Fluff, I can't tell you how valuable I've found Eidolon to be. I run 3 of them, and if I had 16 sideboard slots, I would probably add a 4th. I bring them in against a wide range of matchups; Burn, Grixis Shadow, Control, and obviously Storm, and it's great against any deck looking to cantrip or play multiple spells a turn, especially when you don't need your Bridge all the way down to 0 or 1.
I would love to hear about your simulation, that's a fun idea. There is, however, an easier way, if you're interested; just use Hypergeometric Distribution. Here's an easy to use calculator that I discovered thanks to our friend Seth (prooobably better known as SaffronOlive) over at MTGGoldfish;
The deck list mainboard may look a bit interesting, here are things I've taken out and things I've replaced.
+2 Anger of the Gods
+1 Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
+2 Abrade
-3 Magma Jet
-2 Faithless Looting
-1 Sweltering Suns
[b]Assumptions:[/b]
Local meta is heavy Affinity, Merfolk, and Burn. Local Burn meta though is a 50/50 split with creatures and with spells (I think this is relatively standard for Burn). These assumptions lead us to a main board of Abrade and extra Sweepers. We have chosen 3 DMG sweepers over Pyroclasm mainboard due to utility against other beefy creatures (Looking at you Swifspear, and also Kitchen Finks). We are not going a full playset of Angers though for utility and variety, along with there are a few people that are in love with [b]Surgical Extraction[/b] in dredge like matchups, we are seeking to avoid these and tempo out our opponents with appropriate board sweeps and lock pieces.
[card]Ratchet Bomb[/b] is an inclusion as alternate options for the 1 and 2 drop [b]Death's Shadow[/b] and Mr. [card]Tarmogoyf[/b] out of respect for the legendary jund players in the local meta. The Ratchet Bomb also is utility against our Burn creature based decks, and is an alternate sweeper for the affinity and meerfolk assumptions, so instead of running extra Anger/Sweltering/Slag we are going this approach.
Eidolon Remains in the board due to a previous comment, will see how it plays out. Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh is probably getting some head scratches. It was this or bring in an alternate Magus of the Moon. The decision to go forward with a non-moon creature is the amount of times a dead draw can occur with Magus in game one. Our opponents already lack targets for creatures. The alternate option is to toss in a singleton Magma Jet or go the Grim Lavamancer route. We've built our pizza and this is our fun, payoff, and card we want our opponents to give us the second look. She can flip as early as turn 2, and unlike Mr. Magus, flips into a non-targetable creature, which is upside. Her swinging in also may not always generate damage, but likely will trade if our assumptions are correct in our meta with the little creatures. Otherwise she's hitting face, untapping with almost any spell in our deck, and now is an early Chandra clock.... Oh... for grins, she doesn't turn off our Chandra TOD ;).
Will report back! Hoping to not have bad matchups and drop.
Welp, we didn't do so well, but we have some highlights. We will touch on everything briefly.
[b]Match 1: 'Little' Eldrazi[/b]
This deck was basically a BW Eldrazi build, going for discard and Thought-knot/Reality Smasher.
[list]
[*]Game 1: Our Rabblemaster early along with a Chandra Kaldesh (She made an appearance game one, woo), and some basic math along with a Slagstorm ended us a victory. Of note if we swing in and Chandra gets in that's 2, + spell (3 to face possibly), + 1 ping + flip and 2 damage. That's 8. It is actually very nice to see. She doesn't play too much of a role the remainder of the games.
[*]Game 2: It was basically a curved out Eldrazi that just smashed face. There was some attrition once we got Hazoret out, however the displacer combo to remove Hazoret each time before combat was painful.
[*]Game 3: We ended up going to time (keep in mind we entered this game with about 25 minutes in the round). An early pair or bridges were just what we ordered, and we were simply looking for a win con. Liliana of the Veil was played. The jist of what happened was after the 2nd Liliana ult, the crowd started showing up, and after the 3rd, the question was whether or not our opponent had anything to deal with bridge. We enter turns and on turn 1 he draws Anguished Unmaking. Two turns of smashed to the face ended it in turns.
[/list]
Results: M: 0-1 // G: 1-2
[b]Match 2: Titan Shift (Breach)[/b]
[list]
[*]Game 1: Our opponent is puzzled by a Goblin Rabblemaster on turn one. They are able to block out the Rabblemaster with a few Sakura-Tribe-Elders and we then land a Blood Moon (We wait for 2nd main phase after Sakura Tribe elder, opponent is on Mountain, Mountain, Stomping Ground). The following turn an Ensnaring Bridge clenches a lock on our opponent mainboard. After a series of Chalices (Game has one on 0, one on 2, and one on 4). My opponent says "Are we really going to do this?" My response was "I have other win cons, and you have less cards, yes." We are at a PPTQ, it is competitive of course we're going for that. After an Emrakul and a few other things our opponent scoops in disgust and we go to game 2.
[*]Game 2: Although we get an early Chalice on 2, our opponent eventually just hard casts 3 prime times. With 4 Valakuts and primetimes... it is just not gonna happen.
[*]Game 3: Our opponent has to mull to 4. We turn 1 a Magus of the Moon, and our opponent yells at us with a few foul comments. After two draws he scoops, slams his hand down on the table, cursing about how the deck is stupid, signs the paper and drops... Needless to say we are a bit rattled by this. The opponent leaves the store and the judge is notified of his behavior.
[/list]
Results: M: 1-1 // G: 3-3
[b]Match 3: Blue Moon[/b]
[*]Game 1: Turns into a strip down of our hand behind a V. Clique, and then followed up by Stormbreath Dragon. We have a Blood Moon in play and draw literally nothing. We were deck checked (which makes me now at 100% deck checks during PPTQs over the last 4 years), I haven't won a game after a deck check, streak continues.
[*]Game 2: I saw Flooded Strands and other cards indicating a Jeskai Control. I find out mid game that he is instead "Blue Moon" and after my hand was stripped again and counters to Ensaring, Ensaring, Koth, and Chandra I am picked apart and killed in the air.
Results: M: 1-2 // G: 3-5
Of note due to a very fast game against the control opponent (which I saw 0 sidebaord in game 2, sad face). I looked at the top table and what was being played there. It was a mix of Affinity, Merfolk, and Storm. We've meta'd correctly, we just likely were not against them due to our Round 1.
