Result is a disappointing 1-3. I know I did some misplays including one fatal mistake that cost me my 3rd match. Anyway, the summaries:
Match 1 - WU Midrange
I lost both rounds due to Geist of Saint Traft. Once this card comes out, you're on a clock. Add some mana screw and you're done. I did get Archwing Dragon when I boarded him in and got my opponent down to 8 until the Geist came in. Unfortunately I wasn't able to draw any removal to at least block the angel token.
Match 2 - WG Aggro
Talk about a bad matchup. I tried to race him when he wasn't dropping creatures turns 1 and 2. It sucks when you take a Restoration Angel to the face. I'll discuss more of this later down. I managed to beat him the 2nd round by winning fast and drawing a good removal suite on my opening hand.
Match 3 - WG Aggro
Oh man, another one. This time my opponent was running wolves, but the usual Thrag+Resto Angel is there and basically what prevented me from winning the game. There was the this situation in the last round I can steal his Thrag with my Zealous Conscripts. He had a 3/3 blocker which i figured that he should block if he wants to survive. I had Hellrider on board so I figured I can hold it out if I steal his Thrag. Surprise, he had another Angel on hand. So no Thrag for me. Had I target his other Angel, I wouldn't be able to outrace him anyway. 2-0 again for my opponent.
Match 4 - UW Control
Or at least that's how I think what he was running. I never got to see his deck run properly aside from one Verdict and some Spheres. UW Control still proves to be the best matchup for our deck.
Anyway, GW Aggro proved to be still a pain to go against. Thunderbolts do their thing and I'm thinking of MDing a full suite instead of Pillars next time. Pillars did almost nothing in my games, and I don't think I noticed zombie decks back. GW Aggro is the dominating meta in the place I competed in.
Some card comments: Lightning Mauler - I was underwhelmed with this card. I wanted to test it since it has good synergy with Pyreheart and later 1 drops, but does very poorly against midrange decks. Thunderbolt - Awesome card because Angels are still rampant. I competed in a different venue where I usually play, It's still a spear in the face if you don't see flyers around. I will try running a full set next time. Pillar of Flame - This card is proving to be losing more of it's goodness the more I see how the metagame here shifts. Use it if your meta has a lot of zombies. Otherwise, there are better options. Frostburn Weird - I only sided him in my first GW Aggro match. He is actually good at blocking early threats and also eats removal. Never had the chance to try him in RDW mirror though.
I got tired of playing durdly green decks that just blink Thragtusk over and over, gaining 5 life at a time. It wasn't like I couldn't deal those decks damage, since I have fliers aplenty. I just can't kill those decks down from 40 life fast enough, especially if I'm taking damage from my own Underworld Connections trying to find my answers. I felt like my 1 drops weren't getting it done, and I wanted more top end. In a slow format dominated by control and Jund, I want scary beaters instead of efficient 1 drops.
Enter Tablet of the Guilds, which I tested as an effective sideboard card against aggro decks. I thought, hell, my favorite things to do are draw extra cards and beat with big-ass creatures. Why can't I durdle with life gain while casting scary monsters? Two can play at that game, sirs.
I took a Sledgehammer-esque creature base topping out at 4 Thundermaw Hellkite, but using the standard Dos Rakis creatures instead, since they are quite effective against most of the field.
With Tablet of the Guilds, the deck gains retarded amounts of life which helps me stall as I send Aristocrat and Hellkite into the red zone over and over again. Searing Spear does work to the face or burning blockers, and Dreadbore handles annoying creatures or planeswalkers. Underworld Connections, everyone's favorite mana sink, repeatedly draws me extra cards and lets me spend the extra life that I'm gaining with EVERY SPELL. Suddenly my Rakdos Cackler is a 2/2 plus 2 life for 1 card. My Aristocrat nets me 2 life and beats for 4. My Underworld Connections pays for its first draw. It seems a little too cute, but there's a lot of value in the little 2-drop artifact naming "Red, Black".
FNM Report
Match 1: UW Flash (0-2 loss)
I lost to a nut draw of double Geist of Saint Traft, Snapcaster, Restoration Angel and 3 land.
Then in game 2 I lost to it again. Whoops!
Match 2: Esper Control (2-1 win)
I repeatedly toss down Thundermaw Hellkites and Aristocrats, some of which get Essence Scattered. The Tablet gains me life like a champ. I get triple Essence Scattered and double Dissipated in one game, but my Tablet keeps gaining me enough life to survive the onslaught of Lingering Souls tokens. Vampire Nighthawks make it awkward to swing the 2/2 fliers, so I'm content to race. Eventually, one Thundermaw gets through, taps the tokens down and swings through for victory.
Match 3: Junk Token Aggro (2-0 win)
We each play dudes for a while, but my dudes are bigger. I get a critical mass of Aristocrat, Ash Zealot and Hellkite and keep my hand stocked with Underworld Connections while gaining life off of Tablet. Eventually, Mutilate wipes the board and I simply throw more hasty dudes onto the field to beat face.
Match 4: Esper Control (2-0 win)
Rakdos Cackler and Knight of Infamy swing through Restoration Angels and Snapcaster Mages. Jace makes an appearance, but gets Dreadbored. Aristocrat comes down and eats a Tamiyo, then Rakdos's Return destroys his hand.
Overall 3-1, 3rd place for top 4.
I beat the UW Flash player 2-0 in top 4 to take down the tournament and win 1st place. This time, my Tribute to Hunger showed up, Ultimate Price and Searing Spear took care of his Restoration Angels, and Knights of Infamy held down the fort on defense to keep a Geist of Saint Traft from swinging.
One of my prize packs had a Blood Crypt and a foil Slaughter Games. It was a sign that Rakdos needed to win!
Thoughts on the deck
It's actually pretty fun and effective, and nobody is running any good artifact hate. With Tablet being at the 2 drop spot, I can make the game-time decision about whether I want to push through Ash Zealot and KoI, or hang back and play control, gaining life. It completely shuts down the aggro decks. Underworld Connections gets me tons of extra cards and Tablet keeps the life flowing back in. Vampire Nighthawk chump blocks and attacks all day, paying for more activations of UC. Aristocrat and Hellkites are ridiculous, especially together. Hellrider and Hellkite might be buddies, but nobody beats quite like hasty 4- and 5-drop fliers.
The deck might need some sideboard tweaking once I figure out what it's weak to. Flames might come out since it's already strong vs aggro. It may not have a great draw-go control matchup either, with the density of counterspells and no Cavern of Souls in the maindeck. 25 land might be too much, since I tended to flood out a lot. It might also need better mana sinks. Maybe Hellion Crucible should go back in, or a Devil's play? Hard to say.
The triumphant return of the Hammer. This one's not the Sledge variety, it's the Dark variety. Think Dos Rakis meets Sledgehammer. Plays out the same way pretty much. Went 6-0 with only 2 game losses! Took first place.
Posted this decklist before in the Sledgehammer and Garage threads with few comments, hope this changes
Round 1: GW Aggro/Humans
Actually a bit harder than I expected due to Faith's Shield putting a damper in my style.
Game 1: I land an Ash Zealot soulbonded to a Stonewright. He makes a block when I have mana open to pump the Zealot, thus loses his Smiter. We make a few trades and whatnot thanks to his Faith's Shield and my burn spells. We both enter essentially topdeck mode, and I eventually draw a Bonfire to clear his 2-3 blockers out of the way of my lonely Stonewright. Stonewright pings for a few turns while he draws lands. I eventually get a Noble into play to soulbond, and pump for the win.
Sideboard: I forgot to put in Pillars, or I might have actually won this one. Thunderbolts come in, as do Sever the Bloodlines. Devil's Plays move out, along with a Stonewright and something else I don't remember.
Game 2: Champion, Champion, Cathedral Sanctifier. I try to Searing Spear a Champion in response to his attempting to Rancor him, and get Faith's Shielded. His Champion keeps growing and growing, and I can't deal with it. Never see a Sever the Bloodline.
Sideboard: In Pillar of Flames, out 1 Flames of the Firebrand, 1 Thundermaw, 1 Stromkirk Noble.
Game 3: Knight of Infamy hand with lots of removal, looks good to me! He lands a Champion and another Champion. Attacks with the first. I Flames at his Champions, and he Shields the big one. I'm really beginning to hate this card. No biggie. A Stonewright lets me start beating down, while he's attacking into me(might as well since he can't block the Knight). Thundermaw comes down, and he drops his Sublime Archangel. I have him at 8 life, with a Stonewright, Knight of Infamy, Thundermaw, 3 Mountains, two Cavern of souls(Human/Vampire named), Blood Crypt in hand. He has a big Champion on board, Sublime Archangel, and a Precinct Captain. He has blockers and is probably holding on to something that can kill me next turn. I draw another Knight of Infamy for exactsies after Stonewright pump and Exalted triggers. This is what playing aggro is all about, folks. Took me a little while to figure out how to kill him too.
Round 2: Reanimator
Should I really even talk about this match? I beat his face in. He tries to recover with thragtusk. I beat his face in more. I sideboard in Rakdos Charms, but Ash Zealots triggers did their job. Knights of Infamy did their job. Thundermaw Hellkite did his job. He sideboarded in Lingering Souls, but they suck against Flames and Bonfire and Thundermaw.
Round 3: RDW
My worst matchup, but luckily I won the roll and played first. Stromkirk Noble grows to absurd sizes that he can't deal with. His removal comes too late, although I was a bit scared by his Hellrider. I manage to dome him with a Spear for lethal, or he woulda gotten me next turn with another Hellrider
Sideboard: +3 Frostburn Weird, +3 Pillar of flame, -4 Knight of Infamy, -2 Devil's Play
I saw none of my sideboard cards. His Stromkirk grows out of range, I can't block with my Ash Zealot due to being a Human. I lose to a Hellrider trigger on the turn I can finally block the freakin Noble.
No change in sideboard.
Much of the same as round 1, except my early critters get removed. He eventually folds to an Aristocrat beatdown(thanks Stonewright pumps + sac for lethal!)
Round 4: UW Control
Game 1: Feeling of Dread is rather annoying. Eventually he runs out of ways to delay my Ash Zealot without taking the trigger damage, so he Verdicts me. I play an Aristocrat with a Stonewright bonded. He Detention Spheres the Aristocrat, so I play another. He groans complaining I have all the answers. Flashback Feeling of Dread triggers delay me a few turns, eventually he draws a Tamiyo. Thundermaw says hi to Tamiyo, and he proceeds to draw lands.
Sideboard: In 2 Rakdos Charms, 2 Slaughter Games, out 4 Flames of the Firebrand. I didn't see Snapcasters, but Feeling of Dread was annoying enough, and I really didn't know what plan he was actually running. I figured Entreat might be his wincon, but at the very least I wanted to stop flashback shenanigans. He seemed really heavy on that plan
I Slaughter Games naming Entreat, which was his only wincon outside of Tamiyo Ultimate with Thought Scour(and I suppose the Snapcaster Mages). He scoops.
Round 5: Semifinals vs. RDW
The other undefeated Red aggro deck in the tourney. He ran Vexing Devils, but I ran more removal and he ran out of fuel in game 1. Major props to well timed Searing Spears for Hellriders, and a miracled Bonfire in game 1.
Game 2: He kept a 2 land hand and never saw another land. Needless to say he lost to bigger creatures/more threats. He showed me a hand that absolutely would have outraced me on any amount of answers I would have drawn if he had 2 more lands.
Round 6: UW Flash
I had talked with this guy a few weeks back, and he had gone on and on about his deck. This was before UW Flash became a thing... luckily I've been brewing my deck for awhile, so I knew how to fight it. Maindeck Caverns definitely helped.
Game 1: I'm on the draw, and open with Stromkirk Noble into Knight of Infamy(fed with the Cavern, I have no black mana in opening hand). I had thought I was against a UW control deck until he played Geist on Turn 3. I just had to smirk at the other Knight of Infamy and Ash Zealot in my hand, he's in a bit of trouble. Exalted triggers let the Noble get to 3/3, his Geist is kept at home thanks to the two Knights(I left them both behind in case of Unsummon shenanigans). He Azorius Charms the Noble. Doh. Maybe shoulda attacked with Knight of Infamy and left the Noble at home as the second blocker... oh well. He attacks in with Geist, flashing in Resto Angel to save the Geist. I play Ash Zealot, and attack in with a lone Knight. He Unsummons the other Knight during his turn, and Azorius Charms Ash Zealot in response to me blocking. Starting to get rather annoyed now...
I go into defense mode, until I draw another Cavern to feed my Falkenrath Aristocrat. He chump blocks with the Angel, and I sac Noble to save her. He eventually runs out of useful stuff to do, and folds to Aristocrat.
Sideboard: +3 Thunderbolt, +2 Slaughter Games, -4 Flames of the Firebrand, -1 Devil's Play.
Game 2: Stonewright, Knight of Infamy. He lands another Geist on Turn 3, and I just keep pumping the Knight... he can't target it with anything. He flashes in a Restoration Angel, and gets me down to 7 life after I chump block with my Stonewright. Thunderbolt smokes his Restoration Angel, amazingly doesn't get countered. I leave behind the Knight anyway after attacking with an Ash Zealot. He seems to draw blanks the rest of the game and I win on the back of a Thundermaw with an Exalted Trigger for exactsies.
Conclusions:
Wow. Every card seemed to pull it's weight. The UW Flash might have gone different if he had drawn more Unsummons, but he didn't so I was okay. RDW worked, although I never saw Frostburn Weirds when I sided them in. I saw Pillars, which helped, but never the Weirds. Weird. I'm a bit tired after typing that all up.
