[Primer/Deck] Burn

[Ace/Homebrew]

Blood moon... works against price of progress.

This statement is incorrect! For reference.
If anything, it helps because they cannot waste away their own non-basics or fetch for basics... Still wouldn't recommend it as a sideboard card in Burn though.

Congrats on the finish moron!

[magicmoron]

@ace/homebrew:

I understand the ruling and price of progress damage is still triggered by the non basics, blood moon has to come down early to be effective i.e. turn two or three. Therefore, we change what type of lands the opponent plays out which would more than likely not be dumping lands into play that would not help his mana base and just cause more pain from the price of progress. So, I think that they work against each other because one card disincentivises the use of the other.

[Ace/Homebrew]

I split the finals at the Philadelphia weekly this Wednesday. Twenty-seven showed.

8 Mountains
12 red fetch-lands

4 Vexing Devil
4 Goblin Guide
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Hellspark Elemental

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Chain Lightning
3 Price of Progress
3 Rift Bolt
3 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Fireblast

Sideboard
4 Smash to Smithereens
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Searing Blaze
3 Red Elemental Blast


R1 - Zach, Miracles 1-1-1
Game 3 ended with Zach at 1 life after I landed Sulfuric Vortex through Counter/Top turn 3 of turns.

R2 - Alex, Landstill 2-1
PoP and REB pulled their weight these games.

R3 - Jesse, Burn 2-1
He was fetchless and without Eidolon.

R4 - Mark, Maverick ID
Mark's a buddy of mine. We struggled with the math for 10 minutes due to all the draws (from all the Miracles) before IDing.

Top 8
R5 - Frank, U/R Delver 2-0
Eidolon is so good. I said I had no interest in splitting top 4. Half of the 4 that remained spazzed out.

R6 - Joe, Jund 2-1
Close games. Hymn is devastating.

It's almost midnight by the time the Burn/Miracles match finishes their third game. The Burn player left before anyone realizes that they went 1-1-1. They didn't realize drawing wasn't an option... *sigh*
I get ~$95 bucks in credit.


I went for more of a Sligh build. Eidolon feels like a lock piece. If the board is favorable and I have more life, it effectively is. Hellspark Elemental is the best card in the deck against Miracles.
I'm pretty happy with the main deck. Not sure on the sideboard.

[AmokPL]

no love for Grim Lavamancer? How is Vexing Devil instead?

[Ace/Homebrew]

no love for Grim Lavamancer? How is Vexing Devil instead?

No Lavamen... I originally had 3 in the Rift Bolt spot but wanted the guaranteed 3 damage and mana diversity (3 CMC).

Devil performed well. He was only allowed to resolve once in later turns when Jund was at 3 life. Otherwise I prioritized it as the first card to play in my hand other than Goblin Guide. Several (2 or 3 I guess) games on the play had the opponent end their first turn at 15 life (Devil and fetch) and their second below 10 (2 more one mana 3 damage spells)!

Again, my strategy was to drop a threat in an empty board and lock it down with Eidolon. Devil was rarely allowed to live to be the huge threat he is, but he helped me immediately get to a favorable life position.

[AmokPL]

No Lavamen... I originally had 3 in the Rift Bolt spot but wanted the guaranteed 3 damage and mana diversity (3 CMC).

Devil performed well. He was only allowed to resolve once in later turns when Jund was at 3 life. Otherwise I prioritized it as the first card to play in my hand other than Goblin Guide. Several (2 or 3 I guess) games on the play had the opponent end their first turn at 15 life (Devil and fetch) and their second below 10 (2 more one mana 3 damage spells)!

Again, my strategy was to drop a threat in an empty board and lock it down with Eidolon. Devil was rarely allowed to live to be the huge threat he is, but he helped me immediately get to a favorable life position.

I took my Burn to London's Dark Challenge yesterday but it performed badly. Lost to UWR Stoneblade and ANT so dropped and decided to spend the rest of the day with my family. There were few SB errors (Eidolon alone will not stop turn 1 or 2 Storm craziness so playset of Traps would be really helpful) but in the end I was really dissapointed with Grim Lavamancer. I have a big sentiment for him but he is slowing us down a lot, not doing anything for a turn which might be crucial. That is why I am eager to try other options being Devil and Hellspark.

[Annie Bot]

I see that ya'll on the source are starting to move more creature heavy and when I took up burn (and MTG) a year or so ago creatures were viewed as the weakest link. I was wondering if this had to do with the shifting meta or more of a personal preference?

EDIT: Congrats to you Ace :)

[lordofthepit]

Your new Legacy Open champion: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=69131

[datanaga]

Your new Legacy Open champion: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=69131

Sad to watch burn player who doesn't know how stack works doing so well:(
His work with shusher was really terrible.

[lordofthepit]

Sad to watch burn player who don't know how stack work doing so well:(
His work with shusher was really terrible.

You have to activate Shusher before the Counterbalance trigger is revealed, unless you think they're going to miss. In a game where your opponent presents a slow clock and hasn't shown an ability to remove your Shusher, I like the way he activated his Shusher.

