That's right. Another Modern Burn deck. If you don't know what these do, kill yourself.
Gameplay Notes:
Yes, this deck sometimes has 61 cards. I've found that I flood too often with 19 land and screw too often on 18. Adding one additional card seems to help strike a balance with the land to spell ratio. Remember that with this deck, if you topdeck 3 lands, you pretty much lose the game.
If you are on the draw and your opponent drops a Birds of Paradise (Collected Chord, for example), Martyr of Sands, or Glistener Elf, kill it immediately. Otherwise, your turn 1 play should ALWAYS be, in order of priority: 1. Goblin Guide 2. Swiftspear 3. Rift Bolt 4. Whatever else. If you don't have any of the above cards but do have a Lightning Bolt, save the bolt for the end of your opponents turn, since they may drop an immediate threat.
Unless required post-sideboard to cast Kor Firewalker on turn 2, if given the option, it is always best to have your first land drop be a mountain. If you fetch for a shockland T1, it can give your opponent insight into what cards are in your hand. Don't let your opponent know you have a Boros Charm in hand until T2 when you fetch your Foundry and throw it at them. If your hand has only mono-red cards and you want to fetch, when fetching blind always grab a white source first. There are 6 white cards mainboard and 3 green.
When playing the mirror, take green out of your deck completely, eliminate the painful manabase to take the edge away from your opponent. The mirror is effectively a race to slam a Kor Firewalker before your opponent does. Problem with that is, I've died with Firewalker in hand before trying to dig up that second white source. Because of that, I'm testing Dragon's Claw instead. This also has the added benefit of faking out an opponent. They expect the Firewalker and bring in Path to Exile or Pyrite Spellbomb to deal with it. The bait-and-switch leaves those cards almost completely dead in hand, which creates card advantage for you. Expect them to wise up game 3 though and bring in their artifact hate, but the trickery helps you seal a game and forces them to play the painful 3 color manabase if they're running Destructive Revelry over Smash to Smithereens.
NEVER use Skullcrack/Atarka's Command as just a burn spell unless your hand is full of extras. Always, always, always, save it for a reactive play in response to a life gain effect. Since half the spells in your deck are instants anyways, even representing 2 mana for crack/command can make your opponentss hesitate long enough for you to seal the game. You wont lose momentum doing this if you EOT bolt or Boros Charm with the mana you left up. There is some value in keeping two crack/command effects in hand at all times in case your opponent thinks they can get cute and try to gain life a second time in response to your first crack/command. The only time to proactively cast a crack/command is to "cheat" firewalkers or Dragon's Claws by negating their life gain, than casting 2-3 burn spells immediately after.
If you have enough mana to do whatever it is you want to do, keep an uncracked fetch on the field so you can instant-speed Blaze for 3, or so you can fix your mana as needed after a Fulminator Mage or Spreading Seas. Remember that you only splash the two secondary colors, so your mana base is somewhat fragile as a result. Don't overfetch and expose all of your Stomping Grounds unless you need to, for example.
Fetching for the sake of deck thinning is fine, since we hate topdecking land more than anything in the world. Just be mindful of your life total.
Mono-red budget burn lists can make you scoff, but remember their mana base is painless which gives them an edge against you.
Spellskite and Leyline of Sanctity are problematic, but are not as game-ending as you think. Spellskite cannot redirect spells that target players only, such as Lava Spike or Skullcrack, and Leyline doesn't stop you from beating them senseless with creatures, nor does it stop Eidolon. Fun fact: Atarka's Command doesn't target, so it gets around Leyline. Coupled with the +1+1 effect, it is an absolute all-star against Leyline. Bolt their creatures to clear the way, use Boros Charm to give your biggest guy double strike, and turn shit sideways.
Speaking of hate cards, Timely Reinforcements deserves its own shout out for being uniquely answerable. It is an absolutely valid play to bolt yourself, or fetch and shock for no reason to keep your opponents from gaining life. It saves a Skullcrack for a more dire situation and is funny as shit when it happens. I once even heard of a guy who fetched, shocked, and Searing Blazed his own creature to keep his opponent from gaining anything off a Timely. Seems extreme, but if you gotta, you gotta.