Deck thoughts: I may want either a singleton UC or two in the maindeck. I've thought of cutting a Devil's Play and maybe a Stonewright for it, but I don't know that I really want to cut the Stonewright. They're so freaking good and won me so many games tonight that I just want to hug and kiss them.
Sever the Bloodline - I didn't need it, but I still think it's the only answer I have to GW aggro utilizing Wolfir Silverhearts, or a big friggin Lotleth Troll(other than flying over them, which can be gotten around).
So I'm gonna go to bed probably...
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After conferring with a friend over finalizing my board, I first sat across from a guy who I know likes playing green decks that grow lots of stuff and gain life. I knew if I could get out quick, I could likely shut him down.
Game 1: No game really; He played dorks and started setting up his token engines but I played around giving him tokens to pump and he was missing populate as I curved out and put a double Knight-pumped Aristocrat to work. Turn 6 kill.
Game 2: Sided in Rakdos Charm, FotF. I had to mull on the draw and kept a decent hand, but he got started much quicker this time around. He got down double Virtue and started overwhelming me my board state. He was confident of the win as he attacked in and I blocked with everything except a tapped Aristocrat, leaving him at 5 with 5 creatures in play and me at 1. I untapped and told him I was saccing Aristocrat to itself and he looked at me like I was crazy; then I played Rakdos Charm and smiled as he read it.
Round 2: Bant Control/Aggro (2-0) WIN
I name this deck funny because I talked with the player afterwards and found that he was running a transformational sideboard, playing relative control the first game then morphing to a more aggro, creature-heavy build.
Game 1: I saw him showing blue/white, so I started out playing creatures slow and sure enough saw Verdict come down and wipe my board. We were trading back and forth, each getting in blows and each clearing creatures (Loxodon Smiter does not like Dreadbore). He had played Centaur Healer to get some life back, and we came down to my dropping Hellkite to get in and then him playing Angel of Serenity and exiling my Hellkite and his Centaur...and for whatever reason no other creatures. I dropped Ultimate Price on his Angel EOT to get my Hellkite back, then recast Hellkite followed by Spear to the dome for the win.
Game 2: Sided in Conscripts, Underworld Connections, Nighthawk, Dreadbore, out Bonfire and a mix of 1-drops. I hate Thragtusk. I will say it now and be done with it. This game he came out more aggro and I was playing careful to avoid Verdict. I had a great aggro start of Zealot following 2 Knights, but he promptly O-Ringed the Zealot and soon dropped Thragtusk, going up to 24 life. I kept bringing in hasty threats and getting in then losing them to Spheres and O-Rings, building up a decent mana base as we went. I finally dropped Devil's Play to take him to 1 while sitting at 9 with 2 Knights on guard and he had no way to prevent the flashback next turn. He told me then that he had killed himself by siding out Verdict because he didn't know I was playing Knights and he had no way to remove them. Connections netted me 4 EOT cards which made the win possible.
Round 3: Mono Blue Tempo/Control Homebrew (2-0) WIN
Game 1: He started off on the play with Delver and I thought I was up against UW. But he kept turning Islands and playing cards like Downsize and Crippling Chill. It was annoying for a few turns as he was tapping my attacks and getting in with Delver, but I started fielding threats and he ran him over. I'm not sure how he got to 2-0...
Game 2: No sideboarding. By turn 3 I had a field of Noble-Noble-Noble-Knight and he scooped while still at 19 life because he didn't have answers.
Round 4: Five-Color Mythics (2-0) WIN
I had never heard of the deck, but the kid playing it was a decent Delver player before rotation and he was 3-0 after taking out one of the best players in the room.
Game 1: I had a good Aggro takeoff Noble-Knight-Nighthawk-Aristocrat. He took out Nighthawk before it got active and turned a Thragtusk. I killed it, hit him again with Aristocrat, then he hit another Tusk going back to 9 and hitting me with it for my first damage of the game. I played another Aristocrat, hit him with both then Spear to the face.
Game 2: In Conscripts, Connections, Nighthhawk and Dreadbore again; out Bonfire, a couple of Knights and 1-drops. Crazy hand...I thought he was going to land huge stuff and destroy me but I never got hit. I had to mull down to 5 and kept a land-heavy and with Conscripts, Price and Aristocrat. I drew into Zealot early and he was getting nothing down, he took out Zealot and I dropped Aristocrat to him him to 14. He hit new Jace and -2 to end up with Verdict in hand; I killed Jace. He hit the Verdict and wiped me; he had no Conscript target but dropped first Gilded Lotus then Chromatic Lantern and I was suddenly staring at a huge mana base across from me. He dropped Thragtusk to go back up to 19, and I was jumping up and down inside...I untapped and lived the dream, taking Tusk with Conscripts, hitting him with both of them, then hitting Tusk with Price to take the token. He never fielded another meaningful threat and I ended it soon after. He was in awe of the deck, and I was contemplating making a stamp for my scorepad to start posting my Thragtusk kills like a fight jock.
Round 5: Jund Aggro (1-2) LOSS
This was against the top player in the room, 2nd Place at Kansas States and always top 4 in our LGS (he finished 6-0 on the night).
Game 1: My deck hiccuped and I had to mull to 5 on the play (the first time I won a roll all night...figures). The hand was not the best and he got down 2 Huntmasters to keep taking his life back up. I killed them before they flipped, but 3 tokens, Nighthawk and removal overran my board state and killed me pretty quick.
Game 2: In Conscripts, Nighthawk, Dreadbore; out Noble and a Knight. All I can say about this game is EPIC. I kept a hand 2 land, 3 burn, Conscripts and Aristocrat as I knew I needed to play control. The details are lost to me as the game went on forever and I was trying to concentrate on play and just zoned into it. I drew into Zealots and started knocking him down, and continued to drawn burn and removal and took out a Huntmaster. He finally smiled and asked how many Thragtusk I could beat; I told him we'd have to see. Spare the details, but after I took Tusk #2 with Conscripts and got the dream again, then killed #3, he started to wonder. I landed an Aristocrat that did outrageous work for me with and without a Stonewright, tearing down all the lifegain. Despite 2 more Huntmasters (also killed before flips) and more arial beatings, he landed Nighthawk to shut down Aristocrat. I hit Devil's Play to burn him down, he tried to attack in to take me out but I let the Nighthawk through and stopped the 3-power token to stay in, then untapped and pointed back at DP. He shook his head, shook my hand, and said that that was truly an earned win.
Game 3: Regrettably, my deck decided after so epic a win that it was time to shut down. I had to mull to 5 on the play and still I had crap. He actually lamented this as he wanted to battle it out again, but he hit life gain and beat me with bigger sticks than I could muster. He ended the game at 28 and I never had a chance. Still, the game before was win enough for me as it showed that Thragtusk isn't the only playable card in standard.
Round 6: G/W Aggro (0-2) LOSS
I didn't even want to play this one. The kid always plays GW aggro decks and he is without the luckiest drawing player I have ever faced. Every time we've played, he has had nut-draw hands and this was no exception. Not worth the details; I had to mull crazy both games and got stuck on 2 lands both times after keeping what should have been solid hands. The first game was sort of funny after a while because I stabilized on 1 life and he was at 24 and it took him 5 turns to kill me as I drew slowdowns but not solutions and Gavony, 2 Rancor and Strangleroot Geist and beast token finally got through 3 Zealots and a Stonewright. Game 2 just sucked; I messed up thinking I had 2 red sources in my hand with 2 Zealots and a Knight but it was 1 and I got stuck again. He curved right into Rancored Paladin bonded to Knight and was swinging for 10...I scooped and found I would not see the land I needed for 3 more turns.
The deck was flat awesome; I love the way it plays and the lines of play it opens. I would have loved to have taken the Jund match and obviously the deck could have done so, and variance had to kick me at some point and the GW matchup was the wrong place to stall out.
I didn't miss Sever as I know of no one running Troll, and adding 2 Conscripts to the SB was perfect for tonight. The mana balance wasn't quite right (I took out the guild gates on advice from my friend, but his recommendation to go to 5 swamps was too far towards black. I will likely pull it back to 3 or 4 as I want more red.
Here is my FNM report from last night. Went 5-0 for 1st place.
The Decklist is near identical to Zem's list aside from minor SB tweaks and I took out Pillar MD and switched it with Brimstone Volley. So I basically just played the cards, credit to Zem obviously for the list.
I played last week FNM with Nighthawk and Stonewright and Cavern of Souls and split the pot for 1st place. This week, I anticipated a lot of Jund and figured I would try out Zem's list since he is really raving about Hellhole Flailer and if Zem likes it, there is a probably a good reason for it since he playtests so often.
First off, I apologize for the loose notes here.
1) I was drinking a lot that afternoon and didn't totally sober up till the 3rd round so the first two rounds are a little hazy.
2) I played Jund decks 3 rounds in a row, so it is a little hard to remember what happened in each specific game.
Round 1 - 2-0 vs Bant Control I played against a kid I know pretty well but he never really stood that much of a chance, despite dropping 2 Thragtusk in game 1 and 2. I had an Aristocrat down on the board and he had 2 Thragtusk. I knew he was holding the board wipe since he kept swinging with the Thragrusk, I knew he would just board wipe if I took the damage so I just chump blocked every time which caused him to hold back on the board wipe. Eventually he just died to the Aristocrat.
Game 2 went pretty similar, as he had 2 Thragtusk again, but I dropped an early Underworld Connections that helped me get ahead. Again he did similar with attacking with his guys despite having low health, giving away that he had the verdict. That made it very easy to play around the verdict and he died pretty quickly. I made sure to keep 2 guys on the field at all times and it worked perfectly.
SB Strategy - Took out the 2 Flames of the Firebrand, put in another Underworld Connections and an Ultimate Price for the Resto Angel.
Round 2 - 2-1 vs Jund Ah, the first of the 3 Jund matchups. Hellhole Flailer was pretty badass here. He put a lot of early pressure on him along with a Noble that got to a 4/4. Once I dropped the Flying *****, he was pretty much screwed at that point.
Game 2 was a little harder, as he Pillar'd my early drops and then Severed my Aristocrat. I had some land trouble though despite having an UC on turn 3, I never drew my 5th land the entire game, despite having 2 Zealous Conscrips and basically drawing 2 every turn.. He killed me with Thragrusk and Huntmaster I believe.
Game 3 - This one started out rough after I mulled to 6 and had 3 land, Spear, Ash Zealot and Aristocrat. He duressed first turn which exposed my ****ty hand. Despite seeing my hand, he wasted his Dreadbore on my Ash Zealot, which allowed me to play the Aristocrat. She stuck around and I drew into some decent cards while he hit a land pocket.
SB Strategy - I'm going to put this once since I did the same for all 3 of the jund decks I faced.
Took out 2 Flames of the Firebrand, 4 Knight of Infamy and brought in 1 Underworld, 2 Traitorous Blood, 1 Zealous Conscripts and 1 Sever the Bloodline and 1 Dreadbore
Round 3 - 2-1 vs Jund
This guy was going "avenge his jund buddy" yea , how bout that.
Game 1 - I got what I thought was a good hand but turned out to be not so good. I had a triple 1-drop hand, and then drew into 2 more 1-drops. I didn't see a creature over 1 mana the entire game. I had quite the little army out there but a turn 4 Bonfire for 2 wiped out everything and I was left with just lands in my hand...
Game 2- This one went a hell of a lot better. I opened with a Noble, then Cackler, and then 2 Hellhole Flailer on turns 3 and 4. I then snagged an Aristocrat and he was prettty much screwed.
Game 3 - He basically got raped this game as I got a nasty hand/draw. I went Noble into Ash Zealot into Flailer, into Aristocrat into Conscripts on his Thragrusk, swing for 18! Cyaaaaa
Round 4 2-1 vs Jund Wipee, more Jund!
Game 1 - I got basically the same hand as I did on Game 3 of the last one and just killed him on turn 5. Suck on that Jund!
Game 2 - He mulligans to 5, and I keep a familiar triple 1-drop hand. Somehow...I lost. Yet again, I draw 2 more 1-drops. His 5-card hand was ok, 3 land, Farseek and Huntmaster, he draws into 2 more Huntmaster and then a Bonfire to seal it.
Game 3 - I was not going out like that, thats for damn sure!
We both have pretty bad hands as he mull's to 6 and I keep a 7 card hand that isn't anything special, 2 Flailers and an Aristocrat and 4 lands, a very slow hand, but I like it since I am on the play. He doesn't have much either and I get him down very quickly with the 2 Flailers and the Aristocrat. He is down to 4 life and asks if I have any burn, which I show him a Thunderbolt and a Spear and he gives me the handshake.
Round 5 Mono Red - 2-1 I said I wasn't going to split the pot this time, but I folded again once I found out it was mono red and I really didn't want to face that. We played for an extra 5 packs to the winner.
Round 1 - He was on the play so as you can expect, I got rocked.
Round 2- I destroyed a few of his guys and got a Zealot, Flailer and Aristocrat down. From there I was able to just burn his board away and swing in for big damage. Basically went the opposite of the first game.
Round 3- This was a big gamble here, but it paid off.
He is ahead the whole way since he was on the play and had that annoying Pireheart Wolf to let all his guys through. I have an Ash Zealot, Flailer and Aristocrat out. He attacks me all out and I figure I am probably dead since I am at 8 life and could die very easily next turn. He is still at 20 life, I figure my only way to win is to attack now and pray he doesn't have burn or a hellrider in his hand. I swing for 10 to bring him down to 10.
Here is where it gets awesome. He attacks with his guys to bring me to 2 health and he keeps his Pyreheart Wolf up to block my Flailer so he will survive my attack.
Wrong! I attack with the Aristocrat, sac the Zealot to make him do 5 damage, then play my Brimstone volley for the victory. Man, that was awesome.
