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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 4:30 am
by magicdownunder
Its good, just not great when your paired up against something else which is aggressive (taking 6 damage on T2 from your own lands isn't very fun vs Zoo).

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 4:46 am
by BlakLanner
This is true. I tend to lean heavily on my Helixes in such fights. Satyr Firedancer has been a beast in those matchups. Searing Blaze can even drop most goyfs when he is on the field.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 9:01 am
by Khaospawn
What MDU said. In my experience, it just wasn't worth it. Even now, I'm reconsidering the green splash I made for Destructive Revelry. Those shocks you take for playing these lands add up.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 5:52 pm
by BlakLanner
They do add up indeed. If I didn't have Helix I would be truly hurting. I would give up black in the deck were it not for the insane versatility that is Rakdos Charm. Revelry is nice but I wanted something that would make Wurmcoil go away permanently but still fight against things like Leyline.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:44 pm
by hamfactorial
BlakLanner:

Hide // Seek is the card you want for Wurmcoils, with upside against Leylines and the Ad Nauseam decks.

The card is an all-star in my Dega deck.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:00 pm
by BlakLanner
Yep and I carry 3 in my sideboard for that. I was commenting on the RG option.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:03 pm
by hamfactorial
Ah, understood. :thumbsup:

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:21 pm
by BlakLanner
You know, I hadn't thought about Seeking the Lightning Storm. That is a really good idea. I usually only used that side against Emrakul and Valakut.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:45 pm
by hamfactorial
If you Seek their win-con on turn 2, they can't Pact of Negation since they can't pay at their upkeep. It's a free win card, makes the matchup laughable.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:47 pm
by hamfactorial
What do you Seek against Scapeshift? They always seem to have more Mountains than I can remove.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:48 pm
by BlakLanner
I go after Valakut itself. Makes it much harder for them to go off, especially if they draw too many Mountains. A lot of Scapeshift decks only run 2.

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:54 pm
by hamfactorial
Excellent, thank you. I'll try that next time I go up against those guys.

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:10 am
by MisterMet
Just went 3-1 with this in a DE:

[deck]
Land
4 Arid Mesa
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Blood Crypt
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground

Creatures
3 Ash Zealot
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Vexing Devil

Burn
4 Bump in the Night
2 Flames of the Blood Hand
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Skullcrack

Sideboard
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Back to Nature
1 Combust
3 Destructive Revelry
2 Hell's Thunder
3 Rakdos Charm
2 Torpor Orb
1 Volcanic Fallout
[/deck]

Faced Scapeshift (2-1), Storm (2-1), Affinity (0-2) and Bant Delver (2-0).

Against the Snapcaster and Storm decks my opponent always had to deal with Ash Zealot because of how much she disrupts their game. For the most part that always slowed them enough to give me the win.

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:35 pm
by magicdownunder
Ash vs SnapCaster Mage is so tech :p

P.S. I'm terrible at Robots (reminds me of Rx Devotion in standard).

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:48 pm
by LaZerBurn
I like Ash in here too seems like a good meta call right now :)

@MDU - if Robots is like Rx Devo I'll steer well clear of it :)

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:49 pm
by magicdownunder
_Batutinha_ take on Modern Burn:

[deck]Br Burn[/deck]

Game plan: Fuck Leylines and Boogies we'll lose anyways, just pack hate for Affinity, Twins, Pods and Graveyards.

What do I think is wrong with the deck, 4x Grim Lavamancer is way too many, you don't want to see more then 1 (usually) since you'll never have the food to last him (I'm aware that they're boss vs Affinity and Pod) I wish we could go back to our old DrS and Grim split but that isn't possible. Thus I suggest 2x Spark Elemental over 1x Shard
Volley and 1x Grim Lavamancer (Sparky helps complement our VD and GG starts) I have no other complaints.

3cc Burn is a nice option as well esp. if Zoo dies down a little (which is has) and if we're packing 8x Robot hate I don't think we'll care about Robots....

