With everything shifting more towards two color and/or mono, three colors are pretty much out for Aggro deck types. I personally really enjoy playing Izzet-Blitz, and would like to try to keep it alive. So here it is at two colors.
So what am I forgetting? What can we do to make it better? Spark Jolt, Quicken, Magma Jet, and sometimes Izzet Charm are the draw system/easy fuel for both the Cyclops and Chimera, is there something better? Should we lose the Gates for basic?
With everything shifting more towards two color and/or mono, three colors are pretty much out for Aggro deck types. I personally really enjoy playing Izzet-Blitz, and would like to try to keep it alive. So here it is at two colors.
So what am I forgetting? What can we do to make it better? Spark Jolt, Quicken, Magma Jet, and sometimes Izzet Charm are the draw system/easy fuel for both the Cyclops and Chimera, is there something better? Should we lose the Gates for basic?
as some one who used to play this deck a lot and loved it I really feel it is dead and gone =[ losing the ability to turn 1 loot/thoughtscour into turn 2 loot really makes the deck have shakier draws. also I really think you need guttersnipe still if your gonna still be somewhat competitive.
@warwizard87
You're right the original blitz is dead, but I'm hoping with some help we can build a new hybrid version. Spellheart Chimera was a throw in for his ability. After I do some testing and some more tweaking he may be cut for the snipe.
Time Manipulation Device Mark Three: Hour Glass Reversal
Idea was found looking into the past useing the time turner to go to egypt. After study have made improvments to device and are ready for testing. Waiting for Slaker to come back to throw him through it. I hope he turns out better then the elf i captured.
Decks UR Delver UB Dredge WB Tokens UR Moderns Storm
Mana-base is a placeholder. Not very certain on the spell selection/numbers either.
Main focus is on abusing the creature etb ability on Purphoros, God of the Forge with the tokens from Young Pyromancer. Master of Waves would make at least 3 tokens with 1 Frostburn Weird out too (so 4 bodies etb and 8 dmg to the face). Secondary plan would be some sort of token swarm with Elemental tokens.
Quicken and Izzet Charm seem like the most important spells for triggering pyromancer. (although with the above spell config, Quicken doesn't really do anything aside from cycle, so maybe it's not 100% correct) Something like Weapon Surge or Dynacharge might be correct to push through the token swarm plan. Jace, Architect of Thought will help keep our hand full; seems like a better draw engine than Steam Augury or Thoughtflare. Not sure on the correct balance of counter magic, burn and bounce, or if we need Anger of the Gods to hold off the aggro decks until we can get our plan assembled.
Does the Cyclops still have a place in this kind of deck? Without flashback and Thought Scour, its trigger loses reliability, and even with those, trying to get the cyclops to go off was a bit of a coin-toss. Additionally, its trigger requiring spells to be cast before its controller's combat damage step was a bit of a non-bo with the draw-go style of mana use that the other 56 cards of an instant-heavy deck list would normally favor.
If 20-damage unblockable Cyclops bursts stop being the basis of the deck, it might be worth losing the "Blitz" element to slow down and focus on supporting Spellheart Chimera, Young Pyromancer, Chandra's Phoenix and maybe Guttersnipe with permission and tempo plays to keep them alive and to hit their triggers for offensive value.
I'm not sure if this can go quite big enough to punch through something like a Selesnya midrange list, but I'm a little curious about whether something like this could work here:
EDIT:
Actually, the Temple of Triumph/Release thing is way too nested in wishful thinking; Catch is the reason for even considering the card, and it isn't even good in a deck that's not fast enough. Mountain/Turn // Burn would be a way more solid solution to the same problem creatures and planeswalkers.
I'm tossing around the idea of Young Pyromancer or Omenspeaker for the 2 drop. Pyromancer seems like he'd be good vs. aggro, and Omenspeaker will help set up your plays. I ended up going with Goblin Electromage since he makes your spells all 1 drops which works well to maximize Cyclop's pump. Spellheart Chimera I threw in the SB to give yourself some reach if needed (doesn't pump as fast, but his bonuses don't go away at the end of the turn. Plus he's harder to block with flying and trample).