Round 1 (2-1): UWR Midrange game 1- Had a couple early beats with Stromkirk, gore-house, pyreheart. Noble and walker were removed then he played geist of saint traft. Pyreheart Wolf blocked him two turns, killing him on the 2nd time, while 2 thundermaws in hand were able to take the game. game 2- Had 2 searing spears and snapcaster for my early game and I wasn't able to race his GoST game 3- He kept a counter heavy hand and this game dragged out for a bit, but I had a Hellion Crucible to pump and drew into 2 hellriders and 3 thundermaw hellkites. Was able to stick one Hellrider and got him down to 4, he tapped out to play dungeon geist tapping my hellrider then hellkite took it next turn .
Sideboarding- g2 and g3 only took out the pillars for a couple mizzium mortars for resto angel and geist.
Round 2 (2-1): G/W Lifegain game 1- Lost this one to an early miracle terminus into Trostani, into Entreat the Angels game 2- I land Stonewright into Ash Zealot paired into pyreheart wolf, swinging through his loxodon smiter. I get him on the backfoot pretty early while he trys to stablize with a hard cast entreat the angels for 1. I had thundermaw in hand next turn for the game. game 3- I keep a cackler, mountain x4, hound of the griselbrand, Thundermaw Hellkite.
Round 3 (2-1): Grixis Control game 1- He mulled down to 5 and only drew into his lategame wincons while Stromkirk Noble, Gore-House Chainwalker, and Ash zealot swept a quick win game 2- He boarded in some more removal and 1-1 my early game. I was able to get in some beats with Hellion Crucible and stonewright before he dreadbored the Crucible and landed Olivia Voldaren. I landed Thundermaw Hellkite next turn, but his turn he landed his 7th mana and was able to steal the Hellkite, and I scoop. game 3- I had Stromkirk, stonewright, and ash zealot in the first 3 turns. Stromkirk ate a searing spear after he got a hit in, so I knew he was holding a counter. Stonewright and Zealot swung and zealot got a spear while i got a pump on stone for 2, puts him at 16. I had 2 Hellriders and a Hellkite left in hand, first rider was countered and i stuck the 2nd one putting him at 12. The whole time he's been drawing trying to find his 4th land drop while also trying not to die. He taps out for a rakdos keyrune letting me land my thundermaw putting him at 2 with a searing spear in hand.
sideboarding- -2 Pillar.. +2 Traitorous Blood
Round 4 (2-1): G/W Midrange game 1- I completely misplayed this game like a noob. I had a clogged board on my side including pyreheart wolf and thundermaw with a bunch of 1 drops, He had thragtusk and centaur healer on his side while I'm at 9 life. I swing with my whole board, next turn he swings with both I go to searing spear the healer and didn't notice he had dropped gavony township with enough open mana.. derp game 2- I go a couple 1 drops into pyreheart and keep swinging through his loxodon smiter. He does a couple farseeks and trys to get some damage in with smiter, but I'm already far ahead. He drops a Thragtusk and i spear it eot, drop thundermaw and have him low. He has resto angel in hand, but pyreheart said screwed with his ability to block hellkite. game 3- This game got dragged out for a while. I kept a 4 lander with stonewright, ash zealot and pyreheart wolf. He gets a centaur healer and loxodon smiter out to block. Oblivion rings my wolf and zealot. I keep swinging in with stonewright on an empty board while we both flood out. I finally hit another zealot and pair them up for a 2 turn clock. He hits a thragtusk, which I have traitorous blood in hand for next turn.
Round 5 (2-0): Jund game 1- I curve out pretty strong up to hellrider. He does 1-1 removal against me while I pump up a hellion crucible. I sac it and pair with stonewright, he Ultimate price the crucible and I get a pumped swing in with stone. He miracles Bonfire and gets stone off the field, I have double thunder in hand that take it over the next two turns. game 2- This game was pretty close. I kept thundermaw x2, hellrider, gore-house chainwalker, hellion crucible, mountain x2.... I draw into rakdos cackler and play him, next turn lay down gore house and swing with noble. Noble eats a pillar and he farseeks. I play hellion and charge on his turn after chainwalker beats for 3. He plays huntmaster of the fells. I play Hellrider and swing with both, wolf trades with my gorehouse and lets hellrider through. He plays thundermaw hellkite and puts me to 14. I respond with my own thundermaw and put him down to 5 after he blocks hellrider with huntmaster. His turn lays down a thragtusk goes to 10 and passes turn. I swing with both and spear tusk in response to blocks, we trade hellkites, hes at 8. He plays olivia and i charge hellion eot. I draw into a searing spear, I sac crucible and swing with both, triggers put him at 6, he pings the crucible and blocks hellrider with olivia then trades tusk with hellion. The next couple turns i find another spear a burn for exact.
sideboarding- -2 Pillar.. +2 Traitorous Blood
Sorry, I suck at writing and did the best I could from what i remember. All in all, I was pretty happy with how the deck played out against this field. It was nice getting the 2-0 against the Jund player since he was the one that kept me from getting 4-0 last time. Thundermaw was definitely a huge player in a few matchups and hound of griselbrand was great against the g/w decks the games that i saw him.
I've recently switched to a sledgehammer build and made the initial build here. I followed the advice of bringing it up to 24 lands. I was at the office so I didn't have time to add another card to the sideboard, so that's why the last Hellion Crucible is still in the SB.
Sorry for the lack of details of the report because I suck at remembering what I sided in.
Game 1 - GW Midrange 2-0
His deck had the cold. I was worried I was going to have a loss for the first game of the night but I was surprised.
R1 Play - He started fairly good while I dropped my Stromkirks and Ash Zealots. He dropped an early Thalia and I spent 3 mana to kill it with my spear. He never stabilized and was stuck on 3 mana.
R2 Draw - I was wary that he is more likely to have a Restoration Angel waiting but since killing the defenders is not enough, I sided in a full set of Traitorous Blood. Turns out I don't get to use them. Turn 3 he dropped his 3rd land and has two elves on play. I killed them with my Flames and that sealed the win. as he was able to drop another dude but I had Pyreheart Wolf out.
Game 2 - WUR Geist Control 1-2
The most challenging and close fight of the night. I never regretted losing to this deck as I know I did the right plays and didn't make mistakes. I've always finished rounds with RDW before half of the time alotted pass but we went for almost hit the time limit.
R1 Draw - He had the early package of charms to prevent my dudes from dealing damage. When I eventually got in with Hellrider, I brought his life to around 9. He dropped Geist and suicided to activate lifelink with Azorius Charm which gave him 6 life. He dropped a Hellkite and I wasn't able to catch up since I wasn't able to draw my own.
R2 Play - When RDW goes first, you better make the best out of it. I played creature after creature while he tried to stabilize with removal. Two consecutive Hellriders sealed the deal for me at around turn 5.
R2 Draw - Closest game for me so far. We traded cards early game and both reached 8 life. I was on the defensive with a Hellrider and an Ash Zealot while he had a Dungeon Geist that came in last turn and tapped Hellrider. He unsummons my Zealot and I was left defenseless while he swings for lethal.
Game 3 - Jund Midrange 2-1
Nothing much to say except I was lucky on the last game. I also never got to see his Garruk and Hunter of the Fells.
R1 Draw - He stabilized early with a miracled Bonfire, Thragtusk and Olivia Voldaren on maindeck by killing my early dudes with his removal suite.
R2 Play - Not sure what happened here but I curved nicely with Hellrider while he was fishing for his creatures. He did got Thragtusk out but I traded for it with Hellrider. He was down to 6 life while I was at 20. This was the only play mistake I think I did. I had a spear in my hand and he attacked with his beast token. I speared the token, only to draw another spear on my draw. The game was extended unnecessarily and luckily I drew another burn spell to finish it.
R3 Draw - I sided in the threatens and I curved nicely and siding in those threatens did the trick.
1: Land tapped; Mountain, Stromkirk;
2: Land, Pillar Stromkirk; Mountain, Gore-House Chainwalker
3: Land, Farseek; Mountain Ash Zealot, 2 dudes -5 (15)
4: Land, Sever Chainwalker; Mountain Ash Zealot -2 (13)
5: Land, Spear Ash Zealot; Mountain, Hellrider -4 (9)
6: Land, Thragtusk +5 (14); Traitorous Blood -10 (4)
7: Pass; Traitorous Blood
Game 4 - Frites 2-1
It was the first time I faced this deck, so I was wary with the first round.
R1 Draw - I had 3 creatures on the field trying to bring down his life total to a good level while he mulched twice and found a Thrag, Serenity, and Rites. I knew this was going to be a losing game if I didn't draw any of my big creatures. Then again he kept dropping Serenities on me and I lost.
R2 Play - I didn't have Graffdiffer's Cage or Tormod's Crypt, but him having big creatures means he is vulnerable to threaten effects. In this round he kept digging for answers while I curved perfectly with Hellrider topping it. A turn 7 kill if I remember correctly.
R3 Draw - He didn't manage to mulch his way to victory this time. He had 9 life left when I dropped a Thundermaw. Terminus miracle. Played Ash Zealot, got him down to two. Another Terminus?? Then he played Vampire Knighthawk and he was tapped out. That was my cue to steal him for the win.
Card Analysis Hellrider - The MVP of the night. He showed up each round and did what he does best. Stromkirk Noble - Always appeared as my 1-drop and manages to get in good damage before he eats removal. Traitorous Blood - Very powerful. I haven't gotten to use the trample effect yet, but I wouldn't have won some games without this. Thundermaw Hellkite - Amazingly the worst performer of the night just because he only showed up once in my hand the whole night. He would have turned over some of my losses had I drawn him earlier. He did win me game 4 by dealing 5 damage right off the bat. Flames of the Firebrand - Still a good burn card and won me my worst matchup of the evening. MDing the card is considerable. Devil's Play - Didn't also show up when I needed it the most. I used it to kill a Thalia IIRC. Hellion Crucible - While it did not see play this evening, it made my opponents worry about it when they see it dropped. The threatening presence is enough for me to warrant enough on my deck. Stonewright - Even with 3 MD, he underperformed for me. It was only on some occassions he helped dealing some significant damage. He does eat removal though.
As for the deck I'm going to use Friday, I'm thinking:
-1 Mountain, +1 Hellion Crucible (-1SB)
+1 Flames of the Firebrand, -1 Devil's Play
-1 Stonewright, +1 Thundermaw Hellkite (-1SB)
+3 Pillar of Flame SB, -1 Devil's Play SB
I've added Pillar just because the zombies aren't dead in my meta.
redthirst is redthirst, fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse. He was the leader of the Fires of Salvation, the only clan I'm aware of to get modded off the forums so hard they made their own forums.
Degenerate? Sure. Loudmouth? You bet. Law abiding? No ****ing way.
Summary of my matchups. Not too detailed, but I can indicate the important key points.
Match 1 - BG Scavenger 0-2
I came into the tourney prepared for WG midranges everywhere. Turns out I did the wrong meta call (it wasn't my LGS after all). This was a new deck for me.
Round 1 - An early Deadbridge Goliath and double Thragtusks kept me far away from winning. He went to around 40 life before I got overwhelmed by a scavenged goliath over a Vampire Nighthawk
Round 2 - The deciding turn where I made the biggest mistake of the night. It escaped my thought that Deathrite Shaman can exile a sorcery to make me lose two life. I failed at math and he swung at me for exactly my remaining 9 life.
Match 2 - BG Midrange 0-2
Round 1 - Pretty much the same deck without Thrags but still good at controlling. Multiple Nighthawks in the air without me drawing my crucial Thundermaws prevented me from turning it around.
Round 2 - Again, it's the same thinkg where I didn't draw my Thundermaws until too late.
Match 3 - BR Zombies 1-2
Round 1 - When you race, you race. I curved perfectly in this round.
Round 2 - A long game where he turned around the game being at 2 life by dropping an Olivia, pinging my Thundermaw, and swinging with it next turn.
Round 3 - He is now the one who curved perfectly by dropping a Aristocrat turn 4 followed by another one turn 5.
Match 4 - Jund Midrange 2-1
Surprisingly, the biggest factor why I won over this deck is because he was running just one Thragtusk, and it never appeared.
Round 1 - Garruk dropped down while he kept my creatures at bay with removal and tokens from Huntmaster.
Round 2 and Round 3 are basically the same with me taking over the game with consecutive Hellriders and Thundermaws
Comments
- 25 lands are a must if you're running 4 Maws. Hellion Crucible is also a threat. I don't believe most players have it in their radar yet as 3 out of 4 people read the card when they saw it land.
- It is perfectly a legit excuse to lose when you don't draw your Thundermaws even if they are not holding any cards in hand.
- Vampire Nighthawk appeared in 3 out of 4 decks that I played against. This reinforces the thought of using Thunderbolts main deck. Deathtouch pretty much stops your Thundermaws. Kill them asap.
- Brimstone Volley yet underperfomed again. I sided it out everytime because morbid activation is unreliable unless you're suiciding.
- Traitorous Blood still turns games around.
- Pyreheart Wolf is now a staple.
In summary, the deck feels strong. It's only due to bad luck and misplays that I got the disappointing score tonight. Pillar of Flame might need to come back because of the zombie abundance. Brimstone is Volley is out for me temporarily until it warrants use again. I might as well use Annihilating Fire over it since it also kills zombies for good.
Game 5: Mono Red 2-0
It was one of these Sligh builds from Modo I guess. Stromkirks, Zealots, Pyrehearts, Hellriders. I think he had SB Conscripts.
Games were really easy, especially with hand full of burn. I just managed to annihilate his board state (once with very brutal Bonfire killing his 3 dudes). Both Splatter Thugs and Cathedral of War were shining here. As overall, easy game without a chance of loosing.
