@Colzdude: Rock solid job at the SCG Classic -- DAY 2!!! Man, would have loved to see your 8-Rabble Variant in the Top 8. Next Time.
@VicVega: Let us know if you ended up running out Pyro Prison at the SCG even in Worcester, MA (down the street from me, but I'm hung up on Footballing this weekend -- lotsa betting and yelling at my television You were asking about R/W Pale Moon variants. There's a very well maintained thread here on MTGsalvation. Conceptually, it makes sense as a spoiler with a ton of hose cards. But, it doesn't present any sort of clock, the double colors muddle the mixture, and it has trouble defining its role in any given game (sword or shield or.....shield-gun??).
@Joymonger: Welcome - Welcome! I appreciate your analysis and appreciation of reviewing older lists to inspire future constructions. Indeed, the mechanics of disruption, soft locks, acceleration, creature threats, and utility lands have all been there since the beginning. Sometimes you can find a gem in the back of the closet.
Sorry, I've been a bit absent lately. Work's picked up and most of my Magic playing has been MODO doing Ultimate Masters and Vintage phantom cube drafts. Sooooo fun.
For a quick recap of decks that I continue to tinker with, here's the Pyro Prison Carousel article I put up some weeks back. The recent trends in my designs have been to move away from Witchbane Orb and Pia and Kiran Nalaar in the main deck. I love having 2 Hazoret in the main deck. Abrade's are scantly seen there, but I do enjoy my 1 Goblin Cratermaker. I also believe in running Eidolon in the main deck as long as spell/combo/low curving decks continue to prosper.
My new year's resolution would be to find a way to combine 'The Voice' and 'Trash Dragons' into an optimized draw/acceleration machine which can use all of our 'loss of card economy, BUT speed out answers well ahead of the curve' tricks: Like Dazza mentioned [faithless looting]. Also: Sarkhan, Zhalfirin Void, 10 Rituals, Tormenting Voice, and Trash Dragon himself.
A Few Scrambled Thoughts on my New Archetype & why it's called 'Maximum':
It's a more aggressive breed - threat dense with (14) Creatures. Goblins that spit out 1/1s can kill faster than planeswalkers. And, Eidolons work almost as well as Chalice against spell/combo decks. Bonus: unlike a chalice, they can actually kill. I mean, who ever heard of someone being slapped from 20 to 0 by a cup of dubious dimensions.
Further thought on why (14) inflated count of creatures: Just as mid-range/control decks run out of answers to our creatures, one more pops off the top of the deck to present a hefty threat. No more top decking the dreaded 'hot air': mountains/rituals/abrade. Now, it's multiple ramunaps/mutavaults, less ritual, and no abrade.
Chandra is just right as a (2). Multiples are redundant. And, her immediate damage output is paltry. By dropping her count and moving Eidolon from the SB to the MD, I've freed up a lot of sideboard slots.
Pia and Kiran are terrific against so many decks. They're back! Now, although I am stamping Pyro Prison || Maximum as a 'creature' deck [most we've ever tried], I'm not saying that it can run with the big dogs. (4) Bridge and (3) Sweepers represent a Panic Button when pitted against a creature heavy build.
This deck does Not claim to be able to 'out-creature' a tribal/swarm deck like Humans/Spirits/Elves/Dredge/Hollow One/Merfolk. Hey, if I can get lucky on an early Chalice/Moon to foul them up and overwhelm, great! BUT, if not, then I have to got 'run away! run away! run away! like a knight of King Arthur's Court. That's why there are 4 bridges, 3 sweepers, and the swiss army knife of 1 Piran.
Maximum, not for its speed, but for the fact that it added the 4th Wall to our coveted prison: Eidolon of the Great Revel.
Stop the Spell-Based Combo decks and Storm alike! Lock 'Em Up!!!!!!
$30 Buy-In || 5-0 Swiss before cracking to Top 4
Small Tourney, just 16 people. But, at that price, only premier headbangers were willing to put 30 greenbacks on the barrel head to throw down. So, it's a competitive crowd.
LET'S DROP THE HAMMER!!!!!!
Round 1 -- U/W Control. Square off against a buddy who has all the usual tricks: Teferi, Jace, Snaps, Cryptics, Terminus. Pretty typical build with a Dragonlord Ojutai for spice. Obviously I need to win via a Moon. GAME 1: He gets ahead of me with control, and I scoop after a Teferi lands on the board beside an already established Jace. GAME 2: I slam a moon on Turn 1, and he immediately scoops. In my hand, I had a Rabblemaster and Legion alongside another mountain. GAME 3: Slugfest. Basically, I baited out a tap down from him, and then landed a Chandra which ticked up into a victory. A chalice on 1 stranded 4 cards in his hand.
Round 2 -- Spirits. There's very little to tell, and yet so much to say since I faced Spirits again and again in the next 2 rounds. This is a good matchup for us. But, you have to know how to sideboard: stow away those swords and reach for the shields. GAME 1: I locked him on a couple bridges and got hellbent. He had 3 Noble Hierarchs out, however I had a single Rabblemaster that kept generating infinite blocking tokens. He scooped. GAME 2: I brought out 12 cards and brought in a control package. Got there.
Round 3 -- See Above
Round 4 -- See Above Above
Round 5 -- Grixis Death's Shadow. At this point, I'm 4-0. He's considering an intentional draw with hopes to cut into the Top 4 (they didn't do a Top 8). But, he rolled the dice. Likable fella, and I felt bad for him: We both knew that Pyro Prison is a bad matchup for GDS. GAME 1: I keep a decent hand with a noteworthy Chalice/Land/Gemstone combo ready for Turn 1. I'm on the Draw. He turn 1 Thoughtseizes away the Chalice. I top deck another chalice and it gets slammed on 1. He brings out a Tarmogoyf. I cast out a moon. He's got nothing but mountains now. On turn 3, I drop a bridge. That equals game. GAME 2: I'm on the draw again. I land a gemstone caverns again - throwing away a Chandra. He does not have a discard spell this time. I play a land, toss an SSG, and land a bridge on my Turn 1. Seem aggressive? No way. I wasn't risking him getting to 2 mana for a negate or hitting me with a drawn discard spell on his next turn. Bridge = Game Over. And, so it was. Just took a several turns to get there.
CUT TO TOP 4
Opponent was exactly who I did not want to see. Not a Spirit Deck. And, Not my Round 1 UW Control opponent. Instead.....Skred. For all the talk that Dredge is a bear to beat. I put Skred at our worst matchup. Every little machination that we perform which can slow down most opponents, they just don't care about, particualarly the Power Lock Suite. And, they're loaded with removal and sweepers when we try and get through with Goblins. I got smashed! Hey, even Superman has his kryptonite. Our kryptonite just happens to be mountains dusted with crystalline frozen water droplets.
Oh, Well. 5-1 on the Day. I'll take it. Here's the deck. I don't think I would make any changes if I ran it out again. Probably swap that 2nd mutavault for a mountain, but I like to gamble.
vs. U/W CONTROL
IN: Magus, Spellskite, Torpor, Koth, Spyglass, Abrade, Abrade
OUT: 4 Bridge, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 slagstorm
==> abrades come in to shoot down the snapcasters which often block Goblin Lords.
vs. SPIRITS
OUT: 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 2 Hazoret, 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar.
