Peter_Rotten
08-11-2006, 04:16 PM
Burning Tog
Peter_Rotten’s version (60 cards) paired with Norm's version (61 cards)
Creatures 12.......................10
4 Nightscape Familiar.............4 Nightscape
4 Psychatog........................3 Psychatog
2 Flametongue Kavu..............3 FtK
2 Fire Imp
Counter 9........................8
4 Counterspell.....................4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will.....................4 FoW
1 Circular Logic
Kill 10...............................10
4 Fire/Ice...........................4 Fire/Ice
3 Diabolic Edict...................3 Edict
3 Burning Wish...................3 Burning Wish
Draw 6..............................10
4 Brainstorm........................4 Brainstorm
2 Fact or Fiction...................4 AK
.........................................2 Intuition
Land 23...............................23
4 Underground Sea.................4 USea
4 Volcanic Island................... 4 Volcs
2 Badlands...........................1 Badlands
4 Polluted Delta....................4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand..................2 Flooded Strand
5 Island..............................6 Island
2 Swamp.............................2 Swamp
Key SB choices
1 Massacre (screw you Angel Stompy and Goblins with Plateaus)
1 Meltdown (screw you Affinity)
1 Perish (screw you Gro and stompy)
1 Deep Anal (wish for when playing against control)
1 Haunting Echoes (I win)
1 Chainer’s Edict (just in case)
4 Duress (for combo)
4 Engineered Plague (for Goblins)
4 Chalice of the Void (combo, Thresh, burn)
Explanations :
General Theory
Burning Tog is a control deck with a few aggro tendencies. It should be heavy on the creature kill and run at least 8 (preferably more) counterspells. It has a few paths to victory which include the following: Tog beats, FtK and Nightscape pings, or Haunting Echoes. It hopes to Burning Wish for Teh Stupidity which will likely swing the game in its favor. My version has traditionally been light on draw which, of course, is a debatable choice.
General Strategy
Survive early turns by pinpoint killing or countering relevant threats. Then cast something swingy like an FtK or Burning Wish for a board sweeper or game-breaker. Find the swingy-ness with Brainstorm and then later FoF. 2 for 1 your opponent as much as possible.
Turn two is often a complicated turn for you. Do you cast Nightscape? Leave counter mana open? Wish for a target so powerful that you don’t care if you telegraph it? Steal a turn with Ice? Of course, the answers to those questions depend on the other side of the table.
The Core: (Don’t mess with this)
4 Nightscape - This guy makes your spells cheaper! A Helm of Awakening that only affects you, swings, and blocks with regeneration! Opponents will start to treat him as if he is wearing a big KoS sign on his back. If for some unfathomable reason, Burning Tog becomes a popular deck, people will start Needle-naming Nightscape before they name Tog.
2-4 FtK - The goods. He is king of the swinging board position. Reams Werebear anus and then blocks Mongoose dead. In dire situations, combine him with Fire/Ice to kill a fat-ass of 6.
3-4 Tog - The finisher and wall of teeth. A quick note about BT’s Tog. He is not the heart and soul of the deck. I actually finish very few matches with a huge Tog. He may eat some yard to block some early critters. He may even eat a few cards to finish an opponent. But rarely will he be HUGE-AH! Nightscape and FtK often knock the opponent around enough that Tog won’t have get too big. Also, never be afraid to pitch this bitch (to FoW).
4/4 Counterspell/FoW – Control decks need counterspells. Depending on the meta, you may want to up your counterspell number by adding extra Circular Logics.
3 Burning Wish – 4 gets too bulky. These provide much of your swing factor. Get the bombs but don’t be afraid to go for the desperate targets if needed.
4 Brainstorm – Your land base is shaky. Brainstorm helps. You’re playing three colors. Brainstorm helps. Your draw is disappointingly weak. Brainstorm helps. You’re playing a few 4 or more mana spells. Brainstorm helps. I would not play the deck without Brainstorm.
4 – Fire/Ice – Even in this meta still very flexible removal that is not fully dead against control or combo. Steal turns or 2for1 the opponent. This spell is the weakest of the core-card choices, but I doubt that I would ever go below 4 of these.
