You may recall that I went a heartbreaking 6-2 at this year's North American Premodern Championships with my beloved Red Deck. The loss in the last round at 6-1 (unfortunately I couldn't draw) gave me an eventual Top 16 finish. But hey, at least I walked away with the best deck pic of all time:

Lost the heartbreaker last round to go 6-2 at #LobsterCon

I played awesome all day which I guess just makes you feel worse ? #premodern pic.twitter.com/2FW5p6bUDY

— Michael Flores (@fivewithflores) September 21, 2024

A few spots lower in the standings - but equally 6-2 - was one of my best friends: David Tao.

I love David so much. When I moved to Brooklyn last year half the reason for where I ended up was walking proximity to his palatial whiskey palace; home of the legendary TaoHaus meetups; i.e. where the instant classic Iron Man vs. The Hulk took place.

At LobsterCon, David made a last minute audible to "F*ck It We Call" ... a Green-inclusive take on "F*ck It We Ball" (what I've been calling Red Aggro in Premodern for forever). Both decks being nicknamed against their signature 3-drops: Call of the Herd and Ball Lightning, respectively. David's deck (like the original template for my own favorite deck in the format) was designed by Aaron Dicks. If you read (or listened to!) my all-time favorite tournament report, you'll know I'm an Aaron Dicks guy.

For the past year I've kept two copies of the Red Deck. The "meme" deck I played at LobsterCon... All modern printings, alternate art, and kitschy gold borders. My friends have all been telling me that the new Secret Lairs are going to give me a chance to further downgrade the meme deck Lightning Bolts with pixelated Ajani and X-Men weather witches. But hey! There are at least two basic Mountains that I got for $10-$15 each here on CoolStuffInc. Old border Premodern snobs don't realize that I actually love both my Red Decks equally. It took effort to put together the meme deck, and that was the deck I chose to play in the most important tournament of the year.

But I realized I have enough cards to actually maintain two distinct physical lists. So, I moved some Call of the Herds and swapped out some Naturalizes from other decks and put together the 75 that David played at LobsterCon for last week's Premodern meetup:

For the purists out there this deck is all Olle Rade-signed Urza's Baubles, FBB Lightning Bolts, and the original Arena Incinerate... But souped up with Aaron's Green-inclusive mods.

In the main deck we basically swap one Lava Dart for one Price of Progress + significant changes to the mana base. On the subject of the mana base, I chose to play Snow-Covered Mountain because I wanted to match all my basics on this build, but Pier-Paul Pedeches on my Facebook page pointed out that this was a bad decision that I just didn't get penalized for.

Thermokarst is in one of the best decks in the format.

I've been playing 3 Urza's Baubles and 20 lands, but went with Aaron's 4 Urza's Baubles and 19 lands (with four fewer fetches), trusting his testing got the mana balance right. After all, I'm an Aaron Dicks guy. 4 Karplusan Forest over 4 Bloodstained Mire and one Mountain is kind of a wash, but in long games (and against certain hateful permanents), Barbarian Ring is a non-zero loss.

The real changes are all in the sideboard.

The Red Deck sideboard - Mono-Red at least - has always been kind of compromised from a sideboarding perspective. It has some of the most powerful spoilers in the format - Price of Progress, Sulfuric Vortex, and of course as many Pyroblasts and Red Elemental Blasts as you want - but from a utility standpoint, Overload is kind of horrible. Lava Dart is great sometimes (the mirror, Elves) and woefully underwhelming all the rest of the time, even when you're siding it in.

Adding green gives the deck a powerful ability to shift gears. Premodern Burn is a better Gear One deck than Modern Burn ever was. But adding Call of the Herd, Naturalize, and especially Tranquil Domain allows the deck to become a true midrange deck after sideboarding; slowing duels down to settle into an inevitability mode or just destroy all the opponent's key permanents while retaining the initiative.

