Land Destruction is a guilty pleasure of mine, kinda like Burn. It's one of those things that's fun to play because people hate it so much. I named this deck California Dreamin' after A) the Mommas and the Poppas' famous song about California in the Fall, and also the fact that fall in California, especially southern California, is wildfire season.
That being said, I wanted to make a deck that wasn't just the standard "18 Stone Rain" so the deck uses only Symmetrical LD effects like Wildfire and Ember Swallower which can pump up Countryside Crusher quite a bit. I also love that once you have a Crusher in play, you never draw lands again, which is just great in a deck like this, especially with Crucible of Worlds. Crushers also get bigger from lands going to your 'yard from anywhere so Faithless Looting provides some unexpected pump if you discard lands with it.
all in all some good fun that also happens to get around things like Timber Protector by using sacrifice instead of destruction.
The Anarchist's Cookbook: A Guide to Wildfires Both Natural and Artificial
The deck aims ramp into an early Plow Under followed by a Wildfire. Somewhere between when the beginning of the game and the Plow Under you need to play a creature with 5 or more toughness and/or a Hammer of Purphoros. To survive until you can commit arson, the deck relies on Lightning Bolts and Beast Within to take care of any threats. To mitigate the negative effects Wildfire has on its caster, Crucible of Worlds is used to replay lands from the graveyard.
An ideal opening hand should contain 1-2 Ramp spells, a creature, a Crucible of Worlds or Life from the Loam, at least 2 lands and a removal spell or two. One should be Wildfire or Plow Under
Ideally, you want a Countryside Crusher with 5 or more power pre-Wildfire. This way he survives the Wildfire, and gets 4 +1/+1 counters, making him a 9/9 beatstick.
If you have an Ember Swallower instead, it's best to use his Monstrosity ability before you cast Wildfire because you'll have to sacrifice fewer lands to him, making it possible to Plow Under the next turn and then Wildfire after that.
other tips for playing the deck:
- Harrow is an Instant, use that to your advantage
- Monstrosity can be activated at instant speed. Activating it in response to a spell your opponent is trying to play can be devastating
- Plow Under is great for stalling if you haven't draw a key card and need a couple turns.
- Don't forget that Countryside Crusher effectively prevents you from drawing lands as long as he lives. Make sure you either have a Crucuble of Worlds out when you play him, or you have one in hand and can cast it once he's out, or you'll be mana screwed forever.