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:15 pm
by LaZerBurn
Thanks for posting :) I like the list, it's only 7 cards away from the first post ban 75 you posted here :)

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 3:17 am
by MisterMet
[deck]
Land
4 Arid Mesa
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Blood Crypt
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground

Creatures
3 Ash Zealot
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
4 Vexing Devil

Burn
4 Bump in the Night
2 Flames of the Blood Hand
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
4 Skullcrack

Sideboard
2 Back to Nature
1 Combust
3 Destructive Revelry
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Hell's Thunder
3 Rakdos Charm
2 Torpor Orb
[/deck]

Went 3-1 in a DE with this version.

Round 1 (2-1): Went up against Goyf-Twin and I learned in game 2 how bad Torpor Orb is against this variation.

Round 2 (2-1): Against Melira Pod (with the alternate wincon involving Archangel of Thune). Again Torpor Orb was useless in game 2 since he had Archangel there and so I replaced it for game 3 with Combust.

Round 3 (1-2): Against Goyf-Twin. This time I didn't side in Orb but it didn't matter since he had multiple Goyfs game 2
and I flooded out late game 3.

Round 4 (2-1): Against Melira Pod. Again I didn't side in Orb and instead brought in Combust because I was down a game and didn't want to be caught off guard by the Archangel combo. Game 2 he kept a 1 land hand with bird and hierarch. Searing Blaze on the first mana dork slowed his tempo enough to help me win. Game 3 he had Chord of Calling in hand (which I found out through Goblin Guide) but he decided to tutor in his only Viscera Seer with Ranger of Eos which left him vulnerable to Rakdos Charm on my turn.

I'm planning to remove the two Torpor Orbs and replace them with a third Ensnaring Bridge and a fourth Rakdos Charm.

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 3:36 am
by magicdownunder
I agree with your choices :smileup: please get more fetch lands it will drastically improve Searing Blaze and Girm Lavamancer (it really will, and despite what the math nuts will tell you it WILL slightly reduce the odds of drawing another land).

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 3:38 am
by BlakLanner
Of course it will slightly reduce the chances of drawing land as it removes one from your deck. The key word is "slightly", not worth using just for the thinning alone. You are completely correct about how much it helps Searing Blaze and Lavamancer though. Try to bump to 8 fetches if you can. You will notice the difference.

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:01 pm
by MisterMet
I should get those last two Scalding Tarns since waiting this long has only caused the price to increase even more. Which two lands should this replace? I'm thinking a mountain and Blood Crypt.

Also at the end of game 3 of round 3 I had an uncracked fetchland in hopes that I might topdeck a Searing Blaze. Was that the right move or should I have cracked it a few turns earlier?

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:11 pm
by Toddington
I'm strongly under the impression that holding lands in hand/leaving fetches uncracked is totally the right thing to do when playing with Searing Blaze in your deck. The thinning effect is small (but I love value!), and in Modern nowadays often the 1 damage you do to yourself is relevant...

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 3:53 pm
by hamfactorial
If you don't need to use a fetch for a second/third color, or to fill up a graveyard for Grim Lavamancer, it's right to leave it alone for Searing Blaze action. Be disciplined, don't do 1 damage to avoid taking 2 from a shockland.

Also, don't let anyone dissuade you from using a fetch to thin your deck if you absolutely need to. The percentage increase of drawing a spell is small but it exists. You have to be the judge of whether the 1 life is worth the extra shot at seeing the card you need. In a combo heavy format like Modern, it often is.

Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:40 pm
by PrimalBurn
Yeah Im bad about getting restless when Im low on gas and cracking fetches for the thin effect to hopefully draw into spells. Discipline as a red player is definitely an underrated skill :yes:

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 1:00 am
by magicdownunder
[deck=MDU's Rx Burn]Creatures 10
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Vexing Devil

Burn 28
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Bump In The Night
3 Skullcrack
4 Searing Blaze
4 Shard Volley
2 Flames of the Blood Hand
1 Faithless Looting

Land 20
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
5 Mountain
2 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground

Sideboard 15
3 Hell's Thunder
3 Rakdos Charm
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Destructive Revelry
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Back to Nature[/deck]

Modern Elimination Report (Event 6803399)
Modern Elimination R1 Rx Burn vs UB Fae Event 6803399
Modern Elimination R2 Rx Burn vs Amulet
of Vigor Event 6803399

Modern Elimination R3 Split

This is my old list (I just found it in my achieves), if I was to play burn now I think i'll go with the "I'll lose to Leyline and Boogles plan anyways".

