With the completion of the GP here in Manila, my playgroup and I will probably go on a Standard break until the next WMCQs. We've been big fans of Commander and when we read about Tiny Leaders, it definitely got our attention.
Here's a rough decklist of what I'm planning to play - I'm a big red fan and I just wanted to build something that I thought would suit my playstyle and at the same time, still be competitive. So the deck is pretty control-ish, playing very few creatures and relying mostly on burn and Tuktuk (well, the Golem) to win. I play several sweepers to clear the board which in turn works pretty good when Tuktuk is in play.
When I first saw the card, I was a little disappointed tbh. I don't follow most storylines so my first reaction was "WHO THE HELL". I looked at his abilities and felt it was pretty meh.
But I guess after reading some of the comments here and reassessing Darretti, he seems pretty good - even better when the deck is Artifact-centric.
Having only one R in his casting cost makes him easily splashable in other decks, even those not red heavy. Maybe Grixis-colored reanimator decks can look to this as a repeatable way of dumping cards in their GYs?
Even if you ignore the Artifact-related abilities, being able to semi- Faithless Looting every turn is really sweet - this gives red decks I think something that they have never seen before - continuous card advantage (well, semi) through draws in the form or a permanent.
I'm really excited for the rest of the red deck to get spolied!
I got a little excited when I saw the black spoiler especially when I saw Profane Command, Jet Medallion, Black Sun's Zenith and Grave Titan.
Anyone else hoping that all the decks will get their respective cards for these card cycles? I'm guessing that the Medallions would be a given and maybe the Titans?
Reprinting Cryptic Command would definitely be sweet but as what was mentioned, the price of the blue deck will go bonkers with Teferi, Sapphire Medallion AND Cryptic Command
The manabase if very clunky for sure and some of the card choices may be debatable. 23 lands might also be too few considering I'm running Elspeth. Also have no idea what to place in the sideboard but I'm thinking something like Stain the Mind might be good in this kind of deck.
I initially wanted to add Purphoros into the deck but I'm not really sure if he's worth the slot for what he might be able to bring to the deck.
I'm also not sure about the main-deck 3x Thoughtseize but it would be nice to have some hand-disruption especially to take away sweepers like Anger of the Gods, Drown in Sorrow and the new Wrath.
Hey there, my friends and I are avid red players as well and we've started thinking of possible red-deck builds once RTR rotates. Sadly, we'll miss out a lot of really good cards and as you mentioned, the two-drop slot does have a hole in it.
Here's a rough draft of what we've come up so far (based on a Rabble Red shell) - definitely subject for improvement but could be a shell to work on:
Depending on what the decks might oome-up, the Arena Athlete can be easily replaced by Eidolon of the Great Revel.
Another build that could possibly be good for a red deck would be a mid-rangey deck that would be built around hitting Devotion - probably for Purphoros. This is probably going to look bad but you can probably have this as a starting point:
There should be a Blood Moon there somewhere! I know that Jitte is reaaallly good but in most games, you tend to swarm your opponent so I thought that something like Hall of Triumph might be better. There are also times wherein Jitte might be a little too mana intensive (to play and then equip). I just tested out the hall and will see how it goes.
The Obsidian was kinda like a mascot lol What I liked about it was the fact that it turned on Purph really easily and the ability it had was really a good way to break stalled board states. I never got to play him in an actual tourney though.
Skullcrack was ok. In most games, the opponents I had didn't really have lifegain so it was really just a 3 damage spell for 2. One thing I liked about it was the fact that it helped you find a way around fog effects and against creatures that had protection from red.
I'll prolly drop the Harbinger but will definitely keep the other elementals!
