Dies to Removal

It may have worked for him, but I think it's terrible.

Maybe he won the die roll more often. Would you play Rb or Rg still?

He didn't. He was lucky in that he dodged Affinity and Pod, and that his Zoo opponent stumbled. I'm not trying to take away from him. He played his ass off yesterday and deserved to win.

I played R/g Burn in an IQ afterwards and was knocked out in the Top 4. I find the Green splash to be unnecessary. I wanted Destructive Revelry for Twin and Phyrexian Unlife (there's a deck in my own local meta and I saw somebody playing it on site), but I realized later on that Unlife is fringe at best and I already have other ways to deal with Twin: land destruction and heavy pressure. So now I'm just on Mono
Red. The pure game.

Fucking terrible for me. My buddy ran 73/75 and went undefeated to win the whole thing.

Going forward, I will never play this deck again. There's nothing wrong with it - I just prefer a much more stable (and painless) manabase. In a perfect world where I go first every game, I'd play nothing but this deck. Unfortunately, it's a whole different game when you're on the draw and having Bolts or critters chucked at you and you're trying to fix your mana so you can play more than one spell a turn.

I ended up dropping and played a Red Burn variant that splashed Green for Revelry in 40 person IQ. I got 3rd/4th, losing to Affinity after terrible openers and worse mulligans.

I just registered this for modern states:

[Deck]
Creatures 8
4 Goblin Guide
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel

Burn 32
4 Bump in the Night
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Skullcrack
4 Lightning Helix
4 Boros Charm

Land 20
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
3 Mountain

Sideboard 15
4 Searing Blood
4 Destructive Revelry
4 Molten Rain
3 Rakdos Charm
[/deck]

My lastest iteration of R/b/g Burn:

[deck]
Creatures 15
4 Goblin Guide
4 Vexing Devil
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Grim Lavamancer

Burn 25
1 Shard Volley
4 Bump in the Night
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Skullcrack
4 Searing Blaze

Land 20
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Mountain
2 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Ground

Sideboard 15
3 Destructive Revelry
3 Rakdos Charm
3 Searing Blood
2 Volcanic Fallout
2 Flames of the Blood Hand
2 Molten Rain
[/deck]

Ouch, bro. That sucks.

More Searing effects?

How did it go?

I'd consider that Burn.

In my opinion, Vexing Devil and Marauders function as a Burn spell the majority of the time. Marauders is like a 2 mana shock that can double as a 'Fog,' removal spell (via blocking), or additional 3 damage depending on the boardstate. And VD is, well, VD.

Eidolon is just fantastic anyway. I haven't messed around with Burn since finding Heal's Rdw list, but if I did, my creature suite would include Eidolon. Full sets of Guide, Devil, and Eidolon would be a must, along with a minimum of 3 Lavamancers, I think.


Overall, MDU, I think your list looks very good.

If you're playing all 16 'bolts' and you win by slinging damage to the face, you're playing a Burn deck.

Maybe cut the Marauders for a Mountain or 2 plus a Flames of the Bloodhand? Or a Figure of Destiny?

I like it, but I don't know how much I'd like running Searing Blaze with just 18 lands. I always felt that running 20 was pushing it.

I take it nobody here has been on the receiving end of an active Bloodchief Ascension? Shit gets crazy.

I aim to please.....myself.

I treat Legacy like sex. It's a race and I make sure I always finish first. It's all over in a matter of minutes and somebody is usually left crying.

But, yeah, everything else looks really solid.

I don't like Steppe Lynx.


I can't believe I just typed that.

I go full retard in Legacy. Just give it all to them. If they die, they die.

Probably going to play this in the MOCs, anyone got a solid decklist? I liked the:
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Figure of Destiny
4 Vexing Devil

split.

Is Searing Blood playable in the 60? If not, in the 70?

Searing Blood is pretty damn good. I built P-Sulli's list from a couple weeks back and have had a blast raping Affinity and Melira Pod decks.

What MDU said. In my experience, it just wasn't worth it. Even now, I'm reconsidering the green splash I made for Destructive Revelry. Those shocks you take for playing these lands add up.

He said he tested a lot against Affinity. Seems legit.

I'm liking P-Sully's Burn list here at the bottom of his latest article about the last SCG event. It appeals to me since my meta is pretty aggro-heavy in Modern.

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/28 ... South.html

Plus, the 3/1 split on Lavamancer and Figure of Destiny is just sexy.

Not me. Not yet, anyway. I don't get a chance to test much. I just suit up with what I know and go with it.

I had to use a Charm once to kill the infinite life combo with Finks. Taking out a Pod or a Skite is nice, but I admit Charm isn't completely necessary for winning.