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 3:19 am
by zemanjaski
Probably going to play this in the MOCs, anyone got a solid decklist? I liked the:
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Figure of Destiny
4 Vexing Devil

split.

Is Searing Blood playable in the 60? If not, in the 70?

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:36 am
by BlakLanner
Blood? Not really, too many 3 toughness creatures. Searing Blaze, however, is excellent.

As far as a deck list goes, do you want Rb or Rbw? There are differing schools of thought on which is better in various circumstances. I am in the Rbw camp with this:

[deck]Burn[/deck]

The Shrines are falling out of favor with me. I am thinking moving to either Ajani Vengeant or Chandra, Pyromaster for the control matchups. Honestly the only thing keeping me in black
instead of blue is Rakdos Charm. The card is just that good out of the sideboard.

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 7:11 am
by LaZerBurn
Probably going to play this in the MOCs, anyone got a solid decklist? I liked the:
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Figure of Destiny
4 Vexing Devil

split.

Is Searing Blood playable in the 60? If not, in the 70?
Excellent :) Check these for a starting point -
_Batutinha_ take on Modern Burn:

[deck]Br Burn[/deck]

Game plan: Fuck Leylines and Boogies we'll lose anyways, just pack hate for Affinity, Twins, Pods and Graveyards.

What do I think is wrong with the deck, 4x Grim Lavamancer is way too many, you don't want to see more then 1 (usually) since you'll never have the food to last him (I'm aware that they're boss vs Affinity and Pod) I wish we could go back to our old DrS and Grim split but that isn't possible. Thus I suggest 2x Spark Elemental over 1x Shard Volley and 1x Grim Lavamancer (Sparky helps complement our VD and GG starts) I have no other complaints.

3cc Burn is a nice option as well esp. if Zoo dies down a little (which is has) and if we're packing 8x Robot hate I don't think we'll care about Robots....
And [url=http://www.
starcitygames.com/article/28041_Dissecting-The-Dirty-South.html]this[/url] is the Sully list with the split you like. He runs Blood for Robots.

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:29 am
by magicdownunder
Playing a Modern DE right now beat UWr Control 2-1, do you guys think UWr is a good MU for burn? I'm running _Batutinha_ list atm and I really dislike holding onto a fist full of Searing Blaze and Rakdos Charm because I have nothing better to replace Grim Lavamancer with... (the SB plan was -4x Grim +2x Flames of the Blood Hand +2x Rakdos Charm) it could have been Combust to kill Resto Angel and man-land but I figure at least Charm can sometimes randomly win games with Blade Splicer, Snappy, Fink and Angel are all around.

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:37 am
by magicdownunder
Sometimes I just want to toss in one Sacred Foundry and 4x [cards]Boros Charm[/cards]s in the SB just for these combo and control MUs.... though I dislike the idea of turning on Spell Snare so :shrug:

I lost G2 vs Ad Nauseam 1-2, it felt hopeless - with him top-decking his Infect enchantment the turn before I could kill him - it makes me want to pack hate but it don't think its worth worrying about >2% of the meta.

Won G3 vs Scapeshift 2-1, it was a blowout game 1 and 3 - I feel like I would have won 2 as well if I played my lands a little differently - I'm gonna have to change my the SB plan, its just not good for the diverse meta (its would be GREAT if I keep facing Pod, Robots and Twin (omg I'll love that with this set-up)) but based on what
I'm seeing I need to ensure that I have decent live cards in at least every MU rather then boarding in crap which rarely turns on.

