Burn

[CaptainTwiddle]

I was surprised that there didn't appear to be a thread on this deck already. If I missed it, I assume the threads will get merged.

Anyway, the Burn deck is not a new concept, but it's one that I thought might have some renewed vigor in a post-Deathrite Shaman format. My starting point was the list here which 4-0'd an MTGO daily right at the end of 2012. Since that time, we've gained some new options that I think warrant some exploration. Ideally, I'd run a few lists through a gambit before even starting this thread, but there just aren't enough local Modern events for me to do so. So, here's what I've come up with:

Burn
CREATURES
4 Goblin Guide
2 Hellspark Elemental
4 Satyr Firedancer
4 Spark Elemental
4 Vexing Devil
SPELLS
4 Bump in the Night
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
2 Shard Volley
2 Skullcrack
LAND
4 Arid Mesa
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Mountain
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Teetering Peaks

Card choices explained:

Lighting Bolt, Bump in the Night, Lava Spike, Rift Bolt, Shard Volley, & Spark Elemental - Your basic 3 damage for 1 mana burn spells.

Goblin Guide - The ideal "burn" creature. It's basically Shock that rebounds a few times.

Vexing Devil - My most questioned inclusion. If it's just a burn spell, that's great. If your opponent allows it to remain in play, it's probably because they have an answer. Ideally, you're playing it when their life total is already so low that they can't afford to just take the damage, so they allow it to remain and then have to play around it for the rest of the game (which shouldn't be very long).

Hellspark Elemental - Essentially, a somewhat less efficient burn spell, but the unearth ability gives it some value and can put your opponent in a situation where they need to play around it, thereby delaying the advancement of their own plan.

Satyr Firedancer - This is the creature I'm most excited about. I've replaced Grim Lavamancer with this for a few reasons. First, it potentially gives you immediate added value to each burn spell you play. Second, if you have 3 mana open, you can cast the Satyr and immediately follow up with burn to the opponent's face to remove a troublesome creature, where as Lavamancer would have to survive a full turn before coming online. Third, Satyr doesn't rely on your graveyard, so you won't randomly lose value to a stray Rest in Peace or a maindeck Relic of Progenitus out of Tron.

Searing Blaze - This card is insane with Satyr Firedancer. Best case scenario, you hit landfall, deal 3 to your opponent, 3 to a creature, and the Satyr deals another 3 damage to another creature (a 2.5 for 1 out of a burn deck = Nice!). You can also potentially burn out a 6 toughness creature with a single spell thanks to the Firedancer.

Skullcrack - This replaced the maindeck Flames of the Blood Hand from the referenced list. It cost one mana less and deals one damage less. Overall, I think the lower CMC is more significant than the additional damage, as the life gain/anti-damage prevention effect is something that you want ready access to. It may not be of relevance in a number of games, but you'd hate to have need for it and find yourself a mana short.

Teetering Peaks - I think this is the only land that warrants a little explanation. I'm really not sure about its efficacy, but giving the +2/+0 to a trampling Spark/Hellspark Elemental seems good or pumping a Vexing Devil that your opponent allowed to stick around because they felt safe behind a 4/5 Tarmogoyf seems OK as well.

Sideboard options:

Combust - Uncounterable burn to kill Pestermite, Deceiver Exarch, or Restoration Angel against Splinter Twin decks.

Dark Confidant - This could be a reasonable maindeck card, but it's not super aggressive and will draw whatever removal your opponent has. In the board, it could come in against control decks or grindy decks that are either light on, or potentially sided out, their creature removal.

Ensnaring Bridge - Protection against hyper aggressive or large creature decks.

Bottled Cloister - A bit high on the curve, but it combos with Ensnaring Bridge. It's probably not worth dedicating the slots to both cards in the board though.

Grafdigger's Cage - Hate for graveyard strategies and Birthing Pod decks.

Mogis, God of Slaughter - This is sort of a spin on Sulfuric Vortex that can also provide a check against opposing creatures. The mana cost is a little high, but the effect seems desirable.

Molten Rain - Land destruction that deals some damage. The main use would be to breakup Urzatron lands, but it could also find some use against decks with extremely greedy mana bases.

