Color Options RU
My favorite color combination, and probably the most consistent mana base since you only run 2 colors, not much else to say about it, you get all the usual blue cantrips and counters and red burn and double strike
RUG
Probably the slowest color combination, but it was the best mid to late game and the best ability to protect it's creatures
RUB
All you get here is really infect in Tainted Strike, which is great if your meta has indestructibles or lots of lifegain
Basic Strategy
what you should look for in a hand
1-2 mana sources, this deck only needs 2 mana to go with a Kiln Fiend, between phyrexian spells like Gitaxian Probe and [card]Manamorphose/card]
1-2 cantrips, ideally Manamorphose and Gitaxian Probe since they will let you save mana for protection spells.
1 combo creature, and no more than 3, even 2 is questionable especially if you have 2 pieces of protection in your hand.
1-2 protection spells, most of these can be used to cantrip for the +3/+0 so it's ok to have more than one Apostles Blessing and if you need to you can target your own spells with Stubborn Denial to get an extra spellcast.
The general idea of this deck is to play a Kiln Fiend or another finisher creature and then cantrip twice and give it double strike or infect for the kill. The perfect combo in my eyes is T1 Island, Exile Simian Spirit Guide, Kiln Fiend T2 Mountain, Manamorphose adding UR, Assault StrobeApostles Blessing in opponents colors and swing for the kill. There are many variants of this turn but the basis of cantrip, double strike, protection is the same, ideally you would have a Manamorphose so you could to it T2 or T3 with minimal loss of life, otherwise you can do amazing things with Gitaxian Probe, since you can go off on a single land that you played T1 with a Simian Spirit Guide accelerated Kiln Fiend and T2 Gitaxian ProbeGitaxian ProbeAssault Strobe for the kill if the board is open. All of the combos thus far have been at sorcery speed, at instant speed our options become much more limited, but we can play mind games with our opponent and use our creatures as removal through combat tricks and the threat of death if it is not blocked. The best way to kill at instant speed is through the use of Tainted Strike in combination with phyrexian cards like Gitaxian Probe and Mutagenic Growth or with Brute Force and Titan's Strength, but more mana-intensive methods can be done with Double Cleave or Armed/Dangerous, and further more if you choose to use Quicken you can, on T3 go card]Manamorphose[/card], Quicken, Assault Strobe with 1 mana open for protection or to make it unblockable if needed. Another amazingly powerful, albeit risky play is T1 land, Exile Simian Spirit Guide, Immolating Souleater, T2 pay 18 life to make Immolating Souleater a 10/2, and give it either double strike or infect and swing for game with 1 open for protection and to stop a bolt from finishing you off, this is by far the most risky play, but the most satisfying to pull of, since it leaves you on 2 health. Although this deck really likes to kill in 1 swing, don't be afraid to go with 2 spells, or even just double striking for 8 damage, especially if you have more double strike or infect cards or have included Runechanters Pike or Delver of Secrets.
Card Options
Creatures
Kiln Fiend:5/5
This, along with Nivix Cyclops is your bread and butter and 90% of your kills will come from it, run it in almost every iteration of this deck. The +3/+0 lets us kill with 2 spells and a double strike or infect enabler.
Nivix Cyclops:5/5
Not only does it pump well, but it doesn't die to 1 Lightning Bolt and can block reasonably well, again this should be used in almost every deck.
Wee Dragonauts:4/5
The flying body is great, but it does need more spells to kill since it only gets +2/+0 per instant/sorc. In some cases I would consider using Flamekin Harbinger as copies 5-8 of Kiln Fiend instead.
Simian Spirit Guide: 5/5
Since this deck has almost no contingency plan if it fails other than to draw more cards and try again, speed is a priority, so this is great.
This can lead to turn 2 kills if you can get out an Kiln Fiend on T1 with it.
Grim Lavamancer:4/5
This will give your deck some more consistent damage at the cost of reducing the density of combo creatures or kill spells, I would use this in
a meta that leans heavily on small creatures you can pop so that you can ping blockers for kills. Do not use this with Spellheart Chimera or Runechanters Pike.
Flamekin Harbinger:3/5
If you cant to consistently get Kiln FiendS, this is the card for you. I ran this in an earlier version of the deck while I was developing it, but it can make this deck drop very consistent T2 Kiln FiendS if you draw one in your opening hand.
Guttersnipe:2/5
This would be a good card for the deck, but it's cost prohibits it from being useful most of the time and often times the deck only needs 3 spells to kill so it doesn't get much mileage. However this can be used in multiplayer games to great effect since you might run out of juice before killing more than one person. Another way I have explored using this card is giving him infect through Tainted Strike and attempting to cast 5 spells, putting 10 poison counters on EACH opponent.
Nivmagus Elemental:3/5
This card has potential, but the issue is that most of the cards you cast you want to resolve, such as your double strike and unblockable cards, so this usually doesn't get that huge. If you want to use this card, build around it.
ser Snapcaster Mage:3/5
Although hes a big player in modern spell based decks, he isn't as good as it might seem in a deck like this, since you don't often have two mana to spare and then mana to flashback a spell, even if you flashback a probe it's still mana that would be better spent elsewhere and flashing back any other card is too expensive.take note, if you have a Runechanters Pike, Spellheart Chimera, or Treasure Cruise. However if the chance to use Snapcaster Mage presents itself then I woul throw the rest of the cards aside in favor of it.
Immolating Souleater:4/5
first of all, NEVER AGAINST BURN, if your opponent has any damage spells then they win, since you drop 18 health into this guy to make him a 10/1 and then double strike him for game, although it's risky to use this one, if you think you can and your local meta doesn't have a ton of burn, go ahead.
Aetherling:4/5
I run this as a 1 of in sideboard for some matchups, it's a way to close up games you think might stretch on for a while and can be pumped the turn after you play it for 16 unblockable with a double strike. He comes out of the blue (heh) for most opponents who wouldn't expect a control finisher in a fast deck, but it's a great contingency plan
Spellheart Chimera:4/5
Pick this card if you think you need to have a mid to late game presence, since it won't be huge early, but once you try to combo once or twice and fail, this will be your saving grace. Amazing with Runechanters Pike.
Delver of Secrets:4/5
A great card, but it doesn't get much from instand and sorceries unless you chose Mutagenic Growth, in which case it's great, since it flips so easily. My usual list was 30 instant/sorc. so it's pretty great, but feels a little subpar since he has no instant/sorc. synergy other than flipping.
