[Deck] Sligh

[Jon Stewart]

Update:

The recently spoiled Kiln Fiend is fantastic, allowing you to attack for between 7-10 damage on the third turn to win you the game, all while burning out a blocker thanks to 1cc Burn Spells, Fireblast and Rift Bolt. But playing Fiend also means the deck needs to minimize the number of creatures it plays and maximize the number of sorceries/instants it plays, taking the deck in a radically different direction.

If you are curious, this is what my Kiln Fiend test build currently looks like, and I've grown quite fond of each and every card in the deck...

//Mana
18 Mountain (You could play a few fetchlands here as well)

//Threats
4 Goblin Guide
4 Kiln Fiend
3 Grim Lavamancer

//Burn
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
4 Manamorphose
4 Fireblast

3 Price of Progress
2 Shard Volley (Other Options: Lava Dart vs. Jackal Pup vs. Spark Elemental vs. Figure of Destiny)
2 Keldon Marauders (Other Options: Searing Blaze vs. Hellspark Elemental vs. Magma Jet)


Keldon Marauders/Searing Blaze and Price of Progress and Shard Volley have very occasionally backfired on me. But everything else has been incredibly good, 100% of the time. And PoP, Shard Volley, Fireblast and Searing Blaze when they do work (they usually do), are insanely powerful. But I could see Magma Jet filling in for any of those cards that you are uncomfortable with. No matter what you do, there should definately be 4 Searing Blaze between your sideboard and your maindeck.

I would absolutely be playing Magma Jet myself if it weren't for the fact that almost no one plays 1 toughness and 2 toughness creatures anymore. Lets just call it the Goyf effect, but nowadays, I rarely see anything with a toughness less than 3, 4, or 5.

Much much lower on the list of potential playable cards I'm considering are Genju of the Spires, Figure of Destiny, Jackal Pup, Spark Elemental, Hellspark Elemental and a few other creatures. Did I leave anything out, particularly as far as Instants and Sorceries are concerned? Special thanks to Angelfire for reminding me of the fantastic Manamorphose, it's ability to let you play a 56 card deck, and the synergy it has with Grim Lavamancer and Kiln Fiend, especially now that mana burn is no longer an issue.

The Original Opening Post

Mono Red Sligh recently slogged it's way through 17 rounds to place 11th at GP Madrid, the largest legacy tournament in history, with over 2000 players!

There are a number of creatures printed in the past few years that make it easy for Sligh to abuse Reckless Abandon. Reckless Abandon still remains perhaps the single best reason to play Sligh instead of Burn. Simply sacrifice the creature after your attack phase, and Reckless functions as a great finisher robbing your opponent of the last fifth of their life. It gets even more brutal if you have a Fireblast to supplement it. An opening consisting of some combination of Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning (17), Rift Bolt (14), Lava Spike (11), Spark Elemental (8), Reckless Abandon (4) and Fireblast (0) usually means a turn three win.

//Threats
4 Spark Elemental
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Keldon Marauders
3 Grim Lavamancer

//Burn
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
4 Fireblast
3 Reckless Abandon
2 Price of Progress

//Mana
20 Land

// Sample Sideboard
3 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Searing Blaze
3 Smash to Smithereens
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Price of Progress
2 Blood Moon



Alternative Creatures

My experience suggests that the deck needs to play 15 creatures (4 with Unearth) to consistently fuel the 3 Reckless Abandon. You should never play more because the direct damage burn spells available to you are so strong. As a result, several excellent creatures had to be cut. As good as Grim Lavamancer is, it's rather mana intensive (it requires far more mana to deal the same amount of damage as your other spells). It's also better the later it shows up, and you never want to see it in multiples, so playing just 3 copies makes sense. The unspoken rule of legacy still applies for the most part, nobody blocks in legacy (unless they have Vigilance). They play a creature, and they attack with it the first chance they get, they never leave it untapped anticipating that a creature with haste will show up and neccesitate that they block it. So by playing lots of creatures with haste, you are able to abuse this situation.

Goblin Guide - As aggressive as this creature is, I am not yet convinced that it is worthwhile to risk aiding your opponent's mana development. However, testing may prove me wrong.

Jackal Pup - I love this card. I wish there was room for it. But alas, a 2/1 for one mana that doesn't even protect your lifetotal, doesn't have a place in modern legacy.

