Fortunately, I had already won some amount of money, and was looking for practice. This was definitely one of the most practiced players of Tier 1 decks in the room, and I always have fun playing against Splinter Twin. The first game came complete with a hardcore blowout. I lost the dice roll, so he had three mana up on Turn 3. He had three cards in hand, one of which was definitely a Twin and the other was a creature combo piece, which turned out to be Deceiver Exarch. I left up a Bloodstained Mire, and had not yet fetched, and also had two basic Swamps in play. I cast a Wrench Mind, so he flashed in his Exarch and untapped his Island so that he could Spell Snare my Wrench Mind. This was the third card put into my graveyard, the first being Raven's Crime and the second being a fetch land from earlier. I let this all resolve, fetched out a land (putting a 4th card into my graveyard), and Delve + the new land allowed me to Murderous Cut his Exarch, leaving him exposed. After he drew a land for turn the next turn, I cast another Wrench Mind and he was a combo-control deck with no cards and no board state, so I got there with ease beyond that. I sideboarded in three Duress, three Surgical Extraction, two Wear and Tear, and the Rakdos Charm. This all turned out pretty good, as he sideboarded in a Batterskull, two Engineered Explosives just to play around Wrench Mind, and an Ancient Grudge. I wound up with a game two hand of double Duress, double Surgical Extraction, lands, and a Gurmag Angler, so you can imagine that the beatdown was thorough.
Gurmag Angler was definitely an acceptable replacement for Nyxathid. It usually comes out a turn slower, which hurts a bit against the Burn matchup, but it is also missed by Lightning Bolt at all times, Abrupt Decay cannot kill it, and it cannot be taken out of hand by Inquisition of Kozilek. It also will tangle with just about any Tarmogoyf in the format, and if cast beyond turn four (which is likely), can also allow you to leave up removal mana. It was definitely a house and for the time being, will be staying in place of Nyxathid.
How did you sideout VS twin? And the only raven's crime worth it?
Against the player that I was playing, Blightning was too slow, so all four of those came out, along with the Raven's Crime, one Gurmag Angler, the Grim Lavamancer, one Liliana of the Veil and one Lightning Bolt. Liliana of the Veil still having three copies in the deck was just fine, as you don't want to get swamped with multiple copies against Twin. Lightning Bolt only hits Pestermite, the Lavamancer dies to both Bolt and Electrolyze, and the Raven's Crime is too slow in that matchup and also is fairly weak when playing around Splinter Twin, since they will eventually just keep trying to topdeck it.
Honestly, the more I play with Raven's Crime, the less I like the card. I wind up sideboarding it out against everyone. Starting to think that this list doesn't want that card.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
I like how the deck has 8-ofs for consistency, like 8 lightning bolt + rift bolt, 8 blightning + wrench mind, etc. I see it as a burn deck, a bit slower but very disruptive. I'm going to try young pyro instead of bridge, it can block forever, can be a win condition and with all the discard he is more likely to stick around. I'm also trying kolaghan's command (no lili, this is a more budget version). Our opponent should often become hellbent at some point and instant speed discard seems very good. Let me know what you think!
Honestly, the more I play with Raven's Crime, the less I like the card. I wind up sideboarding it out against everyone. Starting to think that this list doesn't want that card.
What would you put in replacement?? Do you got some problem of mana? Or will it be something unusual?
Ace1! You marvelous son of a gun. What a creative foray into this new archetype you've crafted, and no surprise as you are the 'go-to-guy' for red splashes in the U/B Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas Thread in the "Developing Competitive" Modern section of MTGsalvation. I absolutely love the pressure. I am feverishly testing any number of the builds that are getting suggested, and one of the failings is the lack of 'closing the deal'. We get them hellbent, have board control, and.....just can't bring down those final points of life to 0.
Your deck is devilishly aggressive. I don't necessarily mind seeing Liliana of the Veil go - if the reasoning is right, as I've seen some builds in 8rack go without her. She's a straight-up titan, but her impact isn't one that delivers an immediate win. I dig the bolt suite. Again, I've found that 8 bolts is good, but not good enough. It lands me in purgatory. That's why I implemented some mid-range tactics and scaled back to 6 (with 1 currently in the sideboard of all places! - gotta do that for affinity, infect, and burn - smashpacman's build is particularly well-suited to take down these tier 1 decks, and I respect that greatly). But, you? You're going (16) bolts {if you count kolaghan's command} and pyromaster creatures multiplication. And, even talking about Dark Confidant. A playtest buddy was suggesting the same, but I couldn't find a way to add his draw/attack power without eating my bag when it comes to flipping a top card of my deck during upkeep.
