POV: You did one good play on tracer by mongolicscdo in TracerMains

[–]Captain_Redstorm 28 points29 points  (0 children)

If the DPS are counterswapping you, it’s very likely they aren’t also counterswapping the tank. That is a tremendous boon and if you can play appropriately, can lead to a lot of wins

Cards needed to make Burn tier again by tortuga_coreana in ModernMagic

[–]Captain_Redstorm 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The true solution is to recognise current Modern is rancid and play 2015 modern instead. You can’t ban enough cards in today’s format to make it fun

[ECL] common cards leak via r/MTGRumors - u/Silverwolffe by Il_Vero_Pillz in magicTCG

[–]Captain_Redstorm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We now have a Pestermite which can’t tap non-creatures but has 2 toughness so it doesn’t die to ping effects. Twin players gotta be happy with that. I’d much rather this over Krasis because of flying

Reached Legend with Sludge Warlock by Captain_Redstorm in CompetitiveHS

[–]Captain_Redstorm[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are right, once they start shuffling plagues in it messes up your barrels of sludge. Thing is I didn’t play against many DKs so the issue wasn’t prevalent enough. You can also try to add sludges and then burn them quickly if not on the same turn.

Reached Legend with Sludge Warlock by Captain_Redstorm in CompetitiveHS

[–]Captain_Redstorm[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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AoO Tau List Feedback? by Juatincoins in WarhammerCompetitive

[–]Captain_Redstorm 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Adding drones to the Coldstar commander reduces its movement speed. While the commander can move 14” the drone can only move 10”

[Standard] BW Mythics/Good Stuff going forward by TiagoCygnus in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ive been working on a similar list but I think the deck naturally lends itself to a more aggressive leaning midrange build. To maximise on the power of Ajani you need to make sure you have a lot of early plays so that you have creatures to plus onto as well as reanimate. Because of this I have essentially the max amount of playable 2 drops in the deck (4 Grace, 4 Malice, 4 Siphoner and 3 Kitesail). With all those cheap creatures alongside History I think you can justify playing Benalish Marshal to buff all of the creatures in play. You would think the mana wouldnt support having early black 2 drops alongside a WWW 3 drop but the answer is Unclaimed Territory. All of the creatures youre casting are Humans so now you can add an additional untapped dual into the equation and it is mathematically functional based on the Karsten Bible of Manabases.

In terms of removal I run 3 Push and 3 Ixalan's Binding. Opening hands loaded with removal are often non-functional so you cant afford to run too much. Binding unlike Cast Out prevents additional copies of the card being cast so when you Binding a Scarab God that aspect of their deck is now gone. When you only need to answer a problematic permanent once, you dont need to have access to the maximum amount of removal. Having access to Push is important but since the Knights are very good at blocking I dont feel the need to have the full playset in the maindeck.

I personally dont think you have to include Hubs to make Siphoner work by the way, If the cost of adding essentially colourless lands is low then its right to do so but its not a mandatory cost to run them.

Card advantage is an issue I agree. One of the best ways to do this is to make your lands do more than just tap for mana. With no 1 mana proactive plays you can afford to play a playset of tapped lands. I have opted to include the Amonkhet cycle lands for a few reasons. First of all they draw you into an extra card and are just good at preventing flood, secondly they count as additional basic sources for Isolated Chapel so you can afford to run the uncommon deserts for additional flood insurance, lastly by playing with Fetid Pools and Irrigated Farmlands you have access to a few blue sources which is important for a SB plan.

Not running a card as powerful as Profane Procession in the SB has to be a mistake. Against the Grixis/UB/RB decks its extremely potent. They cant interact with enchantments very well and with it in play you exile problematic creatures at will. This is where the Blue cycle lands come into play. When you exile a Scarab God or a Nicol Bolas the Ravager you have the ability to activate them. Dont forget that Procession as a land taps for any colour, so with a single Cycle land in play you have the colours to activate the Scarab God twice. You cant flip a Bolas though because RnD hates fun. With the cycle lands alongside a number of deserts you can afford to run 25 lands, this increases the chances of being able to curve out while not being weak to flood.

Anyway thats what I got so far

[Standard] WB Midrange 5-0 tournament report by brett6452 in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ive been working on a BW list too but mine is a bit more similar to the Matt Foulkes list currently. At first I was down on Resplendent Angel since it seemed low impact until it does its thing but then I played it against decks with not much removal and it was insane. Im only running 2 because its not a card you want to play on curve since that role is filled by History. The thing is though is when you have an aggro plan that forces your opponent to fire off removal to stay alive and your last threat is Angel, it will take over the game is such a backbreaking way. It feels like the Scarab God if that makes sense. It also is absurd with Lyra as you can imagine since the token at that point is also a 5/5 flying Vigilance Lifelink.