Won G4 vs Pod 2-1, G2 was massive flooding (I had 8 lands in play but a bunch of fetches in the yard...) someone help me with the SB please!!!!!

- - - - - - - - - -

Green Splash seems best because it gives us Back to Nature (wrecks Auras and Ad Nauseam), Destructive Revelry as Artifact + Enchantment hate which DEALS damage!! and Abrupt Decay which can't be countered (its an upgrade of Combust since it can be used in more MUs).

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 1:39 pm
by BlakLanner
I don't think green is where we want to be. It does give us a weapon against a difficult fringe matchup (bogles) and an option for enchantment/artifact removal. I don't think we want to move toward Abrupt Decay since, goyf aside, we can easily deal with any creature that Decay hits with our current packages. If we really want hard creature removal (and the third color to support it), Path to Exile seems to be the better option. It hits things like Archangel, Restoration Angel, Deceiver Exarch, Phyrexian Obliterator as well as the little ones.

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 2:25 pm
by BlakLanner
At the request of a few people, I will go over some common sideboard options for various decks. I will make edits as suggestions are made or other ideas come to mind.

Pod: Our best weapons here are Rakdos Charm (all three modes have value), Torpor Orb (deals with Finks, Resto, Redcap, and Witness triggers) and Grafdigger's Cage (shuts down pod itself as well as persist creatures). Combust has some use against the angels but I don't think it is worth the slots. Anger of the Gods is a new card people have been adding and it does work against persist and Voice. Anti-lifegain can help but you have to be very surgical with it and take out a combo piece asap or they can just fire up the loop the next turn.

Affinity: Shattering Spree is wonderful here. Other options include Rakdos Charm, Satyr Firedancer (they have trouble removing it and it lets you kill his creatures while burning his
face), Ensnaring Bridge and Smash to Smithereens.

Twin: Torpor Orb shuts down their combo. Combust allows you to kill an Exarch as it gets enchanted. Rakdos Charm lets you kill them after they combo off.

Storm: Rakdos Charm kills them if they are on the Empty the Warrens plan or you can exile their graveyard when they cast Past in Flames. Rule of Law shuts them down. Various enchantment removal options kills off Pyromancer Ascension

Ad Nauseam: Hide/Seek can remove their kill spell. Enchantment removal can kill Phyrexian Unlife but I don't think Skullcrack's damage prevention clause works against [card]Angel's Grace[/card].

Scapeshift: Best plan is simply to be faster. Hide/Seek can remove Valakut if you have it. Molten Rain can work if they drop a Valakut or Mountain early.

Tron: Hide/Seek and Revoke Existence are our best options against
Wurmcoil. Molten Rain can break up Tron for a little bit, buying us the time we need to finish the damage race. They play a lot of artifacts but removal for them is sketchy since most are just going to get sacrificed anyway.

Zoo: A real damage race. Anger of the Gods works fairly well, as does Rakdos Charm. Ensnaring Bridge can stop them from attacking. Satyr Firedancer can be killed but if they don't they will simply die.

Merfolk: Satyr Firedancer is nigh unstoppable here. Ensnaring Bridge can stop them from attacking if they drop a lord or two.

UWr: Combust is at its best here, taking out Colonnade and Resto Angel. Anti-lifegain will help immensely to stop Rev and Helix. I used to be on Shrine of Burning Rage here as well since the game tends to go longer but haven't been too high on it lately. It is possible that Chandra or Ajani is a better option.

Living End: Rakdos Charm their graveyard or use it as a kill shot when
they go off. Ensnaring Bridge should hold off attackers fairly well.

GB/Jund: Burn them out fast and go enjoy a long lunch.

