UR Pyromancer is a blue/red tempo deck designed, with the use of cheap and effective interaction, to progress our board state with cards like Young Pyromancer and Thing in the Ice. From Lightning Bolt to Electrolyze and Spell Pierce up to Cryptic Command, UR Pyromancer seeks to have an answer for everything the opponents deck has to offer. If you enjoy a tempo play style that can just close out the game if necessary, you may enjoy UR Pyromancer.
Pros & Cons of UR Pyromancer
The Pros:
The deck is full of cheap interaction that can catch your opponents off guard when you only leave 1 or 2 mana untapped.
Much of the decks permission is 1 or 2 of's making it hard for your opponent to know what to play around.
Young Pyromancer can be an undervalued card. If your opponent lets you untap after resolving one, it can run away with the game quickly.
With the sheer amount of card draw, you are provided with an enormous amount of card selection to sculpt your hand however you desire.
The deck has a great matchup against non-GBx midrange, control and spell based combo while maintaining an even matchup against hyper aggro and creature based combo decks.
UR Pyromancer is one of the most versatile decks in modern currently that lets you mold your removal/counter package to your local meta while maintaining the integrity of the deck.
The Cons:
The versatility of this deck can be challenging to newer player to the deck. There are outs in most situations that you may not consider without practicing over and over with the deck.
The deck can be expensive if you don't have the mana base already.
Some popular decks like burn can be challenging, but are more than winnable.
GBx isn't terrible, but isn't favored. With the Bloodbraid Elf unban Jund is back on the rise which may make for more grindy games than you're looking for.
There is a nonbo in the deck with Young Pyromancer and Thing in the Ice. This isn't a nonbo. While yes your Thing in the Ice will clear your board as well, if you find yourself in this position you're most likely winning already. Not to mention it can be handy to save your Young Pyromancer or return Snapcaster Mage to your hand in response to removal or for more value later.
Young Pyromancer: This card is your bread and butter. Your steak and lobster. The decks namesake. Incredibly powerful and game ending if left unchecked. Swarming the board to stall for answers or just flooding over your opponent for the win, this card does it all.
Thing in the Ice: This is your standard second wincon. It's generally easy to flip, can perform combat tricks and closes out games fast.
Not to mention did someone say bounce Snapcaster Mage for future value?
Snapcaster Mage: Possibly our strongest card in the 75. With a deck that has 28+ spells in it, this card literally does everything.
Grim Lavamancer: A very value-centric card that can be great against aggro mathcups. If you expect a lot of creature based aggro or company decks, think of adding him in your 75.
Bedlam Reveler: This has proven itself in Mardu Pyromancer as a bomb that can refill your hand after stripping your opponents hand away. However most iterations of UR Pyromancer are reactionary style decks that won't fill the graveyard as fast. You can play this, but I think there are currently just better options.
Delver of Secrets: It may seem obvious that Delver could fit into a deck with so many spells. However Delver is incredibly weak in the spot removal heavy format that modern has become. With cards like Fatal Push and Lightning Bolt everywhere, your creature choices either need to make spot removal weaker or have a strong board impact. I wouldn't suggest running Delver in the current shape of modern.
Counter Magic
Spell Pierce: Players don't play around spell pierce as much as they used too. Considering you want cheap interaction and most early spells you want to counter are non-creature spells, this is a solid option.
Spell Snare: While under-powered in recent years, Spell Snare might actually be making a comeback. Powerful/Impactful 2 drops are entering into modern again and Spell Snare may be just as strong as it was back when Jund was the most played deck in Modern. From Cranial Plating and Tarmogoyf to Eidolon of the Great Revel and Dark Confidant, this is easily on of our best counters.
Mana Leak: An everlasting modern staple that is generally a hard counter besides in the very late game.
Remand: Remand is still an amazing card in general that generates a huge tempo swing. If you enjoy the tempo game add a couple. If you prefer hard answers to your opponents cards then don't.
Logic Knot: Just a great counter, but can be a trap to run more than 1.
Delay: If you're going a more aggro build than tempo based then Delay could be fine for you. If you're a more tempo/control build then I'd stay away from delay and stick to your hard counters.
Cryptic Command: This does everything we want it to. Although we only run 22 lands generally, with all cantrips it's not hard to set up for Cryptic. 3-4 in your 75 is extremely powerful.
Izzet Charm: A decent counterspell than acts as additional removal and a filter if you're flooding out.
Overall a solid choice.
Abrade: Very valuable yet underappreciated card currently. Acts as a 5th bolt and can also get rid of pesky Chalice of the Void's or Cranial Plating's. I'd suggest 1-2 in your 75.
Roast: In a world full of Eldrazi and Gurmag's, Roast is king. Find room for 1-3 in your 75.
Electrolyze: Great value card that can clean up early drops while maintaining card advantage.
Spitebellows: A mystery card that can get rid of larger creatures without fear of stubborn denial. Who knew?
Magmatic Sinkhole: A great removal spell for larger creatures that hits walkers as well.
Card Advantage
Opt: Recent addition to modern. Want to hold up a counter turn 1 with the option to cantrip eot? Then this is for you.
Serum Visions: Long time favored cantrip of modern. Helps us hit our land drops early and maintain a lower mana base.
Thought Scour: This card has potential, however I'd suggest only running this over the previous 2 if you are running Bedlam Reveler
Ancestral Vision: Brought back to modern by the grace of WOTC, but it's never found it's home. Well we are here to give it one. Our games can be grindy and at most points in the game we will have time to get it off of suspend.(sidenote: being able to make a Lantern player draw 3 so you can swing from under Ensnaring Bridge is a neat interaction.)
Land Base
Scalding Tarn: This is your primary fetch. Play 4 of these and then another 4 of any blue fetch of your choice.
Steam Vents: Obvious choice. Shock land in our colors.
Island: Make sure you have several of these to prevent us losing to blood moon. Throw one Mountain in there while you're at it.
Spirebluff Canal: Great card, but don't run more than 1 or 2. We don't want many "tap lands" in our deck.
Fiery Islet: Great addition to our land base incase we get flooded. Consider running 1 or 2 in your main board.