[datanaga]

You have to activate Shusher before the Counterbalance trigger is revealed, unless you think they're going to miss. In a game where your opponent presents a slow clock and hasn't shown an ability to remove your Shusher, I like the way he activated his Shusher.

I know that shushers ability have to be activated before counterbalance trigger is revealed.
You are right, I just read final coverage again because I previously overlooked that there was counterbalance in play every time when he activated his shusher.
Sorry Bryant and congratulation to your finish:)

[warfordium]

I'm even sadder that the man is a Chive supporter. he should point his last burn spell at his own shirt.

[Lyle Hopkins]

Congratulations, Bryan Camidge! Bryan's 75 seemed well suited for the meta-game at SCG Las Vegas.

[zulander]

I'm toying with a black/green splash, and I'm pretty sure this is a bit unconventional:

//mana
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Badlands
2 Taiga
6 Mountain

//burnzz
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Tyrant's Choice
4 Bump in the Night
4 Fireblast
2 Sulfuric Vortex
2 Searing Blaze

//creatures
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Goblin Guide

//other 1
1 Sylvan Library

[264505]

I'm toying with a black/green splash, and I'm pretty sure this is a bit unconventional:

//mana
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Badlands
2 Taiga
6 Mountain

//burnzz
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Tyrant's Choice
4 Bump in the Night
4 Fireblast
2 Sulfuric Vortex
2 Searing Blaze

//creatures
3 Deathrite Shaman
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Goblin Guide

//other 1
1 Sylvan Library

You need to run more fetches. The old modern variant used to run like 9 or 10 to get value off Shaman. I don't think you are going to be able to have B and G when you need it. Also, losing out on PoP is a pretty bad idea in the current meta imho.

[JJ-JKidd]

With the winning SCG list, where do you side in Vexing Shushers? Miracles only? And is Ensaring Bridge an auto-side against all aggro decks, plus Sneak and Show?

[Ace/Homebrew]

Vexing Shushers?

I would only bring them in against decks with Counter/Top. If they are running Daze, you probably don't have the open to activate shusher when they play it against you.

Ensaring Bridge?

Only against decks that can create a huge lethal threat faster than the 4 or 5 turns you need to kill them. Sneak/Show and Dredge are the only ones that come to mind.

Otherwise burning their face is always better than cards that cost mana but don't do damage!

[Zoomer3989]

With the winning SCG list, where do you side in Vexing Shushers? Miracles only? And is Ensaring Bridge an auto-side against all aggro decks, plus Sneak and Show?

I wouldn't bring in Bridge against any deck with Abrupt Decay, because they likely won't remove it - they'll expect Vortexes and will care about Grims. Against other aggro, IMO, yes, though you might not need all 3 or so against Affinity as they might be too slow.

On Shusher, IMO, I agree against Miracles. I also like him versus tempo decks, particularly Merfolk, Thresh, and UWR. Decks with 3-4 Pierces and Daze I think make him worthwhile, and occasionally Blade decks after board with Flusterstorm and more Pierces make him worth it. I've also found myself bringing in Shusher versus combo, if you want to cut Grims and Searing effects and need more cards to bring in - he's not great, but preventing a Force of Will or a sided in Pierce is about as good as Grim will be against blue combo decks.

EDIT: On Shusher and Bridge together - Sometimes playing the game into a point where you can resolve Bridge due to Shusher protecting, like against Merfolk or Thresh, is almost an automatic win - I have done this against Merfolk and Sullivan has done this on camera versus Thresh. It's tricky but it can be worth it, and is the only way to protect against TNN except racing or Smash to Smithereens.

[feline]

Congrats on another trophy for Burn this weekend in Vegas! Though the last time Burn hit first, it was about 2 years ago if I recall correctly. That or I can just go to the first post after I hit enter here.

I think the Pyrostatic Pillar on legs is proving itself lately, burn has been putting out the numbers!

[Lyle Hopkins]

I went 3-1 at a 10 player sanctioned tournament yesterday.

Round 1
Death & Taxes (2-0)

Round 2
Mono-red Imperial Painter (0-2)
I think I made a couple misplays in this match, and I felt like my draws weren't the best. This match-up is usually quite favourable.

Round 3
Jund (2-0)

Round 4
UWR Delver (2-0)

Main Deck:
4 Chain Lightning
4 Fireblast
4 Goblin Guide
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
9 Mountain
4 Price of Progress
4 Rift Bolt
4 Grim Lavamancer
2 Scalding Tarn
3 Arid Mesa
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Searing Blaze
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel

Sideboard:
3 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Smash to Smithereens
4 Sulfuric Vortex
4 Searing Blood
2 Vexing Shusher

I decided to try out this main deck Eidolon of the Great Revel thing, seeing as it has been putting up results recently. The card didn't really have too many opportunities to shine during the tournament, but with U/W Control and Storm in the room, I was glad to have them in the main. Furthermore, having Eidolon of the Great Revel in the main deck frees up some sideboard space, which I dig.