Went to yesterday gpt, went 1-3 before I drop. Played against rally deck, 2 abzan and 1 Esper dragon. Only won 1 abzan. Gideon is a headache. I think duress is really good. Exploring the option of splashing black for duress, painful truth, murderous cut and sideboard option. Anyone experience in the black splash can give your thoughts?
see #548 for the list I'm currently on - 2 Duress, 2 Painful Truth main; another Duress and 4 Self-Inflicted Wound in the Roast slot in the SB ... I wanted a cut, but it is another delve spell and is more reactive than proactive in my opinion ... I like Duress with Monastery Swiftspear
I top 8'd a 50ish person PPTQ with a splash black version ... here's where I currently am after making some revisions and seeing the GP Kobe and most recent SCG lists
Basically a GR with splash for Chained and Stance. No fleecemane, no courser, and 2 Mob Rule and Hornet Nest for the devotion decks. The mana base looks really, really painful and there is seemingly no lifegain in the deck without Courser. It's still an aggro deck, but this seems excessive in the pain department.
I didn't get to see it on camera except when he lost in the top 8 on a mulligan to oblivion (I empathize) and he clearly had great results with it by making top 8 of a GP, but I don't particularly care for a couple choices - specifically Fanatic of Xenagos. I just feel like you have to play either Gather Courage and/or Become Immense before this card is the next best three drop. I also think Fleecemane Lion in some number is a good choice right now if you are splashing into white upwards of 6-8 mana sources. I can't really accuse him of dabbling to hard into pain lands as I ran 4 Battlefield Forge and 3 Mana Confluence this past weekend though. Thanks for adding it loco; I hadn't had a chance to yet.
Also, Martin Juza offers up the following take on Gruul on Channel Fireball today:
The article even goes as far as to give good explanations for the cards that he has choosen to leave out.
I'm sure most of us have fiddled around with something similar to this at least on paper, but this is the first I've seen of a high caliber player forwarding the idea. I'm no where near pro-level, but Juza comments it has a strong devotion subtheme - can it not afford to run 2-3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx?
At that point, you're probably changing 4 Rattleclaw Mystic to 3 Voyaging Satyr + 24th land and the deck is Gruul Devotion but with a much heavier red splash to support Outpost Siege and Stormbreath Dragon. I am considering trying something like this - I'd also like to find room for Xenagos, the Reveler (so many four drops though) in the 75. It's not likely necessary but I often wonder if a deck like this should run Goblin Rabblemaster out of the SB for when it is on the play or against control as a quicker threat.
... Now we don't always get elf. Then again we don't always play 2nd. Using this I look at pretty much all 2 or 3 color combinations. Roughly in order of awkwardness for opponent per cost:
T2 Plays that invalidate T3 plays.
2 Mana: Heir of the Wilds, Rakshasa Deathdealer. Frost Walker (unless they are playing Hordling Outburst). Fleecemane is arguably even.
3 Mana: Goblin Rabblemaster (although this card often does not make the cut any other time), Savage Knuckleblade(although you will almost never T2 this), Flamewake Phoenix (unless it's a Mantis Rider), Fanatic of Xenagos (as a 4/4, as a 3/3 it's parity)
T3 Plays that invalidate T4 plays.
2 Mana: Heir of the Wilds (honorable mention)
3 Mana: Savage Knuckleblade
4 Mana: Siege Rhino, Shaman of the Great Hunt (untap with 5 power usually does the trick and growing the team makes the rest of the game awkward), Polukranos, Xenagos the Reveler, Chandra Pyromaster, Ashcloud Pheonix
T4 Plays that invalidate T5 plays.
4 Mana: Siege Rhino, Ashcloud Pheonix, Tasigur (in practice)
5 Mana: Stormbreath Dragon, Sarkhan Vol
Now obviously these don't always work and you don't always have elf. The difference between playing first or having elf versus not is huge here. ...
Your comment and playing this 'for fun' the last couple days on Cockatrice ...
has convinced me to try Fleecemane Lion over Boon Satyr. Part of the reason why I think it's exceeded my expectations in testing is that other than Elspeth, Sun's Champion and the Chord of Calling package it is relatively low casting cost cards in a ramp shell - granted there are not as many pay-off cards here as in a traditional ramp deck. I think it is largely having another quality aggressive option at two mana.
I really want to try and figure out if I can support 3 Lion with the manabase or I have to trim one (back to Lightning Strike). Not sure if I'll really get to anything with either one as I did play last weekend (and have a job and family) and it snowed a foot or so yesterday here, so I'm not I'm up to the hour drive to a PPTQ on roads that might be less than ideal still.