Field of Ruin: This card out-performs for us. Opponents will generally play around Blood Moon and start fetching out their basic lands. This turns Field of Ruin into a huge tempo swing for us. Being able to take them off a land while staying up ourselves can swing an iffy game immediately into our favor.
Vendilion Clique: Great as another beater, but more importantly it's ETB allows us to disrupt our opponents hand. Great versus combo based decks, or even against control to help push through more impactful spells.
Dispel: Great counter for control/tempo mirrors and certain aggro matchups like burn.
Mystical Dispute: Great new addition for additional counter magic. Casting Leak for 1 mana against control mirrors can make/break counter wars.
Anger of the Gods: Great against dredge and other go wide strategies.
Ceremonious Rejection: Great answer for Eldrazi, Affinity and even Classic Gx Tron variants.
Cleansing Wildfire: Exactly what we've wanted for a long time. This card has turned Eldrazi-Tron from unwinnable to a 50/50 alone. Flashing this back with Snapcaster Mage feels just as good as a flashback remand.
Blood Moon: A worthy sideboard option, but can be a wasted slot. Opponents will generally peg us as a Blue Moon style deck and will already be playing around Blood Moon.
Counterflux: Great answer for storm and can save you in a pinch against control mirrors. A worthy sideboard option.
Peter and Pascal Vieren took the below list to Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan. While Peter had decent success overall, Pascal took it undefeated during the swiss rounds and was the first to secure a top 8 placement. Finishing 3rd place, losing to Mardu Pyromancer, Pascal piloted the deck to perfection and showed everyone how powerful Young Pyromancer can be when paired with cheap and efficient interaction.
Shaun McLauren is a long time Electrolyze fan and stuck to his roots during the 2015 Magic World Championship. Piloting UR Pyromancer during the Modern portion of the tournament he finished an unimpressive 2-2. Although the record doesn't speak much of the deck itself, his play did. Facing an abysmal match in Boggles and a pretty even match-up against UW control, he was still able to showcase the power of cheap and efficient answers, while progressing your own game plan.
Many of the matchups below reflect the many hours of testing for Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan by Peter Vieren and will follow his and Pascal's deck list. I take no credit for the below Matchup Guide. This will also be updated as decks/meta change.
Storm is generally a favorable match-up after sideboard. You have enough interaction to stop their tricks and push through your threats. Game 1 however, if you don't have enough interaction, your best plan is to slam a threat and hope you can close out before they combo off. Out: 2 Cryptic Command, 2 Roast, 3 Thing in the Ice In: 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Dispel, 1 Abrade, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Vendilion Clique
The matchup can go either way as it can be hard to stop their best hands. Cheap interaction will determine if you win or not as you have to answer their threats early and have early counter magic for their burn spells. Out: 2 Ancestral Vision, 2 Remand, 1 Electrolyze In: 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Dispel, 1 Abrade
Similar to classic Jund, this isn't favorable but not unwinnable. They run more hand disruption than Grixis Shadow which can be painful. Similar to Grixis Shadow though, being able to protect your threat can make or break the match. Out: 1 Abrade, 1 Electrolyze In: 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Spell Snare
Quite a bit more tricky than Counters Company. Their creatures are a little bigger and have much more stand alone value. Keep them off the table and you should be ok. Overall this is very 50/50. Out: 3 Young Pyromancer, 2 Remand In: 1 Abrade, 1 Dispel, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Electrolyze
Back from GP Hartford so here's my follow up report. I made day 2, but unfortunately couldn't stay for it due to a family emergency that made me leave in the middle of the night. But here's 8 rounds from day one anyway!
After testing I found that the Remand's in Pascal's list were decent over all, but I felt like they could be better. I ended up dropping them during testing for 1 extra Spell Snare main-board and 1 Spell Pierce. In testing it felt better over all, especially the extra snare.
After the GP I would make 1 change to the main-board and 1 change to the side-board. From my list I would drop Spell Pierce and either add a Flame Slash or another Abrade. Both cards offering extra removal and utility in their own way. Slash giving us another form of removal to dodge getting hated out by cards like Meddling Mage and Abrade giving us more interaction with artifacts, which ended up being so strong overall during the GP. The change I would make to the side-board is dropping the 3'rd Spell Snare (it's better main-board anyway) and adding another Molten Rain or even Field of Ruin as this card is close to holding MVP for this deck imo.
Round 1: Jeskai Spirits 2-1
Game 1: He got me with a main-board Blood Moon, which generally isn't good against us, but I had no basics in hand with 2 dual sources out. Proceed to game 2.
Game 2: Kept a hand with a few fetches, 1 AV, 2 bolts and and Electrolyze. Drew into a Thing in the Ice and took over the game from their. Nothing too special.
Game 3: Similar situation to game 2, but just a different starting hand. Nothing too crazy about this matchup. It felt very much like a Jeskai Geist type of deck as far as play style goes so I had side-boarded accordingly to that matchup.
Round 2: Ponza 2-0
Game 1: Right when we present our decks for cutting we get deck checked. 11 minutes later it turns out my opponent has a 1 card difference in his side-board than what he had registered. He received a game loss.
Game 2: I kept a decent hand with 1 island and 1 fetch, 2 cantrips, 1 Thing in the Ice, 1 Electrolyze and 1 Roast. He leads on Stomping Grounds/Arbor Elf so I instantly think Ponza and lead with a fetch land then pass the turn. He slams blood moon turn 2 so we fetch an island in response. We play a turn 2 Thing in the Ice and pass. He plays a turn 3 Bloodbraid that hits a Rhonas the Indomitable, which i'm not sure is normal for them to run or not... Turn 4 they attempt to pump the BBE so they can attack with Rhonas and we just bolt the BBE. They end up resolving another BBE t5 that only hit's a Sprawl that we Electrolyze and end up casting Opt their EOT to flip Thing. We get in with Thing, logic knot their storm breath, and bolt snap bolt followed up with another thing attack to win.
Round 3: Traverse Shadow 2-0
Game 1: Traverse Shadow (aka Jund or 4 color shadow) isn't an amazing matchup for us. We need a little bit of luck to win these and I guess I was just that lucky on Saturday. First few turns were him dealing damage to himself and him taking cards from my hand. Thankfully I had landed a T1 Ancestral so I was just waiting on that to fill my hand back up. On his EOT with 2 8/8 Shadow's (which were very much presenting lethal) I bolted him down to 2 because my only out was to draw more burn off of my Ancestral coming down and my draw. I draw my 3 from AV and brick. Draw for turn, Electrolyze GG on to Game 2.
