R/b Aggro aka "Dos Rakis"

[RaidaTheBlade]

While I'm thinking about it, gonna throw up what is pretty much the 'current list' we've all sorta gotten to.
Also consolidating it with Pedros's sideboarding, with minor discussion on hero's downfall inclusion after it.

[deck]Dos Rakis[/deck]


Mono Blue / Red Agro / White Weenie / Gr Devo / Rx Devo
-4 Cackler, -4 Jester, +3 Doom Blade, +2 Whip, +3 Mortars

Esper Control
-2 Ultimate Price, -
4 Pack Rats, +2 Erebos, +2 Mortars, +2 Toil / Trouble

UW Control
-2 Ultimate Price, -4 Pack Rats, +2 Erebos, +2 Toil/Trouble, +1 Whip, +1 Hero's Downfall

Esper Midrange
-4 Pack Rats, -4 Rakdos Cackler, -1 Jester, +2 Dark Betrayal, +2 Whip, +3 Mortars, +2 Erebos

Black Devo
-3 Dragons, -2 Magma Jets, +2 Betrayal, +2 Erebos, +1 Hero's Downfall (Whip as also an option)

BW Control
-3 Dragons, -4 Magma Jets, +2 Betrayal, +2 Erebos, +3 Mortars


Credit to Pedros for majority of sideboard and really a lot of things involving the deck. MDU as well. And the rest of ya' too, cause why not?



I didn't end up updating the sideboards for hero's downfall as much as I wanted, cause wasn't sure what to do with it in a lot of places.
I fit it into u/w and black devo comfortably, but I kinda wanted it in against esper midrange and control, b/w control, and mono-u, but wasn't sure what to pull to make room.

nAgainst b/w I feel cutting a land would be doable, since we're dropping dragons and main source of scry, so flood is more dangerous.
For esper control the only thing I can think of is a magma jet, but I do love me some scry and burn.
Esper midrange could probably just drop another Jester easily enough.
Mono-u is a bit odder, and I am not really sure what to pull out. Might only bring in 2 mortars and the downfall instead of the 3 mortars.

So those are my proposed changes. Thoughts?

[Purp]

Is it better to run two Temple of Silence rather than split? The biggest variance factor that hits this deck is lack of black sources. Also, I am not sure that you should be bringing in 2 whips, and leaving chandras in... I am not too sure how good chandra actually is vs mono black, she is just a heros downfall target. In that macthups, I'd say gaining life from whip and recurring creatures is more valuable since they have no way to interact with it.

I'd also argue that we should have 3 Doom Blades and 2 Dark Betrayals.

[Zooligan]

Purp's argument for Whip > Chandra vs MonoBlack makes sense.

Re: the R/x Temple - if lack of black is a problem, why not just another Swamp instead of the ETBT land? Lose a scry 1, but can use your mana that turn.

Change gears: Is it worth considering Slaughter Games in the side over [card]Toil // Trouble[/card] (I very much want SG to be playable... but know it just may not be)

[magicdownunder]

Played a match vs. tube. Deck is still sweet. Haven't tested vs. control, but I did realize toil trouble is sweet cause it draws cards. Definitely was boarding in divination vs. Selesnya as my plan was 1 for 1s until I could get 2 for 1s.

I'm glad other have noticed the draw factor for [card]Toil // Trouble[/card].

@Zooligan and Purp: I actually believe Chandra shines in the Bx Devotion MU, just like the UWx MU - do you cut her vs UW/x because she dies to Dsphere?

[Purp]

While I don't disagree Chandra is good verse mono black, I don't see how she could be better than Whip.

[RaidaTheBlade]

@ Purp, It is actually supposed to be 3 doom blade/2 dark betrayal, I just typo'd.

As far as Chandra vs Whip, this was a question early on in the deck, when MDU and Pedros started with 1 chandra and 1 whip main. Time and time again, Chandra has proved the better option. She provides massive recursion for your phoenixes and by extension your pack rats. Also gets you an 'extra card' each turn, which again lets you just toss your normal draw to rat.

