My Round 1 opponent never showed up, so I got the free win. Round 2, I got paired against Humans and it went great. Round 3, I get paired against KCI. I get crushed game 1. Game 2, I play mountain, chalice for 0 - go. Follow up with Chalice on 1 pass. T3 Play Rabblemaster and it gets there. Lost the match to not enough interaction/threats on a mull to 5. I'm okay with that as it didn't really feel hopeless throughout the match.
My last 2 rounds of swiss however, I got paired against UW Control twice in a row. Blood Moon stole me game 1's against them but they were almost useless in games 2 and 3 which I found weird. What is your approach to this match up here? Mine was to be as aggressive as possible but even then, think threat draws lead to my demise. I mentioned that I wanted to add Damping Matrix back into my board yesterday but it was the only card that stood back the entire time. I'm just not sure if its really useful enough and maybe a little too narrow. I'm going to be adding Spyglass back into my board as I find it more applicable over a number of matches.
I think one takeaway I have and I've known but maybe don't always follow, is that the paper meta just does not change as quickly. I expected Hardened Scales Affinity and Vengevine's but didn't see any among the field while walking around at the 200ish player event. I'm in Los Angeles and Humans is HUGE out here so I at least came prepared to light them up.
I'm taking Prison to battle out at the PTQ here at GP LA today. This is the list I'll be bringing:
*NOTE* there are 3 Abrades main. It seems one has been cut off.
I haven't played with Avaricious Dragon yet, but I liked what I saw watching Fluffy's streams and figured I'd give it a whirl. I'm happy with the main and took this list (minus the dragon) to a 3-0 finish at my weekly event yesterday only losing 1 game the whole night to a friend's Shadow Zoo deck that transformed into straight up Burn.. weird, I know. Only other difference here is that I traded in Hazoret the Fervent for a Damping Matrix. My reason being, I'm aggro enough out of the board I think and with Hardened Scales Affinity doing so well at the MOCS, its to be expected.
Ok so I have noticed so far that I am getting better in a lot of my matchups and previous iffy matchups like mardu pyromancer I'm now much more confident against. I still however am not sure how to beat tron or KCI. Against tron I have still lost after blood mooon and a rabblemaster and I feel like you kind of have to cast a threat T1 or 2 and immediately a blood moon which is basically a nut draw for us. Against KCI I feel I have to have eidolon or skab-clan and a damping matrix as they have too many ways to kill the threats and too many cantrips to dig to hit what they want.
Also I still don't get the benefit of walking ballista, in almost every game I play him he ends up being a 2 mana gutshot.
You need a multitude of threats against those decks with an opener containing a taxing threat (Scab or Eidolon), Chalice, or Blood Moon. Its a lot to ask for but those are the contents needed to win that match up. I've even kept hands where all I had were Eidolons and Scab-Clans and still managed to get there since they're taking a beating while getting shocked along the way from eggs and maps. Maybe increase on threat density in your board?
My Tron and KCI plan would be something like: -4 Bridge, -2 Bonfire, -2 P&K, -1 Chandra, -1 Ballista, +3 Scab-Clan, +3 Eidolon, +1 Hazoret, +1 Koth, +1 Spyglass, +1 Stormbreath
Addressing your question about Ballista, yes a lot of the time it comes down with 1 or 2 counters on it. However, what this deck lacks is targeted interaction and Ballista can ping anything on the field and your opponent. On an empty board with a Chalice on 1, your 4 mana 2/2 can sometimes grow to a 5/5 that can get you the win or kill that pesky flyer or Planeswalker. Hell, I've even had situations where I had the game locked up with Chalice, Moon, and a Bridge with 8 - 10 mana up and I draw Ballista and play it with 4 - 5 counters and grown it to a 10/10. Its just so versatile like Chandra or P&K in that it can serve many different roles throughout a game. I'm on 3 right now as I think its one of the best cards in the deck but that's just my opinion
I always follow the discussions here but I posted a few times.
I'm the Pyro Prison player and next weekend I will play the GP Sao Paulo and would like help with my sideboard and sideboard guide.
