Ruby Storm

[mistercakes]

this is what i'll be testing:

// 60 Maindeck
// 12 Artifact
4 Lotus Petal
4 Ruby Medallion
4 Lion's Eye Diamond

// 4 Creature
4 Guttersnipe

// 10 Instant
4 Manamorphose
4 Seething Song
2 Desperate Ritual

// 14 Land
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Sandstone Needle
6 Mountain

// 20 Sorcery
3 Rite of Flame
4 Burning Wish
2 Past in Flames
3 Bonus Round
4 Act on Impulse
4 Light up the Stage


// 15 Sideboard
// 6 Instant
SB: 2 Abrade
SB: 2 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Pyroblast

// 9 Sorcery
SB: 1 Tendrils of Agony
SB: 1 Grapeshot
SB: 1 Empty the Warrens
SB: 1 Past in Flames
SB: 1 Fiery Confluence
SB: 1 Rite of Flame
SB: 1 Hazoret's Undying Fury
SB: 1 Reforge the Soul
SB: 1 Bonus Round

[Mr. Safety]

I would jam 1x Reforge in your sideboard. I understand making room in the main for the new card and Guttersnipe, but it seems insane to have access to it with Burning Wish, considering Guttersnipe.

[mistercakes]

I would jam 1x Reforge in your sideboard. I understand making room in the main for the new card and Guttersnipe, but it seems insane to have it accessible with Guttersnipe.

it's already in there.

[Mr. Safety]

it's already in there.

DOH! Missed it.

[mistercakes]

there's always a chance to go back to 3 guttersnipe and run 61 cards with 2 maindeck reforge. i really like playing 61 cards in this deck and reforge is a fine card in the control matchups or vs decks where you absolutely need to go off asap (and they don't have counter magic)

[Mr. Safety]

I agree, I'm back on 3x maindeck Reforge 1x side. That was before the spoiler though, so I have to lay out all my cards and figure this out, lol. I think this card is the last nail in the coffin for one of my pet cards for the deck (Shreds of Sanity.) It's just more efficient and does more; Bonus Round pushed me away from Shreds, this cuts it entirely.

My big quandary at this point is how many copies of Past in Flames to include maindeck at this point. For the longest time it was 3 main, 1 side. I think that needs to be re-evaluated considering the dig power that is back in the deck with Reforge, Act on Impulse, and this new min-AoI. It's pretty much exactly what the deck needed: another cheap source of draw/dig. This is the best replacement for Probe we've seen yet (I am guessing.)

[mistercakes]

prior to this card, i'm really happy with 4 reforge maindeck and 0 in the sb. this was an improvement to the deck which can be credited to JosefK. with this new card, it may not be needed.

a lot of testing will be needed to determine what the appropriate numbers of reforge and LutS are. I do like that LutS really pushes the deck to play LED more than before.

i haven't really missed having reforge in the sb, but am fine with playing one in the sb. unfortunately there really isn't a good replacement for probe, as it was a good card for the deck.

time will tell, i don't like playing guttersnipe main, but am willing to try it out. it tends to be a lot better once opponents have sided out their removal.

[vieko]

prior to this card, i'm really happy with 4 reforge maindeck and 0 in the sb. this was an improvement to the deck which can be credited to JosefK. with this new card, it may not be needed.

a lot of testing will be needed to determine what the appropriate numbers of reforge and LutS are. I do like that LutS really pushes the deck to play LED more than before.

i haven't really missed having reforge in the sb, but am fine with playing one in the sb. unfortunately there really isn't a good replacement for probe, as it was a good card for the deck.

time will tell, i don't like playing guttersnipe main, but am willing to try it out. it tends to be a lot better once opponents have sided out their removal.

But Cakes... let's watch Ravnica burn one soul at a time ;)

[mistercakes]

got to play this week at my local and went with the same list.

went 2-2.

2-0 burn (got to bolt an eidolon game 1 which felt sweet)
1-2 miracles (g1 i drew 7 lands and never hit enough threats). g2 he mulled to death. g3 was close.
1-2 bug delver (won g1 with a weird miracled wheel on turn 2. g2&3, delver goyf counter backup draws. g2 also had hymn) g3 if i had drawn a ruby or seething song i would have won, but couldn't generate enough mana due to siding out LED's and not drawing more gas. pif was a bit clunky with 3 AoI's that game.
2-0 aggro loam (mostly goldfished, bad matchup for loam player)

thoughts: deck was still very good, but i didn't sideboard properly vs delver. miracles matchup was fine and unfortunately he just had enough counters to pull through.

new card: new card does seem very good, i'm pretty torn between keeping the reforges or not. it's really meta dependent, but the new card [card]light up the stage[/cards] is very good. i will end up playing 3-4. i will likely start playing hope of ghirapur now with it, as attacking for 1 and turning on LutS is pretty crazy.

i think this is what i'd run after light up the stage:

