MTG Salvation

Hey guys! So I've been getting into Modern recently, as everyone at my LGS is swapping due to to the new standard rotation, I fancied making my own deck rather than just pinching someone else's and this is what I have come up with, but it does need sideboard help.



The objective is to spit out a pyromancer then go to card draw and self discard town all the while making lots of elemental tokens for chumping duties and leading up too a nice huge Empty the Pits, sideboard tech will probably turn it into a pure burn deck given the gy hate I expect to be brought in game 2.

It's fairly unique I think, some cards I would swap out (Scrivener for Bob etc), there is no budget limit but I'm just not willing to spend €50 a pop on singles.

The big issue I have is knowing what to include in the sideboard. Thanks for looking and all help will be greatfully taken on board!

Edit:

Just took this for a spin online, 1 great match against a cool allies deck, I won 2-1, I lost when I decked myself going for the big time delve! that said, Empty the pits for 7 on turn 8 was pretty cool also.

Having played around with this some more, Blood Scrivener works really well with Tibalt's +1, especially when you have 3 of them out and no hand. Draw 6 cards, lose 3 life, discard 1 at random. Yes please. Turns out between the bolts, the lavamancer and Tibalt's -4 this deck can burn for enough as well!

Deck seems pretty fun.

I'd try to clear out those last 5 mountains. You've got a fair amount of filtering currently, so maybe it doesn't come up that often, but not being able to cast your big finisher on time because you're sitting on a mountain seems frustrating. Best option being 2 more Blackcleave Cliffs. Maybe a couple Lavaclaw Reaches, too?

I'm a little skeptical on Fiery Temper and Lightning Axe. I understand the synergies involved, but even when they're working optimally they aren't exactly backbreaking. They're good (lightning axe), maybe even great (fiery temper becomes bolt, so that's obviously strong), but there are quite a few strong options in black/red in terms of burn and/or creature control. A card that is less situational/synergistic, but more powerful on average might be better in the end. Like Terminate instead of the axe?

I don't love that Grim Lavamancer eats up your Empty the Pits 'mana.' Maybe he's good enough that it doesn't matter. Or maybe you draw Empty the Pits infrequently enough that it's nice to have something to do with all the graveyard fuel.

Tibalt. I mean, outside of jamming Snapcaster Mage in the deck, this seems like a pretty good shell for him. That said, I STILL am not sure he's good enough!

If you're frequently finding yourself hellbent, seems like Infernal Tutor might be a good way to find your Empty the Pits.

Other random cards to consider for main and/or sideboard:
Purphuros, God of the Forge-Too cute, I'm sure, but lots of fun with Young Peezy and Empty the Pits I'm guessing.
Blightning
Inquisition of Kozilek/Thoughtseize-not as great due to other delve cards, but still a good way to stall combo and rip away your opponents graveyard hate.
Jagged Poppet
Reforge the Soul-Seems hilarious vs. Control to me.
Pretty much all the black delve cards. I know I'm contradicting myself after expressing concern over Grim Lavamancer, but some of those cards seem just as good as empty the pits, albeit less splashy.

Fun brew. Keep us posted on your testing results.

The Grim Lavamancer is only in there as a 2 of because sometimes you will end up playing control, and it's easier to get a threat out early than pitting for 26 (happens more often than you would think! And yes, you feel like a boss when it happens), the mountains are useful to have, obviously most cards are red but all 1 drops, and it's also something I don't mind cycling into the grave yard, I have played this deck about 25 times so far on MTGO and not once been mana screwed, nearly every turn you will cycle 2-4 cards through your hand, even Tibalt's randomness doesn't factor, it's actually an awesome card drew engine with a couple of Blood Scrivener's out, which again, is really easy to do with the amount of cards you draw, it's not uncommon to have 2/3 scriveners out with a Tibalt, empty the hand and then +1 Tibalt, draw 3, discard 1.

I completely forgot about Infernal Tutor, that would be perfect for this deck! One of the big problems I'm finding is that being forced to discard an Empty the Pits in the first, say, 3 turns makes life really tricky and I can't think of any graveyard recursion for instants in B or R, I might just be missing something.

Fiery Temper & Lightning Axe may seem a touch cute to be effective, but it can also read as RR Deal 8 Damage to target Creature or it can be used to clear a couple of potentially annoying things, fueling up for the almighty delve and still providing a space for peezy and chums to attack through. That said though, Terminate is probably worth considering.

On Reforge the Soul, that would be hilarious, and is definitely going to find it's way into the 75, I was playing around with Burning Inquiry because that also seems pretty amusing.

Thanks for the detailed post, it's given me a lot of fuel for thought. I am however, convinced that Tibalt will be staying put, for a start, the look of genuine surprise when he's played is too good to pass up on, but he also acts as a distraction, and his -4 has won me games I had no business winning... Even more so after a Reforge the Soul!

Past in Flames would work to get your pits out of the graveyard, but 8 mana seems a little steep. Or 9, if Past is already in the yard.

