[Deck - CaNG Finalist] Wildfire: Mana + Bombs

[DampingEngine]

Although this incarnation of Wildfire is a known commodity in Syracuse and I terrorized a few people in Philadelphia with it, I haven't unveiled the finished product to the internet until now. Here's the decklist:

4x Ancient Tomb
4x City of Traitors
4x Sandstone Needle
7x Mountain

4x Gruul Signet
4x Talisman of Impulse
4x Thran Dynamo
4x Gilded Lotus
2x Worn Powerstone

4x Trinisphere

4x Sundering Titan
4x Crater Hellion

2x Wildfire
2x Burning of Xinye
3x Decree of Annihilation
4x Burning Wish

SIDEBOARD:
4x Pyroclasm
3x Chalice of the Void
1x Tooth and Nail
1x Decree of Annihilation
1x Burning of Xinye
1x Devastation
1x Shattering Spree
1x Hull Breach
1x Tranquility
1x Recoup

The deck follows the age old tradition of other Wildfire decks (and seemingly every tier 1 deck in the current type 2) of having mana + bombs and little else. In fact, this deck has no less than 37 mana sources to power out 19 potential board sweepers and 4 Trinisphere to lock the opponent out of the game after they lose their lands. One of the best things about the deck is its fundamental turn of roughly 3.5, closer to 3 if drawing first and closer to 4 if playing. Because of its speed and the redundance of its sweepers, an opponent will often never have more than 3 mana available even in a long game. Now, I'll explain the card choices:

4x Ancient Tomb, 4x City of Traitors, 4x Sandstone Needle: These are the three best available lands that tap for 2 mana. I did use Crystal Vein and Dwarven Ruins initially but they made they deck very vulnerable to wasteland, led to many "comes into play tapped" lands to offer consistent speed, and led to an inability to recover if a bomb was countered. The three nonbasics that I'm still playing are pure gold though. Ancient Tomb is of course the best, I've often dealt 10 damage to myself in a game yet never come close to losing because of the advantage it gave me. Most of the turn 3 bomb plays are created by Ancient Tomb. City of Traitors can be better or worse than Ancient Tomb at different times, but it's a close second in power. Getting both a Tomb and a City in the opening hand is often the "nut", and can allow you plays like hardcasting Sundering Titan or wishing for Burning of Xinye AND casting it on turn 3, often without a 3rd land drop. Sandstone Needle is also excellent since it covers the colored portion of all your spells by itself, and its disadvantage is often unimportant because you destroy all lands when you tap it for the second time.

7x Mountain: In conjuction with the Talismans, these give you the double red you need for all your spells most of the time. It also makes you resistant to Wasteland and prevents Crucible-Wasteland from being an auto-loss (which I have run into before). Although a first turn Mountain doesn't allow you as much speed as a Tomb or Needle would, it can be the best play if you don't need to go off turn 3, or if you are playing against a deck like Goblins and are holding Pyroclasm post-board. However, you should mulligan any 7 card hand that doesn't contain a land that taps for 2.

4x Talisman, 4x Signet: Although they only produce 1 mana more or less, they are the most important part of the manabase. They provide a source of red that isn't destroyed by your board sweepers and providing your splash color is just gravy. They can also be cast turn 1 with a Tomb or even a City once in a while, and they effectively cost 1 if you cast another spell after them. This fact alone makes one wonder how people survived playing Fire Diamonds in the old days. Signets are better than Talismans in this deck because of the lack of 1cc spells, but at the moment I have all of them able to tap for green, which is handy.

4x Thran Dynamo, 2x Worn Powerstone: These are basically redundant with each other, which is why there aren't a full 4 Powerstone. These cover the huge colorless portions of your spells most of the time. Dynamo is usally better since it effectively costs 1, but Powerstone can be part of some turn 3 bomb plays so it's valuable as well.

4x Gilded Lotus: I'm very proud to have been the one to break the legal Lotus in 1.5, because it is indeed broken in this deck. It's very rare indeed that you lose a game when you have Lotus on the table. It provides more than enough red to cast any of your spells, and without taking pain. It also is the main way you cast the splash spells from the wishboard. Lotus is truly the biggest reason to play a deck like this, and seperates it from Urza block era Wildfire decks more than anything else.

