[Deck] Sligh/Burn/RDW [Archive]

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rufus

08-21-2011, 08:16 PM

It's not exactly an imaginative or original concept, but Modern seems relatively well suited to running burn decks. A couple of key cards are cut, but many are still available, and modern is slower than legacy.

My current list:

4 Street Wraith
4 Gitaxian Probe

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Shard Volley

4 Incinerate
4 Volcanic Hammer
4 Searing Blaze

4 Needle Drop

20 Mountain

Back of the napkin, this should be a turn 4-turn 5 deck, and a bit faster if the opponent helps you out with shock lands.

Cards not included:
Creatures:
Cards like Keldon Marauders,Mogg Fanatic,Furnace Scamp,Kiln Fiend, Hellspark Elemental,Immolating Souleater and Spark Elemental would make the deck goldfish faster, but running absolutely no creatures means that this deck won't be slowed down by chumps or other creature answers. (Burning the blockers - aka sligh - is plausibly a stronger concept, but contrary to the 'directly to the forehead' approach.

Utility:
It might also make sense to pull some of the cyclers in favor of Magma Jet or Browbeat. Though browbeat is typically terrible since you'll never get the choice you want.

Sweepers:
Flamebreak is pretty good, but seems like it would primarily be useful in the zoo matchup.

Card Discussion:

Lightning Bolt
Rift Bolt
Lava Spike

Core burn cards. This is the sort of card the deck is looking for.
Shard Volley
It's another 3-for-1. Even in multiples, it's not completely terrible, so there are 4.

Incinerate
Volcanic Hammer
Searing Blaze
Flamebreak
Needle Drop

Second tier burn cards. These are inferior to the straight up 3-for-1 cards, but Chain Lightning isn't legal in Modern. Searing Blaze is a pretty bad top deck, and not so great if you have land issues, but there's no secret or particular benefit to holding off, so there's not much benefit to running it with fetches.

4 Street Wraith
4 Gitaxian Probe

Cycling Filler. The theory is that running these will allow the deck to run a higher quality of burn cards. The down side is life cost - hopefully offset by playing fewer fetchlands, tougher mulligan decisions. I had originally included Manamorphose but I'm going look at Needle Drop and slightly more land as a replacement.

Mountain

Not as good as Island, but it works better in this deck.

KevinTrudeau

08-21-2011, 08:25 PM

Flames of the Blood Hand is pretty cost-efficient and, to a certain small degree, hammers out a weakness this deck has that an opponent can exploit. Seems better than Reverberate in a deck lacking Fireblast. Since the format's slower, the red Shrine from the last expansion seems like it could be okay too.

Brushwagg

08-21-2011, 11:16 PM

rufus

08-22-2011, 01:52 AM

Not sure why your playing the cyclers. It seems like playing more threats or burn in those spots is a better plan.

I was trying for the full on 'Burn. Apply directly to the forehead!' approach. The theory is that running cyclers means a higher quality of burn spells, and no need for creatures or artifacts to make it across to the red zone.

Without accelerants, you can have, at best, 10 total mana on turn 4 and 15 on turn 5. More realistically, 8-9 mana on turn 4..10-12 on turn 5 is doing well. Similarly, you're -net- seeing 11-12 cards on turn 4, and 12-13 on turn 5, unless you mulligan.

Working that backwards means 2.5 damage per mana, and around the same amount of damage per non-land card.

Perhaps it's a little naive, but Shrine of Burning Rage and Pyromancer Ascension seem like they're not quite there. The first time the Shrine goes off, you've got to have invested 5 mana which seems like a lot in a deck like this. Pyromancer Ascension is more efficient, but also only goes past break-even on the fourth spell you cast afterward, and that's a best case scenario when the deck expects to finish much more quickly than that.

TsumiBand

08-22-2011, 09:54 AM

This might be super dumb, but with Shard Volley, Gitaxian Probe and Manamorphose you've got a lot of 'free food' for Kiln Fiend. Just sayin' is all.

Hellspark Elemental seems too good not to show up. Probably better than Volcanic Hammer anyway. At the least, Incinerate is definitely better than Hammer.

deathsorcerer

08-22-2011, 10:16 AM

I like the approach of the OP much more than the sligh-like builds with creatures. If you want creatures backed by burn, RDW/All in Red will be better decks. the only form of CA this deck has is to generate dead draws for your opponent. At the same time, your only chance of winning is by racing so cards that don't get online until turn 4 will be too slow.

As to the list on the OP, Incinerate should replace Reverbrate(fork) and Searing Blaze seems rather weak without fetchlands. I also think that running 4 Flamebreak will be a must considering how aggro the meta promises to be. Browbeat has been considered in legacy burn for years and the conclusion has always been that it's a bad card. You always get the option you don't want.

Mr. Safety

08-22-2011, 10:33 AM

Not sure why your playing the cyclers. It seems like playing more threats or burn in those spots is a better plan.

4x Lightning Bolt
4x Rift Bolt
4x Incinerate
4x Magma Jet
3x Lava Spike

4x Grim Lavamancer
4x Goblin Guide
4x Keldon Marauders
4x Hellspark Elemental

4x Shrine of Burning Rage
3x Pyromancer Ascension

18x Mountain

SB:
3x Blood Moon
2x Magus of the Moon
3x Shattering Spree
4x Searing Blaze

No idea what else.

Pyromancer Ascension is a experiment. Not sure if that's staying. Probably going to become Browbeat or something like that. The list Goldfishes pretty fast.

Nice list, and much better than the OP in my honest opinion. I agree, why the cyclers? And 12 of them at that? I think the only really useful card that cantrips for red would be Needle Drop.

I think a setup like this would be fairly good:

4x Goblin Guide
4x Hellspark Elemental
3x Grim Lavamancer

4x Lightning Bolt
4x Incinerate
4x Rift Bolt
4x Lava Spike
4x Magma Jet
3x Shard Volley
4x Searing Blaze
1x Mindstorm Crown

12x Mountain
4x Arid Mesa
4x Scalding Tarn
1x Keldon Megaliths

I think Arc Trail has some really great potential, especially with the mana-dorks in the format like Dryad Arbor, Noble Hierarch, and Birds of Paradise. Searing Blaze seems superior with the fetchlands, though(which also feed Grim Lavamancer.) I think 21 lands is smarter with Shard Volley eating them up, too.

I'm curious what Mindstorm Crown can do for the deck...it's expensive at 3 mana, but with 21 lands and only a singleton in there, I think it could be good for some reach. Browbeat might be the better option, but I think it deserves some playtesting. I also think that Quest for Pure Flame might be an option. It's certainly better than Overblaze, but maybe not as good as Reverberate.

Also:

Shrapnel Blast
Goblin Grenade
Galvanic Blast

Wish there was a way to abuse those 3 cards a little more handily in modern...Darksteel Citadel is still legal, and Mogg War Marshal alongside Goblin Guide may be enough goblins to feed at least 2 grenades.Immolating Souleater seems like it is just BEGGING to be tried out in modern. Attack for a ton of damage, rip it with Shrapnel Blast for 5 more.

rufus

08-22-2011, 11:15 AM

Wish there was a way to abuse those 3 cards a little more handily in modern...Darksteel Citadel is still legal, and Mogg War Marshal alongside Goblin Guide may be enough goblins to feed at least 2 grenades.Immolating Souleater seems like it is just BEGGING to be tried out in modern. Attack for a ton of damage, rip it with Shrapnel Blast for 5 more.

