Lyle Hopkins
02-19-2013, 03:32 AM
First time poster, long time Burn player. I heard about The Source from Greg Mitchell during his Deck Tech at SCG Open Atlanta. Greg spoke quite highly of this forum, so I thought that this may be a good place to get some feedback on a deck I've been tinkering with for a little while now. I posted my list a little while ago in the "established deck" Burn thread but it got buried in other discussion. Without further ado here is my list:
"Boros Burn" (A.K.A. "Shake 'N' Bake", A.K.A. "too rogue for mono-red")
4 Chain Lightning
4 Fireblast
4 Goblin Guide
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Price of Progress
4 Rift Bolt
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mountain
4 Plateau
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Boros Charm
4 Skullcrack
SB: 4 Pyroblast
SB: 4 Rest in Peace
SB: 3 Searing Blaze or 3 Pyrostatic Pillar
SB: 4 Disenchant
Since Boros Charm was spoiled, I've been toying with the idea of splashing white into my Burn list in order to use the card. Flame Rift already sees play in Legacy Burn decks, so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that a new 4-damage-for-2-mana spell might make its way into competitive lists. In this post I will present my arguments for the card choices I have made, as well as discuss some of the pros and cons that come with splashing white into a typically mono-red build.
Chain Lightning, Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, and Rift Bolt are the bolts that are the backbone of almost every Legacy Burn lists. Shard Volley is another option but since the deck now has Wasteland targets, I would like to avoid this card. Price of Progress and Fireblast are two other Legacy Burn staples that are here to stay. Fireblast typically finishes games and with the abundance of three colour mana-bases in the current metagame, Price of Progress feels very strong. To quote Drew Levin from his primer on beating BUG, "I don't think I have ever witnessed a BUG deck in the history of Magic beat the card Price of Progress" (http://www.starcitygames.com/article/25451_How-To-Swat-Flies-A-Primer-On-Beating-And-Building-BUG-Decks.html). These cards don't present anything revolutionary to anyone familiar with Burn, but they do act as the core of the deck.
Moving on to the new faces in Burn, lets talk about Boros Charm. This card is basically taking the place of Flame Rift in my list. Preventing 4 damage to your self is an obvious benefit, but one thing I've noticed from playtesting with Boros Charm is the advantage of having a greater number of instants in the deck. This allows the pilot to be far more responsive to their opponents play. Instead of playing Flame Rift for 4 damage on our turn, Boros Charm allows us to leave mana open to play Red Elemental Blast if our opponent happens to play a Counterbalance, or to play Lightning Bolt to answer a Stoneforge Mystic, all the while maintaining the option to send 4 to the dome. There is also the greater utility of Boros Charm to consider. Though the other abilities of the charm seem incidental, through testing I have found situations where they come in handy. Double strike is rarely better than an additional 4 damage to the dome, but when an opponent has Leyline of Sanctity down, the extra 2 or 3 damage when cast on a creature keeps the card from being completely dead. The option of making your permanents indestructible might seem like a bit of a stretch to justify, but I have found it useful for protecting graveyard hate (I'll discuss the sideboard later on) and lands from Wasteland if need be. The strongest attribute that Flame Rift has, in my opinion, is that it can play through Leyline of Sanctity. Though Boros Charm can't directly play through Leyline of Sanctity, I believe the card makes up for it with its sheer utility and isntant speed.
