[Primer] Dos Rakis

[rcwraspy]

Hey folks,

DPaine and I both participated in a TCG $5k this past Saturday. I piloted Dos Rakis while DPaine went with BTE Gruul aggro. DPaine was in the money in the 12th spot. I was 1 win away from top 32 but ended placed 64th. I'll do my best to post a write up and some suggestions.

I finished the day 5-4 (4-4 in actual play). Here were the matches:

Round 1: The Rock: 2-1
Round 2: Naya Blitz: 2-0
Round 3: Bant Enchant: 0-2
Round 4: UWR: 1-2
Round 5: Bye due to a computer glitch requiring re-seeding
Round 6: UWR: 1-2
Round 7: Aristocrats: 2-1
Round 8: Jund: 2-0
Round 9: Jund: 1-2

Some quick write-ups:

Round 1: The Rock: 2-1
This is the deck that Z posted a bit ago and put up showing in an SCG Open a couple weeks ago. Pretty much the exact same list with Desecration Demon, Messenger, Thragtusk, Sign in Blood, etc. I recognized it right away and he got a grin on his face
and said most people don't know what he means when he says The Rock. That lead me to believe he doesn't play against many experienced players.

Game 1 was back and forth and I just barely didn't get there. He got me to 3 then his main phase cast Sign in Blood twice targeting me for the kill.

Sideboard: The Rock is a control deck but I boarded with the Midrange strategy in the primer.

Game 2 was back and forth again but I had the reach this time and killed him when I was at 1 life. Rakdos's Return saved my bacon here. I hit it for 2 when I was at 1 life, and stripped 2x Sign in Blood from his hand. Then ripped a T-Maw off the top and won.

Board: no changes from G2

Game 3 I basically controlled the whole way.

Round 2: Naya Blitz: 2-0
As expected, Pillar, Spear, and Spike Jester were all nuts here. Those were my MVP cards.

Game 1 I had a T-Maw on board with him at 10 and me at 5 and I topped another. Swing 10 for the win.

Sideboard: Full aggro
package from primer

Game 2 he couldn't get through my Weird, Reckoner, and burn. Aristocrats killed him off.

Round 3: Bant Enchant: 0-2
Ugh. I basically had no chance against this deck.

Game 1 I saw Voice of Resurgence and aggro cards. I misplayed around Voice a bit, like a dumbass, but it wouldn't have mattered much.

Board: Thought he was full aggro and boarded according to aggro primer

Game 2 he starts dropping Geists like crazy. I was able to kill off 3 of them before he suited up the 4th.

Round 4: UWR: 1-2
Game 1: Curved perfectly and beat him like a drum.
Board: Full control package
Games 2 and 3: he said he had a "plan" for my deck (aggro decks) and I thought "yeah I have a plan too" but it looks like whatever he did worked. He tempo'd me out both games. I have a couple notes about this in the Suggestions area. Game 3 I had him at 2 when he killed me. Made me wish I hadn't have sided out those
Pillars

Round 5: I sat down and they made an announcement for a few tables to not begin. My table was called. It turns out they had accidentally dropped some 4-0 kid and had to put him back in the seeding, which bumped down the line to a few other matches including mine. I ended up getting a bye out of it.

Round 6: UWR: 1-2
Game 1: I don't think I mulliganed well here and he took me out.
Board: Full control package from primer
Game 2: the only damage I received was a shock for a Godless Shrine
Board: No change
Game 3: This one ended up grinding out. I hit him with a Rakdos's Return to emtpy his hand at one point and we started top-decking, but his deck refilled while I kept top-decking. T-Maw or Aristocrat would have won it but didn't see either.

Round 7: Aristocrats: 2-1
We both mulliganed to 6 and he suggested something I've never heard before. He said
Magic isn't "best 2 of 3" but "first to 2" and that we should decide to draw game 1 and go to game 2 with a fresh 7. I think he meant that if we were 1-1 after Game 3 we'd keep playing. I didn't bite, and we both went to 6.
Game 1: I beat him easily. Again only damage to myself was a shockland. But he played enough for me to put him on the right deck.
Sideboard: Aggro plan from primer
Game 2: He got a very good draw, I went down to 5.
Board: no change
Game 3: I was still at 20 when he died. Double T-Maw with him at 10 sealed it.

