Hyper-Aggro Red

I've been disgruntled with some results recently.  Delver's bouncing me, White's blocking me, Spirits are killing my Koths, Green is Geisting me, so it's been going through my head that perhaps hyper-aggro (+hard to block) could be the way to go.

Either way, I have to write this down, before I go crazy, and here's a good a place as any.

A card that has always been a perpetual joke (but is amusing to me, because it's an enchantment) is Curse of Stalked Prey.

What the heck is Curse of Stalked Prey you ask?  Well, it's basically another proliferate effect, combined with unblockable guys.  It also works fairly well with the proliferate effects themselves. (It "kick starts" the ability to proliferate)

This works pretty great with some cards I'm already playing, like the ultra-solid (and hard to name correctly) Stromkirk Noble and Stormblood Berserker.

Both of these are pretty aggressive low-drops, that are hard to block, nearly unbeatable on the play, etc.  However, one of the problems with Berserker is that sometimes you don't have a one-drop, or your one-drop gets killed, and you have to run him out as a Curse of the Pierced Heart without haste.

There are two solutions to solve this problem, one is to add some more one-drops, another is to add Curse, and coincidentally, they work quite well together!

Spikeshot Elder is a great aggro-control one-drop, that happens to work quite well with the Curse.  (and with Equipment, which, coincidentally, works well on the hard-to-block creatures above)

Elder has a couple problems on it's face, that are neatly solved by this change in perspective.
1) It "only pings for one".  Anthem effects, and so on, make it hard for this guy to pay off long-term.  Well, now, it pings for more. Either two (or three) on turn three after an attack, or for three or more with equipment.
2) It is mana intensive.  But if we equip it, or can swing for reasonable amounts on it's own, we don't really need another threat to make this work.  (and swinging is manaless damage)
3) It's not that great in multiples, but we can always just sandbag more copies, and use our mana to ping, or equip.

Elder does great things in tokens match-ups, and gives you a lot of action late game.  Making this guy more relevant is a solid reason to drop the curse T2 after this guy T1.

The others:

Vault Skirge is a evasive one-drop, that is hard to race, and is pretty good with pump effects.

It's not as good as some other effects, and really requires a pre-pump or clear skies to truly be evasive, and clear skies are not exactly prevalent these days.  Skirge into Curse will likely be a pretty strong one-two punch, as is Skirge into Berserker, but once turn three rolls around, this guy better be 2/2 or he's a liability.

Reckless Waif is a huge beater against control, but doesn't exactly get the job done against opposing aggro decks.  They flip him back easily, and have ones to block.  Doomed Traveller, Mana Guy, Champion, etc.

This guy's hard to block and kill in combat.  He guns down Doomed Traveler, any number of (non-pumped) spirit tokens, Talia, Porcelain Legionnaire, Elves, Geist, etc.  He even Trades with a two toughness guy, should it come to that.

This guy is pretty rocking for turning on a Berserker, because there isn't a one-drop in the format that can block him and live if you're on the play.  (Diregraf Ghoul, or the new Demon?)

Watch out if people start playing Sanctuary Cats though...

This guy packs a punch if we go in more of an equipment direction.  Trample is serious business when swords are around, and it even gets around protection, if his power is big enough.

He needs equipment to be good, and likely toughness-pumping equipment to make it so that he survives the fight, but that's where swords come in.

Need equipment, and need a one-drop?  This does both....

The impact isn't amazing, but it blocks pro-red guys (sword), and sticks around to pump up an Elder, Gaveleer, or one of the mainline creatures.

His impact isn't amazing, but he fits the criteria of "one drop" and has some interesting synergies with the deck as it might be.

This is by all means a early game deck, so Gut Shot certainly has a place over similar cards like Geistflame.

All your mana is likely needed for the first two or three turns to deploy threats, and you need cards like this to clear blockers, and get the ball rolling.

It lets you take back the play, and get your early-game combos rolling, with Curse, Noble, Berserker, Elder, etc.

Exile is very relevant in this metagame, between dies triggers (Solemn, Doomed Traveller, Loyal Cathar) and undying (Strangleroot Geist)

Two damage is pretty relevant, for Huntmaster.

One mana... Have you looked at the rest of the deck?  We've got to squeeze everything we can out of our mana.

It's possible Galvanic Blast is better, for the ability to react to equipping, and potentially be metalcrafted, but that's probably a pipe dream if the game isn't already won.

Twos

There are certainly some problematic artifacts in this standard.  Red/White Sword is horrifically difficult to beat.  Batterskull is a problem.

Unfortunately, this guy is not that amazing on his own.  But at least he's better than a Goblin Piker, that's got to be worth something?

There really aren't a ton of good two-drops for red.  This really feels like an auto-lock for the archtype, but I found I often used it as a removal spell against control.  Perhaps only worth a sideboard slot in the brave new world.

