[Report] Team Calosso storms Stratford!!

[Parcher]

Apparently Brian Diefendorf top 2ed with a survival varient, and Parcher Top 8ed with some random Red chalice aggro deck(awful pile).
That is all I know.


What is Team Calosso, you ask? Team Calosso was formed some time ago with the great Calosso Fuentes taking myself, GRAH, and Elventitz under his majestic wings. Our original name was Team Mongoloid, but GRAH was concerned about offending so we deferred to our fearless leader for a namesake.

Several months ago I asked The Guardian of The Source, "What should I play at The Mana Leak?" He sagely replied, "Red. But not Joblins. Only I can play Joblins, dumbass." So I began work on a non-Joblins Red deck. It took some time, but this is the awful pile I finally settled on.

4 Ancient Tomb
4 City Of Traitors
10 Snow-Covered Mountain

4 Arc-Slogger
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Gathan Raiders
3 Sulfur Elemental
2 Rakdos Pit-Dragon

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Trinisphere
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Seething Song

2 Demonfire

Sideboard

4 Pyrokenisis
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Blood Moon
2 Icefall
1 Trinisphere
1 Sulfur Elemental
1 Rakdos Pit-Dragon

Unfortunately, Lord Calosso was unable to accompany us on our journey. It seems that his Day Two ratio at Grand Prix had dropped to an unaceptable level for a member of Team Calosso. Being an honorable man, he summarily kicked himself off the team, and promised to say a prayer for us.

The Hatfields along with Machinus, were kind enough to pick us up on their way to Stratford. Jesse and I enjoyed many hours of tormenting Chris with arguments over Semantics, Economics, and Pedophillia. We arrived at Ewokslayer's near Midnight, and were treated to The Sexy Rector Show. After consuming an entire bottle of Grey Goose, Mr. Rector regaled us into the wee hours with stories of how Threshold was the worst deck in the format, and how he could break Legacy with Faerie Stompy. Good Times.

The event site was spacious, and packed with video games and snacks to boot. Scouting was difficult, as without my mentor to guide me, I didn't understand what many of the cards I saw actually did. Also, since he was not there to assist, my memory of the following events is patchy. Please forgive me, as my puny intellect is nothing without the support of The Source Guardian.

Round One: Nick Schacter; U/R Phid

Game One: I open with a first turn Magus, but as it turns out, Nick is running only four non-basics. And Mountains. I get in with a Radiers sans Hellbent once before he is bolted. With his countering most of my threats, I have to cast SSG to block his Ophidian. Unfortunately for him, my next two plays were a Jitte, and an Arc-Slogger that finished him.

Game Two: Nick Forces my first turn Trinisphere on the draw, and proceeds to burn, or counter every threat I have. My only mana sources were two Tombs and a Mox, so my life dwindles quickly. Finally, I cast an Arc-Slogger. Nick sighs, looks at the four cards in his hand, and allows it to resolve. "Wait!", he says, noticing I had yet again tapped the Tomb to cast him. "You're at six?" Umm..yep. "Fire you, Fire you, Fire you." Mise well.

Game Three: Again, Nick burns my smaller threats, and counters the larger. I do land a SoFI, though, which is somewhat decent against a U/R deck. After exhausting his hand, I land a Pit-Dragon. He has one turn to draw a burn spell before the Dragon gets in for sixteen.

1-0; 2-1

Round Two:Joseph Bernier; Affinity

Game One: I open with an awful first turn Chalice, having no idea what I am facing. He luckily has no first turn play, so I follow it with a Magus to narrow his options. After seeing a Frogmite, I land a third turn Trinisphere, and this slows him down enough that I can get in with Pit-Dragon after Demonfire clears out a 'Thopter.

Game Two: I keep a creature heavy hand, but cannot keep up with the two Frogs, one Enforcer, two Ravager beats.

Game Three: He lands a first turn Disciple, second turn Top. I get the third turn Trini to slow him down, but he eventually gets a pair of Workers and a Ravager. With me at ten, with Magus and a SoFI equipped Pit Dragon that had killed his Disciple, he swings in. I block the worker with Plating, and roll the dice. He has nine damage on the table and does to flip/sac Top trick, but doesn't find an artifact in the top three. Dragon finishes him off.

