferi, Other Chandra's) are problem cards. We attempt to deal with them by swinging in Goblins or picking them off with Walking Ballista. This card just says "No thanks" and can be left open. It is a card you don't wish to dump to get to 0 for bridge, and it is a card you hold and don't uptick with Liliana of the Veil if you don't have to. This card if I could just take it and splash for it in Red Prison... I probably would. Assassin's Trophy is just better some will say. I'll pay 1 more and prevent the search of a basic land. Blood Moon thanks you for your extra pip.
Kolaghan's Command has been discussed. I've heard time and time again "There are no creatures to recur with it" and... that's correct. Artifact removal, small creature removal, and discard removal. Against Tron this is amazing. We get to top decking and you can just clear a turn out because very little is at instant speed. Review this card like a utility swiss army knife, and know when it doesn't do enough, but know when it does just more.
Collective Brutality - is an odd one to help with Bridge, to remove or check for counters and clear the way, or remove spells/gain a little life. It helps undo the fetching we are doing to correct manabases, and is a nice premium removal with flexibility. We praise Abrade and this just has an extra mode while enabling our bridge. Oh, it backs the rule of thumb, no 1 CMC spells.
Master of Cruelties - The first card I'd cut before playing the deck. The absolute last card I would cut now. Incidental life gain, difficult opponents, needing to 'flip the switch' in a turn or two. This card is for you. It is a wall, it blocks, it threatens, its small enough for bridge, yet big enough to miss Bolt/Fatal Push. It falls short to Disemember & Path to Exile, as does Hazoret. If it connects, you have numerous cards that just win you the game, and it didn't matter how much life your opponent was at. It blocks big things and small things. Basically, give it a try... don't just cut it before you get a game or two with it.
Leyline of the Void and Slaughter Games - Are two sideboard cards. See sideboard section.
The Sideboard
Ravenous Trap is considered a lot for our graveyard-based decks. It is like firing a bullet on target and hitting home. That being said they reload the target and move forward. This can be the case. I would call this card just shy of a silver bullet. Silver bullets are in the forms of shutting a deck down. Stony Silence as an example for artifacts. So what does this deck do? Leyline of the Void just does this. I have personally scooped against dredge showing no cards to just put this card in. Because we spoke to the no-air rituals and power level of the cards being higher you can normally find enough win conditions post board to risk the Leyline silver bullet.
The other card is a pet card of mine in BTL Scapeshift. Many a times BTL Black Scapeshift I can get away with casting BTL, they want to counter the next card. Fine, I'll go get Slaughter Games oops you can't counter. Let me tell you the power level here. The opponent is Ad Nauseum. On T3 I opt to use SSG (which cannot be countered) and cast Slaughter Games. I name Ad Nauseum, opponent scoops. Against Amulet Titan I've named Primeval Titan... I took 4 shots from Azusa, Lost but Seeking before finally finding removal for it, but that was 4 turns extra. The card just eats important cards in opponents decks. To boot, it is a sorcery (so what?) it doesn't stick around, no removal, no getting those cards back, they're gone.
An Opinion
Pyro Prison struggles against some of the more powerful and flexible midrange decks. It also falls to Dredge though I know some are working to get that to work. This deck seems to answer those issues, this is why I'd call it the Yin/Yang to Pyro Prison. If you can navigate the tricky manabase, appropriately cement powerful cards, and put your opponent on the back foot, this deck can just roll over them.
Alternate Prisons
I'm not going to list decklists here, but talk briefly about the two I can think of.
Whir Prison (4c Prison) - Is an extremely good toolbox based deck. It looks to take any of those hard/soft locks, and find them in time. If you needed 6 cards to lock it out, this deck will do it. This comes close to the 'true lock' but falls short to board wipes aimed at artifacts.
Lantern Control - This my friends is the only deck in my opinion which can create the true lock. What is meant by this is that we can play 4 of cards. Lantern control utilizes deck knowledge, top deck information, and controlling your opponents draws. It is essentially "Mind Slaver Lite" but establishes a true lock by preventing enough consecutive answers from being potentially drawn. It takes patience to not 'attempt to mill faster' and suffers from time management by newer pilots. A seasoned pilot though, a quick thoughtseize, and a pair of mill stones with lantern out and game is likely locked out.