4x Trinisphere: Trinisphere is the only main deck lock piece because it has the most synergy with the deck. You're inevitably going to destroy lands, and if Trinisphere is in play when you do, your opponent is usually in a position where they can do nothing for at least three full turns. If you destroyed their lands with a Titan, that means you win. If you didn't, that just means it's a good idea to destroy all lands again when the opponent gets two lands out, which isn't hard.

4x Sundering Titan: Getting 8 mana is actually quite easy with this deck; it happens turn 3 sometimes, and you'll end up with much more than 8 if the game goes long. It's extremely hard to deal with a resolved Titan; Swords to Plowshares is usually the only way it dies (although I have had one Vendetta'd before). I don't play creatures that don't also destroy permanents because I don't have to. It's 1.5 after all, and there are a plethora of creatures that also disrupt.

4x Crater Hellion: I am really shocked that Hellion wasn't played in most of the original type 2 Wildfire decks. It's redundant creature hate that's also a kill method, in a deck that can't run that many kill methods. The echo is a problem only once in a great while, it's very rare that I cast a Hellion without intending to pay its echo. The fact that it has echo also makes it undercosted as a 6/6 for 6, which is very nice. 7/7 would be much better, but what can you do.

2x Wildfire, 2x Burning of Xinye: (Burning of Xinye is the same as Wildfire if you haven't looked it up yet.) I only play 5 of these total between main deck and sideboard simply because there needs to be room for Decree. Having said that, Wildfire is the best board sweeper there is, and the #1 wish target. Having so many different board sweepers makes the deck very resilient to cards like Meddling Mage and Cabal Therapy. I don't have much to say about this legendary card and it's twin except that it's ubiquitous in type 2, and it's even easier to get 6 mana in 1.5.

3x Decree of Annihiliation: Although it may seem that this slot would be better filled with Devastation or more Wildfires, Decree is your trump card again decks with counterspells. Unless they have Stifle or Pithing Needle, there is nothing they can do about this card when it's cycled, so when you reach 7 mana, there is always the threat of destroying all lands. This is the main reason that Landstill is not a problem matchup. They need to play a large number of lands to win, but you can destroy them all without warning. It's also an instant when cycled, which often leads to plays like cycling Decree at the end of the opponent's turn, then casting Trinisphere or a creature on your turn without the fear of a non-Force of Will counterspell. It also is the MVP in the Solidarity matchup, and singlehandedly makes that matchup a favorable one for you. If you untap with 7 mana, you can cycle Decree during your upkeep and challenge them to go off without Reset. Or, if you think they're not expecting Decree, you can end your turn and cycle it during their end step, a ploy which often works since Solidarity players like to wait as long as possible to go off. On top of all that, it's one of the reasons that Burning Wish must be countered (along with Recoup), when sometimes a counterspell player will think "I can just counter the spell they get instead of countering the wish". Much like Decree of Justice, it breaks all the rules one expects spells to follow and is indispensable in this deck.

4x Burning Wish: I believe that Wish is one of the most powerful cards in the entire 1.5 format, and is sorely underused. In a deck that plays many sorceries like this one, it's a natural fit. It also allows you to play nonred spells, which is something you just couldn't do if you had to play them maindeck. I'll go over the sideboard presently:

1x Tooth and Nail: Although this is a new, experimental card, I feel like it should've been in the board all along and I was a fool not to think of it sooner. There were so many times in the past that I wanted to wish for a creature. I've even seen discussions here on the Source where people said they put a Living Wish and some creatures in their sideboard to solve the problem. No need for that in Wildfire; 9 mana is easy to produce, and 7 is even easier if you'd rather tutor for 2 creatures and not worry about getting 2 more mana first.

1x Decree of Annihilation: Sometimes the best thing to wish for is Armageddon, so here it is.

1x Burning of Xinye: The primary wish target, which gives you 8 of these effectively.

1x Devastation: This isn't in the main deck because it's bad when cast after one of your creatures unlike Wildfire/Burning, but it is better when creatures with protection from red or bigger than x/4 appear. It's an "out" against a resolved Mystic Enforcer or a reanimated fatty, which would almost surely be a loss otherwise.

1x Shattering Spree: I previosly had both Primitive Justice and Meltdown in the board, but this should be a fine replacement for both and will be crucial in the mirror match, if there ever is one.

