Dies to Removal

Yeah, their decks aren't as skewed toward red as mine is. It's not clear which idea is better yet...

For your deck, maybe. Mine has 13 untapped red...

I've been playing Swiftspear with success. Thinking about giving Jeskai Elder and Seeker a try because it's not immediately obvious to me which is better...

I like Kevin's list a lot more than Jadine's. I like Seeker, but could Jeskai Elder be better? The lifelink helps in a lot of races, but looting in this deck seems particularly powerful. I've been attempting to build a list with a lower curve for more explosive openings. I agree with Kait that Dragonspeaker is a tad high on the curve. Running one rather than two and cutting a land may be correct...

As long as you have 14 untapped red sources, Swiftspear is fine. That said, and though I liked the pressure she offered, it may be better to drop her to fix the mana a little better and play more impactful blue and white spells. One other thing: Ashcloud Phoenix is underrated. I think it should be in the deck. Once you get to six mana with this deck (and you will) it's basically impossible to deal with outside of exile effects...

I played my deck a bit yesterday. I liked it a lot. I saw some issues against five toughness dudes like Master of the Feast, Siege Rhino, and Nyx-Fleece Ram, but sideboard cards like Glare of Heresy, Erase, and Fated Conflagration help a lot. In fact I'm considering moving a Fated Conflagration to the main deck. I think it's best to approach a lot of matches not as a burn deck but as tempo control. This isn't Boros Burn of last season. We don't have Skullcrack, Helix, Pyromancer, or Phoenix anymore. Instead we are going to need to lean on Chandra, Sarkhan, Rabblemaster, and Mantis Rider. We're going to be fighting a lot on the ground which is why I like Satyr Firedancer maindeck. Chandra was awesome as always. Swiftspear allowed me to turn five kill someone. Swiftspear into Swiftspear into Rabblemaster into Jeskai Charm your Master of the Feast was brutal. Satyr Firedancer was a damn house. I see no decks without creatures and being able to fling damage to the head while still killing creatures is insane. Get two on the field and it's over. Mantis Rider is a boss. Can't say enough good things about this guy. Rabblemaster is Rabblemaster. Run him...

4 Dragons on 24 land is a little greedy, but Magma Jet eases tat a little. Overall I like it, though I think Ashcloud might want to be Rabblemaster...

Oh, and Mantis Rider + Stoke the Flames is sex...

Charm has a lifelink mode XD I've actually been eager to use that mode with Rabblemaster + tokens...

I should note that I really don't want to play Mana Confluence alongside 8 painlands if I can help it...

I like that a lot, Val. I think Firedrinker Satyr would still be good to maindeck over the dancer though. And it could maybe use another White source or 2. The problem with maindeck Firedrinker Satyr is running 8 painlands. I'm afraid it will be a bit too much in aggro mirrors. The deck has as many blue spells as white ones maindeck so running more white is moot, though my sideboard will likely have more white spells. The problem with the manabase currently is that I want 13-14 untapped red sources for a turn one Swiftspear. If I want more white or blue sources, I either need to up the land count or cut Swiftspear altogether. Of course I could be wrong and playing Swiftspear late may actually be okay, but without knowledge of the meta I can't say...

No testing, just more theorycrafting from me. [deck] creatures (16) 4 monastery swiftspear 4 satyr firedancer 4 mantis rider 4 goblin rabblemaster spells (21) 4 magma jet 4 lightning strike 2 arc lightning 4 jeskai charm 4 stoke the flames 2 chandra, pyromaster 1 sarkhan, the dragonspeaker lands (23) 4 battlefield forge 4 shivan reef 4 temple of epiphany 4 temple of triumph 2 temple of enlightenment 5 mountain [/deck...

Could be interesting in a deck with Oracle of Bones, Steam Augury, and Treasure Cruise, but that's not burn. :...

I think that's a mistake. This is a format that is light on removal. Rabblemaster is exactly the kind of card you want...

You can't play chain mostly because it makes your mana-base unplayable. I'm also telling you that the burn deck is better. Even if you have to play marginal cards like deflecting palm, the burn deck I built is good. Your deck being able to play Chained is a big draw, but 8 Mountains is still too light for my comfort...