Green Land Destruction - I'll place this in prison only because it tries to Plow Under or Primeval Command the opponent enough to time walk them into losing from creature attacks. It restricts mana similar to taxing but falls under prison/control by limiting resources. It is an honorable mention.
Stax Lists - not as prevalent in modern, but do the same concepts and something to watch for. At FNM level they are a blast! Have fun, honorable mention #2
Concluding Prison
There are many archetypes, versions, variations, and styles of magic decks. This is the beauty of magic. I always recommend you determine the style of player you wish to be, and build towards that or find the deck that does this. Prison offers a lot of styles. Finally, prison decks are tuned towards metas in many cases and sideboard plans will vary drastically on the style of play you wish to attempt to manipulate your opponent into playing. Have a blast trying these, talk, discuss, and find that sweet card you want to run at FNM, find that optimized list for a GP, and good luck as you lock'em out of the game, and lock in the wins. I'll see you in discord, on stream, on twitter, in here! Happy Locking Mountainfolk!
i was thinking about how skred would develop in the new meta and i came up with monored turbo bs.dec
im rocking moon trinisphere chalice bridge molten stone fulminator pyretic and desperate ritual
took a lot of the idea from free win red but decided magus of the moon was too much a liability with pyro and now return from tron
figured fulminator mage would be a nice swap
also contemplating a singleton goblin dark dweller...if trinisphere is not out it gets a free molten or stony our the yard
koth chandra and sarkhan rounding out the deck
Do you have a decklist that you can share wushambudo? Fulminator Mage may not be the best option, since I'd rather have a land kill spell that can target basic land drops: Molten Rain, for instance.
I think this deck can press to 5-CMC options, and one of the first cards considered was Thundermaw Hellkite - but too often I'm catching conflict with the bridge. Your thought of Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker is inspired! Auto-Include.
When you mention that you're looking to 'tweak - but not transform' the signature hallmarks of "All in Red", I guess I would ask what elements you're looking to enhance:
- Offense
- Defense
- Lock/Control
You did cite an interest in Land Destruction. Definitely. Even with the right matchups, opponents can still squeak out a basic land here and there. My thought is Molten Rain since the two damage can spill into hitting common planeswalkers: Liliana of the Veil or Jace, Vryn's Prodigy.
I am sure you are also looking for some form of recurring damage to control mana dorks or 1st turn weenies that squeaked out. I like the idea of Jaya Ballard, Task Mage. Grim Lavamancer isn't an option as we don't fill our GY with enough spells or fetchlands. Honestly, I love Pia and Kiran. They necessitate the artifact to stay high, so they are keeping Chalice, Bridge, Serum Powder in the mix. There is Chandra, Pyromaster and Koth of the Hammer as well.
I highly encourage you to look at Chalice of the Void since it can keep you alive against opponents with favorable matchups: Burn, Infect, Tron (16+ 1 drop spells) which are known for their 1 drop spells, but when you escalate to a chalice on 2, you can lock out any number of competitive decks.
For me? I struggle with the right balance of creatures and bridge and ability to close out the win. The lock pieces? Heh, the Hammer's got that covered...
UB Tezzerator
UBW Gifts
B 8Rack
Legacy
RB Goblins
Even further down the line of land destruction, I was getting jazzed with the idea of a T1 or T2 Pyretic Ritual into a Seething Song into a Deus of Calamity. Game, Set, Match.....and, then it occurred to me. Seething is banned. Wonder why?
The next cards getting explored are Faithless Looting and Wild Guess.....let's get this jackwagon up to 88 mph!
I'd love to see your decklist.
The thought of Chandra, fire of Kaladesh // Chandra, Roaring Flame is similarly mint. you get a body (human) and a ting machine (sure extra drawn rituals stink, but at least they can chain for a ping and potentially flip into a beast. I am behind that as it is very difficult to protect chandra, pyromaster without a bridge. And, most of the time she really just acts as a very vulnerable Outpost Siege.
