I actually think Celestial Colonnade is not great for the Miracles deck since you have Entreat the Angels to kill and having always untapped lands has proven to be more useful for me, this is the list I am running:
I think it might be interesting to make room for Detention Sphere as an all-around answer, we could do that by moving some Timely Reinforcements to the sideboard.
I friend of mine who also played a green Hollow One list this weekend had 2 copies of Back to Nature in his sideboard just for that pairing, he doesn't play Destructive Revelry
If you check my previous post, you'll see I decided to give up a few creatures to make room for 4 Lightning Bolt, I don't like Burning Inquiry so I won't be missing that spell and I still keep a high number of creatures (BTW, you don't play any Street Wraith in your list, I think that's a major mistake since it enables Hollow One from Faithless Looting although it might be due to budget reasons)
In the BR version Bedlam Reveler could work since you are lighter on creatures and have more room for instant and sorceries but I don't think you could run more than 1 or 2 copies without removing some other cards with Delve.
I keep liking the RG version better as Vengevine wins games out of nowhere and has some crazy busted openers that don't rely so much on Hollow One, here is my current build (I'm finally playing a full set of Lightning Bolt and mixed the non-perfect fetches to make the deck less vulnerable to narrow situations involving Pithing Needle):
I couldn't play too much online lately but I have a large Modern open on Saturday, I'll let you know how it performs. I have thought about Natural State as an alternate option instead of Destructive Revelry but I think Leyline of the Void is one of our main targets so I haven't even tried it but it could definitely be an option as it costs 1 less (although I have found out that usually if you have the answer, you don't have much action to go off that turn afterwards so maybe it's better to keep with Destructive Revelry)
I tried something closer to Depian's list and have gone 4-1, 4-1, 5-0, and then 1-4 in competitive leagues. That last one had lots of awkward starts, losses to 3 combo decks, and Tron. I threw a Thrun in the board for control, it's easy to get to 4 mana thanks to all their Path to Exiles that they will be using. Hoping to run hot and hit good matchups at GP Phoenix in two weeks. Squee is awesome in any grindy or slower matchup. You can use it to get card advantage and leverage it vs your opponents relic of progenitis, where they can exile a squee and you're free to throw phoenix's and vengevines in the yard, or they let you keep discarding it and winning via value, I bring in the third vs Jund or control. Also it can be good at getting your vengevines back, as it pairs with a 1 drop well for a second creature to cast. Squee and 1-2 constrictord also have been my first go-to's to take out when side boarding vs a lot of other decks.
Have any of you tried Engineered Explosives in the board? In my mind it seems good vs bogles, Melira combo, tokens and stuff, but having to pay 2 mana to activate it seems a bit slow.
That's a nice build, I like the idea of a third Squee, Goblin Nabob in the sideboard for grindy matchups, it's really versatile and helps a lot when you draw a lot of looters so you don't end up with an empty hand by the time you need to play 2 creatures and return your Vengevine.
I really don't like Lightning Bolt in the build, it's a great card but it doesn't have any synergy with the rest of the deck so I'd rather play Lightning Axe to deal with pesky creatures as it is also able to enable some great interactions with the rest of the deck. I don't like to have too many Hooting Mandrills + Grim Lavamancer as both cards consume a lot of cards from our graveyard and don't work well between them, I like both of them but I've found 1 Grim Lavamancer + 2 Hooting Mandrills to be the mix that works best for me.
A card I sometimes miss from my first builds is Becomme Immense but I think is too situational even if it's great when attacking with Hooting Mandrills. I think it could be interesting as a 1-of, opponents must be wary about it once they see it but you would rarely have it so they would be playing around a card you don't have and that is usually a good thing.