 

Got equipment?  Want unblockable guys?  Well, this guy sure fits the bill.

I don't really like the idea of running This, and at most 9 sources of blue (Sulfur Vents, Evolving Wilds (or Shimmering Grotto?), one Island) in a deck that looks like it has 12 red one-drops, but he sure does what he claims to do.  Vapor snag this?

If Mox Opal becomes playable, this guy gets a ton better.

Just seeing if you were paying attention....

Now that's a two-drop...

There are some human synergies, but this guy is probably way too cute.  On the plus side, he is the right color....

Threes:

Threes have to be pretty stellar, in terms of hitting hard, or having evasion to make the cut.  These guys have to fight toe to toe with Lingering Souls tokens

Hits hard? Check.
Has Evasion: Check.

First strike is good stuff in a format of 1/1's, and undying creatures.  Double strike really brings home the bacon, with equipment or the curse.

He dies to Slagstorm, but is yet another one-card threat, and happens to not be dead to Black Curse, so that's something...

I'd rate this a bit lower than Kruin/Terror, because it starts at 1 toughness, which is a big deal these days, and it just trades with two souls tokens, or one with a pump effect.  Not having to flip is a bonus, and double strike is very good, but the 3cc barrier is quite problematic for this deck.

I haven't really liked the phoenix.  It's okay against control, but terrible vs aggro.  You just can't afford to burn them, to get your creature back, and two damage a turn just doesn't add up.

Compare this guy to Strangleroot Geist...

He does fly, so that's something for delivering equipment-hits.

This guy is solid, for sure.  Doubling up on Berserkers is solid at the two-slot, and any of the threes or flipped werewolves are good times.

Copying a one-drop is pretty sad though, negative synergy there, so he gets better as you get more three's, but you don't really want alot of threes.  So he might not be for this iteration....

Volt Charge is pretty solid removal, but it doesn't work all that well against 1/1 spirits or undying creatures.

It does mess up combat math something fierce, especially with the proliferate effects.

I'd keep this over Gambit, in this deck skew.










At the four level, Koth, Hellrider, and Hero of Oxid Ridge are the competitors.  They all have Haste, which is essential for a four.  Hellrider works well with the mono-creature plan, and Hero adds more evasion if the enemy is all 1/1's.

To augment your certainly terrible creatures, we can easily see certain equipment ruling the day:

An argument can be made for other swords, to make green creatures not able to block (Huntmaster + Wolf Token, Strangleroot Geist, Thrun, Mana Creatures), but R/W is likely the superior main-deck choice, because it is the most aggressive, and makes the most prevalent blockers (1/1 tokens) unable to do their job.

This guy is a beating on certain creatures, but is probably worse than a card like Volt Charge. (one-shot three damage).  The more metalcrafty and Gaveleer-y the deck becomes, the better this is.














Overall:

4x Stormkirk Noble
4x Spikeshot Elder
2-4x 1-2 drop creature(s)
4x Stormblood Berserker
3x Kruin Outlaw
0-2x 4-drop (Koth, Hero, Hellrider)

4x Curse of Stalked Prey
4x R/W Sword

4x Gut Shot
4x Volt Charge
1-3x Faithless Looting  (drawing into more isn't great)
0-2x Pillar of Flame

20-22 lands (?!)  We want to get two on turn two, and three eventually.  Faithless looting should ensure we don't get too flooded?

Much Delayed GP Seattle Post

I'm a Seattle native, and when I heard that there was going to be a GP here in a few weeks, I decided I was going.   And to top it off, it was limited, so I wouldn't even need to do any testing! (*)  I arraigned a ride with some fellow Microsofties, and set out for my first serious Magic tournament in years....

(*) Note to self: Not remotely true.

We left crazily early in the morning, and got to the site with plenty of time to spare.  The deck registration was just like I've remembered, with people talking about how good their pools were, or various other irrelevant things and likely misregistering their decks in the process.

The pool I opened was terrible, I remember it having Seance (a unplayable), and a few other non-playable rares, no good removal, etc.   I hoped it would end up somewhere else.   I misregistered one white Niblis as the other white Niblis, so I called a judge on myself, and things proceeded as normal.   The organizer had us swap across, and my across-mate noticed no errors in my registration, nor did I notice any in his.  This deck was similarly removal-light, and not very exciting, so I was hoping for another pass.  The guy next to me that was talking the most had three, count them, three, errors in deck registration.  I'm really not a fan of this not leading to some sort of warning, if you don't catch yourself, otherwise why care?

We did our final pass, and I got my pool.  I took a few precious minutes to verify things were correctly registered and started to build the pool.  I'll provide it here in case you guys want the experience I had.  I can tell you that this was probably the fastest 25 minutes in recent memory for me.


