UR Pyro Counter Burn

[ahg113]

In the spirit of sharing a cheap Modern deck that a newbie could play, I offer this - Money card(s) - Remand, Snapcaster and Scalding Tarn, all pretty reasonably available.

I've been having a lot of fun with this on cockatrice lately. It is a balanced deck with game against everything. In SB games against greedy manabases especially it shines. (However, while playtesting against Blue Tron, did have a great game where I got him to one life, Blood Moon in play, and he pulled off the victroy on the back of Wurmcoil Engine, life happens.)

Always been a fan of Counter Burn, and Delver had been the original star of the deck. However, this was misplaced, as just playing spells to protect a delver or two was sub-optimal. Playing spells and benefiting from those spells made all the difference, and Guttersnipe replaced Delver. Recently changed the selection around to include some Squelch's, putting in three and subtracting a Spellsnare, and two Manamorphose.

Deck is pretty self explanitory, don't over commit to a board that can be wiped, try not to play a creature without casting at least a follow-up spell for some trigger activations. More control than sligh, but can win fast as well.

3 Guttersnipe
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Snapcaster Mage

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mana Leak
2 Manamorphose
3 Izzet Charm
3 Spell Snare
3 Squelch
4 Remand

4 Serum Visions
4 Gixtaxian Probe
3 Pillar of Flame

4 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Island
2 Mountain

Side-Board
2 Pithing Needle
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Spell Pierce
3 Echoing Truth
4 Blood Moon

Blood Moon almost always comes in, Manamorphose out, and typically either Pillar, Spellsnare, or Izzet Charm pending on match-up. Echoing Truth has been clutch, as has Relic, and for some reason, people don't expect Spell Pierce... [PhillipJ.Fry]even though it's a blue deck playing counterspells...[/PhillipJ.Fry]

Manabase is intentionally light (16), because lands are stupid. Not often, but every once in a while this backfires, but not enough to make me want to change.

Basically, I love Mana Leak, I love blood moon, had Snappy's, had the U/R lands, and then figured, how to be a dick and profit? Pyro and Guttersnipe- who does great work. I'm on the fence whether or not the new chimera has a spot in the deck, replacing one Snappy and one Pyro for two of the flying rams.

Frown town = Snipe and Pyro on board, all counters in hand, opponent doesn't cast anything... because life is funny sometimes.

[DragoFireheart]

Have you ever wanted more Moon effects? Could put Magus of the Moon as well.

[ahg113]

Have you ever wanted more Moon effects? Could put Magus of the Moon as well.

Nah, I don't usually want them the first game, and the four additional in the SB limits the space for other cards. On the premise that enchantments are more difficult to remove than creatures, I just like Blood Moon. Since my win-cons are creatures, if they plan for Pyro/Guttersnipe, Magus is most likely dead as well.

[Davran]

Shadow of Doubt might give you some added game vs. Tron if that's a problem for you. It's also pretty effective vs. all of the pod decks and random fetchlands.

[ahg113]

Instead of Shadow of Doubt, I've been running Squelch instead, trimming 1 Spell Snare and 2 Manamorphose. In my opinion, they are nearly the same the card, some triggers Shadow of Doubt will prohibit, but most searching in Modern is off of an activated ability, which there are more targets to choose from (manlands, PW, equip), and that's Squelch territory.

But yes, I do agree in principle.

[ScatmanX]

This deck is just screaming to play Delver of Secrets with it's 34 spells. It also has lots of counters to protect it, so why not?

Is Guttersniper that usefull? I'll test him, but I really don't think this deck would like to tap out turn 3-4 to play him...

[JDK]

This deck is just screaming to play Delver of Secrets with it's 34 spells. It also has lots of counters to protect it, so why not?

Is Guttersniper that usefull? I'll test him, but I really don't think this deck would like to tap out turn 3-4 to play him...

That's basically what a lot of people try to do on MODO and in paper too (e.g. Jeff Hoogland).

Delver is still not that good in Modern, but it's far better than Guttersnipe in such a shell, as it's an early threat you can slam onto the table with counter mana available.


The list here seems like it has been put together without much thought behind it. Running 16 lands in a deck where you basically want to reach at least 3 mana consistently by turn 3/4 is not good and Sleight of Hand should be used, since you don't care about Delver flips but about what card you actually draw off the cantrip. The list overall lacks threats you can deploy and be able to control the game, except for Snapcaster Mage (e.g. Delver, Mutavault, Vendilion Clique, Spellstutter Sprite and whatnot). Resolving your creatures late makes you vulnerable to early aggression and opposing removal/disruption. Playing them early gives the opponent a critical window to act. It's just not that synergetic.

[ahg113]

3/2 flying > 2/2 granted. However, the triggers you get from the Goblin are just better. There are creatures to block or trade with Delver, but only Trickbind is going to stop the Guttersnipe trigger. Add in that Delver has a cap of 3 damage a turn, whereas the cantrips in the deck make the guttersnipe's damage potential limited to the number of spells you can play.

You bring up the point of tapping out to play Snipe, that is often not the correct play. I usually play him no earlier than turn 5, given I make all my land drops (a dubious proposition.) With either Snipe or Pyro, I try not to play them until I can at least play another spell before passing the turn, as to get at least some value from casting the critter. Snipe closes out games much better than Delver, and in multiples is a more savage beating. It's not a living the dream type deal, but casting a bolt to the opponent, with two snipes- 7 point swing, no redzone required. They try to counter something, or when you do, that's another shock trigger on the stack. I like the guy a lot.

I play the deck more of counter-burn and less sligh- the traditional avenue for delver.

[JDK]

Hitting your lands like that with 16 in the deck is unlikely. As I said, the point is you can drop a Delver turn 1 or later with counter mana up easily. That's why he is a better threat than Guttersnipe. He comes down earlier and only needs one instant/sorcery to become an actual beater, so he's more likely to deal more damage and clock the opponent. Delver is more 'counter-burn' than Guttersnipe is, that's why you see him in Legacy UR as well. He's just perfectly suited for Aggro-Control.

[TraxDaMax]

I saw a decklist pop up on TC decks which ran Pyromancer Ascension too, which looked pretty sweet to me. Turning bolts into 6 damage, cantrips into semi ancestrals etc...

[cab0747]

I have been haing some issues finding places to play Legacy during the week (weekends are girlfriend time) so I have made the decision to give Modern a try and I was thinking about playing a Delver adaptation of this deck. My list is as follows:

Creatures: 14
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Grim Lavamancer
1 Vendilion Clique

Counter Magic: 10
4 Mana Leak
4 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare

Cantrips: 8
4 Serum Visions
4 Gitaxian Probe

Burn: 6
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Electrolyze

Enhants: 2
2 Blood Moon

Land: 20
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
5 Island
2 Mountain