R/b Aggro aka "Dos Rakis"

Pedros · Postby **Pedros** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 9:59 pm

Where I can find md jedi? Is it the same one?

I love ricochet and duresses. Those cards can also come vs esper control. Counter and redirect revelations? Draw 10 ? Yes plz.

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 10:21 pm

Basically the same thing as last time. main changes are the SB and for main deck it would be:
-3 Zealot/Cackler/whatever -1 HDF => +4 Young Pyromancer
-1 Stormbreath Dragon => +1 Tymaret, the Murder King (the interaction with Phoenix or YP is just peachy)
-1 Mutavault => +1 Rakdos Guildgate (tired of getting color screwed)

Got my ass handed t me in daily by weird monoU but then I SBed wrong (Exava really is next to useless there). Duresses helps immensely against both Burn and Esper/UW. I tried playing with Seizes but I like Duress more: with Burn being such important matchup now I don't think we can afford the lifeloss. Having Duress also prevents us from bringing it every matchup which is a notion I had when playing with Seizes.

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 10:33 pm

I do think we need to keep HDF in against UW. They tend to bring in rather annoying stuff like Paladin and Archangel.

So UW: +4 Duress, +1 UP, +2 Cracks, +1 Ricochet, +1 LBZ / -3 Shock, -4 Dreadbore, -2 Jet? Or -1 Jet and don't bring in Ricochet... it's rather situational against them.

Pedros · Postby **Pedros** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 10:48 pm

Why you sb in UP and sb out dreadbores? Dreadbores are one of the better cards vs UW as they answer both their planeswalker AND creatures.

Halewind · Postby **Halewind** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 12:08 am

Hi, I build the RW Burn deck that you complain rigth after the BTG pre-release because i endend with 4 copies of searing blood, and came up with the crazy idea of make a burn deck based on pre-BTG releases, but with no creatures except phoenix and mutas to blank all black removal. The idea was to crash monoblack and control players of that era. My deck was very similar to nowadays decks, except no Ash Zealots (no creatures, remember) and 4 Chains. I crushed my meta then and nobody ever knew what was hitting them... but then the cat was out of the bag, and now you can see this deck everywhere. My recent iterations are similar to the decks played in GP Buenos Aires (where I am from, but couldn't go there for family trouble).

Introductions made, here my advice from the RW Burn player side:
-.Give that deck time, and he will burn you out. Pressure is everthing. When the burn player
has 5 lands and can chain spells or burn and play phoenix in the same turn, you're toast.
-.Blind obedience from the sideboard will end you: no more haste guys, and the incremental life drain will eventually kill you. Play fast and hope they don't draw it (or discard it).
-.Chain 2 big dudes to race them: usually when I was playing against monoblack, it was a bye, EXCEPT when they played demon + demon. The first you could kill at the expense of 2 burn spells, or the chain, the 2nd. kills the burn player.
-.Your best allies are dragon (prot. from chain and helix) and whip, but you must not loose a single landrop. Late dragon means dead anyways.
-.TZ is not too good; yeah, you rip a card, maybe a good one, but you give them a free shock. Except you take a helix from me, i don't bother the card i loose, and i appretiate the 2 points of selfdamage.
-.From the sideboard, duress is the card that hurts them more: you take my card like TZ, but not 2 point damage. Recommend 3-4 copies, and also you can use
them against control. Also add a 2nd whip: big dudes + whip is almost unbeatable for the RW burn player.
-.You side out the Dreadbores and black removal, leave all the creatures and burn.
-.Also if you use skullcrack in the side, leave them at the ready when the burn player hits 4 lands. Mastering the RW mirror, is ALL about the helix and the skullcrack game.

And don't forget: pressure, pressure, pressure.

Beat burn like RG monsters does: big fucking dudes with haste!

Hope this helps.

I'm still a RW Burn player, but has made this Dos Rakis based on JediKnight my second deck to use in a GR or Jund Monsters heavy meta.

In other message I will leave my tunning of the Radkis deck, but i leave just 1 line:
When I play 24 lands, I usually miss a landrop and die with dragon in hand. Or my 5 land enters tapped, and i die. Or I play dragon and then die.
When I play 25 lands (always 1 mutavault, not too greedy), I have no mana trouble, but sometimes I flood badly, and feel like i would like more
threaths density in the deck.
After going back and forth, I settled in 24 1/2 lands. How? I play 25 lands in a 61 cards main deck. Never went back from there... and now I have the excact proportion of lands and threaths. The 61 card is the 4th Ash Zealot to put... PRESSURE!!!