[b]Match 4: Affinity[/b]
Guess who we run into :), an Affinity Opponent.
[list]
[*]Game 1: This is a fairly standard looking game. Affinity dumps hand, we Blood Moon, we struggle to find a bridge and after some beefy swings are killed.
[*]Game 2: This is again a standard looking game. Affinity dumps hand, this time we have Ensnaring. Our opponent misses a few times swinging in with Ornithopter, however after a large board stall we have a board wipe, which is quickly countered (Spell pierece... interesting, this a thing?). We do eventually close this game out.
[*]Game 3: Abrade shows up in this one, and after a slower start we actually end up removing everything with a top deck Slagstorm. Once we killed everything they lose their glimmer post, and we are smooth sailing after with lock pieces and a Chandra TOD.
Results: M: 2-2 // G: 5-6
At this point we review what is the possibility of making the Top 8, which we are mathmatically out of it, unless large portions of games draw. It was 6 rounds with about 60ish people. We're not feeling the best unfortunately, and though I do alright the shake up from earlier is still playing a toll on us from an anxiety/stree perspective. We opt to drop on the win though and leave on that happy note :).
Never saw the Eidolon, and only ever drew an Abrade against the affinity player. Otherwise decks were pretty normal. I did have one instance where I had five 4 drops in hand with 3 mana and couldn't get them out for my bridge. Was a bit rough. Anyway those are the results!
(Tried a few times but things won't go bold... hmmmm)
List tags are malformed.
Took this to a scg iq and got 10th out of 46. Pretty basic deck list.
Round 1: bant spirits 2-0 (W)
Game 1 got the lock of bridge, moon, chalice, koth and Chandra. Game 2, he drops a worship but I get the lock down. Ultimate Chandra and slowly kill all his creatures.
Round 2: burn 1-2 (L)
Game 1 I get the lock of chalice on 1 and 2. Game 2 he burns me out quick. Game 3, I missed attacking with 2 pk thops and those 2 points of damage cost me the game.
Round 3: scapeshift 2-0 (W)
Game 1 I land a rabble master into blood moon and close it out fast. Game 2 follows suit. Easiest match.
Round 4: elves 2-1 (W)
Round 1 I miss on lands and lose. Round 2 I get the lock but he lands a throne of the god pharoh to combo with his tap elves. I keep his elf supply low and emblem koth for the slow win on 3 mountains. Round 3 he plays no basics and I blood moon him out.
Round 5: scapeshift 1-2 (L)
Game 1 I moon him out on a mulligan to 5. Game 2 I have to mull down to 5 again and see nothing. Game 3 I mulligan yet again to 5 and my only moon effect was a magus. Could never find a real moon, he sweltering suns my magus and domes me.
Round 6: ad nauseam 2-1 (W)
Game 1 he gets me fast before I can find a lock. Game 2 an early moon shuts him down and chalice on 1 and 2 plus rabble beats wins. Game 3 another fast moon and chalice with rabble beats wins the game.
Overall I believe this was a great choice for my meta. It had game against all the decks I saw, and had I not missed 2 points of damage I might have went undefeated to top 8.
@FluffyWolf: You've got some stupendous write-ups there. Thanks for sharing with the clan. The 60+ person, Premier level tournament 2-2 is a bummer, but you took it in stride. Plenty of Tier 1 decks walked out of that dojo with a similar performance. The incident with that jackhole who couldn't handle his loss to Pyro Prison was disheartening to hear: for you and the community. I'm glad you reported it up the chain. I've been playing for a'many years, and have never witnessed anything like that - I mean everyone has a bad day, but criminy.
So, a new Chandra! Hey, why not the Planeswalker rule change brings everything back under the microscope: Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh / Chandra, Roaring Flame. She is so fragile, so I could see it as a SB option once the opponent takes out all of their creature removal. So, she only showed up once, but did a little bit of work. I definitely like that it offers some creature kill once it flips. Like PaleGlove observed, knocking off Noble Hierarchs and Affinity 0/1s can be critical on a bridge plan.
@Abzanleap: Turns in a 10th of 46-player finish at an SCG IQ - Impressive. You mentioned your deck was pretty standard fare. That matchup report was straightforward as well - Any thing different on the deck build for your sideboard? I recently, and I can hear Amok's cheers now, did include my first Abrade. It's the right move, and I've been slow to adopt it, due to my dislike for 1-for-1 removal. With Storm, Affinity, Tron in the Tier 1 echelons, Abrade is timely.
I am on mobile so I can't really throw together anything fancy, normal 2 koth 4 Chandra build, 4 rituals, 1 pk, 1 magus, 3 jets, 2 faithless looting, 2 main deck sweltering suns.
Affinity is not hot right now locally but the abrades came in handy for ad naus. But other than that I never sided them in. The only thing I would want is maybe another looting effect, or lifegain as a hedge against burn to slow them down if we cannot find a chalice.
Edit: my mb deck list is similar except I have 1 more koth, 1 more jet, 1 less magus, 1 less pia, no slagstorm, no anger, no pyretic
Fluff/Abzan; Both of your tournament reports were encouraging, if it wasn't for a little bad luck, you both likely would have put Pyro Prison in the top 8. I'm excited for the next big tournament for both of you!
One topic I want to address; the rage-quit. I know it can be tough to shake off when you opponent is unsportsmanlike. Although Ray has been lucky enough to never have experienced it, (probably out of respect for his advanced age) I actually think it's a part of our archetype. Generally, when playing Magic, People like to play Magic. On the other hand, when WE play Magic.. we like to keep them from, well you know.. Playing Magic. My philosophy; embrace the rage-quit! Take it as a job well done, smile ear-to-ear and hope for a repeat in the next round!
I embrace the salt life. I keep contacting ultimate guard so I can obtain a set of white borderfies to white border my entire deck. I don't take it to fnm too often (then people start dedicating sideboard hate) but when I pull it out it's fun. For me at least.
Edit: also depending on the meta in December, I might take it to the next gp that comes near me.
Soooooooooo, we're talking about the reaction of some opponent's to Pyro Prison ---- The Salt Quotient.
With a DCI # of 10472, I've been around the track. I've had scrappy opponents - in 1996 in Boston, I recall inviting a Montreal-er opponent to the parking lot to finish up after our our sealed round game. Basically, he was speaking French with his entourage that were milling about the game table side-looking my hand. And, he was generally acting like a toolbox. My buddy was the head judge and looking on. Nevertheless, I offered to throw more than cardboard. The judge said, 'settle'. He's the size of a small building and it ended.