Game 2: Very similar to game 1 I was lucky enough to draw Ancestral so it was safe from his T1 Thoughtsieze. He had ended up slightly flooding, but not too terribly as he really had only drawn maybe 2 lands more than he wanted for that game. I field of ruined his only blue source in watery grave to ensure no stubborn denial was available (this was 4 color Traverse Shadow that sides in the Stubs). He once again had double Shadow out and fetched to swing for lethal going to 6 life. Bolt snap bolt FTW.
Round 4: Burn 2-0
Game 1: This was a very close game even though he mull'd to 5. Bringing me down to 2 but going empty handed I was able to present 1 token from pyromancer and 2 thing (1 with 4 counters and 1 with 3). His EOT I bolted him. My turn I Snap bolted him, cast roast on my own token and spell snared my own roast to flip both thing and swing for the win.
Game 2: Another close game I was at 4 with him at 18 (from his own shock). I had a hand full of of dispels, snares, cryptics and a bolt. I drew snapcaster and proceceded to bolt snap bolt him on his EOT. Thanks to the cheap interaction I had in hand and great draws I was able to win the race with my 1 snapcaster and close out the game.
Round 5: Bring Kiki to Light 2-0
Game 1: He mull'd to 6 and kept a 1 land'r with a couple mana dorks. I killed his dorks before he could use them. Played a pyromancer and snared his Wall of Omens when he drew his 2nd land. He scooped because he was too far behind.
Game 2: I was able to deal with is early threats and thankfully guessed right on what he was playing, so my sideboard options were good (i had very little info on what he was playing because he didn't play much G1. I was able to cryptic his resto angel he played and roasted his Panglaical Wurm that he played from his library (didn't realize anyone played that card). Thing in the Ice closed out the game fast.
Round 6: Vizier Elves 2-1
I didn't realize who my Op was until after the round, but it was Platinum Pro player Eduardo Sajgalik.
Game 1: Vizier elves is a decent matchup for us. I dealt with his early dudes and closed out the game with Thing in the Ice. Pretty generic creature based match-up.
Game 2: I had Anger and Dispel in my hand. I had planned on going Anger t4 to hold up dispel to counter chord/company, however on T3 he only had enough creatures to chord for 1 and no mana to company. I cast t3 anger (as most lists I've seen run Selfless Spirit as their anti-sweeper) and he proceeds to Chord for Forge-Tender and blow me out. Felt super bad.
Game 3: As now I knew he had forge-tender I played around that as well as selfless spirit and made sure to hold up counter magic when I cast anger. Thing in the Ice along with cryptic snap cryptic to tap down his guys for 2 turns closed out the game.
We did it. The 6-0 dream for day 2 happened.
Round 7: Eldrazi Tron 1-2
Game 1: He landed T1 basilisk collar which made the game look worse in the end than it actually was. Final life totals ended up with me dead and him at 32. This game was actually very close. I had managed to stabilize with him being empty handed and myself at 4 life. He top decked walking balista and cast it for 8 when I didn't have enough lands open to snap cryptic. I needed him to brick one turn, but magic is what magic is...a cruel beast that never listens.
Game 2: t1 collar again. This feels familiar. I snared his t2 chalice and followed up with a molten rain. 2 field of ruin and a snap molten rain later I was able to flip a thing in the ice with cryptic back up and close out the game.
Game 3: t1 collar (what is this game?). He had natural tron on T3 and was able to land a Sword of Fire and Ice (I don't think most lists run this?) and was able to get a few hits in before I drew abrade for the sword. 2 Smasher's later the game was over.
Game 1 was so close and game 2 was won because of field of ruin. This card was so key to slowing them down that it really decided for me about the 1 molten rain/field of ruin add to the sideboard for me. If we can interact with their lands even more I feel like this match-up goes from unwinnable to slightly un-favored. Maybe it's better to just hope to dodge the match-up and not add another land interactive card? I'm not sure but need to test it out.
Round 8: UW Control 0-2
Game 1: I was locked out of red mana due to him hitting all 4 spreading sea's in 6 turns along with 3 field of ruin. Jace locked us out of the game.
Game 2: We got locked out of red mana again due to 3 spreading seas and 2 field of ruin by turn 7. I cliqued him and saw Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Spinx's Rev, Jace and Gideon and just scooped.
UW seems a little harder than UWx decks as UW's land interuption plan is very strong against us.
Over all I was thoroughly impressed with the decks performance and wished I could of stayed for day 2, but life calls and my only regret is that whoever my Op was on day 2 during the first rounds got a free win because I ended up having to leave due to the family emergency. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing to play and mold this deck as it has real power and honestly felt really strong against a good majority of the modern meta. I'm honestly happy with a finish of 6-2 for day one. We made day 2 the ole fashioned way, with no byes.
For anyone looking for an interactive deck with diverse plans of action I would really suggest it. Thanks for checking out my report!
After watching the last few SCG event's I altered my list a bit for GP Hartford. Here's to hoping for some good results!
I love this deck, specially the Vierens version. I think 3 TiTi, 3 Pyromancer and 4 Snapcasters are the perfect amount of creatures we need in this deck, no more no less.
Which are your alterations for GP Hartford? I would like to hear them. And the best of lucks for you!
If you check out my report from the GP it show's the list and changes I had made from Pascal's list. Thanks for wishing me luck, it probably helped!
It seems like a big choice for this archetype is 3x Ancestral Vision or 3x Blood Moon. Did you consider and/or test Blood Moon? How did Ancestral Vision fare for you, and how do you think it stacks up against Blood Moon in the deck?
Honestly I tested out blood moon as well. I feel like blood moon is what blood moon is. A random "gotcha card". Over all it was underwhelming though because when people see Steam Vents, Island, Island they instantly thing some iteration of Blue Moon and fetch for their basics. The funny thing about this though is that although them fetching for their basics makes blood moon worse, it makes field of ruin better. If they fetch out all their basics trying to play around blood moon, field of ruin turns into a strip mine that also allows you to replace it with a basic.
