Good news: Burn is NOT 19% of either the MTGO or paper metagame as of this thread's creation! It's just 12%! So things aren't necessarily as bad as they seem.
Bad news: Burn's prevalence in the winner's bracket might not actually represent the true prevalence. Some people believe it is much higher.
Bad news part 2: Even if Burn's share isn't as high as people claim, it still might feel very high.
Bad news part 3: The Burn may not be as bad as Skullclamp Elf and Nail or Ca-caw ca-caw Blade, but it's still not the most joyful deck to play against.
Bad news part 4: Atarka's Command is coming...
These are just some of the reasons why people are more than a little unhappy with Burn's presence in Modern. But we aren't here just to talk about how unhappy we are, to rage at anyone who has ever cast Lava Spike, and to lament the downfall of all things Modern. We are here to beat the ***** out of Burn (because no anti-Burn thread is complete without some choice words).
So, how do we wreck those pesky Burn mages (using cards, not by flaming)? Here are some ideas to kick things off.
So many options! So little sideboard/maindeck space!
Before we dive into the obliteration of all things Burn, let's remember the following:
1. NO FLAMING. I know it's a Burn thread and that gets us all hot and bothered, but we already shut down one thread because of flaming. Let's keep this strategic.
2. NO BAN TALK. If you want to talk about how the way to beat Burn is to ban Eidolon and GGuide, take it to the ban thread.
3. REPORT; DON'T RESPOND. If someone is breaking rules or causing trouble, just report them. Don't start a fight.
While Leyline continues to be the best way to combat Burn, having to mulligan to six (or 5) if it isn't in your opening hand really hurts. But if you don't have white in your deck, it's your only option.
Personally, a card that worked for me rather well back in NPH/INN standard days is Gnaw to the Bone. If you have any engine that gets creatures in the bin, the lifegain (x2) can do absolute wonders. Nothing like making their Shrine of Burning Rage look unattractive. While it isn't as effective on early turns in Modern (outside a Faithless Looting or Ideas Unbound), it makes the game unwinnable for Burn past turn 5.
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"I hope to have such a death... lying in triumph atop the broken bodies of those who slew me..."
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
I don't think your anti burn cards can be in one big burst of life. Feed the Clan seems terrible because a single no lifegain effect invalidates the entire card. Dragon's Claw is better because you can spread out the life over time, making a single no lifegain effect not effective. And even if they try to fight the lifegain you'll always get at least 1 for your trouble.
Chalice and Leyline just invalidate any direct damage right off the bat though. And they have the added benefit of being more flexible against other decks, which you really want sideboard cards to do.
I think that Pulse of the Fields is a card dramatically outclassed by Modern standards. Kor Firewalker should be added to that list along with Timely Reinforcements. These cards generally fit most strategies, and are effective in combat as well!
What decks crush burn? Boggles could potentially if they wanted to run 2-4 Spirit Links+Leyline. Obviously Soul Sisters and Martyr Proc do well, but what else? I find my BG deck does well if it drawing in to Gray Merchant of Asphodel, as they just can't climb back into that one. Scooze is decent, as is Courser for the incremental life gain, but are out shined by decks that can drop Kor Firewalker (few) and Dragon's Claw (All!). In fact... Boggles could run a few Firewalkers in the side for the burn match up if they really wanted to. It's not hexproof, but against burn it might as well be.
If your running Tribal you can't go wrong with Chalice of the Void+ Cavern of Souls to keep your dudes from getting countered. One would think Merfolk could take advantage of this in a big way.
Warnings and how the burn players can beat the stoppers Leyline of Sanctity - Atarka's Command ignores Leyline if played later on and you only have 6 or so life left, note I say 6 or so because the burn player might also be using it at the same time to pump a creature, this means it works much better when played via mulligan, unfortunately, burn now has access to Destructive Revelry when sideboard comes up, so your leyline might not stick either, and they don't sacrifice too much of their tempo/gas power to get rid of it.
