[Deck] Pyromancer Ascension

[Illissius]

http://magiccards.info/scans/en/zen/143.jpg


After observing that it doesn't actually have very much to do with pyromancy, this card looks breakable.

To illustrate:

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Mystical Tutor

4 Force of Will

4 Pyromancer Ascension
4 Intuition
4 Regrowth

1 Turnabout
1 Krosan Grip
1 Firespout

8-12 more support cards -- preferably in the form of cheap instants and/or sorceries

17-21 lands


How this works

Pyromancer Ascension can be 'activated' in multiple ways:

- Sometimes, you will draw multiples of things naturally.
- Once you have a multiple, Regrowth does it again.
- Mystical to find a multiple.
- If you have, say, a Ponder in hand, Intuition for three more Ponders, then cast the Ponder you had and the Ponder you got. That's two counters.
- Regrowth for Regrowth for Regrowth.
- Mystical for Mystical for Mystical.
- Obviously you can perform all kinds of other trickery with the above cards, particularly Intuition, depending on the game state, to achieve two counters.


To find the Ascension in the first place, you can use cantrips and Intuition.


Once you have an active Ascension, every spell you cast doubles up, so you can use cantrips to rip through your library at a frightening clip. Once you have two Regrowths, you can cast Regrowth targetting the other Regrowth and spell of choice, and repeat, to cast things an unlimited amount of times. With Turnabout (remember, it gets doubled), this gives you unlimited mana. At that point, kill your opponent with whatever you want, say a Lightning Bolt.


The 8-12 remaining spells should be some combination of more cantrips and search, disruption and protection, removal, and/or acceleration.

In particular, these appear to be the relevant candidates (things requiring further splashes separated out).

Cantrips and search
Sleight of Hand
Serum Vision
Portent
Opt
-
Lim-Dul's Vault

Disruption and protection
Spell Pierce
Daze
Spell Snare
-
Duress
Thoughtseize

Removal
Lightning Bolt
Fire // Ice
One would think that there exists some kind of bounce which doesn't suck, but I can't actually think of any.
-
Tribal Flames
Swords to Plowshares
Innocent Blood
Diabolic Edict
Terminate
Maelstrom Pulse
Vindicate

Acceleration
Search for Tomorrow
Mox Diamond
Chrome Mox
Er, anything else?


There's two specific threats the deck has to deal with: Qasali Pridemage and Krosan Grip. Fortunately, it only has to deal with the latter post-board. Against Pridemage, some form of removal in the maindeck is going to be advisable -- maybe the lone Firespout could actually be enough, but I'm not at all sure. (You could also have a Massacre in the board if you splash black -- this helps against various 2/2 white creatures including Pridemage, and thankfully you don't care that much about Teeg.) Against Krosan Grip, I don't know -- some combination of Duress/Thoughtseize and maybe Extirpate? Cranial Extraction or Lobotomy? Does anyone have better ideas?

I'm not sure how to fill out the maindeck (or, obviously, I would have). I'd really like to use Spell Pierce, because it's great against all the disruption from other decks we need to deal with (Countertop, Force, discard, etc.), and also helps against opposing combo decks. However, it does nothing against Krosan Grip. Duress (or Thoughtseize) would help against Grip, but would also require splashing black as a fourth color. Against aggro, there's two possible approaches -- can we make the deck fast enough via acceleration to race them, or should we add more removal? The limiting factor here, in addition to just getting the combo set up, is that Turnabout costs four mana. I have a feeling the combo-control approach is correct, but I can't know for sure without testing. In that case, Lightning Bolt kills nearly all the common early threats with the exception of Tarmogoyf (but including Pridemage) and can also finish off the combo; Swords to Plowshares and Terminate also kill Goyf, but again require splashes (I don't think Edict effects are advisable because you're not guaranteed to hit a Pridemage). One nice thing against aggro is how Mystical and Regrowth give you a virtual nine copies of Firespout. Against combo, you basically have to play combo-control; the question is whether you can do it effectively, but it seems possible that you could.

