Hey guys, I've been lurking here for the past week or two and have completely fallen in love with the deck. I've been streaming it every day or two for a bit now. If you want to come hang out some time with me on my stream, you can follow me here: https://www.twitch.tv/roguedecker
People seem to be loving the deck, just a few days ago I had the 2nd most concurrent viewers next to Todd Stevens, CURSE YOU TODD! Would love to have some of you stop by! Cheers
A warm campfire hello to Chekmate77 and xBankx1 and socketto
Good anaylysis on the differentiation between Pyro Prison and R/W Pale Moon, xBank. I actually think R/W Pale Moon is more similar to Free Win Red than us. Like Caligula said, the lack of Goblin Rabblemaster in the main has been tried successfully, but I consider it the 4th wall of our prison cell - must have in the mainboard. I keep a 5th one in my sideboard, Phyrexian Metamorph.
The idea of a full-on transformation sideboard can work, but with the use of Eidolon of the Great Revel, it would just take up too many spots [7] in the sideboard. I think it helps to think of the deck as a melded (75) and not a stark split. Whenever I'm trying to free up slots in the sideboard, I see how I can slide parts of the (15) into the (60). An example of this is running (2) slagstorm in the main and (2) anger of the gods in the sideboard - similar mechanics, but slag won't blank as an answer card in game 1. Also, since the introduction of (2) damping matrix into the sideboard, Shattering Spree is totally gone from my (75). Splitting (2) Abrade between my main deck and sideboard freed up room. Abrade and Damping Matrix simply have more applications than Spree.
I did get through Round 4 of what Fluffywolf posted on his 5 round stream. Good share. It's really tough to discuss exact actions with Time Stamps, but I did want to address Round 4 -- Blue Tron. It's considered a difficult match for us, and I noticed that we don't have listed Sideboard Strategy on it in the Primer. That's because it's not listed in the top 2 Tiers by MTGsalvation. So, here it is again:
3 THOUGHTS:
a. Opening game is at 1:05. There was some discussion on what your Turn 2 play should be when you have 2 mtns and 1 ritual. the opponent has a tron land and a map. With 2 rabbles and 1 magus in hand, I would have rolled out the Rabblemaster instead of the magus. They are a big part of how you beat tron. the risk was that you didn't have a 3rd mountain, so the magus was the safer play. But, with 30 mana sources and the opponent 2 land drops away from assembling, trust your deck, and go big.
b. sideboarding: furthering that thought, i disagreed with you taking out the rabbles and trying to create a control=ish game. I would have kept them in, and brought in the (3) eidolon of the great revel. Also, you brought chandra up to 8 loyalty rather than cracking her at 7 for the emblem. brave and risky. that deck runs repeal and cyclonic rift
c. in game 3, off the scry, you had the chance to keep a simian spirit guide on top, and then execute a turn 1 Chandra. i definitely would have done so, regardless of burning down 3 ritual effects. Imagine chaining that into a turn one eidolon as well /// so, just some thoughts...
If I can find some time, I'll check out your runs as well, Chekmate!
Ray is 100% correct. You gotta go small and fast vs big Tron of any color. Jam that rabblemaster and eidolin and do as much damage as possible before they go over the top of anything we could be doing.
Round 1: Jund
Game one, traditional lock out, blood moon, bridge, eventually Koth ultimates
Game two, discard plus abrupt decay takes key lock pieces and I get run over by a goyf.
Game three, and early moon keep him off double black, two ensnaring bridges snsures he can never attack, and rabblemaster makes a ton of tokens. This game wnet really long. by the time it was over, I had 10 goblin tokens in play, all from a single rabblemaster he couldn't answer because of chalice on one. Eventually, chandra goes ultimate and it's over. W 1-0
Sideboard strategy, out 2 slagstorm, one abrade. In- Hazoret, Spyglass, spellskite.
Round 2 vs. 5-Color Shadow
Game one, play blood moon. their deck has only a single basic....swamp. Blood moon locks him out almost completely. the chalice on one follow-up was too good and we're off to game two.
Game two, opening hand is chalice, moon, bridge, three mountains (I mulliganed). that's a snap keep. discard spell takes moon, chalice on one gets abrupt decayed, bridge gets ancient grudge, and I die to something huge.
