[Primer] PyroRed

YP$ · Postby **YP$** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:27 pm

This Primer has been very much a shared labor, with credit due a number of red mages. First and foremost, props go to zemanjaski as the developer of what has come to be known as PyroRed. Yarpus originally posted a primer concept, then freedom created the distinct thread that became the Primer proper. Now Helios is taking the helm to maintain the Primer, but in truth the concept and this discussion belong to all the red mages who take up PyroRed and go forth to burn out the uninitiated.

This primer is a work in progress. Please post or PM me with anything you'd like to see added.

Introduction

Pyro Red was created by Zemanjaski, and refined early-on by LP,
freedom, and others. The deck’s primary aim was utilization of Chandra, Pyromaster, one of the most powerful card-advantage engines red has ever seen. Chandra has the good fortune of residing in the same format as Young Pyromancer (aka YP$), another raw card-advantage engine which can quickly take over a game. Currently, Zemanjaski is piloting the mono Red version to great success, while magicdownunder is spearheading development of the Walter White version.

Why play Pyro?

Yarpus: "you play control, except you deal damage"

Unlike many red decks, Pyro Red does not rely solely on the Philosophy of Fire and virtual card-advantage, because it has 3 sources of raw CA- Chandra, YP$, and Chandra’s Phoenix. This gives the deck additional angles of attack which allow the player to shift strategies during the course of the game. Flexibility is the name of the game; Pyro Red
is not “Turn Dudes Sideways.dec,” but a deck built on powerful synergies that reward forethought and skilled play.

This deck is for you if you:
- Prefer synergy to power.
- Want access to a nut draw without sacrificing late-game potential.
- Enjoy long games.
- Like to think.

This deck is not for you if you:
- Want to play cards with immediate impact.
- Prefer playing haymakers to Chandra’s Phoenix
- Want an all-in deck.
- Don’t like to think.

For those who don’t like this particular flavor but still want to play red, here are some other excellent builds to sample:

Rakis (viewtopic.php?f=101&t=1511), which has received lots of love and hard work by Nuwen, windstrider, photodyer, Fate, and Valdarith.

Devotion Red (viewtopic.php?f=108&t=1673),
with excellent contributions from Khaospawn, LP, dpaine, warwizard87 and JS.

Gruul Ragehammer (viewtopic.php?f=38&t=1607), maintained tirelessly by Fate

Big Boros (viewtopic.php?f=108&t=1725), championed by Johnny_Spike, NerdBoyWonder, and dpaine.

*If you feel that you have made a significant contribution to the above decks and I have left your name out by accident, or that your flavor of red should be featured here, please accept my apologies and shoot me a PM so we can fix that.

Decklists

Core Decklists aka Shells

Successful Variants and Z Updates

Card Analysis (from Zemanjaski, edited by and with
additions from Helios and Yarpus):

One Drops:
Rakdos Cackler: A very good early beater. For the very aggressive decks, Cackler is basically a mandatory inclusion. Do be aware that the inability to block can be a liability against faster aggro decks - your sideboarding plans might need to involve a way to side him out. 99% of the time he is a 2/2 who cannot block, but think through your plays - against other aggressive decks, he can buy the time you need for Chandra to take over the game.

Firedrinker Satyr: Jackal Pup 2.0! Another 2 power 1 drop ensures that Mono Red aggro has life for another season. The pump ability can be very relevant, either allowing you to trade up for a more expensive creature or push through a little extra damage here and there over the course of the game - not at all irrelevant in a deck where you need to eke out every last piece of value. His pump ability allows you to get
damage in without over committing to the board. Firedinker does work getting over Caryatid.

~ What’s the play? Opening hands with Firedrinker & Cackler ~
* coming soon

Two Drops:
Ash Zealot: Very likely the best red 2 drop ever, before YP$ came along. Easily playable if just for the haste and first strike. First strike is big game here- in conjunction with burn, you can swing through or block x/4s and x/5s with impunity. In conjunction with 1-drops, Ashley puts the pressure on and doesn’t let up. Do be aware that her RR casting cost means you need to be more conservative with your mana base. This means making changes to accommodate her, because this is a lady you cannot possibly live without.

Young Pyromancer: The fabled red 2 drop, at last. YP$ is one of the cornerstones of the deck- he provides both real and virtual card advantage. You opponent swings in the Firefist Striker, Burning-Tree, and a one-drop.
You shock the Burning-Tree, block the Striker, with your shiny new token, and boom, you’ve 2-for-1’d your opponent. Desecration Demon? No problem. Kalonian Tusker? Shock and block. Your also capable of generating field presence against control without having to overcommit to the board.

Three Drops:
[card]Chandra's Phoenix[/card]: A returning favourite, Phoenix isn't the most impressive beater, but it does have some great stuff going for it. Haste is very relevant, as is the recursion ability. Evasion in the form of flying is very relevant in a format increasingly defined by creature combat. Phoenix is particularly good at increasing the resilience of your deck against wraths. It provides a source of inevitability to increase the deck’s long game against other aggro decks, as well as decks packing 1-for-1 removal. Doom Blade becomes much less appealing when the creature it’s going to kill will just return with a vengeance.

Four Drops[/b:
v9z4q1cl]:
Fanatic of Mogis: A great card in a heavy devotion deck, Fanatic of Mogis is frequently a Lava Axe on legs, which is no laughing matter. The card does require heavy deck building concessions to power it up however.

Burn, Baby
Shock: There isn't much to say. Shock is an underpowered card that you don't play because it isn't good, unless it is, then it is great. What does that mean? Well, Shock is only a 2 damage spell, which is very slightly underpowered for Constructed play ~ so it does not warrant consideration unless there are a lot of relevant small creatures in the format. Shock starts to get much better when you include other synergistic cards in your deck, such as: Chandra, Pyromaster; Ash Zealot, Chandra's Phoenix or Young Pyromancer.

Lightning Strike: While terrible in any other deck, this sort of effect is the bread and butter of a red aggressive deck. When you
need to top deck a win, this is the card you always want to be drawing. Play the full four.

Magma Jet: New in M14, Magma Jet is probably the best shock variant ever (just kidding, that's Lightning Bolt). Basically, Scry 2 is very powerful, helping smooth your draws and find the cards you need to win. Bottoming two lands which would have been dead draws is absurdly powerful, as is ensuring that you draw a key removal spell a turn earlier, or finding your fourth land drop. A terrific spell that really rewards a prepared and thoughtful red mage.

Skull Crack: One of a handful of anti-lifegain cards we were given in GTC. Becomes more attractive with more lifegain in the format.

Mizzium Mortars: While Mizzium Mortars is receiving a lot of rave reviews, do remember it is often a slow Flame Slash. Whether the card make the sideboard will depend entirely on what the critical number is in the format - are most
creatures x/3 or smaller? If there are a lot of x/4s running around (such as Loxodon Smiter, Restoration Angel) then Mizzium Mortars will be worth some sideboard slots. Right now, with GW and UW being so popular, Mortars is very likely a solid maindeck choice.

Flames of the Firebrand: This seasons Arc Lightning, Arc Trail, Forked Bolt. Probably worth a couple copies in the maindeck and maybe a few more in the board. What you expect to face will largely inform how many copies you are after, and what the correct split is between main and board.

Utility
Chandra, Pyromaster: Finally, the great red planeswalker! Please see the attached article on Chandra, Pyromaster for full discussion.

Hammer of Purphoros: Easily the best red card in Theros, when the hammer hits the battlefield, it is most certainly hammertime. The haste ability powers up all of your subsequent plays (and has an
especially powerful interaction with Mutavault), but the real power comes from the ability to turn excess lands into creatures ~ very powerful 3/3 haste creatures. This puts a red deck in a novel position; a position where any land, any creature or any spell are good draws. A very powerful card against any control deck.

