My current 60 has a pretty similar overall structure. One key difference is that my removal includes a triplet of a Abrade, and I've been playing Faithless Looting where you have Magma Jet. Magma Jet stopped impressing me sometime back, but it may be good again, and I should probably give it another go. I've liked casting a Looting in the early game a lot, but later ones (including Flashback) haven't been as meaningful. It's possible a set of Magma Jets would be better, especially given that most creatures in the format right now are at least partially susceptible to it.
My SB is quite different, with only Ratchet Bomb, Dragon's Claw, Goblin Rabblemaster, and Goblin Warboss.
I'm beginning to scrape together a Skred Red deck - I'm along time boros burn player, but in EDH I play with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage (snow-covered mountains and artifact heavy), and it seems like Skred Red is the closest modern equivalent. The videos I've been watching are very fun. I like the idea of exploring the other side of the Red spectrum for a while.
I was wondering what people thought of of Goblin Cratermaker in the sideboard. It's a rare card that allows us to directly remove Karn and Ugin for 3 mana. I know Blood Moon can shut down Tron's land very easily, but in many of the videos I've been watching, the games go long, and very often the opponent gets to seven mana naturally. In addition, it provides the ability to block/spot remove a number of creatures in the format.
I'm also curious about counterspells in the sideboard. This deck is weak to combo, and it seems like some counterspell interaction can help in this matter. The deck that won the GP (Dallas?) had 2 Ricochet Trap that seemed like an okay response to some control decks, but limited in what it can actually interact with. Guttural Response seems like it would be more universally good, as it can also take out Gifts Ungiven when facing storm. Thoughts?
I'm beginning to scrape together a Skred Red deck - I'm along time boros burn player, but in EDH I play with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage (snow-covered mountains and artifact heavy), and it seems like Skred Red is the closest modern equivalent. The videos I've been watching are very fun. I like the idea of exploring the other side of the Red spectrum for a while.
I was wondering what people thought of of Goblin Cratermaker in the sideboard. It's a rare card that allows us to directly remove Karn and Ugin for 3 mana. I know Blood Moon can shut down Tron's land very easily, but in many of the videos I've been watching, the games go long, and very often the opponent gets to seven mana naturally. In addition, it provides the ability to block/spot remove a number of creatures in the format.
I'm also curious about counterspells in the sideboard. This deck is weak to combo, and it seems like some counterspell interaction can help in this matter. The deck that won the GP (Dallas?) had 2 Ricochet Trap that seemed like an okay response to some control decks, but limited in what it can actually interact with. Guttural Response seems like it would be more universally good, as it can also take out Gifts Ungiven when facing storm. Thoughts?
Cratermaker is fine. I run three Abrade in my 60, and Cratermaker fills a very similar role. It's a bit less mana-efficient, but more flexible.
The countermagic we have access to is pretty weak, and you're best disrupting combo through things we are already good at like Blood Moon messing with mana, destroying key artifacts and creatures, and using Relic to fight graveyard mechanics. Because we are so weak to some combo decks, it actually doesn't pay to fight them at all--instead of weakening our fair matchups to add a meager few percentage points to really bad matchups, we hope to dodge those bad matchups while being even stronger against fair decks.
Personally, I would suggest removing the Chandras, the Raost, and maybe even the Banefire for Jets. Chandras are the easy cut for me, particularly due to the data on them. Yeah, Skred has worse numbers, but Skred actually has a much better function in the first few turns when we're trying to ramp into the turn three Koth (removing creatures to help ensure he ults). Chandra is basically additional copies of Koth that takes longer to ult, imo. As for the control matchups, Eternal Scourge has been an all-star for me.
What matchups do you bring in Spitebellows?
Spitebellows are just extra hard to counter removal spells. I used to bring them again against Grixis Death Shadow (Inquisition can't get it, Stubborn Denial or Negate neither), but that deck isn't as relevant anymore. Now, they come in against decks that play other big creatures: Tarmogoyf-decks, Titanshift and Hollow One mainly. Occasionally they can be good against decks that you don't see very often: Merfolk, Living End, Ponza (Inferno Titan). Against Humans it can help to get those Champions that grew too quickly. I've liked the card, but maybe 2 of them along with one Roast might be too many big removal spells.
That being said, I like them more than Roast, so that one'll be removed in favor of one Magma Jet. I didn't realise Chandra puts up such poor numbers, I'm a bit hestitant to remove them as I like the versatility the card presents.
I've watched your videos - keep up the good work!
FWIW, I disagree pretty strongly with cutting below 2 Chandra, especially since you have plenty of outlets for extra mana and your build is the more controlling Scourge-oriented approach. Thnkr and I have sharply different approaches to data-gathering and card evaluation, though.
Your list really is very tight, since you want to play Stone and Jet despite their occupying similar roles for the deck. That's fine, but it is going to cost you something from either your threat-package or removal package.
Whether to cut Roasts or Spitebellows depends a lot on your metagame. In short, do you expect a lot of Anglers and Hollow Ones? If that's the sort of problem you're dealing with, you really do want that kind of answer--and you need it in the main deck. Banefire is similar, but it's a stronger case for an SB card since you only want it for one type of matchup and that matchup is quite winnable in other ways (for instance: Relic-Scourge combo).
I think if you're running Jet and Stone, you can shift Banefire to the SB, cut Ronom (since you now have 8 non-land ways to supplement mana), perhaps remove a Stormbreath (a card I love, but now you have lots of ways to dig for it) and make another cut in your removal package (since Jets are a sort of Removal). This shouldn't hurt the balance too much, and will put you in a good position to decide if your deck feels removal-light or threat-light on further modification. It will also give you a lot of boarding flexibility.
I was wondering what people thought of of Goblin Cratermaker in the sideboard. It's a rare card that allows us to directly remove Karn and Ugin for 3 mana. I know Blood Moon can shut down Tron's land very easily, but in many of the videos I've been watching, the games go long, and very often the opponent gets to seven mana naturally. In addition, it provides the ability to block/spot remove a number of creatures in the format.
I don't own Skred, but I lurk around here listening to ideas that I could try in Ponza. And I would like to thank you for mentioning cratermaker. He gets rid of Ensnaring Bridge or kill a Hollow One for 2R, have been using one in a flex slot and doing fine so far. A little sad he can't kill inkmoth nexus and is not instant speed like Abrade. However, cratermaker being creature has advantages too, because he can attack and block.. so I'm testing the goblin for now.
It's been quite awhile since I last played Skred, but I've decided to rebuild a Skred deck to play during FNMs since a lot of recent cards were added to the archetype (Abrade, Glorybringer, Tezzeret, Damping Sphere, Legion Warboss..), making it refreshing.