It seems like your deck is confused on whether it wants to be burn or control. Isn't this basically the reason counterburn is a poor deck in general? Not really. Take UWR control in Modern for example. It's essentially a counterburn deck but it actually plays threats that are difficult to answer (Restoration Angel, Celestial Colonnade). Its burn spells (Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, Electrolyze, and Snapcaster Mage if we're being liberal) affect the board and are extremely efficient at what they do. Cards like Deflecting Palm and Mindswipe fit neither criteria. MDU's deck has the threat part down (Narset, Keranos, Sarkhan, Elspeth) but plays conditional cards like Deflecting Palm and Mindswipe as four-ofs which severely hinders the deck's efficiency. This is why I happen to think a more proactive strategy with Mantis Rider and Rabblemaster is the way to go. The format has very little efficient removal which caters to proactive strategies. A true counterburn deck will have a VERY hard time thriving in that kind of environment...

I don't think Deflecting Palm is where you want to be if you're going for a counterburn deck. It doesn't actually do anything in the deck. It seems like your deck is confused on whether it wants to be burn or control. Sounds fair, I do like the creature approach which you guys have taken up - not sure how viable counterburn will be (most likely be horrible) maybe cut the Palm for CTTR or Card Draw. Not enough Mountains for CTTR. I think Banishing Light is fine. To clarify, you have to be running a VERY specific kind of deck for Deflecting Palm to be any good, and your deck isn't it. You want all your cards to effect the board state, and Deflecting Palm only helps to race, which your deck is terrible at...

I don't think Deflecting Palm is where you want to be if you're going for a counterburn deck. It doesn't actually do anything in the deck. It seems like your deck is confused on whether it wants to be burn or control...

Searing Blood doesn't need to be facing a deck with small creatures to be good. It's really nice for doubling up with Magma Jet or Lightning Strike for removal without two for oneing yourself. That being said, I think you're underestimating exactly how much small aggro is going to be present on day 0. This is usually when savvy players pilot aggro to capitalize on suboptimal three color builds...

Mindswipe is a guilty pleasure/pet card until I can properly test it. It may be greedy but just the thought of "Counter your PW, kill your other PW" is just too juicy to pass up up here in Magical Christmas Land. Why isn't Nullify playable? Most decks will run creatures. We may just want Dissolve/Dissipate to cover everything but 3 mana is a lot more than two. Vald, from a straight burn standpoint that might be viable. I think I like Sarkhan over Stormbreath for the extra utility but I can see protection from Banishing Light being somewhat useful. A split of Sarkhan and Dragon is usually the best because each are useful in different situations. Here though, I prefer the more offensive utility of Dragon. Sarkhan can be killed on crackbacks where Dragon cannot, and I'm betting on Dragon's pro white to be a big deal in the new format...

What about this? [deck] Creatures (14) 4 Satyr Firedancer 4 Mantis Rider 4 Goblin Rabblemaster 2 Stormbreath Dragon Spells (23) 3 Swan Song 4 Searing Blood 4 Magma Jet 4 Lightning Strike 4 Jeskai Charm 4 Stoke the Flames Lands (23) 4 Battlefield Forge 4 Shivan Reef 4 Temple of Epiphany 2 Mystic Monastery 1 Temple of Triumph 3 Temple of Enlightenment 4 Mountain 1 Island [/deck...

I don't feel like Mindswipe is playable, as much as I want it to be. I'm sure Nullify isn't playable though. I'd rather go all out with Swan Song for the awesome synergy with Searing Blood and Satyr Firedancer. I think Deflecting Palm is pretty good with Firedancer in the deck, but three may be too many. It's a situational card and I really don't want to see one in my opening hand...

I really just want Treasure Cruise to be Ancestral Recall...

I think Steam Augury is playable as a Delve enabler. I also think that five mana ur spell that deals damage equal to cards in hand could be a thing. As for Chained to the Rocks, does Singing Bell Strike not do the same thing? It's dead if the game goes REALLY long, but it's a lot more reliable to cast and eases up the mana requirements quite a bit...