Sideboard: -4 Stonewright, +4 Annihilating Fire
Without a chance of losing? Im guessing sligh did terrible throughout the night. Maybe I guess its time for me to hang up Sligh and go big. Zzzzz. Even with conscripts, traitorous blood, and mortars, it looks like we are food for GW which is pretty popular in my meta.
Game 1: He wins the roll and drops a Doorkeeper to combat my Stromkirk turn 1 play. I Searing Spear it after combat, he drops Axebane Guardian who gets Flamed, Fog Bank x2 meets a Bonfire for 2, he scoops.
Sideboard: I figured he was running Hover Barriers, so I took out 3 Flames for Dreadbore and Sever the Bloodline. I'm pretty sure he's on the Infinite Combo plan, so he needs lots of creatures to make it work. Double Fog Bank woulda put a hamper in my plan if I hadn't drawn the Bonfire, so Sever the Bloodline seems logical
Game 2: Much the same as the first round, except this time Stonewright paired with Knight of Infamy goes the distance. I saw a few Unsummons, some Dissipates when I tried to remove his blockers. He just delayed until I dropped Aristocrat followed by a hardcast Bonfire for 2. He had no more counters, and loses.
Round 2: Bant Hatebirds
He's running a deck that uses Thalias, Judge's Familiar, Rancors, Loxodon Smiters, and some other typical GW Aggro stuff.
Game 1: I win the roll, dropping a Stromkirk on Turn 1. He follows up with a Judge's Familiar, and I offer the trade. He doesn't take said trade, dropping a Thalia. Stromkirk grows to a 3/3. He drops down GRONK, and I hit two Knights of Infamy, just shutting down his game plan. Smiter can't attack, and anything Stromkirk combats will just go over him.
Sideboarding: Sever the Bloodline comes in here, along with a Dreadbore. I take out a Stromkirk Noble and 2 Falkenrath Aristocrats. I don't like the Aristocrats here, since he's running 1/1 flyers that counter my Flames. I got lucky with Stromkirk in game 1, I don't think he'll make the same mistake.
Game 2: Starts off the same as game 1, this time he takes the trade offer. Ash Zealot noms on a Loxodon Smiter thanks to Searing Spear. He Rancors Thalia, but it's too little when I topdeck a Thundermaw Hellkite for lethal in 2 turns.
Round 3: Bant Control
Game 1: Opponent wins the roll. He lands a turn 4 Thragtusk thanks to Farseek, and I had a pretty slow start. I got stuck on 3 lands, and he Revelationed for 6 putting him at 26 life with 7 cards in hand to my 2 Thundermaws. He drops another Thragtusk and I can't win anymore. Scoop.
Sideboard: In with the Slaughter Games and Dreadbore, out with Bonfire x2, Pillar x1.
Game 2: I keep a hand with both Slaughter Games in hand, Blood Crypt, Mountain, Cavern, Knight of Infamy, and a Stonewright. I don't think I could have asked for a better hand! Stonewright/Knight beats down until turn 4, where I cast a Slaughter Games naming Thragtusk. He shows me 3 Tusks in hand that he would have started dropping the next turn. He drops a Jace instead, then I Slaughter Games Revelation and kill Jace, to which he just scoops.
Game 3: He counters and Spheres all my early creatures, then goes to Jace town, eventually landing a Tamiyo who goes free long enough to get ultimate. He shows me a Thought Scour and with 6 blue sources on his board, I can't win this match. Well played sir.
Round 4: Esper Geist Tempo
We opted to draw into Top 8. Played for funsies though.
Game 1: I win the roll, dropping a Knight of Infamy for the win. His Geist can't attack after I drop a second Knight. He Unsummons a few times, ultimately folding to the arms race. I had named Human on a Cavern, so he showed me his 4 dead counterspells after the game ended.
Game 2: He removed all my early creatures with Tragic Slips/Ultimate prices. He wins the race with Geist.
Game 3: I Slaughter Games his Geist. His Lone Revenants are forced to be on defense, and Thundermaw waves to the Revenants from the air. It's worth noting that until Game 3, he didn't see Thundermaws, so his Lingering Blockers got blown out by Thundermaw.
Round 5: BG Zombies
Game 1: He's on the Lotleth Troll plan, which sucks for me until turn 4. Abrupt Decays eat up my Ash Zealots and such. I delay long enough and eventually Aristocrat comes down, followed by a Thundermaw. His roll is pretty big, but he can't race me with it. He needed a Dreg Mangler draw, followed by another. He didn't get it. I win.
Sideboarding: 3x Pillar come in, along with 2 Sever the Bloodline, and 3 Hanweir Watchkeeps! Knight of Infamy x4 goes out, along with 2x Stromkirk and 2x Stonewrights.
Game 2: I keep a 3 Pillar hand to answer his nutdraw. Round 4 I hit an Aristocrat which gets some Dead Weight thrown on it. We enter topdeck mode, and his Dreg Mangler and Geralf's Messenger topdecks beat out my Mountain topdecks.
Game 3: I keep a somewhat risky 1 land hand, but it has a Stromkirk, Stonewright, and Pillar. I instantly regretted it when I didn't draw a second land until turn 3. Luckily, he didn't have anything to play until turn 3 anyway when he dropped a Geralf's Messenger. His Message got a Pillar, and Stromkirk is quickly growing out of his range. He lands a Troll to try and block, but by then I'm drawing enough lands that I can start laying down Aristocrats and Ash Zealots. He can't block them all and eventually just gets swarmed to death.
Conclusion
Somewhere along the line, Bant control started running more Sphinx's Revelations. That completely killed me. I went 3-1, still taking away better than even money. Not the complete blowout I'm used to. BG Zombies was a bit scarier than I had imagined too, and if I hadn't lucksacked into that triple Pillar opener, and he hadn't kept the bad opening hand Game 3, I probably woulda had way more trouble than I did. Bant Control guy ended up going 4-0-1, tying with a Reanimator deck on rounds(I think that's what it's called).
So let's see: Bonfire wasn't an all-star, but it did certainly make some games easier. I still think it's the only real way to beat Geist. It's also a complete blowout against GW Humans and Lingering Blockers.
I actually have to stand by Slaughter Games again. It's such a blowout against those decks that rely so heavily on Thragtusk to stabilize. UW Tempo and Geist reliant decks pretty much fold to it as well.
So I have this card in my sideboard called Hanweir Watchkeep, and I have 3 of them. I have played probably 20+ individual games where I sided in 3 Watchkeeps. I have never once gotten to test them.
I'm actually consistent enough with the deck that I wouldn't mind taking it to a major event now. There might be a flux of 3 cards or so week to week, but I'm very happy with it now.
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Awesome report. Im fighting Sphinx's Revelation with Underworld Connections and Duress, but Slaughter Games might be easier.
I just like Slaughter Games so much, cause a single Revelation can fetch them more. Jace fetches them more. Duress doesn't hit Tusk. There are only a few cards that I can't really play around in multiples, and Slaughter Games just takes care of all of that. You take away their outs when they're behind. You leave them digging for 1 of their 4 cards to win with when you still have countless creatures to continue beating them with.
I want UC to work, I really do, but I don't think I can sacrifice the manabase for it. Caverns give me such an edge, and I don't think I can get away with 4 Guildgates. Ham, any input on this? How many times has 4x Guildgates messed up you curving out?
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Round 1 (2-0): mono red mirror
These were a pretty easy quick 2 games. He only curved out to hellrider and played vexing devils. I was otd both times and played a better control than he did aggro. Hanweir watchkeep screwed him 2nd game when he was able to flip and Im casting thundermaws.
Round 2 (2-1): Bant Control
ugh..
game 1 went really well.. I curved out nicely from stromkirk into ash zealot. He kept a kind of durdly hand and was punished for it when I hit hellrider.
game 2 I durped and put the pile of sb cards i laid out back into the sb instead of my deck and the cards i wanted to take out back into my deck.
I saw a bit of resto angel and centaur healer action early, I speared the healer and cast thundermaw the turn after. He hit a terminus and cast thragtusk. I scooped.
game 3 Got the cards i wanted to put in actually in. This game took awhile and was back and forth on board positions, but I was able to come out on top with Hound of griselbrand and a couple ash zealots, and a ticking up hellion crucible to which he wasn't drawing enough answers to my threats.
Round 3 (2-0): UW control
Game 1 he mulled to 6, I was otp with a very aggressive start, won by t5.
game 2 was a pretty epic game, I was getting in early damage with stonewright and ash zealot until he supreme verdict. I got in with hellrider that was D-sphered, hellkite that was D-sphered, another of each that were countered away. Terminused the board 3 times, then hit entreat the angels for 5. I overloaded mizzium mortars next turn. Finally stuck a pyreheat wolf to his moorland haunt token. The wolf swung in a couple times to get him to 6 and i had double spear in hand.
Round 4 (2-1): Gb zombies
game 1 I was otd, had pillar in opening hand for his gravecrawler on t2, I started with noble into cackler then pyreheart. Raced him down when i hit hellrider mana
game 2 He landed a desecration demon and had a bit more removal for my guy, i was stuck on 3 lands too long to race him once i hit hellrider mana
game 3 I rode stromkirk, gore-house, and pyreheart for the win while i kept him on 1 guy.
Round 5 (2-0): GW lifegain
These were both really good games, game 1 we both ended up at exactly 2 life when he Terminused the board empty, I had a cackler in hand and he drew land his next turn. Game 2 he managed to get up to 30 life while i was beating down on him, he trostani and a centaur healer out, and avacyn's pilgrim. I swung into them all with cackler, zealot, and gore-house leaving only cackler alive so I could overload mortars 2nd main phase. Rest of the game I just kept a threat out to whittle him down without overextending into the terminus.
Overall I'm very satisfied with this makeup as it just puts out continuous pressure, and I made considerably less misplays than when I first put the deck together last week and still won. I'm very tired though so if anyone has any specific questions about individual matchups, just ask.
Hound of Griselbrand- Great against any thragtusk decks not running pillar of flame. He just creates a stronger board presence than what thrag represents if you know their deck can force you to play the long game like bant control and well built gw midranges, and is a good blocker to stall for thundermaw if need be.
Hanweir Watchkeep- I really like this against the mirror and zombies. As long as you have the burn for stromkirk noble it'll force them to either have a combination of 2 cards to answer it or play against your top end, which is what i want in my deck. Then if they run out of gas its just another 5/5 beater they have to worry about on top of thundermaw. Also shuts down all of the zombies unless they get a rancor on geralf or they play red for aristocrat.
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Stromkirk Noble
2 Stonewright
4 Ash Zealot
2 Lightning Mauler
2 Pyreheart Wolf
4 Hellrider
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
3 Pillar of Flame
4 Searing Spear
1 Thunderbolt
3 Brimstone Volley
Lands
21 Mountain
2 Hellion Crucible
3 Traitorous Blood
2 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Thunderbolt
3 Frostburn Weird
1 Zealous Conscripts
Result is a disappointing 1-3. I know I did some misplays including one fatal mistake that cost me my 3rd match. Anyway, the summaries:
Match 1 - WU Midrange
I lost both rounds due to Geist of Saint Traft. Once this card comes out, you're on a clock. Add some mana screw and you're done. I did get Archwing Dragon when I boarded him in and got my opponent down to 8 until the Geist came in. Unfortunately I wasn't able to draw any removal to at least block the angel token.
Match 2 - WG Aggro
Talk about a bad matchup. I tried to race him when he wasn't dropping creatures turns 1 and 2. It sucks when you take a Restoration Angel to the face. I'll discuss more of this later down. I managed to beat him the 2nd round by winning fast and drawing a good removal suite on my opening hand.
Match 3 - WG Aggro
Oh man, another one. This time my opponent was running wolves, but the usual Thrag+Resto Angel is there and basically what prevented me from winning the game. There was the this situation in the last round I can steal his Thrag with my Zealous Conscripts. He had a 3/3 blocker which i figured that he should block if he wants to survive. I had Hellrider on board so I figured I can hold it out if I steal his Thrag. Surprise, he had another Angel on hand. So no Thrag for me. Had I target his other Angel, I wouldn't be able to outrace him anyway. 2-0 again for my opponent.
Match 4 - UW Control
Or at least that's how I think what he was running. I never got to see his deck run properly aside from one Verdict and some Spheres. UW Control still proves to be the best matchup for our deck.
Anyway, GW Aggro proved to be still a pain to go against. Thunderbolts do their thing and I'm thinking of MDing a full suite instead of Pillars next time. Pillars did almost nothing in my games, and I don't think I noticed zombie decks back. GW Aggro is the dominating meta in the place I competed in.
Some card comments:
Lightning Mauler - I was underwhelmed with this card. I wanted to test it since it has good synergy with Pyreheart and later 1 drops, but does very poorly against midrange decks.
Thunderbolt - Awesome card because Angels are still rampant. I competed in a different venue where I usually play, It's still a spear in the face if you don't see flyers around. I will try running a full set next time.
Pillar of Flame - This card is proving to be losing more of it's goodness the more I see how the metagame here shifts. Use it if your meta has a lot of zombies. Otherwise, there are better options.
Frostburn Weird - I only sided him in my first GW Aggro match. He is actually good at blocking early threats and also eats removal. Never had the chance to try him in RDW mirror though.
EDIT: I noticed a had the wrong decklist.