Round 8: Jund: 2-0
Game 1: He died with me at 20. Lili came out and I discarded a land. I was on the verge of flooding so it was fine since I had enough. No real notes, but I curved fairly well and beat him down.

Board: I saw enough to put him on Jund and boarded the full Midrange suite from the primer

Game 2: He had me at 11 with and Aristocrat and him at 18. Then Hellkite came out without an answer. Swinging
for 9 in the air turns 6 and 7 isn't shabby.

Round 9: Jund: 1-2
This is the 2nd tournament in as many months that if I won my last match I'd be in the money. And the second where that was feasible. And the second where the last match was one of the best matches of the day in terms of fun, stress, etc., but I still lost. And the second where the last match was against a really nice guy who was fun to play against and knew his stuff. Odd trend, but I'd like to start winning here.

Game 1: This was back and forth quite a bit, but I kept top-decking into low drops with very little impact. He took it.

Sideboard: Full Midrange plan from primer

Game 2: This was a CLOSE game. He had me at 1 and I was able to stabilize by wiping much of his board and had a Reckoner bonded to a Stonewright that he didn't want to attack into. 2 Aristocrats after that sealed it. Mortars on a Ravager of the Fells followed by Dreadbore on an unflipped Huntmaster was the MVP main phase of
the game. EDIT: I also hit him for a 2-point Rakdos's Return that dropped a Thragtusk and a Garruk into the bin. That was obviously big too.

Board: no change

Game 3: I think I should have mulliganed to 5. I know what to look for in terms of mulligans for game 1 but after we board I need to work on mulligans with this deck. I kept a 6 with mountain mountain godless shrine, Dreadbore, Spear, Ash Zealot. Seemed good but didn't get there. DPaine saw the end of this game. He had a wolf token, a Thragtusk, and a Vampire Nighthawk. I only had a Thundermaw Hellkite. With life totals as they were and his Wolf-Runs and good mana, my only out was an overloaded Mortars. I blocked the tusk with the Thundermaw and he put me to 4. I thought if my only out was the mortars, I might as well make the tusk into a beast before the mortars so it's a true board wipe. I didn't pull a mortars, unfortunately. We had gone fairly long and a couple judges were watching. One of them said he was waiting for me to
rip that mortars too.

SUGGESTIONS/OBSERVATIONS:
Against UWR: Our control boarding plan calls for keeping Stromkirk and Cackler in the deck. I think I disagree. Those are HORRIBLE cards for us to get Azo Charmed. Yes, we're the aggro deck against them, but all our other MB creatures except Reckoner have Haste. I'm not too upset to have a Haste creature the target of Azo Charm and it doesn't set me back QUITE as much. I also HATE Aetherling. Blue players have been complaining recently but I think it's exactly the card they needed. We target it with any removal when they have a blue up and we waste a card. But we can go OVER it. Olivia doesn't have Haste but she can deal with Augurs and Snapcasters and go over every creature they bring in except Resto Angel. Honestly I think we save most removal for Resto and just fly over them with Aristocrat, Olivia, T-Maw. Jester and Zealot provide the early pressure and Reckoner makes attacking awkward
for them.

Against Jund: I like Pillar here. It doesn't hit everything, but I didn't like wasting Spear, Dreadbore, and Mortars on their Huntmasters. I want those for Thrags, Lilianas, Garruks, and tokens. Anything with Black, including Jund, seems to be packing Tragic Slip either MB or at least somewhere in the 75. I'd suggest boarding out a certain number of Spike Jester in order to keep Pillars against Jund. In our boarding plan for this matchup I think we need to increase our removal density, not just swap pillar for dreadbore.

