I think I've finally decided that while the hidden strings, hands of binding, nivmagus elemental thing is awesome to see go off and it's enjoyable to see people faces when it happens, it's just not consistent enough to make it off the kitchen table. I'm going to take your guys' advice and try out the Weird in it's place.
I really like the Weapon Surge addition, which led me to another thought...has anyone tried out Goblin Diplomats in the deck? I feel like as maybe a 2-of, the control you get by screwing up combat and potentially forcing your opponent to attack into weapon surged elemental tokens might be worth considering? I'm also starting to think Aetherize might become playable as well with so many aggressive decks? It is 4 mana though and I really like the deck having such a low mana curve. Thoughts?
At least from my perspective / playthrough, I want to have as little of their creatures stay on the table as possible. I definitely don't want them attacking, and would rather counter, or spot removal, or chump with tokens than to actually force anyone to attack. My games get harder if they resolve 3+ creatures, so those spells would probably end up being dead in my hand.
I am only running 11 creatures, though. So there's that.
I really don't like Chandra's Phoenix. Especially since you only have 14 red burns, which you may want to save for spot removal rather than direct damage. It's only a 2/2 body, and it requires you to burn to active if it's put in the yard from Steam Augury. I think it's slow and Spellheart Chimera does better work without requiring extra things.
What about peak eruption in the side? It seems like a solid tempo card against decks running red, especially midrange/control.
A christmasland curve of:
Judges familiar
Young Pyromancer
Peak eruption
Seems backbreaking against anything other than Sligh/AIR R/x aggro. It could potentially lock greedy 3-color manabases out of a color entirely.
It triggers phoenix, which gives it some utility later in the game.
Another sideboard card: Hammer of Purphoros. Keeping one of these in the sideboard seems like a good idea despite the lack of instant/sorcery synergy. I know the RDW thread has been having VERY good results with this card vs. control. (Losing it to augury is pretty likely though)
The problem I've found with Goblin Electromancer is that in order for him to be useful you...
-Have to have a red and a blue source turn 2.
-Have to have instants and sorceries in your hand.
-Have to make sure those instants and sorceries can be reduced (Izzet Charm is one of our best cards and Goblin doesn't help it)
-Have to make sure he stays alive.
I'm not a fan.
To you and all the other people posting negative sentiments about Goblin Electromancer, I feel you are not using him in the best way possible and that is why you might feel he is bad. If you are preferring to hold open countermagic, this means your intent here is to play control. If you're trying to play control, thats fine, though I'm not sure if I'd call the deck a burn deck anymore (and I might argue things about competitive nature but that may not be what you're interested in.)
Goblin Electromancer is a pretty powerful card, but he plays like Lotus Cobra or any other mana producer; you play him mostly so you can play bigger and better things. You don't care about your opponents two drops because ideally whatever you're accelerating yourself to is much better. If you want to control then you're probably right that he isn't what you want, but I feel people are giving him a bad name only because they aren't using him to his full potential.
Well, I've used Electromancer. He's not bad, but Frostburn Weird has easily been my other two drop of choice. I've found the I really don't need the acceleration that E-mancer provides with how I've been playing this deck.
Guttersnipe has been my most consistent finisher in this deck. Quite often, I stock pile Gutter and burn in my hand until I have about 7 lands out. Then I play gutter and pass the turn. Once he's resolved there's nothing they can do to stop his trigger. They've usually burned out their removal by then, but if not then I have a counter or mizzium skin. End of their turn I usually hit them 9 direct damage. Then on my turn, I can deal another 4 which usually wins me the game. So, I'm not sure how other people are playing Guttersnipe, but I've been pounding people with him. This is all against control decks btw.
Against aggro, I get him out as early as possible and just race them.
Also, I love stalling a Desecration Demon every turn at the attack step by playing a spell with Pyro in play
so I went 4-0 tonight with my build, which is very close to being set in its final form.
I played a janky god deck, a Boros midrange / tempo deck, a Dimir mill deck & a dimir control.
I lost every round 1 game except in the finals match. Shock is definitely my worst card and was sideboarded out between games 1 and 2. Essentially, my sideboard is constructed to favor more counterspells in replace of shock, be it against aggro / creature builds with 4x Essence Scatter or control match-ups with 3x Negate and 2x Swan Song .
