Found an interesting card advantage card Ive been thinking of testing in place of augury and inspiration.

Thoughtflare

I kind of have mixed feelings about that one. It has instant speed, which is awesome, and digs almost as deep as Steam Augury without the disadvantage of your opponent choosing the cards to discard, and digs much deeper than Inspiration . However, it costs 5, which is pretty prohibitive. 4 is quite a bit too, but every mana counts.

The problem I have with it is its cost reducing the effectiveness of its digging ability. If you really need to dig for something badly, 5 mana is a lot. I suppose it is more effective than Inspiration , but at 5 mana, it's very nearly Opportunity for 2 fewer cards. It's not, granted, but it's close. I realize it's not in standard, but I like Jace's Ingenuity much more, personally, as it strikes a nice balance between digging and the number of cards you get. Thoughtflare feels like an Izzet flavored version of it that somewhat suffers due to its flavor.

Go ahead and try it to see how it works, though. It might be way better than I think it is.

I just wish they'd print Blue Sun's Zenith (or something similar) so this deck would have it's own Sphinx's Revelation . Without the lifegain, granted, but that's not really a blue flavored ability.

Ive been play testing with it, and I love it so far. I don't have any complaints thus far. yes it's 5 mana, but it does it's job well. It gives great card advantage.

in my build I am running 4x Steam Augury 2x Thoughtflare and 1x Opportunity along side jace's

Pleaaase tell me you're still an Izzet fan... I saw you added a white mana and a boros reckoner :(You're not turning into another Red Blue White control...? We need to stay strong and pure Izzet supporters ...!

@Enlightened_Jedi - Hmm, I might end up testing it a bit then. I think a cheaper card advantage source needs to be in there, though.

@Nazha - I'm still an Izzet fan, and I'm not planning on turning this into a R/U/W Control. The Boros Reckoner s are in there for the R/G Monsters matchup. They can be cast with only red mana, so I don't see that as breaking away from Izzet. Also, there are two reasons I added Temple of Enlightenment ; I needed some scry lands, since scrying really helps a control deck, and picking that temple over the others makes it easier to cast the reckoner when it's boarded in, since I don't need strictly red sources, and can use that dual land as well.

if ur struggling with mutavaults i would recommend shock, ral zurek might be worthwhile to tap creatures or be a spot removal, I would use only divination and jace as your draw engine, For your sideboard you must sideboard in the elixir to replenish your library and gain life, something the izzet control version lacks

This deck inspired me to play Izzet control at my local FNM scene. My decklist is different (get young pyromancer out early, stall into aetherling/stormbreath/giant chimera), but the principle of control is similar. To me, anyway. I ran mono-green for a month and a half, so what do I know about control.

Anyway, I was wondering if you had ever thought about running young pyromancer in a deck like this. I've played against decks using it a few times, and it's amazing the value you get. Your latest update was concerned that Turn // Burn was 5 mana, but with pyromancer it becomes 3 since you can just block with the token and eat their desecration demon-cum-weird.

There was another card I wanted to suggest, but it's gone right out of my head. Darn.

@hydraliskking - I'd much rather run Izzet Charm or Magma Jet due to the added versatility/draw fixing over Shock . Most of the time, the 1 mana doesn't make a difference. It can, certainly, but the other cards are better all game long, whereas Shock is just mediocre. As for Ral Zarek ... I think Jace, Architect of Thought is simply better, but what would I replace for Ral? As for draws, I kinda need Opportunity , as it's the only thing close to Sphinx's Revelation . And I'm torn on Elixir of Immortality . Someone a LOT better than me told me to cut it for a Boros Reckoner , but there are matchups where having more life and/or getting your cards back is helpful. But I think the reckoner is simply more helpful in my worst matchup, and also helps in the other two mentioned, whereas the elixir is not.

@DirgibleQuixote - Glad to see another Izzet control person! Personally I think it's a viable deck.

I had thought about it and had it in at one point. There are two reasons I took it out.

1. Tapping out on Turn 2 is bad. If you go first, it's not absolutely horrible, but if you go second, it'll be their turn 3 next. And turn 3 is when the scary stuff starts being played (unless you're in a control mirror, in which case the pyromancer simply dies immediately). Against aggro, that's typically Boros Reckoner , and if possible, you want to counter it, because burning it hurts significantly. Against Monsters, it's Polukranos, World Eater . Against MBD, it's Underworld Connections . Yes, you don't have to tap out on turn 2 and can play it later, but that brings me to...

