Good morning, Metagame.it friends, today I have the opportunity to interview one of the players who reached the top 8 at Paupergeddon Pisa 2024, Salvatore Chiavazzo.
Salvatore and I met during the COVID pandemic on Discord, and in 2022, together with other guys, we created the Zero3SpritzTeam, a group for testing and preparing for various tournaments, particularly focused on Pauper and Limited.
The deck Salvatore played in this tournament was the following:
Glee Combo
- 4 × Basking Broodscale
- 4 × Writhing Chrysalis
- 2 × Krark-Clan Shaman
- 1 × Evolution Witness
- 1 × Molten Gatekeeper
- 3 × Deadly Dispute
- 2 × Fanatical Offering
- 1 × Eviscerator's Insight
- 4 × Cleansing Wildfire
- 4 × Malevolent Rumble
- 3 × Duress
- 4 × Sadistic Glee
- 1 × Makeshift Munitions
- 3 × Ichor Wellspring
- 2 × Chromatic Star
- 1 × Blood Fountain
- 5 × Swamp
- 4 × Drossforge Bridge
- 4 × Slagwoods Bridge
- 3 × Forest
- 2 × Twisted Landscape
- 1 × Khalni Garden
- 1 × Mountain
- 3 × Nihil Spellbomb
- 3 × Troublemaker Ouphe
- 2 × Accursed Marauder
- 2 × Breath Weapon
- 2 × Snuff Out
- 2 × Weather the Storm
- 1 × Red Elemental Blast
After this brief introduction, let's move on to the main point: the process that led Salvatore to achieve this result.
ExLo05: What were your motivations for choosing this deck?
Salvatore: I've always enjoyed playing combo, and when Basking Broodscale was spoiled in Modern Horizons 3, I wanted to give it a try. To be honest, it wasn't my first choice; in fact, until Monday the 17th, I intended to play Madness, as that deck helped me top 8 at Paupergeddon Lecco 2023, and with the new Sneaky Snacker, the deck climbed in the format's tier list. Then, while browsing Goldfish, I saw a 5-0 by Lucabireskusku with Glee combo using Wildfire. So, with two other team members (Carlo Pietropoli and Riccardo Cestari, who also brought the deck to the Geddon), we started working to see if it functioned by playing some leagues on MTGO. And so, on Wednesday, two days before the Geddon, the race to retrieve the missing cards began. Almost the entire deck was recovered, only Sadistic Glee was missing. The last chance was to get them from sellers at the event, and after visiting various booths, I managed to get a playset for 20 euros and play the deck.
E: Why the Jund version and not Golgari?
S: The Jund version has access to Writhing Chrysalis, which allows it not to be entirely dependent on the combo plan by adding a midrange component to the deck. Furthermore, by using Wildfire and artifact lands, you also have the possibility to cast Chrysalis a turn earlier. With red, you also gain Red Elemental Blast and Breath Weapon in the sideboard.
E: On Reddit, criticisms and doubts are circulating regarding the splits in your list. Would you like to explain the reasoning behind these choices?
S: Actually, the list still needs refinement. In fact, one change I would make would be to lower the number of Nihil Spellbombs in favor of a second blast. I've read some comments, especially about Krark-Clan Shaman, which on multiple occasions were fundamental for clearing the board of blockers and then dealing lethal damage with Chrysalis or Lizard.
As for the other splits, I followed Sam Black's words, who stated in an interview: "Many prefer to have 'square' lists, but this is not always an optimal choice; when you have cards with similar effects available, it can be impactful to be versatile and have plans with slight differences." For this reason, I opted for one Blood Fontain and one Evolution Witness, one Molten Gatekeeper and one Makeshift Munition. For the disputes, I wanted to include Eviscerator's Insight as they can also be used if milled by Malevolent Rumble, while Fanatical Offerings allow you to start the combo or retrieve a piece thanks to Witness.
E: Clear, shall we move on to the matches you faced?
S: Yes, alright, but I must preface by saying that I didn't write down the sideboards, and there are some matches I don't remember perfectly. However, one thing I remember very well is that I must have kept two hands of 7 cards in 12 rounds of Swiss, but the deck is usually able to recover from this disadvantage.
