Dies to Removal

Running him is just too risky in my opinion, especially since there are some decks that will just let him stick and then win the next turn.

What would go in its place? We are already talking about removing GL. I am still wary of running Flame Rifts with Eidolon. I don't think (Hell)Spark Elemental gets through often enough given the format is in a more fair phase of the meta.

Flame Rift would go in its place.

YOLO.

Goblin Guide, Grim Lavamancer, and Eidolon of the Revel. After that? BURN! Well, Burn and Sulfuric Vortex.

I meant in my fetchless version. I can't imagine running Lavamancer in a build without fetch lands in the first place and we are thinking of removing it from the "default" version as well.

This would be what you suggest then?

[deck]
Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Price of Progress
4 Flame Rift
4 Fireblast
3 Sulfuric Vortex

Creatures
4 Goblin Guide
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Keldon Marauders

Lands
18 Mountain

Sideboard
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Searing Blood
3 Smash to Smithereens
3 Mindbreak Trap
3 Tormod's Crypt
[/deck]

Actually, yeah. That looks really good, dude.

Looks fine to me.

This would be what you suggest then?

[deck]
Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Price of Progress
4 Flame Rift
4 Fireblast
3 Sulfuric Vortex

Creatures
4 Goblin Guide
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Keldon Marauders

Lands
18 Mountain

Sideboard
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Searing Blood
3 Smash to Smithereens
3 Mindbreak Trap
3 Tormod's Crypt
[/deck]

-2 Mountain, +2 Barbarian Ring.

-2 Mountain, +2 Barbarian Ring.

No fetches means threshold is much harder to obtain. We want to avoid getting hurt by our own PoP. The land also hurts us every time we use it.

I will add that version to my testing regimen. Need to have settled on a version for Syracuse.

Not hard to get threshold with no Lava man. You're not hurting yourself with fetches. The first time you use that land to finish an opponent, you'll thank me.

Your life total doesn't matter, remember? lol

I run two in any fetchless deck.

I will add it to the list. It is the only way to be sure.

I will add it to the list. It is the only way to be sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCbfMkh940Q

If only...

Ugh, it is so hard to get proper testing on MODO. I made the swap from Devils to Flame Rifts and have since not faced a single DRS. I did run into a few cases where I would have been happier with Devil but I haven't faced nearly enough archetypes to say I have tested it enough to make a final decision.

As soon as this upcoming Modern PTQ is over with, I'm going to be focusing on learning how to play Burn really well for the SCG Open I hope to go to in December. If anyone wants to do some regular playtesting on Cockatrice towards the end of August, that'd be awesome.

I am always available. I might even learn a few other decks for you to fight.

I've played a bit of Miracles and a decent amount of Delver, so I could probably pilot the opposite side of both of those matchups too.
=)

This would be what you suggest then?

[deck]
Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Price of Progress
4 Flame Rift
4 Fireblast
3 Sulfuric Vortex

Creatures
4 Goblin Guide
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Keldon Marauders

Lands
18 Mountain

Sideboard
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Searing Blood
3 Smash to Smithereens
3 Mindbreak Trap
3 Tormod's Crypt
[/deck]

-2 Mountain, +2 Barbarian Ring.

Cutting mountains for barbarian rings weaken your fireblasts. In
a deck running only 18 mountains i might even consider going down to 3 fireblasts because you will almost never get to cast a second one if you draw it .... so running 16 mountains, 2 rings and 4 fireblasts is definitely too risky if you ask me.

I drew two fireblasts

#firstworldredmageproblems

Maybe it is just the shuffler on MODO but I do often see 4 Mountains and 2 Fireblasts. The reason why I kept shaving land was because I was constantly feeling that I saw too many.

Never run less than 4 fireblasts.

Never lower your eyes to an enemy.

Look him in the eye and rub one off

Call him a pussy while you finish.

Ok, never run less than 4 fireblasts, but then don't cut mountains when you are already running only 18 lands.

Eh, you should still have an 85+% chance of seeing two mountains by turn four when you have 16 in there. And you're playing burn: luck is pretty much your best tool. Stronger decks with more play to them can afford to make more conservative card choices, but this deck can't.