The big trade-off is in the Red Elemental Blast department. Tranquil Domain makes you much better against some blue decks (Tranquil Domain v. multiple Chills is some kind of matchup)... But the complete absence of Pyroblasts limits your ability to Slow Play the Beatdown. Naturalize is a far better card than Overload, and it can't be Blue Elemental Blasted... But the fact that it costs twice as much mana can be awkward on certain high-leverage early turns.

I think that in some metagames F*ck It We Call is much much better than the original Mono-Red build... But Aaron himself fell 1-2 to specifically Phyrexian Dreadnought decks at LobsterCon (where Overload actually shines and Pyroblast / Red Elemental Blast are at their best).

Luckily for me, I didn't play against a single dedicated Blue deck last week, and in fact got all matchups that showcased the glorious efficacy of the Green sideboard.

Round One: Chris with Mono-Red Burn

Chris was playing essentially the regular Red Deck (no Green splash). The mirror is one of my favorite matchups of all time; and barring my loss in the last round of LobsterCon this year, one of my most consistent over the years.

Key Cards:

Game 1 typically revolves around Jackal Pup and Sulfuric Vortex. Whoever draws more copies of these two cards tends to be at a disadvantage; and sidebaording is mostly about getting rid of them. In my ill-fated LobsterCon match I drew five Overloads in the sideboarded games, most or all of which had no Cursed Scrolls to target... But they were still better than if I had drawn Sulfuric Vortex or Jackal Pup. Those cards are bad enough that my opponent sided in Pyroclasm! A card with almost no (though not quite "no") text.

The secondary (tertiary?) card that matters is Ball Lightning. Landing a Ball Lightning is good enough that many players choose to go first in the mirror for a greater likelihood of hitting the opponent with it. To me that is the only reason you would want to go first, as especially in sideboarded games, there are enough 1 mana removal spells that you would rather just draw one (cashing in an extra card) than gamble on the possibility your opponent tapped out on turn two on the draw.

Aaron had previously told me that the Green-splash had the advantage in the mirror; but I imagine you'd have to play a lot of games to get certainty on this. I beat this 75 on camera at LobsterCon, but not surprisingly, the match was a competitive flurry of fire.

Game 1:

This was a pretty ho-hum game. I played a little more precisely than Chris did, but he also drew two more Jackal Pups and Sulfuric Vortexes than I did.

Sideboarding:

• -4 Jackal Pup
• -1 Price of Progress
• -2 Sulfuric Vortex
• +3 Call of the Herd
• +1 Naturalize
• +2 Lava Dart
• +1 Forest

Given my Karplusan Forests, it is likely I'll deal more damage to myself than my opponent with Price of Progress!

I really liked the sideboarding with the Green splash. In the past I'd have more Overloads than my opponent had Cursed Scrolls; whereas here I'd have a legitimate hitter in Call of the Herd. The Burn mirrors can go a lot of different ways, but one of the most common is that both players empty their hands preventing the opponent from damaging them, and then both players topdeck through the midgame while trying to assemble a lethal direct damage hand.

Call of the Herd shines in these kinds of games, magnetizing the opponent's three damage burn spells while also giving you something to do while both players are in topdeck mode with five lands in play. Having only two total Lava Darts is a weakness in a matchup that revolves so much around 1 toughness creatures (especially Grim Lavamancer and Ball Lightning), but again, Lava Dart is pretty medium everywhere else so it's a reasonable trade-off.

Game 2:

I shipped my opening hand to six for want of mana... And ended up flooding out. I had eight lands in play at the end of Game 2. The writing on the wall was probably when Chris Pyrokinesis'd my desperation Ball Lightning with a Fireblast. His other Fireblast in hand ended me the following turn.

Call of the Herd was very good in this game, absorbing two Incinerates. However it wasn't good enough to overcome the overwhelming mana flood; and like I said, Chris was in the Fireblast bonus.

Game 3:

Chris just didn't have enough cards to swap out in the mirror and drew both Jackal Pup and Sulfuric Vortex in Game 3. I drew Call of the Herd but never cast it (just kept naming it with Cursed Scroll while I whittled down the battlefield). This one was a blowout, but you can't underrate how much being because his sideboard was dedicated to other matchups.