Game three, another hand with no acceleration, but chalice moon and bridge appear again. Moon get hit with a discard spell, chalice on one comes down, next turn, I cast spyglass, see push, pulse, two verdunt catacombs, and Hazoret. He already had three lands, so naming ctacombs wasn't going to stp him, so I name hazoret. Next turn, he plays hazoret and cannot attack. I make sure not to run out any creatures and hold bridge because I don't want it to get pulsed. Eventually, I get a chalice on two as well, forcing him to use the pulse on both chalices. This opens the door to pay a bridge, then I draw another bridge and sam that down two. He draws his only answer to both....ancient grudge and attackes with hazoret and battlerages it....I'm down to 10, draw land, pass, he attackes, i'm down to 5. Off the top....magus of the moon. I slam that down fully expecting to have to block and he draws a card and can't play it because it's green leaving him with two cards in hand. Hzoret sits there looking dumb, I draw eidolin, play it, attack opponent down to 5 with magus and pass. He draws ANOTHER green card and just conceeds. I would be attacking for 4, putting him to one with an eidolin in play. W 2-0
Sideboard. Out - 2 slagstorm, 2 abrade, 2 magus of the moon, 1 walking ballista In. 1 spyglass, 1 spellskite, 1 hazoret, 3 eidolin, 1 boil.
Round 3 - UW control.
Game one. Turn one Chandra gets hit with a DSphere. Im totally dead here, but he can't find a threat. No gideon, snap, colonnade, nothing....so we keep playing. I eventually find a bridge, multiple rabblemasters, chandra #3 (#2 also got DSphered) and he eventually couldn't answer everything. I did use both slagstorm to take out big gideon, so that's a plus.
Game two, Early chalice on one followed up by rabblemaster seal the deal. He missed his 4th land drop which meant he couldn't verdict. By the time he was able to sweep the board, he was at one life and I followed up with eidolin. W 3-0
Sidebaord: Out 2 abrade, 2 slagstorm, 2 magus of the moon. In 3 eidolins, 1 hazoret, 1 spyglass, 1 spellskite.
Round 4 vs Jeskai Breach.
Apparently there's a new jeskai list that says **** it, no geist, no spell queller, just breaching spaghetti in your face. I thin it went undefeated in the swiss part of the the last grand prix. this deck is terrifying because, well, what deck that can slap you into game two with a 15/15 flying **** face isn't? they do have a weakness, like most jeskai decks do, so lets see if we can exploit it.....
Game one, early chalice on one plus blood moon puts them on exactly one island and a whole lotta mountains. bridge comes donw a few turns alter and it's over.
Game 2. No moon this game, but chalice on one, two, and 2 bridges seal this game up. W 4-0
Sidebaord out: 2 sbrade, 2 slagstorm, 1 magus of the moon, 2 walking ballista. In. 1 spellskite, 1 torpor orb, 3 eidolin, 1 hazoret, 1 boil.
In case you missed it, the weakness Jeskai decks have is they go light on counter magic in favor of more removal in the form of bolts, helixes, and electrolyzes. this bodes very well for us becuase that means we are resolving most of our stuff. this has been the case with every jeskai list i've faced so far, and you know what happens when you can't stop our stuff.....
Anyway, that's a 4-0 FNM with this deck. 3-1 last week, 4-0 this week. 7-1, not too shabby. thanks for reading!
My one question really is how are you managing to either get multiple chalices or moon/multiple bridges and still find a planeswalker. I had a game yesterday on MTGO. I kid you not, there was not one of my planeswalkers in the first 30 cards. This is why, although I know red does not have filter stuff, I just feel like that is the crux of the deck. I can't run well, and that seems to essentially translate into records. I really want to see you streaming this if possible, or even record and upload to youtube if streaming can't work. I'd like to see your decision making.
I often have a similar issue. I've started running one Commune With Lava in the main which can really help find a lock piece or threat into the mid/late game. I might even consider going up to two. Really helps in the control matchups, especially Lantern.
Fluffy, let me know in advance when you are going to stream and I'll do my best to watch the games in real time. This deck requires a MASTERY in knowing the modern meta game and what you are facing. I get the sense from watching your matched that you might not be aware of what your opponent is doing and how they might beat you. also, you're sidebaording needs to work, which I am very open to helping you with.