Another card I am excited about from Gatecrash is Skullcrack. This is taking the place of Sulfuric Vortex at the moment, but I still feel like I need to do further testing with it. With Umezawa’s Jitte and Batterskulll abound, it is easy to see why a burn player needs to have a solution for life gain main deck; Skullcrack and Sulfuric Vortex seeming like the strongest candidates. There are a couple reasons I chose to run Skullcrack over Sulfuric Vortex. First, there is the advantage of running more instants that I mentioned earlier while discussing Boros Charm. This can also add an element of surprise, having your opponent play their life gain (that you secretly have an answer too) that they otherwise wouldn’t if Vortex was down. Then there is the mana cost to consider. Skullcrack's converted mana cost of 2 versus Vortex’s 3, allows you to run one less land quite comfortably. This results in having one more burn spell. If you want to get real theoretical, there is also the concept of running little to no permanents in order to limit the amount of interaction your opponent has with you (this is the idea of virtual card advantage if you want to open up that can of worms). My main reason though, for running 4 Skullcrack, is the hope of limiting the number of suboptimal late game draws. Skullcrack is still a bolt at worst and there are at least a couple hypothetical situations I can think of where I would rather top deck Skullcrack over Sulfuric Vortex. Another strong argument for the card is that it basically opens up the floodgates against Energy Field. Maybe I've played against too many U/W control decks, but not having an answer to Rest in Peace/Energy Field in an already unfavourable match up, stings. I realize Vortex is better against life gain but I'm hoping that this new addition can buy me the extra turn I need, while still being instant speed damage when life gain is irrelevant.
Deciding what creatures to run in your Burn list is another popular subject of debate. It seems fairly unanimous that Goblin guide is here to stay, but for my second slot, I am a strong advocate for Hellspark Elemental. Through testing I have found so many interesting situations where Hellspark is effective. The card is resilient against discard and its unearth ability is immune to counter magic. Personally, discard and counter magic are some of the most frustrating things to play against when piloting burn, and Hellspark Elemental allows you to still get some potential damage in. Furthermore, when facing dredge, the card is great for removing Bridge From Below from your opponents graveyard. I realize Grim Lavamancer is quite popular and I’m not suggesting that it isn’t a great card, in fact there are many matchups where Lavamancer is ideal. I just feel more sympathetic towards the opinions of James Heslip and his concept of "guaranteed damage". You can read his burn article on MTG Salvation for a better idea of what I’m getting at (http://www.mtgsalvation.com/1317-squ...et-legacy.html). This idea of "guaranteed damage" is also why I feel cards like Steppe Lynx and Vexing devil don’t make the cut either.
Finally I would like to discuss the sideboard. Regardless of all the great things I said about Boros Charm, one of the strongest arguments for splashing white comes from the sideboarding options that it makes available. I chose Disenchant primarily to answer Burn hate, namely Leyline of Sanctity. Though Leyline might not be as abundant in metas outside my own, I feel like it is gaining popularity due to the rise of Omni-show with Enter the Infinite, using Leyline to protect mainly from discard. Personally, I feel Leyline of Sanctity is such a headache to play against that I would like to have a means of addressing it, especially if it pops up in a U/W control list (Don’t even get me started on Chill or Energy Field). Though I love Smash to Smithereens, Disenchant’s ability to get rid of pesky enchantments as well as artifacts (no 3 damage to the dome mind you) is why it makes it into my sideboard. The other white card in the sideboard is Rest in Peace. R.I.P. is not only one of the best graveyard hate cards around but it is also very effective against a large number of popular legacy cards in the current metagame. It shrinks Tarmogoyf, Nimble Mongoose, and Knight of the Reliquary, shuts down Deathrite Shaman and Scavenging Ooze, and removes any flashback cards like Lingering Souls and Cabal Therapy. Since these cards see quite a bit of play, I think that Rest in Peace is a powerful card in any list that can run it (the obvious card to board out for R.I.P. is typically Hellspark Elemental). I don’t think Red Elemental Blast needs much explanation and the 3 Searing Blaze work well with the fetch lands, but this slot is flexible.
Ultimately the deck performs quite comparably to the mono-red list from which it was born, but with the advantage of increased responsive play, answers to crippling hate, and dealing less damage to one’s own life total. The main disadvantage to this list is that it opens itself up to Wasteland hate, which may be a hard pill to swallow for some mono-red pilots. With my experience so far, this hasn’t seemed to create to much of an issue and is typically quite easy to play around. A good friend of mine in my playgroup, who has been quite supportive of this build through encouragement and card suggestions, pilots a Pox build with 4 Wasteland and 4 Sink Hole. The constrictions on mana this matchup places on Boros Burn may be slightly higher than that of its mono-red counterpart, but I believe it is arguably negligible or are at least worth the trade-off for the benefits that splashing white gives in other matchups.
