R/W Aggro

[LP, of the Fires]

Simply went with consistency over power. I'm not surprised to see him playing four of any of those cards. Multiple outpost siege also does a reasonable job of making up for lack of stormbreath dragon. It's also nice that you have so many more early plays with this build.

[dpaine88]

Couple more tradional RW aggro decks in top8 of SCG Houston as well.

[dpaine88]

and RW just won the Open

Chad White
[deck]
Creatures (15)

4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Planeswalkers (2)

2 Chandra, Pyromaster
Lands (24)

9 Mountain
4 Plains
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Evolving Wilds
1 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Triumph
Spells (19)

4 Chained to the Rocks
2 Outpost Siege
3 Lightning Strike
4 Stoke the Flames
2 Valorous Stance
4 Hordeling Outburst
Sideboard

3 Ashcloud Phoenix
2 Erase
2 Wild Slash
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Arc Lightning
3 End Hostilities
2 Glare of Heresy
[/deck]

[Valdarith]

I like the idea on having more early plays so I don't mind the Soulfires and no Stormbreaths. Outpost Siege probably makes up for it.

[dpaine88]

Soulfire just doesnt excite me at all.

Outpost Seige is amazing though.

[dpaine88]

only thing I dont like in winning list is the Mana Confluence, the mana for the deck is great without it and that damage can add up quick.

[LP, of the Fires]

It's good because it's a 2-drop that every now and again does something.

Also also, magic decks are like technology; you can only have 2 of 3. Fast, consistent, powerful. Playing 8 two drops and quad siege makes your deck fast and consistent at the expense of power. Definitely something I could see a pro player at Starks level valuing greatly.

[LP, of the Fires]

Starks deck for reference.

[deck]Creature (12)
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Soulfire Grand Master
4 Goblin Rabblemaster

4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Wild Slash
4 Stoke the Flames
3 Lightning Strike
1 Valorous Stance
4 Outpost Siege
4 Chained to the Rocks

Land (24)
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Evolving Wilds
9 Mountain
4 Plains

Sideboard (15)
2 Valorous Stance
3 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Arc Lightning
3 Erase
3 Mastery of the Unseen[/deck]

[Valdarith]

Dat Mastery of the Unseen tech.

[Wrathberry]

i really wonder if he switches the mastery with teh sieges or if he then plays 4 sieges and 3 mastery of the unseen oO.
also after sideboarding his deck will look more like traditional r/w lists i guess. since he has 3 stormbreath and 2 sarkhan in sb.

[LP, of the Fires]

He probably brings in all the 5 drops and mastery's for chains, some wild slashes and some number of the 2 drops or outbursts against control.

The way to beat that deck is pressure early, hit them with a dragon, burn them out. The way to lose to that deck is getting one for oned all game and drawing too many low impact spells.

It's also worth noting that disdainful stroke is always good against you since your best cards are fours so that's not an argument for not playing the fatty boom booms.

[Khaospawn]

While I may not be completely sold on Stark's 75, I do love that there is still some room for innovation with the archetype. After some point, all the lists start to look the same to me. Kudos to Stark.

[Toblakai]

Would 1 Swamp, 2 Evolving Wilds be enough to support a singleton Kolaghan?

[Self Medicated]

I would say no. Typically, you would want at least 10 black sources in order to see one by turn 5.

[poppa_f]

I really like the look of Stark's list, going to sleeve it up for my LGS standard tomorrow. Just missing the masteries, but hopefully can trade for them on the night.

[Khaospawn]

So who's using what to break the mirror?

[Khaospawn]

#Heliod'sPilgrim

[Self Medicated]

Where'd you find room for Pilgrim in your 75?

[Valdarith]

Seems pretty bad now.

[Khaospawn]

Why's that?

[Khaospawn]

It's been doing work in the mirror and it's still good against a lot of other decks.

[Valdarith]

Seems a lot less powerful now that Outpost Siege is the defining card in the mirror. Chained to the Rocks isn't nearly as good in the mirror as it is in other matchups, and you DID posit your question in interest of breaking the mirror, so...

[GoblinWarchief]

Peak eruption is obviously good in the mirror. I think it is ok to run 2 of them in sideboard now that this deck is very popular.

[Self Medicated]

I don't think it's that obvious to me. Are you bringing Eruption in because of Chained?

[Khaospawn]

Seems a lot less powerful now that Outpost Siege is the defining card in the mirror. Chained to the Rocks isn't nearly as good in the mirror as it is in other matchups, and you DID posit your question in interest of breaking the mirror, so...

Nice sarcasm.

I spent about 4 hours yesterday playing against the mirror and Heliods Pilgrim was very relevant.

[Khaospawn]

Re:Peak Eruption

Not only is it good to break the chains, but it also keeps them off mana for Dragons.