Mutavault: Arguably the second best manland ever printed (second only to [card]Mishra's Factory[/card]), Mutavault will substantially increase a red deck's threat density and resilience. A great enabler for battalion, also great at making your deck more able to play around sweepers. It does require some deck building concessions however (making it very difficult to play Boros Reckoner for example).

The Leading Ladies: Ashley & Emily

Red Deck Building Decisions - Ash Zealot or Burning-Tree Emissary by DerWille

When building a red deck in the current standard, one of the first questions
you'll be faced with is whether you'll be playing Ash Zealot or Burning-Tree Emissary as a card in the 2 drop slot. Each is a powerful red card, but they do not work together and create vastly decks.

Ash Zealot
Ash Zealot is a 2/2 first strike, haste creature that deals damage to opponents who cast spells from the graveyard and is probably the best red 2 drop ever printed. She has good synergy with instant speed removal (stacking with her first strike) and battalion. Ash Zealot thus works well in conjunction with Young Pyromancer (both like instants, both are good batallion enablers). Choosing Ash Zealot demonstrates a willingness to accept less explosive draws, in exchange for high card quality throughout the deck.

Many decks can find a home for Ash Zealot. She can be found
in sligh lists, red midrange, and even in some burn lists. She is a powerful, flexible card that maintains relevance throughout the entire game.

Burning-Tree Emissary
Burning-Tree Emissary is 2/2 that generates [mana]G[/mana][mana]R[/mana] when she comes into play. This allows you to play two or more cards on your second turn (including the ridiculous multiple BTE draws). The idea of BTE decks is to build an overpowering board state on turn 2. BTE itself is just a 2/2 for 2 (not otherwise a constructed playable magic card) and thus lowers the overall quality of your draws in a longer game.

Unlike Ash Zealot, Burning-Tree Emissary is not a flexible card. She lends herself to only one strategy, playing as many cards as possible on turn 2. She requires playing at least 8 other cards that can be cast for [
mana]1[/mana][mana]R[/mana], preferably creatures such as Firefist Striker and Gore-House Chainwalker. In exchange warping your deck around the 2 drop slot, Burning-Tree Emissary can create nearly unwinnable games for you opponent. Her value comes from the other cards that can be played with her.

You Can Only Pick One
Unfortunately, it's not practical to run Ash Zealot and Burning-Tree Emissary together because Ash Zealot requires [mana]R[/mana][mana]R[/mana] mana and cannot be "chained" into. You can only run so many [mana]R[/mana][mana]R[/mana] creatures with Mutavault as well. If you attempt to run both, it creates dissonance in the deck because hands where [card]
Ash Zealot[/card] and Burning-Tree Emissary appear. In this situation, Burning-Tree Emissary becomes a generic 2/2 and the mana she creates is wasted.

Ash Zealot is the better all around card, but she does not have opening hands that almost guarantee a win like Burning-Tree Emissary. These powerful opening hands will occur often enough in tournaments that it's like beginning a set of 3 games with a free win.

PYRO RED

YP$ · Postby **YP$** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:08 am

Matchup Guide & Sideboarding Strategies

Zemanjaski & LP's Matchup Guide:

freedom's Sideboarding Plan

Magicdownunder's Sideboard Plan and Video archive

Magicdownunder's PyroDragon Play-through Archive

YP$ · Postby **YP$** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:10 am

Event Reports

vundo's SCG:LA Top 32 report:

Hey guys! First time making an actual post. Here's my tournament report from SCG:LA - I finished 8-2-0 and got top 32.
I was playing Walter White (I prefer 'Heisenburn') and both my losses were very close. I felt like this deck could've easily top 8'd and possibly won.

Here's my list
[deck]Heisenburn[/deck]

Deck choice explanations:
So the list is basically Zemanjaski/MDU's Walter White list. I was on 2 Mutavault and 3 Young Pyromancer / 3 Firefist Striker this past week in testing but then I saw MDU's post this morning and had second thoughts. I copied his test brew and went to 4 Young Pyromancer / 2 Firefist Striker and 4 Mutavault. It felt a bit risky playing 4 Mutavault because I still wanted to the Reckoner/Fanatic package so I compromised and went for 3 Mutavaults. As for FFS, I know he is great but I just concluded that YP would be better in more situations and both usually provoke an immediate answer so the difference wouldn't be too noticeable. I know the Mono Black and Esper matchups are really good but I wanted to really push it over the top
and make sure that I couldn't lose to variance and just hope to dodge Mono Blue and G/r Devotion. With that same reasoning, I cut the FotF from the board and added a third Skullcrack because I always want to see it. I opted for Boros Charm over Act of Treason because I felt like I had enough tools for Mono Black and because I wanted to shore up U/W Control which is quite a bit harder than Esper because of Last Breath.

Match reports: (It was a long day- 600+ people and 10 rounds- so I don't remember all the games with great detail)

Rd 1: Mono Blue Devotion 2-1
G1: We trade back and forth; I am at 6 and he is at 1 and I have a phoenix in play vs no fliers. He plays a huge Master of Waves to guarantee the win next turn and drops a Judge's Familiar to chump my phoenix. I hope for the burn spell but brick and concede.
G2 + G3: I win them both but I don't remember how. I think I just flooded the board and hit him for ~10 with Fanatic both games.

SB:
+4 Reckoner +2 Fanatic +2
Chained
- 4 Satyr -4 Cackler

1-0
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rd 2: G/r Devotion 0-2
G1: I remember this extremely clearly. He is tapped out with a caryatid in play and 8 life. I have a BTE, FFS, phoenix, and a Mutavault. I have 2 Mountains in play and 1 card in hand, a magma jet. In my upkeep, I jet him to 6 and hope to dig for a land to activate mutavault and swing for lethal. I put 2 creatures down on the bottom and draw a scryland... He's at 2 life so I'm way ahead but next turn he plays scavenging ooze and gains like 6 life off of it (who plays this MD...). I eventually get him to 6 life with 4 mana up with a jet + strike in hand. From there he does his Nykthos thing and kills me.
G2: I keep a Pyromancer + spell hand. He plays BTE + Mortars and then triple Nylea's Disciple.

SB:
+4 Reckoner +2 Fanatic +2 Chained +2 Skullcrack
-4 Satyr -4 Cackler -2 Jet
(Skullcrack might be too cute for
just disciple but it didn't matter in this particular match)

1-1
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rd 3: Naya Aggro 2-0
G1: I play a young pyromancer and kill all his voices and fleecemane lions. Proceed to win with my David Ochoa elemental tokens.
G2: He plays the worm token 5/5 thing and tries to race me. I get him to 1 while I'm at 10. He swings with his 5/5 and ghor clans it bringing me to 1 and then scoops it up.