Hey there! I think that the deck is already pretty solid on its own. You might want to consider changing some of the cards so that you get to play the deck in Modern as well:
Just some suggestions:
- You might want to think of cutting the one Moorland Haunt from the deck - you only have 7 creatures right now so I don't think you'll get full value out of the land. Nephalia Drownyard or another manland like Creeping Tarpit might be a good replacement
- Same goes for the singleton Steelshaper's Gift - I think between Brainstorm and the Omens you have a pretty good chance of getting that Batterskull. Sphinx's Revelation might be a good one-of replacement
- The deck could probably use another win condition - maybe a bigger creature. Something that'll really take over when it sticks. Here are some suggestions: Sun Titan - works really well with your deck as it can bring back dead walls, snapcasters, Obli Rings and Fetch Lands. Frost Titan - Another solid creature that's pretty tough to deal with Grave Titan - 10 power for 6 mana that creates more zombies Consecrated Sphinx - Draw, draw, draw
You can probably cut the Blade Splicers and one Batterskull to make room for 3 bigger creatures.
I'm just really hoping that we get a GP here in the Philippines next year. We used to get a GP here every 2 years but didn't get one this year. So I'm really keeping my hopes up!
There are supposed to be 7 in the APAC region so I'm hoping that Manila would be one of the venues!
Went 3-2 over the weekend in a 32 player tourney with Purph with both losses coming to Skittles. Was good enough to finish within the upper half of the bracket and snag 2 M15 boosters
Round 1 vs Grim-Grin (2-0):
He was stuck on 3 lands with no 2nd black source for the first game and only managed to play a Gravecrawler. I managed to put early pressure with some 1 and 2 drops and those were enough. Game 2 was very similar but he managed to play more creatures this time including a Undead Warchief. I was able to turn-on Purph and he didn't have the removal to remove my devotion.
Round 2 vs Ezuri (2-1):
Game 1, I tried to deny his mana by killing his dorks but that proved to be futile as I didn't have enough pressure to put on damage. He Crop Rotationed to Gaia's Cradle and had enough dudes to kill me in 2 swings with Overrun activation. Game 2, we went a little back-and-forth but he didn't have an answer to Thundermaw Hellkite. Game 3, we both got to a slow start. I didn't have anything until turn 4 (Fanatic of Mogis lol) and he was stuck at 2 lands with some 1/1s in play. He found his 3rd land and played Ezuri but I was able to overload a Mizzium Mortars which. He didn't have any follow-ups and I was able to slowly build my board presence to secure the win.
Round 3 vs Skittles (1-2):
Game 1, he was like able to cast an early Skith via Lake of the Dead and some stones. Not really much of a game. Game 2, he made the mistake of not taking my Tangle Wire when he Inquisitoned me and that managed to be the turning point. I had 2 one drops (Stromkirk noble and Guide) and was able to ride on Tangle Wire to do enough damage to put him within burn range before he could recover. Game 3 was tight - it went down to the last turn. I was one Skittles swing away from dying and he was down to 8 life. I had a Shrine with 1 counter, Purph and a Mutavault in play (with around 6 lands I think). I was hoping for either Siege Gang, Hellrider, Hero of Oxid or Tempt with Vengeance but drew a land and died promptly the next turn.
Round 4 vs Prosh - Land D version (2-1):
Game 1 wasn't even close. He was on the play and promptly land-d'd every land I played until he could cast Prosh. Game 2, the tides were turned - I managed to get to 4 lands and was able to cast Ruination to leave him with just one swamp - he wasn't able to recover. Game 3 was close - he resolved a Prosh and had Shared Animosity in play which would spell lethal for me in 2 turns. He was at 6 life at this point. I top-decked a volcanic fallout which saved me from the horde of Kobolds then top-decked Char the following turn to win.
Round 5 vs Skith (1-2):
Game 1, we went back-and-forth. I was able to stall the poison damage a little bit and was able to deal early pressure. He was down to 3 life and didn't expect for me to deal enough damage so he went all in with Skith. I had Purph, 1 goblin token and a Blood Knight in play. I topdecked a Sulfuric Vortex, swung with my dudes, Activated the Pump from Purph to deal 12 damage. He died during his upkeep via the Vortex. Game 2, he was able to control my hand via 3 straight discard spells - Inqui, Hymn, Mind Rot. With no hand and no answers, Skittles started gobbling me up. Game 3, he didn't have any early plays except for Waste Not. I was off to a slow start as well with nothing but Reckless Waif and Stigma Lasher and was stuck on 2 lands. He was able to Persecute me on a crucial turn and gave him tons of advantage. I wasn't able to recover from that and again, was gobbled up by the black dragon.