IN: 2 Anger of the Gods, Sorcerous Spyglass, 2 Damping Matrix (vs.A.Vial-EE-Selfelss Spirit), 2 Abrade, Magus of the Moon, Torpor Orb, Grafdigger's Cage, Koth of the Hammer.
vs. GRIXIS DEATH'S SHADOW
OUT: 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Slagstorm,
IN: Spellskite, Magus, Sorcerous Spyglass (vs.EE-Liliana-Grim Lavamancer)
vs. SKRED
OUT: All sense of Hope
IN: Foreboding
**ALSO**
@Gelati asked about sideboarding against BURN:
==> First, leave IN your Blood Moons. You mentioned that take them out, and that you have a concern about Rakdos Charm. Moons stop those and Destructive Revelry, Boros Charm, and Lightning Helix. I don't think this is a bad matchup for us.
OUT: 4 Ensnaring Bridge
IN: Spellskite, Abrade, Abrade, Anger of the Gods
@Vegitas1998 asked about sideboarding against U/R PHOENIX:
==> Candidly, I built my Main Deck with this matchup in mind. However, there was only 1 person that was running it. So, the maindeck Eidolons are cherry & I don't muck up my maindeck with any spot removal which is pretty much useless against Phoenix.
IN: Anger of the Gods, Ravenous Trap, Grafdigger's Cage, Damping Sphere, Torpor Orb (vs.Thing/Bedlam), Spellskite.
OUT: 4 Blood Moon, Slagstorm, Desperate Ritual
That's a wrap for now.
Happy Rock Throwing to all of you during this Holiday Season!
Testing in the Laboratory: Planeswalkers? More like Planesrunners!
Modern Competitive Leagues: 3-2, 3-2, 2-3
Natehill talked about how Modern is fast. As much as I've been enjoying 8-Rabble, I've noted that it is slower than other decks which are all-in on creature attack: 'can't out-creature a creature deck'. SO, I pulled all of them out and their revelrous devil buddies too. Out of here! Put 'em on the bench, and see if I can win through Gods, Planeswalkers, and Parents.
But, wait a minute. Aren't those options even slower? Correct. So, that means I've gotta rack up some nitrous tanks to locate and deploy them even faster:
(14) Mana Rituals
(3) Tormenting Voice
(1) Faithless Looting
(2) Fireblood Rummage
(3) Zhalfirin Scry
NO: goblins, devils, abrade allowed. RESULTS of TESTING: 50/50% after (15) Rounds. I noticed that I had a strong game against the new arclight/thing in the ice deck. This isn't surprising as I pretty much had that winning Baltimore deck at the front of my mind when I designed this deck: Firewalkers. I definitely became more vulnerable to U/W control, because I dropped the pressure: no attacking creatures or devil shocks - thus, they could selectively counterspell my sparse threats. Against Spirits/Humans, my wins were about the same - however the loss of Abrade hurts | as well as the ability to amass Goblins which can close out the game quickly. The same can be said about my Burn matchup which actually had me considering Dragon's Claw (burn/arclight/storm). My Jund-Rock matchup also probably dropped by a small percentage point, because I couldn't devise a win fast enough.
What did I learn? Playing (3) Different Planeswalkers alongside Gods and a couple sets of Parents is fun. The deck is fun. T-Voice/Faithless/Z-Void/Fireblood are terrific at filter-draw. If you're facing a deck where you need to get a bridge out and drop your hand as fast as possible, then this IS the deck. It puts the Pyro in Prison. What it doesn't do is execute the prisoner with haste.
So much of Magic is about seizing an opportunity. Decks falter. A lot. Mana screws/floods or an opponent can't find the right pieces to their own mousetrap. You have to take advantage, and Goblin Rabblemaster is a punisher. It was missed. I'm continuing to tinker, but let's check out the prototype.
VERSION 2.0 has me putting (4) Rabblemaster back into the main deck. The cuts were pretty intuitive. MINUS: Hazoret || Tormenting Voice || Pyretic Ritual || Witchbane Orb. So far, I'm 3-0 in the new league....
@jokerstyle: '12 Moon' is a quirky update of Saffron's 'Free Win Red' deck of which Pyro Prison is 1/2 based. The other half is 'Bloody Humans'...the evolution is all in the official primer. Anyhoo, good luck at FNM this week.
As for your Chalice question: 1. Set it to 1. Primarily because we are not impeded by that play in any way, and there is no deck out there (except us) that doesn't run any 1 drops. That's the simple answer.
The more involved answer speaks to what Ski_AoP said. More specifically:
Set it to 2 against U/R Storm.
Set it to 2 against B/G Rock.
Set it to 0 against Living End
If you've set your first Chalice of the Void to 1, then your second chalice should be set to 2 unless you're facing:
Titanshift: set it to 0 to stop a summoner's pact to get a reclamation sage or, if you can, 3 to stop the sage.
KCI: Set it to 0 to stop their engine (if you can).
Ad Nauseam: Set it to 0 to stop their Lotus Bloom - maybe 2 to stop their Pentad Prison
Grixis Death's Shadow: Set it to 2. But in game 2, set it to 3 to stop Kolaghan's Command
As for Fluffy's encyclopedic offering. It...is...illuminating. There are some straight up bad matches like we've never seen before (i.e. extremely resilient to our pre-AND-sideboard tech), but some definite positive ones as well. Lately, I've been throwing any manner of deck ideas against the cave wall just to see what might stick. I think the split is either 8-Rabble or something that curves high, has a lot of card filtering, and spotlights Pia and Kiran Nalaar. I think they're back and I also think Spellskite might make a return as the '5th' lock - sideboard.
Bottom Line: Like Fluffy said, do not be afraid to mainboard cards which seem like strictly sideboard material if your meta calls for it. That is the ethos of Pyro Prison anyway. It started with the Power Lock Suite, and now it may be time to push it even further out. Hell, I am doing a main deck Witchbane Orb EDIT: Since the Baltimore Event has permeated the event: I have moved away from WO in the main deck... for now
.
Welcome to Jokerstyle and ZigurotPrime! I'm sure your Skred chops will serve you well in transferring over to Pyro Prison, Joker. I like the build - Sarkhan + Glorybringer will wreck, but no Avaricious lovin'? Heh. If I had any suggestions, it would be load more anger of the gods into the sideboard. Otherwise, looks tight.
@ZigurotPrime - Fluffy's list is very sound. Speaking of lists, I thought I would post up a few versions that I've been running in the MODO laboratory. They vary in Goblin type/count, Eidolon Main or Side, Filter/Dig cards, and Ritual count. I've offered up all of these styles before, but here are the most up to date versions of my Pyro Prison decks.
Pyro Prison Carousel
My Current Tournament Deck: 8 Rabble -- It's a balanced assemblage with no real surprise cards. The 1 Goblin Cratermaker is an outlier; a step slower than abrade, but I like the removal-on-a-stick. And, the block/shock stack when attacked by 2 creatures. Of course, killing TKS and Tronwalkers are a nice touch. Witchbane Orb is the pre-emptive strike against decks which do not have artifact removal in game 1, and rely upon non-creature damage to win (combo) or non-creature damage/effects for extra reach (bolt/conflagrate/lavamancer/liliana/ballista/scapeshift/lightning storm/lantern/jace/grapeshot). Besides, Witchbane has always been my 16th Sideboard card, and this way I can include it in the 75.