SB:
+4 Reckoner +2 Fanatic +2 Chained +2 Mortars
-4 Satyr -4 Cackler -2 Shock

2-1
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rd 4: U/w Devotion (U Devotion with DSpheres and Verdict and revelation) 1-2
G1: I get like 4 creatures killed by verdict but manage to bring him to 8 with Chandra and her phoenix. He -2s with his Jace and finds his 2nd DSphere but not enough mana to cast that turn. My turn, Chandra has 7
loyalty, hes at 8, and I have a phoenix. I swing and bring him to 6 and ult chandra to find 4 1 drops and 4 lands. Try to grind though but he has double rev (zzz..)
G2: I play a bunch of dudes and he doesn't verdict and falls over.
G3: I don't remember exactly but my draws were below average and he had double weird so I eventually lost. Managed to get him to 10 though

SB:
+2 Boros Charm +2 Chained +3 Skullcrack +2 Mortars
-4 Satyr -2 Cackler -3 Shock
(he had no tidebinder mages so no real relevant target for shock; not sure if I wanted the 1-drops or if I wanted to devotion package - trying to figure out how to best fight this control/devotion hybrid)

2-2 (out of top 16 contention; hopeful that I can dodge G/r and Blue Devotion because I see tons of U/W Control and white weenies - my friends and I figure that the amount of U/W over esper is just a budget thing for most)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________
Rd 5: Mono Black Devotion 2-0
G1: Honestly don't remember- just do my thing, laugh inside as he hopelessly 1-for-1s and kills phoenix
G2: I play satyr, do nothing turn 2, and play a phoenix turn 3. Before damage, he blows his ratchet bomb at 1. Next turn, I drop a mountain and play the 4 1-drops i've
been sandbagging haha

SB:
+3 Skullcrack +2 Mortars +2 Chained
-3 Shock -1 FotF -3 Jet
(mortars seems kinda meh but killing specters and even merchants is big game to let my dudes through; I cut spells because I want high density of creatures and well every creature is good in this m/u)

3-2
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rd 6: Naya Control 2-1
G1: He gets me down to 11 somehow and 3-for-1s me with an Anger of the Gods. He dies eventually though because the deck has no lifegain.
G2: I have a really good hand for curving out (BTE, Phoenix, 2xReckoner, Fanatic) but his hand is perfect for mine and literally kills everything. I get him to 9 just by redirecting mortars on my reckoner but that doesn't get there
G3: He does nothing (he wants an anger but he fails to find), I just play dudes and attack

SB:
+2 Chained +4 Reckoner +2 Fanatic +2 Boros Charm +2 Mortars
-4 Satyr -4 Cackler -1 FotF -
3 Shock
(this deck has no lifegain so I'm fine just taking my time and 4-ing him or blowing him out in the offchance he anger of the gods)

4-2
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rd 7: Mono Black Devotion 2-1
G1: I have a pretty slow hand+draw and no good way to deal with double demon.
G2: I don't know if it's worth doing this play or if I'm losing out on damage most of the time but I play Satyr t1 instead of cackler. As I hoped, he devour fleshes my satyr (probably because its worse than his other removal for the most part) and then I play a cackler which eats a hero's downfall i believe. Either way, he dies while I'm at 23.
G3: I don't remember but I think I had a 1 drop, 2 BTE into 2nd 1drop hand

SB:
same as above

5-2
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rd 8: R/g Devotion (
Fanatic) 2-1 ~ played LP!
G1: Play a bunch of dudes, burn his blockers and kill him. I'm at 18 at the end probably from a foundry
G2: Don't remember the specifics but I start slow and it ends up in a position where he has an ember swallower and a fanatic and I have 1 creature. It doesn't matter too much because I'm losing the race anyway, but I forget that he's at 6 lands because ive been stuck on 3 or 4. He drops his 7th and uses monstrosity and seals the game.
G3: I attack with 3 guys, he activates his mutavault to try and block but it gets shocked. He's stuck on 2 mountains and a bunch of reckoners in hand.

SB:
+4 Reckoner +2 Fanatic +2 Chained +2 Mortars
-4 Satyr -4 Cackler -1 FotF -1 Shock
(Not sure if I want the devotion package vs. these big red decks. LP wasn't running much removal but the boros lists are running like 4 mortars main)

6-2
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rd
9: Esper Control 2-1
G1: I have a pretty weak start and relatively poor draws throughout. I don't remember the specifics unfortunately but I played "beautifully" (according to my friends lol) and manage to orchestrate a very close game. One of my cooler plays was against a Jace, AoT. He -2 Jace and showed DSphere, Dissolve, and a plains. I really needed to land my lightning strike to recur and play phoenix next turn so I put the plains with the dissolve and he 'agrees' that the dissolve is weaker so he picks up the dsphere. Unfortunately, he had a 2nd dissolve in hand. In his final turn of this game, he -2s Jace and finds a hero's downfall, azorius charm, and a land. He also has an aetherling in play. He's at 1 and I have phoenix + burn in hand with enough mana for both. I try the same trick and put land+charm together. He almost grabs the downfall, thinks for literally 3 minutes, realizes what his cards do and swings for 8 with aetherling with lifelink. I'm dead
next turn so I skip it up, kinda tilted but still focused knowing this is a very good m/u for me. Oh he also had 2 revelations this game.
G2: I think I deserved to win g1 by a mile because this guy isn't very good and it shows in games 2 and 3. He doesn't have a verdict and just dies to my guys. Even if he did verdict, I was very ready to kill him afterward.
G3: He plays yoked ox (uhhh.....). The first one gets mortar'd. The 2nd one get's Chandra +1'd and he just dies.

SB:
+2 Boros Charm +2 Mortars +3 Skullcrack
-2 Chained - 3 Shock -1 FotF -1 Jet
(brought in mortars for Blood Baron; guess they work for yoked oxen too)

7-2
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rd 10: Mono Black Devotion 2-0
G1: Play firedrinker, then BTE+BTE+cackler, then phoenix, then phoenix + cackler.
G2: I play satyr over cackler on T1 again and he devour fleshes my satyr. I end up sacking a phoenix later and I end
up at 21 (1 shockland) and hes dead. Pretty anticlimatic

SB:
same as above

8-2
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Closing thoughts:
First of all, there were a lot of white weenie decks today and it's a ridiculously good m/u for this deck. I've only lost to it against very specific hands that are a mixture of familiars, brave the elements, and boros charms. Playing a Chandra against these decks is hilarious. Unfortunately I didn't get to play against any of them all day.
Both my losses were to the expected most unfavorable m/u's for this deck and in both series, I was extremely close. With just a bit more luck, I feel like this deck could easily top 8. 6/8 of the top 8 are decent to really good M/U's for this deck. I'm not exactly sure how the big boros m/u is and i'm too tired to think atm. It's 3 am and it's been a long day- sorry for any grammatical or
formatting errors and whatnot.
I would definitely play this deck again next week and a good chance to play 75/75. I'm not playing in anything big till the invitational in vegas (hoping to try and win an IQ this month and if not, ill just play in the open).

Thank you Z + MDU for this deck. I probably would've played white weenie if I hadn't found pyrored like 2 weeks ago because I was sick of modo rdw fanatic garbage.

oh and completely unrelated but p.sulli's new list that he tweeted looks really fun

Narcasus's FNM:

I went to FNM tonight and went 4-0-1, drawing out for first. Heres the deck i ran.

[deck]4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Chandras Pheonx
4 Fanatic of Mogis

4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
2 Shock

2
Chandra, Pyromasncer
1 Hammer of Purp

21 Mountain
2 Mutavault[/deck]

Round one was a green white awful deck. I'm pretty sure i have built better decks in drafts and i just tried to help him learn. 2-0

Round 2 was against esper control. Game one, i was way too fast and he just died quite easily. Game 2, i flooded out but i also think i played poorly. I honestly think i had chances to win that game if i had play smarter even through 10 mana and no hammer draw. Game 3, i realised he was esper, not blue white control, sided in burning earth, and won the game in 6 turns on the play. Both times on the play, i felt he had absolutely no chance.

Round 3 was against Black white midrange. It had alot of hand disruption and kill spells and felt really strong against me. Game one he got stuck on 2 mana and just died. Game three, he got up to 3 mana, played a bit better, but then died again after never drawing another land and me overrunning him quickly. I played him two more times after this, and his
deck worked much smoother. He ended up winning both but they were pretty close and i was within drawing a act of treason away from winning.