The Debatable
3-4 Diabolic Edict – I need to kill fatties. Smother doesn’t kill many fatties. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I lost to a Soltari Monk. Screw you, Pro-Black, screw you. Other removal could be considered for this slot, but what is going to take out that Exalted Angel, Baloth, or Enforcer?
0-4 Fire Imps – I ran these as a bit of an experiment. Scrumdogg suggested them and over all, I was pleased with their performance. That being said, I’m not sure that once they did a job that FtK could not have done.
0-4 Circular Logics/Mana Leaks – I prefer to run at least 10 counters but couldn’t find the room to get the 10th in. Logic gets the nod in my book because of the following reasons: I have 8 ways to make it cost the same as Mana Leak or even cheaper. Logic is my late game counter. In the late game, it is much better than Mana Leak.
0-3 FoF – So broken with Nightscape. It is your late game “tutor”/draw for a bomb that helps fuel your Tog and sometimes even Logic. I love the split decisions your opponent makes, and I rarely see a spilt that the opponent is happy about.
The Variations
2/4 Inution/AK – Norm has opted to run this over FoF and few removal spells. I hate the Int/AK “engine.” It’s 5 mana for 3 cards while FoF is usually 4 mana for your choice of a great card with a gravy card.
0-3 Deep Anal – I personally don’t want this card main. Sure, it’s one of my first wish targets against control and Thresh, but a 4 mana sorcery for 2 cards doesn’t sound so good against Solidarity or Goblins. The life loss can hurt in certain match ups.
SB and Wish Targets to think about
Reprocess – I simply see this as unneeded and overkill. I will control the board and beat with my medium Tog and FtKs.
Upheaval – ugh. Maybe you have seen this in action in Legacy. I haven’t. Too many things need to fall into place to make this worthwhile. I have to have ton of mana. I need to wish for it. Cast it. Cast Tog. Protect my Tog. Once again, I plan on controlling the board with relatively cheap board sweepers and then beating with my medium guys. I’m not so sure about Upheaval helping that plan.
Chalice of the Void – set it for 0 or 1. Good against Thresh and combo.
Match ups
Favorable
UGw and UGb Threshold – ROAR! You often have too much removal for them to deal with. Save Edicts for Enforcers. Let Meddling Mage resolve. What is he going to name? Wish? Then FtK the Mage? He names FtK? Edict the Mage, Fire the Mage, eat the Mage, Fire Imp the Mage! ROAR! Let Needles resolve – they’ll be naming Tog. Save your counters for real threats and forcing FtK through. Kill Dark Confidant ASAP. You have plenty of ways to do it. Popular wish targets include Deep Analysis and Perish. Beware Geddon from the white version.
Angel Stompy
Pro-red can get tricky. Dig for B-Wish quickly. Lay down the Massacre beats. I usually save my counters for critters and let equipment resolve. Equipment won’t do a damn thing unless it’s on a critter. Kill Morphs ASAP. Without an Edict, it will be tough to remove that Angel. Beware Geddon from the SB. Popular Wish targets include Massacre and Chainer’s Edict.
Affinity
Meltdown. Roar. You usually have too much removal for them to deal with. I usually try counter that rotten little 1/1 guy that makes you lose life. He gets pretty silly and I have no time for his life-losing jokes.
Match ups that seem favorable but may only be so due to testing partners lack of experience with the deck
Solidarity
Let High Tide resolve. You counter key spells like Resets and Meditations. Ping with Nightscapes. If you feel safe, Wish for a Duress. For game two, bring those Duress in from the board. I would love the chance to test this with a very capable Solidarity player and I would not be surprised if the results were quite different than my current experience.
Trainwreck
This is a waiting game and you only have about 6 or 7 spells that you really need to deal with. Your main plan is to make your Echoes so much more savage while making sure Dozer never becomes active. I have mixed feelings about that stupid staff. It doesn’t scare me too much in the late game, but I’ll counter that bad boy early on. Don’t waste your time trying to win via creatures. You’ll never stop all of his removal. If he some how Echoes your B-Wish, you’re probably screwed. Sometimes you can let his Echoes resolve if you think you can handle the Dozer later. Wish targets include Echoes and Deep Anal. SB in Duress.
