Rogue Deckbuilers 101: Burning Vengeance

Hello everyone and welcome to this special edition of the emporium, in today's edition it's time to take a look at a card which i feel might make rogue deckbuilders jealous, in the form of Burning Vengeance which is a Innistrad enchantment similar to the format i use for the Card Examinations on Final smash let's take a look at the Vengeance.

So how are we going to use this particular enchantment which costs 2 and a red mana, well there are quite few cards out there with Flashback these days and if we go Blue/Red we might have a shot since there are alot of mana fixers out there to help us along with this deck, let's first build the list and i will explain my choices

Creatures wise we will need some form of protection, Snapcaster Mage and Delver of Secrets seem to be our best options for this deck, along with the obvious but ever helpful Chandra's Phoenix in this list to make up the main creature base of the deck, so here's the creature base i had in mind for this particular list.

Creatures
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Delver of Secrets

Since we need lots of spells in the deck let's breakdown what Flashback spells we are able to use in this deck first.

Instants
- Ancient Grudge
- Cackling Counterpart
- Desperate Ravings
- Dream Twist
- Forbidden Alchemy
- Geistflame
- Memory's Journey
- Think Twice

Sorceries
- Devil's Play
- Grasp of Phantoms
- Nightbird's Clutches
- Past in Flames
- Rolling Temblor
- Silent Departure

So that's the Innistrad sorceries and Instants for this potential deck, that we can use for Flashback, but there are at least 3 Dark Ascension cards we can use for the deck potentially, Faithless Looting, Secrets of the Dead and Altar of the Lost which all help towards flashback in some way shape or form, but we can also use non flashback style spells for the deck, since we are in Blue/Red for the deck let's take a look at the top 5 of each color used lately

Blue
- Mana Leak
- Ponder
- Dissipate
- Negate
- Flashfreeze

Red
- Incinerate
- Gut Shot
- Brimstone Volley
- Galvanic Blast
- Desperate Ravings

So out of all the listed cards i posted above what would work in this list, Blue/Red tempo control might work with Burning Vengeance as a finisher card for all our good flashback material spells, here's my list for the spells for the deck besides the obvious 4 copies of Burning Vengeance

Spells
3 Dissipate
4 Burning Vengeance
4 Faithless Looting
3 Gut Shot
3 Brimstone Volley
2 Galvanic Blast
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Mana Leak
2 Vapor Snag

With the sideboarding having the following for the deck itself

Sideboard
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Mana Leak
2 Flashfreeze
3 Shatter
1 Dissipate
1 Chandra's Phoenix
2 Vapor Snag
1 Devil's Play
2 Galvanic Blast

That's a pretty diverse sideboard for the deck i feel, since the meta is all about Tempered Steel/Green/White humans these days, so test with this sideboard at your own lesiure and tell me in the comments of this article what your sideboard is for the deck, i want everyone to at least adapt the original sideboard.

Lands for the deck are pretty basic

Lands
4 Sulfur Falls
9 Mountain
10 Island

Here's the final list for the deck when you go to build it of course

U/R Burning Vengeance


Creatures
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Delver of Secrets


Spells
3 Dissipate
4 Burning Vengeance
4 Faithless Looting
3 Gut Shot
3 Brimstone Volley
2 Galvanic Blast
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Mana Leak
2 Vapor Snag


Lands
4 Sulfur Falls
9 Mountain
10 Island


Sideboard
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Mana Leak
2 Flashfreeze
3 Shatter
1 Dissipate
1 Chandra's Phoenix
2 Vapor Snag
1 Devil's Play
2 Galvanic Blast

Let me explain the sideboard a bit for you folks, the 4th chandra's phoenix is in here to basically go for the more heavy red decks in Red Deck Wins, espically as a blocker against a 4/4 koth'ed mountain in this format, we have a bunch of counter spells for situational purposes including the 4th Dissipate and Mana Leak and all the basic spells to go with Burning Vengeance, for anyone whom tries to use this deck keep in mind lots of testing is needed so use Cockatrice or Magic Workstation to test, other then i wish you rogue builders a lot of luck, till next time this is vergil signing off

Standard Deck Examination: Township Tokens

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, today will be the final deck examination, in the form of Township Tokens which is the newest token deck on the block, we will be looking at the latest results of this deck plus of course the primer from our fine friends at MTGSalvation, so let's go. This first list is brought to us via the latest results of the Star City Games Open series at Nashville's Standard Open from one Robert Smith, let's break down the list

Robert Smith's Township Tokens - 12th Place [Standard] Star City Open Nashville


Creatures
2 Blade Splicer
2 Doomed Traveler
2 Hero of Bladehold
1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

Spells
4 Shrine of Loyal Legions
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Midnight Haunting
3 Day of Judgment
3 Timely Reinforcements
4 Elspeth Tirel

Lands
9 Plains
4 Gavony Township
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket

Sideboard
2 Blade Splicer
1 Doomed Traveler
2 Hero of Bladehold
1 Oblivion Ring
3 Marrow Shards
4 Naturalize
1 Day of Judgment
1 Timely Reinforcements

The premise of the deck is to get a massive amount of tokens onto the board, plus a Intangible Virtue/Honor of the Pure and go nuts, this deck also has a compliment of Hero of Bladehold, my new favorite card of all time with 2 in the main deck and 2 in the side board which gives room for the 25 lands in this deck too, the surprising inclusion is the Inkmoth Nexus as part of the land base, this is a really weird inclusion and is a kind of a shocker to me personally, but the expected lands of Gavony Township/Sunpetal Grove/Razorverge Thicket are all here and a part of the main deck package, along with cards like Shrine of Loyal Legions and Midnight Haunting as the two main token generators for this deck after something like a Day of Judgment hits the board, well let's stop yabbering on about this deck and move onto a more recent result in the form of a states match championship deck brought to us courtesy of David Newman in Virginia's recent states event.

David Newman's Township Tokens - 1st Place [Standard] States, Charleston West Virginia


Creatures
4 Blade Splicer
3 Doomed Traveler
3 Hero of Bladehold

Spells
2 Mortarpod
4 Shrine of Loyal Legions
2 Dismember
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Elspeth Tirel
2 Garruk Relentless

Lands
3 Forest
10 Plains
3 Gavony Township
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket

Sideboard
3 Celestial Purge
4 Naturalize
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Day of Judgment
3 Timely Reinforcements

This deck is a tad different then the rest, it has more token generators then it does creatures, 3 Hero of Bladehold in this list compared to the 4 of the previous list, sure of course you have your standard walker package of Garruk Relentless/Elspeth Tirel taking up 6 slots in this deck total, but it's good none the less, with no copies of Inkmoth Nexus present in this list with no real sweeper present in the main deck plus some decent removal for spells such as Stromkirk Noble/Tempered Steel and of course the obvious but friendly mirror match's Shrine of Loyal Legions however the surprising card in this particular build is Dismember as a 2 of in this build to deal with threats almost immediately after they hit the board, which isn't bad, but 10 creatures and a lot more token producers ended up winning David Newman his states championship with this deck, let's look at one more states list in the form of Mikael Conrow's Richmond Virginia Township Tokens deck.

