Rabble turn one. Always vs unknown opponent. He makes a token and completely changes your opponents plan. They have to have a removal spell in hand right there and the Mana to cast it, otherwise they are just dead. You curve out with chalice and then slagstorm. But turn one rabble master is definitely the way to go.
I think I'm gonna take this monster to legacy. Mtgo will be the only place to get games in,. It this feels like it would be just as dumb in legacy. Add fiery confluence, sol lands and we're good to go.
So game 1 against unknown oppenent. Hand is: ritual, simian, chalice, rabble, land, land, slagstorm. Do you play rabble on turn 1. Or do you chalice 1, rabble turns 2?
Quick aside: I want to praise Chekmate77's playstyle. When I watch him online, he is very careful about how much he reveals to his opponent in game 1 which benefits his later games after sideboarding occurs. Such skill doesn't come easily to me since everyone in my area knows what I play anyway & I shred through quick, no consequence matches on cockatrice. Speaking of misdirection, in large tournament play, here's a tip: when playing your first land, pause. Make it look like you're torn on which one to drop. It will signal to an opponent that you are a multi-color deck (making them less likely to fear the moon). They have a hard enough time trying to figure out our stripes, why make it any easier for them?
As for the "Jaken Scenario", I agree with Chekmate77 - go for the Chalice on 1. Bam Bam can make a splash, but I think it's overly-optimistic to believe he can go the distance considering you don't know the opponent and your hand isn't complementary: no 2nd rabble or mutavault or quick moon follow-up. In fact, your only other spell (slagstorm) is a non-bo. As for the Turn 1 Chalice...
Tron - no expedition map or ancient stirrings or any of their other (20) 1 drops.
G/x - no mana dork [hopefully they kept a land light hand]
U/x - no serum visions or opt [hopefully they kept a land light hand]
Burn - no goblin rabblemaster or swiftspear
Creature Deck - no aether vial
Affinity - no to a lot of stuff
B/x - no to their discard spells
Removal - Path, Bolt, Push
Lantern/Bogles/Infect - no to basically their whole decks
But to be fair, there are occasions where such a pre-emptive move will screw you: Living End = chalice on 0 and Gifts/Storm = chalice on 2.
I think a case can be made to hold Chalice here, but in paper, I think Chalice on 1 then Rabble is the safest line, however in a Storm heavy meta like MTGO, you might be inclined otherwise.
Thanks for the compliment, Raystack. I'm an advocate that any gamer should read "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, he goes pretty deep into the whole idea of information is power. One easy tip that I'm sure most of you already do is to always lead on a non-mountain land if you can, especially Mutavault. Nobody sees Mutavault and thinks, "I should really play around Blood Moon here".
One thing I've also noticed in my experience with my Rakdos variant is that fetchlands do a really good job of keeping your opponent from putting you on Blood Moon. I wonder if the 2 or 3 life is better or worse than disguising ourselves as Burn with our fetchlands? Deck thinning is also a nice perk, especially since our fetchlands become mountains later anyway with Blood Moon in play which mitigates any further life loss. For those of you maindecking Eidolon as well, this increases the believably of Burn in some situations.
Perhaps I'll give this a try tonight and report back.
That brings up one issue with playing Eidolon main board. Denying that info can mean not being able to play Eidolon as soon as you might want. Though, playing eidolon asap can mean trouble with a full hand anyway. I know most pilots are really loving Eidolon, I know I do. I have taken some serious damage off my own though.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In mtg, this literally means that if we know the ends and outs of our deck and have an understanding of the meta, we will do well. We have seen the potential that Pyro-Prison has when looking at tournament results with very large amounts of players and consistently high standings. Meaning the deck has proven itself to have the strength to go all the way. We also know that without really knowing the deck or your opponent's deck, it's very easy to do poorly, despite the great potential that the deck has. I think it truly is imperative that we have a great understanding of the other decks in the format to really make Pyro-Prison shine as a side board deck.
BGX decks are tough. My board is 2 abrades, 2 slagstorm out. One hazoret, spellskite, 2 spyglass in. They can't deal with hazoret, site protects the lock piece, and spyglass stops Lily and random creature lands or both Liliana. Their creatures and usually goyfs and other big stuff, so abrades is not as good here. Ballista can clean up lingering sould or tag a confidant, so they stay.
For the record, watching pro tour and our deck is a heavy favorite vs the majority of the field ... Nice!
Couldn't agree more. The TRON matchups are probably the only things that we are bit upset to see, not that we can't beat them, more that for whatever our luck is they do just naturally draw all their lands (Or at least this is my experience).
Probably what I am not liking to see is Affinity & Burn. This makes me feel like I need to strip out Boil (I know Russ!) and pick something that gains me life.
Juat a thought on the future; There's been alot of talk about possible unbannings lately, and some people seem to think that Wizards is going to poop the bed and unban Mind Sculptor. I wanted to believe otherwise.. but then I see they've previewed a few cards from Masters 25, and who do I see? Mind Sculptor. Hopefully it's just a coincidence? Just keep your extra Spyglasses at the ready.