// 61 Maindeck
// 12 Artifact
4 Lotus Petal
4 Ruby Medallion
4 Lion's Eye Diamond

// 11 Instant
4 Manamorphose
4 Seething Song
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Desperate Ritual

// 14 Land
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Sandstone Needle
6 Mountain

// 24 Sorcery
3 Rite of Flame
4 Burning Wish
2 Past in Flames
4 Bonus Round
4 Act on Impulse
4 Light up the Stage
3 Reforge the Soul


// 15 Sideboard
// 6 Creature
SB: 3 Hope of Ghirapur
SB: 3 Guttersnipe

// 9 Sorcery
SB: 1 Tendrils of Agony
SB: 1 Grapeshot
SB: 1 Empty the Warrens
SB: 1 Past in Flames
SB: 1 Fiery Confluence
SB: 1 Hazoret's Undying Fury
SB: 1 Rite of Flame
SB: 1 By Force
SB: 1 Reforge the Soul

still tempted to fit in the scroll rack.

[Mr. Safety]

How has the 4 Sandstone Needle affected your starts? Have you gotten it Wasteland-ed before tapping for mana?

[mistercakes]

yes, it has been wastelanded. it's well worth it. in hands where that would cost you the game, would you rather play city of traitors?

mountain is a fine replacement, but sometimes very challenging to get enough red for bonus round. i've really enjoyed it in the matchups where you need to play draw go.

[ReAnimator]

Is it worth re discussing Firebrand Archer vs Guttersnipe again?
The reason being that attacking with a Firebrand on turn 2 or 3 seems more likely to happen, cause of it's cheaper cost. So turning on the LutS early just for value might be worth something. Like sure most of the time you would just be triggering the pinging first, but this is a situation where you wouldn't need to commit extra spells first, which is something.

Totally possible that just only pinging for 1 is too much of a downside. I don't have enough experience playing with Snipes to know if storm 10 vs 20 is actually a big deal for this or not. IF it's not, that cost difference in mana might be worth it.
There is also the super minor upside of firebrand being able to ping off of artifacts being cast but that's pretty negligible, except in the early turns where you could say cast an archer, lay down an LED for a ping to get LutS off for one mana which compared to snipe is going to save at least a couple of mana.

[mistercakes]

Vieko has tried it a bunch, I think he can speak to it.

[vieko]

Vieko has tried it a bunch, I think he can speak to it.

1R 2/1 Archer:
- Petal, LED, Medallion, Instant, Sorcery will trigger and burn for 1
- Some fun lines with her when holding artifacts in hand!

2R 2/2 Snipe:
- Instant, Sorcery will trigger and burn for 2
- I've always, always, always been a fan of 3/4MB Snipes



For the record, this is what I'm going with ASA Light Up the Stage comes to MTGO:


RUBY STORM 10.2

14 LAND
12 Mountain
2 City of Traitors

8 MANA
4 Lotus Petal
4 Lion's Eye Diamond

8 RITUAL
4 Rite of Flame
4 Seething Song

6/8 DAMAGE
3/4 Guttersnipe
3/4 Firebrand Archer

8 EXILE / PLAY
4 Act on Impulse
4 Light the Stage

4 TUTOR
4 Burning Wish

4 REDUCTION
4 Ruby Medallion

4 MANA / DRAW
4 Manamorphose

1/3 COPY / STORM
1/3 Empty the Warrens

1 FLASHBACK
1 Past in Flames


SIDEBOARD
3 Scab-Clan Berserker
3 Hope of Ghirapur
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 By Force
1 Grapeshot
1 Pyroclasm
1 Past in Flames
1 Goblin War Strike
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Tendrils of Agony

[JosefK]

I'm pretty sure LutS does not make the cut in my version. Feels worse than both brainstorm and ponder, and even preordain.
I did try goldfishing both mistercakes and viekos lists, and i do like that unlike act on impulse you can just fire off LutS without floating mana. But i still feel like the card is kind of clunky sometimes. Had situations where i floated 2 red mana and a led in play and cast AoI, revealing land seething song and LutS. Tried going for it and just fizzled out.
In Viekos list the card felt great, and i would probably play like 12 of them in that deck if i could, but i'm not a big fan of the guttersnipes/archers overall.

And i must ask @Vieko, what is in your opinion the average goldfish turn of your version? I did 5 goldfishes right now, won turn 5, 4, 4, 3, 5. I know that speed is not everything and goldfishing seldom matters vs most of the field, but the way the games felt was mostly:
T1 do nothing
T2 play creature
T3 try something, dealing some damage but not enough.
T4 end the game with PiF, or just chain enough spells

What frightens me is that vs a real opponent they have time to bolt/plow/decay/Kcommand the creature, or just win. It might just be my inexperience tho.