I have just win 10 games in a row with Dos Rakis (most of them 2-0) with that config, facing all kind of decks (except the hexproof deck).

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 1:00 am

Why you sb in UP and sb out dreadbores? Dreadbores are one of the better cards vs UW as they answer both their planeswalker AND creatures.

Well, UP hits paladin. Questino then is, whether we want a single card that takes care of that guy since he essentially blanks us on the ground or whether we want to force him into a verdict (and a card that gets rid of walkers/Archangel)... you may be correct that leaving DB is the right choice.

magicdownunder · Postby **magicdownunder** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 1:24 am

Duress + Ricochet?? Madness!!!

I would like to see this list

hoeiberg · Postby **hoeiberg** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 8:38 am

Well, UP hits paladin.

If by Paladin you mean fiendslayer paladin, then no it doesn't.

fooMtg · Postby **fooMtg** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 10:25 am

Hello , new guy, adore magic, love burn (I am not considering myself a good player to play burn deck which is a good deck but I think it requires a skillful play)
I am going this Saturday to a "GPT Warsaw" and definitely bringing the Rakdos aggro list.
The new tech cards seems really good and would like give them a try.
SBing is my weakest point since I am only playing once a week due to time limitations (family, work etc.).
I would like to hear of a rough sideboard plan with the following list. I would also like some deck criticism.

[deck]
Lands 25
6 x [card]Mountain
5 x [card]Swamp
4 x [card]Temple Of Malice
4 x [card]Blood Crypt
4 x [card]Rakdos Guildgate
2 x [card]Mutavault

CREATURES 21
4 x [card]Spike Jester
3 x [card]Young Pyromancer
4 x [card]Chandra's Phoenix
3 x [card]Lifebane Zombie
3 x [card]Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
3 x [card]Stormbreath Dragon
1 x [card]Tymaret, the Murder
King

INSTANTS and SORCERIES 13
4 x [card]Lightning Strike
4 x [card]Magma Jet
3 x [card]Dreadbore
2 x [card]Hero's Downfall

OTHER 1
1 x [card]Whip of Erebos

SIDEBOARD 15
3 x [card]Duress
2 x [card]Skullcrack
2 x [card]Doom Blade
2 x [card]Mizzium Mortars
2 x [card]Dark Betrayal
2 x [card]Devour Flesh
1 x [card]Whip of Erebos
1 x [card]Wild Ricochet
[/deck]

P.S.
I know that I haven't contributed to this community so I am might asking for too much but I will try my best to write a good GPT report.

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 1:08 pm

Well, UP hits paladin.
If by Paladin you mean fiendslayer paladin, then no it doesn't.

Fok me. You're right, my bad. Totally forgot that little Arthas has pseudo pro-black too.

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 1:27 pm

@ fooMtg: Deck looks solid, but be warned: with your manabase your starts won't exactly be explosive. Variance is a bitch and I for one am uncomfortable with anything more than 2 gates since we want to start chewing as quickly as possibly. Also 2 Vaults and 3 LBZ means you're either gonna play LBZ on T4, which certainly isn't enough against GRx, or you're not gonna cast it (or Phoenix for that matter) which is far worse. Then again GRx matchup is practically a bye (out of 13 games I have 84,62% winrate, total of 2 lost) but some games you'll just look sadly at the cards in your hand without a way to play them.

Be warned then.

As for the Whip, I kinda came over it: Burn will usually either crack me in response or burn away my creatures which transforms whip into "pay 4cc: do nothing" and next turn "pay 4cc: do X damage to your opponent, where X is highest power of creatures in your grave". Does not
solve the issue. Duress on the other hand does as does Wild Ricochet. So no more whip for me now.

Whether you want Shocks or not is up to you, they are much better with YP$, but YMMV.

As for SB, I'd go with this:

UWx/Esper:
+3 Duress, +2 Cracks
-3 Dreadbore, -2 HDF
/ can go +2 Mortars or +2 Devour if ya fear their biters, in which case I would remove... well, something. Prolly Jet.
/ I am not a fan of bringing Ricochet here, would rather have another Crack.