Mikael Conrow's Township Tokens - 1st Place [Standard] States, Richmond Virginia


Creatures
2 Blade Splicer
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Hero of Bladehold

Spells
3 Shrine of Loyal Legions
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Beast Within
3 Dismember
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Elspeth Tirel
3 Day of Judgment
2 Timely Reinforcements

Lands
3 Forest
9 Plains
4 Gavony Township
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket

Sideboard
1 Shrine of Loyal Legions
2 Beast Within
2 Celestial Purge
3 Naturalize
3 Purify the Grave
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Day of Judgment
2 Timely Reinforcements

So this particular deck is a tad different then most we see the obvious 10 creatures but with different numbers instead of the 2nd deck with 2 Blade Splicer instead of the 4 in the previous list and 4 of both Hero of Bladehold and Doomed Traveler as the first immediate change, second is the change of Shrine of Loyal Legions in this particular list with 3 shrines in the main deck and 1 in the sideboard with a singleton copy of Beast Within taking up that 4th slot of shrine. 3 Dismember's are in this list compared to 2 and the sideboard is so interchangable it's not even funny, with a singleton Garruk Relentless in this sideboard, weird yet true, now the final list is always going to be the MTGSalvation Primer list, so let's take a look at Township Tokens or as they call it Green/White Tokens

MTGSalvation's Primer List - Township Tokens


Creatures
3 Doomed Traveler
4 Hero of Bladehold
3 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

Spells
4 Shrine of Loyal Legions
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Honor of the Pure
3 Dismember
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Elspeth Tirel
3 Day of Judgment

Lands
3 Forest
9 Plains
4 Gavony Township
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Sunpetal Grove

Sideboard
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Naturalize
4 Purify the Grave
1 Day of Judgment
4 Timely Reinforcements

You'll note straight away this deck runs 3 Mikaeus, the Lunarch, 4 Hero of Bladehold and only 3 copies of Doomed Traveler with our standard package of Elspeth, Honor of the Pure, Intangible Virtue, Shrine of Loyal Legions and Day of Judgment all in the same deck, the sideboard is a little different with 2 copies of Naturalize, Oblivion Ring and Sword of Feast and Famine it's a little different then what i'd come to expect of this primer list, but then again i've not seen this deck run a single copy of any sword in the main deck or the side board at all since starting this article, anyways time to look at the package for this deck.

Sunpetal Grove/Gavony Township/Razorverge Thicket - If you can only get 2 of these lands then go for it but i'd suggest Grove/Township over anything else since Township is part of the name of the deck and is kind of the core for it.

Shrine of Loyal Legions/Midnight Haunting - Should be a auto 4 of in any deck of this type, generates the advantage after a sweeper spell like Day of Judgment and allows us to attack for a decent number the next turn, this isn't a sideboard material package either it's main deck all the way.

Hero of Bladehold/Doomed Traveler - I'd recommend 3 Hero's and 4 Travelers to do the business for this deck, plus whatever other token generator you want in the deck whether it be Mikaeus, the Lunarch or Blade Splicer 


Day of Judgment/Dismember - Best off running like 3 Day's and 2 Dismember's main deck and sideboard the rest, since most of the stuff you'll deal with is pretty low key after that, plus you'll have the threats necessary for this deck by the time the next turn comes around.

Anyways that's about it for this edition of the emporium, the next article on here will be about the States/Provinical's that happened this past weekend all over North America, so till next time this is vergil signing off, remember listings for this deck will be below

Township Token Listings ---> Township Tokens

Standard Deck Examination: Green/White Humans

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, today will be covering the Green/White Humans build currently around in standard which may or may not include my new favorite card of all time Hero of Bladehold so let's begin as per usual with a list courtesy of Star City Games and it's open series which comes to us via a player named Steven Wilson

Steven Wilson's Green/White Humans - 3rd Place [Standard] Star City Open Invitational Qualifier


Creatures
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Elite Vanguard
1 Fiend Hunter
4 Hamlet Captain
4 Hero of Bladehold
4 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Mentor of the Meek
3 Mirran Crusader

Spells
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Green Sun's Zenith

Lands
2 Forest
2 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Sunpetal Grove
3 Gavony Township
2 Ghost Quarter

Sideboard
2 Fiend Hunter
1 Mirran Crusader
2 Silverchase Fox
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Dismember
3 Purify the Grave
3 Creeping Corrosion

Green/White humans is the first deck that is so packed full of creatures spells and lands are cut to make room for these dominant 1 and 2 drop humans, Mentor of the Meek to provide draw power for your lower power creatures, Mayor of Avabruck to give them a needed +1/+1 boost and of course Hero of Bladehold for it's constant 7 power worth of creature combination and it's threatening ability to always have tokens at the ready making this a decent and devastating archetype of a deck in standard, with that being said let's take a look at the next list courtesy of the Star City Open Invitational's with a deck brought to us by Noah Winslow and his 7th place finish at the open invitationals for Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Noah Winslow's Green/White Humans - 7th Place [Standard] Star City Open Invitational Series


Creatures
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Blade Splicer
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Hero of Bladehold
4 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Mirran Crusader
2 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

Spells
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Beast Within
3 Garruk Relentless

Lands
7 Forest
6 Plains
2 Gavony Township
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Sunpetal Grove

Sideboard
3 Angelic Overseer
2 Angelic Destiny
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Celestial Purge
2 Dismember
3 Surgical Extraction

This list is a bit different then normal as the important stuff is all 4's in this deck including Hero of Bladehold, Mirran Crusader and of course Champion of the Parish, however here's the surprising card i never thought i'd see in a humans list, Phyrexian Metamorph which basically is a new and improved Clone for all colors for a change thanks to of course the phyrexian mana in it's cost, but the surprising cards are Mikaeus, the Lunarch and Garruk Relentless in this list which are both main deck choices of course, however the surprising part of this is the lack of Mentor of the Meek which was switched out for Blade Splicer in this list, anyways enough about this list let's move onto our third list which is provided via Tom Hendricks whom got 8th place at the same invitational qualifier

Tom Hendrick's Green/White Humans - 8th Place [Standard] Star City Open Invitational


Creatures
3 Adapative Automaton
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Elite Vanguard
3 Gideon's Lawkeeper
4 Hamlet Captain
4 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Mentor of the Meek

Spells
2 Nevermore
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Dismember
3 Gitaxian Probe

Lands
8 Forest
9 Plains
4 Sunpetal Grove

Sideboard
4 Fiend Hunter
3 Mirran Crusader
2 Nevermore
2 Dismember
1 Naturalize
2 Purify the Grave
1 Creeping Corrosion

This third list is a bit different as it focuses on the lords aspect of a mass creature deck with 11 lord type creatures in the deck that include Mayor of Avabruck, Adaptive Automaton and of course Hamlet Captain, of course the standard package of humans include Mentor of the Meek for the card draw, Lawkeeper, Vanguard and Champion to beat down with a mana ramp creature in the form of Avacyn's Pilgrim, the lack of Hero of Bladehold in this list is a surprise though but the sideboarded Mirran Crusader's are a tad surprising as well, i never thought they'd be in the sideboard of this deck, plus this deck has only 21 lands in it, 17 basics and 4 Sunpetal Grove instead of the standard package of Gavony Township/Razorverge Thicket/Sunpetal Grove that was seen in other lists, that's why this deck is so interchangable i feel and gives a new style to rogue deckbuilders. Now without further ado let's take a look at the MTGSalvation.com Primer list for this deck style of choice.