I like your sideboard except for Thrun, the Last Troll, I think we don't need this card and the 4 mana cost is a pain, I would rather have a Bloodbraid Elf as it would almost always trigger Vengevine. I like Tormod's Crypt, is nice graveyard hate thast doesn't cost mana but it's more niche than other options so I find myself only siding it in vs Storm, Dredge and Living End, I actually think this is good as it helps prevent oversideboarding (or at least for me)
This is my current build, have been playing quite some leagues these days and although I haven't gone 5-0 in any of them, I think there is only 1 out of 6-7 leagues where I was unable to go 3-2 or 4-1 so the winrate is quite good:
I haven't tried Engineered Explosives but it could definitely be an option should Auras become a thing, right now I think it's not the kind of sideboard card we need
I have actually tried out Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded as a 2-of in the maindeck of a previous version and can confirm pizzap thoughts, the random discard is not as bad in our deck, the problem is that it's not impactful enough as it doesn't do enough to enable Hollow One, the -4 ability is nice but takes too much time to set-up, the finisher takes even longer and is only useful vs creature decks. All in all, I think it's not worth the inclusion
I've been toying with Barrage of Boulders, it's not a fancy card and it costs 3 mana but it will definitely break their defence (you should have no trouble triggering ferocious)
Hi, I had to test this last idea for the deck on Magic Online and it has performed quite well 4-1, 4-1, 3-2, 4-1 and finally 5-0
What really seems off to me is the Noose Constrictors in this deck. Are they really worth running? Is it thanks to Squee that they work?? My initial impression is that they just seem pretty sub-par but I've been wrong plenty of times before. Squee is a card I love so I'd be interested in trying it, but it does seem a little slow to get value from potentially as well. It seems your games went pretty well overall though! 80% win rate over 5 leagues is pretty good.
I used to play them before I tested Squee, Goblin Nabob, they are a great discard outlet and make a great attacking team with Flameblade Adept, another thing is that everyone seems to forget it has reach so sometimes they mess up with it although I guess you can't count on that happening every time haha
I didn't have the chance to win a game with Barrage the Boulders yet but I have seen how much better Leyline of the Void is compared to Ravenous Trap so I will definitely keep playing with those for now, Jund with Bloodbraid Elf is being played a lot and I believe it is a favorable matchup although sometimes tricky, Squee, Goblin Nabob is a great chumpblocker here and a sacrifice for Liliana of the Veil if you only have another creature, it is very good for grindy pairings.
Hi, I went to GP Lyon to play my RG vengevine version where I had only 1 bye for the tournament. I had a great weekend and I enjoyed a lot playing the deck but I also realised that my sideboard was far from ideal, Ravenous Trap underperformed and I think there were 2 rounds that I could have probably won if I were playing Leyline of the Void instead. This is the list I played:
I managed to finish day 1 with a 6-2 record, day 2 didn't go very well as I made a parcial of 3-4 so in the end my total record was 9-6.
Day 1
R1 - Win vs Bye
R2 - Win vs UW Control - Favorable matchup, usually you pressure them a lot, they Supreme Verdict on turn 4, then you cast 2 creatures and finish them off with Vengevine but if the game goes too long they might be able to control the board so try to pressure them
R3 - Win vs Abzan - Although my opponent played all hate on turns 1 (Nihil Spellbomb) and 2 (Scavenging Ooze) of game 1 I got a really overpowered opener and kill her on turn 3, I think this matchup is favorable but not by a great margin
R4 - Lost vs Burn - I had to mulligan both games and in game 2 I tried to cast Gnaw to the Bone but my opponent had Skullcrack ready to prevent it and then drew another burn spell to finish me off
R5 - Win vs Tron - This should be a good matchup unless they go T3 Wurmcoil Engine T4 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, openers with Flameblade Adept are great agains't these slow decks without spot removal
R6 - Win vs UR pyromancer - In game 1 I crushed him so fast that I didn't see more than an island, Serum visions and Field of Ruin so I put him on UW, I won game 2 and got asked why I had sided Destructive Revelry and Heroic Intervention agains't him after getting my Vengevine removed with Surgical Extraction, that was fun
R7 - Lost to Dredge - I lost game 1, game 2 opponent starts with double Leyline and is crushed by my Flameblade Adept and my Hollow One, game 3 he starts with Leyline again and I had Ravenous Trap ready to fight but something unexpected happens as my opponent sided in Thoughtseize so he is able to remove it before going off and I feel bad for not playing Leyline of the Void
R8 - Win vs Titanshift - This match went smooth, he didn't get to defend too much from my T4 kills
Day 2
R9 - Lost to Living End - My opponent played a great G2 and was able to kill me without even casting Living End, G3 I had my Noose Constrictor ready to discard if he casts Living End but he had 2 Faerie Macabre to crush my plan removing my large creatures before resolution
R10 - Win vs Mardu Pyromancer - the only matchup where I don't use my sideboard, I think this is our best pairing so far
R11 - Lost to U-Tron - I think this is a good matchup, G3 after putting him below 0 life (he had Platinum Angel) I couldn't find any Artifact destruction in half my library, I was about to kill his angel when he attacked without realizing Noose Constrictor had reach and I had 3 cards in hand but he was lucky to have Snapcaster Mage to flashback Repeal and save his angel after I pumped it two times.
