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Hi TL, first blog post, go easy on me :p
So, for those who don't know what FNM is, its Friday Night Magic. Magic being Magic the Gathering, the collectable card game.
Now, on to the real stuff. I'm tuning up my deck, and am curious to see what kind of help I can get from the wonderful people at TL. Here's the decklist so far.
Older incarnations
+ Show Spoiler +Creatures (21)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
4 Squadron Hawk
2 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Kor Skyfisher
1 Molten-Tail Masticore
Spells (15)
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Staggershock
2 Burst Lightning
2 Journey to Nowhere
1 Smite
3 Adventuring Gear
1 Sword of Body and Mind
Land (24)
5 Mountain
6 Plains
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Arid Mesa
2 Marsh Flats
4 Evolving WIlds
4 Teetering Peaks
Sideboard
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Celestial Purge
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Revoke Existence
2 Journey to Nowhere
1 Act of Treason
1 Mark of Mutiny
1 Day of Judgement
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
Changes:
-2 Staggershock, -1 Molten-Tail Masticore, -1 Oust
+4 Spikeshot Elder
Creatures (24)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
4 Squadron Hawk
2 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Kor Skyfisher
4 Spikeshot Elder
Spells (12)
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Burst Lightning
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Adventuring Gear
1 Sword of Body and Mind
Land (24)
5 Mountain
6 Plains
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Arid Mesa
2 Marsh Flats
4 Evolving WIlds
4 Teetering Peaks
Sideboard
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Cunning Sparkmage
1 Basilisk Collar
3 Celestial Purge
3 Act of Treason
2 Kor Firewalker
A friend of mine is gonna let me borrow some more of the Zendikar fetches, but otherwise I'm pretty open to feedback, and am willing to explain any card choices. The sideboard for sure needs work, and I'm probably gonna go out and get ahold of 4 Cunning Sparkmage for sure (I already have the Basilisk Collar).
Oh, and please no "Just play UB Control its the best lolol" I don't have the money for Jace or Grave Titan, I'm a college student mostly on my own, doing this for fun, so I don't have the income for more than a few singles and the occasional tournament.
PS Who's excited for Besieged this weekend?!
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You should probably go check out the official R/W aggro thread on MTGsalvation. You are having way too little creature for the deck, I think you need cunning sparkmage for the dmg and of course a copy of basilik collar with that card. What you will be trying to do is to summon Steppe Lynx, then Plated Geopede attack with its landfall effect. You are suppose to deal more than 10 DMG after the first 4 turn. If by any chance the opponent summons Baneslayer Angel or like a fucking strong creature and thinks that he has you and that you are no longer able to shit, get out Stoneforge Mystic, summon the sparkmage equip the collar to the sparkmage and kill the guy. OR a more budgeted version would be to use Kor Hookmaster for stunning effect, it will also works well with the Skyfisher to bring it back and continue the aggression.
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I think Cunning Sparkmages and a basilisk collar main instead of the two staggershock, the smite, and maybe a land or two. 24 seems like a lot for a fast aggro deck (could be offbase here) as you'd rather draw creatures than lands after the first few turns. I realize the fetches help thin your deck a little, but Id probably run 22 or 23 lands.
Other than that looks good to me 
Edit: I am excited for Besieged, but I am not attending the prerelease. My friends and I are splitting a box when it is out though.
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So let me get your deck's plan straight. You drop constant aggro creatures, combo sac lands with landfall, and finish people off with burn, right? It's a solid deck, probably goldfishes on turn 4 or 5 depending how lucky you are.
The theme works (the kor skyfisher is clever) but I think your hate could be improved. Smite and Journey to nowhere are reactive removal, staggershock simply costs too much for the deck you're trying to run. You want to be able to equip or lay down a creature AND be able to hate his chump creature on the same turn. That will allow you to swing in with no worries except what's in his hand.
Is FNM T2 in your area? Because there's significantly better removal elsewhere.
EDIT: I've never seen adventuring gear before.Probably because it wouldn't work in our cube. But that thing + a sac land + harrow is goddamn ridiculous.
