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Faithless Looting - BANNED! Can't do anything about that, except remember fondly. RIP.
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March of Reckless Joy - a new addition that helps give us “draw power” in a more impulsive centric way. Since it contains the clause “until the end of the next turn”, it helps us use whatever is “exiled” after casting the spell on opponent’s end step. Since the deck mainly stays majority , we can exile whatever we don’t need in order to draw answers. Alongside Dragon's Rage Channeler, we can stack the effects so we surveil first, decide if we need it, then exile.
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Dreadhorde Arcanist - I had tested and played this when it was released and it felt good with the deck going mainly 1 cmc drops. However, after Faithless Looting was banned, the deck needed to look for another draw spell source. That came in Ransack the Lab. It is 2 cmc so it doesn’t combine well with Dreadhorde Arcanist, so that is why we don’t use him. Since Village Rites was spoiled, Dreadhorde Arcanist has some more of an appeal, but having to sacrifice a creature every time can be difficult. If we took advantage of "Afterlife" on certain creatures, and ran more copies of other token producers, like Goblin Rabblemaster and Spectral Procession, then it might work. The problem is: that is so many independent moving pieces. It is easily disrupted and prevented.
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Magmatic Channeler - a new inclusion that helps with our early game aggression, as well as card draw, in a way. I’m keeping in Ransack the Lab in order to activate a 4/4 Magmatic Channeler on turn 3. Magmatic Channeler has synergy with the high amount of Instants/Sorceries and also helps with draw power, later when we would have run out of steam (RiP Faithless Looting). I think Magmatic Channeler fits in extremely well to our game plan and I am excited for her to stick around.
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Plague Engineer - great addition to cover against aggressive creature strategies. Another great point is that the static -1/-1 only affects the opponents creatures, so if we face Humans, for example, it won't weaken our own Seasoned Pyromancer or Young Pyromancer. Deathtouch is also nice against Amulet Titan or Eldrazi Tron creatures, if needed. I would think to add more of the 3 cmc creatures included in the Maybeboard if we included Unearth.
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Celestial Purge - Celestial Purge hits everything that we would want to hit with our current removal, including Liliana of the Veil, Bloodbraid Elf, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, Geralf's Messenger, and even the opponent's Hazoret the Fervent. Lately, Celestial Purge has also been useful in removing Omnath, Locus of Creation. The one problem that comes to mind, in originally comparing Celestial Purge to Wear / Tear or Revoke Existence, is that Celestial Purge does not hit is Dryad of the Ilysian Grove. Luckily, our Wear / Tear, Dreadbore/Terminate, or even Fatal Push with Revolt can hit. Hell, Lightning Bolt, if opponent chump blocks, can even take it down. As an incredible bonus, Celestial Purge being an instant is fantastic to scare/intimidate the opponent with our untapped mana. Prismatic Ending seems to cover our bases against aggressive decks that play low to the ground.
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Ransack the Lab - our more modern replacement for Faithless Looting post ban, along with Cling to Dust. Actually not a bad replacement, in all honesty. Only 1 more mana than Faithless Looting and in black, which is fine, since we will usually want to cast hand disruption, if possible, our first turn. Ransack the Lab helps fill our graveyard for Bedlam Reveler and other escape costs, and filter our upcoming interaction with the opponent. Also, I’ve found Ransack the Lab fills the graveyard quickly if opponent exiles the graveyard via 1-time effects, like Ashiok, Dream Render or Nihil Spellbomb. Ransack the Lab can also help us find a third land, in case we keep a 2 land hand. Ransack the Lab is also helpful to fuel our escape cost spells, if we run them. Lately, it helps to set up a turn 3 4/4 Magmatic Channeler.
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Cling to Dust - the meta is getting faster and semi-focused on the graveyard (Grinding Station, Dredge, and Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath/Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger). Cling to Dust serves a few purposes. 1) graveyard hate (single target, but still effective for individual cards like Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath, Prized Amalgam, or some other card that the opponent wants to cast from graveyard). 2) Cling to Dust provides life gain against Burn/Prowess decks, where 3 life really can give us the needed buffer against aggressive strategies. Last, 3) it gives us card draw, like Ransack the Lab when we are digging for answers or no other targets for life gain exist. Also instant speed, and cheap, so we can interact with opponent the quickest way possible. It also serves as a quasi (versatile) 3-4 Ransack the Lab for card draw, so we can play less Ransack the Lab.
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Yidaro, Wandering Monster - new addition that pretty much exemplifies what Mardu Puromancer stands for: slow and steady, accrue value over the game, and value creatures/threats in the late game.
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Chandra, Torch of Defiance - when I had originally built this deck, I had tried out many different planeswalkers and I was always subbing them out for something else. I believe Chandra, Torch of Defiance is one of the best planeswalkers we can use right now. With her, we can 1) card draw to find outs, 2) add mana to pool to push through counters like Mausoleum Wanderer, Spell Pierce, Logic Knot, and Mana Leak, and 3) burning a creature and, eventually, opponent. However, I want to try a “Planeswalker-less” Mardu build and see how that helps.
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Liliana of the Veil/Liliana, the Last Hope - I am in no way saying she isn’t absolutely amazing in Modern. I honestly believe she is one of the best Planeswalkers in the format. However, since this build cares so much about instant/sorcery spells to continually trigger Young Pyromancer or lower Bedlam Reveler’s cost, she doesn’t help with synergy. We also run so much removal and discard that her abilities become somewhat redundant. Again, if you desire to play her, all power in the world to you. Be your own individual! Liliana, the Last Hope is similar to Liliana of the Veil, but not as great, in our build. Still great against opposing aggro strategies, but we can combat aggro/burn in other ways. Also, not all of our instants/sorcery spells have flashback, so we want to be picky/choosy about what goes to the graveyard.