The Voice -- This deck incorporates a trick used in my 1K winning deck from a year and a half ago: (3) Tormenting Voice. Also, 2 Sarkhan provide for filter assistance. The removal cards and chandra count are slightly slimmed in count. Hazoret count is increased because...well, she is a god. This deck is a little less mid-rangey, and opts to find the silver bullet cards faster. If I could squeeze in a 61st card, it would definitely be a 3rd Anger.
Goblin Gun -- This is a greedy deck. It attempts to get by without the necessary underpinnings of 4 bridge and multiple removal spells. Instead, it tries to overwhelm with creatures, ala a Gatling Gun or Goblin' Gun. Like any deck, with the right matchup this can crush. BUT, to think that I can 'out creature' a creature deck is foolhardy. 4 Bridges are a must in Pyro Prison. Note: I do really like Pia and Kiran Nalaar in this build.
Trash Dragons -- No Littering? Ain't nobody got time for that! This deck is pretty far from 'green'. Red is rummage, scry, loot, discard, and exile. This deck runs hard ritual counts and a very high 4-cmc ramp since those cards are the most impactful - note the use of Z. Void in the land count. This deck is terrific at locating and deploying threats at a high expense of card economy. That can be excellent against unfair decks, but terrible against counterspell or fair decks since they will punish you for being light on threats. Nonetheless, this might be the most fun deck to pilot.
Today is a red letter day in the House that Red Built.
Fluffywolf mailed me a few of his signature pins: The FluffyMoon! My best gal immediately swooped in and tagged one to her purse (see pic). It's the latest in Pyro Prison Shwag! Also, he sent me a Guilds of Ravnica Masterpiece booster. Verrrrry Shiny - yet to be cracked.
This is all the result of a charity event that Mr. Wolf hosted on Twitch that raised hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a benefit for children in need of medical care - and, I won a raffle ticket. Actually, I think everybody who contributed a modest sum was mailed a prize.
Terrific post, Fluffy. Going with the 'Hard 8' on rabble, eh? I tried it, and moved quickly to 6 rabble. Maybe too quickly. I'll look into that thinking. Fair to note: I did not adopt the more traditional build when I tried it. Mine was less abrade/slagstorm and more goblin cratermaker/goblin chainwhirler. So, I like what you're doing here. More tried and true.
Excellent meta analysis. And, props to you and Russ for breaking Ravenous Trap (maybe others too). Again, on paper, it just does not look good. Seems like Grafdigger's Cage has way more 'reliable' applications. But, it's extremely fragile, and can conflict with a Chalice on 1. Your point about the correct time to execute an answer is inspired. I'll give it a whirl as well....6-CMC Black card in Pyro Prison. Ohhhhh, the humanity.
Yet, as I think about your 3 target decks: DREDGE // HOLLOW ONE // STORM. As far as storm goes, that's a pretty damned good matchup after sideboarding, right? And, my concern with Dredge and Hollow One is that we can get sneeeeeaked under a bridge pretty easily by Narcomoeba, Stinkweed Imp :: DREDGE// Flameblade Adept :: HOLLOW ONE. And, even an Empty the Warrens from Storm can be devastating with a dead ravenous in hand. Hmmmmm, as I look longingly upon a Grafdigger's Cage.
Dredge certainly is a *****er, Dazza. Gotta ask.....where are your Grafdigger's Cage(s)?? Also, you're going with only 1 Anger of the Gods [I run 4]. Ditch the surgicals and go in that direction first. Speaking of Anger, it has now replaced Slagstorm in my main deck which has freed up 2 slots in my sideboard. Why? Our bad matchups are harder hit by Anger, and I've got ways of filtering it away if I'm marching forward with a goblin horde. Read on...
Wiblo - you've been running Saffron's Goblin Prison, huh? The most compelling addition is Chancellor of the Tangle. Woah - MEGA Acceleration. Obviously, the drawback is later drawn Chancellors - totally dead draw, right. Well, I started to tool with the idea of using cards that are very, very narrow, BUT can be ditched later as a resource. My list of enablers - filter/scry/draw/loot/rummage:
Alrighty, so these cards are all decent on their own. AND, they can toss away a later drawn Tangle. But, what else can I also include in the main deck Game 1. NOTE: this idea dovetails with what Fluffy brought up in a previous post. I've also espoused this game theorizing in earlier posts: Catering your Main Deck list of cards to increase your chances of success against 'bad matchups' by selecting cards which normally appear in the Sideboard. Thus, the Sideboard or Pre-board deck. Although, the 3 elements of power lock suite now appear regularly in Tiered decklists, that wasn't the case when this thread launched. Time marches on - let's up our game.
Let's take it 1 step further. Examine the meta. Choose a spell which can have particularly calamitous results for the opponent [i]in game one[/i]. My choice: Witchbane Orb. Think about how many decks do not have artifact destruction in game 1, AND have very linear kill conditions that require 'targeting an opponent'. Storm, Ad Nauseam, Burn, KCI (EE excluded), Lantern Control, Liliana of the Veil, Conflagrate, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Scapeshift.....tons of applications and when paired with an ensnaring bridge it can equal GG.
I did also try running a Damping Matrix in the main with less successful results, however the thinking can be sound when you come up against the right opponent like hardened scales affinity, G/W Vizier Combo, KCI, etc. etc. Again, the idea is to run very, very narrow cards which might hit with Crane Kick force or can be filtered away. Here's another one: main deck......Leyline of the Void. I know I don't have to rattle off the number of decks that would be devastated by that drop....friggen' precious.
Pyro Prison has been on the downswing with its success rate - evidenced by a lack of Top 8 results in premier events. Gotta adapt and overcome. What else can we try? Let's stoke that fire, kinfolk. Look at the mountain man in the mirror, and make that change.
I'd love to see some of the decklists being proposed. Fluffy mentions the option of going with less than 4 bridge in the main, and relying on phat dragons and sarkhan, fireblood. While Dazza proposes a similarly aggressive line, but uses legion warboss and scab-clan berserker instead. To form an opinion of either, I'd have to see the removal/ritual complements.
But, (4) ensnaring bridge is a bedrock play for Pyro Prison. I've dabbled with reduced counts over the years. The only way I think it could potentially be successful is with a Goblin Gun build where there are legitimately (20) creatures and eight of them are removal on-a-stick: Goblin Cratermaker / Goblin Chainwhirler. There is a slightly outdated decklist at the top of Page 156. [I took out purphoros/magus - few chandras are back in]
That build turns our matchups on their heads. Favorable/Unfavorable opponents get inverted. So, maybe there's some middle ground in there -- Maybe you guys are onto something??
Or, should I say lowlight. Round 1 // Game 1 VS. Jund
I am on the PLAY and mulligan to 6. I don't know what my opponent is playing, and my hand is slooow. There is a blood moon, ensnaring bridge, chandra, 3 mountains. I don't want to risk the mull to 5, and there's always the chance of a drawn ritual. O.K. Keep.