Feed the Clan Sorin, Solemn Visitor Pulse of the Fields Lightning Helix
- All of these gain life, and can hurt the burn player's tempo, however, they'll hurt yours more and theirs not at all if the burn player responds with a Skullcrack or Atarka's Command, and they can now run 8 of this kind of thing, so be careful not to play the spells here unless they aren't holding up the mana for Skullcrack/A's Command, Sorin is a bit more forgiving, since it's his plus ability and can be repeated on later turns, and you essentially forced them to use their skullcrack/command and be less likely to have ones later on.
Dragon's Claw Chalice of the Void
- Dragon Claw's repeated smaller lifegain is much more effective against burn than single-turn effects that can be ruined by skullcracks, and chalice can be devastating. Chalice also has the upside of potential resilience to some of burn's ability to remove it, depending on the cmc you set it at. On the downside, a lot of decks can't use chalice because it hurts their own game-plan just as much if not more than burn (which will be running more 2cmc spells in the future thanks to A's command), and even mono-red burn has artifact removal that they can side in, or destructive revelry if they don't want to hurt their burn gameplan as much, if these are removed too quickly, they don't gain you as much benefit, so you have to rely on luck and mulligans, or the burn player not predicting your sideboard methods or something, REALLY don't rely on these if your normal gameplan already relies on artifacts, because burn will likely already have sided in their artifact removal either way, rather than just gambling on your sideboard not being done in hopes that they'll weaken their gameplan by siding in dead cards against your theoretical sideboard, still, these are amazing if the burn player can't get rid of them.
Kor Firewalker - this guy may be a better option than the dragon claw if you are running white, just be wary of blocking burn's creatures if they have mana up for a skullcrack, and remember that red/white burn decks sometimes have path to exile, and any burn decks could run dismember in order to get rid of major sideboard threats like this, especially if things go to game 3 and they saw it in game 2.
Another factor to consider, rather than just sideboards, is adjusting your mana base and your usage of it during the burn matchup. Letting your shocks sometimes come in untapped and delaying triggers of your fetches until you need them can help even without modification of your deck, but if you aren't too worried about blood moon, you have some other mana fixing options, especially to replace shocks if you keep your fetches and have some basics to grab as well (besides mountains of course). I'd consider looking into: fastlands (Copperline Gorge and company, allied only unfortunately), checklands (Clifftop Retreat and company), Grove of the Burnwillows (if you care little about how much life they gain), filterlands (Cascade Bluffs and company), and depending on your circumstances: Ancient Ziggurat, Cavern of Souls, Gemstone Mine, Glimmervoid, Pillar of the Paruns, and Tendo Ice Bridge. Remember, however, that Blood Moon remains a serious threat, and you should hold onto a method to remove it if you rely heavily on nonbasic lands, as well as try to get an appropriate color basic for your enchantment removal onto the battlefield before the turn they can play Blood Moon in such a case.
White has quite a few other options against burn that I'd like to bring up a few of:
Sanctimony - mono-red burn may find this harder to remove than artifact or creature based stuff, and it relies less on being in the opening hand than leyline, note that shocklands that are part mountain and everything that was nonbasic after a blood moon triggers it, and don't forget it is a 'may' trigger so don't miss your triggers Circle of Protection: Red - Similar to the above in not being as reliant on being in opening hand as leyline, but has more costs into regularly using it on your end, and skullcrack can shut it down all in one turn and let the burn player dump their hand if they have the mana for it, but note that A's Command _doesn't_ stop damage prevention like Skullcrack does.
