MODERN: MONO-RED BURN

MTG Southside 

Modern Discord Event

20 July 2021

 

RD 1 Shardless Rhinos (Win)

RD 2 Izzet Prowess (Win)

RD 3 Boros Burn (Win)

RD 4 Humans (Win)

RD 5 Hammer Time (Loss) 

  

RD 1 Shardless Rhinos

Game one is here. Game two's MVP was Roiling Vortex.

in: +3 Roiling Vortex 

out: -3 Rift Bolt

RD 2 Izzet Prowess

I won game one because of Mr. Sonogen's words of wisdom. First: Remember, the deck will only win if it has creatures. And second: Know your Role. 

And that's what I did. I aimed whatever burn spells I had at his one-drop creatures with high hopes that the tactic will slow him down. It worked. 

Game two is here. 

in: +3 Roiling Vortex and +2 Dragon's Claw 

out: - 4 Rift Bolt and -1 Goblin Guide 

RD 3 Boros Burn

Game one: The opponent had one of the worst possible land combinations against a mirror game - a turn-one tapped shockland and pings from Sunbaked Canyons. And by the time the opponent was able to deal with my creatures (Goblin Guide and Monastery Swiftspear), his life point total was within three bolts spells away. My hand then was Lightning Bolt (which I fired at the end of his turn); then Skullcrack and Flame Rift on my turn. 

Game two: Goblin Guides carried most of the scoring load for the home team. "Know your role. - Mr. Sonogen." Keeping these words in mind, I used most of my burn spells to keep the opponent's creatures at bay. 

The opponent managed to summon a Kor Firewalker in mid-game but was greeted by Pyrite Spellbomb a turn after. Soon, the opponent did manage to eliminate both of my Goblin Guides but I think it was too late for his life total was down to five. Two bolt spells won me the round.  

in: +2 Pyrite Spell Bomb and +2 Dragon's Claw

out: -4 Lava Spike

RD 4 Humans 

Game one: And just like what I did in my two previous rounds, I aimed most of the bolt spells at his creatures and let my creatures do most of the scoring.  And when his life points hit seven, I fired my last two cards, Flame Rift and Skewer the Critics. 

Game two, I got stuck with two lands (Fiery Islet and a Mountain) on the table thus slowing down my progress. To make it more interesting, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben together with pro-red creatures, Auriok Champion and Sanctifer en-Vec, were all there against my team of a goblin and Roiling Vortex. 

Game three: The opponent did not have enough gas because he opened the game with mulled to five cards in hand. 

in: +3 Roiling Vortex, +2 Smash to Smithereens, and +2 Pyrite Spellbomb

out: -3 Rift Bolt and -4 Eidolon of the Great Revel 

RD 5 Hammer Time

The opponent's build is not the typical mono-white. His build was on boros that heavily relied on spells that allow him to fling his creatures at you after it deals damage while holding a hammer. 

Game one I died to a turn two Ornithopter with two hammers on it. Game two, after the Goblin Gaveleer attacked with a hammer, he cast Thud in his second main phase to deal lethal damage for the win.

in: +4 Smash to Smithereens and +2 Pyrite Spellbomb

out: +2 Lava Spike and +4 Flame Rift   

And before I end this post, here's the seventy-five. 

Mono-Red Burn

Paeng_Paeng

Main deck

7 Mountain

4 Arid Mesa

4 Sunbaked Canyon

3 Bloodstained Mire

2 Fiery Islet

4 Eidolon of the Great Revel

4 Goblin Guide

4 Monastery Swiftspear

4 Flame Rift

4 Lava Spike

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Rift Bolt 

4 Searing Blaze 

4 Skewer the Critics

4 Skullcrack

Sideboard

2 Dragon's Claw

2 Pyrite Spellbomb

3 Roiling Vortex

4 Relic of Progenitus

4 Smash to Smithereens

Thank you for reading!

Stay safe wherever you are. 

Paeng_Paeng

  

MODERN: AD NAUSEAM

 Ad Nauseam

MTGO Modern League

29 July 2021 

RD 1 Hammer Time (win)

RD 2 GW Heliod Combo (win)

RD 3 Bant Control (loss)

RD 4 As Foretold (loss)

RD 5 Boros Burn (win)

 

Here is the seventy-five for this league.