Decklist to follow! Despite the losses, the deck was still very fun to play!
Playing Purph at a tourney this coming Sunday. Will keep everyone posted with the results!
Sadly, the organizers still allowed players to use Oloro as this was initially scheduled a week before the banning. I was really excited to have -1 bad matchup hahaha
Here's a rough decklist of what I'm planning to play - I'm a big red fan and I just wanted to build something that I thought would suit my playstyle and at the same time, still be competitive. So the deck is pretty control-ish, playing very few creatures and relying mostly on burn and Tuktuk (well, the Golem) to win. I play several sweepers to clear the board which in turn works pretty good when Tuktuk is in play.
Comments / Feedback are most welcome
1x Dragonmaster Outcast
1x Eidolon of the Great Revel
1x Goblin Rabblemaster
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Dead // Gone
1x Skred
1x Searing Blaze
1x Searing Blood
1x Flame Javelin
1x Char
1x Volcanic Fallout
1x Faithless Looting
1x Forked Bolt
1x Red Sun's Zenith
1x Flame Slash
1x Mizzium Mortars
1x Whipflare
1x Pyroclasm
1x Slagstorm
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Earthquake
1x Rolling Earthquake
1x Starstorm
1x Shrine of Burning Rage
1x Fire Diamond
1x Pyrostatic Pillar
1x Sulfuric Vortex
1x Blood Moon
1x Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
1x Arid Mesa
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Ghitu Encampment
1x Keldon Megaliths
1x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
11x Snow-Covered Mountain
Sideboard
1x Manic Vandal
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Pyroblast
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Price of Progress
1x Vulshok Refugee
1x Combust
1x Molten Rain
1x Staff of the Flame Magus
But I guess after reading some of the comments here and reassessing Darretti, he seems pretty good - even better when the deck is Artifact-centric.
Having only one R in his casting cost makes him easily splashable in other decks, even those not red heavy. Maybe Grixis-colored reanimator decks can look to this as a repeatable way of dumping cards in their GYs?
Even if you ignore the Artifact-related abilities, being able to semi- Faithless Looting every turn is really sweet - this gives red decks I think something that they have never seen before - continuous card advantage (well, semi) through draws in the form or a permanent.
I'm really excited for the rest of the red deck to get spolied!
Anyone else hoping that all the decks will get their respective cards for these card cycles? I'm guessing that the Medallions would be a given and maybe the Titans?
Reprinting Cryptic Command would definitely be sweet but as what was mentioned, the price of the blue deck will go bonkers with Teferi, Sapphire Medallion AND Cryptic Command
Here's an initial build
4x Eidolon of Countless Battles
3x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4x Raise the Alarm
4x Mardu Charm
4x Triplicate Spirits
3x Stoke the Flames
3x Thoughtseize
2x Banishing Light
3x Elspeth, Suns Champion
2x Obelisk of Urd
4x Battlefield Forge
4x Cave of Koilos
4x Temple of Malice
4x Temple of Triumph
3x Plains
The manabase if very clunky for sure and some of the card choices may be debatable. 23 lands might also be too few considering I'm running Elspeth. Also have no idea what to place in the sideboard but I'm thinking something like Stain the Mind might be good in this kind of deck.
I initially wanted to add Purphoros into the deck but I'm not really sure if he's worth the slot for what he might be able to bring to the deck.
I'm also not sure about the main-deck 3x Thoughtseize but it would be nice to have some hand-disruption especially to take away sweepers like Anger of the Gods, Drown in Sorrow and the new Wrath.
Comments are very much welcome!