Rakdos Charm - Appealing as as Swiss Army knife for an otherwise very straightforward deck. It provides artifact removal, graveyard hate, and (my personal favorite) a potential "Oops, I win." spell against Twin decks (Oh no, you're attacking me with 100 Pestermites? Burn you for 100? Good Game?).

Relic of Progenitus - Cantrip graveyard hate.

Searing Blood - Maybe just a copy or two to bring in against creature heavy decks. It's similar to Searing Blaze in that it answers a threat and damages your opponent. It's also insanely good with Satyr Firedancer.

Smash to Smithereens - Artifact hate that burns to the face.

So, that's my list. I'd appreciate any thoughts/input. I realize that the deck all but folds to Leyline of Sanctity, but I don't believe that card is played too much. A possible answer to enchantments, if needed, could be splashing Green for Destructive Revelry.

[Mr. Safety]

Even though there isn't a thread on here mtgtop8.com has several lists posted. I know that the go-to tech is full sets of Skullcrack and Flames of the Blood Hand. They have incredible value against incidental lifegain (Helix, Scooze, Finks, Rev) while making sure you don't auto-lose to Martyr.dec.

[CaptainTwiddle]

Even though there isn't a thread on here mtgtop8.com has several lists posted. I know that the go-to tech is full sets of Skullcrack and Flames of the Blood Hand. They have incredible value against incidental lifegain (Helix, Scooze, Finks, Rev) while making sure you don't auto-lose to Martyr.dec.

How common is Martyr.dec (aka MartyrProc) in the general meta? I threw a version of the deck together right after Gatecrash (more specifically, Orzhov Charm) was released. While the deck seemed good against all of the midrange strategies and Scapeshift.dec, I had a real hard time beating both Pod and Twin decks, as both strategies are unphased by life gain. As those two decks went on to represent most of tier 1, I assumed Martyr.dec wasn't really a viable option. I know that it's a presence on MTGO (along with Soul Sisters), presumably because it's a fairly inexpensive deck to build.

Anyway, with respect to Burn, perhaps Skullcrack and Flames of the Blood Hand are sufficient answers. However, Everlasting Torment could be another option as well. It also adds a bit of utility against opposing creatures. With the inclusion of Satyr Firedancer, Everlasting Torment allows you to extract value even if the damage dealt by Firedancer isn't lethal.

[HammafistRoob]

Satyr Firedancer seems like a worse Grim Lavamancer, how has it been for you? I've been playing Burn/Sligh in Modern for a few months now to good success. My list is as follows.

//LANDS-18
18 Mountain

//CREATURES-20
4 Goblin Guide
4 Vexing Devil
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Keldon Marauders

//BURN!!!-22
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
2 Shard Volley
4 Shock
4 Magma Jet

//SIDEBOARD-15
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Skullcrack
4 Smash to Smithereens
2 Shattering Spree
2 Sulfur Elemental


The list is pretty streamlined for consistency and is capable of pulling random turn 3 kills from time to time. I haven't picked up the red fetches because they're not really that important here and I'm more concerned with EDH and Legacy.

[Valtrix]

I really prefer 20 lands. While you draw "live" later in the game with less lands, I don't really think this makes up for how much clunkier your draws are in general when you don't get the right mana to cast your spells. Burn is a pretty bad deck if you have 1 land and are only casting lightning bolts for the first 3-5 turns. You really want the extra land to consistently cast all your spells. I actually ran some computer simulations here and you will more consistently play 7 spells (21 damage roughly) faster with more land. Especially if you're running fetches you really want opening land consistency.

I believe Searing Blaze is good enough to run as 4x in the main, because basically every deck has targets for it, and the tempo it gives you is really great. Additionally, when combined with Firedancer in the board it makes it really difficult for most creature decks to beat you post board.

I've been thinking about Hellspark Elemental a lot, and I think he deserves a 4x in the main. I believe this because the two ways you lose games most often are being too slow or running out of gas. Even at 2 mana for 3 damage he fits the curve (since there are simply not enough efficient burn spells to play right now), and being able to get 6 damage in with him can really boost your games.