Therefore I'm not sure if Shock stays in mainboard. I think it's fine as a card that will fluctuate after sideboarding because it keeps aggro at bay and does some work against control. I'd rather have more options than, maybe, mainboarding Essence Scatter, which could end up being a total dead card.
Steam Augury is an absolute beast. I think we need to stop comparing it to FoF, because that's where it starts getting underestimated. Granted, it's a very specific card (I don't think it's as good in an American control deck because we're not gaining value from the cards dumped in the graveyard), but in my tempo deck with Spellheart Chimera it does everything we want it to do.
I don't even think I'll need to put in 2x Opportunity. The card is just too slow, and chances are we won't need it after an Augury or a cycled Izzet Charm. Honestly, everyone that played against me tonight said how fast my build was, which was surprising to me.
Now here's the best part:
Lands were hardly an issue. My mana base is pretty solid where it stands, which is comforting. I kept a one-land hand after mulling to 6 in game 3 of the last match and still won. I mulled to 4 in game 3 of my 3rd match (against Dimir mill) and still won. I only completely wiffed with Steam Augury one time, which drew into 5 land. Otherwise, we saw mostly what we needed.
I was mana-screwed a lot, and one game I lost due to mana flood. But otherwise, this deck works wonders with 3-4 mana, and even when it's stuck at 2 mana by turn 4 or 5. Low-costing counterspells are amazing. End of turn Steam Augury is so satisfying once it goes off.
I'm telling you, this deck is seriously fun. And it's a serious threat to consider. It's so flexible against all match-ups. I have yet to test against UW control (Supreme Verdict may be the deck's worst enemy), but otherwise I'm feeling very very solid about my build.
Nothing like taking first then telling everyone that you didn't netdeck. Good Magic feels.
Anyway, long update again. Tommorow I'll be posting a video analyzing each card in the build and opening up / analyzing my prize packs. Stay tuned!
It's more of a temp deck I suppose; you want to control the board early with removal then them resolve and protect a threat. Augury / Thoughtflare plus Phoenix is a nice interaction.
Soft to Loxodon Smiter but it doesn't seem to be seeing much play.
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I made a thread about a variation to this deck with Hidden Strings and Hands of Binding and it worked out pretty well tonight at my local Win-a-Box tourney which if pretty competitive. I went 2-2 though some of my losses were due to my own bad plays having only really played the deck for a few days. Here is my current list:
I'm considering trying to add black for Thoughtseize to take out early creatures or removal and possibly adding Read the Bones? Also having access to Doom Blade, Dreadbore, and Rakdos' Return might not be bad, but I guess now I'm running the risk of losing some of the focus?
Nivmagus Elemental also warrants mention as that has single handedly won me games time and time again...It's interaction with Cypher copies is sick and it quickly gets out of hand, plus as an added bonus the copies are still "cast" before being exiled to the Elemental so you still trigger Pyro and Gutter.
Ran with this build (with a few changes) last night. went 2-3, but each of my 3 losses were 1-2. Played a U/W control deck and wrecked face with it game one. Game two was a G/W midrange deck. Lost game one, but with sideboard went on to win games matches 2 and 3. Game 3 was against Rackdos weenie aggro. won game 1. Games 2 and 3 she got me, but each game was so close. Felt pretty good about that cause she came in first last week and yesterday. Game 4 was boros midrange. These games were a laughing matter. Lost horribly, but did not really have much a chance to test against it because got completely mana screwed both games. That is one thing I want to work on. Found it hard to get that red mana sometimes. Game 5 was RDW. Won game 1. Lost game two (again was a close one) and lost game two due to a horrible misplay that did end up costing me the game. The misplay was quick embarrassing. Here is the list I ran:
What I have found is that Izzet Charm is sooooo versatile in this deck. The gods never became creatures, but their abilities were back breaking. Thassa, God of the Sea helped filter and push in damage when I could not draw into an Aqueous Form. Purphoros, God of the Forge helped me get there in the rackdos weenie aggro matchup in the late game. If I had to cut one of them though it would have to be Purphoros, God of the Forge. He was good, but the Scry 1 and ability to make creatures unblockable to get some ciphers triggered is crazy good. Might would consider cutting Puphoros, God of the Forge for a second Thassa, God of the Sea Just wish there was enough blue permanents in the deck to make her go creature. Cipher is a real thing. even a ciphered Guttersnipe is a threat. One game was only Gutternsnipe on the field for me. Hands of Binding, tap an opponent's creature, they take 2 damage. Play the second 2 Hands of Binding, repeat the process. They now have taken 4 damage total, swing for 2. Cipher triggers. They just took 10 damage that turn and you won't have to worry about creatures coming at you because you essentially Hands of Bindinged 4 creatures...if they had that many of the field. Often times Nivmagus Elemental became a threat on turn 2. Already putting him out of burn range albeit Mizzium Mortars. He is the main one you want to be putting these ciphers and Aqueous Form on. Because he is the one that can be a 5/6 on turn 3.