When on the draw game 2 or 3, Eidolon will often come out, because his ability to impact the game diminishes every turn your opponent has before he can hit the field. Be careful when doubling up Eidolon's on the field, since it makes your burn spells more painful to you than it does to them. In the mirror, expect your opponent to have Eidolon as well, so typically take some of them out game 2 or 3 regardless. Eidolon against Jund is debatable, since it can help them grow their Goyf. He often comes out against Robots, because they empty their hand before we can cast him anyway.
Surgical Extraction: WRECKS Finks, Snapcasters, and Thopter combo. For Finks, make sure you Surgical with the "Persist trigger on the stack."
For Snapcaster, they have to declare the card they are targeting before it gains flashback. If its something you don't want them to cast, such as a lifegain spell, Surgical in response to them targeting it. For Thopter combo, surgical their Sword with the graveyard trigger on the stack. If you can nuke their Foundry and Surgical that too, even better. On the off chance you see an Emrakul hit the yard as part of a combo, you can Surgical it with the shuffle trigger on the stack as well. Works great for Nahiri/Through the Breach lists. Remember that Surgical can hit anything other than a BASIC land, so bring to in as needed, just don't get cute with it.
Sideboarding:
Robots
Most people will consider this 50/50 post board, but I find Robots is favored throughout. Their ability to race you is minimal unless they see a Cranial Plating. Deflecting Palm is the best card in your list against Robots, and it works against Etched Champion. If possible, use your bolts to kill their important creatures and save the Destructive Revelry for things like Cranial Plating or Mox Opal. Obviously, don't blow up their Cranial if you have D-Palm in hand. Most of the time the only form of life gain they have is Vault Skirge, which dies to everything you have.
+3 Destructive Revelry +2 Deflecting Palm +1 Searing Blaze +1/3 Path to Exile (if you have room)
-2 Eidolon -2/4 Swiftspear -3 Atarka's Command and/or Skullcrack
+3 Destructive Revelry +2 Deflecting Palm +1 Searing Blaze +1/3 Path to Exile (if you have room)
-2/4 Eidolon -2/4 Swiftspear -3 Atarka's Command and/or Skullcrack
Burn
The beloved mirror. I hate the mirror. Keep Path up against Kor Firewalker, slam a Dragon's Claw as soon as possible, and be prepared to race.
-3 Atarka's Command -2 Eidolon
+3 Dragon's Claw +2 Path To Exile
-3 Atarka's Command -4 Eidolon
+3 Dragon's Claw +2 Path To Exile +2 Deflecting Palm
Podless/Abzan Chord
This match up is very tough, but your hate cards against them can shut them out if you're lucky enough to see them. Bolt their turn 1 dork every time. Kitchen Finks is an absolute nightmare to play against, because you don't want to swing into it and you don't want to bolt it. Because of that, its OK to cut a few beaters. Allowing them to gain the 2 life from the ETB can't be helped sometimes if you only have 1 Skullcrack and would rather keep them from going off. Save your Path to Exiles and your Surgical Extractions for Finks. Beware that some lists also run the Thunefeeder combo too, which requires both Path/Bolt AND Skullcrack to stop.
+3 Path To Exile +3 Surgical Extraction +1 Searing Blaze
-4 Lava Spike -2 Eidolon -2 Guide/Spear
+3 Path To Exile +3 Surgical Extraction +1 Searing Blaze
-4 Eidolon -2 Lava Spike -2 Guide/Spear
Zoo
Suicide zoo does help the job for you, so just finish them off, but be wary that they can win out of nowhere with Death's Shadow after a few bolts to the face.
Bushwhacker and Traditional Zoo matchups are similar enough to lump together. Beware of explosive starts with Burning-Tree, save your Lightning Bolts and Helixes for their turn so you can shoot a creature if they get out of hand. Try to do everything at instant speed to keep them off of their footing. Trade your creatures with theirs in defense, you're not likely to punch through anyway, and you have better topdecks than them. When doing combat math, never forget that they also run Atarka's Command. Usually the only life gain you will see is Lightning Helix. We can either drop Skullcrack as it is very narrow, or drop Atarka's Command to make out manabase less painful. The call is up to you. These games will usually be very close.