And, you are still going 4 blood moon and 4 magus of the moon, eh? I'm down to 5 effects, as they are just so terrible as a cumulative stack - plus I do run serum powder to fix draws. My question on running Trinisphere is that it makes the 3-cmc slot very crowded, no? What do you think about mixing in the Chalice as well. If not, I think I like the idea of doing Faithless looting (maybe 2) to fix draws and further the drop on running 8 moons. Plus, Faithless Lootingon a flashback can help trigger Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh. Hell! a Top decked Looting will flip Chandra all by itself (with Flashback). That's 5 damage to an opponent's face.
Me thinks we are onto something here.....
Thanks for the inquisitive reply. I played the deck enough to recognize two types of frustrating losses occurring before I found and activated Koth of the Hammer: a) against those with enough burn spells (plus Snapcaster Mages) who were otherwise locked out by Ensnaring Bridge or Blood Moon, and b) Tron players, who eventually accumulated enough Mountains to cast big colorless threats and destroy Ensnaring Bridge. I could imagine Chalice of the Void, land destruction, Wild Guess, and Jaya Ballard helping differently. Now the question is what to remove from the maindeck, or whether to simply adjust the sideboard? My maindeck has five categories of cards: lands, acceleration, lock pieces, planeswalkers, and burn. I could imagine that 2 Pyretic Ritual, 1 Magus of the Moon, 2 Relic of Progenitus (I do not think I understand the value or utility of this card), and maybe some Lightning Bolts could be removed (I really like the scry of Magma Jet to find Ensnaring Bridge). My first thought is to simply remove two Relic of Progenitus, one Magus of the Moon, and one, say, Lightning Bolt or Pyretic Ritual, for some combination of Wild Guess and Chalice of the Void maindeck, and then alter the sideboard. What are your opinions on flexible cards in the mainboard and sideboard of SaffronOlive's "Free Win Red"?
3 Magus of the Moon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Magma Jet
2 Pyretic Ritual
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Blood Moon
4 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Koth of the Hammer
22 Mountain
1 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Rending Volley
3 Vandalblast
4 Dragon's Claw
1 Pyroclasm
2 Roast
It was constructed by Saffron Olive, and he does a superb write-up on its design and proven effectiveness in online play (pre-TWIN ban) see link in primer. I don't believe it's placed in a premier event, top 16. I love the deck. As I said in the primer, I think we all want just a little bit more. In the wake of the Twin/Titan ban, the door is opened. I believe that we will see very long-form creative decks that don't have to pack an answer in the form of Path to Exile or Terminate. For that reason, I'm not crazy about a couple elements:
REMOVAL
This deck does Ensnaring Bridge lock down, a couple sweepers, and
1-shot removal: Lightning Bolt and Magma Jet don't take down Eldrazi or Tarmogoyf, and Elves and Merfolk can race past them. For me, I'm thinking multi-shot kill (like the Anger of the Gods selection):
1.) Pyroclasm
2.) Forked Bolt
3.) Fall of the Titans
Fall of the Titans can be a double instant fireball without much effort. Even if you simply blow out a couple birds, robots, elves, or weenies on turn 2, that's enough to set folks back. I'm just starting to test Fall, but with lots of rituals and even dropping a chalice for 0 in order to trigger the 'surge' mechanic, it looks promising.
I don't want to pretend that I'm an expert on this original deck, as I did start adding components of a similar deck, pictured below, relatively quickly. This deck is far more aggro with early lockdown and no ensnaring bridge.
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Prophetic Flamespeaker
4 Wild Cantor
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Kargan Dragonlord
Artifacts (6)
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Sword of War and Peace
4 Blood Moon
Instants (7)
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Pyretic Ritual
Planeswalkers (2)
2 Koth of the Hammer
Lands (21)
13 Mountain
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Gemstone Caverns
2 Trinisphere
3 Shattering Spree
3 Pyroclasm
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Relic of Progenitus
Again, pretty sharp offering. Free Win Red does Blood Moon and Bridge while Bloody Humans does Blood Moon and Chalice of the Void. I'd like to get these two kids out on the dance floor together and see if some magic can happen. As for the 2nd deck, Bloody Humans, Pete freely admits that, although he's played for 20 years, he is brand new to Modern. And, now, Modern has changed again with Ladytwin gone. Sooooooo, that's where I saw Hammer's Slammer // Koth's Mono-Red Prison: Somewhere in the middle of these two decks with some added spice.