I play in a small countryside LGS tho, so we are always the same 10ish guys with the same 10ish decks playing against each other. The local metagame is quite set in stone in other words.
Could you give me a hand adapting the Skred archetype to fit with my metagame?
We have
- Eldrazi Tron
- G Tron
- Ponza
- Humans
- Affinity
- Mardu Pyromancer
- GW Reliquary Worship
- Grixis Control
- Stompy Green
- Elves
So I'll be facing 3 of each every week.
Here is the core of the deck. What flex cards might be interesting to bring in, and what cards might be better off the stock build?
I would take the scourges out, and possibly relic as well. Scourge is only good against Grixis Control from that list, so maybe you could move it to the sideboard if you really wanted to keep it. You definitely want a 4th Anger of the Gods and 4th Blood Moon. I might even get a 4th Simian spirit guide, since turn2 bloodmoon just destroys nearly half the decks. You could even go up to 5 sweepers. And go up to 4 Skreds, there are tons of creatures in your meta.
So,other than the lands and a couple Koth I already have this deck due to running Pyro Prison. (to which you guys are the bane lol) Is the deck worth investing in withe the current meta? My 2 LGS I go to tend to keep with the meta pretty well. Pyro Prison is amazing at the moment, but I have difficulty finding opponents on MTGO that won't quit against it.
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Hey yall. As everyone else i have had to redevelop my skred list. It took a me a little while to find something that was working but ive got the win rate back and seem to be doing reasonably well. Recently i have been playing karn scion on urza and 5 sweepers. Karn seems to be that body in those matches that chandra right now is not providing. I have had a lot of games where karn is really saving my butt. With 3 simians spirits guides helping out the mind stones with larger percentage t2-t3 moons/walkers. Karn can develope a strong board state,or draw you cards, generally it seems the opponent will give you lands but that feeds into our scrying sheets plans fairly well. Modern seems to be so strong right now in its diversity that i think we just want to be playing our bombs. I think simian, and the karns give us the punching power or that devestating haymaker power we love about skred. Getting out early moons walkers and dragons is what its all about! Squee the immortal to me just seems like a massive upgrade to scourge. I cannot tell you how many times that his graveyard mechanic has been so relevant and i have won solely on his beats alone. He along with our 3 simian spirit guides seems great in control. If we cant cheat those simians out early we just bait some counter magic or get in with a 4 damage heavy hitting ape and goblin team. Skred as you all know has always been a deck with some swingy matches and we desire to keep the aggro match as something we do not want to drop wins too. 5 sweepers seems to be necessary to make sure we hit 2 to put the nail into some of these decks. I hate losing to aggro with 3 sweepers and just not being able to see one. The meta has just sped into hyper aggro mode that we need to make sure were hitting 1 if not 2. Now we have to lose something somewhere to accommodate so i have unfortunately cut the mom and pop one stop thopter shop. P and k just are slow in the meta right now and we have added 2 karns on that curveslot. I love P and K and could possibly see them make the comback or into 75s or local meta calls. love me some stormbreath but we cut 1 and added a glorybringer. The exert is powerful and I wanted to make up for the little more removal from cutting 2 skred.
the SB is pretty generic. In the past i have always considered to sort of have a few flex slot in the standard side. We are missing our ricochet traps that used to be played in most side boards. I am trying to find the right balance in the side. Could possibly shave a sphere for a trap, or a boil and just keeping our numbers high on our bomb cards. Pithing needle, spyglass, grafdiggers, extra rabblers ,4th moon, boil, crumble to dust. Batterskull is also a nice card if you can land him. 4 sphere seems sort of excessive but now that we have Karn. We are really maximizing the power of those spheres and dragons claws in our sides with our ability to develop some bodies if we can land out walkers. Im leaning heavy there for how weak or combo matches generally are and a desire to really hamper big mana strategies i think its atleast a 3+. Abrade is a card i would love to fit in more of but i just havent exactly found the balance when ive tried it in higher numbers.
I would love to hear a little feedback or talk through any ideas anyones has in the current meta!
just put up two 4-1's with this list over the weekend
2-0 v amulet titan
2-1 v grishoalbrand
2-0 counters company
2-0 titanshift
0-2 vengvine
-----------------------------
2-1 Storm
2-0 amulet titan
2-1 Tron
0-2 Tron
2-0 Titanshift
deff some favorable matches in there. But not dropping matches to the combo decks and a lot of tier 1 in the line up. Tron still just seems like we need a little land a clock as well as the removal. Simian spirit guide and karn were really nice pieces in the tournies. Having 4 sphere helped masssively in these matches, even pulled 1 out on a t1. The 0-2 vengvine, it seems pretty much t3 sweeper or bust. Skred struggles to get a creature into our yard early and aggressively cracking the relics inst enough without the sweeper and i didnt find one in either game. The 0-2 to tron i just got troned on. G1 no moon in opener, they hit t3 tron, gg. The sideboard game i hit plenty of hate i couldnt get anyone down to start clocking and just naturually got to 7 mana. Couple rough losses but Lets go Skred red!
I recently experimented with Sarkhan, Fireblood and some dragons in my prison deck before I cut them and moved Koth to the side. Has anyone tried that? His rummage ability was vital in the games I played with that variation, and the mana generation for dragons was great. I could often get a stormbreath monstrous the same turn I summoned it alongside Koth, which this deck already runs.
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Sarkhan as a stand alone walker is just not good. He cannot protect himself, he doesnt do anything for you when your topdecking, and he cannot use his minus ability on average on curve. The fact that he is a a 3 drop walker and left unchallenged he does a few things throughout the game while filtering or an early dragon is going to feel good. People are having some success with dragon builds and sarkhan but he deff is a build around card if you want to optimize his power he is nowhere near the power or koth add mana or attack or chanda does something for you that turn in any of her 3 modes, Or in the case of my build, karn, can draw you a card, or make a body to defend himself.
the SB is pretty generic. In the past i have always considered to sort of have a few flex slot in the standard side. We are missing our ricochet traps that used to be played in most side boards. I am trying to find the right balance in the side. Could possibly shave a sphere for a trap, or a boil and just keeping our numbers high on our bomb cards. Pithing needle, spyglass, grafdiggers, extra rabblers ,4th moon, boil, crumble to dust. Batterskull is also a nice card if you can land him. 4 sphere seems sort of excessive but now that we have Karn. We are really maximizing the power of those spheres and dragons claws in our sides with our ability to develop some bodies if we can land out walkers. Im leaning heavy there for how weak or combo matches generally are and a desire to really hamper big mana strategies i think its atleast a 3+. Abrade is a card i would love to fit in more of but i just havent exactly found the balance when ive tried it in higher numbers.
