Here's a deck that won a 99-participant PTQ in Strasbourg, Germany. At least one Tarmogoyf deck was also in the top eight but not sure if it ever faced the red deck.
EDIT: This deck actually finished 6th instead of 1st. Sorry about that!
i know sudden shock does not kill most, but its amazing against control, and it does kill morphs
Morphing doesn't use the stack so Split Second can't stop an opponent from doing it. Unmorphing a creature is one of the few responses you can have to Sudden Shock or Sudden Death or Molten Disaster or whatever.
Still, it's not a bad card at all. Saffi Eriksdotter is a great Sudden Shock target in the current environment. Combo Slivers hates Sudden Shock, too.
it looks good, but keep in mind, it did not make top 8, so either the deck craped out, or maybe the blood knights would have been better, and/or the bladewing was to much of an expensive thing to play
He finished 18th with what looks like an 11-4 record (33 points), 9-0 on day one and 2-4 on day two. He had good tiebreakers (OMW% was over 73%) and I think one more match win would have him in the top eight. Yes, he did fade pretty badly on day two but look at it this way... Day two at a Grand Prix is definitely tougher than any PTQ. I mean on day two, you are playing against REAL pros so even if you have a good deck it's going to be very difficult for an amateur to keep cranking out wins. And two of his losses were to top eight finishers. There were no easy matchups on day two for this guy!
Mono-red isn't dead in block but it'd probably be just as well to let everyone think it is and Francisco's deck is certainly a starting point for retooling the archetype. If you are going to play mono-red in block then you have to start where his deck is and find a way to improve it against a known metagame.
Two of his losses were to 'Goyf and one was to U/G shifter. Not sure what the other loss was. We all know the problems the 'Goyf match up is but I'm not sure about the U/G shifter matchup. It has a lot of bounce, some fliers, some phat, a token swarm and a lock... that's a lot of hurdles to jump over. And Gargadons are just awful against it. Take Possession.... Yikes!
If you could keep it in play then something like Pyrohemia would just shut the thing down. Aeon Chronicler is the only creature that could stand against Pyrohemia and late game, not at all. Molten Disaster would also be pretty good against U/G shifter more so because it can't be countered than because it sweeps the board. It doesn't sweep the board against this deck at all but that doesn't mean it can't sneak the last four or five points of damage in. So there are two new sideboard cards to consider for Francisco's deck but it's going to take some testing to see what should be taken out to squeeze something else in. Cut an Emissary or two maybe? There was no White Weenie any where in the field as far as I could see.
And I do think the sideboard is what needs to be tweaked here. If you were going to change the maindeck, I think Rift Bolt is the card that gets cut. I wouldn't touch anything else. No, I don't know what you play in place of Rift Bolt. Choices are a different burn spell, another creature or more land.
Okay, I've rattled on enough. Heck, me and Mikey are the only two people interested in this thread right now. Hopefully some other folks will jump back in who maybe can see something that we've overlooked.
I'm 39, I've been playing MtG since the tail end of Beta and I had a few PTQ top eights before they ever started giving out pins. I maybe play in one or two tournaments a year now, almost always constructed.
I made top eight in our Champs last year and the year before that I made top eight in a Kamagawa Block PTQ so I do have one top eight pin. I do not do MODO at all and I confess I never really adapted to the changes that took place when 6th Edition came out. So no need to ever ask me any rules questions as I won't know the answer!
My ratings are currently:
Composite (as of 2007-06-18)
1795 rating 192 matches 37 events
Constructed (as of 2007-06-18)
1847 rating 147 matches 29 events
Eternal (as of 2007-06-18)
1765 rating 30 matches 6 events
Limited (as of 2007-06-18)
1744 rating 45 matches 8 events
I play for fun at our local game shop where even the casual competition is pretty tough. We've had several guys qualify for the Pro Tour or Nationals but no one has really made an impact at either one. At least not recently.
I've almost quit the game several times. I've thrown away or given away or sold cards for practically nothing just to get rid of them and then a new block rolls around and I find myself buying back in.
Right now I'm playing RDW/Sligh for block and standard. I was going to go to a PTQ yesterday but was somewhat disheartened after playtesting against Tarmogoyf. So I didn't go thinking RDW might be a bad call and now I see that a mono-red deck had a good day one run at GP Montreal thus proving me wrong. I'll have at least one more chance to play in a PTQ before this season is up so maybe RDW will still be viable then.
I had not cared much for Tarox Bladewing before but it looks like he's the new trend in RDW. I think a lot of people are still running Gathan Raiders in this slot. Maybe Tarox is being seen as a better Eron The Relentless?
The lack of Blood Knight main is interesting and it looks like Keldon Marauders took its place. It looks like this version is really gunning for control with Word of Seizing and Dead // Gone being the two maindeck nods to Tarmogoyf.