Unfavorable
Rifter and TruffleShuffle
I lumped these two decks together because they are bad match ups for you for the same reason – RECURRING FATTIES! You will rarely be able to snag all of their win conditions with an Echoes. I would consider simply scooping and doing something enjoyable instead of playing this match.
Goblins
You, unfortunately, do not have many answers to first turn Lackey. Vialing Ringleaders will own you. Random Pro-Blue? WTF is that about?
UGr Thresh
I briefly tested this against Zilla. I went 0-4. The 12(ish) burn spells really change the match up. They make things very difficult – nearly always removing Nightscapes, FtKs, and the possibility of Deep Anal abuse.
Untested
- IggyPop – hopefully my counters and SB Duress will be enough
- Fairy Stompy – My assumption is that this match may be favorable. Unless they get a Chalice out for 2. You have enough removal to deal with their threats. Actual testing could prove me drastically wrong.
- DeadGuy – no good clock means I can top deck B-Wish for goodness. FtK will likely help own the deck.
- Red Death – probably a bad match. Too many weenies with burn. Burning Tog, ironically, hates when anything else does the burning. A resolved turn one Negator will be bad news.
Brief tourney report
I didn't take notes so I don't remember all of the important details.
Round One: 1-1-1 vs Rifter.
A turn two cycler clues me in to a very long a likely impossible to win game one. In retrospect, I could have scooped game one ASAP and try to win out on two and three. I lose the first game to an eventual swarm of soldiers.
Game two, with Humility on the table, I resolve an Engineered Plague naming Soldiers and one naming Dragon. I have a the other two in hand ready to name Angel. He eventually scoops to a massive Haunting Echoes.
Game three, not enough time.
Key to winning vs. Rifter: Lose Game one. Game two, let Humility and Moat resolve. Counter Lightning Rift and any Disenchant effects targeting your E.Plagues. Burning Wish into Haunting Echoes.
Round Two: 2-0 vs Secret Force splashing Blue.
Game one: Burning Wish into Perish. Counter Natural Order.
Game two: Same plan but highlighted by an early Burning Wish into Pyroclasm.
Round Three 0-1-1 vs Truffle Shuffle.
Game One: I realize there is no realistic way for me to win this match but Lego Army Man does not realize that I have a slight chance with the Haunting Echoes plan to remove all of his win conditions. When the time is right, I Echoes away his Gigapedes, Eternal Dragons, and Crappy Cycling Warthog thingy that IBA likes so much. Alas, it is not enough since he still has that Scarab-dredge jerk in his library. Even if I snagged the Scarab, it wouldn't have mattered since he has two big fat recurring win conditions in his hand.
Game Two: Funny play of the day. I side in E Plague and name Insect. Fuck you Gigapede. We both have a good laugh when we realize that Scarab-dredge jerk is an Insect also. Time gets called before I lose this one too.
Key to winning vs. Truffle Shuffle: Scoop it up and get a beverage. You currently have no realistic way to beat his recurring Fatties. Save yourself the agony of playing against another of IBA's boring-as-hell cycling decks.
Round Four 2-0 UGb Gro
Game One: Burning Tog reams white or black Gro. Yes indeed it does.
Game Two: I ignore an early Needle naming Tog while he gets busy stalling on two lands for ever. I beat down with Nightscapes and Counter/Kill anything of relevance. He never gets his fourth land to cast his Krosan Squirrel Beasts.
Round Five 2-0 Wub Angel Stompy
Game One: Phil over-extends into a Burning Wish/Massacre. I topdeck like a pro and Fire Imp a Morphed Angel then Edict away a Pro-Red Douche Bag. Fuck you, Pro-Red, fuck you.
Game Two: This one was much closer. Phil has Mages, Dark Confidants, and Ninja Rats. The two times he hits me with that stupid Ninja Rat, I discard two lands. FU, Ninja-Rat, FU. I counter his Geddon and later when he recasts a game winning MMage, I hard cast Force of Will to seal-the-deal.
Round Six 1-1 he concedes to me. THE MIRROR!
Game One: Alex out-draws me while I flounder on two lands for way too long.
Game Two: I win a few key counter wars, draw better than Alex, and then cast a pretty effective Echoes.
Game Three: Alex concedes to me when we hear that 4-2 will not be making top 8 and if I win I'll have a chance of Top 8ing.
