Definitely would run 3 cryptics if you can assuming you have 1. running 2 blood moons is fine as you can try magus of the moon for the third effect. Remands help since you are a tempo deck but you don't need 4 which is why i chose to run 3. You could try mana leak or negate which isn't as good but should be ok.
Defeated burn (2-1)
Game 1- I mulled to 5 and didn't really have any sort of chance to win.
Game 2- I board in madcap plan and cheap counter spells. Boarded out Jace,Blood Moon, a Remand, and Chandra. Turn 4 madcap sealed the deal while at 12 life.
Game 3- I see he sides in about 3 cards..assuming its a way to deal with Emperion. I board some blood moons back in and landed one turn 3 and then madcap Turn 4 with 8 life. He had no other way to deal with it and lost.
Lost to Jund (1-2)
Game 1- I keep a heavy land hand and some interaction. He landed an ooze and i dealt with that.He had a lillian on the board so I played Vendilion Clique turn 4 in his draw step and he proceeded to reveal his hand of Land and Nights whisper...I said I will target myself and kept 2 cryptic..lets just say he played nights whisper into another nights whisper so I got buried in card advantage and lose. He also had a kalitas, traitor of Ghet which was strange but cool and I didn't see any Bobs which led me to board out some removal.
Game 2- I board in Relic, Roast, Engineered, and Negate and took out a serum visions, abrade a bolt or 2, an electrolyze.I ended up landing a blood moon and he had all non basics and only a swamp on field. I landed Jace and started Upticking which sealed me the victory. Opponent also played turned 1 Grafdigger's cage which didn't really factor at all.
Game 3- He IOK me turn one and takes my blood moon. The game is very interesting and had raging ravines active to kill my Jaces.One turn he activated Raging raving and mistyped not leaving double black. Before combat i tapped his ravine and bounced liliana of the veil in order to safely Let Chandra. I did but drew 2 lands back to back while he was at 9 and ended up losing to raging raving.
Defeated R/B Hollow One (2-0)
Game 1- He got stuck on two lands and I was able to Remand his Goblin Lore back to back, Snap it back, Snap it back again, Cryptic it and he didn't get anything started.
Game 2- I boarded in the Madcap Plan, Roast Negate, Anger and Relic. The only downside that could happen is if I hit Relic off of Madcap. Opponent proceeded to turn 0 Black Leyline and had a decent start with 1 Hollow one who quickly got Roasted, Tasigur and 2 Flamewakes that came back from the yard. I landed a Madcap at 8 life and he didn't have a way to answer it. I just waited till I had counters in case he had a bolt and was able to double block with Tasigur and Flameblade Adept.
Defeated G/W Humans (2-0)
Game 1- My opponent led off with Champion of the Parish and turn 2 avacyn's pilgrim. I bolted the pilgrim after I remanded his Mirran Crusader as he got stuck on 2 lands. Landed a blood moon and he didn't do anything the rest of the game.
Game 2- I boarded in 2 Angers, Engineered, Abrade, Staticaster, and Roast. Boarded out a Jace, Chandra and some other things. He accidentally fetched a shock turn 2 and the fetched basic turn 3. I was able to land a blood moon and hinder his development as I killed most of his creatures. He boarded in 3 Shapers Sanctuary and had all out but only able to cast one creature a turn it didn't really matter. I ended the game with Young Pyro and friends, Pia and Kiran and an active Jace.
Some key notes here are the Madcap plan in the sideboard and exclusion of Grim Lavamancer, Keranos, surgical, second relic.Also I felt that the deck had such a slow clock I included Young Pyromancer as a way to block Hollow One, Bloodghasts,Gurmags and as way to provide a quicker clock against Trop and other decks.
Definitely cute plan to have the Plat Emperion in the board if people aren't ready for it but could definitely see not including it. Chandra Torch is just another finisher I liked the last time i played the deck as a way to get rid of cards you don't need and can't shuffle them away with Jace. It also helps if you don't have double blue for whatever reason with Blood moon out so its another way to filter Card Advantage. Its a good card but most likely a fun of and could put in a second electrolyze in its place or Lavemancer.
Let me know what you guys think.. Thanks!
Anyone try grixis control with dynavolt tower? Joe lossett to played it in magic championships awhile back and u/r tower is somewhat popular. Does this deck compete with g/b, u/w flash, or marvel?
