[Primer] PyroRed

[zemanjaski]

Current list:

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

Planeswalkers
3 Chandra, Pyromaster

Enchantments
2 Chained to the Rocks

Instants
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Shock

Lands
2 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
12 Mountain
1 Plains

Sideboard
1 Assemble the Legion
2 Boros Charm
4 Boros Reckoner
2 Chained to the Rocks
1 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Peak Eruption
[/deck]

Peak Eruption is in because it hits Dega and GR Ramp and they're both popular. In particular, it triggers YP$ and gets back Phoenix, which makes me like it more than Renounce. I'm interested in a 4th copy. I'm also interested in how much I can cut from my co
trol matchups and still have it be favourable; but that probably depends on how the meta shapes up. I won't lie, Hammer is the card mostly likely to go ~ if control stays on it's current decline.

[zemanjaski]

In case anyone's wondering, my GW matchup is really good, but my junk matchup is pretty terrible now.

[Keftenk]

PyroBoros ;o

[warwizard87]

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.

[Khaospawn]

Re: Peak Eruption

Z, after getting smacked with it yesterday at States, I'm a believer in Peak Eruption. I'm definitely going to be playing a few foil copies in my board.

Re: Dega Midrange

I watched a few matches yesterday, and this deck is legit. I think it may be the "new" Jund.

[Mage of hot stuff]

Current list:

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

Planeswalkers
3 Chandra, Pyromaster

Enchantments
2 Chained to the Rocks

Instants
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Shock

Lands
2 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
12 Mountain
1 Plains

Sideboard
1 Assemble the Legion
2 Boros Charm
4 Boros Reckoner
2 Chained to the Rocks
1 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Peak Eruption
[/deck]

Peak Eruption is in because it hits Dega and GR Ramp and they're both popular. In
particular, it triggers YP$ and gets back Phoenix, which makes me like it more than Renounce. I'm interested in a 4th copy. I'm also interested in how much I can cut from my co trol matchups and still have it be favourable; but that probably depends on how the meta shapes up. I won't lie, Hammer is the card mostly likely to go ~ if control stays on it's current decline.

how is that working out besides the GW and junk match ups? I dont like the fact that you only have 3 white spells but have to add 8 mana. i dont like the scry lands because i lose out on keeping my tempo as much as i love. Also the shock lands causing me too lose life. Im hardly every worried about my life except in mirror matches or devotion red. Its been a few times id win with just the hair on my balls.

[LaZerBurn]

Thanks for the latest list Z Any chance of a quick SB insight for the slow ones at the back? I'm looking particularly at Boros Charm and ATL here

[Narcasus]

Thanks for the latest list Z Any chance of a quick SB insight for the slow ones at the back? I'm looking particularly at Boros Charm and ATL here

I would assume those are more for the control match up, boros charm can come in any time you think they have board wipes.

[zemanjaski]

how is that working out besides the GW and junk match ups? I dont like the fact that you only have 3 white spells but have to add 8 mana. i dont like the scry lands because i lose out on keeping my tempo as much as i love. Also the shock lands causing me too lose life. Im hardly every worried about my life except in mirror matches or devotion red. Its been a few times id win with just the hair on my balls.

Then don't play it.

Thanks for the latest list Z Any chance of a quick SB insight for the slow ones at the back? I'm looking particularly at Boros Charm and ATL here

I think if you take any amount if time you'll figure out what Boros Charm is for. Assemble is for green midrange decks. Everything else has already been discussed.

[Helios]

States Report
5-2, 18th of 88

[deck]PyroBoros v1.2[/deck]
Creatures
4 Ash Zealot
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Young Pyromancer

Planeswalkers
3 Chandra, Pyromaster

Enchantments
2 Chained to the Rocks

Instants
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Shock

Lands
2 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
12 Mountain
1 Plains

Sideboard
1 Assemble the Legion
2 Boros Charm
4 Boros Reckoner
2 Chained to the Rocks
1 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Renounce the Guilds
1 Wear // Tear
[/deck]

The event had a few growing pains, but they managed to iron everything out as the day went on. We sat down a half-hour later for the player meeting, which, for whatever reason, did not include
checking of our own or our opponent’s decklists. Round one pairings went up shortly, and we were off to the races.