2. It dies. Quite easily. In game one, if they have any removal whatsoever, they're holding a fistful of it without targets, and Young Pyromancer , as soon as he comes out, is an excellent target. Personally, I'd much rather have a more reliable beater like AEtherling that's harder to get rid of instead of Young Pyromancer . I'm not doubting that he's good, and when I did run him, he saved me a few times, but he's just too easy to remove. If he survives, he's incredibly efficient and helpful, but more often than not, he doesn't.

If you can think of whatever that card was, I'd definitely be interested!

Thanks for the input. :D

@TheAshenKnight

Fair enough. I found at my local FNM last week that tapping out T2 was okay, but that's probably due to the good players playing modern that night. I've since tinkered that deck into a midrange/tempo kind of deal, so who knows.

Can't for the life of me remember the card (Hypersonic Dragon, maybe? Ehh.) but I did happen to stumble upon this video showcasing an izzet control vs junk reanimator deck.

The izzet one is substantially different from your list, but it seemed to fare pretty well considering how little the junk deck actually casts cards. It also ran a lot of creatures, which I found surprising (Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius, for pete's sakes).

Interested to hear what you think.

Hi guys, I run a little different list ( [url=/magic/decks/izzet-24]Mon deck izzet[/url] )

And I often face the Jace problem. I want to cast it T4 when I can, but I want to keep at least 2 mana to counter something. I end up playing him turn 6 in the better case, and I don't know when I'm sure I can cast it.

This is also the case with most of my card : I always want to keep enough to couter.Because I know that a [Polukranos, world eater] and a [ Desecration demon ] t4 are such a pain to kill (2 [lightning strike] etc...)

I think I need a little help playing this deck... I lost all my macthes with it this evening.

It was sometime quite close, but when Aetherling gets exiled or countered it hurts !And I don't know what to do against big creatures on board, those which I wasn't able to counter ( [mistcutter hydra] for example) Should I kill it with 2 burns ? It's a 2 for 1 and if the creature is made indestrictible as an answer I'm screwed..

Also, the [Master of waves] which have the red protection are really hard to kill..

I really need a piece of advice please :'/

Apologies for the late reply!

@DirgibleQuixote - Well, not necessarily. In some/many circumstances, it's probably not as bad as I believe it to be, but in some of the worst matchups, it can be the difference between winning and losing a game.

Perhaps it was Izzet Staticaster ? If so, I'm not entirely sold. It's a great card, but due to it only hitting for one, it doesn't really get rid of much. If you gave it deathtouch, that's a different story, but to do so you'd have to run 2 cards that aren't very good by themselves, and I'd much rather not do that. If that guy would fill a niche, I'd think about it more, but as it stands, he doesn't appear to. If you weren't thinking about him, then now you know my thoughts about that card. x]

It's an interesting deck, and much more creature focused than I particularly like. I'm not saying it's bad, but I just happen to love hard control decks. It fits my playstyle. The biggest problem I have with it is his choice of creatures. Some, like Frostburn Weird , I agree with, while others, like Hypersonic Dragon (which in nearly every case is a strictly worse Stormbreath Dragon , and I'd rather run a 4 of of him instead) and Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius , (who's simply too slow and easy to get rid of. His ability is amazing, but only if he stays alive long enough for you to activate it. Still, he does work as a finisher. Just not a very consistent one. I'd rather run Young Pyromancer ) I don't. I'd also add more card draw to his deck. He only has 2 copies of Opportunity and 4 Jace, Architect of Thought , both of which are great sources of card draw, granted, but they don't come around as often as might be needed. I'd add in at least 2 Divination or Inspiration (I'm not sure which yet. I like Divination better (albeit it might be because of the art), but the instant speed of Inspiration is key.) to help further card draw. I'm also not entirely sure why he's running Counterflux in the mainboard, let alone 3. I suppose for another hard counter that happens to be useful in other (read: 2) matchups, but if he wanted that, I'd much rather run 2 of them and make Dissolve a 4 of, since in most every case the scry is much more helpful. But it's not a bad deck by any means. I just think it needs a bit of tweaking. Also, due to its matchup in the video, it's pretty hard to tell how it fares against the meta, since junk reanimator isn't exactly common.

