Punishing RUG by Caleb Durward

[Fr_Apo]

So I wondered if that new Punishing RUG control deck from Caleb Durward could be good enough. I liked the idea and the unsusual cards but I'm not so sure about it since he only finished 234th.
Here is the link to the list and decktech :
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/coverage/deck_tech_punishing_rug_with_c.html

Also comments below aren't very nice to the choices, so I figured I'd gather some additional opinions before working on it.
What do you all think ?

[Barook]

Well, he did perform very bad with it.

Take that as a hint.

[Einherjer]

I'd post it here: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?18865-Deck-Next-Level-Threshold/page23

That's the thread for Midrange/Control RUG-decks.

Greetings

[CalebD]

Well, he did perform very bad with it.

Take that as a hint.

I mean, I faced seven copies of Rest in Peace in two rounds with my Punishing Fires/Loam/Tarmogoyf deck. Sometimes you just have a bad tournament and there's nothing you can do. Shrug.

To answer the OP, the deck is very good against stuff like BUG and Esper Blade, but it's weak to RIP (though strong vs most GY hate) and tempo decks. I would move the second EE to the MD or try a second Grip in the side.

[The Treefolk Master]

I mean, I faced seven copies of Rest in Peace in two rounds with my Punishing Fires/Loam/Tarmogoyf deck. Sometimes you just have a bad tournament and there's nothing you can do. Shrug.

To answer the OP, the deck is very good against stuff like BUG and Esper Blade, but it's weak to RIP (though strong vs most GY hate) and tempo decks. I would move the second EE to the MD or try a second Grip in the side.

What about Jund? You have better card selection, so you can find Loam/Fires faster, but a single resolved Tarmogoyf can be hard to deal with.

Would you recommend the deck moving forward (even if this included slight tweaks), or would you dismiss the idea altogether?

[Tao]

I had tried a Punishing RUG deck before, too, though mine was more controlling.

http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?25421-RUG-Control

It wasn't really "finished" though and in retrospect it should probably play 4 Goyfs and a few Cliques main instead of the threats that I chose.

What I learned is that Izzet Charm is amazing in this type of deck. Shock and Spell Pierce are still useful at two Mana and the Looting goes well with both Punishing Fire and Loam. Also it is blue for FoW.

[The Treefolk Master]

I was brainstorming (no pun intended), and came up with the following list:

4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Tropical Island
3 Volcanic Island
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Wasteland
1 Academy Ruins
1 Island

4 Tarmogoyf
2 Vendlion Clique
1 Venser, Shaper Savant

4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Punishing Fire
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Ponder
3 Spell Snare
2 Spell Pierce
1 Intuition
1 Life from the Loam
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

The list is still rough, but I would appreciate any ideas. The sideboard will probably contain some (3-4) number of REB and Flusterstorm, in addition to another Venser, Submerge, Krosan Grip, some form of graveyard hate (Tormod's Crypt is an awesome singleton with intuition).

The numbers on Pierce and Snare could be switched; the 3 off snare is a concession to Goyf and Rest in Peace (Pierce is less reliable late game against the latter).

The most glaring omission is Snapcaster, but I'm not sure he's worth it in a P. Fire shell; I could be (very) wrong though.

Thoughts?

EDIT:

Here's a posible sideboard:

3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Flusterstorm
2 Krosan Grip
2 Submerge
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Blue Elemental Blast

[monovfox]

I mean, I faced seven copies of Rest in Peace in two rounds with my Punishing Fires/Loam/Tarmogoyf deck. Sometimes you just have a bad tournament and there's nothing you can do. Shrug.

To answer the OP, the deck is very good against stuff like BUG and Esper Blade, but it's weak to RIP (though strong vs most GY hate) and tempo decks. I would move the second EE to the MD or try a second Grip in the side.

But why play augur? That's what kinda threw me off guard.

[Final Fortune]

The Timmy in me really wants Punishing Fires to be good with Young Pyromancer in a more "grow" style RUG.

[Squirrel]

The new spoilered Swan Song seems to be really good in this Deck, Countering Rest in Pieces and getting it's drawback handled with Fires.

What do you think?

Edit: And Hours later i read an article where Song is adressed. By Caleb Durward. Epic Ninja :)