1-0 / 2-1

Round Two: DEL with Combo Enchantress

Traditionally Enchantress is one of the toughest matchups for Burn... At least Mono-Red Burn.

If they want to beat you, THEY CAN. For instance Argothian Enchantress + Worship is just over in Game 1. They have all kinds of ability to manipulate their decks. I've played against Sterling Grove for Sphere of Law and even Oath of Druids into Phantom Nishoba.

DEL wanted to do something a little more proactive, so blended the Enchantress draw engine with Pandemonium + Saproling Burst for a one-turn kill. He could also give his Saproling Burst tokens haste with Concordant Crossroads to win in The Red Zone.

Key Cards:

Game 1:

I just had good initiative and got a lot of damage in quickly. DEL sacrificed a Sterling Grove on the second-to-last turn and I thought that it was going to be one of those classic Burn v. Enchantress games where I deal 17 but not the last three... But like I said before, he didn't have the defensive enchantments.

Sideboarding:

-1 Cursed Scroll
• -4 Shock
• -2 Sulfuric Vortex
• +1 Forest
• +4 Naturalize
• +2 Tranquil Domain

Game 2:

I had a first turn Jackal Pup this game and, over the course of it, drew three Naturalizes and a Tranquil Domain. So, I was basically dealing damage from turn two, and always had a trump answer.

I did uncover one of the hidden non-bos of the deck, though.

I kind of had to search for my Forest with Wooded Foothills on turn two, which ended up meaning I couldn't cast my Ball Lightinng until turn five. It was nice Naturalizing his first enchantment (an Enchantress's Presence) and then getting three-for-one the next turn, though.

I felt really comfortable this game as a result of the Green sideboard cards. I didn't have to win quickly because Tranquil Domain especially meant I could catch up and reset the battlefield almost at will. Also any instant speed enchantment removal meant that I could break up the Saproling Burst combo as long as there was no Sterling Grove in play.

This THIS THIS is why Aaron and company invented the Green splash.

2-0 / 4-1

Round Three: Ritz with Aluren

Aluren is a combo deck that can create any number of cool sequences once it gets the namesake card into play.

It can gain infinite life, create infinite power by moving over lots and lots of Spike Feeder tokens, or bounce all your intended defenders with Man-o'-War.

The recent innovation - championed primarily by the popular streamer fpawlusz - is to bring a little more of a "rudder" + silver bullet capability with Survival of the Fittest. Aluren can be a passable two-for-one Survival deck even without the card Aluren in play, riding mana acceleration from Birds of Paradise and Wall of Roots to create conventional advantages; buying time before the combo pieces show up, or just peck away with hella Mulldrifter variants while the opponent peels a measly one card per turn.

Key Cards:

Game 1:

I ended Game 1 before Ritz could get Aluren in play.

The key turn was his having a main-deck Monk Realist for my Sulfuric Vortex.

If Vortex is in play he is very limited in his ability to draw his deck with Raven Familiar + Cavern Harpy; whereas if Vortex is not in play he can incidentally gain a ton of life to fuel his draw engine while playing creatures for free.

So, while he was able to remove my key enchantment, he never got to the window to resolve his key enchantment.

Sideboarding:

• -4 Jackal Pup
• -4 Ball Lightning
• -1 Price of Progress
• +1 Forest
• +4 Naturalize
• +2 Tranquil Domain
• +2 Lava Dart

Ritz has tons of Walls, so Jackal Pup can suck against his average draw, especially if I'm going second. I figured if I could keep Survival and / or Aluren off the battlefield I'd be able to win eventually with burn cards.

This might seem like I'm cutting a lot of offense for a lot of removal, but my game plan is to just remove all his key permanents and chip away to an eventual flurry. Made exponentially easier if I just happen to draw Sulfuric Vortex.

Game 2:

We trade a bunch early, including Ritz drawing three copies of Swords to Plowshares (sideboarded I presume) for three Grim Lavamancers. I get two Survivals with two Naturalizes, but really have to noodle on the second one because casting it will leave me defenseless against an Aluren.