She does die to hero's downfall, but mono-b is a deck that loves 1-for-1 removal. There, her abilities are hugely important in terms of recursion, and keeping up with their card count. Whip is also good, I won't deny it, I just feel that Chandra is better.

That said, feel free to do some testing on it. I'll do some pre-fnm if I can find a mono-b player, lol. It may be that the whip is better then chandra post-board, I just don't see it. Never had her be a bad or
useless card against them, I can tell you that much.



@Zooligan, I posted my thoughts on slaughter games a page or two back, but I can summarize. I think it's a great card, I just don't think it works amazingly well here/in this standard. The only deck with a magic bullet card is mono-u with master of waves. Every other deck has a whole range of threats.
Slaughter games destroys 1-threat decks, but it's just not good enough against the current decks. Toil//Trouble can help you dig for answers if you have too, but more importantly it contributes heavily to our main gameplan, which is to count to 20.

So while SG is good, it just only hits one threat, while damage and card draw is great against kots of things

[Zooligan]

I guess I just needed to hear it again.

No wonder SG is a $.60 card. Seemed so good when it came out too...

[Purp]

mono Black runs 4 heros downfall. You can bet after seeing atleast 1 exava, chandra or SBD in G1 that in G2/G3 they will be saving their HDF for one of those threats, seeing as they will probably have at least 6 other answers to our early game.

I understand what Chandra CAN do. Please stop explaining it to me. I get she is a falter, and recurs phoenix and fuels packrat, and "draws cards" (this is only relevant when you can begin a turn with her in play and open mana). It's not christmas anymore, and this scenario does not happen more than 10% of your games played. T4 whip impacts the game immediately. Scroll through the videos for LB and Pedros, tell me how many Chandra wins them verse mono black.

A t4 whip in to a t5 erebos, there is no way we lose that game.

[Pedros]

While I'm thinking about it, gonna throw up what is pretty much the 'current list' we've all sorta gotten to.
Also consolidating it with Pedros's sideboarding, with minor discussion on hero's downfall inclusion after it.

[deck]Dos Rakis[/deck]
Creatures 22
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Pack Rat
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Burn 8
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet

Kill 4
2 Ultimate Price
2 Dreadbore

Thighs 2
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Lands 24
3 Mutavault
4 Blood Crypt
4 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Triumph
7 Mountain
4 Swamp

Sideboard 15
2 Toil/Trouble
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
3 Doom Blade
1 Hero's Downfall
2 Whip of Erebos
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Dark Betrayal
[/
deck]


Mono Blue / Red Agro / White Weenie / Gr Devo / Rx Devo
-4 Cackler, -4 Jester, +3 Doom Blade, +2 Whip, +3 Mortars

Esper Control
-2 Ultimate Price, -4 Pack Rats, +2 Erebos, +2 Mortars, +2 Toil / Trouble

UW Control
-2 Ultimate Price, -4 Pack Rats, +2 Erebos, +2 Toil/Trouble, +1 Whip, +1 Hero's Downfall

Esper Midrange
-4 Pack Rats, -4 Rakdos Cackler, -1 Jester, +2 Dark Betrayal, +2 Whip, +3 Mortars, +2 Erebos

Black Devo
-3 Dragons, -2 Magma Jets, +2 Betrayal, +2 Erebos, +1 Hero's Downfall (Whip as also an option)

BW Control
-3 Dragons, -4 Magma Jets, +2 Betrayal, +2 Erebos, +3 Mortars


Credit to Pedros for majority of sideboard and really a lot of things involving the deck. MDU as well. And the rest of ya' too, cause why not?



I didn't end up updating the sideboards for hero's downfall as much as I wanted, cause wasn't sure what to do with it in a lot of places.
I fit it into
u/w and black devo comfortably, but I kinda wanted it in against esper midrange and control, b/w control, and mono-u, but wasn't sure what to pull to make room.

Against b/w I feel cutting a land would be doable, since we're dropping dragons and main source of scry, so flood is more dangerous.
For esper control the only thing I can think of is a magma jet, but I do love me some scry and burn.
Esper midrange could probably just drop another Jester easily enough.
Mono-u is a bit odder, and I am not really sure what to pull out. Might only bring in 2 mortars and the downfall instead of the 3 mortars.