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Tonight's wacky brew -
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Knight of Infamy
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Thundermaw Hellkite
Spells
4 Searing Spear
2 Dreadbore
2 Tablet of the Guilds
Enchantments
3 Underworld Connections
Lands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Rakdos Guildgate
11 Mountain
4 Swamp
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Rakdos Charm
2 Rakdos's Return
3 Ultimate Price
2 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Hanweir Watchkeep
2 Tribute to Hunger
I got tired of playing durdly green decks that just blink Thragtusk over and over, gaining 5 life at a time. It wasn't like I couldn't deal those decks damage, since I have fliers aplenty. I just can't kill those decks down from 40 life fast enough, especially if I'm taking damage from my own Underworld Connections trying to find my answers. I felt like my 1 drops weren't getting it done, and I wanted more top end. In a slow format dominated by control and Jund, I want scary beaters instead of efficient 1 drops.
Enter Tablet of the Guilds, which I tested as an effective sideboard card against aggro decks. I thought, hell, my favorite things to do are draw extra cards and beat with big-ass creatures. Why can't I durdle with life gain while casting scary monsters? Two can play at that game, sirs.
I took a Sledgehammer-esque creature base topping out at 4 Thundermaw Hellkite, but using the standard Dos Rakis creatures instead, since they are quite effective against most of the field.
With Tablet of the Guilds, the deck gains retarded amounts of life which helps me stall as I send Aristocrat and Hellkite into the red zone over and over again. Searing Spear does work to the face or burning blockers, and Dreadbore handles annoying creatures or planeswalkers. Underworld Connections, everyone's favorite mana sink, repeatedly draws me extra cards and lets me spend the extra life that I'm gaining with EVERY SPELL. Suddenly my Rakdos Cackler is a 2/2 plus 2 life for 1 card. My Aristocrat nets me 2 life and beats for 4. My Underworld Connections pays for its first draw. It seems a little too cute, but there's a lot of value in the little 2-drop artifact naming "Red, Black".
FNM Report
Match 1: UW Flash (0-2 loss)
I lost to a nut draw of double Geist of Saint Traft, Snapcaster, Restoration Angel and 3 land.
Then in game 2 I lost to it again. Whoops!
Match 2: Esper Control (2-1 win)
I repeatedly toss down Thundermaw Hellkites and Aristocrats, some of which get Essence Scattered. The Tablet gains me life like a champ. I get triple Essence Scattered and double Dissipated in one game, but my Tablet keeps gaining me enough life to survive the onslaught of Lingering Souls tokens. Vampire Nighthawks make it awkward to swing the 2/2 fliers, so I'm content to race. Eventually, one Thundermaw gets through, taps the tokens down and swings through for victory.
Match 3: Junk Token Aggro (2-0 win)
We each play dudes for a while, but my dudes are bigger. I get a critical mass of Aristocrat, Ash Zealot and Hellkite and keep my hand stocked with Underworld Connections while gaining life off of Tablet. Eventually, Mutilate wipes the board and I simply throw more hasty dudes onto the field to beat face.
Match 4: Esper Control (2-0 win)
Rakdos Cackler and Knight of Infamy swing through Restoration Angels and Snapcaster Mages. Jace makes an appearance, but gets Dreadbored. Aristocrat comes down and eats a Tamiyo, then Rakdos's Return destroys his hand.
Overall 3-1, 3rd place for top 4.
I beat the UW Flash player 2-0 in top 4 to take down the tournament and win 1st place. This time, my Tribute to Hunger showed up, Ultimate Price and Searing Spear took care of his Restoration Angels, and Knights of Infamy held down the fort on defense to keep a Geist of Saint Traft from swinging.
One of my prize packs had a Blood Crypt and a foil Slaughter Games. It was a sign that Rakdos needed to win!
Thoughts on the deck
It's actually pretty fun and effective, and nobody is running any good artifact hate. With Tablet being at the 2 drop spot, I can make the game-time decision about whether I want to push through Ash Zealot and KoI, or hang back and play control, gaining life. It completely shuts down the aggro decks. Underworld Connections gets me tons of extra cards and Tablet keeps the life flowing back in. Vampire Nighthawk chump blocks and attacks all day, paying for more activations of UC. Aristocrat and Hellkites are ridiculous, especially together. Hellrider and Hellkite might be buddies, but nobody beats quite like hasty 4- and 5-drop fliers.
The deck might need some sideboard tweaking once I figure out what it's weak to. Flames might come out since it's already strong vs aggro. It may not have a great draw-go control matchup either, with the density of counterspells and no Cavern of Souls in the maindeck. 25 land might be too much, since I tended to flood out a lot. It might also need better mana sinks. Maybe Hellion Crucible should go back in, or a Devil's play? Hard to say.
Watch my Twitch.tv stream.
Take the Ham Challenge.
4 Ash Zealot
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Knight of Infamy
4 Stonewright
4 Stromkirk Noble
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
Instants
4 Searing Spear
1 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Devil's Play
4 Flames of the Firebrand
Lands:
4 Blood Crypt
3 Cavern of Souls
4 Dragonskull Summit
12 Mountain
2 Rakdos Guildgate
3 Frostburn Weird
2 Rakdos Charm
3 Thunderbolt
3 Pillar of Flame
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Slaughter Games
Posted this decklist before in the Sledgehammer and Garage threads with few comments, hope this changes
Round 1: GW Aggro/Humans
Actually a bit harder than I expected due to Faith's Shield putting a damper in my style.
Game 1: I land an Ash Zealot soulbonded to a Stonewright. He makes a block when I have mana open to pump the Zealot, thus loses his Smiter. We make a few trades and whatnot thanks to his Faith's Shield and my burn spells. We both enter essentially topdeck mode, and I eventually draw a Bonfire to clear his 2-3 blockers out of the way of my lonely Stonewright. Stonewright pings for a few turns while he draws lands. I eventually get a Noble into play to soulbond, and pump for the win.
Sideboard: I forgot to put in Pillars, or I might have actually won this one. Thunderbolts come in, as do Sever the Bloodlines. Devil's Plays move out, along with a Stonewright and something else I don't remember.
Game 2: Champion, Champion, Cathedral Sanctifier. I try to Searing Spear a Champion in response to his attempting to Rancor him, and get Faith's Shielded. His Champion keeps growing and growing, and I can't deal with it. Never see a Sever the Bloodline.
Sideboard: In Pillar of Flames, out 1 Flames of the Firebrand, 1 Thundermaw, 1 Stromkirk Noble.
Game 3: Knight of Infamy hand with lots of removal, looks good to me! He lands a Champion and another Champion. Attacks with the first. I Flames at his Champions, and he Shields the big one. I'm really beginning to hate this card. No biggie. A Stonewright lets me start beating down, while he's attacking into me(might as well since he can't block the Knight). Thundermaw comes down, and he drops his Sublime Archangel. I have him at 8 life, with a Stonewright, Knight of Infamy, Thundermaw, 3 Mountains, two Cavern of souls(Human/Vampire named), Blood Crypt in hand. He has a big Champion on board, Sublime Archangel, and a Precinct Captain. He has blockers and is probably holding on to something that can kill me next turn. I draw another Knight of Infamy for exactsies after Stonewright pump and Exalted triggers. This is what playing aggro is all about, folks. Took me a little while to figure out how to kill him too.
Round 2: Reanimator
Should I really even talk about this match? I beat his face in. He tries to recover with thragtusk. I beat his face in more. I sideboard in Rakdos Charms, but Ash Zealots triggers did their job. Knights of Infamy did their job. Thundermaw Hellkite did his job. He sideboarded in Lingering Souls, but they suck against Flames and Bonfire and Thundermaw.
Round 3: RDW
My worst matchup, but luckily I won the roll and played first. Stromkirk Noble grows to absurd sizes that he can't deal with. His removal comes too late, although I was a bit scared by his Hellrider. I manage to dome him with a Spear for lethal, or he woulda gotten me next turn with another Hellrider
Sideboard: +3 Frostburn Weird, +3 Pillar of flame, -4 Knight of Infamy, -2 Devil's Play
I saw none of my sideboard cards. His Stromkirk grows out of range, I can't block with my Ash Zealot due to being a Human. I lose to a Hellrider trigger on the turn I can finally block the freakin Noble.
No change in sideboard.
Much of the same as round 1, except my early critters get removed. He eventually folds to an Aristocrat beatdown(thanks Stonewright pumps + sac for lethal!)
Round 4: UW Control
Game 1: Feeling of Dread is rather annoying. Eventually he runs out of ways to delay my Ash Zealot without taking the trigger damage, so he Verdicts me. I play an Aristocrat with a Stonewright bonded. He Detention Spheres the Aristocrat, so I play another. He groans complaining I have all the answers. Flashback Feeling of Dread triggers delay me a few turns, eventually he draws a Tamiyo. Thundermaw says hi to Tamiyo, and he proceeds to draw lands.
Sideboard: In 2 Rakdos Charms, 2 Slaughter Games, out 4 Flames of the Firebrand. I didn't see Snapcasters, but Feeling of Dread was annoying enough, and I really didn't know what plan he was actually running. I figured Entreat might be his wincon, but at the very least I wanted to stop flashback shenanigans. He seemed really heavy on that plan
I Slaughter Games naming Entreat, which was his only wincon outside of Tamiyo Ultimate with Thought Scour(and I suppose the Snapcaster Mages). He scoops.
Round 5: Semifinals vs. RDW
The other undefeated Red aggro deck in the tourney. He ran Vexing Devils, but I ran more removal and he ran out of fuel in game 1. Major props to well timed Searing Spears for Hellriders, and a miracled Bonfire in game 1.
Game 2: He kept a 2 land hand and never saw another land. Needless to say he lost to bigger creatures/more threats. He showed me a hand that absolutely would have outraced me on any amount of answers I would have drawn if he had 2 more lands.
Round 6: UW Flash
I had talked with this guy a few weeks back, and he had gone on and on about his deck. This was before UW Flash became a thing... luckily I've been brewing my deck for awhile, so I knew how to fight it. Maindeck Caverns definitely helped.
Game 1: I'm on the draw, and open with Stromkirk Noble into Knight of Infamy(fed with the Cavern, I have no black mana in opening hand). I had thought I was against a UW control deck until he played Geist on Turn 3. I just had to smirk at the other Knight of Infamy and Ash Zealot in my hand, he's in a bit of trouble. Exalted triggers let the Noble get to 3/3, his Geist is kept at home thanks to the two Knights(I left them both behind in case of Unsummon shenanigans). He Azorius Charms the Noble. Doh. Maybe shoulda attacked with Knight of Infamy and left the Noble at home as the second blocker... oh well. He attacks in with Geist, flashing in Resto Angel to save the Geist. I play Ash Zealot, and attack in with a lone Knight. He Unsummons the other Knight during his turn, and Azorius Charms Ash Zealot in response to me blocking. Starting to get rather annoyed now...
I go into defense mode, until I draw another Cavern to feed my Falkenrath Aristocrat. He chump blocks with the Angel, and I sac Noble to save her. He eventually runs out of useful stuff to do, and folds to Aristocrat.
Sideboard: +3 Thunderbolt, +2 Slaughter Games, -4 Flames of the Firebrand, -1 Devil's Play.
Game 2: Stonewright, Knight of Infamy. He lands another Geist on Turn 3, and I just keep pumping the Knight... he can't target it with anything. He flashes in a Restoration Angel, and gets me down to 7 life after I chump block with my Stonewright. Thunderbolt smokes his Restoration Angel, amazingly doesn't get countered. I leave behind the Knight anyway after attacking with an Ash Zealot. He seems to draw blanks the rest of the game and I win on the back of a Thundermaw with an Exalted Trigger for exactsies.
Conclusions:
Wow. Every card seemed to pull it's weight. The UW Flash might have gone different if he had drawn more Unsummons, but he didn't so I was okay. RDW worked, although I never saw Frostburn Weirds when I sided them in. I saw Pillars, which helped, but never the Weirds. Weird. I'm a bit tired after typing that all up.
Deck thoughts: I may want either a singleton UC or two in the maindeck. I've thought of cutting a Devil's Play and maybe a Stonewright for it, but I don't know that I really want to cut the Stonewright. They're so freaking good and won me so many games tonight that I just want to hug and kiss them.
Sever the Bloodline - I didn't need it, but I still think it's the only answer I have to GW aggro utilizing Wolfir Silverhearts, or a big friggin Lotleth Troll(other than flying over them, which can be gotten around).
So I'm gonna go to bed probably...
Fires :symr:f Salvation
4 Stromkirk Noble
3 Stonewright
4 Ash Zealot
4 Knight of Infamy
3 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
Spells
2 Pillar of Flame
4 Searing Spear
1 Dreadbore
2 Ultimate Price
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Devil's Play
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
7 Mountain
5 Swamp
2 Zealous Conscripts
2 Rakdos Charm
2 Slaughter Games
2 Underworld Connections
2 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Dreadbore
1 Vampire Nighthawk
Round 1: G/W Midrange Tokens (2-0) WIN
After conferring with a friend over finalizing my board, I first sat across from a guy who I know likes playing green decks that grow lots of stuff and gain life. I knew if I could get out quick, I could likely shut him down.
Game 1: No game really; He played dorks and started setting up his token engines but I played around giving him tokens to pump and he was missing populate as I curved out and put a double Knight-pumped Aristocrat to work. Turn 6 kill.
Game 2: Sided in Rakdos Charm, FotF. I had to mull on the draw and kept a decent hand, but he got started much quicker this time around. He got down double Virtue and started overwhelming me my board state. He was confident of the win as he attacked in and I blocked with everything except a tapped Aristocrat, leaving him at 5 with 5 creatures in play and me at 1. I untapped and told him I was saccing Aristocrat to itself and he looked at me like I was crazy; then I played Rakdos Charm and smiled as he read it.