Just converting life to damage at 2:1 with souleater is probably a good deal. It is definitely fast enough to speed things up and improves reach.

As to the list on the OP, Incinerate should replace Reverbrate(fork) and Searing Blaze seems rather weak without fetchlands. I also think that running 4 Flamebreak will be a must considering how aggro the meta promises to be. Browbeat has been considered in legacy burn for years and the conclusion has always been that it's a bad card. You always get the option you don't want.

You can't see it, but I'm facepalming regarding the Incinerate right now. I'm going to try the 'race' approach instead.

Needle Drop
Looks like a good - or at least interesting - find.

Mr. Safety

08-22-2011, 11:24 AM

Needle Drop deals fair damage (1 damage for 1 mana), replaces itself, and feeds Grim Lavamancer. Solid tech IMHO.

I wish we had Lava Dart in modern...that card would be awesome vs. Bant, Rock, and any other decks that use mana dorks.

Brushwagg

08-22-2011, 02:01 PM

Perhaps it's a little naive, but Shrine of Burning Rage and Pyromancer Ascension seem like they're not quite there. The first time the Shrine goes off, you've got to have invested 5 mana which seems like a lot in a deck like this. Pyromancer Ascension is more efficient, but also only goes past break-even on the fourth spell you cast afterward, and that's a best case scenario when the deck expects to finish much more quickly than that.

@Shrine of Burning Rage: It's awesome. The Pharmacist has been playing it in a Legacy burn deck and it just finishes the game. Burn should be packing these as at least a 3 of.

@Ascension: As I said before it's probably not staying. I'm trying it out to see how it goes and sometimes it's hot but most times it's not. So It's probably becoming Browbeat or Flames of the Blood Hand or if it needed Flamebreak.

Tearnov

08-22-2011, 02:10 PM

Why are you using Hellspark instead of Ball Lightning?

Admiral_Arzar

08-22-2011, 03:14 PM

Why are you using Hellspark instead of Ball Lightning?

It takes 2 removal spells to kill Hellspark.

Tearnov

08-22-2011, 03:16 PM

It takes 2 removal spells to kill Hellspark.

but ball lightning could deal more dmg, and is cheaper than using 2x Hellspark

Mr. Safety

08-22-2011, 04:09 PM

Hellspark Elemental has resilience...Ball Lightning DOES NOT. How many people keep close track of burn graveyards? I know I don't do it as a general habit. At some point, your opponent will have to tap their attackers to beat you. That's when you go Unearth on their ass and go "Lightning Bolt, gg".

Concerning RDW/Burn in general, Doran is also the biggest problem that red decks face...he's damn hard to kill and hoses Ball Lightning/Hellspark Elemental bad. And he will be played...A LOT. Dismember in the sideboard if you expect to see Rock decks, which will most likely be sportin' Doran.

Brushwagg

08-22-2011, 04:13 PM

Hellspark costs 2 and still can do 6.

Plus

It takes 2 removal spells to kill Hellspark.

This is huge.

Mr. Safety

08-22-2011, 04:16 PM

Hellspark costs 2 and still can do 6.

Plus...This is huge.

What he said, lol. ^^^^^

Tearnov

08-22-2011, 04:21 PM

Hellspark costs 2 and still can do 6.

Plus

This is huge.

costs four to do 6....
and ball can be used for mancer fuel

trivial_matters

08-22-2011, 04:40 PM

With all the burn you're playing, feeding Grim Lavamancer shouldn't be much of a problem. There's a reason Hellspark is played but Ball Lightning isn't in Legacy; see above.

bakofried

08-22-2011, 07:16 PM

I simply took Pat Chapin's list from SCG LA and made some adjustments. Seems to run fairly smooth.
Lands:
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
12 Mountain
Creatures:
4 Goblin Guide
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Keldon Marauders
Spells:
4 Magma Jet
4 Searing Blaze
4 Lighting Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Arc Trail (definitely a flex slot)

paeng4983

08-22-2011, 08:50 PM

here's what i have.
hhmmm... burn / sligh/ boros
they're all have a similar skeletal frame.
me liking them all :)

8 R_fetches
2 terramorphic expanse
10 mountain

4 seering blaze
4 L.bolt
4 incinerate
4 lava spike
4 rift bolt
2 flame javelin

4 geopede
4 g.guide
4 k.marauders
2 FOD
4 G.lavamancer

mishrazz

08-24-2011, 07:57 PM

Martyr of Ashes from the coldsnap set seems to be worth playing in my opinion. Great against creature decks.
Other cards worth considering in modern burn would be Flame Javelin and Pulse of the Forge.

Anen

08-26-2011, 08:43 PM

I am splashing black for Bob and Blightning and I like it a lot.
Here is my list for reference.

1 Blood Crypt
2 Arid Mesa
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Dragonskull Summit
6 Mountain

4 Dark Confidant
4 Goblin Guide
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Keldon Marauders

2 Shrine of Burning Rage
3 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Blightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt

SB: 4 Volcanic Fallout
SB: 4 Leyline of Punishment
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 3 Relic of Progenitus

Brushwagg

08-26-2011, 10:17 PM

You proabaly want to look at some sort of Moon effect also. Mana bases in this format are really greedy.

deathsorcerer

08-26-2011, 11:42 PM

First things first, people are talking about two different decks in this thread. The OP was a true burn while most people seem to be thinking about sligh. Personally I'm a fan of the pure burn approach. I was playing around with this list in MODO tonight:
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Incinerate
4 Shard Volley
4 Magma Jet
4 Flamebreak
4 Flames of the Blood Hand
18 Mountain
4 Volcanic Hammer
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 Shock
SB: 3 Volcanic Fallout
SB: 4 Ensnaring Bridge
SB: 4 Molten Rain (Should be Blood Moon but I don't have them)
SB: 4 Smash to Smithereens

Observations:
-I did not get to play against aggro so I can't comment there or on the potential of Volcanic Fallout vs Flamebreak or if you even need both.
-I seriously missed Sulfuric Vortex. Flames of the Blood Hand was an ok replacement but I kept running into lifegain from the SB.
-I lost every match I played against 12-post. Glimmervoid just owned me (one game saw the opponent with 8 glimmervoids in play). I'm guessing that blood moon might improve the matchup but this is a big problem.
-Ensnaring Bridge is a great surprise card off the SB. I brought it in against decks that depended on attacking or where otherwise slow. Can buy you a lot of time and is one-sided.
-I was fast enough to keep pace with combo decks. Won against Living End twice 2-0. Beat Hive Mind 2-1 on 3 close games.
-Gifts Control was tough, again because of lifegain. I would bring him close to death and he would start recurring Finks.
-Gitaxian Probe was interesting. The ability to see your opponents hand is useful. I liked it better than manamorphose as a cantrip because it allowed me to keep 1 land hands and be more aggressive. I'm guessing that manamorphose would have more value against aggro where not losing 2 life has more value.