I hope to face the common tiers (BR Hollow, Humans, MonoG Tron, Burn, Affinity, Jeskai / UW, Mardu Pyro, Counters Company, Storm and KCI), I am in doubt on my side between the Damping Matrix or Trinisphere.
What would you recommend?
How would your sideboard guide against these matchs?
Thank you in advance!
I typed a long reply but it got deleted If the choice is between those cards, go with Matrix as Trinisphere hurts us too as others have stated. If we had Sol lands in modern, it'd make more sense.
Basically, in every match up you listed with the exception of Hollow One and Humans, you want to be as aggressive as possible in my opinion.
Basic plan for control (keep Abrades and Bonfire or whatever sweeper you'll use where applicable): -4 Bridge, -3 Abrade, -2 Bonfire, -2 P&K, +3 Scab-Clan, +3 Eidolon, +1 Koth, +1 Spyglass, +1 Stormbreath, +1 Hazoret, +1 Dire Fleet Daredevil (this is speaking from my list posted above yours).
You will not win against Mardu, Tron, Burn, or Counters Co hiding behind Bridge. At least that hasn't been my experience
Just tried out 3 Bonfire of the Damned mainboard through a number of games and its been pretty awesome. Its really nice when you wanna be on the aggro plan and only hit their creatures. I've cut Slagstorm, Anger, and 1 of my 3 Walking Ballista to make room for them. So far I'm digging them. Its better than hitting Slagstorm off the top to deal the final points of damage while also mowing the field.
Also trying out Stombreath Dragon for the first time and I must say, I've been missing out on this one. Great inclusion to the board. Next I'll be testing out Dire Fleet Daredevil. Here's my current list for anyone interested:
I would have to disagree with chainwhirler not being very good, he's fantastic against mardu pyromancer, good against a lot of the green decks, if early enough he can also be good against affinity, yes they have ravager and overseer but they have to have it. Also pinging PWs can be useful but he just leaves a great body particularly with the first strike.
Ballista on the other hand whilst he's great utility most of the time I find I cast him for 2 and he gets bolted and I ping the opponent for 1 or I use it as removal to kill a toughness 1 creature.
Chainwhirler is indeed fantastic against Mardu Pyromancer, however, typically by the time you're casting him against something like affinity, it just might not do that much. Its true they need another piece to increase the power toughness but in my experience, they usually have something by turn 3 to pump or sac to. Ballista does the same thing (to 1 creature) for 2 mana but also hits walkers and sometimes importantly, manlands such as Inkmoth or Blinkmoth nexus.
I guess for me, all in all, if I want to have a sweeper, I'd rather just use Anger/Slagstorm.
Reasons Affinity in particular was rough for me throughout the GP:
Opponent 1: I was hungry and not thinking straight and just got run over both games by keeping slow hands and got my bridge Stbborn Denied game 2.
Opponent 2: Game 1 was a quick Affinity kill in the air. Game 2 I blew up Cranial Plating that Champion was wearing with 2 counters on it. He topdecks another one.
Opponent 3: I get turn 3 infect killed while on the draw. Game 2 I clean up his whole board including Cranial Plating. He has nothing but man lands (3 Inkmoth and 3 Blinkmoth). Topdecks another Plating that an Inkmoth with a counter puts on and is pumped enough to kill me. Not a Blood Moon or Magus in sight.
You could chalk it up to a series of mediocre keeps,fast Affinity kills, and timely topdecks from my opponents.
Great tournament bloodlust, just tough running on day 2. About your changes to the deck, have you considered Chainwhirler over the 3rd Ballista? Especially considering the struggle with Affinity, he might be your guy. He attacks and blocks as well as the occasional x-1 potential.
Thanks Caligula!
Though I see why some people give merit to Goblin Chainwhirler, in my personal opinion, he's just so low impact overall. If we take a look at the top 8 decks according to MTG Goldfish, Mardu Pyromancer is the only deck that Chainwhirler is very effective against and they have 6-7 discard spells in their deck so we're almost forced to topdeck it for value. Ballista may not be able to mow down the field in one swoop, but it does take out Young Pyro and it's tokens to the extent you get enough counters on it. The ceiling on Walking Ballista is just higher and deserves another copy in the deck over the goblin due to its versatility among matches.