R12 - Lost to vizier Company - I didn't find Grim Lavamancer in G1 and he comboed me on T3, G2 I had Grim Lavamancer but he starts off with Leyline of the Void, ouch. I put some pressure on him but manages to go over the top with Chord of Calling and some scrys from Viscera Seer
R13 - Win vs UW Control - This round was crazy, I won game 1 easily and crushed even more easily (T3)on G2, after that he showed me he kept a pretty good hand including a Supreme Verdict that he never got to cast (I went T1 Flameblade Adept, T2 Noose Constrictor, discard 2 Vengevine and Flamewake Phoenix to cast Hollow One for free and hit for 12, he had to cast a Snapcaster to chumpblock
R14 - Lost vs Abzan - I didn't get any explosive starts and it was very disputed game, G3 I was using my Squee, Goblin Nabob to chump block his Tarmogoyf every turn while my Flamewake Phoenix kept hitting him for 2 each turn but he topdecked 2 consecutive Fatal Push that allowed him to hit me twice and kill me 1 turn before I had lethal (now I realize I didn't even check if he triggered Revolt, probably one of those shouldn't have resolved and I should have won that game unless he had 2 fetches ready for it but I can't remember that)
R15 - Win vs Mardu Pyromancer - As the previous time, the pairing is quite favorable and I were able to win game 1 and then pull off a very good start in G2 like I didn on R13 vs UW control, my opponent was really nice and we both had a lot of fun playing which is always a great way to finish a GP
I know my deck is not the typical build but I wanted something that can do the more insane starts while still be grindy when the game goes long, I think my sideboard needed some changes and now that I run Squee, Goblin Nabob, I feel like Lightning Axe should be in the sideboard instead of Dismember, I also miss a way to kill opposing 1 toughness creatures or make my creatures unblockable agains't stall boards like the ones you get vs Eldrazi or Humans so I want to give Barrage the Boulders a shot as it fills both roles, here is the list I would submit if there were a tournament today (without taking into account Bloodbraid Elf and Jace, the Mind Sculptor unbannings):
With Bloodbraid Elf now available I might try her but I am unsure as a cost 4 in this deck is not likely the best option, maybe I could run just 1 copy, it should enable Vengevine most of the times since I only play 8 noncreature spells in my main
I think decks like Humans and GW value are the main reason we should apply a combo approach to our decks. Burst cards like the Emissary/Bushwhacker combo or Bloodghast if playing black. If humans has an opportunity to play their 4th or 5th creature, we've probably lost already. You could make a case for including Lightning Bolt maindeck, which some have forgone, but that doesn't help against GW value. Most of their creatures have 4 toughness.I think decks like Humans and GW value are the main reason we should apply a combo approach to our decks. Burst cards like the Emissary/Bushwhacker combo or Bloodghast if playing black. If humans has an opportunity to play their 4th or 5th creature, we've probably lost already. You could make a case for including Lightning Bolt maindeck, which some have forgone, but that doesn't help against GW value. Most of their creatures have 4 toughness.
You might be right, I've tried the emissary + bushwhacker version and it's nice when you pull it off but it didn't felt that reliable and these cards have no synergy with our discard outlets except when you are able to cast Burning-Tree Emissary into Goblin Lore into Hollow One.