Source: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=12042
Monoblack aggro seems to already be a viable archetype post-rotation. Here's another 3drop that can be a good addition.
Discuss!
Here's a rough draft of what we've come up so far (based on a Rabble Red shell) - definitely subject for improvement but could be a shell to work on:
4x Bloodstained Mire
12 Mountain
4x Foundry Street Denizen
4x Firedrinker Satyr
4x Akroan Crusader
4x Goblin Rabblemaster
3x Frenzied Goblin
3x Mogis's Warhound
3x Arena Athlete
4x Lightning Strike
4x Stoke the Flames
3x Titan's Strength
Depending on what the decks might oome-up, the Arena Athlete can be easily replaced by Eidolon of the Great Revel.
Another build that could possibly be good for a red deck would be a mid-rangey deck that would be built around hitting Devotion - probably for Purphoros. This is probably going to look bad but you can probably have this as a starting point:
4x Bloodstained Mire
16x Mountain
4x Stormbreath Dragon
4x Eidolon of the Great Revel
4x Ember Swallower
4x Fanatic of Mogis
2x Purphoros, God of the Forge
4x Stoke the Flames
3x Anger of the Gods
3x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2x Hammer of Purphoros
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
The Obsidian was kinda like a mascot lol What I liked about it was the fact that it turned on Purph really easily and the ability it had was really a good way to break stalled board states. I never got to play him in an actual tourney though.
Skullcrack was ok. In most games, the opponents I had didn't really have lifegain so it was really just a 3 damage spell for 2. One thing I liked about it was the fact that it helped you find a way around fog effects and against creatures that had protection from red.
I'll prolly drop the Harbinger but will definitely keep the other elementals!
4 Purphoros, God of the Forge
Creatures:
1 Reckless Waif
1 Goblin Guide
1 Spikeshot Elder
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
1 Stromkirk Noble
1 Firedrinker Satyr
1 Jackal Pup
1 Flamekin Harbinger
2 Blood Knight
2 Stigma Lasher
2 Kargan Dragonlord
2 Slith Firewalker
2 Ash Zealot
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Goblin Wardriver
2 Ember Hauler
2 Mogg War Mashal
2 Reckless Reveler
2 Lightning Mauler
3 Zo-zu the Punisher
3 Mindsparker
3 Archetype of Aggression
3 Magus of the Moon
3 Manic Vandal
3 Pyreheart Wolf
3 Prophetic Flamespeaker
3 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Obisidian Fireheart
4 Hellrider
4 Ogre Battledriver
4 Hero of Oxid Ridge
4 Flametongue Kavu
4 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Krenko, Mob Boss
5 Thundermaw Hellkite
5 Stormbreath Dragon
5 Siege-Gang Commander
5 Ingot Chewer
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Burst Lightning
1 Skred
1 Dead//Gone
1 Skullclamp
2 Shrine of Burning Rage
2 Incinerate
2 Magma Jet
2 Skullcrack
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Price of Progress
3 Flame Javelin
3 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Hall of Triumph
3 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Tangle Wire
3 Volcanic Fallout
4 Koth of the Hammer
4 Chandra Pyromaster
4 Ruination
8 Sudden Demise
8 Tempt with Vengeance
Lands:
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Ghitu Encampment
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Keldon Megaliths
26 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Mutavault
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Smoldering Spires
1 Teetering Peaks
1 Wasteland
1 Wooded Foothills
Will definitely add Goblin Rabblemaster! And I'm thinking of cutting the Elemental package
Brainstorm - Serum Visions
STP - Path to Exile
Just some suggestions:
- You might want to think of cutting the one Moorland Haunt from the deck - you only have 7 creatures right now so I don't think you'll get full value out of the land. Nephalia Drownyard or another manland like Creeping Tarpit might be a good replacement
- Same goes for the singleton Steelshaper's Gift - I think between Brainstorm and the Omens you have a pretty good chance of getting that Batterskull. Sphinx's Revelation might be a good one-of replacement
- The deck could probably use another win condition - maybe a bigger creature. Something that'll really take over when it sticks. Here are some suggestions:
Sun Titan - works really well with your deck as it can bring back dead walls, snapcasters, Obli Rings and Fetch Lands.
