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  • posted a message on [NONCOMPETITIVE] Death Trigger Superboost
    No. Undying requires them to be in the graveyard, and it returns them from the graveyard. Once tokens leave the battlefield, they cease to exist, and undying will not work.
    Not to mention that Mikaeus gives them all +1/+1 anyway, so you'd need two Illnesses for the Assembled tokens to drop dead the moment they come in.

    Re: the deck itself: I'd think that having a free sac engine is better than using Illness in the Ranks, because there might come a time when you just want to keep your tokens.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul Aggro Deck
    I don't think hellkite or domri are a good fit, but you can always keep them in to test them out.

    Incidentally, if you have a mountain on the field when you drop your boar on T3, that will trigger Experiment One's evolve. You actually swing for 10 on T3, not 9.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Jund Ramp
    What's with the Borbie in the sideboard? That seems like a strange choice - you can probably find better cheaper beaters if that's what you're looking for. Is it the mid-late reach with his land ping? Cause you're going to be thinning a lot of the land out of your deck with the rangers and farseeks, and his trigger isn't optional, so you're going to be hitting a larger proportion of your good cards whenever you beat through.

    I'm iffy on 4 Caverns, the largest number of any single tribe you have is 8.

    Have you considered Clan Defiance in a Jund ramp? I mean, those are the colours you've got the most in your base.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul G/R Midrange - Please advise/comment
    I want to suggest Rubblehulks just because I think they're ridiculous powerhouses in a midrange strategy (especially since they're warm bodies for Garruk Relentless/Domri, and the pump is massive for Primal Hunter's -3), I've just never been able to get the midrange to work to support them. Agree with above that BTE/Mauler is just a fast combo, and doesn't really help you get to midrange or help you when you're there either.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul Aggro v3
    You're "aggro" with no one drops. Replace your 4 Disciples with Lightning Maulers so that you can explode with BTE + Mauler on T2, and you need some one drops, like Experiment One or Dryad Militant for green, or Rakdos Cackler or Stromkirk Noble for red.

    Your caverns don't seem like a good fit, here, and I'm not sold on KWR for aggro - you don't get good value out of it until midgame. Consider dropping the two caverns and the two viashino shanktails for 4 experiment ones, which is still low on one-drops but it's better than what you've got.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul Aggro
    Quote from Drewster
    i did misunderstand, i might change it a little, Revive is seen an a chance to snapcaster, you can cast it or use Burning-Tree Emissary to combo into and it basically gives flashback to my creatures and spells. (except for the 8 nonlands cards it can't.

    Cast Burning-Tree Emissary, free cast revive, return Ghor-Clan Rampager or fight pit.

    You could revive a pit fight or a GCR, or you could fling whatever you bloodrushed for another 6+ damage to the face.

    And i feel the draw source in this deck is weak and most times i use my hand to quick.


    The draw source IS weak, that's why I gave up trying to do midrange Gruul and succumbed to the obvious power of fast Gruul aggro.
    I think, though, that if you replaced the two Domris for some more Garruks for consistent bloodrush draw, that you might be able to do something there.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul Aggro Deck
    Rancor lasts forever, that's what's special about it. Once you have one in your hand, it's never going away, unless they do something strange like O-ring it or Merciless Eviction or something... Titanic Growth lasts for one turn. Again, I already mentioned why the "trample to all creatures" thing isn't all that great, especially for your deck as it stands.

    Spire Tracers are a bad one drop. While the Tracer + Madcap combo is awesome in a limited event, it doesn't work in Standard, where there are a lot of answers to it - you'll just get 2 for 1'd. Consider using Experiment One or Dryad Militant as your one drop - or both! Or if you want red one drops, Rakdos Cackler and Stromkirk Noble are the go-to red one drops.

    Just because "turn 5 or 6" is considered quick for the metagame where you play, doesn't mean it's actually quick. You can make it faster, by using better cards.

    A Gruul aggro deck doesn't even have to be expensive. The deck I'm running right now only has shocklands and hellriders as the money cards, the rest are just commons and uncommons. You can replace hellriders with cheaper cards like, say, rubblebelt raiders or something.