Regarding creature decks, I used to play 2 Flamewake Phoenix instead of 4 so I could see myself getting damage through the air when the board is stalled as Mantis Rider doesn't usually grow bigger than a 4/4 so I can kill it with the help of Grim Lavamancer
I've been conflicted on what graveyard hate to run. I've been using Tormod's Crypt lately, while admittedly weaker in a vaccuum than lots of stuff, I find that this deck uses all it's mana almost every turn. Taking a whole early turn off to play GY hate doesn't seem ideal when our early turns are so crucial to out-racing. Leyline of the Void is an option, but with how much the deck draws through itself you will end up with excess copies in hand that you'll have to hope to discard away later.
I have the same approach, I don't want to use mana to hate my opponent out. In my opinion the 3 best options for graveyard hate in this deck are: Leyline of the Void, Ravenous Trap or Faerie Macabre Faerie Macabre is great agains't vizier combo and snapcasters and you can also use it aggresively if needed to fuel an early Hollow One or even as a finisher to pump Fireblade Adept but I think you can win these matchups without needing a specific hate card, I found Ravenous Trap to be very good agains't Storm as they can't play around it or even know if you have it while they can set up a bunch of goblins if they face Leyline of the Void from your opener.
Right now, I believe Leyline of the Void could probably be the best option since it completely shuts delve creatures in the mirror and I expect this deck to show up more and more after last pro tour but I haven't switched yet as I am dedicating only 2 slots to GY hate and Leyline needs to be a 3x or 4x if you want it reliably in your opener hand but I might try to make some space for it (let's see how the meta evolves after the unbans)
I am also on the Vengevine boat and I am focusing on making Noose Constrictor and Flameblade Adept BFF, I recently tested Squee, Goblin Nabob out and I was quite impressed by its performance, here is the list I am running right now, I ditched Become Immense not because it were bad but because I wanted consistency over surprise win conditions:
I have been testing some random cards (even Wild Cantor which was terrible by the way) that I thought might work in my Noose Constrictor build and I found Squee, Goblin Nabob to be quite a house as recurring it every turn improves your looting effects quite a lot and it's a safe card to discard and enable Hollow One without emptying your hand. Now I feel confident playing 4 Flamewake Phoenix as it's much easier to have a 4 power on board. This is my current build:
One thing I sometimes miss is a way to push through blockers, say you are facing Humans and they were able to put enough presence on board so that no player can attack as it would die next turn, in this kind of scenarios I think we are at disadvantage as every human they draw makes their presence bigger and we are not changing much the board even by playing a Hollow One or Vengevine, I've checked for any "acceptable" sideboard card with that effect and the best I could find is Gruul Charm which feels quite underwhelming. Has anyone else found a better card for this kind of effect? I might have to try Legion Loyalist again but when your opponent has a couple 7/7 or 8/8 Champion of the Parish it's not going to be enough
Oh, and there is another huge thing that I somehow missed on my previous post that makes Goblin Lore even better: it enables Hollow One for 0 while Cathartic Reunion alone would not be enough and it would still cost 1
6 Island
3 Plains
2 Hallowed Fountain
4 Flooded Strand
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Field of Ruin
Spells
1 Condemn
4 Path to Exile
4 Opt
4 Serum Visions
3 Entreat the Angels
2 Search for Azcanta
1 Negate
2 Logic Knot
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Cryptic Command
4 Terminus
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Settle the Wreckage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Celestial Purge
2 Damping Sphere
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Dispel
2 Negate
I think it might be interesting to make room for Detention Sphere as an all-around answer, we could do that by moving some Timely Reinforcements to the sideboard.
