As it is, I don't know if Quicken and Skullcrack are necessary here. Maybe the meta will change, but skull crack doesn't seem to be a main deck card atm, and i think you would be better off running more burn spells or more izzet charms.
Also, since you run Spellheart Chimera, I wonder if Swan Song may be a better alternative to annul - it is more diverse, and Chimera can easily devour the 2/2 it generates.
I'm running a pretty similar list, though with more emphasis on creatures.
As it is, I don't know if Quicken and Skullcrack are necessary here. Maybe the meta will change, but skull crack doesn't seem to be a main deck card atm, and i think you would be better off running more burn spells or more izzet charms.
Also, since you run Spellheart Chimera, I wonder if Swan Song may be a better alternative to annul - it is more diverse, and Chimera can easily devour the 2/2 it generates.
Awesome. I love your list too, it seems more consistent. I've thought of Young Pyromancer, but I didn't know what to take out in replace for him. I think you're right with Skullcrack...it seems too limited. I'll throw in another Magma Jet and Charm in replace, and think about where I could fit Pyromancer in.
Awesome. I love your list too, it seems more consistent. I've thought of Young Pyromancer, but I didn't know what to take out in replace for him. I think you're right with Skullcrack...it seems too limited. I'll throw in another Magma Jet and Charm in replace, and think about where I could fit Pyromancer in.
I'm not a huge fan of Mizzium Skin and Shock, if you were to replace anything i'd suggest those. I do see how mizzium skin would be useful in keeping your own things alive, however.
So, something that has me terrified is Mistcutter Hydra. I don't see how I can answer it - except stalling with an overloaded cyclonic rift. If its big enough to dodge Mizzium Mortars I don't see how I can survive it - do you have any ideas?
Also, thanks! I've been working hard on it - I've put together an almost-complete version missing only the Purphoroses (Purphorii?) and two magma jets, and it feels good. I'm anxious to try it out.
I'm not a huge fan of Mizzium Skin and Shock, if you were to replace anything i'd suggest those. I do see how mizzium skin would be useful in keeping your own things alive, however.
So, something that has me terrified is Mistcutter Hydra. I don't see how I can answer it - except stalling with an overloaded cyclonic rift. If its big enough to dodge Mizzium Mortars I don't see how I can survive it - do you have any ideas?
Also, thanks! I've been working hard on it - I've put together an almost-complete version missing only the Purphoroses (Purphorii?) and two magma jets, and it feels good. I'm anxious to try it out.
I'm also feeling quite anxious already. I actually am banking on Mizzium Skin keeping the goblins alive, since they seem to be my primary win conditions. Plus, it doubles as a shock on a guttersnipe, and could allow me to block with the +1 toughness. I did remove 2 Shock for 2 more Turn / Burn, considering it's the same spell (with electromancer in play) with a little more reach provided I need it. It also triggers guttersnipe twice, as well as the chimera.
The hydra is seriously tough. I guess the rift is the best bet, but asking for an overload on my side would be difficult since my curve is so low. Maybe double lightning strike? I suppose burn spells may save us late game, provided we have them. In your case, a 1/1 elemental from young pyromancer could chump all day, provided you could get a spell off each turn in the meantime. Or purphoros himself, provided he's a creature.
I'm also feeling quite anxious already. I actually am banking on Mizzium Skin keeping the goblins alive, since they seem to be my primary win conditions. Plus, it doubles as a shock on a guttersnipe, and could allow me to block with the +1 toughness. I did remove 2 Shock for 2 more Turn / Burn, considering it's the same spell with a little more reach provided I need it. It also triggers guttersnipe twice, as well as the chimera.
The hydra is seriously tough. I guess the rift is the best bet, but asking for an overload on my side would be difficult since my curve is so low. Maybe double lightning strike? I suppose burn spells may save us late game, provided we have them. In your case, a 1/1 elemental from young pyromancer could chump all day, provided you could get a spell off each turn in the meantime. Or purphoros himself, provided he's a creature.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Those changes seem pretty solid. Man, if only Purphoros wasn't so expensive... I'm using Nivex Cyclops in his stead right now and it is just not nearly as good.
Those changes seem pretty solid. Man, if only Purphoros wasn't so expensive... I'm using Nivex Cyclops in his stead right now and it is just not nearly as good.
Yes, but the combo with Purphoros and Pyromancer is just so sweet.