MTGSalvation.com Primer - Green/White Humans


Creatures
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Blade Splicer
2 Geist-Honored Monk
4 Hero of Bladehold
2 Llanowar Elves
3 Mentor of the Meek
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

Spells
1 Mortarpod
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Naturalize
3 Elspeth Tirel
3 Overrun

Lands
7 Forest
4 Plains
4 Gavony Township
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket

Sideboard
1 Mortarpod
1 Spellskite
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Stony Silence
2 Dismember
1 Naturalize
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Creeping Corrosion
4 Timely Reinforcements

Now as you may come to expect from this list it's more green then anything, with very few actual white creatures besides our legends in this list, Elesh Norn and Mikaeus, the Lunarch, this list reflects the basics of humans and the fact they are 1-3 drop creatures most of the time but the good stuff is usually 4 and above in casting costs, this deck shows that humans aren't always cheap, let's move onto the neceessites of the Green/White Humans basics

Avacyn's Pilgrim - If your running any kind of ramp, this guy filters into white and is a human himself, so the bonus of having a turn 2 Mentor of the Meek is showing here with this guy as a 4 of in our team.

Hero of Bladehold - Again if your running white why aren't you running this dude, 4 drop that can be ramped by either Birds of Paradise/Avacyn's Pilgrim, drops 4 extra power worth of creatures when it attacks and is a mere 4 drop in our deck, not bad, consider him as a 3-4 of with 3 maindeck and 1 in the sideboard.

Mentor of the Meek - For humans i could think of no other card drawing creature then him that is currently in standard right now, 2/2 for a 3 drop that you can pay one when another 2 power or lower creature hits the board, draw a card off and go right back into the thick of things, should at least be a 3 of in this deck.

Mirran Crusader - Sure he may cost 1WW but when the thick of things come through this guy is a must have for any human deck, protection from green and black, double strike and equipping something onto him he is nasty, plus he's a 2/2 so mentor card draw is possible off him.

Mikaeus, the Lunarch - If i was you folks, i'd put this guy as a 2 of in any humans list, he's versatile, can be cast for a rather nice 3 mana to make himself a 2/2 triggering Mentor of the Meek again is big when we need extra cards to draw into good threats

Gavony Township/Sunpetal Grove/Razorverge Thicket - Fixing our mana and powering up our creatures is a must in this list, we need to deal as much damage as humanly possible with each creature and township is a perfect 4 mana pump spell that effects all creatures on the board, plus coupled with Lunarch this is like having a serious swinging force on the team, consider this a 4x for each card listed here.

Elspeth Tirel - Life gain/Making more creatures for mentor to target plus a ultimate board wipe, this is just asking for trouble, plus it costs 5 mana to bring her out, in this list she's a 3 of easy.

Champion of the Parish - If your not playing ramp but need a good one drop, this is your man for the job, 1 white mana for a 1/1 that gets bigger off humans, triggers on mentor when it hits the battlefield right away and is easy to get out consider it's cost, consider this a must have 4 of in lists that don't run Avacyn's Pilgrim as a ramp creature

The rest of humans varies from time to time, with different lists popping up everywhere if you want to take a look at the current humans lists, then i suggest you check out the star city games link that is provided, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Green/White Humans Lists ---> Star City Games Deck Database Green/White Humans

Standard Deck Examination: Mono Red

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, today it's a decent article with the return to a mono red deck, the first list will be the one from Star City's Nashville Standard open and the next will obviously be a 1st place list then a primer list for this deck with a overall final list of what cards should be played in this list so let's go. When you think mono red you think quick, aggressive and rather unsubtle strikers, this is correct in this fashion and you expect this to be as fast as humanly possible while maintaining a standard feel to the deck, this first list will be the 3rd place list at the standard event at Star City Nashville.

Nick Veccie's Mono Red - 3rd Place [Standard] Star City Open, Nashville


Creatures
3 Chandra's Phoenix
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Hero of Oxid Ridge
3 Spikeshot Elder
4 Stormblood Berserker
4 Stromkirk Noble

Spells
4 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Brimstone Volley
2 Gut Shot
3 Incinerate
3 Arc Trail
3 Koth of the Hammer

Lands
4 Rootbound Crag
19 Mountain

Sideboard
2 Perilous Myr
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
4 Vulshok Refugee
4 Ancient Grudge
2 Dismember
1 Arc Trail
1 Traitorous Blood

Now this list contains some of the basics of Mono Red, Koth, Shrine, Phoenix, hell even Hero of Oxid Ridge is in here to prevent the massive 1/1 tokens from chumping, not bad, what is the premise of Mono Red you ask it's simple, get your opponent to 0 life before you die, throw all your burn at him as fast as humanly possible while getting 1 and 2 drop creatures on the board in the form of Grim Lavamancer, Stromkirk Noble, Stormblood Berserker and of course Spikeshot Elder to do the maximum amount of damage in a short period of time, which of course is not surprising with this deck, now for your viewing pleasure let's take a look at the 1st place list of one David Doberne whom managed to run Mono Red to a victory at Star City Indianapolis's Standard Event just 3 days after the rotation.

David Doberne's Mono Red - 1st Place [Standard] Star City Open, Indianapolis


Creatures
3 Chandra's Phoenix
2 Goblin Arsonist
3 Grim Lavamancer
2 Hero of Oxid Ridge
2 Spikeshot Elder
4 Stormblood Berserker
4 Stormkirk Noble

Spells
4 Brimstone Volley
4 Shrine of Burning Rage
3 Arc Trail
3 Incinerate
3 Koth of the Hammer

Lands
23 Mountain

Sideboard
1 Sword of War and Peace
2 Perilous Myr
2 Hero of Oxid Ridge
3 Manic Vandal
4 Vulshok Refugee
1 Arc Trail
1 Traitorous Blood
1 Mountain

Yes your eyes do not deceive you, a land is in the sideboard of this deck, let's go over the notable differences from the 3rd place to the 1st place list, first thing is first 1st place list has 4x Hero of Oxid Ridge 2 in the main deck and 2 in the sideboard, with a Sword of War and Peace where as the 3rd place list didn't have a sword in it's list, the one constant about the deck is the 3x Koth of the Hammer/4x Shrine of Burning Rage, this plus Arc Trail and the creature base are consistent with very few changes, Goblin Arsonist is in the list where as the 3rd place list had 2 Gut Shot instead of another creature in the main deck itself , both decks are running artifact removal which is another constant in the sideboard, but a constant nonetheless with Manic Vandal being present in the first place list, with Ancient Grudge splashing green for it's flashback cost which is something the first place list doesn't have, a green splash. Pretty much all the deck is a constant, the creature base is the same almost with 1x Spikeshot Elder being removed for another copy of Grim Lavamancer but other then that the basics of the deck stay the same, onto the primer list.