Vengevine forces you to play more creatures but the reward is great
Bloodghast is more flexible but way less powerful
If you prefer the good spells such as Lightning Bolt and Collective Brutality, you give up on Vengevine and take Bloodghast
If you prefer to play Vengevine, it forces you to play creature cards that are usually worse than Lightning Bolt such as Insolent Neonate, which is usually a great Vengevine enabler
If you check my previous post, you'll see I decided to give up a few creatures to make room for 4 Lightning Bolt, I don't like Burning Inquiry so I won't be missing that spell and I still keep a high number of creatures (BTW, you don't play any Street Wraith in your list, I think that's a major mistake since it enables Hollow One from Faithless Looting although it might be due to budget reasons)
I keep liking the RG version better as Vengevine wins games out of nowhere and has some crazy busted openers that don't rely so much on Hollow One, here is my current build (I'm finally playing a full set of Lightning Bolt and mixed the non-perfect fetches to make the deck less vulnerable to narrow situations involving Pithing Needle):
4 Faithless Looting
4 Goblin Lore
4 Street Wraith
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Axe
Castable creatures (25)
4 Flameblade Adept
3 Insolent Neonate
3 Noose Constrictor
3 Hooting Mandrills
4 Hollow One
4 Vengevine
4 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Arid Mesa
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
3 Mountain
1 Forest
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
2 Blood Moon
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Heroic Intervention
1 Barrage of Boulders
I couldn't play too much online lately but I have a large Modern open on Saturday, I'll let you know how it performs. I have thought about Natural State as an alternate option instead of Destructive Revelry but I think Leyline of the Void is one of our main targets so I haven't even tried it but it could definitely be an option as it costs 1 less (although I have found out that usually if you have the answer, you don't have much action to go off that turn afterwards so maybe it's better to keep with Destructive Revelry)
That's a nice build, I like the idea of a third Squee, Goblin Nabob in the sideboard for grindy matchups, it's really versatile and helps a lot when you draw a lot of looters so you don't end up with an empty hand by the time you need to play 2 creatures and return your Vengevine.
I really don't like Lightning Bolt in the build, it's a great card but it doesn't have any synergy with the rest of the deck so I'd rather play Lightning Axe to deal with pesky creatures as it is also able to enable some great interactions with the rest of the deck. I don't like to have too many Hooting Mandrills + Grim Lavamancer as both cards consume a lot of cards from our graveyard and don't work well between them, I like both of them but I've found 1 Grim Lavamancer + 2 Hooting Mandrills to be the mix that works best for me.
A card I sometimes miss from my first builds is Becomme Immense but I think is too situational even if it's great when attacking with Hooting Mandrills. I think it could be interesting as a 1-of, opponents must be wary about it once they see it but you would rarely have it so they would be playing around a card you don't have and that is usually a good thing.
I like your sideboard except for Thrun, the Last Troll, I think we don't need this card and the 4 mana cost is a pain, I would rather have a Bloodbraid Elf as it would almost always trigger Vengevine. I like Tormod's Crypt, is nice graveyard hate thast doesn't cost mana but it's more niche than other options so I find myself only siding it in vs Storm, Dredge and Living End, I actually think this is good as it helps prevent oversideboarding (or at least for me)
This is my current build, have been playing quite some leagues these days and although I haven't gone 5-0 in any of them, I think there is only 1 out of 6-7 leagues where I was unable to go 3-2 or 4-1 so the winrate is quite good:
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Copperline Gorge
3 Mountain
1 Forest
3 Stomping Ground
Creatures (33)
4 Flameblade Adept
1 Grim Lavamancer
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Noose Constrictor
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Vengevine
4 Hollow One
4 Street Wraith
2 Hooting Mandrills
2 Lightning Axe
4 Faithless Looting
4 Goblin Lore
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Destructive Revelry
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Blood Moon
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
2 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Barrage of Boulders
I haven't tried Engineered Explosives but it could definitely be an option should Auras become a thing, right now I think it's not the kind of sideboard card we need
I used to play them before I tested Squee, Goblin Nabob, they are a great discard outlet and make a great attacking team with Flameblade Adept, another thing is that everyone seems to forget it has reach so sometimes they mess up with it although I guess you can't count on that happening every time haha
They are another creature to trigger Vengevine and it can enable a T2 Vengevine if you have the proper hand (Squee, Goblin Nabob and Flamewake Phoenix make that a little easier btw), just cast it, discard 3 cards and cast Hollow One for 0 to return your Vengevine attacking
All in all, I think this upgraded Wild Mongrel deserves 4 spots in my build as it fills so many roles at once in the Vengevine build.
I didn't have the chance to win a game with Barrage the Boulders yet but I have seen how much better Leyline of the Void is compared to Ravenous Trap so I will definitely keep playing with those for now, Jund with Bloodbraid Elf is being played a lot and I believe it is a favorable matchup although sometimes tricky, Squee, Goblin Nabob is a great chumpblocker here and a sacrifice for Liliana of the Veil if you only have another creature, it is very good for grindy pairings.