For the sideboard, Moment's Peace and Ancient Grudge look pretty awesome against certain decks (flashback interacts very well with Intuition, Ascension, and Mystical), if those decks are prevalent enough. (It's too bad there isn't any flashback card good enough for the maindeck; Lava Dart is probably closest). You could also add some scary creatures like Tarmogoyf, Vendilion Clique, or Dark Confidant to take advantage of people presumably boarding out their removal. And you definitely need something against Grip. Beyond that, the rest is probably metagame dependent.


So. That's more than I expected to write about a random idea. Thoughts?

[edgewalker]

I understand how the deck works, but how are you winning in 1.5? I know most of the standard versions use timewarp and banefire as their win conditions. Is the plan to just copy a ton of bolts?

[Vacrix]

Sick concept. Intuition is a tight way to pull this off.


Magma Jet sounds good. Scry 2 is good, burns pridemage.

Run more burn for sure. I would run this list:

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Accumulated Knowledge

4 Pyromancer Ascension
4 Intuition
4 Regrowth

1 Krosan Grip
1 Firespout
1 Rein's of Power

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Magma Jet
4 Chain Lightning

17 land

Something needs to get cut (probably rein's). 18/19 land is looking better. With your cantrips you should be able to find more land. I like regrowth in this a lot. You can regrowth Firespout which is obviously sick. I would definitely put some volcanic fallout action in the board vs. control. AK is just sick with intuition, and even better when you have regrowth. Also, consider this strat. If you have Rein's of Power in hand, you can just burn your opponent down to a health at which you can kill him with his own creatures, then steal all his creatures for the win. Since you don't run any creatures, I think it could be pretty legit. It can be recurred too via regrowth if you have the mana to do so. Also, consider that 17-21 land is going to be hard to play with if you have 3 colors, so I'm thinking 19/20 land now actually. Seriously though, AK should go in for sure. It digs you out of a hole when you are behind.

[edgewalker]

Also, the big thing that the Type II decks have over this, is that they have ways to play more than one land per turn (Harrow, Rampant Growth, KHE) so they can play more spells per turn as well as their business spells earlier, timewarp or naya charm + recurred spells.

[Illissius]

I understand how the deck works, but how are you winning in 1.5? I know most of the standard versions use timewarp and banefire as their win conditions. Is the plan to just copy a ton of bolts?

Oh, there's prior art in other formats? I didn't know that, though I guess it's not surprising.

I had Time Warp at first, but then I noticed Turnabout serves the same function while being both a mana cheaper and more generally useful. So you get infinite mana with Regrowths and Turnabout, and then you turn that into infinite damage with a Lightning Bolt or Fire // Ice or whatever.

Vacrix: Thanks. You conspicuously left Turnabout out of your build. I think it's important :). I have the feeling that Accumulated Knowledge (also Aether Burst, fwiw) would be too slow, but I guess it at least gives you more resilience when you don't have an Ascension in play.

The annoying thing when you're trying to cut things for more lands is that you can't just randomly cut spells from 4 of to 3 of without negative consequences, like you can with other decks.

Edit: And yeah, some sort of acceleration really would be nice, but most of the options seem too slow for Legacy. Search for Tomorrow is the best I can think of. Mox Diamond might work if you can find room. Chrome Mox can mostly be swapped one-for-one with lands, but the card disadvantage looks rather painful here.

[edgewalker]

Oh, there's prior art in other formats? I didn't know that, though I guess it's not surprising.

I had Time Warp at first, but then I noticed Turnabout is both a mana cheaper and serves the same function. So you get infinite mana with Regrowths and Turnabout, and then turn that into infinite damage with a Lightning Bolt or Fire // Ice or something.



Yea, Nick "whatever his last name is" on SCG has been playing it. When I saw it, I tried to port it to legacy, but gave up, though turnabout seems like a way to get around some of the problems. The big issue is getting ascension into play ASAP without blowing half your cantrips trying to find it.

EDIT: I almost wanna play it like the pyromancer swath decks from a few extended seasons back.