So overall, I hate Kitchen Finks but the deck was lots of fun. I think the deck is missing a replacement for chain lightning as Shard Volley is more of a late game card. I was winning about 70% of my matches I believe.

rufus

08-29-2011, 11:00 AM

First things first, people are talking about two different decks in this thread. The OP was a true burn while most people seem to be thinking about sligh. Personally I'm a fan of the pure burn approach. I was playing around with this list in MODO tonight:
...

-I seriously missed Sulfuric Vortex. Flames of the Blood Hand was an ok replacement but I kept running into lifegain from the SB.
-I lost every match I played against 12-post. Glimmervoid just owned me (one game saw the opponent with 8 glimmervoids in play). I'm guessing that blood moon might improve the matchup but this is a big problem.
-Ensnaring Bridge is a great surprise card off the SB. I brought it in against decks that depended on attacking or where otherwise slow. Can buy you a lot of time and is one-sided.
-I was fast enough to keep pace with combo decks. Won against Living End twice 2-0. Beat Hive Mind 2-1 on 3 close games.
-Gifts Control was tough, again because of lifegain. I would bring him close to death and he would start recurring Finks.
-Gitaxian Probe was interesting. The ability to see your opponents hand is useful. I liked it better than manamorphose as a cantrip because it allowed me to keep 1 land hands and be more aggressive. I'm guessing that manamorphose would have more value against aggro where not losing 2 life has more value.

So overall, I hate Kitchen Finks but the deck was lots of fun. I think the deck is missing a replacement for chain lightning as Shard Volley is more of a late game card. I was winning about 70% of my matches I believe.

Punishing Fire or Pulse of the Forge could help a little.
And the sligh approach does have better reach, perhaps it is a better metagame call.

Sims

08-29-2011, 11:46 AM

Everlasting Torment

It might not be a recurring damage source but it will stop the life gain and will shut off persist creatures (barring Melira being on the table, but you weren't going to let her live, were you?)

deathsorcerer

08-29-2011, 03:24 PM

Talanos

09-20-2011, 08:45 AM

Leyline of Punishment is probably better than Everlasting Torment.

Mr. Safety

09-20-2011, 09:35 AM

Not by a long shot. Leyline doesn't let you 'chip away' at bigger creatures. If you have an active Lavamancer, you can start to really make opposing Tarmogoyfs, Doran, and Knight of the Reliquary shrink down to a manageable size, all the while hosing Kitchen Finks and life gain in general, and the persist-combo and Mono-white control decks specifically.

Torment = good vs. any aggro deck or deck that plays lifegain
Leyline = good only against lifegain

That's the difference, hard-cast mana requirment aside. Leyline is potentially free...but mulligans hurt RDW/burn/sligh so badly that you don't want to have to mulligan to get a free leyline (because 4 mana is just too much to expect with 20 lands, and it might not matter by that time)

4eak

10-12-2011, 11:26 AM

Anarky87

10-14-2011, 01:20 PM

I purchased most of this deck over on ebay (almost entirely foil, which was kinda cool), so I'll be slinging this at our Modern tournaments. I don't have any Lavamancers at the moment, so I'm just running the 12 creature lineup with a 2/2 split on Searing Blaze and FotBH in what would be Lavamancer's spot. I'm not entirely sold on Teetering Peaks yet, either. I want to see how it plays out in an actual game. It has been mostly good so far, but there have been a few times where it slowed my kill down or it got stuck in my hand.

Edit: Also, picking up 4 foil Lava Spikes has been a tremendous pain.

sligh16

10-14-2011, 02:36 PM

Here's the best list I've used so far:

// Lands - 20
4 Scalding Tarn
8 Mountain
4 Teetering Peaks
4 Arid Mesa

// Creatures - 16
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental

// Burn - 24
4 Flames of the Blood Hand
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Shard Volley
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Bolt

// Sideboard
SB: 3 Searing Blaze
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 3 Ratchet Bomb
SB: 3 Everlasting Torment
SB: 3 Magus of the Moon

Flame Javelin instead of Flames can be a good in some matchups. Anti-Lifegain has been important. I really have not liked sweepers that much, they haven't been an ace in my pocket against the aggressive decks I've faced.

I have mixed feelings about Teetering Peaks. It counts as a conditional threat. The question is whether or not the tempo loss is worth the increase in threat density.

peace,
4eak

I would cut 1 Lavamancer and 2 Flames of the Blood Hand to add 3 Shrines of the Burning Rage. Seriously, that card is the nuts. It solves the common problem of burn of losing gas as the game goes long and gives you a solid plan to win the game. The mana investment problem is a mistake IMO, cause you pay 2 mana for a threat that you will only pay again when your hand is empty. Look at it as the modern version of Cursed Scroll, even in this scenario is way more efficient.

Teetering Peeks has been actually good, but I only run 2, cause so many times it has meant losing a valuable turn.

Mr. Safety

10-19-2011, 09:54 AM

Here's the best list I've used so far:

// Lands - 20
4 Scalding Tarn
8 Mountain
4 Teetering Peaks
4 Arid Mesa

// Creatures - 16
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental

// Burn - 24
4 Flames of the Blood Hand
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Shard Volley
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Bolt

// Sideboard
SB: 3 Searing Blaze
SB: 3 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 3 Ratchet Bomb
SB: 3 Everlasting Torment
SB: 3 Magus of the Moon

Flame Javelin instead of Flames can be a good in some matchups. Anti-Lifegain has been important. I really have not liked sweepers that much, they haven't been an ace in my pocket against the aggressive decks I've faced.

I have mixed feelings about Teetering Peaks. It counts as a conditional threat. The question is whether or not the tempo loss is worth the increase in threat density.

peace,
4eak

What were the wipers you were testing? I've used Firespout and Flamebreak well. They hit more threats than Volcanic Fallout or Pyroclasm. Sulfurous Blast seems a little too heavy-costed at 4 mana to use as a wiper, and if you do it at instant speed you have an overcosted Volcanic Fallout.

I think the answer to the Teetering Peaks quandry is to play less than 4 copies. I would probably drop it to 2 copies. If you get it early and are able to abuse it with Goblin Guide, great. If you draw it in the mid-late game, you can play/unearth your Hellspark first, then play your Peeks and hit for 5.

Honestly, if you're looking for a land-based threat, I've been really happy with using Ghitu Encampment in my modern Team Italia concoction. The first strike can be quite handy. I like it better than Keldon Megaliths, but both cards are solid options for filling in the 1-2 land-based threats that round out a sligh deck. GE gets even better if you side in wipers and can keep opposing threats under wraps with Searing Blaze/Bolts.

On another topic: has anyone been trying to use Kiln Fiend or Zo-Zu the Punisher?