I've been rather unhappy with grim lavamancer. He usually dies quickly and is not particularly fast. Even at RRR for 4 damage I think I'd rather have a skullcrack over him honestly. He's especially terrible in multiples I find.

And on that note, the 3cc burn spells are pretty terrible. They are so clunky in your hand, and there is nothing that gives you more than 4 damage. Compared to even an incinerate the 1 damage is likely not going to be all that relevant, and if you ever draw multiples your hands become immensely slow. The only "burn" spell at 3cc that I like is Molten Rain, which is more to buy you tempo against other decks. That said, I haven't been playing it, so I can't really comment on its effectiveness. I will probably try to try it out though.

Spark elemental might be a necessary evil, because if you run too many 2cc spells your average win turn can be reduced by 2, which is pretty painful. Same thing for Vexing Devil. I need to try devil out though.

I think Teetering Peaks is just too cute, but maybe that's just me...I haven't actually gotten to test it, so it may be better than I give it credit for. It's certainly better with more creatures, but I think that running less creatures is probably a stronger strategy overall.

Shard Volley is good as a 3x I think. It really helps bump your speed up by more reliably getting 1 mana for 3 damage spells, and you use it to simply end the game. As such, even if you draw two of them it doesn't matter much.

Magma Jet, as much as I hate to admit is worth running as a 3x I believe. It's average damage over three cards is great and it really helps you close out games. I think running 4 is too many because you really don't want to see more than 1 a game because while 2 vs. 3 damage might not be a big deal 4 vs. 6 is more likely to matter.

I have a love/hate relationship with Keldon Marauders. I can't decide how many to run of him, if any. He slides in and out between my lists.

Skullcrack always seems nice on paper, but in practice I find it immensely easy to play around. A lot of our cards we have to cast at sorcery speed, so it's pretty tough to leave 2 mana up to be ready to respond to a life gain effect that the opponent plays. (Which typically will be a lightning helix)

About the sideboard:
Torpor Orb should be a 4x in the sideboard in my opinion. It stops Twin cold and has incidental damage against life gain on comes into play abilities. Given the current format, I believe it to be very worthwhile.

Satyr Firedancer is simply insane in the board. Decks that need to win with creatures usually just lose to this guy. I usually side out bump in the nights when I bring him in as well. That way you don't need to bolt yourself for colors, and bump doesn't get bonus from firedancer either. I've been testing this guy online and his advantage is unreal when you want to bring him in. Going satyr -> Two burn spells just decimates people. Plus, this guy is usually swinging in for damage because your opponents have no board.

Rakdos Charm is probably better than smash to smithereens or strict grayeyard hate because of the flexibility (if you have black). At least, I think the extra SB slots are worth the lack of 3 damage. If you have a lot of artifacts in your meta you can also run smash on top of this card.

With all that in mind, this is the list that I have put together:

// Lands
5 [IN] Mountain (1)
2 [DIS] Blood Crypt
3 [SOM] Blackcleave Cliffs
4 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
4 [ZEN] Arid Mesa
2 [M12] Dragonskull Summit

// Creatures
4 [ZEN] Goblin Guide
4 [DDK] Hellspark Elemental
4 [PD2] Spark Elemental

// Spells
4 [TSP] Rift Bolt
4 [M11] Lightning Bolt
4 [CHK] Lava Spike
4 [WWK] Searing Blaze
4 [ISD] Bump in the Night
3 [MOR] Shard Volley
3 [DD2] Magma Jet
2 [MR] Molten Rain

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [RTR] Rakdos Charm
SB: 4 [NPH] Torpor Orb
SB: 4 [BNG] Satyr Firedancer
SB: 1 [NPH] Surgical Extraction
SB: 1 [M11] Combust
SB: 1 [MR] Molten Rain

*I can't quite decide on the manabase yet. Dragonskull summits are probably just better than blackcleave cliffs, and mountains for shard volley might be even better still.