2-0; 4-2

Round Three: Bryant Cook; TES

To quote David Gearhart.....

"Game One:Game 1: HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA. God, I'm so fucking unbelievably awesome at magic. Dear Jesus, do I beat the shit out of him game 1. He tries to do shit and I don't care, blah, blah, blah."

Acutally, it was more like first turn Magus, second turn Chalice for one, third turn Chalice for two. Then a Trinisphere later on. He did Spree the Trini and a Chalice away, but still coudn't go off due to Magus.

Game Two: I open a hand with no Red mana. But I have first turn Tomb, Chalice for one. Second turn Tomb, Chalice for two. Third turn City, Morph, Trinsphere. Fourth turn SSG and mana burn, pitch to unmorph, swing. Bryant draws, then scoops.

3-0; 6-2

Round Four: Brandon Lepage; 4C Thresh

Game One: I play second turn Chalice for one around Daze and it gets there. I basically stall him from there until I can assure a Dragon through countermagic, and swing for the win.

Game Two: Another hand with no Red mana, but I've optimized the deck to play through this. I take five on turn two to play a Trinisphere, then drop two unmorphed Raiders after a Mox the next turn. Brandon drops a 6/6 Enforcer, then passes the turn with a Red open. I have two cards in hand, and unfortunately for Brandon, he waits until my draw step to Bolt a Raiders. I pitch two, and cast Sulfur Elemental in response. If he had done it during upkeep, one would have died the moment I drew. Anyhoo, I swing in for ten, and he considers blocking until he finds the other benefit of Sulfur. :sadface: Whatever he draws can't deal with another 13 damage coming at him, and he concedes.

4-0; 8-2

Round Five: Rich Meyst; 3C Zoo

ID

Round Six: Brian Ewokslayer; Survival

ID

Quarterfinal: Jeff Folinus; 3C Goblins

Game One: I win the roll, and drop first turn Slogger. Jeff plays optimally as usual, but without mistakes on my part, there is little Goblins can do to keep up.

Game Two: I stupidly keep a hand of Mox, Magus, Mountain, Slogger, 3X Pyrokenisis. I do get a second turn Jitte which allows my Mox to dode a Tin-Street long enough for me to cast a couple of creatures, but Jeff's triple Ringleaders beat out my trip 'Kenisis, and he rolls me after rebuilding for a turn or two.

Game Three: I mull a decent hand on the play. Sigh...what can I say. You really want either a first turn Jitte, SoFI, or Slogger against Goblins. The matchup is still good otherwise, but they usually can't recover from these. Sorry, Jeff; I got the turn one Slogger again, and it goes much like game one.

Semifinal: Rich Meyst; 3C Zoo

Game One: I don't remember may plays, but Rich's were Kird Ape, Watchwolf, Watchwolf, Bolt, Helix, Helix. I lost badly.

Game Two: I mull into a first turn Chalice for one. I follow it up with a Raiders who trades, then a Slogger. He mistakenly doesn't block my second attack with Slogger, and I take him down from eight afterwards with the help of an SSG, and milling forty of the forty-three cards left in my library.

Game Three: Rich had to mull to five on the play. I waited two turns to drop a Magus so that I could protect it with Chalice for one. He didn't drop his second land until then, so all of his burn was shut off, and the only creature he could cast was Kird Ape since he runs no basics. It was bad luck on Rich's part.

Final: Ewokslayer, again

ID

The tournament was a lot of fun I met some ultra-cool people, and won a nice prize.

Props:

The Hatfields for facilitating both my ride and housing. And for a lot of good advice. I love you guys.

Machinus for splitting Day Two with Ewokslayer using a quite new Threshold build. And for beating Folinus playing Goblins with it. Jeff is cool as can be, and is amazing with Goblins, so that win shows tremendous skill.

Ray for his amazing tournament, attitude, and sick prize support for a sub-par tournout.

My opponents for all being very friendly and sporting.

