Alright so here is my Counterburn deck that I have been working on for FNM, I had too many creatures before when I was play testing and not enough counters so I made a few adjustments and this is what I came up with
Choose to play prowess or not to. If you do, that means 4 monastery swiftspear, 4 jeskai elder, 4 jeskai sage... blah, blah, blah with a tempo spell package. If you don't, scrap the tempo type spells in favor of more stuff to get you through the long haul. Don't try to be in between.
Playing tempo wants to usually stop at cmc 3 imo (besides stoke the flames). The lower, the better but the point is to stick meaningful threats, then keep the opponent off balance from there till you win. This is done with things to lightly disrupt the opponent like burn, counter, and bounce. Yes, the countering shouldn't be the main point as it doesn't tick with prowess as well as you might like.
If playing control, you should dump all semblance of quick spells besides the necessary in favor of staying alive, gaining card advantage and winning with it.
Why would you run Bolt of Keranos without running all 4 Lightning Strikes? Making it a sorcery and costing 1 more is too much of a downside for a mere scry 1.
I can easily take out the Radiant Fountain and get some Wild Slash I would think that 21 lands would be sufficient but I'm open to suggestions otherwise.
I'm not entirely sure about Monastery Siege but the additional cost for burn or counters seems like it would help, and the extra draw could help fuel delve on Crusie. And I suppose PLA doesn't have to go into this deck either.
Definitely some wild slash. I don't think there's even a remotely good reason to play monastery siege and pearl lake ancient, though. The former would rather be a spell that actively does things. The latter you'll never play on 21 lands (which doesn't want radiant fountains anyway). Instead, you can crank a few slots into a few more cheapo creatures and cheapo aggressive spell base.
I see the color combo is Izzet, U/R. What I'm not so sure about is the focus on Prowess or on counter burn. Are you trying to make a tempo or aggressive creature deck that interacts with non-creature spells? Or do you want a more control-like strategy of countering threats, and burning the ones that get through, and ending with a strong finisher(EDIT: While also burning your opponent for the win, of course)? It doesn't have to be one or the other (it could be a mix maybe, or something else), but the latter seems like counter burn to me.
Either way, Force Away doesn't have much synergy, as you will have few ferocious enablers. Pearl Lake Ancient seems good for a deck that expects to reach the late game, because it is hard to answer with many lands out and is expensive. Putting a card like that in your deck just in case you reach the late game isn't that great, as it might leave your deck unfocused. Cantrip enchantments like Dragon Mantle, and Stratus Walk seem good for a Prowess deck, as they activate Prowess, get you more cards for more Prowess, and improve your creature's offense.
I wonder if other cantrips or scry cards that buff creatures or remove/stall threats would be good in a deck like this?
Well, it's kind morphed into more of a tempo deck than counterburn at this point. The Force Away bounces the card back and does trigger Prowess and removes a blocker on the field letting my guys get through and making them bigger, it also trigger's Quiet Contemplation letting me tap another one as well.
For other creatures, I do have 2 Spellheart Chimera that probably would fit in well, Altac Bloodseeker might work, particularly with the burn. Archetype of Aggression idk if he'll help but giving trample with Shu Yun's double strike seems like it would go well together.
Well, here's the issue of counterburn in standard at the moment. The counters aren't fast enough. The midrange creatures exit burn range in a hurry. This hurts you terribly. Where last standard there was more margin for the chimera deck with more cheap burns, more versatile spells, and so forth to feed the chimera. Steam augury was the curve topper, getter of new gas and a singleton hammer of purphoros rounded out the package. The meta also lent itself much better to that which even then was more a burn tempo deck. But here you have a very bad spot for counterburn to be in and fewer tools. Long term control is done much better by UB or UW which have longer shelf lifes than UR.
I added white in because deflecting palm seems pretty good in this type of deck and since you would be splashing white why not use Jeskai charm? This deck is untested and a very rough draft but I think it could have some success. Feel free to comment and make suggestions
Well, if playing white (3 color is a bit hard on the cheap), why focus on UR at all? UB or UW would make better bases considering that they actually have board wipes. If you want to slap red in there, red would be the splash color, not black or white. I mean, what in red does control want more than the ability to play crux of fate or end hostilities? Why play arc lightning when UB has bile blight? Why play whatever cmc 3 red card when white has hard removal in devouring light/banishing light? The burn doesn't ever go to the dome except against control or till after you've completely won... but control didn't need to do that. PLA is a generic one card method to do it. If you got really desperate, both black and white have cheapo win cons too. Like the black siege can drain 2 into a win. White doesn't really have much super cheapy stuff for win cons but prognostic sphinx is still an option.
Well, if playing white (3 color is a bit hard on the cheap), why focus on UR at all? UB or UW would make better bases considering that they actually have board wipes. If you want to slap red in there, red would be the splash color, not black or white. I mean, what in red does control want more than the ability to play crux of fate or end hostilities? Why play arc lightning when UB has bile blight? Why play whatever cmc 3 red card when white has hard removal in devouring light/banishing light? The burn doesn't ever go to the dome except against control or till after you've completely won... but control didn't need to do that. PLA is a generic one card method to do it. If you got really desperate, both black and white have cheapo win cons too. Like the black siege can drain 2 into a win. White doesn't really have much super cheapy stuff for win cons but prognostic sphinx is still an option.
Most of the red spells go to the dome... Thats how you win... You counter then dome them.
tbh, If anythind I'd probably switch this to UB or WU control over adding white, because if I went with adding white, might as well go to Jeskai token. I have one 3 color as it is.
yes, it is about counterburn, just pointing out that splashing white for a Jeskai Charm is kinda silly for what I am trying to do, when there are red cards that do the same damage without worrying about getting a third color. If thats the direction you want to go, by all means, go for it.
