When I saw Draconic Roar and Atarka's Command, I knew RG burn has a shot at being viable. My friends and I have been play testing this deck, and it has performed well. It's got a positive ratio against UB Control and U Devotion. I need to play it against Abzan Control and RW aggro. I expect it to do well against RW, but am not sure against control. RDW is a tough match. A wave of small creatures is difficult to fight efficiently, and currently, this deck doesn't gain life.
In general, the plan is to ramp into a dragon, put on the beats, and burn whatever survives. Draconic Roar and Atarka's Command are both crazy good. Command can pump the mama dorks, provide ramp, prevent life gain, and deal direct damage. Every mode is relevant. Also, the "put a land into play" mode can be used during your opponent's turn. Draconic Roar rarely fails to be a searing blaze, and is a strictly better searing blood.
The dragons need no explanation. Thunderbreak Regent is an on curve 4/4 flyer that punishes our opponents for targeting it, further advancing the end game. Stormbreath Dragon can come down turn 3 with ramp, and applies the beats.
Xenagos, the Reveler and Sarkhan Unbroken provide a clock to the deck. They both produce mama and a stream of creatures. They're great top decks, and allow the deck to recover from a board wipe.
To tie it all together, I include Crater's Claws and Stoke the Flames to push for the last bit of damage. With all the mama dorks and the walkers, ripping claws for 10+ is very possible.
The Blue splash might be stretching the deck too far. I like Sarkhan. Unanswered he takes over, but against RDW he's too little too late, and the life lost from the pain and fetch lands add up.
I've been working on a deck which ends up playing somewhat similar, but in Jund colors (R/G/B). I think that calling it Burn is a bit confusing; with the deck I've got, at any rate, it's very much a midrange deck with a smattering of burn-ey cards. I definitely agree that Draconic Roar is very, very strong, based on my own testing, but I've become slightly hesitant about Atarka's Command. While 3 damage and putting a land into play is indeed good, you do end up quickly in the realm of card disadvantage and top-decking. Atarka's Command probably ought to be side-by-side with a modest amount of draw (I'm currently thinking of trying Read the Bones.
If you really wanna go BURN, I'd consider going Mono-Red splashing green, with aggressive red creatures up to Thunderbreak and Stormbreath, and as much face-or-creature burn as you can fit. Otherwise, as it currently stands, this seems like a more midrange shell. And that's totally okay! I think this as a midrange deck with some big burn as the finishers is probably a decent call. I'd even consider possibly going deeper into blue for some draw like Dig Through Time in order to find that vital last Crater's Claws. The biggest problem I foresee is boardwipes, and going deeper into blue allows for protections like Negate and Silumgar's Scorn.
Just a handful of thoughts. Temur Dragon-themed Midrange seems decent. Viewing this deck as a burn list, though... I'm not really convinced.
Private Mod Note
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Standard: Currently messing with U/R or Mono-Red Artifacts, following Origins.
Modern: Budget U/R Burn
Legacy: LOLnope
Vintage: See previous
Commander: Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Tiny Commander: Shu Yun, the Silent Tempo
I call it burn because that's really the win con. I thought about doing a faster red-splash-green burn, but it was just slower than rdw. I am considering shifting the deck even more toward temur, and including dig through time.
I actually chose swan song because it's a hard counter for 1 CMC, and the swan is a valid draconic roar target. I noticed in the control match up, roar often had no creature to shoot. I also was using stubborn denial, but was having trouble keeping a creature on the field, making it a terrible counter.
I'll keeping tuning it and see how it turns out. I played Abzan last night, and it was very tough. In terms of value, they just have more. On the other hand, atarka's command in response to Sorin, followed by burn spells won a fair number of games.
I'd personally cut the blue. You aren't running enough blue sources for the splash to consistently work and Sarkhan Unbroken isn't massively better than other options like Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker or Ashcloud Phoenix. I'd also cut the Stoke the Flames because it isn't great without creatures to convoke with and would instead run something like Roast, Wild Slash, or Lightning Strike.
I definitely see two paths. Pure RG, probably trim a few mana dorks for value creatures like swiftspear and heir of the wilds. A bit more agro. Or move more into the blue, get some draw mechanics. For now, I'm going to roll back to rg, and test something like:
I definitely see two paths. Pure RG, probably trim a few mana dorks for value creatures like swiftspear and heir of the wilds. A bit more agro. Or move more into the blue, get some draw mechanics. For now, I'm going to roll back to rg, and test something like:
I think that Monastery Swiftspear isn't good enough with only 17 noncreature spells. I'd probably go back to the Elvish Mystics. Also, why are you still running Yavimaya Coast if you are cutting blue?
I've been toying with a deck that's fairly similar.
The second iteration definitely makes some improvements, but also gets some things wrong.
The monastery swiftspears are well out of place. With only 22 land you actually really want the acceleration provided by the rattleclaws and elvish mystics to ensure that you're dropping the dragons on time (or ahead of time) and using them effectively to pressure your opponent.
The burn suite seems good, although the excess of 2 mana burn spells and the corresponding lack of 1 mana spells is a little concerning. Turning down a couple of the existing burn spells to squeeze even just a couple of wild slash in could help the mana-efficiency of the deck a good deal.
fanatic of xenagos is a card that I've never been a massive fan of myself, but to each his own. It does decent work here, but have you considered flamewake phoenix? it might fit better than the fanatic.
For completeness, what I'm brewing at the moment (although I haven't managed to get the testing in that you have):
The sideboard is subject to change, and probably not worth covering in detail, but suffice to say that the board does contain a few blue cards - hence the blue splash in the manabase.
The deck approaches from a subtly different direction to yours, but arrives at more or less the same destination.