Zach Tartell for trading for cards to make my awful deck, and having me sign them. You are a silly guy, Zach.

And a super-extra huge thank you to Brian. First, he puts all of us up for the night. Then, he wins both freakin' days of the tournament. I kind of wish that he didn't have a life,(wife, job, etc.) so he could play more often. He was that dominant. Our draw in the Swiss made sense, as he had the highest tiebreaks. But aside from fatigue, he had no reason to split in the finals. I have little doubt that outside of some serious bad luck, he would have crushed me as he did the rest of his opponents this weekend. Sincerely. Thanks, man.

[TeenieBopper]

I'm curious, did you actually build and test this before the event, or was it mostly thrown together the day of? I'm wondering because I was thinking about a deck like this a while back, but some things look... strange (no Slith Firewalker or Tangle Wire, to be specific).

If you did test it beforehand, what's the landstill match-up like?

Grats on the win regardless.

[Ewokslayer]

Semifinal: Rich Meyst; 3C Zoo

Game One: I don't remember may plays, but Rich's were Kird Ape, Watchwolf, Watchwolf, Bolt, Helix, Helix. I lost badly.

Game Two: I mull into a first turn Chalice for one. I follow it up with a Raiders who trades, then a Slogger. He mistakenly doesn't block my second attack with Slogger, and I take him down from eight afterwards with the help of an SSG, and milling forty of the forty-three cards left in my library.

What happened in game 3?

[Kadaj]

That third game was brutal. Pit-Dragon all in for 16. Gah. Oh well, you played really well and had an awesome deck, so hats off to you. I'm glad to see you were able to go all the way in the end, but, was there anything in either the Maindeck or the SB that you would change if you had to go through the tournament again a second time?

[Gekoratel]

Congrats on your finish if I was gonna get knocked of the top 8 I'd prefer it to be at the hands of Arc-Slogger. As a huge fan of Big Red in standard I thought your approach to Legacy was very creative.

There was one play in our match that was a little risky you had a morph which was Gathan Raiders and Magus of the Moon with 2 cards in hand. It was the turn I split a Pyrokinesis 3@ Gathan and 1@ Magus + Fanatic to finish him off. If you would have had an instant there I would have got wrecked and probably lost the game. I'm still not sure if it was the correct play but if I don't go for it then 2nd main phase you can drop some guy or land and then be 100% able to get hellbent.

One mistake I made for sure was over-boarding for the matchup I decided to bring in Krosan Grip, in addition to Pryokinesis, to hit SOFI. I don't think that is reason enough I should have just tried to keep the creature count higher so that I could survive to the late game where I have a better shot of winning. I make a lot of small mistakes against decks that I haven't played against which I think is a big advantage of rouge strategies.

It was good talking to you and I look forward to hanging out at tournaments in the future.

[Happy Gilmore]

What is Team Calosso, you ask? Team Calosso was formed some time ago with the great Calosso Fuentes taking myself, GRAH, and Elventitz under his majestic wings. Our original name was Team Mongoloid, but GRAH was concerned about offending so we deferred to our fearless leader for a namesake.



I think I'm going to throw up.

[Michael Keller]

I like Covetous Dragon over Rakdos in this particular deck because:

A.) You play Seething Song, which is a perfect 5 for Covetous Dragon.
B.) You play an ample amount of artifacts to negate it's minor drawback.
C.) The clock in general should be faster with Covetous - I suppose you can pump Rakdos, but that is mana intensive as it is including Trinisphere on board.

Some thoughts.

[Parcher]

I'm curious, did you actually build and test this before the event, or was it mostly thrown together the day of? I'm wondering because I was thinking about a deck like this a while back, but some things look... strange (no Slith Firewalker or Tangle Wire, to be specific).

If you did test it beforehand, what's the landstill match-up like?

Grats on the win regardless.