Sideboard is what I felt could be better here is what I have done with that.
Where I really hurt last night was against the weenie aggro decks. They would often overpower me real quick. The addition of Frostburn Weird and Anger of the Gods should slow them down and bring myself a chance to catch up.
I say don't give up yet. This deck was lots of fun, explosive, just needs some more fine tuning. People at the card shop Game Theory were impressed and said that there is quite the deck idea going on here.
Glad to see this deck is gaining steam! I like the sideboard tech, but I also added Flames of the Firebrand and Skullcrack due to my LGS having a few Selenya decks and weenies.
I haven't gotten any Steam Augury yet so I've been using Inspiration until I do, though I've been trying 3 of those and 2 Uncovered Clues and I'm really starting to like that card and it might be worth considering in the final build. In testing, Auguring into a Clues makes sorting piles even more fun. I've also been running Dispel in place of Shock to protect creatures from most removal in the meta and I feel the burn suite is strong enough without the shocks. Also of note, NOone plays around Dispel the first game. Casting Pyro or Gutter a turn later with a steam vents untapped for a dispel and they assume it's for a shock is fun
I am however thinking of putting shock back in, in place of maybe a Magma Jet, Lightning Strike, and something else. I'm becoming more a fan of using 4 3-ofs instead of 3 4-ofs when it comes to similar function cards unless I really want specific cards. I'll be playing my new build tomorrow at the win-a-box and hopefully win me some Theros goodies! Results to follow.
I also think that Skullcrack could be decent in the side. Most control decks seem to be running between 6-8 walkers, and replacing your Lightning Strike With Skullcrack seems like a good idea. You don't want Sphinx's Revelation to put them out of burn range, although countering it would be even better.
Our curve is pretty atrocious when it comes to a turn 1 play. Apart from Judge's Familiar I think our options are either Shock vs. aggro or Quicken vs. anything else.
I think Mutavault should be a 2-of in any list. Possibly more. Our manabase can support it, so we should run it.
Since verdict is uncounterable, and wipes out all our tokens I was considering a splash card: Boros Charm
Pros: Protects against removal (all our creatures want this). Gives us a lot of reach/burns out opposing walkers. Can win on the spot by giving double-strike to a 6-7 power chimera.
Cons: requires splashing white. I like a consistent manabase, so this is an issue for me. If we aren't running any turn 1 plays I wouldn't mind playing both guildgates and scrylands though.
Mordekaiser gets Magic jokes?! Now I've seen everything haha.
I've recently considered trying to splash white as well because we have no defense to Verdict. White also allows for Azorius Charm which would not be terrible. I'm reserved against 3 colors though...I ran a splash of black for Thoughtseize and Read the Bones, but the life loss was no small deal and often cost games.
The lifelink mode on the charm could be great as well since it could give the deck more longevity vs aggro decks.
Funny,lately I've been thinking about the white splash for boros charm and azorious charm, I logon here to find everyone else discussing the same thing. Another card white gives you access to is glare of heresy. Every mode on both charms is extremely relevant and would do a great deal to improve this deck. Is the mana doable though?
that's the thing: I want consistency over anything else. The way the deck performed when I played on Friday showed me that it was super consistent, which is crucial due to its speed.