    The important point, though, is that aggro needs to be fast, and you've got a lot of bad, slow cards in there.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul Aggro
    Quote from Drewster
    i think i would rather use pit fight over fling. Domri Rade would most likely be use for his fight ability, if their is no value at fighting, he still lets me look at the future. Clan defiance is an iffy card, but it great for burn. I don't play to play as a win condition but helps against flying creatures. i can't do rubblehulk, not always helpful but i guess not all of them ever are. And the shanktail i feel is the few cards i don't plan to hard cast ever unless late game. Otherwise he gives first strike if they block. If not, the boar could be a 6/4 first strike on turn 3


    I never said take out the pit fights - I said take out the revives. Nothing stopping you from having both pit fight and reach.

    Fling will let you end the game much sooner.


    The Domri Rade repeatable fight is decent, but you only get it once every 3 turns. That's a really, really slow clock, and you'll get outraced by proper midrange or late game combo/control decks.


    I like Clan Defiance, I was only suggesting taking it out if you wanted to keep the Domri Rades in.


    Re: the Shanktail: there are better, cheaper sources of first strike if you really, really need it. You should consider other bloodrushers like Slaughterhorn instead of the Viashino Shanktail.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul Aggro Deck
    Wasteland Viper is for blocking. It's a 1 CMC 1/2 deathtouch - the only thing that would make it a stronger blocker is reach. The bloodrush is subpar, in that it's only really useful for killing creatures, not on an unblocked critter for more player damage. If you need creature removal that badly, consider a different card.

    Borderland Ranger is a 2/2 3 drop that gets you land in the hand, not on the battlefield. Ranger doesn't ramp for you, it makes your midrange more consistent. If you're looking for consistent midrange, that's not aggro.

    Skarrg Guildmage is a 2/2 2 drop without haste, so it's slightly under an explosive aggro curve (Gorehouse Chainwalker is a 3/2, Flinthoof Boar is a 3/3, Rakdos Shredfreak is a 2/1 haste, Lightning Mauler is a 2/1 with soulbond haste, et cetera). The all-creatures-get-trample is only useful when you've got big critters that need to power through. Ghor-clan Rampager's bloodrush already gives trample, and Rancor already gives trample (assuming you take out the Titanic Growths for the Rancors, which you should), so the only pumpers you've got are the Madcap Skills (which should grant sufficient evasion anyway) and the Zhur-taa Swines. We'll get to the swines in a moment.
    The guildmage's second ability requires 4 lands open to be useful (3 with an arbor elf), so it's a 4/4 on turn 4 (3 with arbor elf) with nothing else on it. There are much, much better turn 4 (3 with arbor elf) aggro drops. Hellrider, for example, is a 3/3 with haste, and even if it attacks alone, the extra damage from its trigger makes it a better 4/4.

    Zhur-taa Swine... dropping it as a critter is too late for fast aggro, and it's behind the curve anyway. The bloodrush costs 3CMC for +5/+4, which is bad. Ghor-clan Rampager's bloodrush is 2CMC for +4/+4 with trample. You can find better cards to fill this one's position on the curve, both as a 5 CMC critter (Thundermaw Hellkite) and a 3 CMC spell (Brimstone Volley, for example).
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul Aggro Deck
    Quote from Thundermonty
    Sooo, any feedback on the original deck i posted?


    Arbor Elf isn't REALLY aggro, but you can get away with it if you build your deck properly.
    Wasteland Viper isn't aggro.
    Borderland Ranger isn't aggro.
    Skarrg Guildmage isn't aggro.
    Zhur-taa Swine isn't aggro.
    Titanic Growth is just not great at all, and can be replaced with Rancors.
    Madcap Skills... might be good, can't really say. I just included some in my maindeck for my Gruul aggro deck but I haven't been able to try it yet.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul Aggro
    Quote from Drewster
    That is a great point, Isn't that kinda the same with kessig wolf run?


    KWR lets you get the bloodrush effect when you don't have bloodrush in your hand, or when you don't want to waste a bloodrush card.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Gruul Aggro
    Shanktail is too expensive - both to drop him and to bloodrush him - to warrant inclusion in any standard deck, I think.
    Disciple of the Old Ways is also a no-no. The good bloodrush cards are Slaughterhorn and GCR (the latter one is the only TRULY good bloodrush card, unfortunately). Consider Fling over your Revives - swing through for damage, then burn them again after combat. You're only sitting at 23 creatures, right now, so the Domri Rades might not be bringing you all that much value on the +1. Maybe take out the Clan Defiances?

