RIW is having the second Pioneer RCQ of the season on June 8 and Phoenix is the deck to beat.
Today I’m going to share my updated list and sideboard guide to account for the presence of aggressive red decks.
For a more general explanation of Izzet Phoenix you can read my last guide here:
Since my last article I have fully embraced the power of Proft’s Eidetic Memory. A second copy is an elegant way to play more hammers in the Phoenix mirror without including Ashiok in the maindeck.
The red decks, powered by Slickshot Showoff, can be a challenging matchup without life gain. Phoenix needs to play defensively and then decisively turn the corner ahead of dying to burn. Proft’s is able to threaten larger creatures to block before ultimately winning with a Temporal Trespass. It’s an awkward position to rebuy Phoenix only to hold it back to block, but it must be done.
The presence of the second Proft’s changes how I sideboard in general because there’s a smaller reliance on Crackling Drake to juke graveyard hate. I also need to make sure there aren’t too many threats after sideboard when both Drake and Iconoclast are in the deck. Ledger Shredder can be boarded out at times to avoid having too many misses with Free the Fae.
I tried Torch the Tower in the maindeck over the third Fiery Impulse, but exiling opposing Phoenixes is roughly as important as interacting with Ledger Shredder. The three damage with Spell Mastery is also very relevant against prowess creatures with a +1+1 counter from Kumano Faces Kakkazan.
Redcap Melee is the eighth one-mana removal spell in the sideboard. Not only does it kill prowess creatures, but Magebane Lizard can be a thorn in my side.
A cool trick in the mirror is to play a Shredder and pass with a Consider/Opt ready rather than immediately casting it. Once they fire off a Fiery Impulse you can respond with the card draw to grow it to a 2/4.
I moved the Brazen Borrower to the sideboard to reduce the amount of two-drops in the maindeck. Profit’s creates less room to play expensive spells and Petty Theft is more impactful in post board games to deal with Leyline of the Void, Rest in Peace, and Unlicensed Hearse.
Proft’s out of Phoenix mirrors creates more opportunities for board stalls making Ashiok’s decking capability more important. If you are milling the opponent before exiling the graveyard it creates fewer opportunities to draw multiple cards to grow a large creature. This is not a free choice over Unlicensed Hearse because Ashiok is a lightning rod for Mystical Dispute.
I played Disdainful Stroke in the past, but it’s better as a third Mystical Dispute to prepare for the mirror. Dispute hits the same cards against Niv to Light because Stroke will counter Niv, Bring to Light, Omnath, and Notion Thief out of the board.
A third Dispute in the board means I would be playing a whopping five soft counters against blue decks with the standard two maindeck Spell Pierce. Proft’s is strong in the same matchups as Spell Pierce so it’s relatively free to cut the second copy.
Izzet Charm is a hedge for aggressive decks without playing the fourth Fiery Impulse in the maindeck. Drawing two cards helps juice Proft’s Eidetic Memory while acting as reasonable interaction against any opponent. It has continued to prove its worth.
I’ve seen players cut Temporal Trespass and Galvanic Iteration since Proft’s is another big mana play, but it’s a key combo against red decks and the mirror. While I do cut Trespass against most decks with graveyard hate it’s a powerful game one option. The presence of Trespass in your deck allows Phoenix to play a more defensive game as inevitability is in their favor.
Trespass can also become less important in post board games because adding Crackling Drake and/or Iconoclast makes the deck more threat dense. Control decks such as Azorius and Waste Not play many Field of Ruins making the extra turn from Trespass the only way to deal seven damage with Hall of Storm Giants.
Aether Gust over Disdainful Stroke in the board allows for a final piece of interaction against aggressive decks while having application against Niv to Light and Dromoka out of Lotus Field’s sideboard. I don’t want to go overboard on sideboard cards against red because all of the maindeck cards are viable.
Anger of the Gods was powerful against Amalia Combo, but not much else. On the draw, sweeping the board against red aggressive decks was too slow and I couldn’t risk creatures hitting me on the first two turns to gain card advantage with a larger Anger. I want to establish creatures in the early turns to set up a defense against haste threats.
Third Path Iconoclast can be hit by Mystical Dispute and Rending Volley, but triggers off Ashiok and Proft’s. Since I’m not boarding out Proft’s in any matchup and I want two Ashiok and two Iconoclast against Lotus Field there are enough extra triggers to justify the swap from Young Pyromancer. The artifact creature blockers are also better against White Humans due to Brave the Elements.
I tried cutting the fourth Sleight of Hand to make room for more sideboard cards in the maindeck. This was a mistake to cut a cantrip as it affects the number of times you can rebuy Phoenix or dig for Treasure Cruise. I liked Sleight the least of the cantrips as it’s not drawing a card for Proft’s Eidetic Memory.
Beacon Bolt over Tears of Valakut can not only take down Vein Ripper, but also Archfiend of the Dross and Niv Mizzet. I dislike Tears because Vampires can strand the narrow Plummet effect in hand until it’s ready to be discarded. Make sure to prioritize having a battlefield against Vampires to play around a potential Vein Ripper.
+3 Mystical Dispute +2 Ashiok Dream Render
-1 Lightning Axe -3 Fiery Impulse -1 Izzet Charm
+1 Redcap Melee +1 Aether Gust
+2 Crackling Drake +2 Third Path Iconoclast +2 Brazen Borrower +1 Beacon Bolt +1 Negate
-3 Fiery Impulse -1 Temporal Trespass -1 Galvanic Iteration -1 Arclight Phoenix -2 Ledger Shredder
+3 Mystical Dispute +1 Negate +2 Crackling Drake +2 Third Path Iconoclast +1 Aether Gust +1 Beacon Bolt
-1 Treasure Cruise -3 Lightning Axe -3 Fiery Impulse -1 Arclight Phoenix -2 Ledger Shredder
+2 Brazen Borrower +2 Third Path Iconoclast +2 Crackling Drake +3 Mystical Dispute +1 Negate
-4 Lightning Axe -3 Fiery Impulse -1 Temporal Trespass -1 Galvanic Iteration -1 Ledger Shredder
+1 Brazen Borrower +2 Ashiok Dream Render +1 Aether Gust +2 Third Path Iconoclast +3 Mystical Dispute +1 Negate
-4 Lightning Axe -3 Fiery Impulse -1 Izzet Charm -1 Arclight Phoenix -1 Ledger Shredder
+1 Beacon Bolt +1 Aether Gust
-1 Galvanic Iteration -1 Temporal Trespass
+2 Brazen Borrower +1 Beacon Bolt +1 Negate +2 Crackling Drake +2 Third Path Iconoclast
-3 Fiery Impulse -2 Ledger Shredder -1 Galvanic Iteration -1 Temporal Trespass -1 Lightning Axe
Thanks for reading and happy RCQing!