Mogg Fanatic - Mogg Fantastic isn't anywhere near as fantastic as it used to be before the rules change that got rid of most of it's tricks.

Slith Firewalker - I believe it is too slow in the current meta.



Alternative Spells

The deck only has room for 25 burn spells. And the options available to it are all absurdly powerful. The 23 most potent burn spells do 3-4 damage for 0 to 1 mana, putting your opponent on a three or four turn clock. Likewise, Price of Progress is incredibly effective in the current meta. And those are the spells that I opt to play. Compared to these, previously solid burn spells like Incinerate simply don't even warrant consideration. Thus fantastic burn spells, once considered staples in sligh/burn have to be left behind.

4 Magma Jet - It is a great card, but it simply can't compete with 23 burn spells that do 3-4 damage to your opponent for 0-1 mana. Scry or no Scry, paying twice as much mana to deal half as much damage isn't efficent.

4 Price of Progress - This card is an automatic four of between your maindeck or your sideboard. If lots of your opponent's play duals, I wouldn't hesistate to cut Lava Spike to make room for three to four copies of these. But in an unknown meta, playing 2 maindeck and 2 more in the board makes sense.




Discussion of sideboard options could go on for pages. What cards you play in the board is a personal decision entirely dependent on your meta. For example, if you anticipate facing Ichorid or Reanimator, you should likely play graveyard hate. So I will save that discussion for a later date.

Likewise, whether it is worthwhile to play Barbarian Rings to supplement the damage, or to play fetchlands to fuel Grim Lavamancer and aid Searing Blaze is also a decision that should almost entirely be made based on how popular Stifle is in your meta, and how aggresively your opponents attack your lifetotal.

[herbig]

You could use some fetchlands to better support Lavamancer. While you're doing that, you can splash green for Tarmogoyf.

The rule still applying, nobody blocks in legacy. They play a creature, and they attack with it the first chance they get, they never leave it untapped anticipating that a creature with haste will show up and neccesitate that they block it. So by playing lots of creatures with haste, you are able to abuse this situation.

If you go turn one Spark Elemental, I may do some mental jockeying and reconsider this rule of mine.

[Sevryn]

Is there any room at the top of the curve for Ball Lightning?

[Jon Stewart]

There's nothing worse than investing three mana into a Ball Lightning only to get it Smothered, FoWed, or StPed. It causes too big a loss of tempo. You play almost entirely 0cc and 1cc spells for a reason. You want to win by turn four, even if one or two cards get countered or removed, you will still be playing multiple cards a turn and thus applying pressure on your opponent every turn. Also, a big reason why you play creatures is Reckless Abandon. To play and attack with a Spark Elmental, and then play Reckless Abandon that same turn saccing Spark to deal 7 damage total, only cost you two mana. To play and attack with a Ball Lightning, and then play Reckless Abandon that same turn costs your four mana, which IS above this deck's curve.

You could use some fetchlands to better support Lavamancer. While you're doing that, you can splash green for Tarmogoyf.

I mentioned the possibility of playing fetchlands in the OP. It depends almost entirely on if your meta has Stifle roaming around. Giving opponents the chance to cripple your mana development and slow you down by several turns isn't worth the occasonal extra damage you get off a Lavamancer.

Tarmogoyf brings with it it's own share of pros and cons. This deck really wants the number of cards with a casting cost over one, to be kept to an absolute minimum. While Goyf doesn't cost three mana, the same argument against Ball Lightning, can be made about Goyf. When Goyf gets StPed, and it almost always will, you take a tempo hit. In addition...

a.) It's not really all that fast a creature. This deck aims to win on the third turn. Sometimes it takes as long as the fourth turn. Tarmogoyf slows that down significantly. The deck doesn't play any artifacts, enchantments or planeswalkers either, so Goyf never gets all that large without help from your opponents.

b.) You open your deck up to color screw and inconsistency. Even with eight fetchlands and four nonbasics, you will only be playing 12 green sources. That's not enough to ensure you see one every game. You have no cantrips to try and find a green source should you have a Goyf in your hand.

c.) It makes your mana base vulnerable. Everything from Stifle to Wasteland attacks your manabase and slows you down by atleast two turns, where as those cards didn't even phase you before.

It just doesn't offer enough for this deck to warrant splashing another color in my experience.

[herbig]

When Goyf gets StPed, and it almost always will, you take a tempo hit.