So those are my proposed changes. Thoughts?

Going with this to TNM, I will try to ceck out the sources if I want Temples split or 2 of 1 colors.
Also I like HDF over mortars vs mono U and Rx and Gx devotions - kills reckoners, dragons and polukranos at instant speed without drawback.

[JdubCT]

Going with this to TNM, I will try to ceck out the sources if I want Temples split or 2 of 1 colors.
Also I like HDF over mortars vs mono U and Rx and Gx devotions - kills reckoners, dragons and polukranos at instant speed without drawback.

The drawback is that it has BB in the casting cost. This deck can often struggle for a second black source by turn 3-4 which is a prime time for downfalling. It also costs 3 mana vs 2 which means you'll have less open for your threats.

If you feel like you want to restructure it to be more black focused HDF can work. I've tried a version or two like that and it ends up less aggro and more control. Which is a bad thing specifically because we're using guildgates not a B/r temple to smooth out draws. A midrange/controlly version of this deck will work next set but right now you need the haste and pack rat plan to get through.

As to Chandra, I
think the matchups where she shows the most promise is Mono U and White Weenie. I'd argue that main deck whip side pyro.

[Purp]

Should we bring in Erebos against GW decks to counter Courage?

[Valdarith]

Why would you do that when you have Doom Blade and Dreadbore?

[RaidaTheBlade]

I think vs G/w the better bet is just instant speed removal (or sorcery, dreadbore is wunderbar), since it's an aura.

@JdubCT, he just meant for bringing the 1 in the sideboard in instead of the third mortar.
Hero's downfall is not nearly as good as dreadbore, but the 1-of in the side is for more for another versatile removal spell that can also handle planeswalkers. It'd be a third dreadbore, but the instant gets ghostdad, and the no-red gets MoW, which as a one of in the sideboard is worth it

[Pedros]

Finished 3-1 today:

2-0 white black humans
2-1 red black agro
0-2 white black humans*
2-0 jund midrange

Changed a deck a little bit:

-1 mutavault, -1 temple of red, +1 swamp +1 temple of black.

Mana base right now is 2 vaults, 4 crypt, 4 gates, 2 black temples, 8 mountains 4 swamps. It is much smoother right now whilie still have options to attack with vaults.

* As for this matchup I kept rat 3 lands 4 removal spells as I knew what am playimg against. I them made an mistake of killing wrong creature with removal and had to chump with rat. He had 2 vaults 3 lands and creatures otherwise.

Game 2 kept 2 lands magma jet rat 2 removal chandra hand,/didnt find 3rd land by turn 6. He cast a lot of creatures but I somehow stabilized with chandra. Then cast rat, he dark betrayed it and baniahes token. Then played spear and another guys meaming he had leathal on board. I decided I didnt want to trade whole board
for whole board with him on 1 card and me on chandra onboard so I traded 1 with 1 rat and champed with vault and left myself on 1. Henthen played 3rd creature and I drew dragon and land with chandra.

I should have traded for whole board, as I had better draws than him plus I had chandra to get me 1 more card.

I might have also make and mistake when I shipped whip of erebos and mizzium mortars to the bottom while searching for lands. As I had multiple removal spells and rats to trade / get removal early and stop casting creatures so I would be fine Imo. Whip of erebos is almost gg vs it, however it would put me on 2 mana for too long probably.

This is very favorable matchup imo so if not screwed/flood and both players got optimal draws it should be a problem.

[LP, of the Fires]

For anyone wondering how to get better at magic, Pedros basically taught you.

Highly critical evaluation of games you lost and what decisions could have changed the outcome, THEN realizing the matchup is/isn't favorable and moving on with your day.

[Tyrael]

Thanks Pedros

[magicdownunder]

Pedros are you sure Wb Weenies is very favorable? I'm aware that sometimes you can just run them over since they're very dependent on the draws - but they do run Soldier of the Pantheon, Imposing Sovereign, Spear, Brave the Elements and the bane of non-exile decks Xathrid Necromancer - I'll say its in their favor since they're designed to win against Beatdown and Control decks.