Against Aggro: Frostburn Weird only came out in 1 game against Naya Blitz and I was winning anyway. So I don't have enough experience with him to write him off yet. But I'm wondering if this slot shouldn't be 2x Tribute to Hunger instead. It's still somewhat relevant against most aggro and is necessary against bant enchant.

[windstrider]

Thanks for the writeup, raspy. It's good to know the deck can get there.

I think you're on to something with keeping some amount of Pillars in vs. midrange decks packing Huntmasters.

[Valdarith]

FWIW I've always kept Pillar in vs any deck with Huntmasters while playing R/x. Those decks also tend to be running some number of dorks which makes it even more relevant.

Also agree on UWR assessment. Noble is completely worthless in that matchup.

[rcwraspy]

A couple additional things.

1. I forgot to mention that in the last match of the day, against the 2nd Jund player, he legend-ruled out my Olivia in games 2 and 3. Not sure what to think of this. I'm leaning on the side of it being positive since it took an Olivia out of his hand that would be harder for me to deal with.

2. Thinking more about the UWR matchup, I've been looking at Sire of Insanity. We like 2x Rakdos's Return against Midrange and 3x against control. Maybe that third becomes a Sire and we bring it in against UWR and other UW/x control decks? You'd almost want to run Cavern then, though, which would really start messing things up.

[windstrider]

I'd considered Sire for those matchups. The difficulty for me lies in his six CMC. There are some games where getting to five feels like a challenge. In those instances, RR can be cast much easier while stripping them of resources and damaging them.

[rcwraspy]

I'd considered Sire for those matchups. The difficulty for me lies in his six CMC. There are some games where getting to five feels like a challenge. In those instances, RR can be cast much easier while stripping them of resources and damaging them.

Good points. I find myself flooded more often than starved with this deck, but it's obviously a fairly small sample size (probably only a few dozen actual games and a couple hundred goldfishes). Chalk it up to variance, I suppose. But on 24 land in a long game like the UW/x matchup, I'm OK holding that card for a couple turns and slamming him on T8, knowing my topdecks going long are more impactful than theirs.

[windstrider]

I'd considered Sire for those matchups. The difficulty for me lies in his six CMC. There are some games where getting to five feels like a challenge. In those instances, RR can be cast much easier while stripping them of resources and damaging them.

Good points. I find myself flooded more often than starved with this deck, but it's obviously a fairly small sample size (probably only a few dozen actual games and a couple hundred goldfishes). Chalk it up to variance, I suppose. But on 24 land in a long game like the UW/x matchup, I'm OK holding that card for a couple turns and slamming
him on T8, knowing my topdecks going long are more impactful than theirs.

Yeah, that is what attracted me to Sire in the first place: we're pretty good in a topdeck war. By that point in the game, we're often in topdeck mode anyway, so his ability doesn't affect us. Try it out. I like experimentation.

On that note, what does everyone think about [card]Toil // Trouble[/card]? I keep looking at this and thinking it could be very useful. Toil gets us cards if we need them, and Trouble hurts the other guy. I'm thinking a 1-of in place of a Rakdos's Return to be used in Control matchups.

[rcwraspy]

I'd considered Sire for those matchups. The difficulty for me lies in his six CMC. There are some games where getting to five feels like a challenge. In those instances, RR can be cast much easier while stripping them of resources and damaging them.

Good points. I find myself flooded more often than starved with this deck, but it's obviously a fairly small sample size (probably only a few dozen actual games and a couple hundred
goldfishes). Chalk it up to variance, I suppose. But on 24 land in a long game like the UW/x matchup, I'm OK holding that card for a couple turns and slamming him on T8, knowing my topdecks going long are more impactful than theirs.

Yeah, that is what attracted me to Sire in the first place: we're pretty good in a topdeck war. By that point in the game, we're often in topdeck mode anyway, so his ability doesn't affect us. Try it out. I like experimentation.

On that note, what does everyone think about [card]Toil // Trouble[/card]? I keep looking at this and thinking it could be very useful. Toil gets us cards if we need them, and Trouble hurts the other guy. I'm thinking a 1-of in place of a Rakdos's Return to be used in Control matchups.

