Deck used in the Cast-a-spell on MS

1st place 5-0-1 in Swiss,  2nd place overall

Rounds

Round 1: 2-0 vs UW Heroic

Guy was short on lands (about 3) and protection, but heavy on 2 mana dudes. Conveniently timed for removal.

Round 2: 2-0 vs Jeskai Tempo

Greedy plays on my part (I chained a Goblin token to let mine get through) get there game one. Game two I was always ahead on board.

Round 3: 2-0 vs Jeskai Tokens.

Solid matchup, but I sure do like me some Arc Lightning

Round 4: 2-1 vs Abzan Control

Win game one with well timed fliers. Due to a rather present Rakshasa Deathdealer game one I thought I was playing against aggro. My first loss game two proved me wrong. Game three I sneak out from beneath a mana screw on four lands with Mastery of the Unseen and outpost seige to steal game three

Round 5: 2-1 vs Abzan Control

Lose game one handily to a plethora of removal. Game two and three I bring in Mastery of the Unseen and everything gets better.

Round 6: 0-0-3 ID vs Jund Aggro

Intentionally drew with the only other 5-0, Ian Ulman, into the top of the swiss.


--Cut to top 8--

Quarterfinals 1: 2-1 vs Temur Ascendancy Combo

Game 1 I am but one draw of a land or burn away from killing him before he just combos off. Game 2 I bring in Valorous Stances. Fortunately, I never needed them as Chandra's +1 sniping deathtouch tokens plus super techy plays (Play rabblemaster, stoke everything, attack for 2 with Rabble?) sneaks around the boarded in Hornet's Nest. Game three the Stances rightfully become Arc Lightnings and game 3 goes down a lot faster with him having nothing relevant on board until way too late.

Semi-Finals: 2-0 vs Abzan Control

Same opponent as round 5. Round 1 was super sketch, but I managed to beat him down with Ashcloud and Stormbreath. End of game one he miscalculates his payments for Tasigur (before his Elspeth was to -4) and is apparently unable to double Wrath my board to kill all of my fliers. Game two he gets stuck on two lands and promptly dies.

Finals: 1-2 vs Abzan Control.

:(

Same opponent as Round 4 (The top 4 were actually 3 copies of Abzan control and myself as the sole RW Aggro in the top 8)

Game 1 I am handily dispatched. Game 2 I kill him quick with Stormbreath dragon and his best friend Stormbreath Dragon. Game 3, my deck decides to draw Seeker of the Ways instead of Lands. I never hit land 5 and don't draw land #3 until turn 6. This ends the tornament.

Had I gotten another land, my hand was gas, but alas, so it goes. Something something variance.

Came home with a Judge Foil Bob and Hanna, Ships Navigator. All in all, pretty swell time!


Card Critiques:

Main Deck:

Ashcloud Phoenix:
When I ran this deck at SCG DC, I had two of the Ashclouds in the board. I brought them in for every matchup that was slower than Jeskai Ascendancy (which is to say, every deck but RDW and Jeskai Ascendancy). I am glad to have two in the main. A third in the board, or even a third in the main is not out of the question.

Brimaz, King of Oreskos:
I saw a few lists play him and I'd figure I'd give him a go. Despite only running 4 plains, I never had problems casting him (well, except when I only had 3 lands, but that's another story). The bigger problem is that I never really wanted to play him over most other threats. He was usually the first creature to get pulled for anything else because he is just ok. He sits strangely in a world of 4/5's He managed to trade with a surprising number of Rhinos, but that is not really what I want out of my 3 drops. I would consider cutting him for Monastery Mentor, but I also think he is too slow as well. I am sure he will become a different threat come rotation.

Goblin Rabblemaster:
Swingy but solid. When he is good he is awesome. When he is bad, he is awful. Still, even when he is bad he helps make Stoke the Flames all the easier to cast.

Seeker of the Way:
...sigh... the best two drop prowess still feels underwhelming. He still is always better than everyone gives him credit for though. He sits rather well against a meta full of Coursers of Kruphix. Did work and will remain a 4-of, but still makes me feel like this should be yet another rare.

