Budget Pirate Aggro
Standard*
SCORE: 39 | 24 COMMENTS | 16705 VIEWS | IN 12 FOLDERS
FNM - 12.21.18; 2nd Place, four rounds of Swiss —Dec. 21, 2018
These days, this store has a small Standard crowd, and sometimes they don’t even fire the FNM event for that format (they’ve got a fairly robust Modern scene though). Anyway, this was a small event, but the major Standard archetypes were still represented. There was the usual preponderance of control players (both premium Jeskai and less effective Grixis lists), but also Izzet Drakes, Golgari midrange, weenies/Boros aggro, mono-red aggro, even some weird brews like Thousand-Year Storm and 5-color midrange. I played this Pirates list, mainboarding the full set Duress and moving Fiery Cannonade to the sideboard. This weakened me greatly against aggro in Game 1, but it was the correct choice for my local meta because there are so many control players. We cut to Top 4 after four rounds of Swiss and split the prize pool (11 packs each). I came in 2nd overall. Anyway, here’s how it went:
- Round 1 Thousand-Year Storm: 2-0 Win
I ripped his hand apart with Duress and Kitesail Freebooter, and then he proceeded to flood out both games. Ran him over.
- Round 2 Abzan...Midrange?: 2-1 Win
This should have been a 2-0 but I punted by forgetting to Duress during my precombat main phase. I then proceeded to attack into a Settle the Wreckage and lose. I dunno what this guy’s deck was, but he was running a set of Chromatic Lantern and using sweepers, Twilight Prophet, Carnage Tyrant, Doom Whisperer, and Knight of Autumn. I guess it was a ramp-control-bomb strategy? Didn’t matter because I had some really fast starts and ripped relevant ramp and sweepers from his hand with Duress effects. An easy win apart from my idiotic punt.
- Round 3 Jeskai Control: 0-2 Loss
This guy is always in the winner’s bracket with his wallet-crushing monstrosity of a pimped-out Jeskai control deck. A playset of Teferi, Hero of Dominaria (including some full art foils from the Mythic Edition), foil dual lands, the works. Pretty much your typical netdecked top-tier Jeskai control list. It’s hard to beat, okay? Game 1 I hit one Duress effect early, but he topped into Deafening Clarion into Teferi and then it was finished. Game 2 I couldn’t draw land and promptly lost to his on-curve foil Lyra Dawnbringer. I don’t think I’ve ever beaten this guy. Am I salty, you ask? You bet!! One day, I will beat his $1,200 list with this $50 pile!
- Round 4 Grixis Control: 2-0 Win
What?? We beat a control deck 2-0? Yeah!! Mainboard Duress did the trick. It and Kitesail Freebooter went to town on this guy, stripping out Golden Demise and Ritual of Soot exactly when needed. By the grace of the Magic gods, our opponent did not topdeck any, and we ran him over in swift fashion in both games. Feels good, man. I just love giving control players the dagger at the end of Swiss!
vaperowned says... #2
Also, fix this.
Dire Fleet Poisoner: Flash is good against control, and she can pump a Pirate for extra damage. Most importantly, she can offer a surprise trade for something dangerous like a Lyra Dawnbringer.
Lyra Dawnbringer has flying, Dire Fleet Poisoner does not.
October 25, 2018 8:17 a.m.
JakeHarlow says... #3
@ vaperowned: Hey, thanks for the comments!
First item: Experimental Frenzy is actually very good in the deck. We don't have much of an issue when it comes to mana, and our curve is low enough to make good use of the card. This will only get better when we get Blood Crypt next set. Vanquisher's Banner is too expensive mana-wise, and we have other forms of card advantage anyway. Radiant Destiny isn't in our colors and were won't be able to afford to splash for it.
As for Dire Fleet Poisoner...there's nothing to fix here other than to further specify that we'd need to give deathtouch to an attacking Pirate that also has first strike (so, Rigging Runner or Dire Fleet Daredevil. Yes, Lyra Dawnbringer has flying, so the trade would not be via a surprise block. Remember, the Poisoner can only give an attacking Pirate deathtouch, so I'm talking about a surprise trade for when we attack into a Lyra with a first strike Pirate. If Lyra blocks, we can flash this in to give whatever she's blocking deathtouch. As long as it's a Rigging Runner or a Dire Fleet Daredevil, they will hit each other and Lyra will die to deathtouch. Correct, we will not be trading with a Lyra when we are the ones blocking (that's not what I was referring to) — only when we are the ones attacking will we be looking to offer a surprise trade with a Lyra via a Pirate with first strike. Should have been clearer about that.
October 26, 2018 2:31 p.m. Edited.
JakeHarlow says... #4
@ vaperowned: I edited the card choice explanation for Dire Fleet Poisoner in the description. Hopefully my meaning is clearer now.
October 26, 2018 2:42 p.m.
vaperowned says... #5
Ah, ok I got it. I completly forgot Radiant Destiny is white. Had it in my mind that it's na artficat for some reason. You're correct about banner that it costs too much mana and doesn't go well with Experimental Frenzy. It only helps a lot if the game stretches out however.
Dire Fleet Poisoner is clear now. Tought you meant it for defense at first.
Good luck with your deck!
Love to see some tribal in standard that's not vampires or merfolk.
October 26, 2018 9:52 p.m.
CosmicFuzz says... #6
How are you fairing against Izzet Drake decks? I've a similar deck but I'm struggling to find an answer to them
November 10, 2018 2:26 p.m.
JakeHarlow says... #7
@ Wayneh73:
The strongest card for the Drakes is Lava Coil. It's the best answer for the Phoenix as well. You should be running 4 of these in your 75.
Fiery Cannonade will kill the Phoenixes on their turn, which is good, but all the Drakes will survive it. Attacking into a Drake with deathtouch via Dire Fleet Poisoner is a reasonable strategy but savvy opponents probably won't fall for it more than once.
Honestly, your best bet is aggro. Outpace your opponent for damage and race them. Use removal on the Drakes whenever your opponent doesn't have countermeasures open.
If your opponent is running tons of removal and answering your threats, March of the Drowned is a reasonable sideboard card. Duress is also pretty decent, too.
vaperowned says... #1
Hey, how good is Experimental Frenzy in 2 colours, I don't know. I've seen it only in mono red. I would definitely squeeze somewhere Vanquisher's Banner and Radiant Destiny in there. They're just too good to pass out on when playing tribal decks.
October 25, 2018 8:09 a.m.