Following Shaheen Soorani on twitter, he is splashing a third color just for creature lands. He tried grixis but decided Mardu is slightly better and will try new sideboard cards.
Been wanting to play this since last rotation as I thought this wouldn't take too much of a hit without Jace. This is probably what I'll test with. Not sure if scrapheap scrounger fits in this shell like the r/b decks.
Rakdos has always been an under appreciated archetype in standard for the last couple years. With the new additions of Demon of Dark Schemes, Harnessed Lightning and the best planes walker in Standard in Chandra, Torch of Defiance this archetype is set to grind out your opponents. We lose languish and Kolaghan's command but that won't stop us from being a part of the meta!
Land Base Smoldering Marsh : 4 Each- The basics Foreboding Ruins : 4 Each- The basics Cinder Barrens : 4 Each. Gets us both colors, Evolving wilds could be used here. Blighted Fen : 2 Each- Game goes long and having access to a sac effect is huge. Mountain : 4 basics Swamp : 8 basics
Creature Choices Demon of Dark Schemes : 0-2 Each- People call this Flying Massacre Worm and could potentially steal Emrakul from graveyard decks. Kalitas, Traitor go Ghet : 0-3 Each- Excellent against Aggro and provides essential life gain. Goblin Dark-Dwellers 4 Each : Easily the best card in the deck. Menace and able to 2-1 again and again. It gets a little worse without Kolaghan's Command but still powerful.
Other Creature Options Dragonmaster Outcast : Late game threat to pump out dragons Noxious Gearhulk : Kills creature but lackluster only doing one thing Combustible Gearhulk : People say this is the worst Gearhulk but it might be okay in the right shell. Mindwrack Demon : 4/5 Trample Flyer is great but this deck doesn't use delirium enough to make this see play.
The Spells/ Walkers Chandra, Torch of Defiance : 2-4 Each- Needs to find the right shell but a walker that needs to be answered Ob Nixilis, Reignited : 0-2 Each- Great way to get pure card advantage and kill opposing creatures. Liliana, the Last Hope : 2-4 Each- Great way to get shrink opposing creatures and get back late threats. Harnessed Lightning : 1-4 Each- Great way to gain energy and kill big creatures. Grasp of Darkness : 2-4 Each- Great answer to get around Avacyn and kills almost everything in the meta. Unlicensed Disinegration : 1-2 Each- Easier to cast than Murder but no upside of Bolt. Ruinous Path : 3 Each- Great for answering any problematic threat with awaken upside. Transgress the Mind : 2-4 Each- Early hand disruption and great to exile cards they can't get back. Live Fast : 3-4 Each- Best card draw for black that helps us gain energy to fuel Harnessed Lightning.
Enjoy the Grind!
This archetype has lots of strong elements to it but Combining a third color is definitely viable!
Feel free to make suggestions and share your success with this archetype.
Ishkana helps stabilize against band coco and humans. I've liked it so far in the deck but also feel like 1 Chandra should be so,E where. I understand the idea of double red might be hard to get but I have been running 1 less forest for another cinder glade and it seems to be fine. I know it might now seem big but I haven't had problems with it coming in tapped.
Traverse has so much upside I don't think it's worth cutting. I haven't tried this mana base yet as I had Reid Dukes's list but cutting the drownyard temple for a sanctum and waste may be the way to go for the ramp mirror. I've tried Chandra over 1 Atarka and it helped fuel delirium but didn't seem to do as much as Ulamog.
I have been testing with Ulamog over the Atarka main and it seems to feel better. The Bant matchup is pretty much decided on the dice roll. If we are on the play I feel it's 55/45 our favor and vice versa as they will just Bant you out. U/R thermo seems rough as well so I have thrown in an Orbs of Warding in the board which seems to help as well. Not sure this is the plan moving forward but I feel like Ramp should have a better showing than Cat Pact lol.
Gaea's revenge is bad. Sure it's pro non green spells but that's it. There are better creatures such as Ulvenwald Hydra, ulamog or even greenwarden of murasa. I've been testing against Bant and temurge and it's pretty 50/50 depending on the draws. Elder deep fiend is beatable but not something to worry. Depending on the build of ramp, Reid Duke's list is faster than other builds in achieving to an early emrakul. My friend and I have been testing 1 Chandra over a Dragonlord Atarka and it seems to do great.
Defeated burn (2-1)
Game 1- I mulled to 5 and didn't really have any sort of chance to win.
