I'm going to PTQ this Saturday so I thought I should write this. Just for kicks, you know what I mean?

First, I think I'm going to play the decks I feel most comfortable with. I think I have put in the same amount of time in testing for about seven decks including Dredge, Burn, and Next Level Blue. Dredge is the gambler's deck: the most powerful, with the most potential downside. Next Level Blue rewards tight play. Burn is the "easiest" and most fair of the three, but I will probably play it over those two because I am more comfortable with it. Next Level Blue has the most value as a deck choice, but I don't want to sit down every round and be anxious. Burn allows me to have the confidence that I'd get with playing a "real" deck and the play style that fits me the best.

P.S. Risky is right, Burn is a real deck and quite frankly, you are an idiot if you don't prepare for it or dismiss it without a second thought. It attacks a large part of the metagame and unless you are playing combo, you should have a real gameplan for it. 

Is it surprising to anyone else how much the metagame has shifted in just a month? I went to the ptq on 2/9 and was expecting a lot of NLB, Zoo, Goblins, Dredge, and Enduring Ideal. Now I'm playing for a field full of PLB, NLB, Goblins, RG Aggro, Burn, a resurging Doran, and Dredge. 

I don't know that PLB is better than NLB. Also, I think they occupy nearly equal shares in the meta. I think PLB is more forgiving and if I had to choose, I'd play PLB over NLB because they have the same Control Magic packages but PLB is full of counterspells. I think it gives them a better early game versus aggro decks becauuse they can save themselves so much damage for just one mana (Force Spike and Spell Snare). Rude Awakening also conveniently dodges any NLB Counterbalance shenanigans.

It scares me how bad Burn is against combo decks. I'm thinking of putting Gaddock Teeg in the sideboard for Dredge, Ideal, and TEPS. A lot of times, I need one turn to win and I'm thinking that the sheer unexpectedness of it may win me a few matches. Think about this: Just lost to Dredge and go to the sideboard. Put in Crypts and Gaddock Teegs. He boards in Pithing Needle or Chains. He doesn't have outs to both. If he sees both, for game 3 he has to bring in eight cards and that is  another card he has to see in his opening hand and I just slowed down his deck by forcing him to take out that many cards. Is this just retarded? Or could it work? Against Ideal, they can just go off or just play out a Confinement and I'm screwed. I think that matchup is just a concession I need to make.

Some decks that truly surprise me are Aggro Loam, Ninjas, and CounterTopGoyf. Aggro Loam was the deck last season, but the influx of Counterbalance decks toppled it this season. The two major variants seem to be a combination of a Loam and Flow deck and a RG version. Flow decks don't seem too exciting to me especially when the major control decks can function decently with a Flow in play. 

Cons for the deck: The large amount of "counter" decks make Devastating Dreams a risky card. I guess an early one lessens the damage done, but you're still discarding cards. Does the RG version have any real game against combo? TEPS can without lands with a Bloom. Dredge doesn't need lands once it has gotten going and Ichorids come back over and over. Ideal has a harder time, but it is still plausible. 

Ninja decks seem like the joke deck of the format. I don't know of anybody who actually think the deck is good. The one person I know who played it in a PTQ said he did it for fun. He said that if he had the cards for TEPS he would have played that. I get all the interactions, but do they really add up to a sum that is equal or greater than most of the decks in the field? I think not.

CounterTopGoyf was looking to be the best deck this season, and then it just kind of disappeared, or transformed into NLB. I thought the deck was outdated, but apparently not because it Top 8d the GP and I saw one in a t8 of a PTQ. 

I'm probably going to go with UG Tron, Burn, or a RG Aggro Variant. I've been playing Tron ever since I got into extended and it is easily my favorite deck in any format. Burn seems like an easy deck to sit down and play with. No mental strain, just fun throwing burn to the dome. RG is my old reliable. I've never felt more condfident than when I'm sitting down with a RG deck in my hands. Thinking you will win is half the battle. 

The mandatory decklist:

4 Bloodstained Mire

4 Wooded Foothills

2 Barbarian Ring

1 Blood Crypt

3 Stomping Ground

1 Pendlehaven

4 Mountain

2 Mutavault

4 Grim Lavamancer

4 Mogg Fanatic

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Kird Ape

4 Molten Rain

3 Countryside Crusher

3 Firebolt

4 Rift Bolt

4 Incinerate

3 Seal of Fire

2 Tarfire 

Nothing surprising here, just a bunch of burn and creatures. I am wary of playing Firecat because I think there will be a bunch of Doran decks. Leave a comment or question. 

Tags: Party Like A Rockstar