RD 1 Hammer Time

Game one

Game two 

RD 2 GW Heliod Combo

Game one

Game two

RD 3 Bant Control

Game one

Game two

Game three

What a greedy decision-keep there. *sigh*

RD 4 As foretold 

Game one

I opted not to record game two. I lost game two anyway because the opponent fed the suspended Greater Gargadon with his lands plus was able to cast the modern Balance off the blue enchantment. Thus annihilating all my lands and hands. 

RD 5 Boros Burn

Game one

I forgot to record game two. I won it because of this combo combination: Phyrexian Unlife, Thassa's Oracle, and Spoils of the Vault.

This will be all for now. 

Thank you for reading!

Stay safe wherever you are!

Paeng_Paeng

MODERN: AD NAUSEAM

Ad Nauseam

MTGO Modern League

27 July 2021 

RD 1 Izzet Ragavan-DRC (win)

RD 2 Grix Ragavan-DRC (loss)

RD 3 Grix Death's Shadow (loss)

RD 4 Grix Twiddle Storm (win)

RD 5 Mono White Death and Taxes (loss)

  

RD 1 Izzet Ragavan-DRC

Game one

Game two 

RD 2 Grix Ragavan-DRC

Game one

Game two

Game three

Approximately fifteen minutes into the video of game three, the opponent attacked three creatures with a total power of eight. I was down to two life points and had a Phyrexian Unlife on the battlefield. Since there's no first strike in his army, I was expecting to see negative life points. But the software registered it otherwise, I got infect - five in fact. I think this is a mistake. I am correct with the Phyrexian Unlife ruling, right?

RD 3 Grix Death's Shadow

I forgot to record our live game one. And when I tried recording the recorded game from the software, for some reason the video is stopping midgame. Anyway, I lost it because the opponent had a lot of discard spells and counter spells.

Game two

 

RD 4 Twiddle Storm 

Game one

Game two

Game three

RD 5 Death and Taxes

I lost this round in three games. Thalia and friends really made it an uphill battle. But the biggest contributory factor probably was when the software asked me to restart itself because of an ongoing update in its data. And by the time I got back, I lost a lot of minutes. 

Sorry, no video because I forgot to record it live.  

Paeng_Paeng

MODERN: FETCHLESS STORM

MTG Southside 

Modern Discord Event

6 July 2021

 

RD 1 Boros Burn (Win)

RD 2 Izzet Prowess (Win)

RD 3 Jund Death's Shadow (Win)

RD 4 Blue Living End (Win)

RD 5 Yorion Death and Taxes (Loss) 

  

RD 1 Boros Burn

I won both games because of the same reason: the opponent is tapped out. Game one via Grapeshot - Remand - Grapeshot route. While game two via Grapeshot - Past in Flames - recycle some instants and sorceries then ending it with the same Grapeshot. 

RD 2 Izzet Prowess

Game one: at point, the opponent tapped all his lands. And since I am aware that the opponent's seventy-five do not carry a Force of Negation, thanks to open decklist policy, I seized the perfect moment to go off. Gifts Ungiven into me presenting the pile: Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose, and Past in Flames.  

The opponent won game two because of two reasons: (i) I did not have any answers and (ii) was not able to block his flying prowess creatures, Stormwing Entity and Sprite Dragon. 

Game three is here. 

RD 3 Jund Death's Shadow

The opponent aggressively used his life points setting up a potential Death's Shadow game ending. But a mob of goblins off an Empty the Warrens turned the tide into my favor. 

I won game two via an Aria of Flame plus a small unit off an Empty the Warrens for four. 

RD 4 Blue Living End

I won game one via Grapeshot - Remand - Grapeshot. I won Game two via Aria of Flame.

  

RD 5 Yorion Death and Taxes

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and her condition-giving cavalry made it an uphill battle, again, for the home team. 

That will be all for now. Thank you for reading.

Stay safe always!