Headed to Wednesday Night Magic tonight and don't have my full standard-build-a-deck-in-a-binder with me, so I'll be running the SB from the primer. But I think I'll be experimenting with this SB at
some point:

[deck]
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Zealous Conscripts
4 Dreadbore
2 Rakdos's Return
1 Sire of Insanity
1 Boros Reckoner
[/deck]

Tribute replaces Frostburn, Conscripts replaces Olivia (probably bad but want to try it against Rites and Jund), and swap 1 RR for 1 Sire.

RE: Toil // Trouble. I like it a lot actually. We definitely want at least 2 RR in there, so I think it's either Sire or T//T. We're topdecking often and can use the draw, and the other half is very relevant in that UW/x matchup. 1-of seems perfect as you don't want it in your opener but you'd like to draw into it in a long matchup.

[Valdarith]

I'd considered Sire for those matchups. The difficulty for me lies in his six CMC. There are some games where getting to five feels like a challenge. In those instances, RR can be cast much easier while stripping them of resources and damaging them.

Good points. I find myself flooded more often than starved with this deck, but it's obviously a fairly small sample size (probably only a few dozen actual games and a couple
hundred goldfishes). Chalk it up to variance, I suppose. But on 24 land in a long game like the UW/x matchup, I'm OK holding that card for a couple turns and slamming him on T8, knowing my topdecks going long are more impactful than theirs.

Yeah, that is what attracted me to Sire in the first place: we're pretty good in a topdeck war. By that point in the game, we're often in topdeck mode anyway, so his ability doesn't affect us. Try it out. I like experimentation.

On that note, what does everyone think about [card]Toil // Trouble[/card]? I keep looking at this and thinking it could be very useful. Toil gets us cards if we need them, and Trouble hurts the other guy. I'm thinking a 1-of in place of a Rakdos's Return to be used in Control matchups.

I've played Toil / Trouble in Dega Burn and the card is the absolute nuts against draw-go decks. It's an excellent top deck and a good turn three play as well. Against Sphinx's Revelation.dec
you'll be getting in for 6-7 on turn three if you're on the play unless your opponent has a Syncopate, and late game your opponent better be holding a counter for it or it could do as much as 11 damage (I have done this on multiple occassions).

[windstrider]

I'm thinking more along these lines:

[deck]3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Olivia Voldaren
4 Dreadbore
2 Rakdos's Return
1 Toil // Trouble
1 Boros Reckoner
[/deck]

Re: Conscripts and Sire — I really like Conscripts, but I don't want another five CMC creature. I feel like three Hellkites are enough at that slot. The same goes for Sire. Great card, but it just doesn't feel right to me in this deck.

[finn62]

I've played Toil / Trouble in Dega Burn and the card is the absolute nuts against draw-go decks. It's an excellent top deck and a good turn three play as well. Against Sphinx's Revelation.dec you'll be getting in for 6-7 on turn three if you're on the play unless your opponent has a Syncopate, and late game your opponent better be holding a counter for it or it could do as much as 11 damage (I have done this on multiple occassions).

Do you think Toil/Trouble is broad enough for the SB? It can deal the damage you refer to, but following Sphinx's Revelation they will have just gained life and the damage will generally only be a small net change. I'm not a huge fan of skullcrack either, but it seems to do what you mainly want from Toil/Trouble
but shuts down all forms of potential life gain as well.

I'm just thinking out loud here, so please let me know if I am missing something.
I think I may try out Tribute in place of Frostburns though.

[Valdarith]

The thing about Revelation is that it often comes when our opponent is at a low life total. Often they will gain 3-4 life and be at 10-15. In your scenario, Skullcrack will net 6-7 damage where Toil / Trouble will net 11. Also, casting Trouble for 7 on turn three isn't out of the question. Add to that the fact that you have to hold up mana for Skullcrack and Toil / Trouble is the obvious winner.

[windstrider]

Toil // Trouble can also just be cast for the Toil part to draw cards when you may need it. It has more applications than Skullcrack. I'm a big fan of versatility in spells.

