MTG Salvation

So, my Red Burn deck called "Fire Fury" has, for a long time, been the best deck I run. And now that I'm back into magic, it's time for an update. I saw the Spell Mastery Mechanic in the Origins set and thought "Why not use that, it fits with the rest of my deck."



FROM THE DECK:
-1x Fortune Thief
-1x Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
-2x Chandra's Phoenix

+2x Exquisite Firecraft
+2x Fiery Impulse

FROM THE SIDEBOARD:
-2x Flames of the Bloodhand
-2x Carbonize

+1x Jaya Balalrd, Task Mage
+1x Chain Reaction
+2x Unstable Footing

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So, how's it look? I'm also considering adding a pair of Sphinx-Bone Wands or Shrine of Burning Rages and taking out the Reverberates and/or the Outrages. What do you think, MTG Salvation?

EDIT: The most recent version of the deck is this

You don't have enough synergy with Lightning Axe to play it. Sizzle seems like a useless sideboard piece. Spark Elemental is probably worse than Hellspark Elemental. Browbeat and Fire Servant are all-around poor.

I'd probably replace some Sizzle with more sideboard Jaya Ballard, Task Mage, put in some Young Pyromancer. If multiplayer's a real worry, Guttersnipe could be an okay sideboard card. Also, Skullcrack is better than Unstable Footing most of the time.

Although not horrible, Blazing Salvo and Fiery Impulse don't help your win. Arc Trail, Searing Blaze and Slagstorm could be less situational picks. If you're going to keep the discard suite, Increasing Vengeance might be better than Reverberate. If you're looking for late-game blowouts, Bonfire of the Damned might be cheap enough to consider by now.

Also, to make Pyromancer's Ascension online as often as possible, try to play all your instants and sorceries with low costs as 4-ofs.

First, let's go over the suggestions I really like and will certainly be incorporating.

Increasing Vengeance is definitely a good switch for Reverberate. The exact same thing, with the option to use it again later for worse. Thanks for pointing that out. Skullcrack is also a shoe-in over Unstable Footing, which I only ever planned to use for damage prevention anyway. Lightning Axe also can easily leave, though I'd like another cheap spell to replace it with.

About half the games we play at my table are multiplayer, so having something to deal with that is really necessary. That said, I do find that Fire Servant rarely ever gets off, though when it does it makes an already very bad day for my opponent(s) that much worse. Maybe its time to retire them. Eveeeen if I don't want to. Guttersnipe is a good card to do it, and Young Pyromancer is a good way to get a few chump blockers on the field to keep me from immediately dying.

Fiery Impulse is basically Lightning Bolt in this deck after turn three.

As for Browbeat, I don't think I'll be getting rid of it. Yes, it's a...I think I've heard them call "punisher" card, but it's a remarkably good one. You either take a large amount of damage or you give me 3 extra cards. Neither of which are good, but especially against a deck like this with as many cheap burn spells as it has. You either are (on average) 25% closer to dying, or I have three additional cards in my hand, at least one of which is almost guaranteed to be burning your face off the next turn.

So with all that gibbering, here's the updated decklist:

Burn isn't such a great archetype for multiplayer, and playing it in multi is quite different from playing it 1-1.

Some suggestions:
- All these two-offs don't combo well with Pyromancer Ascension. Complete playsets will be better. You can try to get Magma Jet for better manipulation of your library.
- [/card]Fiery Impulse[/card] not the greatest combo with the spitfire. A simple shock could mean five damage if the spitfire is on the battlefield.
- Exquisite Firecraft is a sorcery. Maybe Flame Javelin, as it is an instant?
I also like Flame Rift, Searing Blaze. Fireblast not really a combo with Valakut...
Shivan Gorge also a nice card, but less compatible with Flame Javelin


I think this is what I would build for 1-1 play:

I like the deck overall, but as someone who enjoys playing Red in multiplayer games almost exclusively, I can tell you from experience that both: Red is the worst colour for multiplayer & your deck needs to focus on single or multiplayer.

My suggestion is to build two separate decks, and for your multiplayer variant make sure you load up on X-cost spells like Earthquake, Rolling Earthquake & Comet Storm, other cards like Insurrection, Mizzium Mortars, Flamekin Village, Blasphemous Act and other broad board spells. Creatures like Boros Reckoner, Inferno Titan, Molten Primordial, Chandra's Spitfire, Humble Defector, Dualcaster Mage and Scourge of the Throne can dominate 1vX games.

While Red is at Its weakest in multiplayer, you can have a lot of fun winning against the odds. Just don't be afraid to use some of the Red tricks available to you.

One final word(s) of advice: Lightning Bolt is a Red Staple because its awesome. Don't use Lightning Bolt in multiplayer unless you absolutely must - a Red Mage at the multiplayer table needs to be doing as much damage as you can, to everything that you can; single-target damage is usually inefficient for multiplayer.

Good luck with your deck, let us know how things are going with it!

So I originally wrote this huge reply about all of the things you guys said and why I either am or am not accepting them, but I've lost it twice now and I'm getting sick and tired of remaking it.

Suffice it to say, I'll be taking Znaccekiveli's advice and focusing on 1V1 with the deck, though I'm keeping the sideboard with a few multiplayer tricks just in case I get forced into one.

I like banefire as a big finisher in formats where you have tons of mana, but this deck looks like it wants to run on 3 lands.

Perhaps a pair of volcanic fallouts instead? Yes you may off a few of your own creatures, but you have very little board presence to defend against an aggressive deck. Wiping the opponents field can buy you extra turns, which essentially means extra draw's into more burn.

chain reaction is also a very whimsical card. You may want to replace those with 2x pyroclasms, flamebreaks, earthquakes, or slagstorms. Kind of depends on what your opponents tend to play.


edit; you could also add a single thunderous wrath in the maindeck, as it can often times be a complete blow-out. In my competitive burn deck I run a single mana clash in the sideboard for giggles against newbie opponents, since a quick burn deck tends to make for unhappy games against newer players. Always gives them something fun to chat about.