[Primer] PyroRed

[magicdownunder]

I like the board plan you posted, the extra charm will help against Red and UW Sweepers.

You're hurting your Bx game, but assuming your running PyroDragons you should have 4x YP$ so that fine - best of luck mate.

[Lightning_Dolt]

So, in my quest for a deck for the tourney saturday, I'm fairly set with the same 58/60 as pedros (i only run 3 muta, to help mana).

I am a little concerned about the sideboard though.

pedros sideboard was:

Sideboard 15
4 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Boros Charm
2 Last breath
3 Skullcrack

Vundo also had a potential sideboard:

SIDEBOARD
1 Rod of Ruin
2 Last Breath
2 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Mizzium Mortars
4 Boros Charm
4 Skullcrack

And I've been testing my own thing recently as well:
Sideboard:
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Skullcrack
3 Boros Charm
2 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Last Breath
1 Rod of Ruin


Each of these has different strengths. pedros has the satyr in the sb, so bringing in against control, whereas vundo brings in more skullcracks and boros charms for those matchups. I personally side in more mortars, to help deal with mono-u and other aggro-y decks.

What do y'all think about a good general sideboard for a tournament this weekend? (so post gp vienna meta still in full swing)

Also now testing:
Sideboard:
2 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Skullcrack
3 Boros Charm
2 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Last Breath
1 Rod of Ruin

Any thoughts NOW? ;P (Seriously
though, halp e.e)

Do not like the FDS in the board. I am firmly of the opinion they belong in the main.

[Valdarith]

Re: taplands in RB and Spike Jester. You make a concession by not running Satyr. Trust me, I've played the deck far more than anyone here. To have all your creatures besides CCackler have haste is huge game.

LP, your post doesnt make sense. You admitted hyperbole and that a lot of the sideboard options for white are cute and therefor not exactly necessary. I've played both decks and I know exactly what they have to offer. My opinion still stands. If not running Boros Charm, don't run white. I'll chalk differences of opinion to playstyle.

[RaidaTheBlade]

Do not like the FDS in the board. I am firmly of the opinion they belong in the main.

Well, the Reckoners are in there to help with mono-u some, but I was working on a build that had both... I think I posted it earlier, but:

[deck]
Creatures:
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Pheonix
3 Boros Reckoner
2 Stormbreath Dragon

Thighs:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
3 Magma Jet
3 Shock

Enchantments/Sorceries:
4 Chained to the Rocks
2 Flames of the Firebrand

Land:
12 Mountain
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Mutavault

Sideboard:
2 Fanatic of Mogis
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Boros Charm
3 Skullcrack
2 Last breath
1 Rod of Ruin
[/deck]

This one was
designed to hedge my bets some, since I'm expecting a lot of mono-u and a good bit of control (since people will be trying control to counter mono-u).
It has less 1-drops then normal, but more charms and skullcracks to stop control, and also has maindeck reckoners to help game 1 vs mono-u

So thoughts on this one?

[Lightning_Dolt]

I actually don't really like reckoner VS Mono U. They are running Domestication, you have to kill it, which just 3 for 1's you. If you have a one drop and lots of removal, you can just 1 for 1 them and be the tempo deck. I think if you are running reckoner against them, you kind of need [card]Wear // Tear[/card].

I think you should always mainboard your most aggressive cards. That way you can steal game 1 if your opponent stumbles in anyway.

[Valdarith]

I'm probably going to move to Rod of Ruin in my sideboard as well.

I'm also starting to cool off on Chained to the Rocks. Last night it ended up biting me in the ass a few times, especially in postboard games. I had one opponent Cyclonic Rift it during my attack phase to kill one of my attackers. I had another opponent Abrupt Decay it during my attack phase to get back his Reaper of the Wilds and kill one of my attackers during a GAME ONE. And yet another time I had Peak Eruption blow it off the map. This was all in one night over eight matches. I don't like that.

[dpaine88]

Are they running Domestication in the main or just sideboard?