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FNM is supposed to be T2 everywhere because it's easier to get people started playing in standard.
Boros is an archetype that is up in the air right now and if I had to choose an aggro deck I'd want to play it'd be BR Vamps.
That aside I don't agree with your choice of mainboard SoBaM. You need to remember boros' game plan at the moment is breaking the RW landfall creatures and taking advantage of shoddy spot removal available...doom blade is the only good removal in standard at the moment.
In the meta right now the sparkmage collar combo isn't nearly as good as it was pre-rotation The only targets you're worried about really are fatties like grave titan or primeval and by the time they get those out you should be in a commanding lead able to finish the game out with your reach (squad hawk bolt etc) in fact I'd rather you just play 4x mark of mutiny in the side if you're worried about those fatties. Take their primeval titan and swing for the win due to land fall triggers. I like the skyfisher teetering peaks interaction a lot.
One card you really need somewhere in your 75 is arc trail. this card 2 for 1s so hard right now it isn't even funny. It's even situation ally better than pyroclasm (1 to cobra 2 to face) I'd recommend getting at least 2 of them in somewhere. As for the nay saying on your stagger shock I love that card against other aggro decks as it's almost always a 2 for 1 and EoT stagger shock nets you 4 damage before you draw your next card for 3!? that's entirely playable.
TL:DR Sword to the side +1 adventuring gear drop sparkmage collar combo add arc trail some where (main or side). increase mark of mutiny to 4 in the board remove act of treason. maybe run 4 revokes as ratchet bomb eats you up. I'd also probably run 4 ruin blasters vs control. remove smite for 3rd journey or even an oust
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I can talk about mtg all day lol sorry for such a long post
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FMN is draft at my local store, and it's significantly more active thanks to that. All the table talk as packs goes around makes for a really nice atmosphere for new and returning players.
Arc Trails like iSiN said is pretty house right now and really pushes the card economy up for aggro decks running Red.
I prefer Oust over Journeys in that deck simply because it gives me better turn 2 plays on the draw if they drop a Wall or Cobra and some tempo.
I would say to try Emeria Angel with all the fetchlands you have, but that's more me wanting to try something like that more than anything.
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Offhand, you've got the general idea. I'm definitely on board for the "more creatures" idea, probably gonna drop the Staggershocks first. However, I'm thinking of relegating Sparkmage to the sideboard, and putting in Spikeshot Elder in the main. I'm gonna test out to see how Kemba, Kha-Regent does as well.
The FNM is T2, so good removal is tough to find. (I miss Path to Exile : ((( ) I've got spare Journey to Nowheres sideboard, and the oust is so my Steppe Lynx can block a Titan and live. Other than that, I've gotta kill 'em before too many Titans show up. Might just be too cute, though, and would be better if it were just another creature.
And adventuring gear is awesome in this deck, strap it onto one of the flyers or even the steppe lynx and swing for bonkers on turn 3. That usually summons the Doom Blade, though :p.
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oh ya forgot about that spike shot +adventuring gear is wtf good. I've tried kemba but she was underwhelming. Oust is definitely better than journey for you as it keeps your opponent from drawing more gas early. The tempo it produces has made sweat drip down my brow before playing UW and UB.
edit: Oust doesn't save steppe lynx it's not instant speed.
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On January 25 2011 07:41 HyruleanTubist wrote:
Offhand, you've got the general idea. I'm definitely on board for the "more creatures" idea, probably gonna drop the Staggershocks first. However, I'm thinking of relegating Sparkmage to the sideboard, and putting in Spikeshot Elder in the main. I'm gonna test out to see how Kemba, Kha-Regent does as well.
The FNM is T2, so good removal is tough to find. (I miss Path to Exile : ((( ) I've got spare Journey to Nowheres sideboard, and the oust is so my Steppe Lynx can block a Titan and live. Other than that, I've gotta kill 'em before too many Titans show up. Might just be too cute, though, and would be better if it were just another creature.