[HammafistRoob]

It's weird that you like 20 lands, I've been playing 18 for about 4.5 months with only about 3 total games lost due to lack of mana. Maybe it's just a difference in curve but I find I usually don't run out of gas often (lavamancer is huge in this regard) and when I lose it's because I draw 4-6 lands. I get by alright with even just 2 lands as long as I don't get clogged with Marauders and Magma Jets. Shard Volley feels perfect as a 2-of with 18 lands. My meta has tons of creature decks, so Shocks or Lavamen are generally used to clear the path for my guys to beat down. Searing Blaze would be good against everything except my teammate who plays Uwr with a sideboard full of hate for me. He's basically the only person I ever lose to, we play just about every week, and I'd rather not run a card that does nothing against him. He brings in Leyline of Sanctity, which is part of the reason why I play 20 creatures. Anyone have ideas on how to make this matchup better?

You like Firedancer but not Lavamancer... I don't understand this, is he really that good? Against creature decks I hardly have any problems, affinity can be a bitch sometimes though.

Have you tried Thunderous Wrath as a one of? I've been thinking about trying it out but I'm not sure.

[TsumiBand]

I've been playing and enjoying a really bad Rakdos Burn deck in Modern as well. It needs tweaking, it started as some jank I put together in RtR Standard but it pretty much ran over all the guys at work and went 3-1 at FNMs, so heck yes I put Lightning Bolts in it when it rotated out.

I actually wanted to put this list up on tappedout.net last night, but of course, it was down, because reasons.

My list is only about as serious as I am, which hopefully no one on The Source would even question at this point.

===16 Guys===
4 Goblin Guide
4 Rakdos Cackler
2 Tymaret, the Murder King
2 Young Pyromancer
3 Blood Scrivener
1 Mogis, God of Slaughter

===22 Burn Spells===
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Incinerate
4 Magma Jet
4 Rift Bolt
2 Thunderous Wrath

===4 Non-Burn Spells===
2 Dreadbore
2 Dangerous Wager

===18 Lands===
10 Mountain
4 Swamp
2 Blood Crypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
---

Mogis is probably terrible. I literally just put that guy in the other day because a guy that I sponsored pulled it in a triple BotG draft. I have no idea if he'll ever come to life, probably not. Unless I man up and throw in Ashenmoor Ghouls, amirite?! …guys?!?

Tymaret is a beast though. I have never felt like I was playing kid shit when he was in play. On the rare event that you're having to block he lets you at least hope against hope that you're going to draw a burn spell and face them FTW. He sacs dudes for the last bit of damage to said face. He returns himself to hand after a durdly chump block scenario. He does good things. 2 might be too many though.

So, Blood Scrivener. Super questionable, right. I just wanted a dude that would draw me teh cards without dropping coin on Bob. But honestly I kind of freaking love him. With Magma Jet and shit I don't whiff very often on oopsing a Thunderous Wrath off the top. It's also a terrible chombo with Dangerous Wager. And by terrible I mean epic. And by epic, I mean "drawing one extra card sometimes is good". I'm pretty sure he works like I think he does in multiples -- one Dangerous Wager + two Blood Scrivs = +4 cards, -2 life -- but I'm not sure exactly.

It does need Skullcracks. I was playing Ash Zealot, but I got over it. I kind of want to play Stigma Lasher in the board, because life gain sucks. I think every game I lost against "serious decks" was because stupid life gain, kthx Scavenging Ooze. Dick.

[Valtrix]

I think the tech for beating UWR control might be Goblin Assault then, which also gets around Leyline. The key to beating that deck is a sustained damage source that's hard for them to deal with. A "slow" win-conditions is generally fine because their clock is glacially slow.

As for the land count, a bit more lands will more reliably let you cast 7 spells by turn 5, which is what I aim for with the deck. You note that you mostly lose when you draw too many lands, which I agree. Hellspark is one of the ways to help fix this, which is why I recommend running 4 of them. It's much better than rakdos cackler at the very least.

Lavamancer kills doesn't actually kill that much in the format right now in my opinion. If you really want to beat creatures Firedancer is the way to go. Once you try him out you'll start to see how insane he is. Lavamancer isn't even close if you're worried about taking creatures out.

I don't think thunderous wrath is worth it as a 1-of. With just a singleton you still have an 11.67% to open with it, which means you're mulling just over 1/10 of your hands for no reason. I think mulligans are particularly bad for this deck, so I would try to avoid them.