Despite the levity of my report, I actually have been testing this deck on and off for two months. It doesn't run enough permanents to support Tangle Wire, and really doesn't need it . Firewalker seems bad in a format filled with creatures and removal, but this deck can't support double red for an early drop in any case. Landstill is weird. 3+ color is a bye with 7 Moons. U/W is considerably more difficult. Worse still is non-Blue based control. This is the reason for Demonfire. As most Aggro-Tempo decks, this will usually deal 12-14 damage to these before the gain complete control. You just keep adding mana to the board, and casting out your hand. Either they deal with the threats while keeping themsleves alive and you burn them out Hellbent, or they run out of answers and it doesn't matter.

@Ewok: Fixed. It wasn't a memorable game.

@Kadaj: The third Dragon should be in the main for certain. The sideboard is a bit janky, but it is extremely difficult to find cards that fit both tis deck's needs, and it's mana requirements. The reason it was successful where other versions have not been is that I even with no Red at all, I could always cast out every threat. This not only overwhelms the opponent, but facilitates Hellbent, which doubles the power level of these sub-optimal cards I ran due to mana considerations. Other than that, I would need more time to think over the changes that are needed.

@Jeff: Thank you. Beating you knid of shows both the power and consistancy of this deck, as I sure as hell know that I can't ouy-pilot you when you're running Goblins. And the rogue factor was a certainty. Even the NOVA guys didn't know my exact list. That's why I passed on the deck day two. Plus, it is very meta dependant.

[Tacosnape]

It's strangely bizarre to see a deck I created hitting some serious T8 action. (The deck's called Dragon Stompy, for those keeping track, and has been around for a longass time. The -only- card this build plays maindecked that mine doesn't is Trinisphere, and in the current metagame Trinisphere might be a good idea.)

How was Icefall? It seems like a little bit of a bizarre choice, and it's not something Phantom or I have ever tried. What was it there for?

[Jaynel]

Is the Recover ever really that good? Would Pillage be better?

[Peter_Rotten]

The deck's called Dragon Stompy, for...

Negative. The deck is called CDW (Calosso's Deck Wins)

[kirdape3]

Honest to god, if you look back a loooooooooong time (on these boards, even) there's a deck that I've played that had many of the elements herein. You know where I got the list from? Mike Glow.

No, I'm not kidding.

[Machinus]

Thanks for the report and congrats on the win.

And I guess I should add that I didn't already build this deck.

[calosso]

Negative. The deck is called CDW (Calosso's Deck Wins)

FUCK YEA!!

Congrats on finish.

[Bardo]

Great report! Well written, funny. Thumbs up. :)

As awful as that deck looks, it'd steamroll anything I'm likely to play.

[Pinder]

Negative. The deck is called CDW (Calosso's Deck Wins)

Awwww, do we have to? Really? Can't we just call it something clever and non-Calosso, like 'Sloggy Cereal' or 'SLOGDOR!' or something?

Please?

[TeenieBopper]

SLOGDOR!

Winnar!

[Skinny Oprah]

Awwww, do we have to? Really? Can't we just call it something clever and non-Calosso, like 'Sloggy Cereal' or 'SLOGDOR!' or something?

Please?

I hate you. I had to go back and rewatch that email and I just barely avoided getting sucked into the endless void of emails.

[calosso]

Winnar!

Edinger NO!

The name is perfect the way it is. Pinder stop trying to take my thunder away.

[Tacosnape]

Edinger NO!

The name is perfect the way it is. Pinder stop trying to take my thunder away.

Your thunder is largely irrelevant for a deck I created.

[Parcher]

It's strangely bizarre to see a deck I created hitting some serious T8 action. (The deck's called Dragon Stompy, for those keeping track, and has been around for a longass time. The -only- card this build plays maindecked that mine doesn't is Trinisphere, and in the current metagame Trinisphere might be a good idea.)

How was Icefall? It seems like a little bit of a bizarre choice, and it's not something Phantom or I have ever tried. What was it there for?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sacul Kamadaka
There are modern versions of dragon stompy?


Yep. Astonishing, isn't it?