I've gotten more advice and have added my own Pyromancers into the build. I've cut Mizzium Skin for more control (Dissolve for scrying and Syncopate, because those will also protect my creatures and do a better job of it), as well as quicken, because I virtually have zero sorcery.
I'll keep editing through and streamlining for weak spots, hopefully filling up the consistency.
I'm tinkering with UR too, though mine's a bit more focused on Chimera and blue tempo and counters. Hydra could be a problem for sure, so I cut creatures for Aetherize. I'm trying out this list with a high instant/sorcery count for Chimera and also so I can play with Epic Experiment. Too bad Faithless Looting rotated, but this list has 9 looting effects and they all do other things as well (Charm, Augury, Experiment). Everybody's all about the Purphoros + tokens plan but it seems weak to so much meta hate to me so I'm going another direction. Also Swan Song is so good, but I fear this deck is the wrong fit so I'll stick with Annul for now but that could be wrong. I'm brand new to Standard so take this with a grain of salt but here's where I'm at so far:
So I'm trying to get back into standard (only been out for a few months) and I would really like to get into UR or URW but from looking at the new land bast I think sticking to two colors is essential.
I'm have been trying to brew something up off of others idea and list and one thing I noticed many of UR builds have in common is Young Pyromance; is it really that good of a card? How effective can the token really be other then chump blockers?
For those who tested Steam Augury do you find it more effective the Jace AoT? Its instant speed!
Any advice would be appriciated.
Also, I know the card got a lot of hate when spoiled but I think you should all give Swan Song a chance, even as just a two of. For those of you who play modern try and compare it to Path to Exile. For one mana its a hard counter. That 2/2 Bird looks splendid when your stopping someones God from hitting the table, or even preventing a Sphinx's Rev.
I'm pretty happy with how it runs. You have to be careful with wild guess because if they counter it you lose the card you discarded and get 2-for-1'd. For any of you who haven't tried Chandra's Phoenix yet, definitely do. It's possibly my favorite card in the deck and a great discard to wild guess or izzet charm
The game plan is to be an izzet tokens deck until turn four or so when you drop purphorose, then you curse to turn everything into pigs for damage or drop a master of waves to pump everything and do damage.
I'm pretty happy with how it runs. You have to be careful with wild guess because if they counter it you lose the card you discarded and get 2-for-1'd. For any of you who haven't tried Chandra's Phoenix yet, definitely do. It's possibly my favorite card in the deck and a great discard to wild guess or izzet charm
Off the top of my head, at least. Do others think Boros Burn could work? Sorry if I'm hijacking your thread, but figured this would be a good place to post it for discussion.
The difficult thing with this deck is figuring out your balance of creatures that buff your instants/sorceries vs the actual spells. I ended up going very low and putting a lot of scry and draw in to keep the deck purring along. It means that if I untap with a pyromancer it's very likely I'm going to be able to mess with you really hard.
I've also put a few high value singletons in the deck because I've found these make steam auguries a lot more threatening. When you're looking at a 5 with opportunity in it, you can build your piles really aggressively and use it to leverage more cards (opportunity/land vs 3 other spells, which do you choose?). I n a similar vein, quickening provides a lot more threats an opponent has to play around psychologically, turning all those mortars, flames, molten births and read the bones into nasty instant tricks.
I really wanted some far/aways in there as well, since otherwise the deck doesn't have much that can deal with the really big beatsticks like desecration demon or obzedat pre-board. There's a lot of 4 damage removal in the set, so I get the feeling people will be aiming for T5 for their high end beaters, and that's hard to deal with with straight counterburn.
The difficult thing with this deck is figuring out your balance of creatures that buff your instants/sorceries vs the actual spells. I ended up going very low and putting a lot of scry and draw in to keep the deck purring along. It means that if I untap with a pyromancer it's very likely I'm going to be able to mess with you really hard.
I've also put a few high value singletons in the deck because I've found these make steam auguries a lot more threatening. When you're looking at a 5 with opportunity in it, you can build your piles really aggressively and use it to leverage more cards (opportunity/land vs 3 other spells, which do you choose?). I n a similar vein, quickening provides a lot more threats an opponent has to play around psychologically, turning all those mortars, flames, molten births and read the bones into nasty instant tricks.