@Nazha - I would offer some feedback on your deck, but the link is broken and I'm not sure how to find it, as it's not on your profile. But I will comment on everything else you said.

It seems like the first two paragraphs mostly cover one problem; the need to leave mana open for a counter. I know it sucks, but because this deck doesn't have access to Detention Sphere or other great permanent removal like that, you kind of have to leave mana open for a counter whenever possible. There are certain circumstances when this isn't necessary, however. For example, if you NEED to dig for an answer, run out the Jace. Or, if he'll help keep you alive, run him out. Otherwise, wait until you have mana open for a counter. The exception to this is against aggro decks. There's not much you need to counter against aggro (Boros Reckoner , and that's about it. And while it hurts, you can take the 3 or 4 damage in most cases), so running Jace out as soon as possible to get more answers/dig for a win condition/use his +1 to keep you alive/act as a magnet is often the correct play. However, against decks like Monsters, you NEED the mana open for counters, as resolved big dudes kill you pretty quickly if you don't have answers (other than counters, anyways. If you don't have a counter and don't have answers to resolved ones, you need to run out the Jace as soon as possible to dig. You could leave the mana open to scare them into not playing the bigger creature, but this doesn't always work, and their 'smaller' creatures are still huge.).

Sometimes that happens. When playing in a control mirror, quite honestly, you have a drawback... during game 1. However, during game 2, you get two major advantages; Stormbreath Dragon and Counterflux . Counterflux guarantees they can't get their scary stuff out (be warned that it can't keep your stuff safe. If you counter their counter, they simply counter your AEtherling instead of Counterflux , and it's still gone), and in Azorius control, Stormbreath Dragon is nearly impossible to get rid of if it resolves. To ensure that happens, you have to bait their counters. Remember, Jace, Architect of Thought can also be a win condition (if you use his -8), and they have to deal with him as well, so try baiting out counters with him or a draw spell. Also, wait until you have at least one counter to protect your win condition.

As for big creatures on the board, your only options are (except in a few rare circumstances, like having a monstrous Stormbreath Dragon to block with (which I have done against Ruric Thar, the Unbowed ) or ticking Ratchet Bomb up a bunch) to outrace it or burn it. Outracing isn't always possible, so burning is your only option in many cases. The best spell to do this is Turn / Burn , since it's only one card. But you have to keep in mind 2 things. The first is any +1/+1 counters on the creature remain, even after it has been Turned. This usually means you have to follow up with another burn to finish the creature. The second is that Mistcutter Hydra has protection from blue, and hates you. x] But seriously, that card is the bane of control (in general; Esper control has kill spells, but Azorius Control and this deck don't). If he's too big, he immediately kills you. The only answer to him is to burn him a bunch (keep in mind that Turn / Burn is only a blue spell if you cast the Turn half, so you can still use the Burn half as a burn spell to help kill it) or be in your second game and have Ratchet Bomb boarded in. The X in his mana cost counts as 0, so tick it up to 1 counter, and wait for the Mistcutter. If they play it into the bomb, they either don't know how it works, or have a followup play (probably another Mistcutter. To avoid a second mistcutter that can attack due to haste, only activate the bomb after combat has started. He either plays both and they both die, or only plays one, and has to wait to resolve the second until after combat and can't attack with it that turn.), but in either case, it'll die. Honestly, there's not a lot you can do against Mistcutter Hydra . But if you have the option, YES, kill it with two burns (in some cases that might be better than blowing up a Ratchet Bomb would be if you suspect they have another in hand), as he'll beat you silly otherwise. And yes, making him indestructible would be extremely problematic, but you do have counters. Plus, there are very few cards that do that, and even fewer that actually see play.