I think the most up to date list is something along the lines of this (Although it's subject to change if we figure out an answer to Tarmogoyf):

10 Mountain
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
4 Chrome Mox
4 Seething Song

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Rolling Earthquake
4 Pyroclasm

4 Sulfur Elemental
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
3 Gathan Raiders
3 Flametongue Kavu
2 Arc-Slogger
2 Razormane Masticore

SB: (Drop 1 of the following based on metagame/preference)
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Epochrasite
4 Pithing Needle

My math is pretty bad, but I can count past one. I'm just so thankful for your deck that I'll not pull out my calculator.

[Whit3 Ghost]

Your thunder is largely irrelevant for a deck I created.
As we say in the vernacular: zing.

Slogdor seconded.

[Tacosnape]

My math is pretty bad, but I can count past one. I'm just so thankful for your deck that I'll not pull out my calculator.

That hasn't been my current list for some time. And I'll give you as many as three if you count Pyrokinesis and Icefall in sideboard. It's still Dragon Stompy and it was still brought into Legacy by myself and Phantom. (EDIT: Four. I missed Dragonfire.)

However, I like the name Slogdor better.

[kabal]

4 Ancient Tomb
4 City Of Traitors
10 Snow-Covered Mountain

4 Arc-Slogger
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Gathan Raiders
3 Sulfur Elemental
2 Rakdos Pit-Dragon

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Trinisphere
3 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Seething Song

2 Demonfire


Why no EtW?

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

I think we can all agree that any name that ends in "...Deck Wins" is superior to derivatives of Faerie Stompy.

A)Why would you copy Faerie Stompy?

B)Stompy plays lots of uber-undercosted creatures and pump, not acceleration and efficiently costed fatties.

I say we put this to a public vote. I go with CDW.

[Parcher]

Why no EtW?

Mainly because most decks can easily handle infinite tokens due to the combo decks. But even without that presence, it is too often dead.

The reason this version did well, is it was built specifically to have little to no dead cards. Hellbent is so key to winning that you need to be able to hardcast everything. ETW was unstormable far too often, which meant it was just bad. Crap like Earthquake is even worse. I tracked all damage and it's source day one, and I averaged well over four points a game Tomb damage. I can't see how against an Aggro deck, doing an additional six to yourself isn't retarded. Especially since the only played creature we can't easily deal with will need a 'Quake for at least five.

My deck is built on the mana curve principal, although I had to adjust the mana curve to one aimed specifcally for this deck. Some of the cards both main and side are definitely underpowered, but as long as I mulliganned properly, I was not manascrewed once the whole tournament. I think of it in term like Sligh. No one claimed Ironclaw Orcs was a good card. But during the time Sligh dominated, it fit both the curve, and color requirements well enough to let the deck's synergy and bombs be played while maintaining a constant threat.

[kabal]

I say we put this to a public vote. I go with CDW.

Even no it is a variant, why not stick with the original name "Empty the Slogger"?


Mainly because most decks can easily handle infinite tokens due to the combo decks. But even without that presence, it is too often dead.

I agree, but this is why you could side them out game 2 which could lead them to boarding incorrectly. A lot of decks don't have MB joblin token hate.


So I began work on a non-Joblins Red deck. It took some time, but this is the awful pile I finally settled on.

Do you mind posting your sideboarding?

[Tacosnape]

Even no it is a variant, why not stick with the original name "Empty the Slogger"?

Because "Dragon Stompy" was around before "Empty The Slogger," if you check your history, so apparently originality doesn't amount to shit.

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

Even no it is a variant, why not stick with the original name "Empty the Slogger"?

Like...an enema?

That's not the family friendly enviroment we are trying to promote here. Shouldn't the Source Guardian be stopping this kind of indecency?

[Slay]

When Empty the Slogger is missing 2/3 of its namesakes in the deck, it doesn't really make sense.

Dragon Stompy is fine, thank you.
-Slay

[Parcher]

When Empty the Slogger is missing 2/3 of its namesakes in the deck, it doesn't really make sense.

Dragon Stompy is fine, thank you.
-Slay

The deck is 2/3 different than Dragon Stompy. It is somewhat closer to Empty the Slogger, though without the namesake card, it wouldn't make much sense. It should be blatently obvious that this deck is neither. More to the point, call it whatever you want. If Complete Jank was not banned, I'm sure he would pop in and claim it was his deck with a different name as well.