Geth's Verdict is the apparent weak link as a 1/2 smallpox, but maybe not. I do think 20 land is too low, and I'd opt for a single mountain in the build. Think about a sideboard as well, as I do think this horse has got legs that can run!
Thanks for the imput Raystack! Your comment about the number of lands and geth's verdict being not so good got me thinking... i'll just swap the verdicts for sign in blood. Card draw allows me to run slightly less lands and it is very young pyro friendly. It also adds up to the burn suite, when the opponent is at two life it can finish them off. I can't afford dark confidant for now so sign in blood it will be. Also yes a single mountain is correct.
Honestly, the more I play with Raven's Crime, the less I like the card. I wind up sideboarding it out against everyone. Starting to think that this list doesn't want that card.
What would you put in replacement?? Do you got some problem of mana? Or will it be something unusual?
There's definitely not a Mana problem in the deck. I'm certain of 21 being a fine number, especially with the shift to Gurmag Angler. Right now, Raven's Crime is simply not an impactful card with the tempo style of this deck. For now, I'm likely either changing it to a one-of main-deck Surgical Extraction or another main-deck Grim Lavamancer to free up another board slot for the 3rd Blood Moon. I will be researching all the options though, so we will see.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
Hey Ace1, sweet list! Young freaking Pyromancer, I think I'm in love. HUGE fan of that card. Same for Sign in Blood in my list personally, as I'm currently investigating all options for a replacement for Raven's Crime. Both of those options are wonderful.
As far as your list goes, I understand where you come in playing it as a Burn deck. The only thing is that there seems to be not enough hand disruption to make it worthwhile running The Rack in the deck. That slot currently feels like it wants to be a few different things. The first thing that jumps into my mind for your deck is a few copies of Geth's Verdict. If you want to be heavy in on The Rack, then my knee-jerk reactions to the budget list are that Kolaghan's Command is not a good enough card to have four copies, and Rift Bolt is too easy for opponents to play around. There are some other budget options, such as Blackmail, Distress, Duress, and Despise, that could work well in that slot to work with The Rack. To be honest, The Rack is often times the worst card in my hand or in play, especially when the opponent decides to heavily play around it.
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smashpacman makes a good point about the potency of racks in your deck, Ace1. In order for them to work, a repeating discard engine generally has to be running. Or, the opponent can just get his head above water. The best engine is Liliana of the Veil. The easiest engine to run is Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace. The costliest one, which effectively limits your onboard land count and caps your spell ramp at 3, is a 4-of of Raven's Crime. The coolest one? Nezumi Shortfang. There is also Necrogen Mists which has worked reasonably well for me in the past during the height of U/W/R Patriot decks. Yeeeeeah, without one of these styles of weapons in your armories, a critical element of Blitzkrieg is missing its firepower. But, maybe it's possible if you can keep pressing so hard, that they have to keep casting cards from their hand to keep up, then the racks become a 'damned if you do, or damned if you don't'. Well, keep working on it, and don't necessarily build for budget. Aim high, and wallet be damned Hey, here's a thought: You know what worked back in the early days of hymn to tourach / the rack? Hypnotic Specter.
My elementary next step with that deck of your yours, Ace1, is to drop the (4) racks and add (4) Monastery Swiftspear, since you have 32 instant - sorcery and 8 creatures that benefit from that. That's hunky, could work like a beast, but I wonder if its home is here...if there is no rack in Lightning Rack Attack? This is all very new, and I want to be inclusive.
Speaking of inclusive, I wanted to answer the reservations of one person who was a bit taken aback by the term "Blitzkrieg" being used. Well, it has nothing to with nazis (a political party) or hitler (who didn't invent it or popularize it). The term blitzkrieg was in fact never used in the title of a German military manual or handbook. Nor is it to be widely found in the memoirs or correspondence of German generals. The word was used in the Wehrmacht during World War II but was commonly considered to be of foreign origin, and now it's in the Merriam Webster dictionary. Anyway, I'll keep the title as the name of my particular deck, and maybe I'll just rename the thread to what I originally dubbed the archetype (after viewing Pete Casella's 'rackdos' deck) when I first wrote about it in the 8rack thread - Lightning Rack.