White:
Bar the Door
Curse of Exhaustion
Feeling of Dread
Fiend Hunter
Gavony Ironwright
Intangible Virtue
Lingering Souls
Loyal Cathar
Niblis of the Mist
Midnight Guard
Sanctuary Cat
Selfless Cathar
Silverclaw Griffin
Skillful Lunge
Smite the Monstrous
Thraben Doomsayer
Thraben Sentry
Village Bell-Ringer

Blue:
Armored Skaab
Claustrophobia
Fortress Crab
Headless Skaab
Invisible Stalker
Mystic Retrieval
Saving Grasp
Sensory Deprivation
Shriekgeist
Snapcaster Mage
Spectral Flight
Stitcher's Apprentice
Stormbound Geist

Black:
Black Cat
Bloodgift Demon
Brain Weevil
Bitterheart Witch *2
Bump in the night
Chosen of Markov
Corpse Lunge
Curse of Misfortunes
Curse of Thirst
Falkenrath Torturer
Gruesome Discovery
Ravenous Demon
Reap the Seagraf *2
Spiteful Shadows *2
Tragic Slip
Vengeful Vampire
Victim of night
Walking Corpse

Red:
Blood Fued
Erdwal Ripper
Falkenrath Marauders
Feral Ridgewolf
Flayer of the Hatebound
Hanwier Watchkeep
Heckling Fiends
Into the Maw of Hell
Night Revelers
Skirsdag Cultist
Talons of Falkenrath
Torch Fiend

Green:
Caravan Vigil
Crushing Vines
Dawntreader Elk
Hammlet Captain
Festerhide Boar
Hollohenge Beast
Kindercatch
Ranger's Guile
Travel Preparations
Ulvenwald Bear
Ulvenwald Mystics
Village Survivors

Artifact:
Blazing Torch
Executioners Hood
Ghoulcaller's Bell
Sharpened Pitchfork
Traveler's Amulet

Land:
Evolving Wilds

=======================================

When I first saw this pool, I was quite enamored with a certain color.  And no, It wasn't White or Black, to my great dismay sitting at my computer today.  I saw the Blood Feud, and the Snapcaster Mage, and my mind started turning...

You see, the problem with this pool is not that it is bad, far, far from it.  It is that so many of the colors are good!

Green, which is very likely the worst color, has a couple bears, a good 4-drop, and Travel Prep, which is a good start to a deck.

Blue has flashback on the Reap the Seagrafs (I didn't like them all that much at the time, so much worse than Moan of the Unhallowed in so many ways), and Snapcaster Mage is powerful in the abstract (but probably not that good in this pool, where everything has flashback, or costs 6+ in the instant or sorcery camp, and virtually everything is double-colored.

But Red, Red is where I was really led astray.  Blood Feud had me drooling, and the Marauders, Into the Maw of Hell, Hanwyr Watchkeep, AND Flayer of the Hatebound are all pretty excellent cards.  I mean c'mon, that's 5 uncommon or rare cards that can easily carry your deck to victory, but many of these are double-red, and many of them are very expensive.   Heck, I even have a cultist, that's 7 very solid cards in Red.

Black has two Demons, and a few good removal spells.

White has Fiend Hunter (which I have an irrational dislike of), Local Cathar, Thraben Doomsayer, and perhaps the best card in the format: Lingering Souls.  (Along with a plethora of small creatures)

I registered a Black splashing Red splashing Blue monstrosity out of the gates, and I quickly learned that what I wanted to see with this was a 5 land hand, with all three of my colors.  None of this is all that splashable, and though I do have some fixing (Amulet + Wilds), I was quickly trounced in several of my game one's.

After losing my first match 0-2 to two power evasive guys for 2 and 3 mana, compared to my grey ogre tokens, I knew I needed a better plan.  I audibled into Esper for the rest of the day games two and three, unable to get away from the Snapcaster and Reap flashback.

I really feel like this deck had everything necessary to get me to day two.  I just needed to pick the right colors, and I'm still not sure which of White, Black, and Red (or even Blue) that I should have played.  I just know I got out-carded by token strategies, and out-rushed by aggressive decks, to a dismal 2-3 finish.  (Beating one fellow who had been out of the game for years round two, and another who perhaps played less optimally round four)

What would you have done with this pool?  It has quite a few rare/uncommon slots taken up by a "curse package" (without death's hold), but it also has in the neighborhood of 17 highly playable rares and uncommons, out of 24 total slots there.  (give or take a few flip cards)

Double Black:
Victim of Night
Bloodgift Demon
Ravenous Demon
Vengeful Vampire

Double Red:
Falkenrath Marauders
Into the Maw
Blood Fued
Skirsdag High Prist

Double White:
Loyal Cathar
Thraben Doomsayer
Fiend Hunter
Silverclaw Griffin

(Double Blue: Claustrophobia, Stormbound Giest)

I see 7 Red cards I actively want to play.  9 Black cards. 9 or so white cards (though clearly less exciting on average than the others).

I certainly needed more time with this, because I still don't know what I should have done =(

Help!