[Illissius]

Here's Nick's list (http://forums.starcitygames.com/viewtopic.php?p=1079023&sid=53e25dc9e89714b265451e71c57d6d34#1079023), for reference.

Looks interesting. I forgot about Naya Charm existing, but I'm pretty sure Regrowth is a better idea here. Interesting how he hybridizes it with Turbofog -- and fortuitous how Turnabout can also be a Fog, and so can Moment's Peace. The Turbofog direction doesn't seem fast enough or good enough for legacy, but who knows?

[Zinch]

An option you must consider is splashing black. Entomb puts any card you want in the graveyard (for example one you have in hand) and with regrowth can find the ascension if you can't find it with the cantrips (or if you wanna save the cantrips to put counters in the ascension). But maybe this falls intp the "danger of cool things" category...

[Illissius]

Black is tempting, but mainly for Duress/Thoughtseize, various removal options, and Cranial/Lobotomy/Extirpate in the side against Grip. Entomb doesn't look like it "does enough".

Speaking of which, I'm still interested in people's thoughts about the best way to combat Grip.

[Nydaeli]

Infernal Tutor would be really good here, Hellbent or not.

[Vacrix]

Vacrix: Thanks. You conspicuously left Turnabout out of your build. I think it's important :). I have the feeling that Accumulated Knowledge (also Aether Burst, fwiw) would be too slow, but I guess it at least gives you more resilience when you don't have an Ascension in play.

The annoying thing when you're trying to cut things for more lands is that you can't just randomly cut spells from 4 of to 3 of without negative consequences, like you can with other decks.

Wow, yea I didn't see why you were running turnabout. Now I understand. I think AK is just tight in this. Against aggro, it keeps the burn spells rolling until you can get the upper hand. Actually, considering bursts...Life Burst is just ridiculous with regrowth and intuition. Its practically a game plan against aggro. Especially when you can intuition, putting 3 in the grave then play one gaining 16 life. Imagine doing that again via Regrowth or Mystical Tutor for Regrowth. It might not be necessary (against aggro) come to think of it if you could just play mystical tutor for Firespout and then recur Firespout with Regrowth, but multiple life bursts puts you out of range of ToA and it kills aggro-control's clock.


An option you must consider is splashing black. Entomb puts any card you want in the graveyard (for example one you have in hand) and with regrowth can find the ascension if you can't find it with the cantrips (or if you wanna save the cantrips to put counters in the ascension). But maybe this falls intp the "danger of cool things" category...

If you run entomb, you can always throw in Iona, especially with mystical tutor for entomb or reanimate, etc. You could make a pseudo-reanimator board. Also, black seems even more tempting because of a possible post board against control: raven's crime + life from the loam off intuition.

[darkdeal]

Does Pyromancer Ascension get around Counterbalance or will the copy get countered too?

I think this needs to be more of a controlling deck. This seems worse than AnT as a combo deck. I would suggest adding more counters.

[Mark Sun]

Does Pyromancer Ascension get around Counterbalance or will the copy get countered too?

I think this needs to be more of a controlling deck. This seems worse than AnT as a combo deck. I would suggest adding more counters.

Counterbalance only triggers on spells that are Played.

[sunshine]

Thought I would point out that Merchant Scroll is pretty solid at helping you ascend. In the worst case You can Scroll -> Scroll -> Scroll->business. Most often that third scroll would be a Brainstorm/Ponder though. It's hella expensive to pull off but so is practically every route to ascending. Scroll is a reasonable tutor otherwise.

[Illissius]

Merchant Scrolls don't chain.

Infernal Tutor looks more cute than good here. Being hellbent is a bad place to be, and while it does find you a copy of something, it's not as flexible as the other options we have. As always, though, feel free to prove me wrong.

Life Burst is intriguing, given that it helps against both aggro and Tendrils combo. Still, my problem with all these Kindle variants is that without acceleration, the soonest you could cast one of them following an Intuition is turn four, and both aggro and combo can/do goldfish faster than that.


I think this needs to be more of a controlling deck. This seems worse than AnT as a combo deck. I would suggest adding more counters.