MTGSalvation's Mono Red Primer List


Creatures
3 Chandra's Phoenix
2 Hero of Oxid Ridge
3 Furnace Scamp
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Stormblood Berserker
4 Stromkirk Noble

Spells
4 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Brimstone Volley
4 Gut Shot
3 Incinerate
3 Shock
2 Arc Trail

Lands
4 Rootbound Crag
17 Mountain

Sideboard
3 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
4 Vulshok Refugee
4 Ancient Grudge
2 Dismember
1 Arc Trail

Now if you look straight away you'll see the constant changes this deck can produce for instance, no Koth of the Hammer is present in our primer list and we splash green for the flashback cost of Ancient Grudge but this also means we cut our land count to 21 for this list so we can splash in a few extra pieces of burn namely Shock, #3 and #4 Gut Shot and of course removing Goblin Arsonist and a 3rd arc trail from the main deck to throw in 3x Furnace Scamp as another 1 drop of choice for this deck, based off the 3 list presented let's take a look at the key cards for this deck as a whole


Stormkirk Noble/Stormblood Berserker - These two are key for this deck as the 1 and 2 drops of choice, these guys are a auto 4 of in any mono red deck, making them super powerful and way better then expected.

Chandra's Phoenix - This particular 2/2 recursion flyer is perfect for this deck since we have nothing but red at our disposal except for Shrine of Burning Rage plus it has haste and should be a 3 of in mono red since it's cost is 1RR in this build and we have no ramp to speak of.

Hero of Oxid Ridge - I grant you this guy is iffy, some builds have 4, some builds have 3, i'd stick with 3 in this particular deck of choice, 2 in the main deck, 1 in the sideboard plus it's 4/2 haste and makes all 1 power or less unable to block is kinda key, did i mention battle cry for that extra few points of damage.

Grim Lavamancer - Now not only is this guy your Shock on a body but he costs a mere 1 red mana and is a 1/1, working off the spells you play and make this a late game threat means you win faster.

Shrine of Burning Rage - This is a auto 4 of in any build, it's colorless, works off the red spells/upkeep and deals damage equal to it's charge counters to target player or creature when it's sacrificed.

Arc Trail/Brimstone Volley/Incinerate - The three go to spells for burn in this, arc trails does a nifty 2 for 1, brimstone volley deals max damage when something dies, Incinerate is well, Incinerate and is stupidly fun for this deck making these at least 3 arc trail, 4 Brimstone, 3 Incinerate as a auto include in most mono red builds.

Sideboard wise is a little tough to call on this one and can vary from deck to deck, but if you know your meta well, go for it and build a SB that's pretty unstoppable if you play mono red at your local game store/tournament event, anyways that's it for me today, tommorow begins the examination of Green/White Humans and remember the lists that have tournament competition are below, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Tournament Lists ---> Mono Red Tournament Lists

Standard Deck Examination: Solar Flare

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, today we will be looking at perhaps the most abused deck list since the rotation Black/Blue/White Solar Flare which was the most played deck at Star City's Nashville Standard open this past weekend with the top 16 having 7 different solar flare decks make the top 16 including one Jonathan Medina's list whom we are going to analyze today, so let's go.

Jonathan Medina's Solar Flare List - 4th Place [Standard] Star City Open, Nashville


Creatures
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Phantasmal Image
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Sun Titan

Spells
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Doom Blade
3 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Think Twice
1 Tribute to Hunger
3 Day of Judgment
3 Timely Reinforcements
3 Unburial Rites

Planeswalkers
2 Jace, Memory Adept
3 Lillana of the Veil

Lands
4 Island
2 Plains
2 Swamp
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Seachrome Coast

Sideboard
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Stony Silence
2 Dissipate
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Jin Gitixais, Core Augur
1 Jace, Memory Adept
1 Day of Judgment
2 Revoke Existence
1 Timely Reinforcements

First off when you think of Solar Flare, what comes to mind a Dragonball Z reference from the good old days when Tien used a Solar flare attack, this is different i assure you, this is a deck designed to be as devestating as possible with no drawbacks, as well as having basically 8 copies of specific spells in the deck to do the business thanks to Flashback on the Snapcaster Mage, it's also meant to control the match for as long as possible while bringing out big guns like Sun Titan and such to reuse those permanents over again after a board wipe like Day of Judgment. This means the deck to beat this year is this, but hang on we aren't done this article in fact there's a comparison i'd like to do of course with the 2nd place list of Christian Valenti

Christian Valenti's Solar Flare - 2nd Place [Standard] Star City Open, Nashville


Creatures
1 Grave Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Phantasmal Image
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Sun Titan

Spells
1 Batterskull
3 Oblivion Ring
1 Celestial Purge
3 Doom Blade
4 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Mana Leak
3 Think Twice
2 Day of Judgment
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Unburial Rites

Lands
4 Island
4 Plains
2 Swamp
1 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Seachrome Coast

Sideboard
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Azure Mage
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Celestial Purge
2 Dissipate
2 Surgical Extraction
1 White Sun's Zenith
1 Day of Judgment
2 Revoke Existence
2 Sever the Bloodline

There are some serious notable differences between the two lists, for starters no walkers are present in this list. The second thing that is different is the notable change in spells/artifacts, the 2nd place list has itself a Batterskull and a Grave Titan in the mix where as medina's list doesn't, did that affect how this deck plays, yes because it got 2 places higher with the Grave/Batterskull pairing then without the two of them, meaning if you were to look at it at a perspective of something important i'd say 1 of these two make the list doable, more then likely the Batterskull since it affects the board state 2 turns earlier then the titan does. Now let's look at the primer for this deck since this deck is established and the boys over at MTGSalvation.com have come up with something in regards to this list.

Here is the primer list for the site MTGsalvation.