Round 4 was red green agro that wasnt very good honestly. I got paired down and im not sure how he won 2 games. It was quickly over and not much to say

Round 5 we drew at the start. We played it out anyway. Game 1 i won drawing alot more gas than him. Game 2 was the reverese. Game 3 felt close for awhile but his BTEs let him cast his creatures and burn at the same time and overwhelm my board. So i would have lost 2-1.

He was playing strikers, BTE and 2 shredfreak, so he seemed quite a bit faster than me in both games we played. He also main boarded 2 hammers and said they did work for him all night. I may try out 2 in the main as well. of the other 3 red decks playing that night, i was the only one playing firedrinker, no one else thought it was any good, but it did work in both the control and black white matchup, getting in for early damage. Same thing with
mutavaults, they were quite good all night. I feel like chandra was amazing when i played her against both control and midrange but i felt like i would lose the mirror consistently to his list. I feel it still needs some tweaking, all the other decks also played peak eruption and said it was really good all night for them. Same thing for BTE. they chained it into burn alot as well.

Overall, im happy the deck played well, but i felt like i needed to be a little bit faster against midrange and other agro decks overall. Maybe ill switch back to 4 shredfreaks again. Having 10 burn spells felt really relevent every game as well. helped me finish them off. Scy 2 saved me quite a few times digging for my 3rd or 4th mana as well.

Purp SGC IQ

Helios's FNM:

Zemanjaski's Daily Events:

After ~8 hours of play yesterday

[deck]PyroRed Sligh v1.3[/deck]
Creatures
4 Ash Zealot
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Young Pyromancer

Planeswalkers[
/b]
3 Chandra, Pyromaster

Legendary Artifact
1 Hammer of Purphoros

Instants
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Shock

Sorceries
2 Flames of the Firebrand

Lands
20 Mountain
2 Mutavault

Sideboard
2 Act of Treason
4 Boros Reckoner
1 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Mizzium Mortars
1 Mutavault
4 Skullcrack
[/deck]

Went 3-1 and 4-0 in two events.

Notable Changes:
Maindeck: -1 Mutavault, +1 Mountain
While 19 + 3 is mathematically correct, and I think in a slightly slower meta optimal, that Rx seems to be ~40% of the online meta means I want an even lower stumble rate (RR on 3 is very important in this deck). This hurts my control matchup very slightly, but that's already really good. The 20th red source also makes the new Boros Reckoners in my sideboard better.

Sideboard: -1 Act of Treason, -1 Barrage of the
Expendables, -3 Burning Earth, -2 Flames of the Firebrand, -1 Mizzium Mortars; +4 Boros Reckoner, +4 Skullcrack
Huge changes here, as after some serious testing (I played 20 matches yesterday, for 15-5 inc. two punts, sigh) I really got to grips with what cards really matter. Basically, Burning Earth was underwhelming, mostly because even three colour decks are running 6-7 basics now and tapping out turn 4 or 5 to not affect the board isn't as strong then. Skullcrack is cheap enough that I can play a threat and keep mana up for it. It also plays better with Phoenix and Young Pyromancer. My aggro sideboard package gave way to the realisation that all you want in the mirror and against green decks is Boros Reckoner. Everything that failed the 'would I rather just draw a Reckoner?' test went to make space.

Quick and nasty sideboard guide:

Revelation Control decks
Out: 4 Shock, 2 Flames of the Firebrand
IN: 1 Hammer of Purphoros, 1 Mutavault, 4 Skullcrack

nNotes: taking out low impact burn is correct, but it weakens Phoenix and Young Pyromancer. I was finding the Burning Earth package a little underwhelming, especially with UW being more popular than Esper online. Skullcrack helps here, powering up your creatures and acting as a blowout against their best spell. Even the threat of it forces them to play differently.

Red or Green Aggro decks
OUT: 4 Firedrinker Satyr, 4 Rakdos Cackler
IN: 4 Boros Reckoner, 3 Mizzium Mortars, 1 Mutavault

Notes: as has been the hallmark of the clan for a whole, we've got the transformational sideboard package in place. Reckoner is just the best card against these decks, so we've got the full four. Mortars supplements your strategy nicely with either spot removal early or a win-condition late. The Mutavault may seem like an odd choice, but I find that it's SO important to hit your land drops early; stumbling is frequently fatal. Manlands are often how you'll win after aggressively 1-
for-1 trading with your opponent. Try to hold Young Pyromancer until you can pair it with a spell.

Vs. other decks is more of a play by ear approach. For example, you'll want Mortars and Act of Treason against Dega (for their Demons and Barons). Ill give more detailed advice when I can get another day of heavy testing in; you say see how much one day changed things!

DerWille's Win-a-Box:

I went to a win a box tournament today that was postponed 2 weeks ago. I won the tournament, going 4-1.

Round 1 vs Boros Aggro (All in variant?) 2-0
- This wasn't a well put together variant, but it had logic. I was able to win this by burning out his creatures.

Round 2 vs U/W Control (Trading Post/Mill strategy
focus) 2-0
- I usually have a good match up against this guy. I won it 2-0. This deck is really resilient against Supreme Verdict which seems to be vital for him to stabilize.

Round 3 vs Dega Lifegain Midrange thing (I have no fucking clue, it's damn scary) 0-2
- This was piloted by the guy who bitched me out last time. He wasn't as boisterous as before, but as we're shuffling he tells me calmly, "I hope you lose. Seriously, I hope I stomp you." Well, he did just that. His deck seems to be like the Jund decks last season with most early drops being removal with 3, 4, and 5 being the creatures he wants to play. Both games I played against him. Removal suite seemed to be some mixture of Lightning Strike, Magma Jet, Doom Blade, [card]Hero's Downfall[/
card], Dreadbore, Anger of the Gods, Chained to the Rocks, and Mizzium Mortars. His life gain consisted of Whip of Erebos, Obzedat, Ghost Council, and Blood Baron of Vizkopa. He used Boros Reckoners and Desecration Demons to stall up the ground. He had some hand disruption in Thoughtseize and [card]Rakdos's Return[/card]. Also, a Rakdos Keyrune was in there for some reason.

Anyway, game 1, my draws are terrible and he's able to get his. Lots of removal, into lifegain, into too many big guys for me to burn out. I made a major misplay here. I could have killed his Obzedot with the 3 shocks I had in hand,
but didn't because I hoped I'd draw into a Young Pyromancer or a Phoenix or something. Lesson learned. This deck doesn't care if you 2 or 3 for 1 yourself. If you can get rid of that big guy, do it. Don't wait. It's better to have those extra cards out, but some things have to be done. It's like what my buddy says all the time for newbies to get better at League of Legends, "Use your moves."

Game 2, I take out the Firedrinker Satyrs for Mizzium Mortars. Probably a bad idea in retrospect. Game 2 goes a lot like game 1. He gets his life gain running up early and I couldn't hack through it. After losing I spend some time thinking, not logically, more intuitively. I also look at his life total logs for the last two games. He gained 12ish life those games.

Round 4 vs Ghetto-Green w/ Bling (my buddy) 2-0
- Game 1, I
flood the board with Ash Zealots and burn. He kept a greedy hand and I punished him for it.

- Game 2, he gains control of the board with a flood of 3/3's but 2 Ash Zealots and a Boros Reckoner keep him from pushing in. I resolve a Chandra and use it to dig. In my digging I find a Mizzium Mortars with 6 mana open. The commandment from my last night of magic came to mind, "THOU SHALL NOT WASTE MIZZIUM MORTARS!" So I wiped his board and won.

Round 5 vs Dega Life Gain Midrange Thing (It's still fucking scary) 2-0
- I lose the dice roll and for some reason, my opponent is acting nervous. I don't know why. This is the match I didn't want. Anyway, his hand isn't as good as last time. His deck stumbles on land, doesn't draw a big guy, doesn't draw any card draw, and no whip for life link.