Yep, we definitely need more control elements (and/or acceleration). The question is what form they should take.

[Kangaxx]

Merchant Scrolls don't chain.

Infernal Tutor looks more cute than good here. Being hellbent is a bad place to be, and while it does find you a copy of something, it's not as flexible as the other options we have. As always, though, feel free to prove me wrong.

Life Burst is intriguing, given that it helps against both aggro and Tendrils combo. Still, my problem with all these Kindle variants is that without acceleration, the soonest you could cast one of them following an Intuition is turn four, and both aggro and combo can/do goldfish faster than that.



Yep, we definitely need more control elements (and/or acceleration). The question is what form they should take.

Rite of Flames? Desperate Ritual? Then you can maybe even run Time Warp effects instead of Turnabout.

[darkdeal]

Maybe taking this in another direction? This may be a crazy thought, but what about getting rid of the blue? R/W/G maybe. Chaining Orim's Chants seems just as strong as Turnabout and is safer against AnT and countermagic. The color combo gives access to Naya Charm which is a little redundency with Regrowth and it has a couple other relevant modes. White gives Enlightened Tutor to find your Ascension, but it loses some usefulness after you get the first one. Lightning Helix seems good for the life gain in some matchups (AnT). Silence from the board for AnT? Wrath of God for Zoo, Goblins, etc.

The really hard part about it is the lack of card draw or tutors. Maybe Gamble wouldn't be so bad with the regrowth effects?

[sunshine]

Merchant Scrolls don't chain.

You just have to do it real fast :wink: .

[rufus]

When the card was spoiled, I was looking at breaking it...

Quiet Speculation -> Deep Analysis/Lava Spike stuff can be interesting.

Pyromancer Ascension works with retrace cards, so Raven's Crime, and, to a
lesser degree, Flame Jab.

There's also stuff like ideas unbound or tolarian winds.

[TygerClaw]

WIth the retrace cards would you need to have two copies in the graveyard for it to initially put the counters on the ascension?

If not they'd work great with it :)

[Maveric78f]

You need to have another copy, that's the same with flashback. Those spells are on stack while being played.

Edit: strange Rufus claims the contrary. I might have missed something?

[Vacrix]

Maybe taking this in another direction? This may be a crazy thought, but what about getting rid of the blue? R/W/G maybe. Chaining Orim's Chants seems just as strong as Turnabout and is safer against AnT and countermagic. The color combo gives access to Naya Charm which is a little redundency with Regrowth and it has a couple other relevant modes. White gives Enlightened Tutor to find your Ascension, but it loses some usefulness after you get the first one. Lightning Helix seems good for the life gain in some matchups (AnT). Silence from the board for AnT? Wrath of God for Zoo, Goblins, etc.

The really hard part about it is the lack of card draw or tutors. Maybe Gamble wouldn't be so bad with the regrowth effects?

Agreed. It kinda looks a little better via Orim's chant against combo or as protection against control. The only problem is how do you get redundancy of cards? You lose cantrips, and tutors. Sylvan Library sounds legit, as does enlightened tutor. In game 1 you could have 2 or so MD Isochron Scepters for Scepter + Chant (obviously it gets hosed G2 but its good all the same) or you can go for helix + chant against aggro. Red also gives you Burning Wish (but wish is RFG after so minor draw back, and you will then have to run 3 copies of everything MD.

[TOGITwill]

Yeah, AK is definitely needed in this. Drawing 6 for 2 mana just seems too good to pass up.

[dahcmai]

Kindle might actually make some decent early creature kill and a finisher in a weird way. Odd, but definitely possible and worth trying.

[jimirynk]

SB:
11x
4 spell pierce
You need to protect Pyromancer Ascension while staying alive/activating seems cool because it holds its straight in the late game if pyro is active.

K-grip just seems annoying so I like the 4 regrowth.

Possible ideas coming out of my head are:
Spell pierce
Bob
impulse

[Shursh]

when ascension is charged up, manamorphose seems good here.

[rufus]

Edit: strange Rufus claims the contrary. I might have missed something?

Nah, I just need to remember the rules.

