Dies to Removal

Is there any one at SCG that you actually like Alex?

Is there any one at SCG that you actually like Alex?

^ guaranteed to purge your stomach as well?

If you can stomach it, it'll make you feel better - if you can't, you'll throw up and feel better anyway.

Of course, 2 Aspirin, a Gatorade, and a meal will make you feel better too, but that's way more work and way less epic.

That was...not as bad as I thought. Reminds me of Texas Thunder. I think I can feel my Y chromosomes flexing.

Kaze, congratulations! Looking forward to the next couple days?

I really like what someone else said- plan things out beforehand, then simply don't make stupid mistakes on the day of. They really will be paying most of their attention to her, not you. AND EAT YOUR FOOD! You'll feel pressured to get up all the time and thank people but be up, then sit down when a course comes, eat it, then get up again until the next course comes.

Aye, I hear you. I just realized I need paper plates. That would have been a disaster. I'll try to keep the stupid mistakes to a minimum.

And as far as meals go, the wedding is outdoors and so is the reception. I couldn't really afford a snazzy reception, so it's more of a potluck cookout. I hear there's going
to be bacon corn.

Well done Kaze - that should fortify you in no time.

In the comments to that article Ari Lax makes an appearance and tells Cedric that he'd rather cut Thundermaw than Stonewright. Love it.

He's another professional player that doesn't believe that he has to playtest before he runs his mouth. Many of his unedited articles are just completely full of nonsensical bile based on absolutely no factual evidence. Even some of the post-edit stuff that gets posted is like that.

It isn't even real theorycraft, it's just "I think this is bad because I'm Cedric Phillips and you're going to believe me because they pay me to make you believe me."

Example: This article from back in January where he says that Hellion Crucible and Stonewright are both bad in mono red, and that Rogue's Passage is somehow "great tech for
the deck." In the facebook comments you'll even find Lauphiette grilling him for being an idiot, but he sticks with his guns. A few weeks after this, he's forced to eat his words when Stonewright turns up to be the best card in the list, and that Hellion Crucible is a 3of in most of the placing mono red lists. Oops.

Feeling better yet?

Feeling better yet?

I do. The edge is off.

like I said Idk much about modern. What early defenders/walls go down that deserve removal? and if those are your only weakness, you got 7 flex slots in the SB for dismember/w/e.

Spellskite. And that's reason enough to warrant removal in most cases.

Bacon Corn? Whaaa...? That sounds AMAZING!

Oh and pro tip. You may feel that the best time to give out your groomsmen presents and do the cigar/whiskey thing is during the dancing, but try to do it another time. My wife still holds it against me that I missed a few slow dances with her (even though I was there for the majority of them).

Feeling better yet?

I do. The edge is off.

I was starting to think I had killed you...

I remember that article. I believe I commented on it too. That was the turning point for me in realizing that some of the "pros" are no better than the people we flame on Sally.

Nah... it's worked for me fine, but I don't think I've ever suggested it to anyone else.

It was possible that it might kill anyone less manly than myself.

So...anyone seen Dane lately?

1) Probably right on the land count. 18 feels better.
2) Lava Spike is there to increase the number of possible pathways for a turn 3 kill. I do like the idea of Dismember though and I'd probably remove Mutagenic Growth for 2-3 of them.
3) The problem I have with Rancor is that it opens you up to 2-for-1s and we often won't have time to cast it. We want to kill as quickly as possible and Rancor only slows down the tempo since we're not playing a dude instead. At least with Mutagenic Growth we can cast it at the cost of life and not mana.
4) Again, Cackler to increase the number of possibilities for a turn 3 kill.

I definitely want Deathrite Shaman and Dismember in the deck, but removing Mutagenic Growth makes a turn three kill much less likely. That said, it
would also increase the deck's consistency in the mid to late game, so how about:

[deck]
Creatures (32)
4 Experiment One
4 Kird Ape
4 Goblin Guide
3 Rakdos Cackler
2 Deathrite Shaman
4 Spike Jester
4 Jund Hackblade
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
3 Flinthoof Boar

Spells (10)
3 Dismember
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lava Spike

Lands (18)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Verdant Catacomb
4 Blood Crypt
4 Stomping Ground

Sideboard (15)
4 Tin Street Hooligan
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
7 Flex slots
[/deck]

Some examples of strong starts:
1) T1: play or fetch Stomping Ground, cast Experiment One. T2: play or fetch Blood Crypt, cast Goblin Guide, cast Kird Ape, swing 5, T3: play or fetch any land, cast BTE, cast Jund Hackblade, Bolt or Spike for 3, swing 10, opponent at two before turn four (and quite possibly dead if playing fetches and shocks).

You can see why I had Mutagenic Growth in the deck now.

2) T1:
play or fetch Stomping Ground, cast Rakdos Cackler or Kird Ape. T2: play or fetch Blood Crypt, cast BTE, cast Jund Hackblade, swing 5. T3: play or fetch any land, cast Spike Jester, Bolt or Spike for 3, swing 10, opponent at two before turn four.

There's so many different combinations for explosive starts in this deck. The more I think about it, the more we really want three land on turn three, so 19 might be a better number for land. I'd remove one Flinthoof Boar for a land in that case since he's the least valuable creature in the deck.

EDIT: maybe Lava Spike should be Searing Blaze instead...

This is definitely the kind of build I'd like to play (is there any glaring reason to play straight Gruul Zoo over this? Hackblade looks tech as hell) if I got into it though, $45 fetches are a still being a pretty good deterrent >.>

So...anyone seen Dane lately?

Last time he posted: 4/10
Last time he visited: 4/25

No clue what the fuck happened.

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