Round 1: Alex with Gruul Ramp

G1: My opening hand had 2 shocks, Cackler, Firedrinker, Zealot, and two mountains. I killed both Mystics he played, and he couldn’t keep up.

SB: -8 1-drops, +4 Reckoner, +2 Chained, +2 Mortars

G2: Mulled to six, kept 2 Shocks, Zealot, and 3 lands. He didn’t have a mystic draw, but I was able to bait Tuskers into dying to Ash Zealot twice; however, I drew lands for the rest of the game and Polukranos finished me off.

G3: An opener of 2 Reckoner, Chandra, Chained, 2 Mountains, and Temple looked pretty sweet to me. I then proceeded to draw Pyromancer, and nothing but burn. Chandra faltered blockers to let my Reckoners and Pyromancer kill Domri and beat his face in.

1-0

Round 2: Brett with Dega

G1: I accidentally left Hammer out of my SB on my decklist, but wrote that I had 15 cards in my SB. This
resulted in a game loss; deservedly so for my not quadruple-checking my list.

G2: I had a nutdraw, and his first two lands were Temple of Silence into Godless Shrine, so even had he had an Anger it would have been too late.

G3: This was one of the most interesting games I played all day, despite my opponent’s misplays. We traded burn and creatures back and forth; I managed to get him down to 2 life, but made the mistake of not siding out my Chained to the Rocks. I promptly drew. both in quick succession (one of which hit a Demon, so that felt good). Warleader’s Helix kept him in the game, and Chandra only dug me into lands (despite the fact that he left her alive for 2 turns which he could’ve taken her out with Keyrunes). A Rakdos’s Return for 11 off the top finished me off.

1-1

Round 3: Hank with G/W

As Z said today, this deck’s matchup against G/W is just disgusting.

G1: Double Lightning Strike in the opener, plus a Firedrinker and Ash Zealot. I killed
everything he played, and then when he finally drew a Witchstalker to hide behind I had 2 Phoenix to go over the top.

SB: -8 1-drops, +4 Reckoner, +2 Chained, +2 Mortars

G2: Felt a little dirty winning this one. Opponent had a Fleecemane Lion which promptly died to Lightning Strike; he then passed his turn 3 and I got in there with Ash Zealot. He played a Smiter off the top, and passed. I swung in with Zealot to bait the block, which he did; I played shock during first strike damage, and he responded with God’s Willing, confidently calling…white. He didn’t catch his mistake and promptly put God’s Willing in the graveyard with no further comments, so I pointed out that he called white and thus the Smiter died. He was a good guy though and didn’t complain one bit, just accepted the mistake and moved on. That was his last creature though, so he couldn’t recover after that.

2-1

Round 4: Nathan with Esper

G1: I drew 1 drops and Phoenix, and Elspeth was too late to save him.


SB: -4 Shock, +2 Boros Charm, +1 Hammer, +1 Assemble

G2: His turn 2 Thoughtseize took Hammer, and turn 3 Ashiok hit 2 Lightning Strikes and my Assemble. Forgot to write down exactly what I kept, but despite getting him down to 4 I was unable to get there after he got Obzedat into play.

G3: This game was a little frustrating; I was able to deal with Ashiok and the first Jace quite handily, but he D-sphere’d my Phoenix and I was never able to kill the 2nd Jace in one turn- I made the decision to race, because I had a hand full of gas. Not spending the turns to kill Jace or keep him from FoF’ing was a mistake, and he managed to get into the Revelation he needed to get back to 4, play another Jace to +1 and prevent himself from dying, and then get the 2nd Revelation on the following turn to get back to 11 and seal the game.