[Azania]

If you have trouble cutting cards then cut them to 3 and put the other one in the sideboard and play Cunning Wish x3 or so. Meaning effectively playing your cards x6 in the main. Seems good enough for me.

[Media314r8]

I don't know that this will ever be tier 1, or 1.5 even, but it seems like an optimized deck would be fun to bring to a small event. It seems like it plays like the izzet precon deck, where the endgame involved copying your burn spells multiple times aimed at your opponent's dome. My take/list:

4 pyro ascention
4 intuition
4 regrowth

4 brainstorm
4 ponder
4 acumulated knoledge
4 manamorphose

2 repulse
4 lightning bolt
4 magma jet

4 force of will

4 scalding tarn
1 strand
1 delta
2 misty
4 volcanic island
2 tropical island
1 underground sea
1 tundra
1 island
1 mountain

SB:
4 jund charm
4 spell pierce
4 life burst (probably the only way to beat sliegh/burn other than the DECK nonbo of chalice @ 1) (unsure if we should even bother to board for this, as even with burst, its not favorable at all, short of double/triple burst. If this or jund charm is not run, the tundra/sea can be replaced with trops)
3 krosan grip

IMO, with 8 burn spells and regrowth in the deck, I don't think we need another kill mech, as a charged ascention, regrowth, and two used burn spells is quite a lot of damage, and regrowthing regrowths with an active ascention is the hotness.

[Waikiki]

First question that pops in my head.

Is it faster then burn.dec itself?

If not why would we even play this over it?
Afcorse it looks very cool in my eyes but are we even able to force the ascension on the board?

[Willoe]

First question that pops in my head.

Is it faster then burn.dec itself?

If not why would we even play this over it?
Afcorse it looks very cool in my eyes but are we even able to force the ascension on the board?

Having access to more colors gives the pilot different answers to handle more crappy situations.

Also, because it plays cantrips and FoW, I think this deck at least deserves some development. Simply because they are, well, good cards :smile:

But on the other hand, the deck has a more fragile mana base than Burn and I believe it is a bit slower. (I haven't tested it at all)

[Illissius]

This is not a burn deck, it's a combo control deck. The fact that the card has "Pyromancer" in the name is an accident. You can kill by recurring Vision Charm for all I care. You can use significant amounts of burn in it if you want to, but nowhere does it say that you have to.

Anyway, judging by the fact that 0 other adepts have posted in the thread, I assume the deck is probably crap either way.

[Gocho]

Playing URG, you can cut Green if you play Relearn. It can't return the Ascension, but can recover any other card in the deck.

With the WGR version you can play Early Harvest to get infinite mana

[Anusien]

I am skeptical of the deck's ability to ever beat a Counterbalance.

Really though, I'm unimpressed because I don't think you have any real ways to get majorly ahead. Even when you're going off with Pyromancer's Ascension, you need to combo to do it. The T2 lists have stuff like Cruel Ultimatum and Time Warp. Those are fine on their own. It seems like your goal is trade, trade trade, trade, not have a way to stop Goyf and lose.

[dsg123456789]

Anusien, the list I posted in the Regrowth/Pyromancer Ascension deck thread is designed to get around this. It's designed to be able to get ahead with the Ascension, and only use the Ascension in the late game. Rather than using the Standard deck's strategy where it copies huge spells for insurmountable advantages, it recurs cheap spells to get big effects every turn (like 6 damage lighting bolts and Draw 2/Tap 2 ices).

[Illissius]

I am skeptical of the deck's ability to ever beat a Counterbalance.

Really though, I'm unimpressed because I don't think you have any real ways to get majorly ahead. Even when you're going off with Pyromancer's Ascension, you need to combo to do it. The T2 lists have stuff like Cruel Ultimatum and Time Warp. Those are fine on their own. It seems like your goal is trade, trade trade, trade, not have a way to stop Goyf and lose.

Doubling all your cantrips and Regrowths will get you quite a bit ahead. And the deck still has something like 8-10 free slots which can be used for affecting the board or whatever.