4eak

10-19-2011, 11:46 AM

I've tried the first 3 sweepers you've mentioned. I'm not too worried about having sweepers for aggressive decks at this point. Searing Blaze is enough. Oddly, I have come back to running Volcanic Fallout, as there are decks where it is strong (even if it isn't backbreaking) - I also love its uncounterability and instant speed.

I agree on Teetering Peaks, and I'm done sitting on the fence about the card. The card is simply too conditional. You only get to attempt to use it as a threat half the time you see it - those are the cases in which you had other land and a creature. There are still plenty of other conditions to meet for it to be successful (e.g. not running into removal). Teetering Peaks pushes you to keep land-heavy hands, with the exception of Goblin Guide (for the most part), and that isn't where this deck wants to be. All too often, I'm wishing it was a mountain.

Kiln Fiend is merely okay. It is a terrible topdeck, conditional, and forces you to play awkwardly to abuse it. Zo-zu is slow, but against certain decks, he can be a must a answer card - most of the time, however, Moon is simply better than Zo-Zu.

peace,
4eak

Mr. Safety

10-19-2011, 12:43 PM

I tried it out in a sligh deck, and Teetering Peaks went from 4...to 2...to 1...to none. The only non-mountain card I would support in sligh would be Ghitu Encampment or Keldon Megaliths, and then only as singletons.

If Spark Elemental and Ball Lightning were viable threats, they would push Peaks better. Why waste removal on a creature that is leaving anyways? As it is, removal becomes essentially a 'counterspell' against those type of threats. Against aggro, an 8/1 Ball Lightning on turn 4 seems sexy, but why slow down your mana base for that? Attack for 6 with trample and play some Bolts.

PunkRocker1134

10-19-2011, 08:04 PM

What are the thoughts here on dismember in the board? I can't think of any other good way to combat Twin other than race it.

Brushwagg

10-20-2011, 07:15 AM

I don't know about anybody else but I'm finding Keldon Maurders being kind of lack luster. I think I'm going to cut 2 and add in Countryside Crusher. I feel that when it's in play it can help the draws out a little but by milling lands.

@SB:I think you need to have some sort of anti-life gain. Right now I'm running 3x Leyline of Punishment.

Boots

10-20-2011, 07:50 AM

As it stands no in Tokyo from what I have seen even touches modern, so I've durdle around a bit on MODO. I have to try the shrine plan, nor shard volley, consider the shard volley lingering bias from slinging bolt spells in legacy.

One thing to consider with the teetering peaks problems, consider Ghitu Encampment if you want a land with utility. I played a lot of red in Zendikar Standard, and I would question the peaks issue even then.

Mr. Safety

10-20-2011, 07:54 AM

I agree...the Keldon's were very dissapointing to me in testing. Your creature suite is best left at Grims, Goblin Guides, and Hellsparks. Some use Figure of Destiny (which is arguably a better top-deck late game than Crusher.) Taurean Mauler seems good as well.

I'm looking a little bit 'outside the box' for creatures in modern. Here are some that are on my mind:

Taurean Mauler
Ashenmoor Gouger
Stigma Lasher
Crag Puca
Boggart Ram-Gang

4eak

10-24-2011, 02:34 PM

I'm surprised you find Keldon disappointing. 2 for 2 guaranteed damage is fine. The rest is conditional gravy. When you receive the benefits of gravy (mmm..delicious), the card either provides 3 damage (making it 2 for 5, amazingly efficient) or acts a blocker, which usually amounts to buying you a full turn and a draw + untap step against decks which win with creatures. Of course, removal makes it weaker (no gravy), but in the majority of cases, when played correctly, it is either 2 for [5 damage] or 2 for [2 damage + draw + untap].

peace,
4eak

Pulp_Fiction

11-10-2011, 11:23 PM

This is awesome, I made 2 top 4 splits in 2 days at my local card shop playing burn. Yesterday in Legacy and today in Modern. While this is technically RDW ... who really cares, its fast red that a lot of decks have SERIOUS problems with. About 15ish people showed up so it was a good turnout. Here is what I played:

4x Keldon Marauders
4x Rift Bolt
4x Grim Lavamancer
4x Hellspark Elemental
4x Lava Spike
4x Magma Jet
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Goblin Guide
3x Shard Volley
2x Incinerate
2x Magus of the Scroll

4x Arid Mesa
3x Scalding Tarn (would be 4 but I don't have it)
13x Mountains
1x Keldon Megaliths

SB
4x Leyline of Punishment
4x Shattering Spree
3x Pithing Needle
3x Blood Moon
1x Magus of the Moon (should be the 4th Moon)

Round 1 - UGr Snapcaster/Delver Aggro Burn Control Thing
g1 - Goblin Guide gets in there for a bunch as he tried to handle my Grims and Scrolls ... he never had a chance.
g2 - I get really manaflooded but Megaliths becomes active and kills all his threats and Hellsparks get there.

Round 2 - 4C Zoo
g1 - I keep a super fast hand and just kill him. We trade beats back and forth but my shit has a lot of reach :)
g2 - Same as before except I drop turn 4 Blood Moon. I draw 6 lands in a row after this ... still win cause he is 100% locked out.

Round 3 - ID

Round 4 - 3c Zoo
g1 - Goblin Guide on turn 1 again followed by burn.
g2 - Turn 3 Blood Moon almost wins me the game ... he rips a basic forest off the top and burns my creatures away.
g3 - I keep a 1 lander with 2 Grims and 1 drops .... turn 5 I finally draw a second land and win the race. Keldon Marauders WENT THE DISTANCE HERE. Stalled for 2 turns and I finally hit the next land I needed. It should be noted that a single Lavamancer kept me at 16 life for those few mana-screwed turns. Really cool game, lands finally showed up and he Paths my Grims. With Marauders defending I am sitting pretty burning his face and finish him with Lightning Bolt at 3 life.

In short, this deck is really good. I TOTALLY wanted to play Affinity but didn't. I think there is a ton of potential here. The Megaliths ... I really like and wat 2 but it feels like the wrong call.

Magus of the Scroll always drew out a burn spell. He is Grim # 5 and 6. I would absolutely keep it in here.

Aside from that i don't feel like the deck has any obscure or weird choices. The only changes I would make is +1 Scalding Tarn -1 Mountain, +1 Blood Moon -1 Magus of the Moon and turn the Needles into Searing Blaze.

Mr. Safety

11-12-2011, 11:11 AM

DragoFireheart

11-12-2011, 04:29 PM

Pulp_Fiction

11-12-2011, 05:19 PM

Nice call on Magus of the Scroll. I would say that Grim Lavamancer is easily the top 1-2 creatures in modern. He provides repeatable removal and reach. While top decking, Magus does the same but for a little more mana. Awesome.

How do you feel about Ghitu Encampment? I've been using it in my BRw aggro control deck in modern, and it has done nicely. That deck is threat light, so an additional creature threat is nice. Keldon Megaliths seems great as well, I've used it in RDW in years past with good success.

I am not sure the correct number but I prefer the Megaliths. There is so much spot removal that I feel the Megaliths will be the greater overall threat, and it wins weird combat wars and gives the deck more reach. It also kills opposing active Grim Lavamancers :) I am just not sure how many I want, the coming into play tapped thing is bad in multiples. I think I'm gonna test out 2x but for now I would say 1x is the correct call.