I really wanted some far/aways in there as well, since otherwise the deck doesn't have much that can deal with the really big beatsticks like desecration demon or obzedat pre-board. There's a lot of 4 damage removal in the set, so I get the feeling people will be aiming for T5 for their high end beaters, and that's hard to deal with with straight counterburn.
I really like your approach with the singletons...something I didn't consider. I also agree with beating the bigger dudes. Thanks for your input.
I think you guys are really getting off base with Izzet. There's no need to be splashing any other colors. You will just lose consistency and be slower, and you have all the cards you need in red and blue already. Why would you splash black to far//away big creatures (5+ toughness) that aren't coming out until turn 4 earliest. That's what counter spells are for and they do it better because enter the battlefield effects don't even come into play. And post sideboard, if you're worried about too many big creatures, sub in a few essence scatter over your shocks.
It seems many of you are not putting enough creatures in your builds. If you're playing anything less than 14 creatures, heavy removal match-ups will just remove anything the second it hits the board. I think 14-16 is correct. I'm also noticing people playing a lot of comparatively garbage creatures. Cyclops sucks, especially in creature heavy formats. He gets chumped all day long and you have to burn out your own spells just to pump him for attacking. Are you going to be using your burn to pump him when he's finally open? No, you're not cause you used all your burn to clear their board if you're lucky. So what other spells are you going to dump on him to pump, counterspells? Lol, give me a break, smarten up people. If you really think you're going to clear their entire board of creatures with burn consistently (when they're playing way more creatures than u have burn), to have cyclops swing openly, you are disillusioned and illogically optimistic. Guttersnipe is the same price and just has to sit on your side.
The other thing I'm noticing is that many of you severely and comically undervalue Guttersnipe. He's probably the single most important card in U/R. Your primary goal should be to resolve either a Young Pyro on Turn 4 (with 4 mana) or a guttersnipe turn 5 (with 5 mana) and back them up with a counter. And then ride them to victory. And then you have Stormbreath as last resort.
I like 4 G-Snipe, 4 Young Peezy, 3 Electromancer, 2 Dirty Chimeras, and 3 Stormbreath. Against decks with removal, play Electromancer first. People almost always burn their removal on him. The next creature I would put out for potential sacrifice is Peezy. If they remove him too, ok. Your goal should be getting Guttersnipe or Stormbreath to stick. Also, 4x of Peezy and Snipe means you'll probably being seeing one of them twice in a lot of games. If E-mancer sticks, you'll be in great shape a few turns later. If Pyro sticks, you can ride him pretty close to victory. If they don't that means you opponent shouldn't be packing any more removal in his hand. Chimera is another card that will bait removal as well. I'd play him before Stormbreath to ensure there are no answers for Stormbreath.
I think one of the greatest strength of the deck lies in its ability to really pick apart your opponent post sideboard. If they are going creature heavy, sub in 3 essence scatters, Mizzium mortars on top of the 10 burn spells you should be playing maindeck. Sub in another Chimera or two and take out the electromancers. Just counter and burn all there creatures and wait for them to burn out their hand, then go for the kill. Against control, I would sub out 3 electromancers, a pyromancer or two, sub out some shocks, put in another Chimera or two, and exchange/add in more counterspells. Your main concern against U/W should be having a guaranteed counter for Sphinx's rev and then some. Against W/U you really never have to put more than one of your threats out at a time. They will be forced to d-sphere or surpreme verdict it because each of your creatures can win the game on its own. Never let them get card advantage on you. It's already hard for them because they lost think twice. Leave counters for Jace and Sphinx's (and an extra counter to counter their counter for Sphinx, dispel or counterflux them once) and you should be in good shape. Against spot removal, sub in 3 mizzum skin.
I think you guys are really getting off base with Izzet. There's no need to be splashing any other colors. You will just lose consistency and be slower, and you have all the cards you need in red and blue already. Why would you splash black to far//away big creatures (5+ toughness) that aren't coming out until turn 4 earliest. That's what counter spells are for and they do it better because enter the battlefield effects don't even come into play. And post sideboard, if you're worried about too many big creatures, sub in a few essence scatter over your shocks.