EDIT: Did play in the PPTQ ... last minute tinkering: -1 Shaman of the Great Hunt (to board), -1 Fleecemane Lion (to board), -1 Crater's Claws, -3 Temple of Abandon, -2 Temple of Plenty, -2 Barrage of Boulders, -1 Chandra, Pyromaster for +2 Courser of Kruphix, +1 Lightning Strike, +2 Windswept Heath, +2 Mountain, +1 Plains ... lost round 1 2-1 to GR Devotion (but it was close until they took stabilized), won round 2 2-0 against Sultai Control, won round 3 2-0 against UW Heroic, lost round 4 0-2 to a Naya (even more) Midrange deck that top 8'd (mulligans to 5 and 6 - I apparently need to stop sending bad 7s back in the hopes of better 6s), drew round 5 1-1 against another Naya (even more) Midrange deck but conceded to them (acquaintance); I almost won 2-0 with a slow mulligan to 6, but their Courser revealed Crater's Claws on top of their deck and my attack could only put them to 2 with less than a minute left in the round
I was happy with finding a way to include 3 copies each of Lion and Courser in the 75 and dropping all the Temples so that lands never come into play tapped (as long as I draw them). Lion provides another quality 2 draw that is still a fine card off the top in the mid-to-late game. Courser gives us some insurance against smaller aggro decks given that there are seven pain lands in the deck; I also figured I would actually be able to stick a Courser better than most decks given how much more threatening the stats are on the rest of my creatures. It was probably a little foolish to change the 3rd Claws back to a 3rd Strike given the 3 Wild Slash in the SB. I missed the Barrage of Boulders against the manifest decks; I cut it because of the downtick in Hornet Queen, but we need it to punch through against G/x devotion and decks leaning on Whisperwood Elemental and/or Mastery of the Unseen - dropping Mistcutter Hydra as it's really only for UBx control and just okay (Hero's Downfall) would've probably worked out better
3. Have a plan against Heavy Removal decks that makes their curve awkward. Ie.. having a T3 play that invalidates Siege Rhino is really awkward for them. Push them to use their removal against you rather than playing threats. You want your 2 drops to invalidate their Coursers. Your 3 drops to invalidate their Rhinos..
What 3 drops invalidates a rhino? Blocking with a tribute given Fanatic? Rhino still lives. Goblin Heelcutter lets you run around it perhaps, but definitely doesn't invalidate it. Can't steal a rhino with Yasova.
The only thing I can think of here is that Flamewake PHoenix has flying at least - but isn't going to win a race against rhino by itself. Now if we think of it in terms of turns as opposed to casting costs, an accelerated turn 3 Polukranos, World Eater is good against Siege Rhino and Tasigur, the Golden Fang as long as they don't have removal - so perhaps he's indirectly arguing for its return despite having been largely absent most of the last few months. I personally put the big hydra down after it just dying to all of the removal (especially Crackling Doom) right after KTK released, but I really do think it's good again everything in the deck is almost Hero's Downfall worthy and they only have 4 - granted it does still just die to everything (Chained to the Rocks, Valorous Stance, Abzan Charm, Sultai Charm) except the burn based removal ... ryansolid is one of the best contributors on here to GRx aggressive midrange strategies in terms of theory ... I have given a lot of thought and weight to his opinions over the last 2-3 years, so listen up and try to internalize what he's saying!
So as far as major events last week, this archetype was only able to put one deck into the top 16 (unless I've missed something) - not a good sign that the deck is currently an excellent choice in the ever-shifting metagame. Take aways for this particular version: 1) other than a singleton Chandra, Pyromaster this list is built on redundancy (almost completely 4 copies of each card); even the sideboard is basically a 4-3-3-3-2 sideboard if you lump the enchantment removal together) - I'm honestly a little surprised the Chandra isn't the singleton Bccome Immense you often see in the versions running Fanatic of Xenagos 2) I think of Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker as a card that has become almost automatically a 2 of in most SBs; the most successful pilot from this past weekend leaves it out 3) Polukranos, World Eater had been gaining a lot of traction in my opinion as the four-drop creature out of the SB; this pilot is still going with Ashcloud Phoenix which I assume are often to swap for Shaman of the Great Hunt when on the draw or against a more aggressive deck 5) Speaking of Shaman, the only thing I'm not sure I've seen a lot before is running only 4 Shaman at the four-drop 6) the list has what other members on here is argued is the 'magic number of three drops' (10) and opts for only 23 land and the pair of Rattleclaw Mystic 7) maybe there's something to having the full playset of Lightning Strike with 3 Wild Slash still available in the 75 - I've found myself starting to leave in Strike against UB control; it's not great but it can help with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and is under Disdainful Stroke and generally won't draw a Negate unless it would force them to be go pretty low - I did win a game against UB Control by the sudden pressure put on them by double Strike at the end of my turn when they tapped out for a Jace's Ingenuity to drop them from 8 to 2 I think it was ... not saying it's a great card just that it has more value than I think I had been giving it in the match-up
perhaps it's a good reminder that sometimes you just play four copies of most of your cards and hope you're the pilot who gets reasonable draws and decent match-ups instead of trying to anticipate the metagame or work on small percentages here and there with a few of your card choices
I share results ... the good, the bad, and the ugly ... it was a rough weekend despite feeling pretty good about some of the changes I made going into the event.
Main:
-2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, +1 Stormbreath Dragon, +1 ? ... While I do like running the 3/2 split main on Stormbreath/Sarkhan (with the 4th Stormbreath Dragon in the SB) for the additional versatility of Sarkhan's -3, I felt like I should be expecting an uptick Sultai Control, Abzan Control, and perhaps even Dimir Control given recent results. Sarkhan is fine in these matchups, but there are not a lot of great targets for the Flame Slash other than Courser of Kruphix out of Sultai. I also expected a slight uptick in small aggro (probably red-based) to try to go under the control decks. Thus, I was pretty sure I wanted to go back down to only four five-drops in the main. While I considered just moving the 2nd Sarkhan to the SB to keep a split in the deck, I decided to just jam Stormbreath. I wasn't sure what to do with the other slot - I considered a great many things like another copy of one of the creatures, another copy of a burn spell (or even a singleton Magma Jet even as I don't know if I care for the single Wild Slash main), cutting something else to fit 2 Flamewake Phoenix into the deck, another Mountain as a 25th land (foreshadowing), ... but ultimately choose to return the 3rd Crater's Claws to the deck.
