going midrange seems to be the right direction for B/R.
I like the list but it doesn't seem super tuned. I wonder if the deck could survive without the Lilianas and Kalitas in favor of Key to the City and Bloodhall Priest maybe? I might try working with something similar to this.
It was a 5-round tourney with Top 8 Cut. I ended 2-3.
Round 1 Win vs B/G - I took some easy games mostly due to my opponent having mana issues.
Round 2 Loss vs G/W - This is a hard matchup and I made some bad plays (not play mistakes but errors such as not sacrificing Hope when I should have, etc.) and together I lost handily.
Round 3 Win vs U/B - Easiest matchup of the day. I simply played more threats than he had removal in G1 and in G2 I Trangressed his Kalitas. Key was an all star as usual too.
Round 4 Loss vs U/G/R - Not much of a game, he simply dropped more creatures than I could deal with both games. I also kept a creature-less hand in G2 and that screwed me over hard.
Round 5 vs R/G/u - Bristling Hydra is difficult to deal with. Had an unfortunate G1 loss out of nowhere where I was hit for 23 damage from it. G2, I steamrolled. G3, Hydra again got there and I didn't find the Slaughters in time.
Ultimately I have decided that for the meta in it's current shape, the burn approach isn't quite consistent enough. I did have 4 games or so where I won on T4 - T5 but those were exceptions. I do like the more mid-ranged versions using Bloodhall Priest but I may take into more of a control-styled shell for testing from here. Key is simply the best card in the deck and I think B/R offers enough solid removal and threats to make it work.
For drafting, is there an official order to opening the packs? Ie, is it AER, AER, then Kaladesh, vice-versa, or is it up the event organizer at the time?
All right, think I've settled on a good mix for tonight's Testing. Hope back in for better chance at t4 Herald of Dragon, one less Harvester, three Hearts. Gives us 13 artifacts in the 1 & 2 drop slots.
So Im confused as to why you're even using Heart in this deck. The only creature that can crew it is your Scrapheap (the big guys will want to actually attack). The deck seems really solid but that just doesn't fit there, imo. Those 3 slots could open you up to other options, such as other artifacts that will have more impact or even something like Fiery Temper to work along with your Axes.
I had also been considering that a B/R Improvise midrange could evolve from this. What turn are you seeing the Herald and Regent drop?
Also how do you guys feel about about the Inventor's Apprentice? I replaced with Forerunner of Slaughter and Hope of Ghirapur, both of which I think are better, but with Walking Ballista walking around, it seems that the 3 toughness could be relevant. Also, Pia is still iffy for me but I haven't found a solid replacement yet.
What do you guys think of the lists in the MTGO leagues that went 5-0?
Looks pretty streamlined to me especially to beat splinter cat, and a little sideboard for midrange strategies. Gonna give it a try this week at a local tournament.
Would you link them? I couldn't find any from the last 2 weeks.
This is interesting. So it appears that the old U/W Spirits is actually performing quite well.
This list that took 2nd in the Classic is nearly identical to what I was playing right before Gideon was determined to be the go to card.
So maybe it'll be possible that we can return to the older ideas and work from there.
So based upon the SCG open, it looks like this deck is poised to do rather well. Copycat combo is pretty easy to deal with in this deck. Control is draw dependent but as long as we can land some early threats we should win that matchup. G/B is gonna be hard to beat, because their creatures are beefier than ours. Also, Aethersphere Harvester is a huge problem that we have to have an answer to. I've been testing the list I listed earlier which is aggro with burn elements and in testing it just wins most matchups. Key to the City is definitely super important right now too.
I also stand by that Hope of Ghirapur is extremely strong right now. The ability to make an opponent unable to board wipe, play their planeswalkers, etc is just so strong right now. I've moved it up to 4 main and I am not disappointed. Considering it's going for like $2 right now, I recommend to grab a set because I think the card is going to shoot up once people realize what it offers.
Do you guys think this deck could possibly run the Walking Ballista at all? I think it's too slow but it seems like it could work in some matchups for us potentially.