But as I said it's probably insufficiently good either way. Was just an idea.

[Anusien]

If I go through that much work, I want to more than double all my cantrips. Casting Divination for {U} is pretty lame. For that matter, {R} for 6 damage is only exciting to me because it kills Goyf, and Early Frost has never been an awesome card.

[dsg123456789]

It's much better than early frost (which is terrible). The drawing 2 cards is what makes it a good play--you can cut them off from a color for a turn, stalling them, plus you draw 2 cards for 2 mana. That's a powerful play that can easily seal the game. Or, you can tap their creatures and draw 2, another powerful play.

[Anusien]

No, it's not. Tapping guys and drawing cards is a great way to stall for a turn, but then they destroy your Ascension with Krosan Grip and you lose. If this is to be a deck, you have to find a good way to affect the board permanently. Something like Rite of Replication. If only there were a control magic instant or sorcery besides Dominate that doesn't suck.

[Tao]

Double Post deleted

[Tao]

I think a very powerful SB plan for this deck would be 4 Swans of Brin Argyll and 4 Chain of Plasma. You have plenty of search in your deck, you can be very sure that your opponent sides out his Swords AND it dodges their SB hate (Relic + Krosan Grip).

[Illissius]

Anusien: What I'm saying, though I obviously haven't tested it, is that I think once you have Ascension active you're going to be primarily constrained by your mana, not cards. You'll get at least as far ahead by chaining cantrips, Regrowth, and inexpensive but efficient spells (Swords to Plowshares, etc.) as you would by casting a single expensive spell with the same mana, and as a bonus you don't have the load the deck down with expensive spells.

[Maveric78f]

flashback interacts very well with [...] Ascension

Really? Isn't the card already in the stack (not anymore in the graveyard) when you play it?

If you meant that it's cool to play the second copy twice then Ok, but that's a very weak interaction IMO.

Illissius: I don't see you bragging about the deck's performance. I don't mean that you do usually, but is it really competitive? Would you bring it to a tourney?

Tao: I completely agree with your transformationnal SB.

[Illissius]

I don't actually, er, play Magic. I just posted it to see if anyone thought it was worth pursuing.

The Swans sideboard certainly looks interesting.

[yutang]

Pyromancer's Ascension
4 Pyromancer Ascension

4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Preordain

4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Spell Pierce

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Echoing Truth

4 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
4 Island
2 Mountain
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Arid Mesa

Sideboard

4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Vendilion Clique
3 Mindbreak Trap
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Pyroclasm


Thoughts on the transformative sideboard or mainboard?

[GGoober]

Rather go 4 SnT + 4 Emrakul if you want a Transformational SB :P Basically, you want to win concretely if you ever plan on a transformational SB if the MD fails.

I personally think the MD does not have enough win-conditions to support PyroAscension. The draw power seems a little weak to chain bolts, but I did not test your list.

[zpikduM]

Been working on a list, thoughts?

4 Grove of the Burnwillows
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island
2 Island
2 Mountain
1 Tropical Island
1 Forest

4 Tarmogoyf
2 Vendilion Clique

4 Brainstorm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Preordain
4 Ponder
4 Daze
4 Punishing Fire
4 Pyromancer Ascension
4 Force of Will
1 Spell Pierce

SB:
4 Firespout
4 Mindbreak Trap
3 Krosan Grip
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Ravenous Trap

2 Punishing Fire and a Grove activates Ascension by itself. The deck feeds Tarmogoyf by just playing the game. He gives a good backup when they extripate your Punishing Fire engine.

[Mr. Safety]

One would think that there exists some kind of bounce which doesn't suck, but I can't actually think of any.



Here is a short list of bounce that 'doesn't suck' lol:

Snap
Chain of Vapor
Echoing Truth


Echoing Truth is a great utility bounce that is usually just a Chain of Vapor for 1U instead of U...but against multiples, it can really generate some card advantage. Imagine a TES player relying on a ton of Empty the Warrens tokens to win...all gone for 1U.

Snap has some GREAT appeal, as it's essentially free. It only hits creatures thought...bummer.