Master of Waves is another problematic creature. Due to his inability to be burned, he suffers the opposite problem of Mistcutter Hydra ; he can be countered, but can't be killed if he resolves (usually). Therefore, the best option is to counter him. If he does resolve, remember that the Master has protection from red, but his tokens do not. An Anger of the Gods will wipe the tokens from the board, and while he'll be alive, he only hits for 2. That does put you on a clock, but it's a much slower clock that can be raced. Also, AEtherling can block him (even after attacking. I don't know if you knew this trick, but if you use AEtherling 's exile ability after you attack with him, when he comes back on the field, he comes back in untapped, and may block.), though this rarely matters. The only other things in the deck that can kill him are Ratchet Bomb , or a combination of Turn / Burn using only Turn and another burn spell (but you can't fuse Turn / Burn , otherwise it becomes a red spell), but both of these are pretty hard to do. However, they are possible, and if you need to use it, you can. It's good to at least know about them in case that comes up.

Thanks for your answer !

Here's an (I hope) unbroken link : http://www.lotusnoir.info/magic/decks/izzet-24/

Anyway, I really thank you for your explanations, I now know when to keep for counter and when to dig with Jace (or slow attacks down)Also, your precisions about Turn / Burn really are helpful, lot of stufff I didn't know I could do.

I'm also a big fan of (Wall of Frost) as it can deal pretty well with aggro decks (and totally keep you safe from the Reckoner)

I was thinking of Counterflux main deck, as a really useful hard counter. The mana cost isn't usually problematic, and if it doesn't scry, it deals with a lot of stuff. I'm thinking about putting 2 of them mainboard. (without removing any dissolve of course)

Anyway, thanks again and let me know about my deck !

:)

And thank you for being patient while I took forever!

Yes, that link works. Your list looks pretty good. For the mainboard, I'd consider adding one more draw spell, though it might not be necessary. Depending on your meta, you might be able to get away with moving that 4th Anger of the Gods to the sideboard. If it's aggro heavy, don't, but otherwise, I think that'd be a fine replacement. As for your sideboard, however, I'm not convinced of Spellheart Chimera . He is a great finisher, but in my opinion, you don't need 3, though I hadn't really considered swapping to a more aggro-oriented play-style if you wanted to, and those would allow you to do so. However, Boros Reckoner also does this, and helps defend more against Monsters. Alternatively, the chimera allows you to go on the offensive... It's definitely not a bad choice, it's just not the one I would've made. I might try it out to see how I like it. I would without a doubt, however, remove Essence Backlash . It's good against Monsters, but you aren't outputting enough damage for it to matter. Who cares if they take 5 from casting Polukranos, World Eater if they don't take any more damage? Not only that, but it costs 4 mana, when Polukranos can come out on your turn 2 (assuming they went first and it's their turn 3), and start hitting you for 5 (or more) each turn. That card is a better fit for a burn/aggro deck, and in that, it's too slow, so I'm not a fan of it. I'd also recommend adding one more copy of Ratchet Bomb to the sideboard (most likely in place of Essence Backlash ), because against Monsters, you really need it to deal with Mistcutter Hydra , especially one that was topdecked on turn 10 and kills you immediately otherwise. You also might want to move 1 copy of Pithing Needle to your mainboard, as it's your best defense against planeswalkers (which are the actual problem against Monsters, because they give your opponent more creatures than you can handle). Or you might not. That one's up to you, and what you believe will help more in your problematic matchups and/or meta. But overall, I like it.

You're welcome! Yeah, knowing your deck inside and out helps. Any little trick that can get you out of a situation is very useful.

I do like Wall of Frost , but I'm not entirely convinced of its usefulness in this deck, though I haven't tested with it. Against aggro, it'd certainly help quite a bit (especially against Boros Reckoner ), but as for other matchups... Against Mono-Black Devotion, the only big scary creature is Desecration Demon , but it has flying. Against Monsters, it works early game, but if they get enough mana to activate anything's monstrosity, it gets knocked over, though it does still delay. It's probably more effective than I believe it to be, admittedly. If I get time I'll try it out to see how it goes.

And if you're wanting another hard counter, by all means, mainboard Counterflux . I just wouldn't replace Nullify or Essence Scatter with it, because you need those for early (or in some cases late), cheap counters.

Thanks !

The Spellheart was just because there's a mill deck at my local FNM, and he just can't deal with this creature ;)

I totally agree with Essence Backslash, it was just to run a few tests. I will add one more ratchet as you says, it seems really good !