[Pedros]

Yeah I had it done to me some time, it is awful. Thats why I tried to play some Rb Pyro shell, to a 4-2 success.

Win vs: Rw devo, Jund Agro, WRU Heroic, Mono Black
Lost vs: Rw devo, esper (esper was close as I didnt draw 3rd land whole game, Rw mulled to 5 game 1)

[deck]4 Rakdos Cackler
3 Tymaret, the Murder King
2 Firedrinker Satyr
3 Shock
8 Mountain
2 Boros Reckoner
1 Ultimate Price
2 Temple of Silence
4 Blood Crypt
4 Mutavault
4 Magma Jet
2 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Dreadbore
4 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Rix Maadi Guildmage
4 Lightning Strike

Sideboard
2 Doom Blade
2 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Toil/Trouble
1 Boros Reckoner
1 Ultimate Price
1 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Skullcrack
1 Dreadbore[/deck]

Didnt have Erebos on mtgo so I played skullcrack here. Will try this deck on fnm today.

[Aodh]

I was never in the "white is strictly better than black" camp, and if the chain is really losing it's shine, then black looks even better. Blacks lands and black spells is probably strictly better than scryland accompanied by no white spells (Boros charm isn't universally adopted), and 2 mana terrors are probably better than 1 mana terminates that can be undone by the decks they're in there for. I'm not sure what's the best idea, but like I said in another thread, it's a really good time to be a red Mage! Just jam a bunch of red cards together and you really can't go wrong!

[Khaospawn]

Are they running Domestication in the main or just sideboard?

Some decks are running one in the main with another in the board.

[Purp]

Yeah I had it done to me some time, it is awful. Thats why I tried to play some Rb Pyro shell, to a 4-2 success.

Win vs: Rw devo, Jund Agro, WRU Heroic, Mono Black
Lost vs: Rw devo, esper (esper was close as I didnt draw 3rd land whole game, Rw mulled to 5 game 1)

[deck]4 Rakdos Cackler
3 Tymaret, the Murder King
2 Firedrinker Satyr
3 Shock
8 Mountain
2 Boros Reckoner
1 Ultimate Price
2 Temple of Silence
4 Blood Crypt
4 Mutavault
4 Magma Jet
2 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Dreadbore
4 Chandra's Phoenix
1 Rix Maadi Guildmage
4 Lightning Strike

Sideboard
2 Doom Blade
2 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Toil/Trouble
1 Boros Reckoner
1 Ultimate Price
1 Flames of the Firebrand
n3 Skullcrack
1 Dreadbore[/deck]

Didnt have Erebos on mtgo so I played skullcrack here. Will try this deck on fnm today.

Why the Guldmage? Seems so bad. Without the scry land, I think Guildmage should be another removal, maybe one of mizzium. Also, shouldnt we be running RR or Slaughter Games in the SB, seems strictly better than a one of Reckoner.

[rcwraspy]

I am absolutely in love with this list. I would love to hear how testing goes for you, since I might try this out myself.

I took down two 8-Mans and a few 2-Mans the list seems to be working great, I love how the list has the ability to grind out wins when/if the first 6 cards arn't enough (Vaults and Chandra for the win).

here is my current list:

[deck]
Creatures (15)
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
3 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Phoenix

Spells (19)
4
Shock
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Boros Charm
3 Skullcrack

Others (4)
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Chained to the Rocks

Lands (22)
2 Boros Guildgate
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Mutavault
8 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
4 Frostburn Weird
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Chained to the Rocks
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Toil / Trouble
1 Skullcrack
1 Warleader's Helix[/deck]

Sers. thinking about swapping Frostburn Weird and Firedrinker Satyr from MD to SB since I only use the Drinker for the Bx and Control MUs.

I'm in and out of reading up on this thread and I haven't contributed to it much (if at all), but I wanted to say that I had landed on a very similar list to this a couple of weeks ago also. In paper though, not online - don't have the tickets to support shocks or chandra quite yet online.

