All-In Red

[Khaospawn]

Val, play Dragon's Claw against Storm. THAT's your sideboard card for it.

[Valdarith]

Yeah it's good and gives us a little more time against Empty the Warrens. But eventually 16 goblin tokens are just going to kill you. I'm wondering if I should just go with Electrickery over Forked Bolt since I typically bring it in to deal with x/1s anyway. It's nice that I can kill a two toughness dude but I have Pillar and Bolt for that, and Electrickery being instant is nice.

[Khaospawn]

I play Electrickery in Goblins. I like it.

[Platypus]

I think I'd go with Electrickery instead of Forked Bolt in that deck as well.

[hamfactorial]

If you need storm hate in mono red, run Thorn of Amethyst.

[Valdarith]

An interesting card. I think I like Electrickery + Dragon's Claw a little more since I can use Electrickery in the Soul Sisters and Affinity matchups. I love flexible sideboard cards.

[Valdarith]

Had a blast at Modern FNM last night. I made the top 8 which is great, but lost in my match for top 4 to Affinity after he nut drew me twice.

[deck]
Creatures (30)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Rakdos Cackler
3 Figure of Destiny
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Ash Zealot
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager

Spells (10)
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Pillar of Flame
3 Rancor

Lands (20)
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
1 City of Brass
1 Forest
10 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Electrickery
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Torpor Orb
2 Dragon's Claw
3 Shrine of Burning Rage
1 Koth of the Hammer
[/deck]

Match 1 - GR Midrange: he was running Mizzium Mortars, Huntmaster, Farseek, Wolf Run, etc. I win the roll and go first, open with Cackler, then BTE into Boar, then Ash Zealot. I roll through him despite him getting Farseek then Huntmaster out. Not a lot to say about this
matchup.

Sideboard: -1 Rancor, +1 Koth of the Hammer.

Game two he starts with Leyline of Vitality in his hand, which I've never seen played. He Farseeks on turn two, then gets out a Simulacrum on turn three. At this point I've done damage with two Rakdos Cackler and Ash Zealot. I swing forgetting about the Leyline pumping his Sad Robot, and he blocks the Zealot. He gets out Huntmaster and I drop a Figure. He plays another Leyline on his turn and passes. I play Koth, untap a Mountain and pass. He passes his turn to flip his Huntmaster and start pinging away. He eventually wins because 2/4 creatures are good.

Sideboard: -2 Rancor, +2 Shrine of Burning Rage

I decide to bring two Shrines in to decrease my reliance on green while giving me late game reach. It doesn't matter because I have a great hand and kill him on turn four. He reveals a Bonfire that would have wiped my board on his fourth turn (he Farseeked).

1-0

Match 2 - Treasure Hunt:
silly deck to play against, so not a lot of analysis to be done here. Game one he Treasure Hunts three deep to reveal a Zombie Infestation while I'm rolling with Cackler, BTE, and Lightning Mauler. He plays his enchantment and makes two dudes. I play Ash Zealot, Pillar one of the dudes, and swing. He blocks my Zealot not realizing it has first strike. He Treasure Hunts again and reveals a Zombie Infestation after digging five deep. He makes three more tokens, but I play Rancor and Flinthoof Boar on my next turn to swing for lethal.

Sideboard: -3 Pillar of Flame, +3 Phyrexian Revoker.

In game two he mulls to four and gets off an impressive Treasure Hunt but hits Ratchet Bomb and doesn't have a Reliquary Tower, so he has to discard. I end up plowing through for the win as he Treasure Hunts a second time only to hit another Treasure Hunt.

2-0

We play a third game for funsies where I get my fastest win of the night. I start with a hand of Mountain, Rootbound Crag, Goblin
Guide, Burning-Tree Emissary, Lightning Mauler, Lightning Bolt, Rancor. I play Guide on turn one and swing for two. I draw Mountain on turn two, play BTE into Lightning Mauler, swing six. Turn three I draw Goblin Guide, play it, Rancor it, swing ten, Bolt dome for win. BOOM.

Match 3 - Mono Blue Tron: this deck's best matchup, but unfortunately I got nut drawn on twice. I was playing my friend so I didn't care, but he mulled to five on game one only to play Expedition Map on turn one, then got his Tron online at turn three and played a Wurmcoil Engine, then played another one on turn four. I got him down to four but it just wasn't enough. He had Repeal to take care of my Figure so I couldn't pump him, then Tec Edge to get rid of my sixth land, and that was it.