Don't feel bad about not doing so well at first with this deck. I lent this deck to a buddy at FNM a few weeks ago and we went 0-2 real quick. My list is almost identical to yours with two changes.....I run Pia and Kiran main deck instead of 5th Chandra. Also, I run one spyglass and one damping matrix in the board instead of two spyglasses.
I will admit, I do get lucky sometimes, but at this point, I don't think luck has as that much to do with the run I've been on with this deck. I'm always studying the format and Modern is all I play, so I know exactly what each deck is trying to do and how they beat you....except for Eldrazi Tron...I can't seem to beat that deck, like ever. that's why I am running a Damping matrix now in the board.
Anyway, give me a heads up in advance the next time you stream and I'll do my best to make it and help you out in real time. This way I can give you real time advice and help you go 5-0 instead of trying to give pointers after the fact.
As for the card drawing spells, I don't like them. The power of this deck is abusing the fast mana and creating situations extremely early that the opponent can't get out of. The card drawing spells are good late game and that's about it. You'd be better off running walking ballista because it can be used early and late to great effectiveness. I've tagged a bird or a steel overseer for two mana and I've made a 5/5 pinging machine late game. Both are good.
Wish you lived closer....we could play test in person and make each other better.
Basically i have been playing around with this archetype ever since Free Win Red got featured by SafronOlive, and i knew that this is my deck! However i always felt that Free Win Red was incomplete, bit to young. Been trying experimenting quite a lot of things from Sige-gang Commander to spellskites main board, from chalise-less/skred/faithless looting/relic version to 8 moons/4 molten rain phyrexian metamorphs ect ect. Imagine my surprise when i saw this thread, and even better yet that Ray was in here, as your leagues/tournaments in MTGGoldfish and mtgtop8 where quite an inspiration for my tests.
So want to start by saying keep up the amazing work here guys, all of you!!!!! And congrats to Russ on the resent top 8 finish!
Now to the point..
The newest version of the deck i feel is close... rely close, although i do have some grudges with it with respect to some matchups!
However i'd like to discuss 2 of those matches, Burn and Storm with respect to the "Dragon's Claw".... or lack of it.
In my opinion only 1 way of approach against storm is shaky, and in my experience they can easily overcome it. Yes we do have Eidolons and Cages, but that is 5? cards(9 with chalices) of 60 in a deck that has no ways to filter cards at all... and as mentioned before we need at least 2 ways to target them, hence my thought was the "Dragon's Claw". I keep remembering how i never lost to it when i played the skred-red version and big part was the Dragon's Claw, granted in combination with bolts and relics.
Furthermore i'm having a horrible time against Burn with the current sideboard, and i am not rely sure about the Eidolons against burn.
Both of these matchups the "Dragon's Claw" would do a lot of work, so how come it is no longer in the board??
I watched "THE GATHERING" on chekmate77's stream just now and Russ touched upon the subject by mentioning his dislike of "Dragon's Claw" and that he had some tips against burn? any chance you can ellaborate on it??
Also what is everyone's thought process against storm? Anything else apart from "aggro them out/chalice on 2", before they bounce the "1"? answer you have on board and kill you?
Counters Company:
G1: Lost to Big Knight + Retreate
G2: T1 bloodmoon, T2 cage, T3 Orb, T4 Chandra, T5 Bridge, T6 Chalice on 2
G3: Lost to a punt not dumping ritual on opponents attack step, unable to ult chandra
Mardu - Pyromancer
G1: T1 Chandra, T2 Chalice on 1, Get run over by Pyromancer and Lingering Souls
G2: Mull to Oblivion (1 lander, 1 lander, into 4 + SSG): T8 first card (the rest lands, topped a slagstorm, and all we saw).
Eldrazi Taxes (Same guy from earlier)
G1: Lost to a Flickerwisp Bouncing Bridge
G2: T2 Thalia - Locks us out we draw to abrade but do not draw another land. (fought out to 1 life, then died to a kill on my bridge)
If any of the mountainfolk want to gather today, I'll be starting my stream around 4pm GMT (2 hours from now). We're going to try a list slightly closer to Stickballruss's build, and if he is watching we may just go completely his build to learn from his teachings. See you in prison! Link to my channel is in my sig.