Game 2, this one comes down to
the wire. I keep a hand of Shock, Chandra, Pyromaster, Young Pyromancer, and 4 Mountain. It's a risky hand and make some great top decks. I'm able to get him low and again, he doesn't get much in the way of big stuff besides a Reckoner. I kill the thing and he forgets to redirect damage so I got off lucky there. Anyway we burn both of our fields down to nothing and I burn him for the last 4 damage with Magma Jets after he resolves a demon.

However, apparently I did a misplay by untapping my land before scrying. I don't remember doing this but the store owner is a level 1 judge and I ask him directly for his ruling. He lets me off a warning and that dude is pissed. From that scry I top decked the last bit of burn I needed. I don't think it would have won him the game because I was still at 20 life with my burn coming in 3 turns. The
only way he had it is if drew life gain.
---
Thoughts on the tournament:
Honestly, this was probably the least fun tournament I've been in. It felt dirty. 4 of the 8 participants had plans to split the box amongst themselves and bought a 5th person in and put a serious effort to make him throw games before passing it off as a joke. I'm convinced the semi-finals were thrown by the U/W guy and the Dega guy after they learned that I won mine (to be fair, they probably think my buddy threw for me, but he didn't and I didn't tell them results of our game to stall this). I watched their game 3 and the U/W guy made some really dumb moves (mill deck doesn't use Jace to mill, doesn't mill opponent after a scry with codex shredder). All the while I hear them talking amongst themselves, "Good, don't let DerWille win". It felt like I had to win my games and then try to play an information war with them to
stop any type of tournament fixing (probably happened because my buddy and I share cards).

Windstrider's FNM:

Gotdamn! I love PyroRed. I took the following to FNM tonight and ended up in 1st* with it. Some of the sideboard choices are suboptimal, but you go to war with the weapons you have, not the weapons you wish you had.

* Technically. See the write up for more details.

[deck]
Lands:22
19 Mountain
3 Mutavault

Creatures:20
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Phoenix

Spells:18
4 Shock
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
2 Flames of the Firebrand
1 Hammer of Purphoros
3 Chandra, Pyromaster

Sideboard:15
1 Legion Loyalist
4 Mizzium Mortars
1 Volcanic Geyser
3 Act of Treason
2 Annihilating Fire
1 Hammer of
Purphoros
1 Peak Eruption
2 Burning Earth
[/deck]

1st Round vs. MonoGreen Stompy 2-1
First game he rolled me with turn one Gladecover Scout followed by 4 Kalonian Tuskers. I saw Cacklers, Satyrs, and Shock. Next game, board out all the one drops for Mortars, Annihilating Fire, and 2 Act of Treason. Didn't need them. Ash Zealot, Young Pyro, and Phoenix along with judicious amounts of Shock, Lightning Strike, and Magma Jet carried me through even after he hit me with a 16/16 Kalonian Hydra. I killed him on the swing back. Third game wasn't even close.

2nd Round vs. BWU Control? 2-0
I kinda felt bad for this guy after he Thoughtseized me to see a fistful of Satyr, Ash Zealot, Phoenix, and Magma Jet and three lands. I threw Chandra down on the field on turn 4, and he looked in disbelief at her abilities. He was dead soon after. The second game I boarded in my Burning Earth, and that was all she wrote. Though he did have a neat play with Cyclonic Rift when he tapped all his lands in response to
me casting Burning Earth and then used the mana to bounce my field of Satyr, Phoenix, Chandra, and BE. He died after the BE resolved the next turn, and I just rebuilt everything against him. Supreme Verdict sucks vs. Phoenix.

3rd Round vs. BW Aggro? 2-0
Nothing much to report except two Young Pyromancers on the field will pretty much win the game though sheer card advantage. I burned his creatures out of the way and overran him with Zealot, Phoenix, and elementals with Chandra tapping down his blockers. Second game he Thoughtseized me to see 3 Mountains, Ash Zealot, Magma Jet, Phoenix, and Chandra. He foolishly got rid of the Chandra. I killed him with Zealot, followed by Zealot, followed by Phoenix, while drawing two Lightning Strikes to complement the Magma Jet.

4th Round vs. Devotion Red Draw
I saw this deck earlier in the evening, and I dreaded facing it since I knew it would be an uphill fight. My opponent suggested that we draw to split the prize since we were both undefeated, but he wanted
to play the games out just to see what would happen. That was a good thing for me since he curbstomped me both games. We played the same game of Ash Zealot, swing, destroy the opposing Ash Zealot with Shock until he landed Reckoner and Purphoros. Could not make headway against the damned Reckoner. Second game he was able to land two of them, and that was pretty much it for me. He graciously reported it as a draw, and we split $30 in store credit.

Granted, these were not top tier decks, but the deck itself felt fast, consistent, and powerful. I never really felt overmatched in any of the games I played, even that last one, since it was surprisingly explosive. Zealot and Phoenix carried the day with Chandra herself not far behind. Hammer was nuts because of the haste and the 3/3 tokens. Shock and Zealot took down so many opposing things that I almost can't imagine playing one without the other.

Devotion Red is a powerhouse because of Boros Reckoner, so beware. Goblin Shortcutter or Seismic Stomp look
like good tech against opposing Reckoners, though I don't know what I'd cut. Maybe -2 Annihilating Fire for +2 Goblin Shortcutter?

I'll be replacing the Peak Eruption with the third Burning Earth since I got one through trade, and I can replace the Volcanic Geyser with a fourth Mutavault that I bought with store credit.

Thanks, z! I had a blast playing this deck.

freedom's States Report:

I also brought Pyro Red to States, but with a bit less success than Helios. I won't have very detailed notes, since they gave us a small life pad for the event and I used that instead of my English notebook, which has much more room. In my last (and only previous) event, a Star City Games Open, I
took extremely detailed notes of almost everything that happened-creatures, attacks, blocks, the whole nine yards. I felt like this was actually the cause of my poor performance then, just like when you try to write down everything a teacher says and everything on his PowerPoint, and actually gain less from the lecture as a result. Anyway, here's an overview of my first States experience.

The event was held in a place called The Encounter, a comic book store located in the middle-to-low-income part of a town about 75 minutes from my house. It wasn't the fanciest place in the world, but they had a HUGE inventory of Magic singles and comic books. They had a 2-inch binder for every set released (with some of the older sets sharing a binder), as well as one for foils that would make some EDH players go into cardiac arrest if they were to look through it. Many of the cards were priced much lower than they are on TCGPlayer, but I only got 2 Buy-A-Box Promo Chandra's Phoenixes-one for $2
and the other for $3 (don't know why)-because I just didn't feel like spending money on cards I don't really need. Now, on to the actual games.