Gelectrode:4/5
Great to clear blockers while going off, or just putting damage on your opponent, but it's a bit of a mana sink for T3.
Goblic Electromancers:2/5
Most of the cards you cast don't have any colorless cost to decrease, so his ability is rendered useless.
Surrakar Spellblade:2/5
This is ok in the green build, since it's a slow creature, but overall I found it's effect lacklustre since we don't need too many cards to win unless we fail a couple of times and in that case it would be better to have another kill creature.
Young Pyromancer:4/5
Makes cannon fodder to keep you alive if you fail once, and buys you time to draw into another combo card you need, occasionally you can kill someone if you get enough tokens. This guy is a removal magnet, use him to bait and clear the board for your other stuff.
Storm Entity:2/5
This simply isn't that great, and you lose the burst kiln fiend gives you
Monastary Swiftspear:3/5
Since this card is seeing use in delver decks I feel obligated to mention it here, I think this deck doesn't cast enough spells per turn to make this efficient,
since we only need 3 spells to kill and we don't produce enough mana to feed it as many spells as we want to make it fast enough for us.
Instants/Sorceries
Assault Strobe:5/5
This is probably the card I kill most often with, especially when combined with Quicken and a Manamorphose, which lets you kill with just 2 mana and no loss of life.
Double Cleave:4/5
This isn't great, but it's an instant speed double strike, use it if you don't want to support a black splash for Tainted Strike.
Psychotic Fury:5/5
This is only good if you are using Nivix Cyclops and Wee Dragonauts, since multi colored is a prerequisite, but when you do have both it's great, since it's double strike and card draw at instant speed.
Armed//Dangerous:2/5
No reason to use this over Assault Strobe, unless you splash for green, and even then it's pretty bad since you don't want to cast the green side for any reason, and you really shouldn't have that much mana anyways.
Past In Flames:3/5
This looks good in theory, but by the time you have enough mana to cast it and flashback enough spells to make it relevant your way to far into the late game and although being able to flashback your entire GY is nice, it's complete overkill since you only need 3 spells to kill with a double strike or infect enabler.
Tainted Strike:4/5
This is great if you can support the black, since it gives you a way to deal with indestructibles, an alternate wincon to straight damage, and a 2 card kill combo with Mutagenic Growth. if you have the cash to throw UB and RB shocks into a deck, or some other way to splash, I would highly recommend it.
Fling:2/5
Only relevant for its mono colored cost, otherwise its outdated by Flesh/Blood
Flesh//Blood:4/5
Awesome card, much better than Fling if you are in green, and if you are in green I would highly recommend this
Serum Visions:5/5
Expensive, but if you have them, then they are a must include, great for digging and pump.
Reckless Charge:4/5
On the curve this is just a worse Brute Force, but if you are behind or your first wincon creature got killed this lets you suprise your opponent with haste, and flashback, while expensive is not something to be ignored since you can end up with extra mana with Manamorphose.
Gitaxian Probe:5/5
There is so much to say about this card, if you have extra pump, or turn of you can use it to check of your opponent has an answer to your kill, it draws you a card, and most important is it's phyrexian cost which lets you spend mana on more important things. No reason not to use this in every list.
Manamorphose:5/5
Again, such an amazing card for this deck, it's essentially free, since it refunds your mana and filters and as well as draws you a card, every deck needs this.
Lightning Bolt:5/5
With a Kiln Fiend or a Nivix Cyclops it provides 6 damage, need I say any more? It removes blockers, pumps your creatures and can burn your opponent down if you need.
Mizzium Mortars:4/5
This card is great for the deck as a sideboard card, but not maindeck, use this when against token heavy decks or decks with a couple of must answer threats.
Quicken:4/5
great for cute plays with Assault Strobe, but there are probably better cards for this deck, although the plays that this card can instigate are great.
Noxious Revival:3/5
this is great if you want to go for an even more glass cannon build, since you could cantrip, Noxious Revival for 2 life, cantrip again and get another guaranteed card you want
Inside Out:3/5
Cantrips, and can be used to protect creatures using their own pump abilities, and can be used to good effect on Nivix Cyclops
Crimson Wisps:4/5
Can be used to make a super flashy turn 1 or 2 kill if you draw a couple of Simian Spirit Guide, but other than that it's just another red cantrip spell, it also creates a problem with Psychotic Fury, but that can be played around by casting fury first.
Brute Force:5/5
Great card for this, since it gets you +6/+3, which protects your creatures from burn and makes it large enough to cast a double strike, infect, or fling effect for the kill
Might of Old Krosa, Giant Growth: 5/5
If you use green, the cheap pump is amazing, since you can get +6/+3 from Giant Growth, which protects your creatures from getting bolted and lets you create combat tricks.
Treasure Cruise:4/5
This is a strange one, the cards power level is through the roof, but this is a dead card on the fist and second attempts to kill, unless you have been using cantrips
to dig for a wincon, and by that point you should have all the cards you need to go off and kill your opponent. The only other practical use for this is if you
tried to kill and your creature ate a Heroes Downfall, in which case you may have enough cards and mana to cast it and dig for another wincon. Don't
use this with Runechanters Pike or Spellheart Chimera.
Stubborn Denial:5/5
Great protection, since when you cast if you have a Nivix Cyclops or a Kiln Fiend out it gets +3 +0 and triggers the ferocity and turns into a hard noncreature counter for U. Pumps creatures as well.
Rangers Guile:4/5
Great if you go into green, can replace Apostles Blessing, but you lose the protection for an additional +1/+1, although that won't make a huge difference if you are going for a T3 kill with a 10-2 double striker since you would go over to 11-2 with 3 spells which wouldn't make a difference unless you are going against lifegain in white or stuff like Deathrite Shaman
Apostles Blessing:5/5
Can we partially paid for in life, which is nice since this deck doesn't really care about it's life total unless it's 0. gets a creature through with protection, stops removal, and pumps.
Artful Dodge:5/5
In my opinion this is the better unblockable card, since Distortion Strike can only be cast once per turn, even though Distortion Strike gives +1 +0 twice you can cast this twice in one turn with enough mana and if you don't you get to choose when you want it a second time.
Distortion Strike:4/5
Not the best unblockable spell, but it gets the job done. If you have the mana for Artful Dodge it's better, but you can use Distortion Strike to set up for the next turn and get it for free so you can combo with less mana and save mana to respond to a threat. Overall, Distortion Strike gives +4 for U on the first turn, and +4 for free on the second turn, although it warns your opponent that you are going to try to kill them next turn. Artful Dodge gives +6 for UU on demand, which is what I prefer.