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Anguished Unmaking - fantastic removal in Mardu based colors, if not one of the best removal spells in the game. However, 3 life can be a lot in modern. We need more life gain to make this viable, and, thankfully, we can run Smiting Helix, Kambal, Consul of Allocation, and Collective Brutality to offset the life loss. Also, Klothys, God of Destiny is a real problem when Jund side it in. Celestial Purge and Revoke Existence can take care of Klothys and most of our removal can deal with basically anything else Jund throws at us.
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Path to Exile - I have been contemplating this against Blood Moon for the longest time, ever since I picked up this build. With the current meta, Path to Exile provides a cheap way to remove sticky creatures, as well as to fuel Young Pyromancer and Bedlam Reveler. In the long game of attrition, we don't want to give our opponent more lands to improve their top deck draw. Path to Exile is right on the edge to include, but instead, just running more Fatal Push and Hazoret the Fervent instead. The more and more we play Blood Moon, the more inclined we are to keep Path to Exile out of the build. Prismatic Ending competes with this for efficient exile removal.
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Goblin Rabblemaster - great for token generation and extra aggression when this build needs to become more aggro (looking at you CONTROL). This forces the opponent to make decisions about which threat to remove, unless they have a board wipe, which we can bounce back from extremely well with Lingering Souls or graveyard recursion through Kolaghan's Command. Not needed right now since Mardu Pyromancer is evolving into a control match, and has Plague Engineer and Hazoret the Fervent to diversify our creatures. Bonecrusher Giant has replaced this.
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Village Rites - a new tech that changes the way the deck would function. Where the deck normally is a value deck that trades 1 for 1, Village Rites forces the deck to more of a token “go wide” strategy. This might help if we also combined Village Rites with cards that have the “Afterlife” mechanic, like Seraph of the Scales, Tithe Taker, or even Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger before the sacrifice trigger. It’s a great card, but just requires to be built around.
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Mazemind Tome - I'm testing Mazemind Tome in order to see how it compares to Ransack the Lab as our card draw/filtering mechanism. It helps also with life gain against aggressive decks. Our current escape cards don't require many cards to exile, but we still need to be careful.
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Stony Silence - Another major reason to play or splash in modern. Artifact hate. That’s it. Can be used against Tron with their early Expedition Map, but not super optimal. Rather use Blood Moon, Pillage, Molten Rain, and Thoughtseize to mess Tron up. Sometimes not needed due to all the other artifact hate we run, like Wear / Tear, Kolaghan's Command, and various others, depending on match-up. With the shifting meta, Surgical Extraction at instant speed, with spot removal, has seemed more effective rather than a prison-like effect. I, personally, like my Mardu Pyromancer deck to be more proactive, rather than prison oriented. Stony Silence is a consideration with Grinding Station becoming more prevalent.
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Ensnaring Bridge - great way to protect us from bigger creatures than our tokens and Young Pyromancers. It’s ok with Bedlam Reveler if you plan ahead. Leave Bedlam Reveler in hand, until 2nd main when you can drop and replenish your hand, and prevent opponent from attacking. This tech hasn’t felt as impactful (like Blood Moon) due to the opponent always being able to out it with removal, like Nature's Claim or Wear / Tear.
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Anger of the Gods - insanely good board wipe within our colors. Only downside is that it banishes our own Young Pyromancer, Kambal, Consul of Allocation, and Goblin Rabblemaster. However, while a nuisance to us, Anger of the Gods can be an absolute train wreck to the opponent. Haven't needed to exile creatures since graveyard center decks are losing favor with the banning of Faithless Looting.
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Arclight Phoenix - so much discussion has gone into this tech on various websites and Facebook groups. I personally don’t think this belongs here. We would completely have to change the midrange aspect of the deck to a strictly aggro shell. We would exchange value based removal for Manamorphose and more 1cmc spells. I think Arclight Phoenix belongs in an Izzet focused build, with a ton more cantrips, like Thought Scour and Serum Visions. Also, with the banning of Faithless Looting, Arclight Phoenix lost a lot of power and consistency; you hardly see the deck anymore, unfortunately.
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Roiling Vortex - better in a Burn based shell. We go for the long game, so sometimes this can harm us more than our opponent. In addition, while we are trying to get the perfect manabase on board, we often have to shock ourselves quite a bit to play our spells on curve. It's simply better to not be taking too much damage needlessly, until we can stabalize.
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Risk Factor - another suggestion that I have seen. This would make the deck more burn oriented. That is good and bad. Good because it can helps us get that extra damage in where we need it, or the card draw to close a game. Bad because of the high cost and the opponent makes the decision that is the best for them. At the end of the day, I wanted the deck to be more midrange and remain in my control. This definitely is a maybe, but further play testing is required to determine when and where to tech. At the end of the day, Mardu Pyromancer is meant to limit and take away options the opponent has to play, until we can out value their game plan.
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Crackling Doom - my original personal spicy tech, and one of my favorite Mardu cards ever. Non-targeting sac with burn. Downside is it costs which we won’t always be able to supply, especially under Blood Moon. If needed, it will help against Bogles, Primeval Titan, and some Eldrazi Tron. At the end of the day, not as effective as I would have hoped, since Terminate can usually remove at instant speed that Crackling Doom would be able to do anyway.