Game 2- I board in madcap plan and cheap counter spells. Boarded out Jace,Blood Moon, a Remand, and Chandra. Turn 4 madcap sealed the deal while at 12 life.
Game 3- I see he sides in about 3 cards..assuming its a way to deal with Emperion. I board some blood moons back in and landed one turn 3 and then madcap Turn 4 with 8 life. He had no other way to deal with it and lost.
Lost to Jund (1-2)
Game 1- I keep a heavy land hand and some interaction. He landed an ooze and i dealt with that.He had a lillian on the board so I played Vendilion Clique turn 4 in his draw step and he proceeded to reveal his hand of Land and Nights whisper...I said I will target myself and kept 2 cryptic..lets just say he played nights whisper into another nights whisper so I got buried in card advantage and lose. He also had a kalitas, traitor of Ghet which was strange but cool and I didn't see any Bobs which led me to board out some removal.
Game 2- I board in Relic, Roast, Engineered, and Negate and took out a serum visions, abrade a bolt or 2, an electrolyze.I ended up landing a blood moon and he had all non basics and only a swamp on field. I landed Jace and started Upticking which sealed me the victory. Opponent also played turned 1 Grafdigger's cage which didn't really factor at all.
Game 3- He IOK me turn one and takes my blood moon. The game is very interesting and had raging ravines active to kill my Jaces.One turn he activated Raging raving and mistyped not leaving double black. Before combat i tapped his ravine and bounced liliana of the veil in order to safely Let Chandra. I did but drew 2 lands back to back while he was at 9 and ended up losing to raging raving.
Defeated R/B Hollow One (2-0)
Game 1- He got stuck on two lands and I was able to Remand his Goblin Lore back to back, Snap it back, Snap it back again, Cryptic it and he didn't get anything started.
Game 2- I boarded in the Madcap Plan, Roast Negate, Anger and Relic. The only downside that could happen is if I hit Relic off of Madcap. Opponent proceeded to turn 0 Black Leyline and had a decent start with 1 Hollow one who quickly got Roasted, Tasigur and 2 Flamewakes that came back from the yard. I landed a Madcap at 8 life and he didn't have a way to answer it. I just waited till I had counters in case he had a bolt and was able to double block with Tasigur and Flameblade Adept.
Defeated G/W Humans (2-0)
Game 1- My opponent led off with Champion of the Parish and turn 2 avacyn's pilgrim. I bolted the pilgrim after I remanded his Mirran Crusader as he got stuck on 2 lands. Landed a blood moon and he didn't do anything the rest of the game.
Game 2- I boarded in 2 Angers, Engineered, Abrade, Staticaster, and Roast. Boarded out a Jace, Chandra and some other things. He accidentally fetched a shock turn 2 and the fetched basic turn 3. I was able to land a blood moon and hinder his development as I killed most of his creatures. He boarded in 3 Shapers Sanctuary and had all out but only able to cast one creature a turn it didn't really matter. I ended the game with Young Pyro and friends, Pia and Kiran and an active Jace.
Some key notes here are the Madcap plan in the sideboard and exclusion of Grim Lavamancer, Keranos, surgical, second relic.Also I felt that the deck had such a slow clock I included Young Pyromancer as a way to block Hollow One, Bloodghasts,Gurmags and as way to provide a quicker clock against Trop and other decks.
Definitely cute plan to have the Plat Emperion in the board if people aren't ready for it but could definitely see not including it. Chandra Torch is just another finisher I liked the last time i played the deck as a way to get rid of cards you don't need and can't shuffle them away with Jace. It also helps if you don't have double blue for whatever reason with Blood moon out so its another way to filter Card Advantage. Its a good card but most likely a fun of and could put in a second electrolyze in its place or Lavemancer.
Let me know what you guys think.. Thanks!
4 Noose Constrictor
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Haunted Dead
4 Elder-Deep fiend
3 Srapheap Scrounger
1 Ishkana, Grafwidow
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
(16) Spells
4 Grapple with the Past
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Kozilek'ss Return
4 Vessel of Nascency
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
(21) Lands
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Botanical Garden
3 Forest
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Aether Hub
2 Sunken Hollow
1 Lumbering Falls
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Negate
1 Emrakul, The Promised End
1 Ishkana, Grafwidow
2 Lost Legacy
2 Natural State
2 To the Slaughter
2 Transgress the Mind
3 Gnarlwood Dryad
Any further testing or is Grixis deemed better?