1x Hull Breach, 1x Tranquility: Some extra artifact and enchantment removal for stuff like Humility and occasionally Survival.

1x Recoup: This is often what you wish for if it's your second wish of the game. It's also a great wish target if you're playing against a counterspell deck, since they have to counter two things after you get it. It also allows you to reuse things like Hull Breach if you suddenly find yourself in danger of losing to an enchantment.

4x Pyroclasm: Goblins is a tough matchup for any deck, so three of these (leave one to wish for) can be swapped for Decrees to bolster that matchup along with other aggro randomness.

3x Chalice of the Void: Another card that was previously maindecked. Your only 1cc spell can be cast through a Chalice, so it's pure gold in matchups like Threshold and should replace 2 Worn Powerstone and 1 Trinisphere.

Matchups:

Goblins: It's a challenge, but Pyroclasm turns it heavily in your favor games 2 and 3. Although they can win turn 3, it's more rare than your turn 3 bombs. They also have a large number of unimpressive cards like Fanatic, Sharpshooter, and Incinerator, while your least useful card (Decree) can still lock them out of the game with a Trinisphere. Their biggest asset against you is their Wastelands and Ports, and they also have Aether Vial which is sometimes the best card your opponent can play against you, so this match will never be easy.

Threshold: The white version is much more of a problem with their relevant creature removal, although the other version can burn you out from time to time so it's not a bye either. You probably need either a Trinisphere or Chalice early to win. You also need to cast threat after threat or cycle Decree to exhaust all their counterspells. All you need to do is slip one Wildfire through and you're pretty sure to win because of their light land count.

Solidarity: A highly favorable matchup because of Decree and Trinisphere. Obviously, you sideboard Chalice in as well. I haven't played against the new version with Remand yet which should put up much more of a fight, but I doubt the matchup would turn unfavorable.

Rifter: You will win this match very close to 100% of the time. I haven't tested this match very much because, why would I bother? They can't stop you from destroying all their lands unless they have 8 or so Disenchant effects in their board, and even then you probably have inevitability and can just Wildfire or Decree without using artifact mana, and it will be much easier for you to recover from than it will be for them.

Deadguy Ale: I haven't tested this match as much as I would like, because it was problematic when I did play it. Land destruction can actually be a major problem for this deck, strange as it may seem. They do have a good shot at killing you before you get 6+ mana, which is almost always how Wildfire loses. However, if you get 6+ mana, they can't stop you from just topdecking Wildfire and casting it so you have a good chance as well. Pyroclasm should come in for this match because its kills the two card advantage engines of DA and can be cast with very little mana. I wouldn't side in Chalice even though it might stop first turn Duress or Ritual, because it's unreliable. This is probably the deck I most fear in the LMF.

Some other decks I've played against:

Garv.dec: It's a race, plain and simple. Since Garv has the same fundamental turn you do, it's often more challenging than Goblins or other aggro. That being said, Trinisphere hoses them more than almost any other deck and Chalice comes in as well. I think this matchup is in Wildfire's favor.

Turboland: With the addition of basic mountains, this became a much easier matchup. Now, they can't keep you from building your manabase and cycling Decree. The only way they could is if they comboed out very quickly, which hasn't happened in my matches against it.

RGSA: Although it's probably because Syracuse is the home of the most sucessful RGSA player there is (Mulletus), this has been a major problem for me. The addition of Aether Vial makes it very difficult to keep them from recovering. If they don't get Vial, often you can Wildfire quickly enough to lock them out. I'd side in Chalice since keeping them from accelerating before and after Wildfire is so important.

Burn: You have some great weapons against burn. This is possibly the deck that is most hosed by Trinisphere and Chalice. However, it's quite fast and can scrape up a win here and there. It's a very favorable matchup for Wildfire though.

Zoo/RDW: Aggro decks that goldfish turn 5 have little chance against Wildfire. They also have little chance against several other major 1.5 decks, which is probably why they don't end up in the LMF. Just my 2 cents.

...Well, I see that this has turned into a full blown primer, but it's proper considering how much I've played the deck. I've made numerous top 8's and 4's with it and was somewhat close to a top 8 at the GP Philly grinder with a preliminary version that wasn't nearly as good. I think it's proven itself but most players are unaware of it until now, so I'm glad it's finally making its debut in this contest.