RGw Aggro Control

[Kaiser von Hugal]

Ive been playing on and off since just before Ice Age and have always liked zoo decks.  Thats pretty much what my collection consists of now. 

I understand the power of blue and crazy combo but feel compelled to compete against them rather than join them.  Ive done my research on this site and wish I had had more time to devote to actual play - location and work dictate otherwise though.  With that said - Id like to hear what others have to say about this deck.

Its your classic RG aggro control deck.  Ive seen the success of The Mountains Win Again deck and liken the two.  The significant difference I see is TMWA deck saturates the deck with answers like REB, STP, and Tormod's Crypt and the RG deck opts for permanents like Rootmaze, Null Rod and Bloodmoon to disrupt mana development. 

4 Kird Ape
4 Wild Mongrel
2 River Boa
These provide fast beats - Mongrel combines nicely with mancer, each work great on their own though.  I emphasized mongrels over boas for speed and to pitch dead cards to help the aggro and control match ups game one.

4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Gorilla Shaman
These two guys have proven themselves over and over again.

4 Magma Jet
3 Tormod's Crypt
These cards could be Null Rod and Rootmaze.  I do like that these 2 reinforce the mana denial theme, but TMWA does fine without mana denial.  Im convinced that Crypt is the better play at the moment over Null Rod.

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Wax/Wane
3 Artifact Mutation
These are all solid answers.  Wax/Wane used to be Rancor and I do love that card.  However, W/W is never a dead card though weaker than rancor to apply the beats.  It does give me a quick response to Oath/Animate Dead however game one.  W/W supports STP in dealing with Oath and Dragon game one.  The +2 is gravy.  Artifact Mutation is there to help against DSC and CotV among other things.


4 Wasteland
1 Stripmine
2 Forest
2 Savannah
4 Plateau
4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
The Achilles heal (no draw engine not withstanding).  Three color mana bases are tough, but I love the answers I can pack because of it.  I may drop a wasteland for another basic forest or a Mox Pearl.

SB
1 Artifact Mutation
3 Ray of Revelation
3 Choke
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Red Elemental Blast

Besides no draw engine (its R/G afterall) and a vulnerable manabase - if Im faced with an Aggro deck - I have 6 dead cards MD unless I have Mongrel on the table and nothing to swap in from the board unless its a Fish deck of some sort.  Thats most likely though I think.  Choke could be Pyroblast, not sure about it though.

The reason I didnt just go R/G is because there are few answers that deck can run to handle Tinker>DSC and an Oathed up critter.  White gives me STP which is the closest thing I can think of to FoW.  I did not splash white for W/W or Ray of Revelation, they're just nice to have.

I wish I had tourny experience to report to the community on this deck but I do not.  Do you think its just a pile?

[Guli]

Rancor is one of the stronges green aggro cards. It speeds up a deck greatly. It is good against stax and control. It is simply a green 'shock' that doesnt go away. Wax/Wane can not replace racnor. Simply add oxidize or naturalize to destroy dangerous permanents?

[Kaiser von Hugal]

I do understand the importance of rancor.  Im not suggesting W/W replaces rancor.  By not having rancor in the deck, Ive committed to the control side of the house.  This is ok with me because I think that’s where aggro needs to head anyway – unless its FCG of course. 

The thing is, there are only so many slots available in the deck.  If rancor takes the W/W slot – what gets bumped to main deck naturalize or oxidize?  Magma jet could get bumped.  But then Im just swapping control for other control.  Having W/W in there instead if rancor broadens the control base of the deck and maintains the pressure (albeit a pale comparison to rancor).  It drops animate dead and oath for one mana – serving the same function as naturalize.  This allows me to maindeck Artifact Mutation, which does more than just get rid of a problem, and is another MD answer to DSC.  Having W/W in the deck is more than just replacing rancor.

My point of concern though is do I have the right mix of control – is Crypt > Null Rod.  Artifact Mutation > naturalize.  Drop magma jet for Rootmaze?

[SonataOfTheCathedral]

Burning-Tree Shaman is one of the best guys for R/G printed in a very long time. I think upping your mana count and dropping more solid dudes might be a very very good plan. It allows you to get extra points of damage in that you sometimes really tough to win a game. He also rocks the socks against fish making Vial and Factories and Wastelands actually add up in damage.

[Penguin]

My point of concern though is do I have the right mix of control – is Crypt > Null Rod.  Artifact Mutation > naturalize.  Drop magma jet for Rootmaze?

To answer your questions from my opinion.  I personally believe that Null Rod is better then Tormod's Crypt in many situations.  Null Rod is almost never a dead card, being dead in only most non-powered decks as 99% of people at proxy tournaments will run a few mox.  Tormod's Crypt however can become very dead cards in such cases as Oath and other Welder decks can usually just play around it.

I think that you should leave Artifact Mutation maindecked and put Naturalize in the board.  Not many decks besides Dragon or Oath rely on enchantments to win the game and theres are a numerous amount of decks however rely on artifacts for a win condition.  Naturalize therefore I believe deserves spot in the sideboard so it can be sided in against those matches.

Root Maze is a very good card and should be tried to fit in as it is that good.  However I don't think you should take out Magma Jet for it, Magma Jet provides you with something that you can't really find in Red or Green which is deck manipulation.  The scry ability is the only reason it is the only 2 burn for 2 mana spell played in any red deck over something like Lightning Bolt.

[Harlequin]

In my dabbling in the Green beats, I have come to know and love a card for stealing card advantage:
Sylvan Library

As many veteran type 1 players will tell you you have 3 resourses that are expendable to you, Mana, Cards in hand, Graveyard, and Life.  Good decks use some combination of all of these resources to win the game.  In a similar way as Grim lavamancer converts graveyard into damage, Sylvan Library has the potential to convert life -> cards -> dmg.  Couple Sylvan with shuffle effects, and you can dig deeper to find answers than you could ever have hoped for with magma jet.  It also allows you to have quality draws every turn, if you need mana you grab mana, if you need damage you grab damage, if you cant find either you grab a fetchland and flush it. 

How to fit it in is always the main problem.  If you consider that this deck will now have "digging" power working in it's favor... you could probably afford to cut some of your utility and not nessisarily lower you chance to see it in a game.  So here is how I would start...

-1 Tormod's going to 2MD (move it to the SB?)
-2 Magma jet
+ 3 Sylvan Library

Now lets add some shuffle effects:
-1 Platau
-1 Savanah
+2 Bloodstained Mire.

-2 more magma jets (going to 0)
+1 Enlightend tutor
+1 Tutorable Utility/win - Suggestions: Sacred Ground, Seal of Cleansing, Choke, Ground seal, Fastbond(?), Root maze (as you mentioned), Seal of Fire, single Rancor, Jitte, Spirit Link*

* Spirit Link is really intersting.  It has the ability to be swords to plow-esq.  If you have more than 11 life (and if you stay above 11 life) then you can slap it on a DSC and let him pound your face all the live long day.  Because you'll loose 11 life, then gian 11 life... not to bad for 1 mana (just keep in mind you have to survive the shock of 11 dmg before you gain the life).  Also slapping it on a mongrel or even an Ape will give you a massive upperhand in the aggro mirror.  Don't even joke about putting it on our friendly neighborhood vigilance angels in oath.  It means should they choose to block, you gain 6 life AGAIN.