Here's my paper list. Major differences are an extra YP$, an extra Chandra, an extra land, and a Helix in the main. I think I prefer scrying away land than scrying into
land, so I've moved from 22 to 23. Plus 3 Chandra, a Helix, Mortars, Assemble, and Reckoner in the board pretty much dictate it.

[deck]
Creatures - 16
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Phoenix

Planeswalker - 3
3 Chandra, Pyromaster

Enchantment - 2
2 Chained to the Rocks

Instants - 16
4 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
3 Boros Charm
1 Warleader's Helix

Land - 23
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Mutavault
11 Mountain

Sideboard - 15
1 Rod of Ruin
2 Chained to the Rocks
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Skullcrack
1 Flames of the Firebrand
4 Boros Reckoner
1 Assemble the Legion
[/deck]

The deck wrecks any small aggro strategies, has some game vs. Mono-U (master really isn't that scary when you don't let them have much devotion), and does very well against Esper and Mono-black. I've had mixed results with large red and green based devotion strategies.

I'm in the Boston area and the northeast is typically very control-minded.
Lots of Esper, mono-U, and mono-Black here.

[Valdarith]

I was never in the "white is strictly better than black" camp, and if the chain is really losing it's shine, then black looks even better. Blacks lands and black spells is probably strictly better than scryland accompanied by no white spells (Boros charm isn't universally adopted), and 2 mana terrors are probably better than 1 mana terminates that can be undone by the decks they're in there for. I'm not sure what's the best idea, but like I said in another thread, it's a really good time to be a red Mage! Just jam a bunch of red cards together and you really can't go wrong!

I won't go so far as to say one color is better than the other, there's just some tradeoffs to both. I just have a very unhealthy
obsession with Boros Charm. My recent experiences with people blowing up my Chained to the Rocks only solidifies my position on it.

I'm considering making a thread on analyzing RW vs RB.

[Purp]

I don't think BG is as popular as we are lead to believe. Thus I don't see chained being destroyed that much in paper format. I think the most important thing to focus on is having an answer for NVS the turn its played.

Also, Boros charm is not needed to beat esper. Maybe if the UW deck starts seeing a lot of play, it will be good. But I have never lost a match to esper with Pyros. In matchups where we are siding out one drops, could Anger of the gods become a possibility? Maybe a 2 of in the SB?

I also am like Wear Tear when I think about it. Destroying a whip, unflinching courage, bident or det sphere can be huge.

[Helios]

Re: RB v. RW - I don't think that there is enough data to make a categorical statement one way or the other. I'd appreciate it if this discussion (read: argument) was tabled until either BotG comes out OR we have a significant number of results making direct substitutions (i.e. Dreadbore & Doom Blade instead of the MD chained). Any deck with a different configuration of creatures is a different deck, so arguing about just the removal is purely speculative until there is hard data.

Purp: I haven't seen it posting significant numbers, those arguments seem to be coming from local metas. You're also totally right about Boros Charm.

MDU: I let photodyer know to transfer the posts.

[Purp]

Here's something I'd be interested in trying.

[deck]Creatures:
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Pheonix
2 Stormbreath Dragon

Slut:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Shock

Enchantments/Sorceries:
4 Chained to the Rocks
2 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Mizzium Mortars

Land:
12 Mountain
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Mutavault

Sideboard:
2 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Boros Charm (This card is ONLY good verse BG and UW)
3 Skullcrack
2 Last breath
1 Hammer of Purph
3 Boros Reckoner[/deck]

[notap123]

You wouldn't side in Boros Charm against Anger of the Gods? Seems even more important to keep our recursion intact.

[Purp]

You wouldn't side in Boros Charm against Anger of the Gods? Seems even more important to keep our recursion intact.

In that matchup, I would be siding out -6 1- drops, -1 FoTf, 1 YP$ bringing in +3 Reckoner, +2 FoM, +2 Anger, +1 Hammer. I would never cast phoenix on T3. I would probably only play him when I had a shock to protect him. I also, don't think they will be playing Anger against me, it hurts them way too much.

[RaidaTheBlade]

Here's something I'd be interested in trying.