Tempers flare. Today - I'm older. I still have that tongue. As for FluffyWolf: he ran into an opponent that wasn't a gamesman. But, this is a game of wits. And, those, like his opponent, who overstep will be penalized - socially - by their actions. The herd remembers.
As for running caustic decks: going back...when I ran Necropotence decks, I feared and respected Turbo Stasis (the notorious prison deck of its era). I didn't get emotional when I was locked out and beaten. How could I? The only reason my opponent's deck even existed was that I was exploiting a loophole in the meta. How can I blame a chap for taking advantage? -- as a counter-build. Historical Footnote: Turbo Stasis was created specifically to beat the juggernaut deck of the day: Necropotence
Similarly, Pyro Prison is a kick in the goonies for the current meta-play style. If dude can't handle the reality of our win....that's on him.
I experience salt every week. Generally from people playing stuff more degenerate than me. One time in particular, I remember walking outside to hit my weed-pen, and a couple of guys outside (including the guy I just beat) were *****-talking people who play "blood moon.dec" Seeing as I am the only one using blood moon as a 4-of, I knew they were discussing my free wins. I am a player who has always loved mono-red. I remember when red players used burning earth to punish Jund in RTR standard. If we are going to play a format where people are being greedy and reckless, SOMEONE HAS TO BE THE POLICE. Without Twin, someone has to step in and say "No you don't get to play 4 color good stuff" or "No you don't get to play 20 1-drops" and in this case, it falls to prison players.
Last Thursday I went 3-1 against G/W Value, Bant spirits, Jeskai Copy Cat and a loss to Dredge.
Most of my matches were very easy, but the dredge wasn't even close as I mulled to 5 both games without more than 3 lands between both games...
Here's what I brought:
Why have I made the changes we see above? I wanted consistency and more importantly, I wanted to be even more "degenerate" to maximize the salt levels.
Magma Jet - My meta is 70% creature decks, so removal is a must in the early game. 2 scrys is almost as good as T.Voice and jetting a 1 drop on turn 2 is amazing.
Molten Rain - Magus has consistently been a nightmare for me. He rarely lives longer than a turn or two and he can't close games. Molten rain is the ideal card for our deck in addition to 4 moons because often our opponents fetch basics. I want you to count the number of times you've wished you could hit the one land giving them the mana they need. As my friend and I drove to the tourney I said "I want to live the dream: on the draw, drop caverns, land, ramp and rain leaving me with 2 lands and the opponent with 0." He laughed and said "unlikely." Over the course of the tourney, I was able to live the dream once, but the amount of times it took people off an entire color was high. Example: taking the green coco player off their single green causes the opponent, who thinks they are safe from blood moon, to suddenly lose the game.
Lands - Without filtering in the traditional sense, we simply need to hit our lands on time. 22 is a necessary evil here. Tired of being on 3 lands with 4-drops stuck in my hand.
SB - People wanted to see my latest iteration so here it is. Very similar to everyone else's, but I have more creatures to contend with in my meta.
Anger of the Gods - Its the best sweeper for us. I'm tired of having rabble compete with wrath effects. Some of you should try slagstorm, but I find we should just not use sweepers mainbaord; bridges are our sweepers.
Often lock pieces aren't enough to win however and our aggressive elements are needed to get the job done. If our mainboard is highly focused on two paths to victory we have a higher chance of winning.
Plan A: Throw down some lock pieces very quickly and win the game. Example from last tourney - On the draw, caverns, land, SSG, ritual, Chandra, Chalice on 1.
Plan B: Throw down some threats very quickly and win the game. Example from last tourney - Turn 2 Rabble, Turn 3 Rabble, Turn 4 Hazoret, GG.
If our cards don't fall into plan A or B, they are worthless. Sideboarding is where we deal with factors we had not considered. Graveyard kicking our butt - bring in cages/angers. Counterspells making us sad - bring in grids/eidolons. For those of you losing faith in the deck, just be reminded that the top deck (E.Tron) in modern only accounts for a 6.5% of the meta. Even the tier 1 decks lose often enough to warrant such a small portion of the meta. I for one am in it for the long haul. I will say this deck has a very high skill ceiling. Knowing when to hold em and when to ship em is often the difference between and easy win and a hard loss. So keep sleeving up those mountains.
Also PS. How ******* amazing is it to be on the play and before your opponent has even considered which land to play first, we are dropping a caverns. So many times I get "but I'm on the play..."
Take heart, Proxxy - can't win them all......although Brotha-Man did: 4-0 at my 23 person FNM event -- U-Tron, Goryo-Gifts-Obzedat, U/W Control, Affinity. How about that line-up?! Murderer's Row! But, at the end of friday night? Lava. Lava Everywhere.
But, that's a story for another time. First, Proxxy, you're an elite player - c'mon slugger, you know that. As for the performance, consider this - in your 2nd tournament report, what did you face an opponent in round 4? Eldrazi Tron. E-Tron had the same record as you: 1-2. Further, your overall record have losses to Dredge and Zombies....I mean for Christ's Sake. Variance strikes all of us at some time. (for those not in the know, Dredge is one of our best matchups....and, shame on Paleglove for his dropped ball too!!).
Some notes on your sideboarding. For all I know, this is how you did sideboard - anyway. E-Tron: bring in both Witchbane Orbs. U/W Control: Bring in Ratchet Bomb.
As for the card selection in the sideboard, I've moved away from shattering spree entirely. Outside of Affinity, Abrade seems better. And, I'm down on Damping Matrix in my builds, it hurts us too much -- Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Hazoret the Fervent, Relic of Progenitus, Ratchet Bomb, and Spellskite.
REVISITING TORMENTING VOICE
Now, you mentioned that you're considering Tormenting Voice. I always do. And, it occurred to me to synthesize its inclusion with a little bit of what Paleglove is throwing down: He says no to sweepers in the main (for me, that means you gotta run Pia and Kiran) and he says yes to a little land kill. Well, what if we do take out alllll of the creature kill, and rely on 2 Piran - 4 bridge - 4 rabble aaaaaaaand 4 tormenting voice to get us there. Whoah.