Russ, I'm playing tomorrow with your exact list from your recent Top 8 with one minor difference. I don't have Hazoret yet, so I'm running Witchbane Orb in its place in the SB. Typical decks I see in this meta are:
Elves
Death Shadow
Grixis Control
Burn
Storm
GB Tron
Kik-Jiki
If you have time tonight, would you mind giving me SB help for tomorrow? Certainly not for all the above, but any you have time for. Many thanks.
Guys, if you need sideboard help, check page 1. There's a guide there.
The Hollow One matchup is definitely tough. I saw Fluff against Pyromancer a couple times in the last few days, and he did well with the no Rabble/Sweepers plan. I don't think that deck is a legit bad matchup although they have plenty of answers.. We answer their questions well and they can have a tough time killing us if we bring in Anger. That one might be 50/50ish?
If you're short a Hazoret, I'd recommend going up to 4 Eidolon. They fulfill a similar role, and I for one actually prefer it over the Hazoret simply because it comes in in more matchups and I really value the consistency.
Checkmate is correct. Hazoret is for the mid-range and when we need to go aggro. A 4th eidolin would be the proper substitute. When you want to go aggro and can only bring in three aggro cards, it feels bad.
Elves....what type of elves? Mono green? Green black white? Need details. Sideboard matters. For starters, the 6 creatures (magus And rabble) come out and angers, cages, spellskite and torpor orb come in. Then two moon for two spyglass would be next.i kinda like keeping in a moon or two vs the multicolored elves. Vs mono green, you can replace the last two moons with eidolons. Why eidolon over rabble? Because it'll do damage with out attacking and costs two. Could matter if you need to get empty for bridge.
Ballista is huge here and if you can finagle a Koth emblem, you just win on the spot.
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Stickballruss voted for Goblin Rabblemaster. Chekmate77 voted for Chalice of the Void on 1.
Quick aside: I want to praise Chekmate77's playstyle. When I watch him online, he is very careful about how much he reveals to his opponent in game 1 which benefits his later games after sideboarding occurs. Such skill doesn't come easily to me since everyone in my area knows what I play anyway & I shred through quick, no consequence matches on cockatrice. Speaking of misdirection, in large tournament play, here's a tip: when playing your first land, pause. Make it look like you're torn on which one to drop. It will signal to an opponent that you are a multi-color deck (making them less likely to fear the moon). They have a hard enough time trying to figure out our stripes, why make it any easier for them?
As for the "Jaken Scenario", I agree with Chekmate77 - go for the Chalice on 1. Bam Bam can make a splash, but I think it's overly-optimistic to believe he can go the distance considering you don't know the opponent and your hand isn't complementary: no 2nd rabble or mutavault or quick moon follow-up. In fact, your only other spell (slagstorm) is a non-bo. As for the Turn 1 Chalice...
One thing I've also noticed in my experience with my Rakdos variant is that fetchlands do a really good job of keeping your opponent from putting you on Blood Moon. I wonder if the 2 or 3 life is better or worse than disguising ourselves as Burn with our fetchlands? Deck thinning is also a nice perk, especially since our fetchlands become mountains later anyway with Blood Moon in play which mitigates any further life loss. For those of you maindecking Eidolon as well, this increases the believably of Burn in some situations.
Perhaps I'll give this a try tonight and report back.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
In mtg, this literally means that if we know the ends and outs of our deck and have an understanding of the meta, we will do well. We have seen the potential that Pyro-Prison has when looking at tournament results with very large amounts of players and consistently high standings. Meaning the deck has proven itself to have the strength to go all the way. We also know that without really knowing the deck or your opponent's deck, it's very easy to do poorly, despite the great potential that the deck has. I think it truly is imperative that we have a great understanding of the other decks in the format to really make Pyro-Prison shine as a side board deck.
Couldn't agree more. The TRON matchups are probably the only things that we are bit upset to see, not that we can't beat them, more that for whatever our luck is they do just naturally draw all their lands (Or at least this is my experience).
Probably what I am not liking to see is Affinity & Burn. This makes me feel like I need to strip out Boil (I know Russ!) and pick something that gains me life.
Pro Tour top 8.. let me at em! Anytime Lantern is 13-3, I like our chances. The ol' Pyro Prison bye week!
Elves
Death Shadow
Grixis Control
Burn
Storm
GB Tron
Kik-Jiki
If you have time tonight, would you mind giving me SB help for tomorrow? Certainly not for all the above, but any you have time for. Many thanks.
The Hollow One matchup is definitely tough. I saw Fluff against Pyromancer a couple times in the last few days, and he did well with the no Rabble/Sweepers plan. I don't think that deck is a legit bad matchup although they have plenty of answers.. We answer their questions well and they can have a tough time killing us if we bring in Anger. That one might be 50/50ish?
Ballista is huge here and if you can finagle a Koth emblem, you just win on the spot.