Round 2: Bant Control/Aggro (2-0) WIN
I name this deck funny because I talked with the player afterwards and found that he was running a transformational sideboard, playing relative control the first game then morphing to a more aggro, creature-heavy build.
Game 1: I saw him showing blue/white, so I started out playing creatures slow and sure enough saw Verdict come down and wipe my board. We were trading back and forth, each getting in blows and each clearing creatures (Loxodon Smiter does not like Dreadbore). He had played Centaur Healer to get some life back, and we came down to my dropping Hellkite to get in and then him playing Angel of Serenity and exiling my Hellkite and his Centaur...and for whatever reason no other creatures. I dropped Ultimate Price on his Angel EOT to get my Hellkite back, then recast Hellkite followed by Spear to the dome for the win.
Game 2: Sided in Conscripts, Underworld Connections, Nighthawk, Dreadbore, out Bonfire and a mix of 1-drops. I hate Thragtusk. I will say it now and be done with it. This game he came out more aggro and I was playing careful to avoid Verdict. I had a great aggro start of Zealot following 2 Knights, but he promptly O-Ringed the Zealot and soon dropped Thragtusk, going up to 24 life. I kept bringing in hasty threats and getting in then losing them to Spheres and O-Rings, building up a decent mana base as we went. I finally dropped Devil's Play to take him to 1 while sitting at 9 with 2 Knights on guard and he had no way to prevent the flashback next turn. He told me then that he had killed himself by siding out Verdict because he didn't know I was playing Knights and he had no way to remove them. Connections netted me 4 EOT cards which made the win possible.
Round 3: Mono Blue Tempo/Control Homebrew (2-0) WIN
Game 1: He started off on the play with Delver and I thought I was up against UW. But he kept turning Islands and playing cards like Downsize and Crippling Chill. It was annoying for a few turns as he was tapping my attacks and getting in with Delver, but I started fielding threats and he ran him over. I'm not sure how he got to 2-0...
Game 2: No sideboarding. By turn 3 I had a field of Noble-Noble-Noble-Knight and he scooped while still at 19 life because he didn't have answers.
Round 4: Five-Color Mythics (2-0) WIN
I had never heard of the deck, but the kid playing it was a decent Delver player before rotation and he was 3-0 after taking out one of the best players in the room.
Game 1: I had a good Aggro takeoff Noble-Knight-Nighthawk-Aristocrat. He took out Nighthawk before it got active and turned a Thragtusk. I killed it, hit him again with Aristocrat, then he hit another Tusk going back to 9 and hitting me with it for my first damage of the game. I played another Aristocrat, hit him with both then Spear to the face.
Game 2: In Conscripts, Connections, Nighthhawk and Dreadbore again; out Bonfire, a couple of Knights and 1-drops. Crazy hand...I thought he was going to land huge stuff and destroy me but I never got hit. I had to mull down to 5 and kept a land-heavy and with Conscripts, Price and Aristocrat. I drew into Zealot early and he was getting nothing down, he took out Zealot and I dropped Aristocrat to him him to 14. He hit new Jace and -2 to end up with Verdict in hand; I killed Jace. He hit the Verdict and wiped me; he had no Conscript target but dropped first Gilded Lotus then Chromatic Lantern and I was suddenly staring at a huge mana base across from me. He dropped Thragtusk to go back up to 19, and I was jumping up and down inside...I untapped and lived the dream, taking Tusk with Conscripts, hitting him with both of them, then hitting Tusk with Price to take the token. He never fielded another meaningful threat and I ended it soon after. He was in awe of the deck, and I was contemplating making a stamp for my scorepad to start posting my Thragtusk kills like a fight jock.
Round 5: Jund Aggro (1-2) LOSS
This was against the top player in the room, 2nd Place at Kansas States and always top 4 in our LGS (he finished 6-0 on the night).
Game 1: My deck hiccuped and I had to mull to 5 on the play (the first time I won a roll all night...figures). The hand was not the best and he got down 2 Huntmasters to keep taking his life back up. I killed them before they flipped, but 3 tokens, Nighthawk and removal overran my board state and killed me pretty quick.
Game 2: In Conscripts, Nighthawk, Dreadbore; out Noble and a Knight. All I can say about this game is EPIC. I kept a hand 2 land, 3 burn, Conscripts and Aristocrat as I knew I needed to play control. The details are lost to me as the game went on forever and I was trying to concentrate on play and just zoned into it. I drew into Zealots and started knocking him down, and continued to drawn burn and removal and took out a Huntmaster. He finally smiled and asked how many Thragtusk I could beat; I told him we'd have to see. Spare the details, but after I took Tusk #2 with Conscripts and got the dream again, then killed #3, he started to wonder. I landed an Aristocrat that did outrageous work for me with and without a Stonewright, tearing down all the lifegain. Despite 2 more Huntmasters (also killed before flips) and more arial beatings, he landed Nighthawk to shut down Aristocrat. I hit Devil's Play to burn him down, he tried to attack in to take me out but I let the Nighthawk through and stopped the 3-power token to stay in, then untapped and pointed back at DP. He shook his head, shook my hand, and said that that was truly an earned win.
Game 3: Regrettably, my deck decided after so epic a win that it was time to shut down. I had to mull to 5 on the play and still I had crap. He actually lamented this as he wanted to battle it out again, but he hit life gain and beat me with bigger sticks than I could muster. He ended the game at 28 and I never had a chance. Still, the game before was win enough for me as it showed that Thragtusk isn't the only playable card in standard.
Round 6: G/W Aggro (0-2) LOSS
I didn't even want to play this one. The kid always plays GW aggro decks and he is without the luckiest drawing player I have ever faced. Every time we've played, he has had nut-draw hands and this was no exception. Not worth the details; I had to mull crazy both games and got stuck on 2 lands both times after keeping what should have been solid hands. The first game was sort of funny after a while because I stabilized on 1 life and he was at 24 and it took him 5 turns to kill me as I drew slowdowns but not solutions and Gavony, 2 Rancor and Strangleroot Geist and beast token finally got through 3 Zealots and a Stonewright. Game 2 just sucked; I messed up thinking I had 2 red sources in my hand with 2 Zealots and a Knight but it was 1 and I got stuck again. He curved right into Rancored Paladin bonded to Knight and was swinging for 10...I scooped and found I would not see the land I needed for 3 more turns.
The deck was flat awesome; I love the way it plays and the lines of play it opens. I would have loved to have taken the Jund match and obviously the deck could have done so, and variance had to kick me at some point and the GW matchup was the wrong place to stall out.
I didn't miss Sever as I know of no one running Troll, and adding 2 Conscripts to the SB was perfect for tonight. The mana balance wasn't quite right (I took out the guild gates on advice from my friend, but his recommendation to go to 5 swamps was too far towards black. I will likely pull it back to 3 or 4 as I want more red.
The Decklist is near identical to Zem's list aside from minor SB tweaks and I took out Pillar MD and switched it with Brimstone Volley. So I basically just played the cards, credit to Zem obviously for the list.
I played last week FNM with Nighthawk and Stonewright and Cavern of Souls and split the pot for 1st place. This week, I anticipated a lot of Jund and figured I would try out Zem's list since he is really raving about Hellhole Flailer and if Zem likes it, there is a probably a good reason for it since he playtests so often.
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Hellhole Flailer
4 Knight of Infamy
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Stromkirk Noble
1 Zealous Conscripts
2 Underworld Connections
2 Brimstone Volley
4 Searing Spear
1 Thunderbolt
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Rakdos Guildgate
10 Mountain
4 Swamp
2 Dreadbore
1 Flames of the Firebrand
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Zealous Conscripts
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Rakdos Charm
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Traitorous Blood
2 Ultimate Price
1 Underworld Connections
The Match Results
First off, I apologize for the loose notes here.
1) I was drinking a lot that afternoon and didn't totally sober up till the 3rd round so the first two rounds are a little hazy.
2) I played Jund decks 3 rounds in a row, so it is a little hard to remember what happened in each specific game.
Round 1 - 2-0 vs Bant Control I played against a kid I know pretty well but he never really stood that much of a chance, despite dropping 2 Thragtusk in game 1 and 2. I had an Aristocrat down on the board and he had 2 Thragtusk. I knew he was holding the board wipe since he kept swinging with the Thragrusk, I knew he would just board wipe if I took the damage so I just chump blocked every time which caused him to hold back on the board wipe. Eventually he just died to the Aristocrat.
Game 2 went pretty similar, as he had 2 Thragtusk again, but I dropped an early Underworld Connections that helped me get ahead. Again he did similar with attacking with his guys despite having low health, giving away that he had the verdict. That made it very easy to play around the verdict and he died pretty quickly. I made sure to keep 2 guys on the field at all times and it worked perfectly.
SB Strategy - Took out the 2 Flames of the Firebrand, put in another Underworld Connections and an Ultimate Price for the Resto Angel.
Round 2 - 2-1 vs Jund Ah, the first of the 3 Jund matchups. Hellhole Flailer was pretty badass here. He put a lot of early pressure on him along with a Noble that got to a 4/4. Once I dropped the Flying *****, he was pretty much screwed at that point.
Game 2 was a little harder, as he Pillar'd my early drops and then Severed my Aristocrat. I had some land trouble though despite having an UC on turn 3, I never drew my 5th land the entire game, despite having 2 Zealous Conscrips and basically drawing 2 every turn.. He killed me with Thragrusk and Huntmaster I believe.
Game 3 - This one started out rough after I mulled to 6 and had 3 land, Spear, Ash Zealot and Aristocrat. He duressed first turn which exposed my ****ty hand. Despite seeing my hand, he wasted his Dreadbore on my Ash Zealot, which allowed me to play the Aristocrat. She stuck around and I drew into some decent cards while he hit a land pocket.
SB Strategy - I'm going to put this once since I did the same for all 3 of the jund decks I faced.
Took out 2 Flames of the Firebrand, 4 Knight of Infamy and brought in 1 Underworld, 2 Traitorous Blood, 1 Zealous Conscripts and 1 Sever the Bloodline and 1 Dreadbore
Round 3 - 2-1 vs Jund
This guy was going "avenge his jund buddy" yea , how bout that.
Game 1 - I got what I thought was a good hand but turned out to be not so good. I had a triple 1-drop hand, and then drew into 2 more 1-drops. I didn't see a creature over 1 mana the entire game. I had quite the little army out there but a turn 4 Bonfire for 2 wiped out everything and I was left with just lands in my hand...
Game 2- This one went a hell of a lot better. I opened with a Noble, then Cackler, and then 2 Hellhole Flailer on turns 3 and 4. I then snagged an Aristocrat and he was prettty much screwed.
Game 3 - He basically got raped this game as I got a nasty hand/draw. I went Noble into Ash Zealot into Flailer, into Aristocrat into Conscripts on his Thragrusk, swing for 18! Cyaaaaa
Round 4 2-1 vs Jund Wipee, more Jund!
Game 1 - I got basically the same hand as I did on Game 3 of the last one and just killed him on turn 5. Suck on that Jund!
Game 2 - He mulligans to 5, and I keep a familiar triple 1-drop hand. Somehow...I lost. Yet again, I draw 2 more 1-drops. His 5-card hand was ok, 3 land, Farseek and Huntmaster, he draws into 2 more Huntmaster and then a Bonfire to seal it.
Game 3 - I was not going out like that, thats for damn sure!
We both have pretty bad hands as he mull's to 6 and I keep a 7 card hand that isn't anything special, 2 Flailers and an Aristocrat and 4 lands, a very slow hand, but I like it since I am on the play. He doesn't have much either and I get him down very quickly with the 2 Flailers and the Aristocrat. He is down to 4 life and asks if I have any burn, which I show him a Thunderbolt and a Spear and he gives me the handshake.
Round 5 Mono Red - 2-1 I said I wasn't going to split the pot this time, but I folded again once I found out it was mono red and I really didn't want to face that. We played for an extra 5 packs to the winner.
Round 1 - He was on the play so as you can expect, I got rocked.
Round 2- I destroyed a few of his guys and got a Zealot, Flailer and Aristocrat down. From there I was able to just burn his board away and swing in for big damage. Basically went the opposite of the first game.
Round 3- This was a big gamble here, but it paid off.
He is ahead the whole way since he was on the play and had that annoying Pireheart Wolf to let all his guys through. I have an Ash Zealot, Flailer and Aristocrat out. He attacks me all out and I figure I am probably dead since I am at 8 life and could die very easily next turn. He is still at 20 life, I figure my only way to win is to attack now and pray he doesn't have burn or a hellrider in his hand. I swing for 10 to bring him down to 10.
Here is where it gets awesome. He attacks with his guys to bring me to 2 health and he keeps his Pyreheart Wolf up to block my Flailer so he will survive my attack.
Wrong! I attack with the Aristocrat, sac the Zealot to make him do 5 damage, then play my Brimstone volley for the victory. Man, that was awesome.
4 Stromkirk Noble
3 Rakdos Cackler
3 Stonewright
4 Ash Zealot
3 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Pyreheart Wolf
4 Hellrider
4 Thundermaw Hellkite
4 Searing Spear
2 Pillar of Flame
lands (25)
22 Mountain
3 Hellion Crucible
3 Traitorous Blood
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Hound of Griselbrand
12-11-7-4-4 (counting hellion as t3 play)
Trying the best I can from memory
Round 1 (2-1): UWR Midrange
game 1- Had a couple early beats with Stromkirk, gore-house, pyreheart. Noble and walker were removed then he played geist of saint traft. Pyreheart Wolf blocked him two turns, killing him on the 2nd time, while 2 thundermaws in hand were able to take the game.
game 2- Had 2 searing spears and snapcaster for my early game and I wasn't able to race his GoST
game 3- He kept a counter heavy hand and this game dragged out for a bit, but I had a Hellion Crucible to pump and drew into 2 hellriders and 3 thundermaw hellkites. Was able to stick one Hellrider and got him down to 4, he tapped out to play dungeon geist tapping my hellrider then hellkite took it next turn .