[deck]Creatures:
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Pheonix
2 Stormbreath Dragon

Slut:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Shock

Enchantments/Sorceries:
4 Chained to the Rocks
2 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Mizzium Mortars

Land:
12 Mountain
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Mutavault

Sideboard:
2 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Boros Charm (This card is ONLY good verse BG and UW)
3 Skullcrack
2 Last breath
1 Hammer of Purph
3 Boros Reckoner[/deck]

I actually find this list really interesting... Might give it a whirl tonight.
I'm honestly not a fan of anger, just doesn't strike me as where
we really wanna be. I find hammer pretty interesting too...

I'd proly change the board with -2 anger, but not 100% on what to put in. Maybe +1 rod and +1 charm, mainly because the two decks I'm expecting atm are esper/uw control and mono-u. Rod helps vs mono-u and charm stops verdicts.

But I definitely like the look of the list. Just a bit more burn main makes me happy

[vundo]

@RaidaTheBlade My current version of Pyrodragon is very similar to yours with some maneuvers to fit satyrs, reckoners, and yp$ into the main. I'll be testing heavily tomorrow night against an almost full gauntlet (G/r devo, mono U, mono B, and esper). I'll post my findings and ultimately try to find the right #s of each.

[Pedros]

Played fnm todasy and everyone and their mothers had removal for chained to thge rocks. Red played molten rain, blue bounce, green revelery\abrupt decay\golgari charm.

For some time chain is close to dead ;( too many blow outs.

I played PyroTerrorKings to a 3-1-1 finiah winning 9 packs. Won/vs UWR 8 mass removal control, Naya, devo boros, mono black and strange junk gift of immortality combo.

Was eztremely happy witg erebos, thoughtseize and my 7 terror effect + burn, hoever I saw that my sb isnt as tweeked and thought as boros one, as I had too many cards I wanted to bring each matchup.

Tymaret was/nicem however didnt use him that muxh. Most of the time I just shocked opponent with chump elemental token or trade and recur.

Rix maadi guildmage was quite good, vs devo red it made our reconers more favored, vs black they couldnt bloxk with specter. Vs control It was good for using mana to prevent commiting
more to the board.

I just noticed that 10 black manais not enough,, also 22 mana is not enough.

While building this deck I noticed sth. Why we dont build dos rakis right now? Exava, Dragon, chandra, phoenix, muravault, good removal. We had most of the things needed to make this deck succesful.

[Khaospawn]

Hey guys, I slapped this together for tomorrow's FNM. Am I missing anything?

[Deck]
Creatures 23
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Ash Zealot
4 Young Pyromancer
1 Pyrewild Shaman
4 Chandra's Phoenix
2 Stormbreath Dragon

Planeswalker 2
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Burn 12
3 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
1 Flames of the Firebrand

Land 23
4 Mutavault
19 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Mizzium Mortars
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Act of Treason
3 Skullcrack
1 Rod of Ruin
[/deck]

[LP, of the Fires]

Hey guys, I slapped this together for tomorrow's FNM. Am I missing anything?

[Deck]
Creatures 23
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Ash Zealot
4 Young Pyromancer
1 Pyrewild Shaman
4 Chandra's Phoenix
2 Stormbreath Dragon

Planeswalker 2
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Burn 12
3 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
1 Flames of the Firebrand

Land 23
4 Mutavault
19 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Mizzium Mortars
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Act of Treason
3 Skullcrack
1 Rod of Ruin
[/deck]

That's basically exactly the main I play at FNM(didn't get my scry lands till Tuesday). It's solid.

[TBuzzsaw]

I'm just glad my meta is deprived and empty of Azorius Control and Kibler BG. I haven't seen an Abrupt Decay or Golgari Charm in weeks. Anyways I'm playing tonight and I'll post my results if I can tonight.

[Keftenk]

Played fnm todasy and everyone and their mothers had removal for chained to thge rocks. Red played molten rain, blue bounce, green revelery\abrupt decay\golgari charm.

For some time chain is close to dead ;( too many blow outs.