As far as Ancestral Vision, it was really good for me. The deck has enough interaction to stall games that in most cases, suspending AV on turns 3 or 4 still felt great. Personally I'd suggest AV over blood moon.
Oh man, really sweet to read this! Congrats for your result and I'm sorry about the family emergency. Hope everything is ok.
Nice piloting of the deck, smooth and sexy. 6-0 into 6-2 is great result. My first tournament with the deck is going to be GP Barcelona, let's see how it goes.
By the way, interesting thought about the Remands. I like this card, but I understand your reasoning to use more removal. I consider we have enough removal also considering the flashback with snapcaster, but this is personal opinion. I like the cantrip remand and how it can slow our opponent. But let's see.
Thanks! Yeah everything went about as well as I could of hoped.
Remand is really good don't get me wrong. I just found most times in remanding something it was to find another answer for that threat, so that was my reasoning with putting in extra hard permission over it. The tempo swing from remand is of course really strong.
GL at the GP. Hope you make day 2 and actually get to stay for it lol
Thanks a lot for putting this together, I've drifted over to this from Storm because this is the 'control' deck I've been looking for. I've been wildly inconsistent with it so far - some nights I'll go 3-1, some I'll be 0-3 bye drop. The primer was really useful.
As for my meta, I cut the 2 remands for +1 spell snare +1 spell pierce - there are a lot of low curve decks running around my shop and remand wasn't pulling it's weight. I'll see how the new spells go tonight.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: UR Gifts Storm URB Grixis Death's Shadow R12 Bolt
Pauper: UR Puzzle Pieces
EDH: UB Phenax, God of Deception UR The Locust God UR Saheeli the Gifted WBG Anafenza, the Foremost
FNM was a real disappointment on Friday. I lost out to my own stupidity.
R1 - GDS
G1 I stole game one with the ol' wait for him to tap out then bolt snap bolt
G2 I was overwhelmed by DS and angler I couldn't answer
G3 I stopped any of his threats from sticking and overran him with an elemental army
R2 - Ad Nauseum
G1 - screwed and stuck on one land all game
G2 - grindy as you like. he delays the inevitable with Angel's Graces
G3 - we both drew badly, he was hard casting SSG and Lab Maniac to stay alive, then Angel's Grace came out, and I stop him on upkeep to Snap bolt, he loses to his pact of negation
R3 - Jeskai copycat
G1 He catches me out
G2 I know what to stop and overwhelm him
G3 I had the advantage in a long, grind of a game, then I tapped my Field of Ruin, he bolts me to 4 and swings with the collonade I forgot could fly. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
R4 - Hollow one
G1 Burning inquiry makes me discard my red sources
G2 More questions than I had answers, especially when I lose half of them to enquiry
For two rounds I felt unbeatable. I'm definitely learning from the mistake and taking it to a mega modern tournament next Monday. I'm really enjoying this deck.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: UR Gifts Storm URB Grixis Death's Shadow R12 Bolt
Pauper: UR Puzzle Pieces
EDH: UB Phenax, God of Deception UR The Locust God UR Saheeli the Gifted WBG Anafenza, the Foremost
What are your thoughts on Jace in this type of build? It seems like he is not positioned very well in the current meta.
I'm finding it quite funny how little he has done since the unban, actually.
I've seen people run two of in the sideboard, but I don't have any and can't afford to get them either. It could be useful in control matchups and maybe BGx though.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: UR Gifts Storm URB Grixis Death's Shadow R12 Bolt
Pauper: UR Puzzle Pieces
EDH: UB Phenax, God of Deception UR The Locust God UR Saheeli the Gifted WBG Anafenza, the Foremost
Long time lurker on Salvation, but just had to comment because I'm really interested in the deck, but it seems the activity has dropped off in this thread. Is their any fundamental way the deck has changed to combat the new meta? Any upgrades to the deck that have been released in the newest sets?
I've been piloting an UR Kiln Fiend deck for the past two years in modern. Lately, I've been feeling like I need something a little bit different. I'll be testing a list which has a lot of points in common with this one, so I thought I might as well share it. It's a very low to the ground, very aggressive curve.
Feel free to give me your feedback, or ask questions! I'll let you know when I have results, and share them.
I have been liking the pro tour list. Many of the games I lose are strictly to me misplaying. I feel like this deck always keeps you in it.
A couple of thoughts.
What do y’all think about -1 pyromancer +1 thing.
Also, does jace fit in to this archetype? My emotions want jace to be in this but I just don’t think it’s meant to be. If he is able to be in here I think it would be a slight change to the deck. 4 things, 2 jace, no pyromancers in the main. Maybe even blood moon as well.
I have been liking the pro tour list. Many of the games I lose are strictly to me misplaying. I feel like this deck always keeps you in it.
A couple of thoughts.
What do y’all think about -1 pyromancer +1 thing.
Also, does jace fit in to this archetype? My emotions want jace to be in this but I just don’t think it’s meant to be. If he is able to be in here I think it would be a slight change to the deck. 4 things, 2 jace, no pyromancers in the main. Maybe even blood moon as well.
What do y’all think?
That’s blue moon....
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: UR Gifts Storm URB Grixis Death's Shadow R12 Bolt
Pauper: UR Puzzle Pieces
EDH: UB Phenax, God of Deception UR The Locust God UR Saheeli the Gifted WBG Anafenza, the Foremost
There is a nonbo in the deck with Young Pyromancer and Thing in the Ice.This isn't a nonbo. While yes your Thing in the Ice will clear your board as well, if you find yourself in this position you're most likely winning already. Not to mention it can be handy to save your Young Pyromancer or return Snapcaster Mage to your hand in response to removal or for more value later.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Creature Base
Thing in the Ice: This is your standard second wincon. It's generally easy to flip, can perform combat tricks and closes out games fast.
Not to mention did someone say bounce Snapcaster Mage for future value?
Snapcaster Mage: Possibly our strongest card in the 75. With a deck that has 28+ spells in it, this card literally does everything.
Grim Lavamancer: A very value-centric card that can be great against aggro mathcups. If you expect a lot of creature based aggro or company decks, think of adding him in your 75.