It seems many of you are not putting enough creatures in your builds. If you're playing anything less than 14 creatures, heavy removal match-ups will just remove anything the second it hits the board. I think 14-16 is correct. I'm also noticing people playing a lot of comparatively garbage creatures. Cyclops sucks, especially in creature heavy formats. He gets chumped all day long and you have to burn out your own spells just to pump him for attacking. Are you going to be using your burn to pump him when he's finally open? No, you're not cause you used all your burn to clear their board if you're lucky. So what other spells are you going to dump on him to pump, counterspells? Lol, give me a break, smarten up people. If you really think you're going to clear their entire board of creatures with burn consistently (when they're playing way more creatures than u have burn), to have cyclops swing openly, you are disillusioned and illogically optimistic. Guttersnipe is the same price and just has to sit on your side.
The other thing I'm noticing is that many of you severely and comically undervalue Guttersnipe. He's probably the single most important card in U/R. Your primary goal should be to resolve either a Young Pyro on Turn 4 (with 4 mana) or a guttersnipe turn 5 (with 5 mana) and back them up with a counter. And then ride them to victory. And then you have Stormbreath as last resort.
I like 4 G-Snipe, 4 Young Peezy, 3 Electromancer, 2 Dirty Chimeras, and 3 Stormbreath. Against decks with removal, play Electromancer first. People almost always burn their removal on him. The next creature I would put out for potential sacrifice is Peezy. If they remove him too, ok. Your goal should be getting Guttersnipe or Stormbreath to stick. Also, 4x of Peezy and Snipe means you'll probably being seeing one of them twice in a lot of games. If E-mancer sticks, you'll be in great shape a few turns later. If Pyro sticks, you can ride him pretty close to victory. If they don't that means you opponent shouldn't be packing any more removal in his hand. Chimera is another card that will bait removal as well. I'd play him before Stormbreath to ensure there are no answers for Stormbreath.
I think one of the greatest strength of the deck lies in its ability to really pick apart your opponent post sideboard. If they are going creature heavy, sub in 3 essence scatters, Mizzium mortars on top of the 10 burn spells you should be playing maindeck. Sub in another Chimera or two and take out the electromancers. Just counter and burn all there creatures and wait for them to burn out their hand, then go for the kill. Against control, I would sub out 3 electromancers, a pyromancer or two, sub out some shocks, put in another Chimera or two, and exchange/add in more counterspells. Your main concern against U/W should be having a guaranteed counter for Sphinx's rev and then some. Against W/U you really never have to put more than one of your threats out at a time. They will be forced to d-sphere or surpreme verdict it because each of your creatures can win the game on its own. Never let them get card advantage on you. It's already hard for them because they lost think twice. Leave counters for Jace and Sphinx's (and an extra counter to counter their counter for Sphinx, dispel or counterflux them once) and you should be in good shape. Against spot removal, sub in 3 mizzum skin.
I really value what you're saying here, and I agree with sticking to the base. If anything I think this deck needs to be totally consistent, and it won't be in a three color build. You opened my eyes to a lot of the reality of what I'll expect to play, especially with regards to Cyclops. I was tempted, but it's pretty illogical to keep him around (not that I had him in my build in the first place).
I realize some of this is just you guys wanting to be flavorful but I would at least sideboard judges familiar against control and mirror. It can be a pain to play around and would let you stick them for a few damage in the opening turns.
Currently, I don't think Judge's familiar is high value enough to replace any other creatures with. And you're not taking out instants/sorcery to make space. But it is definitely something to consider. The only thing I would consider is exchange out -3 electromancer for +3 judge. But electromancer just does more for you around turns 3/4/5 and beyond. You get turn 3 steam auguries. You get turn 3 peezys with counter back up (post sideboard), turn 4 snipes with back up (post side) and so on. He's really very subtle at accelerating you ahead by a turn (at least for your game plan). Another important thing is electromancer is decent later in the game, where familiar is just poop.
Currently, Im running the creature package I mentioned in the previous post, 20 spells, and 24 lands. After sideboard though, in a number of match-ups, I'm typically taking out 3-5 creatures and replacing them with very specific spells and 1 or two more chimera (as well as swapping various instants/sor). The plan is to drag the game out a little longer with the fine-tuned game plan and let the chimera do a little more work along with storm breath to close out the game if snipe and pyro dont get it done. The sideboard is so key. There are a lot of very specific counterspells and you need to take advantage of them. I also think Wizards is pushing this strategy a little by giving us very good, narrow counterspells. That way control's not dominating game 1s, but gets a very nice boost game 2 with some clever siding.