Burn spells can also be countered and discarded, I'd avoid using Thoughtseize against a burn player, in fact, I'd probably side it out for whatever your sideboard options are, remand is another card I'd avoid playing against burn, since it just gives them their spell back to play later, but a burn player getting their spells Inquisition of Kozileked away or Mana Leaked probably won't be very happy about it, due to how quickly their hands tend to dry up. Just remember that red is starting to get nicer draw options, like Humble Defector, so try to keep up some removal or something for things like that if you are reliant on burn running out of gas. Burn can also run Dangerous Wager, but they usually don't, because it can't contribute damage and they could be playing another burn spell in it's place and it risks just drawing into lands, rather than gas.
Spell Pierce is another option. People not running this perplexes me to say the least. It interacts with Twin combo on many different levels, hits Cranial Plating, hurts most of everything Burn plays, messes with pumps from Infect, and the list goes on. The job of counterspells against Burn is to prolong the game, not control it. You get your win con and go.
Spell Pierce is another option. People not running this perplexes me to say the least. It interacts with Twin combo on many different levels, hits Cranial Plating, hurts most of everything Burn plays, messes with pumps from Infect, and the list goes on. The job of counterspells against Burn is to prolong the game, not control it. You get your win con and go.
Be careful with Spell Pierce against infect, if you aren't, they might resolve a Wild Defiance and make it far less effective. But really, I'm quoting you mainly to autocard spell pierce.
Spell Pierce is another option. People not running this perplexes me to say the least. It interacts with Twin combo on many different levels, hits Cranial Plating, hurts most of everything Burn plays, messes with pumps from Infect, and the list goes on. The job of counterspells against Burn is to prolong the game, not control it. You get your win con and go.
Be careful with Spell Pierce against infect, if you aren't, they might resolve a Wild Defiance and make it far less effective. But really, I'm quoting you mainly to autocard spell pierce.
Good point. I forget I'm not in Legacy where Spell Pierce is played. Also, Wild Defiance is meaningless to Pierce.
Spell Pierce is another option. People not running this perplexes me to say the least. It interacts with Twin combo on many different levels, hits Cranial Plating, hurts most of everything Burn plays, messes with pumps from Infect, and the list goes on. The job of counterspells against Burn is to prolong the game, not control it. You get your win con and go.
Be careful with Spell Pierce against infect, if you aren't, they might resolve a Wild Defiance and make it far less effective. But really, I'm quoting you mainly to autocard spell pierce.
Good point. I forget I'm not in Legacy where Spell Pierce is played. Also, Wild Defiance is meaningless to Pierce.
Not sure what you are saying with 'meaningless', Spell Pierce can counter Wild Defiance as it is cast, I'm just pointing out the potential threat of if you use up your spell pierces on some of their pump spells, then they resolve a Wild Defiance, that with it on the battlefield, even just targeting their creature pumps it, so the spell pierce will counter the spell's pump, but not prevent the Wild Defiance trigger.
Unfortunately the common theme here is that non-GW decks are at a huge disadvantage, almost to the point of having less than 15% odds G1, and not much better G2 and G3. Dragons claw if played on T2-T3 can be good, but anytime after that not so much, and considering Atarka Command is coming soon which means that burn is more likely to play Destructive Revelry G2-G3 makes these much worse as they lose no tempo by killing it, the turn you play it. If you happen to draw it later in the game, it's pretty bad unlike the one-shot life gain spells like Feed the Clan because you're likely to be killed by 'shocks' instead of 'bolts' at that point. The new command also makes Spellskite a tad worse, as that was the best non-GW answer to burn being able to block if need be, redirect, and counter if they tried to kill it. It saved more life than a claw especially if you drew it later in the game AND it isn't a dead card against other MU's. It's pretty silly you have to play a card that is dead against every single other MU in the game to try and tread water and if you want a good shot you need to play 3-4 ideally.
Wizards needs to print some burn hate in UBR colors. The MU is groan worthy as someone who has been playing Grixis lately. My only real hope in this MU is to run skites and a ton of counters slash countersquall and try and 'race' them or make their own Eidolons more damaging to them than me with things like Tasigur. The Monastery Siege can sometimes be good and I've tried it, but because it costs 3 it can come down at awkward times, where you can just be dead to response, response, untap pay the extra 2 your dead, or you're at a point where you're dead soon anyways. They need to print something to counter-act this absurdity and I can't imagine how bad it is going to be once Atarka's comes out.