Bedlam Reveler: This has proven itself in Mardu Pyromancer as a bomb that can refill your hand after stripping your opponents hand away. However most iterations of UR Pyromancer are reactionary style decks that won't fill the graveyard as fast. You can play this, but I think there are currently just better options.
Delver of Secrets: It may seem obvious that Delver could fit into a deck with so many spells. However Delver is incredibly weak in the spot removal heavy format that modern has become. With cards like Fatal Push and Lightning Bolt everywhere, your creature choices either need to make spot removal weaker or have a strong board impact. I wouldn't suggest running Delver in the current shape of modern.
Counter Magic
Spell Snare: While under-powered in recent years, Spell Snare might actually be making a comeback. Powerful/Impactful 2 drops are entering into modern again and Spell Snare may be just as strong as it was back when Jund was the most played deck in Modern. From Cranial Plating and Tarmogoyf to Eidolon of the Great Revel and Dark Confidant, this is easily on of our best counters.
Mana Leak: An everlasting modern staple that is generally a hard counter besides in the very late game.
Remand: Remand is still an amazing card in general that generates a huge tempo swing. If you enjoy the tempo game add a couple. If you prefer hard answers to your opponents cards then don't.
Logic Knot: Just a great counter, but can be a trap to run more than 1.
Delay: If you're going a more aggro build than tempo based then Delay could be fine for you. If you're a more tempo/control build then I'd stay away from delay and stick to your hard counters.
Cryptic Command: This does everything we want it to. Although we only run 22 lands generally, with all cantrips it's not hard to set up for Cryptic. 3-4 in your 75 is extremely powerful.
Izzet Charm: A decent counterspell than acts as additional removal and a filter if you're flooding out.
Overall a solid choice.
Removal Package
Abrade: Very valuable yet underappreciated card currently. Acts as a 5th bolt and can also get rid of pesky Chalice of the Void's or Cranial Plating's. I'd suggest 1-2 in your 75.
Roast: In a world full of Eldrazi and Gurmag's, Roast is king. Find room for 1-3 in your 75.
Electrolyze: Great value card that can clean up early drops while maintaining card advantage.
Spitebellows: A mystery card that can get rid of larger creatures without fear of stubborn denial. Who knew?
Magmatic Sinkhole: A great removal spell for larger creatures that hits walkers as well.
Card Advantage
Serum Visions: Long time favored cantrip of modern. Helps us hit our land drops early and maintain a lower mana base.
Thought Scour: This card has potential, however I'd suggest only running this over the previous 2 if you are running Bedlam Reveler
Ancestral Vision: Brought back to modern by the grace of WOTC, but it's never found it's home. Well we are here to give it one. Our games can be grindy and at most points in the game we will have time to get it off of suspend.(sidenote: being able to make a Lantern player draw 3 so you can swing from under Ensnaring Bridge is a neat interaction.)
Land Base
Steam Vents: Obvious choice. Shock land in our colors.
Island: Make sure you have several of these to prevent us losing to blood moon. Throw one Mountain in there while you're at it.
Spirebluff Canal: Great card, but don't run more than 1 or 2. We don't want many "tap lands" in our deck.
Sulfur Falls: Same rules as Spirebluff Canal
Fiery Islet: Great addition to our land base incase we get flooded. Consider running 1 or 2 in your main board.
Field of Ruin: This card out-performs for us. Opponents will generally play around Blood Moon and start fetching out their basic lands. This turns Field of Ruin into a huge tempo swing for us. Being able to take them off a land while staying up ourselves can swing an iffy game immediately into our favor.
Ghost Quarter: A good replacement for Field of Ruin but strictly worse in most cases.
Tectonic Edge: Have I mentioned Field of Ruin?
Sideboard Options
Dispel: Great counter for control/tempo mirrors and certain aggro matchups like burn.
Mystical Dispute: Great new addition for additional counter magic. Casting Leak for 1 mana against control mirrors can make/break counter wars.
Anger of the Gods: Great against dredge and other go wide strategies.
Ceremonious Rejection: Great answer for Eldrazi, Affinity and even Classic Gx Tron variants.
Relic of Progenitus: Anti-graveyard strats. You know what this is for.
Surgical Extraction: See above.
Ashiok, Dream Render: Great option to not only help control graveyard strategies, but to also prevents combo decks from searching for their wincon.
Disdainful Stroke: Being good against Eldrazi and Tron, this also gives you a good counter for things like Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Scapeshift.
Negate: All around good counter magic. Could possibly be included in the mainboard.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor: Another wincon against control mirriors (ex: UW Control) where you want to take Young Pyromancer out.
Crumble to Dust: Great against unfair decks like Scapeshift, Eldrazi, etc.
Molten Rain: Same use as Crumble.
Cleansing Wildfire: Exactly what we've wanted for a long time. This card has turned Eldrazi-Tron from unwinnable to a 50/50 alone. Flashing this back with Snapcaster Mage feels just as good as a flashback remand.
Blood Moon: A worthy sideboard option, but can be a wasted slot. Opponents will generally peg us as a Blue Moon style deck and will already be playing around Blood Moon.
Counterflux: Great answer for storm and can save you in a pinch against control mirrors. A worthy sideboard option.
Stone Rain: Same reasons as Molten Rain.
Spreading Seas: More land hate with a draw effect. Could have potential.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Peter and Pascal Vieren took the below list to Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan. While Peter had decent success overall, Pascal took it undefeated during the swiss rounds and was the first to secure a top 8 placement. Finishing 3rd place, losing to Mardu Pyromancer, Pascal piloted the deck to perfection and showed everyone how powerful Young Pyromancer can be when paired with cheap and efficient interaction.
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Thing in the Ice
3 Young Pyromancer
Instants & Sorceries
3 Ancestral Vision
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Opt
4 Serum Visions
1 Spell Snare
1 Abrade
1 Logic Knot
2 Mana Leak
2 Remand
2 Roast
1 Electrolyze
3 Cryptic Command
4 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Island
3 Steam Vents
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
3 Field of Ruin
1 Spirebluff Canal
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Spell Snare
1 Abrade
1 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Electrolyze
1 Molten Rain
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Relic of Progenitus
Video of Pascal piloting the deck during the Pro Tour semi-finals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypPdISsq9l8&t=3811s
Shaun McLauren is a long time Electrolyze fan and stuck to his roots during the 2015 Magic World Championship. Piloting UR Pyromancer during the Modern portion of the tournament he finished an unimpressive 2-2. Although the record doesn't speak much of the deck itself, his play did. Facing an abysmal match in Boggles and a pretty even match-up against UW control, he was still able to showcase the power of cheap and efficient answers, while progressing your own game plan.
