Chalice is brutal. Set that bad boy at 2 and Burn just loses. Setting it at 1 is obviously strong too, especially if you can do it on turn 1 with something like SSG. But if you can get a 2 counter Chalice, it's almost impossible for Burn to win and straight up impossible for them to remove the Chalice. It just shuts down too many cards.
Claw is good if your own deck has red cards. Grixis decks are great candidates for Claw (UR ones are obviously better, because they don't have the added damage of fetches/shocks, and the decreased lifegain from more black cards like Tas/Angler).
Kor Firewalker is a monster if you can back him up with almost any disruption whatsoever. Unlike Claw, which will surely be killed by Destructive Revelry and/or Smash to Smithereens, Kor is basically unkillable in current Burn lists. Most decks migrated 1-2 Cracks to the board, or none at all, which means the deck has 0 ways to kill this creature. Firewalker is particularly unfair in decks that are packing red themselves.
Leyline is a trap unless a) you are playing a deck that uses it anyway in the board (e.g. Bloom, Bogles), or b) you have a heavily interactive deck that can kill the creatures. If you are playing a deck that won't be able to handle the creatures, particularly Eidolon, then Leyline is not enough. It dies to Revelry, doesn't stop Blaze or Command, and doesn't do anything about critters.
Chalice is brutal. Set that bad boy at 2 and Burn just loses. Setting it at 1 is obviously strong too, especially if you can do it on turn 1 with something like SSG. But if you can get a 2 counter Chalice, it's almost impossible for Burn to win and straight up impossible for them to remove the Chalice. It just shuts down too many cards.
Claw is good if your own deck has red cards. Grixis decks are great candidates for Claw (UR ones are obviously better, because they don't have the added damage of fetches/shocks, and the decreased lifegain from more black cards like Tas/Angler).
Kor Firewalker is a monster if you can back him up with almost any disruption whatsoever. Unlike Claw, which will surely be killed by Destructive Revelry and/or Smash to Smithereens, Kor is basically unkillable in current Burn lists. Most decks migrated 1-2 Cracks to the board, or none at all, which means the deck has 0 ways to kill this creature. Firewalker is particularly unfair in decks that are packing red themselves.
Leyline is a trap unless a) you are playing a deck that uses it anyway in the board (e.g. Bloom, Bogles), or b) you have a heavily interactive deck that can kill the creatures. If you are playing a deck that won't be able to handle the creatures, particularly Eidolon, then Leyline is not enough. It dies to Revelry, doesn't stop Blaze or Command, and doesn't do anything about critters.
This. Stop being so good at magic ktk...you don't leave anything left for others to say!
Some other good cards off the top of my head:
Lightning Helix - its a 2 for 1 that buys the type of deck that would play this card at least one turn to stabilize
Kitchen Finks - A 2 for 1 that helps stabilize quite a bit
Pyroclasm - Hits all their creatures a turn faster than anger, solid sideboard card in any case
Kitchen Finks - Not only is it lifegain which Burn doesn't want to see, it's also on legs with stats that will block and kill two of their creatures. Hugely annoying to deal with. Kor Firewalker - Do I even need to say something about this guy? The name already gives it away, especially multiples will just walk over the Burn player. Feed the Clan - A common sight in BG/x sideboards. Two mana to gain 5 life at instant-speed is almost worth two burn spells already but 10 life? Oh man that is juicy and the decks playing it have no problem enabling that.
CO:P Red is weak because most lists run some number of skullcrack and destructive revelry. The two best cards are kitchen finks and kor firewalker. Not only do they gain life they also stop any attackers cold in their tracks. I also agree leyline is a trap. I can't count the number of time I have killed someone with a swiftspear by point burn at myself, then finishing with a double striker because if boros charm. Also it is important to remember life gain will not work unless it happens every turn, like soul sisters or you have a fast clock like little wilted abzan. Jund also works because the mana base is less painful and they have cheaper spells to stunt the damage.
Blocking with Kor Firewalker knowing that your Burn opponent plays Skullcrack is bad. Protection prevents the damage, and Skullcrack makes it so damage can't be prevented. You just traded one of your best cards against Burn for a Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear, or Eidolon of the Great Revel. Only block with your Firewalker if it's absolutely necessary.