While I haven't actually utilized the Magus that much, I used to play it in standard alongside the Megaliths and it was really good back then. I have to agree that Grim is one of the best creatures in the format. The only problem with Magus is that it doesn't become active for a while but ... he gives you more 1cc creatures and can swing for early damage and he owns the late game. Especially against Elf combo which is what I was testing against a little while ago. While it doesn't come online as soon as Grim, it still acts as more pseudo copies of it; now I don't think you would want 4x, but I would totally see adding another in if ur meta calls for it.

Mr. Safety

11-13-2011, 08:22 PM

I would say 4 Grims, 1-2 Magus of the Scroll tops.

I've tested Mindstorm Crown in RDW before...I have come to the conclusion that Magma Jet has a lot more value in the early game, and even late game can set you up to top-deck FTW. Crown is nice to rip 2 cards each turn (similar to Phyrexian Arena or Bob) but it doesn't help you if you're behind in board/card advantage, have 3 lands in hand, and still need at least 2 bolts to win. :frown:

Brushwagg

01-15-2012, 08:57 AM

So lets kick the dust off this thread.

I ened up playing Sligh yesterday is PGTRS Mox Peral Event and the outcome was less wasn't that great. Rounds 2-3 ran into Kitchen Finks and life gain and couldn't find the Leyline of Punishment in my opening 7. I don't Mulligan to a crappy hand just to find it though either.

The list I played

4x Goblin Guide
4x Grim Lavamancer
4x Keldon Marauders
4x Hellspark Elemental
2x Countryside Crusher
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Rift Bolt
4x Magma Jet
3x Lava Spike
3x Shard Volley
2x Incinerate
2x Flames of the Blood Hand
3x Shrine of Burning Rage
4x Scalding Tarn
3x Arid Mesa
10 Mountain

SB
3x Pithing Needle
3x Leyline of Punishment
3x Volcanic Fallout
3x Blood Moon
3x Shattering Spree

The only thing that I didn't side in all day was the Spree but I didn't play againt any deck that I needed them although there was Affinity, Pod and other decks I would've brought them in.

I'm cutting the Crusher. Everytime he hit play he was Pathed, which was a wasted turn for me and Flame of the Blood Hand is probably going to get cut.

What are peoples thoughts on splashing black for Dark Confidant and Rain of Gore?

pocari79

01-16-2012, 01:58 PM

Went to a GPT for GP Lincoln a couple of weeks ago at Hairy T North. As I didn't have any of the Ravnica shocklands, I decided to play burn since I had most of the cards for it anyways. I found this list online that was played at worlds which suited my tastes:

8 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
3 Sulfurous Springs
1 Blood Crypt
4 Goblin Guide
3 Keldon Marauder
1 Ball Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Bump in the Night
4 Shard Volley
4 Incinerate
3 Searing Blaze
3 Flame Javelin
2 Volcanic Hammer

Sideboard:
4 Smash to Smithereens
2 Combust
2 Flamebreak
1 Searing Blaze
3 Rain of Gore
3 Torpor Orb

The 1 Ball Lightning in the maindeck was there because I couldn't find another black border copy of Volcanic Hammer and I wasn't too sure on what to put in the board. The original deck had 2 Ball Lightnings in the board but I couldn't think of what matchups you'd want to board them in so I changed it to more Rain of Gore. Also, I didn't have any other lands to could make black and red other than Sulfurous Springs and I borrowed the one Blood Crypt from a friend. Not sure if having just one shockland was enough but whatever, I was willing to risk it. There ended up being around 20 people so we had 5 rounds cut to top 8.

Round 1: Jund

Game 1: This game wasn't really close as he mulled to 5 on the play and since he was behind on cards, he wasn't able to have his shocklands come into play tapped which helped my cause even more.

Game 2: I figured he'd board in Kitchen Finks so I brought in the Rain of Gore and Torpor Orb for Shard Volleys and the Ball Lightning. This ended up being a close match as my only lands were Fetchlands and Sulfurous Springs so I took damage every time I cast a spell which ended up mattering as he was able to get me down to 2 life when I only had 3 lands in play and 2 of them were Sulfurous Springs. He was at one but he had way more than lethal on board so I had to draw a burn spell that wasn't a Flame Javelin. Thankfully I drew a Keldon Marauder and was able to ping him for the win.

1-0

Round 2: U/R Storm

Game 1: I'm not sure what happened here but I dropped a Goblin Guide and it kept getting in there for 2 as he kept on drawing with serum visions and sleight of hand. Meanwhile, he was Remanding my Keldon Marauders multiple times which got really annoying. I was representing lethal next turn and he wasn't able to kill me which was weird considering that I killed him at around turn 7 or 8?

Game 2: I had nothing in my board for this matchup and thought he might even switch up to a Splinter Twin kill as it's the same colors. So I boarded in the Combusts and Torpor Orbs in place of the Keldon Marauders and Ball Lightning. He killed me pretty fast this game as I tapped out at the end of my turn 3 when I cast a Lava Spike and
a volcanic Hammer and then he was able to cast Pestermite at the end of my turn and Twin it up on his turn.

Game 3: This game I mulled to 6 and kept a one lander which was pretty horrid. I did have enough 1cc burn spells for around 4 turns but he was able to kill me with two massive grapeshots before he died.

1-1

Round 3: Melira Combo

Game 1: This game lasted really long as I wasn't quite sure what he was playing since he was playing birds but not accelerating into anything except for Kitchen Finks which were quite annoying. Unfortunately, I had the draw with mulitiple Keldon Marauders so I had to keep on trading with Kitchen Finks which really sucked. By the end of this
match, he had gained a total of 10 life with 3 Kitchen Finks and he had revealed the Birthing Pod the turn before I was able to kill him.

Game 2: The smashes and the torpor orbs came in and the shard volleys, Keldon Marauders and Ball Lightnings came out. This game he just kept on drawing birds and elves and I couldn't kill any of them as I kept on drawing Lava Spikes and Bump in the Nights. He was able to get a Melira and a Kitchen Finks in play but thankfully had no sac outlet and I never drew any of my torpor orbs but had a smash ready for the pod and I was able to kill him before he drew the pod.

2-1

Round 4: 4C Zoo w/ Geist of St. Traft

Game 1: I don't really remember these games in detail but I do know he took a fair bit of damage from his own shocklands and I ended up burning him out before he could kill me.

Game 2: sideboarded in torpor orbs cause i knew he had squadron hawks in the main. Took out shard volleys again. this game was pretty much a blowout as my turn 1 guide got bolted and then on turn 2 he landed a 3/4 goyf because there was a land, instant and creature in the yard. *sigh*. I did something useless and then he landed goyf and just started beating face and an Elspeth landed the turn after that.

Game 3: Took out the torpor orbs as they were totally freaking useless and just switched a Ball Lightning for a Searing Blaze. This was a really close game as I was able to get him down to 12 life on his turn 4. He decided to play a shockland untapped to play a Geist to bring himself to 10 life to make himself tapped out and I ten points of burn in hand with enough lands in play.