Rakdos has always been an under appreciated archetype in standard for the last couple years. With the new additions of Demon of Dark Schemes, Harnessed Lightning and the best planes walker in Standard in Chandra, Torch of Defiance this archetype is set to grind out your opponents. We lose languish and Kolaghan's command but that won't stop us from being a part of the meta!
2 Demon of Dark Schemes
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Goblin Dark Dwellers
7 Planeswalkers
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
19 Spells
4 Grasp of Darkness
4 Live Fast
4 Transgress the Mind
3 Ruinous Path
2 Harnessed Lightning
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
1 Oath of Liliana
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Forboding Ruins
4 Cinder Barrens
2 Blighted Fen
4 Mountain
8 Swamp
3 Essence Extraction
4 Galvanic Bombardment
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Diabolic Tutor
2 Lost Legacy
3 Mind Rot
Land Base
Smoldering Marsh : 4 Each- The basics
Foreboding Ruins : 4 Each- The basics
Cinder Barrens : 4 Each. Gets us both colors, Evolving wilds could be used here.
Blighted Fen : 2 Each- Game goes long and having access to a sac effect is huge.
Mountain : 4 basics
Swamp : 8 basics
Creature Choices
Demon of Dark Schemes : 0-2 Each- People call this Flying Massacre Worm and could potentially steal Emrakul from graveyard decks.
Kalitas, Traitor go Ghet : 0-3 Each- Excellent against Aggro and provides essential life gain.
Goblin Dark-Dwellers 4 Each : Easily the best card in the deck. Menace and able to 2-1 again and again. It gets a little worse without Kolaghan's Command but still powerful.
Other Creature Options
Dragonmaster Outcast : Late game threat to pump out dragons
Noxious Gearhulk : Kills creature but lackluster only doing one thing
Combustible Gearhulk : People say this is the worst Gearhulk but it might be okay in the right shell.
Mindwrack Demon : 4/5 Trample Flyer is great but this deck doesn't use delirium enough to make this see play.
The Spells/ Walkers
Chandra, Torch of Defiance : 2-4 Each- Needs to find the right shell but a walker that needs to be answered
Ob Nixilis, Reignited : 0-2 Each- Great way to get pure card advantage and kill opposing creatures.
Liliana, the Last Hope : 2-4 Each- Great way to get shrink opposing creatures and get back late threats.
Harnessed Lightning : 1-4 Each- Great way to gain energy and kill big creatures.
Grasp of Darkness : 2-4 Each- Great answer to get around Avacyn and kills almost everything in the meta.
Unlicensed Disinegration : 1-2 Each- Easier to cast than Murder but no upside of Bolt.
Ruinous Path : 3 Each- Great for answering any problematic threat with awaken upside.
Transgress the Mind : 2-4 Each- Early hand disruption and great to exile cards they can't get back.
Live Fast : 3-4 Each- Best card draw for black that helps us gain energy to fuel Harnessed Lightning.
This archetype has lots of strong elements to it but Combining a third color is definitely viable!
Feel free to make suggestions and share your success with this archetype.
List: Saheen Soorani
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/33729_Control-Like-Youve-Never-Seen.html
1 Nissa, Vastwood seer
1 Dragonlord Atarka
2 World Breaker
2 Emrakul, the Promised End
2 Ishkana, Grafwidow
2 Ulvenwald Hydra
2 Hedron Crawler
Sorcery (10)
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
2 Gather the Pack
4 Nissa's Pilgrimage
Instant (10)
4 Grapple the Past
3 Kozilek's Return
3 Fiery Impulse
2 Hedron Archive
Enchantment (4)
4 Vessel of Nascency
Land (22)
1 Sanctum of Ugin
1 Wastes
2 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
10 Forest
2 Mountain
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Cinder Glade
4 Game Trail
1 Kozilek's Return
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Caustic Caterpillar
1 Shaman of Forgotten Ways
2 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Rending Volley
2 Gnarlwood Dryad
2 Den Protector
2 Pulse of Murasa
I have been testing with Ulamog over the Atarka main and it seems to feel better. The Bant matchup is pretty much decided on the dice roll. If we are on the play I feel it's 55/45 our favor and vice versa as they will just Bant you out. U/R thermo seems rough as well so I have thrown in an Orbs of Warding in the board which seems to help as well. Not sure this is the plan moving forward but I feel like Ramp should have a better showing than Cat Pact lol.