Chainwhirler will not contain the Human menace nor will it contain Affinity with a Ravager, Master, or Overseer on the field as nothing they present stays X-1 for long.
Nice job on the 3-1 JoandsonPaul! I like the idea of Welding Jar and have thought about whether or not its inclusion could be good or not. From playing Spellskite all weekend, I've realized that all it was, was a speed bump that ate a different kind of removal to make way for artifact removal. I may give this some testing
Hey y'all, I'll give a brief rundown of how my GP Vegas experience went. Made day 2 at 6-2 and got slaughtered day 2 with a finish of 8-7 but I'll explain why I believe that happened a litte later. This is the list I registered:
Round 1: Living End - Win (2-1)
Round 2: RG Tron - Win (2-0)
Round 3: Affinity - Loss (0-2)
*Note* After round 2 going into 3, the tournament took a dump and we have a 2.5 hour or so delay in which I declined to eat for some foolish reason (didn't eat all day thus far) leading me to poor decision making for this match. Eat food and stay hydrated at long tournaments guys! I promptly ate after this match.
Round 4: RG Tron - Win (2-0)
Round 5: Merfolk - Loss (1-2)
Round 6: Technical Bye: Opponent is a no show
Round 7: I cannot for the life of me remember what I played here - Win (2-?)
Round 8: RG Go-bots? - Win (2-0)
Day 2:
Round 9: BTL Scapeshift - Loss (0-2)
Round 10: Mardu Pyromancer - Win (2-1)
Round 11: Affinity - Loss (0-2)
Round 12: Affinity - Loss (0-2)
Round 13: Mono G Tron - Loss (0-2)
Round 14: Technical Bye: Opponent is a no show
Round 15: GW Value Town - Loss (1-2)
Some things about Day 2; after the steamroll loss to Affinity, I was pretty discouraged leading me to keep loose hands as I felt nothing at that point was on the line since I believe you had to be X-4 to cash out. To boot, the next round I play Affinity and I'm on the draw. Its my oppononet's turn 3 and I get infect killed.. sick.
A lot of day 2 featured a lot of land heavy hands for me even after mulligans. The reason I ran 22 lands in the first place was because I felt that I kept getting mana screwed in my local events at 21 lands. After Day 2 I took some time to rethink my list and I changed a few things around based on my experienced though the whole tournament. They are as follows:
-1 Mountain +1 Pyretic Ritual
-1 Magus of the Moon +1 Walking Ballista
-1 Koth of the Hammer +1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Magus is good but it just isn't all that impactful with so many lightning bolts running around. He also doesn't attack very well and is easily outclassed by other creatures. With Ritual, I can slightly increase my chances of an explosive start and hopefully experience less flooding while still being able to empty my hand. Walking Ballista does everything you want it to do. Early blocker, late fireball, great win-con behind a bridge barring a path or similar removal. Pia and Kiran also serve a similar purpose. 3 for 1 that can allow us to chump or fly over a bridge. The added Ballista and P&K will help sure up that damn affinity match for me. I did a lot of testing of these changes against my friend that played Affinity in the tournament and it was noticeably more manageable.
Overall, Pyro Prison is a strong deck and a great choice for any tournament in my opinion. Its only downfall is itself (drawing the wrong half) and its pilot's ability to recognize good hands. The opening hand we have will set the course for the entire match so we need to ensure that its a GOOD one where possible. If its mediocre, it may be worth shipping.
It reminds me of something I read about Eldrazi Tron one time since I also play that deck. If you've never played the deck, it can have awkward mana draws that are something like, Cavern of Souls, Urza's Tower, Wastes, Sea Gate Wreckage and whatever else. Why would I keep this slow hand and play things on curve when I can mulligan into something with an Eldrazi Temple or multiple Urza pieces? Once I adopted that mentality with the deck, I was able to have more 'broken' starts that really showed the deck's power just my taking a mulligan or two. Maybe just something to consider.