Yeah I agree in adding Counterflux mainboard. Maybe instead of one Anger. I still need to find room for another Pithing needle but still, your answer was really helpful !

But I really don't know what we will do when Ravnica turns off... There are no best kill than AEtherling imo

Also, I really want to win the next game day, the Xenagos card board is just awesome !

Thanks again ! :)

Fated Conflagration out of the sideboard could help win the Monsters match, which is the one I could never really win with my old Izzet deck

@Nazha - You're welcome!

Ah, that makes more sense. Yeah, if it's a meta decision, that's an entirely different matter.

Alright, sounds good.

Yeah, that might work out alright. You typically don't need 4 copies of Anger. And the Pithing Needle isn't required by any means, but it helps you out against planeswalkers, which are one of the things that give this deck major problems. It also shuts down certain win-conditions in control matchups, and stops Underworld Connections and Whip of Erebos , so is only really a dead card against aggro. Those are the reasons why I have it in my mainboard.

Yeah, I'm really not sure what to do when RTR rotates out of standard. Tromokratis is probably the next best thing, though it's not as difficult to get rid of (though it's still hard to deal with. Comparing something's difficulty to get rid of with that of AEtherling is setting an unfairly high standard). That, or Spellheart Chimera . Keranos, God of Storms is also a win condition, so I suppose he'd work. The biggest losses would actually be Mizzium Mortars and Turn / Burn . Well, those and Steam Vents . I think the deck will still work, but it depends on what the next block gives us, and how the meta changes. And hopefully the next block is better than this block, because in my opinion, this block was absolutely horrible for standard (I would compare it to Kamigawa, but I wasn't around for that, so I can't do so fairly). It's a good limited environment, but that's about it.

Xenagos card board? What are you referring to? If it's something related to game day, I probably have no idea what it is. It appears from the deck link you sent that you're French (If you're not, sorry!), so it could be a translation problem as well. If so, I apologize.

And you're welcome once again!

@corythackston - I've thought about that card before, and the problem I have with it is its lack of utility (it only does 5 damage no matter what, and can't be used on players) and prohibitive cost (the triple red hurts, and it has an additional colorless). Therefore, my alternative is Boros Reckoner (which admittedly also has a prohibitive cost, but he's why I'm running Temple of Enlightenment over other scrylands that aren't Temple of Epiphany . That temple provides both a scryland and a white source to help pay for him). He doesn't hit for as much, but he also doubles as a blocker or offensive attacker. Also, if they block him swinging in at a planeswalker, the damage can be redirected at the planeswalker anyways, and it still dies (unless it's a chump block, but then they lose a mana dork, and depending on which mana dork they blocked with, you still might be able to remove a loyalty counter). And if the planeswalker didn't die, assuming the Reckoner is still alive, he can swing again. Or, if he isn't, another burn spell should finish the job (in which case Fated Conflagration likely wouldn't have killed the planeswalker anyways). He's also good in other matchups (aggro), though he's best against Monsters.

That's what I was talking about : http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.magicspoiler.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F04%2FJourney-into-Nyx-Playmat-615x348.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.magicspoiler.com%2Fmtg-news%2Fjourney-nyx-promo-cards%2F&h=348&w=615&tbnid=jJxU_q3lNAlAjM%3A&zoom=1&docid=3sU98g8afE2RYM&ei=95xSU_mpMu2b0wWxhICYCw&tbm=isch&client=firefox-a&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=1093&page=1&start=0&ndsp=74&ved=0CG0QrQMwBw

@Nazha - Ah, I see. Yeah, that's kinda awesome. x] Best of luck to you!

Thaaaaanks ! Izzet FTW

Hi, I just wanted to ask you what do you think about -2 AEtherling , +2 Keranos, God of Storms ? Btw really nice deck, Izzet for the win!