[Arsenal]

As a UWR player, the card I've found to be the most problematic when playing against Burn is Shrine of Burning Rage. It's not a common card that Burn decks run (I think?) and I realize it's Spell Snare-able, but if it resolves, I literally cannot interact with it at on any level whereas Goblin Assault still makes a bunch of my cards live (Electrolyze, etc). Shrine of Burning Rage is the #1 card I care about because I can't just removal/counter my out of the situation.

Also, Leylines are quite rare to see out of UWR sideboards. I wouldn't gameplan for that card unless a drastic shift in the meta occurs (as in, Thoughtseize is played 1000x more than before and Burn catches splash damage as a result of people running Leyline in UWR).

[HammafistRoob]

Leyline is kind of insane in our meta though because of burn and scapeshift. I gameplan against it because I play against it almost every week at the local. Obviously at a bigger tournament, I wouldn't expect to see it from Uwr. Goblin Assault is cute, but I'm thinking it'll be to slow (he also maindecks a Batterskull and sides in a second one, it's not a conventional list). The Shrine I think I can get behind, seems pretty good actually as like a 3 of in my case?

[Arsenal]

Valtrix actually plays at my LGS and has been doing reasonably well with his Burn list (he and I were the only 4-0 players at the end of the night a couple weeks ago). I like his list and would probably just go -2 Molten Rain, +2 Shrine of Burning Rage in the maindeck and go -1 Torpor Orb, +1 Molten Rain in the sideboard.

Even if not playing against UWR, I think Shrine of Burning Rage has considerable potential as it ticks up quickly (upkeep + cast gives you at least 2 counters per turn) and many opponents will not have a good way of "dealing" with it as it's a colorless source of damage and you can sacrifice it in response in the event they try to destroy it somehow.

[TsumiBand]

Satyr Firedancer and Shrine of Burning Rage. I think I try soon.

I was never super-impressed with my 2-of Young Pyromancer, though I suspect my opinion would be a little different if I actually ran the full boat (haven't got 2 more). I think Firedancer is fundamentally better at addressing what I'd hoped to deal with, though; the unfortunate prospect of using burn as control instead of a win condition. As long as Firedancer is down one never really has to do that, in fact spells like Lava Spike and Skullcrack turn into removal-by-proxy. Seems all right.

[Valtrix]

You can interact with Shrine by bouncing it with cryptic command and then countering it. It's not always possible to leave three mana up ready to activate the shrine. That said, it can give you a bunch of damage early, which may be all you need. Also remember that in his meta he has to play around Leyline of Sanctity, for which Shrine won't do any good. That's why I mentioned Goblin Assault, because while the UWR player does have removal, there aren't a lot of great answers for burn to win through a leyline. Assault requires a lot of removal over the course of time that it will take the UWR player to win the game. That said, Assault is incredibly narrow. Unfortunately if your opponent plays Leyline and 2 Batterskulls though, I just don't think there's any hope of beating that deck, unfortunately.

And yeah, if you have creature decks, use firedancer. I've definitely won a lot of games I shouldn't just because my opponent couldn't answer it and even though they played more creatures/etc., they just couldn't recover from losing so many creatures. Unfortunately you are forced to play the control role with burn sometimes, and you really need all your non 1cc spells to go the distance.

[Arsenal]

Cryptic Command only works if the Burn player isn't leaving 3 mana open, which I have to assume they will once I hit 4 mana; by then Burn will have already gassed their hand and now it's just a matter of time for Shrine to tick and blow up. If they tap lower than 3, then yes, I'll try to Cryptic Command it off the board and save myself a bunch of damage, but that line of play seems very unlikely as I'll often have to use that 4 mana to play other spells (Bolt/Helix, Spell Snare/Mana Leak) in order to not die. Basically, once Burn has a Shrine out, they don't need to do much of anything other than wait for it to tick up to lethal (assuming they've already dealt a fair amount of damage before I hit 4 mana) and pop it whenever they want. Again, I cannot interact with it on any level once it's resolved... unless the Burn player gets super greedy and wants to devalue his best card vs. UWR.

