[Deck] Dragon Stompy

[boneclub24]

This is what I have been running, and I'm loving it! I recently switched to this from Faerie Stompy, because I love big bomb creatures.

Mana Sources: 26
10 Mountain
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Chrome Mox

Bombs: 12
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 Gathan Raiders
2 Arc-Slogger
2 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs

Locks: 14
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Blood Moon
3 Trinisphere

Support: 8
4 Seething Song
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Umezawa's Jitte

Sideboard: 15
4 Ratchet Bomb
4 Pyrokinesis
3 Pithing Needle
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Anarchy

[Masamune]

Very similar to my current list :D
I'm thinking about exchange 1 Slogger instead of 1 Kazuul, because IMO it is slight better (furthermore Kazuul was better than Slogger against Survivals)

[boneclub24]

Very similar to my current list :D
I'm thinking about exchange 1 Slogger instead of 1 Kazuul, because IMO it is slight better (furthermore Kazuul was better than Slogger against Survivals)

Survivals gone mate. I'll think about the Kazuul thing, but Slogger has been winning me tons of games. Plus, he's my favorite creature in Magic, which was one of the big reasons I chose this deck.

[NecroYawgmoth]

guys... what's the pointon Kazuul?

I really don't see it.

You all here know that I am not the biggest fan of Slogger and try to play FTKs and stuff like this to avoid cc4, but Slogger is still 142 times better than Kazuul. There is absolutely no reason to run any other cc5 critter in this deck, which is not called Slogger.

And if any of you others are randomly interested: I am atm back on the Hellbent-Train, and my list is the following:

4 Gathan Raiders
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
2 Arc-Slogger
2 Kargan Dragonlord

4 Blood Moon
3 Koth of the Hammer
3 Seething Song
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Trinisphere

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

Sideboard is the standard stuff like Needle/Crypt/Merfolk-Hate.


I don't know If I really need the Songs, or if 3 is the perfect nr thx to Koth, but I will see =D

suggestions? =P

[ForlornEgoist]

Few people will argue superiority between Slogger and Kazuul, however they both have advantages to them. True, Slogger can shock creatures to death or close out that remaining 4-8 damage, however he ultimately can't handle swarms of creatures and can't defeat a Goyf without said ability (since, on average, I found Goyf only ever gets to be a 4/5 against us :P). Kazuul, on the other hand, can easily beatdown a 4/5 Goyf, and more importantly, is able to handle swarms of creatures or tokens. Even if an opponent is only attacking with 1 creature Kazuul essentially says: "Pay or don't bother attacking." That can make a difference as it means they'll have less to do 2nd main phase or other instant-speed shenanigans (My personal favorite game with Kazuul involved a Belcher playing EtW for something like 12 tokens on T1, then I dropped a Kazuul T1 :O).

Forlorn Egoist

[Masamune]

Yup! However my current list is something like:
-1 Kazuul and +1 Slogger, because my meta is Fishes and Control decks. With no Belcher and Survivals I prefer run even LoSP (I love it hehehe... 6/6 easy is cool :P) than DragonLords and Koths. Maybe Koth would strategically affect more Bant and Taxes decks (with plowshares) than LoSPs, but we could test against it to see the results

[boneclub24]

Few people will argue superiority between Slogger and Kazuul, however they both have advantages to them. True, Slogger can shock creatures to death or close out that remaining 4-8 damage, however he ultimately can't handle swarms of creatures and can't defeat a Goyf without said ability (since, on average, I found Goyf only ever gets to be a 4/5 against us :P). Kazuul, on the other hand, can easily beatdown a 4/5 Goyf, and more importantly, is able to handle swarms of creatures or tokens. Even if an opponent is only attacking with 1 creature Kazuul essentially says: "Pay or don't bother attacking." That can make a difference as it means they'll have less to do 2nd main phase or other instant-speed shenanigans (My personal favorite game with Kazuul involved a Belcher playing EtW for something like 12 tokens on T1, then I dropped a Kazuul T1 :O).

Forlorn Egoist

Also, Kazuul puts on a quicker clock than Slogger, if you're not looking at abilities.