2-2

Round 5: Stephen with Monogreen Devotion

G1: He kept a two-land hand with multiple Tuskers, a Mystic, and BTE, but double Shock and Lightning
Strike killed everything. Ash Zealot and Phoenix got there before he could draw land and get back in the game. Shock being a 1-mana Terminate is pretty good.

G2: This game was more back and forth, but he didn’t value Pyromancer enough to kill it with Polukranos, so Chandra + Chained to the Rocks prevented that from being a problem and I was able to get through for lethal with tokens.
3-2

Round 6: Curtis with Monoblack

At this point I was pretty exhausted, and didn’t keep detailed notes. I rebough Phoenix repeatedly game 1 to get there. G2 he relied on Whip to gain enough life with his Lifebane Zombies to stay out of burn range, but I just took the damage and wear // tear’d his Whip to crack back for lethal. I grin like an idiot every time my opponent’s play Thoughtseize and Read the Bones.

4-2

Round 7: Zack with GW

Again, poor notes due to hunger and a splitting headache. From what I remember, G1 I had the nuts and smashed face. G2 I fought
through 2 Advents with Reckoners to hit him for lethal without ever taking damage.

5-2

Pyrored feels like an extremely powerful deck, and understanding how to play it helped me fight through any situation that was presented. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have offered my opponent the draw round 2 after I won the 2nd game (with the gl to my clerical error). I was overconfident that I couldn’t lose to Dega, of all decks, and had we drawn then I’d have made it into the top 8 (All players with 16 points or higher made it in, it was 15 points from 9-24th or so). It was still a great day of Magic though, and I had a good time. I learned to respect Jace a little more (and will never allow him to draw cards again), and to check my decklist more than twice to make sure that everything is in order.

Observations:
Renounce just didn't do anything for me; however, it really is our only way to interact with Obzedat if Junk becomes a problem. I liked having access to Wear // Tear, but I
may be biased because I closed a game off of it. If Junk/Black with Whip becomes a thing, it may be a necessary evil. Everything else seemed great, and Shock was an absolute workhorse.

Props:
James for coming up with this great and powerful deck + the matchup guide.
LP for his contribution to the matchup guide.
The guy who had Kalonian Tuskers for my buddy and the game-winning Wear // Tear for me.
The GW opponent who took his misplay like a man and let me steal that win.

Slops:
Two-room event where both judges stayed in the same room; calling for a judge when they aren’t in the room and you can’t get up is quite the hassle.
Sphinx’s Revelation, for existing.
Me, for clerical errors.

[zemanjaski]

I am sure you'll never make that mistake again. I bring a printed copy of my decklist to the event and just copy it onto the registration sheet (helps with spelling all the weird names as well).

Gotta work on your nutrition redbro; see my article on playing in competitive events.

Otherwise, well done on the day, huge leap forward from last year.

[Helios]

Printed decklists seem like the way to go, will do.

Re: Nutrition- I got up an hour early and cooked eggs & bacon, plus brought lunch to the event (home-cooked red beans & sausage, which was delicious), so I was good up until those last two rounds when I didn't have time to grab dinner. Will bring snacks next time.

Thanks!!! I plan on continuing to play the deck, so expect more reports.

[Draksil]

Really cool deck Zemanjaski, just now trying to buy some Sacred Foundry's in order to try it out. How do you feel about Warleader's Helix for the PyroBoros?
And I'm guessing the MoW MU should be easier due to having Chained to the Rocks?
Whoops, * Warleader's Helix

[zemanjaski]

I can't think if a matchup where I'd want that effect at the price.

[Jack]

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.

[Draksil]

If you use Annihilating Fire on a Boros Reckoner, will he still be able to redirect damage? And what if they in respond Boros Charm him to make him indestructible, then he won't be exiled and able to redirect damage? Thanks in advance

[zemanjaski]

Yes and yes.

[Zooligan]

Props:
James for coming up with this great and powerful deck + the matchup guide.
LP for his contribution to the matchup guide.

Where is the matchup guide?