I would love to hear a little feedback or talk through any ideas anyones has in the current meta!
When you're on a build with Karn, it's important to remember what it requires for him to be strong. Obviously, you need more artifacts, so I would recommend keeping the Mind Stones. However, I do not see a reason for SSG to be in here. It seems a little too heavy on the mana acceleration to me. I would remove them in favor of Heart of Kiran. It's an extremely powerful card with an activation cost that you really don't mind with Karn in the deck. Secondly, when you're running Relic maindeck already, there aren't many reasons to running him over Eternal Scourge. You have a lot of ways to exile Scourge already, but from the graveyard and the top of your deck, so I would consider running them over our immortal goblin friend.
As for the sideboard, this is meta-dependent. I will say that if you're trying to beat Tron, Storm, and Phoenix decks with Rabblemaster, considering switching over to Scab-Clan Berserker instead. It just deals more damage more consistently, and is a lot more useful than Rabblemaster. I think you could afford to trim a Molten Rain for another card that may be of some use to you. What that card is, I do not know, but if you find yourself needing an extra sideboard slot, I would start by cutting a copy of Molten Rain.
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Artifact consciousnesses is deff a thing. Ive wanted to try heart of kiran a few different times but I cannot bring myself to do it for more then just fun. It is shut off by stony silence. Karn is at least making some use of your artifacts if you get shut off. ( as far as I know the removal of a counter is an artifact activation) I havent had a problem without having enough artifacts, he fits both needs, karn can build a clock on his own, and he can defend himself and create creatures post sweepers.
I am not sure i will ever go back to eternal scourge. There doesnt seem to be much of reason to. Playing out of your graveyard or exile is exponentially more powerful.. You dont always just have relics kicking round even though you have 4. The format calls for you to crack them early in a lot of these graveyard matches. I understand he has worse stats and is a legend. But specifically you can cast squee into counterspells, you can discard it to lili, and you can repeatedly block with our without a relic. Ive thought about scourge in addition too, but control and midrange arent problems as is. You also get the small perk of giving rabblemaster additional +1. You dont have the colorless chump blocker for pro red but you have mouth of ronom and your new artifacts tokens to fill similar roles. Additional walkers also take damage off of you as a player, people still do not want to give you free artifacts or cards. I recommend givings Karn a try I dont see many others trying it. But im having fairly decent results and fun with karn added.
As for SSG. He wasnt in my original plans but with adding karn to all the other walkers, extra sweepers,dragons, moons, and spheres/rains/rabblers in the side. Churning things out a turn early is almost essential. 4 mind stone is solid and a 5th mana rock or magma jet is a solid option but over my couple hundreds of skred games ive really liked SSG. He gets you out a turn early, he can test removal and counter magic, chump block or go all the way as 2/2 beater. Simian is not a card that is set in stone in my book. But having a mana in hand to hit a relic or push through a counter spell payment.
Skred is a deck which plays big devastating bomb cards. You will lose the game if you do not get to 3 and probably 4 mana. Simian helps that fail safe of getting to 4 mana to play koths and chandras and get the mana rolling. The meta is so fast right now i dont see any other way. Skred is almost of the map completely because it is a mono red control/midrange deck in a meta that is fast and diverse. We need to hit our mana, and we need walkers, and we need big plays.
Scab-Clan Berserker just seems to cute . You get bonus from goblin rabblemaster without attacking by receiving free goblins. Also in the decks where you are purely racing and will not be disrupted rabblemaster will surely do more damage. 1/4/6/8 damage when left attacking and unchecked for 19. scab-clan Berserker would have to attack its first turn for 2 and cast a spell. an opponent to cast 1.5 spells the next turn and attack for 3. and then the third turn you to attack for 3 and cast 2.5 spells to keep up the same average of 19 if my math is close. 11 damage in attacking. and then potentially you get the other 8 damage if our opponent casts 4 spells. He may have potential to do more damage, but by the time you do the game would be over from rabblemaster. I could see them potentially actually working together. Scab Clan preventing you from getting combo killed and clocking for damage with rabbler at the same time but there just arent enough slots. Playing damping sphere just is probably better for the combo aspect and doesnt compete on your curve.
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Overall I went 3-1 in the last chance qualifier (almost securing 2 byes for the main event), 4-3 main event, 3-2 in the Mythic Qualifier the next day. I was really hoping to Day 2 again this year, but still not a bad showing. Had an absolute blast and I've been felt pretty motivated to play some Modern again.
As has been tradition, Skred is a pretty meta dependent deck. The top meta is (or was at the time of the event) Phoenix, Burn, Dredge, Amulet, Grixis Death Shadow. Main deck Angers and Relics clean up Phoenix and Dredge, Blood Moon is basically a win against GDS and Amulet, and Magma Jet helps us find what we need while taking care of the weenies or being incidental damage to face.
Let's talk cards.
4x Magma Jet: Shoutout to thnkr for testing and pushing this. I've consistently been surprised at how handy they are and how much you can count on them. Starting with 4x Magma Jet informed the rest of the tuning choices we made.
21 lands: I'm still not totally sure about this, but over the course of the weekend I honestly still felt like I flooded out more times than I was in a drought. Magma Jet and the usual Relic/Mindstone cycling are of course a huge help. I feel like maybe like .3 of a land extra might have been nice, but I didn't have time to experiment with 61 cards lists to find the perfect balance.
2x Hazoret: Goes toe to toe with almost any threat, the current meta has very little Path to worry about, and she's a complete stone wall with a built-in win con. I've gone up to 2x because of her value and ability to still weaponize the second copy if you happen to draw it.
1x Lava Coil: Mostly for the early Thing in the Ice or Prized Amalgam, but this could have easily been a Roast.
2x Goblin Dark-Dwellers: Cutting Stormbreath was a tough call, but again, with the lack of Path in the top meta, I just wanted the extra spot removal, Anger, Molten Rain, Surgical, and to be honest, even a free Magma Jet feels pretty good sometimes. The Menace is also quite relevant for pushing damage through. Really recommend trying it - Relic is not the obstacle you think it is when you plan accordingly.
2x Surgical Extraction (SB): I tested with a control expert who highly recommended this. It has relevant applications in a ton of matchups, but to be honest I still need to learn how and when to use it. I did get to use it against Dredge and Phoenix to great effect so I think it's worth the slots.
6x Lifegain artifacts (SB): This was kind of a trolly meta call, but it totally paid off since I ran into Burn twice. And to be honest, I had just accepted the combo deck losses if I ran into them (even though they're not great right now), so I felt I could afford the slots. See below for a hilarious board state against a poor Burn opponent.