Another thing of note is that I really think this deck needs 24 lands. You really want to be hitting your 5th and 6th lands for dumping the 2 and 3 drops with protection. Fortunately, stormbreath takes advantage of a little mana flood with his filthy monstrosity beast mode. Augury and Magma Jet are very helpful here too.
Also, I've been going back and forth between playing a singleton cyclonic rift or not. I wouldn't mind hearing other people's opinions on the rift. The problem I have with it is, Id rather be burning smaller creatures, or countering the bigger ones, instead of just delaying them a turn. But the overload can be nasty late game. Overall, I think it makes the deck less consistent and less focused, which I don't like.
And also, please remember this. If you ever resolve 2 guttersnipes in the first 4 or 5 turns in a game, it is very hard to lose if they can't interact with them (unless you're already wayyy behind). A Lightning strike does 7 damage, shock hits for 6. Toss in a counter and you're at 17 damage and that's probably game. I'm not afraid to take a lot of damage from aggro decks if I have snipes and burn in hand (saving the burn to hit them directly with snipe online). If I can get them both out by turn 4, its probably going to be game turn 5. They swing in turn 5 and bring you down to say 4 life. You Strike, Shock, and counter one of your own spells with Syncopate (for 0) for 17 damage and swing back with the two gutters for game. Scenarios similar to this are not as rare as you may think. You can definitely race aggro decks without burning out there creatures with this deck.
I've tested this deck now quite a bit and have made some changes along the way.
Here is the first version of the build that set the foundation of the deck:
and version 2.0 here:
I have a full description of the gameplan of v1.0 on tappedout:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/the-steam-goblin/
Tell me your thoughts. Thank you!
Here is how the deck plays out against a Mono Green build:
and against Selesnya aggro:
Find the rest of my gameplay videos on my YouTube channel as well as some sideboard tech for specific match-ups!
8 Island
2 Mutavault
4 Steam Vents
9 Mountain
Instants
3 Mizzium Skin
3 Quicken
4 Izzet Charm
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
4 Steam Augury
4 Turn / Burn
3 Guttersnipe
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Spellheart Chimera
2 Swan Song
2 Gainsay
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Essence Scatter
2 Syncopate
2 Smelt
1 Guttersnipe
4 Goblin Electromancer
4 Guttersnipe
3 Purphoros, God of the Forge
2 Spellheart Chimera
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Essence Scatter
4 Izzet Charm
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Turn // Burn
9 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
2 Blustersquall
3 Cyclonic Rift
3 Dissolve
2 Essence Scatter
3 Izzet Staticaster
2 Ral Zarek
As it is, I don't know if Quicken and Skullcrack are necessary here. Maybe the meta will change, but skull crack doesn't seem to be a main deck card atm, and i think you would be better off running more burn spells or more izzet charms.
Also, since you run Spellheart Chimera, I wonder if Swan Song may be a better alternative to annul - it is more diverse, and Chimera can easily devour the 2/2 it generates.
Standard:
GBW Siege Rhino Midrange
Commander
Playing:
UGB Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Working On:
B Mirri, The Cursed
UG Vorel Of The Hull Clade
Awesome. I love your list too, it seems more consistent. I've thought of Young Pyromancer, but I didn't know what to take out in replace for him. I think you're right with Skullcrack...it seems too limited. I'll throw in another Magma Jet and Charm in replace, and think about where I could fit Pyromancer in.
I'm not a huge fan of Mizzium Skin and Shock, if you were to replace anything i'd suggest those. I do see how mizzium skin would be useful in keeping your own things alive, however.
So, something that has me terrified is Mistcutter Hydra. I don't see how I can answer it - except stalling with an overloaded cyclonic rift. If its big enough to dodge Mizzium Mortars I don't see how I can survive it - do you have any ideas?
Also, thanks! I've been working hard on it - I've put together an almost-complete version missing only the Purphoroses (Purphorii?) and two magma jets, and it feels good. I'm anxious to try it out.
Standard:
GBW Siege Rhino Midrange
Commander
Playing:
UGB Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Working On:
B Mirri, The Cursed
UG Vorel Of The Hull Clade
I'm also feeling quite anxious already. I actually am banking on Mizzium Skin keeping the goblins alive, since they seem to be my primary win conditions. Plus, it doubles as a shock on a guttersnipe, and could allow me to block with the +1 toughness. I did remove 2 Shock for 2 more Turn / Burn, considering it's the same spell (with electromancer in play) with a little more reach provided I need it. It also triggers guttersnipe twice, as well as the chimera.