Unsummon:4/5
Clears blockers and slows opponents by making them recast creatures, a solid choice if your opponent likes big, high cost creatures you can't bolt out of the way, can also be used to bounce Flamekin Harbinger and get another Kiln Fiend if needed.
Swan Song:5/5
Amazing protection, and this deck doesn't really care about creatures on the other side of the field unless they are killing us, since we usually make our creature unblockable, definitely use this if you can but beware you need a target to cast it so you can't throw it out as pump like you can Apostles Blessing
Other Cards
Runechanters Pike:4/5
Great card for this type of deck, and it lets your creatures be relevant without other cards, although artifact hate is pretty common and you need to have tried to combo off a couple of times to get enough instants and sorceries in the GY to make it effective and by that time you may be running out of creatures. Be aware of flashback exiling your GY.
Wild Defiance:4/5
Huge potential if you go for a safer green heavy build, getting +9/+6 from a Giant Growth is amazing but eliminates your T3 kill potential if you decide to cast it.
Lands
Since this deck aims to win very early, our life is even more disposable than most, which means that we can run shocks and painlands in great number to ensure we have the colors we need in the first couple of turns, and in this deck having all your colors is key to winning fast. One of the first things to consider when picking a mana base is if you chose to use Immolating Souleater, since it and damaging lands are incompatible for obvious reasons, in this case the best option is to run basics with lorwyn filters and checklands if you need to although this is not ideal. The second thing to consider is if you are using Treasure Cruise due to it's synergy with fetches they are a must have if you decide to use it. One final consideration before we talk more about land choices is your local meta, primarily if burn exists in it or is popular, since burn is an incredibly difficult matchup for us, since they kill our creatures and do enough damage early to make pinging yourself with lands not an attractive prospect. Starting from the most recent set we will cover Fetchlands fist, these fill out GY for delve cards and mana fix us to an incredible degree with their ability to fetch basics and more importantly shocks. Next we have painlands, which ping us for 1 whenever we tap them for a colored mana, it's important to note that if we have a red source we can avoid the damage by using Manamorphose, which is important when trying to go for a kill on low health. Shocklands are probably one of the best sources of fast mana we have available, and the 2 damage they to to us is negligible usually in the big picture, I would use these in every deck that doesn't use Immolating Souleater. Bouncelands are one of the most innocuous ways to ramp, and are available in every color combination, which makes them great for slower decks, but I would not use them in any deck that wants to kill early, the only one I would use them in is a RUG variant, possibly with Birds Of Paradise or Sylvan Caryatid to ramp into larger green pump spells and power out a Wild Defiance early. Finally checklands, which are only even decent if we can't use damaging lands due to Immolating souleater and therefore have to use plenty of basics though even then it's easy to get screwed over by these early.
Sideboarding
Traditionally the sideboard is used to respond game 2 after you understand your opponents deck, so the best options for our sideboard will be reactive spells such as Dispel, Swan Song, Lightning Bolt, Mizzium Mortars, and Aetherling or if you are feeling ambitious you can sideboard another whole color in, since although the RU is mostly set in stone you can sideboard 6 shocks/pains of the color you want, 2 playsets of off color cards and a 1 of like an Aetherling.
This list splashes black for Tainted Strike, and Boon of Erebos to replace Apostles Blessing since either way you must pay 2 life and although this one doesn't push creatures through it gives +2/+0 and regenerates
Overall the lists include most of the same cards, the big differences are a couple of creatures and the spells that are tailored for the specific creatures, another common variant changes depending on how
many colors you want to run.
Wee Dragonauts is pretty bad. Instead of redundancy, I think you want to go with draw smoothing. You'd rather have consistent hands instead of drawing 6 Kiln Fiends+0spells sometimes and 12 pump spells+0creatures other times. Since this deck involves multi-card combos and can be susceptible to bad hands or bad combinations of cards, I think it really needs cantrips. Cantrips smooth your draws and give you something to do on turn 1 when you don't have SSG.
In Pauper, where this is an absolute powerhouse, I run 4 Ponder + 4 Preordain + 4 Gitaxian Probe. Major consistency boost. Ironically, this deck archetype has fewer key cards banned in Pauper than in Modern (how often can you say that?), but Serum Visions isn't TERRIBLE. I'm surprised it's not in the lists.
(Wait, it's excluded due to budget?? How is that card expensive??)
On the topic of Dragonauts, I agree it's pretty bad, I've switched to 4 Kiln Fiend, 4 Nivix, and 4 Flamekin for my list. On the topic of cantrips I always run manamorphose and Git probe, but I'll update when I get home and cover Serum Visions, Sleight of Hand, and maybe Faithless Looting. I don't know what I was thinking excluding Serum from the list, but it's power is apparent, I think when I was writing this I had a budget in mind but I'll just forget that and mention anything I can. Thanks for the feedback!
Edit: Revised, but a latin unicode character snuck in somehow and MTGSal won't allow it, scouring doc.
How do the Prowess creatures usually work for you, I've tested them but in the end I've always gone back to Flamekin Harbinger since it gives me a T1 play into a T2 creature and thins my deck to boot. Can't say I'm a huge fan of CITP lands although w/o a T1 play you can use them to set up, which sounds nice, do you notice them hurting your game plan if you have to play one T2 or past?
Shu-Yun is an auto include..Its on the same power level as Nivix cyclops but enables double strike which is the big kicker(Also enables ferocious off 1 spell). The problem with flamekin harbinger is 2 fold:
1) It gives away too much too soon which is HUGE in this deck because this deck relies on your opponent underestimating the explosiveness. Its a gigantic tempo loss
2) Going for Elusive Spellfist in that slot means that the deck is more threat dense even though it is more lackluster it allows a more consistent stream of damage and averages around 4-8 damage a turn with cantrips, pump and commiting a double strike every now and again. It allows you to play a different kind of game from the ALL-IN turn.. It also sucks removal spell from your opponents hand ALOT which means that you can play it and then a kiln fiend/ cyclops
The CIPT lands(scry and halimar depths) allow for the searching for combo pieces. THis deck plays alot like infect so you do need a pump/double strike + evasion. The other BIG thing that I have learned while playing this deck is that you seldom play kiln fiend on turn 2. People dont realise this kind of deck is REALLY threat light. Even more so than Infect which is saying alot. THis means that you almost always play kiln fiend T3 if you have a protection spell in hand or unless you have 2+ threats in hand.
