but you

I was just thinking how he said the game is ussually over by then is all. + the guys a human. But I see your point

After doing some extensive research, I learned that the top deck right night (mono-red aggro/mid-range with Thundermaw Hellkite ) can be beaten by simply being faster than it. So I put together this deck you created. I have a decent record overall with it but I'm 8-0 against the top deck. Thundermaw Hellkite is still a little bit of a pain but after side-boarding, nobody seems to expect Traitorous Blood especially when you combo with Falkenrath Aristocrat . Great work here.

Now I just have to figure out how to take care of Thragtusk .....

The same tactic with the Traitorous Blood and the Falkenrath Aristocrat takes care of the ever-present Thragtusk in the same manner but you actually keep the beast token. That was my vision for dealing with it anyways. Thanks for your input and the testing results, its good to know !

Played Sunblast against it and won 3/5. But I played my deck on it and got 2/5 (deck:my-first-angel-deck)

I should most likely play it a few more times, 15 or so, to really get a rough understanding of it though.

Really like the deck, wish I had the dough for it :-P +1!

Will be running this deck in a standard constructed tourney tomorrow. I'll let you know how it does :-)

Good luck !

Took this exact deck into a casual gaming meetup and absolutely mopped the floor with every deck that it went up against, including GW Humans, BW Tamiyo Control, RDW, and Rakdos Aggro. Didn't even need to sideboard...the games I lost were complete flukes.

Not sure what the secret sauce is here man, but I'm a believer, and I'm liking it :)

Only issue, and it's a tiny one, was both Thunderous Wraths almost always ending up in my opening hand, and once being the cause of two mulligans in a row.

Would you ever consider running anything else in their place, or am I not seeing the clockwork here?

Actually if I were to replace them I might consider 2 Thundermaw Hellkite 's or perhaps 2 Flames of the Firebrand . Not a bad suggestion to replace them as they are just there for some quick burn. I am glad you had good results in your play group, hope you finish top 8 tomorrow !

Also 2 more Hellrider 's would not be a bad idea.

Maximizing the number of Hellrider s in any red aggro list seems like the best idea to me.

You won me a 1st place draw (out of 16) at our local sanctioned standard tourney. Won a booster box of Avacyn Restored :)

Remind me to buy you a beer dude...

Single-elimination, I might add. Deck ran like a chainsaw.

"Also how many games would say Fervent Cathar has done anything relevant?"

Every round, every time he came into play. Not once did I play him and his ability not progress my early push into pre-midrange win.

Yay !! Thats amazing man, congrats on 1st place ! Did you end up replacing the thunderous wraths? I am trying out 1 hellkite, because I only have access to one right now seeing how they are 40 bucks lol !

Nope, ran -exactly- what you've got above and mised Thunderous Wrath a couple of times for some major sway, though I did have situations where they were in my opening hand...essentially dead draws, and they never once got played outside of their miracle cost.

I'm in the mindset at this point that if Hellkite ever becomes a win condition, then I kept the wrong hand. Too close to midrange territory for comfort for me, and I'd rather pull a Zealous Conscripts and have a more tactical advantage instead of throwing more of the same against an opponent that likely has answers by then. Same sort of mentality as the Cathars I suppose? I could be wrong here.

The deck drew crowds almost every game it played. Getting the opponent to 4 life by turn 3 was a real attention-grabber when it happened, and listening to everyone who told me how terrible Vexing Devil was beforehand have to backpedal and eat crow.

Everyone there is well aware of this deck now :)

That is pretty awesome, I do like it when the vexing devil's add up for massive burst damage. I made slight alterations to the deck's sideboard to reflect changes that were needed to stay competitive with my play group as they started to put in Witchbane Orb 's so I put in some Rakdos Charm 's for some artifact removal with some versatility.

I do like the idea of the zealous conscript, perhaps I will run one main and one thundermaw next fnm in place of the thunderous wraths.

Thanks for all the feedback, this made my day !

Ok. I have been watching this deck developer for a while now, many different incarnations have been shown. I have faced some impressive RDWs at my store in Poland but they still crumble when going against Junk tokens. That is besides the point now thought.

I'm wondering how you're preparing for Gatecrash? Here in Warsaw, the players are already discussing what cards need to put in for others. Obvious choices are Skullcrack for Searing Spear unless you mainly use the spear for creature removal. Maybe even putting a Hellraiser Goblin so that everything can have haste? One of my fellow players was debating putting in a Rubblebelt Raiders for some dune counter play. I'm wondering if you're thinking of any other cards that can be switched or put in.

Otherwise I'm still extremely pleased with how this deck has played for me in the past and really look forward to seeing it devlope further.

Made my day too :)

I have a feeling the meta (locally) is about to become very aggro-unfriendly :(

This bears repeating, because I, too, received a lot of flack over those damned Cathars. It's not that it only lets you evade one creature, it's that it let's you do it WHEN IT MATTERS, and OF YOUR CHOICE. And that right there is why they win games, often by merit of their ability alone. They turn what would've been a stalled game going to midrange suicide or giving the strategic advantage to the opponent, into that turn 4 or 5 kill. And to reinforce this point, the following quoted example happened to me more than once, verbatim, last night...

"T1 - me: Rakdos Cackler - them Avacyn's Pilgrim

T2 - me : Ash Zealot attack for 4 - them tap all for Loxodon Smiter

T3 - me: Fervent Cathar attack for 6 b/c of no blockers - them: oh shit

By turn three I have 3 creatures and they are at 50% life because of the Fervent Cathar. Just one example."

@shadowfoxxx I am hoping Boros will offer a new human with haste that can make it in this deck. I wont include anything above 1CMC that does not innately have haste. I would like to use Skullcrack as sideboard against thrag/lifegain. Searing Spear is instant speed removal as well as player hate and I like being able to use it as either.

@Fu3lman people will start to adapt their decks to your if it becomes too dominant. Just adjust your sideboard as needed. This deck is fast and if its unchecked it will run over just about anyone.

T4 - me: Hellrider, swing 13, they block Hellrider with Loxodon Smiter, they still die, and it was made possible by the Cathar, without his evade, this would have very likely stalemated until midrange, and I would have gotten my shit ruined.

@Ixthinon: I'm just enjoying the ride until Gatecrash :-p