Sideboard: -3 Pillar of Flame, -2 Rancor, +3 Phyrexian Revoker, +2 Ancient Grudge

Game two he once again gets a Wurmcoil Engine out on turn three and I lose. Not much I can do about that. He would eventually make
top 4 despite playing the deck AND MODERN for the first time tonight and me putting much of his deck together for him.

2-1

Match 4 - RG Zoo: Probably the worst match I could have hoped for. He's playing fetches so obviously he has Kird Ape, Scavenging Ooze and the gang, which this deck simply cannot deal with. He clogs the board with three Kird Apes game one and wins easily.

Sideboard: -3 Lightning Mauler, -3 Pillar of Flame, +2 Dragon's Claw, +3 Shrine of Burning Rage, +1 Koth of the Hammer

I decide that the only way I'm going to win against him is to play a long game or get a Rancor on my guys. I get a Cackler on board on turn one, and he shocks himself and plays Guide and swings, giving me a land. I play BTE into Boar and swing for two. He plays Experiment One, bolts my Boar, and swings again, revealing a BTE. Turn three I BTE into Rancor into Cackler and swing. At this point I'm far enough ahead that he can't really come back, but he puts
up a good fight, killing off my Figure and some other things.

Game three was probably the best game of the night. He plays Raging Ravine and passes, I get out a Cackler, he plays Experiment One and passes, I play BTE into Dragon's Claw and swing, and he bolts my Cackler. He plays Burning-Tree Shaman (I guess he really didn't want me pumping Figure of Destiny) and passes. I play Figure and Flinthoof Boar and pass. He starts clogging his board with Scavenging Ooze and other guys while killing my Figure, and I can't bolt the Ooze because he pumps it to three by eating my Cackler and keeps a green open to eat the Figure as a possible response. I draw a BTE and play it and a Ghor-Clan Rampager and pass. He also plays a Rampager and passes. I'm gaining a lot of life off Dragon's Claw which buys me a lot of time, and I draw into a Figure and make him a 4/4. We stalemate for a couple of turns until I hit my sixth land to make Figure an 8/8 flying, first striking badass who doesn't give a damn about a
clogged board, and he flies over the top to victory!

3-1

Match five - UWR Wafo-Tapa Draw-Go: Piloted by a very good player. He's currently 8th place and I'm 7th so we have to play. He wins the roll and plays Colonnade and passes. I play Cackler and pass. He plays fetch and passes. I play BTE and he fetches to Remand it, and I swing for two. Next turn he plays a fetch and passes. I play BTE and it resolves. At this point I've drawn into two more BTEs so I play them all and a Lightning Mauler. Before combat he Bolts the Lightning Mauler and Helixes the Cackler, but he's still taken significant damage from fetching shocks. I Bolt him afterward and pass. He plays land and passes. I play a Boar, give it haste, and swing. He plays Snapcaster targetting Helix, blows up the Boar, blocks one BTE and takes two from the other. I Rancor the BTE now that he's tapped out and pass. At this point he's getting low on cards in hand so I know that I don't fear
counters as much. I eventually draw another Rancor and a Ghor-Clan Rampager. He eventually kills my BTE, and I Rancor up my Rampager and he bounces it in response, so I play Rampager again and my second Rancor. He's at very low life and ends up eating my Rampager next turn with his Colonnade. He passes the next turn, I topdeck a Flinthoof Boar, Rancor it up, and swing for lethal.

Sideboard: -3 Rancor, -3 Pillar of Flame, +2 Phyrexian Revoker, +1 Koth of the Hammer, +3 Shrine of Burning Rage

Not much to talk about in game two. I keep a four-lander since it has BTE, Goblin Guide, and Lightning Mauler and proceed to draw six lands in my next eight draw steps. You can imagine how the game ended.