I'm considering 2x Mutavault, but even that may slow it down / limit my countermagic / burns. I'll test and see how it does.
For me, I'd rather stay consistent than get greedy splashing white.
Mutavault is definitely a consideration if you are sticking with U/R. If your playing dynacharge in your list that mutavault could really help you push through that last bit of damage.
This deck can definitely slow-roll its threats, as they are all quality creatures. We have very fem of them though, so protecting them is important.
I feel Boros Charm offers a few useful possibilities.
Verdict is big, if you blank their verdict with pyromancer and a few tokens down you'll win the game. If you just play another threat post-verdict...the match could go either way. While it doesn't see much play atm, this card also protects against abrupt decay. It's something we can't otherwise stop without bouncing our own creatures.
Double strike: double strike on a spellheart chimera with a high power could end games. Quickly.
I think Azorious Charm is no good though. The bounce mode kinda helps us race, but its really not worth a white splash.
All in all...I think we should NOT splash white and just run Mutavaults instead. All the Mutavaults.
We're running at most, what, 12 creatures? Having another option to blank their removal is extremely relevant. A double striking Chimera is silly. And lets not forget the six damage to the dome possibility with Guttersnipe.
Honestly, I've started to move away from Pyromancer and Guttersnipe. Trying to protect them over and over again really gets old, and aggro out races them, and control wipes them often. I think moving from tempo to control is probably a good idea.. You get aetherling, Stormbreath, and niv as finishers.
Ultimately, in regards to splashing white for Boros Charm, I think you're going to lose more games from mana screw and losing tempo/life (tapped lands or shock lands) than you will win from a single card. I think Verdicts are just something you have to work around.
Control hasn't been that hard of a match up for me anyways. The match ups that are killing me are G/(W or R). It's hard dealing with Archangel of Thune, Smiters, Voice, Obzedat, Blood Baron and other big beaters/value creatures without getting 2-4-1'ed. You can't rely just on counters to keep them off the board. I'm now running 2 Turn//Burn in the main and 2 in the side. At least u can hit things for 2 with the Burn half, so it's never a dead card. And you can get nice 2-4-1's off it.
I think I'll add 2 mutavaults to my maindeck, although it concerns me a little, because i do get mana color screwed on occasion (especially with dissolve).
Honestly, I've started to move away from Pyromancer and Guttersnipe. Trying to protect them over and over again really gets old, and aggro out races them, and control wipes them often. I think moving from tempo to control is probably a good idea.. You get aetherling, Stormbreath, and niv as finishers.
I'd rather protect a 2 and 3 mana dork than suffer a spot removal on the big dragon. besides, it's only swinging for 4, and our spellheart can definitely beat that.
Also, the way I'm playing, I'm totally fine with letting Pyromancer get baited out. He does less than Guttersnipe for me, since he will just keep us in the game longer rather than present a win condition. So if he dies, then that's fine. The priority is protecting Guttersnipe.
Control does wipe them, and I think that this deck is worst against U/W control.
Honestly, I've started to move away from Pyromancer and Guttersnipe. Trying to protect them over and over again really gets old, and aggro out races them, and control wipes them often. I think moving from tempo to control is probably a good idea.. You get aetherling, Stormbreath, and niv as finishers.
Yea, I've thought about this too. I just have too much fun getting value and playing tempo. If I were to move to a control shell, I would surely splash white for sphinx's rev (x3 sphinx's, x3 augury, x2 jace).
I went 3-2 at FNM, losing to G/W archangel of thune and then to a mono-red hyper aggressive deck. I won a round in each of my losing matches. And I would've beat RDW next turn if they didn't resolve a Fanatic of Mogis. Also, the G/W match was really close too. I beat U/W/r control. I also beat a mono-white deck and B/W deck (both were not top tier decks, but still competitive). I'll probably post my current build sometime this week. I think U/R definitely has everything you need.
I think hyper aggros match-ups aren't all that bad and are at the worst a 50/50. You just have to trade burn for their creatures in the early game, and try and stabalize mid-game. And be weary of Mogis and Reckoner (ughh). Reckoner is a major hassle, Turn//Burn I think is our only clean solution. I'll be boarding out all 6 counters, and boarding in 2 essence scatter, 2 mizzium mortars, and 2 more turn//burn from here on out for that match up.