I am bothered that we'll be immediately compared to 8rack with that title, but it's perhaps the nature of the beast. OR, maybe we don't have to be strict about having The Rack or Shrieking Affliction in the build (smashpacman is starting to doubt its efficacy, but I'm still whole hog behind it), and it can be called Blightning Blitz. The namesake of blightning is by far the most defining card of this design. And, there is always staying with Blitzkrieg which kind of tells the whole story. The only reason I care is that we do need a unifying name, like every other thread, and I'd like to see everyone signing on to one (and then making their own pet names for their individual decks) - Making an Identity!
** A favor of those that are putting up decks. Please include the full (75) cards that you'd like us to consider. Sideboards are always transitional, but nonetheless a very important element. If you're asking us for feedback on a deck, please give us the whole deck to review. **
Hey guys. In light of @Ace1's proposal, and the dropping of Bridges and Obliterators...
Look at his list. The noncreature spell density is very high. I couldn't help but think that some number of Snapcaster mage could help him re-play his best spells and get effective card-advantage. And a clock. On a card he can rebuy with Kolaghan's command.
Now take into account @Raystack's feeling that something like Monastery Swiftspear could also fit in, and the questionning of the effectiveness of The Rack itself in this particular iteration. Hey! You know what else likes high noncreature spell density?
Delver of Secrets. There are very little tempo creatures as good as this one, given you run enough noncreature spells.
Food for thought.
TDLR: @Ace1, i think Snappy would be a straight upgrade over Sign in blood. Also, I like CMC-1 discard spell to take out your opponent's removal before you drop your tempo threat on the field. Your list is a little light on it.
Raystack made a good point about the deck needing an engine, and i choose raven's crime because it has the most synergy with young pyromancer. It also works well with confidant, he always draws us extra lands which we can use for retrace. Having 8 creatures makes kolaghan's command's raise dead option kind of good sometimes. I decided to take out rift bolt because of confidant, 12 3cc spells is too much damage.
Also radouf i'd rather not splash blue because at this point the deck would just become grixis delver, which i'm not interested in playing. I'd rather try and make a good the rack deck and stay close to this archetype's core and principles.
Well, yesterday on the Tuesday Night Magic of my local store, i went 2-0-1 (1 draw) and won!! For the first time, I won with my Blitzkrieg!! So happy =D. Was against 5 fine experienced players with a good level, and 2 of the the 3 I played against are very good players, who plays with their decks by more than 3 months.
The deck was made with the cards that I have... I only got 3 lilianas from a friend, for example, and yesterday got my first 2 obliterators, just have 1 the rack, and in the manabase i only have 1 blackcleave cliffs =(... Other cards I dont have didnt entered because of that... Ok, lets go to the list:
Game 1 I got a strong hand with removals, one temple and a bridge. Quickly cleaned my hand, put the bridge, drew a liliana, putted some burns and waited for one shrieking affliction to finish the game
For the game 2, I sided out 2 blightning, 4 terminate and 1 bolt and added 1 darkblast, 1 olivia, 2 ratchet bomb and 3 extractions. Started a hand wirh a hatchet bomb and a thoughtseize, took of an intangible virtue from his hand, waited for the lingering souls and surgically extracted it, putting bomb in table, and got two afflictions for the finish. Didnt ever needed the bridge
Game 2: Amulet Bloom. 1-1
Game 1 was pretty fast. Answered Azusa with a bolt, putted 1 affliction and 1 rack in table and disrupted him with wrench mind and blightning. Terminated the titan, and finished him with a bolt after 5 damage from the racks.
For the game 2, i sided out 2 IOK, 2 blightnings, 2 bolts and 1 wrench mind to put in 2 obliterators, 1 olivia voldaren, 3 blood moons and 1 slaughter games. I knew he would side in leyline, and it came out after 2 mulls. I kept a hand with a rix maadi, a liliana, lavamancer, a temple and olivia. Scryed an oblit: all I wanted to win. Made a table with oblit, lili and grim, and had to make a decision: clean him hand with rix or use a terminate on the titan he had in table. Took the wrong, got the titan off and his last card was a damn Sigarda. He got a transmute land, kept an pact, putted another titan and smashed me. No time for game 3, tied.
Game 3: Martyr. 2-1
Game 1 was straight: cleaned him hand, topdecked a bridge at the right time and smashed him with 1 rack and 2 afflic. For the game 2, took out 3 terminates, 1 bolt, 1 thoughtseize and 1 blightning and putted in 2 surgical extraction, 1 phyrexian obliterator 2 ratchet bomb, 1 slaughter games and 1 darkblast. Lost the game 2 for 4 topdecks: squadron hawk first, after that 2 ranger of eos and 1 proclamation of rebirth. I was with oblit on table attacking, and when the thing got bad, I putted 2 bridges on table in the same turn. He had one disenchant on hand, and I had one more bridge on mine. He topdecked the only single one oblivion ring he sided in and smashed me for the win. The game 3 was tight, he got all his 4 rangers, gained millions of life, but I could manage it with a hatchet bomb at 2 for the hawks, 2 bridges and 2 afflictions on the table.