I played PyroTerrorKings to a 3-1-1 finiah winning 9 packs. Won/vs UWR 8 mass removal control, Naya, devo boros, mono black and strange junk gift of immortality combo.

Was eztremely happy witg erebos, thoughtseize and my 7 terror effect + burn, hoever I saw that my sb isnt as tweeked and thought as boros one, as I had too many cards I wanted to bring each matchup.

Tymaret was/nicem however didnt use him that muxh. Most of the time I just shocked opponent with chump elemental token or trade and recur.

Rix maadi
guildmage was quite good, vs devo red it made our reconers more favored, vs black they couldnt bloxk with specter. Vs control It was good for using mana to prevent commiting more to the board.

I just noticed that 10 black manais not enough,, also 22 mana is not enough.

While building this deck I noticed sth. Why we dont build dos rakis right now? Exava, Dragon, chandra, phoenix, muravault, good removal. We had most of the things needed to make this deck succesful.

Something like this maybe?

[deck]
Creatures
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
2 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Firedrinker Satyr
1 Rix Maadi Guildmage
2 Pack Rat

Lands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Rakdos Guildgate
3 Mutavault
2 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Triumph
9 Mountain

Other Spells
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Shock
1 Flames of the Firebrand
[/deck]

I just threw it together in 10 min to do
some quick tests before work. Beat up on Naya Control, Red Devotion, and Jund. Got 5 Rats out against the Jund deck, that was comical lol

[zemanjaski]

Yeah, I am looking forward to playing Rakdos, or at least testing it. So many cards that I like!

[zemanjaski]

You cannot make another post so soon after your last.

Fuck you, I am the Standard Mod! This is MY HOUSE.

Anyway, mostly Dreadbore.

[Valdarith]

Dreadbore is so good. SO good!

[RaidaTheBlade]

Just did a thursday night magic thing wih the list I mentioed earlier.
Wasn't too serious, but were some okay players who plan in going to the iq I'm going to.

Went 4-0, beating a boss sligh and 3 espers. So nothing too important, lol. Not really ven gonna bother writing it up.

Though I will say I brought in all 3 charms vs each esper, and it was a house. Won me games.

List:
[deck]Creatures:
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Pheonix
2 Stormbreath Dragon

Thighs:
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Instants:
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Shock

Enchantments/Sorceries:
4 Chained to the Rocks
2 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Mizzium Mortars

Land:
12 Mountain
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Mutavault

Sideboard:
2 Fanatic of Mogis
3 Boros Charm
3 Skullcrack
2 Last breath
1 Hammer of Purph
1 Rod of Ruin
3 Boros Reckoner[/deck]

[Helios]

Khaos, list looks good. I'd take out Pyrewild for the 2nd flames, but that's just a personal preference.

Good work Raida!

[magicdownunder]

@RaidaTheBlade
1) you should add the forth vaults since your only running 3 Boros Reckoner
2) Hammer in a 23 land deck with 2 SBD strike me as odd, I suggest changing it for the 3rd Mortor to deal with other dragons.

@Helios
How much time till the post transfer? I want to add PyroDragon to shells and toss in a Playing with PyroDragon guide.

[RaidaTheBlade]

I only have 3 vaults, and honestly, I'm more comfortable with the 3. I've tested on cockatrice with 4 and it goes weird sometimes -shrugs-

Yeah, I was actually thinking about cutting the hammer too. It was in there cause purp had it in his list, but I was already thinking of just having a third mortar in the board,
I think that'll work out better.


Honestly, I think I like this list a lot more then all the weird fiddling I've been doing trying to metagame mono-u and get reckoners in the main. It still has the speed, but the 2 extra burn spells just make me enjoy the way it plays more then what I was trying.

I'm taking a break and skipping fnm, to refresh myself before the tourney sat, and unless vundo's testing reveals some craziness, I think this is what I'm gonna run with. I just like it a lot

[magicdownunder]

I added the original PyroDragon Shell to the primer and posted up the PyroDragon play-through archives, enjoy .