[Pedros]

Yeah when I told to other people they were all saying 4rd Dragon in SB might be a correct choice over something like Toil/Trouble. I like this idea to be honest.

As for Tymaret, he is awsome but I dont know if I like him over pack rat. Rats are good everything that isnt a esper / uw control.

What are you suggesting? Rakdos's return and 4rd Dragon over 2 Toil / Troubles?

@MDU

I dont really know, I think it is still favorable matchup. Without Spear Chandra destroys them. If they keep Brave then they dont cast creatures (and also I tend to kill everything on my turn). They have no outs to Dragon, and Exava can kill everything except of Soldier in combat. They lack a serius removal potential to keep up with rats.

This isnt a very favorable matchup as it was with Pyro Boros, however I still think this deck isnt as bad. After SB when you are running almost 20 removals, 2 chandra, 2 whips, 3 dragons and 3 exavas it
doesnt seem too hard. Of course you still can loose, however I think that deck wins only if they have perfect combinatio of cards. You can use phoenix as a removal and thread, but they cant use cretures as removals, brave as a creatures.

This is my opinion, if u ask any BW humans pilot he would say they are extremely favored

[LaZerBurn]

I wouldn't dream of taking out a Pack Rat for a random Tymaret. On paper he looks great but the Rats are incredibly good, the card that really made the deck viable I think.

I do think RR has huge potential. TT is good but often it's just a Lava Axe. RR can literally win you the game as it strips their hand.

[Pedros]

Ok so sb:

2 Erebos
2 Whip of Erebos
2 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
3 Mizium Mortars
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Rakdos's Return

in the last slot do we want Stormbreath Dragon, Hammer of Purporos or Toil / Trouble? Hammer isnt amazing, however it makes use of our excess land drops, however is terrible vs Elspeth.

To fight against weenie decks, should we try to fit 1 flames of the firebrand or shrivel or profit/loss?

[Purp]

Missed top four tonight due to breakers, it was a cut to top 4 which they normally don't do.

Played
[deck]Creatures 22
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Pack Rat
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Burn 8
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet

Kill 4
2 Ultimate Price
2 Dreadbore

Ench 2
2 Whip

Lands 24
3 Mutavault
4 Blood Crypt
4 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Temple of Silence
7 Mountain
4 Swamp

Sideboard 15
2 Toil/Trouble
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
3 Doom Blade
1 Hero's Downfall
2 Chandra
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Dark Betrayal[/deck]

Never had mana issues all night, 2 temples of silence is the way to go. Probably going to make them temple of deceit for t1 mindgames.

Lost to rdw.

Boros Burn lists are starting to pick up, I expect quite a few at the ptq.

[MattT]

Brave protects vs FotF, so no. Shrivel is better. As for the Tymaret discussion I suggest trying him as 4 Rats are redundant imo which I adressed before.

[Pedros]

Missed top four tonight due to breakers, it was a cut to top 4 which they normally don't do.

Played
[deck]Creatures 22
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Pack Rat
4 Spike Jester
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Burn 8
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet

Kill 4
2 Ultimate Price
2 Dreadbore

Ench 2
2 Whip

Lands 24
3 Mutavault
4 Blood Crypt
4 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Temple of Silence
7 Mountain
4 Swamp

Sideboard 15
2 Toil/Trouble
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
3 Doom Blade
1 Hero's Downfall
2 Chandra
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Dark Betrayal[/deck]

Never had mana issues all night, 2 temples of silence is the way to go. Probably going to make them temple of deceit for t1 mindgames.

Lost to rdw.

Boros Burn lists are starting
to pick up, I expect quite a few at the ptq.

I see you exchanged whip with chandra in MD <-> SB. How was it?

Did you miss red mana? I agree 14 black sources is correct, however playing only 15 red sources seems scarry.

[Purp]

I never missed red mana. Post board we are bringing in more black spells so everything felt good.

Chandra vs Whip - I didnt notice much of a difference. I only drew each of them in different matchups. Both were g2. Still needs more testing.