This thread has been pretty inactive lately, but I really hope I can encourage you guys to start Skredding again - the time feels right!
jankoz my man good work. Your doing some very aggressive stuff and testing a lot of items at once for a big tournament. So props to you for all that! So ive been jamming a ton of friendly and com tournaments with a variating lists feating karn 5 sweepers.
1) your land count seems low but you seem to be making up for it with those early jets. what are your utility lands. im on 3 sheets 1 mouth of ronom. I still think the filter is super valid. i could go back to but if your rolling its a solid play and its a solid play to go along with magma jets. I have thought about going to a 2/2 split with mouth of ronom with all the toughness 4 and up
2)4x jet is a lot, have you ran into problems where the 2x isnt enough or your having to rip it off just to mostly filter and not really have a great target? once your rolling im actually a big fan of what magma jet brings to the table. Meta seems a little rough for jet damage wise, but so is the rest of the red removal suit. 2 damage just seems really low for how big and how fast the threats can come. I personally have been running 2x suns for a total of 5 sweepers main. the 1 point of damage is relevant and its obviously wider. I personally chose to just sweep anthing t3 or less. I do like jet on the curve but it seems risky in this meta, it isnt hitting a lot. And if your using it to filter on t2 you may not have a target at all and thats not really using the card optimally. I know your coming in with p and k to help ping, and dark dwellers to help double cast to finish people off. Those are very intensive plays that I hope your able to pull off. Again your style is aggressive and i like that but it seems a risky at first glance. Jet is still just card disadvantage with little power on the upside without an ideal target. Also the fact of playing relic and attempting to snap back cards like magma jet is also just a non bo in your deckbuilding plan
3) hazoret is the man in this meta. He was out of my 75 above but i have recently swapped 1 for 1 of y squees. I really dont hate the second either. For me it would probably be in the side. But in the current meta it probably wouldnt burn you there. But it may become hard to reduce your hand if your stuck with 4 drops on the search for mana in a 21 land deck. Pitching it is more then fine but you really want to be casting your bombs unless there is no other option.
4) Stormbreath dragon is more then just a pro white beater. Storm breath dragon cant be killed by bolt or fatal push. Hes immune to all the basic forms of removal in the format. He has haste.He has flying And he has the nuke. I really am not sure playing with out old faithful is the way to go. I personally have gone to 2/1 split for the reason that path to exile is low. So i have chose glorybringer to help with toughness 4 targets and extra removal. Again as point 2 dark dwellers is just sort of non bo in deck building with 4x relics. Flying and haste and pro white and nuke is just better then menace, hes likely to deal 4 atleast on the turn he comes down. And all of that is not dependent of you having something in the yard. Dark dwellers is fun and aggressive if your yard is full of goodies. Stormbreath stays with the deckbuilding plan. Dark dwellers seems to stray from it.
5) lava coil i do like in the main and i have considered a roast recently but i just cant do it. Glorybringer is my option along with mouth of ronom to go with skred and chandra to deal with toughness 4 main. I have recently chosen a Combust in my sideboard in the current meta. Baneslayer angel is the big miss i see from lava coil but the uncounterable clause and instant speed v uw is helpful. It hits uw creatures at instant speed, vanifar pod, vizier combo, thing, humans, spirits. Obviously it has some big misses too. Tasigur, fishy, shadows, and goyfs, hollow oness. but 4 damage is not enough v most of those anyway. Shadow seems a rough match to begin with. I do like the lava coil/roast/combust call somewhere in the 75. props there
6) surgical i have wanted to experiment with for a while. It seems okay graveyard decks we could always use a little help in. I just dont own the extractions so ive never tried. With you relic clearing the yard it doesnt seem optimal though. In addition too its nice. Im sure we can hit some bombs with our ld and removal and possibly on things like cryptic or creatures we strugle to remove if someone like shadow pitches any into the yard. Grave decks this is an obvious plus. I would like to here more at the results you have with this card
7) you went haaaaard in the pain on lifegain lol. IM glad you could find room to make that call. burn seems to be a 40/60. I currently run 3 dragons claw and hope for the best. Your list actually may be slightly better v burn. Its a strangle matchup. Skreds can be horribly slow v burn if were on the draw. jets can atleast ping the player and get value. But the meta is prime to just dumpster burn with 6 lifegainers. Power meta gaming and that was the right call I just cannot find the spaces.
8) why are you giving up on the main man goblin rabblemaster in the side? i stil find him to be super helpful in getting a clock established on board. Your list is already weak to fighting other lists with ground troops and youve gone away with flying and your strongest clocks, and your strongest clock in the side
9) you seeem to be straight up punting combo. D sphere is amazing right now in the meta. It destroys amulet titan and tron and is good v pheonix. Still wrecks storm, its not great v add naus but it can be helpful. Since hive mind though that match has gone back to straight up unwinnable im playing 3 at the moment. designating 6 cards to burn seems to be a lot when its already winnable with tight play and 1 piece of hate. Again a good meta call for your tournament. Do you use the lifegain v pheonix ( i havent been able to make the slots available in my board when i do. I use the spheres.) just curious if that 6 card density helps in the match or if you find life gain just isnt enough to help v IZZET PHEONIX (mono red its obviously good). You have those jets to help filter for red spells so it ma be better for you.
I want to give you props for the positive finish. I dont mean to sound aggressive in my summary but i love talking mtg. Your list is on the aggressive side where you may be able to string together pay offs im not seeing. There does seem to be a few non bos in building but some very awesomevthings going on as weell that i wouldnt have had to sack to attempt in a gp. So I will always give dues to people getting aggressive and pushing the envelope in deck builds. Good luck with skredding hope to keep the skred chats alive!
In terms of inactivity, I agree. I wish this thread was more active. It seems our Discord kinda killed this thread, and now that's awfully quiet too. As for the list, you made some interesting decisions. How did GDD perform for you? I've never been impressed with the card but I could see trying it more. I'm also curious about Mind Stone. I've come to the conclusion that you run Magma Jet over Stone, not in tandem with it. How did it perform for you? Lastly, excellent call on giving up on Rabblemaster. It doesn't do what you need it to fast enough. I'd always run Scab-Clan Berserker over it because it hurts so many more decks and packs an equally strong punch, if not stronger. The sideboard to me looks questionable but I can see where you were coming from with it.
Anyone on Dragon Skred recently? I haven't seen anyone talking about it lately.
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Thanks for the feedback man, always happy to discuss!
Magma Jet is the man, to be honest. You'd be surprised. 2 damage hits a lot in the current meta: Arclight Phoenix, Monastery Swiftspear, Soulscar Mage, Goblin Guide, Narcomoeba, Bloodghast, most humans and most spirits until they get buffed. Take care of the weenies while saving my Bolts and Skreds for bigger boys like Thing in the Ice, Drakes, and the occasional Prime Time or Colonnade.