I did notice the synergy with Reforge + Tibalt's -4, which I admit does seem fun. However, I missed what you were saying about Scrivener + Tibalt's +1 in the original post. Now that I get it, it makes him much more attractive to me. Makes it seem like Dangerous Wager should maybe be a 4 of, as it has similar applications.

Maybe I'll throw something like this together, as with the exception of the mana-base, it seems pretty budget friendly.

Yeah, it's dirt cheap dirty rakdos ;P The Manabase is pricey, but you need as many on colour duels and ideally more fetchlands to make it work. Travis Woo has it on his facebook page now!! (which is pretty cool!)

That IS pretty cool. Good for you. I'm thinking a lot of people might be missing the tricks with blood scrivener on his page, but then so did I even after you pointed it out in the OP.

I did run into some issues in my first couple games, but I tried out Monastery Swiftspear just for funsies (was pretty good, btw), and so maybe that messed up the ratio of card filtering to business or something. I think Travis might be right re: more Empty the Pits. In my 2nd ever game, I had one in my opener. Drew into my second. And then couldn't use Dangerous Wager they way God intended, argh! And when my singleton Reforge the Soul popped up right when I would normally want it (around turn 5ish), I couldn't cast it. More filtering did come along and allowed me to dump off those cards, so maybe it's all good. But it was slightly frustrating at first. It's possible I'm just not used to playing this sort of freewheeling deck. I'll keep toying with it.

If you feel you need more Pits then go with it I have been mulliganing pretty aggressively when I start with one, maybe just running 4 is the smart plan!

As to the scrivener, if they can't see it, their loss eh?

Some cards to consider for this type of deck are:

Demigod of Revenge + Call to the Netherworld (You can discard your entire hand or draw into a Call with Tibalt's +1 to return a Demigod to your hand and recast all the discarded/destroyed ones.

Pyromancer's Swath + Pyromancer Ascension + Flame Jab (For a more instant or sorcery version of this deck).

Edit: Also now that I think about it, Magus of the Scroll would be a fine replacement for Grim Lavamancer as you can easily craft your hand to only have 1 card in it, and it doesn't eat up your grave! Chandra's Phoenix makes for good recurrable fodder as well.

Well, I've been toying around and taken all this on board, the current aim is to build it up something along these lines



That all said, I'm a fan of the Pyromancer's Swath + Pyromancer Ascension + Flame Jab mix up. And it could be a good SB direction. Please keep all this coming!

Also if you want a slow way to get Empty The Pits back into your hand there's alwaysMystic Retrieval. It can be discard fodder and then flashback.

That is way better than past in flames for this deck. Good call.

Yeah, that's another new addition to the mb, maybe as a 2 of. Thanks you!!! Maybe this will turn into something that can be vaguely competetive. Certainly rogue ;p

This is nice. Straight up Black+Red has never been really strong in modern, but this deck seems strong and there is now a home for my Tibalts. The $2 Planeswalker is no longer totally useless!!!
How are matchups against Burn?

Conflagrate? Maybe too unreliable, but you can hold onto lands for a late-game flashback. Unfortunately, not playing lands means that it's weaker when hardcast...

Desperate Ravings might be OK if you're willing to splash Blue.

Big Game Hunter may work as a sideboard choice or a 1-of maindeck.

Nightshade Assassin is another Madness removal dude who could kill stuff like Delver and Pyromancer.

Unearth acts like Flashback for creatures:
Rotting Rats gives you up to two chances to trigger Madness while forcing your opponent to discard, and still gives you value after it's been binned.
Sedraxis Specter is 3 to the face + discard.
Vithian Stinger kills 1-toughness dudes, like unflipped Delver or Young Pyromancer.

How much do you need Madness Enablers? Pack Rat, Oona's Prowler, and Gathan Raiders are all instant speed discard outlets if that's a thing the deck wants.

How much do you need Madness Enablers? Pack Rat, Oona's Prowler, and Gathan Raiders are all instant speed discard outlets if that's a thing the deck wants.

(Not been as active here as I should, just had a newborn!!) Pack Rat is a good shout, one issue is that it would creep up the number of Critters at the expense of draw/discard. That said, playtesting has shown 3 or 4 copies of Dangerous Wager to be a few too many. I've been playing around with this version recently

• bloodghast
  
• reckless wurm
  
• keldon megaliths
  
• Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
  
• Raven's crime
  
• Smallpox

FTFY

What about locket of yesterdays? Myr Servitor? Scrapyard Salvo? What if we ramp him out on turn one with simian spirit guide? What if we play him to the board with protection on turn two one or two in an affinity shell (especially with Mox Opal, Ornithopter, Memnite, Springleaf Drum, and Darksteel Citadel as enablers, blocker,s and shrapnel blast fodder? Then we can run Galvanic Blast, too!

Totally different deck, no? I mean, they both have Tibalt, but other than that it seems to be a very different play experience.