[Bardo]

I think we're going to add long-winded "deck name" discussions to the Prohibited Topics in the site rules. These discussions are, at best, unproductive.

You're welcome to take the discussion to PM if you like, everyone.

[Pinder]

I still vote Slogdor, though. I mean, just look at how well the deck is primed to burninate various countrysides. It's like a burninating machine.

Anyway, back to productive, won't-get-me-warned discussion, how useful were the Demonfires? Was an uncounterable Fireball relevant all that often?

[GreenOne]

Round Four: Brandon Lepage; 4C Thresh
I take five on turn two to play a Trinisphere, then drop two unmorphed Raiders after a Mox the next turn. Brandon drops a 6/6 Enforcer, then passes the turn with a Red open. I have two cards in hand, and unfortunately for Brandon, he waits until my draw step to Bolt a Raiders.

I suppose he could destroy the Trini in that turn, or how could he bolt with just R open?

[Parcher]

I suppose he could destroy the Trini in that turn, or how could he bolt with just R open?

Uh...did I forget to mention that he Forced the 3Sphere. I guess that might be important. I did still take five damage to cast it.

@Pinder: The uncounterablilty of Demofire did not come into play, as I faced no serious countermagic. This doesn't change the validity of it's inclusion. I did use it to burn away large blockers several times, but in most of my matches it was sided out.

[Bane of the Living]

I love your deck it looks really fun. It looks like Landstill would be your hardest matchup. Congrats! Were you there day two? I didnt see you, it wouldve sucked to miss out on meeting you.

[Parcher]

Actually, most Landstill decks now run so many non-basics that Magus trashes them. With Blood Moon in the side, there is rarely a chance for them to get rid of both permanent types.

Yea, I was there day two. I played Stolze's Aluren, but switched the two Ponders for Tops. Top was freaking amazing. Discard is a beating for Aluren, and in addition to the search qualities, floating cards on top is a godsend. Too bad that I suck at playing Aluren. I went 1-2-1 and watched Ewokslayer and Machinus crush dreams all day.

[Nightmare]

Yea, I was there day two. I played Stolze's Aluren, but switched the two Ponders for Tops. Top was freaking amazing. Discard is a beating for Aluren, and in addition to the search qualities, floating cards on top is a godsend.I scrubbed day two, but found the same to be true of Top in Breakfast. It's straight up the stone nuts.

[Parcher]

I scrubbed day two, but found the same to be true of Top in Breakfast. It's straight up the stone nuts.

Not to get even more off-topic, but I have to agree. I watched a bunch of Kreiger's matches, and he was one turn away from the win when Thoughtseize wrecked him grabbing creatures. Top would have won at least two of these for him.

[Nihil Credo]

4 Pyrokenisis

Was the card disadvantage ever too much to handle for you when boarding in this bitch? In my experience, the second biggest problem for accelerated decks (right after, and related to, a high mulligan rate) is running out of gas way too fast. Which is, incidentally, how they usually lose to control decks... a couple of threats get answered and they don't draw any others.
Faerie Stompy runs only 8 pitch spells, and has card drawing to back it up... Demon Stompy even more, depending on the build, but also runs card draw (Muse) and has an awesome locking ability thanks to Nether Void.

Dragon, by contrast, runs SSG, Raiders, and Seething Songs in addition to the Moxes, but its only card drawing engines are the standard-issue Sophies and, against some decks, Arc-Slogger's machinegunning. Did you, too, feel like gambling when playing this deck? Like "pleasegothedistancelittledudeIdon'thaveanythingelseifyoudie" gambling?

[Parcher]

First I want to say thank you. It's good to get questions form someone who has actually played the deck. I am actually amazed to heat Dragon Stompy runs SSG, as perusing the thread here, it is completely dismissed at every turn.

Card disadvantage is not a worry with this deck. All of it's threats are significant. Hellbent makes them immediate win conditions. You always have to force your opponent to deal with them, so I would always go 'bent if it is a decision between that, and holding cards. Along with that, 'kenisis is one of the only instants. Combat tricks are few in this deck, so not only the actual removal, but going 'bent at instant speed far outweighs the card loss. I was actually worried about having to pitch two Red cards, but I found that 'kenisis was always boarded in for artifacts, which evened out this.

