I played RG Ponza at Grand Prix Vegas to a 10-5 finish. I’ve had a few requests to share my list and some of my thoughts on the matchup, especially since the build I took is favored (about 60-40 in about thirty or so Competitive MTGO leagues in its current iteration) against Grixis Shadow while still letting me spam dragons and satisfy my inner Timmy. Would love to hear if you have any questions or comments about the list- post GP, I would probably cut the third Lightning Bolt and make room for a 4th Kitchen Finks and 3rd Ancient Grudge in the 75.

RG Ponza

Maindeck (60) 4 Arbor Elf
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Chameleon Colossus
3 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Inferno Titan
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Beast Within
3 Molten Rain
3 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
1 Primal Command
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Blood Moon
7 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
4 Stomping Ground
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard (15) 3 Kitchen Finks
2 Chameleon Colossus
1 Sarkhan Vol
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Trinisphere

Rounds 1&2- Bye. These were not the only matches that ended with my opponents having no permanents in play.

Round 3- Alex on Jeskai Control

I was able to resolve an early Blood Moon game one and then hit his only island with some targeted LD to hold him off of his colors, while game two I led with an early Trinisphere to bait his countermagic, followed by a Blood Moon to keep him off of Cryptic and any Snapcaster value. Stormbreath Dragon meant I could ignore his basic Plains and Path to Exiles. Win, 2-0

Round 4- Johan on RG Valakut Johan was playing a version of RG Valakut with Through the Breach and Inferno Titan, meaning he had outs to the Blood Moon and two follow-ups that knocked him off of green completely. While I did manage to prevent a quick loss at the hands of Scapeshift, I was unable to capitalize as he slammed the door closed in a single swing. Games two and three, he was again shut off of the Valakut Combo and double green mana fairly quickly, as he was only running two basic forests. Win, 2-1

Round 5- Rob on Junk
Having talked to Rob at a previous GP, I knew he was a gold-level pro and would be a tough opponent. Five basics throughout our two games backed up by some timely hand disruption and fat goyfs shut down my shaky mulligan decisions as he was able to punish my land-light draws. We joked about our choices to play decks with positive Death’s Shadow matchups as we watched a mirror unfold on either side of the 4-0 bracket. Why Molten Rain over Stone Rain, despite being more difficult to cast? When game two ended with him at one life, I had three more outs to prolong the match. Loss, 0-2

Round 6- Alexi on Storm
Storm can be a difficult matchup, as it has the ability to combo off with just two blue-producing lands, and after a game one I felt lucky to escape with a win, he proved that through a Stone Rain and a Grafdigger’s Cage by making thirty-two gobins on turn three. Our third match was much closer, but I died without finding a second red source for the two Anger of the Gods I had stranded in my hand. Loss, 1-2

Round 7- Andrew, Jund Death’s Shadow I lost game one to 3/3 beasts that were almost as effective as the 7/7 Deaths Shadows they replaced, while our game two featured Kitchen Finks taking advantage of him cycling all four Street Wraiths as he looked for a threat. A tight game three finished with some 7/8 goyfs chumping my two Chameleon Colossus. Win, 2-1

Round 8- Richard, Jund Burn Richard won the roll and immediately started the match off with Goblin Guide. I felt like I was on the back foot for most of the match, but he drew very awkwardly and was forced to use non-searing blaze removal to knock out my early mana dorks. Burn is a big reason I would like to find room in the 75 for the 4th Kitchen Finks, and was a big reason previous iterations of the deck ran Thragtusk and Obstinate Baloth. Win, 2-1

Round 9, Kenta on Eldrazi Tron After splitting the first two games, a Chameleon Colossus traded with two Thought-Knot Seers to draw me into two lands while my Blood Mood and Chandra faced down a few mountans and a valuable Mind Stone. I drew into a few of my deck’s thirty-one mana sources as he lay down back-to-back Reality Smashers. Loss, 1-2, (6-3)

In between Rounds Nine and Ten, I enjoyed a different kind of card game at a few of the local gambling houses until the sun began to rise, which led to a few less-than optimal plays- including a nasty punt to miss out on cash in the final round. Round 10- Patrick on Eldrazi Tron

I died quickly to thought-knot seers and reality smashers game one, and game two was forced to blood moon without access to a basic forest on my own turn three after powering out an early Chandra in fear of his slightly larger planeswalker the following turn. His Walking Ballista cleaned up my BoP and I lost soon after. Loss, 1-2 Round 11, Zachary on Grixis Death’s Shadow

A series of Countersquall and Snap-Countersquall got rid of my disruption in our game two, but Grixis Shadow has no outs to a resolved Chameleon Colossus as I quickly doubled its power and bolted an Ambush Viper for the win in the final game. A greedy three-color manabase, four Colossus in the 75, and Finks to replace some of the dead cards in Bonfire of the Damned give this deck a favorable matchup against the most popular deck in the format right now. Win, 2-1

Round 12- Aaron on Eldrazi Tron
After two early losses to Eldrazi Tron, I’m not as confident as usual when my opponent leads off with an Urza’s Tower. My only notes for this match are an angry “should have mulliganed” over my life total for Game one. I slow him down with Blood Moon long enough to get the edge in game two, and game three was decided when Ancient Grudge gave me an early two-for-one that left him stumbling on mana while I curved an Acid-Moss into an Inferno Titan. Win, 2-1

Round 13- Aadil, on RG Valakut
After my opponent matched my turn one Arbor Elf with a Search for Tomorrow, I picked off all three of his basic forests and lay down a Blood Moon. Game two was a little less one-sided, but Chameleon Colossus was able to trade for his two early Obstinate Baloths and give me the few turns I needed to plus Sarkan Vol a few times and make twenty power worth of dragons.

Round 14- Daniel, 4c Humans After falling prey to his opener of basic Forest, Noble Hierarch, I was quickly swarmed with humans while my Blood Moon just kind of sat there looking stupid, and a flurry of spot removal and Kitchen Finks got me to six mana and an unanswerable Inferno Titan in game two. I was in for a rough game three early on, as he led with yet another basic forest into a Noble, following it up with a second Hierarch and a Thalia on turn two that left me without the ability to jump to turn three early in my curve despite having a turn one Sprawl. The next turn, a Sin Collector cleared the way for his Mayor of Avabruck and a quick two turn clock. My prospects looked grim- my hopes of finishing 5-1 and recouping some of the previous night’s investments looked to come to an end until I untapped and miracle’d a 6-for-1 Bonfire. Win, 2-1

Round 15- Eric on Grixis We split the first two games, and in the final game of the tournament I minus’d Sarkan Vol, expecting to kill his Death’s Shadow because I was at a higher life total than my opponent. Unfortunately, that life total was twelve, and I lost.