Against Pod with your deck, I'd probably board in all the Angers, Charms, Revelry, and the Lavamancer. That's 9 cards. Cut the Devils, Guides, and maybe the Looting? It raises your 3 drop count , but all the cards are useful.

Question for you guys running Vexing Devil - in the Pod Match-up, or any deck that runs Scavenging Ooze (like a form of Zoo), do you guys find yourselves sideboarding out Vexing Devil so that it doesn't provide life gain fodder? I did that during my Pod match-up, however, I don't know if it was the correct play or not. The plan has its merits but I question whether 1 or 2 points of extra life that your opponent will gain is enough to worry about (though a 4/4 or bigger Ooze can get dangerous somewhat quick in a slower paced game).

Thanks, MDU. I switched over to Flames cuz I'd much rather stop some life gain than kill a Colonnade.

How important would you say that Vexing Devils are in the deck? If you had to replace them, what would you choose instead?

I like this because we have Twin, Affinity, and Pod players in our meta. But I have refused to get VDs so far...

VD is actually pretty good now. I wouldn't say that he's mandatory, as evidenced by one of the lists Lazer posted from the PT, but being able to deal 4 damage is very good and VD generally does that the majority of the time.

I took down a 4 round Modern tourney at my LGS last night.

[deck]
Creatures 12
4 Goblin Guide
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Vexing Devil

Burn 28
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Bump In The Night
4 Skullcrack
4 Searing Blaze
1 Shard Volley
3 Flames of the Bloodhand

Land 20
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Mountain
2 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Ground

Sideboard 15
4 Searing Blood
4 Rakdos Charm
4 Destructive Revelry
1 Flamebreak
2 Anger of the Gods
[/deck]

Round 1 - Affinity 2-1
Round 2 - Melira Pod 2-0
Round 3 - Tempo Twin 2-0
Round 4 - U/W Control 2-1

Here's what I learned:

1) Grim Lavamancer is still bonkers. I actually thought about cutting him before the tournament. I'm so glad I didn't. He's basically the only reason I didn't lose to Affinity and Pod. He also sealed the deal in one game against U/W.

2) My sideboard is REALLY good against Affinity and
Pod. After slapping the sideboard together, I didn't even realize that all 15 cards could just go right in.

3) Beating Twin with a Rakdos Charm is always fun.

4) There's actually a lot of cards in the deck that don't care about Spellskite. This makes me happy.

Here was his Burn list:

[deck]
lands 20
4 Arid Mesa
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
2 Marsh Flats
4 Mountain
2 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn

creatures 8
4 Goblin Guide
4 Vexing Devil

spells 32
4 Boros Charm
4 Bump in the Night
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Shard Volley
4 Skullcrack


Sideboard
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Flamebreak
2 Satyr Firedancer
3 Searing Blood
4 Smash to Smithereens
2 Torpor Orb[/deck]

It's definitely one of his best. Required reading for any Red Mage, in my opinion.

Playing a Turn 1 Mountain is the most important and powerful thing anyone can do.

More proof of the awesomeness that is Patrick Sullivan.

I assume this is relevant to our interests.

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/27 ... nters.html

Thanks Khaos I value your input, your experience of playing the deck and insights into the match ups are invaluable. It also means we get to work on the same deck too which I like What's your current 75? I've checked the thread and your last one is pre-ban. Wat have you replaced DRS with?

I really the Dancer (largely based on how pleasing it is to CRUSH MonoU Devo with St Burn) but I'm thinking he may be too slow and
vulnerable here? Against Zoo for example T2 would you rather dome them for 6 (setting up a T3 Bridge or Anger which they can't interact with) or just kill 2 of their guys (effectively gaining 4-6 life) or play the Dancer? Potentially he's awesome but if you do play him and they just kill him and keep attacking you're fucked You can't hide behind him like a Bridge either Thoughts guys?

This is worth a look - I faced the GR Zoo list, (and a variant with Lightning Mauler and Keldon Marauders) it wasn't very pleasant and BTE totally wrecked me. I didn't see Anger though

I had to rebuild the deck just last week and, for
the life of me, I couldn't remember my original 75 before I took the deck apart. Sometime over the summer, I realized that playing Burn in a competitive environment was pointless due to DRS being in the format, the fact that a single well-timed Lightning Helix against you could put you so far out of reach that winning was impossible, and that to do somewhat reasonable well you had to mish-mash your deck to include DRS AND Lightning Helix, which put you in 3-4 colors. This was all just bad. I switched over to Mono Red Goblins for a long while before developing other decks, like Merfolk, Storm, a Goblin-Burn variant, and U/R Delver.I am very happy that not only does Burn stand a better chance now than before RTR released, but that Vexing Devil is somewhat playable. Somewhat.