[shpedoinkle]

The thing about Revelation is that it often comes when our opponent is at a low life total. Often they will gain 3-4 life and be at 10-15. In your scenario, Skullcrack will net 6-7 damage where Toil / Trouble will net 11. Also, casting Trouble for 7 on turn three isn't out of the question. Add to that the fact that you have to hold up mana for Skullcrack and Toil / Trouble is the obvious winner.

I think what you are missing is that Skullcrack is at instant speed so what usually happens to me is they sphinx EOT then untap with a full hand. They are a lot more likely to be able to counter the Toil/Trouble at sorcery speed after drawing a few cards than the skullcrack in response to the Sphinx's Rev. I don't run either SB but take that into consideration.

[Valdarith]

The thing about Revelation is that it often comes when our opponent is at a low life total. Often they will gain 3-4 life and be at 10-15. In your scenario, Skullcrack will net 6-7 damage where Toil / Trouble will net 11. Also, casting Trouble for 7 on turn three isn't out of the question. Add to that the fact that you have to hold up mana for Skullcrack and Toil / Trouble is the obvious winner.

I think what you are missing is that Skullcrack is at instant speed so what usually happens to me is they sphinx EOT then untap with a full hand. They are a lot more likely to be able to
counter the Toil/Trouble at sorcery speed after drawing a few cards than the skullcrack in response to the Sphinx's Rev. I don't run either SB but take that into consideration.

But when are you going to hold up mana in this deck? You're only hurting yourself by keeping land untapped to play around Revalation. This deck can't afford to do that. You need to be expending your mana every turn or you're only falling further behind in virtual card advantage.

[shpedoinkle]

But when are you going to hold up mana in this deck? You're only hurting yourself by keeping land untapped to play around Revalation. This deck can't afford to do that. You need to be expending your mana every turn or you're only falling further behind in virtual card advantage.

And that is why I don't run Skullcrack. IMHO The best answer to Sphinx's Revelation is a preemptive Rakdos's Return removing it from their hand. After that would be beating face so hard it doesn't matter. After that maybe Slaughter Games then Skullcrack then Toil/Trouble.

[Valdarith]

Id rather play Trouble for 7 on turn three.

[LP, of the Fires]

I like skullcrack in low curve agro decks.

SKullcrack seems TERRIBLE in Dos rakis.

[shpedoinkle]

Id rather play Trouble for 7 on turn three.

That just seems like having a Trouble countered on T3, this could very well be the local meta I play in though as I don't think syncopate and dissipate are anywhere near as heavily played as I am used to seeing them. I just assume I will have to play around counters when I play UW or UWG control. Maybe elsewhere that is not that case and it would be common to get in for 6/7 on turn three?

I like skullcrack in low curve agro decks.

SKullcrack seems TERRIBLE in Dos rakis.

I agree but I don't think it is an either/or
situation with Skullcrack and Toil/Trouble. Right now it seems that there are a lot more aggro and midrange decks than control decks though so it probably doesn't matter as much. Sideboard slots for control are really tight right now.

[Valdarith]

Id rather play Trouble for 7 on turn three.

That just seems like having a Trouble countered on T3, this could very well be the local meta I play in though as I don't think syncopate and dissipate are anywhere near as heavily played as I am used to seeing them. I just assume I will have to play around counters when I play UW or UWG control. Maybe elsewhere that is not that case and it would be common to get in for 6/7 on turn three?

I like skullcrack in low curve agro decks.

SKullcrack seems TERRIBLE in Dos rakis.

I agree but I don't think it is an either/or situation with Skullcrack and Toil/Trouble. Right now it seems that there are a lot more aggro and midrange decks than control decks though so it probably doesn't matter as much. Sideboard slots for control are really tight right now.

Would you rather them counter Trouble or Falkenrath Aristocrat or even Thundermaw Hellkite?

[LP, of the Fires]

Against control instead of attacking there life total, I'd probably prefer to rip there hand with things like Appetitie for Brains Duress, but that's just me.