The same argument could be used for Hellspark Elemental. If a burn deck uses any creatures at all above one mana, Tarmogoyf should be one of them. I think if you tested with Tarmogoyf you would come to the same conclusion.

Tarmogoyf is also a Moat against up to two opposing Tarmogoyfs, buying you more of your precious tempo you lost when they Sworded your Hellspark Elemental you baited with. Your aim is to win, not win in 4 turns.

[Jon Stewart]

Sligh works.

Pablo Diaz makes 11th at GP Madrid with MonoR Sligh (out of a whopping 2225 players and 17 rounds), you can read it in Wizards' Coverage.

I would think that should be enough to shut the naysayers up. If 11th out of 2000+ players after 17 rounds in the largest tournament in Magic's history isn't enough to convince you of Mono Red Sligh's viability, nothing will.

P.S: I'm still searching for his decklist, which doesn't appear to be posted anywhere. But it is certain from the coverage that Pablo's list did play Goblin Guide.

I'm reconsidering my stance on the card. Goblin Guide is exceedingly fast and has haste. It only has a 1 in 3 chance of getting your opponent an extra land. And the other 2 of 3 times, it's actually helpful by letting you know what your opponent will be drawing next and giving you a very good indication of what matchup you're facing off against.

The same argument could be used for Hellspark Elemental.

Which is one reason why Hellspark is actually one of the weaker cards in the deck. Regardless, the reason I play Hellspark is because it has both Haste, and Unearth (and even Trample). Both Haste and Unearth are fantastic in this deck and make up for Hellsparks higher than the deck's ideal casting cost. Trample occasionally helps as well. Goyf has none of those abilities.

And actually, tempo is the least worrisome of Goyfs three main problems. You simply opted to not even address the other two so I'll reiterate..

"b.) You open your deck up to color screw and inconsistency. Even with eight fetchlands and four nonbasics, you will only be playing 12 green sources. That's not enough to ensure you see one every game. You have no cantrips to try and find a green source should you have a Goyf in your hand and no way to cast it. This deck lives or dies by it's consistency. Anything that dimishes that is a bad thing. And if you try adding cantrips, you slow this deck down even more.

c.) It makes your mana base vulnerable. The second you add Goyf to the deck, everything from Stifle to Wasteland can now attack your manabase and slow you down by atleast two turns, where as those cards didn't even phase you before."

Edit to add more content to my explanation:

There is no reason to open up the manabase to being disrupted just to play four copies of a creature that doesn't fit this decks game plan very well anyways (and actually makes Grim Lavamancer worse). There is absolutely nothing Goyf offers this deck that makes the trade off in speed and consistency worthwhile.

This deck isn't the same as Zoo. It's not as versatile, but it is roughly a full turn faster, more explosive, and less vulnerable to mana screw.

The second you add eight fetchlands and green, just to play a creature that slows down your deck in the process (Goyf) there is no reason not to add white as well and just pay Zoo. Once you give up the airtight manabase and speed, why not play Zoo? What advantage do you retain by half assing it and playing Goyf Sligh? Atleast Zoo gets access to cards like Wild Nacatl, StP and Qasali Pridemage.

You can either have speed and invulnerability to mana disruption, as this deck does. And as a bonus, you get to play kickass cards like PoP, Fireblast, Blood Moon and win on turn three.

Or you can sacrifice speed for non hasty but more resilient creatures, more versatility, but a slower deck that has a very vulnerable mana base as Zoo does. And you get all the bombs that white has to offer.

If you're fortunate enough to be in one of the last corners of legacy where Wasteland, Stifle, Blood Moon and every other nonbasic hate other the sun aren't super prevalent, go to the Zoo thread, and netdeck a list from there. There's no point in half assing it. If you're going to splash and slow the deck down, just go one step further and play Zoo. And you get to use awesome (albeit slower) cards like StP, Path to Exile and creatures like Wild Nacatl and Qasali Pridemage.

If you do lose games to Stifle, Wasteland etc and want a deck that is resilient to that, then stick with monored. And you get to play with awesome cards like Fireblast, Price of Progress, and Reckless Abandon, and have a decent shot of winning the game by turn three. And if you are so inclined, you can even board in 4 Blood Moon and 4 Magus of the Moon to completely screw over all sorts of aggro control and control decks without having to worry about it screwing yourself over as well.