What about Sun Droplet instead of Dragon's Claw? Sure, it is a slow card, but if you have some other ways to gain turns against burn (other sources of lifegain, discard, removal) it will gain you much more life
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Modern: Red Brigades (Goblin) - Cruel Control
EDH: Varolz, the Scar-Striped
It's not just that block burn it's good with other MU too, and the fact who blocks many treaths, like Discard, Liliana, many PW ultimate, make him better candidate.
It's more...flexible, just this.
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My Decks on Paper: UWR Control/Midrange/Delver UWR Twin Miss you GBWJunk (still semi-budget; 3 tarmo only) GWAura Hexproof GWHatebears
After playing a plethora of different burn hate I've come to the conclusion that the two best options are Feed the Clan and Rest for the Weary. I currently sideboard an entire playset of Feed the Clans in my Abzan deck. The issue I have with most of the other cards mentioned is they either aren't fast enough, or aren't reliable enough.
Leyline of Sanctity seems really good on paper but in practice it hasn't impressed me. If you don't draw it in your opener or mulligan into it it comes down way too late. If you draw multiple copies they're usually dead. Every burn deck is running Destructive Revelry in their sideboard so even if you get them with it game two there's a good chance it won't work again in game three. It doesn't always get the job done even when all the pieces seem to fall together; if burn draws a creature heavy hand they may just kill you anyway.
Incremental life gain is usually too slow in my experience. Burn usually just kills me through a Sun Droplet. Kor Firewalker is better, especially because it can also prevent damage in the form of blocking, but this in turn makes it vulnerable to Skullcrack. Most decks also have to make significant life sacrifice to assemble WW to cast Firewalker on turn two anyway, in which case losing it shortly after is often game-ending. Dragon's Claw can be very good if you're playing a lot of red spells but otherwise is typically too slow, especially against creature heavy draws. The issue with all of these cards is they cost two or more mana meaning you're already going to be behind when you cast it, possibly by nine or more life if you're on the draw. At that point you need to reliably be able to gain a big burst of life to overcome the turn three and four barrage of whatever is left in the burn player's hand. These cards just don't get that done.
Gnaw to the Bone, Pulse of the Fields, and Timely Reinforcements are all cards I wanted to be awesome but also fell short in actual play. Timely Reinforcements in particular seems potentially game ending, but at three mana and sorcery speed it seems to get Skullcracked far more often than it actually resolves. Pulse of the Fields is instant speed which is a big plus, but it's slow, inefficient, and can be played around by aggressively fetching or abusing Eidolon if necessary. Unfortunately most decks capable of the WW to cast this cannot punish a burn deck for throwing away life. Gnaw to the Bone also has the benefit of instant speed but doesn't do enough (or often anything) in the critical early turns.
Circle of Protection: Red is mana intensive but has the potential to completely blowout a burn player. It also has the potential to be completely blown out by Skullcrack. If burn players start dropping Skullcracks for Atarka's Command this will be a very good option, but for the time being it isn't.
This pretty much leaves Rest for the Weary and Feed the Clan depending on your deck construction. As an Abzan player with ten ways to turn on ferocious, Feed the Clan is what I play. Both of these cards fit all of my needs in a burn hate card: instant speed to play around Skullcrack, two mana so they come out early, and a huge burst of life gain to immediately stabilize the game. They are fast, reliable, and effective. The downside is they are far less flexible against any other decks in the format, though they do have limited application in other aggro matchups. In my opinion their strength against burn outweighs their single-minded nature and makes them the best options we've got.