I honestly am considering Destructive Tampering for the sb. It's not a strong card but it actually answers most of the issues in that it deals with the Harvester (plus the random artifact combo decks like Reservoir) and allows us to get through clogged boards. There may be better options but I think it has potential.
I'm having a lot of trouble working up a sb. What do you guys think are the essentials for the side?
Edit: I also just realized that Tears of Valakut just became so much better.
Tezzeret's Touch simply gives any artifact p/t = 5 so everything else carries over, so yes Orni is a 5/5 flier on Turn 3 with no summoning sickness if you played it T1 or T2.
Shock seems like a necessity with Copycat and aggro decks around so I've moved it to the main board. Hope has been really surprisingly good in testing so far too. Pia I'm still not sure on, as some matches she is dead weight and some she excels so we'll have to see the meta first.
Trawler has been rather meh so far so I'm probably not going to keep it in.
I like your list. The main thing I would worry about is the amount of discard outlets to enable your madness cards now that we cannot count on Copter loots. Key, Lightning Axe, Heir of Falkenrath, and Neonate seem like the best options. I'd probably want around 8 outlets at least, given you have Priest, Temper, and Alms. Olivia might be better without Copter around, but she is a bit slow. Courier helps as well, but is very awkward to pop early.
I've thought similar to this. But ultimately I have the following:
Things I want to discard: 12-13
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
2-3 Bloodhall Priest
4 Fiery Temper
2-3 Alms of the Vein
Things that discard: 10
2 Key to the City
4 Bomat Courier
2 Insolent Neonate
2 Olivia, Mobilized for War
So altogether about 60% of the deck works with the madness subtheme and I've never felt lacking in that regard in testing so far.
I like the list but it doesn't seem super tuned. I wonder if the deck could survive without the Lilianas and Kalitas in favor of Key to the City and Bloodhall Priest maybe? I might try working with something similar to this.
So this is a list I'm tinkering with:
// 4 Artifact
4 Key to the City
// 17 Creature
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Bomat Courier
3 Bloodhall Priest
2 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
3 Sin Prodder
1 Herald of Anguish
// 11 Instant
4 Unlicensed Disintegration
3 Fiery Temper
3 Fatal Push
1 To the Slaughter
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Foreboding Ruins
8 Mountain
7 Swamp
// 3 Planeswalker
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
// 2 Sorcery
2 Ruinous Path
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/117970844
Tune in at 9 hours 32 minutes. ^
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Bomat Courier
2 Hope of Ghirapur
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Forerunner of Slaughter
Noncreature
4 Key to the City
4 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Fiery Temper
3 Fatal Push
4 Alms of the Vein
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Smoldering Marsh
4 Foreboding Ruins
9 Mountain
6 Swamp
Side
2 Trangress the Mind
2 Incendiary Flow
2 To the Slaughter
2 Weaver of Lightning
2 Lightning Axe
2 Lost Legacy
2 Hope of Ghirapur
1 Release the Gremlins
It was a 5-round tourney with Top 8 Cut. I ended 2-3.
Round 1 Win vs B/G - I took some easy games mostly due to my opponent having mana issues.
Round 2 Loss vs G/W - This is a hard matchup and I made some bad plays (not play mistakes but errors such as not sacrificing Hope when I should have, etc.) and together I lost handily.
Round 3 Win vs U/B - Easiest matchup of the day. I simply played more threats than he had removal in G1 and in G2 I Trangressed his Kalitas. Key was an all star as usual too.
Round 4 Loss vs U/G/R - Not much of a game, he simply dropped more creatures than I could deal with both games. I also kept a creature-less hand in G2 and that screwed me over hard.
Round 5 vs R/G/u - Bristling Hydra is difficult to deal with. Had an unfortunate G1 loss out of nowhere where I was hit for 23 damage from it. G2, I steamrolled. G3, Hydra again got there and I didn't find the Slaughters in time.