Has any one else had big problems against Selesnya, and big green beaters in general?
EDIT: I just realized, Rapid Hybridization could be a very useful sideboard card against all the aforementioned creatures...
EDIT2: Wow, just completely remembered Curse of the Swine! I'm gonna pack 2 in the side! That'll clean up those pesky G/W value creatures...
Magic Man Sam, you did a good job with that video. It helped me out, thanks.
After playing this some more I definitely think Opportunity is a no go. Curving out at 4 (5 tops with a fused turn//burn) is what makes this deck good. I'm going to give Izzet Charm another try instead.
Aetherling is great against control, but comes online too late against just about everything else. He's been pushed to the side.
Any suggestions on what could be taken out for lightning strike? The lack of 3 toughness removal is hurting.
How does everyone feel about Counterflux? UUR can be problematic, but uncounterable is good vs. control.
Has anyone looked at Wild Ricochet? It can do some cute things redirecting burn and abrupt decay, works as a clunky counter in a pinch, and can copy a sphinx's rev. I only have a singleton so I haven't been able to test this card yet.
At least from my perspective / playthrough, I want to have as little of their creatures stay on the table as possible. I definitely don't want them attacking, and would rather counter, or spot removal, or chump with tokens than to actually force anyone to attack. My games get harder if they resolve 3+ creatures, so those spells would probably end up being dead in my hand.
I am only running 11 creatures, though. So there's that.
I really don't like Chandra's Phoenix. Especially since you only have 14 red burns, which you may want to save for spot removal rather than direct damage. It's only a 2/2 body, and it requires you to burn to active if it's put in the yard from Steam Augury. I think it's slow and Spellheart Chimera does better work without requiring extra things.
A christmasland curve of:
Judges familiar
Young Pyromancer
Peak eruption
Seems backbreaking against anything other than Sligh/AIR R/x aggro. It could potentially lock greedy 3-color manabases out of a color entirely.
It triggers phoenix, which gives it some utility later in the game.
Another sideboard card: Hammer of Purphoros. Keeping one of these in the sideboard seems like a good idea despite the lack of instant/sorcery synergy. I know the RDW thread has been having VERY good results with this card vs. control. (Losing it to augury is pretty likely though)
To you and all the other people posting negative sentiments about Goblin Electromancer, I feel you are not using him in the best way possible and that is why you might feel he is bad. If you are preferring to hold open countermagic, this means your intent here is to play control. If you're trying to play control, thats fine, though I'm not sure if I'd call the deck a burn deck anymore (and I might argue things about competitive nature but that may not be what you're interested in.)
Goblin Electromancer is a pretty powerful card, but he plays like Lotus Cobra or any other mana producer; you play him mostly so you can play bigger and better things. You don't care about your opponents two drops because ideally whatever you're accelerating yourself to is much better. If you want to control then you're probably right that he isn't what you want, but I feel people are giving him a bad name only because they aren't using him to his full potential.
Guttersnipe has been my most consistent finisher in this deck. Quite often, I stock pile Gutter and burn in my hand until I have about 7 lands out. Then I play gutter and pass the turn. Once he's resolved there's nothing they can do to stop his trigger. They've usually burned out their removal by then, but if not then I have a counter or mizzium skin. End of their turn I usually hit them 9 direct damage. Then on my turn, I can deal another 4 which usually wins me the game. So, I'm not sure how other people are playing Guttersnipe, but I've been pounding people with him. This is all against control decks btw.
Against aggro, I get him out as early as possible and just race them.
Also, I love stalling a Desecration Demon every turn at the attack step by playing a spell with Pyro in play
I played a janky god deck, a Boros midrange / tempo deck, a Dimir mill deck & a dimir control.
I lost every round 1 game except in the finals match. Shock is definitely my worst card and was sideboarded out between games 1 and 2. Essentially, my sideboard is constructed to favor more counterspells in replace of shock, be it against aggro / creature builds with 4x Essence Scatter or control match-ups with 3x Negate and 2x Swan Song .