I’ve been pretty happy so far with the playtesting results Boros Burn is producing, but I still need a bit of time to get completely familiar with piloting the deck. I encourage anyone to try this list in your local meta and I would love to hear your results with the deck. I’m fairly sold on the idea of splashing white, but any criticisms or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.
"Boros Burn" (A.K.A. "Shake 'N' Bake", A.K.A. "too rogue for mono-red")
4 Chain Lightning
4 Fireblast
4 Goblin Guide
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Price of Progress
4 Rift Bolt
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mountain
4 Plateau
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Boros Charm
4 Skullcrack
SB: 4 Pyroblast
SB: 4 Rest in Peace
SB: 3 Searing Blaze or 3 Pyrostatic Pillar
SB: 4 Disenchant
Since Boros Charm was spoiled, I've been toying with the idea of splashing white into my Burn list in order to use the card. Flame Rift already sees play in Legacy Burn decks, so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that a new 4-damage-for-2-mana spell might make its way into competitive lists. In this post I will present my arguments for the card choices I have made, as well as discuss some of the pros and cons that come with splashing white into a typically mono-red build.
Chain Lightning, Lightning Bolt, Lava Spike, and Rift Bolt are the bolts that are the backbone of almost every Legacy Burn lists. Shard Volley is another option but since the deck now has Wasteland targets, I would like to avoid this card. Price of Progress and Fireblast are two other Legacy Burn staples that are here to stay. Fireblast typically finishes games and with the abundance of three colour mana-bases in the current metagame, Price of Progress feels very strong. To quote Drew Levin from his primer on beating BUG, "I don't think I have ever witnessed a BUG deck in the history of Magic beat the card Price of Progress" (http://www.starcitygames.com/article/25451_How-To-Swat-Flies-A-Primer-On-Beating-And-Building-BUG-Decks.html). These cards don't present anything revolutionary to anyone familiar with Burn, but they do act as the core of the deck.
Moving on to the new faces in Burn, lets talk about Boros Charm. This card is basically taking the place of Flame Rift in my list. Preventing 4 damage to your self is an obvious benefit, but one thing I've noticed from playtesting with Boros Charm is the advantage of having a greater number of instants in the deck. This allows the pilot to be far more responsive to their opponents play. Instead of playing Flame Rift for 4 damage on our turn, Boros Charm allows us to leave mana open to play Red Elemental Blast if our opponent happens to play a Counterbalance, or to play Lightning Bolt to answer a Stoneforge Mystic, all the while maintaining the option to send 4 to the dome. There is also the greater utility of Boros Charm to consider. Though the other abilities of the charm seem incidental, through testing I have found situations where they come in handy. Double strike is rarely better than an additional 4 damage to the dome, but when an opponent has Leyline of Sanctity down, the extra 2 or 3 damage when cast on a creature keeps the card from being completely dead. The option of making your permanents indestructible might seem like a bit of a stretch to justify, but I have found it useful for protecting graveyard hate (I'll discuss the sideboard later on) and lands from Wasteland if need be. The strongest attribute that Flame Rift has, in my opinion, is that it can play through Leyline of Sanctity. Though Boros Charm can't directly play through Leyline of Sanctity, I believe the card makes up for it with its sheer utility and isntant speed.
Another card I am excited about from Gatecrash is Skullcrack. This is taking the place of Sulfuric Vortex at the moment, but I still feel like I need to do further testing with it. With Umezawa’s Jitte and Batterskulll abound, it is easy to see why a burn player needs to have a solution for life gain main deck; Skullcrack and Sulfuric Vortex seeming like the strongest candidates. There are a couple reasons I chose to run Skullcrack over Sulfuric Vortex. First, there is the advantage of running more instants that I mentioned earlier while discussing Boros Charm. This can also add an element of surprise, having your opponent play their life gain (that you secretly have an answer too) that they otherwise wouldn’t if Vortex was down. Then there is the mana cost to consider. Skullcrack's converted mana cost of 2 versus Vortex’s 3, allows you to run one less land quite comfortably. This results in having one more burn spell. If you want to get real theoretical, there is also the concept of running little to no permanents in order to limit the amount of interaction your opponent has with you (this is the idea of virtual card advantage if you want to open up that can of worms). My main reason though, for running 4 Skullcrack, is the hope of limiting the number of suboptimal late game draws. Skullcrack is still a bolt at worst and there are at least a couple hypothetical situations I can think of where I would rather top deck Skullcrack over Sulfuric Vortex. Another strong argument for the card is that it basically opens up the floodgates against Energy Field. Maybe I've played against too many U/W control decks, but not having an answer to Rest in Peace/Energy Field in an already unfavourable match up, stings. I realize Vortex is better against life gain but I'm hoping that this new addition can buy me the extra turn I need, while still being instant speed damage when life gain is irrelevant.