I am not going to recall all of the plays/draws that occurred, but I don't expect to forget his 4th turn anytime soon. Like, maybe....ever?
I am chugging along with mountain drops, and not casting any spells. He fetches into a dual land on T1 and T2 - casting a Tarmogoyf: 1/2 P/T. No problem there. I start the 3rd turn with a mountain, and naturally cast blood moon. Got him.
Just from the way that he was playing his lands, I could tell that he wasn't sandbagging any basic lands in his hand. On his 3rd turn, he attacks for 1 and then plays another useless dual land. Bear in mind that this deck plays something like (1) basic land of each in his (60).
So, it's the 4th turn, and I'm feeling confident. He has 3 mountains and a 1/2 Goyf. I now have 4 mountains, a blood moon and a decision to make: Chandra or ensnaring bridge?
It'll be a while before I can get under a bridge, and there's not really much of an onboard threat to Chandra, so....Chandra gets cast and I tick up to (5) loyalty on an exile.
On the opponent's 4th turn, he top decks a forest. Plays the forest and a blood braid elf which reveals a thoughtseize. The bridge in my hand gets rubbished. The opponent's Goyf grows to a 3/4 and joins BBE in an attack upon Chandra. She dead. A few turns later, so am I.
ANOTHER QUICK ONE:
Before the tournament, I go over to the vendors' to buy a 3rd Hazoret the Fervent for my Pyro Prison deck. I shout over the request, some dude comes over with one, and $4.00 later I walk away with my last needed card for the deck that day.
In round 3, I seat myself across from someone I don't recognize and offer a hello. He says we've already met earlier that day. I tell him he must be confusing me with someone else. He's sure of it, and reminds me that I bought a Hazoret the Fervent from him over at the vendor area.
I say, "Ooooooh, yeah. I needed that card for an EDH tournament tomorrow." 'Suuuuure'. People around us laugh, and we start the tournament with me partially tipping my hand to my opponent. What are the odds?!?!!?
I watched it Dev. You are correct - sometimes you have to kamikaze attack your Eidolon into 'suicide by dragon' so that you don't have to keep dumping your hand down. He did only get zinged for one spell played (blood moon - redundant), but every life point counts - which actually happened there: him getting pinged out by Niv Mizzet.
I watched Ultrasuperbob play against Stickballruss the other night in a mirror. He's a sound player - no mistakes that I saw. I did feel for on the clock management of his opponent in the video you provided. He ended at 19:00 and his opponent won at 2:00. His library was revealed, and it was very close to a Stock List of Pyro Prison.
Highlight? He dropped the hammer on a Boooooooooiiiiiil. Opponent had 3 lands. 2 of which were islands. At the start of the opponent's next turn? 1 land, and a heavy fog hung in the air. Nothing like the smell of low, low, low, low tide in the morning.
$3,000.00 for 1st place, so let's put all this experimenting and game theorizing to the ultimate test. It's showtime. I scrutinized each card selection, drawing inspiration from all of the suggestions posted by mountainfolk and previous archetypes I've rattled through:
Stock List - Our Bedrock. Defined by an unchanged formula since Torch of Defiance was created. (21) Land (9) Ritual (12) Lock (4) Chandra (4) Rabble (2) Sweeper (2) Spot (1) Koth = ((*55*)) Cards. Tried and True.
Goblin Gun - Goblins Everywhere: (8) Rabblemaster + Chainwhirler/Cratermaker. Defined by a creature dense main deck. All removal is 'on a stick'
Trash Dragons - Turbo Fast: Defined by inflated Ritual / Scry / Loot / Draw / Rummage Spells & backed by Avaricious-Sarkhan Combo. Increased number of 4-cmc spells, like multiple Hazoret the Fervent. Limited removal spell count.
Porno for Pyros - Combo & Spell Decks Beware the Devils! Defined by (4) Eidolon of the Revel in the main deck [ouch!], creature ramp, and reduced ritual count.
Toolbox - Now where's my silver bullet? Defined by reduced win-cons and increased prison pieces. Less spear and more shield in the sideboard.
Final Deck Result? Team effort. Every deck contributed its unique strengths just like, to use a Star Trek reference, the Borg. "We are the Borg. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile." But, spoiler alert: resistance was futile. I did not turn in a winning record on Saturday. It was a 2-3 drop, but each of my round losses were 1-2 game records, so that counts for something. And, plenty of Tier decks turned in the same record and worse that day, so I'm not discouraged.
Quite the opposite, I am extremely satisfied with the deck design. I came home after the tourney, reviewed the days events, laid out my alternate card choices, and attempted to improve the deck. No can do. For today's meta, imho nailed it. As you know, I'm not big on long tourney reports, but I'll list off the decks faced & how I sideboarded. Alright, so here's the deck:
How's it look? It's mostly a return to my Stock List. Same: land count and composition, ritual count and composition, removal count and composition, lock count, and rabblemaster count.
Notable differences in the Main Deck are a reduction in 4-cmc spells: No Koth - Only 3 Chandra - 1 Hazoret. This allows for a faster board development. I added (2) extra rabbles = warboss, and they all work well together as a team. (4) Devils came in to battle combo/spell/control/tron decks.
Notable differences in the sideboard is a high concentration of Toolbox cards. Anger of the Gods as a 4-of is prohibitively ill-tempered! Alongside 2 Slagstorm, 2 Abrade, and 4 Bridge, I'm positioning myself at the ready against decks that win by attacking - spirits/humans/hollow one/etc. Whereas some might think it's overkill, you can almost never have too much exiling kill against numerous decks out there. I'm perfectly fine with doing 1-for-1 trades if I have to. Otherwise, outside of Hazoret, the other sideboard cards are allllll toolbox cards. Since there are already so many win-cons front loaded into the main deck, I can get away with it.
Matchups:
Bloodbraid Elf JUND: Loss 1-2
-3 Chalice of the Void +2 Hazoret +1 Spyglass
Bogles: Win 2-0
-1 Abrade -4 Eidolon +1 S.Spyglass (name seal of primordium) +4 Anger of the Gods
Bloodbraid Elf JUND: Win 2-0
see above
G/x Tron: Loss 1-2
(depends on play/draw when it comes to keeping/siding bridge count - don't be overconfident on being able to overwhelm before W. Engine/Thrag) -2 Slagstorm -3 Ensnaring Bridge +1 damping sphere +2 damping matrix +1 sorcerous spyglass +1 Hazoret the Fervent
Coco Vizier Combo: Loss 1-2
-Every single creature (except Hazoret), Chalices, and Moons +Every single sideboard card except Damping Sphere, Here you win on Chandra/Hazoret - that's it. 14 card swap.
@dmunozg: Inspired application of Outpost Siege! Where there was never a reason to elect the 'dragon' modality of that card, you've devised it as the newest 'prison' card.
If you can start ratcheting up the Goblin Gun then the (Rabble/Warboss) 1/1s getting fired acrossed the field EITHER hit for 1 damage OR die for 1 damage. Very cool, dude. I can see Outpost Siege serve as an even better version of Sarkhan, Fireblood. It's a lot easier for Outpost Siege to deal damage OR draw, and it's not in the very crowded 3-cmc slot. Lastly - it ain't all that easy to attack an enchantment. HUh -
I don't know about the land construction -- Zhalfirin Void is very hard to run in a deck with so many symbols in the CMC.