Game three I get off to a fast start but he has Helix and Cryptic Command and Supreme Verdict out the wazoo. I'm able to do significant damage though and it turns out a lot like game three. Eventually turns is called, so we start turn zero on his turn, and he passes. I play Figure, pump it up to 4/4, and pass.
He realizes he can't kill me despite having a Resto Angel and Colonnade online so it's up to me to hit a sixth land next turn. I miss so I pass, knowing I also cannot win. I end up hitting my land the next turn but it's too late. We end up with a draw, but he gives me the win since he knows he'll be outside of top 8 with a draw. I show my appreciation for the nice gesture.

4-1 officially, 3-1-1 in my mind.

Top 8 Match - Affinity: not a lot to say about this match. Game one he got out the usual Ornithopter/Memnite/Signal Pest gang but I had a fast start myself. He gets out a Steel Overseer which I immediately remove, then start swinging some more. He plays Arcbound Ravager and another Ornithopter and passes. I swing next turn with my dudes and he blocks all but my Cackler, then sacs a couple of his blockers to make one of his Ravagers a 4/4, and I respond with a bloodrushed Ghor-Clan Rampager. He moves the counters to his Signal Pest after death,
then plays Vault Skirge next turn. I keep the pressure on, but he topdecks a Cranial Plating and ends up winning via lifelink.

Sideboard: +3 Phyrexian Revoker, +2 Ancient Grudge, +2 Electrickery, -3 Rancor, -3 Figure of Destiny, -1 Pillar of Flame.

In game two I keep what would normally be a nut draw. Goblin Guide into BTE/LM into Boar, but he gets Vault Skirge out on turn one, then turn two Cranial Plating followed by turn three Cranial Plating while I see no removal whatsoever. FML.

Anyways, can't get mad about being outdrawn. I'll report more later, going into particulars about what cards were all-stars and what changes I would make to the deck.

[Valdarith]

Continued from above.

ALL STAR OF THE NIGHT: Figure of Destiny - Holy crap is this guy good. I may have a new favorite Magic card. This guy did some work for me, and I was ALWAYS happy to see him.
HONORABLE MENTION: Ghor-Clan Rampager. He was a lot more effective than I thought he'd be in a format full of instant-speed removal. I played him at 4cmc often and also bloodrushed him twice when my opponent was sure he was making a profitable block. I think he may be worth playing with a little more in Modern.
UNDERPERFORMER: nothing. The list was really quite nice and I'd only make a couple of tweaks looking back. If I honestly had to pick a card to put here it'd be Pillar, but a lot of that was due to my matchups. I think having some number in the 60 is correct, but three is probably too many for the mainboard.

Alright, so let's talk about what Id change if I were to do it all again.

1) Run the fourth Figure. This guy is a baller. I'd take out a Pillar for it. Pillar was relevant at times and dead in others. I didn't see any Kitchen Finks in any decks that night whereas I saw at least three decks running it last month. I think two mainboard is correct.

2) Remove Torpor Orb from the sideboard. I feel like this card is too narrow. I only want it against Pod and Soul Sisters and I could probably run a card that's more broad and effective in those matchups as well.

Honestly, that's it. I think this deck is really solid, and I had a blast playing it. It's not as mindless as it looks on paper. There are a lot of intricate lines of play in the deck and Rancor and Figure of Destiny give the deck late game reach opportunities that shouldn't be underestimated.

[Link]

nice write-up val, thanks. Looks like a solid, fetchless way to get into modern for Gruul ;D

[hamfactorial]

Val:

FoD has become my new favorite red mana sink in Modern. If your meta is free of the Pod/Twin/Scourge, the Torpor Orbs are right to take out. Otherwise, they're such a great sideboard card vs those decks, I don't know a better way to handle them.

[Valdarith]

Val:

FoD has become my new favorite red mana sink in Modern. If your meta is free of the Pod/Twin/Scourge, the Torpor Orbs are right to take out. Otherwise, they're such a great sideboard card vs those decks, I don't know a better way to handle them.

I think three Pillars between the main and side is enough honestly. Revoker can name Pod and Twin.

[hamfactorial]

Splinter Twin isn't the name of the ability, it's the creature itself that has the ability. You'll have to guess whether they run it out with Pestermite, Resto Angel and Kiki, Exarch, etc.

[Valdarith]

Splinter Twin isn't the name of the ability, it's the creature itself that has the ability. You'll have to guess whether they run it out with Pestermite, Resto Angel and Kiki, Exarch, etc.