Ux Devo:
+2 Doom Blade, +2 Mortars, +2 Devour Flesh, +1 Whip
-4 Spike Jester, -3 Exava

GRx:
+2 Doom Blade, +2 Mortars
-4 Jester

BW mid:
+2 Dark Betrayal, +2 Mortars, +2 Devour (not really sure there)
-3 Dragon, -2 Gates, -1 whatever you feel like
/ this is my current SB plan against them, like I said I really dislike removing our burn there. feel free to disagree

Bx devo:
+2 Betrayals, +2 Cracks, +2 Mortars
-1 Whip, -3 Dragons, -1 Gate / -1 Whip, -4 Jet, -1
Dragon / fuck Mortars: not really useful there, so : -1 Whip, -1 Dragon, -2 Jet

Burn:
+3 Duress, +2 Cracks, +2 Devour Flesh, +1 Ricochet, +1 Whip
-3 Dreadbore, -2 HDF, -3 LBZ, -1 whatever you feel like

Hexproof:
+2 Devour Flesh, +2 Cracks, +3 Duress
-2 HDF, -3 Dreadbore, -2 whatever
/not really sure whether we want to bring in Duress here, but we have to get rid of their shit somehow.

rough draft as far as I am concerned. I would up Betrayal/Doom Blade count to 3, so -1 Whip +1 Ultimate Price in SB. Other than that... I guess best of luck?

Also If anybody else could comment and offer differing opinions that would be great.

Deht · Postby **Deht** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 2:52 pm

Tom Ross has R/b in his latest article with one of Jedi_Knight's 1st Place lists. http://www.starcitygames.com/article/28 ... Aggro.html

poppa_f · Postby **poppa_f** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 3:10 pm

I agree with JK that 4 gates is too many. You want to cast your threats on curve (especially LBZ) and I've also found hitting that sixth land to overload mizzium can be critical against G/R (to the point that I'm now considering running keyrunes in the sideboard to curve out faster). Would swap 2 gates for 1 mountain/1 swamp. Personally I found 25 lands 1 too many, especially as you have zero card draw and aren't running Rakdos's Returns.

Not sure I like having 4 Jet and 4 lightning strike, the range is quite narrow for those spells in the main match-ups, especially magma jet (G/R has moved away from 2 toughness creatures because of drown in sorrow). I'd consider swapping 2 jet for 2 mizzium, gives you outs against Blood Baron in game 1, overload can be relevant and it kills Courser, SBD, Brimaz and Frostburn Weird. I'd even consider running shock over magma jet, as it combos so nicely with YP and Phoenix.

nSideboard wise I'd run the 4th LBZ there (as it's your best card against G/x and good against any decks that run blood baron and/or Obzedat). I'd replace one of the doom blades in your SB with a 4th dreadbore (so many people play black these days that I'd consider getting rid of doom blade completely, replace the 2nd copy with ultimate price or HDF).

In terms of matchups, I'd keep HDF in against U/x and esper (as it kills most of their win conditions, Obzedat, Archangel of Thune, Elspeth). I'd probably side out YP, as it's too slow to be much help there.

I'd also leave the whip in against Bx devo, as you will be 1-4-1'ing each other's threats, so the whip can be good to eek out some extra damage from your dead guys. Against burn I'd leave LBZ in and not bring in devour flesh.

Deck looks pretty solid, although I'm not convinced about YP being there. He was one of my favourite cards pre BotG, but now the weenie decks and 2 toughness creatures have become less popular, I think he's
lost a lot of his utility. G/R will just smash through any tokens you make and MBD can just drown in sorrow or bile blight him. That said, I've not tested with him in the rakdos shell, so I'm not talking from direct experience (and I know MDU is quite keen on him in this deck).

poppa_f · Postby **poppa_f** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 3:17 pm

Tom Ross has R/b in his latest article with one of Jedi_Knight's 1st Place lists. http://www.starcitygames.com/article/28 ... Aggro.html

It'd be great if the last two copies of Lifebane Zombie could make their way into the maindeck since it's so good right now

I played in my LGS last night with my B/R deck and I've come round to the same thinking,that I should be playing 4 LBZ main (as over half the field seems to be playing G/R).

My new idea is to have rakdos keyrunes in the sideboard, which will help you ramp out to mizzium overload against G/R or a big RR against MBD, burn or control.
Also want to experiment running drown in sorrow in the sideboard as an option against aggro. Will test out on on MTGO this weekend. Also can't decide if 2 mutavaults is too greedy:

B/R latest build

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 4:04 pm

I don't know about the LBZ... but sure, why not try it.