-1 Yasova Dragonclaw, -1 Shaman of the Great Hunt, +2 Boon Satyr ... I'm not a huge fan of this card, but other players I respect like CVM still sing its praises. I also was expecting more control so Flash can be good there. It can also be bestowed as a five-drop in the late game and I had cut down on those. Yasova is bad in multiples and Satyr easily feels the same role part of the time - Yasova also felt great against Heroic which is in the decline. I was often trimming or cutting Shaman on the draw, so the plan was to move it to the sideboard.
-1 Temple of Triumph, +1 Forest - I had been running 6 at one point but cut one when I added the 3rd Mana Confluence to the deck. A hand without green but a RW Temple is almost certainly a mulligan. It's possible that the 5th Temple should be a Temple of Plenty as double red is not necessary until Stormbreath Dragon with my version of the main. It could also be that the land never coming into play tapped is better than the Scry 1 and it should be the 4th Battlefield Forge.
-2 Back to Nature, +2 Mistcutter Hydra - While Whip of Erebos seems to have completely fallen off with the printing of Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Back to Nature is definitely playable against RW thanks to Ben Stark's build - I still chose to try Mistcutter again to have another threat in the board.
-1 Temple of Triumph, +1 Shaman of the Great Hunt - I still liked the idea of the exta land in the board to take out for a Mana Confluence or bring in when upping the curve; however, I wanted the 3rd Shaman in the 75 more. I liked the idea of having 2 copies of each four drop in the main and an extra copy of each in the board once I settled on it - Shaman, Polukranos, World Eater, and Xenagos, the Reveler all fill different roles in different match-ups/situations.
Round 1 - I perhaps get over confident when my opponent tells me that he had already paid when he realized he had left his deck at home and only had a "random pile of garbage" to play that day. He leads on Forest, Ghostfire Blade into Island, Frost Walker ... I silently agree it's looking too easy until my Stormbreath Dragon is hit with a Reality Shift and he starts clogging the ground with Whisperwood Elemental. Game 1 goes long but I still have a chance if I can find a dragon or enough burn to finish him off. Several turns goes by and he finds an Icy Blast to finish me. I win another unexpectedly long game 2 (pretty sure I mulligan here for the first time). Anticlimatically, we hardly get to play game 3 before time/turns. Not the start I was expecting - but I try to find the silver lining and comment that at least I will get to play against a lot of control more than likely from that point forward. 0-0-1
Round 2 - Sultai Control - Game 1 starts to go long, a top-deck threated is immediately answered and I scoop to save time as the writing is on the wall in this one, game 2 is quick, game 3 I greedy mulligan a slow hand into 0-1 lands eventually into something that isn't terrible but runs out of threats to his answers. 0-1-1
Round 3 - UB Control - extremely similar to round 2 (long loss, quick win, mulligan city) ... except a Judge is lingering nearby and begins a deck check on him after watching part of our game 2 and all of game - the judge sort of implies I should stay nearby too ... turns out I had just lost to a deck registered with 57 cards main. The head judge comes by to consult with the one who has done the deck check and informs the player of the issue, has him add 3 basic lands, and gives the game loss penalty. I politely ask the head judge if any of this actually means anything for me and am informed that in this case it applies to the next round even though it was clear they were wanting to check his deck even before our game 3 started. Oh well ... 0-2-1
Round 4 - budget Abzan Aggro (he mentioned at some point he hadn't been playing long and didn't have all of the right lands yet) - Game 1 I win quickly without seeing much other than it's probably Abzan Aggro - Game 2 he has a better hand/draw - I'm at low life and on the ropes, I have a Stormbreath Dragon and draw a Goblin Rabblemaster but can't kill him on the swing and am likely dead on the crack-back ... I pass without attacking other than a suicidal Goblin token. He crashes and I double-block which apparently he didn't even consider. He's forced to trade his level two Warden of the First Tree with two counters from Anafenza, the Foremost that I wasn't going to be able to easily answer otherwise with the dragon. I draw better than him from there and win the game. 1-2-1
Round 5 - UB Control - Paired up against an acquaintance - when I see the pairing, I figure I'm likely to play and scoop either way. I'll get to test the deck another round against a quality opponent, start home early since my day is likely over even if I win out, and give them a chance to maybe sneak in if they win out - I ask him if he knew he had been paired down (he hadn't realized it yet) and promptly win 2-0 with the sort of draws that would have been unbeatable all day. This way I can shake it off, tinker, and play something very similar the next time and forget about the horrible draws that likely put me in that position. He says "So you were just playing for points or what?" and I quickly spare him the trouble of trying to navigate the conversation and let him know I'll concede. 2?-2?-1
What a day ...
Going forward, I think I am going to try the 25th land like I apparently should have that day ....
No Gruul Aggro in the top 16 of the SCG Baltimore Sunday event ... that's three major events (SCG LA, GP Memphis, SCG Baltimore) - uh oh, looking rough
In case you missed it yesterday, Chris VanMeter has an article on SCG Select about Gruul Aggro. Also, see this one from lesser-known(?) site the Meadery by Carl Wilt that was posted today.
... she is simply the third best 3 drop available to you currently
i think most of the cards that make shaman look bad are sideboard ones, so game one i wanted to live the dream of jamming rabble into shaman as often as possible. against most decks i cut one post board.
essentially the 24th land allows me to cut the two rattleclaw mystics without going to low on mana to run 4 stormbreath dragons. rattleclaw is fine but i think its way to awkward given that your life goal is to land a three drop on turn 2.
