Quote:
Originally Posted by Deorum
Giving your opponent the option of what your spell does when it has two or more modes is almost always a much harsher drawback than it seems at first, so spells that seem good for their cost despite what your opponent picks can be deceiving. That said, I am not sure how good Vexing Devil is in that deck. I know Zaiem (boltyou on here) plays it some so he may have some advice. I agree Scavenging Ooze may be a good addition to that deck.
Vexing Devil is good in a deck that can really punish your opponent for paying the life. A deck like burn with lots of lightning bolt effects is typically where you want Vexing Devil. I have not played Gruul Aggro in Modern so I cannot really say very much about how effective he is in there. I am not sure how fast the deck typically deals damage. But if it has been working for you then great.
I've tried this deck with and without Vexing Devil, and honestly it's better than it looks. The deck can kill pretty quickly, which is what you need against the combo decks. I wasn't excited to play it, but I saw some lists that were doing well on Magic Online, so I tried it, and I found it to be quite a bit less terrible than it initially seemed. And I generally
hate cards that give my opponent choices like that, but it does enough work with evolving E1 (even if they opt to kill it), eating a removal spell if they don't kill it, and overall being a big enough body to be a threat in the early turns that it's worth the card slot IMO.
If you get to the late game it's pretty bad, but you're not likely in good shape if that happens anyway. Even so, Devil + Rancor is capable of attacking through an opposing Tarmogoyf, which is a pretty big deal.
Mutagenic Growth is an interesting card, and one I hadn't tried. Vines of Vastwood was very good in a lot of matchups though. I haven't tried Growth, but Vines does get around Path and Abrupt Decay. I'd try both cards and see which one you like - I just don't know if the mana efficiency is more important than the protection against the non-damage dealing spells.
Searing Blaze is also quite good if you expect a lot of creature matchups. In the spring there were a lot of matchups where it was dead, although it looks like the metagame has shifted back towards being more creature-heavy. Searing Blaze is absolutely awesome when it's good - it's rarely just "an okay card" except against specifically Snapcaster Mage.
Hellspark Elemental is another card you should consider, although it does increase the sequencing complexity of the deck considerably. Sequencing is already a bit tricky, and I would suggest sitting down with some test draws and figuring out the decision trees and just mapping out which sequences result in the most damage of the course of the first three turns. It takes some work and some time, but sometimes you'll find that one line results in doing an extra point of damage, which is absolutely huge.
Other non-Tarmogoyf cards to try:
Skullcrack
Stormblood Berserker
Dismember (I like this a lot more than the one-of Colossal Might)
If you do manage to get your hands on Tarmogoyf, one or two Tarfires is also fine. Some lists from last spring were playing Seal of Fire, but since Eggs isn't a deck, don't bother with that.
The Facebook group for "people who play RG aggro in Modern" (listen, if you're going to do something, MOVE ALL IN AND DO IT RIGHT) has been pretty dead recently since PTQ season's over, but if you're interested, DM me and I can see if I can get you added so that when the group fires up again next spring, you'll have access to good discussion.