Blocking with Kor Firewalker knowing that your Burn opponent plays Skullcrack is bad. Protection prevents the damage, and Skullcrack makes it so damage can't be prevented. You just traded one of your best cards against Burn for a Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear, or Eidolon of the Great Revel. Only block with your Firewalker if it's absolutely necessary.
As long as you block with removal or countermagic backup open, you should be fine. For instance, if I was playing UWR Midrange and dropped my turn 2 Firewalker, I would NEVER block into a Burn player with 2-3 mana open and all my mana tapped out. But I would definitely block next turn when I untapped with 3 mana of my own. So it's really just that one turn of vulnerability where Firewalker can't block, in which case the worst scenario would be an inbound Swiftspear with Boros Charm and Bolt behind it swinging for 6 damage plus 3 more from the Bolt. But you would only take 7 because of Firewalker, and that's still pretty improbable.
Long story short: don't block with Firewalker unless you have mana open to prevent shenanigans.
Blocking with Kor Firewalker knowing that your Burn opponent plays Skullcrack is bad. Protection prevents the damage, and Skullcrack makes it so damage can't be prevented. You just traded one of your best cards against Burn for a Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear, or Eidolon of the Great Revel. Only block with your Firewalker if it's absolutely necessary.
Are we sure about this? I did't think pro red creatures were affected by spells that prevent damage prevention.
Yes. Skullcrack kills things with protetion. It's why Legacy started using the card in burn lists when True-Name Nemesis became a thing. Firewalker still can't be blocked, targeted or equipped with anything red, but if you invited the damage by blocking, kiss the Kor goodbye.
Sanctiomny seems funny and I'm considering it for Soul Sisters. Would make Jund and UWR a little easier.
Blocking with Kor Firewalker knowing that your Burn opponent plays Skullcrack is bad. Protection prevents the damage, and Skullcrack makes it so damage can't be prevented. You just traded one of your best cards against Burn for a Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear, or Eidolon of the Great Revel. Only block with your Firewalker if it's absolutely necessary.
Are we sure about this? I did't think pro red creatures were affected by spells that prevent damage prevention.
100% sure. Creatures with protection have the following qualities:
1. All damage dealt by the protected source is prevented.
2. All creatures of the protected source cannot block it.
3. All spells/permanents of the protected source cannot target it.
4. All auras/equipment of the protected source cannot enchant/attach to it.
Skullcrack just turns off the damage prevention clause for the turn. It doesn't target the creature in question (e.g. Combust or Pinpoint Avalanche) so it still affects Firewalker. Unstable Footing did the same thing back in Zendikar-era Magic. By a similar token, Leyline of Punishment would permanently turn off Firewalker's prevention clause.
I find it funny that Death's Shadow hasnt been mentionned yet. It's what flipped the Burn match-up from bad to fair, for heavy Delve Grixis Delver lists. Agreed, alone, it might not be enough, but if you also have some kind of stabilizing power (IoK and Countermagic, in Grixis Delve(r)'s case), this thing is HELLUV'a CLOCK.
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MODERN Blue Lantern, UBx Tezzerator. OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
*FTC is almost 2 burn spells, and its more than 3 with the ferocious.
*KFW is just a pain in my ***. Skullcrack gets around it, but Burn players have gone away from it recently, favoring Atarka's Command. This is why I still use skullcrack.
*Spellskite can be good since he has more uses than just against Burn, so packing them in your SB doesn't feel "narrow" like other cards may.
*If you can cast TRF on turn 3 and get both effects, you just might turn the game around. 3 chump blockers is huge, and 6 life is 2 burn spells.
Claw is good if your own deck has red cards. Grixis decks are great candidates for Claw (UR ones are obviously better, because they don't have the added damage of fetches/shocks, and the decreased lifegain from more black cards like Tas/Angler).