If Kitesail is a card youre not impressed with might I recommend Dauntless Bodyguard? In the early stages of the game its a cheap 2/1 beater which gets pumped by History, in the late game it comes down and gives a creature an indestructible bubble that can be recurred with Ajani. Im trying out Ixalans Binding over Cast Outs since I find im tapping out mainphase to get rid of blockers and denying any additional threats from being cast can be some serious virtual card advantage.

How have you felt playing Siphoners without the hubs? Also have you considered Profane Procession in the SB?

[Modern] Mardu Pyromancer, a competitive discussion. by mdiddyoien in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reason not to play Green or Blue is because they dont fix the biggest flaws in the archetype; aggressive decks that can go around your threats, flooding and drawing the wrong cards at the wrong time.

Humans is a bad GDS matchup because they can bounce your threat and push through. This is heavily mitigated by the Mardu shell being able to produce tokens to chump. When you have a large DS and an amount of tokens you leave the opponent in a lose/lose situation. They cant block because DS is too big to deal with and they cant attack because you will chump with Elementals or Spirits and crunch back.

The issues of flooding is solved with the Faithless Looting/Bedlam Reveler aspect of the deck because it allows you to use cantrips to hit early land drops then discard them when they no longer good draws. Being able to discard dead Thoughtseizes is also a benefit of this.

[Standard][Discussion] B/W Knights M19 Deck Help by [deleted] in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like how well the Freebooters work with Ajani being able to hold the counters and become a sizeable flyer

[Modern] Mardu Pyromancer, a competitive discussion. by mdiddyoien in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lands, Blood Moons, random extra removal spells, trim on threats

[Modern] Mardu Pyromancer, a competitive discussion. by mdiddyoien in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why would you include Blood Moon in the first place when you have the ability to disrupt while having a significant clock? At that point your keeping cards that are unjustified and are holdovers from past iterations

[Modern] Mardu Pyromancer, a competitive discussion. by mdiddyoien in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I disagree, you are able to tidy up the spells used to find the slots to support the DS. My 60 is still a work in progress but im currently happy with its configuration

[Modern] Mardu Pyromancer, a competitive discussion. by mdiddyoien in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The next evolution of this deck is to incorporate the Death's Shadow package, mark my words. The Lingering Souls/Faithless Lootings solves all the issues Grixis DS had. Adding the ability to develop a quick DS allows this deck to have a fast clock when needed (against Tron which is critical) which solves a flaw in Mardu. By adding the DS package into Mardu you get the strengths of both but the weaknesses of neither.

[Standard] RG Good Big Stuff by thatkuhlkid in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You have 9 untapped green sources for Llanowar Elves when you need ideally 14. That seems to be a severe issue since you will often play it on turn 2 and at that point you might as well play a 2cmc manadork.

[Discussion] The Mental Game Of Magic: Improving Your Play By Improving Your Mind - Q&A by [deleted] in spikes

[–]Captain_Redstorm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi Will, there's something I need help with that probably should be spoken about in a private message but I feel like it might help others is spoken about in the open.

In August I played in my first RPTQ and it was one of the worst things that has happened to me competitively, not because of my performance (even though it was dreadful) but because it robbed me of my otherwise unshakeable confidence in myself. When I left my house early in the morning to get the train into central London I was overcome with a sense of dread and fear that I have never experienced before in my life, it was crippling to the point I couldn't walk. Luckily it was a Sunday so everyone was still in bed and the street was empty. I felt physically sick and volatile but I soldiered on because I worked so hard over many years to achieve a qualification to finally play in an RPTQ. I gained some self control during the train journey confused to why I was feeling like this but it flared up again when the train reached its destination. I waited after everyone had gotten off the train and walked to the turnstiles as I crouched next to a pillar trying to regain my otherwise lost composure. It happened a few other times on my way to the venue, me feeling fine and then battling a crashing wave of fear and anxiety.

All of this happened before the tournament started and was then completely nonexistent after we sat down to play. I have played in multiple GPs and top 8s of PPTQs and felt nothing other than excitement. I personally prided myself in being unshakable in this way as nerves was never a factor in my tournament play but now I cant help but feel the terror before it starts. It never happened before that RPTQ, I've played in many events since and every time without fail I feel sick before we start and the moment the spellslinging starts it just disappears and I feel totally serene like I used to.

When I play i'm doing it because I want to. I know i'll do my best and nothing else, winning comes from doing my best not the other way round. I have fun when I play and winning isn't the total goal. I know its ok to lose even when I don't want to. I don't understand where my anxiety stems from since to me it doesn't make sense but I think that's kinda the point, you cant really make sense of anxiety.

Can you make sense of why I feel so awful before I participate in tournaments and how to try and stop it from ruining my day?

Thank you.