Hey Fluffy, was able to watch most of those last two matches. I didn’t see anything obvious other than some rough and unexpected match-ups. Running into mono-red 8-whack and then mono-green belcher hurts the deck running Blood Moon effects. Hard to plan when you get into the x-1 or x-2 brackets of a Tournament.
Hey Fluffy, was able to watch most of those last two matches. I didn’t see anything obvious other than some rough and unexpected match-ups. Running into mono-red 8-whack and then mono-green belcher hurts the deck running Blood Moon effects. Hard to plan when you get into the x-1 or x-2 brackets of a Tournament.
Certainly and thanks for tuning in! Any support is support for myself but also for the deck when runninng it.
I think the big things we are learning as I jam out session after session of this deck, and receive feedback from the viewers, is that yes the deck can stumble on itself, but there are critical paths that have to be planned out for gameplans, and then these are executed until a deviation occurs. To what Russ has mentioned, "If you turn off being Aggro/Control for a single turn, you are likely to lose." The deck also requires a high level of precision decisions to really be effective. Decisions start immediately also, there is sometimes no come back for when you are deciding to mulligan and end up keeping a slower hand.
Of note:
Aggro: Mulligan decisions are important and the key cards you want are those that are aggressive or promote your aggression. Aggression is also seen as aggressively getting a lock piece out. Be mindful if there are redundancies in the hand to prevent on-the-draw disruption (ie: Thoughtseize).
Control: As silly as this may seem if you are locking into the control matchup, and the aggro from your opponent is fast but not all in (Like our 8-whack opponent) the mulligan choice can be slightly loser. The critical decision, however, is having 4 lands or 3 lands. We are also not talking about as I call them "One Time Use Lands" which are our SSG and Rituals. Slower approaches to your lock pieces are fine in times for the control half. Not always, but if there is a forgiving side it is when we're on the control package.
Cards we are loving:
Pia Kiran Nalaar - Alright Russ, Parents are good. Maybe my love of Chandra was just misguided. I am thinking also of maybe adding an additional one... scary I know.
Eidolon - It is hard to squeeze a 4th in the sideboard, but man does this card feel good. Too good sometimes, just flat out too good.
Cards we are less impressed with:
Hazoret the Fervent - Although I love Hazoret when he works, I find Ensnaring Bridge is less likely to be pulled out of the deck. Due to current meta, I am almost thinking he needs to go, he is also a 4 drop, and Chandra and Koth are doing just fine.
Spellskite - Funny enough I have struggle with our little Horror. I know why he is in the board, and he comes in so often. Having a 1 of in the sideboard we just don't draw often. I wouldn't rule him out, but goodness, maybe I just don't see the value cause our opponent is trying to get a second answer before playing =). The hidden positive is likely occurring here.
Boil - I will say this is an absolute blow out card. It is the card that wins the UW matchup. There is also a UR breach deck going around, it helps this one also. This card is literally for 2 matchups, there is no other matchup I am bringing it in, mainly due to our opponents dual lands not being islands, or we know our opponent does not run islands. The card, absolute crusher, is it valuable currently with 2 - 3 decks in the Meta it hits? I can't decide, but then you run Melira in green when infect is big... Hmmmm...
Except for Russell, no one was more thrilled than me with Russell's Top 8 finish in the Starcitygames Modern Open in Virginia earlier this month. It's brought a tremendous amount of attention to Pyro Prison. There have been spotlights and mentions in all of the preeminent online Magic publications and loads of new faces around the MTGsalvation campfire. It's everything that I ever hoped for when I started developing this deck 2 years ago.
Russell first entered this thread last month. Clearly - an extraordinarily gifted player with a masterful understanding of how to pilot Pyro Prison.
Russell's winning Maindeck is the same as my earlier Starcitygames Regionals list from November 8th - with the exception of Walking Ballista. Strong addition. Mvilla888 and I have hit Top 8 with Ballista earlier this year in Starcitygames IQ events. Sideboard: Russell made a few inspired alterations which targeted the meta beautifully . Again - to the total credit of Russell, he has graciously cited our thread and efforts. I look forward to our first mountain hug at a pro-tour and a mirror match showdown in the finals.