Therefore I'm not sure if Shock stays in mainboard. I think it's fine as a card that will fluctuate after sideboarding because it keeps aggro at bay and does some work against control. I'd rather have more options than, maybe, mainboarding Essence Scatter, which could end up being a total dead card.
Steam Augury is an absolute beast. I think we need to stop comparing it to FoF, because that's where it starts getting underestimated. Granted, it's a very specific card (I don't think it's as good in an American control deck because we're not gaining value from the cards dumped in the graveyard), but in my tempo deck with Spellheart Chimera it does everything we want it to do.
I don't even think I'll need to put in 2x Opportunity. The card is just too slow, and chances are we won't need it after an Augury or a cycled Izzet Charm. Honestly, everyone that played against me tonight said how fast my build was, which was surprising to me.
Now here's the best part:
Lands were hardly an issue. My mana base is pretty solid where it stands, which is comforting. I kept a one-land hand after mulling to 6 in game 3 of the last match and still won. I mulled to 4 in game 3 of my 3rd match (against Dimir mill) and still won. I only completely wiffed with Steam Augury one time, which drew into 5 land. Otherwise, we saw mostly what we needed.
I was mana-screwed a lot, and one game I lost due to mana flood. But otherwise, this deck works wonders with 3-4 mana, and even when it's stuck at 2 mana by turn 4 or 5. Low-costing counterspells are amazing. End of turn Steam Augury is so satisfying once it goes off.
I'm telling you, this deck is seriously fun. And it's a serious threat to consider. It's so flexible against all match-ups. I have yet to test against UW control (Supreme Verdict may be the deck's worst enemy), but otherwise I'm feeling very very solid about my build.
Nothing like taking first then telling everyone that you didn't netdeck. Good Magic feels.
Anyway, long update again. Tommorow I'll be posting a video analyzing each card in the build and opening up / analyzing my prize packs. Stay tuned!
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Young Pyromancer
1 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Counterflux
1 Essence Scatter
1 Izzet Charm
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Steam Augury
2 Syncopate
2 Thoughtflare
2 Turn // Burn
4 Mutavault
4 Steam Vents
7 Island
5 Mountain
It's more of a temp deck I suppose; you want to control the board early with removal then them resolve and protect a threat. Augury / Thoughtflare plus Phoenix is a nice interaction.
Soft to Loxodon Smiter but it doesn't seem to be seeing much play.
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Ran with this build (with a few changes) last night. went 2-3, but each of my 3 losses were 1-2. Played a U/W control deck and wrecked face with it game one. Game two was a G/W midrange deck. Lost game one, but with sideboard went on to win games matches 2 and 3. Game 3 was against Rackdos weenie aggro. won game 1. Games 2 and 3 she got me, but each game was so close. Felt pretty good about that cause she came in first last week and yesterday. Game 4 was boros midrange. These games were a laughing matter. Lost horribly, but did not really have much a chance to test against it because got completely mana screwed both games. That is one thing I want to work on. Found it hard to get that red mana sometimes. Game 5 was RDW. Won game 1. Lost game two (again was a close one) and lost game two due to a horrible misplay that did end up costing me the game. The misplay was quick embarrassing. Here is the list I ran:
4 Youn Pyromancer
4 Gutternsnipe
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Hidden Strings
3 Hands of Binding
4 Syncopate
3 Steam Augury
3 Magma Jet
2 Turn and Burn
3 Izzet Charm
3 Aqueous Form
7 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
2 Swan Song
2 Weapon Surge
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Mizzium Skin
1 Rachet Bomb
1 Turn and Burn
3 Counterflux
What I have found is that Izzet Charm is sooooo versatile in this deck. The gods never became creatures, but their abilities were back breaking. Thassa, God of the Sea helped filter and push in damage when I could not draw into an Aqueous Form. Purphoros, God of the Forge helped me get there in the rackdos weenie aggro matchup in the late game. If I had to cut one of them though it would have to be Purphoros, God of the Forge. He was good, but the Scry 1 and ability to make creatures unblockable to get some ciphers triggered is crazy good. Might would consider cutting Puphoros, God of the Forge for a second Thassa, God of the Sea Just wish there was enough blue permanents in the deck to make her go creature. Cipher is a real thing. even a ciphered Guttersnipe is a threat. One game was only Gutternsnipe on the field for me. Hands of Binding, tap an opponent's creature, they take 2 damage. Play the second 2 Hands of Binding, repeat the process. They now have taken 4 damage total, swing for 2. Cipher triggers. They just took 10 damage that turn and you won't have to worry about creatures coming at you because you essentially Hands of Bindinged 4 creatures...if they had that many of the field. Often times Nivmagus Elemental became a threat on turn 2. Already putting him out of burn range albeit Mizzium Mortars. He is the main one you want to be putting these ciphers and Aqueous Form on. Because he is the one that can be a 5/6 on turn 3.