I think this just might work (been testing a version of this for a while). Basically, I've come to the conclusion that, "If you're going to use Tormenting Voice, then ya gotta use 4." The immediate retort is "How do you run Pyro Prison with NO Magma Jet?"
So, what are we looking at? No creature removal. None in the maindeck. It's never been done before. But, we also have a lot of dig in the 4 T. Voice. We have a lot of acceleration in the 4 gemstone and the 9 rituals. I've shaved down a Magus and added a single Molten Rain. I think this baby can hum - the hard truth will come out when we consider how much this helps/hurts in our good/bad matchups.
The wild card is T Voice - yes, it leaves us open to bridge breaches and a countered spell can be a setback....but not really if it's parity of countermagic that we seek. Back to my Rumpus Room - More Testing!!!
Lastly, I really dug Paleglove's write-up and will study some more on his variant. The best line was,
If we are going to play a format where people are being greedy and reckless, SOMEONE HAS TO BE THE POLICE. Without Twin, someone has to step in and say "No you don't get to play 4 color good stuff" or "No you don't get to play 20 1-drops" and in this case, it falls to prison players.
Huzzah!!! Also, an apology to ya on a professional courtesy: you lay out your mousetrap & then without allowing a breath, I plop another build down for everyone's consideration. Sorry, Hoss.
Although seemingly incongruous, Pyro Prison shares a very close kinship with 'full-fledged, single focus Combo Decks' that couldn't give a faaaaahq about 'directly' responding to their opponent's play. We simply do it in a more adaptive style. The manacles become the noose.
To Be Clear:
'full-fledged, single focus Combo Decks': I'm talking about Ad Nauseam, Scapeshift, & UR Gifts Storm
'directly': I'm talking about the total absence of any cards that say, "target...opponent...permanent/hand/spell'
Those (3) decks typically have NO spells in their starting 60 that specifically disrupt an opponent's plans. None. Those decks have a singular focus on their own win-con, and it's as if the opponent isn't there: Ad N/Scape/Storm do not directly respond to their opponent's permanents, spells, or hand. If there is collateral disruption in the course of play, so be it. But, nothing targeted until their win-con occurs. Akin to this, in the official primer, I compare Pyro Prison to a Channel/Fireball deck -- very similar mechanics of construction.
Alright, we get it already. What's the frakkin' point, Raystack!!!???
Here's my point, Dude. That last prototype deck, Behemoth Crimson ---- if I'm being honest with myself as it may not be totally competitive ---, it has distilled itself down to containing a single, directed disruption spell. Just.....ONE. Now, if 2 or even 20 years ago, someone had asked me if such a mono-red, tournament viable build was even possible, I'd say no. But, maaaaay have guessed. Fireball? Surely something with a royal bearing...gravitas...a game ender like Scapeshift or Lightning Storm, right?
I feel like I'm experiencing a very...Arthur Dent-like moment, and someone just informed me, "42".
Stone Rain.....a single Stone Rain? Yeah, dude. Stone Rain. That's the world-ender? Ha - it was a long road & sorry if you read this far along, but I find it hilarious.
Anybody want to try their hand at today's episode of Extreme Sideboard Makeover? On the stage, we have a winning deck from our cousin tribe, Free Win Red. Let's stir up some lava, and give it that distinct Pyro Prison touch. Suggest some swaps! And, then...
Move that Mountain!! Move that Mountain!! Move that Mountain!! Move that Mountain!! Move that Mountain!!
Ray, this sideboard is SO last year, we need a complete makeover!
We'll keep those Anger of the Gods as a nice centerpiece,
And I like adding another Witchbane Orb over there for that symmetrical look. Eidolon of the Great Revel is SO in this year! Eidolons everywhere!! Let's swap out those tired Relics for some shiny new Grafdiggers Cages and throw in a little Spellskite to add some fung-sui!
A quick note, thank you everyone for the comments about the 'salt life.' Taking a bit of a break this FNM about it, I'm usually a very stable person on it, just shook me quite a lot... Of course... I'm going for a turn 1 win in tonights FNM, but we'll be back with the Red Pyro Prison soon
Hey guys. First time poster to the forum, so hello!
I had been intrigued by this deck from watching SaffronOlive play the Free Win Red version but eventually found this page and I've been hooked ever since. I put together the version very similar to those posted on page 1 and since then run through quite a few weekly events and even 1 PPTQ. The PPTQ ended even at 3 - 3 and I've done very well to very poor at the weeklys. Last night I played my Thusday Modern to a 3 - 0 finish and I believe its because of some of the changes I made based on PaleGloveSyndrome's reasoning for a 22 land base and the inclusion of Molten Rain.
I believe his reasoning to exclude Magus of the Moon is correct. Many times I'll have a turn 1 or 2 Magus only to be snipped by a removal spell. Blood Moon is just better pre and post sideboard in my opinion being that its just harder for our opponents to remove. So while we have just a playset of Blood Moon now, the Molten Rain inclusion can be used as a tempo play (correct me if I'm wrong) and a way to remove their basics to make the impact of our Moon more powerful.
I used to be on the 21 land, 5 Ritual, 6 Moon plan and many times, I'd be stuck on 2 mana after using an accellerant. While blasting out a Moon or Magus turn 1 or 2 can be very powerful, its just not game ending and where we fall is when we don't back up our lock pieces. That being said, Sweltering Suns as a two of has been great as a board wipe but more so to dig and find my threats. The ability to cycle these and to pop off a Molten Rain to slow down our opponents felt very smooth for me yesterday along with the 22 lands I now run.
All that being said, I think what this deck wants to do is lock em' and pop em' for as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. I've tried Magma Jet and Tormenting Voice before and I just do not like either one of them in this deck. While the scry from Jet is great, often, it just doesn't take down much more than a mana dork and feels so underwhelming. I have the same feeling from Tormenting Voice and have also lost games because it was stuck in my hand. I think we want more threats and consistency over trying to dig and set up the right draw.
Anyways, glad to see this page is still getting some good traffic from you guys and I'm loving the constant optimization of this deck. From playing this the past few months now, I think the only deck that truly stomps me in my experience so far is any tron variant. I have never beaten Eldrazi Tron and somehow beat U Tron once. They are our biggest enemy in my opinion and I'm hoping the new inclusion of Molten Rain will slow down their terror for us.