My List:
[deck]Pyro Red[/deck]

Round 1: Brian with Red Devotion
He won the die roll, and proceeded to roll over me with a pair of BTE into Firefist Striker, Chandra's Phoenix, Mogis and Reckoner. I got a Chandra and Phoenix out, but I was on the defensive the whole game and he was just too fast. I side out my 1 drops for Reckoner and Mortars, while he keeps 1 drops in. I keep a 1 land hand with Shock, Ash Zealot, Mortars and Reckoner and some other stuff. He lands double BTE turn two, I shock one, and that
was the only spell I got to cast all game.
0-2
Afterwards, we played a few games where my deck worked perfectly. It sucks that this couldn't happen earlier, but it boosted my confidence in my deck, which really helps after a round 1 loss.
0-1 in matches

Round 2: Jake with Dega Mid
He's on the play. Game 1 I get off to a pretty fast start with Cackler. He plays Reckoner turn 3, and I spear it. I play Phoenix to keep up the pressure. He follows with a Demon the next turn. I play Chandra to let my Phoenix get through, and that's were I start to lose. He drops another Demon, and I just can't handle that. I board out Shocks and Annihilating Fire for 3 Mortars and 3 Traitorous. I (very very very stupidly) keep a hand of Cackler, Magma Jet and 5 Mountains, because I was stuck in this "never mulligan" mindset after mulliganing over 40% of my hands the last few FNMs and losing many games as a result. Turns out Magma Jet can't solve all of life's problems. I
use it turn 2 to find another Mountain and a Mortars. I keep the Mortars, and use it on the Reckoner he plays. He directs the damage to me, and I bring him down to 10 with Cackler and Phoenix. My notes aren't so good, so I'll put down what I remember and try to fill in the missing pieces with what makes sense from the life total changes. I remember drawing Chandra and +1ing her to get back Phoenix, and him hitting me with Desecration Demon. His Demon is at 7 after I sac Phoenix to it to save my Chandra. I then draw another Chandra, +1 the one on the board to get back Phoenix, play the second Chandra, +0 to reveal the third Chandra, cast Phoenix and pass. I'm at 9, and he's at 7. I sac Phoenix to Demon and he swings with the Reckoner he played the turn before, putting me at 6. He then casts Read the Bones, putting him to 5. He passes, and I draw Traitorous Instinct, the perfect card. If this was Act of Treason, I wouldn't be able to kill him with a stolen Reckoner (since I
can't steal Demon when he has another creature), but the +2/+0 makes it exactsies. Unfortunately, he is able to prevent my epic finish by Helixing his Reckoner .
0-2
0-2 in matches

Round 3: David with Naya (Slivers?) Midrange
The round starts with the guy saying how he feels like there's one problem with his deck that he realized after the last two rounds: he's playing the wrong color. Sounds like a pretty big problem, bro. Anyway, the dude didn't put up much resistance. I'm pretty sure I just aggro'd him out both games. He starts with that mana tree on turn two, but all that piece of shit does is slow down my clock a little. He also drops Predatory Sliver, Nylea, and that Hellrider-like sliver. I learned that the Hellrider Sliver (it feels blasphemous to call it that, but I don't care to look up the name of the PoS) can also ping creatures, and I lost
YP$ that way. Whatever, it doesn't do much, and I win next turn. After the game, he says that he has a lot of trouble with fast decks, and hoped he wouldn't have to face red aggro. I tell him he has unrealistic expectations given RDW's multiple showings at the top of the last few Opens, and then ask what color he wanted to change in his deck. He says that red should be blue so he can play the flying sliver, since he can get out a lot of big slivers but they're walled by opposing creatures. I told him that red is kinda necessary for removal, and he says that he doesn't run much, since you have to run a lot of slivers if you play slivers. Okay, I don't have to worry about removal. Good to know. I bring in Boros Reckoner, since he also mentioned big creatures. It seemed like this guy was just asking to lose. Anyway, Reckdaddy kicked ass game 2, and that's the end of that.
Kinda sucks that I can only curve out against the scrubs.
2-0
1-2 in matches

Round 4: Peiter
with Rakdos Mid/Control
I can't read my notes too well, and I didn't take many, but I remember this being one of the better rounds of the day. Game 1 I feel pretty good and I'm able to get off to a pretty fast start off of a good hand, but then it all goes to shit when I flood out and he lands a Demon that I can't answer. Game 2 starts off the same way and it looks like I'm actually going to curve out for a turn 5-6 win, but he just has a shitload of 1-1 removal. The game ends when he plays Desecration Demon and only gets to swing with it once before I steal it for lethal damage. In game three, I have a relatively fast hand with a few Phoenixes, but he's able to kill them with Ratchet Bomb and I don't draw the right cards to get them back. He plays Trading Post, and I get fucked over by a couple of goats. He drops a Demon, and I have a hand of 2 Mortars, a Magma Jet and 2 Traitorous Instinct. He's at 13 life with a 7 power Demon while I'm at 21 with jack shit.
When I realized that stealing the Demon would do no good since he could just make a goat in response, my expression probably became a mix of , , and . I decided to Mortars and Magma Jet it, although in hindsight it may have been better to double Mortars it since I could use the Magma Jet to get back 2 Phoenixes. He wins by swinging for 4 with his Mutavaults for a few turns while he removes any blockers I try to lay down. I could try to dismiss this loss to a bad case of mana flood and not drawing enough instants, but I'm sure that there was something I could have done to win this match, since the games didn't feel as one-
sided as the ones in the first two rounds.
1-2
1-3 in rounds
I decided not to enter any side events, since I paid to play 6 rounds of Magic and I didn't feel like spending any more money.

Round 5: Kurt with U/w Control
Game 1 I had an alright start and a pretty good mid game, despite reaching Hamfactorial levels of mana flood. I can work with 6 lands on turn 7. I can't work with 12 lands by ~turn 15. I remember Phoenix and Chandra doing fucking WORK. I also remember 3 Jaces before the first Revelation, and Aetherling and another Jace afterwards. Games 2 and three feel very similar, and my deck works just the way I want it both times. Game 2 ends a bit faster (around turn 7), while game 3 is longer (turn 9-12). Both are characterized by me laying down some early 1 drops (I remember droppin some Suga turn 1 all three games), followed by a Phoenix, and then a Supreme Verdict. From there, I prove to him the power of Chandra and also show just how sweet Phoenix is in
this deck. I recall one point where I Magma Jet to get back 2 Phoenixes and then find a third when I scry. I also remember having him DSphere Phoenix, Pyro and Chandra with little hesitation.
2-1
2-3 in matches

Round 6: Dakota with Junk Aggro/Mid
I get the pair down. I was last place in the tournament going into round 5 with awful tiebreakers. He's on the play game 1 and leads with Soldier of the Pantheon. I drop some Suga, he neglects to swing with Soldier, and when I attack, he blocks. I drop YP$ and pass. He plays Smiter, I burn it the next turn and swing. He plays Centaur Healer, and I think I remember seeing Selesnya Charm, but it's really no contest. I get three one drops game 2 and when he plays a Smiter, I mortars it. He really doesn't put up much resistance. He says he needed to find Obzedat, and he never did, so he lost. It is very possible that his only win was against David (the slivers guy), since his deck had issues.

Reflections:
I wish I could have
gotten better opponents than David and Dakota. I feel like this would have happened if I wasn't so stupid and kept awful hands in the first two rounds. I really wanted to win this, and felt like was a good enough player with a very good deck that I knew well to do so.
While the deck produces a very high percentage of keepable hands and is able to fight through some less-than-perfect draws, does not allow you to win with every opener with at least 1 land and and at least 2 spells. You can keep a no-creature hand against aggro if you have enough removal, but if you see 5 lands in your opening 7, chances are that you'll be better off with 6. Don't take your chances when it comes to mana.
I'd like to thank Wendy's for letting me get 20 chicken nuggets for only $5.
I'd also like to thank Z for writing the guides for competitive events and for how to play against the different decks in the meta. If you haven't read "Preparing for and Playing in Competitive Events," I
highly recommend that you do. A lot of the stuff in there seems like common sense, but then you realize that you haven't actually been practicing it.

warwizard87's States Report:

At the charlston, waiting for round one. Quick updates on the edits. Full report at the end

Round one vs rg midrange

Game one speed kills
Game two we stall he top decks mortars before I draw my sixth land blows up the board.
Game threw I draw three Chandras and he turn two pithing needles Chandra fml.
1-2

Round two vs uw control
Playing vs a friend Adam who knows I play rdws a lot
Game one off to the races turn one drop turn two drop turn three Chandras P. He ends up stabilizing and drops Elspath. I keep ticking up Chandra, force him to counter and burn him out at one life.
Game two I double mully,
keep at five beat him down , he tries to reverlation at four life I skullcrack and shock.
2-0

1-1 matches.