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Young Pyromancer
Instants & Sorceries
1 Cryptic Command
1 Dispel
2 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Mana Leak
4 Remand
1 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
3 Gitaxian Probe
1 Roast
4 Serum Visions
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Desolate Lighthouse
3 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Spellskite
2 Blood Moon
2 Dispel
2 Pyroclasm
2 Roast
2 Shatterstorm
Video of Shaun piloting the deck against UW control during the 2015 World Magic Championship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK-cukm0Y54
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Many of the matchups below reflect the many hours of testing for Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan by Peter Vieren and will follow his and Pascal's deck list. I take no credit for the below Matchup Guide. This will also be updated as decks/meta change.
Out: 1 Spell Snare, 1 Abrade, 1 Electrolyze
In: 2 Dispel, 1 Relic of Progenitus
Out: 2 Cryptic Command, 2 Roast, 3 Thing in the Ice
In: 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Dispel, 1 Abrade, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Vendilion Clique
Out: 2 Roast, 2 Cryptic Command, 1 Electrolyze, 1 Young Pyromancer
In: 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Dispel, 1 Abrade, 1 Vendilion Clique
Out: 2 Roast, 2 Lightning Bolt, 3 Thing in the Ice
In: 1 Disdainful Stroke, 1 Negate, 2 Ceremonious Rejection, 1 Vendilion Clique, 1 Molten Rain, 1 Crumble to Dust
Post-board it's relatively easy. Expect these rounds to go 3 games and play accordingly.
Out: 2 Mana Leak, 2 Remand, 1 Logic Knot
In: 1 Electrolyze, 1 Abrade, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Vendilion Clique
Out: 4 Lightning Bolt, 1 Spell Snare, 1 Electrolyze, 1 Young Pyromancer
In: 1 Abrade, 1 Disdainful Stroke, 2 Ceremonious Rejection, 1 Vendilion Clique, 1 Molten Rain, 1 Crumble to Dust
Out: 2 Ancestral Vision, 2 Remand, 1 Electrolyze
In: 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Dispel, 1 Abrade
Out: 2 Remand, 2 Mana Leak, 1 Cryptic Command, 3 Young Pyromancer
In: 2 Anger of the Gods, 2 Ceremonious Rejection, 1 Abrade, 1 Electrolyze, 1 Vendilion Clique, 1 Spell Snare
Out: 2 Roast, 2 Mana Leak, 1 Abrade, 1 Ancestral Vision
In: 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Electrolyze
Out: 1 Abrade, 1 Lightning Bolt, 1 Thing in the Ice
In: 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Electrolyze, 1 Spell Snare
Out: 2 Roast, 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Young Pyromancer
In: 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Dispel, 1 Electrolyze, 1 Vendilion Clique
Out: 4 Lightning Bolt, 2 Roast, 2 Thing in the Ice
In: 1 Negate, 1Spell Snare, 2 Dispel, 1 Molten Rain, 1 Electrolyze, 1 Disdainful Stroke, 1 Vendilion Clique
Out: 1 Roast, 1 Abrade, 1 Spell Snare
In: 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Electrolyze
Out: 1 Electrolyze, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Roast, 3 Thing in the Ice
In: 1 Negate, 1 Dispel, 2 Ceremonious Rejection, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Abrade, 1 Vendilion Clique
Out: 4 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Thing in the Ice
In: 1 Molten Rain, 1 Disdainful Stroke, 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 1 Crumble to Dust, 1 Vendilion Clique
Counter their Living End and use Thing in the Ice to reset the board state if they get to the point that they are casting their creatures. The Mono-U Living End is a bit trickier. It's pretty much a control mirror, but they have much more card draw and counter magic to protect their combo.
Vs Mono-U Living End
Out: 4 Lightning Bolt, 2 Roast, 1 Abrade
In: 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Dispel, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Electrolyze, 1 Vendilion Clique
Vs Jund Living End
Out: 2 Roast, 1 Abrade
In: 1 Vendilion Clique, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Negate
Out: 1 Spell Snare, 3 Young Pyromancer, 1 Abrade
In: 1 Molten Rain, 1 Electrolyze, 1 Disdainful Stroke, 1 Negate, 1 Vendilion Clique
Out: 1 Spell Snare, 3 Young Pyromancer, 1 Remand
In: 2 Anger of the Gods, 2 Dispel, 1 Electrolyze
Out: 1 Abrade, 1 Electrolyze
In: 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Spell Snare
Out:] 2 Cryptic Command, 2 Remand
In: 1 Electrolyze, 1 Abrade, 2 Anger of the Gods
Out: 1 Abrade, 1 Lightning Bolt
In: 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Spell Snare
Out: 4 Lightning Bolt, 2 Roast, 2 Thing in the Ice, 1 Electrolyze
In: 2 Dispel, 2 Ceremonious Rejection, 1 Molten Rain, 1 Disdainful Stroke, 1 Negate, 1 Vendilion Clique
Out: 3 Young Pyromancer, 2 Remand
In: 1 Abrade, 1 Dispel, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Electrolyze
Out: 1 Cryptic Command, 1 Spell Snare, 1 Electrolyze, 1 Mana Leak
In: 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Abrade, 2 Anger of the Gods
Out: 1 Electrolyze, 2 Roast, 2 Young Pyromancer
In: 1 Vendilion Clique, 1 Negate, 1 Spell Snare, 2 Anger of the Gods
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Thing in the Ice
3 Young Pyromancer
Instants & Sorceries
3 Ancestral Vision
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Opt
4 Serum Visions
1 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
1 Abrade
1 Logic Knot
2 Mana Leak
2 Roast
1 Electrolyze
3 Cryptic Command
3 Field of Ruin
5 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Spirebluff Canal
3 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Spell Snare
1 Abrade
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Negate
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Electrolyze
1 Molten Rain
1 Crumble to Dust
After testing I found that the Remand's in Pascal's list were decent over all, but I felt like they could be better. I ended up dropping them during testing for 1 extra Spell Snare main-board and 1 Spell Pierce. In testing it felt better over all, especially the extra snare.