Sorry for the book guys and let me know any feedback or questions! Also congrats on the cash out Fluffy!
The link to the discord is in my signature! I didn't plauy Mardu today at all, but apparently there's a bunch of people on our deck! Me and Poptart are here, I think we heard some people talking about you and your deck.
Dope! Where do you wanna meet up at? I just joined the discord if that's easier to communicate through
We should! Could you link me to the discord? Did you happen to play against a mardu opponent round 3? Someone I know on mardu sa8d they beat a prison player along the way
Alright, we need a faster aggro game plan as well as a way to beat those ur decks. Grafdiggers cage is on the chopping block. I'm thinking we go up to eidolona #4 and a scrab clan berserker.....or we turn the spice up to a full 10 and go with a card never mentioned on here...
Lupine prototype. Marinate on that for a minute before responding.
Interesting idea being a 5/5 for 2. My initial thought about it is that its less effective than Hazoret and not as resilient but both require us to be Hellbent. My reservation on it is that its not indestructible and just doesn't do anything until we have no cards while at the very least, Hazoret can help empty our hand. If they both pretty much do the same thing, why not have 2 or more Hazoret in the side for more of a chance to draw her? Hazoret doesn't die to any typical removal with the exception of Dismember and Path to Exile with the upside of being indestructible for our Tron and control matchups running Supreme Verdict.
My current sideboard plan features 4 Eidolon and 2 Scab-Clan Berserkers. I think old Scabby is a little underrated
Would any of the standard mono red creatures work in our deck like earthshaker khenra and kari zev?
They don't serve any purpose to our deck outside of just being aggressive and Goblin Rabblemaster does that job but better. I don't think there is enough room for them to be included anyways because what would you cut for them?
1. I wouldn't say there's so much priority of a certain threat/lock piece that I'm looking for in the opener. I want either an aggressive hand, a 'prison' hand or a mixture of both. In game one against an unknown opponent, we have no way to identify what is the 'correct' play turn 1 or 2 until we see our opponents board develop.
2. I definitely feel myself mulliganing a good amount with this deck. I don't know what it is, but I feel like I have a lot of do nothing openers with lands and rituals or threat heavy hands with no lands. I personally run 22 lands and 4 Desperate Ritual and no Pyretic Ritual. I cannot stand missing early land drops with this deck as I see it as a death sentence. It may or may not be greedy, but I will typically mulligan any hand with 5+ lands or 1 or less (obviously). However, depending on the contents of my hand, I may keep a 1 lander with a ritual or SSG if I know the rest of my cards will be effecting against my opponent. This deck simply cannot afford to durdle because its not very good at drawing cards and we can quickly be buried by our opponents pressure.
3. The only deck I would personally consider aggressively mulliganing against is Tron because we can't beat any resolved threats they bring our way. Then again, I'm playing 2 Magus of the Moon so I have a higher chance of hitting a moon effect. Generally, I don't think its correct to aggressively mulligan against any deck. There is absolutely no point in mulling to that 1 lock piece or threat because your opponent could just as easily remove it. Just evaluate if the contents of your hand will be effective against your opponent and go from there. I'd keep a very aggressive hand VS Tron even without a Blood Moon or Magus of the Moon because there is the chance they simply don't get T3 Tron.
My Round 1 opponent never showed up, so I got the free win. Round 2, I got paired against Humans and it went great. Round 3, I get paired against KCI. I get crushed game 1. Game 2, I play mountain, chalice for 0 - go. Follow up with Chalice on 1 pass. T3 Play Rabblemaster and it gets there. Lost the match to not enough interaction/threats on a mull to 5. I'm okay with that as it didn't really feel hopeless throughout the match.
My last 2 rounds of swiss however, I got paired against UW Control twice in a row. Blood Moon stole me game 1's against them but they were almost useless in games 2 and 3 which I found weird. What is your approach to this match up here? Mine was to be as aggressive as possible but even then, think threat draws lead to my demise. I mentioned that I wanted to add Damping Matrix back into my board yesterday but it was the only card that stood back the entire time. I'm just not sure if its really useful enough and maybe a little too narrow. I'm going to be adding Spyglass back into my board as I find it more applicable over a number of matches.