[poppa_f]

OK so I finally got my first games in with my Pyro White list, playing at my local game in London (just moved to a new venue which is way bigger, but also way colder than the old one):

[deck]Creature (20)
4x Ash Zealot
4x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Firedrinker Satyr
4x Rakdos Cackler
1x Stormbreath Dragon
3x Young Pyromancer

Sorcery (1)
1x Flames of the Firebrand
Enchantment (2)
2x Chained to the Rocks

Land (23)
13x Mountain
2x Mutavault
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Temple of Triumph

Instant (11)
4x Lightning Strike
4x Magma Jet
3x Shock

Planeswalker (3)
3x Chandra, Pyromaster

Sideboard (15)
2x Boros Charm
3x Boros Reckoner
2x Chained to the Rocks
2x Mizzium Mortars
2x Pithing Needle
3x Skullcrack
1x Stormbreath Dragon[/deck]

Match 1: Won 2-0 vs Simic Devotion (pretty much my dream mactch-up, very slow deck that is vulnerable to removal, playing Master Biomancer, Prime
Speaker Zegana and Prophet of Kruphix)
G1: I get 2 YPs on the board by T3 and then proceed to build a token army as I burn his mana dorks out. He floods out and is dead before his engine can get going
G2: He assumed I was on a burn +YP plan, so sided in a load of Negates. I have a starting hand of lots of small creatures. He dies quickly and shows me his hand of negates

Match 2: Won 2-0 vs MBD (expected this to be my worst match up!)
G1: we both mull to 6. He keeps a 1 lander and doesn't draw a second land for 4-5 turns. I burn his flyers and kill him with a dragon
G2: I follow the sideboard plan and bring in my reckoners, chained to the rocks, second dragon, mortars and my 2 pithing needles. I side out FDS, cackler and YP. This time he floods out doesn't hit any bombs. He gets a Jace out, but I had pithing needle in hand, so win comfortably

Match 3: Lost 1-2 to Gruul Monsters (variant with lots of witchstalkers)
G1: he keeps a 2 lander but doesnt draw any lands for a long time. I manage to ultimate Chandra with 2 YPs on the board, for a second it looks like I'm going to whiff, but draw a beautiful magma jet as the 9th card. It's not quite enough to kill him, but scrying 6 and generating 6 tokens means he's dead the next turn regardless
G2: I side in the reckoners, pithing needles, chained to the rocks and mizziums. I side out all my small creatures. He plays a trio of Witchstalkers which I have no answer to
G3: He gets the nut draw of 3 BTE in to Nykthos in to Reverant Hunter and Polukranos. I chain the hunter, but he gets a Garruk down and smashes me to pieces with his monster army
This was a draw I thought would be OK for me, as I thought I could keep his devotion count down with burn. What I wasn't expecting was that he was playing 4 Witchstalkers main, which was a nightmare to deal with (I needed to get to 6 mana to overload mortars, and by then it was too little too late). With hindsight I wish I'd had Anger of the Gods in the
sideboard, as that would have been stellar against him. I plan to re-jig the sideboard to bring it in for next time

Match 4: Won 2-0 vs Rakdos Midrange (variant with AOTG, SBD and Rakdos keyrune as the threats)
G1: He makes a mistake early on, using his AOTG to exile my YP, when next turn I play a Phoenix. I add a dragon and Chandra to the mix. He plays his own dragon, not realising I can ping it with Chandra to swing for lethal. I side in my reckoners, dragon and chained to the rocks. I side out my small creatures
G2: Much closer match, he gets 2 rakdos keyrunes and a mutavault down, so I'm having to leave mana open on his turn in case he swings in. Eventually I get a chandra and a dragon down and get him within lethal range. He has his own dragon and a desecration demon. I end up saccing my Reckoner to tap DD and ping the dragon so I can swing in for lethal

So I finished 2nd overall on tiebreakers, the green monsters guy finished top on 4-0. I found out afterwards he was
only playing 20 lands!