I played a RUG Blitz deck in Standard pre-rotation built around Nivmagus Elemental as well as Hidden Strings. I spent a few hours last night testing my new UR version and was pleasantly surprised as it feels better than before. First thing I noticed is no Snapcaster + Restoration Angel so nobody really seems to know what they are doing and aggro decks were the most popular types of decks in my meta.
So I put together this list, it's very rough and I will be making tons of change soon, but here it is nontheless:
Spellheart Chimera is a good creature for this deck although I may go down to two copies. It's an attractive target for cipher effects with both trample and flying usually assuring damage will be dealt to the player. I found myself winning a few games by arming the Chimera too so there's always that option.
Scry is absolutely brilliant for this deck, this is my first time playing with Magma Jet and I've found it to be a big step up from my previous use of Shock.
Anger of the Gods is crazy good and I believe if I can find a way to dump Pyromancer and get a creature with more toughness, I'm going to roll 2 or 3 of them and just start sweeping out the R/G decks I've been facing.
Anybody tried Akroan Crusader in this list. I'm not sure how much synergy there is with Cyclops or Guttersnipe but with Pyromancer and Purphoros, God of the Forge there seems to be potential.
Activating heroic isn't really what most of the above lists are made for however, Hidden Strings is a good way to get multiple activations especially if you have multiple copies of Crusader. Also, Weapon Surge, Dynacharge and Teleportal all trigger heroic and can potentiate an alpha strike
Remember, the tokens that he creates have haste, Pyromancer will give you a token, Guttersnipe will activate, Cyclops will pump and Purphoros will ping.
I don't have a list made yet but it seems like there is potential in Akroan Crusader. A one drop that makes haste tokens every time you cast a spell (that targets it) seems like it could work with Pyromancer and Purphoros.
Trust me, I've tested this deck out a bit and you don't want Spellheart Chimera. You need the deck to be as comboey as possible, and Spellheart is only useful past like turn 5, which you should be shooting to have won by. I don't have the whole decklist, but my creatures were 4 Young Pyromancer, Guttersnipe, and Nivix Cyclops. My most useful instants and sorceries were Hidden Strings and Hands of Binding, 4 of each definitely. Teleportal should be your finisher. T2 Pyromancer into T3 Hidden Strings, tap their guy(s), or if they don't untap your land again, swing and get another cast from cipher, play more stuff because you can untap your land, things can get crazy fast. It's pretty much as close to storm in standard as you can get.
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Standard: BG The Rock GB UW Control WU
EDH: RBU Nekusar UBR
Modern: UNBDU
Trust me, I've tested this deck out a bit and you don't want Spellheart Chimera. You need the deck to be as comboey as possible, and Spellheart is only useful past like turn 5, which you should be shooting to have won by. I don't have the whole decklist, but my creatures were 4 Young Pyromancer, Guttersnipe, and Nivix Cyclops. My most useful instants and sorceries were Hidden Strings and Hands of Binding, 4 of each definitely. Teleportal should be your finisher. T2 Pyromancer into T3 Hidden Strings, tap their guy(s), or if they don't untap your land again, swing and get another cast from cipher, play more stuff because you can untap your land, things can get crazy fast. It's pretty much as close to storm in standard as you can get.
Lol if you took a look at my last post you will see that I'm not using Spellheart Chimera, or trying to blitz. But thanks for the input.
When I got here the thread was called Izzet Blitz and you have the Chimeras in your first decklist. My input was for blitz, which this thread was about until your last reply.
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Standard: BG The Rock GB UW Control WU
EDH: RBU Nekusar UBR
Modern: UNBDU
I wouldn't run a control variant I would stick to burn. Stuff like master of waves is tough to deal with and with the popularity of mistcutter hydra blitz is realistically the only option.