I think you should swap those Slagstorm in the sideboard to Anger of the Gods instead
What do you think of Goblin Cratermaker? I have moved away from it - once believed to be a straight up superior card to abrade, I now have my doubts.
I like what you're trying -- will attempt to sleeve up a version of your take on Goblin Gun when I get a moment. Also, forthcoming is a decklist/tourney report from a 10K tournament this weekend - spoiler: there was no money finish this time around.
@VicVega: Let us know if you ended up running out Pyro Prison at the SCG even in Worcester, MA (down the street from me, but I'm hung up on Footballing this weekend -- lotsa betting and yelling at my television
@Joymonger: Welcome - Welcome! I appreciate your analysis and appreciation of reviewing older lists to inspire future constructions. Indeed, the mechanics of disruption, soft locks, acceleration, creature threats, and utility lands have all been there since the beginning. Sometimes you can find a gem in the back of the closet.
Sorry, I've been a bit absent lately. Work's picked up and most of my Magic playing has been MODO doing Ultimate Masters and Vintage phantom cube drafts. Sooooo fun.
For a quick recap of decks that I continue to tinker with, here's the Pyro Prison Carousel article I put up some weeks back. The recent trends in my designs have been to move away from Witchbane Orb and Pia and Kiran Nalaar in the main deck. I love having 2 Hazoret in the main deck. Abrade's are scantly seen there, but I do enjoy my 1 Goblin Cratermaker. I also believe in running Eidolon in the main deck as long as spell/combo/low curving decks continue to prosper.
My new year's resolution would be to find a way to combine 'The Voice' and 'Trash Dragons' into an optimized draw/acceleration machine which can use all of our 'loss of card economy, BUT speed out answers well ahead of the curve' tricks: Like Dazza mentioned [faithless looting]. Also: Sarkhan, Zhalfirin Void, 10 Rituals, Tormenting Voice, and Trash Dragon himself.
Well, here's some options to ponder:
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/established-modern/control/663335-pyro-prison-goblinized-mono-red-control-the?comment=3145
And, my current up to date list is at the bottom of the Official Primer on Page 1.
It's a more aggressive breed - threat dense with (14) Creatures. Goblins that spit out 1/1s can kill faster than planeswalkers. And, Eidolons work almost as well as Chalice against spell/combo decks. Bonus: unlike a chalice, they can actually kill. I mean, who ever heard of someone being slapped from 20 to 0 by a cup of dubious dimensions.
Further thought on why (14) inflated count of creatures: Just as mid-range/control decks run out of answers to our creatures, one more pops off the top of the deck to present a hefty threat. No more top decking the dreaded 'hot air': mountains/rituals/abrade. Now, it's multiple ramunaps/mutavaults, less ritual, and no abrade.
Chandra is just right as a (2). Multiples are redundant. And, her immediate damage output is paltry. By dropping her count and moving Eidolon from the SB to the MD, I've freed up a lot of sideboard slots.
Pia and Kiran are terrific against so many decks. They're back! Now, although I am stamping Pyro Prison || Maximum as a 'creature' deck [most we've ever tried], I'm not saying that it can run with the big dogs. (4) Bridge and (3) Sweepers represent a Panic Button when pitted against a creature heavy build.
This deck does Not claim to be able to 'out-creature' a tribal/swarm deck like Humans/Spirits/Elves/Dredge/Hollow One/Merfolk. Hey, if I can get lucky on an early Chalice/Moon to foul them up and overwhelm, great! BUT, if not, then I have to got 'run away! run away! run away! like a knight of King Arthur's Court. That's why there are 4 bridges, 3 sweepers, and the swiss army knife of 1 Piran.
Maximum, not for its speed, but for the fact that it added the 4th Wall to our coveted prison: Eidolon of the Great Revel.
Stop the Spell-Based Combo decks and Storm alike! Lock 'Em Up!!!!!!
Give it a whirl...
Small Tourney, just 16 people. But, at that price, only premier headbangers were willing to put 30 greenbacks on the barrel head to throw down. So, it's a competitive crowd.
LET'S DROP THE HAMMER!!!!!!
Round 1 -- U/W Control. Square off against a buddy who has all the usual tricks: Teferi, Jace, Snaps, Cryptics, Terminus. Pretty typical build with a Dragonlord Ojutai for spice. Obviously I need to win via a Moon. GAME 1: He gets ahead of me with control, and I scoop after a Teferi lands on the board beside an already established Jace. GAME 2: I slam a moon on Turn 1, and he immediately scoops. In my hand, I had a Rabblemaster and Legion alongside another mountain. GAME 3: Slugfest. Basically, I baited out a tap down from him, and then landed a Chandra which ticked up into a victory. A chalice on 1 stranded 4 cards in his hand.
Round 2 -- Spirits. There's very little to tell, and yet so much to say since I faced Spirits again and again in the next 2 rounds. This is a good matchup for us. But, you have to know how to sideboard: stow away those swords and reach for the shields. GAME 1: I locked him on a couple bridges and got hellbent. He had 3 Noble Hierarchs out, however I had a single Rabblemaster that kept generating infinite blocking tokens. He scooped. GAME 2: I brought out 12 cards and brought in a control package. Got there.
Round 3 -- See Above
Round 4 -- See Above Above
Round 5 -- Grixis Death's Shadow. At this point, I'm 4-0. He's considering an intentional draw with hopes to cut into the Top 4 (they didn't do a Top 8). But, he rolled the dice. Likable fella, and I felt bad for him: We both knew that Pyro Prison is a bad matchup for GDS. GAME 1: I keep a decent hand with a noteworthy Chalice/Land/Gemstone combo ready for Turn 1. I'm on the Draw. He turn 1 Thoughtseizes away the Chalice. I top deck another chalice and it gets slammed on 1. He brings out a Tarmogoyf. I cast out a moon. He's got nothing but mountains now. On turn 3, I drop a bridge. That equals game. GAME 2: I'm on the draw again. I land a gemstone caverns again - throwing away a Chandra. He does not have a discard spell this time. I play a land, toss an SSG, and land a bridge on my Turn 1. Seem aggressive? No way. I wasn't risking him getting to 2 mana for a negate or hitting me with a drawn discard spell on his next turn. Bridge = Game Over. And, so it was. Just took a several turns to get there.
CUT TO TOP 4
Opponent was exactly who I did not want to see. Not a Spirit Deck. And, Not my Round 1 UW Control opponent. Instead.....Skred. For all the talk that Dredge is a bear to beat. I put Skred at our worst matchup. Every little machination that we perform which can slow down most opponents, they just don't care about, particualarly the Power Lock Suite. And, they're loaded with removal and sweepers when we try and get through with Goblins. I got smashed! Hey, even Superman has his kryptonite. Our kryptonite just happens to be mountains dusted with crystalline frozen water droplets.
Oh, Well. 5-1 on the Day. I'll take it. Here's the deck. I don't think I would make any changes if I ran it out again. Probably swap that 2nd mutavault for a mountain, but I like to gamble.