+3 Path to Exile +1 Searing Blaze
-3 Atarka's Command/Skullcrack
+3 Path to Exile +1 Searing Blaze
-3 Atarka's Command/Skullcrack
Jund
You're favored, but not by as much as everyone says. Don't play sloppy and don't let Liliana live, discarding is very bad for you. If they animate a Raging Ravine for the first time, you can bolt it before they go to combat to kill it. Boarding is hard cuz none of your cards are outright bad against them. Cutting creatures can be a good idea to blank their kill spells but Lavaman is great at shrinking Goyfs and Scoozes if you can get him to stick. Kalitas is a fucking nightmare, so deal with him however you can.
-2/4 Eidolon -2/4 Goblin Guide or Swiftspear
+3 Path +1 Blaze
Junk
Like Jund, but harder since they have a fair amount of life gain. Use your first two or three turns to keep them on the defensive as they try to disrupt you and set up their own board for massive plays. They might bring in Blood Baron of Vizkopa against you. Kill it at all costs, even if you have to double-bolt it to do so.
Surgical is good against this deck cuz not only can it shrink Goyf and blank a Scooze trigger, but it also hits Lingering Souls as well. Because of this, we bring it in here but not against Jund.
-2/4 Eidolon -2/4 Goblin Guide or Swiftspear
+3 Path +1 Blaze +2/3 Surgical Extraction
Tron
You're way favored, but when Tron tends to gain life, they gain a lot of it. Be wary of Thragtusk and Feed the Clans. Wurmcoil Engine isn't a game winner for them, as you have a turn to respond. Path it, Skullcrack, or more hilariously, Deflecting Palm it. Since you can't really interact with their game plan, just race them. Surgical is an option to shut them off of a Chromatic or Map, but only if you have the cards to take out. You can keep your Goblin Guides in, but realize they may help your opponent find Tron. I appreciate the clock they present though so I typically only take out one or two if I really need a sideboard card.
+2 Deflecting Palm +3 Path To Exile +3 Destructive Revelry
-2 Searing Blaze -2 Grim Lavamancer -2/4 Lightning Helix -1/2 Rift Bolt -2 Goblin Guide
+2 Deflecting Palm +3 Path To Exile +3 Destructive Revelry
-2 Searing Blaze -2 Grim Lavamancer -2 Lightning Helix, -2 Eidolon -2 Goblin Guide
Infect
Despite your deck being packed to the nuts with removal, sometimes they can still just blow you out with a lucky hand. Never leave their creatures unblocked if you can help it (and if they have cards in their hand), even if you have to Atarka's Command to give a guy reach to block an Inkmoth. Use all of your removal at sorcery speed (on your turn) so your opponent has to waste gas keeping their creature alive. They don't get the extra value of their cards that way.
-3 Atarka's Command -3 ????? (maybe Lava Spike)
+3 Path To Exile +2 Deflecting Palm +1 Searing Blaze
-3 Atarka's Command -3 ???? (maybe Lava Spike)
+3 Path To Exile +2 Deflecting Palm +1 Searing Blaze
Thopter Combo
Nobody plays this, but this deck is a huge pain in the ass to deal with without the right hate cards. Incremental life gain is always a problem since we feel silly Skullcracking 1 life, and we can't do it every turn. Because of this, you absolutely need to ruin their engine instead. Blow up their Thopter Foundry and Surgical their Foundry or Sword of the Meek (in response to its return-from-yard trigger) with impunity.
-3 ???
+3 Surgical Extraction +3 Destructive Revelry
-2/4 Eidolon -2/4 ???
+3 Surgical Extraction +3 Destructive Revelry
Elves
Should be a decently easy match up for you. Watch out for Turn 3 Thragtusk when they have the nut. They can also chord for a Spellskite in a pinch. Bolt their turn 1 dork every time.
-4 Swiftspear
+3 Path To Exile +1 Searing Blaze
Fish
Always play around Spreading Seas and only expose your white/green sources if you either have another or need to make a relevant play (like fetching green to D-Rev their Aether Vial or Spreading Seas). Fish almost never has life gain so we tend to remove our Skullcracks.