To clarify, @Fluffywolf, in the previous post, you agreed to Russ that 'Parents are good' and that you are 'thinking of adding an additional one'. Just the opposite: Russ said that Parents were the worst card in his SCG Open deck. I am the cat with 2 of them in my SCG Regionals deck. Also, I run absent of Boil and Hazoret the Fervent which you agree are underwhelming. Hey, Russell and I have both been playing since 1994 - couple old souls with plenty to rap about. This thread has always been lively and welcoming - Now, it's streaming: I wish I could have dropped in on today's broadcast by Checkmate77. It's so fun to have the clan jibber-jabbering about the right plays in real time.
I hold your opinions in high regard, Proxxy - wish you could recall a specific instance of disagreement. I'm about to watch yesterday's stream (was it only an 1:08 long?), and try to take some notes. But, like I said before, it's laborious and clunky to verbally recreate a game state moment and then comment upon it.
As for the sideboard selections that you called into question, which ones need to hit the chopping block? This is my current decklist. The multiple Damping Matrix and Phyrexian Mana spells seem counterintuitive on paper. In game play, they can brutally swing a game. The card draw, ala 'Big Red' Pyro Prison, is a minor element now. At the 1K, I ran (3) Tormenting Voice which allowed for a slim down on the Chandra count & the addition of more varied, high CMC spells. But, there was much less counter-magic in the meta back in June. Well, what do you think of these apples?
Tooth & Nail........Grishoalbrand....Living Dominance....Tezzerator.........Vannifar Pod
My Decks that have been BANNED
DRS Jund | Kiki-Pod | Bloom Titan | Splinter Twin | KCI
People seem to be loving the deck, just a few days ago I had the 2nd most concurrent viewers next to Todd Stevens, CURSE YOU TODD! Would love to have some of you stop by! Cheers
Good anaylysis on the differentiation between Pyro Prison and R/W Pale Moon, xBank. I actually think R/W Pale Moon is more similar to Free Win Red than us. Like Caligula said, the lack of Goblin Rabblemaster in the main has been tried successfully, but I consider it the 4th wall of our prison cell - must have in the mainboard. I keep a 5th one in my sideboard, Phyrexian Metamorph.
The idea of a full-on transformation sideboard can work, but with the use of Eidolon of the Great Revel, it would just take up too many spots [7] in the sideboard. I think it helps to think of the deck as a melded (75) and not a stark split. Whenever I'm trying to free up slots in the sideboard, I see how I can slide parts of the (15) into the (60). An example of this is running (2) slagstorm in the main and (2) anger of the gods in the sideboard - similar mechanics, but slag won't blank as an answer card in game 1. Also, since the introduction of (2) damping matrix into the sideboard, Shattering Spree is totally gone from my (75). Splitting (2) Abrade between my main deck and sideboard freed up room. Abrade and Damping Matrix simply have more applications than Spree.
I did get through Round 4 of what Fluffywolf posted on his 5 round stream. Good share. It's really tough to discuss exact actions with Time Stamps, but I did want to address Round 4 -- Blue Tron. It's considered a difficult match for us, and I noticed that we don't have listed Sideboard Strategy on it in the Primer. That's because it's not listed in the top 2 Tiers by MTGsalvation. So, here it is again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnd7La8CSUI
3 THOUGHTS:
a. Opening game is at 1:05. There was some discussion on what your Turn 2 play should be when you have 2 mtns and 1 ritual. the opponent has a tron land and a map. With 2 rabbles and 1 magus in hand, I would have rolled out the Rabblemaster instead of the magus. They are a big part of how you beat tron. the risk was that you didn't have a 3rd mountain, so the magus was the safer play. But, with 30 mana sources and the opponent 2 land drops away from assembling, trust your deck, and go big.
b. sideboarding: furthering that thought, i disagreed with you taking out the rabbles and trying to create a control=ish game. I would have kept them in, and brought in the (3) eidolon of the great revel. Also, you brought chandra up to 8 loyalty rather than cracking her at 7 for the emblem. brave and risky. that deck runs repeal and cyclonic rift
c. in game 3, off the scry, you had the chance to keep a simian spirit guide on top, and then execute a turn 1 Chandra. i definitely would have done so, regardless of burning down 3 ritual effects. Imagine chaining that into a turn one eidolon as well /// so, just some thoughts...
