Closing Update - RCQ List and SB Guide
Added 2023-12-18 02:45:53 +0000 UTCBilling has been paused and this will serve as my final update for the next month.
Here is the RCQ List I played today, finishing 6-2.
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/75TCzFUbQkaVNPCcPc7HRQ
Sideboard Guide:
https://flexslot.gg/sideboards/1294
R1: bye
R2: 2-1 Gruul
R3: 2-0 Keruga Fires
R4: 2-0 Rakdos Mid
R5: 2-1 Rakdos Mid
R6: 0-2 Grixis Phoenix
R7: 2-0 UW Control
R8: 1-2 Rakdos Aggro
Thank you to everyone that subscribed to my Patreon. I hope you all received a positive investment from this.
My Final thoughts:
I think the RC list actually is still quite good. It did not perform this tournament but UW Lotus Field still had one of the highest winrates from last month's RC events. I definitely didn't play very well and a lot of matchups where I lost or won, I realized after the match that I didn't take the best lines, just the most obvious ones. Both the RC and the RCQ, I could have definitely played better, but at the end of the day, no one is perfect.
RC List: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/J2tLvqIZOkWM-Pg8nAUfFA
However, it is much different playing on MTGO/MTGA than on paper. Because the list was inherently more reactive, there were more times to consider various possible lines. Because paper magic is a shared clock of 50 minutes, you cannot take too long to make a decision and sometimes, the obvious decision is not always the best one. On MTGO, you can at least not get punished if your opponent is too slow. The list on paper also requires a lot more organization with Sunken Citadel + Thespian's Stage, the board can get messy very quickly without it. With that in mind, I would still probably look to play the reactive list online recreationally.
It is likely going to be a while before the next Pioneer RC. When that time comes though, I will likely go back to developing a proactive UW Lotus list, like the one that I played at the RCQ. This deck has lines where the obvious one is usually also the right one.
The next Canadian RC is: Feb 9-11. It is Modern. I am going to be on UW Control (Likely Narset + Day's Undoing). However, I am leaning on just pausing the Patreon for this RC cycle since I do not believe UW Control is Tier 1 in Modern. I will put more thought into it but I don't feel like it is right to charge for Patreon when the deck is likely not going to be your choices for the RC. I still think UW Lotus Field is overall a tier 1 deck in Pioneer so that is a different situation.