Funny plays include my not being able to gain one from a Grim Lavamancer (the opponent tapped my Sulfuric Vortex when I went to adjust the die) and my army of two Mogg Fanatics being held off by a Wall of Roots and a Raven Familiar (echo had been PAID!)

Vortex hung around, though, and I eventually drew a lethal Lightning Bolt + Fireblast. Again, who knows what would have happened had Aluren ever resolved.

3-0 / 6-1

Round Four: SWB with Mono-Black Pit Rack

Pit Rack is one of the classic Premodern decks. The original "Mono-Black Discard" deck of the format, it dates back from a simpler time and some more linear deck selection. A lot of players I respect - including the incomparable SWB here - are experimenting with bringing it back now because its overabundance of Black removal and disruption give it significant purchase against the dominant Phyrexian Dreadnought builds.

SWB for his part was a player I picked to make Top 8 of LobsterCon. He was a hair out at 9th on Day One, with another near-miss at 10th for the Old School main event. While SWB is a deadly competitor as far as meetups go, he's actually more than that just this great human who does things like give away 5th Edition packs to anyone who plays him, or brings Mars Attacks Topps cards to movie nights where people are watching... well... Mars Attacks I guess.

Pit Rack's general decline in popularity largely stems from its weakness against the various Red Decks in the format, but I've always found it to be much more competitive than the Red Deck crowd has claimed. There isn't a whole heck of a lot you can do about racing specifically The Rack, and once you go down below three cards you're going to be taking consistent / non-interactive damage. You need to spend cards in hand to keep damaging the opponent while their deck just sitting there has them continuing to do their thing just fine.

Key Cards:

The core strategy here is to empty the opponent's hand with Duress, lock them down with Bottomless Pit, and keep them from recovering by winning quickly with The Rack. SWB added some cool The Stack tricks by adding Carrion Feeder + Mesmeric Fiend for an overlap of cool rules knowledge and discard redundancy.

Game 1:

I drew three Ball Lightnings in Game 1, but none of them hit. Most humiliatingly, SWB used a Funeral Charm on one. But it's arguable he should have just gotten a card out of my hand because of all his The Racks. Taking six would have been pretty ballsy, though (no pun intended).

SWB had three copies of The Rack in play at the end of Game 1, so I basically had lethal damage coming in on my upkeep but Fireblasted for the win in response. Pure race. I TOLD YOU it was closer than the Red Deck zombies say...

Sideboarding:

• -2 Incinerate
• -2 Sulfuric Vortex
• -4 Ball Lightning
• +1 Forest
• +4 Naturalize
• +3 Call of the Herd

Siding out Sulfuric Vortex was kind of a gamble because I assumed I'd be up against Spinning Darkness in the sideboarded games. But Game 1 was such a race against The Rack I wasn't sure I'd want to spend 3 mana to deal 2+ damage to myself.

Call of the Herd seemed perfect here. I'd be playing with a bunch of cards in my graveyard that I didn't necessarily put there myself, and the ability to get some battlefield presence out of the bin seemed like a nice extra angle if the game came down to attrition instead of a pure damage race.

Game 2:

This time SWB had two copies of The Rack and I took as much as 6 on upkeep before the end. But I drew a great distribution of mana, could operate Cursed Scroll, and finished it with Fireblast. Again, super tight and I would have died if I had gotten to the actual end of my final upkeep. With the games so intense, my Call of the Herd strategy never came up.

Interesting play:

I am clocking with two Mogg Fanatics and SWB plays Engineered Plague. In response I sacrifice both to put him to... 17.

He names: "Elemental".

We discussed this play post-game. I probably should have sacrificed only one Mogg Fanatic to force him to name "Goblin" instead of just giving him a naked two-and-a-half-for-one. Luckily I had no Elementals in my deck, but the double sac was probably overzealous.

Heroes win the Championship Belt!

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Belt AND photo credit: Bill Ellis!!

LOVE

MIKE