Soulfire Grandmaster:
I had one in my original list for SCG DC, however, I cut it immediately for Seeker #4. In early playtests, I never wanted to activate its ability. I wanted to have won. Tried it out here as well. I only was able to cast it in the finals each round, but still never actually activated its ability. I think it still has the ability to just steal games. However, I don't think I would want more than 1 in the 75.

Stormbreath Dragon:
This is the reason to play the deck. He is the best creature in the deck. The end.

Instants and Sorceries:
I was about to go into detail, but I felt that this is the perfect split. If I cut a creature I would consider adding more burn, but I do like it as it is.

Enchantments:

Chained to the Rocks:

4-of this is another of the main reasons to play the deck. It is better than Swords to Plowshares game one. Even if the unlikely event that it gets Utter End-ed, you still get the value out of saving what likely would have been another threat, Rabblemaster, Phoenix or otherwise. Usually, by the time they can remove it you don't particularly care. Great card in most matchups (Bad in tokens and UB/UW control, but eh)

Outpost Siege:

My DC list ran 0 Outpost Siege and 3 Chandra. Fortunately, at the time, it did not make a significant difference there. I really like the 2-2 split here as overcommitting on enchantments makes the card a lot worse actually. Also, a lot of people aren't ready for the Chandra, especially when people bring in Hornet's Nests against us.

Also, I named Dragons once for the kill against the Tokens deck. Otherwise, you ALWAYS name Khans.

Land:
After how many times I had been stuck on four lands, I am strongly considering adding another land to the main. It felt really bad to be at 4 mana, yet, fortunately, with the help of Chandra, Outpost Siege, and Mastery of the Unseen, most 4 mana screws don't last too long.

----

Sideboard:

2x Erase
2x Glare of Heresy

I like this split since there are very big distinctions when you want one or the other. However, there are a great many decks where you want both (Heroes for one). I like this split.

2x Valorous Stance.

Great card, but word to the wise: You cannot defend your Stormbreath Dragon with this card. I only tried and failed to do that twice. Also, this card isn't actually good against Temur Ascendancy. Although they play an army of Hydras (Polukranos, Genesis, Broodmate), your main targets for removal are their 1/1's, 1/2's, and 4/3's, all of which inconveiniently miss. You don't particularly care about courser in this matchup.  The card is still great in the 4/5 meta though so it has earned its keep.

Arc Lightning:
OM NOM NOM JESKAI AND HEROES
Still good card. 3x is right.

Chandra, Pyromaster
See Outpost Siege. I like Outpost Siege's in the main as they are less likely to take combat damage. I do like the 2-2 split as Chandra cannot be erased and can kill an annoying subset of creatures.

Mastery of the Unseen:
The card was originally 2x End Hostilities. However, the more I thought about it, the less I liked the card. The whole premise of the deck was that I would be able to dismantle any early aggression with super cheap/efficient removal while jamming good and powerful threats early. There really weren't any decks that I wanted to bring in a wrath against.

My problem really came in the form of hard control decks and large midrange decks that could dispatch all of my threats.

Mastery of the Unseen was the hero I was hoping it would be,

During my Abzan control matchups, this card single handedly multiple certain defeats from all sides (overwhelmed on board, low on life, manascrew) to an overwhelming victory. Most people (until this weekend) were not prepared for it.

Peyton Turner doubted me about this card. For posterity's sake, let it be known how wrong he was :P

Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker:

I would tell you how this card played, if it ever left the side board. The card was originally the additional dragons 5-6, however, I never brought it in since I needed to keep in a lot of my early action. Perhaps I would bring it in against some of the slower decks. However, I never ran into UB-based control. Even then I am still not sure if it was what I wanted.

The other problem with the card is that I never really wanted to deal 4 damage to a creature. Everything was either very small, so Arc Lightning would suffice, or a 4/5 or greater, so Sarkhan would just die on the crack back. I feel like this spot should be something else.