Official RG Aggro for standard

[Zomfshark]

the question was how does the old Wolf run ramp deck (the one that has only 4 drop and higher creatures) stack up against RG aggro. i guess another way to put it would be, how does the deck fair if my opponent casts a turn or 3 Whipflare or other early game board wipe.

You want to try being aggressive but not overextending as well. So if possible what I would want to do would be...

Turn 1: Land, bird.
Turn 2: Land, Tap out, Geist and Rancor, swing 4.
Turn 3: Land, lay a Borderland Ranger swing another 4.
-This is where they Slagstorm or something-
Oh wait, your geist comes back along with Rancor? Sweet. The Borderland Ranger died, but we got our land from it. Birds did it's job.

Pretty much try to keep aggressive with out playing your more valuable creautres. Prefferably play you're more undying, less valuable creatures early game while still keeping the aggro up then play your more big hitters when he runs out of fuel. If he manages to land a titan try to swing into it then Dismember/burn it for the kill.

Again, I haven't ran into many wolfrun decks so following my advice wouldn't be best.

But what I can tell you is how to sideboard or how I would sideboard.

+2 Manabarbs
+2 Beast Within
+2 Zealous Conscripts

If you manage to land a turn 3-4 Manabarbs while having 5 or more life than your opponent, you'll most likely win.

[Tav]

Wolf Run Ramp is still a very viable deck, with those early farseeks/rampant growths getting a lot of mana down quick to make way for an early Primeval Titan which can then fetch Kessig Wolf Run, Inkmoth Nexus, and Glimmerpost, and between the Kessig Wolf Run and either the Inkmoth Nexus or the Primeval Titan they can deal out a lot of damage. How it fares directly against RG aggro? well, while we will be hitting them for some early damage, once they get those ~turn 4 titans and really start piling on mana, we can get put on a very short clock for finishing the game, and even if we rip a bonfire or something to take care of the titan, the Inkmoth Nexus will still be chilling in the background

Also, zomf, I like the look of your deck, very similar to mine in many ways, but how are you finding the hellriders? I have yet to try them and am wondering just how useful they are

[Zomfshark]

Wolf Run Ramp is still a very viable deck, with those early farseeks/rampant growths getting a lot of mana down quick to make way for an early Primeval Titan which can then fetch Kessig Wolf Run, Inkmoth Nexus, and Glimmerpost, and between the Kessig Wolf Run and either the Inkmoth Nexus or the Primeval Titan they can deal out a lot of damage. How it fares directly against RG aggro? well, while we will be hitting them for some early damage, once they get those ~turn 4 titans and really start piling on mana, we can get put on a very short clock for finishing the game, and even if we rip a bonfire or something to take care of the titan, the Inkmoth Nexus will still be chilling in the background

Also, zomf, I like the look of your deck, very similar to mine in many ways, but how are you finding the hellriders? I have yet to try them and am wondering just how useful they are

They're quite useful, they've helped me win matches that I couldn't of win if I didn't have them. Not only that but they've helped me get that last few points of damage. I recomend at least 2 in every R/G aggro deck.

[Benobi]

Hi all! Sorry for my "hiatus"; my local metagame has shifted to the point where a homebrew Pod deck is better-positioned, but RG is still my go-to for more competitive play.

Regarding the Wolf Run match, I've had more luck with Act of Aggression than with Zealous Conscripts. If their hand curves like they want it to, they "stabilize" with a turn 4 Titan. In this situation, being able to pay 3 mana instead of 5 in critical, and often game-ending right there.

Regarding Hellrider, I had bad experiences with him in most of the common matchups. A lot of the aggro v. aggro matchups involve a lot of creature trades, and therefore not very big board states for him to really take advantage of. He's also not big enough to Crash through Blade Splicer tokens. I don't think it's a bad card per se, but I wouldn't consider it an auto-include either.

Another note, how are people generally feeling about Rancor? I originally swapped out my Galvanic Blasts to fit them in, and I quickly noticed that most of the time when I drew the Rancor, a Galvanic Blast would have been just as good, or even better. My Delver matchup win rate took a serious beating when I threw in the Rancors, because they frequently just got countered by Vapor Snag, or ended up on creatures that didn't have enough toughness to punch through Blade Splicer tokens. It feels really weird to say, but I'm not sure I like Rancor in this deck... anyone else having similar experiences?

[Zomfshark]

Hi all! Sorry for my "hiatus"; my local metagame has shifted to the point where a homebrew Pod deck is better-positioned, but RG is still my go-to for more competitive play.

Regarding the Wolf Run match, I've had more luck with Act of Aggression than with Zealous Conscripts. If their hand curves like they want it to, they "stabilize" with a turn 4 Titan. In this situation, being able to pay 3 mana instead of 5 in critical, and often game-ending right there.

Regarding Hellrider, I had bad experiences with him in most of the common matchups. A lot of the aggro v. aggro matchups involve a lot of creature trades, and therefore not very big board states for him to really take advantage of. He's also not big enough to Crash through Blade Splicer tokens. I don't think it's a bad card per se, but I wouldn't consider it an auto-include either.

Another note, how are people generally feeling about Rancor? I originally swapped out my Galvanic Blasts to fit them in, and I quickly noticed that most of the time when I drew the Rancor, a Galvanic Blast would have been just as good, or even better. My Delver matchup win rate took a serious beating when I threw in the Rancors, because they frequently just got countered by Vapor Snag, or ended up on creatures that didn't have enough toughness to punch through Blade Splicer tokens. It feels really weird to say, but I'm not sure I like Rancor in this deck... anyone else having similar experiences?

