Tournament Report: Red Deck Still Wins!

We had another Standard tournament last Saturday. That was the second sanctioned tournament in our community for this year. I brought along the deck that I had been piloting for months. To be honest, I really wanted to try new decks. My target is to pilot Boat Brew and we had actually completed the list.

The problem though, is that the white components are being used in the Kithkin deck which my friend Masyong is piloting. Another thing is that our other friend Esteed had borrowed our three Siege-Gang Commanders like decades ago and always forgot to return it. I was pissed off because he's giving me a hard time to contact him and to tell him again and again to return the cards.

Well anyways, I had no choice but to pilot good ol' Black Red Demigod Deck and hope that I won't face my worst matchups. The deck is basically an RDW build except that I splashed black for the Infest and Shriekmaws in the sideboard, which I think is effective against BFT and token decks. The decklist below.

B/R DDW by Mark Ian Alloso
Maindeck
4 Ashenmoor Gouger
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Stigma Lasher

4 Flame Javelin
4 Incinerate
3 Puncture Blast
1 Profane Command

4 Auntie's Hovel
2 Ghitu Encampment
4 Graven Cairns
12 Mountain
2 Reflecting Pool

Sideboard
3 Everlasting Torment
3 Guttural Response
4 Infest
1 Loxodon Warhammer
2 Shriekmaw
2 Vithian Stinger

I haven't touched the deck for about a week. Because of playing it for too long, I thought that I already mastered it, but ended up a lot of errors on my previous tournaments. "This time it won't happen." I thought and wished myself goodluck when the first round pairings were announced. We had a total of 14 players that time by the way.

Round 1 – Raymund Minerva playing Esper Control
In game 1, I was a bit surprised when Raymund had an opening of an Esper panorama on turn two. This is a favorable matchup I say but when he started countering every spell I play and removing my threats from the game, I was like "WTF???" His Mutavault beat me to death on that game. On to game 2, I boarded in Guttural Responses for his Punish the Ignorance and other counter spells. This game was almost a close one. I topdecked a Demigod FTW. Game 3 was a fast beats for me with turn one FOD and turn three Boggart Ram-Gang while he struggled on his mana. He was lacking another white source for Wrath and was forced to play defense with Wispmare. I played a Demigod to seal up the game and the match.

1-0

Round 2 – PR Melo playing B/G Rogues
I thought PR was playing a control because he defeated 2-0 his previous opponent who was playing White Knights aggro. It was then that I remembered that he borrowed my Oona's Blackguard before the start of the tournament. He was playing the BG Rogues that he piloted before, this time splashing white for Wrath of God. In game 1, he wasn't playing any threats so I quickly dominated. I didn't sideboard this time, rather pretending to sideboard but didn't changed the maindeck. On Game 2, he was able to equip his colossus with Cloack and Dagger which made it hard for me to deal with. Fortunately, I was already ahead in the race and finished him with a Flame Javelin.

2-0

Round 3 – Mark Anthony Co playing 5CC
Finally, a worst matchup for me. To make it short, he devastated me on both games. I was able to get him close to a mere three life but he was able to stabilize/Cruel Ultimatum me. I was praying for a Demigod topdeck when he was tapped out but that wasn't answered. Not even a single Demigod showed up till the rest of Game 2. Oh well...

2-1

Round 4 – JR Burgos playing U/W Merfolks
This matchup had 60/40 advantage for me. Why? It's because the Merfolks can fish you on turn three if given the right play. Luckily, he changed his list a bit by adding Declaration of Naught. I was able to sneak in a few threats and my FOD went a long way.

I boarded in my Infests, Shriekmaws and Vithian Stingers for game 2. I never saw him play any threats. Instead he had three Declaration of Naught, naming Ashenmoor Gouger, Figure of Destiny and Flame Javelin. My first turn Figure took most of the job and he was forced to play defense again. I sneaked in my Stingers and they finished the job.

3-1

I finished at second place, winning an amount that could buy a booster pack of Shards. To sum it up, I think the deck can still compete to the current Standard despite its decrease of popularity among the players. I'm planning to tweak the sideboard again to increase the chances against 5CC. I guess maybe adding Mindshatters or Earwig Squads to prowl it via Mogg Fanatic. Who knows, maybe it'll work. Lol! If you have any suggestions for the sideboard, feel free to leave a comment.

By the way, here's a pic of the top 4 or rather the 2nd to 4th placer with Tournament Organizer Rei (the guy holding the beer).



I'll be posting an article about the red decks after Conflux so stay tuned for it. In the meantime, you can read my previous articles about RDW here.

Till next time y'all.