Sideboard is what I felt could be better here is what I have done with that.
-3 Mizzium Skin
-1 Turn and Burn
-1 Mizzium Mortar
-1 Ratchet Bomb
and added this
+3 Frostburn Weird
+3 Anger of the Gods
Where I really hurt last night was against the weenie aggro decks. They would often overpower me real quick. The addition of Frostburn Weird and Anger of the Gods should slow them down and bring myself a chance to catch up.
I say don't give up yet. This deck was lots of fun, explosive, just needs some more fine tuning. People at the card shop Game Theory were impressed and said that there is quite the deck idea going on here.
I haven't gotten any Steam Augury yet so I've been using Inspiration until I do, though I've been trying 3 of those and 2 Uncovered Clues and I'm really starting to like that card and it might be worth considering in the final build. In testing, Auguring into a Clues makes sorting piles even more fun. I've also been running Dispel in place of Shock to protect creatures from most removal in the meta and I feel the burn suite is strong enough without the shocks. Also of note, NOone plays around Dispel the first game. Casting Pyro or Gutter a turn later with a steam vents untapped for a dispel and they assume it's for a shock is fun
I am however thinking of putting shock back in, in place of maybe a Magma Jet, Lightning Strike, and something else. I'm becoming more a fan of using 4 3-ofs instead of 3 4-ofs when it comes to similar function cards unless I really want specific cards. I'll be playing my new build tomorrow at the win-a-box and hopefully win me some Theros goodies! Results to follow.
I also think that Skullcrack could be decent in the side. Most control decks seem to be running between 6-8 walkers, and replacing your Lightning Strike With Skullcrack seems like a good idea. You don't want Sphinx's Revelation to put them out of burn range, although countering it would be even better.
Our curve is pretty atrocious when it comes to a turn 1 play. Apart from Judge's Familiar I think our options are either Shock vs. aggro or Quicken vs. anything else.
I think Mutavault should be a 2-of in any list. Possibly more. Our manabase can support it, so we should run it.
Since verdict is uncounterable, and wipes out all our tokens I was considering a splash card: Boros Charm
Pros: Protects against removal (all our creatures want this). Gives us a lot of reach/burns out opposing walkers. Can win on the spot by giving double-strike to a 6-7 power chimera.
Cons: requires splashing white. I like a consistent manabase, so this is an issue for me. If we aren't running any turn 1 plays I wouldn't mind playing both guildgates and scrylands though.
I've recently considered trying to splash white as well because we have no defense to Verdict. White also allows for Azorius Charm which would not be terrible. I'm reserved against 3 colors though...I ran a splash of black for Thoughtseize and Read the Bones, but the life loss was no small deal and often cost games.
The lifelink mode on the charm could be great as well since it could give the deck more longevity vs aggro decks.
I'm considering 2x Mutavault, but even that may slow it down / limit my countermagic / burns. I'll test and see how it does.
For me, I'd rather stay consistent than get greedy splashing white.
I feel Boros Charm offers a few useful possibilities.
Verdict is big, if you blank their verdict with pyromancer and a few tokens down you'll win the game. If you just play another threat post-verdict...the match could go either way. While it doesn't see much play atm, this card also protects against abrupt decay. It's something we can't otherwise stop without bouncing our own creatures.
Double strike: double strike on a spellheart chimera with a high power could end games. Quickly.
I think Azorious Charm is no good though. The bounce mode kinda helps us race, but its really not worth a white splash.