Please at least try and find it first. You've actually posted in the thread. This isn't MTGS where we spoon feed answers ~ Z

[Zooligan]

K. No prob. I just thought it was a stand-alone thing like your PyroRed matchup guide or something. I'll go back thru this thread.

EDIT: So is James James' user name, cuz I'm not finding his posts in the past 7 pages of this thread.

[Jack]

I finished the rest of the report.

[TubeHunter]

K. No prob. I just thought it was a stand-alone thing like your PyroRed matchup guide or something. I'll go back thru this thread.

EDIT: So is James James' user name, cuz I'm not finding his posts in the past 7 pages of this thread?

James is zemanjaski

[Zooligan]

Well see now, that's good info to have!

[Christen]

If you use Annihilating Fire on a Boros Reckoner, will he still be able to redirect damage? And what if they in respond Boros Charm him to make him indestructible, then he won't be exiled and able to redirect damage? Thanks in advance

To clarify further. Damage from permanent sources that is not in the battlefield anymore still resolve wherever they were. The damage looks for the last known information where the permanent was (this is usually ignored but looked up in cases like Boros Reckoner having lifelink).

[Jack]

[Draksil]

Think I might try Glare of Heresy in the sb aswell. Able to deal with Voice, Reckoner and Elspeth - not so sure what to take out though

[Draksil]

Goddamn Zemanjaski, you're a red mage genius. Looking at your lists, everything seems so well-thought through and tested. Thanks

[zemanjaski]

Went 4-0 (2-1 Red Devotion; 2-1 GR Ramp; 2-1 GR Ramp; 2-0 AIR) tonight with:

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

Planeswalkers
3 Chandra, Best Card in Standard

Enchantments
2 Chained to the Rocks

Instants
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Shock

Lands
2 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
12 Mountain
1 Plains

Sideboard
2 Boros Charm
4 Boros Reckoner
2 Chained to the Rock
1 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Mizzium Mortars
4 Peak Eruption[/deck]

Very happy with the small changes made so far.

For comments:

vs. Red Aggro, GW or Big Green
OUT: 4 Rakdos Cackler, 4 Firedrinker Satyr
IN: 4 Boros Reckoner, 2 Chained to the Rocks, 2 Mizzium
Mortars

vs. UW Control, Esper Control
OUT: 3 Shock
IN: 2 Boros Charm, 1 Hammer of Purphoros
This is about as light as I can realistically go; the matchup is still good because I am not maindecking Reckoner

vs. GR Ramp or Naya Midrange
OUT: 4 Rakdos Cackler, 4 Firedrinker Satyr, 4 Ash Zealot
IN: 4 Boros Reckoner, 2 Chained to the Rocks, 2 Mizzium Mortars, 4 Peak Eruption
I was finding Ash Zealot was just getting walled too often by Reckoner (can't combat trick him), Smiter or just Caratyd. Peak Eruption is just brutal against these decks: it picks off planeswalkers, mana screws them, buys time. It is also another spell for Young Pyro, who has a full 18 spells to trigger him now

vs. Dega Midrange or BR Midrange
OUT: 2 Chained to the Rocks, 4 Shock
IN: 2 Boros Charm, 4 Peak Eruption
I have decided that I will just play through Desecration Demon. I am
comfortable doing that with Phoenix, YP and Chandra in my deck. This configuration gives me more free-wins; but also a HUGE amount of burn (2 Boros Charm, 4 Lightning Strike, 4 Magma Jet, 4 Peak Eruption ~ good luck, have fun!

vs. Master of the Waves
OUT: 4 Firedrinker Satyr
IN: 2 Chained to the Rocks, 2 Mizzium Mortars

vs. Big Boros
OUT: 4 Shock, 4 Lightning Strike
IN: 2 Chained to the Rocks, 2 Boros Charm, 4 Peak Eruption
Your sideboard cards are too important; you need Magma Jet to help find them.

vs. Junk
Pray

Comments, thoughts, opinions all welcome.

[Khaospawn]

vs. Junk
Pray

Comments, thoughts, opinions all welcome.