The hydra is seriously tough. I guess the rift is the best bet, but asking for an overload on my side would be difficult since my curve is so low. Maybe double lightning strike? I suppose burn spells may save us late game, provided we have them. In your case, a 1/1 elemental from young pyromancer could chump all day, provided you could get a spell off each turn in the meantime. Or purphoros himself, provided he's a creature.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Those changes seem pretty solid. Man, if only Purphoros wasn't so expensive... I'm using Nivex Cyclops in his stead right now and it is just not nearly as good.
Standard:
GBW Siege Rhino Midrange
Commander
Playing:
UGB Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Working On:
B Mirri, The Cursed
UG Vorel Of The Hull Clade
Yes, but the combo with Purphoros and Pyromancer is just so sweet.
I've gotten more advice and have added my own Pyromancers into the build. I've cut Mizzium Skin for more control (Dissolve for scrying and Syncopate, because those will also protect my creatures and do a better job of it), as well as quicken, because I virtually have zero sorcery.
I'll keep editing through and streamlining for weak spots, hopefully filling up the consistency.
2 Guttersnipe
4 Izzet Charm
3 Steam Augury
2 Essence Scatter
3 Pillar of Flame
2 Epic Experiment
3 Anger of the Gods
4 Magma Jet
3 Lightning Strike
2 Dissolve
1 Curse of the Swine
2 Aetherize
1 Turn // Burn
1 Cyclonic Rift
7 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Temple of Mystery
3 Izzet Guildgate
2 Essence Scatter
3 Electrickery
3 Annul
2 Aetherize
2 Essence Backlash
2 Negate
1 Anger of the Gods
Thoughts?
Edit: Also thought about splashing green for Horizon Chimera (Or Mistcutter Hydra for the mirror...)
Chandra, Pyromaster is pretty awesome in the deck not gonna lie.
Ral Zarek is so-so.
We use Jace, Memory Adept as well, the mill option is a secondary win condition as well.
The deck needs work no doubt but we are hoping the deck is strong enough to stand on its own.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
1x Cyclonic Rift
3x Dissolve
1x Essence Scatter
3x Izzet Charm
3x Lightning Strike
4x Magma Jet
2x Steam Augury
2x Syncopate
1x Turn / Burn
2x Mizzium Mortars
Creature (13)
3x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Young Pyromancer
4x Spellheart Chimera
2x Stormbreath Dragon
Land (23)
7x Island
4x Izzet Guildgate
8x Mountain
4x Steam Vents
2x Jace, Architect of Thought
3x Anger of the Gods
2x Dispel
4x Flames of the Firebrand
1x Mizzium Mortars
3x Peak Eruption
2x Turn / Burn
U/R post rotation izzet
I really love izzet and I need to test more but I like the idea of walking into fnm with this.
Any/all comments are welcome.
I'm have been trying to brew something up off of others idea and list and one thing I noticed many of UR builds have in common is Young Pyromance; is it really that good of a card? How effective can the token really be other then chump blockers?
For those who tested Steam Augury do you find it more effective the Jace AoT? Its instant speed!
Any advice would be appriciated.
Also, I know the card got a lot of hate when spoiled but I think you should all give Swan Song a chance, even as just a two of. For those of you who play modern try and compare it to Path to Exile. For one mana its a hard counter. That 2/2 Bird looks splendid when your stopping someones God from hitting the table, or even preventing a Sphinx's Rev.
4x Shock
3x Izzet Charm
4x Lightning Strike
4x Magma Jet
4x Steam Augury
4x Turn / Burn
2x Wild Guess
Creature (12)
4x Young Pyromancer
4x Chandra's Phoenix
4x Guttersnipe
Land (23)
4x Island
3x Izzet Guildgate
9x Mountain
4x Steam Vents
3x Mutavault
I'm pretty happy with how it runs. You have to be careful with wild guess because if they counter it you lose the card you discarded and get 2-for-1'd. For any of you who haven't tried Chandra's Phoenix yet, definitely do. It's possibly my favorite card in the deck and a great discard to wild guess or izzet charm
The game plan is to be an izzet tokens deck until turn four or so when you drop purphorose, then you curse to turn everything into pigs for damage or drop a master of waves to pump everything and do damage.