I'm still in the testing phase and leaning more towards control, but might actually go for izzet burn.
The deck I showed you is heavy burn, really fun to play (not for the opposing player) it crushes whinee and aggro but loses to b devotion and midrange, turn burn deals with waves
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If you have a budget, you shouldn't play magic competitively
4x Young Pyromancer
4x Nivix Cyclops
Other spells (28)
3x Spark Jolt
4x Quicken
4x Magma Jet
3x Teleportal
3x Mizzium Skin
4x Izzet Charm
4x Lightning Strike
3x Armed // Dangerous
4x Steam Vents
4x Izzet Guildgate
5x Island
7x Mountain
So what am I forgetting? What can we do to make it better? Spark Jolt, Quicken, Magma Jet, and sometimes Izzet Charm are the draw system/easy fuel for both the Cyclops and Chimera, is there something better? Should we lose the Gates for basic?
(Edit #2)
3x Guttersnipe
4x Frostburn Weird
4x Master of Waves
4x Young Pyromancer
Planeswalkers (3)
3x Jace, Architect of Thought
Spells (18)
2x Shock
3x Turn // Burn
3x Izzet Charm
4x Lightning Strike
2x Mizzium Mortars
4x Anger of the Gods
4x Steam Vents
4x Izzet Guildgate
3x Mutavault
7x Island
6x Mountain
2x Pithing Needle
3x EssenceScatter
2x Smelt
2x Mizzium Mortars
2x Syncopate
2x Swan Song
2x MagmaJet
I hate to admit it but for now the Blitz idea is out. This is what I'm currently testing.
as some one who used to play this deck a lot and loved it I really feel it is dead and gone =[ losing the ability to turn 1 loot/thoughtscour into turn 2 loot really makes the deck have shakier draws. also I really think you need guttersnipe still if your gonna still be somewhat competitive.
You're right the original blitz is dead, but I'm hoping with some help we can build a new hybrid version. Spellheart Chimera was a throw in for his ability. After I do some testing and some more tweaking he may be cut for the snipe.
4x Nivmagus Elemental
4x Young Pyromancer
4x Guttersnipe
2x Spellheart Chimera (name pending)
2x Stormbreath Dragon
2x Dragonshift
4x Izzet Charm
2x Turn//Burn
4x Shock
2x Magma jet
4x Hands of Binding
2x Steam Augury
Land:
21 assorted
The Izzet League Pyros Welcome
High Mage of Time Manipulation in the IzzetLeague
Time Manipulation Device Mark Three: Hour Glass Reversal
Idea was found looking into the past useing the time turner to go to egypt. After study have made improvments to device and are ready for testing. Waiting for Slaker to come back to throw him through it. I hope he turns out better then the elf i captured.
Decks
UR Delver
UB Dredge
WB Tokens
UR Moderns Storm
I like some of your ideas and will test them out.
Anybody else want to help jump right in lol
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Master of Waves
3 Purphoros, God of the Forge
2 Turn // Burn
2 Cyclonic Rift
4 Izzet Charm
2 Lightning Strike
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
10 Island
10 Mountain
Mana-base is a placeholder. Not very certain on the spell selection/numbers either.
Main focus is on abusing the creature etb ability on Purphoros, God of the Forge with the tokens from Young Pyromancer. Master of Waves would make at least 3 tokens with 1 Frostburn Weird out too (so 4 bodies etb and 8 dmg to the face). Secondary plan would be some sort of token swarm with Elemental tokens.
Upsides seem to be that Frostburn Weird and Master of Waves live through Anger of the Gods, although we're still hurting pretty bad against Supreme Verdict. Maybe we're just resigned to that and plan to not overcommit and bounce back quick.
