i love what they did to Jace's character. so much improved. also, Vraska's someone i didn't give much thought before, but her interactions with Jace made me quite a fan of hers. heck, i'm one of those who ship Jace x Vraska. no more manipulative, centuries-old necromancers for Jace, please!
good work Alison and the rest of the team!
that said, i do not like how Wells portrayed Jace in her story. seems like all his character development in Ixalan went out the window. maybe she didn't have the opportunity to read about Ixalan so she used old Jace as her template.
Knight of Malice is hexproof vs white so it can't be targeted by Seal Away, Thopter Arrest, Ixalan's Binding, Cast Out or Teferi, Hero of Dominaria.
it also has first strike so it comes in handy vs weenie strategies and gets +1/+0 if opponent controls a white permanent.
seems decent to me.
that plus Duress against board wipes and Sorcerous Spyglass vs Search for Azcanta and planeswalkers like Teferi and Karn should be effective vs U/W Control.
aside from that, having access to white mana could give the deck some good sideboard cards, like Cast Out/Ixalan's Binding/Thopter Arrest for those pesky Hazorets, Phoenixes and Scarab Gods.
Clifftop Retreat has been reprinted and it made the mana base much better than before.
with all the weenie and x/1 strategies around i wonder if R/w path of Mettle decks will make a comeback.
but don't Hazored decks empty their hands fast naturally anyway?
that's nice. looking forward to reading your tournament reports.
-------------------------
fullspoilers are up!
feel free to post your brews with Dominaria cards.
btw, are you by chance a fan of Dragonlance?
-----------------
on topic: i have noticed that Dire Fleet Daredevil has been slowly going up in price. have you guys tried that card, perhaps as SB in the mirror?
managed to go into top 8 of a 37-man PPTQ using mono red.
will post the deck list and report tomorrow. i am quite tired, as this is the first time i played in a competitive tournament in a year after 2 months of not playing Magic at all.
RPPTQ Minneapolis Tournament ReportR
4 Bomat Courier
4 Soul-Scar Mage
4 Fanatical Firebrand
3 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
4 Earthshaker Khenra
4 Ahn-Crop Crasher
3 Hazoret, the Fervent
2 Invigorated Rampage
2 Abrade
4 Lightning Strike
4 Shock
Lands
17 Mountain
1 Scavenger Grounds
4 Sunscorched Desert
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Sweltering Suns
2 Glorybringer
2 Abrade
2 Aethersphere Harvester
2 Chandra's Defeat
2 Pia Nalaar
quite a straightforward deck with a couple of combat tricks. why not 4 Hazoret? because i don't have a 4th and there's no one selling them at the venue.
anyway, on with the matchup breakdown.
Round 1 vs Grixis Control - Win. oh boy. control for the first round. i just tried to dump my hand and bring his life total to zero before he could stabilize... which he could not because the sweeper he used was Fiery Cannonade and i had Fanatical Firebrand in play.
Round 2 vs U/W Cycling - Loss. this was a frustrating matchup. the loss of Rampaging Ferocidon means lifegain to stabilize vs aggressive red decks is a good strategy. Renewed Faith and Authority of the Consuls were just backbreaking.
Round 3 vs Grixis Energy - Win. i do not think the tweaked his mana base enough because he was mana screwed 2 games and i was able to chip away his life total quite easily.
Round 4 vs Mardu vehicles - Win. game 1 he ran me over with Heart of Kiran. the next 2 games i went control mode, patiently killing his creatures before i launched a counterattack.
Round 5 vs U/W Approach - Win. considering how i was defeated by another U/W deck previously due to lifegain, i felt quite down i had to face another deck with life gain. game 3 i mulliganed to 5, but my opponent apparently kept a slow hand, and when he finally cast a Regal Caracal to stabilize, he was already at 1 life and i top decked a Sunscorched Desert.
Round 6 - Intentional Draw. my opponent and i agred to draw since we're both gonna get into the top 8 anyway.
Quarterfinals vs Grixis Energy - Loss. game 1 i flooded, game 2 i was stuck on 1 land for a long time. he managed to cast 2 Whirler Virtuosos and it was over for me before i was able to fight back.
Overall, i feel that Mono Red is still competitive in a meta that plays a slower decks. with Attune with Aether banned, mana fixing was hit. but then the loss of Ramapging Ferocidon i really felt with my loss vs U/W Cycling.
that it for my report. if you guys have any suggestions or questions i welcome them.
seems like Red can diverge into different paths.
a R/W deck with Path of Mettle made it to top 11 and another at 30th place, and there are quite a few mono red decks as well. i do not get what's "PogChamp" that's mentioned in reddit.
LOTS of Chandra ToDs, though.
unfortunately, we don;t have much options for ordering online here in the Philippines, so most players line up the LGS day of release or buy from people who opened boxes. i wasn't able to get a set of Path last friday but i reserved a set to be picked up this tuesday.
i hope i'll be able to buy a set later.