After the GP I would make 1 change to the main-board and 1 change to the side-board. From my list I would drop Spell Pierce and either add a Flame Slash or another Abrade. Both cards offering extra removal and utility in their own way. Slash giving us another form of removal to dodge getting hated out by cards like Meddling Mage and Abrade giving us more interaction with artifacts, which ended up being so strong overall during the GP. The change I would make to the side-board is dropping the 3'rd Spell Snare (it's better main-board anyway) and adding another Molten Rain or even Field of Ruin as this card is close to holding MVP for this deck imo.
Round 1: Jeskai Spirits 2-1
Game 1: He got me with a main-board Blood Moon, which generally isn't good against us, but I had no basics in hand with 2 dual sources out. Proceed to game 2.
Game 2: Kept a hand with a few fetches, 1 AV, 2 bolts and and Electrolyze. Drew into a Thing in the Ice and took over the game from their. Nothing too special.
Game 3: Similar situation to game 2, but just a different starting hand. Nothing too crazy about this matchup. It felt very much like a Jeskai Geist type of deck as far as play style goes so I had side-boarded accordingly to that matchup.
Round 2: Ponza 2-0
Game 1: Right when we present our decks for cutting we get deck checked. 11 minutes later it turns out my opponent has a 1 card difference in his side-board than what he had registered. He received a game loss.
Game 2: I kept a decent hand with 1 island and 1 fetch, 2 cantrips, 1 Thing in the Ice, 1 Electrolyze and 1 Roast. He leads on Stomping Grounds/Arbor Elf so I instantly think Ponza and lead with a fetch land then pass the turn. He slams blood moon turn 2 so we fetch an island in response. We play a turn 2 Thing in the Ice and pass. He plays a turn 3 Bloodbraid that hits a Rhonas the Indomitable, which i'm not sure is normal for them to run or not... Turn 4 they attempt to pump the BBE so they can attack with Rhonas and we just bolt the BBE. They end up resolving another BBE t5 that only hit's a Sprawl that we Electrolyze and end up casting Opt their EOT to flip Thing. We get in with Thing, logic knot their storm breath, and bolt snap bolt followed up with another thing attack to win.
Round 3: Traverse Shadow 2-0
Game 1: Traverse Shadow (aka Jund or 4 color shadow) isn't an amazing matchup for us. We need a little bit of luck to win these and I guess I was just that lucky on Saturday. First few turns were him dealing damage to himself and him taking cards from my hand. Thankfully I had landed a T1 Ancestral so I was just waiting on that to fill my hand back up. On his EOT with 2 8/8 Shadow's (which were very much presenting lethal) I bolted him down to 2 because my only out was to draw more burn off of my Ancestral coming down and my draw. I draw my 3 from AV and brick. Draw for turn, Electrolyze GG on to Game 2.
Game 2: Very similar to game 1 I was lucky enough to draw Ancestral so it was safe from his T1 Thoughtsieze. He had ended up slightly flooding, but not too terribly as he really had only drawn maybe 2 lands more than he wanted for that game. I field of ruined his only blue source in watery grave to ensure no stubborn denial was available (this was 4 color Traverse Shadow that sides in the Stubs). He once again had double Shadow out and fetched to swing for lethal going to 6 life. Bolt snap bolt FTW.
Round 4: Burn 2-0
Game 1: This was a very close game even though he mull'd to 5. Bringing me down to 2 but going empty handed I was able to present 1 token from pyromancer and 2 thing (1 with 4 counters and 1 with 3). His EOT I bolted him. My turn I Snap bolted him, cast roast on my own token and spell snared my own roast to flip both thing and swing for the win.
Game 2: Another close game I was at 4 with him at 18 (from his own shock). I had a hand full of of dispels, snares, cryptics and a bolt. I drew snapcaster and proceceded to bolt snap bolt him on his EOT. Thanks to the cheap interaction I had in hand and great draws I was able to win the race with my 1 snapcaster and close out the game.
Round 5: Bring Kiki to Light 2-0
Game 1: He mull'd to 6 and kept a 1 land'r with a couple mana dorks. I killed his dorks before he could use them. Played a pyromancer and snared his Wall of Omens when he drew his 2nd land. He scooped because he was too far behind.
Game 2: I was able to deal with is early threats and thankfully guessed right on what he was playing, so my sideboard options were good (i had very little info on what he was playing because he didn't play much G1. I was able to cryptic his resto angel he played and roasted his Panglaical Wurm that he played from his library (didn't realize anyone played that card). Thing in the Ice closed out the game fast.
Round 6: Vizier Elves 2-1
I didn't realize who my Op was until after the round, but it was Platinum Pro player Eduardo Sajgalik.
Game 1: Vizier elves is a decent matchup for us. I dealt with his early dudes and closed out the game with Thing in the Ice. Pretty generic creature based match-up.
Game 2: I had Anger and Dispel in my hand. I had planned on going Anger t4 to hold up dispel to counter chord/company, however on T3 he only had enough creatures to chord for 1 and no mana to company. I cast t3 anger (as most lists I've seen run Selfless Spirit as their anti-sweeper) and he proceeds to Chord for Forge-Tender and blow me out. Felt super bad.
Game 3: As now I knew he had forge-tender I played around that as well as selfless spirit and made sure to hold up counter magic when I cast anger. Thing in the Ice along with cryptic snap cryptic to tap down his guys for 2 turns closed out the game.
We did it. The 6-0 dream for day 2 happened.
Round 7: Eldrazi Tron 1-2
Game 1: He landed T1 basilisk collar which made the game look worse in the end than it actually was. Final life totals ended up with me dead and him at 32. This game was actually very close. I had managed to stabilize with him being empty handed and myself at 4 life. He top decked walking balista and cast it for 8 when I didn't have enough lands open to snap cryptic. I needed him to brick one turn, but magic is what magic is...a cruel beast that never listens.