[Purp]

Esper Midrange popping up on two Premium SCG articles today, definitely means it is going to see a rise in play at PTQ.

[Pedros]

Am afraid of playing so many double red with 15 red sources only ;/ 2 mutavaults makes mana more stable, dunno probably will play safer with only 2 mutavaults.

What about sb vs control instead of toil/troubles? Rakdos's Return and 4rd Dragon?

[Purp]

The only time you really need to hit double red is on t3 for pheonix. You will have it by turn 5, and I have found most of the time you don't want to be playing Chandra on t4. I would not cut a mutavault, it is amazing combo with Spike Jester.

I am not sure about RR or 4th dragon. To me Toil is only good when casted on turn 3. It gets progressively weaker throughout the game and prevents us from playing threats. There are at least 5 counters being run, so I am not sure if RR is a good idea either.

[Lowlandwizards]

Hello! A few people mentioned me already, but I too have been playing this deck. I've been playing it for about a week now and have had some pretty decent results.
Top 8'ed a premier and probably have about a 75% - 80%ish winrate with it in dailies (though the last two days I actually went x-2 twice, which sucked.. but it happens)

I feel I have probably played a hundred games or more with the deck, and my sideboard has changed quite a bit whilst the mainboard has always stayed the same.
It makes me feel like maybe a small change is in order to the mainboard, personally I am considering adding a whip main, because it is good against a lot of things, I am just trying to figure out what to cut.
Also, I sometimes feel like I'm a little short on black sources, so I am considering adding one of those.

My current SB looks like this ;
3 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Whip
of Erebos (I have not added one to the MB yet, if I do I'll have an extra SB slot)
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
2 Slaughter Games

I have only cast Slaughter games 4 times, but all 4 times it won me the game on the spot, so I am quite pleased with them.

I see a lot of people that are fans of Toil // Trouble, but personally I have never been able to get it off for more than 3, and Chandra, Whip of Erebos and Erebos, God of the Dead already
basically draw you cards, and do it better than Toil // Trouble. And you'll be boarding those in anyway, so it seems clever to free up SB space.

SB plans I feel are a little difficult at times, as I have lost several times to the blind turn 2 yoloswag pack rat by mono black players, so I actually like magma jets.

All in all I am quite pleased with the deck, and except for the Borzhov Burn deck, I feel this deck is currently quite favoured against most decks so I will probably be playing this in 2 weeks at a PTQ.

[Purp]

---

Hello! A few people mentioned me already, but I too have been playing this deck. I've been playing it for about a week now and have had some pretty decent results.
Top 8'ed a premier and probably have about a 75% - 80%ish winrate with it in dailies (though the last two days I actually went x-2 twice, which sucked.. but it happens)

I feel I have probably played a hundred games or more with the deck, and my sideboard has changed quite a bit whilst the mainboard has always stayed the same.
It makes me feel like maybe a small change is in order to the mainboard, personally I am considering adding a whip main, because it is good against a lot of things, I am just trying to figure out what to cut.
Also, I sometimes feel like I&
#39;m a little short on black sources, so I am considering adding one of those.

My current SB looks like this ;
3 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Whip of Erebos (I have not added one to the MB yet, if I do I'll have an extra SB slot)
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
2 Slaughter Games

I have only cast Slaughter games 4 times, but all 4 times it won me the game on the spot, so I am quite pleased with them.

I see a lot of people that are fans of Toil // Trouble, but personally I have never been able to get it off for more than 3, and Chandra, Whip of Erebos and Erebos, God of the Dead already
basically draw you cards, and do it better than Toil // Trouble. And you'll be boarding those in anyway, so it seems clever to free up SB space.

SB plans I feel are a little difficult at times, as I have lost several times to the blind turn 2 yoloswag pack rat by mono black players, so I actually like magma jets.

All in all I am quite pleased with
the deck, and except for the Borzhov Burn deck, I feel this deck is currently quite favoured against most decks so I will probably be playing this in 2 weeks at a PTQ.

Glad you could join us Lowl!