Round 1 Vs Romagnoli Fabio BG Gardens 2-1
The first game goes smoothly; I protect my chrysalises with some Duress that remove removals from my opponent's hand, and then I set up lethal damage. In the second game, however, I make a mistake that costs me the game: I don't notice that my opponent has 5 mana available, so when he activates his 2-drop Rat, I sacrifice all my Eldrazi Spawns at once to pump my Chrysalis. In response, Fabio activates the rats again, clearing my board. In the third game, my opponent is stuck on lands, I manage to play Munitions and then close out the combo easily.
Round 2 Sutto Emanuele Wall Combo 2-0
A fairly easy matchup due to the presence of the Shamans, which cleared the board in both G1 and G2, allowing Chrysalis to attack easily.
Round 3 Scognamiglio Pasquale 2-1
Unfortunately, this is one of the matchups I don't remember.
Round 4 Campanino Fabrizio UB Fate 0-2
The matchup is quite bad; almost all our pieces are weak to Stutter and the numerous removals. Both games go in his favor once he enters control mode and becomes the monarch.
Round 5 Pavisic Matija Grixis Affinity 2-1
I remember all three matches were hard-fought. Having started the last game with little time remaining, we agreed that in the last additional turn, whoever was at a disadvantage on the battlefield would concede, which happened as I had control of the battlefield in the last turn.
Round 6 Traversa Flavio Rakdos Madness 2-1
First game lost due to poor mana management and a main deck Trespasser's Curse I wasn't expecting, which annihilated my ability to combo. Games 2 and 3, thanks to Ouphe, I manage to remove the curses that would have prevented my combo plan, and the matchup improved.
Round 7 Pardubicky Stepan Caw gates 2-0
The matchup is favorable; despite the amount of life he gained thanks to double activated Gates on a Lifelinker, the combo damage is always greater. Furthermore, with Munitions on the field, you can keep the battlefield clear. With this match, I finish Day 1 with a score of 6-1.
Day 2
Round 8 Edoardo Mazzucco Mono Red 2–1
My opponent sits down, and I see he has markers on his deck box to indicate the colors for Gates (in fact, every time I've played against him, he was playing that deck, editor's note). Then he starts with Epicure Mountain, Chrysalis, and wins game 1. For the second match, after a mulligan to 6 and seeing 6 cards, I get stuck on one land, which leads me to lose. I remember the third game was won by a giant Witness that slowly passed over all his blockers.
Round 9 Bartoli Lapo 2-1
Mono Red Despite being stuck on two lands, my opponent manages to handle Broodscale for a few turns before losing. G2, a mulligan to 5 prevents me from keeping up with my opponent, who wins. G3, mulligan to 6, but the game is practically compromised. However, I manage to find Star to tap red mana to cast Gatekeeper from the graveyard, leaving my opponent stunned as he was already savoring victory.
Round 10 Cicchini Franco Grixis Affinity 0-2
In both games, I can't find an angle of attack, so Uncle Francone prevails. Chatting, he reveals that the list he's using was prepared by Pietro Bragioto (which brings back memories of the last time I reached top 8, where I lost to him in both the Swiss rounds and the single-elimination bracket).
Round 11 Birettoni Luca 2-1
Mirror I'm against Lucabireskusku, the player who inspired me to bring the deck. He reveals that he made changes after seeing the 5-0 we achieved on MTGO a few days after his. Game 1, he draws poorly; game 2, he draws better. At the beginning of the last match, since time was also short this time, we agreed to concede to whoever had supremacy on the battlefield, and we promised each other after the game that if either of us made top 8, we would split the prize.
Round 12 Lombardi Piero Poison Storm 2-0
Game 1, Duress removes cheap cantrips while creatures put pressure on my opponent's deck. In G2, a one-sided game won with Munitions.
Top 8 Cicchini Franco Grixis Affinity 0-2
In the top 8, I face Uncle Francone again, and again I have no way to counter him, resulting in another 0-2, just like in the tenth round of Swiss.
E: Thoughts on the tournament and the venue?
S: The new PalaTodisco venue, although recent and not yet entirely complete, was appreciated, and the organization did an excellent job. There were a couple of issues that have already been reported and will be resolved on future occasions, particularly that on Day 2 the timer on the projector was for the side event and not the main event, the number of food trucks was inadequate for the number of people, which created long queues, and the promised taxi agreement to reach the venue was not actually active. A round of applause to the organizers who also prevented players from getting fines by reporting at-risk cars, given the closure of some nearby roads during the tournament days.
E: Thoughts on the format's meta?
S: I find the twist the meta has taken following the latest bans and Modern Horizons 3 cards very positive; I find it much more proactive than before.
With that said, see you in the next article, ExLo5.
