Hey all, I'm trying to devise some kind of control/burn deck focusing on using pyromancer ascension and young pyromancer to copy spells and swarm the field with tokens. I'm fairly new to MTG so I don't really have a great idea of all the options that are out there currently, so I was hoping some of you could help me out!
It's 60 cards right now and ideally I would like it to stay that way. Getting some multi-colored lands is probably the next step, but for now it seems to be running alright. I've only used it a few times, and so long as I don't get swarmed within the first few turns I can generally build up a nice army, however there are some obvious flaws with only having 1/1 tokens on my side of the field. I was thinking that putting some different cards in for removal, and if possible, some cards that would allow me to burn creatures and draw at the same time, if those types of cards even exist. Thanks for any suggestions!
If you're looking to play something like this in legacy, I would take a look at some of the Grixis tempo (Delver) decks, or the Grixis control decks for examples.
its a pretty muddled as it is, but the idea is that you land the ascension, protect it with FoW, remands, diverts and split decisions, and by the time you've protected it enough, and fire/iced a couple of guys, you probe them to see if the coast is clear, cantrip like nuts, manamorphose/regrowth/remand yourself tonnes of mana, then burning wish for whatever fits the bill at the time and/or young pyromancer for the win and/or fire/regrowth for the win. i used to run bolts as my wincon/board control, but quite often, it just isn't enough to kill some goyfs and some of the beefier dudes, and its better to just tap them out instead.
im not 100% on split decision.. when its been good, its been very good. quite funny in counter wars (counter your thing or copy your counter to counter your thing et al). also, it somehow really trips people up. i'm wondering if its worth having an extra divert as abrupt decay protection, though most of the time, i end up diverting it to an elemental token.
also not completely sold on my manabase. i somehow always end up with not having enough shuffle effects, which leads me to believe im too light on fetches, but it just feels bad having more fetches than what i already have.
by the way, what do you use quicken for? i imagine if you wanted to just force a discard before their main phase, wouldn't cabal therapy be better in most cases (especially if you have young pyromancer) or thoughtseize just to be able to take anything?
You might want to check out Pyromancer Pox. I wrote a thread about it a while back. I had the deck together for a while and it was certainly competitive. It beat up on Delver variants but I didn't get to test it through the entire gauntlet.
SYNERGIES AND STRATEGIES
Smallpox + Young Pyromancer, cast Smallpox, Pyromancer triggers, sac token.
Smallpox + Young Pyromancer token.
Smallpox + Lingering Souls in hand.
Smallpox + Lingering Souls token in play.
Smallpox + Bloodghast in hand.
Smallpox + Bloodghast in play.
Cabal Therapy if pitched by Smallpox.
Cabal Therapy + Young Pyromancer token.
Cabal Therapy + Bloodghast.
Cabal Therapy + Lingering Souls token.
Young Pyromancer + Lingering Souls from hand then from the yard.
Young Pyromancer + any of the 28 sorceries and instants.
Dark Confidant keeps your hand full of burn, disruption and removal spells to feed Pyromancer. Pyromancer never takes a hit from Smallpox as his ability triggers before Smallpox resolves thus allowing you to sac the token.
This is what I'm working with so far:
4x Accumulated Knowledge
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Manamorphose
4x Negate
4x Psychic Barrier
4x Quicken
4x Young Pyromancer
Land (21)
8x Island
7x Mountain
6x Swamp
4x Despise
4x Duress
Enchantment (3)
3x Pyromancer Ascension
It's 60 cards right now and ideally I would like it to stay that way. Getting some multi-colored lands is probably the next step, but for now it seems to be running alright. I've only used it a few times, and so long as I don't get swarmed within the first few turns I can generally build up a nice army, however there are some obvious flaws with only having 1/1 tokens on my side of the field. I was thinking that putting some different cards in for removal, and if possible, some cards that would allow me to burn creatures and draw at the same time, if those types of cards even exist. Thanks for any suggestions!
Tempo
http://mtgtop8.com/archetype?a=479&meta=39&f=LE
Control
http://mtgtop8.com/archetype?a=478&meta=39&f=LE
Modern: WUBValue Titan UMerfolk WGDeath and Taxes
i've tried something similar with this:
4 brainstorm
4 fire/ice
4 Manamorphose
4 remand
4 preordain
4 force of will
2 divert
2 split decision
1 burning wish
2 gitaxian probe
2 regrowth
3x Young Pyromancer
Land (20)
1 flooded strand
2 polluted delta
3 misty rainforest
4 scalding tarn
2 underground sea
3 tropical island
4 volcanic island
Enchantment (4)
4x Pyromancer Ascension
1 empty the warrens
1 tendrils of agony
1 grapeshot
1 temporal spring
its a pretty muddled as it is, but the idea is that you land the ascension, protect it with FoW, remands, diverts and split decisions, and by the time you've protected it enough, and fire/iced a couple of guys, you probe them to see if the coast is clear, cantrip like nuts, manamorphose/regrowth/remand yourself tonnes of mana, then burning wish for whatever fits the bill at the time and/or young pyromancer for the win and/or fire/regrowth for the win. i used to run bolts as my wincon/board control, but quite often, it just isn't enough to kill some goyfs and some of the beefier dudes, and its better to just tap them out instead.
im not 100% on split decision.. when its been good, its been very good. quite funny in counter wars (counter your thing or copy your counter to counter your thing et al). also, it somehow really trips people up. i'm wondering if its worth having an extra divert as abrupt decay protection, though most of the time, i end up diverting it to an elemental token.
also not completely sold on my manabase. i somehow always end up with not having enough shuffle effects, which leads me to believe im too light on fetches, but it just feels bad having more fetches than what i already have.
by the way, what do you use quicken for? i imagine if you wanted to just force a discard before their main phase, wouldn't cabal therapy be better in most cases (especially if you have young pyromancer) or thoughtseize just to be able to take anything?
Legacy - Solidarity - mono U aggro - burn - Imperial Painter - Strawberry Shortcake - Bluuzards - bom
SYNERGIES AND STRATEGIES
Smallpox + Young Pyromancer, cast Smallpox, Pyromancer triggers, sac token.
Smallpox + Young Pyromancer token.
Smallpox + Lingering Souls in hand.
Smallpox + Lingering Souls token in play.
Smallpox + Bloodghast in hand.
Smallpox + Bloodghast in play.
Cabal Therapy if pitched by Smallpox.
Cabal Therapy + Young Pyromancer token.
Cabal Therapy + Bloodghast.
Cabal Therapy + Lingering Souls token.
Young Pyromancer + Lingering Souls from hand then from the yard.
Young Pyromancer + any of the 28 sorceries and instants.
Dark Confidant keeps your hand full of burn, disruption and removal spells to feed Pyromancer. Pyromancer never takes a hit from Smallpox as his ability triggers before Smallpox resolves thus allowing you to sac the token.
Here's the list:
4x Dark Confidant
4x Young Pyromancer
4x Bloodghast
Potatoes (28)
4x Lingering Souls
4x Smallpox
4x Sinkhole
4x Cabal Therapy
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtseize
4x Chain Lightning
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Badlands
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Scrubland
3x Marsh Flats
4x Wasteland
1x Swamp
4x Leyline of Sanctity
3x Extirpate
2x Pithing Needle
3x Wear // Tear
3x Zealous Persecution
Here's a link to the thread: Pyromancer Pox
Currently Playing:
Burning Reanimator
Eldrazi and Taxes
Bug Threshold
Enchantress
Dead Guy Ale
Combo Zombies
Pyromancer Pox