september 29, 2016 (4-1)

Highlander

swam

Creature (28)

• 1x Abbot of Keral Keep
• 1x Ash Zealot
• 1x Ball Lightning
• 1x Burning-Tree Emissary
• 1x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh  ^Flip
• 1x Chandra's Phoenix
• 1x Eidolon of the Great Revel
• 1x Ember Hauler
• 1x Falkenrath Gorger
• 1x Figure of Destiny
• 1x Firedrinker Satyr
• 1x Goblin Guide
• 1x Goblin Rabblemaster
• 1x Grim Lavamancer
• 1x Hell's Thunder
• 1x Hellspark Elemental
• 1x Jackal Pup
• 1x Keldon Marauders
• 1x Lathnu Hellion
• 1x Lightning Berserker
• 1x Monastery Swiftspear
• 1x Rakdos Cackler
• 1x Spark Elemental
• 1x Stormblood Berserker
• 1x Stromkirk Noble
• 1x Tattermunge Maniac
• 1x Young Pyromancer
• 1x Zurgo Bellstriker

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Koth of the Hammer

Land (33)

• 1x Barbarian Ring
• 30x Mountain
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Tower of the Magistrate

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Seal of Fire
• 1x Sulfuric Vortex

Artifact (2)

• 1x Mox Ruby
• 1x Shrine of Burning Rage

Instant (22)

• 1x Burst Lightning
• 1x Chain of Plasma
• 1x Fireblast
• 1x Flame Javelin
• 1x Flames of the Blood Hand
• 1x Galvanic Blast
• 1x Incinerate
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Lightning Strike
• 1x Price of Progress
• 1x Pulse of the Forge
• 1x Searing Blaze
• 1x Searing Blood
• 1x Searing Spear
• 1x Shard Volley
• 1x Shock
• 1x Skullcrack
• 1x Smash to Smithereens
• 1x Staggershock
• 1x Thunderbolt
• 1x Thunderous Wrath
• 1x Wild Slash

Sorcery (12)

• 1x Arc Trail
• 1x Chain Lightning
• 1x Exquisite Firecraft
• 1x Fiery Confluence
• 1x Firebolt
• 1x Flame Rift
• 1x Forked Bolt
• 1x Incendiary Flow
• 1x Lava Spike
• 1x Pillar of Flame
• 1x Rift Bolt
• 1x Volcanic Hammer

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Sideboard

Creature (22)

• 1x Arc-Slogger
• 1x Blistering Firecat
• 1x Bomat Courier
• 1x Foundry Street Denizen
• 1x Frenzied Goblin
• 1x Furnace Scamp
• 1x Goblin Arsonist
• 1x Goblin Sharpshooter
• 1x Goblin Wardriver
• 1x Legion Loyalist
• 1x Magus of the Moon
• 1x Mogg Fanatic
• 1x Mogg War Marshal
• 1x Porcelain Legionnaire
• 1x Satyr Firedancer
• 1x Scab-Clan Berserker
• 1x Scorched Rusalka
• 1x Sin Prodder
• 1x Spikeshot Elder
• 1x Taurean Mauler
• 1x Thermo-Alchemist
• 1x Zo-Zu the Punisher

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Chandra, Pyromaster

Land (2)

• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 1x Mutavault

Instant (9)

• 1x Brimstone Volley
• 1x Char
• 1x Collateral Damage
• 1x Lava Dart
• 1x Magma Jet
• 1x Stoke the Flames
• 1x Sudden Shock
• 1x Tarfire
• 1x Volcanic Fallout

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Assault / Battery
• 1x Earthquake
• 1x Flamebreak
• 1x Molten Rain
• 1x Reckless Abandon
• 1x Slagstorm

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In: Thunderbolt, Volcanic Hammer, Jackal Pup Out: Bomat Courier, Char, Mountain

Tightening up the curve with more 2 mana 3 damage spells. Courier came out (see sept 26 for reasons). Mountain came out (personally more comfortable with highlander manabases in general). Char came out bc it is THE base 3 mana 4 damage burn spell. Needed to reduce the 3/4 slot, and it was either char or flame javelin. My flame jav is near mint and my char is played, so the tactile feeling I get when I have char is annoying and slightly distracting. All other things being equal, flame jav would be out and char would be in because char is less restrictive on casting cost.

For next week I want to bring Blistering Firecat back in and get my hands on a Vexing Devil. Not sure what cuts to make.

Interesting situations in the finals: Opposing deck: RG Beatdown with a lot of pump spells. Game 3: I have choice of play/draw. Question #1: I have a coherent game plan when I'm on the draw. It panned out very well in game 1. My opponent is playing a lot of pump and I'm playing a lot of burn. The plan on the draw is to burn out threats and either stick a threat on an empty board or stockpile enough burn to win. I don't have a very coherent game plan on the play, as my quick creatures are very quickly outclassed. Do I choose to play or draw? Question 2: I chose to play. Opening hand is Stromkirk Noble, Falkenrath Gorger, Grim Lavamancer, Rift Bolt, 3x Mountain. Keep or Mull? If keep, what is the game plan?

I ended up losing the game. I made a mistake that cost me one turn of speed and was preventable. The situation begins with the Rift Bolt from my opening hand went to the face. This choice was made because I had drawn Shard Volley and Lightning Bolt, and my plan was to burn my opponent out from the top of my deck. So my plan is coherent here. My opponent is at 9, and has just tapped out to cast Scavenging Ooze with a lot of graveyard targets. I have maybe 3 turns of attacks from his remaining board to live. At the end of his turn, I have 3 mountains (2 tapped), Lightning Bolt and Shard Volley in hand. I go to my untap step. The only reasonable lines begin with either Bolting the ScOoze or Bolting my opponent. Keep in mind that the changes made to the deck were in an attempt to increase mana efficiency, and increased the number of 2-mana 3-damage spells in the deck.

The game played out with me untapping and drawing Lightning Strike. I Bolted the Scooze and Struck my opponent, but was at least a turn short of victory.

The major lesson from this game is the importance of mana efficiency when playing against an opponent with a real clock. This is inverse to the lesson of playing around daze type effects when your opponent is still developing a clock that you would like to disrupt, and you have a reasonable clock of your own.

Points: Mox Ruby[3] , Strip Mine [3]

Date added	8 years
Last updated	8 years
Legality	This deck is Highlander legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 2 Mythic Rares 21 - 17 Rares 26 - 8 Uncommons 20 - 13 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.01
Tokens	Elemental 1/1 R, Elephant 3/3 G, Emblem Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh, Emblem Koth of the Hammer, Energy Reserve, Goblin 1/1 R, Morph 2/2 C
Based on	september 26, 2016 (3-1) swam HL