Overall I really like the deck, it's great having so many micro-decisions to make each turn and sideboarding 10 cards each time often throws people off balance for game 2. Having the dragon main was priceless, it's tempting to go for two main (as I've seen some people do here), and I didn't even face any white decks! I think the only other change I'll make to my 75, is to tweak the sideboard to fit in some Anger of the Gods. I'm pretty heavily weighted against control already with the Skullcracks and Pithing Needles, so think I'll dump the Boros Charms and 1 Pithing Needle for 3 AOTGs, as a SB option against monsters (and possibly weenie aggro too)

[MaDHaT]

Hey, first post, just found the community and I'm going to be slogging through all the primers, articles and theory threads over the next week or so. Got into Magic 3 months ago, started cause some friends got really interested in playing; haven't picked up the cards since around the time I was 12. Fast forward to now, I've been drafting constantly, started drafting on MODO and now I want to dive deep into competitive standard. Gonna go play at GP Vancouver in January to get my ass handed to me and hopefully get a lot of learning and fun out of it.

Now that the semi-relevant introduction/background is covered, I'm preparing to build the Zemanjaski Anti-MODO Pyrored build from the first page. It's the seemingly lowest budget option, and as a college student that's kinda a big deal. I just want to pick up a Pyrored build (cause it seems awesome and I loved Young Pyro when I cracked him in my first draft) and start
playing, figuring out how bad I am, and learning how to actually play good magic. I can't say I can figure out my meta too well, though I think the big current standard staples of Mono-U Devo, Mono-B Devo and Esper Control are all accounted for at my LGS FNM's, with my main playgroup playing R/G monsters, white weenies and American Control. That being said, I can't go off buying a bunch of Boros Reckoners and Sacred Foundries trying to get those last 5-10% out of every deck (yet). I got a Chandras and a Mutavault from drafting, and the main shell of the deck save the Phoenix's and YP's accounted for. Is there a specific breakdown of sideboard reasoning for this specific build? I'm planning on learning all this over time, and I can see some broad obvious options. However, seeing as it'll be at least a bunch of matches before I can start making my own noobish decisions on how to approach different match-ups, a quick nitty-gritty crash course would be great. Maybe things not covered in this primer
already, links to specific posts or MODO stream replays? This forum seems awesome, crazy deep, and I have a lot of reading and learning to do. Super excited, thanks for any help I can get.

[poppa_f]

...in other news, Pyro White getting bigged up on TGC player: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11533

[magicdownunder]

...in other news, Pyro White getting bigged up on TGC player: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11533

Those were the rather outdated Boros Aggro and Burn list, not Pyro.

@MaDHaT, if you want to build a bank on MODO I recommend you wait till Dec11 for dailies to start, then go farm with Momir events (its a great tool for learning the combat step and its cheap and fair (combat is deeper then what many people give credit for)), once you get use to the combat step (and get richer) move to either Pauper, Block or Standard.

Right now Z's list will be hard to play vs so much Ux...

[MaDHaT]

@magicdownunder Ah, I should have been more clear that this is actually for paper magic. I simply picked the the Anti MODO list as a starting point to start playing the core shell of the deck and applying all the concepts it revolves around. Though your advice is something I'll take into account to start practising with.

[Tyrael]

...in other news, Pyro White getting bigged up on TGC player: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11533

Joe Demestrio himself admitted his burn list was sub optimal so it being featured is a bad thing tbh

[poppa_f]

Yeah I don't like his list much. 4 chained and 4 AOTG main is bad for control matchups and you could end up with some pretty bad draws against aggro too with all those tap lands. No Mutavaults either.

I don't think it's necessarily bad that it's featured, I think the author was just trying to show both ends of the spectrum (burn vs creature) and main jist of the article is that the deck is well placed in the current meta as you can sideboard in a lot of game against the devotion decks, and that the deck in general is very flexible, as it can pivot to being beatdown or control depending on the situation.

From my own selfish perspective I'd prefer it if the Pyro plan doesn't get *too* popular, as I don't want people to start playing specific strategies to combat it