I think one takeaway I have and I've known but maybe don't always follow, is that the paper meta just does not change as quickly. I expected Hardened Scales Affinity and Vengevine's but didn't see any among the field while walking around at the 200ish player event. I'm in Los Angeles and Humans is HUGE out here so I at least came prepared to light them up.
Let me know your UW approaches! Thanks
I'm taking Prison to battle out at the PTQ here at GP LA today. This is the list I'll be bringing:
*NOTE* there are 3 Abrades main. It seems one has been cut off.
I haven't played with Avaricious Dragon yet, but I liked what I saw watching Fluffy's streams and figured I'd give it a whirl. I'm happy with the main and took this list (minus the dragon) to a 3-0 finish at my weekly event yesterday only losing 1 game the whole night to a friend's Shadow Zoo deck that transformed into straight up Burn.. weird, I know. Only other difference here is that I traded in Hazoret the Fervent for a Damping Matrix. My reason being, I'm aggro enough out of the board I think and with Hardened Scales Affinity doing so well at the MOCS, its to be expected.
Wish me luck and ask question or give critiques!
You need a multitude of threats against those decks with an opener containing a taxing threat (Scab or Eidolon), Chalice, or Blood Moon. Its a lot to ask for but those are the contents needed to win that match up. I've even kept hands where all I had were Eidolons and Scab-Clans and still managed to get there since they're taking a beating while getting shocked along the way from eggs and maps. Maybe increase on threat density in your board?
My Tron and KCI plan would be something like: -4 Bridge, -2 Bonfire, -2 P&K, -1 Chandra, -1 Ballista, +3 Scab-Clan, +3 Eidolon, +1 Hazoret, +1 Koth, +1 Spyglass, +1 Stormbreath
Addressing your question about Ballista, yes a lot of the time it comes down with 1 or 2 counters on it. However, what this deck lacks is targeted interaction and Ballista can ping anything on the field and your opponent. On an empty board with a Chalice on 1, your 4 mana 2/2 can sometimes grow to a 5/5 that can get you the win or kill that pesky flyer or Planeswalker. Hell, I've even had situations where I had the game locked up with Chalice, Moon, and a Bridge with 8 - 10 mana up and I draw Ballista and play it with 4 - 5 counters and grown it to a 10/10. Its just so versatile like Chandra or P&K in that it can serve many different roles throughout a game. I'm on 3 right now as I think its one of the best cards in the deck but that's just my opinion
I typed a long reply but it got deleted
Basically, in every match up you listed with the exception of Hollow One and Humans, you want to be as aggressive as possible in my opinion.
Basic plan for control (keep Abrades and Bonfire or whatever sweeper you'll use where applicable): -4 Bridge, -3 Abrade, -2 Bonfire, -2 P&K, +3 Scab-Clan, +3 Eidolon, +1 Koth, +1 Spyglass, +1 Stormbreath, +1 Hazoret, +1 Dire Fleet Daredevil (this is speaking from my list posted above yours).
You will not win against Mardu, Tron, Burn, or Counters Co hiding behind Bridge. At least that hasn't been my experience
Also trying out Stombreath Dragon for the first time and I must say, I've been missing out on this one. Great inclusion to the board. Next I'll be testing out Dire Fleet Daredevil. Here's my current list for anyone interested:
14 mountain
4 Ramunap Ruins
1 Scavenger Grounds
2 Gemstone Caverns
Creatures
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Walking Ballista
4 Blood Moon
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
Instants and Sorceries
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Pyretic Ritual
3 Abrade
3 Bonfire of the Damned
Planeswalkers
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Scab-Clan Berserker
1 Torpor Orb
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Dire Fleet Daredevil
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Stormbreath Dragon
Chainwhirler is indeed fantastic against Mardu Pyromancer, however, typically by the time you're casting him against something like affinity, it just might not do that much. Its true they need another piece to increase the power toughness but in my experience, they usually have something by turn 3 to pump or sac to. Ballista does the same thing (to 1 creature) for 2 mana but also hits walkers and sometimes importantly, manlands such as Inkmoth or Blinkmoth nexus.
