[Deck] Cats and Dogs

[xsockmonkeyx]

Ok here you go:


// NAME: Cats and Dogs (R/w Sligh/Burn)

// Lands
1 [TSP] Plains (1)
3 [ON] Windswept Heath
3 [CHK] Mountain (4)
3 [RAV] Sacred Foundry
4 [ON] Wooded Foothills
4 [B] Plateau

// Creatures
4 [CS] Jotun Grunt
4 [TE] Jackal Pup
4 [A] Savannah Lions
4 [CHK] Isamaru, Hound of Konda

// Spells
4 [B] Lightning Bolt
4 [RAV] Lightning Helix
4 [LG] Chain Lightning
4 [FD] Magma Jet
3 [TSP] Rift Bolt
3 [VI] Fireblast
4 [CHK] Lava Spike


This is primarily a burn deck with puppies and kittens to reinforce/push your clock. Typically you drop weenies on the first couple of turns and use burn to push them through. After you reach an impasse because your opponent just got threshold or enough blockers in place or whatever, you procede to burn the dome or drop jotun grunt and try to push some more damage through. Against combo obviously you just smash face.

The deck is very fast but suffers from consistency issues much like burn and sligh. Right now Im trying to work Fireblast into the deck, however, this means a heavy commitment to duals and vulnerability to lando. It may end up being dropped in favor of stability.

Card choices:

MANA
Windswept Heath/ Wooded Foothills – fetches fix your colored mana requirements and feed your giant. Right now Ive got 7 but that number may increase
Plateau - counts as a mountain and produces white mana – yeehaw!!
Sacred Foundry – same as above only crappy.
Chrome Mox – sucks

PETS
Jackal Pup – Woof!
Savannah Lions – Meow!
Isamaru, Hound of Konda – Grrr!

Your cats and dogs apply early pressure which you can later back up with your burn. Dropping 1 on turn 1 and 2 on turn 2 is sick. Ive had games where ive got 4 puppies and kittens staring my opponent down on turn 2 but those are god draws. Ive tested Goblin Cadets but they were too impressive.

Jotun Grunt – BFG? No. BFF. Fills out the much needed 2 mana drop with style. Has some synergy with burn spells and fetches (fill your library back up with burn). But the game usually doesn’t get to that point. The main thing is that he smashes face at a bargain price.

BURN!!!
Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning/Lava Spike – your basic 3 for ones. For now Im not sold on Rift Bolt in this deck as you already have topdeck issues due to your weenies. Rift Bolt also competes for your early resources when you want to be churning out your weenies.

Lightning Helix – A 6 point swing for 2 mana. Yay! Color issues come up but this spell is often worth it. The life gain is not insignificant. Could be Flame Rift if you are bold.
Magma Jet – not as impressive damage to mana wise, but certainly necessary to smooth out your draws.
Fireblast – still trying to make this work but potentially is a huge asset to your strategy.



Cards to consider: Wasteland, Goblin Cadets, Lotus Petal, Simian Spirit Guide, Rift Bolt, Flame Rift, Swords to Plow, and probably a lot of others.


Still needs work but there is some potential there. Its really fun to play if nothing else.

ROAR!!!!!!

[Kokusho17]

take out lava spike and add STP you cant go wrong with STP plus with the fast creatures and burn you dont need to worry about the minimal life gain your opponents get. also dont run Fireblast your mana base cant support it run Rift Bolt instead, I ran into the same problem with Boros Angel Stompy.

[Tacosnape]

STP is moronic to maindeck in this deck. It's a burn-style deck. Giving your opponent life is not a good thing to do.

Sockmonkey, don't you think your manabase is a little bit on the ridiculously high side? You've got 24 Mana Sources in a deck where no spell costs more than 2 to play and over half of them cost 1 or less.

I might also recommend Baubles to you. I used to run a deck called Plant Smash (Still do on occasion) that broke the ridiculous synergy between Baubles, Burn Spells, Fetchlands, and Jotun Grunt (It also ran Vinelasher Kudzu and Dark Confidant, but I digress.)

[Meekrab]

Sockmonkey, don't you think your manabase is a little bit on the ridiculously high side? You've got 24 Mana Sources in a deck where no spell costs more than 2 to play and over half of them cost 1 or less.
Agreed, and I think you'd be better off playing Mox Diamond over Chrome in this deck, because you don't want to be imprinting business spells in a deck that's designed pretty much solely to do 20 damage. Plus, Diamond taps for both colors, letting you be a bit more bold in saccing Plateaus and the Shocklands to Fireblast.

[xsockmonkeyx]

STP is moronic to maindeck in this deck. It's a burn-style deck. Giving your opponent life is not a good thing to do.

Sockmonkey, don't you think your manabase is a little bit on the ridiculously high side? You've got 24 Mana Sources in a deck where no spell costs more than 2 to play and over half of them cost 1 or less.

I might also recommend Baubles to you.

Actually, there are 22, but who is counting? :tongue: Anyway, it does seem/feel excessive but some times its necessary as you are aiming for the turn 4 kill. This usually involves making 3 drops in those 4 turns.

Baubles seem like a decent idea if they prove to solve consistancy issues. Magma Jet is great, but its not enough.