Here's my current list. I think the sideboard needs help as I rarely find myself siding in much of anything. Witchbane Orb and Rachet Bomb specifically feel very out of place and have never been useful to me yet. Apologies if the decklist/sideboard are messy, still getting the hang of posting here
*Note* - I was running 3 Sweltering Suns last night and 2 Molten Rain but now I'd like to try a 2/3 split.
I would love to hear about your simulation, that's a fun idea. There is, however, an easier way, if you're interested; just use Hypergeometric Distribution. Here's an easy to use calculator that I discovered thanks to our friend Seth (prooobably better known as SaffronOlive) over at MTGGoldfish;
http://stattrek.com/m/online-calculator/hypergeometric.aspx
I've already done most of the work for you on post #518, it would be interesting to see how close your simulation comes!
And Ray.. we ain't your stereotypical Mountainfolk 'round these parts.. These folks learn gud!
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
Lock Pieces(12)
4 Blood Moon
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
Threats (12)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Koth of the Hammer
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Slagstorm
1 Sweltering Suns
2 Abrade
Lands (21)
18 Mountain
3 Gemstone Caverns
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Shattering Spree
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Defense Grid
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Magus of the Moon
1 Damping Matrix
2 Spellskite
1 Witchbane Orb
Deck listed as: "Pyro Prison - The-Preboard"
The deck list mainboard may look a bit interesting, here are things I've taken out and things I've replaced.
[b]Assumptions:[/b]
Local meta is heavy Affinity, Merfolk, and Burn. Local Burn meta though is a 50/50 split with creatures and with spells (I think this is relatively standard for Burn). These assumptions lead us to a main board of Abrade and extra Sweepers. We have chosen 3 DMG sweepers over Pyroclasm mainboard due to utility against other beefy creatures (Looking at you Swifspear, and also Kitchen Finks). We are not going a full playset of Angers though for utility and variety, along with there are a few people that are in love with [b]Surgical Extraction[/b] in dredge like matchups, we are seeking to avoid these and tempo out our opponents with appropriate board sweeps and lock pieces.
[card]Ratchet Bomb[/b] is an inclusion as alternate options for the 1 and 2 drop [b]Death's Shadow[/b] and Mr. [card]Tarmogoyf[/b] out of respect for the legendary jund players in the local meta. The Ratchet Bomb also is utility against our Burn creature based decks, and is an alternate sweeper for the affinity and meerfolk assumptions, so instead of running extra Anger/Sweltering/Slag we are going this approach.
Eidolon Remains in the board due to a previous comment, will see how it plays out.
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh is probably getting some head scratches. It was this or bring in an alternate Magus of the Moon. The decision to go forward with a non-moon creature is the amount of times a dead draw can occur with Magus in game one. Our opponents already lack targets for creatures. The alternate option is to toss in a singleton Magma Jet or go the Grim Lavamancer route. We've built our pizza and this is our fun, payoff, and card we want our opponents to give us the second look. She can flip as early as turn 2, and unlike Mr. Magus, flips into a non-targetable creature, which is upside. Her swinging in also may not always generate damage, but likely will trade if our assumptions are correct in our meta with the little creatures. Otherwise she's hitting face, untapping with almost any spell in our deck, and now is an early Chandra clock.... Oh... for grins, she doesn't turn off our Chandra TOD ;).
Will report back! Hoping to not have bad matchups and drop.
[b]Match 1: 'Little' Eldrazi[/b]
This deck was basically a BW Eldrazi build, going for discard and Thought-knot/Reality Smasher.
[list]
[*]Game 1: Our Rabblemaster early along with a Chandra Kaldesh (She made an appearance game one, woo), and some basic math along with a Slagstorm ended us a victory. Of note if we swing in and Chandra gets in that's 2, + spell (3 to face possibly), + 1 ping + flip and 2 damage. That's 8. It is actually very nice to see. She doesn't play too much of a role the remainder of the games.
[*]Game 2: It was basically a curved out Eldrazi that just smashed face. There was some attrition once we got Hazoret out, however the displacer combo to remove Hazoret each time before combat was painful.
[*]Game 3: We ended up going to time (keep in mind we entered this game with about 25 minutes in the round). An early pair or bridges were just what we ordered, and we were simply looking for a win con. Liliana of the Veil was played. The jist of what happened was after the 2nd Liliana ult, the crowd started showing up, and after the 3rd, the question was whether or not our opponent had anything to deal with bridge. We enter turns and on turn 1 he draws Anguished Unmaking. Two turns of smashed to the face ended it in turns.
[/list]
Results: M: 0-1 // G: 1-2
[b]Match 2: Titan Shift (Breach)[/b]
[list]
[*]Game 1: Our opponent is puzzled by a Goblin Rabblemaster on turn one. They are able to block out the Rabblemaster with a few Sakura-Tribe-Elders and we then land a Blood Moon (We wait for 2nd main phase after Sakura Tribe elder, opponent is on Mountain, Mountain, Stomping Ground). The following turn an Ensnaring Bridge clenches a lock on our opponent mainboard. After a series of Chalices (Game has one on 0, one on 2, and one on 4). My opponent says "Are we really going to do this?" My response was "I have other win cons, and you have less cards, yes." We are at a PPTQ, it is competitive of course we're going for that. After an Emrakul and a few other things our opponent scoops in disgust and we go to game 2.
[*]Game 2: Although we get an early Chalice on 2, our opponent eventually just hard casts 3 prime times. With 4 Valakuts and primetimes... it is just not gonna happen.
[*]Game 3: Our opponent has to mull to 4. We turn 1 a Magus of the Moon, and our opponent yells at us with a few foul comments. After two draws he scoops, slams his hand down on the table, cursing about how the deck is stupid, signs the paper and drops... Needless to say we are a bit rattled by this. The opponent leaves the store and the judge is notified of his behavior.
[/list]
Results: M: 1-1 // G: 3-3
[b]Match 3: Blue Moon[/b]
[*]Game 1: Turns into a strip down of our hand behind a V. Clique, and then followed up by Stormbreath Dragon. We have a Blood Moon in play and draw literally nothing. We were deck checked (which makes me now at 100% deck checks during PPTQs over the last 4 years), I haven't won a game after a deck check, streak continues.