As a sideboard card. Seriously, just play enough green mana sources main deck to support him and bring him in against the GW 'Goyf decks. Your 'Goyf will always be as big as theirs will be except yours will be backed up by burn and bounce/seize.
The only other bit of advice I can offer against GW 'Goyf is to side in Fortune Thief. They don't have a lot of removal although it is possible they could Psionic Blast it (if playing BWu) or Fiery Justice it (if playing BWr). But most likely they'll have to waste at least one removal spell on an earlier creature of yours and you can always drop multiple morphs if you are also playing Gathan Raiders and Zoetic Cavern. I admit, I don't have hard playtesting data to back this up but it seems good in theory. It falls apart if GWx sideboards Serrated Arrows though. I haven't seen any of them doing that right now but it's a possibility.
Good luck if you are trying to Q tomorrow!
EDIT: If the RG version of Tarmogoyf becomes the one that gets played then forget about siding Fortune Thief. Oy! Mostly all I had seen in action was the GW version but the RG version really does have the tools to just dominate RDW.
i love how this deck gets worse by the week, anoying isn't it?
hmm... maybe we should try adding goyf to our deck, but would that make it slower?
If we had Seal of Fire then it would make sense but as it is our 'Goyf would only be like 3/4. If you can't get that 'Goyf to 4/5 or 5/6 then I'd say don't bother.
I'm honestly considering maybe two Word of Seizing maindeck since I also run Gargadons. A few players did that at the Pro Tour (De Rosa and Rubin) and to me it makes sense with so many huge creatures running around now and Teferi being just as annoying as ever.
Tarmogoyf has been giving me some problems in playtesting and I think G/W Threshold will be a very popular deck in our area. It might not be as bad as the R/G matchup but right now but I'd still say it's unfavorable. Of course, I kind of suck as a Magic player so your mileage may vary.
What are most people doing when Browbeat resolves early in the game? Are they taking five damage or allowing you to draw three?
I'm guessing that most Tendrils based decks will take the five if they have Tendrils in hand and you don't have Gargadon suspended but if you do have Gargadon suspended then they probably let you draw three.
Can any of the other decks in this format afford to ever take the five to the face? What matchups is Browbeat really bad against? How relevant is it to the mirror match?
I assume Parallectric Feedback is for Dragonstorm. How has that been working out for you? I'd like to play mono-red at Regionals but the Dragonstorm match up does have me worried.
"Playing Red Deck Wins in a metagame full of two-mana 4/5 creatures is suicidal, so I would not recommend Red Deck Wins anymore, not in this metagame"
Link: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/fk45
EDIT: This deck actually finished 6th instead of 1st. Sorry about that!
' Ronnan on Fire ' by Daniel Rodi
Mainboard:
2 Pendelhaven
18 Mountain
2 Keldon Megaliths
2 Zoetic Cavern
4 Mogg War Marshal
3 Tarox Bladewing
4 Gathan Raiders
4 Magus of the Scroll
4 Greater Gargadon
4 Blood Knight
4 Fiery Temper
2 Ghostfire
2 Rift Bolt
3 Dead / Gone
2 Word of Seizing
Sideboard:
1 Dead / Gone
1 Word of Seizing
2 Magus of the Moon
3 Avalanche Riders
4 Sulfur Elemental
4 Thick-Skinned Goblin
Morphing doesn't use the stack so Split Second can't stop an opponent from doing it. Unmorphing a creature is one of the few responses you can have to Sudden Shock or Sudden Death or Molten Disaster or whatever.
Still, it's not a bad card at all. Saffi Eriksdotter is a great Sudden Shock target in the current environment. Combo Slivers hates Sudden Shock, too.
He finished 18th with what looks like an 11-4 record (33 points), 9-0 on day one and 2-4 on day two. He had good tiebreakers (OMW% was over 73%) and I think one more match win would have him in the top eight. Yes, he did fade pretty badly on day two but look at it this way... Day two at a Grand Prix is definitely tougher than any PTQ. I mean on day two, you are playing against REAL pros so even if you have a good deck it's going to be very difficult for an amateur to keep cranking out wins. And two of his losses were to top eight finishers. There were no easy matchups on day two for this guy!
Mono-red isn't dead in block but it'd probably be just as well to let everyone think it is and Francisco's deck is certainly a starting point for retooling the archetype. If you are going to play mono-red in block then you have to start where his deck is and find a way to improve it against a known metagame.
Two of his losses were to 'Goyf and one was to U/G shifter. Not sure what the other loss was. We all know the problems the 'Goyf match up is but I'm not sure about the U/G shifter matchup. It has a lot of bounce, some fliers, some phat, a token swarm and a lock... that's a lot of hurdles to jump over. And Gargadons are just awful against it. Take Possession.... Yikes!