All in all...I think we should NOT splash white and just run Mutavaults instead. All the Mutavaults.
Boros Charm is value city in this deck.
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Hammer of Purphorous
3 Counterflux
2 Essence Scatter
1 Izzet Charm
2 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
1 Mizzium Mortars
2 Shock
4 Steam Augury
2 Thoughtflare
1 Turn // Burn
4 Mutavault
4 Steam Vents
7 Island
5 Mountain
It's a tempo deck obviously, with a lot of card advantage options.
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Control hasn't been that hard of a match up for me anyways. The match ups that are killing me are G/(W or R). It's hard dealing with Archangel of Thune, Smiters, Voice, Obzedat, Blood Baron and other big beaters/value creatures without getting 2-4-1'ed. You can't rely just on counters to keep them off the board. I'm now running 2 Turn//Burn in the main and 2 in the side. At least u can hit things for 2 with the Burn half, so it's never a dead card. And you can get nice 2-4-1's off it.
I think I'll add 2 mutavaults to my maindeck, although it concerns me a little, because i do get mana color screwed on occasion (especially with dissolve).
I'd rather protect a 2 and 3 mana dork than suffer a spot removal on the big dragon. besides, it's only swinging for 4, and our spellheart can definitely beat that.
Also, the way I'm playing, I'm totally fine with letting Pyromancer get baited out. He does less than Guttersnipe for me, since he will just keep us in the game longer rather than present a win condition. So if he dies, then that's fine. The priority is protecting Guttersnipe.
Control does wipe them, and I think that this deck is worst against U/W control.
Yea, I've thought about this too. I just have too much fun getting value and playing tempo. If I were to move to a control shell, I would surely splash white for sphinx's rev (x3 sphinx's, x3 augury, x2 jace).
I went 3-2 at FNM, losing to G/W archangel of thune and then to a mono-red hyper aggressive deck. I won a round in each of my losing matches. And I would've beat RDW next turn if they didn't resolve a Fanatic of Mogis. Also, the G/W match was really close too. I beat U/W/r control. I also beat a mono-white deck and B/W deck (both were not top tier decks, but still competitive). I'll probably post my current build sometime this week. I think U/R definitely has everything you need.
I think hyper aggros match-ups aren't all that bad and are at the worst a 50/50. You just have to trade burn for their creatures in the early game, and try and stabalize mid-game. And be weary of Mogis and Reckoner (ughh). Reckoner is a major hassle, Turn//Burn I think is our only clean solution. I'll be boarding out all 6 counters, and boarding in 2 essence scatter, 2 mizzium mortars, and 2 more turn//burn from here on out for that match up.
Has any one else had big problems against Selesnya, and big green beaters in general?
EDIT: I just realized, Rapid Hybridization could be a very useful sideboard card against all the aforementioned creatures...
EDIT2: Wow, just completely remembered Curse of the Swine! I'm gonna pack 2 in the side! That'll clean up those pesky G/W value creatures...
After playing this some more I definitely think Opportunity is a no go. Curving out at 4 (5 tops with a fused turn//burn) is what makes this deck good. I'm going to give Izzet Charm another try instead.
Aetherling is great against control, but comes online too late against just about everything else. He's been pushed to the side.
4x Steam Vents
10x Islands
8x Mountains
Creatures
4x Frostburn Weird
3x Young Pyromancer
4x Guttersnipe
3x Spellheart Chimera
3x Dissolve
4x Magma Jet
4x Steam Augury
4x Syncopate
3x Izzet Charm
3x Turn // Burn
2x Weapon Surge
1x Epic Experiment
2x Glaring Spotlight
1x Turn // Burn
1x Spellheart Chimera
1x Aetherling
3x Negate
4x Mizzium Mortars
3x Essence Scatter
Any suggestions on what could be taken out for lightning strike? The lack of 3 toughness removal is hurting.
How does everyone feel about Counterflux? UUR can be problematic, but uncounterable is good vs. control.
Has anyone looked at Wild Ricochet? It can do some cute things redirecting burn and abrupt decay, works as a clunky counter in a pinch, and can copy a sphinx's rev. I only have a singleton so I haven't been able to test this card yet.