Elusive spellfist has a built-in piece of the combo(unblockability). It is lackluster but being at 2 mana it provides alot. Lol I dont have the kind of balls to play the soul eater in this slot
EDITED: Although Elusive spellfist fits the curve it is way too lackluster(+1 is too slow for the deck). Replaced with Wee dragonaughts.
To make the deck realistically competitive you need to address some of the major flaws of the deck. These include the huge reliance on creatures. Removal heavy decks and hand disruption decks that can rip creatures from you need to be addressed. Card quality and the ability of cards to be independently useful(without a creature in play) need to be added.
I have limited the deck to as few creature dependent spells as possible, namely:
The remaining 3rd of the deck contains cantrips/removal spells(even pseudo removal aka vapor snag):
4x Gitaxian Probe
1x Vapor Snag(pseudo removal and can protect creature)
3x Twisted Image(Kills BoP, Noble Hierarch, Ornithopter, Signalpest, SPELLSKITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
2x Magma Jet(Removal and digs for a creature)
2x Izzet Charm(Digs for creature, removal helps in a damage race or remove a bloacker, counters unwanted spells)
You really need to concentrate on instant/sorceries wherever possible. My SB currently is:
4 Fury Charm(Artifact hate as well as an instant that doesn't kill your snyergies)
2 Arc Trail(Hatebears/Robots/Soul Sisters/Elves- Any small weenie swarm strat)
1 Twisted Image(I run 3 Main as spellskite is a huge problem, also kills BoP, Noble Hierarch, Ornithopter, Signalpest,)
2 Spell Pierce(Counters for slower control matchups)
3 Swan Song(Counters for slower control matchups)
1 Deprive(Counters for slower control matchups)
1 Piracy Charm(Infect/Merfolk - Still deciding if I like it)
1 Young Pyromancer(Placeholder atm)
Thanks! I think I will go with either Fury Charm or Hurkyl's Recall over Stony Silence. Which decks do you tend to use the counters against, and what do you tend to side out?
Lol, I have never used the counter option on Fury Charm.What do I side out? In which matchups? Generally phyrexian spells come out against racing matchups(Burn, Robots, Goblins).
Oh lol. They come in against Twin/Control/infect/Burn/Hexproof. Pretty much anything that relies on non-creature spells...I Stuck in a Deprive for Tron. I am still deciding if I like it
This deck also tries to chain off spells into a big attack, using either Kiln Fiend and Nivmagus Elemental.
The key differences here are:
1- Slightly faster clock due to lower curve (but less consistent without cantrips)
2- Tainted Strike for the one-shot Infect kill
3- 0cc spells and Ground Rift silliness. Rift either removes blockers (red 1cc "unblockable" effect) or generates storm copies for Nivmagus to munch on
4- proactive discard protection, giving you better turn 1 plays and saving you from keeping counter mana open on combo turn
This is the traditional UR Kiln Fiend deck I have now:
This deck's premise is using the cards Kiln Fiend, Nivix Cyclops, and Wee Dragonauts and pumping them with cantrip spells and giving them double strike to win, and as such the core cards are the prior creatures and Assault Strobe, Pyschotic Fury, Armed/Dangerous AND Double Cleave to kill in combination with cantrip spells like Gitaxian Probe, Manamorphose and getting them through with Artful Dodge, Distortion Strike, and Apostles Blessing, which also doubles as protection, along with Stubborn Denial.
Core
x4 Kiln Fiend
X4 Nivix Cyclops
x4 Assault Strobe
X4 Artful Dodge
X4 Manamorphose
Color Options
RU
My favorite color combination, and probably the most consistent mana base since you only run 2 colors, not much else to say about it, you get all the usual blue cantrips and counters and red burn and double strike
RUG
Probably the slowest color combination, but it was the best mid to late game and the best ability to protect it's creatures
RUB
All you get here is really infect in Tainted Strike, which is great if your meta has indestructibles or lots of lifegain
Basic Strategy
what you should look for in a hand
1-2 mana sources, this deck only needs 2 mana to go with a Kiln Fiend, between phyrexian spells like Gitaxian Probe and [card]Manamorphose/card]
1-2 cantrips, ideally Manamorphose and Gitaxian Probe since they will let you save mana for protection spells.
1 combo creature, and no more than 3, even 2 is questionable especially if you have 2 pieces of protection in your hand.
1-2 protection spells, most of these can be used to cantrip for the +3/+0 so it's ok to have more than one Apostles Blessing and if you need to you can target your own spells with Stubborn Denial to get an extra spellcast.
The general idea of this deck is to play a Kiln Fiend or another finisher creature and then cantrip twice and give it double strike or infect for the kill. The perfect combo in my eyes is T1 Island, Exile Simian Spirit Guide, Kiln Fiend T2 Mountain, Manamorphose adding UR, Assault Strobe Apostles Blessing in opponents colors and swing for the kill. There are many variants of this turn but the basis of cantrip, double strike, protection is the same, ideally you would have a Manamorphose so you could to it T2 or T3 with minimal loss of life, otherwise you can do amazing things with Gitaxian Probe, since you can go off on a single land that you played T1 with a Simian Spirit Guide accelerated Kiln Fiend and T2 Gitaxian Probe Gitaxian Probe Assault Strobe for the kill if the board is open. All of the combos thus far have been at sorcery speed, at instant speed our options become much more limited, but we can play mind games with our opponent and use our creatures as removal through combat tricks and the threat of death if it is not blocked. The best way to kill at instant speed is through the use of Tainted Strike in combination with phyrexian cards like Gitaxian Probe and Mutagenic Growth or with Brute Force and Titan's Strength, but more mana-intensive methods can be done with Double Cleave or Armed/Dangerous, and further more if you choose to use Quicken you can, on T3 go card]Manamorphose[/card], Quicken, Assault Strobe with 1 mana open for protection or to make it unblockable if needed. Another amazingly powerful, albeit risky play is T1 land, Exile Simian Spirit Guide, Immolating Souleater, T2 pay 18 life to make Immolating Souleater a 10/2, and give it either double strike or infect and swing for game with 1 open for protection and to stop a bolt from finishing you off, this is by far the most risky play, but the most satisfying to pull of, since it leaves you on 2 health. Although this deck really likes to kill in 1 swing, don't be afraid to go with 2 spells, or even just double striking for 8 damage, especially if you have more double strike or infect cards or have included Runechanters Pike or Delver of Secrets.