And adventuring gear is awesome in this deck, strap it onto one of the flyers or even the steppe lynx and swing for bonkers on turn 3. That usually summons the Doom Blade, though :p.
Brave the Elements my friend. I would be more worried about a Disfigure turn 1 than Doom on turn 3. Either way, a turn 5 Consume is scoops for you.
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Most of what was said is what I'd suggest. I second (or like, fourth) the Cunning Sparkmage/Basilisk Collar suggestion. That stuff is scary. :D
Small question since it's on topic: How do you guys store cards? I have a bunch of 200 count card boxes but I'm trying to find like, a legit box designed for trading cards. Any suggestions?
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Man, got a bunch of replys while writing that last post. The Sword is an experiment, and is something nice to do once I get ahold of 5 mana and have nothing better to do with it. And its guaranteed 2 extra damage, and makes me a 2/2, which is card advantage. So I don't hav eto wait to topdeck a land to get the damage boost with it. Its gonna stay for now, though will probably come out if I see Vengevine, don't need to encourage that.
Oust I'm not a fan of, because they gain 3 life. It might slow them down some, but unless I've got a good enough board position for it to not matter, it'll set me back, too. And if its that good, Mark of Mutiny or Act of Treason can do the job better, probably.
Now I can't decide whether to keep Staggershock, sub it for Arc Trail, or what. I'm still leaning toward cutting Staggershock for more guys, and probably putting Arc Trail in the sideboard.
Definitely have thought about Emeria Angel, I'll test it out later, probably not for this FNM though.
We did draft at FNM last week, the card pool was bonkers, there were some decks that almost looked like standard decks.
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Judicator, two reasons for not running Brave.
1. It only affects white creatures, which doesn't save my poor geopedes or goblin guides.
2. I hate the card. This is purely just me being bad at using it AND bad at playing against it. I ran a white weenie deck for a while, and for whatever reason I never could use it right, and then it'd blow me out of the water when i saw other white weenie decks. (Mostly the first reason, here, lol)
It also doesn't protect me from Consume the Meek, since Consume is a global effect.
Arc Trail and Staggershock are pretty similar. The question is, whether or not its worth paying the extra 1 to get instant speed and have it not happen all at once.
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On January 25 2011 07:52 HyruleanTubist wrote:
Man, got a bunch of replys while writing that last post. The Sword is an experiment, and is something nice to do once I get ahold of 5 mana and have nothing better to do with it. And its guaranteed 2 extra damage, and makes me a 2/2, which is card advantage. So I don't hav eto wait to topdeck a land to get the damage boost with it. Its gonna stay for now, though will probably come out if I see Vengevine, don't need to encourage that.
Oust I'm not a fan of, because they gain 3 life. It might slow them down some, but unless I've got a good enough board position for it to not matter, it'll set me back, too. And if its that good, Mark of Mutiny or Act of Treason can do the job better, probably.
Now I can't decide whether to keep Staggershock, sub it for Arc Trail, or what. I'm still leaning toward cutting Staggershock for more guys, and probably putting Arc Trail in the sideboard.
Definitely have thought about Emeria Angel, I'll test it out later, probably not for this FNM though.
We did draft at FNM last week, the card pool was bonkers, there were some decks that almost looked like standard decks.
3 Life is pretty insignificant compared to the tempo, since your deck is all about racing something, if they drop something turn 2, and let's say you're sitting at 3 mana on your turn, what do you do? It gives you better plays on your turn 3 on the play and far more plays on the draw on your turn 2. The 2 CC on Journey will bite you more than you think.
Oh I know it doesn't save you from Consume. Considering the MVP of that deck will more likely to be your white fliers than your red creatures save the PGs. Brave would work against the sideboard hate better.
As for the Staggershocks, I don't they'll be that good games 2 and 3 tbh.