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Creatures (14)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Legion Warboss
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Sweeper Removal (3)
1 Slagstorm
2 Anger of the Gods
Accelerators (8)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
Lands (21)
13 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
3 Ramunap Ruins
2 Mutavault
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Abrade
2 Damping Matrix
1 Torpor Orb
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Damping Sphere
1 Spellskite
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Koth of the Hammer
SIDEBOARDING NOTES:
vs. U/W CONTROL
IN: Magus, Spellskite, Torpor, Koth, Spyglass, Abrade, Abrade
OUT: 4 Bridge, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 slagstorm
==> abrades come in to shoot down the snapcasters which often block Goblin Lords.
vs. SPIRITS
OUT: 4 Goblin Rabblemaster, 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel, 2 Hazoret, 1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar.
IN: 2 Anger of the Gods, Sorcerous Spyglass, 2 Damping Matrix (vs.A.Vial-EE-Selfelss Spirit), 2 Abrade, Magus of the Moon, Torpor Orb, Grafdigger's Cage, Koth of the Hammer.
vs. GRIXIS DEATH'S SHADOW
OUT: 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Slagstorm,
IN: Spellskite, Magus, Sorcerous Spyglass (vs.EE-Liliana-Grim Lavamancer)
vs. SKRED
OUT: All sense of Hope
IN: Foreboding
**ALSO**
@Gelati asked about sideboarding against BURN:
==> First, leave IN your Blood Moons. You mentioned that take them out, and that you have a concern about Rakdos Charm. Moons stop those and Destructive Revelry, Boros Charm, and Lightning Helix. I don't think this is a bad matchup for us.
OUT: 4 Ensnaring Bridge
IN: Spellskite, Abrade, Abrade, Anger of the Gods
@Vegitas1998 asked about sideboarding against U/R PHOENIX:
==> Candidly, I built my Main Deck with this matchup in mind. However, there was only 1 person that was running it. So, the maindeck Eidolons are cherry & I don't muck up my maindeck with any spot removal which is pretty much useless against Phoenix.
IN: Anger of the Gods, Ravenous Trap, Grafdigger's Cage, Damping Sphere, Torpor Orb (vs.Thing/Bedlam), Spellskite.
OUT: 4 Blood Moon, Slagstorm, Desperate Ritual
That's a wrap for now.
Happy Rock Throwing to all of you during this Holiday Season!
Modern Competitive Leagues: 3-2, 3-2, 2-3
Natehill talked about how Modern is fast. As much as I've been enjoying 8-Rabble, I've noted that it is slower than other decks which are all-in on creature attack: 'can't out-creature a creature deck'. SO, I pulled all of them out and their revelrous devil buddies too. Out of here! Put 'em on the bench, and see if I can win through Gods, Planeswalkers, and Parents.
But, wait a minute. Aren't those options even slower? Correct. So, that means I've gotta rack up some nitrous tanks to locate and deploy them even faster:
- (14) Mana Rituals
- (3) Tormenting Voice
- (1) Faithless Looting
- (2) Fireblood Rummage
- (3) Zhalfirin Scry
NO: goblins, devils, abrade allowed. RESULTS of TESTING: 50/50% after (15) Rounds. I noticed that I had a strong game against the new arclight/thing in the ice deck. This isn't surprising as I pretty much had that winning Baltimore deck at the front of my mind when I designed this deck: Firewalkers. I definitely became more vulnerable to U/W control, because I dropped the pressure: no attacking creatures or devil shocks - thus, they could selectively counterspell my sparse threats. Against Spirits/Humans, my wins were about the same - however the loss of Abrade hurts | as well as the ability to amass Goblins which can close out the game quickly. The same can be said about my Burn matchup which actually had me considering Dragon's Claw (burn/arclight/storm). My Jund-Rock matchup also probably dropped by a small percentage point, because I couldn't devise a win fast enough.What did I learn? Playing (3) Different Planeswalkers alongside Gods and a couple sets of Parents is fun. The deck is fun. T-Voice/Faithless/Z-Void/Fireblood are terrific at filter-draw. If you're facing a deck where you need to get a bridge out and drop your hand as fast as possible, then this IS the deck. It puts the Pyro in Prison. What it doesn't do is execute the prisoner with haste.
So much of Magic is about seizing an opportunity. Decks falter. A lot. Mana screws/floods or an opponent can't find the right pieces to their own mousetrap. You have to take advantage, and Goblin Rabblemaster is a punisher. It was missed. I'm continuing to tinker, but let's check out the prototype.
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
1 Witchbane Orb
Creatures (4)
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (5)
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Sarkhan, Fireblood
Removal (3)
1 Slagstorm
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Pyretic Ritual
Draw Accelerators (4)
3 Tormenting Voice
1 Faithless Looting
Lands (21)
14 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
3 Zhalfirin Void
1 Ramunap Ruins
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Damping Matrix
2 Torpor Orb
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Spellskite
1 Damping Sphere
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Abrade
1 Koth of the Hammer
VERSION 2.0 has me putting (4) Rabblemaster back into the main deck. The cuts were pretty intuitive. MINUS: Hazoret || Tormenting Voice || Pyretic Ritual || Witchbane Orb. So far, I'm 3-0 in the new league....
As for your Chalice question: 1. Set it to 1. Primarily because we are not impeded by that play in any way, and there is no deck out there (except us) that doesn't run any 1 drops. That's the simple answer.
The more involved answer speaks to what Ski_AoP said. More specifically:
Set it to 2 against U/R Storm.
Set it to 2 against B/G Rock.
Set it to 0 against Living End
If you've set your first Chalice of the Void to 1, then your second chalice should be set to 2 unless you're facing:
Titanshift: set it to 0 to stop a summoner's pact to get a reclamation sage or, if you can, 3 to stop the sage.
KCI: Set it to 0 to stop their engine (if you can).
Ad Nauseam: Set it to 0 to stop their Lotus Bloom - maybe 2 to stop their Pentad Prison
Grixis Death's Shadow: Set it to 2. But in game 2, set it to 3 to stop Kolaghan's Command
As for Fluffy's encyclopedic offering. It...is...illuminating. There are some straight up bad matches like we've never seen before (i.e. extremely resilient to our pre-AND-sideboard tech), but some definite positive ones as well. Lately, I've been throwing any manner of deck ideas against the cave wall just to see what might stick. I think the split is either 8-Rabble or something that curves high, has a lot of card filtering, and spotlights Pia and Kiran Nalaar. I think they're back and I also think Spellskite might make a return as the '5th' lock - sideboard.
Bottom Line: Like Fluffy said, do not be afraid to mainboard cards which seem like strictly sideboard material if your meta calls for it. That is the ethos of Pyro Prison anyway. It started with the Power Lock Suite, and now it may be time to push it even further out. Hell, I am doing a main deck Witchbane Orb EDIT: Since the Baltimore Event has permeated the event: I have moved away from WO in the main deck... for now
.
@ZigurotPrime - Fluffy's list is very sound. Speaking of lists, I thought I would post up a few versions that I've been running in the MODO laboratory. They vary in Goblin type/count, Eidolon Main or Side, Filter/Dig cards, and Ritual count. I've offered up all of these styles before, but here are the most up to date versions of my Pyro Prison decks.