Card Options
Creatures
Kiln Fiend:5/5
This, along with Nivix Cyclops is your bread and butter and 90% of your kills will come from it, run it in almost every iteration of this deck. The +3/+0 lets us kill with 2 spells and a double strike or infect enabler.
Nivix Cyclops:5/5
Not only does it pump well, but it doesn't die to 1 Lightning Bolt and can block reasonably well, again this should be used in almost every deck.
Wee Dragonauts:4/5
The flying body is great, but it does need more spells to kill since it only gets +2/+0 per instant/sorc. In some cases I would consider using Flamekin Harbinger as copies 5-8 of Kiln Fiend instead.
Simian Spirit Guide: 5/5
Since this deck has almost no contingency plan if it fails other than to draw more cards and try again, speed is a priority, so this is great.
This can lead to turn 2 kills if you can get out an Kiln Fiend on T1 with it.
Grim Lavamancer:4/5
This will give your deck some more consistent damage at the cost of reducing the density of combo creatures or kill spells, I would use this in
a meta that leans heavily on small creatures you can pop so that you can ping blockers for kills. Do not use this with Spellheart Chimera or Runechanters Pike.
Flamekin Harbinger:3/5
If you cant to consistently get Kiln FiendS, this is the card for you. I ran this in an earlier version of the deck while I was developing it, but it can make this deck drop very consistent T2 Kiln FiendS if you draw one in your opening hand.
Guttersnipe:2/5
This would be a good card for the deck, but it's cost prohibits it from being useful most of the time and often times the deck only needs 3 spells to kill so it doesn't get much mileage. However this can be used in multiplayer games to great effect since you might run out of juice before killing more than one person. Another way I have explored using this card is giving him infect through Tainted Strike and attempting to cast 5 spells, putting 10 poison counters on EACH opponent.
Nivmagus Elemental:3/5
This card has potential, but the issue is that most of the cards you cast you want to resolve, such as your double strike and unblockable cards, so this usually doesn't get that huge. If you want to use this card, build around it.
ser
Snapcaster Mage:3/5
Although hes a big player in modern spell based decks, he isn't as good as it might seem in a deck like this, since you don't often have two mana to spare and then mana to flashback a spell, even if you flashback a probe it's still mana that would be better spent elsewhere and flashing back any other card is too expensive.take note, if you have a Runechanters Pike, Spellheart Chimera, or Treasure Cruise. However if the chance to use Snapcaster Mage presents itself then I woul throw the rest of the cards aside in favor of it.
Immolating Souleater:4/5
first of all, NEVER AGAINST BURN, if your opponent has any damage spells then they win, since you drop 18 health into this guy to make him a 10/1 and then double strike him for game, although it's risky to use this one, if you think you can and your local meta doesn't have a ton of burn, go ahead.
Aetherling:4/5
I run this as a 1 of in sideboard for some matchups, it's a way to close up games you think might stretch on for a while and can be pumped the turn after you play it for 16 unblockable with a double strike. He comes out of the blue (heh) for most opponents who wouldn't expect a control finisher in a fast deck, but it's a great contingency plan
Spellheart Chimera:4/5
Pick this card if you think you need to have a mid to late game presence, since it won't be huge early, but once you try to combo once or twice and fail, this will be your saving grace. Amazing with Runechanters Pike.
Delver of Secrets:4/5
A great card, but it doesn't get much from instand and sorceries unless you chose Mutagenic Growth, in which case it's great, since it flips so easily. My usual list was 30 instant/sorc. so it's pretty great, but feels a little subpar since he has no instant/sorc. synergy other than flipping.
Invisible Stalker:3/5
Holds Runechanters Pike exceptionally well if you decide to use it, but thats about it.
Gelectrode:4/5
Great to clear blockers while going off, or just putting damage on your opponent, but it's a bit of a mana sink for T3.
Goblic Electromancers:2/5
Most of the cards you cast don't have any colorless cost to decrease, so his ability is rendered useless.
Surrakar Spellblade:2/5
This is ok in the green build, since it's a slow creature, but overall I found it's effect lacklustre since we don't need too many cards to win unless we fail a couple of times and in that case it would be better to have another kill creature.
Young Pyromancer:4/5
Makes cannon fodder to keep you alive if you fail once, and buys you time to draw into another combo card you need, occasionally you can kill someone if you get enough tokens. This guy is a removal magnet, use him to bait and clear the board for your other stuff.
Storm Entity:2/5
This simply isn't that great, and you lose the burst kiln fiend gives you
Monastary Swiftspear:3/5
Since this card is seeing use in delver decks I feel obligated to mention it here, I think this deck doesn't cast enough spells per turn to make this efficient,
since we only need 3 spells to kill and we don't produce enough mana to feed it as many spells as we want to make it fast enough for us.
Instants/Sorceries
Assault Strobe:5/5
This is probably the card I kill most often with, especially when combined with Quicken and a Manamorphose, which lets you kill with just 2 mana and no loss of life.
Double Cleave:4/5
This isn't great, but it's an instant speed double strike, use it if you don't want to support a black splash for Tainted Strike.
Psychotic Fury:5/5
This is only good if you are using Nivix Cyclops and Wee Dragonauts, since multi colored is a prerequisite, but when you do have both it's great, since it's double strike and card draw at instant speed.
Armed//Dangerous:2/5
No reason to use this over Assault Strobe, unless you splash for green, and even then it's pretty bad since you don't want to cast the green side for any reason, and you really shouldn't have that much mana anyways.
Past In Flames:3/5
This looks good in theory, but by the time you have enough mana to cast it and flashback enough spells to make it relevant your way to far into the late game and although being able to flashback your entire GY is nice, it's complete overkill since you only need 3 spells to kill with a double strike or infect enabler.
Tainted Strike:4/5
This is great if you can support the black, since it gives you a way to deal with indestructibles, an alternate wincon to straight damage, and a 2 card kill combo with Mutagenic Growth. if you have the cash to throw UB and RB shocks into a deck, or some other way to splash, I would highly recommend it.
Fling:2/5
Only relevant for its mono colored cost, otherwise its outdated by Flesh/Blood
Flesh//Blood:4/5
Awesome card, much better than Fling if you are in green, and if you are in green I would highly recommend this
Serum Visions:5/5
Expensive, but if you have them, then they are a must include, great for digging and pump.