I was also cutting up to 4 Goblin Rabblemaster and 1 Shaman of the Great Hunt on the draw against most opponents and also prefer the 24th land to 2 two-drop mana critters. I almost wonder if the Rabblemasters out on the draw plan is so expected at this point that I should leave them in more often especially since I'm still incoporating Valorous Stance.
I really like an early Yasova Dragonclaw, especially against Courser of Kruphix and UW Heroic decks - enough that I cut Boon Satyr completely (which could be wrong) to help make room for a 3rd Yasova and other cards (for example, I still like running a singleton Bow of Nylea as a 'pet card')
Here's about the only Gruul-ish (non-devotion)deck to put up results at SCGLA or GP Memphis ... no Gruul Aggro in the top 16 of either event that I see ...
While I wouldn't have thought of this exact combination of cards despite having played Naya Tokens and now Naya Monsters, it's hard to argue with his 2nd place finish. I wonder how much of his success was from the deck being so unexpected - I'll be interested to see if a similar deck is able to put up results in the near future. It's one part Tokens, one part Monsters, and one part Walkers/Control ...
EDIT: also, I would be interested in more detail as well nwrobinson - I remember interacting with you some in Twitch chat with CVM's stream last week - surprised you went with no Flamewake Phoenix considering his results on stream with it
I've watched Chris VanMeter stream this version some this week and it has looked impressive in his hand. It is an update of Matt Wey's Top 4 deck from SCGHOU; I don't see his version of the deck in the article from this week - I've seen lugger in there, but here's the list for the rest of you ...
I will be trying Flamewake Phoenix for myself after seeing his version in action - but continue to want to try more copies of Yasova Dragonclaw and splashing for Valorous Stance. I wouldn't be surprised if the top performing Gruul Aggro deck at SCGLA and/or GP Memphis looks very similar to the deck he has been streaming this week.
EDIT: Played a slightly updated version of my deck at local game store in a small Saturday tournament for testing purposes.
-1 Valorous Stance, -2 Anger of the Gods, +3 Wild Slash
After my last PPTQ, I decided that Wild Slash is necessary against smaller aggro decks and a reasonable play against Heroic and Boros Aggressive Midrange - so these changes seem reasonable in the sideboard ... Anger is too reactive and usually eats 1-2 of your own guys even if you've been trying to set it up
-2 Outpost Siege, +1 Chandra, Pyromaster, +1 Barrage of Boulders
I understand why Boros has switched to Outpost Siege despite having Stoke the Flames to hit with Chandra's ultimate, but I want unblockability - instead of going back to 2 Chandra, I also put the second Barrage of Boulders back in as it has the incidental updside of getting all of the 1/1 tokens at once
Maindeck Changes:
-1 Crater's Claws, +1 Valorous Stance
decided (perhaps incorrectly) I'd rather have a 3rd copy of the more versatile spell even though it can't end the game on the spot as easily
-1 Forest, +1 Mana Confluence
I wasn't expecting many hyperaggressive deck; a lot of the regulars at my shop play either midrange or control - I'm almost always the beatdown - in the expected metagame this replaces the Battlefield Forge I had cut for another basic Mountain in a way that still lets me play Elvish Mystic on turn 1 ... it also helps with bringing the 3rd Valorous Stance back into the main
With the Wild Slash in the deck, I'm not sure the 3rd Polukranos, World Eater should be in the deck - it should probably be a second Chandra, Pyromaster or something even better against control like Nissa, Worldwaker or Whisperwood Elemental if the sideboard can handle another five drop. The Xenagos, God of Revels would probably be changed to another copy of Whisperwood Elemental or is probably fine if I go with Nissa, Worldwaker. Polukranos only came in last night against a Gu Devotion deck to try to trade off with their copies before they could do silly things like Monstrous for large amounts which is probably not a great plan.
Last night I went 3-1. I beat fairly competitive pilots on Gu Devotion and Abzan Midrange deck built to also be able to combo kill with Rally the Ancestors. My other win was against a newer player on a suboptimal UW Control deck. My loss was round 1 to one of the best control players at my shop - we went to time and turns in game 3 and he was short on lands with a handful of counters and removal and I was out of gas. I conceded to him; I had a reasonable 2 into 3 into 4 into 5 curve as long as I drew some lands (which I did), but I ended up sequencing my cards off cards trying to bait him into tapping out on his turn. I should've known this was a bad idea - especially against a capable pilot.
see #548 for the list I'm currently on - 2 Duress, 2 Painful Truth main; another Duress and 4 Self-Inflicted Wound in the Roast slot in the SB ... I wanted a cut, but it is another delve spell and is more reactive than proactive in my opinion ... I like Duress with Monastery Swiftspear
3 Zurgo Bellstriker
1 Lightning Berserker
4 Abbot of Keral Keep
4 Dragon Fodder
2 Hordeling Outburst
4 Titan's Strength
3 Wild Slash
4 Atarka's Command
3 Temur Battle Rage
3 Become Immense
2 Painful Truths
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Windswept Heath
2 Cinder Glade
1 Smoldering Marsh
7 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Lightning Berserker
2 Hordeling Outburst
3 Fiery Impulse
4 Rending Volley
1 Duress
4 Self-Inflicted Wound
Anyone here been trying something similar?