Round three vs esper
Game one I mully to five, get him to one life and I durdle he stabilized with Elspath and ends it.
Game 2. Speed vs esper esper dies.
Game 3 I get him to ten and he stabilized, I have 2 skullcracks in hand . Magma jet him to 8 and send two lands to the bottom.I catch a revelation for seven then a revelation for eight and kill him with my muta vault.

2-1

Matches 2-1

Round four r/b demons and dragons
Vs a guy that we always get paired.
Game 1 get him low a anger of the god clears the table u drop shock on my phenoix to keep it. I get him to three lighting strike him he devours in flesh his desecration demon to go to six. I draw five lands off the top while a stormbreath dragon ends me.game 2 I kill him fast with zealots and burn
Game 3 get him low we trade guys I set up a situation were I can tratorous instinct a desecration demon for the win next turn he
thoughtsized me !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Took my instinct and bashed my face as I drew lands off the top.

1-2
2-2 I am disappointed

Round five vs esper
Game one well I'm vs esper I win
Game 2 he dies on turn five
2-0

Match 3-2 the guy who beat me round one is undefeated and the r/b player is also doing well so my breaks seem like I might sneak into top 8.

Nope 17th on breakers. My buddie who played esper got 9th on breakers.
I was the only mono red in the entire room of 63 players.
4-2 beat the hell out of a bant midrange. No chance at top 8 sadly. Proly top 16.

DerWille's TNM

Solemn10's FNM

YP$ · Postby **YP$** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:15 am

Pedros GP Vienna

Johnny_Spike GPT

vundo's SCG IQ

tkoman GPT

dpaine88 GPT

Zemanjaski's Anti-MODO Pyrored

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:16 am

It's a non-linear aggro deck, so you don't have mulligan rules. If you have a playable mix of spells and lands, you keep. The deck is incredibly synergistic and incremental advantage given, so it takes a lot if knowledge and awareness to get value out of what is otherwise a collection if very slightly underpowered cards. HARD deck to play.

Helios · Postby **Helios** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:16 am

This post has no meaning.

Reserved for later.

Jack · Postby **Jack** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:44 am

What kind of mulligan rules are you using? What's a keeper and what's not?

Zem beat me to it while I was having dinner, but yeah, you can keep most things with this deck, which is a very large upside over the Devotion Red deck. I really hate mulligans (probably because I do it so often, but I want to change this). Things that make a seven card hand unkeepable in this deck:
-Less than two lands
-No creatures
-Multiple 4-drops with two lands and no Magma Jet
-Hands where my common sense or gut instinct just screams "IF YOU KEEP THIS, YOU WILL LOOOOOOSE!" When you know what your opponent is playing, you can make better mulligan decisions.

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:09 am

I've honestly kept no creatures before and won. I did have four removal, Chandra and two land though.

Helios · Postby **Helios** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:10 am

Impressive, Z. I was happy to keep a hand of 1-drop, pyromancer, shock, mutavault, 3 lands at the FNM. Those came up a lot. This deck doesn't seem to need aggressive mulligans the way AIR did last season. Two-land hands are what give me the most trouble, especially Vault - Mountain - Zealot hands

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:17 am

Yeah that's frustrating. I kinda want 23 land honestly, I keep a lot of two landers that don't improve quickly enough.

Helios · Postby **Helios** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:18 am

What would you cut? I've been feeling the same way.

Zooligan · Postby **Zooligan** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:21 am

So more a gut-feel thing that is developed through experience with the deck, I guess.

So, what do you do with a handfull of burn, two lands, and one two-drop?

Do you burn face with shock off the bat, or just "mountain-go" until there's a creature to burn or ???

Another gut feel/experience thing?

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:30 am

Why the hell would you just burn the face?? The deck has cards that need spells to operate (Pyromancer and Phoenix). Throwing spells away is not only card disadvantage but it makes key components in your deck much worse.

You play the two drop then make informed decisions. These questions are weird.

@ Helios, probably a Flames I guess? Flames are the worst maindeck burn IMO. I might switch them to Mortars anyway. 21st mountain or 3rd 'vault?

Khaospawn · Postby **Khaospawn** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:36 am

So more a gut-feel thing that is developed through experience with the deck, I guess.

So, what do you do with a handfull of burn, two lands, and one two-drop?

Do you burn face with shock off the bat, or just "mountain-go" until there's a creature to burn or ???

Another gut feel/experience thing?

Well, the deck is not a "Burn" deck, and the format is not Legacy. Personally, I'd either save the Shock for a dork or hold on to it for value with Young P-Money.

The deck wins by grinding out card advantage, so mindlessly chucking Shocks at your opponent is pretty...meh. For realz, it's only 2 damage anyway.

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:37 am

That shock is going to rebuy a Phoenix later.

Khaospawn · Postby **Khaospawn** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:38 am

That shock is going to rebuy a Phoenix later.

You're goddamn right.

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:41 am

R
Instant
Target opponent loses 2 life. Put any number of cards called Chandra's Phoenix from your graveyard in your hand.

Ill take 4.

Zooligan · Postby **Zooligan** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:50 am

So more a gut-feel thing that is developed through experience with the deck, I guess.

So, what do you do with a handfull of burn, two lands, and one two-drop?

Do you burn face with shock off the bat, or just "mountain-go" until there's a creature to burn or ???

Another gut feel/experience thing?
Well, the deck is not a "Burn" deck, and the format is not Legacy. Personally, I'd either save the Shock for a dork or hold on to it for value with Young P-Money.

The deck wins by grinding out card advantage, so mindlessly chucking Shocks at your opponent is
pretty...meh. For realz, it's only 2 damage anyway.

Yeah, I get that. But doing no damage until turn 3 doesn't seem to fit the plan exactly either.

So, How would something like this play out:

Mountain
Mountain
Mountain
Mutavault
Shock
Ash Zealot
Lightning Strike

Next cards in your library

Flames of the Firebrand
Shock
Shock
Firedrinker Satyr
Mountain
Chandra's Phoenix

Jack · Postby **Jack** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:52 am

Well, if you're in the aggro mirror, you're golden. If not, you're fucked.

Khaospawn · Postby **Khaospawn** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:55 am

I'd probably keep it. But then, I make decisions based on what I know. All I know is that 7 card hand could get there. And that's enough for me. Since PyroRed is a non-linear deck, you really have to make the best decision based on the information that you have.

Since that 7 card hand a "curve" with options, I'd keep it. However, I'd like to know if I was on the play or the draw first.

Helios · Postby **Helios** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:01 am

@ Helios, probably a Flames I guess? Flames are the worst maindeck burn IMO. I might switch them to Mortars anyway. 21st mountain or 3rd 'vault?

21st Mountain. I was playing 3 Vaults main at FNM and kept getting awkward draws.

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:03 am

So more a gut-feel thing that is developed through experience with the deck, I guess.

So, what do you do with a handfull of burn, two lands, and one two-drop?

Do you burn face with shock off the bat, or just "mountain-go" until there's a creature to burn or ???

Another gut feel/experience thing?
Well, the deck is not a "Burn" deck, and the format is not Legacy. Personally, I'd
either save the Shock for a dork or hold on to it for value with Young P-Money.

The deck wins by grinding out card advantage, so mindlessly chucking Shocks at your opponent is pretty...meh. For realz, it's only 2 damage anyway.
Yeah, I get that. But doing no damage until turn 3 doesn't seem to fit the plan exactly either.

