Here's the list I registered
Burn | The Rusty Machete
21 Creatures:
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Goblin Guide
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Grim Lavamancer
2 Qasali Pridemage
18 Spells:
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Rift Bolt
4 Fireblast
2 Price of Progress
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Goblin Guide
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Grim Lavamancer
2 Qasali Pridemage
18 Spells:
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Rift Bolt
4 Fireblast
2 Price of Progress
15 Sideboard:
4 Path to Exile
2 Qasali Pridemage
3 Sulfuric Vortex
2 Price of Progress
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Volcanic Fallout
4 Path to Exile
2 Qasali Pridemage
3 Sulfuric Vortex
2 Price of Progress
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Volcanic Fallout
While most people would classify this deck as a zoo varient, in reality this is just the best possible burn deck. Wild Nacatl is at minimum a Lightning Bolt if you're on the play, and Steppe Lynx often deals 4 or more for 1 mana. Tarmogoyf is possibly the worst card in the deck, but is necessary to fight against other creature decks. Qasali Pridemage is only in the maindeck because Survival of the Fittest varients are pretty much the best decks in the format, plus exalted both gives pseudo haste to the pridemage and lets your creatures attack into theirs more often.
Every other card in the deck brings your opponent 3 or more life closer to dying.
Lastly, your opponents will often underestimate the amount of reach you can have at any point in the game. If all you've done if play a couple cats and a goyf, people will be willing to go below 10 life, thinking you probably only have 1, maybe 2 bolts in hand, when in reality they were dead once they got below 15.
With that said, lets get to the actual matches
Round 1: Vs. Hushmi with Ooze Survival
Game 1, I win the roll and mull a couple hands without the mana to cast spells, and my 5 carder has a lavamancer, goyf, and lands. The lavamancer gets in a couple points, and a hit from the goyf and burn gets him down to 8. He has turn 2 survival, and from there just tries to stay alive while setting up to kill me on 4 with an ooze. However, when he does go for it, he flips a 4, and says "I'll add 4 counters to my ooze", which unfortunately results in the ooze dying before he can do anything about it. After Stu gives out the oracle text of Phyrexian Devourer, Hushmi realizes what happened and scoops.
On the draw, I board in the other 2 Price of Progress and Pridemages for 4 Rift Bolt, since I can't afford to be slow.
Game 2, I open on Goblin Guide to his turn 2 survival. This time, he gets 4 Vengevines and while my guide plus price get him down to 9 (with me holding another price that can deal 6 ), I don't rip the burn spell to kill him before I die.
Back on the play I board in the Oblivion Rings taking out 2 Price of Progress. I figured since he saw price in game 2 he'd play around it somewhat, but it can still reliably deal 4, and O-Ring is good on the play since it can actually get a survival before he can activate
Game 3 is somewhat unexciting, since my mull to 4 has only a nacatl while he has turn 1 Hierarch, turn 2 Enlightened Tutor+Survival.
Oh well, just gotta win the rest
Round 2: Vs. Jason with GWB Rock
Game 1, I have a turn 1 steppe lynx into more 1 drops including 2 more lynx. He plays a turn 1 Sensei's Top, followed by double Knight of the Relinquary on 3 and 4 (both being 4/4). With 3 Lynx, a Nacatl, and a Pridemage in play, I whiff on lands for 3 turns, allowing him time to use top+shuffles from the knights to find Engineered Explosives. I die once the 10+ power knights start attacking.
I board in Paths and additional Price of Progress for Rift Bolts, 1 Fireblast, and 1 other card I can't remember (likely a pridemage). Goblin Guide stays in on the play since it can still deal 4 damage if it comes down on 1.
Game 2, I have the turn 1 Guide, which deals 6 before the board gets clogged with dudes. Fetchlands get him down to 11, but he has 2 Kitchen Finks to stabalize. I have several more dudes including a Goyf, and reach a point where I attack with the team to put him down to 9 after the Finks persist. At this point, he decides to play a confidant since he's out of gas and my goyf is currently eating his guys. I rip the 2nd fireblast, and the card he reveals to Confidant isn't a land.
I board out 2 Goblin Guides for more burn spells since I'm on the draw
Game 3, I obviously have the double goblin guide hand, and a goyf+fireblast kill him before he plays anything relevent.
Round 3: Vs. Gandhi with Affinity I win the die roll, and game 1 have the nut draw of Nacatl into Goblin Guide+bolt. Price of Progress deals 8 on turn 4.
I board in the paths and pridemages for Goblin Guides and a couple burn spells, since his relevent creatures are all bigger than 2/2
Game 2, He has Etched Champion, which becomes Progenitus after he suits up with a Cranial Plating. I have turn 3 Pridemage+sac to deal with the first plating, but the 2nd lets him kill me in 2 swings.