Reckless Charge:4/5
On the curve this is just a worse Brute Force, but if you are behind or your first wincon creature got killed this lets you suprise your opponent with haste, and flashback, while expensive is not something to be ignored since you can end up with extra mana with Manamorphose.
Gitaxian Probe:5/5
There is so much to say about this card, if you have extra pump, or turn of you can use it to check of your opponent has an answer to your kill, it draws you a card, and most important is it's phyrexian cost which lets you spend mana on more important things. No reason not to use this in every list.
Manamorphose:5/5
Again, such an amazing card for this deck, it's essentially free, since it refunds your mana and filters and as well as draws you a card, every deck needs this.
Lightning Bolt:5/5
With a Kiln Fiend or a Nivix Cyclops it provides 6 damage, need I say any more? It removes blockers, pumps your creatures and can burn your opponent down if you need.
Mizzium Mortars:4/5
This card is great for the deck as a sideboard card, but not maindeck, use this when against token heavy decks or decks with a couple of must answer threats.
Mutagenic Growth:4/5
Best used with Tainted Strike, since with a Kiln Fiend or Nivix Cyclops you get +5 from Mutagenic Growth, +4 from Tainted Strike and 1 base attack puts you at 10 infect.
Quicken:4/5
great for cute plays with Assault Strobe, but there are probably better cards for this deck, although the plays that this card can instigate are great.
Noxious Revival:3/5
this is great if you want to go for an even more glass cannon build, since you could cantrip, Noxious Revival for 2 life, cantrip again and get another guaranteed card you want
Inside Out:3/5
Cantrips, and can be used to protect creatures using their own pump abilities, and can be used to good effect on Nivix Cyclops
Crimson Wisps:4/5
Can be used to make a super flashy turn 1 or 2 kill if you draw a couple of Simian Spirit Guide, but other than that it's just another red cantrip spell, it also creates a problem with Psychotic Fury, but that can be played around by casting fury first.
Brute Force:5/5
Great card for this, since it gets you +6/+3, which protects your creatures from burn and makes it large enough to cast a double strike, infect, or fling effect for the kill
Cerulean Wisps:3/5
Cantrips, can be used with Grim Lavamancer and Gelectrode to great effect. Same issue as Crimson Wisps, so if you want to Psychotic Fury then do if before you cast this.
Might of Old Krosa, Giant Growth: 5/5
If you use green, the cheap pump is amazing, since you can get +6/+3 from Giant Growth, which protects your creatures from getting bolted and lets you create combat tricks.
Treasure Cruise:4/5
This is a strange one, the cards power level is through the roof, but this is a dead card on the fist and second attempts to kill, unless you have been using cantrips
to dig for a wincon, and by that point you should have all the cards you need to go off and kill your opponent. The only other practical use for this is if you
tried to kill and your creature ate a Heroes Downfall, in which case you may have enough cards and mana to cast it and dig for another wincon. Don't
use this with Runechanters Pike or Spellheart Chimera.
Stubborn Denial:5/5
Great protection, since when you cast if you have a Nivix Cyclops or a Kiln Fiend out it gets +3 +0 and triggers the ferocity and turns into a hard noncreature counter for U. Pumps creatures as well.
Rangers Guile:4/5
Great if you go into green, can replace Apostles Blessing, but you lose the protection for an additional +1/+1, although that won't make a huge difference if you are going for a T3 kill with a 10-2 double striker since you would go over to 11-2 with 3 spells which wouldn't make a difference unless you are going against lifegain in white or stuff like Deathrite Shaman
Apostles Blessing:5/5
Can we partially paid for in life, which is nice since this deck doesn't really care about it's life total unless it's 0. gets a creature through with protection, stops removal, and pumps.
Artful Dodge:5/5
In my opinion this is the better unblockable card, since Distortion Strike can only be cast once per turn, even though Distortion Strike gives +1 +0 twice you can cast this twice in one turn with enough mana and if you don't you get to choose when you want it a second time.
Distortion Strike:4/5
Not the best unblockable spell, but it gets the job done. If you have the mana for Artful Dodge it's better, but you can use Distortion Strike to set up for the next turn and get it for free so you can combo with less mana and save mana to respond to a threat. Overall, Distortion Strike gives +4 for U on the first turn, and +4 for free on the second turn, although it warns your opponent that you are going to try to kill them next turn. Artful Dodge gives +6 for UU on demand, which is what I prefer.
Unsummon:4/5
Clears blockers and slows opponents by making them recast creatures, a solid choice if your opponent likes big, high cost creatures you can't bolt out of the way, can also be used to bounce Flamekin Harbinger and get another Kiln Fiend if needed.
Swan Song:5/5
Amazing protection, and this deck doesn't really care about creatures on the other side of the field unless they are killing us, since we usually make our creature unblockable, definitely use this if you can but beware you need a target to cast it so you can't throw it out as pump like you can Apostles Blessing
Other Cards
Great card for this type of deck, and it lets your creatures be relevant without other cards, although artifact hate is pretty common and you need to have tried to combo off a couple of times to get enough instants and sorceries in the GY to make it effective and by that time you may be running out of creatures. Be aware of flashback exiling your GY.
Wild Defiance:4/5
Huge potential if you go for a safer green heavy build, getting +9/+6 from a Giant Growth is amazing but eliminates your T3 kill potential if you decide to cast it.
Lands
Since this deck aims to win very early, our life is even more disposable than most, which means that we can run shocks and painlands in great number to ensure we have the colors we need in the first couple of turns, and in this deck having all your colors is key to winning fast. One of the first things to consider when picking a mana base is if you chose to use Immolating Souleater, since it and damaging lands are incompatible for obvious reasons, in this case the best option is to run basics with lorwyn filters and checklands if you need to although this is not ideal. The second thing to consider is if you are using Treasure Cruise due to it's synergy with fetches they are a must have if you decide to use it. One final consideration before we talk more about land choices is your local meta, primarily if burn exists in it or is popular, since burn is an incredibly difficult matchup for us, since they kill our creatures and do enough damage early to make pinging yourself with lands not an attractive prospect. Starting from the most recent set we will cover Fetchlands fist, these fill out GY for delve cards and mana fix us to an incredible degree with their ability to fetch basics and more importantly shocks. Next we have painlands, which ping us for 1 whenever we tap them for a colored mana, it's important to note that if we have a red source we can avoid the damage by using Manamorphose, which is important when trying to go for a kill on low health. Shocklands are probably one of the best sources of fast mana we have available, and the 2 damage they to to us is negligible usually in the big picture, I would use these in every deck that doesn't use Immolating Souleater. Bouncelands are one of the most innocuous ways to ramp, and are available in every color combination, which makes them great for slower decks, but I would not use them in any deck that wants to kill early, the only one I would use them in is a RUG variant, possibly with Birds Of Paradise or Sylvan Caryatid to ramp into larger green pump spells and power out a Wild Defiance early. Finally checklands, which are only even decent if we can't use damaging lands due to Immolating souleater and therefore have to use plenty of basics though even then it's easy to get screwed over by these early.