I'm looking at these cards as probable includes.
1x young pyromancer
1x mindsparker
1x master of waves
1x molten birth
1x turn//burn
1x izzet charm
1x magma jet
1x shock
1x curse of swine
1x purphoros
1x dragonshift
1x guttersnipe
1x dynacharge
1x weaponsurge
1x cyclonic rift
Your post was very useful; lots of neat ideas.
...so you'll probably be drawing it.
4 Frostburn Wierd
4 Nivix Cyclops
4 Stormbreath Dragon
Spells 24
4 Anger of the Gods
4 Steam Augury
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
4 Aetherize
4 Swan Song
4 Izzet Guildgate
4 Steam Vents
10 Mountain
5 Island
1 Mutavault
4 Spellheart Chimera
4 Syncopate
4 Dissolve
1 Island
2 Curse of the Swine
4 Shock
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
4 Boros Charm
4 Warleader's Helix
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Pheonix
etc.
Off the top of my head, at least. Do others think Boros Burn could work? Sorry if I'm hijacking your thread, but figured this would be a good place to post it for discussion.
4 young pyromancer
3 purphoros, god of the forge
2 guttersnipe
1 chandra's phoenix
Spells
4 magma jet
4 molten birth
3 izzet charm
3 steam augury
3 far // away
2 flames of the firebrand
2 quickening
2 read the bones
1 opportunity
1 Ral Zarek
Lands
4 temple of deceit
4 izzet guildgate
4 rakdos guildgate
4 island
8 mountain
3 gainsay
3 essence scatter
3 peak eruption
2 wild ricochet
2 aetherise
1 opportunity
1 ral zarek
So my super secret tech (hur) for this lot is quickening and molten birth, which together I really think make the young pyromancer / purphoros, god of the forge shell sing.
The difficult thing with this deck is figuring out your balance of creatures that buff your instants/sorceries vs the actual spells. I ended up going very low and putting a lot of scry and draw in to keep the deck purring along. It means that if I untap with a pyromancer it's very likely I'm going to be able to mess with you really hard.
I've also put a few high value singletons in the deck because I've found these make steam auguries a lot more threatening. When you're looking at a 5 with opportunity in it, you can build your piles really aggressively and use it to leverage more cards (opportunity/land vs 3 other spells, which do you choose?). I n a similar vein, quickening provides a lot more threats an opponent has to play around psychologically, turning all those mortars, flames, molten births and read the bones into nasty instant tricks.
I really wanted some far/aways in there as well, since otherwise the deck doesn't have much that can deal with the really big beatsticks like desecration demon or obzedat pre-board. There's a lot of 4 damage removal in the set, so I get the feeling people will be aiming for T5 for their high end beaters, and that's hard to deal with with straight counterburn.
I really like your approach with the singletons...something I didn't consider. I also agree with beating the bigger dudes. Thanks for your input.
It seems many of you are not putting enough creatures in your builds. If you're playing anything less than 14 creatures, heavy removal match-ups will just remove anything the second it hits the board. I think 14-16 is correct. I'm also noticing people playing a lot of comparatively garbage creatures. Cyclops sucks, especially in creature heavy formats. He gets chumped all day long and you have to burn out your own spells just to pump him for attacking. Are you going to be using your burn to pump him when he's finally open? No, you're not cause you used all your burn to clear their board if you're lucky. So what other spells are you going to dump on him to pump, counterspells? Lol, give me a break, smarten up people. If you really think you're going to clear their entire board of creatures with burn consistently (when they're playing way more creatures than u have burn), to have cyclops swing openly, you are disillusioned and illogically optimistic. Guttersnipe is the same price and just has to sit on your side.
The other thing I'm noticing is that many of you severely and comically undervalue Guttersnipe. He's probably the single most important card in U/R. Your primary goal should be to resolve either a Young Pyro on Turn 4 (with 4 mana) or a guttersnipe turn 5 (with 5 mana) and back them up with a counter. And then ride them to victory. And then you have Stormbreath as last resort.