Peter_Rotten’s version (60 cards) paired with Norm's version (61 cards)
Creatures 12.......................10
4 Nightscape Familiar.............4 Nightscape
4 Psychatog........................3 Psychatog
2 Flametongue Kavu..............3 FtK
2 Fire Imp
Counter 9........................8
4 Counterspell.....................4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will.....................4 FoW
1 Circular Logic
Kill 10...............................10
4 Fire/Ice...........................4 Fire/Ice
3 Diabolic Edict...................3 Edict
3 Burning Wish...................3 Burning Wish
Draw 6..............................10
4 Brainstorm........................4 Brainstorm
2 Fact or Fiction...................4 AK
.........................................2 Intuition
Land 23...............................23
4 Underground Sea.................4 USea
4 Volcanic Island................... 4 Volcs
2 Badlands...........................1 Badlands
4 Polluted Delta....................4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand..................2 Flooded Strand
5 Island..............................6 Island
2 Swamp.............................2 Swamp
Key SB choices
1 Massacre (screw you Angel Stompy and Goblins with Plateaus)
1 Meltdown (screw you Affinity)
1 Perish (screw you Gro and stompy)
1 Deep Anal (wish for when playing against control)
1 Haunting Echoes (I win)
1 Chainer’s Edict (just in case)
4 Duress (for combo)
4 Engineered Plague (for Goblins)
4 Chalice of the Void (combo, Thresh, burn)
Explanations :
General Theory
Burning Tog is a control deck with a few aggro tendencies. It should be heavy on the creature kill and run at least 8 (preferably more) counterspells. It has a few paths to victory which include the following: Tog beats, FtK and Nightscape pings, or Haunting Echoes. It hopes to Burning Wish for Teh Stupidity which will likely swing the game in its favor. My version has traditionally been light on draw which, of course, is a debatable choice.
General Strategy
Survive early turns by pinpoint killing or countering relevant threats. Then cast something swingy like an FtK or Burning Wish for a board sweeper or game-breaker. Find the swingy-ness with Brainstorm and then later FoF. 2 for 1 your opponent as much as possible.
Turn two is often a complicated turn for you. Do you cast Nightscape? Leave counter mana open? Wish for a target so powerful that you don’t care if you telegraph it? Steal a turn with Ice? Of course, the answers to those questions depend on the other side of the table.
The Core: (Don’t mess with this)
4 Nightscape - This guy makes your spells cheaper! A Helm of Awakening that only affects you, swings, and blocks with regeneration! Opponents will start to treat him as if he is wearing a big KoS sign on his back. If for some unfathomable reason, Burning Tog becomes a popular deck, people will start Needle-naming Nightscape before they name Tog.
2-4 FtK - The goods. He is king of the swinging board position. Reams Werebear anus and then blocks Mongoose dead. In dire situations, combine him with Fire/Ice to kill a fat-ass of 6.
3-4 Tog - The finisher and wall of teeth. A quick note about BT’s Tog. He is not the heart and soul of the deck. I actually finish very few matches with a huge Tog. He may eat some yard to block some early critters. He may even eat a few cards to finish an opponent. But rarely will he be HUGE-AH! Nightscape and FtK often knock the opponent around enough that Tog won’t have get too big. Also, never be afraid to pitch this bitch (to FoW).
4/4 Counterspell/FoW – Control decks need counterspells. Depending on the meta, you may want to up your counterspell number by adding extra Circular Logics.
3 Burning Wish – 4 gets too bulky. These provide much of your swing factor. Get the bombs but don’t be afraid to go for the desperate targets if needed.
4 Brainstorm – Your land base is shaky. Brainstorm helps. You’re playing three colors. Brainstorm helps. Your draw is disappointingly weak. Brainstorm helps. You’re playing a few 4 or more mana spells. Brainstorm helps. I would not play the deck without Brainstorm.
4 – Fire/Ice – Even in this meta still very flexible removal that is not fully dead against control or combo. Steal turns or 2for1 the opponent. This spell is the weakest of the core-card choices, but I doubt that I would ever go below 4 of these.