[shpedoinkle]

Would you rather them counter Trouble or Falkenrath Aristocrat or even Thundermaw Hellkite?

Well that it a good argument for Toil/Trouble, we don't run a lot of 3cc cards and forcing them to counter a T3 spell would put us in a good position. Also I didn't think of this before, but a lot of times when they are on the draw they go land, land the tap out for augur leaving them tapped out with 7 cards in hand. Maybe you guys are on to something

[photodyer]

Would you rather them counter Trouble or Falkenrath Aristocrat or even Thundermaw Hellkite?

No, but that's a reason for playing Cavern of Souls in the deck, not a reason for playing another spell that you want them to shoot down. Granted, Cavern is far from ubiquitous in the deck now compared to when our list was humans, vamps and devils, but getting timewalked is never what Dos Rakis wants to do.

[Valdarith]

Would you rather them counter Trouble or Falkenrath Aristocrat or even Thundermaw Hellkite?

No, but that's a reason for playing Cavern of Souls in the deck, not a reason for playing another spell that you want them to shoot down. Granted, Cavern is far from ubiquitous in the deck now compared to when our list was humans, vamps and devils, but getting timewalked is never what Dos Rakis wants to do.

I'd rather play both personally. Maybe it's just a pet card of mine, but I've had a huge amount of success with the card. Against
Revelation and Verdict decks we generally want to only throw a couple threats down at a time anyway. On turns three and four we're looking at having a couple of threats on board to force an answer from our opponents, making this play completely acceptable and actually preferable. It represents a major threat while allowing us not to overextend our board state.

[windstrider]

Maybe we're thinking the wrong way. What are everyone's thoughts on adding Knight of Infamy back into the list?

He shuts down and sails right on by a lot of problem cards -- Voice of Resurgence, Boros Reckoner, Cartel Aristocrat, Geist of Saint Traft, Fencing Ace, etc. He'll also allow Spike Jester to survive run ins with low-power creatures and provide extra power to our high-end stuff, allowing them hit harder and to survive more things (no more saccing a creature just so Falkenrath survives a spirit token).

He did a lot of work in the older lists.

Maybe redesign the list with Lightning Mauler again for more hasty beats with Knight?

[Valdarith]

The meta is beginning to call for him again. Spike Jester can certainly offer some explosive second turns, but Knight of Infamy answers so many cards currently played that he might be bigger game against the field. He's like the Honey Badger. He just doesn't care about Azorius Charm, Loxodon Smiter, Blood Baron of Vizkopa, Aurelia, the Warleader, Restoration Angel, Angel of Serenity, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben...

[finn62]

Would it be unthinkable to remove Stonewrights for 2 KOI main deck, and both Frostburn Weirds in the SB for two more?
KOI gives us exalted in place of the soulbond of Stonewright, and 2 more SB when the match up calls for it. If I get a chance to test it before Friday I will post outcome.

[photodyer]

Throwing the devil's advocation into the mix, the balance point for deciding on KoI is how much relevant, cheap removal is being run. KoI is well-positioned from the standpoint of the creature mix we're starting to see in the most common decks, but the reaction of the meta to these creatures may hate him out. Tragic Slip regrettably snuffs him for ; if the surging popularity of Voice results in everybody with a mountain in their deck packing Pillar again, then KoI gets a sad face. I'm certainly not averse to bringing him back into lists, but be prepared to have to keep a close eye on the meta.

[shpedoinkle]

The meta is beginning to call for him again. Spike Jester can certainly offer some explosive second turns, but Knight of Infamy answers so many cards currently played that he might be bigger game against the field. He's like the Honey Badger. He just doesn't care about Azorius Charm, Loxodon Smiter, Blood Baron of Vizkopa, Aurelia, the Warleader, Restoration Angel, Angel of Serenity, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben...

I was thinking of running KOI or Firefist Striker. I wish we had a 3/3 2 drop like gruul does to dodge the pillars and take
out things like wolf tokens, Thrill Kill Assassin is the only two drop that is close, I suppose.