Chain of Vapor would be the best choice, most likely. Bouncing any permanent for U seems good to me.

[AlterEgo]

Chain of Vapor would be the best choice, most likely. Bouncing any permanent for U seems good to me.

Seriously? Isn't this deck relying on a PERMANENT to function?

[Mr. Safety]

Read the primer, that's where I quoted from. He was listing options for removal so he could control the game long enough to combo out. I think my comments will make more sense in that light.

[Magic_Shortbus9]

So here is a list i found on 02drop http://www.02drop.com/strategy/archmage-ascension-imagine-the-pastabilities/ i made one change lava spike to Force of Will from his list. I think the MD is just about perfect accept the snap i was thinking accumulated Knowledge. I cant decide how to go witht the SB but I was thinkin Show and Tell and Emrakul for decks that will board in krosan grip. any way heres the list i want to work on

Wait, What?
spells (40)

* 4 Pyromancer Ascension
* 4 High Tide
* 4 Time Spiral
* 4 Chain Lightning
* 4 Brainstorm
* 4 Lightning Bolt
* 4 Preordain
* 4 Ponder
* 4Force of Will
* 4 Snap


lands (20)

* 4 Volcanic Island
* 4 Steam Vents
* 4 Scalding Tarn
* 2 Misty Rainforest
* 1 Mountain
* 5 Islan

[(little)^_^(billy)]

I went to scg open in atl. and a dude was playing a similar version of the Gerry T Pyro deck.
it was fun watching him play. badass combo deck.

http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/legacy/19887_One_Step_Ahead_Ascending_in_Older_Formats.html

[Kobal]

Please forgive the thread necromancy, but the thread was fitting, so why open up a new one.

I have recently also started to fiddle around with a decklist revolving around Pyromancer's Ascension, but sadly got only limited testing under my belt so far. Here is what I am currently running:

1 Mountain
3 Island
3 Volcanic Island
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn

4 Pyromancer's Ascension

4 Lightning Bolt
2 Chain Lightning

4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Brainstorm
4 Thought Scour
4 Manamorphose
1 Mystic Retrieval

3 Spell Pierce
3 Daze
4 Force of Will

Sideboard (still only a rough draft):
2 Chain Lightning
4 Pyroblast
4 Submerge/Slagstorm
? Bounce, likely Echoing Truth or Rushing River
? GY Hate.

The initial testing results against RUG Delver were abysmal. Spell Snare is likely this decks biggest enemy. That is also why I switched the Spell Snare's that I originally played to Dazes.

Maybe Mystic Retrieval should be Past in Flames. However when I usually play it Retrieval is enough. Plus is is cheaper and pitches to Force of Will.

[rufus]

Please forgive the thread necromancy, but the thread was fitting, so why open up a new one.
....

The initial testing results against RUG Delver were abysmal. Spell Snare is likely this decks biggest enemy. That is also why I switched the Spell Snare's that I originally played to Dazes.

Maybe Mystic Retrieval should be Past in Flames. However when I usually play it Retrieval is enough. Plus is is cheaper and pitches to Force of Will.

Maybe I'm missing something, but that list looks more like some kind of counter-burn where you're probably better off with Delver or Kiln Fiend in Ascension's place - the decks in this thread are more focused on the combo aspect of Ascension.

[Kobal]

Maybe I'm missing something, but that list looks more like some kind of counter-burn where you're probably better off with Delver or Kiln Fiend in Ascension's place - the decks in this thread are more focused on the combo aspect of Ascension.
Replacing Pyromancer's Ascension with any creature primarily does one thing: It turns the opponents creature removal (which almost every Legacy deck runs noticeable quantities of these days) into live cards. Also, the whole deck structure does revolve around Pyromancer's Ascension. Without it you would need a lot less cantrips and more business - plus more lands.

I am also not sure what you are referring to with your second statement.
- This version can go off reasonably well. Not before turn 3 or more likely turn 4, but it can. And it has the increased amount of control elements to stall the game until then.
- This list is not that fundamentally different to others previously posted in this thread.