My Current Tournament Deck: 8 Rabble -- It's a balanced assemblage with no real surprise cards. The 1 Goblin Cratermaker is an outlier; a step slower than abrade, but I like the removal-on-a-stick. And, the block/shock stack when attacked by 2 creatures. Of course, killing TKS and Tronwalkers are a nice touch. Witchbane Orb is the pre-emptive strike against decks which do not have artifact removal in game 1, and rely upon non-creature damage to win (combo) or non-creature damage/effects for extra reach (bolt/conflagrate/lavamancer/liliana/ballista/scapeshift/lightning storm/lantern/jace/grapeshot). Besides, Witchbane has always been my 16th Sideboard card, and this way I can include it in the 75.
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
1 Witchbane Orb
Creatures (10)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Legion Warboss
1 Goblin Cratermaker
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (4)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Abrade
1 Slagstorm
1 Anger of the Gods
Accelerators (9)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
Lands (21)
15 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
2 Ramunap Ruins
1 Scavenger Grounds
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Damping Matrix
2 Torpor Orb
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Abrade
1 Hazoret the Fervent
The Voice -- This deck incorporates a trick used in my 1K winning deck from a year and a half ago: (3) Tormenting Voice. Also, 2 Sarkhan provide for filter assistance. The removal cards and chandra count are slightly slimmed in count. Hazoret count is increased because...well, she is a god. This deck is a little less mid-rangey, and opts to find the silver bullet cards faster. If I could squeeze in a 61st card, it would definitely be a 3rd Anger.
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
1 Witchbane Orb
Creatures (6)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (5)
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Sarkhan, Fireblood
Removal (3)
1 Abrade
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
3 Tormenting Voice
Lands (21)
14 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
2 Ramunap Ruins
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Mutavault
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Damping Matrix
2 Torpor Orb
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Abrade
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Ravenous Trap
Goblin Gun -- This is a greedy deck. It attempts to get by without the necessary underpinnings of 4 bridge and multiple removal spells. Instead, it tries to overwhelm with creatures, ala a Gatling Gun or Goblin' Gun. Like any deck, with the right matchup this can crush. BUT, to think that I can 'out creature' a creature deck is foolhardy. 4 Bridges are a must in Pyro Prison. Note: I do really like Pia and Kiran Nalaar in this build.
2 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
Creatures (17)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Legion Warboss
2 Goblin Chainwhirler
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Magus of the Moon
2 Hazoret the Fervent
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Removal (2)
2 Anger of the Gods
Accelerators (8)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
Lands (21)
15 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
3 Ramunap Ruins
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Damping Matrix
2 Torpor Orb
3 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Molten Rain
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Bonfire of the Damned
Trash Dragons -- No Littering? Ain't nobody got time for that! This deck is pretty far from 'green'. Red is rummage, scry, loot, discard, and exile. This deck runs hard ritual counts and a very high 4-cmc ramp since those cards are the most impactful - note the use of Z. Void in the land count. This deck is terrific at locating and deploying threats at a high expense of card economy. That can be excellent against unfair decks, but terrible against counterspell or fair decks since they will punish you for being light on threats. Nonetheless, this might be the most fun deck to pilot.
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
1 Witchbane Orb
Creatures (6)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Avaricious Dragon
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (6)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Sarkhan, Fireblood
1 Abrade
2 Anger of the Gods
Accelerators (11)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Pyretic Ritual
1 Faithless Looting
Lands (21)
15 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
3 Zhalfirin Void
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Damping Matrix
2 Torpor Orb
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Abrade
1 Spellskite
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Fluffywolf mailed me a few of his signature pins: The FluffyMoon! My best gal immediately swooped in and tagged one to her purse (see pic). It's the latest in Pyro Prison Shwag! Also, he sent me a Guilds of Ravnica Masterpiece booster. Verrrrry Shiny - yet to be cracked.
This is all the result of a charity event that Mr. Wolf hosted on Twitch that raised hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a benefit for children in need of medical care - and, I won a raffle ticket. Actually, I think everybody who contributed a modest sum was mailed a prize.
So, a hearty backslap to the 'Ambassador'. Thx!!!
Excellent meta analysis. And, props to you and Russ for breaking Ravenous Trap (maybe others too). Again, on paper, it just does not look good. Seems like Grafdigger's Cage has way more 'reliable' applications. But, it's extremely fragile, and can conflict with a Chalice on 1. Your point about the correct time to execute an answer is inspired. I'll give it a whirl as well....6-CMC Black card in Pyro Prison. Ohhhhh, the humanity.
Yet, as I think about your 3 target decks: DREDGE // HOLLOW ONE // STORM. As far as storm goes, that's a pretty damned good matchup after sideboarding, right? And, my concern with Dredge and Hollow One is that we can get sneeeeeaked under a bridge pretty easily by Narcomoeba, Stinkweed Imp :: DREDGE// Flameblade Adept :: HOLLOW ONE. And, even an Empty the Warrens from Storm can be devastating with a dead ravenous in hand. Hmmmmm, as I look longingly upon a Grafdigger's Cage.
That clip of Evaros is hilarious!
Wiblo - you've been running Saffron's Goblin Prison, huh? The most compelling addition is Chancellor of the Tangle. Woah - MEGA Acceleration. Obviously, the drawback is later drawn Chancellors - totally dead draw, right. Well, I started to tool with the idea of using cards that are very, very narrow, BUT can be ditched later as a resource. My list of enablers - filter/scry/draw/loot/rummage:
- Zhalfirin Void
- Sarkhan, Fireblood
- Faithless Looting
- Hazoret the Fervent
- Avaricious Dragon
Alrighty, so these cards are all decent on their own. AND, they can toss away a later drawn Tangle. But, what else can I also include in the main deck Game 1. NOTE: this idea dovetails with what Fluffy brought up in a previous post. I've also espoused this game theorizing in earlier posts: Catering your Main Deck list of cards to increase your chances of success against 'bad matchups' by selecting cards which normally appear in the Sideboard. Thus, the Sideboard or Pre-board deck. Although, the 3 elements of power lock suite now appear regularly in Tiered decklists, that wasn't the case when this thread launched. Time marches on - let's up our game.Let's take it 1 step further. Examine the meta. Choose a spell which can have particularly calamitous results for the opponent [i]in game one[/i]. My choice: Witchbane Orb.
I did also try running a Damping Matrix in the main with less successful results, however the thinking can be sound when you come up against the right opponent like hardened scales affinity, G/W Vizier Combo, KCI, etc. etc. Again, the idea is to run very, very narrow cards which might hit with Crane Kick force or can be filtered away. Here's another one: main deck......Leyline of the Void. I know I don't have to rattle off the number of decks that would be devastated by that drop....friggen' precious.
Pyro Prison has been on the downswing with its success rate - evidenced by a lack of Top 8 results in premier events. Gotta adapt and overcome. What else can we try? Let's stoke that fire, kinfolk. Look at the mountain man in the mirror, and make that change.
But, (4) ensnaring bridge is a bedrock play for Pyro Prison. I've dabbled with reduced counts over the years. The only way I think it could potentially be successful is with a Goblin Gun build where there are legitimately (20) creatures and eight of them are removal on-a-stick: Goblin Cratermaker / Goblin Chainwhirler. There is a slightly outdated decklist at the top of Page 156. [I took out purphoros/magus - few chandras are back in]
That build turns our matchups on their heads. Favorable/Unfavorable opponents get inverted. So, maybe there's some middle ground in there -- Maybe you guys are onto something??