Game 3, I have Steppe Lynx into Goyf while he doesn't have a relevent early play. He's at 10 after my turn 3, and I have enough burn to kill him after the next attack
Round 4: Vs. Brian with Merfolk Game 1, he ends up drawing all 4 Aether Vials in his deck, but few dudes. I don't have a great draw, but a Steppe Lynx backed up by a couple bolts for the 2 creatures he does play is enough to kill him
I board in the fallout and 4th Lavamancer for 2 Fireblast
Game 2, he has no turn 1 play, so I assume he has a Daze and also play nothing. My Grim Lavamancer resolves on turn 2, and he can't actually beat it.
Round 5: Vs. Drew with UR Kiln Fiend Counterburn
Game 1 I draw both Price of Progress, which is completely dead against his draw. He burns out my early creatures, but I get him down to 10 with random attacks while holding 8 points of burn. Then he plays 2 price of progress and a fireblast and I die from 14.
I board in the paths for price of progress and 2 fireblast.
Game 2, I have Wild Nacatl into Goblin Guide into Tarmogoyf. He can't burn them all and dies quickly.
Game 3, We trade early Lavamancers and Bolts for creatures. He gets mana flooded while I have a Goyf that he can't kill and go all the way with it
Top 8 time!
Top 8: Vs. Todd Davis with 4 color Counterbalance/Top
Game 1, I come out blazing with a Wild Nacatl into Tarmogoyf. He doesn't Force of Will either, and 2 Rift Bolts get him to 1 so he can't Force of Will my Fireblast.
I board out 2 Fireblast and Lavamancers, and some bolts for Sulfuric Vortex, Price of Progress, and Oblivion Ring.
Game 2, He assembles counterbalance+top by turn 3, but I have a Lynx and Goblin Guide attacking. I get him to 5 before my dudes die and manage to draw 3 Pridemage, and he doesn't have the 2 drop to counter the first with counterbalance, choosing to use a spell snare instead. After he has another counter for the 2nd, the 3rd one sticks to kill his counterbalance, only for him to play another. I then rip a Sulfuric Vortex, which he can't counter, and once it hits play a fireblast kills him.
Top 4: Vs. Chriss with Zoo
Game 1, I keep a hand of Taiga, Wild Nacatl, Goblin Guide, Goyf, Goyf, Bolt, Pridemage on the draw. I miss on lands for a few turns, but play out my 1 drops and bolt a Nacatl from him. He plays a Knight of the Relinquiary on 3, and tutors up a wasteland to kill my Taiga. I rip a Plateau the next turn, but that is also wasted. I don't draw another land and die.
I board in the paths and additional pridemages for price and rift bolts. He blatantly played around Price of Progress game 1 since he had seen me play it earlier in the event, and the card isn't really that good in the zoo mirror, since killing their creatures result in more damage in the long run
Game 2, I keep a hand of Plateau, 4 Fetch Lands, Steppe Lynx, and Tarmogoyf. While 5 lands is obviously bad, I figured the Steppe Lynx would get in for at least 8 damage since he is unlikely to immediately kill it. Goyf is also pretty much the best card in the matchup, and if I draw a burn spell or path I can answer his first creature allowing my dudes to get him below 10. In retrospect, the hand is very close to a mulligan, but I would probably still keep in that scenario, since my deck does not mulligan very well, especially against zoo where a lot of 1 for 1 trades will occur.
I end up drawing lands in my first 2 draws, and he fetches a Jitte with Stoneforge Mystic on 2. He has 2 Knight of the Relinquary, a Terrevore, and a Goyf. and I don't have the removal to deal with all of them. My creatures do indeed hit him down to 11, but I can't deal with all his fatties and die
The top 4 finish was cetainly nice. However, I certainly felt like I could have won the event. Aside from both storm players, who were eliminated in the top 8, I felt like I was favored against every player in the top 8, though the zoo matchup is close to 50/50. However, I can't really complain, as my draws were pretty strong through most of the swiss, and both the finalists definitely deserved to do well. Congrats to Amir for coming home with a Mox, and to Ben Topping for beating level 4 pro Ari Lax twice over the course of the event.
I would definitely recommend this deck for future events. It's fast enough to compete with the broken decks in the format such as survival and presents too many threats for the control decks to handle. You essentially have the same mindset as a burn deck, where each card in the deck is worth a certain amount of damage, and if that adds to 20 you win, but on average most of your cards are worth more than a bolt. Zoo may have bigger dudes, but it's too slow to beat the best decks, while Burn can kill before your opponent knows what's going on.
1 comment:
I needed to mulligan my game 3 hand versus you - I'm just very wary to mulligan with Affinity, as it needs X amount of cards to actually do something in the game.
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