Also the 4Jet/4LS is there simply because of Phoenix. Pointless to run that many burn spells if ya not taking advantage of it as Phoenix is essentially the most powerful thing in the deck when the game goes long.

I am currently testing YP but he sure as heck is slow: the problem is that I want an edge against BlOb. I may cut him to two copies (already cut one) but so far he is not bad... not great though since we aren't running that many spells to take full advantage of him. He also shines with 1cmc spells and sucks when you just play him to get removed: lost a fair share of games where sequencing my plays differently would have resulted in wins.

Not really sure about ramping, but I would be very curuious to hear your results. Haven't played with keyrunes since... well, ever. It would probably increase our win% against controls as you say, but I am currently
having the most trouble with following decks: MBC (that's usual), Ux devo (WTF? Yep, have a near even results with them) and ofc Burn/Hexproof. Burn is mangable with Duress, Hexproof is just sad. Duress kinda helps but once they get their shit on the table you can just hope they lose to themselves.

Currently going (well, tried +1 Shock -1 LBZ, let's see how it goes with 3 main) with this pile (and I may up the Devour Flesh count to two, since I am FUCKING TIRED OF LOSING TO GLADECOVER SCOUT)
[deck]Creatures
4 Spike Jester
1 Tymaret, the Murder King
3 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Lifebane Zombie
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
3 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells
2 Shock
4 Dreadbore
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
1 Hero's Downfall

Lands
4 Blood Crypt
2 Rakdos Guildgate
7 Mountain
4 Temple of Malice
6 Swamp
1 Mutavault

Sideboard
2 Doom Blade
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Dark Betrayal
1 Lifebane Zombie
2 Skullcrack
1 Ultimate
Price
1 Wild Ricochet
3 Duress
1 Devour Flesh
[/deck]

I must say I am finally starting to get happy with SB. I just like one-ofs and two-ofs.

poppa_f · Postby **poppa_f** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 5:16 pm

JK if you are struggling against BlOb and hexproof then I really recommend trying ratchet bomb in the SB. It's a massive beating for hexproof, you can normally blow up their gladecover scout or whatever they have suited up and it also deals with BlOb.

Devour flesh is a decent option, but gets tricky if they have multiple hexproof guys in play and/or mutavaults (which a good hexproof guy will do against a black deck post-board).

Also consider thoughtseize, as they run relatively few creatures, so if they keep a hand with auras and one creature, then you can screw them over (on the play LBZ can somtimes be good here too, as you can grab their witchstalker or fiendslayer)

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Fri Mar 28, 2014 9:26 pm

The Bomb actually works better than Thoughtseize for what I want it do: that is to take care of things already on the table. May try, thanks for the idea.

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 1:21 am

Ok, I gotta pin something to my computer screen. 2 things:

fucking THINK before you do anything.
DO NOT play after midnight.

I've had lethal on board against Reanimator thanks to Tymaret (giving me an out to his lifelink) yet I just passed the turn. Well done. I am an idiot.

magicdownunder · Postby **magicdownunder** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 12:53 pm

I've watch MafMaf take a few DE's now, even beating the likes of Z running this:

[deck=MafMaf's Br Aggro]Lands
4 Blood Crypt
1 Mountain
4 Mutavault
11 Swamp
4 Temple of Malice

Creatures
4 Pack Rat
2 Spiteful Returned
3 Thrill-Kill Assassin
4 Herald of Torment
3 Lifebane Zombie
4 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
2 Gray Merchant of Asphodel

Spells
4 Thoughtseize
3 Bile Blight
1 Mizzium Mortars
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Whip of Erebos

Sideboard
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Burning Earth
2 Dark Betrayal
2 Desecration Demon
2 Doom Blade
2 Duress
1 Pharika's Cure
3 Underworld Connections
[/deck]

Now don't be deceived this deck has legs, it has sers. game against Burn and obv. strengths vs the rest of the field simply because its black.

Its def. something worth testing imo.

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 2:38 pm

Having 2 Whips and 2 Garys main seems like a serious headache for Burn... that is if you get there. But these cards alone present a reasonable out - they kinda have to be here though with removal being dead against Burn. He is sacrificing Dreadbore for Mutavaults which seems like a fair trade given that every deck wants to be as aggressive as possible now.