Faeire Stompy's manabase cannot consistantly support it's cards. Period. If the deck had one more good creature, and a Blue accelleration spell, it would be Tier I for certain. Without both, I can't see it being as good.

To be honest, mulliganning is the only gamble I felt with this. The deck does not need card drawing. It's cards are all excellent individually, and Hellbent is king. Emptying your hand to get 'bent is a gamble, but a calculated one. For an Aggro deck, startegy is far more important than tactics here. You need to plan both your, and your opponent's gameplan several turns ahead. All decks want this, but this is where you lessen the gamble. If you are reasonably certain that going 'bent will win the game before they can punish you for overextending, you do it every time. You can usually use Chalice, Magus, and 3Sphere to protect your threats well enough if planning accordingly. The addition of Demonfire allows a measure of comfort against Control decks that actually can deal with all of your threats.

If I wanted to add anything, it would be Top. I don't need draw, or even filtering. But knowing the next draw or two can drastically affect decisions in this deck; far more than others. I lost one game when the only card in the deck I could draw to lose was my second Jitte. Casting it would give Hellbent, but my opponent could counterattack for the win. Not casting it let me play D, but my offensive was halted. even delaying that for one turn is a major advantage. One reason I'd never run more than two Jitte.

[aTn]

Congrats on your finish !

I got interested in the deck a couple of months ago after reading the report of ??? who finished 2nd (if my memory serves me right) at Nats with Empty The Slogger. I played it at a local tournament and finished second (about 30 players). I did a 2-2 split between Slogger and Razormane Masticore (and played Covetous instead of Rakdos) and I liked it a lot. Did you ever test Razormane Masticore ? Did you find that having CotV and Trinisphere in the MD was overkill ?

[Parcher]

Covetous isn't spectacular, and his artifact drawback is unfortunate though rarely relevant. The thing is, he is complete ass compared to Rakdos. I won at least three games with one swing. And with equipment it's even more apparent.

Razormane is a similar situation. His drawback is rarely relevant, as you will gain Hellbent from it as often as you are forced to pitch something you might want. The problem with him is twofold. First, I carefully calculated every Red spell in the deck, and cutting even two can affect the mana curve. Most important though is the creature control. Especially against decks with Vial(see: Goblins), being able to use the machine gun anytime you need is infinitely better than the free upkeep shot. Games rarely last long enough for the milling effect to become relevant if you keep him online. The ability to go to the dome is not as much a need as the removal, but it is sweet. I thought I would use it more against control as sort of a finisher, but more often it was used when trading with a more aggressive deck to get the last few points in. Against control, by the time you resolve and untap with him, not only can you usually just swing for the win, you won't have enough cards to shoot much.

The MD 3Sphere was a meta call, though the Chalices will always stay. I wouldn't say it was overkill, as the only match I was seriously worried in was against Affinity, where 3Sphere is strictly better. I don't think 3Sphere needs to be pulled though, as I found it still very good even if dropped on turns three or four. In an environment with more board control though, I would certainly move it to the side.

[Phantom]

Good to see some people are still working on the deck. I never got a chance to try out the 8 Moon effects build (or 7 in your case), but it looks like a great meta for it. I like most of the numbers you've went with (except 2 RPDragons which should be 3). I have to admit the only card on here I never even considered is Demonfire which seems pretty damn sweet.

Congrats and keep up the good work.

[kabal]

@Parcher : What would your deck look like now? I know you stated that at least one more Rakdos Pit Dragon in the main would be the right move, is there anything else? How about your SB?

[Parcher]

@Parcher : What would your deck look like now? I know you stated that at least one more Rakdos Pit Dragon in the main would be the right move, is there anything else? How about your SB?