Can't we just agree to form an anti-burn alliance? If everyone just agreed to maindeck at least 4 anti-burn hate cards for the next 6 months, maybe burn players would stop playing it and move onto a less annoying deck instead? I mean, we'd sacrifice some percentage points against other decks, but I'm willing to do that. It should be mandatory for decks with white in them should maindeck 4 Timely Reinforcement.
That would be a losing prospect even against burn once they have A's Command, since they'll basically have 8 skullcracks to stop the lifegain and cause you to lose tempo from trying to play TReinfor, and that is in the main deck.
I have never had a problem beating burn with any deck. Just play more Spell Pierce/Spell Snare maindeck. Other red decks have Dragon's Claw, and black has Duress and friends.
Its so hard to not flame and rage in this thread...
This is exactly the point of the thread, IT IS NOT EASY TO HATE OUT. Your deck can expect burn, be ready for it, know how to play against it, and dedicate 4-5 sideboard cards against it, yet still lose pretty easily. Such a linear strategy SHOULD be easy to hate out, i agree, but it isnt, which is why it is a frustrating match-up for so many decks. I'm positive Wizards intended for Burn to be hated out very easily (just gain life, no problem), but it has such great tools now, and keeps getting more.
Wizards has to make other decks more affordable. I play burn in Modern, but only because I have to if I want to win. It's the most affordable deck that does well, and I'd bet I'm not the only one who plays it for financial reasons. I'd love to be dropping Lilly, Tarmy, Cliques, and Cryptic Commands, but I just can't, so instead I sling Lightning Bolts.
Burn would still be good, but there'd be less of us, and you wouldn't dedicate so much SB space to it.
Linear strategies are defeated by narrow cards. Leyline (or clone) and Ensnaring Bridge is one example of a lock against them.
If I wanted to design a deck that first and foremost beat Burn, but still had a reasonable game against most other decks in the field it woulf be a version of my old RW lockdown deck. Maindeck 4x Leylines and Bridges, 4x Pyroclasm, 4x Chalice of the void, 4x Helix, 4x Bolt should stall the game plenty long enough for you to finish them with Ajani Vengeant or Elspeth 1.0 or Gideon 1.0.
I think the better way to beat burn is to delay the game and drop a big lifelinker, i play batterskull and Wurmcoil Engine and once i hit with one of those the game is almost over. Chalice=1 is also good since stop Bolts, Lava Spike, Guide, Swiftspear and Shattering Spree from SB in mono red builds. Negate and Mana leak are blowouts against burn, even late game Leak is still good making the tap more lands. A Bolt for R is awesome but at 3R is not that good
Good news: Burn is NOT 19% of either the MTGO or paper metagame as of this thread's creation! It's just 12%! So things aren't necessarily as bad as they seem.
Bad news: Burn's prevalence in the winner's bracket might not actually represent the true prevalence. Some people believe it is much higher.
Bad news part 2: Even if Burn's share isn't as high as people claim, it still might feel very high.
Bad news part 3: The Burn may not be as bad as Skullclamp Elf and Nail or Ca-caw ca-caw Blade, but it's still not the most joyful deck to play against.
Bad news part 4: Atarka's Command is coming...
These are just some of the reasons why people are more than a little unhappy with Burn's presence in Modern. But we aren't here just to talk about how unhappy we are, to rage at anyone who has ever cast Lava Spike, and to lament the downfall of all things Modern. We are here to beat the ***** out of Burn (because no anti-Burn thread is complete without some choice words).
So, how do we wreck those pesky Burn mages (using cards, not by flaming)? Here are some ideas to kick things off.
Leyline of Sanctity
Feed the Clan
Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Chalice of the Void
Dragon's Claw
Pulse of the Fields
Lightning Helix
Timely Reinforcemnets
Kor Firewalker
Gnaw to the Bone
So many options! So little sideboard/maindeck space!
Before we dive into the obliteration of all things Burn, let's remember the following:
1. NO FLAMING. I know it's a Burn thread and that gets us all hot and bothered, but we already shut down one thread because of flaming. Let's keep this strategic.