Had a very disappointing Open today. Dropped at 2-3

R1 - Shardless Bug
He lands 3 DRS game 1 and a later Goyf but I keep racing. My Vortex gets countered (expected) and I have 3 tapped lands on board, a 4th in hand and 2 Fireblasts. He topdecks Hymn... Game 2 he drops an early Goyf and we race. I burn through two of his Forces and get him to 4. He drops a DRS with 2 cards left in hand. I throw my last card (Fireblast) with enough mana to pay for Daze/Spell Pierce. He has the third Force.
0-1

R2 - Miracles
Game 1 I keep a bit loosely with one land, 3 Eidolon and a few one drop spells. I don't see the second land for 4 turns. First Eidolon gets hit with Swords, he then sets up Counter-Top and I can't get there. Game 2 had me drop 3 Goblin Guides and letting them do the work for me. Game 3 had him set up Counter-Top after taking a lot of damage from Marauders and Vexing Devil but I manage to get him to try
to put the Top on top of his deck with a Lava Spike that would drop him rather low. I respond with a flurry of bolts to finish him off.
1-1

R3 - Junk Stoneblade
Game 1 was Goblin Guide with a little burn backup. Game 2 has me play a Goblin Guide and 2 Eidolons that die fast. He hard casts a Batterskull with a Sword of Fire and Ice from a dead Mystic in hand. I topdeck a second Fireblast and the game ends.
2-1

R4 - Grixis Delver
Incredibly close races. He kills me by Stifling a Vortex trigger as well as one from Eidolon which would have been lethal combined with the burn I threw at him in response to it. Game 2 has him blind Cabal Therapy out two Fireblasts from my hand. The race is incredibly close with burn racing a flipped Delver and eventually a True-Name. The turning point was when I had him at 4 with one land in play and Bolt/Fireblast in hand. I threw the Bolt at his head and had it Diverted to my head. I have 4 turns to draw one of the 15 Mountains
left in my deck but brick.
2-2

G5 - Death and Taxes
What should have been an easy fight started with Vial into Thaliz, Mom, Stoneforge and Batterskull with me seeing no removal. Game 2 had me racing to burn him until he hard casts a turn 4 Leyline. I overreact and throw two Fireblasts at him bringing him to 2 and leaving one land in my hand. I topdeck a Sulfuric Vortex and he plays a Jitte the next turn.
2-3 drop

Bad beats all around today. I beat the deck I am bad at and lost to two decks I am good against. I brought the Devil version and it did eat several Swords. I didn't see too many cases where Rift would have been better though as I tended to cast them only with one mana available. What I may try is to cut my Marauders for Rifts and see how well I like running both as the Marauders were rather disappointing. The matchups today actually favored Young Pyromancer as well. I saw a ton of BUG and Delver at the tables.

Rough stuff, man.

It could have gone better. I was pleased to beat Miracles and actually started feeling like I had a chance after round 3. The round 4 fight was rather fun and intricate (who Stifles Vortex and plays Divert?). The way round 5 went, though, I knew it was time to throw in the towel.

Blaklanner: would you like to play the Magic Online Championship Season Nine for me? Its on Saturday, September 6, 2014 at 7 a.m. Pacific.

The format is Legacy (its MOCS level so we shouldn't see so many T1 kill decks (hopefully)) I'm much too traumatized too play Legacy anymore so if your up for it and you do win we can split the prize

As of this moment I am free to do so. I will continue testing/practicing.

Eh, you should still have an 85+% chance of seeing two mountains by turn four when you have 16 in there. And you're playing burn: luck is pretty much your best tool. Stronger decks with more play to them can afford to make more conservative card choices, but this deck can't.

But there is the chance you draw 2 fireblasts. In that case you don't want to have barbarian rings and be unable to cast your fireblast until you lose.
As for luck being your best tool , i disagree. Your best tool is tight play , knowledge of the format and very accurate deckbuilding (the latter being the opposite of running 16 mountains and 4 fireblasts).

Besides, barbarian rings cost you life, hurt you when you cast price of progress, and most importantly can be
wastelanded, which is a very big issue when you have only 18 lands and the most played counterspells after force of will are daze and spell pierce.

Given how often I had to double Fireblast things last weekend, I cannot reasonably cut any Mountains.

Boobarian Ring.

Ovarian Ring

Caesarian Ring

You should never be playing daze from shardless, just gonna say it