I live a mile from Around the Table, and Friday/Saturday fits my schedule best, though they seem to be heavy on the draft events on Fridays. That's my first stop. Zulu's is my second. I get my comics in Shoreline, they may or may not have events too, though they'll be small.
I've never heard of Luke's, that one somehow flew under my radar. I thought I had at least creepily stared through the window of every shop between Renton and Everett, but I've never been there or Geek Fortress. Those might not be out of range for me on a weekday once in a while. Depends on work, as I'd be driving north from Bellevue, but I'll definitely PM you when it's an option. Thanks!
The two things that I can't answer for you is how many 'whirler decks are in your meta and how competitive you need to be. This deck is fine, and will lose very little at rotation (mainly Canyon Slough and Kari Zev). The mana may be a bit worse between October and January, but I would guess that the mana will get help in January.
Nikitozz has 3/8 'whirler decks. That's tough. I played tonight and none of the 10 people there were playing 'whirlers. So I would check out your likely venues and see how many 'whirlers there are. If there aren't many 'whirlers or you are willing to accept those as a tough matchup, then give it a shot. If 'whirler gets banned, then likewise.
If you want to be competitive quickly in a 'whirler heavy meta, I might look elsewhere. I think the Explore package is interesting and will be likely be starting a thread soon. There are other midrange and control options that I think have more game against 'whirler.
I have pretty low-hanging goals to start with; go to FNM, leave feeling like I at least kinda still know what I'm doing. I'd want my first deck to not be a huge financial commitment (under $200) but just competitive enough to force other decks to respond to MY game so I can see how they work and make decisions about what I want to invest in from there. So you're probably right, I should start by suppressing my introversion and putting eyes on my potential venues.
@DocLawless Pirates are very good in case of rotation. In my deck I will loose only Fatal Pushes (I will return Shock) and Kari Zev (Fathom Fleet Captain instead) in main but at the same time a lot of standard deck will rotate as well! So I don't care about my sideboard rotation. Meta will change a lot so you need to find answers after rotation
You're also losing Cut // Ribbons, but that's pretty replaceable if we get more cheap removal... eh, I don't want to speculate too hard on post-rotation and derail a thread about what the deck is doing right now.
@hoser2; I've been giving some thought to getting back into the game. I don't know much other than 1) red is apparently bonkers right now and 2) I'm not as good as I used to be 5 years ago (which IMO was "just okay"). But I know things are getting ready to rotate and drastically change as a lot of the key tech I'm seeing is from sets that are about to drop. I'm interested in a deck that I can put together after rotation to test the meta out and see what's going to develop. Do you think this list will have legs post-Kaladesh/Amonket? At least good enough to feel things out with?
I realize it's impossible to properly speculate until we see all of M19 and some indication of what Ravnica will give us. I'm just looking for ideas.
Pithing Needle shuts off Birthing Pod, Splinter Twin, Viscera Seer... Torpor Orb stops the Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcaps infinite loops. Thoughtseize before they can play whatever they're about to do.
That Grafdigger's Cage will keep them from digging for answers. Blood Moon stops a ton of decks right in their tracks, Pod being one of them. Ancient Grudge lets you deal with Birthing Pod twice. Also great for Aether Vial.
Pod and Twin are both combo decks. Just focus on disrupting their combos.
I might be wrong about this, but its relevant for the testing I'm gong to be doing shortly. I Traitorous Instinct my opponent's Voice, swing with it, then Shock it to death while I still control it. Do I then get to keep the elemental token it makes when it dies?
Sometimes it's a calculation. Sometimes I'm just showing my piece. I need to stop showing my piece and just kill the guy.
I have 2 Shocks main that I keep giving the stink-eye. I normally cast them to give my attacks a little extra removing power, but when I'm not strictly on the offense I hate seeing them. Now I'm looking to make room for a Hammer, possibly a Chandra, and both Shocks would go to add each of those as a 1-of. But I am concerned that it will a) screw with my curve, and/or b) diminish how lethal my combats can be to opponent creatures. Am I over-thinking?
II like it. How has boros charm been, is there a need for it?.... reach vs control?
To get out from under a Supreme Verdict. Makes your creatures indestructible. Or that's the theory behind it being in my board, in any case.
Additionally, give Reckoner lifelink from Whip of Erebos, cast Boros Charm to make him indestructible as soon as he takes damage, then keep recycling that damage back onto Reckoner for infinite life.
So, I've noticed that when I have a Fanatic of Mogis in hand I start choosing not to attack if there's a chance my dudes will die and my Devotion will suffer just so I can get a bigger ping off Fanatic when I do cast him. That's a noob mistake, I know, but I keep making it. Anybody else running Fanatic have trouble finding that middle ground?