Or, should I say lowlight. Round 1 // Game 1 VS. Jund
I am on the PLAY and mulligan to 6. I don't know what my opponent is playing, and my hand is slooow. There is a blood moon, ensnaring bridge, chandra, 3 mountains. I don't want to risk the mull to 5, and there's always the chance of a drawn ritual. O.K. Keep.
I am not going to recall all of the plays/draws that occurred, but I don't expect to forget his 4th turn anytime soon. Like, maybe....ever?
I am chugging along with mountain drops, and not casting any spells. He fetches into a dual land on T1 and T2 - casting a Tarmogoyf: 1/2 P/T. No problem there. I start the 3rd turn with a mountain, and naturally cast blood moon. Got him.
Just from the way that he was playing his lands, I could tell that he wasn't sandbagging any basic lands in his hand. On his 3rd turn, he attacks for 1 and then plays another useless dual land. Bear in mind that this deck plays something like (1) basic land of each in his (60).
So, it's the 4th turn, and I'm feeling confident. He has 3 mountains and a 1/2 Goyf. I now have 4 mountains, a blood moon and a decision to make: Chandra or ensnaring bridge?
It'll be a while before I can get under a bridge, and there's not really much of an onboard threat to Chandra, so....Chandra gets cast and I tick up to (5) loyalty on an exile.
On the opponent's 4th turn, he top decks a forest. Plays the forest and a blood braid elf which reveals a thoughtseize. The bridge in my hand gets rubbished. The opponent's Goyf grows to a 3/4 and joins BBE in an attack upon Chandra. She dead. A few turns later, so am I.
ANOTHER QUICK ONE:
Before the tournament, I go over to the vendors' to buy a 3rd Hazoret the Fervent for my Pyro Prison deck. I shout over the request, some dude comes over with one, and $4.00 later I walk away with my last needed card for the deck that day.
In round 3, I seat myself across from someone I don't recognize and offer a hello. He says we've already met earlier that day. I tell him he must be confusing me with someone else. He's sure of it, and reminds me that I bought a Hazoret the Fervent from him over at the vendor area.
I say, "Ooooooh, yeah. I needed that card for an EDH tournament tomorrow." 'Suuuuure'. People around us laugh, and we start the tournament with me partially tipping my hand to my opponent. What are the odds?!?!!?
I watched Ultrasuperbob play against Stickballruss the other night in a mirror. He's a sound player - no mistakes that I saw. I did feel for on the clock management of his opponent in the video you provided. He ended at 19:00 and his opponent won at 2:00. His library was revealed, and it was very close to a Stock List of Pyro Prison.
Highlight? He dropped the hammer on a Boooooooooiiiiiil. Opponent had 3 lands. 2 of which were islands. At the start of the opponent's next turn? 1 land, and a heavy fog hung in the air. Nothing like the smell of low, low, low, low tide in the morning.
$3,000.00 for 1st place, so let's put all this experimenting and game theorizing to the ultimate test. It's showtime. I scrutinized each card selection, drawing inspiration from all of the suggestions posted by mountainfolk and previous archetypes I've rattled through:
- Stock List - Our Bedrock. Defined by an unchanged formula since Torch of Defiance was created. (21) Land (9) Ritual (12) Lock (4) Chandra (4) Rabble (2) Sweeper (2) Spot (1) Koth = ((*55*)) Cards. Tried and True.
- Goblin Gun - Goblins Everywhere: (8) Rabblemaster + Chainwhirler/Cratermaker. Defined by a creature dense main deck. All removal is 'on a stick'
- Trash Dragons - Turbo Fast: Defined by inflated Ritual / Scry / Loot / Draw / Rummage Spells & backed by Avaricious-Sarkhan Combo. Increased number of 4-cmc spells, like multiple Hazoret the Fervent. Limited removal spell count.
- Porno for Pyros - Combo & Spell Decks Beware the Devils! Defined by (4) Eidolon of the Revel in the main deck [ouch!], creature ramp, and reduced ritual count.
- Toolbox - Now where's my silver bullet? Defined by reduced win-cons and increased prison pieces. Less spear and more shield in the sideboard.
Final Deck Result? Team effort. Every deck contributed its unique strengths just like, to use a Star Trek reference, the Borg. "We are the Borg. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile." But, spoiler alert: resistance was futile. I did not turn in a winning record on Saturday. It was a 2-3 drop, but each of my round losses were 1-2 game records, so that counts for something. And, plenty of Tier decks turned in the same record and worse that day, so I'm not discouraged.Quite the opposite, I am extremely satisfied with the deck design. I came home after the tourney, reviewed the days events, laid out my alternate card choices, and attempted to improve the deck. No can do. For today's meta, imho nailed it. As you know, I'm not big on long tourney reports, but I'll list off the decks faced & how I sideboarded. Alright, so here's the deck:
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Blood Moon
4 Ensnaring Bridge
Creatures (11)
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Legion Warboss
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Planeswalkers (3)
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
Removal (4)
2 Slagstorm
2 Abrade
Lands (21)
18 Mountains
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Mutavault
4 Anger of the Gods
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Damping Matrix
2 Torpor Orb
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Abrade
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Hazoret the Fervent
How's it look? It's mostly a return to my Stock List. Same: land count and composition, ritual count and composition, removal count and composition, lock count, and rabblemaster count.
Notable differences in the Main Deck are a reduction in 4-cmc spells: No Koth - Only 3 Chandra - 1 Hazoret. This allows for a faster board development. I added (2) extra rabbles = warboss, and they all work well together as a team. (4) Devils came in to battle combo/spell/control/tron decks.
Notable differences in the sideboard is a high concentration of Toolbox cards. Anger of the Gods as a 4-of is prohibitively ill-tempered! Alongside 2 Slagstorm, 2 Abrade, and 4 Bridge, I'm positioning myself at the ready against decks that win by attacking - spirits/humans/hollow one/etc. Whereas some might think it's overkill, you can almost never have too much exiling kill against numerous decks out there. I'm perfectly fine with doing 1-for-1 trades if I have to. Otherwise, outside of Hazoret, the other sideboard cards are allllll toolbox cards. Since there are already so many win-cons front loaded into the main deck, I can get away with it.
Matchups:
@dmunozg: Inspired application of Outpost Siege! Where there was never a reason to elect the 'dragon' modality of that card, you've devised it as the newest 'prison' card.
If you can start ratcheting up the Goblin Gun then the (Rabble/Warboss) 1/1s getting fired acrossed the field EITHER hit for 1 damage OR die for 1 damage. Very cool, dude. I can see Outpost Siege serve as an even better version of Sarkhan, Fireblood. It's a lot easier for Outpost Siege to deal damage OR draw, and it's not in the very crowded 3-cmc slot. Lastly - it ain't all that easy to attack an enchantment. HUh -
I like what you're trying -- will attempt to sleeve up a version of your take on Goblin Gun when I get a moment. Also, forthcoming is a decklist/tourney report from a 10K tournament this weekend - spoiler: there was no money finish this time around.