4 Flameblade Adept
4 Insolent Neonate
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Noose Constrictor
4 Flamewake Phoenix
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Vengevine
4 Hollow One
2 Hooting Mandrills
4 Street Wraith
4 Faithless Looting
4 Goblin Lore
Lands
1 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Dismember
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Blood Moon
2 Gnaw to the Bone
I managed to finish day 1 with a 6-2 record, day 2 didn't go very well as I made a parcial of 3-4 so in the end my total record was 9-6.
Day 1
R1 - Win vs Bye
R2 - Win vs UW Control - Favorable matchup, usually you pressure them a lot, they Supreme Verdict on turn 4, then you cast 2 creatures and finish them off with Vengevine but if the game goes too long they might be able to control the board so try to pressure them
R3 - Win vs Abzan - Although my opponent played all hate on turns 1 (Nihil Spellbomb) and 2 (Scavenging Ooze) of game 1 I got a really overpowered opener and kill her on turn 3, I think this matchup is favorable but not by a great margin
R4 - Lost vs Burn - I had to mulligan both games and in game 2 I tried to cast Gnaw to the Bone but my opponent had Skullcrack ready to prevent it and then drew another burn spell to finish me off
R5 - Win vs Tron - This should be a good matchup unless they go T3 Wurmcoil Engine T4 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, openers with Flameblade Adept are great agains't these slow decks without spot removal
R6 - Win vs UR pyromancer - In game 1 I crushed him so fast that I didn't see more than an island, Serum visions and Field of Ruin so I put him on UW, I won game 2 and got asked why I had sided Destructive Revelry and Heroic Intervention agains't him after getting my Vengevine removed with Surgical Extraction, that was fun
R7 - Lost to Dredge - I lost game 1, game 2 opponent starts with double Leyline and is crushed by my Flameblade Adept and my Hollow One, game 3 he starts with Leyline again and I had Ravenous Trap ready to fight but something unexpected happens as my opponent sided in Thoughtseize so he is able to remove it before going off and I feel bad for not playing Leyline of the Void
R8 - Win vs Titanshift - This match went smooth, he didn't get to defend too much from my T4 kills
Day 2
R9 - Lost to Living End - My opponent played a great G2 and was able to kill me without even casting Living End, G3 I had my Noose Constrictor ready to discard if he casts Living End but he had 2 Faerie Macabre to crush my plan removing my large creatures before resolution
R10 - Win vs Mardu Pyromancer - the only matchup where I don't use my sideboard, I think this is our best pairing so far
R11 - Lost to U-Tron - I think this is a good matchup, G3 after putting him below 0 life (he had Platinum Angel) I couldn't find any Artifact destruction in half my library, I was about to kill his angel when he attacked without realizing Noose Constrictor had reach and I had 3 cards in hand but he was lucky to have Snapcaster Mage to flashback Repeal and save his angel after I pumped it two times.
R12 - Lost to vizier Company - I didn't find Grim Lavamancer in G1 and he comboed me on T3, G2 I had Grim Lavamancer but he starts off with Leyline of the Void, ouch. I put some pressure on him but manages to go over the top with Chord of Calling and some scrys from Viscera Seer
R13 - Win vs UW Control - This round was crazy, I won game 1 easily and crushed even more easily (T3)on G2, after that he showed me he kept a pretty good hand including a Supreme Verdict that he never got to cast (I went T1 Flameblade Adept, T2 Noose Constrictor, discard 2 Vengevine and Flamewake Phoenix to cast Hollow One for free and hit for 12, he had to cast a Snapcaster to chumpblock
R14 - Lost vs Abzan - I didn't get any explosive starts and it was very disputed game, G3 I was using my Squee, Goblin Nabob to chump block his Tarmogoyf every turn while my Flamewake Phoenix kept hitting him for 2 each turn but he topdecked 2 consecutive Fatal Push that allowed him to hit me twice and kill me 1 turn before I had lethal (now I realize I didn't even check if he triggered Revolt, probably one of those shouldn't have resolved and I should have won that game unless he had 2 fetches ready for it but I can't remember that)
R15 - Win vs Mardu Pyromancer - As the previous time, the pairing is quite favorable and I were able to win game 1 and then pull off a very good start in G2 like I didn on R13 vs UW control, my opponent was really nice and we both had a lot of fun playing which is always a great way to finish a GP