I actually quite like Sweltering Suns as well. I used to run 1-2x in place of Angers, but Phoenix and Dredge demand we run Anger right now since the exile is super relevant.
To your point about the nonbo with Relic, I actually disagree. If you Magma Jet before popping Relic, you can increase the chances of drawing the card you actually want. I was able to bottom 2 lands, and cracked Relic after. Don't remember what I drew but I still skipped 2 bad draws.
Stormbreath: Don't get me wrong, I love that dragon. Keep in mind I'm zeroed in on the meta: if you play SBD into a battlefield with a few Phoenixes, Swiftspears, Things, Prized Amalgams, or Titans, it's a dead draw or at best a chump blocker. Dark Dwellers gives me the chance to Anger it all away or Skred something big. He also has the same stats until the "nuke" (lol) and Menace is kind of ghetto flying.
Lava Coil: This is a very specific answer to turn 2 Thing in the Ice, not much more. Skred, Mouth of Ronom, Chandra are all too slow to answer that problem. Considered Rending Volley here as well but Combust is an interesting option - it hits Thing, Drake, Amalgam, and just about every Human and Spirit.
Surgical I'll have to keep playing with. To be honest I'm still new to the card but we'll see how it plays out.
Rabblemaster: I've always found him to be a bit awkward, to be honest. Like against Storm or Ad Naus, we pretty much need a quick clock, but I've found that it's not a guarantee even if we find him. He gives you an increased chance to beat them, but not high enough for me. I'd rather focus on the matchups I can win and just hope to dodge the ***** ones. To be fair, Humans being around definitely reduces the amount of Storm and Ad Naus in the meta.
Damping Sphere: I am punting to combo, you're right. Well, some of it. The sphere is definitely a good one - it was a tough call to cut it from the board. Again, I was hyper focused on the top meta. But to be honest, against Tron and Amulet we have Blood Moon and Molten Rain. Keep in mind that Abrade and Shattering Spree help here too - hitting an early Expedition Map or Amulet buys us a lot time to find Moon or Rain.
Against either Phoenix deck, I'd take out Blood Moons and Squee. Mono Red Phoenix, I would bring in Dragon's Claws, but against Izzet I would bring in Surgicals.
Thanks for the comments dude, I didn't find your post aggressive at all. Peace!
[...] How did GDD perform for you? I've never been impressed with the card but I could see trying it more. I'm also curious about Mind Stone. I've come to the conclusion that you run Magma Jet over Stone, not in tandem with it. How did it perform for you? Lastly, excellent call on giving up on Rabblemaster. It doesn't do what you need it to fast enough. I'd always run Scab-Clan Berserker over it because it hurts so many more decks and packs an equally strong punch, if not stronger. The sideboard to me looks questionable but I can see where you were coming from with it. [...]
I think GDD is pretty awesome. It gives us options and redundancy. I haven't fully figured out the options/timing yet - getting an extra Anger/Molten Rain can be a blowout, an extra Skred can be clutch, Magma Jet can be useful, but I think sometimes playing it naked can be correct. I got to live the dream against a control player: Turn 2 Mind Stone (then they play a Search for Azcanta), Turn 3 Blood Moon, Turn 4 Molten Rain their Island, Turn 5 GDD + Molten Rain on the other Island they just found, then start swinging. It felt gleefully rude.
Mind Stone is great and I don't see myself cutting it. I think it's the reason I can get away with 21 lands, but even with 22-23 lands, ramping out a 4-drop on Turn 3 can be devastating, and the cycling always give reach in a grind. In my build I'm trying to use the Magma Jets strategically - for board cleanup or digging for an answer. I'm not usually tossing them out on Turn 2 like I would with a Mind Stone, so I think they fulfill different uses. Also, they work together if you scry bottom bottom, then pop the Mind Stone to dig even deeper.
Agreed on Rabblemaster, he's never done it for me. Haven't tested Scab-Clan but it seems cool. Do you think it's much better than Eidolon of the Great Revel? We have enough 4-drops that I don't think Eidolon hurts us too badly, but coming out a turn sooner can be relevant.
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My SB is quite different, with only Ratchet Bomb, Dragon's Claw, Goblin Rabblemaster, and Goblin Warboss.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
I'm beginning to scrape together a Skred Red deck - I'm along time boros burn player, but in EDH I play with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage (snow-covered mountains and artifact heavy), and it seems like Skred Red is the closest modern equivalent. The videos I've been watching are very fun. I like the idea of exploring the other side of the Red spectrum for a while.
I was wondering what people thought of of Goblin Cratermaker in the sideboard. It's a rare card that allows us to directly remove Karn and Ugin for 3 mana. I know Blood Moon can shut down Tron's land very easily, but in many of the videos I've been watching, the games go long, and very often the opponent gets to seven mana naturally. In addition, it provides the ability to block/spot remove a number of creatures in the format.
I'm also curious about counterspells in the sideboard. This deck is weak to combo, and it seems like some counterspell interaction can help in this matter. The deck that won the GP (Dallas?) had 2 Ricochet Trap that seemed like an okay response to some control decks, but limited in what it can actually interact with. Guttural Response seems like it would be more universally good, as it can also take out Gifts Ungiven when facing storm. Thoughts?
GWUBRDraft my Old Border Nostalgia Cube! and/or The Little Pauper Cube That Could!RBUWG
Modern:WDeath & TaxesW | RUGRUG DelverRUG
Cratermaker is fine. I run three Abrade in my 60, and Cratermaker fills a very similar role. It's a bit less mana-efficient, but more flexible.
The countermagic we have access to is pretty weak, and you're best disrupting combo through things we are already good at like Blood Moon messing with mana, destroying key artifacts and creatures, and using Relic to fight graveyard mechanics. Because we are so weak to some combo decks, it actually doesn't pay to fight them at all--instead of weakening our fair matchups to add a meager few percentage points to really bad matchups, we hope to dodge those bad matchups while being even stronger against fair decks.
FWIW, I disagree pretty strongly with cutting below 2 Chandra, especially since you have plenty of outlets for extra mana and your build is the more controlling Scourge-oriented approach. Thnkr and I have sharply different approaches to data-gathering and card evaluation, though.
Your list really is very tight, since you want to play Stone and Jet despite their occupying similar roles for the deck. That's fine, but it is going to cost you something from either your threat-package or removal package.
Whether to cut Roasts or Spitebellows depends a lot on your metagame. In short, do you expect a lot of Anglers and Hollow Ones? If that's the sort of problem you're dealing with, you really do want that kind of answer--and you need it in the main deck. Banefire is similar, but it's a stronger case for an SB card since you only want it for one type of matchup and that matchup is quite winnable in other ways (for instance: Relic-Scourge combo).