I liked my overall performance, even playing with an incomplete deck. Hope I can help you in something.'
Raven's Crime I think is a good call for your version, I do like that card much more in your deck than in mine. Particularly, it allows multiple casts to get rid of opponent card advantage while triggering Young Jeezy, all in the same turn. Dark Confidant is also probably very strong in your list. The one thing that I am not a fan of still in your deck is the full four Kolaghan's Command. If you are going to be throwing spells at them all game, you will always want the removal piece in your hand wherever necessary. I highly recommend taking at least two of those and turning them into either Thoughtseize, Murderous Cut, or a combination of the two.
Also, taking out Rift Bolt was definitely the right decision. If you want to play a three damage burn spell in that spot, Lava Spike is definitely the best option. It doesn't hit creatures, but it would only cost one mana with Dark Confidant and it would still allow for multiple Young Pyromancer triggers.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
Another Gold Medal for Blitzkrieg! Big on ya, LucasBayde! Reading through your fractured decklist, and still seeing a 1st place finish reminds me of when I first saw SmashPacMan rough 1st list. And, He has gone on to evolve his build and take down (2) more tourneys, 4-0/4-0. There is so much potential here, it's frightening!
I'll be offline for the next few days, but trust that you kiddies can behave . Maybe when I come back, it'll be like a scene out of the movies where I turn on the lights after turning the key in the front door, and I see pure perfection in the form of 75 rectangular pieces of cardboard seated betwixt the pixels of my computer monitor. Good Luck, Peoples!
I still haven't played the deck and it will take some time before i can assemble it (due to $$$), but i'm rather concerned about leyline of sanctity. It pretty much shuts down our whole deck... So i'm considering a very light splash, probably green, for enchantment destruction from the board. Burn and twin do this light green splash and it seems to make sense, just adding more fetches and a singleton overgrown tomb might work. I haven't discussed sideboarding yet because i believe the 60 must be more of less definite before considering options for the board because depending on the 60 the choices can be different (like for exemple bob make hight cc options risky and young pyro makes instant/sorcery options better). I think that would be the first step into building mine, either golgari charm, destructive revelry or a mix of both.
I thank god when someone mull for 5 to find Leyline... Takes almost no time until I crush his face with creatures and make a liliana to rack damage or to make he sac the precious leyline he looked for the entire match. Trust me, Leyline hurts much less than you think
How do you make the opponent sac leyline, you can't ult lili throught leyline... plus no lili edict doesn't sound very good. Maybe it isn't bad in you version but in mine not being able to cast any spell to trigger young pyro seems awful... maybe i need lili for +1...
How do you make the opponent sac leyline, you can't ult lili throught leyline... plus no lili edict doesn't sound very good. Maybe it isn't bad in you version but in mine not being able to cast any spell to trigger young pyro seems awful... maybe i need lili for +1...
I've spent a great deal of time playing against Leyline of Sanctity, as it was a four-of in almost every sideboard in my area for a long, long time. The truth is, no matter what variation of The Rack you are playing, it feels awful to play against with discard spells in your deck. The reason that I have a Godless Shrine fetch-able in my deck and Wear & Tear in the sideboard is because the Tear side of that card is the only way Black-Red decks can viably destroy an enchantment. The other option is to splash Green and play a Jund list, which would gain you access to Destructive Revelry, but at that rate Burn is just a better deck at the moment until Jund Midrange has the code cracked.
Most of the time, even ulting a Liliana of the Veil means a smarter player will just keep the Leyline and play through. Her impact is not enough, sadly. I highly recommend finding a way to get rid of Leyline of Sanctity, even if that means splashing a third color. On the bright side, it is seeing a great deal less play today than it used to.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
Young Pyromaster versions could definitely benefit from a copy or two of Howl of the Horde. I really believe it's a seriously underrated card that can blow the opponent away right at the end. Cast it, throw a token at them, Bolt/Spike for 9, or wipe out three cards. If it resolves, it makes a major impact at four mana.