If you could keep it in play then something like Pyrohemia would just shut the thing down. Aeon Chronicler is the only creature that could stand against Pyrohemia and late game, not at all. Molten Disaster would also be pretty good against U/G shifter more so because it can't be countered than because it sweeps the board. It doesn't sweep the board against this deck at all but that doesn't mean it can't sneak the last four or five points of damage in. So there are two new sideboard cards to consider for Francisco's deck but it's going to take some testing to see what should be taken out to squeeze something else in. Cut an Emissary or two maybe? There was no White Weenie any where in the field as far as I could see.
And I do think the sideboard is what needs to be tweaked here. If you were going to change the maindeck, I think Rift Bolt is the card that gets cut. I wouldn't touch anything else. No, I don't know what you play in place of Rift Bolt. Choices are a different burn spell, another creature or more land.
Okay, I've rattled on enough. Heck, me and Mikey are the only two people interested in this thread right now. Hopefully some other folks will jump back in who maybe can see something that we've overlooked.
I made top eight in our Champs last year and the year before that I made top eight in a Kamagawa Block PTQ so I do have one top eight pin. I do not do MODO at all and I confess I never really adapted to the changes that took place when 6th Edition came out. So no need to ever ask me any rules questions as I won't know the answer!
My ratings are currently:
Composite (as of 2007-06-18)
1795 rating 192 matches 37 events
Constructed (as of 2007-06-18)
1847 rating 147 matches 29 events
Eternal (as of 2007-06-18)
1765 rating 30 matches 6 events
Limited (as of 2007-06-18)
1744 rating 45 matches 8 events
I play for fun at our local game shop where even the casual competition is pretty tough. We've had several guys qualify for the Pro Tour or Nationals but no one has really made an impact at either one. At least not recently.
I've almost quit the game several times. I've thrown away or given away or sold cards for practically nothing just to get rid of them and then a new block rolls around and I find myself buying back in.
Right now I'm playing RDW/Sligh for block and standard. I was going to go to a PTQ yesterday but was somewhat disheartened after playtesting against Tarmogoyf. So I didn't go thinking RDW might be a bad call and now I see that a mono-red deck had a good day one run at GP Montreal thus proving me wrong. I'll have at least one more chance to play in a PTQ before this season is up so maybe RDW will still be viable then.
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/gpmon07/welcome#7
May as well post the deck...
Francisco Leon V.
GP Montreal 9-0 Time Spiral Block
Main Deck
60 cards
2 Pendelhaven
2 Keldon Megaliths
2 Zoetic Cavern
18 Mountain
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 land
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Greater Gargadon
3 Tarox Bladewing
4 Magus of the Scroll
4 Sulfur Elemental
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
23 creatures
2 Rift Bolt
4 Ghostfire
3 Word of Seizing
4 Dead // Gone
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 other spells
Sideboard
4 Wildfire Emissary
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
3 Fortune Thief
3 Dodecapod
4 Avalanche Riders
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 sideboard cards
I had not cared much for Tarox Bladewing before but it looks like he's the new trend in RDW. I think a lot of people are still running Gathan Raiders in this slot. Maybe Tarox is being seen as a better Eron The Relentless?
The lack of Blood Knight main is interesting and it looks like Keldon Marauders took its place. It looks like this version is really gunning for control with Word of Seizing and Dead // Gone being the two maindeck nods to Tarmogoyf.
The only other bit of advice I can offer against GW 'Goyf is to side in Fortune Thief. They don't have a lot of removal although it is possible they could Psionic Blast it (if playing BWu) or Fiery Justice it (if playing BWr). But most likely they'll have to waste at least one removal spell on an earlier creature of yours and you can always drop multiple morphs if you are also playing Gathan Raiders and Zoetic Cavern. I admit, I don't have hard playtesting data to back this up but it seems good in theory. It falls apart if GWx sideboards Serrated Arrows though. I haven't seen any of them doing that right now but it's a possibility.
Good luck if you are trying to Q tomorrow!
EDIT: If the RG version of Tarmogoyf becomes the one that gets played then forget about siding Fortune Thief. Oy! Mostly all I had seen in action was the GW version but the RG version really does have the tools to just dominate RDW.
If we had Seal of Fire then it would make sense but as it is our 'Goyf would only be like 3/4. If you can't get that 'Goyf to 4/5 or 5/6 then I'd say don't bother.
I'm honestly considering maybe two Word of Seizing maindeck since I also run Gargadons. A few players did that at the Pro Tour (De Rosa and Rubin) and to me it makes sense with so many huge creatures running around now and Teferi being just as annoying as ever.
I'm guessing that most Tendrils based decks will take the five if they have Tendrils in hand and you don't have Gargadon suspended but if you do have Gargadon suspended then they probably let you draw three.
Can any of the other decks in this format afford to ever take the five to the face? What matchups is Browbeat really bad against? How relevant is it to the mirror match?
I assume Parallectric Feedback is for Dragonstorm. How has that been working out for you? I'd like to play mono-red at Regionals but the Dragonstorm match up does have me worried.