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I love these threads, it is always crazy for me to see how far mtg has come. My friends and I played in middle school when it first came out, quit around the 4th edition when they started changing rules and expansions were getting silly plus we were in highschool and getting into different stuff. I have beta black lotus and all the moxes, full sets of the first few expansions, etc. Problem is I always kept them in my backpack with a rubber band around them, they're all so scuffed and the edges are a total mess. They just sit in a box under my old bed in my parent's house now. If only I'd known.............
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Since its FNM and pretty much anything goes, if you are allowed you might wanna put a few skullclamps in
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I usually run a straight up RDW, so take my advice with that in mind.
I feel that your deck is trying to combine two different things, the more mainstream RDW and the smaller Quest for the Holy Grail decks. I see a lot of landfall, which works pretty well, but if you were going for that, I would use Searing Blaze instead of Staggershock (RR, deal 1 to creature 1 to player, if landfall, 3 to creature and 3 player). Staggershock works mainly with cards like Kiln Fiend that benefit from the card coming into play twice. If your're looking for removal, I would either add more journey to nowheres or Flame Slashes. I would lean towards the Flame Slashes since they are 1 mana and can remove walls (especially helpful against the popular ramp decks).
If you decide to invest into some Cunning Sparkmages, I would possibly also add in a Sun Ttian and Inferno Titan. Both of these two titans are relatively cheap, and Sun Titan would maintain card advantage on the field. Similarly, Inferno Titan syncs so well with Basilisk Collar (being able to eliminate 3 creatures a swing is never bad).
If you are debating between Staggershock and Arc Trail, I would go for Arc Trail. Being able to almost always get a 2 for 1 against token/smaller decks is always good, as sometimes with Staggershock you just won't get anything good off.
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In the meta right now Boros is actually more effective than both Quest W(x) and RDW. Emerge unscathed is a possible "Counter Spell" for spot removal plus it lets you get through. I'm not saying sword is a bad card by any means BUT you're better off with a 4th adventuring gear game 1 as that thing is so good in general where as Sword is sick vs Valakut and Eldrazi
and not so good against other decks
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Ok, here's the updated list. I'll also put this in the main post.
Changes:
-2 Staggershock, -1 Molten-Tail Masticore, -1 Oust
+4 Spikeshot Elder
Creatures (24)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
4 Squadron Hawk
2 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Kor Skyfisher
4 Spikeshot Elder
Spells (12)
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Burst Lightning
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Adventuring Gear
1 Sword of Body and Mind
Land (24)
5 Mountain
6 Plains
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Arid Mesa
2 Marsh Flats
4 Evolving WIlds
4 Teetering Peaks
Sideboard
2 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Cunning Sparkmage
1 Basilisk Collar
3 Celestial Purge
3 Act of Treason
2 Kor Firewalker
Thoughts after playtesting (only against my friend's infect deck, which gets stomped pre-board, and somewhat evenly when he boards and I don't):
Spikeshot Elder is awesome. I almost always got some value out of him. Definitely a keeper.
Sword of Body and Mind wasn't a massive bomb usually, but I was never disappointed with it. The constant pump is very good when you can't consistently draw lands in the late game for your adventuring gears, and making a 2/2 wolf token is pretty sweet card advantage. I'm gonna keep it maindeck for now, mostly because I don't want to cut anything out of the sideboard.
I've played with Sun Titan in previous incarnations of this deck, and its actually somewhat underwhelming. He returns lands and dudes, yeah, but he usually just eats a Doom Blade immediately entering the battlefield, or he is just propelling you through an already winning situation. Inferno Titan I haven't played with, but I don't really see fitting in the deck. Same logic, he either wins you an already good position, or just eats a Doom Blade and is a 6 CMC Lightning Bolt.
I'm just gonna have to play around Consume the Meek, that's all I can do. You either have to come out hard and fast or slowroll control decks, so those I'll just have to play those as the situation arises. Pyroclasm ruins me, too, sadly T_T, though that's only seeing sporadic use in sideboards for now (I hope!).
And rofl to the skullclamp comment.
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Instead of sun titan consider marshals anthem it does the same thing as sun titan in your deck but eats blades less. Also pump up your pingers ftw
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EPT