2. NO BAN TALK. If you want to talk about how the way to beat Burn is to ban Eidolon and GGuide, take it to the ban thread.
3. REPORT; DON'T RESPOND. If someone is breaking rules or causing trouble, just report them. Don't start a fight.
Personally, a card that worked for me rather well back in NPH/INN standard days is Gnaw to the Bone. If you have any engine that gets creatures in the bin, the lifegain (x2) can do absolute wonders. Nothing like making their Shrine of Burning Rage look unattractive. While it isn't as effective on early turns in Modern (outside a Faithless Looting or Ideas Unbound), it makes the game unwinnable for Burn past turn 5.
"I hope to have such a death... lying in triumph atop the broken bodies of those who slew me..."
Chalice and Leyline just invalidate any direct damage right off the bat though. And they have the added benefit of being more flexible against other decks, which you really want sideboard cards to do.
Modern: Jund Legacy: RUG Delver EDH: Captain Sisay
If your running Tribal you can't go wrong with Chalice of the Void+ Cavern of Souls to keep your dudes from getting countered. One would think Merfolk could take advantage of this in a big way.
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Leyline of Sanctity - Atarka's Command ignores Leyline if played later on and you only have 6 or so life left, note I say 6 or so because the burn player might also be using it at the same time to pump a creature, this means it works much better when played via mulligan, unfortunately, burn now has access to Destructive Revelry when sideboard comes up, so your leyline might not stick either, and they don't sacrifice too much of their tempo/gas power to get rid of it.
Feed the Clan
Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Pulse of the Fields
Lightning Helix
- All of these gain life, and can hurt the burn player's tempo, however, they'll hurt yours more and theirs not at all if the burn player responds with a Skullcrack or Atarka's Command, and they can now run 8 of this kind of thing, so be careful not to play the spells here unless they aren't holding up the mana for Skullcrack/A's Command, Sorin is a bit more forgiving, since it's his plus ability and can be repeated on later turns, and you essentially forced them to use their skullcrack/command and be less likely to have ones later on.
Dragon's Claw
Chalice of the Void
- Dragon Claw's repeated smaller lifegain is much more effective against burn than single-turn effects that can be ruined by skullcracks, and chalice can be devastating. Chalice also has the upside of potential resilience to some of burn's ability to remove it, depending on the cmc you set it at. On the downside, a lot of decks can't use chalice because it hurts their own game-plan just as much if not more than burn (which will be running more 2cmc spells in the future thanks to A's command), and even mono-red burn has artifact removal that they can side in, or destructive revelry if they don't want to hurt their burn gameplan as much, if these are removed too quickly, they don't gain you as much benefit, so you have to rely on luck and mulligans, or the burn player not predicting your sideboard methods or something, REALLY don't rely on these if your normal gameplan already relies on artifacts, because burn will likely already have sided in their artifact removal either way, rather than just gambling on your sideboard not being done in hopes that they'll weaken their gameplan by siding in dead cards against your theoretical sideboard, still, these are amazing if the burn player can't get rid of them.
Kor Firewalker - this guy may be a better option than the dragon claw if you are running white, just be wary of blocking burn's creatures if they have mana up for a skullcrack, and remember that red/white burn decks sometimes have path to exile, and any burn decks could run dismember in order to get rid of major sideboard threats like this, especially if things go to game 3 and they saw it in game 2.