I know my deck is not the typical build but I wanted something that can do the more insane starts while still be grindy when the game goes long, I think my sideboard needed some changes and now that I run Squee, Goblin Nabob, I feel like Lightning Axe should be in the sideboard instead of Dismember, I also miss a way to kill opposing 1 toughness creatures or make my creatures unblockable agains't stall boards like the ones you get vs Eldrazi or Humans so I want to give Barrage the Boulders a shot as it fills both roles, here is the list I would submit if there were a tournament today (without taking into account Bloodbraid Elf and Jace, the Mind Sculptor unbannings):
4 Flameblade Adept
4 Insolent Neonate
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Noose Constrictor
4 Flamewake Phoenix
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Vengevine
4 Hollow One
2 Hooting Mandrills
4 Street Wraith
4 Faithless Looting
4 Goblin Lore
Lands
1 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Lightning Axe
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Blood Moon
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Barrage the Boulders
With Bloodbraid Elf now available I might try her but I am unsure as a cost 4 in this deck is not likely the best option, maybe I could run just 1 copy, it should enable Vengevine most of the times since I only play 8 noncreature spells in my main
You might be right, I've tried the emissary + bushwhacker version and it's nice when you pull it off but it didn't felt that reliable and these cards have no synergy with our discard outlets except when you are able to cast Burning-Tree Emissary into Goblin Lore into Hollow One.
Regarding creature decks, I used to play 2 Flamewake Phoenix instead of 4 so I could see myself getting damage through the air when the board is stalled as Mantis Rider doesn't usually grow bigger than a 4/4 so I can kill it with the help of Grim Lavamancer
I have the same approach, I don't want to use mana to hate my opponent out. In my opinion the 3 best options for graveyard hate in this deck are: Leyline of the Void, Ravenous Trap or Faerie Macabre
Faerie Macabre is great agains't vizier combo and snapcasters and you can also use it aggresively if needed to fuel an early Hollow One or even as a finisher to pump Fireblade Adept but I think you can win these matchups without needing a specific hate card, I found Ravenous Trap to be very good agains't Storm as they can't play around it or even know if you have it while they can set up a bunch of goblins if they face Leyline of the Void from your opener.
Right now, I believe Leyline of the Void could probably be the best option since it completely shuts delve creatures in the mirror and I expect this deck to show up more and more after last pro tour but I haven't switched yet as I am dedicating only 2 slots to GY hate and Leyline needs to be a 3x or 4x if you want it reliably in your opener hand but I might try to make some space for it (let's see how the meta evolves after the unbans)
I am also on the Vengevine boat and I am focusing on making Noose Constrictor and Flameblade Adept BFF, I recently tested Squee, Goblin Nabob out and I was quite impressed by its performance, here is the list I am running right now, I ditched Become Immense not because it were bad but because I wanted consistency over surprise win conditions:
4 Flameblade Adept
4 Insolent Neonate
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Noose Constrictor
4 Flamewake Phoenix
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Vengevine
4 Hollow One
2 Hooting Mandrills
4 Street Wraith
4 Faithless Looting
4 Goblin Lore
Lands
1 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Dismember
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Blood Moon
2 Gnaw to the Bone
4 Flameblade Adept
4 Insolent Neonate
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Noose Constrictor
4 Flamewake Phoenix
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Vengevine
4 Hollow One
2 Hooting Mandrills
4 Street Wraith
4 Faithless Looting
4 Goblin Lore
Lands
1 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Dismember
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Blood Moon
2 Gnaw to the Bone
One thing I sometimes miss is a way to push through blockers, say you are facing Humans and they were able to put enough presence on board so that no player can attack as it would die next turn, in this kind of scenarios I think we are at disadvantage as every human they draw makes their presence bigger and we are not changing much the board even by playing a Hollow One or Vengevine, I've checked for any "acceptable" sideboard card with that effect and the best I could find is Gruul Charm which feels quite underwhelming. Has anyone else found a better card for this kind of effect? I might have to try Legion Loyalist again but when your opponent has a couple 7/7 or 8/8 Champion of the Parish it's not going to be enough