If I can find some time, I'll check out your runs as well, Chekmate!
Round 1: Jund
Game one, traditional lock out, blood moon, bridge, eventually Koth ultimates
Game two, discard plus abrupt decay takes key lock pieces and I get run over by a goyf.
Game three, and early moon keep him off double black, two ensnaring bridges snsures he can never attack, and rabblemaster makes a ton of tokens. This game wnet really long. by the time it was over, I had 10 goblin tokens in play, all from a single rabblemaster he couldn't answer because of chalice on one. Eventually, chandra goes ultimate and it's over. W 1-0
Sideboard strategy, out 2 slagstorm, one abrade. In- Hazoret, Spyglass, spellskite.
Round 2 vs. 5-Color Shadow
Game one, play blood moon. their deck has only a single basic....swamp. Blood moon locks him out almost completely. the chalice on one follow-up was too good and we're off to game two.
Game two, opening hand is chalice, moon, bridge, three mountains (I mulliganed). that's a snap keep. discard spell takes moon, chalice on one gets abrupt decayed, bridge gets ancient grudge, and I die to something huge.
Game three, another hand with no acceleration, but chalice moon and bridge appear again. Moon get hit with a discard spell, chalice on one comes down, next turn, I cast spyglass, see push, pulse, two verdunt catacombs, and Hazoret. He already had three lands, so naming ctacombs wasn't going to stp him, so I name hazoret. Next turn, he plays hazoret and cannot attack. I make sure not to run out any creatures and hold bridge because I don't want it to get pulsed. Eventually, I get a chalice on two as well, forcing him to use the pulse on both chalices. This opens the door to pay a bridge, then I draw another bridge and sam that down two. He draws his only answer to both....ancient grudge and attackes with hazoret and battlerages it....I'm down to 10, draw land, pass, he attackes, i'm down to 5. Off the top....magus of the moon. I slam that down fully expecting to have to block and he draws a card and can't play it because it's green leaving him with two cards in hand. Hzoret sits there looking dumb, I draw eidolin, play it, attack opponent down to 5 with magus and pass. He draws ANOTHER green card and just conceeds. I would be attacking for 4, putting him to one with an eidolin in play. W 2-0
Sideboard. Out - 2 slagstorm, 2 abrade, 2 magus of the moon, 1 walking ballista In. 1 spyglass, 1 spellskite, 1 hazoret, 3 eidolin, 1 boil.
Round 3 - UW control.
Game one. Turn one Chandra gets hit with a DSphere. Im totally dead here, but he can't find a threat. No gideon, snap, colonnade, nothing....so we keep playing. I eventually find a bridge, multiple rabblemasters, chandra #3 (#2 also got DSphered) and he eventually couldn't answer everything. I did use both slagstorm to take out big gideon, so that's a plus.
Game two, Early chalice on one followed up by rabblemaster seal the deal. He missed his 4th land drop which meant he couldn't verdict. By the time he was able to sweep the board, he was at one life and I followed up with eidolin. W 3-0
Sidebaord: Out 2 abrade, 2 slagstorm, 2 magus of the moon. In 3 eidolins, 1 hazoret, 1 spyglass, 1 spellskite.
Round 4 vs Jeskai Breach.
Apparently there's a new jeskai list that says **** it, no geist, no spell queller, just breaching spaghetti in your face. I thin it went undefeated in the swiss part of the the last grand prix. this deck is terrifying because, well, what deck that can slap you into game two with a 15/15 flying **** face isn't? they do have a weakness, like most jeskai decks do, so lets see if we can exploit it.....
Game one, early chalice on one plus blood moon puts them on exactly one island and a whole lotta mountains. bridge comes donw a few turns alter and it's over.
Game 2. No moon this game, but chalice on one, two, and 2 bridges seal this game up. W 4-0
Sidebaord out: 2 sbrade, 2 slagstorm, 1 magus of the moon, 2 walking ballista. In. 1 spellskite, 1 torpor orb, 3 eidolin, 1 hazoret, 1 boil.