MTGSalvation.com Primer List - Solar Flare


Creatures
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Phantasmal Image
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Sun Titan

Spells
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Doom Blade
4 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Think Twice
1 Tribute to Hunger
3 Lillana of the Veil
3 Day of Judgment
3 Unburial Rites
3 Timely Reinforcements

Lands
4 Island
5 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Darkslick Shores
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Isolated Chapel
1 Seachrome Coast

Sideboard
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Stony Silence
2 Dissipate
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Day of Judgment
2 Revoke Existence
1 Timely Reinforcements

Now the notable differences about this primer list is that Wurmcoil Engine is a 3x in this deck 2 in the sideboard and 1 in the maindeck, while we have the obvious additions of both Surgical Extraction and Stony Silence to our sideboard for the deck, it's pretty much the same, except without Jace, Memory Adept to do the business he does so well, since there isn't a lot of black spells in this only Lillana, Unburial Rites and Tribute to Hunger in the main deck it would make sense there isn't a lot of black sources in the primer deck with 7 potential black sources in all for 3 main deck cards total, the usual creature base of Phantasmal Image, Snapcaster Mage and Sun Titan make this deck pretty damn decent with the exception of course of one Consecrated Sphinx which is only 1 of 2 draw sources in this deck, the final notable difference about this deck from the rest is the sideboard Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite to deal with the weenie matchups/tokens other then that this is one deck for the ages and i'd love to see how Dark Ascension affects this deck in the long run, perhaps a new Sorin Markov variant as a main deck card of choice or perhaps something new, we will wait and see when Dark Ascension hits in feburary of next year, till then this is vergil signing off, also i will be adding the statistics for this deck as a link below

Full List of Results ---> Solar Flare Full Results

Standard Deck Examination: Wolf-Run Red

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, as promised today is a look at one of the newest standard decks to hit the scene since Innistrad's arrival into the constructed format, following the Star City Games open series today's deck is featuring a winning deck which took 1st place at the standard portion of the event by the name of Wolf-Run Red which is a variant of Red/Green Aggro Ramp apparently so let's get started, this list is courtesy of Brian Sondag

Wolf Run Red 1st Place By Brian Sondag - SCG Open Nashville [Standard]


Creatures
1 Acidic Slime
1 Birds of Paradise
3 Primeval Titan
3 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Viridian Emissary
3 Wurmcoil Engine

Spells
4 Beast Within
4 Garruk. Primal Hunter
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Rampant Growth
3 Slagstorm

Lands
4 Copperline Gorge
9 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag

Sideboard
4 Ancient Grudge
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Slagstorm
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Tree of Redemption
1 Viridian Corrupter

As you can see via the main deck it basically says get out a Primeval Titan or a Wurmcoil Engine and use Kessig Wolf Run's special ability to maximize damage effectively with a bunch of mana dorks to support you such as Birds of Paradise/Solemn Simulacrum/Viridian Emissary and smash for damage unseen basically. Garruk, Primal Hunter is there as a reload of the hand, while giving you extra attackers as well, Beast Within to deal with nasty permanents such as Gideon Jura, etc and of course what ramp deck would be complete without Green Sun's Zenith to fetch your titans/birds/emissary's/slime.

It should be noted since this took first place at a major event it is now the deck to beat, of course that means all the other particular decks will now have sideboards to deal with this plus the usual matchups, this deck is consistently also able to 2-0 each round as seen by the SCG coverage page espically in the top 8 of the event the first 2 matchups were a 2-0 sweep, so i expect to see someone to beat this deck but hell it's sure to be a fun format again, besides this was a rogue deck present at a major tournament event with the likes of Solar Flare/Mono Red/U/W Blade and of course/RUG which are all proven and tested decks by the masters of standard, i should expect to see another run of Wolf-Run Red in the near future probably at worlds and of course other SCG events in the US, anyways that's all the time i have today, join me tommorow when i look at another SCG standard open deck in the form of Solar Flare, this is vergil signing off

General Musings on New Decks: Post Rotation U/B/R Tezzert

Hello everyone and welcome back to the 5th edition of General Musings, where i vergil focus on current standard builds and how they will be affected for post rotation, this edition we will focus on Blue/Black/Red Tezzert and U/B/W Tezzert which is 2 of the most dominant decks ever built, let's see a list before we begin analysis as per usual.

Tezzert U/B/R List Primer


Creatures


1 Treasure Mage
1 Wurmcoil Engine


Spells


4 Everflowing Chalice
2 Galvanic Blast
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Mindslaver
2 Mox Opal
4 Preordain
4 Prophetic Prism
2 Pyroclasm
2 Slagstorm
3 Sphere of the Suns
2 Stoic Rebuttal
4 Tezzert, Agent of Bolas
3 Tumble Magnet


Lands


1 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Inkmoth Nexus
3 Island
2 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Tectonic Edge


Sideboard


3 Duress
1 Flashfreeze
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Kuldotha Rebirth
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Pyroclasm
4 Spreading Seas
2 Stoic Rebuttal

Now this list is prior to the banning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor thus the reason he exists in this list for my analysis, i'm sure most people have figured out what to replace him with, if you haven't yet well get to it, let's see what has to be removed for the rotation as per usual.

Tectonic Edge/Scalding Tarn/Creeping Tar Pit - As per usual, we lose these three land sources for the deck either we can add 1 Darkslick Shores/3 Blackcleave Cliffs/2 Inkmoth Nexus to this build to replace the missing land base and throw the rest into basics for the deck.

So after landbase changes it looks something like this

Lands


4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Inkmoth Nexus
6 Island
4 Mountain

Or we could go into something like this for the build

3 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Inkmoth Nexus
8 Island
3 Mountain


Spells wise there isn't a lot to replace either, we do lose a tad bit of ramp in this deck due to rotation, we do lose a sweeper spell but we can easily replace it, we also lose a bit of card draw, but again replaceable.

Preordain/Pyroclasm/Everflowing Chalice - Ponder and Whipflare can take all the slots for Pyroclasm/Preordain in this list easily, card draw and sweeper spells still apparent in this deck, the chalice is a bit tricky to decide on, we do have access to Manalith, i could see that replacing this, but there maybe other choices for this spot but i'll put Manalith in that spot for conveniece sake during this article

Jace, the Mind Sculptor - We have to get rid of him now that he's banned and would be rotating effectively, so double the reason to remove him from this list, i think a sideboard singleton Elixir of Immortality and probably throw in Mana Leak as a 3 of in this list so spells wise it looks a little something like this

Prophetic Prism - If i had to guess here i would suggest Ichor Wellspring or even perhaps add a Sphere of the Suns/Tumble Magnet/2 Stoic Rebuttal in it's place

Spells


4 Manalith
2 Galvanic Blast
3 Mana Leak
2 Mox Opal
1 Mindslaver
4 Ponder
4 Sphere of the Suns
4 Tumble Magnet
4 Stoic Rebuttal
2 Slagstorm
2 Whipflare
4 Tezzert, Agent of Bolas


Creatures wise this list doesn't need to change it's only 2 dudes, i was going to suggest Buried Ruin for a sideboard card as a 2 of to replace the remaning stoic rebuttal in the list so sideboard looks a little something like this

Sideboard


3 Distress
1 Flashfreeze
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Kuldotha Rebirth
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Whipflare
2 Ichor Wellspring
1 Mana Leak
3 Negate


The final list looks a little something like this

Final Tezzert U/B/R Generic List

Lands

4 Blackcleave Cliffs

4 Darkslick Shores

4 Inkmoth Nexus

6 Island

4 Mountain

Creatures

1 Treasure Mage

1 Wurmcoil Engine

Spells

4 Manalith

2 Galvanic Blast

3 Mana Leak

2 Mox Opal

1 Mindslaver

4 Ponder

4 Sphere of the Suns

4 Tumble Magnet

4 Stoic Rebuttal

2 Slagstorm

2 Whipflare

4 Tezzert, Agent of Bolas

Sideboard

3 Distress

1 Flashfreeze

1 Elixir of Immortality

1 Kuldotha Rebirth

1 Ratchet Bomb

2 Whipflare

2 Ichor Wellspring

1 Mana Leak

3 Negate

Thank you very much for reading one of my final primers for the deck, if you have different ideas how to take this list, please do let me know, this is vergil signing off.