True. That said, I'd rather try to race this deck. They run no spot removal at all so we can blindly Rancor up our dudes. We can bring in one Pillar and two Ancient Grudge from the side and take out three Figure since it's a slow card.

[Valdarith]

You guys ready to see something hilarious?

[deck]
Creatures (28)
4 Tattermunge Maniac
4 Dryad Militant
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Naya Hushblade
4 Jund Hackblade

Spells (12)
4 Civic Saber
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Boros Charm

Lands (20)
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Battlefield Forge
[/deck]

[Jack]

That looks...awesome. If we wanted to try to improve it, I'd cut a land for Goblin Guide (not multicolored, but 19 lands seems fine with with 17 1-drops and it's fucking Goblin Guide and swings for 2 on turn 1). Battlefield Forge should also be City of Brass, since the only thing in here that takes colorless mana is Civic Saber.

[Jack]

Figure also seems underpowered, given that you'll almost always have something better to do with your mana (dump your hand) for the first 3 turns.

[Valdarith]

I've actually thought about cutting Naya Hushblade for Goblin Guide. She's the hardest creature to cast and she can't be equipped unless she's on the field by herself.

Figure is a necessary evil in the deck since he gives us something to do with our mana beyond turn three. Admittedly it's a pet card of mine but really it's not a one drop here. It's a one, two, three, four, five, etc drop.

[Valdarith]

Take two.

[deck]
Creatures (28)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Tattermunge Maniac
4 Dryad Militant
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Jund Hackblade

Spells (14)
4 Civic Saber
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Boros Charm
2 Pillar of Flame

Lands (18)
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Brushland

Sideboard (15)
2 Electrickery
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Combust
2 Wear / Tear
1 Shattering Blow
3 Lightning Helix
[/deck]

Landbase is just what I have access to. Unfortunately I don't have any of the Scars lands or City of Brass though I could bum one of the latter from a friend.

[Manasjap]

Would you run Bonesplitter over Rancor?
In this list your Civic Saber is basically a less reliable Bonesplitter.

[Platypus]

^That's a really good point. Bonesplitter is better than Civic Saber (except on Jund Hackblade). So, the question should be: Bonespitter vs. Rancor.

+
Rancor: Trample and cheaper, enchantments harder to remove.
Bonesplitter: Stays on the battlefield if creature gets removed in response to equip.

-
Rancor: Doesn't return if creature removed in response.
Bonesplitter: Everybody have artifact removal in SBs.

Personally I'd choose Rancor, because of Trample.

[Valdarith]

A few points:

1) Rancor is less reliable in a Modern environment defined by efficient instant-speed removal. I've played lists with Rancor (see above) and have been able to play around removal to some extent but it does slow you down a bit.
2) I didn't know Bonesplitter actually existed so that's on me. Would I run it over Rancor? Only if I didn't have reliable access to green. 8 green sources + BTE is probably enough to run Rancor.
3) If I had more three-color dudes like Jund Hackblade it would definitely help. The problem with Naya Hushblade is that I can't equip her when she has a buddy on the battlefield. Perhaps if I found a way to get Bant Sureblade, Woolly Thoctar and [card]Marsi's Twinclaws[/card] in the deck I'd have a greater incentive to run Civic Saber.

[Platypus]

Woolly Thoctar might be doable, but the mana cost is restrictive. Marisi's Twinclaw probably cost too much.

[Valdarith]

Could just go back to a similar build to what I was running before except focus more on one drops.

[deck]
Creatures (28)
4 Dryad Militant
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Goblin Guide
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Jund Hackblade
4 Flinthoof Boar

Spells (12)
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Dismember
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Land (20)
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Karplusan Forest
6 Mountain
[/deck]

[Valdarith]

[deck]
Creatures (30)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Dryad Militant
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Jund Hackblade
4 Flinthoof Boar
2 Ghor-Clan Rampager

Spells (10)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Pillar of Flame
2 Dismember

Lands (20)
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Rootbound Crag
2 Karplusan Forest
6 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
2 Electrickery
2 Guttural Response
1 Torpor Orb
4 Ancient Grudge
2 Combust
4 Molten Rain
[/deck]

Slight change. Chandra out for Ghor-Clan Rampager. Also added a sideboard. My meta is very heavy with Affinity and UWR control with some Soul Sisters and Tron sprinkled throughout. Would love to get my hands on some fetches but I make do with what I have.