Deciding what creatures to run in your Burn list is another popular subject of debate. It seems fairly unanimous that Goblin guide is here to stay, but for my second slot, I am a strong advocate for Hellspark Elemental. Through testing I have found so many interesting situations where Hellspark is effective. The card is resilient against discard and its unearth ability is immune to counter magic. Personally, discard and counter magic are some of the most frustrating things to play against when piloting burn, and Hellspark Elemental allows you to still get some potential damage in. Furthermore, when facing dredge, the card is great for removing Bridge From Below from your opponents graveyard. I realize Grim Lavamancer is quite popular and I’m not suggesting that it isn’t a great card, in fact there are many matchups where Lavamancer is ideal. I just feel more sympathetic towards the opinions of James Heslip and his concept of "guaranteed damage". You can read his burn article on MTG Salvation for a better idea of what I’m getting at (http://www.mtgsalvation.com/1317-squ...et-legacy.html). This idea of "guaranteed damage" is also why I feel cards like Steppe Lynx and Vexing devil don’t make the cut either.
Finally I would like to discuss the sideboard. Regardless of all the great things I said about Boros Charm, one of the strongest arguments for splashing white comes from the sideboarding options that it makes available. I chose Disenchant primarily to answer Burn hate, namely Leyline of Sanctity. Though Leyline might not be as abundant in metas outside my own, I feel like it is gaining popularity due to the rise of Omni-show with Enter the Infinite, using Leyline to protect mainly from discard. Personally, I feel Leyline of Sanctity is such a headache to play against that I would like to have a means of addressing it, especially if it pops up in a U/W control list (Don’t even get me started on Chill or Energy Field). Though I love Smash to Smithereens, Disenchant’s ability to get rid of pesky enchantments as well as artifacts (no 3 damage to the dome mind you) is why it makes it into my sideboard. The other white card in the sideboard is Rest in Peace. R.I.P. is not only one of the best graveyard hate cards around but it is also very effective against a large number of popular legacy cards in the current metagame. It shrinks Tarmogoyf, Nimble Mongoose, and Knight of the Reliquary, shuts down Deathrite Shaman and Scavenging Ooze, and removes any flashback cards like Lingering Souls and Cabal Therapy. Since these cards see quite a bit of play, I think that Rest in Peace is a powerful card in any list that can run it (the obvious card to board out for R.I.P. is typically Hellspark Elemental). I don’t think Red Elemental Blast needs much explanation and the 3 Searing Blaze work well with the fetch lands, but this slot is flexible.
Ultimately the deck performs quite comparably to the mono-red list from which it was born, but with the advantage of increased responsive play, answers to crippling hate, and dealing less damage to one’s own life total. The main disadvantage to this list is that it opens itself up to Wasteland hate, which may be a hard pill to swallow for some mono-red pilots. With my experience so far, this hasn’t seemed to create to much of an issue and is typically quite easy to play around. A good friend of mine in my playgroup, who has been quite supportive of this build through encouragement and card suggestions, pilots a Pox build with 4 Wasteland and 4 Sink Hole. The constrictions on mana this matchup places on Boros Burn may be slightly higher than that of its mono-red counterpart, but I believe it is arguably negligible or are at least worth the trade-off for the benefits that splashing white gives in other matchups.
I’ve been pretty happy so far with the playtesting results Boros Burn is producing, but I still need a bit of time to get completely familiar with piloting the deck. I encourage anyone to try this list in your local meta and I would love to hear your results with the deck. I’m fairly sold on the idea of splashing white, but any criticisms or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.