Sideboarding
Traditionally the sideboard is used to respond game 2 after you understand your opponents deck, so the best options for our sideboard will be reactive spells such as Dispel, Swan Song, Lightning Bolt, Mizzium Mortars, and Aetherling or if you are feeling ambitious you can sideboard another whole color in, since although the RU is mostly set in stone you can sideboard 6 shocks/pains of the color you want, 2 playsets of off color cards and a 1 of like an Aetherling.
x4 Kiln Fiend
x4 Nivix Cyclops
x4 Wee Dragonaut
x4 Simian Spirit Guide
x4 Assault Strobe
x4 Psychotic Fury
x4 Manamorphose
x4 Gitaxian Probe
x4 Lightning Bolt
x4 Artful Dodge
x4 Stubborn Denial
x2 Apostles Blessing
x4 Steam Vents
x4 Shivan Reef
x3 Island
x3 Mountain
This is the list I used to use, pretty generic for UR, all the good cards, but slower than the URB list due to Wee Dragonaut's.
Tainted Strike List
x4 Kiln Fiend
x4 Nivix Cyclops
x4 Flamekin Harbinger
x4 Tainted Strike
x4 Assault Strobe
x4 Brute Force
x4 Artful Dodge
x4 Manamorphose
x4 Gitaxian Probe
x4 Stubborn Denial
x2 Apostles Blessing
x4 Steam Vent
x4 Shivan Reef
x4 City Of Brass
x2 Island
x2 Mountain
This list splashes black for Tainted Strike, and Boon of Erebos to replace Apostles Blessing since either way you must pay 2 life and although this one doesn't push creatures through it gives +2/+0 and regenerates
x4 Kiln Fiend
x4 Nivix Cyclops
x4 Birds of Paradise
x4 Artful Dodge
x4 Assault Strobe
x4 Apostles Blessing
x4 Giant Growth
x4 Brute Force
x4 Ranger's Guile
x4 Flesh//Blood
x4 Wild Defiance
x4 Stomping Grounds
x4 Breeding Pool
x4 Steam Vents
x2 Mountain
x2 Forest
This is a much slower list with a larger protection suite and themed around Wild Defiance, thus we take both x4 Giant Growth and x4 Brute Force since they both target, the Kiln Fiend or Nivix Cyclops gets +9/+6 with Wild Defiance out, which gives us a stunning 10/8 Kiln Fiend or a 10/10 Nivix Cyclops. This deck also uses Birds of Paradise to rush out our Wild Defiance and with it out we can even pump our birds to a 9/10 with a Giant Growth/Brute Force and a Assault Strobe and swing for 18 in the air, so if you replaced the Giant Growth/Brute Force with a Might of Old Krosa you could swing for 20 with a Birds of Paradise! Although doing this means you lose the element of surprise since you have to cast it in your main phase and not all during combat.
Overall the lists include most of the same cards, the big differences are a couple of creatures and the spells that are tailored for the specific creatures, another common variant changes depending on how
many colors you want to run.
If you use Psychotic Fury, make sure to include both Nivix Cyclops and Wee Dragonauts, otherwise you won't have enough targets to use it efficiently.
Apostles Blessing can be used to force through a creature if your opponent is only using one color or all their creatures share a color
Cards to be aware of: Dryad Militant, Eidolon of Great Revel
and tax cards.
Thanks to DrDRum for the primer guide, which can be found here
as well as BlackVise and ThatRedwood for making this possible.
Change Log:
11/19/14: Added missing creatures.
12/8/14: Changed thread title to make more friendly to search engines.
6/20/15: Added Reckless Charge
In Pauper, where this is an absolute powerhouse, I run 4 Ponder + 4 Preordain + 4 Gitaxian Probe. Major consistency boost. Ironically, this deck archetype has fewer key cards banned in Pauper than in Modern (how often can you say that?), but Serum Visions isn't TERRIBLE. I'm surprised it's not in the lists.
(Wait, it's excluded due to budget?? How is that card expensive??)
Edit: Revised, but a latin unicode character snuck in somehow and MTGSal won't allow it, scouring doc.
And Reckless Charge? Bloodlust maybe?
Is Fire/Ice versatile enough to get mentioned?
These are the decks that I have constructed, and are ready to play:
01. Ankh Sligh to be exact.
2x Artful Dodge
3x Temur Battle Rage
3x Assault Strobe
4x Manamorphose
4x Gitaxian Probe
3x Sleight of Hand
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Mutagenic Growth
4x Kiln Fiend
3x Elusive Spellfist
1x Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
4x Nivix Cyclops
6x Mountain
4x Steam Vents
4x Sulfur Falls
2x Temple of Epiphany
2x Halimar Depths
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
How do the Prowess creatures usually work for you, I've tested them but in the end I've always gone back to Flamekin Harbinger since it gives me a T1 play into a T2 creature and thins my deck to boot. Can't say I'm a huge fan of CITP lands although w/o a T1 play you can use them to set up, which sounds nice, do you notice them hurting your game plan if you have to play one T2 or past?
1) It gives away too much too soon which is HUGE in this deck because this deck relies on your opponent underestimating the explosiveness. Its a gigantic tempo loss
2) Going for Elusive Spellfist in that slot means that the deck is more threat dense even though it is more lackluster it allows a more consistent stream of damage and averages around 4-8 damage a turn with cantrips, pump and commiting a double strike every now and again. It allows you to play a different kind of game from the ALL-IN turn.. It also sucks removal spell from your opponents hand ALOT which means that you can play it and then a kiln fiend/ cyclops
The CIPT lands(scry and halimar depths) allow for the searching for combo pieces. THis deck plays alot like infect so you do need a pump/double strike + evasion. The other BIG thing that I have learned while playing this deck is that you seldom play kiln fiend on turn 2. People dont realise this kind of deck is REALLY threat light. Even more so than Infect which is saying alot. THis means that you almost always play kiln fiend T3 if you have a protection spell in hand or unless you have 2+ threats in hand.
