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Breaking the Mirrodin Block Metagame
Beats, Beats. Beats, that is what most people think when
you are using R/G. This deck is no exception, lurking in the shadows waiting to
take on the blocks contenders, Tooth and Nail, Ravanger, Big Red, U/W control,
U/G control, and Beacon Green. Analyzing the threats from these decks, R/G could
be made into a powerhouse in this format. First and for most, you have to know
what are your biggest threats, everyone knows that Tooth and Nail and
Ravanger are the powerhouses of this format, even with the hate coming from
everywhere. So the decklist begins with keeping in mind who the bosses are
of block.
Oxidize - Enough can't be said about greens powerhouse
card against Ravanger, but not only is this card good against Ravanger. Got
Shard?
Eternal Witness - Every green deck in block should start
out Oxidize, Witness, Justice
Tel-Jilad Justice - Do you hate ravanger, I do, but this
card also helps get through your deck just a tad bit
faster.
Shatter- Justice's little red brother, nonetheless gets
the job done.
Electrostatic Bolt - Keeping the board clean is always
good, and this card helps you do that.
Barbed Lightning - Better than the Bolt in general,
however this can become useful in other
matchups.
Fireball - The meat eater of the deck, the late game
kill or the early board sweeper, stupid
Disciple.
Molder Slug - Do you like artifacts? Neither do
I
Viridian Shaman - Keep the artifact hate
coming
Troll Ascetic - The heart of this deck, a beefy
wall or a beatstick?
Molten Rain - No Cloudpost for you. No
artifact lands for you. Manascrewed.......just lose a
land.
Now lets take a look at the actually
deck:
4 Oxidize
4 Eternal Witness
4 Tel-Jilad Justice
3 Shatter
4 Electrostatic Bolt
2 Barbed Lightning
4 Fireball
3 Molder Slug
4 Viridian Shaman
4 Troll Ascetic
2 Molten Rain
2 Mirrodin's Core
12
8 Mountain
The big key in beating Ravanger here is that you destroy
the lands as quick as possible before Ravanger gets going. Taking mulligans
aggressively down to five sometimes to be able to have enough artifact hate does
not hurt as much when you don't have any or one with seven cards against
Ravanger.
Hey, hold on there, aren't there other decks in this
format as well? Yes there are, so if you find out you are not going against
Ravanger, here is the sideboard.
Grab the Reins - Big Red is going to try to burn you and
use big creatures, let them know who is boss. Also Tooth and Nail can be a pain,
if they get the Colossus down throw it in their
face.
Duplicant - Should be sideboarded in almost every match,
Big Red's fatties.........Gone, Tooth and Nail's
fatties........................Gone, You get the idea if they have
fatties.
Molten Rain - Tooth and Nail will have to wait a couple
turns if they dont have Cloudposts
Barbed Lightning - With Big Red you will have to race
them to see who can burn the fastest, burn, baby, burn. Also Creatures can
become a pain in control decks.
Oblivion Stone - Beacon Green, U/W and U/G control like
to have the board to themselves, thats not very nice so show them how to
share.
Shunt- I hate counters and I hate things going after my
stone before it blows up.
Sideboard:
4 Duplicant
3 Oblivion Stone
2 Shunt
3 Grab the Reins
2 Molten Rain
1 Barbed
Lightning
Lets check out are chances in a
event
Ravanger- Pre-board 70% Post-board
70%
Depending what they sideboard in, you would most likley
sideboard in the third game if it goes to that, Rigger possible Barbed
Lightning, or if they have counters now maybe Shunt. If for some reason they
dont have artifact hate bring in the stone. The key to the match up here is to
destroy the lands and equipment. If you get overwhelmed thats when you lose. Try
not to play the Troll as much cause you want to play your artifact hate more.
The creaures you should look out for are anything that FLYS. Sure it probably is
an 0/2 or a 1/1 now but with equipment or counters they can cause trouble in a
hurry. For the most part play smart an you should get a win
here.
Big Red - Pre-board 50%
Post-board 55%
This matchup you need to play smart here,
probably one of your toughest. Pre-board I would save your Lightnings
and Bolts for the fatties. Burn is the name of the game, Fireball will most
likley help you win the game everytime. A huge key here, Furnace Dragon and
Megatog can be shut down thanks to the artifact hate in your deck. Post-board
things look somewhat better but it still will be tough, Duplicant is more
or less a overpriced Terror since if you take their fattie Duplicant
will die. Shunt comes into play here, use it to dodge their burn here. Barbed
Lightning also helps here as do Grab the Reins to throw the fatties back at
them, or even your own fatty.
SB In - 4 Duplicants, 3 Grab the Reins, 1 Barbed
Lightning, 2 Shunt
SB Out 2 Molten Rains, 3 Shatters, 2 Shamans, 2
Tel-Jilad Justice, 1 Molder Slug
Tooth and Nail