General Musings on New Decks: Post Rotation Kuldotha Red

Kuldotha Red being a new deck type in standard these days has seen quite a bit of play since the inception of the card that spawned it, Kuldotha Rebirth being the card this deck is based around has been around for some time and spawned a deck in itself with inclusions from the core set, scars of mirrodin, mirrodin besieged and even New phyrexia, let's see the list for it.

Petr Brozek's Kuldotha Red


Creatures


4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Ornithopter
4 Goblin Bushwacker

Spells


3 Mox Opal
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Flayer Husk
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Devastating Summons
4 Chimeric Mass

Lands


15 Mountain
4 Contested War Zone

With that there's not a lot in this list that needs to be altered for post rotation purposes, the landbase is just fine as it is, 19 lands with 15 basics and 4 contested war zone is perfect for the deck to replace the cards we're gonna look at, let's take a look at potential choices for the deck itself.

Shock - The new replacement for Lightning Bolt, will easily fit into the 2 of slot, probably gonna end up bumping it to 3 maybe if there is room.

Crush - Believe it or not this one red drop spell is pretty awesome in itself, deals with opals, bombs etc takes out a whole slew of heavy artifact things, including ramp cards like Sphere of the Suns


Panic Spellbomb - Yes another great target for kuldotha red in this case, if your going artifact heavy this is your choice of card for the deck, plus you can use it's secondary ability when it goes boom from rebirth.

With that in mind let's look at the spells now

Spells


4 Flayer Husk
3 Mox Opal
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Shock
4 Panic Spellbomb
4 Chimeric Mass


Creatures wise we are gonna have to replace the goblin guide and bushwacker with something a bit more impressive let's look at some better dudes for the deck.

Phyrexian Revoker - Yep, something that deals with walkers, ratchet bombs, the works basically, perfect rebirth target too, probably put him as a 3 of in the deck or 4 of, depending on what he's needed for.

Goblin Wardriver - Why isn't this in the list, this is the best dude in red and double red is nothing to scoff at, seriously this guy is the best red dude ever printed, 2/2 for a 2 red mana dude with battle cry, busted fun.

Goblin Chieftain - I guess since he's back in M12 i guess this makes him a valued choice for this deck since it makes tons of goblins, +1/+1 and haste is also nothing to scoff at for 3 mana as a 2/2 period powering the extra few points of damage so well.

So here is the creatures for the deck let's take a look

Creatures


4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Wardriver


So with that let's see the final list of Kuldotha red as of post rotation

Final List

Creatures

4 Memnite

4 Signal Pest

4 Goblin Chieftain

4 Goblin Wardriver

Spells

4 Flayer Husk

3 Mox Opal

4 Kuldotha Rebirth

4 Galvanic Blast

2 Shock

4 Panic Spellbomb

4 Chimeric Mass

Lands

15 Mountain

4 Contested War Zone

With that that's pretty much how i see Kuldotha Red being till innistrad arrives, if innistrad brings a few good cards this list will of course be updated, till next time this is vergil signing off.

General Musings on New Deck: Post Rotation Boros

Boros as it's effectively known is a dominant White/Red archtype that has seen a lot of tournament play, even making some successful top 8 lists around the world, even at the pro tour level, let's see how boros is affected after the rotation hits with 2 lists this time

Pro Tour Paris List 1- Run by Vincent Lemoine

Creatures


4 Steppe Lynx
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Goblin Guide
3 Plated Geopede

Spells


1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Bonehoard
2 Adventuring Gear
3 Journey to Nowhere
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Arc Trail

Lands


4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Marsh Flats
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Teetering Peaks
6 Plains
3 Mountain


Pro Tour Paris List 2 - Run by Paul Rietzl


Creatures


4 Steppe Lynx
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Spikeshot Elder
4 Goblin Guide
4 Plated Geopede
2 Hero of Oxid Ridge

Spells


1 Koth of the Hammer
2 Adventuring Gear
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Journey to Nowhere
3 Lightning Bolt

Lands


4 Arid Meas
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Marsh Flats
3 Evolving Wilds
1 Teetering Peaks
5 Plains
5 Mountains

Now if we were to compare these two lists, most of the creatures/spells and lands would be gone, we would be left with the following

Hero of Oxid Ridge, Mirran Crusader, Spikeshot Elder, Koth of the Hammer, Sword of Body and Mind and Sword of Feast and Famine, Arc Trail and Bonehoard, along with the basics for the respective colors, though through comparison of the two lists, we've seen differences, Paul Rietzl played a singleton Spikeshot Elder and 2 Hero of Oxid Ridges in his creature base cutting the obvious extra mystic and 2 mirran crusader to do so while he also opted out of Arc Trail in his list, it ended up being a dominant powerhouse since he took 2nd place behind Ben Stark while Lemoine finished in 3rd place, Now what can be added to this deck to make it standard legal again let's take a look at some choices since most of the deck is dead at this point.

Spikeshot Elder - Not only is this guy a total beast to deal with, he can be pumped to make his ability seem more powerful, or something along that lines, one of the perfect 1 drops for the deck now that Mirran Crusader can back him up easily

Mirran Crusader - If i said to you, a double striking fiend of justice, no way, i'd say yes way in this fact Crusader will always make the cut and brunt of the deck, equipped he is nasty, unequipped he is equally as nasty to deal with, pro black and green help a lot to do with this.

Stormblood Berserker - With bloodthirst back, i saw this guy at first and thought to myself he is going to make a excellent addition to any boros deck, turn 3 crusader, turn 4 attack, drop this dude have a 3/3 on your side with a double striking fiend, that's game, plus he costs a mere 2 mana, perfect for the replacement of Plated Geopede in this deck.

Porcelain Legionnare - 3/1 first strike for a mere 2 mana, i'll take it, boros don't care about losing life, as it ends up dealing more damage then it takes, sure we have a fiend here in a 3/1 sure he can be equipped easily to make for more shenigans in this deck.