Sideboarding- g2 and g3 only took out the pillars for a couple mizzium mortars for resto angel and geist.
Round 2 (2-1): G/W Lifegain
game 1- Lost this one to an early miracle terminus into Trostani, into Entreat the Angels
game 2- I land Stonewright into Ash Zealot paired into pyreheart wolf, swinging through his loxodon smiter. I get him on the backfoot pretty early while he trys to stablize with a hard cast entreat the angels for 1. I had thundermaw in hand next turn for the game.
game 3- I keep a cackler, mountain x4, hound of the griselbrand, Thundermaw Hellkite.
sideboarding- -3 Hellrider -2 Pillar -1 Stromkirk Noble.. +3 Hound of Griselbrand +3 Mizzium Mortars
Round 3 (2-1): Grixis Control
game 1- He mulled down to 5 and only drew into his lategame wincons while Stromkirk Noble, Gore-House Chainwalker, and Ash zealot swept a quick win
game 2- He boarded in some more removal and 1-1 my early game. I was able to get in some beats with Hellion Crucible and stonewright before he dreadbored the Crucible and landed Olivia Voldaren. I landed Thundermaw Hellkite next turn, but his turn he landed his 7th mana and was able to steal the Hellkite, and I scoop.
game 3- I had Stromkirk, stonewright, and ash zealot in the first 3 turns. Stromkirk ate a searing spear after he got a hit in, so I knew he was holding a counter. Stonewright and Zealot swung and zealot got a spear while i got a pump on stone for 2, puts him at 16. I had 2 Hellriders and a Hellkite left in hand, first rider was countered and i stuck the 2nd one putting him at 12. The whole time he's been drawing trying to find his 4th land drop while also trying not to die. He taps out for a rakdos keyrune letting me land my thundermaw putting him at 2 with a searing spear in hand.
sideboarding- -2 Pillar.. +2 Traitorous Blood
Round 4 (2-1): G/W Midrange
game 1- I completely misplayed this game like a noob. I had a clogged board on my side including pyreheart wolf and thundermaw with a bunch of 1 drops, He had thragtusk and centaur healer on his side while I'm at 9 life. I swing with my whole board, next turn he swings with both I go to searing spear the healer and didn't notice he had dropped gavony township with enough open mana.. derp
game 2- I go a couple 1 drops into pyreheart and keep swinging through his loxodon smiter. He does a couple farseeks and trys to get some damage in with smiter, but I'm already far ahead. He drops a Thragtusk and i spear it eot, drop thundermaw and have him low. He has resto angel in hand, but pyreheart said screwed with his ability to block hellkite.
game 3- This game got dragged out for a while. I kept a 4 lander with stonewright, ash zealot and pyreheart wolf. He gets a centaur healer and loxodon smiter out to block. Oblivion rings my wolf and zealot. I keep swinging in with stonewright on an empty board while we both flood out. I finally hit another zealot and pair them up for a 2 turn clock. He hits a thragtusk, which I have traitorous blood in hand for next turn.
sideboarding- -2 Hellrider -2 pillar.. +2 traitorous blood +2 hound of griselbrand
Round 5 (2-0): Jund
game 1- I curve out pretty strong up to hellrider. He does 1-1 removal against me while I pump up a hellion crucible. I sac it and pair with stonewright, he Ultimate price the crucible and I get a pumped swing in with stone. He miracles Bonfire and gets stone off the field, I have double thunder in hand that take it over the next two turns.
game 2- This game was pretty close. I kept thundermaw x2, hellrider, gore-house chainwalker, hellion crucible, mountain x2.... I draw into rakdos cackler and play him, next turn lay down gore house and swing with noble. Noble eats a pillar and he farseeks. I play hellion and charge on his turn after chainwalker beats for 3. He plays huntmaster of the fells. I play Hellrider and swing with both, wolf trades with my gorehouse and lets hellrider through. He plays thundermaw hellkite and puts me to 14. I respond with my own thundermaw and put him down to 5 after he blocks hellrider with huntmaster. His turn lays down a thragtusk goes to 10 and passes turn. I swing with both and spear tusk in response to blocks, we trade hellkites, hes at 8. He plays olivia and i charge hellion eot. I draw into a searing spear, I sac crucible and swing with both, triggers put him at 6, he pings the crucible and blocks hellrider with olivia then trades tusk with hellion. The next couple turns i find another spear a burn for exact.
sideboarding- -2 Pillar.. +2 Traitorous Blood
Sorry, I suck at writing and did the best I could from what i remember. All in all, I was pretty happy with how the deck played out against this field. It was nice getting the 2-0 against the Jund player since he was the one that kept me from getting 4-0 last time. Thundermaw was definitely a huge player in a few matchups and hound of griselbrand was great against the g/w decks the games that i saw him.
Just for reminders:
4x Rakdos Crackler
4x Stromkirk Noble
2x Stonewright
4x Ash Zealot
4x Gore-House Chainwalker
4x Hellrider
3x Zealous Conscripts
1x Thundermaw Hellkite
21x Mountain
2x Hellion Crucible
Spells: 11
4x Pillar of Flame
4x Searing Spear
3x Brimstone Volley
4x Traitours Instinct
4x Rakdos Shread-Freak
4x Mizzium Motars
3x Flames of the Firebrand
I went 4-1, not sure what place I took. Edit: I ended up taking 2nd out of 20
Match 1: G/U/w Control (2-0 W)
Game 1: OTP
Nothing spectacular here.
Game 2: OTD
Steamrolled him with a turn 4 win
Match 2: B/R Zombies (2-1 W)
Game 1: OTD
Lots of burning, lots of dammage, in the end we bothhad less then 3 health, and I top deck a Searing Spear
Game 2: OTD
He hits his curve. T2 2x 1 drops, T3 Messenger, T4 Messenger, T5 & T6 Falkenrath Aristocrats on each.
Game 3: OTP
I keep a constant level of pressure, and he cave by T6
Match 3: Jund Aggro (2-1 W)
Game 1: OTD
Nothing special here, T7 win
Game 2: OTP
He gets all 4 Thragtusk out, but cant get past my Ash Zealot+Stonewright and burns. He top decks a Bonfire for the win.
Game 3: OTP
I hit my curve, T5 win
Match 4: G/W Aggro (0-2 L)
Game 1: OTD
Can not keep up with his loxadon+ sublime+ silverblade +Wolfir
Game 2: OTP
His T2 Smiter, T3 Silverblade, T4 Sublime. I run out of kill spells and get ran over.
Match 5: G/W Midrange (2-1 W)
Game 1: OTD
He doesnt have an anwser to my aggro
Game 2: OTP
Get his angel of serentity out, not much I can do after that.
Game 3: OTP
Played the perfect move with a Conscripts and swung for leathel.
Notable thoughts:
Conscripts really saved my butt here.
Brimstone is under whelming, but is used best agains attacking creatures.
I really need a few more Thundermaw's.
My Trades
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=459514
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First the decklist:
4 Stromkirk Noble
3 Stonewright
4 Rakdos Cackler
3 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Ash Zealot
3 Pyreheart Wolf
4 Hellrider
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
4 Searing Spear
2 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Devil's Play
Lands
2 Hellion Crucible
22 Mountain
4 Thunderbolt
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Traitorous Blood
1 Flames of the Firebrand
1 Devil's Play
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Hellion Crucible
I've recently switched to a sledgehammer build and made the initial build here. I followed the advice of bringing it up to 24 lands. I was at the office so I didn't have time to add another card to the sideboard, so that's why the last Hellion Crucible is still in the SB.
Sorry for the lack of details of the report because I suck at remembering what I sided in.
Game 1 - GW Midrange 2-0
His deck had the cold. I was worried I was going to have a loss for the first game of the night but I was surprised.
R1 Play - He started fairly good while I dropped my Stromkirks and Ash Zealots. He dropped an early Thalia and I spent 3 mana to kill it with my spear. He never stabilized and was stuck on 3 mana.
R2 Draw - I was wary that he is more likely to have a Restoration Angel waiting but since killing the defenders is not enough, I sided in a full set of Traitorous Blood. Turns out I don't get to use them. Turn 3 he dropped his 3rd land and has two elves on play. I killed them with my Flames and that sealed the win. as he was able to drop another dude but I had Pyreheart Wolf out.
Game 2 - WUR Geist Control 1-2
The most challenging and close fight of the night. I never regretted losing to this deck as I know I did the right plays and didn't make mistakes. I've always finished rounds with RDW before half of the time alotted pass but we went for almost hit the time limit.
R1 Draw - He had the early package of charms to prevent my dudes from dealing damage. When I eventually got in with Hellrider, I brought his life to around 9. He dropped Geist and suicided to activate lifelink with Azorius Charm which gave him 6 life. He dropped a Hellkite and I wasn't able to catch up since I wasn't able to draw my own.
R2 Play - When RDW goes first, you better make the best out of it. I played creature after creature while he tried to stabilize with removal. Two consecutive Hellriders sealed the deal for me at around turn 5.
R2 Draw - Closest game for me so far. We traded cards early game and both reached 8 life. I was on the defensive with a Hellrider and an Ash Zealot while he had a Dungeon Geist that came in last turn and tapped Hellrider. He unsummons my Zealot and I was left defenseless while he swings for lethal.
Game 3 - Jund Midrange 2-1
Nothing much to say except I was lucky on the last game. I also never got to see his Garruk and Hunter of the Fells.
R1 Draw - He stabilized early with a miracled Bonfire, Thragtusk and Olivia Voldaren on maindeck by killing my early dudes with his removal suite.
R2 Play - Not sure what happened here but I curved nicely with Hellrider while he was fishing for his creatures. He did got Thragtusk out but I traded for it with Hellrider. He was down to 6 life while I was at 20. This was the only play mistake I think I did. I had a spear in my hand and he attacked with his beast token. I speared the token, only to draw another spear on my draw. The game was extended unnecessarily and luckily I drew another burn spell to finish it.
R3 Draw - I sided in the threatens and I curved nicely and siding in those threatens did the trick.
1: Land tapped; Mountain, Stromkirk;
2: Land, Pillar Stromkirk; Mountain, Gore-House Chainwalker
3: Land, Farseek; Mountain Ash Zealot, 2 dudes -5 (15)
4: Land, Sever Chainwalker; Mountain Ash Zealot -2 (13)
5: Land, Spear Ash Zealot; Mountain, Hellrider -4 (9)
6: Land, Thragtusk +5 (14); Traitorous Blood -10 (4)
7: Pass; Traitorous Blood
Game 4 - Frites 2-1
It was the first time I faced this deck, so I was wary with the first round.
R1 Draw - I had 3 creatures on the field trying to bring down his life total to a good level while he mulched twice and found a Thrag, Serenity, and Rites. I knew this was going to be a losing game if I didn't draw any of my big creatures. Then again he kept dropping Serenities on me and I lost.
R2 Play - I didn't have Graffdiffer's Cage or Tormod's Crypt, but him having big creatures means he is vulnerable to threaten effects. In this round he kept digging for answers while I curved perfectly with Hellrider topping it. A turn 7 kill if I remember correctly.
R3 Draw - He didn't manage to mulch his way to victory this time. He had 9 life left when I dropped a Thundermaw. Terminus miracle. Played Ash Zealot, got him down to two. Another Terminus?? Then he played Vampire Knighthawk and he was tapped out. That was my cue to steal him for the win.
Card Analysis
Hellrider - The MVP of the night. He showed up each round and did what he does best.
Stromkirk Noble - Always appeared as my 1-drop and manages to get in good damage before he eats removal.
Traitorous Blood - Very powerful. I haven't gotten to use the trample effect yet, but I wouldn't have won some games without this.
Thundermaw Hellkite - Amazingly the worst performer of the night just because he only showed up once in my hand the whole night. He would have turned over some of my losses had I drawn him earlier. He did win me game 4 by dealing 5 damage right off the bat.
Flames of the Firebrand - Still a good burn card and won me my worst matchup of the evening. MDing the card is considerable.
Devil's Play - Didn't also show up when I needed it the most. I used it to kill a Thalia IIRC.
Hellion Crucible - While it did not see play this evening, it made my opponents worry about it when they see it dropped. The threatening presence is enough for me to warrant enough on my deck.
Stonewright - Even with 3 MD, he underperformed for me. It was only on some occassions he helped dealing some significant damage. He does eat removal though.
As for the deck I'm going to use Friday, I'm thinking:
-1 Mountain, +1 Hellion Crucible (-1SB)
+1 Flames of the Firebrand, -1 Devil's Play
-1 Stonewright, +1 Thundermaw Hellkite (-1SB)
+3 Pillar of Flame SB, -1 Devil's Play SB
I've added Pillar just because the zombies aren't dead in my meta.
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3 Stonewright
3 Stromkirk Noble
3 Rakdos Cackler
3 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Ash Zealot
3 Pyreheart Wolf
4 Hellrider
4 Thundermaw Hellkite
4 Searing Spear
2 Brimstone Volley
2 Devil's Play
Lands
3 Hellion Crucible
22 Mountain
4 Traitorous Blood
4 Thunderbolt
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Flames of the Firebrand
Summary of my matchups. Not too detailed, but I can indicate the important key points.
Match 1 - BG Scavenger 0-2
I came into the tourney prepared for WG midranges everywhere. Turns out I did the wrong meta call (it wasn't my LGS after all). This was a new deck for me.