-3 Atarka's Command -1/3 Swiftspear -1/3 Lava Spike -1/3 Skullcrack
+3 Path to Exile +3 Destructive Revelry +1 Searing Blaze
-3 Atarka's Command -2/4 Eidolon -1/3 Skullcrack
+3 Path to Exile +3 Destructive Revelry +1 Searing Blaze
Black/White Tokens
If they are anthem-heavy (4x virtue, 2-4x Honor of the Pure, for example) bring in Revelry. Otherwise, or if you're not sure, don't.
-4 Rift Bolt
+1 Searing Blaze +2/3 Destructive Revelry OR Surgical Extraction
-2/4 Eidolon -2/4 Rift Bolt
+1 Searing Blaze +2/3 Destructive Revelry OR Surgical Extraction
Ad Nauseum
Not as easy as you'd think. Hurl fire at their face as fast as you possibly can. But remember that they have Angel's Grace to save themselves a turn, and Phyrexian Unlife effectively gives them 10 extra life. A very fun trick if they play an Unlife is to wait until they cast Ad Nauseum and in response blow up their Unlife. Have fun drawing only 2 cards, nerd!
Deflecting Palm supersedes the redirect rules of Lightning Storm, so cast it with impunity, but beware as they may have Pact of Negation.
-2 Searing Blaze -3 Rift Bolt
+2 Deflecting Palm +3 Destructive Revelry
Grixis Control
Grixis is great, because they have few ways to gain life. Play the usual control game, get your jabs in while you can early game. Later on, wait for them to strain their mana and unload end of turn, then untap and unload again. Don't be afraid to play draw-go and refill your hand a few turns if they aren't giving you a serious clock. Some list run Kalitas, if you see him, cut Atarka's Command. If you don't, cut Skullcrack.
-3 Skullcrack/Atarka's Command -2 Searing Blaze -2/4 Eidolon -2 Grim Lavamancer
+3 Surgical Extraction +2 Deflecting Palm +2 Path To Exile
Esper Control
The primary difference in Grixis and Esper decks is that Grixis has no life gain, and Esper has lots. Beware of large late game Sphinx's Revelations backed by countermagic, and Baneslayers out of the side. Path is clunky against them, but its our only real answer to Baneslayer and Colonnade. They also use Esper Charm to tear apart your hand, so its smart to use all of your sorceries and creatures early so you can empty your hand into their face instead of your yard when they make you discard. An unanswered Eidolon will seriously screw up their cantripping. Otherwise, standard control protocol.
-2 Searing Blaze -1 Grim Lavamancer/Atarka's Command/Skullcrack
+3 Path to Exile
-2 Searing Blaze -1 Grim Lavamancer/Eidolon/Atarka's Command/Skullcrack
+3 Path To Exile
Nahiri/American Control
The new kid on the block likes to mainboard Lightning Helix and in some cases even Timely Reinforcements, so play around those game 1 and remember that Skullcrack can pull double duty by bashing Nahiri as well as blanking their lifegain. Always keep a Skullcrack up, even if it means missing out on the opportunity to do a few extra points when they are wide open. Nahiri shouldn't be too hard to keep from Ult'ing when you can keep sailing damage in her direction. If you see Snapcaster Mages (You usually will), bring in Surgical Extraction.
-2 Searing Blaze -1/2 Lightning Helix -1/2 Rift Bolt
+2 Deflecting Palm +0/3 Surgical Extraction
-2 Eidolon -2 Searing Blaze -1/2 Lightning Helix
+2 Deflecting Palm +0/3 Surgical Extraction
Scapeshift/Valakut Ramp
Difficult to interact with. Searing Blaze is terribad in this matchup so game one pray you don't see it. Deflecting Palm laughs at Breached Primeval Titans but can only save you from one Valakut trigger but sometimes that's enough to keep you alive, if barely. Race them, as hard and as fast as you can. They'll need to spend some amount of mana fetching so they will only have limited countermagic available unlike full control strategies. As such, feel free to just unload.
-2 Searing Blaze
+2 Deflecting Palm
You can consider bringing in Surgical depending on what you see in their list, if you do, remove Grim Lavamancer for it.
UR Storm:
Race them. Drop an Eidolon, they lose. This should be a cakewalk.
-2 Searing Blaze -2 Lavamancer -Whatever, you win
+3 Surgical Extraction +2 Destructive Revelry