I never needed to do it in my games, just figured. BTW, +1 works, and Rix still works too... Never needed much more than that and the creatures when I faced Leyline... Against decks who uses Leyline, I commonly take out 4-5 discard spells and put creatures, and other minor changes with the side... Never had much problem, and like the fact they mull hard for it...
I have Shattering Spree for affinity, Molten Rain for Tron/scapeshift, Extirpate for twin/combo, Rakdos Charm mainly for graveyard strategies and for the destroy artifact, and Golgari Charm for enchantments and the -1/-1 to all creatures if necessary.
@darkhelemt709: i like slaughter. Following some comments i've been looking for a card to remplace 2x command as well. Pact is nice with bob (costs zero) and young pyro (free spell).
I'm only worried about the fact that it doesn't kill tasigur, the golden fang and siege rhino, this is the only thing holding from going with pacts. Maybe it isn't that important since it is only 2 card and we can side it out, so i'll probably end up playing one or 2. I've also considered a singleton grim lavamancer.
For the sideboard, do you think we need that much artifact hate? Rakdos charm is fine (maybe not 4x though) but shattering spree might be overkill. We already have kolaghan's command main board so i think you could put other stuff instead of spree. Also is extirpate really better than surgical extraction? How often does the split second really matter? Normally i don't like those but with all the discard they might be good. This brings me to the last point, do we need that much graveyard hate? 3 extirpate and 4x rakdos charm seems like a lot (although surgical is more than graveyard hate).
TL;DR: sideboard could be more diverse, too much uneeded artifact hate and graveyard hate.
EDIT: my latest list with sideboard:
on the sideboard: Blood moon is too good to pass up i think. Also i prefer fulminator mage to molten rain because we can recur it with kolaghan's command. Imp's mischief is somewhat of a pet card, it is really versatile. It can be sided in vs burn, removal heavy deck and counterspells deck. It is even sidable vs twin, in magic christmas land we can enchant fulminator mage with splinter twin
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
Against the player that I was playing, Blightning was too slow, so all four of those came out, along with the Raven's Crime, one Gurmag Angler, the Grim Lavamancer, one Liliana of the Veil and one Lightning Bolt. Liliana of the Veil still having three copies in the deck was just fine, as you don't want to get swamped with multiple copies against Twin. Lightning Bolt only hits Pestermite, the Lavamancer dies to both Bolt and Electrolyze, and the Raven's Crime is too slow in that matchup and also is fairly weak when playing around Splinter Twin, since they will eventually just keep trying to topdeck it.
Honestly, the more I play with Raven's Crime, the less I like the card. I wind up sideboarding it out against everyone. Starting to think that this list doesn't want that card.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
EDIT:-4 geth's verdict, +4 sign in blood
4 lightning bolt
4 terminate
4 kolaghan's command
sorceries : 20
4 inquisition of kozilek
4 wrench mind
4 sign in blood
4 blightning
4 rift bolt
4 young pyromancer
artifacts : 4
4 the rack
lands : 20
4 blackcleave cliffs
4 bloodstained mire
4 polluted delta
4 blood crypt
3 swamp
1 mountain
I like how the deck has 8-ofs for consistency, like 8 lightning bolt + rift bolt, 8 blightning + wrench mind, etc. I see it as a burn deck, a bit slower but very disruptive. I'm going to try young pyro instead of bridge, it can block forever, can be a win condition and with all the discard he is more likely to stick around. I'm also trying kolaghan's command (no lili, this is a more budget version). Our opponent should often become hellbent at some point and instant speed discard seems very good. Let me know what you think!
What would you put in replacement?? Do you got some problem of mana? Or will it be something unusual?
GWAura-HexproofGW
Your deck is devilishly aggressive. I don't necessarily mind seeing Liliana of the Veil go - if the reasoning is right, as I've seen some builds in 8rack go without her. She's a straight-up titan, but her impact isn't one that delivers an immediate win. I dig the bolt suite. Again, I've found that 8 bolts is good, but not good enough. It lands me in purgatory. That's why I implemented some mid-range tactics and scaled back to 6 (with 1 currently in the sideboard of all places! - gotta do that for affinity, infect, and burn - smashpacman's build is particularly well-suited to take down these tier 1 decks, and I respect that greatly). But, you? You're going (16) bolts {if you count kolaghan's command} and pyromaster creatures multiplication. And, even talking about Dark Confidant. A playtest buddy was suggesting the same, but I couldn't find a way to add his draw/attack power without eating my bag when it comes to flipping a top card of my deck during upkeep.