Some quick questions:

How has Chandra been for you? The topic of Whip vs Chandra MD/SB has been an on-going discussion since this deck was first brewed up. We agree that one of our weaker matchups is faster aggro decks. The deck first started with 1 Chanda/1 Whip Main.

I liked hero's downfall last night, but I am wondering if adding the 3rd dark betrayal back is just better for killing Obzedat.
How often have you seen the one of FotF?

Like you, I too am playing this deck at a PtQ. However mine is tomorrow! Would you mind posting your sideboard strategy?

[Pedros]

Nice thanks for answers Lowlands, good you finaly got the registration mail.

Yeah I also am thinking about cutting Toil/Troubles, I had some success with it but basicly it is another burn...

I saw you playing Stormbreath Dragon in sb, how was it?

What made you choose 3 dark betrayals and 2 mizium mortars? Not scaried of blood barons?

@Purp

Mine also is tommorow so would be glad if we can get some consensus here about SB

As for Hero's Downfall, after changing my manabase (14 black sources now) I didnt have problem with casting it. It also kills master of the waves which is important - 6 answers are better than 5 ;P

[Purp]

Well I think we all agree:

2 Dark Betrayal ----could be 3
3 Doom Blade
2 Mizzium Mortars ----could be 3
2 Erebos

Question is now what to add and what numbers. Random thought.... Is whip better than just adding more removals? ie: shock

[dpaine88]

Hey Fellas!

Been crazy the past week with holidays and new female in my life.

Love all the work you guys are doing on this. Great to have Ham back too!!

Great insight everyone and special props to Raida for really coming on recently! You rock dude

[RaidaTheBlade]

I do think that whip is better then more removal. Whip does just win games vs aggro if they don't have wear//tear in hand...
I'm also heavily in the 3 mortars camp, because of Blood Baron, that guy is a right asshole...


Based on what y'all have been discussing, and previous thoughts, my sideboard at the moment is:
2 Dark Betrayal
3 Doom Blade
1 Hero's Downfall (could be dreadbore, still not 100%, but think hd is slightly better as the 1-of)
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Whip of Erebos
2 Erebos
2 Rakdos's Return

I'm gonna test rr at fnm tonight, but after all the discussion, I do think it might work better then toil//trouble.


@dpaine, not sure I deserve it, but thanks A little bit of confidence boost goes a long way.

[Lowlandwizards]

... I just wrote a massive post that took my like 30 minutes to write and pressed submit and it refreshed the page but nothing happened, and I lost the post, so I will try to write it again (BAH).

@Purp ; Chandra has been an absolute beast, I would never cut her for a whip, she is TOO good in TOO many match ups. I was considering cutting an exava or pack rat (or putting one of them in the sb for the whip).

Dark Betrayal is our only way to ever kill Obzedat (short of two for oneing ourselves) so I really like it, much more than mizzium mortars. Also, Mono-B is fairly big and it's just an excellent cards against them, I really want to kill as much as I can when playing them.
I have only cast the Flames of the Firebrand 3 or 4 times, but when I see it and I can cast it against the match ups I want it in, it is always a 2 for 1. I like it better than profit // loss, because it can also kill nightveil spectres if needed.
n
Some SB Plans (if you want to know more, or my reasoning is unclear, or if you disagree, please let me know! I'm always open for other opinions)

Mono-B (on the Play) -3 Dragons, -4 Magma Jets ; +2 Erebos God of the Dead, +2 Whip of Erebos, +3 Dark Betrayal
Mono-B (on the Draw) -3 Dragons, -4 Cacklers ; +2 Erebos, God of the Dead, +2 Whip of Erebos, +3 Dark Betrayal (it is unreasonable to expect us to be aggressive against mono-b on the draw. They also bring in more removal and their own whips. The Cacklers seem Pathetic.