Game 2: t1 collar again. This feels familiar. I snared his t2 chalice and followed up with a molten rain. 2 field of ruin and a snap molten rain later I was able to flip a thing in the ice with cryptic back up and close out the game.
Game 3: t1 collar (what is this game?). He had natural tron on T3 and was able to land a Sword of Fire and Ice (I don't think most lists run this?) and was able to get a few hits in before I drew abrade for the sword. 2 Smasher's later the game was over.
Game 1 was so close and game 2 was won because of field of ruin. This card was so key to slowing them down that it really decided for me about the 1 molten rain/field of ruin add to the sideboard for me. If we can interact with their lands even more I feel like this match-up goes from unwinnable to slightly un-favored. Maybe it's better to just hope to dodge the match-up and not add another land interactive card? I'm not sure but need to test it out.
Round 8: UW Control 0-2
Game 1: I was locked out of red mana due to him hitting all 4 spreading sea's in 6 turns along with 3 field of ruin. Jace locked us out of the game.
Game 2: We got locked out of red mana again due to 3 spreading seas and 2 field of ruin by turn 7. I cliqued him and saw Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Spinx's Rev, Jace and Gideon and just scooped.
UW seems a little harder than UWx decks as UW's land interuption plan is very strong against us.
Over all I was thoroughly impressed with the decks performance and wished I could of stayed for day 2, but life calls and my only regret is that whoever my Op was on day 2 during the first rounds got a free win because I ended up having to leave due to the family emergency. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing to play and mold this deck as it has real power and honestly felt really strong against a good majority of the modern meta. I'm honestly happy with a finish of 6-2 for day one. We made day 2 the ole fashioned way, with no byes.
For anyone looking for an interactive deck with diverse plans of action I would really suggest it. Thanks for checking out my report!
If you check out my report from the GP it show's the list and changes I had made from Pascal's list. Thanks for wishing me luck, it probably helped!
As far as Ancestral Vision, it was really good for me. The deck has enough interaction to stall games that in most cases, suspending AV on turns 3 or 4 still felt great. Personally I'd suggest AV over blood moon.
Thanks! Yeah everything went about as well as I could of hoped.
Remand is really good don't get me wrong. I just found most times in remanding something it was to find another answer for that threat, so that was my reasoning with putting in extra hard permission over it. The tempo swing from remand is of course really strong.
GL at the GP. Hope you make day 2 and actually get to stay for it lol
Thanks a lot for putting this together, I've drifted over to this from Storm because this is the 'control' deck I've been looking for. I've been wildly inconsistent with it so far - some nights I'll go 3-1, some I'll be 0-3 bye drop. The primer was really useful.
As for my meta, I cut the 2 remands for +1 spell snare +1 spell pierce - there are a lot of low curve decks running around my shop and remand wasn't pulling it's weight. I'll see how the new spells go tonight.
Pauper: UR Puzzle Pieces
EDH: UB Phenax, God of Deception UR The Locust God UR Saheeli the Gifted WBG Anafenza, the Foremost
R1 - GDS
G1 I stole game one with the ol' wait for him to tap out then bolt snap bolt
G2 I was overwhelmed by DS and angler I couldn't answer
G3 I stopped any of his threats from sticking and overran him with an elemental army
R2 - Ad Nauseum
G1 - screwed and stuck on one land all game
G2 - grindy as you like. he delays the inevitable with Angel's Graces
G3 - we both drew badly, he was hard casting SSG and Lab Maniac to stay alive, then Angel's Grace came out, and I stop him on upkeep to Snap bolt, he loses to his pact of negation
R3 - Jeskai copycat
G1 He catches me out
G2 I know what to stop and overwhelm him
G3 I had the advantage in a long, grind of a game, then I tapped my Field of Ruin, he bolts me to 4 and swings with the collonade I forgot could fly. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
R4 - Hollow one
G1 Burning inquiry makes me discard my red sources
G2 More questions than I had answers, especially when I lose half of them to enquiry
For two rounds I felt unbeatable. I'm definitely learning from the mistake and taking it to a mega modern tournament next Monday. I'm really enjoying this deck.
Pauper: UR Puzzle Pieces
EDH: UB Phenax, God of Deception UR The Locust God UR Saheeli the Gifted WBG Anafenza, the Foremost
I'm finding it quite funny how little he has done since the unban, actually.
I've seen people run two of in the sideboard, but I don't have any and can't afford to get them either. It could be useful in control matchups and maybe BGx though.
Pauper: UR Puzzle Pieces
EDH: UB Phenax, God of Deception UR The Locust God UR Saheeli the Gifted WBG Anafenza, the Foremost
Long time lurker on Salvation, but just had to comment because I'm really interested in the deck, but it seems the activity has dropped off in this thread. Is their any fundamental way the deck has changed to combat the new meta? Any upgrades to the deck that have been released in the newest sets?
I've been piloting an UR Kiln Fiend deck for the past two years in modern. Lately, I've been feeling like I need something a little bit different. I'll be testing a list which has a lot of points in common with this one, so I thought I might as well share it. It's a very low to the ground, very aggressive curve.
Feel free to give me your feedback, or ask questions! I'll let you know when I have results, and share them.
1 Arid Mesa
2 Field of Ruin
3 Flooded Strand
4 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
Creatures (12)
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Thing in the Ice
4 Young Pyromancer
2 Disrupting Shoal
3 Dive Down
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Opt
4 Remand
2 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
3 Unsubstantiate
Sorceries (4)
4 Serum Visions
1 Abrade
3 Blood Moon
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Entrancing Melody
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Shattering Spree
1 Spellskite
2 Surgical Extraction
----------------------------
Hm I didn't like to play with this list at all. Played against humans and infect. 0-2 and 1-2
A couple of thoughts.
What do y’all think about -1 pyromancer +1 thing.
Also, does jace fit in to this archetype? My emotions want jace to be in this but I just don’t think it’s meant to be. If he is able to be in here I think it would be a slight change to the deck. 4 things, 2 jace, no pyromancers in the main. Maybe even blood moon as well.
What do y’all think?
That’s blue moon....
Pauper: UR Puzzle Pieces
EDH: UB Phenax, God of Deception UR The Locust God UR Saheeli the Gifted WBG Anafenza, the Foremost
I'll be updating info for the primer if anyone is interested in playing this.