Just for reference, 5 games with mistercakes lists went 3-3-2-2-2, with my list 3-2-3-1-2. I kind of fell in love with sandstone needle, at least when goldfishing :) Might need to squeeze some in.

[mistercakes]

Woohoo sandstone love.

[vieko]

JosefK: I'm thinking 3/3 our 4/2 is the split for Archer/Snipe respectively and 3x Empty MB – less fizzle this way and (still) enough constant damage. Maybe X Archers, X Bolts and 2x Empty is worth considering. I like playing less like TES and more like ANT / Station: take your time, load the "hand" and only get aggressive if you have to (vs. combos) or if I get the nuts. If you can setup Medallions, do so. If you can get opponents to burn counters, great. With LUTS you get to load your card selection for next turn which was always a line I took with Commune when Cakes and I were testing it. Just gotta get those reps in!

I'm pretty sure LutS does not make the cut in my version. Feels worse than both brainstorm and ponder, and even preordain.
I did try goldfishing both mistercakes and viekos lists, and i do like that unlike act on impulse you can just fire off LutS without floating mana. But i still feel like the card is kind of clunky sometimes. Had situations where i floated 2 red mana and a led in play and cast AoI, revealing land seething song and LutS. Tried going for it and just fizzled out.
In Viekos list the card felt great, and i would probably play like 12 of them in that deck if i could, but i'm not a big fan of the guttersnipes/archers overall.

And i must ask @Vieko, what is in your opinion the average goldfish turn of your version? I did 5 goldfishes right now, won turn 5, 4, 4, 3, 5. I know that speed is not everything and goldfishing seldom matters vs most of the field, but the way the games felt was mostly:
T1 do nothing
T2 play creature
T3 try something, dealing some damage but not enough.
T4 end the game with PiF, or just chain enough spells

What frightens me is that vs a real opponent they have time to bolt/plow/decay/Kcommand the creature, or just win. It might just be my inexperience tho.

Just for reference, 5 games with mistercakes lists went 3-3-2-2-2, with my list 3-2-3-1-2. I kind of fell in love with sandstone needle, at least when goldfishing :) Might need to squeeze some in.

[mistercakes]

latest goldfishing version in prep:

// 60 Maindeck
// 12 Artifact
4 Lotus Petal
4 Ruby Medallion
4 Lion's Eye Diamond

// 9 Instant
4 Manamorphose
4 Seething Song
1 Lightning Bolt

// 14 Land
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Sandstone Needle
6 Mountain

// 25 Sorcery
3 Rite of Flame
4 Burning Wish
2 Past in Flames
4 Bonus Round
4 Act on Impulse
4 Light up the Stage
4 Reforge the Soul


// 15 Sideboard
// 6 Creature
SB: 3 Hope of Ghirapur
SB: 3 Guttersnipe

// 9 Sorcery
SB: 1 Tendrils of Agony
SB: 1 Grapeshot
SB: 1 Empty the Warrens
SB: 1 Past in Flames
SB: 1 Fiery Confluence
SB: 1 Hazoret's Undying Fury
SB: 1 Rite of Flame
SB: 1 By Force
SB: 1 Reforge the Soul

[Neo900]

Hello everybody,
I'm new to the deck and played so far on Xmage and have nearly everything for the deck.
Yesterday I hosted a FNM and played the following list with a score of 0-3

Deck: Red Storm

//Main
4 Act on Impulse
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Bonus Round
4 Burning Wish
2 Desperate Ritual
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Hazoret's Undying Fury
2 Helm of Awakening
4 Lotus Petal
4 Manamorphose
5 Mountain
1 Overmaster
3 Past in Flames
3 Reforge the Soul
4 Rite of Flame
4 Ruby Medallion
4 Seething Song
2 Simian Spirit Guide
5 Snow-Covered Mountain

//Sideboard
2 By Force
1 Cave-In
3 Defense Grid
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Firespout
1 Grapeshot
1 Past in Flames
1 Reforge the Soul
2 Silent Gravestone
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Tormod's Crypt

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It was quite fun if I could combo off.
I lost against Aggro Loam, Grixis Control and Big Eldrazi.
The worst card was Simian Spirit Guide. Flipping Spirit Guide in Act on Impulse lost everytime.
I hope to get some ideas and help from long term players.
My favorite card is Bonus Round. An active Bonus Round is quite often the win.
I'm also unsure about my Side/Wish Board. Reforge the Soul doesn't seem so good, perhabs I want another Fury.

[JosefK]

Well i don't really have much advise to give other than what's already in the thread :) But some thoughts
Act on impulse and lion's eye diamond are friends that i would not separate :)
1 overmaster feels really random.
I feel like helm of awakening is to dangerous.
I think if you have decided on running mono-red, you should play sandstone needle.
Definitely play 4 Desperate ritual before adding spirit guides if running bonus round.
Both cave in and firespout in sideboard seems a bit overkill.
And finally, splash blue :D (but it seems i'm the only one doing that)