Benalish Veteran - Sure he may seem like your typical 2/2 for 3 but wait till he attacks, making him a powerful force to reckon with, the first of the perfect 3 drops for this deck, i think this guy suits boros just fine

Hero of Bladehold/Hero of Oxid Ridge - Both of these fit perfectly in a boros deck as the standard 4 drops one makes tokens while attacks just get uglier and uglier, expect these as at least 2 of's in the deck of choice

So looking at the creature base we have so far

Creatures


4 Porcelain Legionnare
4 Spikeshot Elder
4 Benalish Veteran
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Hero of Oxid Ridge
4 Stormblood Berserker
4 Mirran Crusader


Looking at potential spells for the deck is not going to be that difficult, we have a singleton Koth which i feel should remain as is, The swords do have a use here even though we have no way to fetch em, since Mystic's been banned to high hell, Bonehoard is perfect and should be bumped to a 2 of at least, If we are going to talk about walkers let's see if Elspeth Tirel does the job, sure she may cost 5 mana, sure she churns out dudes at will, but this deck is all about raw power, she should be put as a 2 of in this deck since she provides a lot of useful material for it, onto the replacements though, Bolt, Journey to Nowhere and Adventuring Gear

Now we have a few choices to look at here, with the return of Oblivion Ring, Shock and Incinerate the options are as strict as can be for a time, let's look at the the potential

Oblivion Ring - Best way to deal with walkers ever printed in white, 3 drop enchantment that's nasty to deal with, nasty to get rid of, i'd probably guess it as a 3 of in the list to replace Journey to Nowhere

Shock - Perfect finisher or a good activation of Bloodthirst is key with this deck, 2 damage for 1 red mana, very reasonable i would think a good addition as a 2 or perhaps 3 of in the deck

Incinerate - Great to take down pretty much any 3 toughness creature, for a mere 2 mana too, can't be regenerated, so a good addition.

The spells for the deck look a little something like this

Spells


1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Elspeth Tirel
3 Shock
2 Incinerate

Onto the lands for the deck, we have a few options open to us, but not many, Contested War Zone, Basics, Phyrexia's core and Duals as of this point, with that being said however let's look at potentials for the deck

Contested War Zone - A great addition to the deck to replace a fetch land, should at least be a 4 of here.

Dual Lands are also nice to have for the deck, Seachrome Coast/Blackcleave Cliiffs is good, along with Sunpetal Grove/Dragonskull Summit, so a mix and match is in order

Lands

4 Contested War Zone
3 Seachrome Coast
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Dragonskull Summit
6 Plains
6 Mountains


Now as for the sideboard for the deck it's a mix and match situation let's see the sideboard from Rietzl's List first

Sideboard for Rietzl's List

3 Kor Firewalker
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Koth of the Hammer
4 Cunning Sparkmage
4 Arc Trail
1 Mark of Mutiny
1 Basilsk Collar


So looking at this sideboard we need to find a replacement for Kor Firewalker, Cunning Sparkmage, Mark of Mutiny and Basilsk Collar let's look at some potential suggestions based off this sideboard first

Gideon Jura - He comes to mind whenever you think of this type of deck, probably as a 2 of to replace the Mark/Collar in the sideboard, can also easily deal with most of the stuff thrown at him.

Grand Abolisher - Being able to say no to counters during your turn is awesome, activations and other things as well, a 2/2 body to boot right up Firewalker's Alley to replace him as the 3 of in the sideboard.

Manic Vandal - Deals with Mirror matchups/artifact based decks, etc, a 3 drop for a 2/2 it's perfect slot him in where Sparkmage goes as a 4 of in this build

So based off that here's the sideboard for now,

Sideboard for Deck


3 Grand Abolisher
4 Manic Vandal
2 Gideon Jura
1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Mirran Crusader
4 Arc Trail


There isn't a lot of difference in the second sideboard other then the usual assortment of the 2nd sword in the list being there, an extra mark of mutiny, some Luminarch Ascension and a extra Journey and Kor Firewalker in there, i'll just leave it at that, so with that let's see the final outcome, lands varying of course but still a good amount of cards for boros to work with

Finished Deck

Creatures

4 Porcelain Legionnare

4 Spikeshot Elder

4 Benalish Veteran

2 Hero of Bladehold

2 Hero of Oxid Ridge

4 Stormblood Berserker

4 Mirran Crusader

Spells

1 Koth of the Hammer

1 Sword of War and Peace

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

3 Oblivion Ring

2 Elspeth Tirel

3 Shock

2 Incinerate

Lands

4 Contested War Zone

3 Seachrome Coast

3 Blackcleave Cliffs

2 Sunpetal Grove

2 Dragonskull Summit

6 Plains

6 Mountains

Sideboard

3 Grand Abolisher

4 Manic Vandal

2 Gideon Jura

1 Koth of the Hammer

1 Mirran Crusader

4 Arc Trail

Well that is that for this deck, after a long and through examination of the deck type, this is what i feel will work for the coming months, till innistrad arrives in september, but we will have to wait and see of course, but till next time remember folks, standard is all about the metagame, deal with that and you are on your way to victory, this is vergil signing off.

General Musings on New Decks: Post Rotation Red Deck Wins

So hello and welcome to another general musings after the saturday prerelease, we can now expect M12 to make a huge impact on this particular deck type, let's take a look at a existing list for Red Deck Wins, which is what the article's gonna be about

Red Deck Wins - Pre Rotation


Lands
4 Arid Mesa
4 Teetering Peaks
4 Scalding Tarn
8 Mountain


Creatures
4 Goblin Guide
4 Ember Hauler
4 Spikeshot Elder
4 Furnace Scamp


Spells
4 Arc Trail
4 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Searing Blaze
4 Staggershock
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Flame Slash


Sideboard
2 Act of Aggression
4 Dismember
4 Kiln Fiend
2 Manic Vandal
3 Shatter


Now this being one of the current forms of the list, taken from the mothership site itself let's look at what rotates from the format

Arid Mesa, Scalding Tarn and Teetering Peaks - Since these all rotate post rotation, it's probably gonna be a good idea for the land base to either be 4 Dragonskull Summit/4 Blackcleave Cliffs to fix the mana, throw 4 more basics in and call it a day with the land base either that or just add colorless in Phyrexia's Core or even perhaps 4 Contested War Zone for that additional Battle cry effect of +1/+0 to all attackers, getting those extra few points of damage in the early and long run,

Bolt, Staggershock, Searing Blaze, Flame Slash - Since all of these spells rotate as well, since M12 doesn't have bolt, but Shock instead we will go ahead and replace Bolt with Shock and Searing Blaze with Incinerate, Flame Slash and Staggershock would more then likely get a replacement in the form of either Gut Shot/Volt Charge or Volt Charge/Whipflare in this case though i'd be more inclined to choose the charge/whipflare combo over Slash and Staggershock for post rotation, but there is one more then we've not considered, planeswalkers.