[mercs]

Also, Kazuul puts on a quicker clock than Slogger, if you're not looking at abilities.

LOL. that's like saying "juzam dijinn is faster than necrotic ooze, if you're not looking at abilities." :P

but seriously, i do like kazuul a lot, and i think it'd be great if he sees sucess in tourney play. i'm currently messing aound w/ some compliments for him right now, but not too much success yet.

[ForlornEgoist]

Alright, please don't bite my head off for the following statement:

Has anyone else considered removing Seething Song?

Something I've noticed alot with this deck is that once I've gotten past T5 or so the only cases Song still provides fuel is when I invest it into a 5cc creature or RPD. Beyond that it's typically a horrible topdeck. 8 lands, Moxes/Simians as well as basic lands pretty much gurantees us to hit which is what we curve out at, so it's not too unreasonably to reach as the game progresses for creatures like RPD and Lord of Shatterskull Pass. Taking out Songs, however, means we would most likely have to reduce or remove Kazuul/Slogger.

In the place of Songs I'm considering trying out Crystal ball. It's not a SDT, I know, but its , and unlike SDT it removes cards we don't want to see.

This is just an idea I'm considering. I think I'll plan on testing it at Legacy Tuesday, but I thought I'd post the idea here to see what your opinions are.

Forlorn Egoist

[NecroYawgmoth]

yep, I am often tring to cut Seething Song.

it's not that bad idea to cut it from non-Slogger Versions, but you can use Songs also to level up Shatterskulls and Kargans or pump RPD over the top... Seething Song is best in Turn 1-3 like the most other part of this deck.

If we remove Slogger the replacement would be Flametongue Kavu, IMO, but you know that many people say it's terrible...


BTW: I am bored about MtG the last days, and could translate my german primer into english... If you guys here are interested in it I'd do it and post it here, because the OP is somewhat outdated, so what do you think?

[lotriderm]

yep, I am often tring to cut Seething Song.

it's not that bad idea to cut it from non-Slogger Versions, but you can use Songs also to level up Shatterskulls and Kargans or pump RPD over the top... Seething Song is best in Turn 1-3 like the most other part of this deck.

If we remove Slogger the replacement would be Flametongue Kavu, IMO, but you know that many people say it's terrible...


BTW: I am bored about MtG the last days, and could translate my german primer into english... If you guys here are interested in it I'd do it and post it here, because the OP is somewhat outdated, so what do you think?

An updated primer will be greatly appreciated.

Also, I have cut Seething Song for a while (non-Slogger version), and I haven't missed it at all. In its slot, I just increased my creature count.

[Secretly.A.Bee]

What creature(s) did you choose for the slots? Also, is Taurean Mauler still used much?

[lotriderm]

What creature(s) did you choose for the slots? Also, is Taurean Mauler still used much?

I'm running 4x Taurean Mauler, I still think it beats hard and it's cheap to cast. I think in those Seething Song slots, I just increased my Taurean Mauler to 4, Lord of Shatterskull Pass to 3, and included 1 Sword of Fire and Ice (I sometimes struggle against Goblins and Merfolk; in addition to 2 maindeck Umezawa's Jitte).

[Masamune]

yep, I am often tring to cut Seething Song.....

Please....could anyone discrible a little more about this? What list we can run with no songs?

[NecroYawgmoth]

something like this:

4 Gathan Raiders
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Flametongue Kavu
3 Taurean Mauler
4 Lord of Shatterskull Pass
4 Blood Moon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Trinisphere
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
10 Snow-Covered Mountain

you can play around with the list, and cut Mauler for Kothes, or a Shatterskull and a Trini for 2 Kargan Dragonlords, or stuff like that... I don't see the problem.

[Yuri8]

I tried take them out, but even with just 8 of four drops(no five drops) i find really hard to achieve hellbent.

[Masamune]

something like this:

4 Gathan Raiders
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Flametongue Kavu
3 Taurean Mauler
4 Lord of Shatterskull Pass
4 Blood Moon
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Trinisphere
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
10 Snow-Covered Mountain

you can play around with the list, and cut Mauler for Kothes, or a Shatterskull and a Trini for 2 Kargan Dragonlords, or stuff like that... I don't see the problem.