I think if you're running Jet and Stone, you can shift Banefire to the SB, cut Ronom (since you now have 8 non-land ways to supplement mana), perhaps remove a Stormbreath (a card I love, but now you have lots of ways to dig for it) and make another cut in your removal package (since Jets are a sort of Removal). This shouldn't hurt the balance too much, and will put you in a good position to decide if your deck feels removal-light or threat-light on further modification. It will also give you a lot of boarding flexibility.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
I don't own Skred, but I lurk around here listening to ideas that I could try in Ponza. And I would like to thank you for mentioning cratermaker. He gets rid of Ensnaring Bridge or kill a Hollow One for 2R, have been using one in a flex slot and doing fine so far. A little sad he can't kill inkmoth nexus and is not instant speed like Abrade. However, cratermaker being creature has advantages too, because he can attack and block.. so I'm testing the goblin for now.
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Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
It's been quite awhile since I last played Skred, but I've decided to rebuild a Skred deck to play during FNMs since a lot of recent cards were added to the archetype (Abrade, Glorybringer, Tezzeret, Damping Sphere, Legion Warboss..), making it refreshing.
I play in a small countryside LGS tho, so we are always the same 10ish guys with the same 10ish decks playing against each other. The local metagame is quite set in stone in other words.
Could you give me a hand adapting the Skred archetype to fit with my metagame?
We have
- Eldrazi Tron
- G Tron
- Ponza
- Humans
- Affinity
- Mardu Pyromancer
- GW Reliquary Worship
- Grixis Control
- Stompy Green
- Elves
So I'll be facing 3 of each every week.
Here is the core of the deck. What flex cards might be interesting to bring in, and what cards might be better off the stock build?
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Eternal Scourge
2 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Glorybringer
1 Hazoret the Fervent
3 Simian Spirit Guide
Enchantment
3 Blood Moon
Land
2 Scrying Sheets
21 Snow-Covered Mountain
3 Relic of Progenitus
Instant
2 Abrade
2 Skred
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Magma Jet
Sorcery
3 Anger of the Gods
Planeswalker
4 Koth of the Hammer
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Molten Rain
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Kozilek's Return
3 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Shatterstorm
2 Roast
U Deep Hours Obsession
You can even consider a couple of Ensnaring Bridge
Modern:
22 lands:
18 snow mountains
3 scrying sheets
1 mouth of ronom
spells:
4 bolt
2 skred
3 anger of the gods
2 sweltering suns
3 blood moon
the artis:
4 relic
4 stone
The walkers:
4 koth
2 chandra
2 karn, scion of urza
creatures:
2 stormbreath dragon
1 glorybringer
3 simian spirit guide
2 squee the immortal
sideboard:
4 molten rain
4 damping sphere
2 goblin rabblemaster
3 dragons claw
1 abrade
1 shattering spree
the SB is pretty generic. In the past i have always considered to sort of have a few flex slot in the standard side. We are missing our ricochet traps that used to be played in most side boards. I am trying to find the right balance in the side. Could possibly shave a sphere for a trap, or a boil and just keeping our numbers high on our bomb cards. Pithing needle, spyglass, grafdiggers, extra rabblers ,4th moon, boil, crumble to dust. Batterskull is also a nice card if you can land him. 4 sphere seems sort of excessive but now that we have Karn. We are really maximizing the power of those spheres and dragons claws in our sides with our ability to develop some bodies if we can land out walkers. Im leaning heavy there for how weak or combo matches generally are and a desire to really hamper big mana strategies i think its atleast a 3+. Abrade is a card i would love to fit in more of but i just havent exactly found the balance when ive tried it in higher numbers.
I would love to hear a little feedback or talk through any ideas anyones has in the current meta!
2-0 v amulet titan
2-1 v grishoalbrand
2-0 counters company
2-0 titanshift
0-2 vengvine
-----------------------------
2-1 Storm
2-0 amulet titan
2-1 Tron
0-2 Tron
2-0 Titanshift
deff some favorable matches in there. But not dropping matches to the combo decks and a lot of tier 1 in the line up. Tron still just seems like we need a little land a clock as well as the removal. Simian spirit guide and karn were really nice pieces in the tournies. Having 4 sphere helped masssively in these matches, even pulled 1 out on a t1. The 0-2 vengvine, it seems pretty much t3 sweeper or bust. Skred struggles to get a creature into our yard early and aggressively cracking the relics inst enough without the sweeper and i didnt find one in either game. The 0-2 to tron i just got troned on. G1 no moon in opener, they hit t3 tron, gg. The sideboard game i hit plenty of hate i couldnt get anyone down to start clocking and just naturually got to 7 mana. Couple rough losses but Lets go Skred red!
Modern:
As for the sideboard, this is meta-dependent. I will say that if you're trying to beat Tron, Storm, and Phoenix decks with Rabblemaster, considering switching over to Scab-Clan Berserker instead. It just deals more damage more consistently, and is a lot more useful than Rabblemaster. I think you could afford to trim a Molten Rain for another card that may be of some use to you. What that card is, I do not know, but if you find yourself needing an extra sideboard slot, I would start by cutting a copy of Molten Rain.
I am not sure i will ever go back to eternal scourge. There doesnt seem to be much of reason to. Playing out of your graveyard or exile is exponentially more powerful.. You dont always just have relics kicking round even though you have 4. The format calls for you to crack them early in a lot of these graveyard matches. I understand he has worse stats and is a legend. But specifically you can cast squee into counterspells, you can discard it to lili, and you can repeatedly block with our without a relic. Ive thought about scourge in addition too, but control and midrange arent problems as is. You also get the small perk of giving rabblemaster additional +1. You dont have the colorless chump blocker for pro red but you have mouth of ronom and your new artifacts tokens to fill similar roles. Additional walkers also take damage off of you as a player, people still do not want to give you free artifacts or cards. I recommend givings Karn a try I dont see many others trying it. But im having fairly decent results and fun with karn added.
As for SSG. He wasnt in my original plans but with adding karn to all the other walkers, extra sweepers,dragons, moons, and spheres/rains/rabblers in the side. Churning things out a turn early is almost essential. 4 mind stone is solid and a 5th mana rock or magma jet is a solid option but over my couple hundreds of skred games ive really liked SSG. He gets you out a turn early, he can test removal and counter magic, chump block or go all the way as 2/2 beater. Simian is not a card that is set in stone in my book. But having a mana in hand to hit a relic or push through a counter spell payment.