3-1

Round 5: U/R Storm

He was 1st and I was 4th after four rounds so we drew

3-1-1

Top 8: G/B Rock

Game 1: I wasn't sure what he was playing but he kept on fetching a bunch of basics and played sakura tribe elders. He was able to stabilize by inquisitioning my burn spells and pulsing away my guides. He ended up killing me with elephant tokens from Garruk 1.0. *sigh*

Game 2: I kept a totally janky hand with just 1 land (sulfurous springs), 2 guides and 3 1cc burn spells. I figured I could cast virtually every spell in my hand for a couple of turns so it wouldn't be that bad. I ended up killing him with goblin guide attacking every turn and I kept on bolting him so he took 5 damage every turn.

Game 3: I kept a 4 lander with and he was able to duress one of my burn spells away on his turn 1 and that was pretty much it as I drew an additional two lands. I would have had him but he resolved a Obstinate Baloth to bring himself to 7 life and I had a flashback bump in the night the turn before I died so if i was able to draw my rain of gore or torpor orb a lot earlier, he wouldn't have been able to gain that 3 life and I could have won. Oh well.

Afterthoughts:

The deck really only needs one Blood Crypt. I always got a fetchland or a Sulfurous Springs so I was always able to cast my black spells whenever I needed to. Also, the Springs were better than I thought as my other alternatives would be the M10 or Scars duallands and I hate those conditional come into play tapped lands. I never drew the Ball Lightning so I have no idea if it was good or not. The 3 Rain of Gore and 3 Torpor Orbs were way too much for the sideboard as taking out 6 burn spells dilutes the deck too much. If I were to play the deck next time, I would probably put it as a 2/2 split as there's more Finks and Baloths in my meta. If there's more twin decks around then you'd probably want a 3 torpor orb, 1 rain of gore split. The sideboard would look something like this next time I play:

3 Smash to Smithereens
2 Combust
2 Rain of Gore
2 Torpor Orb
1 Searing Blaze
3 Mindbreak Trap
2 Flamebreak

Also, I felt after the tournament that I was boarding the wrong cards out all the time. I kept taking out Shard Volleys and putting in cards that had high CC which made my curve higher. I should have taken the Flame Javelins out instead and leave the Shard Volleys in.

When Dark Ascension comes out, Faithless Looting will definately be going in the deck as a 3 or 4 of. Not sure what it will replace exactly but Shard Volleys or Volcanic Hammers are the candidates at the moment.

Borealis

02-03-2012, 11:14 AM

I've been looking at BumpBurn for a little while now, and wanted to post a rough list in here, both for my own reference and to get some opinions on it. Dark Confidant is too good not to be running right now. Anyway, here is the list:

8 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
2 Sulfurous Springs
2 Blood Crypt

4 Goblin Guide
3 Keldon Marauder
3 Figure of Destiny
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Dark Confidant

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Bump in the Night
4 Shard Volley
3 Searing Blaze

SB would be similar to pocari79's above, and I also stole his mana base for the most part. Admittedly, I haven't even tested the deck out at all, but I do think a black splash is worthy of abusing, and BOB does that better than any creature I could imagine in this deck. I'm keeping the curve low because of that, and it's possible it needs another land. Lavamancer and Figure help shore up the deck's midgame, but the rest of the cards in the deck will pretty much end things as quick as possible. Rain of Gore, Smash to Smithereens, another Searing Blaze, and probably some Mindbreak Traps and Sulfur Elementals out of the board should keep most problematic matchups in check. I'll test it out though and come back with some real results once I fine tune the list.

Daige

02-16-2012, 07:09 AM

How about Faithless Looting then? One mana to discard some extra lands, hopefully giving you even more burn.

pocari79

06-18-2012, 12:30 PM

Went to a modern tournament over the weekend. Haven't done any playing on the format at all so I decided to take the burn deck. I think I played a suboptimal build as I couldn't find the 4th Vexing Devil plus there were some other cards that weren't maindeck worthy and bad sideboard cards. Here's the list

8 Mountain
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Sulfurous Springs
1 Blood Crypt
4 Goblin Guide
4 Keldon Marauder
3 Vexing Devil
2 Grim Lavamancer
1 Hellspark Elemental
4 Bump in the Night
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
3 Shard Volley
4 Incinerate*
3 Searing Blaze

1 Rain of Gore
1 Shattering Spree
2 Torpor Orb
2 Smash to Smithereens
2 Combust
3 Pyroclasm
4 Mindbreak Trap

The one Hellspark should be a Vexing Devil. Also, in the Incinerate slot, I tried out stuff like Faithless Looting amongst other cards but everything else just seems extremely underwhelming. I was never happy when I drew Incinerate either though. I was also unsure about the Grim Lavamancer slots but again, I didn't know what else to play and repeatable burn seemed kind of decent and as a two of, it meant that I shouldn't see it very often.

Round 1 - Melira Pod

I lost this in three games and he had maindeck wall of roots which always came down on turn two which made attacking totally useless. Game 3 I had Rain of Gore and Torpor Orb in play by turn 3 but still lost because of chord of calling. This made me realize that I really need Grafdigger's Cage in the board instead of Torpor Orb as it switches off Chord, Pod and the persist creatures.

Round 2 - U/R Storm

I won this in two games. Game 1 he had a turn 2 pyromancer's ascension but didn't play any sleight of hands or serum visions and I had too much fast pressure on him. Game 2 I kept a weak hand of just one land but had two mindbreak traps. Somehow I actually got him down to around 4 life by turn 5 with just one land in the first 4 turns and he tried comboing off. I knew I had won the game once he tapped his remaining blue source to probe me since he couldn't counter my traps in my hand. I showed him the two traps and he conceded.

Round 3 - Burn

I believe I won this in two games. Each game was unbelievably interactive since the burn decks these days play so many creatures and the math keeps on changing every turn. Game 2 really showed the power of Keldon Marauders when you're on the draw. He had a creature heavy hand with two hellspark elementals and I was forced to bolt one and block the other two because I was down on damage. However, since he spent 6 mana on three turns not dealing any damage to me while I was able to deal 4 damage to him, I started winning the damage race. He was also playing Spark Elementals and these games really showed me how good they are in the majority of the situations.

Round 4 - Tron

We drew to make sure we could make top 8.

Top 8 - Affinity w/Red

This was the standard affinity deck with galvanic blasts. Probably had the Shrapnel Blasts too but I never saw them. I took this in 3 games and the third game was pretty close as both of us were on top deck mode and I had an attacker that could kill him but he kept on drawing a blocker. I ended up drawing a Pyroclasm to get rid of his blocker before he could draw a burn spell or an Etched Champion and attacked for the win.