2 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Heir of the Wilds
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Flamewake Phoenix
3 Boon Satyr
3 Ashcloud Phoenix
2 Shaman of the Great Hunt
4 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Lightning Strike
3 Crater's Claws
6 Forest
7 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Abandon
1 Yasova Dragonclaw
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
3 Wild Slash
2 Arc Lightning
3 Fated Conflagration
2 Destructive Revelery
get ready to see more Mantis Rider folks
2 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Heir of the Wilds
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Flamewake Phoenix
3 Boon Satyr
3 Ashcloud Phoenix
2 Shaman of the Great Hunt
4 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Lightning Strike
3 Crater's Claws
6 Forest
6 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Abandon
1 Rugged Highlands
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
3 Wild Slash
2 Arc Lightning
2 Fated Conflagration
3 Destructive Revelery
The other article includes reevaluations of DTK cards and a sketch of a post-DTK Temur Midrange deck.
I didn't get to see it on camera except when he lost in the top 8 on a mulligan to oblivion (I empathize) and he clearly had great results with it by making top 8 of a GP, but I don't particularly care for a couple choices - specifically Fanatic of Xenagos. I just feel like you have to play either Gather Courage and/or Become Immense before this card is the next best three drop. I also think Fleecemane Lion in some number is a good choice right now if you are splashing into white upwards of 6-8 mana sources. I can't really accuse him of dabbling to hard into pain lands as I ran 4 Battlefield Forge and 3 Mana Confluence this past weekend though. Thanks for adding it loco; I hadn't had a chance to yet.
Also, Martin Juza offers up the following take on Gruul on Channel Fireball today:
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Wild Slash
4 Lightning Strike
1 Stoke the Flames
4 Crater's Claws
4 Outpost Siege
8 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Temple of Abandon
3 Reclamation Sage
3 Nylea's Disciple
2 Arbor Colossus
2 Hornet Queen
3 Arc Lightning
2 Nissa, Worldwaker
The article even goes as far as to give good explanations for the cards that he has choosen to leave out.
I'm sure most of us have fiddled around with something similar to this at least on paper, but this is the first I've seen of a high caliber player forwarding the idea. I'm no where near pro-level, but Juza comments it has a strong devotion subtheme - can it not afford to run 2-3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx?
At that point, you're probably changing 4 Rattleclaw Mystic to 3 Voyaging Satyr + 24th land and the deck is Gruul Devotion but with a much heavier red splash to support Outpost Siege and Stormbreath Dragon. I am considering trying something like this - I'd also like to find room for Xenagos, the Reveler (so many four drops though) in the 75. It's not likely necessary but I often wonder if a deck like this should run Goblin Rabblemaster out of the SB for when it is on the play or against control as a quicker threat.
Your comment and playing this 'for fun' the last couple days on Cockatrice ...
3 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Heir of the Wilds
3 Fleecemane Lion
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Courser of Kruphix
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Purphoros, God of the Forge
1 Hornet Queen
2 Mastery of the Unseen
2 Chord of Calling
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
5 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Plains
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Windswept Heath
3 Mana Confluence
3 Temple of Plenty
3 Temple of Abandon
1 Courser of Kruphix
3 Hornet Nest
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Arbor Colossus
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Valorous Stance
2 Setessan Tactics
2 Glare of Heresy
has convinced me to try Fleecemane Lion over Boon Satyr. Part of the reason why I think it's exceeded my expectations in testing is that other than Elspeth, Sun's Champion and the Chord of Calling package it is relatively low casting cost cards in a ramp shell - granted there are not as many pay-off cards here as in a traditional ramp deck. I think it is largely having another quality aggressive option at two mana.
Thus, I have cut 2 Boon Satyr and a Lightning Strike for my list to fit in Fleecemane Lion arriving at:
4 Heir of the Wilds
3 Fleecemane Lion
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Yasova Dragonclaw
3 Shaman of the Great Hunt
2 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Bow of Nylea
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Valorous Stance
3 Crater's Claws
6 Forest
2 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Mana Confluence
4 Battlefield Forge
3 Temple of Abandon
2 Temple of Plenty
2 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Polukranos, World Eater
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Barrage of Boulders
2 Glare of Heresy
I really want to try and figure out if I can support 3 Lion with the manabase or I have to trim one (back to Lightning Strike). Not sure if I'll really get to anything with either one as I did play last weekend (and have a job and family) and it snowed a foot or so yesterday here, so I'm not I'm up to the hour drive to a PPTQ on roads that might be less than ideal still.