Skred is a deck which plays big devastating bomb cards. You will lose the game if you do not get to 3 and probably 4 mana. Simian helps that fail safe of getting to 4 mana to play koths and chandras and get the mana rolling. The meta is so fast right now i dont see any other way. Skred is almost of the map completely because it is a mono red control/midrange deck in a meta that is fast and diverse. We need to hit our mana, and we need walkers, and we need big plays.
Scab-Clan Berserker just seems to cute . You get bonus from goblin rabblemaster without attacking by receiving free goblins. Also in the decks where you are purely racing and will not be disrupted rabblemaster will surely do more damage. 1/4/6/8 damage when left attacking and unchecked for 19. scab-clan Berserker would have to attack its first turn for 2 and cast a spell. an opponent to cast 1.5 spells the next turn and attack for 3. and then the third turn you to attack for 3 and cast 2.5 spells to keep up the same average of 19 if my math is close. 11 damage in attacking. and then potentially you get the other 8 damage if our opponent casts 4 spells. He may have potential to do more damage, but by the time you do the game would be over from rabblemaster. I could see them potentially actually working together. Scab Clan preventing you from getting combo killed and clocking for damage with rabbler at the same time but there just arent enough slots. Playing damping sphere just is probably better for the combo aspect and doesnt compete on your curve.
[/quote]
Here's what I ran:
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Skred
4x Mind Stone
4x Magma Jet
1x Lava Coil
3x Blood Moon
3x Anger of the Gods
1x Squee, the Immortal
2x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2x Hazoret the Fervent
2x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
20x Snow-Covered Mountain
1x Scrying Sheets
2x Surgical Extraction
1x Shattering Spree
2x Abrade
4x Dragon's Claw
2x Sun Droplet
1x Anger of the Gods
3x Molten Rain
Overall I went 3-1 in the last chance qualifier (almost securing 2 byes for the main event), 4-3 main event, 3-2 in the Mythic Qualifier the next day. I was really hoping to Day 2 again this year, but still not a bad showing. Had an absolute blast and I've been felt pretty motivated to play some Modern again.
As has been tradition, Skred is a pretty meta dependent deck. The top meta is (or was at the time of the event) Phoenix, Burn, Dredge, Amulet, Grixis Death Shadow. Main deck Angers and Relics clean up Phoenix and Dredge, Blood Moon is basically a win against GDS and Amulet, and Magma Jet helps us find what we need while taking care of the weenies or being incidental damage to face.
Let's talk cards.
4x Magma Jet: Shoutout to thnkr for testing and pushing this. I've consistently been surprised at how handy they are and how much you can count on them. Starting with 4x Magma Jet informed the rest of the tuning choices we made.
21 lands: I'm still not totally sure about this, but over the course of the weekend I honestly still felt like I flooded out more times than I was in a drought. Magma Jet and the usual Relic/Mindstone cycling are of course a huge help. I feel like maybe like .3 of a land extra might have been nice, but I didn't have time to experiment with 61 cards lists to find the perfect balance.
2x Hazoret: Goes toe to toe with almost any threat, the current meta has very little Path to worry about, and she's a complete stone wall with a built-in win con. I've gone up to 2x because of her value and ability to still weaponize the second copy if you happen to draw it.
1x Lava Coil: Mostly for the early Thing in the Ice or Prized Amalgam, but this could have easily been a Roast.
2x Goblin Dark-Dwellers: Cutting Stormbreath was a tough call, but again, with the lack of Path in the top meta, I just wanted the extra spot removal, Anger, Molten Rain, Surgical, and to be honest, even a free Magma Jet feels pretty good sometimes. The Menace is also quite relevant for pushing damage through. Really recommend trying it - Relic is not the obstacle you think it is when you plan accordingly.
2x Surgical Extraction (SB): I tested with a control expert who highly recommended this. It has relevant applications in a ton of matchups, but to be honest I still need to learn how and when to use it. I did get to use it against Dredge and Phoenix to great effect so I think it's worth the slots.
6x Lifegain artifacts (SB): This was kind of a trolly meta call, but it totally paid off since I ran into Burn twice. And to be honest, I had just accepted the combo deck losses if I ran into them (even though they're not great right now), so I felt I could afford the slots. See below for a hilarious board state against a poor Burn opponent.
This thread has been pretty inactive lately, but I really hope I can encourage you guys to start Skredding again - the time feels right!
1) your land count seems low but you seem to be making up for it with those early jets. what are your utility lands. im on 3 sheets 1 mouth of ronom. I still think the filter is super valid. i could go back to but if your rolling its a solid play and its a solid play to go along with magma jets. I have thought about going to a 2/2 split with mouth of ronom with all the toughness 4 and up
2)4x jet is a lot, have you ran into problems where the 2x isnt enough or your having to rip it off just to mostly filter and not really have a great target? once your rolling im actually a big fan of what magma jet brings to the table. Meta seems a little rough for jet damage wise, but so is the rest of the red removal suit. 2 damage just seems really low for how big and how fast the threats can come. I personally have been running 2x suns for a total of 5 sweepers main. the 1 point of damage is relevant and its obviously wider. I personally chose to just sweep anthing t3 or less. I do like jet on the curve but it seems risky in this meta, it isnt hitting a lot. And if your using it to filter on t2 you may not have a target at all and thats not really using the card optimally. I know your coming in with p and k to help ping, and dark dwellers to help double cast to finish people off. Those are very intensive plays that I hope your able to pull off. Again your style is aggressive and i like that but it seems a risky at first glance. Jet is still just card disadvantage with little power on the upside without an ideal target. Also the fact of playing relic and attempting to snap back cards like magma jet is also just a non bo in your deckbuilding plan
3) hazoret is the man in this meta. He was out of my 75 above but i have recently swapped 1 for 1 of y squees. I really dont hate the second either. For me it would probably be in the side. But in the current meta it probably wouldnt burn you there. But it may become hard to reduce your hand if your stuck with 4 drops on the search for mana in a 21 land deck. Pitching it is more then fine but you really want to be casting your bombs unless there is no other option.
4) Stormbreath dragon is more then just a pro white beater. Storm breath dragon cant be killed by bolt or fatal push. Hes immune to all the basic forms of removal in the format. He has haste.He has flying And he has the nuke. I really am not sure playing with out old faithful is the way to go. I personally have gone to 2/1 split for the reason that path to exile is low. So i have chose glorybringer to help with toughness 4 targets and extra removal. Again as point 2 dark dwellers is just sort of non bo in deck building with 4x relics. Flying and haste and pro white and nuke is just better then menace, hes likely to deal 4 atleast on the turn he comes down. And all of that is not dependent of you having something in the yard. Dark dwellers is fun and aggressive if your yard is full of goodies. Stormbreath stays with the deckbuilding plan. Dark dwellers seems to stray from it.