Ultimately I have decided that for the meta in it's current shape, the burn approach isn't quite consistent enough. I did have 4 games or so where I won on T4 - T5 but those were exceptions. I do like the more mid-ranged versions using Bloodhall Priest but I may take into more of a control-styled shell for testing from here. Key is simply the best card in the deck and I think B/R offers enough solid removal and threats to make it work.
Initial thoughts are:
-4 Forerunner
-4 Alms
-2 Weaver
May I introduce to you: For the Slaughter.
So I'm still working on my sb slots. So far I have this
2 To the Slaughter
2 Lightning Axe
1 Release the Gremlins
2 Lost Legacy
2 Trangress the Mind
That leaves me 4 slots. Things I'm considering are Weaver of Lightning, Incendiary Flow, Galvanic Bombardment, Pia Nalaar, Burn from Within, and Shock.
What do you guys think would in the aggro / burn list sb.
So Im confused as to why you're even using Heart in this deck. The only creature that can crew it is your Scrapheap (the big guys will want to actually attack). The deck seems really solid but that just doesn't fit there, imo. Those 3 slots could open you up to other options, such as other artifacts that will have more impact or even something like Fiery Temper to work along with your Axes.
Also how do you guys feel about about the Inventor's Apprentice? I replaced with Forerunner of Slaughter and Hope of Ghirapur, both of which I think are better, but with Walking Ballista walking around, it seems that the 3 toughness could be relevant. Also, Pia is still iffy for me but I haven't found a solid replacement yet.
Would you link them? I couldn't find any from the last 2 weeks.
This is interesting. So it appears that the old U/W Spirits is actually performing quite well.
This list that took 2nd in the Classic is nearly identical to what I was playing right before Gideon was determined to be the go to card.
So maybe it'll be possible that we can return to the older ideas and work from there.
I also stand by that Hope of Ghirapur is extremely strong right now. The ability to make an opponent unable to board wipe, play their planeswalkers, etc is just so strong right now. I've moved it up to 4 main and I am not disappointed. Considering it's going for like $2 right now, I recommend to grab a set because I think the card is going to shoot up once people realize what it offers.
Do you guys think this deck could possibly run the Walking Ballista at all? I think it's too slow but it seems like it could work in some matchups for us potentially.
I honestly am considering Destructive Tampering for the sb. It's not a strong card but it actually answers most of the issues in that it deals with the Harvester (plus the random artifact combo decks like Reservoir) and allows us to get through clogged boards. There may be better options but I think it has potential.
I'm having a lot of trouble working up a sb. What do you guys think are the essentials for the side?
Edit: I also just realized that Tears of Valakut just became so much better.
3 Key to the City
2 Heart of Kiran
Creature
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Bomat Courier
3 Hope of Ghirapur
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Forerunner of Slaughter
3 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Fiery Temper
3 Shock
Sorcery
4 Alms of the Vein
Land
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Foreboding Ruins
8 Mountain
6 Swamp
I really like the flow of this deck and the consistency too.
Imo, way too slow for an aggro version. Midrange could use it though, sure.
3 Key to the City
2 Heart of Kiran
Creatures
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Forerunner of Slaughter
4 Bomat Courier
3 Bloodhall Priest
2 Scrap Trawler
2 Hope of Ghirapur
3 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Fiery Temper
4 Shock
Planeswalkers
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Lands
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Foreboding Ruins
8 Mountain
7 Swamp
Here is my updated testing list.
Shock seems like a necessity with Copycat and aggro decks around so I've moved it to the main board. Hope has been really surprisingly good in testing so far too. Pia I'm still not sure on, as some matches she is dead weight and some she excels so we'll have to see the meta first.
Trawler has been rather meh so far so I'm probably not going to keep it in.
I've thought similar to this. But ultimately I have the following:
Things I want to discard: 12-13
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
2-3 Bloodhall Priest
4 Fiery Temper
2-3 Alms of the Vein
Things that discard: 10
2 Key to the City
4 Bomat Courier
2 Insolent Neonate
2 Olivia, Mobilized for War
So altogether about 60% of the deck works with the madness subtheme and I've never felt lacking in that regard in testing so far.