MTG Salvation

First things first, I wouldn't exactly call this "competitive". But I'm looking to improve it for play on a purely FNM level. I would never take this deck to a major tournament without expecting to lose in glorious, explosive ways. Or perhaps just getting grinded out by Jund's lifegain. Either one. Anyway, on to the deck's inner workings and individual card choices.

The deck effectively plays out like Storm. Get a Pyromancer onto the board, spam mana-generation and cheap burn/draw spells, work towards a Past in Flames, do it all again, then Burn at the Stake for like a million. Alternatively, just grind out tons of tokens and swing with Hellrider.

Card choices:

• Young Pyromancer - The centerpiece of the deck; it is basically impossible to win without it, which is why the deck is not very competitive. A game without a turn 2 Pyromancer is an uphill battle, to say the least. It is very possible to win on turn 4 after a turn 2 Pyromancer, if your opening hand and first few draws are good.
• Hellrider - Alternate win condition, when Burn at the Stake cannot be found, or you don't have enough creatures for it to be lethal. It's the card I'm least sure about in this deck, and I'm not adverse at all to removing it. Especially because of the fact that it's more expensive than I'd like for this deck. Removing them and replacing them with something cheaper would put the deck below $20 from TCGPlayer, including shipping, so there's one incentive to run something else.
• Faithless Looting - Crucial to the deck's consistency, and to getting cards into the graveyard for Past in Flames.
• Infernal Plunge - Probably my second-least-favorite card in the deck. With Pyromancer on the board, it is effectively Dark Ritual, which is not bad, but I prefer Battle Hymn in just about every way.
• Krenko's Command - 3 tokens for 2 mana is really good for this deck.
• Burn at the Stake - Win condition. I feel like 4 is probably too many, but 3 is probably not enough. I'm very conflicted on the exact number.
• Past in Flames - Combo enabler. Generate a ton of mana (and as a byproduct, tokens), cast Past in Flames, do it all again, then Burn at the Stake for the win. I feel like 3 of is fine, because I can just draw them with Faithless Looting and immediately dump them and then flashback them later.
• Shock - Not as good as Pillar, I will probably never cast it at instant speed, but it's a 1 mana spell that either kills a creature or gets me closer to winning. Not bad, not great, but the 1 mana cost I think makes it valid as a 4-of in this deck.
• Pillar of Flame - If Shock is a four-of, I would probably be willing to run 8 of these. As far as I know, every red deck in the current standard meta currently runs these, so why wouldn't this one?
• Battle Hymn - After playing with this, it's probably one of my favorite cards in all of standard, if not the entire game. Especially with Young Pyromancer because, as far as I know, it generates the extra token BEFORE it generates the mana. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly sure when you cast it, Young Pyromancer triggers, then Battle Hymn counts the creatures and resolves. Anyway, it's the primary way of generating mana, and enables combo victories as early as turn 4.
• Reforge the Soul - Flashbacking this in the middle of a combo when you have no cards in your hand is very strong, but other than that, you don't really want to see this card. Giving your opponent seven cards when you aren't prepared to kill them is generally a bad idea.
• 22 lands - From my playtesting, it feels like the right number. Not much to say here.

Now that that's over with, anyone have any advice? Experience from playing a similar deck?

Thanks in advance.

I have a Mono red BaTs deck in my sig...Click on the cards to take you there.

Is Guttersnipe > Hellrider here?

White is tempting for Assemble the Legion &/or Blaze Commando as well as the good token spells.

So, keeping monored...

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Wild Guess > Faithless Looting?

I definitely think Hellrider needs to be in this deck at LEAST in the sideboard if not main deck. If you want to compare this deck to Storm in modern, Hellrider is to Empty the Warrens as Burn at the Stake is to Grapeshot.

Quote from goldenj

Is Guttersnipe > Hellrider here?

White is tempting for Assemble the Legion &/or Blaze Commando as well as the good token spells.

So, keeping monored...

herenorthere's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Dudes 8 4 Young Pyromancer 4 Guttersnipe Tokens 10 4 Krenko's Command 4 Thatcher Revolt 2 Goblin Rally	Burn 15 4 Pillar of Flame 3 Shock 4 Searing Spear 4 Burn at the Stake	Search 3 3 Faithless Looting Mana 24 Mountain

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Wild Guess > Faithless Looting?

W/R is nice because Assemble the Legion becomes an alt win con but I think its usually too slow for Standard outside of a dedicated control deck.

If you are going to run Thatcher Revolt, you might be better with Molten Birth in its place. It has a chance to return to your hand and you don't have to sac the tokens at the end of the turn.

Battle Hymn definitely needs to be in this deck. Goblin Rally is probably too slow. Guttersnipe is good but is also likely too slow for this deck (and by too slow I mean it will encourage you to wait a turn to play the 'snipe instead of just trying to combo out as soon as you can and potentially cost you games by encouraging misplays).

Is anything in this deck rotating out in a month?

Quote from kpatterson14206

Is anything in this deck rotating out in a month?

jaytothen's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Hellrider 2 Battle Hymn 4 Pillar of Flame 4 Searing Spear 4 Burn at the Stake 3 Faithless Looting

All rotate when Theros hits barring a reprint. So almost half this deck.

Krenko's Command rotates too.

Noticed a Burn at the Stake deck in this weeks 5 decks not to miss.

Not a budget landbase, but some good principles to go from. It was 4-0 in MODO event.