Geth's Verdict is the apparent weak link as a 1/2 smallpox, but maybe not. I do think 20 land is too low, and I'd opt for a single mountain in the build. Think about a sideboard as well, as I do think this horse has got legs that can run!
Previous list updated.
There's definitely not a Mana problem in the deck. I'm certain of 21 being a fine number, especially with the shift to Gurmag Angler. Right now, Raven's Crime is simply not an impactful card with the tempo style of this deck. For now, I'm likely either changing it to a one-of main-deck Surgical Extraction or another main-deck Grim Lavamancer to free up another board slot for the 3rd Blood Moon. I will be researching all the options though, so we will see.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
Hey Ace1, sweet list! Young freaking Pyromancer, I think I'm in love. HUGE fan of that card. Same for Sign in Blood in my list personally, as I'm currently investigating all options for a replacement for Raven's Crime. Both of those options are wonderful.
As far as your list goes, I understand where you come in playing it as a Burn deck. The only thing is that there seems to be not enough hand disruption to make it worthwhile running The Rack in the deck. That slot currently feels like it wants to be a few different things. The first thing that jumps into my mind for your deck is a few copies of Geth's Verdict. If you want to be heavy in on The Rack, then my knee-jerk reactions to the budget list are that Kolaghan's Command is not a good enough card to have four copies, and Rift Bolt is too easy for opponents to play around. There are some other budget options, such as Blackmail, Distress, Duress, and Despise, that could work well in that slot to work with The Rack. To be honest, The Rack is often times the worst card in my hand or in play, especially when the opponent decides to heavily play around it.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
Ace1's Deck
4 lightning bolt
4 terminate
4 kolaghan's command
sorceries : 20
4 inquisition of kozilek
4 wrench mind
4 sign in blood
4 blightning
4 rift bolt
4 young pyromancer
artifacts : 4
4 the rack
lands : 20
4 blackcleave cliffs
4 bloodstained mire
4 polluted delta
4 blood crypt
3 swamp
1 mountain
My elementary next step with that deck of your yours, Ace1, is to drop the (4) racks and add (4) Monastery Swiftspear, since you have 32 instant - sorcery and 8 creatures that benefit from that. That's hunky, could work like a beast, but I wonder if its home is here...if there is no rack in Lightning Rack Attack? This is all very new, and I want to be inclusive.
Speaking of inclusive, I wanted to answer the reservations of one person who was a bit taken aback by the term "Blitzkrieg" being used. Well, it has nothing to with nazis (a political party) or hitler (who didn't invent it or popularize it). The term blitzkrieg was in fact never used in the title of a German military manual or handbook. Nor is it to be widely found in the memoirs or correspondence of German generals. The word was used in the Wehrmacht during World War II but was commonly considered to be of foreign origin, and now it's in the Merriam Webster dictionary. Anyway, I'll keep the title as the name of my particular deck, and maybe I'll just rename the thread to what I originally dubbed the archetype (after viewing Pete Casella's 'rackdos' deck) when I first wrote about it in the 8rack thread - Lightning Rack.
I am bothered that we'll be immediately compared to 8rack with that title, but it's perhaps the nature of the beast. OR, maybe we don't have to be strict about having The Rack or Shrieking Affliction in the build (smashpacman is starting to doubt its efficacy, but I'm still whole hog behind it), and it can be called Blightning Blitz. The namesake of blightning is by far the most defining card of this design. And, there is always staying with Blitzkrieg which kind of tells the whole story. The only reason I care is that we do need a unifying name, like every other thread, and I'd like to see everyone signing on to one (and then making their own pet names for their individual decks) - Making an Identity!
** A favor of those that are putting up decks. Please include the full (75) cards that you'd like us to consider. Sideboards are always transitional, but nonetheless a very important element. If you're asking us for feedback on a deck, please give us the whole deck to review. **
Look at his list. The noncreature spell density is very high. I couldn't help but think that some number of Snapcaster mage could help him re-play his best spells and get effective card-advantage. And a clock. On a card he can rebuy with Kolaghan's command.
Now take into account @Raystack's feeling that something like Monastery Swiftspear could also fit in, and the questionning of the effectiveness of The Rack itself in this particular iteration. Hey! You know what else likes high noncreature spell density?
Delver of Secrets. There are very little tempo creatures as good as this one, given you run enough noncreature spells.
Food for thought.
TDLR: @Ace1, i think Snappy would be a straight upgrade over Sign in blood. Also, I like CMC-1 discard spell to take out your opponent's removal before you drop your tempo threat on the field. Your list is a little light on it.