Oooooh, we're halfway there! Oooooh OH! We're living on a prayer!

[zemanjaski]

Its about all I have in that matchup

Still, its about ~3% of the MODO meta, I will happily concede that matchup to have every other one be favourable.

[Khaospawn]

Fair enough. Truth be told, I didn't see any Junk lists at States. I'm actually hoping it gets pushed out.

[zemanjaski]

It's best matchups are mono red and GW; so it doesn't seem very well positioned. *fingers crossed*

[Draksil]

Looks really good Zemanjaski. Assemble the Legion in sb to chumpblock green forever and eventually take over the game wasn't worth it?

[Yarpus]

I guess I'll finally fight off my Modo anxiety and (also) finally buy some Tixes to start playing. Weapon of choice is going to be Mono Red Pyro.

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

Planeswalkers:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Burn:
4 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
4 Annihilating Fire

Lands:
2 Mutavault
20 Mountain

Sideboard:
4 Flames of the Firebrand
4 Peak Eruption
4 Traitorous Instincts
2 Electrickery
1 Pithing Needle[/deck]

I'm thinking about dropping Firedrinker Satyr though. Not because he is bad, but because there's much more Aggro and Midrange than control.
Also, not sure how to squeeze in Skullcrack into SB. I'm happy with all the spells in SB at the moment.
Instincts for fatties, Flames/Electrickery for Aggro, Eruption for 2/3 color Red decks and Pithing Needle as catch-all against kinky stuff like
Planeswalkers or Whip.

[zemanjaski]

Looks really good Zemanjaski. Assemble the Legion in sb to chumpblock green forever and eventually take over the game wasn't worth it?

There were a few games where I had the Assemble on turn 3 or 4 in my hand and it would have won the game instantly had it been Peak Eruption; or there were games where I had Assemble but not the land and Peak Eruption would have made a difference.

Assemble is absurdly powerful, but I am finding that Peak Eruption is as well. Chaining them on turn 3 and 4 is pretty much an instant win in the matchups where you want that effect.

[F.I.A]

Loving the tint of white added to the deck, zem. It solved a lot of trouble this deck have (Mainly in dealing with creatures bigger than 4.) It's sure great to chain gorgons and hydras there.

[Helios]

Only 3 of 88 Junk at my States, and most of the decks represented were strong archetypes (not many brews). Done a little testing against it, and I find that you can beat their subpar hands, which are many. If they curve though, you just get wrecked. Love the Peak Eruptions, Z- finally a reason to use my Japanese set

[F.I.A]

Ey, Zem. Just to add that it's a good idea to side in Assemble the Legion against Devotion Black. They don't have any mass removal options save for Ratchet Bomb, so you can just muster a lot of 1/1s to counter the life gain.

Edit: Also Chained to the Rocks for Gray Merchant of Asphodel. They are way more effective than Corrupt thanks to Whip of Erebos.

[Elricity]

I agree that the right call is just to ignore desecration demon. It's only good versus us alongside other fatties because you can keep it tapped for basically ever. The hammer didn't help you in this matchup?

More boros charms makes the Junk and other B/x matchups a lot more favorable. I can appreciate that you don't have the room and playing the modo meta instead of paper.

[Jack]

Hmm, at first I was fairly skeptical about the addition of white to the build, since the sheer consistency and speed of the deck is very appealing and a quality that I really didn't want to compromise, but white really does help a lot with covering your weaknesses, specifically fatties. Chained to the Rocks seems like it is a fantastic card to have against the multitude of midrange decks that are very popular in my area. I already have all the cards for it, which is nice.

[zemanjaski]

Ramp matchup is a lot better now, for three reasons:
- you have LD; this upsets the fragile balance they have of land/ramp/creatures by targeting land
- you have Chained to Rocks which targets the creature part of the formula
- Boros Reckoner walls all their ground guys

It's by no means one sided, but it now feels like you're actually fighting them instead of just hoping they stumble.