[kicks_422]

Believe me, I've tried Sligh without any splashes. The power level just isn't there. Sure it's great to play casually, but when you run into Counterbalance, Tarmogoyf, and Tendrils of Agony, you'll know how much the deck lacks, especially without a splash. And it has long since evolved into RG Dryad Sligh, into RG Goyf Sligh, into RGW Goyf Sligh, which is just a few cards away from RGW Zoo.

I think my (severely outdated, pre-Goyf) Dryad Sligh primer is still floating around here somewhere. You might want to search for that.

EDIT: I was running 8 fetches in RG Dryad Sligh, and I was running the same number when I was still running mono-Red before that (8 red fetches, 10 basics). I honestly can't remember a game I lost due to a Stifle on my fetchland, though I'm not sure if that particular strategy was already popular back then.

Also, running fetchands allows you to run Plated Geopede

[Gocho]

I tried a similar deck when Hellspark was printed because I have a playset of Reckless Abandon. My idea was: If I can cast two 4-damage cards and four 3-damage cards, you can make 20 damage at turn 3-4 every game. So with 18 lands, 14 cards for 4-damage and 28 cards for 3-damage I had a deck.

I add Flame Rift, to get the 14 4-damage. Didn't works very well because I only play 12 creatures (no Lavamancer), and crush vs 2nd turn Counterbalance (too much low costs). I'll test with 15.

What decks do you side-in the 3 Searing Blaze? Wouldn't be better a full set of Blood Moon?

You need something vs gain life cards. Sulfuric Vortex is the most played option.

[herbig]

Which is one reason why Hellspark is actually one of the weaker cards in the deck. Regardless, the reason I play Hellspark is because it has both Haste, and Unearth (and even Trample)...Goyf has none of those abilities.

Goyf's ability is that it's fucking huge. You open on turn one whatever. I play fetchland, Ponder. You go turn two whatever. I play a 3/4 Goyf. I'm at 13 and 12 of your cards are turned off unless you want to go two for one, which I will gladly do against burn.

Merfolk plays 12 Islands and tends to find one quite often.

You are overstating the ability of other decks to hamper your manabase with a small green splash. If they want to sit on their Stifle you can do that all day too while you draw more cards. If they play a Wasteland, fetch up that mountain and have at it.


Have you playtested your deck with Goyf and without?

[FoulQ]

I gotta be honest Jon, I'm always confused as to why you try to defy popular results. The ubiquitous of Tarmogoyf in legacy, especially in burn-based decks, should be enough evidence to convince you that it is the best primary strategy for a deck like this. You aren't reliant on tarmogoyf, so its not like stifle is countering the storm on your tendrils or something. It is just a fetchland, and it takes an investment of the opponent not spending that one blue mana on something that can keep up with the fast pace of a goyf sligh deck.

You can admit that it is financial. I'm not claiming it is, but I have noticed you seem to play mono-colored decks without goyf. Hey, I'm the same way, considering I play primarily gobbos and secondary merfs. But we shouldn't try to logically explain why we wouldn't play goyf in a deck like this when all evidence points to yes. If it is financial, I say more power to you for trying to innovate mono red sligh.

Plus you get krosan grip out of the sideboard, a major boon. 12 green sources is plenty, considering that goyf is more of a mid-game punch for the deck and the SB green cards are usually reactive like grip. In goblins many people only play around 10 sources of the splash and that's about an equal splash as the one herbig is suggesting.

[Jon Stewart]

I gotta be honest Jon, I'm always confused as to why you try to defy popular results.

Good deck building isn't about going with whatever is popular. It's not about going with whatever the conventional wisdom tells you. It's about adjusting to your meta.

If you see a lot of hate for a particular strategy in your meta, the smart deck builder will find a way to circumvent that hate. The lazy deck builder will just netdeck whatever is popular and assume that just because it's popular, it's the best deck for their particular meta, no matter how much hate is running around.

What was it, three weeks ago, when the majority of legacy players scoffed off Reanimator as a tier two deck, a deck that doesn't even warrant testing against. So much for popular wisdom.

As I indicated in my OP, well before anyone even suggested splashing colors. My meta sees tons of nonbasic hate, while hate for this (chalice etc) is almost nonexistant. Close to half of all the popular legacy decks here play Wastelands. Plenty of decks play blood moon. And everyone still goes with what's popular, playing decks with the most vulnerable manabases imaginable. And I don't think it's just my meta. Just going off the decks to beat list, I'm guessing that whereever you play rainbow manabases, and wasteland/stifle are extremely prevalent as well..