Paeng_Paeng

MODERN: FETCHLESS STORM

Neutral Grounds Vertis North 

Quezon City

27 June 2021

 

RD 1 Soul Sister (Win)

RD 2 Rakdos Asmora Cookbook (Win)

RD 3 Shardless Rhino (Loss) 

  

RD 1 Soul Sister

I summoned a mob of goblins. He had an Abiding Grace and a Martyr of Sands (four white cards at hand) combo out in his immediate turn. I did a quick mental computation and concluded that the mob cannot beat that life gain combo. So instead of wasting time trying to outrace such, I conceded and offered to go to game three. 

I won game three via Aria of Flame. 

 

RD 2 Rakdos Asmora Cookbook

It was game three and it was my second to the last turn. Our life points were: mine six and his thirteen. My hand: Opt, Aria of Flame, Rebuild, and an Empty the Warrens. And I had the following on my table: Aria of Flame (with five counters) and three lands: Island, Silundi Isle, and Shivan Reef. On the other side of the table, the opponent had a lot of artifacts: food tokens, the cookbook, and a construct token creature with equipment (Shadowspear) on it just waiting for his turn so that it could swing for lethal. 

I had two options. Either (i) play defensively, Rebuild in his turn or (ii) aggressively aim for the win this turn starting with Opt; let Aria of Flame trigger plus let it deals six with high hopes that I will get an instant or sorcery off the Opt. 

Better safe than sorry, so I went with the former. Bounce every artifact the opponent has in his turn. And when I got my turn back, I drew into a Manamorphose. Win.   

RD 3 Shardless Rhino  

The opponent knows what to and when to fire his Force of Negations. The first Force of Negation stopped my Aria of Flame from hitting the table. And the second one was used to deny my Echoing Truth from bouncing the rhino tokens.

MTG SOUTHSIDE

Modern Discord Event

28 June 2021

RD 1 UR Prowess (Win)

RD 2 Bring to Light Deck (Win) 

RD 3 Esper Control (Win)

RD 4 Affinity (Win)

RD 5 Yorion DnT (Lost)

 

RD 1 UR Prowess 

Game three: I summoned a mob of goblins by turn four. But the opponent's Kozilek Return took care of them in his turn. I topdecked a land, ritual, and Past in Flames in succeeding turns and ended the turn with another mob of goblin tokens. This time, the opponent had no answer. Won in two swings.  

RD 2 Bring to Light Deck

I won both games. Game one through Gifts Ungiven ending it with Grapeshot. And in game two, I used his instant spells to fuel my Empty the Warrens's storm.

RD 3 Esper Control 

I recorded games one and three. I forgot to hit the record button during game two so I have no upload of it. Here is the video of our game three. Enjoy.       

RD 4 Affinity 

Rain started pouring moderately and was non-stop for fifteen to twenty minutes. This caused repeated fitful internet connections. And one of the unfortunate intermittent moments in game three happened when I was about to cast Rebuild at the end of his turn. Then went off unmolested in my turn. I hate losing internet connection at the crucial point of a game.

RD 5 Yorion DnT

My Lands were nowhere to be found during the rubber match. And to make it worst, Thalia and friends were giving me a ton of conditions before I can do anything. Not to mention, they keep on hitting me for five every turn. 

Here's the seventy-five that I used for both events.       

This is all for now. Stay safe wherever you are! Thank you for reading!

Paeng_Paeng

 

LEGACY: GOBLINS and BELCHER

Kick Engines

Discord Modern Event

31 May 2021

One Land Belcher

Paeng_Paeng

Main deck

4 Goblin Charbelcher 

4 Burning Wish

3 Empty the Warrens

4 Rite of Flame

4 Desperate Ritual

4 Pyretic Ritual 

4 Seething Song

4 Manamorphose

4 Land Grant

1 Irencrag Feat 

4 Lion's Eye Diamond

4 Lotus Petal

3 Chrome Mox

4 Tinder Wall

4 Elvish Spirit Guide

4 Simian Spirit Guide

1 Stomping Ground

Sideboard

4 Veil of Summer

2 Xantid Swarm

1 Tendrils of Agony

1 Empty the Warrens

1 Grapeshot

1 Infernal Tutor

1 Echo of Eons

1 Goblin War Strike

1 Pyroclasm

1 Reverent Silence

1 Telamin Performance

RD 1 MUD(Loss)

RD 2 Show and Tell Omniscience (Win)

RD 3 Eldrazi (Win)

RD 4 Dredge Gaak (Win)

RD 5 Death and Taxes (Win)

S OmniTell (Win)

F Bant Control (Win)

RD 1 MUD

G1: I was on the play. Turn one fourteen goblin tokens. The opponent did quick math and offered we go to game two. 