EDIT: Did play in the PPTQ ... last minute tinkering: -1 Shaman of the Great Hunt (to board), -1 Fleecemane Lion (to board), -1 Crater's Claws, -3 Temple of Abandon, -2 Temple of Plenty, -2 Barrage of Boulders, -1 Chandra, Pyromaster for +2 Courser of Kruphix, +1 Lightning Strike, +2 Windswept Heath, +2 Mountain, +1 Plains ... lost round 1 2-1 to GR Devotion (but it was close until they took stabilized), won round 2 2-0 against Sultai Control, won round 3 2-0 against UW Heroic, lost round 4 0-2 to a Naya (even more) Midrange deck that top 8'd (mulligans to 5 and 6 - I apparently need to stop sending bad 7s back in the hopes of better 6s), drew round 5 1-1 against another Naya (even more) Midrange deck but conceded to them (acquaintance); I almost won 2-0 with a slow mulligan to 6, but their Courser revealed Crater's Claws on top of their deck and my attack could only put them to 2 with less than a minute left in the round
I was happy with finding a way to include 3 copies each of Lion and Courser in the 75 and dropping all the Temples so that lands never come into play tapped (as long as I draw them). Lion provides another quality 2 draw that is still a fine card off the top in the mid-to-late game. Courser gives us some insurance against smaller aggro decks given that there are seven pain lands in the deck; I also figured I would actually be able to stick a Courser better than most decks given how much more threatening the stats are on the rest of my creatures. It was probably a little foolish to change the 3rd Claws back to a 3rd Strike given the 3 Wild Slash in the SB. I missed the Barrage of Boulders against the manifest decks; I cut it because of the downtick in Hornet Queen, but we need it to punch through against G/x devotion and decks leaning on Whisperwood Elemental and/or Mastery of the Unseen - dropping Mistcutter Hydra as it's really only for UBx control and just okay (Hero's Downfall) would've probably worked out better
The only thing I can think of here is that Flamewake PHoenix has flying at least - but isn't going to win a race against rhino by itself. Now if we think of it in terms of turns as opposed to casting costs, an accelerated turn 3 Polukranos, World Eater is good against Siege Rhino and Tasigur, the Golden Fang as long as they don't have removal - so perhaps he's indirectly arguing for its return despite having been largely absent most of the last few months. I personally put the big hydra down after it just dying to all of the removal (especially Crackling Doom) right after KTK released, but I really do think it's good again everything in the deck is almost Hero's Downfall worthy and they only have 4 - granted it does still just die to everything (Chained to the Rocks, Valorous Stance, Abzan Charm, Sultai Charm) except the burn based removal ... ryansolid is one of the best contributors on here to GRx aggressive midrange strategies in terms of theory ... I have given a lot of thought and weight to his opinions over the last 2-3 years, so listen up and try to internalize what he's saying!
4 Heir of the Wilds
2 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Fanatic of Xenagos
2 Boon Satyr
4 Shaman of the Great Hunt
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Lightning Strike
4 Crater's Claws
6 Forest
6 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Abandon
3 Ashcloud Phoenix
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
3 Wild Slash
4 Arc Lightning
2 Destructive Revelery
1 Back to Nature
So as far as major events last week, this archetype was only able to put one deck into the top 16 (unless I've missed something) - not a good sign that the deck is currently an excellent choice in the ever-shifting metagame. Take aways for this particular version: 1) other than a singleton Chandra, Pyromaster this list is built on redundancy (almost completely 4 copies of each card); even the sideboard is basically a 4-3-3-3-2 sideboard if you lump the enchantment removal together) - I'm honestly a little surprised the Chandra isn't the singleton Bccome Immense you often see in the versions running Fanatic of Xenagos 2) I think of Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker as a card that has become almost automatically a 2 of in most SBs; the most successful pilot from this past weekend leaves it out 3) Polukranos, World Eater had been gaining a lot of traction in my opinion as the four-drop creature out of the SB; this pilot is still going with Ashcloud Phoenix which I assume are often to swap for Shaman of the Great Hunt when on the draw or against a more aggressive deck 5) Speaking of Shaman, the only thing I'm not sure I've seen a lot before is running only 4 Shaman at the four-drop 6) the list has what other members on here is argued is the 'magic number of three drops' (10) and opts for only 23 land and the pair of Rattleclaw Mystic 7) maybe there's something to having the full playset of Lightning Strike with 3 Wild Slash still available in the 75 - I've found myself starting to leave in Strike against UB control; it's not great but it can help with Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver and is under Disdainful Stroke and generally won't draw a Negate unless it would force them to be go pretty low - I did win a game against UB Control by the sudden pressure put on them by double Strike at the end of my turn when they tapped out for a Jace's Ingenuity to drop them from 8 to 2 I think it was ... not saying it's a great card just that it has more value than I think I had been giving it in the match-up
perhaps it's a good reminder that sometimes you just play four copies of most of your cards and hope you're the pilot who gets reasonable draws and decent match-ups instead of trying to anticipate the metagame or work on small percentages here and there with a few of your card choices
4 Heir of the Wilds
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Boon Satyr
2 Yasova Dragonclaw
2 Polukranos, World Eater
2 Shaman of the Great Hunt
4 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
1 Bow of Nylea
3 Valorous Stance
3 Crater's Claws
6 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Mana Confluence
3 Battlefield Forge
4 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Triumph
2 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Shaman of the Great Hunt
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
3 Wild Slash
2 Glare of Heresy
2 Barrage of Boulders
Main:
-2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, +1 Stormbreath Dragon, +1 ? ... While I do like running the 3/2 split main on Stormbreath/Sarkhan (with the 4th Stormbreath Dragon in the SB) for the additional versatility of Sarkhan's -3, I felt like I should be expecting an uptick Sultai Control, Abzan Control, and perhaps even Dimir Control given recent results. Sarkhan is fine in these matchups, but there are not a lot of great targets for the Flame Slash other than Courser of Kruphix out of Sultai. I also expected a slight uptick in small aggro (probably red-based) to try to go under the control decks. Thus, I was pretty sure I wanted to go back down to only four five-drops in the main. While I considered just moving the 2nd Sarkhan to the SB to keep a split in the deck, I decided to just jam Stormbreath. I wasn't sure what to do with the other slot - I considered a great many things like another copy of one of the creatures, another copy of a burn spell (or even a singleton Magma Jet even as I don't know if I care for the single Wild Slash main), cutting something else to fit 2 Flamewake Phoenix into the deck, another Mountain as a 25th land (foreshadowing), ... but ultimately choose to return the 3rd Crater's Claws to the deck.