I guess for me, all in all, if I want to have a sweeper, I'd rather just use Anger/Slagstorm.
Reasons Affinity in particular was rough for me throughout the GP:
Opponent 1: I was hungry and not thinking straight and just got run over both games by keeping slow hands and got my bridge Stbborn Denied game 2.
Opponent 2: Game 1 was a quick Affinity kill in the air. Game 2 I blew up Cranial Plating that Champion was wearing with 2 counters on it. He topdecks another one.
Opponent 3: I get turn 3 infect killed while on the draw. Game 2 I clean up his whole board including Cranial Plating. He has nothing but man lands (3 Inkmoth and 3 Blinkmoth). Topdecks another Plating that an Inkmoth with a counter puts on and is pumped enough to kill me. Not a Blood Moon or Magus in sight.
You could chalk it up to a series of mediocre keeps,fast Affinity kills, and timely topdecks from my opponents.
Thanks Caligula!
Though I see why some people give merit to Goblin Chainwhirler, in my personal opinion, he's just so low impact overall. If we take a look at the top 8 decks according to MTG Goldfish, Mardu Pyromancer is the only deck that Chainwhirler is very effective against and they have 6-7 discard spells in their deck so we're almost forced to topdeck it for value. Ballista may not be able to mow down the field in one swoop, but it does take out Young Pyro and it's tokens to the extent you get enough counters on it. The ceiling on Walking Ballista is just higher and deserves another copy in the deck over the goblin due to its versatility among matches.
Chainwhirler will not contain the Human menace nor will it contain Affinity with a Ravager, Master, or Overseer on the field as nothing they present stays X-1 for long.
Nice job on the 3-1 JoandsonPaul! I like the idea of Welding Jar and have thought about whether or not its inclusion could be good or not. From playing Spellskite all weekend, I've realized that all it was, was a speed bump that ate a different kind of removal to make way for artifact removal. I may give this some testing
15 mountain
4 Ramunap Ruins
1 Scavenger Grounds
2 Gemstone Caverns
Creatures
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Magus of the Moon
2 Walking Ballista
4 Blood Moon
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
Instants and Sorceries
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Abrade
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Slagstorm
Planeswalkers
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
2 Scab-Clan Berserker
1 Torpor Orb
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Spellskite
1 Hazoret the Fervent
Day 1:
Round 1: Living End - Win (2-1)
Round 2: RG Tron - Win (2-0)
Round 3: Affinity - Loss (0-2)
*Note* After round 2 going into 3, the tournament took a dump and we have a 2.5 hour or so delay in which I declined to eat for some foolish reason (didn't eat all day thus far) leading me to poor decision making for this match. Eat food and stay hydrated at long tournaments guys! I promptly ate after this match.
Round 4: RG Tron - Win (2-0)
Round 5: Merfolk - Loss (1-2)
Round 6: Technical Bye: Opponent is a no show
Round 7: I cannot for the life of me remember what I played here - Win (2-?)
Round 8: RG Go-bots? - Win (2-0)
Day 2:
Round 9: BTL Scapeshift - Loss (0-2)
Round 10: Mardu Pyromancer - Win (2-1)
Round 11: Affinity - Loss (0-2)
Round 12: Affinity - Loss (0-2)
Round 13: Mono G Tron - Loss (0-2)
Round 14: Technical Bye: Opponent is a no show
Round 15: GW Value Town - Loss (1-2)
Some things about Day 2; after the steamroll loss to Affinity, I was pretty discouraged leading me to keep loose hands as I felt nothing at that point was on the line since I believe you had to be X-4 to cash out. To boot, the next round I play Affinity and I'm on the draw. Its my oppononet's turn 3 and I get infect killed.. sick.