Mono-U -4 Cackler, -4 Spike Jester ; +3 Doom Blade, +2 Whip of Erebos, +2 Mizzium Mortars

UW Control -4 Pack Rat, -2 Ultimate Price ; +2 Whip of Erebos, +2 God of the Dead, +2 Slaughter Games

WBU Humans-ish Deck (I find it really REALLY hard to SB against this, please let me know if you guys have different plans) -4 Pack Rat, -4 Cackler, -4 Spike Jester ; +3 Doom Blade, +2 Erebos, God of the Dead, +2 Whip of Erebos, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Flames of the Firebrand, +2
Slaughter Games/+1 Slaughter Games +1 Dark Betrayal/+2 Dark Betrayal. The last few switches I'm experimenting with. We cannot really be aggressive against this deck. First strike and pro multi-coloured is a real beating for us. This is why I think we are a bit of a control deck against them. The Slaughter Games for their Whips of Erebos (and if you draw a second one probably Obzedat or Blood Baron or even Detention Sphere) is quite good.

Please let me know if you'd like to know more... the original post was a bit more detailed but I can't remember everything >_<.

@Pedros ; I am not really scared of Blood Barons, so I really like the Dark Betrayal more. Slaughter Games also gets Blood Baron, and since they have like.. 13 hand disruption effects, it seems a bit silly to board in removal spells we can basically only use to kill one creature (it doesn't kill demon, or pack rat until you can overload it) That's why I'm running 3 Dark Betrayal. Also it's just better because Mono B/Golgari-ish
Decks are really popular.. I am even considering adding a fourth, but that might just be too many.

The SB Dragon as okay.. but it was basically only for UW Control, and I have Slaughter Games for them now, which is much better. When you cast it you basically can't lose.

@Purp again. I used to run a shock in my SB, it was okay, but not great, I would rather play flames of the firebrand. but maybe the whips are too slow.. I am not sure, but I rarely lose when I resolve it, it's so strong. But the Borzhov burn deck is a real problem, probably our worst match up, we need a way to turn that into our favour, and whip is quite slow at doing that.

Hope this covers it a bit.. again sorry lads, original post was a bit better probably, don't know why it didn't work.. it just logged me off. Any questions let me know and I'll try to respond A.S.A.P.

[Pedros]

I will probably play 2 from Slaughter Games / Rakdos's Return / Stormbreath dragon in sb.

Would also like to have 1 flames of the firebrand in sb. Help please with last choices. Looking forward to your opinions about Return Raida.

[Pedros]

Just random thought before going to sleep - have to leave home at 4 am.

What about singleton anger of the gods in place of flames of the firebrand?

Sb would be like this:

3 doom blades
2 whip
2 erebos
1 anger of the gods
2 from those 3: rakdos return, slaughter games, stormbreath dragon
1 hero downfall
2 mizzium mortars
2 dark betrayals

Potential cutting downfall fo 3rd mortars or 3rd betrayal

Also 2 mutavaults, 16 red and 14 black sources or 3 mutavaults, 15 red and 14 black?

[Purp]

Anger seems much better!

[Helios]

Good luck at ya'll's events this weekend!

yoloswag pack rat

[hamfactorial]

#SwackRat

[Self Medicated]

I would cut the Downfall for a 3rd Mortars. I've mostly seen Baron run as a 4 of.

Also, I think going 2 Vaults and 16 red sources is right. We need consistent colored mana in order to cast double red spells.

Not sure whether we should go 2 RR or 2 SG. Maybe one of each? I don't think we need the 4th Dragon in the SB though.

EDIT: This is what I'm thinking of playing at my LGS for a GPT tomorrow. Any advice or constructive criticism is welcomed.

[DECK]
Lands (24)
4x Blood Crypt
8x Mountain
2x Mutavault
4x Rakdos Guildgate
4x Swamp
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Temple of Silence

Creatures (22)
4x Chandra's Phoenix
3x Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
4x Pack Rat
4x Rakdos Cackler
4x Spike Jester
3x Stormbreath Dragon

Spells (14)
2x Dreadbore
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
4x Lightning Strike
4x Magma Jet
2x Ultimate Price

Sideboard (15)
1x Anger of the Gods
2x Dark Betrayal
3x Doom Blade
2x Erebos,
God of the Dead
3x Mizzium Mortars
1x Rakdos's Return
1x Slaughter Games
2x Whip of Erebos
[/DECK]