@TheGoop - I'd actually like to add another copy of Keranos, God of Storms , but I'm not entirely sure I want 3 for three reasons. For one, as a win condition, he's pretty slow. AEtherling kills in 3 turns (assuming they don't stall with kill spells), whereas Keranos takes 7 turns minimum (though I suppose he can be assisted with burn spells, but I'd much rather save them unless I have a guaranteed win). And he doesn't always burn. Granted, he'll then draw you into more stuff if he doesn't, but you don't have a lot of burn that can actually hit a player. The second reason is that AEtherling is much more difficult to get rid of. Granted, because Keranos will never become a creature (I suppose he theoretically could, but if he does, you've won anyways), he's also not exactly easy to remove, but AEtherling dodges things like Detention Sphere and even just enchantment removal, whereas Keranos doesn't. Also, Keranos is legendary. While 3 isn't exactly a lot, you cycle through the majority of your deck in just about every game (unless you lose rather quickly), and you're likely to encounter at least two copies of him. If you already have one out, then that's a dead card in your hand.

As for removing AEtherling to open up spots for Keranos, because of the reasons I listed above, I'd much rather not get rid of both copies of AEtherling . I'd consider replacing one, and might test with that, but I'm not getting rid of both.

I had another question dear Izzet Guildmaster :

Whenever I play my Izzet control deck, the games take a few eternities to finish, because for the first 20 turns I'm just drawing and countering cards... And I often end up in a draw, even if I am in a particulary good position.. ;(

@Nazha - Haha, ask away young padawan! ;P

Well, that's essentially what control does. x] Control games last a long time (if you're winning, and sometimes even if you're losing), and draws do happen. I play control because I enjoy it more than the other deck types (and I've been working on this one specifically for months), but it has the greatest potential for draws of all the archetypes. This is true for the other control decks in Standard right now as well, not just this one.

There are three ways to avoid unnecessary draws that I can think of. The first is to add more win conditions to your deck. I'm not particularly fond of this method, as it messes with your ratios of cards, and you'd have to test it quite a bit in order to figure out which ones you can afford to cut to do this. The second way is to add a bunch more win conditions. However, this method turns it into a Tempo deck rather than a Control deck, and cards (as well as your mindset) have to be completely changed around. I think both are viable, but looking at the lists, I like this deck better. That's admittedly probably bias on my part, but from my experience, tempo (at least, Izzet tempo) isn't always the most consistent. Perhaps that was due to bad deck building on my part (and/or a lack of cards), but I wasn't fond of it (At least, not in Standard. Personally, I quite enjoy U/R Delver, but I like UWR Control more, just because it's, once again, a better fit with my playstyle). The third method is the one I prefer; learn your deck. Once you know exactly what the deck is capable of doing, you'll know what to do in certain situations, making your play faster. Learn what the decks you're playing against can do, and what threats they have. For example, against Mono-Black Devotion, if you have a Dissolve in hand on turn 3, and your only available land is Steam Vents , in nearly every case you'd want to shock yourself as insurance (a reason you might not have to, however, is having a Nullify in hand). Why? Because a resolved Underworld Connections provides too much card advantage for this deck to handle, and you'll likely end up losing to it. Also, learn which cards to use and when. If you have both a Nullify and Dissolve in hand, and they play something like Desecration Demon , which counter should you use (assuming you don't have another answer)? It depends. If you're looking to resolve something big next turn such as AEtherling , you'll probably want to use Dissolve , because you'll have 6 less mana the next turn, and you'll really want to have mana open for a counter or to bounce AEtherling . If you aren't going to do this, you'll want to use the counter with a more narrow range of spells it can be used against, and therefore use Nullify . Overall, this method just comes down to, "Learn to play faster," but you have to learn to play faster without making critical mistakes, and that's why you need to know your deck and what you're up against.

Well third method is actually really good. Just need not to waste time on mulligans and stuff, and it may turn out well!

Thanks :)

@TheAshenKnight

No, it definitely wasn't Statiscaster. I feel much the same way as you about it.

Interesting to see the list change from how it was a week ago, though. Three things jump out at me as being a bit odd:

Divination instead of Inspiration - I think I see your reasoning for this. Divination is 3 mana and comes out sooner, which can mean a lot. But the way I figure it, tapping out on your turn would be really bad, as you explained for Young Pyromancer . What wasn't working about Inspiration that you changed it out for Divination?

Keranos - Card hasn't been released yet, but are you thinking that he'll be a good finisher once JOU hits? His abilities seemed underwhelming to me when he was spoiled, though, again, I know almost nothing about control.

Opportunity removed - I can't really see what you put in for it. I'm just curious as to why you took it out, since I remember you speaking about it like the Izzet Sphinx's Revelation .