I'm gonna test it but I hate Mauler... maybe my list would be -3 Mauler and add SoFI or another strong and fast creature like DragonLord...

[Tacosnape]

Cutting Song is the wrong move. Trust me. I've tried to cut it.

Song is a beautiful acceleration card that enables turn two kills, ramps out Sloggers, pumps Dragons, turns Kargan Dragonlord beastly very quickly, and speeds up the whole Hellbent process. Without it, you're an average speed deck with sub-average cards.

Dragon Stompy -HAS- to be fast. Because being fast is the only chance it remotely has if the "Oops, I win" cards don't do their job. Going sellout aggro with Seething Song is pretty much the best strategy.

Song also imprints on Mox, where colorless alternatives do not, allowing you to curb your explosiveness a little bit for consistency should you judge it necessary.

[ForlornEgoist]

We're talking about an extra 2 mana of acceleration. Yeah, it pumps up Dragons/Lords and can enable great acceleration in the first few turns, but majority of games don't start off with T1-->Tomb/Mana-->Song-->Chalice @1/3Sphere, T2-->Beater. There are also decks which are capable of shutting off the lock piece that hurts them, or dealing with the creatures we shell out. And if they're able to stall out a board position (for example dropping a Jace 2.0), then we automatically enter topdeck mode. At that point there are a huge number of cards I don't want to see (Simian/Song/Mox/Magus (sometimes)). Yeah, on ocassion it is useful to power out 5cc creatures, or pump Dragons, but beyond that it's unnecessary, and I'm sure the deck can function w/o it of you alter the creature base.

As for your argument that it pitches to Mox: x4 RPD, X4 Gathan, x4 Simian, x4 Magus, x2-4 Blood. Just starting off with the auto-includes, we're looking at anywhere from 18-20 red cards that can be pitched. That's not including the extra creature slots, or people who opt to MD things like Pyrokinesis. I hardly think that "Song pitches to Mox," is an argument when at bare minimum 1/3 of the deck can do that. I've never run into an instance where I was desperately seeking a card to pitch to Mox, just as I'm sure many other Stompy players can make similar arguments from experience.

If you don't want to remove Song, fine. Like I said, I'm just testing an idea for myself. But regardless of whether or not you agree with removing Song, I do think Crystal Ball has some merit. Even though we're an aggro-heavy deck, I still think it's important that we prepare for the eventuality that the game will go longer than 5 or 6 turns, and as such being able to shuffle away dead topdecks seems like it'd be a useful thing to have.

I have Legacy tonight, so I'll let you know what my results were.

EDIT: LEGACY STATS TONIGHT

Okay, so I went 1 - 3 tonight. Not as good as I thought I would go, but it's my fault for playing Stompy in such an underdeveloped meta.

Here's the decklist:


4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
10 Mountain

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Trinisphere
3 Crystal Ball
3 Umezawa's Jitte

4 Blood Moon

4 Magus of the Moon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 Flametongue Kavu
4 Gathan Raiders

Sideboard
3 Pithing Needle
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Volcanic Fallout
4 Pyrokinesis

Round 1: Bant
Game 1: Not much happened. He T1 fetch, pass. I T1 Magus, he fetchs island EOT Brainstorm. After this I beat with Magus for 10 damage, drop a RPD, Moon, and a Chalice @1, meanwhile he casts several Preordain/Ponder/Brainstorm and doesn't dig into an answer.
Game 2: I had no idea what he was playing, so I didn't SB anything against him. I mulled down to 4, he did a T1 Hierarch, a T2 Goyf, and a T3 Trygon. I was sitting on 1 City and a handful of 3cc stuff. He wins.
Game 3: I took out some Moon's for Pyrokinesis. I had to mull down to 5 this game, but I was better suited this time around. I continously tried to drop lock pieces, but he managed to get a T1 Hierarch and a T2 Goyf, so he proceeded to beat me sensless. I was able to get a RPD out and was hellbent. Unfortunately, he topdecks a Preordain (we were missing Sorcery) so his Goyf becomes a 5/6, Exalted buffing him to a 6/7. I only had enough to Firebreathe +3, so he beats, we trade, then 2nd main he drops another Goyf.

