Dies to Removal

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Epic variance in the testing room today. I've played 3 dedicated lifegain decks in a row, then curved out to 9 in the last game.

wat

halp

I've been playing an Rb Burn deck lately to blow off steam, and I've found that it's quite good and many people are unprepared for my wacky innovation.

[deck]Bloodchief Burn[/deck]

The SB is kind of thrown together, because I tend to not make a lot of changes to the deck in SB games.

The basic plan of this deck is to burn face with the usual gang of misfits, but instead of splashing white for Helix, Boros Charm and KFW, I'm in black for Bloodchief Ascension, a card I ran to much success in Modern Dos Rakis (see brewing thread on Developing).

BA gives me a distinct edge in the Burn mirror if I get it online (which isn't hard), turning all of my opponent's Bolts into Gut Shots, unless I'm at 3 or less already. Draining them for 2 is an added bonus.

The mana is also better, with access to Blackcleave Cliffs giving me black on T1 without taking 3. A chunk of fetchlands keeps landfall up for reliable Searing Blazes. 4 Mountains means not taking a lot of damage, for further mirror edges.

If one was feeling spicy, one could drop the Bump in the Nights, swap the 2nd Blood Crypt for another fetch, and replace with 2 Grim Lavamancers and 2 Shard Volleys or a Shard Volley / Flames of the Bloodhand split.

Don't play Thunderous Wrath, it's a trap card. Burst Lightning is only good in a deck that needs early board control and the capability to sink mana into it in the late game.

Remember, if any of the auras have totem armor (the umbras), Aura Barbs won't kill the creature and they'll still have it ready to attack next turn. Back to Nature is much better for the purpose of bogle battles.

If you don't need to use a fetch for a second/third color, or to fill up a graveyard for Grim Lavamancer, it's right to leave it alone for Searing Blaze action. Be disciplined, don't do 1 damage to avoid taking 2 from a shockland.

Also, don't let anyone dissuade you from using a fetch to thin your deck if you absolutely need to. The percentage increase of drawing a spell is small but it exists. You have to be the judge of whether the 1 life is worth the extra shot at seeing the card you need. In a combo heavy format like Modern, it often is.

Excellent, thank you. I'll try that next time I go up against those guys.

What do you Seek against Scapeshift? They always seem to have more Mountains than I can remove.

If you Seek their win-con on turn 2, they can't Pact of Negation since they can't pay at their upkeep. It's a free win card, makes the matchup laughable.

Ah, understood.

BlakLanner:

Hide // Seek is the card you want for Wurmcoils, with upside against Leylines and the Ad Nauseam decks.

The card is an all-star in my Dega deck.

Excellent article, especially the bit about T1 Mountain say go.

Hmm. I thought you meant the whip! At first I thought I'd rather play Leyline of Punishment for 4 CMC because it's less awkward when you draw it late game, but Erebos has more upside.

Indestructible plus card draw... I think it's a very compelling choice.

Haven't played much burn lately, but there's a lot of lifegain floating around. Might make things tough without maindeck Skullcrack or a smart sideboard plan to fight it.

I've found that adding an extra mountain and the 4th Shard Volley has been playing well for racing (replacing the 2 Flames of the Blood Hand).

When I was playing with the full book of 8 Deathrite/Lavamancer, I'd often run out of ammo in the graveyard and have a sad face. Are you playing in a removal-heavy meta that requires a lot of backup copies?

Indeed, Searing Blaze is so good vs creature decks but so amazingly bad vs everything else. I'm going to try maindeck charms tonight and see how they go.

Are there any decks that Rakdos Charm is just completely dead against? Scapeshift, perhaps.

Oops, I forgot about the SG. I'll edit the OP, I was posting from memory.

My absolute favorite thing to do is kill a Kitchen Finks against Melira Pod/combo and exile it with Deathrite with the persist trigger on the stack.

Reserved for future primer space

Here's my current working version of Modern R/b burn -

[deck]
Creatures (10)
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer

Spells (31)
4 Bump in the Night
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
3 Shard Volley
3 Magma Jet
3 Searing Blaze
4 Skullcrack
2 Flames of the Blood Hand

Lands (19)
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Mountain

Sideboard
2 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Torpor Orb
1 Searing Blaze
3 Volcanic Fallout
4 Rakdos Charm
2 Shattering Spree[/deck]

It's been pretty money. I used to have Blood Moon in the side, but I found that I was just faster than Tron unless I flood out. I was playing white for Boros Charm, but Flames of the Blood Hand is an acceptable substitute that punishes me less and doesn't color screw as often.

Ensnaring Bridge is trolololololololololololol, I love that card and am considering putting a 3rd one
in.