Top 4 - Grixis Affinity

This was an affinity build more like legacy affinity with thoughtcasts, Tezz 2.0, Master of Etherium, etc.. This wasn't really a competitive match as game 1 he had the nut draw and game 2 I had the nut draw. Game 3 was really interesting as I had a one lander (a fetchland) but it had 2 lightning bolts, 1 rift bolt, 1 shattering spree and 2 searing blazes. I felt like if I could draw the 2nd land in the first 3 turns I could have a good chance of surviving. Unfortunately that was not the case as I missed my second land drop for like 5 turns but I was able to stabilize and when I got my second land, I was able to shattering spree a master of etherium and a signal pest leaving him with an ornithopter and a memnite so he would need to topdeck something amazing to win and he ended up topdecking another master of etherium the next turn and I was unable to remove that master.

Not sure if I should have mulled that hand but I wasn't sure what else I could get that would be better than that other than a hand with two lands and all interactive spells.

Next time if i were to play the deck again, I would definately change the Incinerates for Spark Elementals in the maindeck and replace the Hellspark Elemental with the 4th Vexing Devil. In the sideboard, I would get rid of the Torpor Orb and replace it with Grafdigger's Cage. Also, if there's not going to be a lot of twin, then the Combusts can be replaced with something else, maybe another Shattering Spree and another Pyroclasm.

Borealis

06-22-2012, 03:10 PM

Nice Report Polcari. Currently, I'm still on Boros in Modern, but I'm going to pull out the old RDW machine at some point for a tournament. Here's the list I'm starting from.

4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
6 Mountain
1 Keldon Megaliths

4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Vexing Devil

4 Bump in the Night
2 Flames of the Blood Hand
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
3 Shard Volley

Sideboard
3 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Shattering Spree
4 Torpor Orb

I pulled it from the recent Modern Dailies, only change was adding the singleton Megaliths. I'd have to do some testing and thinking on the SB plan, but I'm pretty sure I'd do it differently than he did. A mix of Shattering Spree and Smash to Smithereens seems better, and I'm not sure about the discard and Torpor Orb (Grafdigger might be better there). Ensaring Bridge is pretty solid tech though, and the maindeck seems just about perfect to me.

Entromancer

06-28-2012, 03:02 PM

We had a new game shop open down here, so I'm considering taking a shot at Modern with a Sligh build. I wanted to try something different from lobbing Marauders/Hellsparks/Burn at the dome.

1-CC
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Goblin Guide
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt

2-CC
4 Plated Geopede
4 Ember Hauler
4 Kargan Dragonlord
3 Searing Blaze

3-CC
You could say Kargan Dragonlord, since its a better version of Ashenmoor Gouger.

X-CC
1 Banefire

4-CC
0

5-CC
4 Tarox Bladewing

So, with the breakdown of casting cost, here is the deck:

4 Figure of Destiny
4 Goblin Guide
4 Plated Geopede
4 Kargan Dragonlord
4 Ember Hauler
4 Tarox Bladewing

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
3 Searing Blaze
1 Banefire

4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Teetering Peaks
14 Mountain

Sideboard: 15
3 Koth of the Hammer
3 Manabarbs
3 Magma Jet
4 Vexing Shusher
2 Chandra's Phoenix

Ideally you drop a land every turn and end the game with either a Tarox or with Kargan Dragonlord. I chose Kargans/Haulers because they offer a study body as well as decent abilities.

Tacosnape

07-02-2012, 03:34 PM

Pretty new to Modern. Been test piloting the following list to pretty decent success:

10 Mountain
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn

4 Goblin Guide
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Vexing Devil
2 Hellspark Elemental

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Forked Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Rift Bolt
2 Dismember
2 Flame Slash

SB:
4 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Smash to Smithereens
2 Dismember (I hate Wall of Roots. So much.)
2 Flame Slash
3 Pithing Needle

I guess two questions:

1. I hate Vexing Devil. With a passion. I think he's the worst card in the deck. Is it worth splashing blue -just- for Delver of Secrets, and maybe Vapor Snag to replace the SB Flame Slashes?

2. Even with Dismembers and Grafdiggers and Needles all trolling up Naya Pod, I still get railed on by it occasionally. What are my options here? All my cards are pretty decent against them, and most of my games I win involve Searing Blaze/Forked Bolt/Dismember, but by the same token, all their cards are pretty solid against me too (Wall of Roots, Kitchen Finks). I was playing Nightbird's Clutches, but I found it to suck against most other decks in existence. Thoughts?

Phoenix Ignition

07-02-2012, 05:23 PM

I think if you're going the Sligh route you should check out Boros or Boros+blue. Delver is quite good, as in every other format, as is Geist of Saint Traft in this type of deck. If you only wanted to splash blue, Snapcaster Mage is a must include so that you can get rid of some of the worse burn spells (and having a body is always a good thing). Remand is also a great card in Boros+blue. Steppe Lynx is infinitely better than Vexing Devil.

If you're talking about the Pod that runs kiki-jiki and restoration angel alongside the Melira combo I'd suggest some cards in the sideboard like Torpor Orb and graveyard hate. I'd actually use Relic of Progenitus over Graffdiggers, since it actually does something in response to Pridemage killing it. Added bonus is that Torpor Orb is good against all sorts of decks like Faeries, Splinter Twin, and every pod, and sometimes the more controlly Uwr decks that run Restoration Angel + Vendilion Clique. I don't like Graffdiggers as much against things like Past in Flames decks either since they run 2-3 Echoing Truth and at least you can pop the Relic or Crypt in response to them bouncing it and going off.

Squirrely

09-22-2012, 07:31 AM

Hi guys,

Is anyone still playing/testing a version of this? I'm thinking about selling most of my stuff, but want to keep maybe 1 deck for Legacy and Modern. This overlaps nicely and is something I erally like playing.

I just wondered how good it actually is in the current metagame, having no experience with modern so far.

Cheers!

SpikeyMikey

01-24-2013, 04:27 PM

Pulp_Fiction

05-23-2013, 05:55 PM

How does the printing of Skullcrack and/or Boros Charm affect this deck? I don't think that you can go straight R/W just to incorporate Charm; Bump in the Night is too important to the deck and Rakdos Charm is a great flexible burn spell, but is it worth splashing white for Boros Charm and board options like Canonist or Disenchant?

Skullcrack and I have seen it run a few times but ... not 100% on it. Going Boros is unique, I love Helix and Charm. I wouldn't play those 3 colors though, if you want 3 color go R/g/b.

Alright, so this is a serious necro but I have started to get into Modern in the last 2 months and quite like the format. I have posted a few times on mtgsalvation and ... jesus christ, the level of stupidity is ... hard to take. So I am trying to see if I can get some Modern discussion going over here. This was the last tournament report(s) I posted before they yet again debated Grim Lavamancer in burn/rdw ....