I like 4 G-Snipe, 4 Young Peezy, 3 Electromancer, 2 Dirty Chimeras, and 3 Stormbreath. Against decks with removal, play Electromancer first. People almost always burn their removal on him. The next creature I would put out for potential sacrifice is Peezy. If they remove him too, ok. Your goal should be getting Guttersnipe or Stormbreath to stick. Also, 4x of Peezy and Snipe means you'll probably being seeing one of them twice in a lot of games. If E-mancer sticks, you'll be in great shape a few turns later. If Pyro sticks, you can ride him pretty close to victory. If they don't that means you opponent shouldn't be packing any more removal in his hand. Chimera is another card that will bait removal as well. I'd play him before Stormbreath to ensure there are no answers for Stormbreath.
I think one of the greatest strength of the deck lies in its ability to really pick apart your opponent post sideboard. If they are going creature heavy, sub in 3 essence scatters, Mizzium mortars on top of the 10 burn spells you should be playing maindeck. Sub in another Chimera or two and take out the electromancers. Just counter and burn all there creatures and wait for them to burn out their hand, then go for the kill. Against control, I would sub out 3 electromancers, a pyromancer or two, sub out some shocks, put in another Chimera or two, and exchange/add in more counterspells. Your main concern against U/W should be having a guaranteed counter for Sphinx's rev and then some. Against W/U you really never have to put more than one of your threats out at a time. They will be forced to d-sphere or surpreme verdict it because each of your creatures can win the game on its own. Never let them get card advantage on you. It's already hard for them because they lost think twice. Leave counters for Jace and Sphinx's (and an extra counter to counter their counter for Sphinx, dispel or counterflux them once) and you should be in good shape. Against spot removal, sub in 3 mizzum skin.
I really value what you're saying here, and I agree with sticking to the base. If anything I think this deck needs to be totally consistent, and it won't be in a three color build. You opened my eyes to a lot of the reality of what I'll expect to play, especially with regards to Cyclops. I was tempted, but it's pretty illogical to keep him around (not that I had him in my build in the first place).
Thanks for the input. I appreciate it!
Currently, I don't think Judge's familiar is high value enough to replace any other creatures with. And you're not taking out instants/sorcery to make space. But it is definitely something to consider. The only thing I would consider is exchange out -3 electromancer for +3 judge. But electromancer just does more for you around turns 3/4/5 and beyond. You get turn 3 steam auguries. You get turn 3 peezys with counter back up (post sideboard), turn 4 snipes with back up (post side) and so on. He's really very subtle at accelerating you ahead by a turn (at least for your game plan). Another important thing is electromancer is decent later in the game, where familiar is just poop.
Currently, Im running the creature package I mentioned in the previous post, 20 spells, and 24 lands. After sideboard though, in a number of match-ups, I'm typically taking out 3-5 creatures and replacing them with very specific spells and 1 or two more chimera (as well as swapping various instants/sor). The plan is to drag the game out a little longer with the fine-tuned game plan and let the chimera do a little more work along with storm breath to close out the game if snipe and pyro dont get it done. The sideboard is so key. There are a lot of very specific counterspells and you need to take advantage of them. I also think Wizards is pushing this strategy a little by giving us very good, narrow counterspells. That way control's not dominating game 1s, but gets a very nice boost game 2 with some clever siding.
Another thing of note is that I really think this deck needs 24 lands. You really want to be hitting your 5th and 6th lands for dumping the 2 and 3 drops with protection. Fortunately, stormbreath takes advantage of a little mana flood with his filthy monstrosity beast mode. Augury and Magma Jet are very helpful here too.
Also, I've been going back and forth between playing a singleton cyclonic rift or not. I wouldn't mind hearing other people's opinions on the rift. The problem I have with it is, Id rather be burning smaller creatures, or countering the bigger ones, instead of just delaying them a turn. But the overload can be nasty late game. Overall, I think it makes the deck less consistent and less focused, which I don't like.
And also, please remember this. If you ever resolve 2 guttersnipes in the first 4 or 5 turns in a game, it is very hard to lose if they can't interact with them (unless you're already wayyy behind). A Lightning strike does 7 damage, shock hits for 6. Toss in a counter and you're at 17 damage and that's probably game. I'm not afraid to take a lot of damage from aggro decks if I have snipes and burn in hand (saving the burn to hit them directly with snipe online). If I can get them both out by turn 4, its probably going to be game turn 5. They swing in turn 5 and bring you down to say 4 life. You Strike, Shock, and counter one of your own spells with Syncopate (for 0) for 17 damage and swing back with the two gutters for game. Scenarios similar to this are not as rare as you may think. You can definitely race aggro decks without burning out there creatures with this deck.