    I've tried to make a deck similar to this that was based on bloodrush and the unfortunate truth is that building entirely around bloodrushing isn't quite sufficient - too slow for fast aggro, not strong enough for big midgame power.

    If you plan on giving it a go anyway, I suggest Rubblehulks - they'll do a lot for you in the range of the game where your deck is going to be most effective.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Rakdos Deck Wins
    I'm a huge fan of SG as well, but I'm not sure it warrants a maindeck position in a hardcore aggro deck. Swap the 2x Rakdos' Return with the 2x SG, because 2 burn + 2 discard is better at the 4 CMC spot than SG for most decks (I'd argue that it's maybe still too slow, but it helps with the inherent card-racing of aggro v aggro and will help against other matchups as well). Skullcrack is an amazing aggro card and you'll want 4 of them spread between your maindeck and sideboard, nothing like shutting down Druid's Deliverance/Fog/Revelation/Thragtusk/every other anti-aggro card. Probably better sideboard than mainboard since Searing Spear gives you the same amount of reach but can burn creatures as well.

    The thing about the guildmages is that they don't give you their anti-blocker potential on turn 2, so if you drop one it's both: not doing damage, and not helping your 1 drop Cackler/Stromkirk/whatever else. By turn 3, if you want to take advantage of it, you have to leave your mana open and it only helps against blockers. A blocked attacker is an attacker that doesn't get through to hurt them. An attacker that doesn't get through is a wasted attacker. You're going hyper aggro here - the format has too many sweepers and instant speed removals to try to play the long game (which the guildmage is a bit more suited for, since its anti-blocker is repeatable).

    This vast quantity of instant speed removal is also a problem for the Pit-Dweller, but I think that that card has potential, so I'm not gonna tell you to remove it. The whole Fling/Devour Flesh thing seems fine, although Devour Flesh is kind of a wasted slot - it's not great for pushing through blockers, and when you use it on your Pit-Dweller you're gaining 4 health instead of burning them for 5 like with the Fling. YMMV, of course, but I think you'll find yourself wanting better cards than Devour when you start playtesting, and you'll drop down to Pit-Dweller and Fling, and then from there you might find your dweller getting speared or mortar'd when you don't have the Fling in hand, and you'll either go back to the devour to protect your pit-dweller or you'll remove them altogether. 8 (well, 7 currently) cards to protect another 4 isn't really the greatest idea, although again, I don't think the Pit-Dweller is ALL that bad... it probably depends on your local meta.

    Re: cryptborn horrors being a good drop on turn 7: I can think of many cards that are better "turn 7" drops, but that's beside the point. You don't want to think of cards based on how good they might be on turns 7 or 8 or 9. If you want hyper aggressive, getting to mid game is Bad (tm). The majority of your threat should come from early to early-mid, and then you use whatever reach you have to power through after sweepers like terminus or supreme verdict, or some solid blockers like a swagtusk.

    Re: the suggestion to replace the flailers with nighthawks: I think the flailer is probably a better choice for what the OP is trying to do with the deck. Agree on replacing Rakdos though. Hellrider or hellkite is a much better finisher. Rakdos is just a big evading beater, but he doesnt swing until T5 at the earliest. He's the big bomb and he has to wait an entire turn until he can be a threat - and an entire turn in this format... well, let's just say he might not be inciting all that many riots.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
  • posted a message on Rakdos Deck Wins
    I'm not a fan of the guildmages or the cryptborn horrors. If you're going for hyper aggressive, you could probably find better critters at those CMCs. I can't think of anything off the top of my head for the horrors, but R/B has a lot of great 2 drops - chainwalkers, ash zealots, shredfreaks...

    I think the horrors will be a dead card too often to warrant inclusion, even with all your sources of direct loss. I mean, if you can swing through on turn three with a pit-dweller and then drop the horror, that's good curve value, so in this deck it might not be too bad... you'll have to see how it plays out, I guess. I think the guildmages should definitely be replaced, though.
    Posted in: Standard Archives
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