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
4 lightning bolt
4 terminate
4 kolaghan's command
sorceries : 16
4 raven's crime
4 inquisition of kozilek
4 wrench mind
4 blightning
4 young pyromancer
4 dark confidant
artifacts : 4
4 the rack
lands : 20
4 blackcleave cliffs
4 bloodstained mire
4 polluted delta
4 blood crypt
3 swamp
1 mountain
Raystack made a good point about the deck needing an engine, and i choose raven's crime because it has the most synergy with young pyromancer. It also works well with confidant, he always draws us extra lands which we can use for retrace. Having 8 creatures makes kolaghan's command's raise dead option kind of good sometimes. I decided to take out rift bolt because of confidant, 12 3cc spells is too much damage.
Also radouf i'd rather not splash blue because at this point the deck would just become grixis delver, which i'm not interested in playing. I'd rather try and make a good the rack deck and stay close to this archetype's core and principles.
The deck was made with the cards that I have... I only got 3 lilianas from a friend, for example, and yesterday got my first 2 obliterators, just have 1 the rack, and in the manabase i only have 1 blackcleave cliffs =(... Other cards I dont have didnt entered because of that... Ok, lets go to the list:
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
4 Wrench Mind
4 Blightning
Kill and board control machine (22)
4 Terminate
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Lightning Bolt
1 The Rack
4 Shrieking Affliction
Lands (22)
2 Blood Crypt
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
8 Swamp
2 Lavaclaw Reaches
3 Temple of Malice
2 Phyrexian Obliterator
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Blood Moon
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Slaughter Games
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Darkblast
1 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb
Game 1: BW/r Tokens. 2-0
Game 1 I got a strong hand with removals, one temple and a bridge. Quickly cleaned my hand, put the bridge, drew a liliana, putted some burns and waited for one shrieking affliction to finish the game
For the game 2, I sided out 2 blightning, 4 terminate and 1 bolt and added 1 darkblast, 1 olivia, 2 ratchet bomb and 3 extractions. Started a hand wirh a hatchet bomb and a thoughtseize, took of an intangible virtue from his hand, waited for the lingering souls and surgically extracted it, putting bomb in table, and got two afflictions for the finish. Didnt ever needed the bridge
Game 2: Amulet Bloom. 1-1
Game 1 was pretty fast. Answered Azusa with a bolt, putted 1 affliction and 1 rack in table and disrupted him with wrench mind and blightning. Terminated the titan, and finished him with a bolt after 5 damage from the racks.
For the game 2, i sided out 2 IOK, 2 blightnings, 2 bolts and 1 wrench mind to put in 2 obliterators, 1 olivia voldaren, 3 blood moons and 1 slaughter games. I knew he would side in leyline, and it came out after 2 mulls. I kept a hand with a rix maadi, a liliana, lavamancer, a temple and olivia. Scryed an oblit: all I wanted to win. Made a table with oblit, lili and grim, and had to make a decision: clean him hand with rix or use a terminate on the titan he had in table. Took the wrong, got the titan off and his last card was a damn Sigarda. He got a transmute land, kept an pact, putted another titan and smashed me. No time for game 3, tied.
Game 3: Martyr. 2-1
Game 1 was straight: cleaned him hand, topdecked a bridge at the right time and smashed him with 1 rack and 2 afflic. For the game 2, took out 3 terminates, 1 bolt, 1 thoughtseize and 1 blightning and putted in 2 surgical extraction, 1 phyrexian obliterator 2 ratchet bomb, 1 slaughter games and 1 darkblast. Lost the game 2 for 4 topdecks: squadron hawk first, after that 2 ranger of eos and 1 proclamation of rebirth. I was with oblit on table attacking, and when the thing got bad, I putted 2 bridges on table in the same turn. He had one disenchant on hand, and I had one more bridge on mine. He topdecked the only single one oblivion ring he sided in and smashed me for the win. The game 3 was tight, he got all his 4 rangers, gained millions of life, but I could manage it with a hatchet bomb at 2 for the hawks, 2 bridges and 2 afflictions on the table.
I liked my overall performance, even playing with an incomplete deck. Hope I can help you in something.'
[]'s
Raven's Crime I think is a good call for your version, I do like that card much more in your deck than in mine. Particularly, it allows multiple casts to get rid of opponent card advantage while triggering Young Jeezy, all in the same turn. Dark Confidant is also probably very strong in your list. The one thing that I am not a fan of still in your deck is the full four Kolaghan's Command. If you are going to be throwing spells at them all game, you will always want the removal piece in your hand wherever necessary. I highly recommend taking at least two of those and turning them into either Thoughtseize, Murderous Cut, or a combination of the two.