Frost Titan - Another solid creature that's pretty tough to deal with
Grave Titan - 10 power for 6 mana that creates more zombies
Consecrated Sphinx - Draw, draw, draw
You can probably cut the Blade Splicers and one Batterskull to make room for 3 bigger creatures.
There are supposed to be 7 in the APAC region so I'm hoping that Manila would be one of the venues!
Round 1 vs Grim-Grin (2-0):
He was stuck on 3 lands with no 2nd black source for the first game and only managed to play a Gravecrawler. I managed to put early pressure with some 1 and 2 drops and those were enough. Game 2 was very similar but he managed to play more creatures this time including a Undead Warchief. I was able to turn-on Purph and he didn't have the removal to remove my devotion.
Round 2 vs Ezuri (2-1):
Game 1, I tried to deny his mana by killing his dorks but that proved to be futile as I didn't have enough pressure to put on damage. He Crop Rotationed to Gaia's Cradle and had enough dudes to kill me in 2 swings with Overrun activation. Game 2, we went a little back-and-forth but he didn't have an answer to Thundermaw Hellkite. Game 3, we both got to a slow start. I didn't have anything until turn 4 (Fanatic of Mogis lol) and he was stuck at 2 lands with some 1/1s in play. He found his 3rd land and played Ezuri but I was able to overload a Mizzium Mortars which. He didn't have any follow-ups and I was able to slowly build my board presence to secure the win.
Round 3 vs Skittles (1-2):
Game 1, he was like able to cast an early Skith via Lake of the Dead and some stones. Not really much of a game. Game 2, he made the mistake of not taking my Tangle Wire when he Inquisitoned me and that managed to be the turning point. I had 2 one drops (Stromkirk noble and Guide) and was able to ride on Tangle Wire to do enough damage to put him within burn range before he could recover. Game 3 was tight - it went down to the last turn. I was one Skittles swing away from dying and he was down to 8 life. I had a Shrine with 1 counter, Purph and a Mutavault in play (with around 6 lands I think). I was hoping for either Siege Gang, Hellrider, Hero of Oxid or Tempt with Vengeance but drew a land and died promptly the next turn.
Round 4 vs Prosh - Land D version (2-1):
Game 1 wasn't even close. He was on the play and promptly land-d'd every land I played until he could cast Prosh. Game 2, the tides were turned - I managed to get to 4 lands and was able to cast Ruination to leave him with just one swamp - he wasn't able to recover. Game 3 was close - he resolved a Prosh and had Shared Animosity in play which would spell lethal for me in 2 turns. He was at 6 life at this point. I top-decked a volcanic fallout which saved me from the horde of Kobolds then top-decked Char the following turn to win.
Round 5 vs Skith (1-2):
Game 1, we went back-and-forth. I was able to stall the poison damage a little bit and was able to deal early pressure. He was down to 3 life and didn't expect for me to deal enough damage so he went all in with Skith. I had Purph, 1 goblin token and a Blood Knight in play. I topdecked a Sulfuric Vortex, swung with my dudes, Activated the Pump from Purph to deal 12 damage. He died during his upkeep via the Vortex. Game 2, he was able to control my hand via 3 straight discard spells - Inqui, Hymn, Mind Rot. With no hand and no answers, Skittles started gobbling me up. Game 3, he didn't have any early plays except for Waste Not. I was off to a slow start as well with nothing but Reckless Waif and Stigma Lasher and was stuck on 2 lands. He was able to Persecute me on a crucial turn and gave him tons of advantage. I wasn't able to recover from that and again, was gobbled up by the black dragon.
Decklist to follow! Despite the losses, the deck was still very fun to play!
Sadly, the organizers still allowed players to use Oloro as this was initially scheduled a week before the banning. I was really excited to have -1 bad matchup hahaha