There is no reason to open up the manabase to being disrupted just to play four copies of a creature that doesn't fit this decks game plan very well anyways (and actually makes Grim Lavamancer worse). There is absolutely nothing Goyf offers this deck that makes the trade off in speed and consistency worthwhile.

This deck isn't the same as Zoo. It's not as versatile, but it is roughly a full turn faster, more explosive, and less vulnerable to mana screw.

The second you add eight fetchlands and green, just to play a creature that slows down your deck in the process (Goyf) there is no reason not to add white as well and just pay Zoo. Once you give up the airtight manabase and speed, why not play Zoo? What advantage do you retain by half assing it and playing Goyf Sligh? Atleast Zoo gets access to cards like Wild Nacatl, StP and Qasali Pridemage.

You can either have speed and invulnerability to mana disruption, as this deck does. And as a bonus, you get to play kickass cards like PoP, Fireblast, Blood Moon and win on turn three.

Or you can sacrifice speed for non hasty but more resilient creatures, more versatility, but a slower deck that has a very vulnerable mana base as Zoo does. And you get all the bombs that white has to offer.

If you're fortunate enough to be in one of the last corners of legacy where Wasteland, Stifle, Blood Moon and every other nonbasic hate other the sun aren't super prevalent, go to the Zoo thread, and netdeck a list from there. There's no point in half assing it. If you're going to splash and slow the deck down, just go one step further and play Zoo. And you get to use awesome (albeit slower) cards like StP, Path to Exile and creatures like Wild Nacatl and Qasali Pridemage.

If you do lose games to Stifle, Wasteland etc and want a deck that is resilient to that, then stick with monored. And you get play with awesome cards like Fireblast, Price of Progress, and Reckless Abandon, and have a decent shot of winning the game by turn three. And you even get to board kickass cards like Blood Moon without having to worry about it screwing you over as well.

[kicks_422]

So you won't lose to Wastelands/Stifles/Blood Moons/etc. from having a mono-colored manabase. That's cool.

But how would you win?

I mean, I'm sure this deck would steal games. Sligh always had the capability of doing that. But like I said, when you run into Counterbalance, Tarmogoyf, and Tendrils of Agony, what do you do?

[Jon Stewart]

FUCK! I lost the indepth explanation of the countertop matchup I just spend over an hour working on to a "Database Error" that occurred after I submitted my post and made the whole site inaccessible.

I don't have the patience or the desire to type it up all over again. If there is any way a mod could retrieve the post (it's the post that's about 10 paragraphs long), assuming the site cached what I posted somewhere, I would tremendously appreciate it.

To quickly sum up the main points...

I've repeatedly found that the deck actually fares pretty well against most Goyf and Countertop decks. The matchup really depends on how much countermagic your opponent sees, and if they luck into both pieces of the Countertop combo early on. They usually don't. The odds of them seeing both Top and Counterbalance in their opening 10 cards (counting Brainstorm) is a mere 2.5% Even in the opening 15 is under 5%. And the other 95% of the time that they don't assemble both pieces fast enough, it's not tough for you to win.

Ad Nauseum is the centerpiece of the combo these days. And while yes, it's not a great matchup (nor a frequent one). And i probably wouldn't play this deck in a meta where lots of people play tendrils combo. It's not a horrible matchup either. If they give you two turns, you cripple their life total enough that they can frequently fizzle with Ad Nauseum and lose the game. If they give you three turns, the game is already over.

An opening consisting of some combination of Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning (17), Rift Bolt (14), Lava Spike (11), Spark Elemental (8), Reckless Abandon (4) and Fireblast (0) or a number of variations of those all guarantee you a third turn win against the matchup.

The cards that I actually have a tough time against are actually Chalice of the Void+Trinishere combined with a fast clock. And in a meta where I see those often, I wouldn't play this deck.

Where did this idea that a deck can't have any bad matchups come from anyways? Every deck in the format has plenty of bad matchups. Ichorid has some terrible matchups post board. And it's still a deck to beat/watch. The trick is to pick the gameplan that suits your meta, and if necessary, tweak it to circumvent the sideboard cards that you see often.

[Gocho]

Sligh works.

Pablo Diaz makes 11th at GP Madrid with MonoR Sligh, you can read it in Wizards' Coverage. He played Burn with Ball Lightning, Figure of Destiny, Grim Lavamancer and Goblin guide. Sounds like sligh to me. But there aren't any list.

