PwnTek

For those interested... I posted a cheaper brew on here. Feel free to check it out!
http://www.mtgvault.com/pwntek/decks/bloody-hell/

Thanks! It finally hit the time limit on the on the Hot List so it was removed after 2 months haha.
I 'll be putting up a new list this week that i've been play testing with good success.

Hi Splooge.
Here is my critique:
The overall deck idea is something I tried in an early iteration of this one. When it works it works great, but it also gives away your win cons if the opponent has any competitive experience in this standard. That being said here are my suggestions.
If you are running two elspeth you need to be at least 25-26 lands.

Fix your mana like so:

Lands: 26
x3 Battlefield Forge
x9 Mountain
x6 Plains
x4 Temple of Triumph
x4 Wind-Scarred Crag


Mainboard Changes:
-1 Purphoros
-2 Fated Conflagration
+2 Devouring Light
(White creature convoke can make casts free would synergize well)


Sideboard Changes:
-1 Deflecting Palm
-1 Fated
-1 Ride Down
-1 Harness by Force

+4 Chained to the Rocks
(With the mana fixing it makes it easier to reliably be able to cast one of these by t2-t3)

I havent actually been on here to update some things for some time - but I was testing wingmate roc for a bit in his place, I prefer sarkhan over it - I will fix the list :p

I have played against that variant of Abzan Aggro that likes using flyer's to get things done... I too love using D-Palm in tandem with getting a free draw or two from MoF.

Revoke & Chained were invaluable in those match ups, but if you dont draw them - gotta pray they block a creature and let you finish it off with a burn spell. :/

I haven't tested Ajani Steadfast in this deck shell - I think it'd probably be decent against some aggro decks. Midrange not so sure..

While I agree that the monastery swiftspear can be great for getting in some early damage in a super fast deck I dont think its the right pick for my deck as with 8 lands that come in tapped - I tend to play them in the order to by T2 / T3+ have full untapped mana.

I actually did test Chandra in the original iteration of this deck over a month ago but found myself underwhelmed with her, but with the increase in creature spells & instant/sorcery in both MD/SB maybe it would make more sense to have her as a 1-2 of.

Went 8-2-0 Tonight!

Round 1:
Jeskai Wins 2-0
Early Seeker & Rabble / Brimaz both games - Devouring + Lightning strike to stop mantis as soon as it hit the field.

Round 2:
GB Midrange 2-0
He didnt have any biles or drowns in sorrow so Rabblemaster + Seeker / Brimaz did most of the leg work.

Round 3: 2-0
WB Warriors
Custom brew of a local - it's not by any means a Tier 1 deck, I didn't have trouble beating him either.

Round 4: 0-2
GR Monsters
G1 - Mana screwed plain and simple. G2 Mana flooded. What can ya do ya know?

Round 5: 2-0
Abzan Aggro
Early threats + burns / exile cards made his whips and rhinos practically useless.

Placed 3rd :)

Funny you should say that... I got off of work early today to test my changes and after 20+ games against different decks I found that without those I was having a hard time maintaining a clear path to swing through with.

So I ended up putting those back in Main Deck and side boarded howl & voice instead.
The removal presence is impressive with the Chained, Devouring Lights & Burn options.
I like it much better than having the board wipes admittedly.

I've been thinking about your suggestions at work - and based on your feedback for sideboarding in conjunction with how I've been sideboarding I've noticed some patterns... particularly that end hostilities has been very conditional most of the time, and I think that's my control player tendencies showing and that's not what this deck is designed to do.

Main Deck Changes:
+3 Seeker of the Way (Added to Main Deck)
+2 Howl of the Horde (Moved from SB)
+2 Tormenting Voice (Moved from SB)
+3 Devouring Light (Moved from SB)
-1 Deflecting Palm (Removed)
-2 End Hostilities (Removed)
-1 End Hostilities (Moved to SB)
-2 Circle of Flame (Moved to SB)
Local Meta pick - subject to change.
-4 Chained to the Rocks (Moved to SB)
I really like this card main deck - but can board it in if needed.

While probably a slight variant of what you will end up testing this week - I'm going to be play testing this list tonight at a tournament and will post my results afterward.

Thanks again for the feedback!

I look forward to reading your findings! best of luck!

Wow, that feedback far exceeded my expectations! Thank you very much!
I'm glad that someone else had similar results as I did piloting the deck!

As for your points:
1. I agree, I go by the same rule (Provided I have at least 2+ land in my hand ideally)
2. I always take this approach, the hit to tempo can really set up for an early win! (But not always admittedly)
3. +1 Need I say more?
4. Yeah, this is going to be a choice that is meta dependent... once the aggro decks die out around here I will most likely be phasing it out main deck and/or altogether. Time will tell, it has been valuable for me thus far.
5. Thank you kindly, I tried alot of different combinations and this one seemed to flow the best.