Another factor to consider, rather than just sideboards, is adjusting your mana base and your usage of it during the burn matchup. Letting your shocks sometimes come in untapped and delaying triggers of your fetches until you need them can help even without modification of your deck, but if you aren't too worried about blood moon, you have some other mana fixing options, especially to replace shocks if you keep your fetches and have some basics to grab as well (besides mountains of course). I'd consider looking into: fastlands (Copperline Gorge and company, allied only unfortunately), checklands (Clifftop Retreat and company), Grove of the Burnwillows (if you care little about how much life they gain), filterlands (Cascade Bluffs and company), and depending on your circumstances: Ancient Ziggurat, Cavern of Souls, Gemstone Mine, Glimmervoid, Pillar of the Paruns, and Tendo Ice Bridge. Remember, however, that Blood Moon remains a serious threat, and you should hold onto a method to remove it if you rely heavily on nonbasic lands, as well as try to get an appropriate color basic for your enchantment removal onto the battlefield before the turn they can play Blood Moon in such a case.
White has quite a few other options against burn that I'd like to bring up a few of:
Sanctimony - mono-red burn may find this harder to remove than artifact or creature based stuff, and it relies less on being in the opening hand than leyline, note that shocklands that are part mountain and everything that was nonbasic after a blood moon triggers it, and don't forget it is a 'may' trigger so don't miss your triggers
Circle of Protection: Red - Similar to the above in not being as reliant on being in opening hand as leyline, but has more costs into regularly using it on your end, and skullcrack can shut it down all in one turn and let the burn player dump their hand if they have the mana for it, but note that A's Command _doesn't_ stop damage prevention like Skullcrack does.
Burn spells can also be countered and discarded, I'd avoid using Thoughtseize against a burn player, in fact, I'd probably side it out for whatever your sideboard options are, remand is another card I'd avoid playing against burn, since it just gives them their spell back to play later, but a burn player getting their spells Inquisition of Kozileked away or Mana Leaked probably won't be very happy about it, due to how quickly their hands tend to dry up. Just remember that red is starting to get nicer draw options, like Humble Defector, so try to keep up some removal or something for things like that if you are reliant on burn running out of gas. Burn can also run Dangerous Wager, but they usually don't, because it can't contribute damage and they could be playing another burn spell in it's place and it risks just drawing into lands, rather than gas.
Also, not sure if Sasky is srs or not?
Be careful with Spell Pierce against infect, if you aren't, they might resolve a Wild Defiance and make it far less effective. But really, I'm quoting you mainly to autocard spell pierce.
Good point. I forget I'm not in Legacy where Spell Pierce is played. Also, Wild Defiance is meaningless to Pierce.
Not sure what you are saying with 'meaningless', Spell Pierce can counter Wild Defiance as it is cast, I'm just pointing out the potential threat of if you use up your spell pierces on some of their pump spells, then they resolve a Wild Defiance, that with it on the battlefield, even just targeting their creature pumps it, so the spell pierce will counter the spell's pump, but not prevent the Wild Defiance trigger.
Spellskite seems fine if they don't draw into their artifact hate.
Wizards needs to print some burn hate in UBR colors. The MU is groan worthy as someone who has been playing Grixis lately. My only real hope in this MU is to run skites and a ton of counters slash countersquall and try and 'race' them or make their own Eidolons more damaging to them than me with things like Tasigur. The Monastery Siege can sometimes be good and I've tried it, but because it costs 3 it can come down at awkward times, where you can just be dead to response, response, untap pay the extra 2 your dead, or you're at a point where you're dead soon anyways. They need to print something to counter-act this absurdity and I can't imagine how bad it is going to be once Atarka's comes out.
EDH: Varolz, the Scar-Striped
It's not just that block burn it's good with other MU too, and the fact who blocks many treaths, like Discard, Liliana, many PW ultimate, make him better candidate.
It's more...flexible, just this.
UWR Control/Midrange/Delver
UWR TwinMiss youGBWJunk (still semi-budget; 3 tarmo only)
GWAura Hexproof
GWHatebears
Leyline of Sanctity seems really good on paper but in practice it hasn't impressed me. If you don't draw it in your opener or mulligan into it it comes down way too late. If you draw multiple copies they're usually dead. Every burn deck is running Destructive Revelry in their sideboard so even if you get them with it game two there's a good chance it won't work again in game three. It doesn't always get the job done even when all the pieces seem to fall together; if burn draws a creature heavy hand they may just kill you anyway.