It's basically a blaack aggro with splash for 8 red cards: 4x Exava, 3x Mortars and 1x Burning Earth. I like it, just a little bit sad that he has to forfeit Spike Jester too given his manabase. Thrill-Kill is a sad replacement.

I am missing few cards for this list (DDs, Connections, Heralds, Pack Rats) otherwise would be glad to try it.

Also Duress seriously improved the burn matchup. I've gone from losing nearly everything to 41% since I added that and Ricochet to SB: and
ricochet is a house. No one expects it. There are rather obvious ways to play around it but so far it won me every game I've drawn it... that is against the current Burn players - with the deck gaining momentum, everyone is bound to see a new player piloting it which is a another way to improve the matchup.

LaZerBurn · Postby **LaZerBurn** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 2:48 pm

That's a strong list! I def think that Br is the strongest version of Dos Rakis.

@ J_K - I'm missing lots of cards for the deck myself too but you're welcome to borrow my Rats if you want to test it (ask on the MTGO thread for the rest, I'm pretty sure someone will be able to hook you up)

magicdownunder · Postby **magicdownunder** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 2:49 pm

Mister Met / AngelPagan, has Heralds since he is borrowing my black cards so ask him if he is done with them

(I can provide Underground Connection and DD while Lazer has Pack Rats).

I'm not sure if MafMaf list is refined (it def. look like it could do with improvement) but I dislike changing other people's list without testing it how it is first.

Deht · Postby **Deht** » Sat Mar 29, 2014 9:24 pm

Kent Ketter is playing a Black Red Aggro list pretty darn similar to the standard list and he is 11-3 right now at the Star City Invitational, probably in the top 8. -- > http://www.starcitygames.com/events/cov ... ent_k.html

Edit --- no top 8 for Kent, lost in round 15.

Tyrael · Postby **Tyrael** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:16 am

Interestingly, he got completely demolished by Tom Ross' new small aggro brew, Boss Blitz

Deht · Postby **Deht** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:24 am

Interestingly, he got completely demolished by Tom Ross' new small aggro brew, Boss Blitz

While people may disagree with this (I'm sure they will), I think that this build is a little soft to other aggro decks, while we have good hastey creatures the scry lands hurt, and Ross's build really uses Burning Tree as a springboard for dumping more stuff out of your hand. I think Br pairs up MUCH better against midrange and control decks.

magicdownunder · Postby **magicdownunder** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:27 am

Interestingly, he got completely demolished by Tom Ross' new small aggro brew, Boss Blitz

He is running 0 Shocks, he isn't even compensating with Drown in Sorrow or Anger so its no surprise Blitz would have slaughtered him.

Tyrael · Postby **Tyrael** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:34 am

He tried racing him which obviously didn't end well

mutantcrock · Postby **mutantcrock** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 5:45 am

I don't understand why you would splash red and run 0 Dreadbore in the 75.

poppa_f · Postby **poppa_f** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:15 am

I don't understand why you would splash red and run 0 Dreadbore in the 75.

Yeah I thought the same thing.

I like having LBZ and tbhoughtseize main. I'm experimenting with 3 thoughtseize main at the moment (and dropping magma jet completely) and it's working really well.

Basically I realised I was sideboarding it in for any non-aggro matchup, and hardly anyone seems to play aggro any more.

This actually led me down another train of thought, which is that small aggro must be really well placed right now, as everyone is configuring their decks to beat MBD and G/R, tempted to throw together an AIR deck or White Weenie to see how it performs

poppa_f · Postby **poppa_f** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 10:38 am

in other news, my brief flirtation with Drown in Sorrow was pretty disastrous, so switching back to Pharika's cure as my sideboard option for aggro

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 2:38 am

Fok me. We're debating whether 1 or 2 Mutavaults aren't greedy and that guy just puts in 2 Temples and upps the vault count to 3 like there is no tommorrow.

I actually like the idea. I also like the Heralds instead of LBZ as they are another creatures that fly and they evade Searing Blood. We can soften our matchup with GRx as far as I am concerned and with Orzhov losing momentum (at least online that is) it may be better choice right now given what we're trying to achieve.