Quicken and Izzet Charm seem like the most important spells for triggering pyromancer. (although with the above spell config, Quicken doesn't really do anything aside from cycle, so maybe it's not 100% correct) Something like Weapon Surge or Dynacharge might be correct to push through the token swarm plan. Jace, Architect of Thought will help keep our hand full; seems like a better draw engine than Steam Augury or Thoughtflare. Not sure on the correct balance of counter magic, burn and bounce, or if we need Anger of the Gods to hold off the aggro decks until we can get our plan assembled.
I think I'm heading in a different direction, but definitely will test it out.
3x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Frostburn Weird
4x Spellheart Chimera
Spells
3x Lightning Strike
4x Magma Jet
2x Mizzium Mortars
1x Cyclonic Rift
3x Dissolve
1x Essence Scatter
2x Steam Augury
3x Izzet Charm
2x Syncopate
1x Turn / Burn
8x mountains
7x islands
4x steam vents
4x izzet guild gate
3x Anger of the Gods
2x Dispel
4x Flames of the Firebrand
1x Mizzium Mortars
3x Peak Eruption
2x Turn / Burn
If 20-damage unblockable Cyclops bursts stop being the basis of the deck, it might be worth losing the "Blitz" element to slow down and focus on supporting Spellheart Chimera, Young Pyromancer, Chandra's Phoenix and maybe Guttersnipe with permission and tempo plays to keep them alive and to hit their triggers for offensive value.
I'm not sure if this can go quite big enough to punch through something like a Selesnya midrange list, but I'm a little curious about whether something like this could work here:
2x Cyclonic Rift
2x Dissolve
2x Essence Scatter
4x Izzet Charm
1x Lightning Strike
3x Magma Jet
2x Shock
3x Steam Augury
2x Syncopate
2x Turn // Burn
6x Island
2x Izzet Guildgate
7x Mountain
3x Mutavault
4x Steam Vents
1x Temple of Triumph
Creature (9)
2x Chandra's Phoenix
3x Spellheart Chimera
4x Young Pyromancer
Sorcery (3)
3x Mizzium Mortars
2x Jace, Architect of Thought
2x Anger of the Gods
1x Annul
2x Burning Earth
2x Catch // Release
2x Dispel
2x Izzet Staticaster
1x Mizzium Skin
1x Negate
2x Stormbreath Dragon
EDIT:
Actually, the Temple of Triumph/Release thing is way too nested in wishful thinking; Catch is the reason for even considering the card, and it isn't even good in a deck that's not fast enough. Mountain/Turn // Burn would be a way more solid solution to the same problem creatures and planeswalkers.
4x Goblin Electromancer
4x Nivix Cyclops
4x Guttersnipe
4x Lightning Strike
4x Izzet Charm
4x Armed//Dangerous
4x Quicken
4x Shock
4x Inaction Injunction
4x Mugging
4x Izzet Guildgate
6x Mountain
6x Island
4x Mizzium Skin
2x Skullcrack
2x Mizzium Mortars
4x Blustersquall
4x Spellheart Chimera
I'm tossing around the idea of Young Pyromancer or Omenspeaker for the 2 drop. Pyromancer seems like he'd be good vs. aggro, and Omenspeaker will help set up your plays. I ended up going with Goblin Electromage since he makes your spells all 1 drops which works well to maximize Cyclop's pump. Spellheart Chimera I threw in the SB to give yourself some reach if needed (doesn't pump as fast, but his bonuses don't go away at the end of the turn. Plus he's harder to block with flying and trample).
4x Young Pyromancer
4x Nivix Cyclops
Other spells (28)
2x Titan's Strength
4x Quicken
3x Magma Jet
2x Wild Guess
3x Teleportal
3x Mizzium Skin
4x Izzet Charm
4x Lightning Strike
3x Armed // Dangerous
4x Steam Vents
4x Izzet Guildgate
5x Island
7x Mountain
I've had some really good success with this so far in testing. For now I think this is about as good as it gets lol.
