RUG Pyromancer

i_b_TRUE

When x4 Gush was still legal I was having a ton of success with my Grixis Pyromancer deck while alternating to RUG Delver as well (predicting the meta in the P9 events as I’d tend to lean toward RUG if I expected more shops). IMO, these style of Xerox decks are very vulnerable to Oath & Dredge. Sure, you can board in the Claim’s vs Oath but you really need to rely on Cage to carry you to victory which is not always a winning proposition as they bring in Grudge.
I think RUG Pyromancer is seeing a lot more success today due to the fall of Oath. It has game vs the current meta (especially in Leagues with Survival everywhere).
As for Skullclamp, I was never a fan of the card in Vintage.

GutoCmtt

@i_b_true I'm not sure I got the observation about having game in a meta with survival. Is that because it's good against the old bant version? I usually don't care much about that kind of thing, but rug pyromancer is among the best matchups for the bug version (last challenge I played I went pretty well because I got 4-0 against rug pyromancer decks with bug survival).

I'm really just curious to know if you guys are really getting favorable results with this deck against survival lately.

i_b_TRUE

@gutocmtt hello- Maybe I should of been more clear; RUG Xerox felt favored vs Bant Survival. Not only did I have a + win rate vs that deck but in testing with my crew RUG was favored as well. A lot goes into this though on so many different levels... how the players play each deck differently, the correct cards you see, and so on. I haven’t played Vintage in a few weeks since I haven’t been that interested so I haven’t played against the BUG version.

GutoCmtt

@i_b_true Oh ok, I thought it was something like that, but I just wanted to be sure about what it was good against. Just to be clear, I too agree with that about bant versions. When I played the GWUr version (basically bant with chewer, pyroblast and grudge), I used to feel like it was about 50/50 against xerox (which was before the RUG version was improved).

Stuart

I don't yet own Trops, Tundras, or a Library, but wanna try this Xerox thing out. I put together this UR list:

4 Snapcaster
1 JVP
3 Pyromancer
3 Dack

1 Ancestral
1 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Probe
1 Flusterstorm
2 Spell Pierce
4 Misstep
4 Preordain
1 Time Walk
4 Force of Will
1 Gush
1 Cruise
1 Dig

2 Pyroblast
2 Bolt
2 Abrade

1 Lotus
1 Ruby
1 Sapphire

4 Volc
2 Island
1 Mountain
7 fetches
1 Strip Mine
2 Wasteland

1 Pyroblast
2 Null Rod
4 Shattering Spree
4 Cage
4 Leyline

In testing it's been solid so far, but open to suggestions from experienced Xeroxers.

I’m not a big fan of Abrade since Xerox decks want to be more efficient. Without the 3rd mox, your 2 mana hate is harder to cast against shops so I would try to stick to 4 bolt 4 spree between the main and sb.

Stuart

@ChubbyRain that makes sense! I'd been thinking Abrade was useful for its flexibility and dodging Misstep, but you're probably right that Bolt is just better. I'll give that a whirl.

@garbageaggro said in RUG Pyromancer:

I always wonder about decks like this and the potential inclusion of [[grove of the burnwillow]] and [[punishing fire]]. I know it can feel a little under powered in vintage, but the incremental advantage is quite high, and it seems like you can probably make an opposing control players life very difficult with them, while still getting value against stuff like shops and to a lesser extent dredge. It definitely seems like a thing that could be friendly with 4 dacks.

This could be good against Lavinia, but it is kinda slow. The synergy with Dack is not to be forgotten though. The problem is that often you're racing with this deck, so giving life to your opponent can delay you enough to be a liability.

Stuart

Amateur question: what are you guys boarding out against Dredge? Bolt seems like an easy cut, but then are you looking at . . . countermagic? Snapcasters (because of Cage)? Artifact destruction?

i_b_TRUE

Out-
Bolts
Pyroblast
JTMS
Grudge (leave 1 in for Hollow)
Probe
Basic land (depending on the build)

those are the cards I typically cut.

AeonSovarius

@stuart said in RUG Pyromancer:

Snapcasters (because of Cage)?

Snap is still an ambush viper who can at least get in and chump block to 'gain' you 3-4 life and kill Bridges. But with only 2 Cages (in this particular list) you are probably still going to cast a spell with him sometimes.