Also, if I'm ever in a position to be able to eot Cryptic Command-bounce/draw, then hard counter again on their next turn, I'm winning that game regardless of whatever else is going on.

Burn was a thing when FNM Modern was just getting off the ground and I cannot tell you how frustrating it was to lose to a turn 2 Shrine on turn 12 because I had no answer for it. I could remove/counter everything else my opponent had (1-2cc dudes? Got it. 1-2cc burn? No problem), but had no answer for Shrine. And UWR isn't going to side in Wear/Tear just for your Shrine, so you have nothing to fear postboard from them that will impact Shrine.

[PhilM]

Satyr Firedancer seems like a worse Grim Lavamancer, how has it been for you? I've been playing Burn/Sligh in Modern for a few months now to good success. My list is as follows.

//LANDS-18
18 Mountain

//CREATURES-20
4 Goblin Guide
4 Vexing Devil
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Keldon Marauders

//BURN!!!-22
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
2 Shard Volley
4 Shock
4 Magma Jet

//SIDEBOARD-15
3 Tormod's Crypt
4 Skullcrack
4 Smash to Smithereens
2 Shattering Spree
2 Sulfur Elemental


The list is pretty streamlined for consistency and is capable of pulling random turn 3 kills from time to time. I haven't picked up the red fetches because they're not really that important here and I'm more concerned with EDH and Legacy.

How do you feel about mainboard Magam jet? Do you like it over skullcrack or is it fine post main to put in skull crack? Playing in a mondern tournament last week i saw all lot of turn one fetch lose 2 from shock. i think monered burn is very well set up right now in modern and i was wondering what you think of young pyromancer in this deck?

[CaptainTwiddle]

Is Magma Jet worth running in a dedicated Burn list? The damage to mana cost ratio is poor, so the question is whether scry 2 makes up for that deficit. I think if you're running a single Thunderous Wrath, then the value of Magma Jet increases dramatically, but I'm not really sold on the Wrath.

I guess where I'm stuck is figuring out which creatures are actually worth running, as filling in the spells seems fairly easy once you know how many slots to fill (you're really just looking for the most efficient burn). I think Goblin Guide is the only auto x4. I'm inclined to run Spark Element as it's really just a slightly less potent Lightning Bolt. I had been think of Vexing Devil, but I'm beginning to think Hellspark Elemental is more reliable. I also think that running 8 trampling creatures makes Teetering Peaks a bit more appealing. I've come around to the idea that Satyr Firedancer belongs in the board, so that makes me wonder if Grim Lavamancer is worth any slots at all. He's good against other creature decks, but because most decks are playing creatures, most decks also play creature removal. Lavamancer is the only real lightning rod in the burn deck and it seems likely just eat a removal spell before ever coming online.

As for sideboarding, I do really like Rakdos Charm for its versatility, but I can't decide how many to include. It's a classic case of versatility vs. specific power. As artifact hate, Smash to Smithereens is better (Destructive Revelry might be a better choice still, if you want to splash green, as it gives an answer to enchantments, namely Leyline of Sanctity). As graveyard removal, Charm is nice in that it only hits opposing yards, thus leaving you with Grim Lavamancer fodder, and the instant speed allows you to thwart Snapcaster Mage. The last mode (each creature damaging its controller) really only seems good as a surprise against Twin decks or Bitterblossom/Token decks, but honestly, I don't think I could justify siding in Charm against Twin unless they're a build that is running Snapcaster. For these reasons, I'm thinking it might be best a 1-2 of in the board, as I can't imagine really wanting to bring in more; it's really just to service as the extra copy or two of other reasonable cards. Of course, you could also run a full 4 and just eschew the specific hate cards altogether.

The other sideboard card I'm unsure of is Molten Rain. It seems like Tron has fallen out of favor recently, so I don't know that Rain is worth it, as I can't see bringing it in against anything else.

[HammafistRoob]

Young Pyromancer is an awesome card, I just think it isn't fast enough for monored burn. I also try to play as few 2+ mana cards as I can because I really like the way my mana has been flowing with the curve where it's at currently. But being completely honest, I have never tried them out so maybe there is value to be had against certain decks.

