Having to fire things up a notch...

So we're now about one month down the road in Gatcrash, and the first Type 2 Constructed tournaments are behind my teeth (that's Standard for all you modern days kids, in MY days, we labelled formats by boring numbers instead of flashy names).

I talked earlier about the changes I was going to make from my Red / Black melange between a Rakdos andn RDW deck to replace the black by white cards.  Last week, that deck managed to get to the Top-8 of the Games Day Gatecrash, but yesterday at the GPT Utrecht, with the minor change of adding in Two more Boros Reckoners instead of a Firemane Avenger and a Vexing Devil, and replacing one Brimstone Volley with a Blasphemous Act... it stalled.

I went 2 out of 5, but two matches where a wise lesson.  The first was against a mono blue control deck, where I had to play against Time.  First time this happened with my speedy deck, and even though I had the win, it was the first writing on the wall.

The second was against a control / mill deck with Jace's and Obzedat's and the likes.  I raced him down to 2 / 3 hit points before he could stabilise... and couldn't burn away the last few points, even after sideboarding in 12 more burn spells and a Chandra after round one.  Even a Chandra's double casted Boros Charm to the face I started flooding and he stabilised and recovered.

You might say the flooding was bad luck... but he should have died before that started to happen...

So my deck, labelled Scuderia Ferrari (a lean, red racing machine... for you non europeans, Formula One is pretty popular on the old continent compare to Indy or Nascar), went back to the drawing board for the future endeavors.

The first thing I did was drop away the two Stomping Grounds and the two Ray of Revelations.  On all battles so far with the deck, I encountered a fully 1 Blind Obedience.  This enchantment is a bitch against my Haste critters and can come in play as soon as turn 2, so that is why that particular combo had been added to my (sideboard) deck.  It is turning out a dead cardspace.

Another change is that the two mainboard Skullcracks are joining their two copies in Sideboard.  Thragtusk / Sphinx Revelation is less prominent these days, and with the Reckoner being already capable of handling him, I can outrace the deck easily so far.  The two Zealous Conscripts also failed to make the renewed cut, I just don't play them even since they where in the sideboard of the black red original brew.

Other cards going out are the one mainboard Searing Spear transferring to the Sideboard as well, and the remaining Firemane Avenger going out altogether.  Turn 4 drop, turn 5 batallion attack is usually enough to get him removed anyways, as by then they are already in the critical damage zone, or some big flyer like a tougher angel is around anyways to block him off.

Flyers will remain my inheritent weakness and I'll have to rely on burns to either shoot them down, or hope to kill their controller fast enough that they can't hit me to hard.

But what is comming in, and why?

Well, both Brimstone Volleys are back.  My critters tend to die and then flinging 5 damage on the board or to the face is a good thing.  And the Vexing Devil.

I also raised the number of Blasphemous Acts to 2, wipe the board and shoot the 13 damage through a Boros Reckoner to the opponent.

But most importantly, I'm returning two favorites of mine to the deck, namely two Burn at the Stakes.  As soon as midgame starts, I can then pull back from having all my little ones getting blocked to death by bigger beasties, and try to wait out for the Burn at the Stake.

Imagine this dream combo:

I have one Reckoner and 4 weenies on the board (a common occurence) like Ash Zealots, Stromkirk Noble or Rakdos Cacklers.  Opposing me are like two or three big, though beasts that kill two of my attackers each time I would attack.

Enter Burn at the Stake.  That would tap all my creatures, and fling 15 damage to my opponent.  This should kill him as he would have been hit early on.  Now, let's say he survives, I can then cast a Blasphemous Act.  In this situation that would wipe the board, and due to the Reckoner throw 13 damage to my opponent's face as well.

In that situation, that would have been immediate 28 damage for only 6 mana...

Hence I dropped back to only 20 instead of 22 lands.  I rarely get screwed (so far, one round in 19 rounds played over the past week) and it is a viable risk for me IMHO.  I see people get mana screwed playing 26 - 27 lands as well, it's just a part of the game, accept it, deal with it, and move onwards to burn the next opponent.

So here is the deck list of the all new evolution of Scuderia Ferrari:

Creatures - 29

4x Rakdos Cackler
4x Stromkirk Noble
4x Ash Zealot
4x Boros Reckoner
4x Vexing Devil
3x Lightning Mauler
3x Hellrider
3x Gore-House Chainwalker

Spells - 11

3x Blasphemous Acts
2x Brimstone Volley
2x Boros Charm
2x Pillar of Flame
2x Burn at the Stake

Lands - 20

12x Mountain
4x Clifftop Retreat
4x Sacred Foundry


Sideboard - 15

4x Skullcrack
3x Archwing Dragon
3x Searing Spear
2x Pillar of Flame
2x Aurelia's Fury
1x Chandra, the Firebrand