Exactly. The thread is for counterburn. What is UR's edge over UBR or UWB? The land base. It certainly isn't range of removal, long game reach, or anything like that. So once you start dipping into those things, might as well head over to the things that benefit control more. And as soon as you do, you lose the burn part of counterburn.
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3x Treasure Cruise
2x Bolt of Keranos
2x Hordeling Outburst
3x Arc Lightning
Instants
3x Cancel
2x Burn Away
1x Stubborn Denial
3x Stoke the Flames
3x Lightning Strike
2x Winterflame
4x Mindswipe
3x Nullify
3x Negate
2x Monastery Swiftspear
4x Pearl Lake Ancient
Lands
8x Island
8x Mountain
3x Swiftwater Cliffs
1x Shivan Reef
1x Ashcloud Phoenix
2x Disdainful Stroke
3x Force Away
2x Mystic of the Hidden Way
1x Quiet Contemplation
2x Riverwheel Aerialists
2x Spellheart Chimera
2x Whirlwind Adept
I have been thinking about putting 3x Bathe in Dragonfire 3x Jeskai Sage 3x Neutralizing Blast into it but I don't have enough of them yet and not sure how well they would work
If playing control, you should dump all semblance of quick spells besides the necessary in favor of staying alive, gaining card advantage and winning with it.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
you would need enchantments such as Quiet Contemplation and goblin slide
next you need cantrips such as Defiant Strike and then creatures that impact the board every time you cast a noncreature spell
4x Monastery Swiftspear
2x Jeskai Elder
1x Jeskai Sage
4x Pearl Lake Ancient
Instant
4x Lightning Strike
4x Mindswipe
2x Force Away
2x Cancel
3x Stoke the Flames
2x Burn Away
2x Quiet Contemplation
Sorcery
2x Bolt of Keranos
4x Arc Lightning
Land
1x Shivan Reef
4x Swiftwater Cliffs
3x Radiant Fountain
7x Islands
9x Mountain
I do have Goblinslide that I could put in, I also have some bigger prowess creatures to put in place of PLA, Riverwheel Aerialists, Mystic of the Hidden Way, and Whirlwind Adept
4 monastery swiftspear
4 jeskai sage
4 jeskai elder
3-4 other cheap prowess things that I don't know off the top of my head. Maybe Shun yun?
3 stoke the flames
4 lightning strike
4 treasure cruise
4 of that 1 mana 2 damage burn.
Some counters
Any other cheapo goodstuff cards that I didn't happen to recall. 20-21 lands. And boom, got a deck.
4x Monastery Swiftspear
2x Jeskai Sage
2x Jeskai Elder
3x Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
2x Pearl Lake Ancient
Instant
3x stoke the flames
4x lightning strike
4x Mindswipe
3x Force Away
1x Monastery Siege
2x Quiet Contemplation
Sorcery
4x Arc Lightning
4x treasure cruise
Land
1x Shivan Reef
4x Swiftwater Cliffs
3x Radiant Fountain
7x Islands
9x Mountain
I can easily take out the Radiant Fountain and get some Wild Slash I would think that 21 lands would be sufficient but I'm open to suggestions otherwise.
I'm not entirely sure about Monastery Siege but the additional cost for burn or counters seems like it would help, and the extra draw could help fuel delve on Crusie. And I suppose PLA doesn't have to go into this deck either.
I see the color combo is Izzet, U/R. What I'm not so sure about is the focus on Prowess or on counter burn. Are you trying to make a tempo or aggressive creature deck that interacts with non-creature spells? Or do you want a more control-like strategy of countering threats, and burning the ones that get through, and ending with a strong finisher(EDIT: While also burning your opponent for the win, of course)? It doesn't have to be one or the other (it could be a mix maybe, or something else), but the latter seems like counter burn to me.
Either way, Force Away doesn't have much synergy, as you will have few ferocious enablers. Pearl Lake Ancient seems good for a deck that expects to reach the late game, because it is hard to answer with many lands out and is expensive. Putting a card like that in your deck just in case you reach the late game isn't that great, as it might leave your deck unfocused. Cantrip enchantments like Dragon Mantle, and Stratus Walk seem good for a Prowess deck, as they activate Prowess, get you more cards for more Prowess, and improve your creature's offense.
I wonder if other cantrips or scry cards that buff creatures or remove/stall threats would be good in a deck like this?
Anyway, good luck with your deck, it sounds fun.
For other creatures, I do have 2 Spellheart Chimera that probably would fit in well, Altac Bloodseeker might work, particularly with the burn. Archetype of Aggression idk if he'll help but giving trample with Shu Yun's double strike seems like it would go well together.
2 Keranos, God of storms
Sorcery
3 Arc Lightning
2 Treasure Cruise
Instants
2 countermand
2 Dissipate
1 Dissolve
2 Mindswipe
2 Negate
3 Swan Song
3 Deflecting palm
2 Jeskai Charm
4 Magma Jet
3 Lightning Strike
3 searing blood
3 wild Slash
1 Temple of triumph
2 Plains
8 mountain
8 island
4 swiftwater cliffs
2 Cunning Strike
3 disdainful stroke
2 Neutralizing blast
1 Mindswipe
1 Master the way
1 Burn Away
2 Negate
2 Bathe in Dragonfire
1 Lightning strike
Most of the red spells go to the dome... Thats how you win... You counter then dome them.