[Khaospawn]

What I learned yesterday, aside from the runaway games where you just have an unstoppable draw that curves perfectly and wins on the spot, is that the most of the games involve a lot of trading. Whoever can generate the most value from their cards will win, such as convoking Stokes, drawing more cards through Siege, Pilgrim tutoring, Ashcloud Phoenix morphs, etc. Chandra is also very good in the mirror.

[Khaospawn]

But with all that said, I haven't found a way to bust the mirror. There's pretty much an answer for everything.

[LP, of the Fires]

My experience in the mirror:

Outpost siege is the best card once you have a board state.

Outburst is great.

Going second makes your rabblemaster much better.

Ashclouds fairly mediocre.

Chain is marginal most of the time.

Brimaz is obviously great. Grandmaster subtley so.

Grandmaster draws answers away from rabble and takes over in the long game.

Jam your stormbreath into there stoke. You'd rather they stoke your dragon then you. Don't play scared.

[Valdarith]

Seems a lot less powerful now that Outpost Siege is the defining card in the mirror. Chained to the Rocks isn't nearly as good in the mirror as it is in other matchups, and you DID posit your question in interest of breaking the mirror, so...

Nice sarcasm.

I spent about 4 hours yesterday playing against the mirror and Heliods Pilgrim was very relevant.

No sarcasm in there. This is genuinely my opinion. Paying three mana for a 1/2 that tutors up a low impact card in the match up just isn't good.

[LP, of the Fires]

Pilgrim actually works pretty hard. It actually answers every part of goblin rabblemaster which not much does and the CA adds up. Imaging flipping a pilgrim off of a siege. You just drew 3 cards!

I'm not sure I'd play more then 1 or 2, but the card certainly has merit.

The cards only bad when the bodies irrelevant(which is a different question depending on the rest of the format), or if the games go to quickly for you to take a turn off. Against people attacking with x/1 ground guys, the cards pretty dece.

[Khaospawn]

Yeah, he's been great just holding the fort against tokens. Tutoring up chains is still generating advantage.

[LP, of the Fires]

Is it good enough against the rest of the field? That's the more important question.

[Khaospawn]

I think so.

[dpaine88]

Tons of events going on in my area this weekend.

Really cant decide on the typical deck that I just won the PPTQ with or do try the Starks list...

Had our national sales meeting all week so I havnt been able to test, have any of you guys actually tested with the list?

I'm trying to find the differences in the matchups.

Starks is definitly better against any aggresive deck, but thats fairly obvious. The mirror could be debated as typically in mirrors the slightly "bigger" deck comes out ahead but sometimes Dragons can just sit in your hand and Soulfire seems pretty good in the mirror.

Against control, Starks seems a bit better with a lower curve and more of the important card in Seige. No Dragons can be a pain but sometimes you just want the early aggresion and increasing the chance of getting a 2-drop. Wild Slash really sucks in this matchup tho.

Vs Green Decks - Not having a flyer sucks but having more Slashes seems good against mana dorks for slowing it down and burning them out eventually.


I really have no idea but I know the shop I am going to always is full of midrange and control.

[dpaine88]

Heres a pretty good article on Channel Fireball by Nathan Holliday who has been playing the deck for a while.

http://www.channelfireball.com/articles ... ard-guide/

[dpaine88]

I heard there was a deck tech with Stark but cant find it, can anyone confirm or link me?

[Lightning_Dolt]

Played Stark's list tonight; it's so fucking hot.

[jsilv]

[deck]Creatures
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Soulfire Grandmaster
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Butcher of the Horde
Spells
4 Chained to the Rocks
1 Valorous Stance
1 Arc Lightning
3 Lightning Strike
4 Crackling Doom
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Outpost Siege
Lands
4 Nomad Outpost
4 Temple of Triumph
2 Battlefield Forge
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Swamp
6 Mountain
Sideboard
2 Gurmag Angler
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Abzan Advantage
1 Erase
2 Arc Lightning
3 Murderous Cut
2 Glare of Hersey[/deck]

Crackling Doom makes your Forest - Giant Donk matches significantly less dogshit and Butcher of the Horde is respectable across the field, though it isn't particularly great at anything. Hordeling Outburst was in here, but proved to be pretty shitty when everyone and their mum knows you run mono 2/2's and maybe a Stormbreath Dragon. Instead of just being a massive dog to Bile Blight or Drown with most hands, Butcher gives you some protection and Crackles keeps Courser and Rhino in check. The biggest drawback is that it dies to Stoke, Chained and Glare in the mirror, meaning that despite potential lifegain it's usually better to swap or run in conjunction w/ Angler. Without the recursion ability on Tasigur you may as well go with the Fish that haumphs 4/5's.

Sarkhan is probably better than Stormbreath now if you have enough patience to never play it first in the RW mirror. Both of them are butts against decks with Murderous Cut and Downfall. Sorin may just be worse with Outbursts cut, but I haven't played enough games to really tell you.

[Kaitscralt]

sideboard an elspeth for the mirror