I'm not sold on Wild Slash. While the efficient for the mana argument is solid, I really am just looking to run someone to 0 life, so I chose the heavier hitting, but more expensive burn spells.
I also do not like fanatic of xenagos (I jokingly call him vanilla of xenagos, because he often is just a 3/3 trample for 3). I've been searching for a better option in that slot. Flamewake Pheonix could be pretty fun. Drop a stormbreath, res the pheonix, beat for 7. It's not possible to play it on curve with evish mystic, as you need green to play the mystic, mystic only produces green, and the pheonix is RR.
I think that Monastery Swiftspear isn't good enough with only 17 noncreature spells. I'd probably go back to the Elvish Mystics. Also, why are you still running Yavimaya Coast if you are cutting blue?
4 Stormbreath Draon
4 Thunderbreak Regent
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
3 Fanatic of Xenagos
3 Crater's Claws
3 Stoke the Flames
4 Draconic Roar
4 Atarka's Command
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
Land
4 Temple of Abandon
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Yavimaya Coast
1 Temple of Epiphany
3 Mana Confluence
5 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Swan Song
3 Unravel the Aether
3 Mistcuter Hydra
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Roast
When I saw Draconic Roar and Atarka's Command, I knew RG burn has a shot at being viable. My friends and I have been play testing this deck, and it has performed well. It's got a positive ratio against UB Control and U Devotion. I need to play it against Abzan Control and RW aggro. I expect it to do well against RW, but am not sure against control. RDW is a tough match. A wave of small creatures is difficult to fight efficiently, and currently, this deck doesn't gain life.
In general, the plan is to ramp into a dragon, put on the beats, and burn whatever survives. Draconic Roar and Atarka's Command are both crazy good. Command can pump the mama dorks, provide ramp, prevent life gain, and deal direct damage. Every mode is relevant. Also, the "put a land into play" mode can be used during your opponent's turn. Draconic Roar rarely fails to be a searing blaze, and is a strictly better searing blood.
The dragons need no explanation. Thunderbreak Regent is an on curve 4/4 flyer that punishes our opponents for targeting it, further advancing the end game. Stormbreath Dragon can come down turn 3 with ramp, and applies the beats.
Xenagos, the Reveler and Sarkhan Unbroken provide a clock to the deck. They both produce mama and a stream of creatures. They're great top decks, and allow the deck to recover from a board wipe.
To tie it all together, I include Crater's Claws and Stoke the Flames to push for the last bit of damage. With all the mama dorks and the walkers, ripping claws for 10+ is very possible.
The Blue splash might be stretching the deck too far. I like Sarkhan. Unanswered he takes over, but against RDW he's too little too late, and the life lost from the pain and fetch lands add up.
If you really wanna go BURN, I'd consider going Mono-Red splashing green, with aggressive red creatures up to Thunderbreak and Stormbreath, and as much face-or-creature burn as you can fit. Otherwise, as it currently stands, this seems like a more midrange shell. And that's totally okay! I think this as a midrange deck with some big burn as the finishers is probably a decent call. I'd even consider possibly going deeper into blue for some draw like Dig Through Time in order to find that vital last Crater's Claws. The biggest problem I foresee is boardwipes, and going deeper into blue allows for protections like Negate and Silumgar's Scorn.
Just a handful of thoughts. Temur Dragon-themed Midrange seems decent. Viewing this deck as a burn list, though... I'm not really convinced.
Modern: Budget U/R Burn
Legacy: LOLnope
Vintage: See previous
Commander: Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Tiny Commander: Shu Yun, the Silent Tempo
If you're splashing blue it should probably be for Stubborn Denial and Disdainful Stroke in the sideboard since Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker is more in line with smashing face than Unbroken.
I actually chose swan song because it's a hard counter for 1 CMC, and the swan is a valid draconic roar target. I noticed in the control match up, roar often had no creature to shoot. I also was using stubborn denial, but was having trouble keeping a creature on the field, making it a terrible counter.
I'll keeping tuning it and see how it turns out. I played Abzan last night, and it was very tough. In terms of value, they just have more. On the other hand, atarka's command in response to Sorin, followed by burn spells won a fair number of games.
Thanks for the feedback!
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
4 Stormbreath Draon
4 Thunderbreak Regent
4 Heir of the Wilds
3 Fanatic of Xenagos
2 something (shaman of the great hunt, boon satyr)
3 Lightning Strike
4 Draconic Roar
4 Atarka's Command
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
4 Temple of Abandon
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Mana Confluence
6 Forest
5 Mountain
I think that Monastery Swiftspear isn't good enough with only 17 noncreature spells. I'd probably go back to the Elvish Mystics. Also, why are you still running Yavimaya Coast if you are cutting blue?
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
I'm not sold on Wild Slash. While the efficient for the mana argument is solid, I really am just looking to run someone to 0 life, so I chose the heavier hitting, but more expensive burn spells.
I also do not like fanatic of xenagos (I jokingly call him vanilla of xenagos, because he often is just a 3/3 trample for 3). I've been searching for a better option in that slot. Flamewake Pheonix could be pretty fun. Drop a stormbreath, res the pheonix, beat for 7. It's not possible to play it on curve with evish mystic, as you need green to play the mystic, mystic only produces green, and the pheonix is RR.
Derp, typo.
*EDIT*
Here's my next revision:
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Thunderbreak Regent
3 Rattleclaw Mystic
3 Courser of Kruphix
2 Shaman of the Great Hunt
2 Lightning Strike
4 Draconic Roar
4 Atarka's Command
2 Shamanic Revelation
Land
4 Temple of Abandon
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Mana Confluence
7 Forest
5 Mountain