Anyways, here is what I'm currently working with:

[deck]
Creatures 12
4 Goblin Guide
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Vexing Devil

Burn 28
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Bump in the Night
4 Skullcrack
4 Searing Blaze
n1 Shard Volley
3 Flame Javelin

Land 20
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Blackcleave CLiffs
4 Mountain
2 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Ground

Sideboard 15
4 Satyr Firedancer
3 Rakdos Charm
3 Destructive Revelry
2 Combust
3 ***
[/deck]

The last 4 spells in the list, the 3/1 split of Javelin and Shard Volley, is more or less my flex spots. I like Shard Volley, since it's Lavamancer fuel and it allows you to strategically make Blackcleave Cliffs less shitty after turn 3, but I really hate holding multiples and being stuck on 1-2 land. As a finisher, it's great - no doubt about that. And as for Flame Javelin, well, I've lost too many Game Ones against Twin to just want it [Javelin] over Flames of the Bloodhand. Granted, if you have to board into "creature removal mode" by using the Satyr Firedancer, the Bloodhands will essentially function as a Javelin, but I digress. I've run across too many decks maindecking Spellskite to just know what suits me.

Other cards I've considered are [
card]Molten Rain[/card], Pillar of Flame, Volcanic Fallout, and Burst Lightning. Burst Lightning is especially tempting since it does hit that "sweet spot" of 4 damage, but kicking it can't come soon enough to potentially stop a turn 4 Splinter Twin/Exarch combo. But, having access to more 1 CMC instant speed removal is very valuable when on the Firedancer plan. (Firedancer is almost like YP$ in that you don't want to play him and then be tapped out. You want to get some value from him even if he's killed.)

I play the full 4 Lavamancer and Searing Blazes since my meta is starting to become more aggressive. The last Modern event I played in had B/W tokens (very good, too), Small Tribal Zoo (like, turn 4 kill scary), Affinity, Merfolk, and Goblins. With these decks in my metagame, Lavamancer and Blaze are rarely dead cards. Against certain control decks, those 8 cards can just come
right out for the 2x Combust, 3x Rakdos Charm, and 3x Destructive Revelry. I find all of those cards helpful in fighting graveyard flashback shenanigans, Spellskites, Leylines, Colonnades, Exarchs, Resto Angels, Chalice of the Void set at 1, Swords or Batterskull, etc. Basically, the usual suspects in the faces of Control.

I've been playing R/b Burn for over the last year and a half, and I swear by Ensnaring Bridge. I absolutely love it. In conjunction with Lavamancer, it just about destroys any creature-based aggro deck (especially Merfolk, unless they are smart enough to board in Echoing Truth for the Bridge), with the weird exception of Affinity. Why? Cuz if you can't kill an Ornithopter, it can attack because of its zero power, despite having a bridge out, and then your opponent can instant speed equip Cranial Plating. But those situations actually rarely come up.

Anyway, now that I can update my deck with some new stuff, I'm strongly considering replacing Bridge with Firedancer.

Here's my current rough draft:

[deck]
4 Satyr Firedancer
3 Rakdos Charm
3 Destructive Revelry
2 Combust
3 *
[/deck]
I have 3 flex-slots. I may lean towards Molten Rain. It's a card that's relevant in almost any match-up, and gets better against
Tron, Scapeshift, and U/W/r.

I'm also surprised that I haven't seen Flame Javelin in anybody's lists. I'm a big fan of that card since it's able to target Spellskite, Deceiver Exarch, Obstinate Baloth. and possibly kill a 'goyf. But, it pretty much comes down to Flames of the Bloodhand VS Flame Javelin most of the time, so I suspect that is why I rarely see other people playing it.

Anyways, I doubt that whatever I have to say will be relevant for the MTGO meta. I prepare for my meta, which is pretty well balanced (Well, admittedly, Affinity has been on the rise in the last few weeks but I think that's only temporary). I just thought I'd share with you guys.

P-Sullivan is playing R/b Burn on MTGO also. On Facebook, somebody asks, "Why are you playing Vexing Devil!? " He goes: I had to get to 60 somehow.

It made me laugh.

I find Combo and Control harder then Aggro, which is why I'm not running Dancer - though I could swap Grim for dancer in my boards (but grim does damage....).

Call me crazy, but I'm thinking that 'dancer could be left in the board and you could just swap him for Goblin Guide in the creature match-ups.

I just assumed Born wasn't out yet on MTGO

Really? Then why isn't he being played? I'd play Firedancer over Marauders in that deck.