The Debatable
3-4 Diabolic Edict – I need to kill fatties. Smother doesn’t kill many fatties. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I lost to a Soltari Monk. Screw you, Pro-Black, screw you. Other removal could be considered for this slot, but what is going to take out that Exalted Angel, Baloth, or Enforcer?
0-4 Fire Imps – I ran these as a bit of an experiment. Scrumdogg suggested them and over all, I was pleased with their performance. That being said, I’m not sure that once they did a job that FtK could not have done.
0-4 Circular Logics/Mana Leaks – I prefer to run at least 10 counters but couldn’t find the room to get the 10th in. Logic gets the nod in my book because of the following reasons: I have 8 ways to make it cost the same as Mana Leak or even cheaper. Logic is my late game counter. In the late game, it is much better than Mana Leak.
0-3 FoF – So broken with Nightscape. It is your late game “tutor”/draw for a bomb that helps fuel your Tog and sometimes even Logic. I love the split decisions your opponent makes, and I rarely see a spilt that the opponent is happy about.
The Variations
2/4 Inution/AK – Norm has opted to run this over FoF and few removal spells. I hate the Int/AK “engine.” It’s 5 mana for 3 cards while FoF is usually 4 mana for your choice of a great card with a gravy card.
0-3 Deep Anal – I personally don’t want this card main. Sure, it’s one of my first wish targets against control and Thresh, but a 4 mana sorcery for 2 cards doesn’t sound so good against Solidarity or Goblins. The life loss can hurt in certain match ups.
SB and Wish Targets to think about
Reprocess – I simply see this as unneeded and overkill. I will control the board and beat with my medium Tog and FtKs.
Upheaval – ugh. Maybe you have seen this in action in Legacy. I haven’t. Too many things need to fall into place to make this worthwhile. I have to have ton of mana. I need to wish for it. Cast it. Cast Tog. Protect my Tog. Once again, I plan on controlling the board with relatively cheap board sweepers and then beating with my medium guys. I’m not so sure about Upheaval helping that plan.
Chalice of the Void – set it for 0 or 1. Good against Thresh and combo.
Match ups
Favorable
UGw and UGb Threshold – ROAR! You often have too much removal for them to deal with. Save Edicts for Enforcers. Let Meddling Mage resolve. What is he going to name? Wish? Then FtK the Mage? He names FtK? Edict the Mage, Fire the Mage, eat the Mage, Fire Imp the Mage! ROAR! Let Needles resolve – they’ll be naming Tog. Save your counters for real threats and forcing FtK through. Kill Dark Confidant ASAP. You have plenty of ways to do it. Popular wish targets include Deep Analysis and Perish. Beware Geddon from the white version.
Angel Stompy
Pro-red can get tricky. Dig for B-Wish quickly. Lay down the Massacre beats. I usually save my counters for critters and let equipment resolve. Equipment won’t do a damn thing unless it’s on a critter. Kill Morphs ASAP. Without an Edict, it will be tough to remove that Angel. Beware Geddon from the SB. Popular Wish targets include Massacre and Chainer’s Edict.
Affinity
Meltdown. Roar. You usually have too much removal for them to deal with. I usually try counter that rotten little 1/1 guy that makes you lose life. He gets pretty silly and I have no time for his life-losing jokes.
Match ups that seem favorable but may only be so due to testing partners lack of experience with the deck
Solidarity
Let High Tide resolve. You counter key spells like Resets and Meditations. Ping with Nightscapes. If you feel safe, Wish for a Duress. For game two, bring those Duress in from the board. I would love the chance to test this with a very capable Solidarity player and I would not be surprised if the results were quite different than my current experience.
Trainwreck
This is a waiting game and you only have about 6 or 7 spells that you really need to deal with. Your main plan is to make your Echoes so much more savage while making sure Dozer never becomes active. I have mixed feelings about that stupid staff. It doesn’t scare me too much in the late game, but I’ll counter that bad boy early on. Don’t waste your time trying to win via creatures. You’ll never stop all of his removal. If he some how Echoes your B-Wish, you’re probably screwed. Sometimes you can let his Echoes resolve if you think you can handle the Dozer later. Wish targets include Echoes and Deep Anal. SB in Duress.