I call this idea, "3rd Base, Already Got There". So, the concept follows: Start the game with 3 mana. Boomshanka. 3 mana ready to fire. If you defer starting the game, and go for the draw, you are afforded the following start -
(4) Simian Spirit Guide
(4) Desperate Ritual
(4) Pyretic Ritual
(4) Gemstone Caverns
(13) Mountain
This gives you a Turn 1 with 3 Red Mana. Not since Vintage! So, what are your Turn 1 plays?
Trinisphere (your opponent can presumably do nothing more until turn 3)
Blood Moon/Magus of the Moon
What follows is a deck construction that is almost exclusively 3cmc+, since it's safe to assume that you'll always have 3 mana ready to go. Fundamentally, this gives you an enormous advantage over your opponent. It's fair to note that this mana explosion comes at cost. Living like a lion, not a lamb, usually does. You'll be doing 2-for-1 effects to source 3 mana, but who cares when you're ahead. Soooo, what follows?
Prophetic Flamespeaker
Boros Reckoner
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh // Chandra, Roaring Flame
Avaricious Dragon
Here's a rough first draft. 1st......Draft. Feel free to tear into it. I'd love to see more brainstorm lists, as this firecracker has got so much potential...
Creatures (18)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Prophetic Flamespeaker
3 Avaricious Dragon
2 Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
1 Magus of the Moon
4 Blood Moon
Instants (8)
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Pyretic Ritual
Planeswalkers (2)
2 Koth of the Hammer
Artifacts (4)
4 Trinisphere
3 Faithless Looting
Lands (21)
13 Mountain
4 Gemstone Caverns
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
EDIT: Eldrazi Tron is straight up ridoncu-stupid. So, I don't know if I'm ready to leave behind the Ensnaring Bridge....
With Bloody Humans, you won't out-aggro an aggro deck. Blood Moon won't slow down many (burn/merfolk/zoo), but Chalice of the Void will....and so will bridge. With Eldrazi tron, you better Ensnaring Bridge up or land a moon, and chalice is worthless. There's a whole lot of Rock, Paper, Scissors out there. But, as I'm sure you've noticed, we've got all three. I anticipate this forum will go wide with its deck designs. The signature tenets are Mono-Red and Lockdown with Koth swinging rock fists.
Back to the aggro Human approach, which is to say "Bridge is Out": can it stand up without bridge? I don't think I like the Wild Cantor and without them, it becomes a little hard to justify a Sword of War and Peace. In my testing I found that I wasn't gaining much life from a full hand, and my opponent wasn't getting jammed up (due to Moon/Chalice) to the point that his hand was full. The concept seems good on paper, but if that sort of scenario is playing out, then isn't sword just a 'win-more' card?
Mana dorks definitely ruin the moon plan, but I'd like to see cards that are a little less narrow than a bolt or magma jet as answers. Bolt or Magma Jet will not win you the game. We need something like a Cursed Scroll. In the following iteration, I've put up a deck that can fire off repeated damage from onboard permanents...that's a huge leap forward from what we've seen from either of the original decks. Let's roll out another brainstorming deck idea.
Here in Massachusetts, there was an historical weapons museum, The Higgins Armory, that had a collection which rivaled that of any in the world. One of my favorite items was a 16th century-ish device called a "Shield Gun". They had the original prototype (it was never thought to have actually been used in battle). It was a round shield with a small pistol that was situated in the middle, within the shield, with its barrel protruding from the center of the shield. The user could defend against weapon blows while blasting hot lead. Best of both: Offense and Defense....
