Hopefully this deck speaks for itself, but I will go over the key components that make it work, as well as the function of the sideboard.
THE MAINBOARD
First and foremost is Monastery Swiftspear. If you get one of these guys, some lightning strikes, and a couple mountains in your opening hand, you will certainly be having an excellent game. By late game, you can pop one of these out and pump them up to finish off your opponent or take out an annoying blocker. Do not forget about your prowess triggers!
Spellheart Chimera will be a major contributor to your late game damage. With so many cheap instants, this guy will get big fast. The fact he's within Lightning Strike range is regrettable, but his low mana cost and trample make up for it.
But most importantly is the burn. In your arsenal of burn spells are:
Lightning Strike (take out blockers or chip away at your opponent's life total,)
Magma Jet (scry ahead for that extra land or more burn),
Stoke the Flames
(lay down the hurt),
Searing Blood
(extremely handy in a lot of situations, but can be sideboarded out against decks that focus on bigger creatures),
Spite of Mogis
(great for blowing up creatures late in the game; can be sideboarded out against decks that don't use many big creatures),
Arc Lightning
(spread it out to get rid of a bunch of 1 toughness creatures at once).
Your utility spells include:
Mindswipe
(although admittedly difficult to use until late in the game, it's a great way to both protect yourself and deal some damage),
Steam Augury (aside from adding some card draw to pull out whatever it is you may need, the fact that the second pile is put into the graveyard means that even if you lose a few instants, it will further power your Spellheart Chimera and
Spite of Mogis
),
Winterflame
(similar to
Arc Lightning
in that you can target multiple creatures, potentially opening up the opponent's board for an attack).
Finally, we're left with Chandra, Pyromaster and
Prognostic Sphinx
. Now the former is admittedly a stand in for a much more expensive alternative, Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker (much like how Swiftwater Cliffs is just the inexpensive alternative to the variety of RU lands available). While she doesn't have the same oomph, the ability to put a blocker out of commission, as well as giving you essentially 2 draws per turn can be incredibly helpful. Plus, if you ever do manage to activate her ultimate, there's a decent chance you'll end up being able to cast three
Stoke the Flames
, which as you can imagine could completely turn the tide of a game.
The
Prognostic Sphinx
is a great way to deal an extra bit of damage on top of scrying, and can serve as a blocker in a pinch. Its "discard for hexproof" ability also makes it rather tough to kill.
THE SIDEBOARD
I've tried to build a sideboard that deals with as many major threats for this standard environment as possible:
Crater's Claws (these can be used late in the game to take out big creatures. The fact that it is a sorcery is rather limiting, but it is made up for in its potential use as a way to directly blast the enemy player for massive amounts of damage, so long as you haven't been missing many land drops),
Disdainful Stroke (nip a problem in the bud by stopping big creatures or planeswalkers before they come on the board, amoung other things),
Magma Spray (sometimes you just need something gone for good; this card is excellent for dealing with
Ashcloud Phoenix
, or just to get something out of the reach of a deck that likes to pull creatures out of graveyards),
Negate (helps to deal with control decks),
Peak Eruption
(land destruction can really hurt certain decks, and 3 damage is always nice, although the fact it's a sorcery really holds it back. This card is very situational, but has a few great applications, such as against
Chained to the Rocks
),
Shatter (get rid of Whip of Erebos and Bow of Nylea and what have you),
Voyage's End
(I've had this in and out of my sideboard for awhile now, the alternative being 2 more
Arc Lightning
s and another
Spite of Mogis
. Lately I have run into too many outlast-centric decks to justify not having some bounce spells available, and the scry is a nice bonus).
THE MAYBEBOARD
At your discretion, I think these would be worthwhile substitutions for a variety of cards:
I am constantly making updates. Any criticism is appreciated.