 

G2: The opponent mulled to four. Ancient Tomb pass. I had a series of spells before trying to end it with a Goblin Charbelcher. Unfortunately, it met Mindbreak Trap. The opponent summoned a Trinisphere on his turn. This time, I offered to go to the next game.

G3: The opponent mulled again, this time for five. I also mulled but only for six. I started with Land Grant then Rite of Flame into two more rituals then finally Empty the Warrens for five storm. It met Mindbreak Trap. The opponent dropped Chalice of the Voids for zero and another for one. Then summoned Trinisphere two turns after. GG.  

RD 2 Show and Tell Omniscience

G1: I was on the play. Turn one fourteen goblin tokens. The opponent conceded without revealing a card. 

G2: The opponent was on the play this time. Fetchland then go. I summoned twelve goblin tokens on my turn one the ship back the turn. He dropped his second fetchland then cracked them both. Summoned Lotus Petal and started cascading spells: Show and Tell into Omniscience then Cunning Wish fetching Firemind's Foresight nitpicking three instant cards with different casting costs. Cast them all and the next thing I know was that he was repeatedly pinging me for one damage: Release the Ants - Omniscience loop. Nice. 

G3: The opponent mulled to four cards, or as they say it - mull for Force. My turn one: Stomping Ground into Xantid Swarm. The green Scourge insect met Force of Will (pitching Meddling Mage). With only two cards in hand, what are the odds that the opponent still has a Force and a blue card for pitching. So I go for it on my second turn, rituals for a total of seven red mana into Goblin Charbelcher. It resolved. Win.   

RD 3 Eldrazi

G1: I was on the draw. Turn one Goblin Charbelcher with enough mana to pay for its activation.

G2: I had another good opening seven (Burning Wish into Empty the Warrens for a possible mob of goblin tokens) but the opponent had a turn one Thorn of Amethyst. I was not able to do anything from there. Eventually, Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher delivered the lethal blows to force a rubber match.

G3: My first seven can call ten goblin tokens but I am not that confident with that line of play. So I took a mull and settled for these six: Lotus Petal, Tinder Wall, Pyretic Ritual, Seething Song, Lion's Eye Diamond, and Goblin Charbelcher. A hand of six that has sufficient mana for Goblin Charbelcher's kindling. But had to pray solemnly because the Stomping Ground was still in the deck. Luckily, it did not reveal itself in the first twenty cards. Win. 

RD 4 Dredge Gaak

G1: I was on the play. Turn one: Burning Wish into Infernal Tutor into Burning Wish into Tendrils of Agony for lethal. 

G2: My hand got raped repeatedly by Cabal Therapy. Hoogaak, Arisen Necropolis, together with an army of 2/2 zombie tokens, won him the game. 

G3: My opening seven was capable of calling fourteen goblin tokens off a Burning Wish. But I remembered my round one experience against MUD in which I went all-in only to be heartbroken by the opponent's Mindbreak Trap. So to avoid such, I mulled and got this sweet second seven: Stomping Ground, two Simian Spirit Guides, an Elvish Spirit Guide, Irencrag Feat, Lion's Eye Diamond, and Goblin Charbelcher. Send LED to the bottom then began my turn. Dropped the shockland, exile all spirit guides into Irencrag Feat into Goblin Charbelcher. Win. 

RD 5 Death and Taxes

G1: I was on the play. Turn one: Land Grant (into Stomping Ground paying two life points) - Tinder Wall - Rite of Flame - Seething Song - Manamorphose (draw: Rite of Flame) - Rite of Flame - Lion's Eye Diamond - Burning Wish (crack LED) to Infernal Tutor fetching Burning Wish then Tendrils of Agony for lethal. 

G2: The opponent had a turn one Deafening Silence and a turn two Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. After that, no other defensive card was called onto the battlefield. It took me like five turns to summon the Goblin Charbelcher. And took two more turns to activate it. Win. 