Incremental life gain is usually too slow in my experience. Burn usually just kills me through a Sun Droplet. Kor Firewalker is better, especially because it can also prevent damage in the form of blocking, but this in turn makes it vulnerable to Skullcrack. Most decks also have to make significant life sacrifice to assemble WW to cast Firewalker on turn two anyway, in which case losing it shortly after is often game-ending. Dragon's Claw can be very good if you're playing a lot of red spells but otherwise is typically too slow, especially against creature heavy draws. The issue with all of these cards is they cost two or more mana meaning you're already going to be behind when you cast it, possibly by nine or more life if you're on the draw. At that point you need to reliably be able to gain a big burst of life to overcome the turn three and four barrage of whatever is left in the burn player's hand. These cards just don't get that done.
Gnaw to the Bone, Pulse of the Fields, and Timely Reinforcements are all cards I wanted to be awesome but also fell short in actual play. Timely Reinforcements in particular seems potentially game ending, but at three mana and sorcery speed it seems to get Skullcracked far more often than it actually resolves. Pulse of the Fields is instant speed which is a big plus, but it's slow, inefficient, and can be played around by aggressively fetching or abusing Eidolon if necessary. Unfortunately most decks capable of the WW to cast this cannot punish a burn deck for throwing away life. Gnaw to the Bone also has the benefit of instant speed but doesn't do enough (or often anything) in the critical early turns.
Circle of Protection: Red is mana intensive but has the potential to completely blowout a burn player. It also has the potential to be completely blown out by Skullcrack. If burn players start dropping Skullcracks for Atarka's Command this will be a very good option, but for the time being it isn't.
This pretty much leaves Rest for the Weary and Feed the Clan depending on your deck construction. As an Abzan player with ten ways to turn on ferocious, Feed the Clan is what I play. Both of these cards fit all of my needs in a burn hate card: instant speed to play around Skullcrack, two mana so they come out early, and a huge burst of life gain to immediately stabilize the game. They are fast, reliable, and effective. The downside is they are far less flexible against any other decks in the format, though they do have limited application in other aggro matchups. In my opinion their strength against burn outweighs their single-minded nature and makes them the best options we've got.
'78 CB750F, '09 CBR600RR
That would be a losing prospect even against burn once they have A's Command, since they'll basically have 8 skullcracks to stop the lifegain and cause you to lose tempo from trying to play TReinfor, and that is in the main deck.
Its so hard to not flame and rage in this thread...
This is exactly the point of the thread, IT IS NOT EASY TO HATE OUT. Your deck can expect burn, be ready for it, know how to play against it, and dedicate 4-5 sideboard cards against it, yet still lose pretty easily. Such a linear strategy SHOULD be easy to hate out, i agree, but it isnt, which is why it is a frustrating match-up for so many decks. I'm positive Wizards intended for Burn to be hated out very easily (just gain life, no problem), but it has such great tools now, and keeps getting more.
Wizards has to make other decks more affordable. I play burn in Modern, but only because I have to if I want to win. It's the most affordable deck that does well, and I'd bet I'm not the only one who plays it for financial reasons. I'd love to be dropping Lilly, Tarmy, Cliques, and Cryptic Commands, but I just can't, so instead I sling Lightning Bolts.
Burn would still be good, but there'd be less of us, and you wouldn't dedicate so much SB space to it.
If I wanted to design a deck that first and foremost beat Burn, but still had a reasonable game against most other decks in the field it woulf be a version of my old RW lockdown deck. Maindeck 4x Leylines and Bridges, 4x Pyroclasm, 4x Chalice of the void, 4x Helix, 4x Bolt should stall the game plenty long enough for you to finish them with Ajani Vengeant or Elspeth 1.0 or Gideon 1.0.
Tron