SelfQuote:
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...l=1#post433420

Pablo Diaz was playing mono-red burn. You can find his feature match vs. Paulo Vitor on Round 13.

After reading the Feature Match, I think that he played mono-red Sligh. Ball of Lightning and Grim Lavamancer would come in, but Figure of Destiny and Goblin Guide aren't Burn cards.

Do you think that he doesn't face any Tarmo after 17 rounds?

I played vs Canadian a lot of times with Burn. The best card was Volcanic Fallout because can't be countered. Many games, I lost with my opponent at 2-4 life points because I can't kill him before Tarmo kill me. You know that another Tarmo would improve this matchs, Why can't speed improve them too?

[Jon Stewart]

Thanks for the post Gocho. A 11th out of 2000+ players after 17 rounds in the largest tournament in Magic's history is a ridiculously amazing feat.

Is Pablo's full Mono Red Sligh list posted anywhere to your knowledge? I would love to add that list to the OP if it's available.

[herbig]

Have you playtested your deck with Goyf and without?

[Jon Stewart]

Why the hell would I? If you don't yet understand why it makes absolutely no sense to screw up the manabase in my (and I imagine most) metas, go read the rest of the thread.

If you insist that I must splash and make my manabase vulnerable and less consistent just to play slower creatures, don't half ass it, just tell me to go play Zoo. By swtiching to Zoo, you give up a full turn of your speed, your manabase and several maindeck and sideboard options, which you're already giving up by splashing for goyf. But you get to use awesome (albeit slower) cards like StP, Path to Exile and versatile creatures like Wild Nacatl and Qasali Pridemage.

And if you continue to insist that a strategy that just placed 11th out of 2225 players in the biggest tourney in magic history is fundamentally wrong, and needs to splash a color in order to be competitive, then you're not making any sense.

[crow_mw]

Big props on the list. I totally agree Goyf does not belong here. Heck, even some RG Sligh builds opted to drop him. Sure, running RG has some advantages over this list, but mono R has advantages which cannot be discarded simply by 'need moar goyfs'.

...when you run into Counterbalance, Tarmogoyf, and Tendrils of Agony, you'll know how much the deck lacks, especially without a splash.

I don't get that point. Goyf does not help you against assembled cb-top lock. Quite the opposite, slowing yourself down gives them more time to assemble it. Pretty much the only chance an aggro strategy has against combo is racing them. Again - slowing yourself down with goyf decreases your chances of winning (Goyf is 3/4 or even worse 2/3 for 2 mana here). As for opposing goyfs - sure they shut your creatures down, but they are far from invalidating your game plan.

[overseer1234]

Well, I've allway's been a big fan of sligh so I like that I'm not the only one playing it.

Here's my list from before they nerfed fanatic)

4x Blood Knight
4x Grim Lavamancer
4x Figure of destiny
4x Mogg Fanatic
3x Genju of the Spires
4x Fireblast
3x Incinerate
4x Lava Dart
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Magma Jet Instant
14x Mountain
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Chain Lightning

//sideboard
4x pyroblast
4x pyrostatic pillar
3x proce of progress
4x shattering spree

For now I would just replace mogg fanatic with goblin guide unless your meta iss ichorid infested, in which case I would keep fanatic.

Blood knight may seem weak, but the first strike+burn make's it easier to kill other creature's without getting serious card disadvantage, also with path to exile, Swords to plowshare's, rhox war monk, and qasali prodemage's roaming everywhere, this guy just got even better. Also a house in the goblin matchup (killing everything they got)

Figure of destiny, used to be jackal pup, but this give's us a better chance if the game happens to go long.

Genyu of the spire: the first time around it's a tad bit worse than ball lightning, but then it keep's on coming back and he's a house.

Lava dart: good in agro matchup's but probably not good enough anymore... you could replace it with a 4th incinerate and 3 price of progress so you get some more boarding-space (don't like PoP in the main deck since it can't kill of creature's in a pinch...), however I still like it.

[paK0]

And if you continue to insist that a strategy that just placed 11th out of 2225 players in the biggest tourney in magic history is fundamentally wrong, and needs to splash a color in order to be competitive, then you're not making any sense.

True, but from what I read you seem to be a little paranoid about splashes.

If we look at the DTB there are only 2 decks that do NOT run 3+ colours.