SEMIS: OmniTell 

Game one: 

I was on the draw. My hand after the draw phase: two Rite of Flames, two Lotus Petals, Land Grant, Seething Song, Manamorphose, and Burning Wish. Proper sequencing of your spells is extremely important if you are facing a Force of Will deck. With this in mind, beginning the turn with a Land Grant, revealing your entire hand, is not a smart thing to do simply because the opponent will know what and when precisely to use his counter spell. 

So I started with a petal and asked him if it is good. It resolves. Then the first Rite of Flame and asked for his permission. The opponent paused for a second or two before letting it resolves. The pause there was an indication that he is holding the counter spell. 

I showed him the second Rite of Flame and asked again if it will resolve. The opponent revealed Flusterstorm. I let his storm counter spell resolve. Then dropped the second petal. After that, I finally revealed my hand (Land Grant's alternate casting cost): Seething Song, Manamorphose, and Burning Wish. Fetched the lone land from the deck and put it on the table paid two life points for it to comes into play untap into Seething Song. Now if Seething Song gets countered, I am doomed. HOLY KERANOS Seething Song resolves! Which means the coast is clear. 

But the celebration was cut short because I immediately realized that I only have five red mana floating with only two cards remaining at hand, Manamorphose and Burning Wish. Short by one mana for Burning Wish into Empty the Warrens. So I summoned the red-green hybrid card first with a solemn prayer that I will draw into any of the following: (i) any of the rituals, an Elvish Spirit Guide, Simian Spirit Guide; (ii) a Lotus Petal so that I can do Burning Wish into an Empty the Warrens; or (iii) Tendrils of Agony if in case of Lion's Eye Diamond. Manamorphose gifted Empty the Warrens. 

Game two: 

I had a resolved turn one Xantid Swarm. Turn two, I swung the green insect first for protection before outpouring non-creature spells into a Goblin Charbelcher. Win. 

 

FINALS

Game one:

I was on the play. I summoned 14 goblins tokens. Won the game in two swings.

Game two:

I tried summoning Goblin Charbelcher thrice in this game. And each attempt got denied by Force of Will (the first and the third) and Force of Negation (the second). 

Game three:

Turn one: Stomping Ground (taking two) then Lotus Petal. Tapped the red-green shockland into Xantid Swarm. The opponent lets it resolve. But the bug got swatted by Swords to Plowshare on his turn. I started my turn two trying to summon Tinder Wall into play. After carefully assessing his hand, the cards on the table, and the possibilities of what will take place in the near future if in case he allowed this green plant wall, the opponent decided to deny its entry. I sacrificed the petal for green mana into Veil of Summer in response to Force of Will, then asked for his permission. My green instant spell resolves (storm count is now on three).  

After Tinder Wall resolved, I checked my hand: two Lion's Eye Diamonds, one Rite of Flame, one Burning Wish. Looked at our life points: both players are at eighteen life points. Now that my turn is fully protected, I carefully evaluate the possible Burning Wish routes: (i) wish into a mob of goblins was the first thing that I thought of. But I am not so sure about this because the opponent might have an Engineered Explosive and/or Echoing Truth in his hand. (ii)  Wish into Echo of Eons into a new set of seven is the second route popped out of my mind. But my worry is that there's a possibility that I might draw bricks and that the opponent will get the chance to draw good defensive cards again.  (iii) Another wish route possibility is that wish to Infernal Tutor to Burning Wish into Tendrils of Agony for ten storm. PERFECT! 

So I sacrificed Tinder Wall for two red mana into Rite of Flame (three red mana and four storm). Then dropped the two Lion's Eye Diamonds (three mana and six storm) into Burning Wish (one red mana and seven storm). While in the middle of cracking both LEDs, in a split second, I suddenly see a miscalculation in my math. That I will be one-mana short for Tendrils of Agony. So before declaring the colors from the LEDs, I checked my sideboard for any possible remedy. Good thing I boarded out a copy of Burning Wish. So instead of taking the original wish - tutor - wish - tendrils plan, I went wish (storm seven) - wish (storm eight) - tendril (storm nine). Just enough storm count for me to win the game. WIN

If in the near future I am going to sleeve this marvelous deck again, I will make sure to include artifact hate in the fifteen either Hull Breach or Shattering Spree, or both. I had games where I lost the round right there and then when Trinisphere, Chalice of the Voids, or even a Thorn of Amethyst hit the table. 