5) lava coil i do like in the main and i have considered a roast recently but i just cant do it. Glorybringer is my option along with mouth of ronom to go with skred and chandra to deal with toughness 4 main. I have recently chosen a Combust in my sideboard in the current meta. Baneslayer angel is the big miss i see from lava coil but the uncounterable clause and instant speed v uw is helpful. It hits uw creatures at instant speed, vanifar pod, vizier combo, thing, humans, spirits. Obviously it has some big misses too. Tasigur, fishy, shadows, and goyfs, hollow oness. but 4 damage is not enough v most of those anyway. Shadow seems a rough match to begin with. I do like the lava coil/roast/combust call somewhere in the 75. props there
6) surgical i have wanted to experiment with for a while. It seems okay graveyard decks we could always use a little help in. I just dont own the extractions so ive never tried. With you relic clearing the yard it doesnt seem optimal though. In addition too its nice. Im sure we can hit some bombs with our ld and removal and possibly on things like cryptic or creatures we strugle to remove if someone like shadow pitches any into the yard. Grave decks this is an obvious plus. I would like to here more at the results you have with this card
7) you went haaaaard in the pain on lifegain lol. IM glad you could find room to make that call. burn seems to be a 40/60. I currently run 3 dragons claw and hope for the best. Your list actually may be slightly better v burn. Its a strangle matchup. Skreds can be horribly slow v burn if were on the draw. jets can atleast ping the player and get value. But the meta is prime to just dumpster burn with 6 lifegainers. Power meta gaming and that was the right call I just cannot find the spaces.
8) why are you giving up on the main man goblin rabblemaster in the side? i stil find him to be super helpful in getting a clock established on board. Your list is already weak to fighting other lists with ground troops and youve gone away with flying and your strongest clocks, and your strongest clock in the side
9) you seeem to be straight up punting combo. D sphere is amazing right now in the meta. It destroys amulet titan and tron and is good v pheonix. Still wrecks storm, its not great v add naus but it can be helpful. Since hive mind though that match has gone back to straight up unwinnable im playing 3 at the moment. designating 6 cards to burn seems to be a lot when its already winnable with tight play and 1 piece of hate. Again a good meta call for your tournament. Do you use the lifegain v pheonix ( i havent been able to make the slots available in my board when i do. I use the spheres.) just curious if that 6 card density helps in the match or if you find life gain just isnt enough to help v IZZET PHEONIX (mono red its obviously good). You have those jets to help filter for red spells so it ma be better for you.
I want to give you props for the positive finish. I dont mean to sound aggressive in my summary but i love talking mtg. Your list is on the aggressive side where you may be able to string together pay offs im not seeing. There does seem to be a few non bos in building but some very awesomevthings going on as weell that i wouldnt have had to sack to attempt in a gp. So I will always give dues to people getting aggressive and pushing the envelope in deck builds. Good luck with skredding hope to keep the skred chats alive!
Anyone on Dragon Skred recently? I haven't seen anyone talking about it lately.
Thanks for the feedback man, always happy to discuss!
Magma Jet is the man, to be honest. You'd be surprised. 2 damage hits a lot in the current meta: Arclight Phoenix, Monastery Swiftspear, Soulscar Mage, Goblin Guide, Narcomoeba, Bloodghast, most humans and most spirits until they get buffed. Take care of the weenies while saving my Bolts and Skreds for bigger boys like Thing in the Ice, Drakes, and the occasional Prime Time or Colonnade.
I actually quite like Sweltering Suns as well. I used to run 1-2x in place of Angers, but Phoenix and Dredge demand we run Anger right now since the exile is super relevant.
To your point about the nonbo with Relic, I actually disagree. If you Magma Jet before popping Relic, you can increase the chances of drawing the card you actually want. I was able to bottom 2 lands, and cracked Relic after. Don't remember what I drew but I still skipped 2 bad draws.
Stormbreath: Don't get me wrong, I love that dragon. Keep in mind I'm zeroed in on the meta: if you play SBD into a battlefield with a few Phoenixes, Swiftspears, Things, Prized Amalgams, or Titans, it's a dead draw or at best a chump blocker. Dark Dwellers gives me the chance to Anger it all away or Skred something big. He also has the same stats until the "nuke" (lol) and Menace is kind of ghetto flying.
Lava Coil: This is a very specific answer to turn 2 Thing in the Ice, not much more. Skred, Mouth of Ronom, Chandra are all too slow to answer that problem. Considered Rending Volley here as well but Combust is an interesting option - it hits Thing, Drake, Amalgam, and just about every Human and Spirit.
Surgical I'll have to keep playing with. To be honest I'm still new to the card but we'll see how it plays out.
Rabblemaster: I've always found him to be a bit awkward, to be honest. Like against Storm or Ad Naus, we pretty much need a quick clock, but I've found that it's not a guarantee even if we find him. He gives you an increased chance to beat them, but not high enough for me. I'd rather focus on the matchups I can win and just hope to dodge the ***** ones. To be fair, Humans being around definitely reduces the amount of Storm and Ad Naus in the meta.
Damping Sphere: I am punting to combo, you're right. Well, some of it.
Against either Phoenix deck, I'd take out Blood Moons and Squee. Mono Red Phoenix, I would bring in Dragon's Claws, but against Izzet I would bring in Surgicals.
Thanks for the comments dude, I didn't find your post aggressive at all. Peace!
I think GDD is pretty awesome. It gives us options and redundancy. I haven't fully figured out the options/timing yet - getting an extra Anger/Molten Rain can be a blowout, an extra Skred can be clutch, Magma Jet can be useful, but I think sometimes playing it naked can be correct. I got to live the dream against a control player: Turn 2 Mind Stone (then they play a Search for Azcanta), Turn 3 Blood Moon, Turn 4 Molten Rain their Island, Turn 5 GDD + Molten Rain on the other Island they just found, then start swinging. It felt gleefully rude.
Mind Stone is great and I don't see myself cutting it. I think it's the reason I can get away with 21 lands, but even with 22-23 lands, ramping out a 4-drop on Turn 3 can be devastating, and the cycling always give reach in a grind. In my build I'm trying to use the Magma Jets strategically - for board cleanup or digging for an answer. I'm not usually tossing them out on Turn 2 like I would with a Mind Stone, so I think they fulfill different uses. Also, they work together if you scry bottom bottom, then pop the Mind Stone to dig even deeper.
Agreed on Rabblemaster, he's never done it for me. Haven't tested Scab-Clan but it seems cool. Do you think it's much better than Eidolon of the Great Revel? We have enough 4-drops that I don't think Eidolon hurts us too badly, but coming out a turn sooner can be relevant.