[*]Game 2: I saw Flooded Strands and other cards indicating a Jeskai Control. I find out mid game that he is instead "Blue Moon" and after my hand was stripped again and counters to Ensaring, Ensaring, Koth, and Chandra I am picked apart and killed in the air.
Results: M: 1-2 // G: 3-5
Of note due to a very fast game against the control opponent (which I saw 0 sidebaord in game 2, sad face). I looked at the top table and what was being played there. It was a mix of Affinity, Merfolk, and Storm. We've meta'd correctly, we just likely were not against them due to our Round 1.
[b]Match 4: Affinity[/b]
Guess who we run into :), an Affinity Opponent.
[list]
[*]Game 1: This is a fairly standard looking game. Affinity dumps hand, we Blood Moon, we struggle to find a bridge and after some beefy swings are killed.
[*]Game 2: This is again a standard looking game. Affinity dumps hand, this time we have Ensnaring. Our opponent misses a few times swinging in with Ornithopter, however after a large board stall we have a board wipe, which is quickly countered (Spell pierece... interesting, this a thing?). We do eventually close this game out.
[*]Game 3: Abrade shows up in this one, and after a slower start we actually end up removing everything with a top deck Slagstorm. Once we killed everything they lose their glimmer post, and we are smooth sailing after with lock pieces and a Chandra TOD.
Results: M: 2-2 // G: 5-6
At this point we review what is the possibility of making the Top 8, which we are mathmatically out of it, unless large portions of games draw. It was 6 rounds with about 60ish people. We're not feeling the best unfortunately, and though I do alright the shake up from earlier is still playing a toll on us from an anxiety/stree perspective. We opt to drop on the win though and leave on that happy note :).
Never saw the Eidolon, and only ever drew an Abrade against the affinity player. Otherwise decks were pretty normal. I did have one instance where I had five 4 drops in hand with 3 mana and couldn't get them out for my bridge. Was a bit rough. Anyway those are the results!
(Tried a few times but things won't go bold... hmmmm)
List tags are malformed.
Round 1: bant spirits 2-0 (W)
Game 1 got the lock of bridge, moon, chalice, koth and Chandra. Game 2, he drops a worship but I get the lock down. Ultimate Chandra and slowly kill all his creatures.
Round 2: burn 1-2 (L)
Game 1 I get the lock of chalice on 1 and 2. Game 2 he burns me out quick. Game 3, I missed attacking with 2 pk thops and those 2 points of damage cost me the game.
Round 3: scapeshift 2-0 (W)
Game 1 I land a rabble master into blood moon and close it out fast. Game 2 follows suit. Easiest match.
Round 4: elves 2-1 (W)
Round 1 I miss on lands and lose. Round 2 I get the lock but he lands a throne of the god pharoh to combo with his tap elves. I keep his elf supply low and emblem koth for the slow win on 3 mountains. Round 3 he plays no basics and I blood moon him out.
Round 5: scapeshift 1-2 (L)
Game 1 I moon him out on a mulligan to 5. Game 2 I have to mull down to 5 again and see nothing. Game 3 I mulligan yet again to 5 and my only moon effect was a magus. Could never find a real moon, he sweltering suns my magus and domes me.
Round 6: ad nauseam 2-1 (W)
Game 1 he gets me fast before I can find a lock. Game 2 an early moon shuts him down and chalice on 1 and 2 plus rabble beats wins. Game 3 another fast moon and chalice with rabble beats wins the game.
Overall I believe this was a great choice for my meta. It had game against all the decks I saw, and had I not missed 2 points of damage I might have went undefeated to top 8.
So, a new Chandra! Hey, why not the Planeswalker rule change brings everything back under the microscope: Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh / Chandra, Roaring Flame. She is so fragile, so I could see it as a SB option once the opponent takes out all of their creature removal. So, she only showed up once, but did a little bit of work. I definitely like that it offers some creature kill once it flips. Like PaleGlove observed, knocking off Noble Hierarchs and Affinity 0/1s can be critical on a bridge plan.
@Abzanleap: Turns in a 10th of 46-player finish at an SCG IQ - Impressive. You mentioned your deck was pretty standard fare. That matchup report was straightforward as well - Any thing different on the deck build for your sideboard? I recently, and I can hear Amok's cheers now, did include my first Abrade. It's the right move, and I've been slow to adopt it, due to my dislike for 1-for-1 removal. With Storm, Affinity, Tron in the Tier 1 echelons, Abrade is timely.
My Current Build
Creatures (9)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Magus of the Moon
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Accelerators (9)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Planeswalker (5)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
Disruption (4)
1 Slagstorm
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Magma Jet
Lands (21)
17 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Mutavault
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Witchbane Orb
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Spellskite
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Torpor Orb
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Abrade
Sideboard I ran 2 eidolon, 2 spellskite, 1 torpor orb,2 grafdiggers cage, 1 dampening matrix, 1 ratchet bomb, 1 anger, 1 shattering spree, 1 phyrexian revoker, 2 abrade, 1 witchbane orb.
Affinity is not hot right now locally but the abrades came in handy for ad naus. But other than that I never sided them in. The only thing I would want is maybe another looting effect, or lifegain as a hedge against burn to slow them down if we cannot find a chalice.
Edit: my mb deck list is similar except I have 1 more koth, 1 more jet, 1 less magus, 1 less pia, no slagstorm, no anger, no pyretic
One topic I want to address; the rage-quit. I know it can be tough to shake off when you opponent is unsportsmanlike. Although Ray has been lucky enough to never have experienced it, (probably out of respect for his advanced age) I actually think it's a part of our archetype. Generally, when playing Magic, People like to play Magic. On the other hand, when WE play Magic.. we like to keep them from, well you know.. Playing Magic. My philosophy; embrace the rage-quit! Take it as a job well done, smile ear-to-ear and hope for a repeat in the next round!
Edit: also depending on the meta in December, I might take it to the next gp that comes near me.
With a DCI # of 10472, I've been around the track. I've had scrappy opponents - in 1996 in Boston, I recall inviting a Montreal-er opponent to the parking lot to finish up after our our sealed round game. Basically, he was speaking French with his entourage that were milling about the game table side-looking my hand. And, he was generally acting like a toolbox. My buddy was the head judge and looking on. Nevertheless, I offered to throw more than cardboard. The judge said, 'settle'. He's the size of a small building and it ended.
