Sid the Chicken wrote:
So after playing against this a couple times, I have some thoughts;
Stuff I thought was good;
Pyreheart Wolf - I was skeptical at first, but this proved to be a thorn in the side - being unable to just field a blocker and be done with it meant you got Rakdos down early, and made a boardwipe necessary... which the damn wolf survived.
Dragon Tyrant - I was terrified of this.
Whip of Erebos - The only reason I wasn't terrified of this is that I had bog'd you. The life gain is solid, but can be overcome. Having to worry about a second dose of whatever monstrosity just got removed is much more unsettling.
I'm still torn over Tyrant, actually. The RRRR upkeep cost is dreadful to the max, and showed me that the best response for it isn't removal; however, land destruction--even basic land destruction--is the best and most correct answer. If I continue to see this pattern of response, I don't think I'll keep it. It's not worth losing a creature AND getting Time Walk'ed a couple of turns.
Sid the Chicken wrote:
Still not impressed with Hellkite Igniter. Too vanilla, you don't have enough artifacts to consistently use its ability for value, and the haste is ironically kinda irrelevant, since hitting someone with Rakdos and dropping it for cheap means you've already attacked... maybe
Forgestoker Dragon? The ability to keep things from blocking while you smash might come in handy.
Stormbreath Dragon is neat too, though I think he's probably got a bit of a price tag, since he's played in the R/G monsters standard deck.
Imperial Hellkite also might be worth a look. The morph cost is high, but being able to field a turn 3 beater -> turn 4 Rakdos is decent, and later on you can use him to tutor stuff. (also remember if Rakdos is "on" then you can play it face-down for free and just pay the morph cost).
I actually noticed I have a
Stormbreath Dragon left over from a RG Hyper-ramp deck I built just before the big Dublin tournament. I think I'll make the switch later today. I still like the haste, because it gives me the opportunity to surprise attack someone if I need to; however, Stormbreath will probably do that better. I don't own a Forgestoker Dragon, so that's out for the moment. I have considered Imperial Hellkite, but my problem is I'm forced to always play him face down first and then waste an entire turn flipping it just for a tutor. If it wasn't only a 6/6 Flier or if I could reduce the cost of flipping, I'd give it more consideration.
Sid the Chicken wrote:
Some additional yard hate to supplement Bojuka Bog might be in order.
Leyline of the Void seems like a good choice, since it doesn't affect you. One of the cheap artifact options like Relic of Progenitus or Tormod's Crypt would also be handy.
I'd say most situations where you'd want to cast Chain Reaction, you'd rather have
Blasphemous Act instead. Also you seem really light on removal. Have the Pestilence cards worked out? You could swap them for some decent spot removal like
Hero's Downfall,
Terminate,
Dreadbore,
Murder,
Gild,
Sever the Bloodline,etc.
I notice you have basically no tutors. Conscious choice or just don't have any handy?
Since last night was literally the first real game with this deck, I agree with you about all of this. Much more removal and/or tutors need to be in here, instead of just relying on dominate board position. I'm going to see what I have and work from there on both points. Pestilence effects totally dominate the game when I draw them and they aren't removed quickly. With all my guys usually having 5 or greater toughness, I can normally blow up everything everyone else has without caring about what I have.
I'm thinking about taking out these cards first:
- Hellkite Igniter
- Dragonspeaker Shaman
- Chain Reaction
- Dragonstorm
- Syphon Mind
- Hammer of Purphoros
Dragonspeaker Shaman was in my hand a long time, and I never saw a chance to use it. Without evasion, he's going to suck late game when I'll only have a couple cards in my hand (and I'll likely have the full mana I need to cast a dragon). In the early game, I'm going to want to play Rakdos instead of a dragon. Mid game, Rakdos reduces WAY more than this guy ever will. Dragonstorm, Syphon Mind, and Hammer are all great cards, but I have to cut something in the deck to get more removal and/or tutors. A regular tutor will probably be better for the deck than either Dragonstorm or Syphon Mind. Hammer is cute, but I think sac'ing a land is going to hurt the deck too much even in a pinch. I know I said I wouldn't every take out Dragonstorm, but for the sake of the deck performing better I have to do it.
Why not other cards? Well, the creatures in the deck are pretty set in stone. I don't want to cut back on dragons, and if I cut back on other small creatures I'm in danger of never getting Rakdos out on turn 4. That leaves me with ramp/mana fixers, draw cards, and recovery--or other removal. I really can't skimp any more on all of those. This is getting to be a tight list.
EDIT: as low amounts of tutors as I can muster has been my goal for decks I construct, honestly. I don't want to be tempted towards the same kind of game plan every game--for instance, Utvara Hellkite plus Scourge of Valkas every game would get boring really fast.