[Report] Team Calosso storms Stratford!!

[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


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.