Hellspark Elemental is definitely interesting and I haven't tried him out yet. He might be better than Marauders against most decks so I think I'll try and find some soon. I just threw in a Thunderous Wrath to test out at the weeklies for a bit, we'll see how it goes.

Magma Jet is ridiculous in burn. I often play it on my upkeep to help find either that last bolt for the win or my 3rd land. It also helps tuck away useless guys like Vexing Devil as you progress into the mid-game. I wouldn't cut lavamancers either as they are excellent against not only creature decks but also control decks with a slow clock. I think his value goes up and/or down depending on how many creatures you play, because it's basically him and Goblin Guide that are the main targets for removal. Vexing Devil is also a prime target for removal, but they get boarded out often as well as Lavamancers.

Last Thursday I got 3rd/12ish players. I beat UwGiftsTron 2-1, some crazy BW extort/lifegain homebrew thingy 2-1, Rw Goblins 2-0, and lost to GUr Scapeshift 1-2 in three close games. I've been having trouble with this particular Scapeshift player lately because he maindecks Pyroclasm and brings in 4 Obstinate Baloths and a few Spellskite. I'm thinking of playing some Tunnel Ignus to hedge a little bit there. I also dont have to worry about that Uwr matchup anymore so I can shave out some of my creatures to possibly maindeck a few Skullcrack or perhaps Searing Blaze. The list is in a bit of a flux at the moment, but my focus is going to be keeping the curve as low as possible because I really don't want to go over 18 lands. I managed to dig up a Firedancer and threw him in my board, the only time I drew him he did put in work but it was basically an unloseable game regardless. I think I'll try to find a second one and squeeze him in for a bit to see how I like them.

[HammafistRoob]

We only hit 8 players this week, I went 3-0 and took first. I beat mono green Belcher 2-1, Urg snapcaster.dec 2-0, and Team Italia 2-1. The Thunderous Wrath avoided my opener like the plague and I managed to Miracle it twice without the help if scry, so I'm happy with it for now.

Surprisingly both of my game loses were in game 1's. The Belcher deck is kinda insane actually and maindecks 4 Wurmcoils and a Batterskull. I had to use three burn spells on the Wurm, ran out of gas, and got Belched out. The Team Italia deck had maindeck Finks and Scooze along with sideboard Timely Reinforcements. I lost game 1 to massive amounts of removal, Finks and Scooze. The next two games I curved out perfectly and he missed his 3rd land drop in g2 which helped a ton because I knew he had a Timely thanks to GobGuide. My list for reference-

//LANDS-18
18 Mountain

//CREATURES-20
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Goblin Guide
4 Vexing Devil
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Rakdos Cackler

//SPELLS-22
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
2 Shard Volley
4 Magma Jet
2 Shock
1 Thunderous Wrath
1 Incinerate

//SIDEBOARD-15
4 Skullcrack
4 Smash to Smithereens
3 Sulfur Elemental
2 Satyr Firedancer
1 Shattering Spree
1 Tormod's Crypt

Changes that will be made soon are as follows~
MD:
-1 Incinerate
-4 Rakdos Cackler
+4 Skullcrack
+1 Shock
SB:
-4 Skullcrack
-1 Tormod's Crypt
+3 Tunnel Ignus
+2 ???

[FTW]

Sounds like you guys need to be maindecking Skullcrack then.

Here's the thing: Skullcrack doesn't read "leave 1R open for the rest of the game and Time Walk opponent 6 times." It's just another burn spell. Tap out if you will for sorcery stuff. But you can always hold up 1R and crack them EOT even if they didn't do any life gain. Just seems to me like it has added utility over something janky like Spark Elemental, which can often get blocked by a Goyf. It can of course get boarded out for higher impact stuff like Searing Blaze, Smash to Smithereens, etc.