Kor Firewalker is a monster if you can back him up with almost any disruption whatsoever. Unlike Claw, which will surely be killed by Destructive Revelry and/or Smash to Smithereens, Kor is basically unkillable in current Burn lists. Most decks migrated 1-2 Cracks to the board, or none at all, which means the deck has 0 ways to kill this creature. Firewalker is particularly unfair in decks that are packing red themselves.
Leyline is a trap unless a) you are playing a deck that uses it anyway in the board (e.g. Bloom, Bogles), or b) you have a heavily interactive deck that can kill the creatures. If you are playing a deck that won't be able to handle the creatures, particularly Eidolon, then Leyline is not enough. It dies to Revelry, doesn't stop Blaze or Command, and doesn't do anything about critters.
This. Stop being so good at magic ktk...you don't leave anything left for others to say!
Some other good cards off the top of my head:
Lightning Helix - its a 2 for 1 that buys the type of deck that would play this card at least one turn to stabilize
Kitchen Finks - A 2 for 1 that helps stabilize quite a bit
Pyroclasm - Hits all their creatures a turn faster than anger, solid sideboard card in any case
Kor Firewalker - Do I even need to say something about this guy? The name already gives it away, especially multiples will just walk over the Burn player.
Feed the Clan - A common sight in BG/x sideboards. Two mana to gain 5 life at instant-speed is almost worth two burn spells already but 10 life? Oh man that is juicy and the decks playing it have no problem enabling that.
Legacy: Infect, Lands, Eldrazi, Storm
Modern: Infect, UW Eldrazi
As long as you block with removal or countermagic backup open, you should be fine. For instance, if I was playing UWR Midrange and dropped my turn 2 Firewalker, I would NEVER block into a Burn player with 2-3 mana open and all my mana tapped out. But I would definitely block next turn when I untapped with 3 mana of my own. So it's really just that one turn of vulnerability where Firewalker can't block, in which case the worst scenario would be an inbound Swiftspear with Boros Charm and Bolt behind it swinging for 6 damage plus 3 more from the Bolt. But you would only take 7 because of Firewalker, and that's still pretty improbable.
Long story short: don't block with Firewalker unless you have mana open to prevent shenanigans.
Worship
Batterskull
Sure, Destructive Revelry is a card but there's never any hands-down way to beat anything. They still have to draw their sideboard cards, too.
Dromoka's Command
Qasali Pridemage
They can either prevent a bolt / block a creature + force an Eidolon of the Great Revel to die.
Are we sure about this? I did't think pro red creatures were affected by spells that prevent damage prevention.
Sanctiomny seems funny and I'm considering it for Soul Sisters. Would make Jund and UWR a little easier.
100% sure. Creatures with protection have the following qualities:
1. All damage dealt by the protected source is prevented.
2. All creatures of the protected source cannot block it.
3. All spells/permanents of the protected source cannot target it.
4. All auras/equipment of the protected source cannot enchant/attach to it.
Skullcrack just turns off the damage prevention clause for the turn. It doesn't target the creature in question (e.g. Combust or Pinpoint Avalanche) so it still affects Firewalker. Unstable Footing did the same thing back in Zendikar-era Magic. By a similar token, Leyline of Punishment would permanently turn off Firewalker's prevention clause.
UB Tezzerator
UBW Gifts
B 8Rack
Legacy
RB Goblins
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
As a Burn player, these are the cards I would prefer to not see;
Feed the Clan
Kor Firewalker
Spellskite
Timely Reinforcements
*FTC is almost 2 burn spells, and its more than 3 with the ferocious.
*KFW is just a pain in my ***. Skullcrack gets around it, but Burn players have gone away from it recently, favoring Atarka's Command. This is why I still use skullcrack.
*Spellskite can be good since he has more uses than just against Burn, so packing them in your SB doesn't feel "narrow" like other cards may.
*If you can cast TRF on turn 3 and get both effects, you just might turn the game around. 3 chump blockers is huge, and 6 life is 2 burn spells.
WBG Karador GBW
R Daretti R
RG Omnath GR
WRG Modern Burn GRW
WB Modern Tokens BW
DCI Rules Advisor as of 5/18/2015
UB Tezzerator
UBW Gifts
B 8Rack
Legacy
RB Goblins