Unfavorable
Rifter and TruffleShuffle
I lumped these two decks together because they are bad match ups for you for the same reason – RECURRING FATTIES! You will rarely be able to snag all of their win conditions with an Echoes. I would consider simply scooping and doing something enjoyable instead of playing this match.
Goblins
You, unfortunately, do not have many answers to first turn Lackey. Vialing Ringleaders will own you. Random Pro-Blue? WTF is that about?
UGr Thresh
I briefly tested this against Zilla. I went 0-4. The 12(ish) burn spells really change the match up. They make things very difficult – nearly always removing Nightscapes, FtKs, and the possibility of Deep Anal abuse.
Untested
- IggyPop – hopefully my counters and SB Duress will be enough
- Fairy Stompy – My assumption is that this match may be favorable. Unless they get a Chalice out for 2. You have enough removal to deal with their threats. Actual testing could prove me drastically wrong.
- DeadGuy – no good clock means I can top deck B-Wish for goodness. FtK will likely help own the deck.
- Red Death – probably a bad match. Too many weenies with burn. Burning Tog, ironically, hates when anything else does the burning. A resolved turn one Negator will be bad news.
Brief tourney report
I didn't take notes so I don't remember all of the important details.
Round One: 1-1-1 vs Rifter.
A turn two cycler clues me in to a very long a likely impossible to win game one. In retrospect, I could have scooped game one ASAP and try to win out on two and three. I lose the first game to an eventual swarm of soldiers.
Game two, with Humility on the table, I resolve an Engineered Plague naming Soldiers and one naming Dragon. I have a the other two in hand ready to name Angel. He eventually scoops to a massive Haunting Echoes.
Game three, not enough time.
Key to winning vs. Rifter: Lose Game one. Game two, let Humility and Moat resolve. Counter Lightning Rift and any Disenchant effects targeting your E.Plagues. Burning Wish into Haunting Echoes.
Round Two: 2-0 vs Secret Force splashing Blue.
Game one: Burning Wish into Perish. Counter Natural Order.
Game two: Same plan but highlighted by an early Burning Wish into Pyroclasm.
Round Three 0-1-1 vs Truffle Shuffle.
Game One: I realize there is no realistic way for me to win this match but Lego Army Man does not realize that I have a slight chance with the Haunting Echoes plan to remove all of his win conditions. When the time is right, I Echoes away his Gigapedes, Eternal Dragons, and Crappy Cycling Warthog thingy that IBA likes so much. Alas, it is not enough since he still has that Scarab-dredge jerk in his library. Even if I snagged the Scarab, it wouldn't have mattered since he has two big fat recurring win conditions in his hand.
Game Two: Funny play of the day. I side in E Plague and name Insect. Fuck you Gigapede. We both have a good laugh when we realize that Scarab-dredge jerk is an Insect also. Time gets called before I lose this one too.
Key to winning vs. Truffle Shuffle: Scoop it up and get a beverage. You currently have no realistic way to beat his recurring Fatties. Save yourself the agony of playing against another of IBA's boring-as-hell cycling decks.
Round Four 2-0 UGb Gro
Game One: Burning Tog reams white or black Gro. Yes indeed it does.
Game Two: I ignore an early Needle naming Tog while he gets busy stalling on two lands for ever. I beat down with Nightscapes and Counter/Kill anything of relevance. He never gets his fourth land to cast his Krosan Squirrel Beasts.
Round Five 2-0 Wub Angel Stompy
Game One: Phil over-extends into a Burning Wish/Massacre. I topdeck like a pro and Fire Imp a Morphed Angel then Edict away a Pro-Red Douche Bag. Fuck you, Pro-Red, fuck you.
Game Two: This one was much closer. Phil has Mages, Dark Confidants, and Ninja Rats. The two times he hits me with that stupid Ninja Rat, I discard two lands. FU, Ninja-Rat, FU. I counter his Geddon and later when he recasts a game winning MMage, I hard cast Force of Will to seal-the-deal.
Round Six 1-1 he concedes to me. THE MIRROR!
Game One: Alex out-draws me while I flounder on two lands for way too long.
Game Two: I win a few key counter wars, draw better than Alex, and then cast a pretty effective Echoes.
Game Three: Alex concedes to me when we hear that 4-2 will not be making top 8 and if I win I'll have a chance of Top 8ing.