morgan_coke
04-22-2007, 08:54 PM
Ok, first off just to warn everyone, this is an extended port-ish. and its only tuned to beat the big three, which it does in every case, though threshold is only slightly over 50% and very draw dependent.
Creatures
4x Wall of Blossoms
3x Darkheart Sliver
3x Ravenous Baloth
Mana Creatures
4x Birds of Paradise
2x Yavimaya Elder
Recursion
1x Genesis
2x Eternal Witness
1x Volrath's Stronghold
Removal
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Pyroclasm
Draw
4x Harmonize
2x Diabolic Intent
Discard
4x Cabal Therapy
Lands
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Bayou
1x Taiga
1x Badlands
6x Forest
3x Swamp
1x Mountain
Sideboard
3x Ancient Grudge
4x Headhunter
4x Hymn to Tourach
3x Tormod's Crypt
1x Stronghold Assassin
Goblins is a very positive matchup for you. You usually won't be able to stop lackey from attacking on the draw, but the fact that you can pyrocalsm him and whoever he fetched out kinda makes up for that. The Darkhearts are what really turn the goblin matchup around though, that card as absolutely amazing, its like having a bunch of extra baloths that come down on a relevant turn and don't die to fanatic. The walls also do a great job of slowing down their attacks/damage while digging you deeper into your library. The extremely resilient manabase (10 basics!) also helps out a lot in the goblins matchup. There really isn't any need to sideboard here as the deck is basically pre-boarded for goblins already. matron is the card you really, really want to hit with therapy here, followed by ringleader, then warchief.
Solidarity is almost an auto-loss game one, which is the price you pay for pre-boarding against goblins. Games 2 and 3 however, look a lot better. pulling the Intents, Pyroclasms, and two Bolts for four Headhunters and four Hymns really does wonders. Remand is always the first card I've been naming with Therapy, since it basically timewalks you and prevents your discard from resolving. Headhunter is picked over Hypnotic because you really just want to empty their hand as fast as possible and then keep it empty. Headhunter comes down earlier than Hypnotic. Just hit them with discard and keep it coming and i've found that post board is very heavily (70%) in your favor.
Threshold is very draw dependent, and mystic enforcer is a huge problem if it comes down, since your only out against it is 2x bolt, or race/genesis recursion with birds. Overall though, slightly in your favor, moreso the longer the game goes.
While the deck does play very well against the big three, and except against solidarity needs little to no sideboarding, it does have some absolutely glaring weaknesses against every deck not in the big three. the ancient grudges and crypts are nice against a lot of the field, and the assassin helps to cover against random critter.dec, but really, any form of faerie or angel stompy absolutely owns this deck, as all of your removal is red damage based, and therefore sucks against things with pro:red or high toughness. the deck is also exceptionally weak against things that fly.
I'd love to hear suggestions on how to improve the tier 2/3 matchups, since none of them are particularly close to good right now, but i'd also like to do that without sacrificing the edge the deck has against the big three. all thoughts/suggestions appreciated.
Creatures
4x Wall of Blossoms
3x Darkheart Sliver
3x Ravenous Baloth
Mana Creatures
4x Birds of Paradise
2x Yavimaya Elder
Recursion
1x Genesis
2x Eternal Witness
1x Volrath's Stronghold
Removal
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Pyroclasm
Draw
4x Harmonize
2x Diabolic Intent
Discard
4x Cabal Therapy
Lands
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Bayou
1x Taiga
1x Badlands
6x Forest
3x Swamp
1x Mountain
Sideboard
3x Ancient Grudge
4x Headhunter
4x Hymn to Tourach
3x Tormod's Crypt
1x Stronghold Assassin
Goblins is a very positive matchup for you. You usually won't be able to stop lackey from attacking on the draw, but the fact that you can pyrocalsm him and whoever he fetched out kinda makes up for that. The Darkhearts are what really turn the goblin matchup around though, that card as absolutely amazing, its like having a bunch of extra baloths that come down on a relevant turn and don't die to fanatic. The walls also do a great job of slowing down their attacks/damage while digging you deeper into your library. The extremely resilient manabase (10 basics!) also helps out a lot in the goblins matchup. There really isn't any need to sideboard here as the deck is basically pre-boarded for goblins already. matron is the card you really, really want to hit with therapy here, followed by ringleader, then warchief.
Solidarity is almost an auto-loss game one, which is the price you pay for pre-boarding against goblins. Games 2 and 3 however, look a lot better. pulling the Intents, Pyroclasms, and two Bolts for four Headhunters and four Hymns really does wonders. Remand is always the first card I've been naming with Therapy, since it basically timewalks you and prevents your discard from resolving. Headhunter is picked over Hypnotic because you really just want to empty their hand as fast as possible and then keep it empty. Headhunter comes down earlier than Hypnotic. Just hit them with discard and keep it coming and i've found that post board is very heavily (70%) in your favor.
Threshold is very draw dependent, and mystic enforcer is a huge problem if it comes down, since your only out against it is 2x bolt, or race/genesis recursion with birds. Overall though, slightly in your favor, moreso the longer the game goes.
While the deck does play very well against the big three, and except against solidarity needs little to no sideboarding, it does have some absolutely glaring weaknesses against every deck not in the big three. the ancient grudges and crypts are nice against a lot of the field, and the assassin helps to cover against random critter.dec, but really, any form of faerie or angel stompy absolutely owns this deck, as all of your removal is red damage based, and therefore sucks against things with pro:red or high toughness. the deck is also exceptionally weak against things that fly.
I'd love to hear suggestions on how to improve the tier 2/3 matchups, since none of them are particularly close to good right now, but i'd also like to do that without sacrificing the edge the deck has against the big three. all thoughts/suggestions appreciated.