You're totaly right with Act of Aggression. But on the Rancor subject. I fit in 3 blasts and rancors in my 60.

Racor has helped me win so many matches. Expecialy with zombies and blood artists.

As for the Hellrider... I kinda agree with you there. It's not an auto-include but I love the guy still.

[muaddib20]

@Benobi:

Nice to have you back again.

I played G/R Aggro again last night, after playing Mono Red Goblins last week. I had three wins and a draw, but the draw was due to my misplays, and I should have won.

I agree completely on Act of Aggression, the three mana makes a lot of difference, and so does being able to use it as an instant.

I'm also with you on Hellrider. I dropped it a while ago, as I never seemed to get it at the right time. I understand that it could be very good, but it never has been for me.

I played two Rancor last night, but it was underwhelming, and I'm starting to understand why some lists don't bother with it at all. I thought it was an auto include in the deck, but not so sure now. I think it needs bigger creatures, and hexproof creatures, to make it really good.

This is my list from last night:

4 birds of paradise
3 Llanowar Elves
4 strangleroot geist
3 wolfir avenger
3 huntmaster of the fells
2 phyrexian metamorph
1 Acidic Slime
1 Wolfir Silverheart
1 Thragtusk
2 thundermaw hellkite

2 Rancor
3 pillar of flame
4 bonfire of the damned
2 sword of war and peace
3 green sun's zenith

4 rootbound crag
4 copperline gorge
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 mountain
9 forest

S/B:

3 dismember
2 naturalize
2 act of aggression
1 thragtusk
1 batterskull
2 manabarbs
2 sword of feast and famine
2 combust

B/R Vampires has replaced Zombies at my place, so the maindeck pillars should definitely become Galvanic Blast again. I played Vampires twice with a win (just about), and a draw (but I should have won, my fault). Vampire Nighthawk was a bit of a pain, to say the least, and Vampire Nocturnus is as good as it ever was.

[Tav]

4 Birds of Paradise
3 Borderland Ranger
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Strangleroot Geist
1 Thragtusk
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Wolfir Silverheart
Creatures [25]
4 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Gut Shot
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
Spells [12]
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Copperline Gorge
11 Forest
2 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
Lands [23]
2 Arc Trail
1 Beast Within
1 Champion of Lambholt
2 Crushing Vines
2 Dismember
1 Thragtusk
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
1 Viridian Corrupter
1 Wolfir Silverheart
3 Zealous Conscripts
Sideboard [15]


Here's another decklist that grabbed 11th place at SCG DC and wasn't running Rancor

[muaddib20]

@Tav:

I went 4-0 last week with G/R aggro, beating the mirror, RUG Pod, B/W Tokens and a rogue white lifegain deck, but I still found Rancor to be not very impressive. On a couple of occasions it was OK, but mostly I wished it was something else, so my two copies will have to go, and be replaced by something else.

I quite understand why some lists don't have Rancor in them at all.

@Benobi:

If you were playing the deck at the moment, what would your list look like?

[bollskis]

Wolf Run Ramp is still a very viable deck, with those early farseeks/rampant growths getting a lot of mana down quick to make way for an early Primeval Titan which can then fetch Kessig Wolf Run, Inkmoth Nexus, and Glimmerpost, and between the Kessig Wolf Run and either the Inkmoth Nexus or the Primeval Titan they can deal out a lot of damage. How it fares directly against RG aggro? well, while we will be hitting them for some early damage, once they get those ~turn 4 titans and really start piling on mana, we can get put on a very short clock for finishing the game, and even if we rip a bonfire or something to take care of the titan, the Inkmoth Nexus will still be chilling in the background

Also, zomf, I like the look of your deck, very similar to mine in many ways, but how are you finding the hellriders? I have yet to try them and am wondering just how useful they are

I really like Hellrider, and I only play him as a one-of right now. I'd like to ideally play 2, making 8 haste creatures. I mulligan if I don't see turn 2 strangleroot, and some games, especially the mirror, sometimes t1 bird, t2 geist + Rancor, t3 Hellrider is too much in the race. That's 13 damage by turn 3 they have to deal with. He also has reach, so now you can swing with dorks late game and guarantee damage. It also lets me sit on huntmaster's longer. If they DoJ or Mutilate the board, I can re-stabilize with huntmaster.

It's obviously a nut hand but you can go t2 geist t3 Hellrider t4 thundermaw, that's a bit ridiculous.

Rancor is amazing, but I can see how it would be situational. I play it over main boarded removal. It get's over Lingering Souls, and other chump blocks, and when thrown on your swords, it guarantee's them hitting essentially.

[Benobi]

@muaddib20: My current list looks like this:

4 Copperline Gorge
8 Forest
3 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag

4 Birds of Paradise
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Wolfir Avenger
1 Wolfir Silverheart
1 Acidic Slime
1 Thragtusk

4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Dismember
2 Incinerate
2 Sword of War and Peace
2 Galvanic Blast

SB: 1 Wolfir Silverheart
SB: 4 Act of Aggression
SB: 2 Thrun, the Last Troll
SB: 2 Batterskull
SB: 2 Sword of Feast and Famine
SB: 2 Ancient Grudge
SB: 2 Thragtusk

I've eschewed Rancor completely for the time being; there is so much removal in the format that I feel like it only actually resolves about half of the time. I still like to lean heavily on the removal package so that I can maximize the value of the Huntmaster flips. The Thragtusks are my only inclusion from M13 right now, because I feel like they help the Zombies matchup a lot. Again though, I would like to emphasize that this list be taken with a grain of salt, as I've spent more time playing with my Birthing Pod deck in the past couple of weeks since my local metagame has shifted and this deck is positioned pretty poorly.