Also we ARE soft to aggro. For me it's actually (aside from that hexproof shit) the worst matchup: Burn is manageable now as basically everyone is trying it and everyone is trying to counter it but the small aggro decks can just go nuts and overwhelm you with their army of little guys. I agree with poppa_f that they are very well positioned right now. The good thing for us is that they are rather fringe and there are
quite a few way for us to deal with them (meaning SB). The thing that scares me the most with these decks that with everyone expecting to face burn they will be packing Peak Eruption in the board, which can ruin our day more than any other card they can possibly have.

fooMtg · Postby **fooMtg** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 9:44 am

Try to make my first report on a GPT Warsaw. Small event 22 persons, all tier one decks presents (MonoU, UWx, GRx, MonoB dev) apart from BW midrange and Burn (also Naya Hexproof was missing but not considering this deck tier1 yet). Also there were 2xRDW, 1xGolgari Dredge , 1xMonoB aggro and a weird Golgari midrange deck but not dredge.
The list I brought in was a similar to the one post above with small modifications (main:fixed manabase, -1 Pyromancer +1 LBZ +1 dreadbore tried the 61 deck version, SB: -1 wild ricochet +1 skullcrack).
The deck:
[deck]
Lands 25
8 x [card]Mountain
6 x [card]Swamp
4 x [card]Temple Of Malice
4 x [card]Blood Crypt
2 x [card]Rakdos Guildgate
1 x [card]Mutavault

CREATURES 21
4 x [card]Spike Jester
2 x [card]Young Pyromancer
4 x [card]Chandra's Phoenix
4 x [card]Lifebane Zombie
3 x [card]Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
3 x [card]Stormbreath Dragon
1 x [card]Tymaret, the Murder King

nINSTANTS and SORCERIES 14
4 x [card]Lightning Strike
4 x [card]Magma Jet
4 x [card]Dreadbore
2 x [card]Hero's Downfall

OTHER 1
1 x [card]Whip of Erebos

SIDEBOARD 15
3 x [card]Duress
3 x [card]Skullcrack
2 x [card]Doom Blade
2 x [card]Mizzium Mortars
2 x [card]Dark Betrayal
2 x [card]Devour Flesh
1 x [card]Whip of Erebos
[/deck]

About the matches:
1st Round vs MonoU Dev (no W splash) (on draw)
1st game got a 2 land hand with jester, pyromancer, dreadbore, jet and Tymaret. I managed to bring him down to 8 but only got another land for the next 8 rounds. so lost to double Masters plus bident ... I could not handle the card draw. (0-1)
SB:-4 jesters -3 exava +2 mortarsa +2 doom blades + 1 whip +2 devour flesh
2nd game I managed to aggro him ... fought through Rapid Hybridization and Claustrophobia but eventually got there. (1-1)
3rd game I opened a hand with no threats but lots of removal, thought that eventually would draw a threat and in meantime keep him
of devotion (had also a doom blade in hand for Master). No threat since round 4 and then he continuously casted Claustrophobia building up his devotion. I had to kill my own creatures just to keep Thassa turned off ut this is not a good plan since he continuously build his state.Bad start (1-2)
Score 0-1

2nd Round vs RDW (on draw)
Tough match up. 1st game tried to trade but he was playing more creature on board than me removal. I successful removed from his hand 2xReckoners with LBZ but that was not enough. He aggro me with BTEs, cacklers, satyrs and Foundry Street Denizens. (0-1)
Thought that this should be a bad MU. SB: -3Exava -2LBZ (thought that there where too slow) -2 Downfalls +2 Devour Flesh +2 Doom Blade + 2 Mortars + 1 Whip.
2nd game I hand in my hand a YP$ which single-handedly won the game (opponent had no removal and I had a adequate hand of burn+destroys) (1-1)
3rd game he was on a slow start without any one-drop. I race him and a whip
on fifth turn sealed the deal.
Score 1-1

3rd Round vs Esper Control (on draw)
1st game I aggro him to 5 then he sphinxed me for 5! to go to 10. I was gassed out but managed to bring him to 1. From there I draw only lands and he killed me with Aetherling and Muta in 3 turns. (0-1).
SB: -2 Downfalls -4 dreadbore -4 Jets + 3 duress +3 skullcrack + 2 devour flesh + 2 Mizzium Mortars
2nd game I completely overrun him with threats (not over-committing) 1x Sphinx Revelation for 4 could not stop me, exava was good since he had doom blade in hand. (1-1)
SB: I didn't saw a single creature but lots of jace and and elspeth. At the end of the 1st game I had 1xMortars and 1xDevour flesh in my hand!!! I made a stupid decision ... take out my removals -2 devour flesh - 2 Mizzium Mortars + 4 dreadbore
3rd game
Managed to bring him to 9 before he casts Blood Baron ... I started hate myself. Lost this cause of BAD BAD sideboard decision. Should have stick to the
plan and not start to improvise. (1-2)
Score 1-2