[Platypus]

Punishing Fire isn't Modern legal.

[Valdarith]

Well I'm glad you told me that because I had no clue. Soul Sisters players would have a fit if it were I guess. Plus Punishing Jund would be a thing.

[BigMana]

Bringing it back!

[deck]Dynacharge Red[/deck]

[BigMana]

Or adding color is cool.

[deck]
Creatures
4 Signal Pest
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
2 Legion Loyalist
4 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Guide

Spells
4 Krenko's Command
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Dynacharge
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Atarka's Command

Lands
3 Mountain
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
2 Rootbound Crag

Sideboard
4 Shattering Spree
3 Electrickery
4 Boros Charm
4 Rending Volley
[/deck]

[BigMana]

Or adding color is cool.

[deck]
Creatures
4 Signal Pest
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
2 Legion Loyalist
4 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Guide

Spells
4 Krenko's Command
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Dynacharge
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Atarka's Command

Lands
3 Mountain
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
2 Rootbound Crag

Sideboard
4 Shattering Spree
3 Electrickery
4 Boros Charm
4 Rending Volley
[/deck]

Replacing Shattering Spree with Tin Street Hooligan. Affinity is already about 50/50 if they get nuts draw, just need an edge that doesn't slow me down too much. Also out with Electrickery and in with Faerie Macabre.

Honestly guys, try this deck list. I'm getting insane win/lose ratio. Would love others to playtest. I want to make sure it isn't just my skill level being above others.

Or is this forum dead?

[Valdarith]

4 Dynacharge on top of 4 Atarka's Command and 4 Bushwhacker seems like too much. I'd consider trimming down to 1 or even 0 Dynacharge for more one drops. Zurgo and Rakdos Cackler seem like good inclusions. Even Monastery Swiftspear seems good.

[Valdarith]

Better yet, try playing Hordeling Outburst.

[BigMana]

4 Dynacharge on top of 4 Atarka's Command and 4 Bushwhacker seems like too much. I'd consider trimming down to 1 or even 0 Dynacharge for more one drops. Zurgo and Rakdos Cackler seem like good inclusions. Even Monastery Swiftspear seems good.

Tried it by replacing Dynacharge with Swiftspear this morning, deck slowed down significantly. My dudes were not able to get there as easily due to less burst damage. Dynacharge back in, sped up as expected.

Better yet, try playing Hordeling Outburst.

Tried this also this morning. I could not reliably hit 3 on 18 lands. Adding more lands kills this deck's threat density.

Ill try again just to be sure.

Can you do me a favor and play the list as posted as well? I want to make sure I'm not the only one killing on turn 4 almost always (and this isn't goldfishing)

[Valdarith]

On vacation.

[stuffydollfan]

I'll give the deck a try. I'm not very familiar with Modern, but i'm good with playing red. Though I haven't really played much the last 2 months.

[BigMana]

I'll give the deck a try. I'm not very familiar with Modern, but i'm good with playing red. Though I haven't really played much the last 2 months.

It isn't terribly complicated to play. Usually Guide is the best turn 1 unless you have Denizen backed up by a grip of emissaries.

Hold back a couple dudes if you have a good clock, sweepers happen.

I've been having an extremely good time with this deck. Very few matchups are unwinnable so far. Removal is not a thing as the threats are diversified, just be careful of over extending. I will gladly let my guys die one at a time into a blocker if it means I win.

I did want to include some amount of Lightning Berserker in the 75 to rock after sweepers but not sure for what.

[BigMana]

So after much internal struggle I have dropped Dynacharge. It was just way too situational and have included Goblin Grenade.

[deck]AIR[/deck]

[BigMana]

Is the Boros Charm thing too cute?

I feel like board wipes aren't something I;'m terribly worried about.

[Valdarith]

I'm sure you can do better. Pyroclasm is all you should be worried about.

[BigMana]

I'm sure you can do better. Pyroclasm is all you should be worried about.

Agreed. Pulling the sacred foundry for another stomping ground and replacing the boros charm with some specific answers to meta decks that don;t majorly hinder my game plan.

[Valdarith]

At what point do you just drop the non goblins and play Goblins?