//Creatures: 15
4 Goblin Guide
4 Vexing Devil
4 Grim Lavamancer
3 Hellspark Elemental

//Spells: 25
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Bump in the Night
3 Skullcrack
3 Searing Blaze
2 Shard Volley
1 Thunderous Wrath

//Lands: 20
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Blood Crypt
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
5 Mountain

//Sideboard:
3 Rain of Gore
1 Searing Blaze
2 Searing Blood
3 Molten Rain
3 Smash to Smithereens
3 Torpor Orb


Rain of Gore IMO is a lot better in a sorcery speed deck than trying to "counter" their triggers and instants with Incinerate. It means that Wurmcoil Engine turns into a giant Flesh Reaver, Kitchen Finks and Obstinate Baloth are probably not castable (I once Searing Blazed a Finks with Rain on board... SO much value town), Lightning Helix becomes a mini-Flame Rift. They end up either getting stuck with dead cards or doing half your job for you. In 7 bolts.dec, every time opponent deals themselves 3 damage (or gets +1 dead card to avoid it) is +1 card advantage for your gameplan. I don't like Rain in G1 because it's dead too many times, but when you know what the opponent maindecks and may side in, it can get a lot of value post-board. I used to run this as a 4-of SB in my early burn list when the format just started. It had a lot of value back then. I don't know if it would be as strong in the current format but I think it's worth considering.

Full set of fetches to feed Lavamancer and fix black. 20 lands should be able to support 2 Shard Volley without hurting yourself too often. You can always sac an uncracked fetch.

I rolled with Smash over Rakdos Charm (my original list is from before Charm was printed). How many matchups is exiling their graveyard relevant? Are GY-based combo decks faster than burn? I wouldn't think so (or if something like Melira, you can kill the creatures). In that case, Smash does 2 modes of Rakdos at once...

[Valtrix]

The next time I get to play I'm going to try the following list:

4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Blood Crypt
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
6 Mountain
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Bump in the Night
4 Goblin Guide
4 Spark Elemental
2 Magma Jet
3 Shard Volley
4 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Keldon Marauders
3 Skullcrack
SB: 4 Torpor Orb
SB: 2 Rakdos Charm
SB: 4 Rain of Gore
SB: 2 Smash to Smithereens
SB: 3 Searing Blaze

Here are some thoughts after getting more experience with the deck, and why I have the current iteration:

It's a bit different, but I have a few reasons for this. First, I've been finding that one of the main reasons I'm losing games is because I just run out of gas rather than needing an awesome topdeck to win the game. Most decks just aren't fast, but you certainly can run out of gas all the time. For this reason I've been rotating through many different options to test what's best. Currently I really want to try Shrine, because it's a card that really can just win the game all on it's own. It's a bit slower, but as mentioned before I'm not finding speed to be as much of an issue as running out of gas. Considering Hellspark Elemental usually feels pretty good, Investing one more mana for the second use is very worthwhile. 4 is probably a lot, but I really want to see it and test it out next time I play.

I have been running Searing Blaze in the main in the past. That said, Keldon Marauders feels a very similar role by being a roadblock vs. creature decks, but is clearly less conditional. The other reason to use marauder is that I keep losing by running out of gas. While it can be slow at times, it also has the potential to get through for 5 damage. With this mana/damage ratio you can really punish any slower decks which are trying to setup and can't answer marauders immediately. That's why I moved blaze to the board and kept Keldon main.

I don't really like magma jet all that much, but I recognize that it's effect is very important. That said, I think it's a card you really don't want to see in multiples because the difference between 2 and 3 damage is not huge, but between 4 and 6 is more meaningful. (Since the scry is not always useful.) It's more useful to just help finish the game, for which you really only need one.

Spark elemental is a necessary evil in my opinion. Remember how I said speed is not usually an issue? That was only half true. Without spark elemental the deck gets super clunky with 2-drops or less efficient one drops. Rarely have I been frustrated with this card, and I think it's actually a lot better than it seems.

Similarly, I've actually been very happy with Shard Volley as a 3x. Even if you draw two that's okay since you simply use it to close out the game and having a higher density of 1-drops means you can have way faster hands on average.

Rain of Gore as a 4x in the board. Seriously, life gain is really hurting. Especially now that Courser of Kruphix is a card people are running even more life gain. It may turn out that 4 is too many, but with a deck like burn you really can't afford to mulligan much, but this is an effect that you really need. I also included 3 skullcrack, which I really dislike, as additional hate for these types of cards.