In case you missed it, the weakness Jeskai decks have is they go light on counter magic in favor of more removal in the form of bolts, helixes, and electrolyzes. this bodes very well for us becuase that means we are resolving most of our stuff. this has been the case with every jeskai list i've faced so far, and you know what happens when you can't stop our stuff.....
Anyway, that's a 4-0 FNM with this deck. 3-1 last week, 4-0 this week. 7-1, not too shabby. thanks for reading!
Russ
My one question really is how are you managing to either get multiple chalices or moon/multiple bridges and still find a planeswalker. I had a game yesterday on MTGO. I kid you not, there was not one of my planeswalkers in the first 30 cards. This is why, although I know red does not have filter stuff, I just feel like that is the crux of the deck. I can't run well, and that seems to essentially translate into records. I really want to see you streaming this if possible, or even record and upload to youtube if streaming can't work. I'd like to see your decision making.
Don't feel bad about not doing so well at first with this deck. I lent this deck to a buddy at FNM a few weeks ago and we went 0-2 real quick. My list is almost identical to yours with two changes.....I run Pia and Kiran main deck instead of 5th Chandra. Also, I run one spyglass and one damping matrix in the board instead of two spyglasses.
I will admit, I do get lucky sometimes, but at this point, I don't think luck has as that much to do with the run I've been on with this deck. I'm always studying the format and Modern is all I play, so I know exactly what each deck is trying to do and how they beat you....except for Eldrazi Tron...I can't seem to beat that deck, like ever. that's why I am running a Damping matrix now in the board.
Anyway, give me a heads up in advance the next time you stream and I'll do my best to make it and help you out in real time. This way I can give you real time advice and help you go 5-0 instead of trying to give pointers after the fact.
As for the card drawing spells, I don't like them. The power of this deck is abusing the fast mana and creating situations extremely early that the opponent can't get out of. The card drawing spells are good late game and that's about it. You'd be better off running walking ballista because it can be used early and late to great effectiveness. I've tagged a bird or a steel overseer for two mana and I've made a 5/5 pinging machine late game. Both are good.
Wish you lived closer....we could play test in person and make each other better.
Russ
I'm watching too buddy --- but, for some reason my chat is disabled.
Basically i have been playing around with this archetype ever since Free Win Red got featured by SafronOlive, and i knew that this is my deck! However i always felt that Free Win Red was incomplete, bit to young. Been trying experimenting quite a lot of things from Sige-gang Commander to spellskites main board, from chalise-less/skred/faithless looting/relic version to 8 moons/4 molten rain phyrexian metamorphs ect ect. Imagine my surprise when i saw this thread, and even better yet that Ray was in here, as your leagues/tournaments in MTGGoldfish and mtgtop8 where quite an inspiration for my tests.
So want to start by saying keep up the amazing work here guys, all of you!!!!! And congrats to Russ on the resent top 8 finish!
Now to the point..
The newest version of the deck i feel is close... rely close, although i do have some grudges with it with respect to some matchups!
However i'd like to discuss 2 of those matches, Burn and Storm with respect to the "Dragon's Claw".... or lack of it.
In my opinion only 1 way of approach against storm is shaky, and in my experience they can easily overcome it. Yes we do have Eidolons and Cages, but that is 5? cards(9 with chalices) of 60 in a deck that has no ways to filter cards at all... and as mentioned before we need at least 2 ways to target them, hence my thought was the "Dragon's Claw". I keep remembering how i never lost to it when i played the skred-red version and big part was the Dragon's Claw, granted in combination with bolts and relics.
Furthermore i'm having a horrible time against Burn with the current sideboard, and i am not rely sure about the Eidolons against burn.
Both of these matchups the "Dragon's Claw" would do a lot of work, so how come it is no longer in the board??
I watched "THE GATHERING" on chekmate77's stream just now and Russ touched upon the subject by mentioning his dislike of "Dragon's Claw" and that he had some tips against burn? any chance you can ellaborate on it??