-1 Yasova Dragonclaw, -1 Shaman of the Great Hunt, +2 Boon Satyr ... I'm not a huge fan of this card, but other players I respect like CVM still sing its praises. I also was expecting more control so Flash can be good there. It can also be bestowed as a five-drop in the late game and I had cut down on those. Yasova is bad in multiples and Satyr easily feels the same role part of the time - Yasova also felt great against Heroic which is in the decline. I was often trimming or cutting Shaman on the draw, so the plan was to move it to the sideboard.
-1 Temple of Triumph, +1 Forest - I had been running 6 at one point but cut one when I added the 3rd Mana Confluence to the deck. A hand without green but a RW Temple is almost certainly a mulligan. It's possible that the 5th Temple should be a Temple of Plenty as double red is not necessary until Stormbreath Dragon with my version of the main. It could also be that the land never coming into play tapped is better than the Scry 1 and it should be the 4th Battlefield Forge.
Sideboard:
-1 Stormbreath Dragon (to main), -1 Xenagos, God of Revels, +2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker (from the main) - five drop swap seems like the only reasonable plan here
-2 Back to Nature, +2 Mistcutter Hydra - While Whip of Erebos seems to have completely fallen off with the printing of Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, Back to Nature is definitely playable against RW thanks to Ben Stark's build - I still chose to try Mistcutter again to have another threat in the board.
-1 Temple of Triumph, +1 Shaman of the Great Hunt - I still liked the idea of the exta land in the board to take out for a Mana Confluence or bring in when upping the curve; however, I wanted the 3rd Shaman in the 75 more. I liked the idea of having 2 copies of each four drop in the main and an extra copy of each in the board once I settled on it - Shaman, Polukranos, World Eater, and Xenagos, the Reveler all fill different roles in different match-ups/situations.
Round 1 - I perhaps get over confident when my opponent tells me that he had already paid when he realized he had left his deck at home and only had a "random pile of garbage" to play that day. He leads on Forest, Ghostfire Blade into Island, Frost Walker ... I silently agree it's looking too easy until my Stormbreath Dragon is hit with a Reality Shift and he starts clogging the ground with Whisperwood Elemental. Game 1 goes long but I still have a chance if I can find a dragon or enough burn to finish him off. Several turns goes by and he finds an Icy Blast to finish me. I win another unexpectedly long game 2 (pretty sure I mulligan here for the first time). Anticlimatically, we hardly get to play game 3 before time/turns. Not the start I was expecting - but I try to find the silver lining and comment that at least I will get to play against a lot of control more than likely from that point forward. 0-0-1
Round 2 - Sultai Control - Game 1 starts to go long, a top-deck threated is immediately answered and I scoop to save time as the writing is on the wall in this one, game 2 is quick, game 3 I greedy mulligan a slow hand into 0-1 lands eventually into something that isn't terrible but runs out of threats to his answers. 0-1-1
Round 3 - UB Control - extremely similar to round 2 (long loss, quick win, mulligan city) ... except a Judge is lingering nearby and begins a deck check on him after watching part of our game 2 and all of game - the judge sort of implies I should stay nearby too ... turns out I had just lost to a deck registered with 57 cards main. The head judge comes by to consult with the one who has done the deck check and informs the player of the issue, has him add 3 basic lands, and gives the game loss penalty. I politely ask the head judge if any of this actually means anything for me and am informed that in this case it applies to the next round even though it was clear they were wanting to check his deck even before our game 3 started. Oh well ... 0-2-1
Round 4 - budget Abzan Aggro (he mentioned at some point he hadn't been playing long and didn't have all of the right lands yet) - Game 1 I win quickly without seeing much other than it's probably Abzan Aggro - Game 2 he has a better hand/draw - I'm at low life and on the ropes, I have a Stormbreath Dragon and draw a Goblin Rabblemaster but can't kill him on the swing and am likely dead on the crack-back ... I pass without attacking other than a suicidal Goblin token. He crashes and I double-block which apparently he didn't even consider. He's forced to trade his level two Warden of the First Tree with two counters from Anafenza, the Foremost that I wasn't going to be able to easily answer otherwise with the dragon. I draw better than him from there and win the game. 1-2-1
Round 5 - UB Control - Paired up against an acquaintance - when I see the pairing, I figure I'm likely to play and scoop either way. I'll get to test the deck another round against a quality opponent, start home early since my day is likely over even if I win out, and give them a chance to maybe sneak in if they win out - I ask him if he knew he had been paired down (he hadn't realized it yet) and promptly win 2-0 with the sort of draws that would have been unbeatable all day. This way I can shake it off, tinker, and play something very similar the next time and forget about the horrible draws that likely put me in that position. He says "So you were just playing for points or what?" and I quickly spare him the trouble of trying to navigate the conversation and let him know I'll concede. 2?-2?-1
What a day ...
Going forward, I think I am going to try the 25th land like I apparently should have that day ....
No Gruul Aggro in the top 16 of the SCG Baltimore Sunday event ... that's three major events (SCG LA, GP Memphis, SCG Baltimore) - uh oh, looking rough
I was also cutting up to 4 Goblin Rabblemaster and 1 Shaman of the Great Hunt on the draw against most opponents and also prefer the 24th land to 2 two-drop mana critters. I almost wonder if the Rabblemasters out on the draw plan is so expected at this point that I should leave them in more often especially since I'm still incoporating Valorous Stance.