Also, taking out Rift Bolt was definitely the right decision. If you want to play a three damage burn spell in that spot, Lava Spike is definitely the best option. It doesn't hit creatures, but it would only cost one mana with Dark Confidant and it would still allow for multiple Young Pyromancer triggers.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
I'll be offline for the next few days, but trust that you kiddies can behave . Maybe when I come back, it'll be like a scene out of the movies where I turn on the lights after turning the key in the front door, and I see pure perfection in the form of 75 rectangular pieces of cardboard seated betwixt the pixels of my computer monitor. Good Luck, Peoples!
I've spent a great deal of time playing against Leyline of Sanctity, as it was a four-of in almost every sideboard in my area for a long, long time. The truth is, no matter what variation of The Rack you are playing, it feels awful to play against with discard spells in your deck. The reason that I have a Godless Shrine fetch-able in my deck and Wear & Tear in the sideboard is because the Tear side of that card is the only way Black-Red decks can viably destroy an enchantment. The other option is to splash Green and play a Jund list, which would gain you access to Destructive Revelry, but at that rate Burn is just a better deck at the moment until Jund Midrange has the code cracked.
Most of the time, even ulting a Liliana of the Veil means a smarter player will just keep the Leyline and play through. Her impact is not enough, sadly. I highly recommend finding a way to get rid of Leyline of Sanctity, even if that means splashing a third color. On the bright side, it is seeing a great deal less play today than it used to.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
I never needed to do it in my games, just figured. BTW, +1 works, and Rix still works too... Never needed much more than that and the creatures when I faced Leyline... Against decks who uses Leyline, I commonly take out 4-5 discard spells and put creatures, and other minor changes with the side... Never had much problem, and like the fact they mull hard for it...
Edit: if expecting a lot of leyline, smallpox may be worth a look at, its pretty disruptive for a non targeted card if losing targeted discard.
All in all leyline is a pain.
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Slaughter Pact
4 Terminate
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Raven's Crime
4 Wrench Mind
4 Blightning
4 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Shattering Spree
3 Molten Rain
3 Extirpate
4 Rakdos Charm
2 Golgari Charm
I have Shattering Spree for affinity, Molten Rain for Tron/scapeshift, Extirpate for twin/combo, Rakdos Charm mainly for graveyard strategies and for the destroy artifact, and Golgari Charm for enchantments and the -1/-1 to all creatures if necessary.
Modern:
BRBightning RackBR
RGoblinsR
WBDeath and TaxesWB
Legacy:
BPoxB
I'm only worried about the fact that it doesn't kill tasigur, the golden fang and siege rhino, this is the only thing holding from going with pacts. Maybe it isn't that important since it is only 2 card and we can side it out, so i'll probably end up playing one or 2. I've also considered a singleton grim lavamancer.
For the sideboard, do you think we need that much artifact hate? Rakdos charm is fine (maybe not 4x though) but shattering spree might be overkill. We already have kolaghan's command main board so i think you could put other stuff instead of spree. Also is extirpate really better than surgical extraction? How often does the split second really matter? Normally i don't like those but with all the discard they might be good. This brings me to the last point, do we need that much graveyard hate? 3 extirpate and 4x rakdos charm seems like a lot (although surgical is more than graveyard hate).
TL;DR: sideboard could be more diverse, too much uneeded artifact hate and graveyard hate.
EDIT: my latest list with sideboard:
4 lightning bolt
4 terminate
2 kolaghan's command
1 slaughter pact
sorceries : 16
4 raven's crime
4 inquisition of kozilek
4 wrench mind
4 blightning
creatures : 9
4 young pyromancer
4 dark confidant
1 grim lavamancer
4 the rack
lands : 20
4 blackcleave cliffs
4 bloodstained mire
4 polluted delta
1 marsh flats
2 blood crypt
1 overgrown tomb
3 swamp
1 mountain
1 dragon's claw
1 destructive revelry
1 rakdos charm
2 surgical extraction
2 fulminator mage
2 golgari charm
2 blood moon
2 rending volley
2 imp's mischief
on the sideboard: Blood moon is too good to pass up i think. Also i prefer fulminator mage to molten rain because we can recur it with kolaghan's command. Imp's mischief is somewhat of a pet card, it is really versatile. It can be sided in vs burn, removal heavy deck and counterspells deck. It is even sidable vs twin, in magic christmas land we can enchant fulminator mage with splinter twin