5th Round vs GR (on draw again!!!)
With my previous tilt I started loosing interest.
1st game I had removals I had threats easy win. (1-0).
SB:-4 jesters -2 magma jets +2 mortars +2 doom blades +2 devour flesh
2nd game I lost to Mutavault and Xenagod.
3rd game until turn 4 I thought this game was mine ... I had removal AND threats. One more land would seal the deal since I could play a threat AND keep mana up for removal ... didn't happened until 5 turns during which Xenagod again was making his elves a little bit more powerful. Last turn we where me at 4 him at 5 I had a phoenix in play another in hand and a doom blade, he had Xenagod, caryatid and a mystic ... and one card in hand which he was not casting it 2 turns in a row. I attacked with my phoenix to bring him to 3 ... I thought that my doom blade would save me from his draw. He draw a curser (I was ok) but then revealed a flesh//Blood which
he targeted his elf for 6 +1/+1 made his cruser +2/+2 and that was game over. This was another misplay by me.
Score 1-3

5th Round vs Golgari midrange no dredge (on draw ... sick of it)
1st game I had no threats and he aggroed me with Lotleth Troll, 2x Dreg Mangler and Reaper of the Wilds. (1-0).
SB:-4 jesters -2 magma jets +2 mortars +2 doom blades +2 devour flesh
2nd game had removal ... forced him to sac his reaper and got there with exava and dragon (1-1)
3rd game like the 2nd. (2-1)
Score 2-3

OVERALL
I am not a good player but was feeling that each MU was winnable so I liked the deck. On top 8 there where 4x UWx control 1xRDW 1xGolgari Dredge 2x GR ... so I have face all of these during the tourney (apart from dredge). Next Saturday will be another GPT for Manchester ... I would go with the Rakdos list again.
Regarding pyromancers and tymaret ... pyromancers was very good on the aggro MU (
RDW) and I think that were relevant on the other MUs but I didn't draw them a lot the same applies for Tymaret but he seems more flexible.
Thanks to this community for your support.

poppa_f · Postby **poppa_f** » Mon Mar 31, 2014 9:32 pm

So I went ahead and built a White Weenie deck. I based it on Patrick Cox's GP Cinci deck, but with only 1 mutavault and no Brimaz (simply as I don't have those cards). It's been pretty amazing so far! I'm playing with thoughtseize and Xathrid Necromancer main, as figured they are both good against MBD. Running at 70% win rate so far, won 7 in the last 8, the single loss coming in a kind of mirror match against Boros White Weenie.

I've got a very trolly sideboard with celestial flare, fiendslayer paladin, sin collector and dark betrayal. I've not played burn yet, but post-board I can side in 4 fiendslayer and 4 sin collector. The Hexproof match-up is brutally one-sided once you have Celestial flare sideboarded in.

I'm yet to play G/R monsters, which I'm expecting to be quite a tough match-up, although I'm playing 4 banisher priest main, which should help (although I have zero answers to a topdeck SBD).

I'm
tempted to write up a primer. If people are interested, then I'd be happy to do one

Midnight_v · Postby **Midnight_v** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 2:21 am

So I went ahead and built a White Weenie deck. I based it on Patrick Cox's GP Cinci deck, but with only 1 mutavault and no Brimaz (simply as I don't have those cards). It's been pretty amazing so far! I'm playing with thoughtseize and Xathrid Necromancer main, as figured they are both good against MBD. Running at 70% win rate so far, won 7 in the last 8, the single loss coming in a kind of mirror match against Boros White Weenie.

I've got a very trolly sideboard with celestial flare, fiendslayer paladin, sin collector and dark betrayal. I've not played burn yet, but post-board I can side in 4 fiendslayer and 4 sin collector. The Hexproof match-up is brutally one-sided once you have Celestial flare sideboarded in.