I really like an early Yasova Dragonclaw, especially against Courser of Kruphix and UW Heroic decks - enough that I cut Boon Satyr completely (which could be wrong) to help make room for a 3rd Yasova and other cards (for example, I still like running a singleton Bow of Nylea as a 'pet card')
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Courser of Kruphix
2 Shaman of the Great Hunt
2 Polukranos, World Eater
2 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Whisperwood Elemental
1 Arbor Colossus
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 End Hostilities
1 Shamanic Revelation
4 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Plains
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Windswept Heath
2 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Abandon
3 Temple of Plenty
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Shaman of the Great Hunt
2 Arbor Colossus
1 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Nissa, Worldwaker
2 Destructive Revelery
3 Arc Lightning
3 Glare of Heresy
While I wouldn't have thought of this exact combination of cards despite having played Naya Tokens and now Naya Monsters, it's hard to argue with his 2nd place finish. I wonder how much of his success was from the deck being so unexpected - I'll be interested to see if a similar deck is able to put up results in the near future. It's one part Tokens, one part Monsters, and one part Walkers/Control ...
Watching his games on camera definitely makes me want to take my previous Naya Tokens deck with Stormbreath Dragon and swap the dragon for Whisperwood Elemental and move Elspeth, Sun's Champion from the board into the main and see if the inevitability of synergies with Purphoros, God of the Forge is more than enough since it seemed to be for this pilot.
EDIT: also, I would be interested in more detail as well nwrobinson - I remember interacting with you some in Twitch chat with CVM's stream last week - surprised you went with no Flamewake Phoenix considering his results on stream with it
4 Heir of the Wilds
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Flamewake Phoenix
3 Boon Satyr
1 Yasova Dragonclaw
3 Ashcloud Phoenix
3 Shaman of the Great Hunt
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Crater's Claws
6 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Abandon
2 Rugged Highlands
2 Whisperwood Elemental
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Wild Slash
1 Fated Conflagration
2 Arc Lightning
2 Barrage of Boulders
2 Destructive Revelry
1 Back to Nature
I will be trying Flamewake Phoenix for myself after seeing his version in action - but continue to want to try more copies of Yasova Dragonclaw and splashing for Valorous Stance. I wouldn't be surprised if the top performing Gruul Aggro deck at SCGLA and/or GP Memphis looks very similar to the deck he has been streaming this week.
EDIT: Played a slightly updated version of my deck at local game store in a small Saturday tournament for testing purposes.
4 Heir of the Wilds
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Yasova Dragonclaw
3 Shaman of the Great Hunt
2 Polukranos, World Eater
3 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Bow of Nylea
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Crater's Claws
3 Valorous Stance
5 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Battlefield Forge
3 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Abandon
2 Temple of Triumph
1 Polukranos, World Eater
1 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Xenagos, the Reveler
3 Wild Slash
2 Back to Nature
2 Glare of Heresy
2 Barrage of Boulders
1 Temple of Triumph
Sideboard Changes:
-1 Valorous Stance, -2 Anger of the Gods, +3 Wild Slash
After my last PPTQ, I decided that Wild Slash is necessary against smaller aggro decks and a reasonable play against Heroic and Boros Aggressive Midrange - so these changes seem reasonable in the sideboard ... Anger is too reactive and usually eats 1-2 of your own guys even if you've been trying to set it up
-2 Outpost Siege, +1 Chandra, Pyromaster, +1 Barrage of Boulders
I understand why Boros has switched to Outpost Siege despite having Stoke the Flames to hit with Chandra's ultimate, but I want unblockability - instead of going back to 2 Chandra, I also put the second Barrage of Boulders back in as it has the incidental updside of getting all of the 1/1 tokens at once
Maindeck Changes:
-1 Crater's Claws, +1 Valorous Stance
decided (perhaps incorrectly) I'd rather have a 3rd copy of the more versatile spell even though it can't end the game on the spot as easily
-1 Forest, +1 Mana Confluence
I wasn't expecting many hyperaggressive deck; a lot of the regulars at my shop play either midrange or control - I'm almost always the beatdown - in the expected metagame this replaces the Battlefield Forge I had cut for another basic Mountain in a way that still lets me play Elvish Mystic on turn 1 ... it also helps with bringing the 3rd Valorous Stance back into the main
With the Wild Slash in the deck, I'm not sure the 3rd Polukranos, World Eater should be in the deck - it should probably be a second Chandra, Pyromaster or something even better against control like Nissa, Worldwaker or Whisperwood Elemental if the sideboard can handle another five drop. The Xenagos, God of Revels would probably be changed to another copy of Whisperwood Elemental or is probably fine if I go with Nissa, Worldwaker. Polukranos only came in last night against a Gu Devotion deck to try to trade off with their copies before they could do silly things like Monstrous for large amounts which is probably not a great plan.
Last night I went 3-1. I beat fairly competitive pilots on Gu Devotion and Abzan Midrange deck built to also be able to combo kill with Rally the Ancestors. My other win was against a newer player on a suboptimal UW Control deck. My loss was round 1 to one of the best control players at my shop - we went to time and turns in game 3 and he was short on lands with a handful of counters and removal and I was out of gas. I conceded to him; I had a reasonable 2 into 3 into 4 into 5 curve as long as I drew some lands (which I did), but I ended up sequencing my cards off cards trying to bait him into tapping out on his turn. I should've known this was a bad idea - especially against a capable pilot.
I wasn't looking to splash more white, but I've got to hand it to you for making that comparison! Going to have to think about it and try it out ...