Creatures (13)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
2 Magus of the Moon
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Instants (8)
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Pyretic Ritual
2 Koth of the Hammer
Artifacts (9)
4 Trinisphere
4 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Batterskull
Sorcery (2)
2 Faithless Looting
Lands (22)
14 Mountain
4 Gemstone Caverns
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Dragon's Claw
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Boiling Seas
2 Shattering Spree
0 Chandra, Roaring Flame
Quick Notes: Cavern of Souls can cast every creature in the deck (monkeys don't count, cuz they're monkeys). The acceleration is unmatched (8 rituals, Gemstone, 4 monkeys, & 3 faithless looting). This provides for near-immediate implementation of defense with the hopes to formulate win conditions and not sit back on the heels of a chandra, pyromaster +1 ping. Flippy Chandra is the machine gun behind the bunker - Faithless Looting helps a lot in this respect. 6 moon effects are adequate, methinks. Jaya and Pia came to play, and can chuck firebombs over the wall as well as maintain control against creatures that can slip under a bridge. Shield Gun...what do you guys think?
EDIT: Trinisphere provides a speedbump for an opponent, but once they get to 3 mana, they are essentially churning out one spell a turn. For a lot of decks, that's not all that much of a hinderance. Even Burn will eventually smoke me out when I have no counterspells or lifegain. The other issue with Trini is that it renders my (8) Red Dark Rituals worthless. Trinisphere doesn't have the stopping power of Chalice of the Void....Do other folks have experience evaluating these cards against each other?
LAND DESTRUCTION ANGLE
I can see how Koth's Shield Gun could easily morph into a land destruction deck. It's the best way to keep that Trinisphere lock going. Best Options?
Molten Rain: Target any one of your opponent's lands and zing for 2 damage
Fulminator Mage: Target only non-basic lands which can be an issue after a blood moon has dropped
--> Kolaghan's Command: Recycle Fulminator Mage (Darned Black Mana)
Avalanche Riders: Target any one of your opponent's lands and swing for 2 damage
Deus of Calamity: Pop this guy out early, and few can measure up - plus, your opponent almost has to sacrifice something in front of him, otherwise it can turn into a mana vortex lock.
Goblin Dark-Dwellers: Recur a Molten Rain.
Is Land Destruction even viable in Modern??
This Deck is greatly Improved in a 2.0 Version Five Posts Down.
Creatures (15)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Avaricious Dragon
4 Prophetic Flamespeaker
2 Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
1 Magus of the Moon
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Instants/Sorcery (9)
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Pyretic Ritual
2 Pyroclasm
1 Fall of the Titans
2 Koth of the Hammer
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Artifacts (6)
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Batterskull
1 Ratchet Bomb
Lands (22)
13 Mountain
4 Gemstone Caverns
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
3 Dragon's Claw
3 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Pyroclasm
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Traitorous Blood
2 Shattering Spree
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
1 Magus of the Moon
0 Chandra, Roaring Flame
As I approach designing a deck in this archetype, there is always a 'Fork in the Road'. One goes over a bridge and one goes....I don't know - not over a bridge. I'm trying to say, Ensnaring Bridge or No Ensnaring Bridge.
The path that goes over the bridge: The deck above with Trinisphere (Koth's Shield Gun)would, upon further deliberation, get quickly reworked to swap out (4) Trinisphere for (4) Chalice of the Void. Aside from a few minor tinkers, Koth's Shield Gun would be my favorite 'Bridge Hammer'. It gives me Rock/Paper/Scissors = Chalice/Bridge/Blood Moon, and it has win outlets from behind the bridge. Essentially, this deck is trying to be a Swiss Army Knife of stopping all comers and squeaking out a victory. But, can it stand up to Affinity or a silly fast draw by Zoo or Burn? I'm concerned that it has no real lifegain and no card draw. Any help in this regard would be appreciated?
The path that doesn't go over the bridge: The immediate preceding deck, 2 Koths and a Chalice, is far more aggressive. It doesn't use bridge and goes for enormous amounts of mana generation and card draw. The control elements are Chalice and Blood Moon. Again, it starts the game with 3 mana most of the time. Cards in the running are Rift Bolt (sidesteps Chalice) and more sweepers.