May it continue to serve you well for as long as you pilot it!
Also, if you come up with any improvements... my ears are always open.

Which resulted in you expanding your knowledge about specific card(s) & combos!

I was running a playset originally, but I have since cut it back to only 2 in the main deck but will side it out G2 & G3 depending on the matchup. :p

Great question!

Prior to rotation, I saw ALOT of aggro decks relying heavily on tokens and/or creatures with two or less toughness to secure fast wins at events.

Post-rotation in my local meta, I regularly matchup ALOT against the following cards:

- Goblin Rabblemaster
- Hordeling Outburst
- Blood Soaked Champion
- Brimaz, King of Oreskos
- Elspeth, Sun's Champion

They are all great cards - scary threats if left unchecked.

The nice thing about Circle of Flame that catches people by surprise is the fact that as soon as they declare attackers - CoF pings the non-flying attackers for one. Which causes the 1/1's to die off immediately (Can you say Rabblemaster control? :p) Additionally, you can make use of it + a burn spell to take care of attacking threats (CoF + Stoke the Flames mid game makes it easy to deal with Siege Rhinos, Polukranos, etc.)

While it is more of a local meta call, even at pro tour events mono red aggro is a thing and 1/1 tokens via Elspeth & Mardu Midrange decks (Which made multiple spots in Top 8 this weeked across multiple events) unless they have a removal for it, it can seriously slow down the tempo and help me outrace them in damage! (And for the record it has done this to great effect thus far)

Also, I should note that multiple copies DO stack. 2 on the field can be intimdating to attack into when the opponent knows you have burn spells up your sleeve..

I am currently play testing that actually... :)

Woohoo! I'd say that's pretty damn good for an initial test run wouldn't you? :D
I'm interested to hear how you side boarded against particular match ups (But I suppose I should ask - did you use the same SB I have listed here?)

I know the feeling on the mana flooded and screwed... its a big reason why I have been using the Tormenting Voice as of late so I can discard the extra lands that I dont 'need' (Once I have 9+ I'm solid and dont actually need anymore) per se and draw into better options... and in cases of Screwed, discarding a threat or a burn spell I cant use to increase my chances of getting the crucial land drops I need has been equally helpful!

Congrats on your game night!
Thanks for giving it a try :)

No idea if this deck list will challenge / play a part in shaping the meta-game, but I'd like to believe it's a strong contender!

Type your deck name...If I had to categorize it, I would say that it is a pseudo-burn Midrange. Most opponents have just assumed that its a burn deck during / after G1. But with the spot removal / board wipe / combat trick options. It takes on a more control type of feel.

The goal of the deck is this, use burn spells & threats to win.
Spot removal & Boardwipes to help make that happen.

It was in my original list actually!
I ran 2 of them main deck, however during my play testing in 100+ games with the original iteration - there were only 2 games that come to mind where it was better to cast that as opposed to something in my hand.

Since the deck is a psuedo-burn midrange, it does focus on controlling the board state to an extent in clearing the way for my threats to swing.

If it wasn't a sorcery speed, the card would legitimately be a 4-of and way OP I admit...

It may make it back in there some day, but I just cant seem to find room for a better card slot main deck at the moment.

I find it interesting that you don't have Nyx-Fleece Ram in this list at all - particularly because you only have one archangel mainboard.
Was that play-tested with less than optimal results?

Played at my LGS standard tourney tonight, and went 8-1-0 against the following matchups:

2-1 vs Temur
***G1 - T5 End Hostilities wiped out his mana dorks and he was mana starved, was able to kill him with burn spells & Rabble + Brimaz. G2 - T3 Anger of the Gods (Lucky topdecking imo) stopped his ramp again, he stabilized around T7, and Had 2 Genesis Hydra's in his opening hand.... into Hornet Queens twice. I lost. G3 - Opening hand had 2 rabble and 3 burn spells. Burned his Mystic & Rattleclaws then swung hard with Rabbles and won a few turns later.***

2-0 vs 4 Color Aggro
***Abzan Aggro w/ Burn Spells - This one was semi challenging with the burn elements in it (lightning strike and magma jet in particular in conjunction with Siege Rhino and 12 lifegain lands [I think it was a budget deck :3] However, it was very slow - he got mana flooded and I took advantage of it with burn spells and Rabblemasters.***

2-0 vs Abzan Midrange
***This one was really difficult... but they werent running any Wingmate Roc's so that made it easier. They went all in too early, and hitting them with a End Hostilities put them so far behind they werent able to catch up after I started burning them down.
G2, I got an early rabblemaster and ended up winning by T6.***

2-0 vs Mono-Black Aggro
***I got lucky and had a circle of flame in my opening hand G1- this let me sit back and burn / swing in with fliers to win, G2 I was on the draw and top decked a Circle of flame and then pulled a second on T4, after that it was just send out burn spell after burn spell.***

I lold. +1