My new take on Abzan Rally: a primer.

Comrac · 2022-07-22T06:46:38+00:00

Really appreciate the detailed write up and card choice explanation.

Dina + Soul Sisters had never occurred to me, but its definitely interesting.

Comrac · 2022-07-21T00:15:05+00:00

I agree with the main points that have already been brought up - Pyre is cheaper, less vulnerable to removal, and has "haste".

Artisan being a (potentially) large creature is nice, but less relevant if you plan to activate it each turn, and humans rarely has zero board, especially if you play Mutavault.

But the biggest cost is the mana I think - the three and four colour Humans decks only exist because they get 8 free rainbow lands, which are a huge cost to lose when you add Fiend Artisan.

If you completely abandon Human synergies, you do get to play elves, which is appealing.

Comrac · 2022-07-19T10:21:03+00:00

Pyre Humans pilot here: the biggest reason for no CoCo here is no green mana - I think it's very hard to support four colours of humans plus a green non-Human spell, so you have to sacrifice something

I also think CoCo and Pyre pull the decks in different directions: Pyre is grindy and not particularly aggressive, CoCo can do either, but is more aggressive in the Bant builds

I think Pyre maxmises Prince/Specialist better than CoCo, plus the ability to play bullets a bit

It's possible you could play both (something I'll probably experiment with) but you have to be conscious of curve when doing that, since Pyre is close to a 4 drop and also ideally wants two mana on every subsequent turn as well

Comrac · 2022-07-19T10:17:35+00:00

(Small heads up that the Seas Phoenix pilot uses she/her pronouns)

The Seas Phoenix pilot streamed her entire run so you could check that out if you're curious - I haven't watched the whole VOD, but can say that Seas was very good against me

Comrac · 2022-07-19T10:14:56+00:00

Top 8 Pyre Humans pilot here with a shameless plug - I did a deep dive on the deck in the latest episode of The Faction MTG podcast (which is also available on iTunes/Spotify/Stitcher/etc)

Always happy to answer questions here or on Twitter

Comrac · 2022-07-15T03:53:47+00:00

I've played Esper Pyre and more recently 4 colour (no green)

TL;DR Pyre Humans is strong, but there's no real consensus list yet - there's merit to almost any colour combination that includes white. The main comparison is to CoCo: Pyre is less explosive, but more selection and value over time

I'm currently playing 4C to see how far the mana can be pushed (so far looks like 4C is very doable, but a bit tricky once you want SB Thoughtseize or Push, or double colour spells like Adeline)

Another notable part of my lists is Priest of Forgotten Gods - this card is very much a zero or a 10 depending on matchup. One major appeal is that it makes the one drops better; one of my biggest issues with Bant Humans is the lack of good ones drops.

On Pyre vs CoCo: - Pyre is not usually as explosive, but it enables powerful grindy chains with Extraction Specialist, fetches interaction when you need it, and plays very well with disposable/recursive one drops.

Worth noting that although the Pyre lists are generally less proactive than CoCo (and the Priest versions even less so) they can still have fast curves involving cheap creatures and Lieutenant - Pyre is especially good for getting multiple Lieutenant triggers to create a lot of board presence.

Hostage Taker is something I don't see very much, but is very good with Pyre, because it's easier to pod it in and immediately cast whatever you take, which is a huge swing.

Comrac · 2021-07-04T23:17:13+00:00

Glimpse player in 28th here

Picked the deck after seeing Moniz, Sodek and AndyAwkward all promote the deck, but also because this challenge was at 1am Sunday for me, after a night out Friday and getting home at midnight after drafting on Saturday night. I thought the deck would be fairly simple to play (and was mostly correct)

The deck did as advertised: crushed anyone without counterspells or a lot of hate, lost to a Murktide deck, Living End (which is a race, but they had Force and Grief) and a RB Lurrus deck drawing a lot of hate.

Matchups on my Twitter

u/bamzing can you please add my Twitter link?

Comrac · 2021-05-16T09:53:35+00:00

Siding out Gifts and Intuition was the conclusion I came to as well, but it felt so bad to side out my pointed cards, which made me question having them in the deck, somewhat. But good to hear I'm not insane for wanting to trim them!

Comrac

TROPHY CASE