It's a strong list. Personally, I'd avoid using the Nykthos because I want to always be able to cast my RR and RRR when I need to. Also, Nykthos doesn't do much to really push the deck forward or help you in unfavorable match-ups.
Yeah, I threw it in there assuming it'd always tap for at least off my devotion, and at the kitchen table it does, but I'll have to trim it out for an FNM.
How's Chandra working for you? I have her as a 1-of in my SB. That extra card "in hand" could be useful versus... a lot of things.
Holy crap, this is my list exactly. Except with a different SB and I run a singleton Nykthos. Never took it to FNM though, just played it casually at home. Might be I'll give it a shot now.
You could definitely brew a similar variant without Reckoner and go bigger with Demon, but the decks are too quick imo for Anger to be your only hard answer turn 3.
With so few creatures, I am leaning towards removing the Whip altogether, but sometimes it just wins me games I wouldn't otherwise. It's so hit or miss, but a homerun when it works. I may just stuff the other Rakdos's Return main deck and call it a day.
Never cut Reckoner.*
Whip seems so "meh" when I'm looking at my list between games, and sometimes when it's in my hand too, but once it's in play my opinions usually change. The Lifelink does real work when it's on the board, even if I'm playing defensively, and I can yank a Reckoner or a High Priest of Penance back out of my yard as a flash blocker. If I have 4 mana.
Truth. AIR Green escalates quickly, and they're starting to pick up on using Bow of Nylea + Polukranos as one sided board wipe. It's an unexpectedly tough match if they built their deck right. You gotta keep your fists up.
I've never heard of Luke's, that one somehow flew under my radar. I thought I had at least creepily stared through the window of every shop between Renton and Everett, but I've never been there or Geek Fortress. Those might not be out of range for me on a weekday once in a while. Depends on work, as I'd be driving north from Bellevue, but I'll definitely PM you when it's an option. Thanks!
I have pretty low-hanging goals to start with; go to FNM, leave feeling like I at least kinda still know what I'm doing. I'd want my first deck to not be a huge financial commitment (under $200) but just competitive enough to force other decks to respond to MY game so I can see how they work and make decisions about what I want to invest in from there. So you're probably right, I should start by suppressing my introversion and putting eyes on my potential venues.
You're also losing Cut // Ribbons, but that's pretty replaceable if we get more cheap removal... eh, I don't want to speculate too hard on post-rotation and derail a thread about what the deck is doing right now.
I'll keep my eyes open as it goes. Thanks guys!
I realize it's impossible to properly speculate until we see all of M19 and some indication of what Ravnica will give us. I'm just looking for ideas.
Torpor Orb stops the Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcaps infinite loops.
Thoughtseize before they can play whatever they're about to do.
That Grafdigger's Cage will keep them from digging for answers.
Blood Moon stops a ton of decks right in their tracks, Pod being one of them.
Ancient Grudge lets you deal with Birthing Pod twice. Also great for Aether Vial.
Pod and Twin are both combo decks. Just focus on disrupting their combos.
These are strange times...
I have 2 Shocks main that I keep giving the stink-eye. I normally cast them to give my attacks a little extra removing power, but when I'm not strictly on the offense I hate seeing them. Now I'm looking to make room for a Hammer, possibly a Chandra, and both Shocks would go to add each of those as a 1-of. But I am concerned that it will a) screw with my curve, and/or b) diminish how lethal my combats can be to opponent creatures. Am I over-thinking?
To get out from under a Supreme Verdict. Makes your creatures indestructible. Or that's the theory behind it being in my board, in any case.
Additionally, give Reckoner lifelink from Whip of Erebos, cast Boros Charm to make him indestructible as soon as he takes damage, then keep recycling that damage back onto Reckoner for infinite life.
Yeah, I threw it in there assuming it'd always tap for at least
How's Chandra working for you? I have her as a 1-of in my SB. That extra card "in hand" could be useful versus... a lot of things.
Holy crap, this is my list exactly. Except with a different SB and I run a singleton Nykthos. Never took it to FNM though, just played it casually at home. Might be I'll give it a shot now.
It does say that. I should read more. My comprehension is apparently slipping.
How are your Helixs treating you? I keep going back and forth on those...
Never cut Reckoner.*
Whip seems so "meh" when I'm looking at my list between games, and sometimes when it's in my hand too, but once it's in play my opinions usually change. The Lifelink does real work when it's on the board, even if I'm playing defensively, and I can yank a Reckoner or a High Priest of Penance back out of my yard as a flash blocker. If I have 4 mana.
* EDIT: I would never cut Reckoner.
Truth. AIR Green escalates quickly, and they're starting to pick up on using Bow of Nylea + Polukranos as one sided board wipe. It's an unexpectedly tough match if they built their deck right. You gotta keep your fists up.