So I put together this list, it's very rough and I will be making tons of change soon, but here it is nontheless:
2 Young Pyromancer
3 Nivix Cyclops
3 Spellheart Chimera
1 Guttersnipe
2 Mizzium Skin
4 Hidden Strings
3 Armed // Dangerous
3 Izzet Charm
3 Magma Jet
2 Hands of Bindings
3 Dissolve
10 Islands
7 Mountains
Couple notes from my playtesting so far:
Spellheart Chimera is a good creature for this deck although I may go down to two copies. It's an attractive target for cipher effects with both trample and flying usually assuring damage will be dealt to the player. I found myself winning a few games by arming the Chimera too so there's always that option.
Scry is absolutely brilliant for this deck, this is my first time playing with Magma Jet and I've found it to be a big step up from my previous use of Shock.
Anger of the Gods is crazy good and I believe if I can find a way to dump Pyromancer and get a creature with more toughness, I'm going to roll 2 or 3 of them and just start sweeping out the R/G decks I've been facing.
Activating heroic isn't really what most of the above lists are made for however, Hidden Strings is a good way to get multiple activations especially if you have multiple copies of Crusader. Also, Weapon Surge, Dynacharge and Teleportal all trigger heroic and can potentiate an alpha strike
Remember, the tokens that he creates have haste, Pyromancer will give you a token, Guttersnipe will activate, Cyclops will pump and Purphoros will ping.
I don't have a list made yet but it seems like there is potential in Akroan Crusader. A one drop that makes haste tokens every time you cast a spell (that targets it) seems like it could work with Pyromancer and Purphoros.
2x Guttersnipe
4x Frostburn Weird
4x Master of Waves
4x Young Pyromancer
Planeswalkers (3)
3x Jace, Architect of Thought
2x Magma Jet
2x Turn // Burn
3x Izzet Charm
4x Lightning Strike
2x Mizzium Mortars
4x Anger of the Gods
2x Syncopate
4x Steam Vents
4x Izzet Guildgate
3x Mutavault
7x Island
6x Mountain
I hate to admit it but for now the Blitz idea is out. This is what I'm currently testing.
BG The Rock GB
UW Control WU
EDH:
RBU Nekusar UBR
Modern:
UNBDU
Lol if you took a look at my last post you will see that I'm not using Spellheart Chimera, or trying to blitz. But thanks for the input.
BG The Rock GB
UW Control WU
EDH:
RBU Nekusar UBR
Modern:
UNBDU
4 shocks
4 lighting strike
4 magma jet
4 Titans strength
4 Turn turn/burn
3 hidden strings
2 epic experiment
4 young pyromancer
4 guttersnipe
4 spellheart chimera
2 fluxcharger
8 island
13 mountain
3 essence scatter
3 hands of binding
3 spark jolt
3 rapid hybridization
here my blitz deck, it used a ton of burn and cipher abilities and pounds face, thought maybe you could get an idea out of here
If you have a budget, you shouldn't play magic competitively
Main Deck: What's left
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/standard-deck-creation/602378-kolaghan-dragons
trade me:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/trading-post/details/1277-almost-done
Yeah sorry about that, I was modifying it at the same time you were posting.
@mrisaiahc
sup yo... yeah I'll take a look at it ty. Thinking I'm going to give up on the whole Blitz thing for now though.
your new deck looks a lot more like control
If you have a budget, you shouldn't play magic competitively
Main Deck: What's left
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/standard-deck-creation/602378-kolaghan-dragons
trade me:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/trading-post/details/1277-almost-done
I'm still in the testing phase and leaning more towards control, but might actually go for izzet burn.
The deck I showed you is heavy burn, really fun to play (not for the opposing player) it crushes whinee and aggro but loses to b devotion and midrange, turn burn deals with waves
If you have a budget, you shouldn't play magic competitively
Main Deck: What's left
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/standard-deck-creation/602378-kolaghan-dragons
trade me:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/trading-post/details/1277-almost-done