Also what is everyone's thought process against storm? Anything else apart from "aggro them out/chalice on 2", before they bounce the "1"? answer you have on board and kill you?
looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Breach deck:
1-2
Died to double Platinum Angel
Counters Company:
G1: Lost to Big Knight + Retreate
G2: T1 bloodmoon, T2 cage, T3 Orb, T4 Chandra, T5 Bridge, T6 Chalice on 2
G3: Lost to a punt not dumping ritual on opponents attack step, unable to ult chandra
Mardu - Pyromancer
G1: T1 Chandra, T2 Chalice on 1, Get run over by Pyromancer and Lingering Souls
G2: Mull to Oblivion (1 lander, 1 lander, into 4 + SSG): T8 first card (the rest lands, topped a slagstorm, and all we saw).
Eldrazi Taxes (Same guy from earlier)
G1: Lost to a Flickerwisp Bouncing Bridge
G2: T2 Thalia - Locks us out we draw to abrade but do not draw another land. (fought out to 1 life, then died to a kill on my bridge)
Certainly and thanks for tuning in! Any support is support for myself but also for the deck when runninng it.
I think the big things we are learning as I jam out session after session of this deck, and receive feedback from the viewers, is that yes the deck can stumble on itself, but there are critical paths that have to be planned out for gameplans, and then these are executed until a deviation occurs. To what Russ has mentioned, "If you turn off being Aggro/Control for a single turn, you are likely to lose." The deck also requires a high level of precision decisions to really be effective. Decisions start immediately also, there is sometimes no come back for when you are deciding to mulligan and end up keeping a slower hand.
Of note:
Aggro: Mulligan decisions are important and the key cards you want are those that are aggressive or promote your aggression. Aggression is also seen as aggressively getting a lock piece out. Be mindful if there are redundancies in the hand to prevent on-the-draw disruption (ie: Thoughtseize).
Control: As silly as this may seem if you are locking into the control matchup, and the aggro from your opponent is fast but not all in (Like our 8-whack opponent) the mulligan choice can be slightly loser. The critical decision, however, is having 4 lands or 3 lands. We are also not talking about as I call them "One Time Use Lands" which are our SSG and Rituals. Slower approaches to your lock pieces are fine in times for the control half. Not always, but if there is a forgiving side it is when we're on the control package.
Cards we are loving:
Cards we are less impressed with:
Russell first entered this thread last month. Clearly - an extraordinarily gifted player with a masterful understanding of how to pilot Pyro Prison.
Russell's winning Maindeck is the same as my earlier Starcitygames Regionals list from November 8th - with the exception of Walking Ballista. Strong addition. Mvilla888 and I have hit Top 8 with Ballista earlier this year in Starcitygames IQ events. Sideboard: Russell made a few inspired alterations which targeted the meta beautifully . Again - to the total credit of Russell, he has graciously cited our thread and efforts. I look forward to our first mountain hug at a pro-tour and a mirror match showdown in the finals.
To clarify, @Fluffywolf, in the previous post, you agreed to Russ that 'Parents are good' and that you are 'thinking of adding an additional one'. Just the opposite: Russ said that Parents were the worst card in his SCG Open deck. I am the cat with 2 of them in my SCG Regionals deck. Also, I run absent of Boil and Hazoret the Fervent which you agree are underwhelming. Hey, Russell and I have both been playing since 1994 - couple old souls with plenty to rap about. This thread has always been lively and welcoming - Now, it's streaming: I wish I could have dropped in on today's broadcast by Checkmate77. It's so fun to have the clan jibber-jabbering about the right plays in real time.
As for the sideboard selections that you called into question, which ones need to hit the chopping block? This is my current decklist. The multiple Damping Matrix and Phyrexian Mana spells seem counterintuitive on paper. In game play, they can brutally swing a game. The card draw, ala 'Big Red' Pyro Prison, is a minor element now. At the 1K, I ran (3) Tormenting Voice which allowed for a slim down on the Chandra count & the addition of more varied, high CMC spells. But, there was much less counter-magic in the meta back in June. Well, what do you think of these apples?
Creatures (8)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Magus of the Moon
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Walking Ballista
Accelerators (11)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
1 Tezzeret's Gambit
1 Tormenting Voice
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 (3)
2 Slagstorm
1 Abrade
Lands (21)
17 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Mutavault
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Damping Matrix
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Torpor Orb
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Spellskite
1 Abrade