The list -
Mono Red
Creatures (20)
3 Zurgo Bellstriker
4 Foundry Street Denizen
1 Frenzied Goblin
3 Lightning Berserker
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Goblin Heelcutter
Lands (20)
20 Mountain
Spells (20)
4 Wild Slash
4 Stoke the Flames
3 Lightning Strike
1 Titan's Strength
4 Dragon Fodder
3 Hordeling Outburt
1 Hall of Triumph
Sideboard [15]
3 Prophetic Flamespeaker
1 Hall of Triumph
4 Searing Blood
4 Roast
2 Arc Lightning
1 Harness by Force
The main deck was pretty close to perfect but I think the sideboard could take a little tweaking.
I decided that I would stick with Mono Red rather than pushing for the RG Atarka version which has a terrible mana base.
The first thing I had to do Saturday morning was buy some cards to complete the new list. After spending $1.28 on a couple of roasts and a dragon fodder my deck was ready to go. :)
Round 1 - (Abzan Aggro) Collin Rountree
Game 1 - I play dudes and proceed to smash him down to ~9 life, then I start to get brick walled as he continues to hit his mana and keeps playing 3/3s. He then gains some life off of Siege Rhino and I end the game with 8 mountains in play and 2 more in hand...oh buddy.
Game 2 - I curve out and Roast all of his guys. Wow Roast is a crazy good magic card for mono red. Being able to kill Siege Rhino is all kinds of spicy. Usually, I am just happy if he cannot block.
Game 3 - I re-sideboard since I am on the draw and bring in a miser Searing Blood. I end up killing his Rakshasa Deathdealer with that Searing Blood. That extra damage lets me easily win the race. He had a turn where he played and attacked with a Siege Rhino instead of a Surrak. If he had attacked with Surrak I would have had a hard time racing him back. Also I Roasted a bunch of his critters.
Round 2 - (Jeskai Tokens)
Game 1 - This is not a great matchup but I manage to kill him when he is forced to tap his guys to Stoke the Flames and it lets me get in with a huge hasty Lightning Berserker for a bunch (~5/6).
Game 2 - I side out all the guys with a 1 butt and you know what card is super sweet? Prophetic Flamespeaker. :)
Round 3 - (UB Control) David
Game 1 - This is likely mono reds best matchup. The game plan is simple play guys + smash face, then when he is close to stabilizing + tapped out you burn them out.
Game 2 - See game 1, only this time your opponent has 2/3 mana sweepers. Before the tournament I thought about running 1 Collateral Damage to mitigate Bile Blight, I still like the idea but I don't know if we need it.
I think I may have made a slight misplay in game 2 when I played a Hordeling Outburt on turn 3 and my opponent cast Silumgar's Scorn without revealing a dragon. I could have played Dragon Fodder which would have meant he would have had to reveal a dragon or not cast the card (since I could then have paid 1 mana). This is a tough spot, I am not sure if you are supposed to play around Force Spike/Counterspell in this situation or not.
Round 4 - (GR Dudes)
My opponents asks if I will concede. I say we can play or draw. He chooses to play.
Game 1 - We get into a race in the mid game due to his Surrak coming down and creating some additional hasty damage.
Game 2 - Turn 3 Hornet's Nest. Ouch. I play on and hope to draw a Goblin Heelcutter and/or Frenzied Goblin. It doesn't ever happen though.
Round 5 - (Abzan Aggro/Mid)
ID
Semi - (GR Dudes)
This is the same guy as Round 4. So I know what I am up against.
Game 1 - He is on the play but I manage to make some favorable trades which put him in an awkward position for racing. I manage to burn out his final life points.
Game 2 - He accelerates into some quick fat dudes and I am unable to keep up.
Game 3 - My opponents first play is a flashed in Boon Satyr. I have the searing blood though. I easily take the game from there.
I forget which game I made the mistake but I made the first glaring mistake on the day in this match. I had played a turn 1 Lightning Berserker and my opponent had played a turn 1 Elf. I have a wild slash in hand and a bunch of two drops. I attack with Lightning Berserker (I am fine with the trade) and my opponent declines to trade...only I don't pump the Berserker even though I know I am going to kill the elf. That 1 point didn't end up mattering but it could have.
Quarter - (Abzan Control) Joe Bass
Game 1 - I play guys and smash but Joe is able to slow the game down enough to get double Courser and a Siege Rhino down. Too many big butts.
Game 2 - I curve out and get hit with some removal but I keep playing my cards conservatively while whittling away at his life total.
Game 3 - My opponent mulligans and my quick draw punishes him hard.
Also worth noting is that Joe played turn 1/2 thoughtseized me all 3 games...I don't think this is a valid plan (especially on the draw). Thoughseize does nothing if it is not in your opening 7 since it is so hard to play mid/late game.
Finals - (Abzan Aggro/Mid)
No split finals...so this is for all the marbles.
Game 1 - My opponent is on the play. I mulligan to 5...If I had drawn a second land a turn or two sooner (not like turn 5) then I think I win this game. I got my opponent down to ~7 before he manages to play Surrak into Sorin (the 1 of Sorin obviously). If I had my second land then I would have been able to Stoke the Flames....
Game 2 - I curve out pretty perfectly but my hand is kind of clogged with Goblin Token cards, so I am forced to play them out. My opponent casts x2 Drown in Sorrow and x2 Bile Blight during this game...I can still win if I draw a burn spell over x2 turns in the mid-game while my opponent is at 5 life and I have a Wild Slash in Hand.
It would have been nice to at least get a game 3 against my opponent but it was not to be. I was so looking forward to winning my second Mox Jet.
All in all it was a good day for Mono Red and I will be slinging mountains again if I have any other Standard tournaments coming up.
Cheers,
Simon
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