[Volt]

Bark bark meow bark woof.

This is one of those decks that's kind of embarrassing to lose to. And I have lost to it. More than once. Btw, weren't you running Brute Force? Did they turn out to be dead cards too often?

Not sure about Magma Jet, since this deck makes absolutely no pretense of trying to survive past the first 5 turns of the game. Not precisely sure what to replace it with, but just sayin.

I wouldn't bother with the singleton Plains, as I'm sure there are many times when it just gets in the way. Nothing sucks more than being a Fireblast away from winning the game, and having 1 Mountain + 1 Plains. Just replace it with another Foundry.

[Tacosnape]

Actually, there are 22, but who is counting?

Apparently not me. 22's still a little high for me here, but I'd have probably kept my mouth shut if I could do math.:cool:

I've ordinarily never been much for this card, but what about Flame Rift? It seems to me like against most every deck in existence you're going to be quicker dealing damage for the first few turns, then run out of steam if they manage to pick off your creatures.

[xsockmonkeyx]

Bark bark meow bark woof.

Btw, weren't you running Brute Force? Did they turn out to be dead cards too often?

Yup, they are pretty much dead/win more card.


Not sure about Magma Jet, since this deck makes absolutely no pretense of trying to survive past the first 5 turns of the game. Not precisely sure what to replace it with, but just sayin.

:/ This is sad but true. If you play a Magma Jet you have just conceded the 4th turn kill. It makes turn 5-6 kills a breeze, however, turn 5-6 kills suck ass. Flame Rift might be warranted.


This is one of those decks that's kind of embarrassing to lose to. And I have lost to it. More than once.

Nelson Muntz points and says, "Ha, ha.":laugh:

[Zilla]

dont run Fireblast your mana base cant support it ... I ran into the same problem with Boros Angel Stompy.
Angel Stompy needs WW for Knight and Angel. Every land in this deck except one is a Mountain. The two manabases aren't even comparable. You should be able to support Fireblast just fine here.



Not sure about Magma Jet, since this deck makes absolutely no pretense of trying to survive past the first 5 turns of the game. Not precisely sure what to replace it with, but just sayin.

Jet is good on turn 2. It filters your draws in the early game and finds you your best finishers for any situation. Behind Bolt and Fireblast it's the best burn spell ever printed.

[Volt]

Angel Stompy needs WW for Knight and Angel. Every land in this deck except one is a Mountain. The two manabases aren't even comparable. You should be able to support Fireblast just fine here.


Jet is good on turn 2. It filters your draws in the early game and finds you your best finishers for any situation. Behind Bolt and Fireblast it's the best burn spell ever printed.
Well, I think you could probably fill up a thread on the topic of exactly where Magma Jet ranks in the hierarchy of burn spells. I recently mentioned in another forum that I thought MJ was the 3rd best burn spell ever printed (after Lightning Bolt & Fireblast). People basically e-laughed in my e-face. The thing is that this deck has absolutely no hopes or illusions of having any sort of midgame, let alone late game. I think casting a Magma Jet on turn 2 pretty much means you're going to lose.

[Eldariel]

Magma Jet isn't run even in Extended Boros and the burn quality is worlds worse there. The fact that it doesn't deal 3 is just huge. You were looking for a spot for those Fireblasts. I think you may have found it.

[Zilla]

Magma Jet isn't run even in Extended Boros and the burn quality is worlds worse there. The fact that it doesn't deal 3 is just huge. You were looking for a spot for those Fireblasts. I think you may have found it.
The list already has Fireblasts in it. Magma Jet digs you into business spells. Fireblast in particular. Not topdecking lands or creatures on the turn you should be winning the game is huge. If you've played a lot of Burn (which this deck resembles far more than BDW), you know how often the game comes down to: "if I draw a burn spell next turn, I win." Magma Jet helps make this happen.

Furthermore, it should be noted that Magma Jet is stellar against combo because it helps draw you into hate, which you're almost certainly going to need in order to win.

[dahcmai]

I highly recommend Hearth Kami in the board at the least. He doesn't bark or meow, but he does say wtfever to Chalice at one which probably is very annoying to you.

[xsockmonkeyx]

@ Everyone. Please dont make suggestions based on R/W "deck X" runs this or doesnt run that. This deck is not BDW(Legacy or Extended), W/R Angel Stompy, etc. This deck is most closely related to Burn so if you want to draw comparisons with that deck then go right ahead.

Hearth Kami is pretty decent out of the side to fight Chalice @1. Any suggestions on fighting combo?

[Illissius]

I like the idea, and the name as well. I'd cut the Moxen -- with your spells costing so little, you'll play them out very quickly, and Moxen will just make you run out of gas faster. You could consider Reckless Charge as a substitute, if you don't worry about getting two-for-oned (which, from playing Chrome Mox, I assume you don't). This is especially good with Jotun Grunt. I'd also try to fit in Mogg Fanatics somehow, probably over the Lava Spikes, which would also give you more creatures to Charge.

Against combo, Pyrostatic Pillar is obvious. Don't know what else; Orim's Chant?

[xsockmonkeyx]

The moxen suck.

Like you said Pillar is obvious. Im not so sure about Chant/Abeyance though, they dont seem in flavor. Maybe something like Sirocco?