Well it's been less than a week, so I can't really think of anything major. This deck is such a meta game deck that I actually change it up to the last minute. The Demonfires and 3Spheres can easily go in the SB. I would likely add the Sulfur, and Dragon back to the main. Sulfur is so key in this deck. He really smooths the curve, and has psuedo-haste, especially with equipment. He also is one of the few combat tricks available. The uncounterability is important against control as well, as it makes every piece of equipment a threat to them. The White creature part of his ability is just sort of a bonus.

I never brought in Crypt, but Ichorid and Breakfast are both difficult, so I would keep it. Icefall was chosen as a Pillage that I wouldn't mana burn for. It turned out to be very good against Control, as with 7 Moons, every time they deal with a threat of yours, you get to kill a Basic Land. After seeing some other matches though, I would probably switch it for some mass removal (Meltdown, Spree), and rely on the Moons an Demofire against control. Affinity, Ichorid, Breakfast, etc. are difficult in general, and you need artifact removal against them. It's really hard to comment on sideboarding though, as both 3Sphere and Blood Moon could be mian or side depending on what you expect. Since doing this will change both the threat content, and mana ratios, I would need to do a full switch to see what else would be needed in this scenario.

[kabal]

@Parcher :

How did your equipment ratio work out?

Did you find one better than the other?

Was 5 too much equipment at times?

How often were you able to go Seething Song into 3cc creature + jitte Or SoFaI + equip ?

[Parcher]

I think it seemed about right. Objectively, I would say Jitte is better. But experience showed that SoFI was. Regardless of the thousands of words written on how Jitte crushes Joblins, in this deck SoFI is better. The are few players better at Legacy Joblins better than Folinus, and he actually oversideboarded against me, as he knew if SoFI lands on a Slogger, Raiders, or Dragon the game is over. And as most good Goblins players, he knows how to deal with Jitte.

Jitte is cheaper, and the life bump can be relevant, but this deck has to go balls to the wall to win most of the time and I'd rather have a more relevant clock than the life and creature protection. I would say both the split, and the count worked well.

I actually don't think I every used Song for cast+equip in the tournament, but it happened often in testing. The reason I think is that most decks can still deal more easily with a 4/5 than an artifact. So most often I cast out the equipment early as bait. If they deal with it, and you couldn't have put out a significant threat that turn, you have lost nothing. If they can't deal with it, you will be able to equip anything you cast before it swings, so even Sulfur becomes an immediate threat. This is another reason I favor SoFI. Getting in for 5+2 is far better than accumulating counters for later use that might never happen. Especially against decks that can't block because of SoFI.

An ancillary bonus is the pro-Red/Blue. Bounce is rare, but can really wreck you. And people will gladly 1 for 2 to get rid of a Slogger with Burn, or Burn+Chump. The only other relevant removal is StP, as we should crush Black decks. Since you want Chalice at one anyway, I can't see where any of this would make me switch.

[kabal]

@Parcher : What are you feelings on this creature:

Tephraderm (http://magiccards.info/on/en/239.html)


4R (5), Creature - Beast 4/5
Whenever a creature deals damage to Tephraderm, Tephraderm deals that much damage to that creature.
Whenever a spell deals damage to Tephraderm, Tephraderm deals that much damage to that spell's controller.

[Parcher]

Seems good. Basically a Razormane with none of the drawbacks. Nothing can survive combat with this. The casting cost, plus he's Red also makes an easy fit. I can't say as to where I would fit him, as I love the mana curve I currently run, but he probably has a spot somewhere, if only in the sideboard.

My only concern would be that both Razormane and Slogger have inherent abilities to avoid chump blocks. With the amount of damage this deck does to itself, almost every match becomes a race. This guy can be stalled by throwing dudes in front of him, and we lose the race. Especially against Goblins(tokens), and Sligh, that can just chump and dome you. You also lose the removal aspect that may be relevant against Breakfast or Aluren type decks.

I can see vs. Thresh or Survival him coming in for some of the cheaper spells. Stuff like Sulfur, and Jitte are rarely relevant in these matches.

[Nihil Credo]

I'd like to note that Masticore punches through any creature with a butt smaller than 9; Tephraderm merely trades. Of course, being able to actually draw cards isn't a small advantage, so I wouldn't dismiss it.