I played burn once like a year ago and made top 4 (always a split of prizes) at my local tourney, didn't think anything of it since I was more concerned with Legacy. Then I really got out of Legacy (due to prices) and started getting into modern. The first tournament I played in I made top 8out of 20ish people playing this:

4x Vexing Devil
4x Grim Lavemancer
4x Goblin Guide
4x Figure of Destiny
4x Keldon Marauders
4x Magma Jet
4x Rift Bolt
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Shard Volley
3x Lave Spike
2x Incinerate

4x Scalding Tarn
4x Arid Mesa
12x Mountain

SB
3x Pithing Needle
4x Blood Moon
4x Pyroclasm
4x Shattering Spree

And I should have written a tournament report from last week, because I ran the gauntlet of decks. Here is what I remember from that 20ish Player Tournament:

r1: Kiki-Pod (1-2)
Wall of Roots and main Spellskite kept me off a lot, Blood Moon did hose him but ... g3 he drew 3x Finks and 3x Baloths that ... I couldn't deal with.

r2: B/R Burn Mirror (2-1)
Another uneventful pairing, if you get Grim to stick you win ... its just a race and luck plays a big part of this. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

r3: Meliria Pod (2-0)
Again, I apologize, this was 2 weeks ago but I don't remember exactly what happened. It came down to me finally realizing how MPod works and burning away all relevant threats. g1 .... I had a double Guide draw that he couldn't deal with and g2 I played around his instant fetch cards, killed enablers and managed to win.

r4: R/G Tron (2-0)
This is not even worthy of posting. Could I actually remember the games it would have been a slaughter. They can not win against you, by the time they draw anything relevant the game is over. Before the match he said it was a bad pairing ... I didn't even board in Blood Moon ... thats how un-even this match is. As long as you don't over-extend into Pyroclasm ... you just win.

Top 8

r5: Jund (2-1)
g1: I just race him, I had a 2x Guide draw and just win.
g2: He manages to stabilize at 5ish life after a battle. I had 2 active Devils and he had Path + Abrupt Decay ... double Goyfs make short work of me. I had outs but ... thats how the cards roll sometimes.
g3: Its my turn to put the hurt on, I get a double Guide hand with a Devil in it. He plays Inquisition, taking my second Guide and I draw a 3rd Guide next turn ... I easily win the game on turn 4-5 after double Rift Bolt.

Now from this week, it was about the same turnout:

r1: U/G Infect (2-0)
g1: I burn away his threats (keeping the free pump spell in mind) and ride FoD to victory.
g2: He mulls to 5 and is never really in the game. I keep a hand of defense and kill him on turn 6-7 with 5 bolts in hand. I had a hand of 15 damage at one point but my opener was 3 instant burn spells and 4 lands ... it is what it is.

r2: U/W Control
g1: I get double Devil and he manages to stabilize at 2 life ... I draw blanks and 2x random burn spells that get Mana Leaked ... it happens.
g2: Basically the same thing except he has more Spellskites .... bad luck does happen ... I did not draw well or have any kind of decent hand in this matchup I should dominate.

r3: U/W Merfolk
We ID because we both make top 8 after the other 2, whom have worse tie-breakers have 2 play. Cheap way in but ... whatever ... why leave luck as an option?

Top 8

r4: U/W Control
This is a rematch from before, he is one of my buddies but he is 15ish minutes late for the top 8 after taking his GF out for ice cream. He starts the match with a game loss.
g1: I have a double Guide hand he can't deal with. They just do so much damage and I easily burn him out.

Now, we played 3 more games after this and I won 2 of them (all games post-board). Just to make sure had he been here for top 8 when it started that there was no discrepancy as to why he lost. Burn/RDW worked exactly as it shoud and the last game we played I had Double Devil and ... thats just sick ... this deck is absurdly good.

Here is what I currently know about Burn in the current meta .... it is a threat. Now, my SB is geared for Affinity/Robots and Bogle, because those seem to be what people want 2 play here. But this list is fast as hell and I am posting here against my better judgment. Last time I posted on MTGSalvation people debated me on the inclusion of Grim Lavamancer in burn .... I stopped posting for like a year due to the immense ignorance of that. But perhaps that was Legacy (even though the argument still does not apply because Grim IS burn) and maybe Modern forums will be more civil (they weren't thus I am here now). Grim Lavamancer is the best card in the deck ... pure and simple, but, I have to say Figure of Destiny has been a serious MVP, the longer the games go the better it gets. I have made it an 8/8 at least twice (and swung for lethal).

The other card worthy of debate is Vexing Devil. It is the most side-boarded card out after Lave Spike but ... g1 it is such a beating. He ALWAYS deals 4 damage, the problem is with burn/rdw ... or whatever my list is, sometimes u want a t1 creature to stick. I kind of feel like VDevil is the epitome of burn, sometimes it works exactly as it should, and sometimes its just whatever. But in a list aiming to kill someone as fast a possible ... I can't see a reason not to run 4x. Thoughts? If there is any interest, tonight I am playing at my local tournement with a R/b/g list and can post the list and report.

yankeedave

05-24-2013, 04:51 AM

I am currently playing a mono-r list with no Shard Volleys or Incinerates but with maindeck Molten Rain, as it slows down a lot of the combo decks enough to race them. I will check my list and post it up for you over the weekend, but I defo think Grim Lavamancer is good. I run him and I don't have any fetches in my list. I only have 3, but that is a concession to the lack of fetches. Before you ask, I don't run them because it is a foiled out Legacy burn list that I ported across and I can't afford the foil fetches yet :)

Hireax

05-24-2013, 07:42 AM

@Pulp_Fiction

How do you feel about the Keldon Marauders in your list? Although I get why you play them, would you not often prefer to see any alternative burn spell in its place? More to the point, how often does it do it's actual 5 damage for you? The only upside I see so far is that they'd have to use a removal spell/block your guy and take 2 damage...

Other than that, moreover more outo of curiosity, does staying mono red provide enough advantages over splashing into another color? Sure you'd get hit less by your own Moon effects, but I can see the advantages of adding a color to gain a little more reach when your opponent is about to stabillize.

Pretty nice to see you do well with this list though, don't get me wrong on that :D

Cheers,

HammafistRoob

09-07-2013, 10:40 PM

I've been playing Modern recently since the LGS in my area does weekly Modern and only monthly Legacy :(. Anyways, I've come up with a very budget list that consistently goldfishes turn 4 wins. Against actual opponents though, it's a turn 5 or 6 deck and the meta in my area is more laid back and not ready for 20burnDOTdec. Here's the list I've gotten 2nd(~13players) and 3rd(~15players). The only shitty thing is that there is no top 4 playoffs since they start@7pm, so tie breakers matter a lot.

//LANDS-18
18 Mountain
(Don't have the fetches yet, but this base has been working fine so far)

//CREATURES-24
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Goblin Guide
4 Vexing Devil
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Spark Elemental

//SPELLS-18
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
2 Shard Volley
4 Magma Jet

//SIDEBOARD-15
4 Stigma Lasher
4 Shattering Spree
4 Skullcrack
3 Grafdigger's Cage

I actually don't sideboard unless I'm up against Batterskull/Wurmcoil since I feel like it onky slows the deck down and hurts my topdecks when I have them low on life. Grim Lavamancers do still work without the fetches, just not AS well as they would otherwise. They get boarded out for quicker damage(Skullcrack) against Scapeshift or Tron, but they wreck almost my entire meta so they're still worth maindecking. Anyone else playing RDW? I've been having a lot of success with a very cheap build and it's actually a lot funner than I thought it would be.

HammafistRoob

09-07-2013, 10:41 PM