I'm yet to play G/R monsters, which I'm
expecting to be quite a tough match-up, although I'm playing 4 banisher priest main, which should help (although I have zero answers to a topdeck SBD).

I'm tempted to write up a primer. If people are interested, then I'd be happy to do one

Well... you've peaked my interest. Waiting on the primer now.

Halewind · Postby **Halewind** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 5:59 am

I actually like the idea. I also like the Heralds instead of LBZ as they are another creatures that fly and they evade Searing Blood. We can soften our matchup with GRx as far as I am concerned and with Orzhov losing momentum (at least online that is) it may be better choice right now given what we're trying to achieve.

Indeed, before all the Orzhov and Jund Monsters fever, I was running your list, but replaced the 2 LBZ with 2 Heralds. I play only 2 dragons, because the 2 Heralds with bestow are 3rd and 4dr dragon. Then last week went back to LBZ. Now, demos are back and LBZ is in the sideboard.

Also we ARE soft to aggro. For me it's actually (aside from that hexproof shit) the worst matchup: Burn is manageable now as basically everyone is trying it and everyone is trying to counter it but the small aggro decks can just go nuts and overwhelm you with their army of little guys. I agree with poppa_f that they are very well positioned right now. The good thing for us is that they are rather fringe and there are quite a few way for us to deal with them (meaning SB). The thing that scares me the most with these decks that with everyone expecting to face burn they will be packing Peak Eruption in the board, which can ruin our day more than any other card they can possibly have.

Against small aggro, I left the 2 shocks main. If you focus ALL your removal to the first wave of small creatures, then you can stabilize and win with superior threats.

Also have a tech for this match and for
the burn match. If the Staff of the Dead Magus works for Patrik Chapin in the monoblack shell (you win 1 life when you play a black spell or play a swamp), what can you tell me about Tablet of the Guilds naming red and black in Dos Rakis? Is cheaper, and in our deck could net you 2 lifes for spell... Not to mention that if you have 2 in play, Exava is like a Warleader's Helix, and Shok is a mini Ligthing Helix.

I'm trying 2-3 (+1 lash), also with the 3 duress.

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 1:08 am

Just an FYI.

Pyromancer works. Especially when the whole class assembles.

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 1:25 am

@ Halewind

Tablet of the Guilds may warrant testing, although I am not really sure whether it is better than Duress against Burn. Problem with it is it's usefulness in other matchups: nada here, big pile of "no way I am playing that". I've managed to get burn winrate to 41% (22 games total), which is managable. The lifegain would certainly help us survive... I may convince someone with Burn to play and test it since I currently only test in events which given my low ticket count is not something I wanna do.

Also not really sure about Herald. I actually think that the cut on Dragons and putting Heralds in may be more correct than just switching them with LBZ. My GRx match is currently 64% many of which are made by LBZ. The Herald is also not that useful against MBC as I thought... well, not at first, you kinda have to learn to
play with that card. Currently back to LBZ, but that may be personal preference.

I kinda feel like I won't toy with the deck too much anymore other than some random cards exchange here and there.

Jedi_Knight · Postby **Jedi_Knight** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 1:47 am

Triple post.

Went 4-0 daily. Wasn't exactly a ride through Disneyland but what matters is the outcome. 2-0 BW mid where opponent played nada, 2-1 Esper where I knew second game that he had Baron from the start but never hit a black source, 2-1 MonoU where I kept a onelander firt game and never saw the second (+ should have been dead like 3 times the second game) and finally 2-0 MBC where this guy MTGOStark just always tilts after losing to me. I apparently had "best mull to 5 ever" (put back 6 land hand => 1 land hand => kept Tymaret, Phoenix, Temple, Temple, Swamp).

Would have prefered Spike Jester there, but hey, can't have it all or he would prolly concede right at the start. No fun in that! It's not like I haven't offered the guy a split...

Will post the final list yesterday, 3am here so gonna get some sleep.

/edit
Also dreaded to not meet Zem before last round. Worked!

Pedros · Postby **Pedros** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:25 pm

Lol so we got 4 people 4-0 daily yesterday! That is quite a beating

Toddington · Postby **Toddington** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:32 pm

What sort of lists are people 4-0'ing with, good work guys!

Has a core for this archetype been established yet?

Dies to Removal

R/b Aggro aka "Dos Rakis"

Advice from a RW Burn builder & player

Some tech...

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