A lot of day 2 featured a lot of land heavy hands for me even after mulligans. The reason I ran 22 lands in the first place was because I felt that I kept getting mana screwed in my local events at 21 lands. After Day 2 I took some time to rethink my list and I changed a few things around based on my experienced though the whole tournament. They are as follows:
-1 Mountain +1 Pyretic Ritual
-1 Magus of the Moon +1 Walking Ballista
-1 Koth of the Hammer +1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Magus is good but it just isn't all that impactful with so many lightning bolts running around. He also doesn't attack very well and is easily outclassed by other creatures. With Ritual, I can slightly increase my chances of an explosive start and hopefully experience less flooding while still being able to empty my hand. Walking Ballista does everything you want it to do. Early blocker, late fireball, great win-con behind a bridge barring a path or similar removal. Pia and Kiran also serve a similar purpose. 3 for 1 that can allow us to chump or fly over a bridge. The added Ballista and P&K will help sure up that damn affinity match for me. I did a lot of testing of these changes against my friend that played Affinity in the tournament and it was noticeably more manageable.
Overall, Pyro Prison is a strong deck and a great choice for any tournament in my opinion. Its only downfall is itself (drawing the wrong half) and its pilot's ability to recognize good hands. The opening hand we have will set the course for the entire match so we need to ensure that its a GOOD one where possible. If its mediocre, it may be worth shipping.
It reminds me of something I read about Eldrazi Tron one time since I also play that deck. If you've never played the deck, it can have awkward mana draws that are something like, Cavern of Souls, Urza's Tower, Wastes, Sea Gate Wreckage and whatever else. Why would I keep this slow hand and play things on curve when I can mulligan into something with an Eldrazi Temple or multiple Urza pieces? Once I adopted that mentality with the deck, I was able to have more 'broken' starts that really showed the deck's power just my taking a mulligan or two. Maybe just something to consider.
Sorry for the book guys and let me know any feedback or questions! Also congrats on the cash out Fluffy!
Dope! Where do you wanna meet up at? I just joined the discord if that's easier to communicate through
Interesting idea being a 5/5 for 2. My initial thought about it is that its less effective than Hazoret and not as resilient but both require us to be Hellbent. My reservation on it is that its not indestructible and just doesn't do anything until we have no cards while at the very least, Hazoret can help empty our hand. If they both pretty much do the same thing, why not have 2 or more Hazoret in the side for more of a chance to draw her? Hazoret doesn't die to any typical removal with the exception of Dismember and Path to Exile with the upside of being indestructible for our Tron and control matchups running Supreme Verdict.
My current sideboard plan features 4 Eidolon and 2 Scab-Clan Berserkers. I think old Scabby is a little underrated
They don't serve any purpose to our deck outside of just being aggressive and Goblin Rabblemaster does that job but better. I don't think there is enough room for them to be included anyways because what would you cut for them?
1. I wouldn't say there's so much priority of a certain threat/lock piece that I'm looking for in the opener. I want either an aggressive hand, a 'prison' hand or a mixture of both. In game one against an unknown opponent, we have no way to identify what is the 'correct' play turn 1 or 2 until we see our opponents board develop.
2. I definitely feel myself mulliganing a good amount with this deck. I don't know what it is, but I feel like I have a lot of do nothing openers with lands and rituals or threat heavy hands with no lands. I personally run 22 lands and 4 Desperate Ritual and no Pyretic Ritual. I cannot stand missing early land drops with this deck as I see it as a death sentence. It may or may not be greedy, but I will typically mulligan any hand with 5+ lands or 1 or less (obviously). However, depending on the contents of my hand, I may keep a 1 lander with a ritual or SSG if I know the rest of my cards will be effecting against my opponent. This deck simply cannot afford to durdle because its not very good at drawing cards and we can quickly be buried by our opponents pressure.
3. The only deck I would personally consider aggressively mulliganing against is Tron because we can't beat any resolved threats they bring our way. Then again, I'm playing 2 Magus of the Moon so I have a higher chance of hitting a moon effect. Generally, I don't think its correct to aggressively mulligan against any deck. There is absolutely no point in mulling to that 1 lock piece or threat because your opponent could just as easily remove it. Just evaluate if the contents of your hand will be effective against your opponent and go from there. I'd keep a very aggressive hand VS Tron even without a Blood Moon or Magus of the Moon because there is the chance they simply don't get T3 Tron.
Hope this helps!