Round 1 - An early Deadbridge Goliath and double Thragtusks kept me far away from winning. He went to around 40 life before I got overwhelmed by a scavenged goliath over a Vampire Nighthawk
Round 2 - The deciding turn where I made the biggest mistake of the night. It escaped my thought that Deathrite Shaman can exile a sorcery to make me lose two life. I failed at math and he swung at me for exactly my remaining 9 life.
Match 2 - BG Midrange 0-2
Round 1 - Pretty much the same deck without Thrags but still good at controlling. Multiple Nighthawks in the air without me drawing my crucial Thundermaws prevented me from turning it around.
Round 2 - Again, it's the same thinkg where I didn't draw my Thundermaws until too late.
Match 3 - BR Zombies 1-2
Round 1 - When you race, you race. I curved perfectly in this round.
Round 2 - A long game where he turned around the game being at 2 life by dropping an Olivia, pinging my Thundermaw, and swinging with it next turn.
Round 3 - He is now the one who curved perfectly by dropping a Aristocrat turn 4 followed by another one turn 5.
Match 4 - Jund Midrange 2-1
Surprisingly, the biggest factor why I won over this deck is because he was running just one Thragtusk, and it never appeared.
Round 1 - Garruk dropped down while he kept my creatures at bay with removal and tokens from Huntmaster.
Round 2 and Round 3 are basically the same with me taking over the game with consecutive Hellriders and Thundermaws
Comments
- 25 lands are a must if you're running 4 Maws. Hellion Crucible is also a threat. I don't believe most players have it in their radar yet as 3 out of 4 people read the card when they saw it land.
- It is perfectly a legit excuse to lose when you don't draw your Thundermaws even if they are not holding any cards in hand.
- Vampire Nighthawk appeared in 3 out of 4 decks that I played against. This reinforces the thought of using Thunderbolts main deck. Deathtouch pretty much stops your Thundermaws. Kill them asap.
- Brimstone Volley yet underperfomed again. I sided it out everytime because morbid activation is unreliable unless you're suiciding.
- Traitorous Blood still turns games around.
- Pyreheart Wolf is now a staple.
In summary, the deck feels strong. It's only due to bad luck and misplays that I got the disappointing score tonight. Pillar of Flame might need to come back because of the zombie abundance. Brimstone is Volley is out for me temporarily until it warrants use again. I might as well use Annihilating Fire over it since it also kills zombies for good.
I also need to get Bonfire of the Damned asap.
My posts have the power of invisiblity and only a few people can read it!
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Without a chance of losing? Im guessing sligh did terrible throughout the night. Maybe I guess its time for me to hang up Sligh and go big. Zzzzz. Even with conscripts, traitorous blood, and mortars, it looks like we are food for GW which is pretty popular in my meta.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=9362917&postcount=212
Round 1: Bant Wall-Mill
Game 1: He wins the roll and drops a Doorkeeper to combat my Stromkirk turn 1 play. I Searing Spear it after combat, he drops Axebane Guardian who gets Flamed, Fog Bank x2 meets a Bonfire for 2, he scoops.
Sideboard: I figured he was running Hover Barriers, so I took out 3 Flames for Dreadbore and Sever the Bloodline. I'm pretty sure he's on the Infinite Combo plan, so he needs lots of creatures to make it work. Double Fog Bank woulda put a hamper in my plan if I hadn't drawn the Bonfire, so Sever the Bloodline seems logical
Game 2: Much the same as the first round, except this time Stonewright paired with Knight of Infamy goes the distance. I saw a few Unsummons, some Dissipates when I tried to remove his blockers. He just delayed until I dropped Aristocrat followed by a hardcast Bonfire for 2. He had no more counters, and loses.
Round 2: Bant Hatebirds
He's running a deck that uses Thalias, Judge's Familiar, Rancors, Loxodon Smiters, and some other typical GW Aggro stuff.
Game 1: I win the roll, dropping a Stromkirk on Turn 1. He follows up with a Judge's Familiar, and I offer the trade. He doesn't take said trade, dropping a Thalia. Stromkirk grows to a 3/3. He drops down GRONK, and I hit two Knights of Infamy, just shutting down his game plan. Smiter can't attack, and anything Stromkirk combats will just go over him.
Sideboarding: Sever the Bloodline comes in here, along with a Dreadbore. I take out a Stromkirk Noble and 2 Falkenrath Aristocrats. I don't like the Aristocrats here, since he's running 1/1 flyers that counter my Flames. I got lucky with Stromkirk in game 1, I don't think he'll make the same mistake.
Game 2: Starts off the same as game 1, this time he takes the trade offer. Ash Zealot noms on a Loxodon Smiter thanks to Searing Spear. He Rancors Thalia, but it's too little when I topdeck a Thundermaw Hellkite for lethal in 2 turns.
Round 3: Bant Control
Game 1: Opponent wins the roll. He lands a turn 4 Thragtusk thanks to Farseek, and I had a pretty slow start. I got stuck on 3 lands, and he Revelationed for 6 putting him at 26 life with 7 cards in hand to my 2 Thundermaws. He drops another Thragtusk and I can't win anymore. Scoop.
Sideboard: In with the Slaughter Games and Dreadbore, out with Bonfire x2, Pillar x1.
Game 2: I keep a hand with both Slaughter Games in hand, Blood Crypt, Mountain, Cavern, Knight of Infamy, and a Stonewright. I don't think I could have asked for a better hand! Stonewright/Knight beats down until turn 4, where I cast a Slaughter Games naming Thragtusk. He shows me 3 Tusks in hand that he would have started dropping the next turn. He drops a Jace instead, then I Slaughter Games Revelation and kill Jace, to which he just scoops.
Game 3: He counters and Spheres all my early creatures, then goes to Jace town, eventually landing a Tamiyo who goes free long enough to get ultimate. He shows me a Thought Scour and with 6 blue sources on his board, I can't win this match. Well played sir.
Round 4: Esper Geist Tempo
We opted to draw into Top 8. Played for funsies though.
Game 1: I win the roll, dropping a Knight of Infamy for the win. His Geist can't attack after I drop a second Knight. He Unsummons a few times, ultimately folding to the arms race. I had named Human on a Cavern, so he showed me his 4 dead counterspells after the game ended.
Game 2: He removed all my early creatures with Tragic Slips/Ultimate prices. He wins the race with Geist.
Game 3: I Slaughter Games his Geist. His Lone Revenants are forced to be on defense, and Thundermaw waves to the Revenants from the air. It's worth noting that until Game 3, he didn't see Thundermaws, so his Lingering Blockers got blown out by Thundermaw.
Round 5: BG Zombies
Game 1: He's on the Lotleth Troll plan, which sucks for me until turn 4. Abrupt Decays eat up my Ash Zealots and such. I delay long enough and eventually Aristocrat comes down, followed by a Thundermaw. His roll is pretty big, but he can't race me with it. He needed a Dreg Mangler draw, followed by another. He didn't get it. I win.
Sideboarding: 3x Pillar come in, along with 2 Sever the Bloodline, and 3 Hanweir Watchkeeps! Knight of Infamy x4 goes out, along with 2x Stromkirk and 2x Stonewrights.
Game 2: I keep a 3 Pillar hand to answer his nutdraw. Round 4 I hit an Aristocrat which gets some Dead Weight thrown on it. We enter topdeck mode, and his Dreg Mangler and Geralf's Messenger topdecks beat out my Mountain topdecks.
Game 3: I keep a somewhat risky 1 land hand, but it has a Stromkirk, Stonewright, and Pillar. I instantly regretted it when I didn't draw a second land until turn 3. Luckily, he didn't have anything to play until turn 3 anyway when he dropped a Geralf's Messenger. His Message got a Pillar, and Stromkirk is quickly growing out of his range. He lands a Troll to try and block, but by then I'm drawing enough lands that I can start laying down Aristocrats and Ash Zealots. He can't block them all and eventually just gets swarmed to death.
Conclusion
Somewhere along the line, Bant control started running more Sphinx's Revelations. That completely killed me. I went 3-1, still taking away better than even money. Not the complete blowout I'm used to. BG Zombies was a bit scarier than I had imagined too, and if I hadn't lucksacked into that triple Pillar opener, and he hadn't kept the bad opening hand Game 3, I probably woulda had way more trouble than I did. Bant Control guy ended up going 4-0-1, tying with a Reanimator deck on rounds(I think that's what it's called).
So let's see: Bonfire wasn't an all-star, but it did certainly make some games easier. I still think it's the only real way to beat Geist. It's also a complete blowout against GW Humans and Lingering Blockers.
I actually have to stand by Slaughter Games again. It's such a blowout against those decks that rely so heavily on Thragtusk to stabilize. UW Tempo and Geist reliant decks pretty much fold to it as well.
So I have this card in my sideboard called Hanweir Watchkeep, and I have 3 of them. I have played probably 20+ individual games where I sided in 3 Watchkeeps. I have never once gotten to test them.
I'm actually consistent enough with the deck that I wouldn't mind taking it to a major event now. There might be a flux of 3 cards or so week to week, but I'm very happy with it now.
Fires :symr:f Salvation
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I just like Slaughter Games so much, cause a single Revelation can fetch them more. Jace fetches them more. Duress doesn't hit Tusk. There are only a few cards that I can't really play around in multiples, and Slaughter Games just takes care of all of that. You take away their outs when they're behind. You leave them digging for 1 of their 4 cards to win with when you still have countless creatures to continue beating them with.
I want UC to work, I really do, but I don't think I can sacrifice the manabase for it. Caverns give me such an edge, and I don't think I can get away with 4 Guildgates. Ham, any input on this? How many times has 4x Guildgates messed up you curving out?
Fires :symr:f Salvation
4 Stromkirk Noble
3 Rakdos Cackler
3 Stonewright
4 Ash Zealot
3 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Pyreheart Wolf
4 Hellrider
4 Thundermaw Hellkite
4 Searing Spear
2 Pillar of Flame
land (25)
22 Mountain
3 Hellion Crucible
2 Traitorous Blood
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Hanweir Watchkeep
2 Pillar of Flame
4 Hound of Griselbrand
Round 1 (2-0): mono red mirror
These were a pretty easy quick 2 games. He only curved out to hellrider and played vexing devils. I was otd both times and played a better control than he did aggro. Hanweir watchkeep screwed him 2nd game when he was able to flip and Im casting thundermaws.
sb: +4 Hanweir Watchkeep +3 mizzium mortars +2 Pillar of flame, -4 pyreheart wolf -3 stonewright -2 gorehouse chainwalker
Round 2 (2-1): Bant Control
ugh..
game 1 went really well.. I curved out nicely from stromkirk into ash zealot. He kept a kind of durdly hand and was punished for it when I hit hellrider.
game 2 I durped and put the pile of sb cards i laid out back into the sb instead of my deck and the cards i wanted to take out back into my deck.
I saw a bit of resto angel and centaur healer action early, I speared the healer and cast thundermaw the turn after. He hit a terminus and cast thragtusk. I scooped.
game 3 Got the cards i wanted to put in actually in. This game took awhile and was back and forth on board positions, but I was able to come out on top with Hound of griselbrand and a couple ash zealots, and a ticking up hellion crucible to which he wasn't drawing enough answers to my threats.
sb: +3 mizzium mortars +4 Hound of Griselbrand, -4 Stromkirk Noble -2 Pillar of Flame -1 Rakdos Cackler
Round 3 (2-0): UW control
Game 1 he mulled to 6, I was otp with a very aggressive start, won by t5.
game 2 was a pretty epic game, I was getting in early damage with stonewright and ash zealot until he supreme verdict. I got in with hellrider that was D-sphered, hellkite that was D-sphered, another of each that were countered away. Terminused the board 3 times, then hit entreat the angels for 5. I overloaded mizzium mortars next turn. Finally stuck a pyreheat wolf to his moorland haunt token. The wolf swung in a couple times to get him to 6 and i had double spear in hand.
sb: +3 mizzium mortars -2 Pillar of Flame -1 Rakdos Cackler
Round 4 (2-1): Gb zombies
game 1 I was otd, had pillar in opening hand for his gravecrawler on t2, I started with noble into cackler then pyreheart. Raced him down when i hit hellrider mana
game 2 He landed a desecration demon and had a bit more removal for my guy, i was stuck on 3 lands too long to race him once i hit hellrider mana
game 3 I rode stromkirk, gore-house, and pyreheart for the win while i kept him on 1 guy.
sb: +2 Pillar of flame +2 traitorous blood -3 Rakdos Cackler -1 Gore-House Chainwalker
Round 5 (2-0): GW lifegain
These were both really good games, game 1 we both ended up at exactly 2 life when he Terminused the board empty, I had a cackler in hand and he drew land his next turn. Game 2 he managed to get up to 30 life while i was beating down on him, he trostani and a centaur healer out, and avacyn's pilgrim. I swung into them all with cackler, zealot, and gore-house leaving only cackler alive so I could overload mortars 2nd main phase. Rest of the game I just kept a threat out to whittle him down without overextending into the terminus.
sb: +3 mizzium mortars +4 Hound of Griselbrand, -4 Stromkirk Noble -2 Pillar of Flame -1 Rakdos Cackler
Overall I'm very satisfied with this makeup as it just puts out continuous pressure, and I made considerably less misplays than when I first put the deck together last week and still won. I'm very tired though so if anyone has any specific questions about individual matchups, just ask.
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Hanweir Watchkeep- I really like this against the mirror and zombies. As long as you have the burn for stromkirk noble it'll force them to either have a combination of 2 cards to answer it or play against your top end, which is what i want in my deck. Then if they run out of gas its just another 5/5 beater they have to worry about on top of thundermaw. Also shuts down all of the zombies unless they get a rancor on geralf or they play red for aristocrat.