Tempers flare. Today - I'm older. I still have that tongue. As for FluffyWolf: he ran into an opponent that wasn't a gamesman. But, this is a game of wits. And, those, like his opponent, who overstep will be penalized - socially - by their actions. The herd remembers.
As for running caustic decks: going back...when I ran Necropotence decks, I feared and respected Turbo Stasis (the notorious prison deck of its era). I didn't get emotional when I was locked out and beaten. How could I? The only reason my opponent's deck even existed was that I was exploiting a loophole in the meta. How can I blame a chap for taking advantage? -- as a counter-build. Historical Footnote: Turbo Stasis was created specifically to beat the juggernaut deck of the day: Necropotence
Similarly, Pyro Prison is a kick in the goonies for the current meta-play style. If dude can't handle the reality of our win....that's on him.
Last Thursday I went 3-1 against G/W Value, Bant spirits, Jeskai Copy Cat and a loss to Dredge.
Most of my matches were very easy, but the dredge wasn't even close as I mulled to 5 both games without more than 3 lands between both games...
Here's what I brought:
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Hazoret the Fervent
Spells (10)
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Magma Jet
2 Molten Rain
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Koth of the Hammer
Artifacts (8)
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ensnaring Bridge
Lands (22)
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Mutavault
18 Mountain
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Defense Grid
2 Abrade
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Spellskite
1 Torpor Orb
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Damping Matrix
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Witchbane Orb
Why have I made the changes we see above? I wanted consistency and more importantly, I wanted to be even more "degenerate" to maximize the salt levels.
Magma Jet - My meta is 70% creature decks, so removal is a must in the early game. 2 scrys is almost as good as T.Voice and jetting a 1 drop on turn 2 is amazing.
Molten Rain - Magus has consistently been a nightmare for me. He rarely lives longer than a turn or two and he can't close games. Molten rain is the ideal card for our deck in addition to 4 moons because often our opponents fetch basics. I want you to count the number of times you've wished you could hit the one land giving them the mana they need. As my friend and I drove to the tourney I said "I want to live the dream: on the draw, drop caverns, land, ramp and rain leaving me with 2 lands and the opponent with 0." He laughed and said "unlikely." Over the course of the tourney, I was able to live the dream once, but the amount of times it took people off an entire color was high. Example: taking the green coco player off their single green causes the opponent, who thinks they are safe from blood moon, to suddenly lose the game.
Lands - Without filtering in the traditional sense, we simply need to hit our lands on time. 22 is a necessary evil here. Tired of being on 3 lands with 4-drops stuck in my hand.
SB - People wanted to see my latest iteration so here it is. Very similar to everyone else's, but I have more creatures to contend with in my meta.
Anger of the Gods - Its the best sweeper for us. I'm tired of having rabble compete with wrath effects. Some of you should try slagstorm, but I find we should just not use sweepers mainbaord; bridges are our sweepers.
Often lock pieces aren't enough to win however and our aggressive elements are needed to get the job done. If our mainboard is highly focused on two paths to victory we have a higher chance of winning.
Plan A: Throw down some lock pieces very quickly and win the game. Example from last tourney - On the draw, caverns, land, SSG, ritual, Chandra, Chalice on 1.
Plan B: Throw down some threats very quickly and win the game. Example from last tourney - Turn 2 Rabble, Turn 3 Rabble, Turn 4 Hazoret, GG.
If our cards don't fall into plan A or B, they are worthless. Sideboarding is where we deal with factors we had not considered. Graveyard kicking our butt - bring in cages/angers. Counterspells making us sad - bring in grids/eidolons. For those of you losing faith in the deck, just be reminded that the top deck (E.Tron) in modern only accounts for a 6.5% of the meta. Even the tier 1 decks lose often enough to warrant such a small portion of the meta. I for one am in it for the long haul. I will say this deck has a very high skill ceiling. Knowing when to hold em and when to ship em is often the difference between and easy win and a hard loss. So keep sleeving up those mountains.
Also PS. How ******* amazing is it to be on the play and before your opponent has even considered which land to play first, we are dropping a caverns. So many times I get "but I'm on the play..."
"Carving out your piece of the online market."
But, that's a story for another time. First, Proxxy, you're an elite player - c'mon slugger, you know that. As for the performance, consider this - in your 2nd tournament report, what did you face an opponent in round 4? Eldrazi Tron. E-Tron had the same record as you: 1-2. Further, your overall record have losses to Dredge and Zombies....I mean for Christ's Sake. Variance strikes all of us at some time. (for those not in the know, Dredge is one of our best matchups....and, shame on Paleglove for his dropped ball too!!).
Some notes on your sideboarding. For all I know, this is how you did sideboard - anyway.
E-Tron: bring in both Witchbane Orbs.
U/W Control: Bring in Ratchet Bomb.
As for the card selection in the sideboard, I've moved away from shattering spree entirely. Outside of Affinity, Abrade seems better. And, I'm down on Damping Matrix in my builds, it hurts us too much -- Pia and Kiran Nalaar, Hazoret the Fervent, Relic of Progenitus, Ratchet Bomb, and Spellskite.
REVISITING TORMENTING VOICE
Now, you mentioned that you're considering Tormenting Voice. I always do. And, it occurred to me to synthesize its inclusion with a little bit of what Paleglove is throwing down: He says no to sweepers in the main (for me, that means you gotta run Pia and Kiran) and he says yes to a little land kill. Well, what if we do take out alllll of the creature kill, and rely on 2 Piran - 4 bridge - 4 rabble aaaaaaaand 4 tormenting voice to get us there. Whoah.
I think this just might work (been testing a version of this for a while). Basically, I've come to the conclusion that, "If you're going to use Tormenting Voice, then ya gotta use 4." The immediate retort is "How do you run Pyro Prison with NO Magma Jet?"
Creatures (8)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Magus of the Moon
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Accelerators (13)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Power Locks (12)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Disruption (1)
1 Molten Rain
Lands (21)
17 Mountains
4 Gemstone Caverns
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Witchbane Orb
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Spellskite
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Torpor Orb
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Abrade
So, what are we looking at? No creature removal. None in the maindeck. It's never been done before. But, we also have a lot of dig in the 4 T. Voice. We have a lot of acceleration in the 4 gemstone and the 9 rituals. I've shaved down a Magus and added a single Molten Rain. I think this baby can hum - the hard truth will come out when we consider how much this helps/hurts in our good/bad matchups.