The answers may be found in reviewing the results from the fist major Modern tournament since the bannings: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/deckshow.php?&t[C1]=28&start_date=2016-01-24&end_date=2016-01-24&event_ID=36&city=Atlanta&state=GA&t_num=1&limit=8&start_num=8&start_num=0&limit=8
Anyone else have some brainstorming decklists to share?? I'd love to get some more ideas for the sideboard as well. Do we go for a transformational approach where Bridge is in for game 1, and then removed entirely in game 2 for the option of some red beefcakes to come storming in?
Dang that event wanted bridge and chalice on 1
Early power leveraged by countermagic
So that's not what my meta looked like.
I have infect and tron and midrange
And that was pre ban pre return
This thursday is our first attempt so I think I'm going to go safe with moon chalice trinisphere ld
I'll post a list shortly but yea boom/bust with goblin dark dwellers works
Turn 1 chalice into ritualed loadstone is lights out so he made the deck. Basically keep excelled hands into locks or on the draw get that gemstone cavern.
Why play modern when you can play legacy...amiright?
My tests have been all on the draw with friend usually turn 1 hand disruption. He sees multiple locks and has hard choices. Usually he takes a trinisphere because he is playing esper with new jace into goroyo's vengeance shenanigans
I feel like I almost rushed into this thread a li'l too fast. The ideas were fast and furious.....and untested. I offered 'em all, (Apologies) but am starting to realize:
- "3rd Base, Already There" at the expense of heavy mana generation, 2-for-1 cards like rituals/apes, may be ill-advised. We do have 1 and 2-Drops of worth
- Sweepers are certainly necessary and bolts too
I'm still partial to running The Power Suite: Chalice of the Void, Blood Moon, and Ensnaring Bridge. But, if I had to do without the bridge, this is the variant I'm liking the most right now. What I essentially did was back away from (8) Red Dark Ritual and (4) Simian Spirit Guide to better develop my early game. I'm still doing (4) Chalice, but other early drops include Pyroclasm, spellskite, Tormenting Voice, Ratchet Bomb, Kargan Dragonlord, and Rift Bolt. These cards don't require 3-mana start, but they still present effective early game tactics. Bridgeless just seeeems very dicey, right now. If they get out some fat creature like a Tarmogoyf, straight red doesn't have many ways of felling large trees. If I'm bridgeless, I at least want to look at something like Pia and Kiran Nalaar as a stopping measure, but they become so vulnerable to pyroclasm - so, I'm stuck on one. I will say that Prophetic Flamespeaker and my 1 Batterskull do kind of act like bridge as folks either don't attack into them or they don't want to be left open for the swing.
So, this is version 2.0 of
Creatures (14)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Prophetic Flamespeaker
2 Avaricious Dragon
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Kargan Dragonlord
1 Spellskite
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Instants/Sorcery (11)
3 Desperate Ritual
3 Pyroclasm
3 Rift Bolt
2 Tormenting Voice
2 Koth of the Hammer
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
Artifacts (6)
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Batterskull
1 Ratchet Bomb
Lands (22)
13 Mountain
4 Gemstone Caverns
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
3 Dragon's Claw
2 Shattering Spree
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Pyroclasm
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Batterskull
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
1 Spellskite
1 Grafdigger's Cage
Noteworthy MVP Question: Which is better Chandra, Pyromaster or Outpost Siege? They both give you card advantage and the planeswalker gives you more, but is far easier to remove in a non-bridge build. Well, the answer is simple on which is better. Avaricious Dragon. As much as I'd never play more than 2 Pyromaster or Siege in a non-bridge build, I was foolish to have started with playing more than 2 dragons. Testing. It follows - keep that rule of thumb. By the time I reach 4 mana, I want to see a howling mine. I also want to see damage inflicters. None are better at this task than the dragon.....when my hand is exhausted, then drop the phat flier.
I agree that Bridge seems to be needed and something like maybe a Torchling to mix well with it.
Chandra over Siege is the choice I feel. Flexibility as the game state changes is more important that not having them be able to burn your choice. The other part is. They either have enchantment hate or they don't, more likely they do and it gets 1-1'd but to burn out planeswalkers often can take 2 spells or force them to swing into an opening to get rid of her. Her +1 also allows you to swing past unfavorable blockers as well.