Dies to Removal

I think I'll probably end up playing this:

[deck]
Creatures (16)
4 x Seeker of the Way
4 x Goblin Rabblemaster
4 x Stormbreath Dragon
2 x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 x Ashcloud Phoenix

Lands (24)
10 x Mountain
5 x Plains
4 x Temple of Triumph
4 x Battlefield Forge
1 x Evolving Wilds

Spells (20)
2 x Chandra, Pyromaster
4 x Lightning Strike
2 x Valorous Stance
4 x Hordeling Outburst
4 x Stoke the Flames
4 x Chained to the Rocks

Sideboard
2 x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 x Arc Lightning
3 x Wild Slash
2 x Erase
2 x Glare of Heresy
4 x Hushwing Gryff[/deck]

If Ascendancy dies off, I could see -2 Erase, +2 Outpost Siege.

Or if meta is less aggro, more control.

I'm probably letting my fondness of siege in my mardu deck make me biased in using it in RW. That deck is built around siege a little more, and having the sacrifice on butcher makes the dragon mode much more consistent and potent as a finisher.

Agree 100%.

Owen's list is the best. I'll be running something very close to it at the PPTQ next week.

Owen's list is good and it's crazy how similar to mine it is. I certainly agree with his assessment of Rabblemaster and Mentor, as I have been saying the same thing about them since last Friday to my playtesting friend. Monastery Mentor is certainly powerful, especially with the addition of Slash and V-Stance, but it just feels like a weaker version of Rabblemasters 5-8 (should you choose to run that many....I wouldn't run more than 2 in this build). I would even say that Brimaz is a better choice, especially in the late game, as most of the time Mentor is simply a Gray Ogre.

And don't even get me started on Grandmaster. The hype on him is just.....it's hype. I think Danny Goldstein had the right idea to try the 3/1 split on Seeker and Grandmaster, but ultimately, the full set of Seeker is better the majority of the time.

Recent results have shown me that Ashcloud Phoenix is one of, if not the best cards in the deck and I would highly recommend playing 4 in your 75

Can't get behind that at all.

I won a standard tournament with the 75 I posted above this weekend. Deck felt very, very solid. Played against UW heroic and Abzan Midrange all day. UW was good post sideboard and Abzan is good main board or post sideboard.

Trying when FRF hits MODO:

[deck]
Land
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Flooded Strand
6 Mountain
5 Plains
4 Temple of Triumph

Spells
4 Collateral Damage
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Lightning Strike
2 Outpost Siege
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Stoke the Flames
3 Valorous Stance

Creatures
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Seeker of the Way
1 Soulfire Grand Master
3 Monastery Mentor

Sideboard
3 Arc Lightning
3 Erase
4 Glare of Heresy
3 Hushwing Gryff
2 Searing Blood
[/deck]

I played this to a 5-0 finish at FNM and then on to a 39 person Win-A-Box tournament on Saturday, where I went 4-1-1 in the Swiss before taking it down in the Top 8.

[deck]
Creature 16
4 Seeker of the Way
2 Heliod's Pilgrim
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Stormbreath Dragon

Spells 20
4 Chained to the Rocks
4 Hordeling Outburst
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
4 Stoke the Flames

Land 24
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Battlefield Forge
3 Plains
11 Mountain

Sideboard 15
4 Hushwing Gryff
2 Glare of Heresy
2 Erase
2 Scouring Sands
2 Arc Lightning
2 Wild Slash
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
[/deck]

All-Stars from the last 2 days were Heliod's Pilgrim, Ashcloud Phoenix, and good ole Stormie. Also, props to Rapp Brewing and their Gose beer to make all that winning possible.

I'll most likely be adding Outpost Siege into my sideboard somehow.

I don't see the point of Heliod's Pilgrim anymore when we have Valorous Stance.

I don't see the point of Valorous Stance when I have Heliod's Pilgrim.

Seriously, the Pilgrim does some major work.

Agree to disagree then.

I'm with Val. Valorous Stance is Chains 5+6, meaning you don't need to play a 1/2 for 3 that works against hushwing.

I've tried all three options for my flex slot: Brimaz, Pilgrim, and Stance. Pilgrim has done the most work for me, and the results speak for themselves.

If you guys prefer one over the other, then fine. I'm just sharing what I've been playing.

Ok.

Sure.

Fine.

Good.

Alright.

Giggity.

Goo.

Cross Cuntry Tour.

Does this look like a 'Q' to you? How about now?

Magma Jet is great.

Well, it has been for me, anyway. I can understand why anyone wouldn't want to run it.

I've swapped them for Wild Slash for turn one interaction.

I like Jet so I can filter my draws.

I can't fault that line of thinking.

Val, are you using Ashcloud Phoenix at all? If so, how's he been working for you?

Tried it but had to ditch it with all the token decks here.

Fair enough. It can be awkward playing it on the back foot against a swarm of 1/1's.

Played a janky list last night to 3-1. Had ashcloud and brimaz both in the main while skimping on the magma jet/slash flex slot. Lost to Temur ascendancy, beat Junk Reanimator x2, and jeskai agro. Ascendancy combo is a horrible matchup because they don't care about stormbreath dragon, overload our removal, and my rabbles got blown out by hornet nest postboard. Every other match felt pretty easy so long as I drew mountains for chained to the rocks.

So this deck beats up on midrange decks I imagine, would it be reasonable to assume that it would be good against abzan aggro

Good against all abzan, heroic, jeskai, mardu. Medium vs. control, and constellation, bad against sidisi whip and slightly unfavorable against most decks that don't care about stormbreath dragon.

In my experience, the Abzan Aggro matchup is even to slightly favorable depending on the configuration of both decks.