The wild card is T Voice - yes, it leaves us open to bridge breaches and a countered spell can be a setback....but not really if it's parity of countermagic that we seek. Back to my Rumpus Room - More Testing!!!
Lastly, I really dug Paleglove's write-up and will study some more on his variant. The best line was,
Huzzah!!! Also, an apology to ya on a professional courtesy: you lay out your mousetrap & then without allowing a breath, I plop another build down for everyone's consideration. Sorry, Hoss.
Let the brew wars begin!
Magus vs Molten
Jet vs Voice
Hazoret vs P&K
The more of us testing different versions, the more we get a 99% optimized pyro prison list for a large PPTQ or RPTQ.
"Carving out your piece of the online market."
To Be Clear:
- 'full-fledged, single focus Combo Decks': I'm talking about Ad Nauseam, Scapeshift, & UR Gifts Storm
- 'directly': I'm talking about the total absence of any cards that say, "target...opponent...permanent/hand/spell'
Those (3) decks typically have NO spells in their starting 60 that specifically disrupt an opponent's plans. None. Those decks have a singular focus on their own win-con, and it's as if the opponent isn't there: Ad N/Scape/Storm do not directly respond to their opponent's permanents, spells, or hand. If there is collateral disruption in the course of play, so be it. But, nothing targeted until their win-con occurs. Akin to this, in the official primer, I compare Pyro Prison to a Channel/Fireball deck -- very similar mechanics of construction.Alright, we get it already. What's the frakkin' point, Raystack!!!???
Here's my point, Dude. That last prototype deck, Behemoth Crimson ---- if I'm being honest with myself as it may not be totally competitive ---, it has distilled itself down to containing a single, directed disruption spell. Just.....ONE. Now, if 2 or even 20 years ago, someone had asked me if such a mono-red, tournament viable build was even possible, I'd say no. But, maaaaay have guessed. Fireball? Surely something with a royal bearing...gravitas...a game ender like Scapeshift or Lightning Storm, right?
Nope.
Disruption (1)
1 Molten Rain
I feel like I'm experiencing a very...Arthur Dent-like moment, and someone just informed me, "42".
Stone Rain.....a single Stone Rain? Yeah, dude. Stone Rain. That's the world-ender? Ha - it was a long road & sorry if you read this far along, but I find it hilarious.
600+ Posts
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/791179#paper
Come on over to our side of the mountain sometime, LzumK!
Anybody want to try their hand at today's episode of Extreme Sideboard Makeover? On the stage, we have a winning deck from our cousin tribe, Free Win Red. Let's stir up some lava, and give it that distinct Pyro Prison touch. Suggest some swaps! And, then...
Move that Mountain!! Move that Mountain!! Move that Mountain!! Move that Mountain!! Move that Mountain!!
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
4 Relic of Progenitus
2 Dragon's Claw
1 Sun Droplet
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Shatterstorm
1 Witchbane Orb
PUT IN: ?
TAKE OUT: ?
We'll keep those Anger of the Gods as a nice centerpiece,
And I like adding another Witchbane Orb over there for that symmetrical look. Eidolon of the Great Revel is SO in this year! Eidolons everywhere!! Let's swap out those tired Relics for some shiny new Grafdiggers Cages and throw in a little Spellskite to add some fung-sui!
I had been intrigued by this deck from watching SaffronOlive play the Free Win Red version but eventually found this page and I've been hooked ever since. I put together the version very similar to those posted on page 1 and since then run through quite a few weekly events and even 1 PPTQ. The PPTQ ended even at 3 - 3 and I've done very well to very poor at the weeklys. Last night I played my Thusday Modern to a 3 - 0 finish and I believe its because of some of the changes I made based on PaleGloveSyndrome's reasoning for a 22 land base and the inclusion of Molten Rain.
I believe his reasoning to exclude Magus of the Moon is correct. Many times I'll have a turn 1 or 2 Magus only to be snipped by a removal spell. Blood Moon is just better pre and post sideboard in my opinion being that its just harder for our opponents to remove. So while we have just a playset of Blood Moon now, the Molten Rain inclusion can be used as a tempo play (correct me if I'm wrong) and a way to remove their basics to make the impact of our Moon more powerful.
I used to be on the 21 land, 5 Ritual, 6 Moon plan and many times, I'd be stuck on 2 mana after using an accellerant. While blasting out a Moon or Magus turn 1 or 2 can be very powerful, its just not game ending and where we fall is when we don't back up our lock pieces. That being said, Sweltering Suns as a two of has been great as a board wipe but more so to dig and find my threats. The ability to cycle these and to pop off a Molten Rain to slow down our opponents felt very smooth for me yesterday along with the 22 lands I now run.
All that being said, I think what this deck wants to do is lock em' and pop em' for as much damage as possible as quickly as possible. I've tried Magma Jet and Tormenting Voice before and I just do not like either one of them in this deck. While the scry from Jet is great, often, it just doesn't take down much more than a mana dork and feels so underwhelming. I have the same feeling from Tormenting Voice and have also lost games because it was stuck in my hand. I think we want more threats and consistency over trying to dig and set up the right draw.
Anyways, glad to see this page is still getting some good traffic from you guys and I'm loving the constant optimization of this deck. From playing this the past few months now, I think the only deck that truly stomps me in my experience so far is any tron variant. I have never beaten Eldrazi Tron and somehow beat U Tron once. They are our biggest enemy in my opinion and I'm hoping the new inclusion of Molten Rain will slow down their terror for us.
Here's my current list. I think the sideboard needs help as I rarely find myself siding in much of anything. Witchbane Orb and Rachet Bomb specifically feel very out of place and have never been useful to me yet. Apologies if the decklist/sideboard are messy, still getting the hang of posting here
*Note* - I was running 3 Sweltering Suns last night and 2 Molten Rain but now I'd like to try a 2/3 split.
3 Gemstone Caverns
19 Mountain
Instant
4 Desperate Ritual
Sorcery
2 Sweltering Suns
3 Molten Rain
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Pia and Kiran Nilaar
1 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
Enchantment
4 Blood Moon
Planeswalker
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Koth of the Hammer
2 Shattering Spree
2 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Torpor Orb
1 Defense Grid
1 Witchbane Orb
2 Pithing Needle
1 Rachet Bomb