My plan was just a straight out 4 for 4 trade with Spike Jester.

[Christen]

We both mulliganed to 6 and he suggested something I've never heard before. He said Magic isn't "best 2 of 3" but "first to 2" and that we should decide to draw game 1 and go to game 2 with a fresh 7. I think he meant that if we were 1-1 after Game 3 we'd keep playing. I didn't bite, and we both went to 6.

I've also known this for some time. You actually need two wins to get a match and drawing the first one effectively gives you both a fresh 7. This only works out if both players are both dissatisfied with their opening hands. Though you'd have to think that as an aggro player, we tend to win more less-card hands than the other slower decks.

[RedNihilist]

It's still tricky, as going straight for the third game means no sideboarding.
It might even be a good call, but it really depends on the matchup and receiving such an offer stinks.

[Self Medicated]

Here is where my deck is right now:

[deck]Dos Rakis[/deck]

I'm trying out KoI in Stonewright's spot and a couple more in the SB. I need one more card in my SB, so I'm debating on either adding another Rakdos's Return or a one of something. I've been getting some info about my local meta, as I haven't been to an FNM in quite some time. Seems to be a lot of Grixis control, reanimator, and a few aggro decks. My LGS is having an SCG IQ on July 6th, so any advice on my deck
would be appreciated.

[Valdarith]

If you're looking to take cards out of the deck, the last one I'd take out would be Stonewright.

[redthirst]

MD, there's nothing I'd take out of the current list.

[Self Medicated]

If you're looking to take cards out of the deck, the last one I'd take out would be Stonewright.

I don't know man. I honestly haven't really been satisfied with Stonewright's performance. That's just my personal experience.

MD, there's nothing I'd take out of the current list.

The current list in the primer?

[redthirst]

MD, there's nothing I'd take out of the current list.

The current list in the primer?

That's the one.

[Valdarith]

If you're looking to take cards out of the deck, the last one I'd take out would be Stonewright.

I don't know man. I honestly haven't really been satisfied with Stonewright's performance. That's just my personal experience.

How are you playing him? You are the only person I've heard of that's been dissatisfied with him. He's an absolute HOUSE.

[Self Medicated]

I'll give him another chance.

[shpedoinkle]

I'll give him another chance.

I would drop a cackler before a stonewright, and you know how awesome they are.

Anyway here is what I am going to try, those Junk Tokens made me go back to 4 pillars and 4 KOI
Deck: Untitled Deck

//Main
4 Ash Zealot[/url:
pssgb7qc]
4 [url=http://www.mtg-forum.de/db/magiccard.php?lng=en&card=Blood+Crypt]Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
12 Mountain
4 Searing Spear
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
3 Boros Reckoner
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Godless Shrine
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Stonewright
4 Knight of
Infamy

//Sideboard
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Dreadbore
2 Blasphemous Act [img]http://deckstats&
#46;net/mana/m/r.gif[/img]
2 Olivia Voldaren
3 Toil // Trouble //
1 Boros Reckoner [img]http://deckstats.
net/mana/m/rw.gif[/img]

Display deck statistics

So we need that t2 KoI again, might go with 4 mortars in the 75 for the smiters and wipes in longer games.

[Valdarith]

3 Toil / Trouble side is too many. 2 is the magic number.

On that note, a local friend and I got into a friendly argument on Toil / Trouble vs Skullcrack in the sideboard vs UWx decks in Standard. He's written for SCG so I always enjoy talking Magic with someone who is actually decent at evaluating cards (at least compared to the local crowd around here). He insists that Skullcrack is better here because it not only represents the same or more damage, but also costs one less mana and works at instant speed. My retort was that we will almost never be keeping our mana open from turn to turn and that Toil / Trouble was the better topdeck. It was an interesting conversation, and later on it moved on to why Azorius Charm will be falling out of favor in UWx due to Voice of Resurgence.

I'm still sold on Toil / Trouble, but I understand his point. If we want a better topdeck though, should we just play Devil's Play?