And before ending this post, let me share one of my MTGO Legacy 2-Queue video. Here.

That's all for now. Thank you for reading!

Paeng_Paeng

MODERN: MONO WHITE DEATH and TAXES

Mono-White Death and Taxes

Paeng_Paeng

Kick Engines's Modern Discord Event

Cubao Expo, Quezon City

30 May 2021

RD 1 Boros Burn (win)

RD 2 Grix Death's Shadow (win)

RD 3 GW Heliod Combo (win)

RD 4 UG Infect (win)

RD 5 Esper Control (loss)

Q Infect (win)

S UBg Control (win)

F Esper (win)

Lichi's Modern Discord Event

Los Banos, Laguna

3 June 2021

RD 1 GriselShoal (win)

RD 2 Death and Taxes (win)

RD 3 Inverter Combo (win)

RD 4 UR Prowess (loss)

Things that I can still recall from the Kick Engines discord event.

RD 1 Boros Burn

It was the trio of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Charming Prince, and Giver of Runes that helped me win me the game. Tax to slow the opponent's aggressive tactic. Cushion for longevity. And protection.    

RD 2 Grix Death's Shadow 

I cannot recall how the game went. All I can see on my notepad are the details of how our game three life points. He started at twenty into seventeen (probably fetch into shock). After that another fetch to shock, fourteen. Then it became twelve probably because I swung for two. Shock himself (maybe) into ten. Then it went down again from ten to six pressumably because I attacked two 2-powered creatures. Then followed by the letter w indicating win.

RD 3 GW Heliod Combo 

Leonin Arbiter, Ghost Quarter (destroying a Forest with an enchantment attached to it), and Path to Exile (removing his lone dork), dictated the tempo of the game. 

  

RD 4 UG Infect

In both games the opponent mulled to four cards. Path to Exile and Skyclave Apparition took care of his creatures. Leonin Arbiter also took part by adding another layer of cost for his fetchlands. 

RD 5 Esper Control 

This was actually day-two of my stomach cramps. I had to concede to my fifth-round opponent because of it. 

Quaters: Infect

Win.

Semis: UBg Control

Taxation, limiting to one spell per turn, blinking one of his lands in his turn, and the protection from Giver of Runes were the tools I used to win the semis. 

Finals: Esper Control 

The opponent did not draw any removals for both games one and two. The team took advantage of the situation and got the win. 

And here are details from the Lichi's Shoppee discord event, that I still recall. 

RD 1 GriselShoal

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben giving the usual taxation problem. Charming Prince's scry two helped sculpt my top deck. And Flickerwisp denying him some lands in his turn. Win. 

RD 2 Death and Taxes

I won the mirror because the opponent cannot search thanks to the Leonin Arbiters. Also, I had two Giver of Runes active on the table. Thus effectively denying the opponent the opportunity of using any of her spot removals. Win.

RD 3 Inverter Combo

G1: For the first time I felt that my taxing power was useless against a combo deck. I had Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Archon of Emeria, and Leonin Arbiter out on the battlefield and yet Inverter of Truth and Thassa's Oracle simply did not care. 

G2: You know what, I cannot recall much of game two except when I top deck a Mirran Crusader and it went all the way to force a game three.

G3: The opponent was not able to assemble his combo in time. Also, my turn two Charming Prince went all the way starting from seventeen down to zero. Win!  

RD 4 UR Prowess

I had to concede to my fifth-round opponent because my stomach cramps were really so bad that I cannot stand or even sit straight. So bad it was still bothering me the day after and I had to concede again to my fifth-round opponent from another discord event.   

I also piloted Death and Taxes on MTGO. I used the same seventy-two cards. The other three cards were three Auriok Champions replacing Kor Firewalkers. Here are some of the games that I uploaded on my Youtube Channel. 

Modern Leagues

vs GW Auras

vs Esper Control

Modern 2-queues

vs Mardu Control 

vs UR Prowess

Modern practice tournament

vs UR Storm

My seventy-five could be found here in case anyone is interested. 

Thank you for reading! 

Paeng_Paeng