Grim Monastery's Guide to Bolts, Bumps & Spikes

Modern Aggro Burn Competitive RBW (Mardu) Red Deck Wins

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Creature (14)

• 4x Eidolon of the Great Revel
• 4x Goblin Guide
• 2x Grim Lavamancer
• 4x Monastery Swiftspear

Land (19)

• 4x Arid Mesa
• 4x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Clifftop Retreat
• 2x Mountain
• 3x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 4x Wooded Foothills

Instant (19)

• 4x Boros Charm
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 3x Lightning Bolt
• 2x Lightning Helix
• 4x Searing Blaze
• 1x Searing Blood
• 1x Searing Blood
• 1x Shard Volley
• 2x Skullcrack

Sorcery (8)

• 2x Lava Spike
• 2x Lava Spike
• 4x Rift Bolt

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Sideboard

Creature (2)

• 2x Kor Firewalker

Instant (10)

• 2x Deflecting Palm
• 4x Destructive Revelry
• 2x Path to Exile
• 2x Skullcrack

Sorcery (3)

• 3x Molten Rain

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It's not just the wind. It's not all in your head. And it's definitely something to worry about.

This is my Modern Burn deck. I chose to play Mardu burn because I believe it is the strongest version of Burn in Modern at the moment. Reason being, I have access to Black spells. Having Black not only gives me Bolts 13-16 in the form of Bumps, it also gives me some great SB tech. This deck is very fast. It can consistently win on turn 4 and I've won some games on turn 3.

Mana Base

I choose to play 18 lands due to the fact that my average CMC is under 1.6. I play 9 Fetch lands and 9 lands that produce mana. I only play 4 Shock lands because I find anything higher than that tends to cost me too much life. I play 1 Blood Crypt, 2 Sacred Foundry and 1 Stomping Ground . I play 2 Foundry in case I SB in Kor Firewalker and need to fetch the 2 White mana. I play Ground just for Destructive Revelry. Other than the 2 basic Mountains, I play 2 Blackcleave Cliffs and 1 Clifftop Retreat. Some of you may say that Clifftop is a bad card in Burn because it is too slow. I have yet to have a game where Clifftop is the only land I have in my opening hand. The best opening hand I've had land wise was 1 Fetch, 1 Blackcleave and 1 Clifftop. All I had to pay was 1 life and I was mana fixed.

Creatures

Eidolon of the Great Revel: This card is the sole reason why Burn is now a Tier 1 Modern deck. Eidolon scares the crap out of most other Planeswalkers. In a format that mostly plays spells with a CMC of 3 or less, this card shines in the hands of a Burn player.

Grim Lavamancer : With the amount of Fetch lands and spells I play, Grim always has fuel in the graveyard. This card is great for taking out small creatures and giving me the extra burn to close the match.

Goblin Guide : A staple in all Burn decks. If you play burn and you don't have a play set, you're doing it all wrong. A great turn 1 play that almost always gets in 2 damage. It can also give me intel on what my opponent will be drawing next turn.

Monastery Swiftspear: Goblin Guides little sister. At first, she isn't that powerful. If she is left unchecked, this little monster can get very powerful, really fast.

Instants

Boros Charm: This is such a great card. All three choices help in their own ways. Deal 4 damage gives me that extra reach that a Bolt can't give. Making my permanents indestructible can save my lands from being blown up and help me make efficient trades with my creatures. Giving a buffed, unblocked Swiftspear double strike is a great way to finish off my opponent.

Lightning Bolt : A must have for any deck playing Red. I usually save my Bolts for removal or to finish off my opponent.

Searing Blaze: It's like two Bolts on one card. With the amount of Fetch lands I play, I almost always get the landfall trigger.

Searing Blood : I play this card just to have a little more variety with my spells. I've used it in combo with a suspended Rift Bolt to kill off creatures with 4-5 toughness and get in 3 damage to my opponent.

Shard Volley: My 17th Bolt. I save this card for a late game finisher.

Skullcrack: The best anti-life gain card for a burn deck. It stops life gain in its tracks and deals 3 damage. I've also used this card to remove pesky pro red creatures. I would cast it after my opponent has blocked one of my creatures with their pro red creature (i.e. Kor Firewalker or Etched Champion ) and since damage can't be prevented, it effectively removes their creature.

Sorceries

Bump in the Night : This card is the main reason I choose to play Black in Burn. Bolts 13-16. Bump also gets around Spellskite. I rarely use the flash back but when I do use it, it wins me the game. If you look through the window, you'll see a lightning bolt.

Lava Spike: Self explanatory. Bolts 5-8.

Rift Bolt: Self explanatory. Bolts 9-12.

Sideboard

Deflecting Palm: Used against decks that play big creatures or decks with a lot of creature buffs. Fun to use against Infect.

Destructive Revelry: The only reason I splash green. This card is amazing at removing troublesome artifacts and enchantments while keeping tempo.

Kor Firewalker: Mostly used in the mirror match. In the mirror, I can gain a ton of life and have an almost unremovable creature on the field.

Rain of Gore: Anti-life gain. This card makes anyone playing life gain cry.

Rakdos Charm : More artifact hate. It also helps deal with anyone interacting with their graveyard. It can be used against some token decks as well.

Self-Inflicted Wound: This is such an amazing card. SIW deals with so many threats while keeping tempo. Tarmogoyf, Kor Firewalker and Siege Rhino to name a few. This card makes anyone who plays White or Green cringe at the sight of it.

Thank you for having a look at my deck. Comments, suggestions and upvotes are welcome.

"Stoke a fire hot enough and you'll never run out of things to burn"

Top Ranked	Achieved #14 position overall 8 years ago
Date added	9 years
Last updated	8 years
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	27 - 2 Rares 17 - 10 Uncommons 14 - 3 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	1.63
Folders	Burn, modern, Yay, ooo, Modern Burn, decks, Modern