Elusive spellfist has a built-in piece of the combo(unblockability). It is lackluster but being at 2 mana it provides alot. Lol I dont have the kind of balls to play the soul eater in this slot
EDITED: Although Elusive spellfist fits the curve it is way too lackluster(+1 is too slow for the deck). Replaced with Wee dragonaughts.
Instant (20)
4x Apostle's Blessing
1x Izzet Charm
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Temur Battle Rage
4x Titan's Strength
2x Twisted Image
1x Vapor Snag
Land (19)
1x Cathedral of War
2x Halimar Depths
1x Island
7x Mountain
2x Shivan Reef
4x Steam Vents
2x Sulfur Falls
Creature (13)
3x Elusive Spellfist
4x Kiln Fiend
4x Nivix Cyclops
1x Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
1x Simian Spirit Guide
Sorcery (8)
2x Assault Strobe
2x Distortion Strike
4x Gitaxian Probe
Instant (20)
4x Apostle's Blessing
2x Izzet Charm
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Magma Jet
4x Temur Battle Rage
3x Twisted Image
1x Vapor Snag
Land (19)
1x Cathedral of War
2x Halimar Depths
1x Island
7x Mountain
2x Shivan Reef
4x Steam Vents
2x Sulfur Falls
Creature (13)
4x Kiln Fiend
4x Nivix Cyclops
1x Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
1x Simian Spirit Guide
3x Wee Dragonauts
Sorcery (8)
2x Assault Strobe
2x Distortion Strike
4x Gitaxian Probe
I have limited the deck to as few creature dependent spells as possible, namely:
4x Temur Battle Rage
2x Assault Strobe
2x Distortion Strike
4x Apostle's Blessing
The remaining 3rd of the deck contains cantrips/removal spells(even pseudo removal aka vapor snag):
4x Gitaxian Probe
1x Vapor Snag(pseudo removal and can protect creature)
3x Twisted Image(Kills BoP, Noble Hierarch, Ornithopter, Signalpest, SPELLSKITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
2x Magma Jet(Removal and digs for a creature)
2x Izzet Charm(Digs for creature, removal helps in a damage race or remove a bloacker, counters unwanted spells)
20 LANDS:
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Temple of Epiphany
4 Shivan Reef
3 Island
3 Mountain
2 Plains
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
12 CREATURES:
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Nivix Cyclops
2 Spellskite
2 Flamekin Harbinger
28 INSTANTS AND SORCERIES:
4 Assault Strobe
4 Temur Battle Rage
4 Artful Dodge
4 Apostle's Blessing
4 Mizzium Skin
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Manamorphose
SIDEBOARD:
4 Stony Silence
3 Rest In Peace
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Twisted Image
The list seems quite consistent, but I'm not sure how to optimize the sideboard. What options have proven useful?
Edit: added Twisted Image because spellskite is horrible.
4 Fury Charm(Artifact hate as well as an instant that doesn't kill your snyergies)
2 Arc Trail(Hatebears/Robots/Soul Sisters/Elves- Any small weenie swarm strat)
1 Twisted Image(I run 3 Main as spellskite is a huge problem, also kills BoP, Noble Hierarch, Ornithopter, Signalpest,)
2 Spell Pierce(Counters for slower control matchups)
3 Swan Song(Counters for slower control matchups)
1 Deprive(Counters for slower control matchups)
1 Piracy Charm(Infect/Merfolk - Still deciding if I like it)
1 Young Pyromancer(Placeholder atm)
This is my current Mainboard: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/pec-fiend/
Hope this helps
Creatures(13):
4x Kiln Fiend
3x Elusive Spellfist
4x Nivix Cyclops
1x Shu yun, the Silent Tempest
1x Simian Spirit Guide
Targeting Package(12):
4x Temur Battle Rage
2x Assault Strobe
4x Apostles Blessing
2x Distortion Strike
Other(16):
4x Lightning Bolt
1x Vapor Snag
1x Twisted Image
4x Gitaxian Probe
2x Magma Jet
2x Izzet Charm
2x Faithless looting
Lands(19):
2x Halimar Depths
1x Haunted Fengraf
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4x Steam vents
2x Sulfur falls
1x Island
4x Mountain
2x Scalding Tarn
2x Shivan Reef
Creatures(13):
4x Kiln Fiend
4x Stormchaser Mage
4x Nivix Cyclops
1x Shu yun, the Silent Tempest
Targeting Package(12):
4x Temur Battle Rage
2x Assault Strobe
4x Apostles Blessing
2x Slip Through Space
Other(16):
4x Lightning Bolt
1x Vapor Snag
1x Twisted Image
4x Gitaxian Probe
2x Magma Jet
2x Izzet Charm
2x Faithless looting
Lands(19):
2x Halimar Depths
1x Haunted Fengraf
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4x Steam vents
2x Sulfur falls
1x Island
4x Mountain
2x Scalding Tarn
2x Shivan Reef
4 Flamekin Harbinger
4 Nivmagus Elemental
4 Kiln Fiend
//Spells: 30
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ground Rift
4 Apostle's Blessing
3 Tainted Strike
3 Assault Strobe
3 Mutagenic Growth
2 Temur Battle Rage
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Blood Crypt
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Surgical Extraction
2 Duress
1 Steam Vents
3 Spell Pierce
2 Forked Bolt
3 Rending Volley
This deck also tries to chain off spells into a big attack, using either Kiln Fiend and Nivmagus Elemental.
The key differences here are:
1- Slightly faster clock due to lower curve (but less consistent without cantrips)
2- Tainted Strike for the one-shot Infect kill
3- 0cc spells and Ground Rift silliness. Rift either removes blockers (red 1cc "unblockable" effect) or generates storm copies for Nivmagus to munch on
4- proactive discard protection, giving you better turn 1 plays and saving you from keeping counter mana open on combo turn
This is the traditional UR Kiln Fiend deck I have now:
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Nivix Cyclops
//Spells: 30
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Stubborn Denial
3 Izzet Charm
3 Apostle's Blessing
3 Assault Strobe
3 Distortion Strike
2 Temur Battle Rage
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Steam Vents
3 Island
2 Mountain
3 Spell Pierce
2 Remand
2 Vapor Snag
2 Forked Bolt
2 Rending Volley
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Pyroclasm