0-1

Round 2: Storm
No point in describing it. I won 2-1, and the loss I had was because I was being a newb player Game 2. I dropped a T1 3Sphere, and he was stuck for 5-6 turns. I proceeded to beat with Magus, however I for some reason opted not to play the 2nd 3sphere I had in my hand since T1. He drew into a Chain of Vapor, bounced the 3sphere, and went off. Yeah, I was stupid, I know.

1-1

Round 3: Affinity
Game 1: I drop 3 Sphere T1, Magus T2, Chalice @ 2 T3. He Scoops.
Game 2: I T2 Magus, but at this point he has Ravager/3 Artifacts/Cranial Plating and beats me. I didn't realize Artifact Land was a supertype and as such retained the "Artifact," part through Moon effects, so yeah...
Game 3: Similar to Game 2, only I used Pyrokinesis on 3 artifact creatures before he got to do any Affinity shenanigans, however he still pulls off Ravager/Cranial.

1-2

Round 4: Merfolk
Essentially what happened was the following:
Both games I mull to 5. He drops 4 Lords. I die.

1-3

So, my thoughts:

Crystal Ball was certainly a useful card. I definitely liked being able to shuffle away bad cards. However, the problem I ran into with it was if it was in my opening hand I was always putting this as the last priority. It would be anywhere from 5-7 or 8 turns before I even got around to playing. So, while I do think this is a useful card, I don't think it's necessary for the deck. The decks main power comes in those first few turns. We can't hope to compete with decks who are built for long games, so why bother. Explosive starts are how we win.

Taking the above statement into account, I am going to say that the Seething Songs are worth keeping, at least for me. I did find myself wishing I could cast more than 1 spell a turn, and Song helps out with that. It is indeed relevant in pumping up RPD/Lord, so for the moment I do plan to keep it in my Stompy build. I do stand by my original statement, however, that it is possible for the deck to function w/o Songs, and I'm sure someone could find a sucessful build that doesn't need them.

I don't like the Fallouts one bit, but last week I ran into a lot of tribal (Merfolk/Gobs/Soldier/Zombie) so I opted for some board removal. I chose Fallout because I liked the instant speed, but I now realized Pyroclasm costing 1 less is more relevant than instant speed. I also realize that Keg/Bomb are both more relevant to me than either sweepers, so I plan to put one of them back into the SB.

Anyway, after taking that beating today I think I'll be putting Stompy back on the shelf to gather dust until I can use it in a more developed meta.

Forlorn Egoist

[Masamune]

took out some Moon's for Pyrokinesis

Are you crazy? :P Moon effects against Bants and "XYZ" color controls is a bomb! Can screw them a lot. Remember also: Moons can't turn into land Dryads. Natural Order can target it anytime, so you still can kill with your Jittes and Kavus with moons in table

3x Jitte

IMO too much Jittes... Maybe 2x Jittes and 1x SoFI...because Legendary and 2cc can screw us a little...

1) Ratchet Bombs is a very useful card.... think about it: you can destroy tokens (I mean Belchers and Ichorids) and would be a masterpiece against your affinity opp... (many people forget that Bomb alternative strategy - to destroy something in play when it comes with no counters). Bomb is not too slow... can handle a little against Enchantress/ Ichorids and even Fishes...
2) Merfolk decks most CC is 2. Bombs and Chalices @2 is a perfect way to handle. Plus our Kavus and Slogger friends.
3) I don't like Crystall Ball. IMO isn't a card advantage and I prefer play at the beginning lock pieces and creatures after than look my deck to search the right card.... I don't know but I like to run Lords and Sloggers with songs yet (I have not tested yet other version discussed ago with no songs, maybe should be nice).
4)Try take Needles out and think about exchange into Bombs for instance (works better for me nowadays precisely since Survivals isn't playable anymore :D).
5) If Pyroclasm isn't works very well with it 2cc, maybe you would test odd stuffs like Steam Blast (hehe)

There is my tips :P. I hope it is useful