After my thrilling 3-2 victory (?) on Magic Game Day two weeks ago, I decided to tweak the deck and play in another standard event at the store this past weekend. I knew what was working for me and what wasn’t working. I spruced up the deck, tightened the reins a little bit, and said goodbye to an old friend. There we were, in the Novijen genetics laboratory within the Simic Combine. Just me and Gyre Sage. “Goodbye, my friend, I’m afraid you just…” “I just what!?” “You just don’t impact my board state enough.” A tear rolled down her elven face, and then a more powerful creature entered the room and she evolved just to spite me.
Whoa. Where was I? Oh, right, the new deck!
Giaco Aggro
| Creatures (29) 4 Vexing Devil 4 Flinthoof Boar 4 Hellrider 4 Burning-Tree Emissary 4 Ghor-Clan Rampager 4 Experiment One 4 Lightning Mauler 1 Thundermaw Hellkite Planeswalkers (2) 2 Domri Rade Spells (6) 4 Searing Spear 2 Mizzium Mortars | Lands (23) 1 Kessig Wolf Run 4 Rootbound Crag 4 Stomping Ground 7 Mountain 7 Forest Sideboard (15) 2 Bonfire of the Damned 2 Pillar of Flame 1 Glaring Spotlight 2 Legion Loyalist 2 Ground Seal 2 Act of Treason 2 Skullcrack 2 Pyreheart Wolf |
So the big switches from the previous deck were cutting the two Gyre Sage and two Rancor for four Lightning Mauler. I find that Mauler gives this deck a lot of flexibility. And Mauler seems to be another “I have to kill him now” level-threat to my opponents, which Gyre Sage wasn’t. I also switched out two Bonfire of the Damned for two Mizzium Mortars, because Mizzium Mortars has way more range against anything I’ll fight.
Round One – Selesnya Mid-Range
Game one I played a Selesnya mid-range deck that ran Voice of Resurgence. I found Voice to be an annoyance to my deck, but usually not a problem. Against my deck, a 2/2 isn’t a huge deal, and I never gave my opponent enough time to really ramp up and create a lot of creatures to power it’s token offspring. My opponent seemed annoyed at the speed of my deck, and my ability to just kind of ignore Voice. He got me one of the three games when I stumbled on a land drop, but overall I knew I had the stronger deck. 1-0 in Rounds. 2-1 in Games.
Round Two – Blue White Red Control
Game two, against Richard, was really tough for my deck. So tough that I lost in three games! Richard’s an awesome player and all around nice guy, and his deck kept shutting mine down. I sideboarded like a fool for game two, bringing in Bonfire because I thought he was giving me enough time to be able to profitably cast that spell. But no, how dumb of me, I should have just pushed the Skullcracks in and stopped him in his tracks. 1-1 in Rounds. 3-3 in Games.
Round Three – Blue White Control
Another matchup against control and I thought I was in trouble. But I was able to outrace and beat this deck in three games with the help of Ghor-Clan Rampager and a (now correctly) sideboarded skullcrack. This was a great matchup, and it felt like a real boxing match with both of us going back and forth. It wasn’t a particularly interesting match, but it was very fun to play. 2-1 in Rounds. 5-4 in Games.
Round Four – Red Green Aggro
The mirror match! Ahh! I was wondering how I would fare in the mirror. I played Devin in a fun, light hearted final round. His version of the deck ran Rakdos Cackler and Stromkirk Noble and he beat my face with it. I sideboarded incorrectly again, bringing in Act of Treason. I got him in one of the three games, but in the end Devin just out-played and out-raced me. 2-2 in Rounds. 6-6 in Games.
So that was a blast. Modern Masters has everyone all a-flutter now and I’ll be drafting that craziness this upcoming weekend, but I’m sticking with this deck and will keep tweaking it. As always, any Scrubby suggestions are welcome. Enjoy the rain, fellow East-Coasters. See you in the Simic Combine!