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Mictlantecuhtli
05-20-2009, 05:41 AM
Although i don't play standard, someone at our local FNM kindly offered to lend me a deck for the National Qualifier next Sunday (that's like Regionals in the US), and not having any other plans for the weekend, i accepted his offer.

The deck is Rgb Aggro with Bloodbraid Elf which is a fun card to play. Now, looking at recent Regionals top 8 decks and from what i was told at the FNM, i realise Rgb Aggro doesn't really have much of a chance in the current Standard enviroment, but oh well, i really don't mind playing Magic for a few hours on Sunday so i'll just try to burn some people and hope for the best.

The list is below and i would appreciate any comments and suggestions (i obviously don't have access to several Stardard cards but i can try and arrange something just before the tournament).

Land:
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Auntie's Hovel
3 Fire-lit Thicket
3 Graven Cairns
3 Savage Lands
7 Mountain

Creatures:
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Anathemancer
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Hell's Thunder

Burn:
4 Incinerate
4 Flame Javelin

Sideboard:
4 Magma Spray (for Finks and the mirror)
3 Maelstron Pulse
2 Everlasting Torment (for white decks with damage prevention)
2 Infest
2 Volcanic Fallout
2 Chaotic Backlash

Is Hell's Thunder worth the slot? They would normally be Demigods but i haven't any. I do like the 4 damage for 3 mana with the option of bringing it back later in the game, but i can also swap it for Maelstrom Pulse, Fallout, etc.

Does that sideboard look any good?

Thanks in advance.

Carabas
05-20-2009, 06:26 AM
I'd get rid of the fanatic and the two elementals, for some sweepers, pulses, and putrid leeches. In the current meta, 2-3 maindeck sweepers is mandatory for RGB, and with access to jund charm, fallout, and infest, I'd run 7 between main and side. It's the best way to beat tokens. I'd also consider a more permanent fatty, such as Chameleon Colossus, Cloudthresher, and so on. If you can find something with trample, that's even better.

Current standard meta has a lot of red/white control (with lots of tokens), black/white tokens, green/white tokens, and so on. Lots of chump blockers, and sweepers are a good way to deal with them. Pulses are also good at this, but more importantly can take out annoying planeswalkers, opposing bitterblossoms, and effects that pump opposing tokens.

TheCramp
05-20-2009, 07:52 AM
I have also found myself playing standard of late, and I agree with Carabas, putrid leach is the bomb. You will see Spectral Processions, so I would main board the Pulses over the thunders. Likewise magma jet over fanatic. It's not even bad flipped off a Bloodbraid as long as its hitting a finks. I'm not sure what I think of hellspark.

Check out this deck that came in 2nd at german nationals. very close to your build, but a little more metagamed for whats going on right now:

http://www.deckcheck.net/deck.php?id=25788

TheCramp
05-20-2009, 12:14 PM
it should be said that blightning, which is 4 of in that deck, is really bad vs. GW. Giving them Lieges is super bad. It is pretty dead in that match up. You may want to side them, or drop them. A lot of people are planing on you not playing it for that reason, and play right into it. .

Mictlantecuhtli
05-20-2009, 02:08 PM
Thanks for the comments! I sketched a couple of alternative lists considering what you have said. Three Maelstrom Pulses will be maindeck for sure - and i'll try to get some Leeches and Charms before the tourney.

Blightning will likely stay out of consideration. I played an unfinished version of the deck the other day at the FNM and felt it didn't do enough as i often found it sitting on my hand waiting for the right time to cast it when i actually wanted to be dealing damage. And the Liege thing is another problem: i don't want to rely on my opponents making mistakes to make Blightning good. So maybe in sideboard but maybe not.

Also, i noticed that most Rgb aggro decks in deckcheck did not run Flame Javelin - surely because sweepers are also a better choice for those slots, as yous have already pointed out.

TheCramp
05-20-2009, 02:37 PM
I would check those decks again, it may be that they are running treetop, or curving out twords BG rather than red, because javelin is fucking dope. If you use it and shrikmaw as removal, you have a much clearer Idea about what your cascading into (often sweepers, so it dosn't reduce the cascade into sweeper occurrence.) It kills Liege, Garruk, Rafiq, Both Ajanis, Colossus (!), Clique, Dragon, Plumevale as well as everything fallout and incinarate address. It's not a blowout card, or very sexy at all, but if your mana base supports it, it's good. Keep in mind that persecution "counters" sweepers in BW, so sometimes you just need to eliminate Ajani, or dome them. With all your haste 4 to the dome means a lot more.

Also, goblin outlander is super sexy. Mos Def run him if you run Jund Charm. Many decks can not deal with a 4/4 pro white dork.

Mictlantecuhtli
05-20-2009, 04:20 PM
That's really helpful, thanks. This is where i'm at:

Land:
4 Karplusan Forest
4 Auntie's Hovel
3 Fire-lit Thicket
3 Graven Cairns
3 Savage Lands
7 Mountain

Creatures:
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Goblin Outlander
3 Putrid Leech
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Anathemancer
4 Bloodbraid Elf

Burn:
4 Incinerate
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Jund Charm
2 Flame Javelin
2 Magma Spray

Open:
1 Bituminous Blast? Fat creature? 3rd Charm/Javelin?

Sideboard:
2 Magma Spray
3 Everlasting Torment
2 Infest
2 Volcanic Fallout
2 Chaotic Backlash
2 Deathmark
2 Open...

I'm a few cards short of that list but apart from one rare (Karplusan Forest) they should be easy to get on the day (Leech, Outlander, Charm).

Edit: Sean McKeown at SCG suggested Broodmate Dragon on the sideboard (to assume the control role in the aggro mirror): something to consider or bullocks?

TheCramp
05-20-2009, 05:35 PM
I think broodmate is your go to in the fatty slot. with 24 lands, I think you can support it. A lot of what people side in against you, fallout, infest, achives fuck all vs. dragon. I'm not so sure about sideboard cards that come on line T6, but it fucking kills people, that's for sure. I love Broodmate, I wish it was legacy playable, I really do. (Their may be a Orcish Lumberjack deck in my future, no joke...) So I don't think its a bad call. That's something I would want to test a lot, It might be the right idea, but I want to know why. You can't go wrong with another Jund charm. Fucks up opposing Anathmancers when they are at their most dangerous, people still playing revalark, others I'm not thinking of...

Mictlantecuhtli
05-25-2009, 06:03 AM
Well, thanks for your help again - the deck improved quite a lot since the original list. I went 4-2, one win shy of qualifying to Nationals :(

The matches i won were against tokens (WB and WR) and the mirror; i lost a mirror and a WGB Doran deck with lots of fatties. In the end i could never put my hands on Goblin Outlanders so i had to go with two Hellspark Elementals. I also squeezed three Broodmate Dragons and three Magma Spray maindeck and they were excellent and gave me sideboard space for Thought Hemorrhage (which i ended up not using anyway).