With Chandra, the Firebrand/Koth of the Hammer, the format is going to be fun to play, turn 4 play koth, use koth's secondary ability and bring out Chandra with it, pop chandra's first ability and begin the fun over and over and over again making a 4/4 and pinging for 1 each turn while swinging for huge damage with strike after strike, so the list would look something like this so far.

Lands
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Contested War Zone
8 Mountains

Spells
4 Shock
4 Incinerate
4 Volt Charge
4 Whipflare
4 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Arc Trail

Now let's look at potential creatures for the deck itself, we have a few decent choices in our favour, notably the new Chandra's Phoenix and Grim Lavamancer to replace the old Goblin Guide/Ember Hauler combo since we are going to be sending a lot of things to the graveyard on our side, this fuels the Lavamancer even more so, the Phoenix is also a great choice for the deck due to Haste/flying and it ressurects each time a point of damage is dealt and this is in the graveyard, perfect 3 drop for the deck to replace the Ember Hauler me thinks, this deck has so much potential, i think i would wanna test it out on a online site to see how fast it works, or perhaps get someone to do it for me.

The sideboard on the other hand is a different story, it needs only 1 change, take out the Kiln Fiend to throw in 3 Koth and 1 Chandra for mirror matchups/ramp decks why only 1 chandra you may ask well as chandra's power level is superior to her other 2 forms, she has the only 1 of in the deck for the sideboard unless i somehow remove a singleton Shatter or even perhaps a singleton Manic Vandal so creatures wise it looks a little something like this.

Creatures
4 Furnace Scamp
4 Spikeshot Elder
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Grim Lavamancer

Sideboard
3 Koth of the Hammer
1 Chandra, the Firebrand
2 Act of Aggression
4 Dismember
2 Manic Vandal
3 Shatter


The final list looks a little something like this

Red Deck Wins - Post Rotation


Lands
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Contested War Zone
8 Mountains

Spells
4 Shock
4 Incinerate
4 Volt Charge
4 Whipflare
4 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Arc Trail

Creatures
4 Furnace Scamp
4 Spikeshot Elder
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Grim Lavamancer

Sideboard 
3 Koth of the Hammer
1 Chandra, the Firebrand
2 Act of Aggression
4 Dismember
2 Manic Vandal
3 Shatter

Why make something as broken as RDW even more broken, but make it better and more streamlined to deal with other aggro/control builds like B/U infect, Titans and even hell it's gonna go against a Tempered Steel build at some point during it's run i hope this deck gets run, seriously i do hope someone finds the time to run this deck, since RDW is a powerful deck type and should get a redesign for post rotation, well anyways that's all the time i have for today's article, till next time magic fans this is vergil signing off

General Musings on New Decks: Post Rotation R/B Sligh

Hello folks and welcome to a general musings in which i'll talk about various ideas that may occur after the rotation of Zendikar Block which rotates out as of this fall when Innistrad arrives on store shelves in the first week of October, let's review the current standard metagame as of today we have Red/Black Vampires from Zendikar Block, Mass Polymorph which consists of mostly Zendikar Block as well with a bit of M11 thrown in for good measure, Tempered Steel which is a block constructed deck from Scars of Mirrodin, Blue/Black Infect another block constructed deck, Valakut which is about 60% Zendikar block cards with 40% core set material and the last one i can think off hand is Elves. consisting mostly of Zendikar Block related stuff, now how will this all change, let's see half of these decks are gone via the rotation and we may see some new formats rise out of the ashes of the old decks, let's start with a idea a friend of mine came up with, in the form of Red/Black sligh.

This deck basically consists of controlling the game and such, dealing the amount of damage desired let's take a look at some of the potential candidates for the deck itself, spells wise

Incinerate - If you are going to have a build with red in it, you gotta think what does 3 damage for 2 mana oh yeah Incinerate, kills creatures handily and allows for easy access for the dudes you want to go through.

Shock - Shock is another good variant card for this deck and can basically throw a whole variety of new things out there, this is the 1 drop spell of choice besides the obvious Dismember which has it's own catch phrase, would think this is like a 2 or 3 of in the deck.

Dismember - Now if it dies to dismember the chances are this card is bonkers, the "Does it Die to Dismember" thing is key to remember for this deck and it's great spot removal for a nasty Hero of Bladehold or Hero of Oxid Ridge 


Kuldotha Rebirth - This card is bonkers as well, makes 3 1/1's for the price of a artifact, allows for a easy turn 1 into 3 dudes with a alpha strike the next, potential removal aside this has to make the list at least.

Smallpox - If people told me this was getting a reprint last year i would have laughed at you, but with M12 we get smallpox, the best time spiral uncommon ever printed at least to me, had it's own deck at one point with Kamigawa Block and now is back in a big way.

Goblin Grenade - I think this is a kill spell of choice, fling you goblin tokens or a goblin of your choice, deal 5 damage this is a impact to a lot of things, great way to end the game off a alpha strike of 8 damage with a Hero of Oxid Ridge and 2 1/1 goblins

Creatures wise it's a lot simpler we have a lot of potential choices here let's look at some

Grim Lavamancer - Remember the Fire and Lightning decks well foils of these are bound to rise in price, come on reprints of Chain Lightning this is a perfect body for this deck, graveyard full of things, no problem just activate his ability once or twice and boom instant empty yard, always should be a 3 of in this deck or even 3 of 1 in the sideboard.

Hero of Oxid Ridge - Considering the power of Battle Cry, this is a great 4 drop choice for the deck, provides a nasty boost when it attacks alongside other dudes, is a decent power/toughness and has well just nasty things in mind when it comes to it, really good finisher for the deck.

Phyrexian Obliterator - Now paying 4 black mana is nothing to scoff at in this deck, personally this guy is perfect for the job, 5/5 for a trampler that makes opponents sacrifice things when damage is dealt, devious i must admit and majorly annoying to get rid of.

Hex Parasite - He kills walkers, does a pump and gets in there with massive damage and he's a artifact dude, this is perfect for the deck, sligh always loves to get rid of threats, this is a perfect addition to the list

Goblin Wardriver - Being a double red isn't that bad to cast, battle cry for a 2/2 and he's a goblin to boot so he assists Goblin Grenade when needed after a attack step, dealing even more damage which is relentless in this list.

So the list looks a little something like this

Creatures
4x Goblin Wardriver
3x Hex Parasite
3x Phyrexian Obliterator
3x Hero of Oxid Ridge
4x Grim Lavamancer

Spells
4x Dismember
4x Smallpox
4x Incinerate
4x Goblin Grenade
3x Shock

Lands
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
4x Dragonskull Summit
8x Mountain
7x Swamp

Sideboard
4x Memnite
1x Shock
1x Phyrexian Obliterator
4x Slagstorm
1x Hero of Oxid Ridge
4x Kuldotha Rebirth

I don't know if this list is playable or not, but i think it is at least it's aggro to the max and in a new standard enviroment post rotation we may see a few changes to the overall list, if anyone has any better ideas, be sure to let me know but for now this is vergil signing off