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:41 pm
by LaZerBurn
Excellent post BL! :)

Current MTGO meta is

Twin 12.97%
Melira Pod 11.7%
Affinity 10.6%
Storm 7.28%
Jund 5.38%
UWR Control 4.75%
Scapeshift 3.96%
Hatebears 2.69%
RG Tron 2%
Ad Nauseum 2%
UR Delver 2%

so that's what we need to tune our SB against :) Everything else is less than 2% of the meta, including Zoo apparently. I personally really like the G splash for Destructive Revelry over Smash (I can see trying Abrupt Decay over Combust too) as I really like my SB cards to have as much flexibility as possible.

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:38 pm
by magicdownunder
Interesting post guys, I'll go an think about the SB plan while I'm at work then build it up for tonight's run for Modern.

Some points I want to mention:

Avoid over-boarding in burn this is esp. true against combo, LD only works in Multiple against list like tron or scapeshift (you need 3-4+ your you shouldn't bother with it).

Last nights games (music isn't working on G3 T__T):

[deck]Rb Burn[/deck]
Modern Daily Event Report (Event 6894729)
[url=https&#
58;//www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHUMx1n1mXo]Modern Daily Event R1 Rb Burn vs UWr Control Event 6894729[/url]
Modern Daily Event R2 Rb Burn vs Ad Nauseam Event 6894729
Modern Daily Event R3 Rb Burn vs ScapeShift Event 6894729
Modern Daily Event R4 Rb Burn vs Pod Event 6894729

SB Changed pending...

Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 12:11 am
by LaZerBurn
Great timing MDU! :) I am going to watch these before I sleep, like a midnight burn movie :D

Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 9:02 am
by Khaospawn
Probably going to play this in the MOCs, anyone got a solid decklist? I liked the:
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Figure of Destiny
4 Vexing Devil

split.

Is Searing Blood playable in the 60? If not, in the 70?
Searing Blood is pretty damn good. I built P-Sulli's list from a couple weeks back and have had a blast raping Affinity and Melira Pod decks.

Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 11:33 am
by magicdownunder
I don't really believe Searing Blood is needed - sure its great vs Pod or Robots but Pod and Robots are not our worst MUs.

Our main threats are the deck itself (poor opening hands, floods, lack of mana, creatures past T3, spells like "Searing" when creatures are not around) and all the random fringes decks.

Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 12:18 am
by magicdownunder
I assume this is relevant to our interests.

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/27 ... nters.html
I was having a rather meaningful discussion/debate with a Budget Sally players who believe I'm horrible at the counter vs burn wars which I want to take here:

Firstly: Yes, I agree its a great article - however all the theories need to have context, for example:

Dramatised Version of the Discussion:

Sally Budget: Playing Bolt before Bump/Lava is wrong Noob, your win was just luck base!!

MDU: He is running SS.... (Opp. proceeds to drop SS on T2) see?

Sally Budget:[/b:
19m8ev86] But Mr P.S god of burn says we should bottleneck control players and maximize our spells so why are you running Bolts into Obv. counter spells EoT?

MDU: Bottlenecking control works in Standard and Pauper, however in leg. and Modern we're running below adv lands while they (the control player) are running T.Edge and/or Waste lands - by the time you hit 4 lands (which you need if you want to bottleneck Mr P.S Style) they can just LD you back down too 2-3 except they'll have fistful of control spells in hand now since you were holding back.

Thus my gameplan in modern and Leg. would be to gas my opp. I still try and bottleneck some off my smaller burns but I'll ok with tossing away spells EoT to allow for more spells on my turn - we can't wait and try too have a control mirror with our burn spells (this isn't standard).

- - - - - - - - -

Thoughts? Would you as the Modern or Legacy player Bottleneck the Control player or gas them?

Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 2:40 am
by BlakLanner
The first 2-3 turns, I tend to play fast, going through my spell progression. Once I have him lower, I start playing on his turn as much as I can to bottleneck, especially if I have creatures doing a bit of the lifting. If you don't put any pressure on your opponent, he has no reason to tap out and can just sit back drawing cards and countering what little you do. In Legacy, I don't take my foot off the gas unless I really need to. There is no such thing as time to durdle in Legacy.

Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:42 am
by Khaospawn
I go full retard in Legacy. Just give it all to them. If they die, they die.