So, How would something like this play out:

Mountain
Mountain
Mountain
Mutavault
Shock
Ash Zealot
Lightning Strike

Next cards in your library

Flames of the Firebrand
Shock
Shock
Firedrinker Satyr
Mountain
Chandra's Phoenix

I have no idea what this sort of mental exercise is meant to achieve.

Not dealing any damage by turn 3 is usually irrelevant if you're fighting for board control. If you're finally up on board you'll kill your opponent very quickly. Dealing 2 upstairs just so you can feel like you've done 2 damage makes no sense at all. None.

I get the feeling you're looking at the deck entirely
wrong. This isn't a turn 4 kill deck, or even a turn 5 kill deck.

Zooligan · Postby **Zooligan** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:10 am

I get the feeling you're looking at the deck entirely wrong. This isn't a turn 4 kill deck, or even a turn 5 kill deck.

I may be. Guess i just need to sleeve it up and play and figure it out.

Khaospawn · Postby **Khaospawn** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:10 am

So more a gut-feel thing that is developed through experience with the deck, I guess.

So, what do you do with a handfull of burn, two lands, and one two-drop?

Do you burn face with shock off the bat, or just "mountain-go" until there's a
creature to burn or ???

Another gut feel/experience thing?
Well, the deck is not a "Burn" deck, and the format is not Legacy. Personally, I'd either save the Shock for a dork or hold on to it for value with Young P-Money.

The deck wins by grinding out card advantage, so mindlessly chucking Shocks at your opponent is pretty...meh. For realz, it's only 2 damage anyway.
Yeah, I get that. But doing no damage until turn 3 doesn't seem to fit the plan exactly either.

So, How would something like this play out:

Mountain
Mountain
Mountain
Mutavault
Shock
Ash Zealot
Lightning Strike

Next cards in your library

Flames of the Firebrand
Shock
Shock
Firedrinker Satyr
Mountain
Chandra's Phoenix
I get the feeling you're looking at the deck entirely wrong. This isn't a turn 4 kill deck, or even a turn 5 kill deck.

Couldn't've said it better. PyroRed is designed for a grindy game - a thinking
man's game.

For faster and harder hitting decks, you'll want Turtenwald's Sligh or a Mogis build.

Z's deck is made to beat people using crazy mental abilities.

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:17 am

How about this Helios;

[deck]
4 Ash Zealot
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Young Pyromancer

3 Chandra, Pyromaster

2 Flames of the Firebrand
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Shock

21 Mountain
2 Mutavault

Sideboard
2 Act of Treason
4 Boros Reckoner
1 Hammer of Purphorous
4 Mizzium Mortars
4 Skullcrack
[/deck]

I decided to try to losing the maindeck hammer.

Khaospawn · Postby **Khaospawn** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:19 am

Perfection.

Helios · Postby **Helios** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:25 am

It looks solid. Only having a singleton hammer seems odd, considering how powerful it is v. control. -1 Mortars, +1 Hammer?

EDIT: I stared at it some more, and I don't even know. It seems so solid. Flames is arguably the "worst" card in the deck, so it comes down to whether you want the 2nd Flames or want to have 2 Hammers in the 75.

I think I want the Hammer. Because this deck wants to go long and Hammer gives it another angle to play with.

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:35 am

My logic is maybe faulty, but let me try to explain:
- control is already a good matchup (imo)
- I only use hammer for that matchup. I haven't found it very good vs. GR ramp and against GW I find I just want to draw mortars early. I didn't mind having a singleton hammer in the matchup when it was already maindeck, but if never bring in a second.
- same with red mirrors.

So if we run the logic that control is already favourable, then I want to hedge aggro (slightly favourable) and midrange (slightly unfavourable). Mortars is really good in both matchups, as spot removal for everything early and a free-win late.

This, vs. aggro we get:
OUT: 4 Cackler, 4 Satyr
IN: 4 Reckdaddy, 4 Mortars

That looks brutal. I like having a natural 23 land in this matchup.

vs. control
OUT: 2 flames, 3 shock
IN: 1 hammer, 4 skullcrack

Now it's possible that you want -1 hammer, +1 Skullcrack. That deserves real
consideration.

There's a tension between more hammers and more spells for pyro/Phoenix and each time I've opted for spells; they're a more key component in the deck, I think.

Helios · Postby **Helios** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:41 am

Maybe I'm just attached to it because it single-handedly won me that grindy Gruul game at FNM (see the report below). Your logic is sound; my only point of contention would be that it is bad against midrange. After about 5 lands, being able to turn your additional lands into 3/3s and grind them out on the board seems like a real possibility. Again, maybe I'm biased because of that one game.

IN: 1 hammer, 4 skullcrack

Now it's possible that you want -1 hammer, +1 Skullcrack. That deserves real consideration.

Did you mean +1 Hammer, -1 Skullcrack? I was thinking something similar.

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:51 am

You're not wrong, I probably overvalue overloading a mortars.

Maybe -1 Skullcrack, +1 hammer?

Khaospawn · Postby **Khaospawn** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:54 am

3xSkullcrack is still in that "you'll at least see one" camp.

2xHammer is in the "well, I'll probably see this powerful card in a game, but rarely ever as doubles" camp.

It's a sound configuration.

Helios · Postby **Helios** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:56 am

I doubt you can overvalue that, it is extremely powerful. Didn't consider that in my reasoning; I'd give the 2 Hammer/3 Skullcracks a shot and see how that goes.

nath'd: Khaos, the Wise has spoken and found it good.

Khaospawn · Postby **Khaospawn** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:59 am

So let it be written, so let it be done.

Jack · Postby **Jack** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:32 am

I'm thinking of moving away from 2 flames sb for 2 more weirds. Questions: first off, is this even correct? Weird is a better card and can even come in against control or midrange, but as a sorcery, flames has more synergy with the deck. Boros Reckoner is also an option, although it is really only good against aggro.

zemanjaski · Postby **zemanjaski** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:35 am

I'm on 4 SB Reckoners, they're the best card you can have against other aggro decks.

Khaospawn · Postby **Khaospawn** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:41 am

I find that watching this video is relevant to this thread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSckGiWe7L0

The funny part is towards the end hearing the commentary about the "then current" Chandra.

F.I.A · Postby **F.I.A** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:45 am

Here's what I think as I tried this deck in tourney practice yesterday:

- Flames might not be the best thing, but usually I'm glad to draw it at times for a 2-1. So a 2 for it sounds reasonable.
- I think I might want to cut some Mutavaults. It's great against control, but most often than not, it will prevent you from dropping Ashley by turn 2.
- Scry is great for this deck as it allows us to fix our draw or bring more gas to the table. There was this instance of a mirror match where an opponent topdecked Magma Jet each turn to bring back his Pheonix.
- Chandra is the babe. There were still a few games where my opponents underestimated her and let her live, which gave me more CA.

Currently, I'm considering replacing Shock with Spark Jolt. It gives us more scry, and there is a handful of creatures it can hit ([card]Young Pyromancer[/card:
q23tecq1], Firefist Striker, Firedrinker Satyr, Elvish Mystic to name a few).

Helios · Postby **Helios** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:47 am

Reckoner is also strong against the midrange decks that are popping up, not just aggro. Because I was missing cards he was in my sideboard at FNM, and was great.

F.I.A.: The presence of Fanatic, Cackler, and BTE make me loath to cut Shock. We've been talking about Vaults today as well, and came to the same conclusion.

Jack · Postby **Jack** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:49 am

You can't kill Fanatic of Mogis with spark jolt.
You can't kill Ash Zealot with spark jolt.

Helios · Postby **Helios** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:52 am

Truer words have never been spoken.

Dies to Removal

[Primer] PyroRed

[Primer] PyroRed

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