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Post by John Galli on Mar 21, 2013 12:14:02 GMT -5
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Post by John Galli on Mar 23, 2013 0:37:44 GMT -5
4-0 tonight at Mox FNM, 2nd out of 27 (my buddy got 1st on tie breaks since he had a bye, playing my boros deck)
I however modified my list quite a bit. I geared it more towards the mono red list in the article above, except after testing and talking it over with a collective of players at the shop we all agreed we wanted some amount of hellriders and a different sideboard. Here's the list I ran-
4 Stromkirk Noble 4 Rakdos Cackler 4 Burning-Tree Emissary 4 Mogg Flunkies 4 Ash Zealot 3 Lightning Mauler 4 Boros Reckoner 4 Hellrider
4 Searing Spear 3 Volcanic Strength 2 Pillar of Flame
20 Mountain
Sideboard: 4 Skullcrack 4 Traitorous Blood 3 Legion Loyalist 3 Mizzium Mortars 1 Volcanic Strength
Overall, I really liked the explosiveness of this build but it needs more one drops and possibly the flames of the firebrand sideboard like the guy on MTGO ran. Having 8 one drops doesn't get you one on turn 1 often enough; I knew this going in but myself and the others mised that we needed hellrider in there somehow and that was one of the cuts. Going forward, I'd probably cut a hellrider and maybe a Reckoner for 2 legion loyalists. Sideboardwise, Mizzium Mortars actually still overloaded once or twice, very surprising on 20 lands. Games can stall though so what do you know.
Round 1 vs Bant Midrange (Chris)
Game 1 he casts farseek early while I explode with burning tree, ash zealot, flunkies, and volcanic strength. He plays 3 thragtusks. #STILL GOT THERE.
Game 2 the volcanic strengths, pillars, and I think a few flunkies come out for cracks, t-bloods, etc, and I overrun him with more of the same. He stumbles on supreme verdict mana but it looked like it may or may not have been relevant as this build just has soooo many dudes.
Round 2 vs Junk Tokens (John)
Game 1 I can't remember much, but I have a strong hand and I think he mulled once and kept a one land + arbor elf. Game 2 he gets double elf, I play guys instead of burning, he plays some tokens, and then he plays the white enchantment that gives counters to all his creatures when he plays new creatures. He then plays geist honored monk. Scoop. Game 3 I have cackler into burning tree, burning tree, flunkies, ash zealot. GG.
Round 3 vs Azorious Aggro (Michael)
Michael and I recently have been having fantastic matches, both in standard and legacy with very close battles involving tough decisions. This one would prove no different. Game 1 we both have crushingly aggressive starts. I have stromkirk into cackler and two drops, burn and hellrider. He has champion of the parish and the 2/1 flying bird that you need a Knight or soldier to attack with and silverblade paladin. Its a nailbiter but I get him the turn before he can get me. Game 2, similar game, I have a reckoner that he forces me to block with or die, he goes to low life, but then on my ensuing swing he casts safe passage and then kills me on his following turn. Game 3 is another close one in which he fends off an aggressive start by me but I boarded out my hellriders and reckoners for a more aggressive slant and a volcanic strengthed stromkirk + huge army of guys goes the distance against his geist of saint traft.
Round 4 vs Naya Humans (Brett)
Game 1 we both have turn 1 guys, and then I burn 3 of his guys in a row and manage to roll him with a few ash zealots. Game 2 I have burning tree, burning tree, flunkies, ash zealot, and ultimately an overloaded mizzium mortars to clear the way for my last few points of damage. He did misplay a faith's shield in this game, but it would have been *mostly irrelevant.
Got 8 packs for second, and was happy to see my buddy Andy get 1st with the boros deck we've been collabing on. He also split a box Tuesday so both of us are having a hot week.
I really liked not only the explosiveness of the build I played tonight but also the fact that it could just overwhelm cards that are normally super scary for me. Suddenly multiple midrange fatties didn't seem like game enders to my 5 two-drops on the table + burn. Also Mogg Flunkies was pretty sweet now that most decks are relatively light on removal and the fact that this deck had enough guys to usually be able to provide him with a buddy. Burning Tree is just nuts. With my boros deck I often feel like a dog to other current aggro favorites because of how stupid fast this guy is, but with him in mono red along with lots of hasty and big guys, the deck can test it's mettle. Gruul *might still be the right choice and supreme verdict might still be bad to this build, but I'm not sure. Tonight my matches had a lot of steam rolling ad I think with a little work this list can be tuned farther. I still need to test the Jund and Junk Reanimator matches more, those are big guns on the radar that I haven't played in a little while.
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Post by John Galli on Mar 26, 2013 10:33:26 GMT -5
Been working on a mono-black Zombies build for a little while, testing online and such. I remembered back to how good Jasper's PT deck and subsequent PTQ season deck had been and wanted to try and recreate some of the magic (no pun intended). Here's the list I've been running so far, still need obvious tweaking. Listed a bunch of ideas below for it too-
2 Rakdos Cackler 4 Gravecrawler 4 Diregraf Ghoul 4 Blood Artist 4 Skirsdag High Priest 4 Bloodthrone Vampire 4 Geralf's Messenger 4 Desecration Demon
4 Tragic Slip 4 Devour Flesh
22 Swamp
Sideboard: 4 Cremate 4 Duress 3 Liliana of the Veil 2 Mutilate 2 Victim of Night
Phylactery Lich? Disciple of Bolas? Bloodline Keeper? Bloodgift Demon? Killing Glare? Murder? Ultimate Price? Vile Rebirth? Appetite for Brains? Immortal Servitude? Sever the Bloodline? Rise From the Grave? Sign in Blood? Tormod's Crypt? Pithing Needle? Elixir of Immortality?
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Post by John Galli on Apr 1, 2013 9:55:50 GMT -5
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Post by John Galli on Apr 2, 2013 9:55:20 GMT -5
Delver got 3rd in the premiere the next day -
4 Breeding Pool 3 Glacial Fortress 4 Hallowed Fountain 2 Hinterland Harbor 3 Island 2 Sunpetal Grove 4 Temple Garden 22 lands
4 Cloudfin Raptor 4 Delver of Secrets 3 Geist of Saint Traft 4 Snapcaster Mage 15 creatures
4 Call of the Conclave 1 Cyclonic Rift 1 Druid's Deliverance 1 Giant Growth 2 Rootborn Defenses 4 Selesnya Charm 2 Simic Charm 2 Spell Rupture 1 Syncopate 1 Thought Scour 4 Unsummon 23 other spells
Sideboard 2 Dispel 3 Druid's Deliverance 3 Loxodon Smiter 1 Negate 3 Purify the Grave 1 Ray of Revelation 2 Spectral Flight
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