Thank you so very much for the helpful suggestions that were submitted this week in the comment section. I appreciate cartwheelnurd's ideas for speeding up this deck's strategy, as well as his link to the Wizard article's Legacy burn deck for reference. Cartwheelnurd, thank you so much for your thoughtful suggestions!
Finally, thank you miguelangelpatinoa, GreenDecker, desupremacist, Braynedehd, aeonstoremyliver, and cartwheelnurd for your various card recommendations! I will keep all of these cards in mind for the next revision, and will consider them very carefully.
Again, thanks for all of the thoughtful comments! I will update this deck periodically (weekly, every Friday) until I feel that it has reached its maximum potential. As of now, however, I can see plenty of potential weaknesses. As I am still relatively new to Magic the Gathering, I would very much appreciate any further suggestions and/or constructive criticism that you may have to offer.
October 19, 2012 3:24 a.m.
Is there a reason your doing both card:Tormod's Crypt and Nihil Spellbomb ? I'm wondering because you don't have any black mana for Nihil's second effect and it cost one mana more.
I have been wanting to do a mono red burn for a long time, and this got me going. I made a modern take of your deck: deck:set-the-world-ablaze-2, plz check out and comment :)
October 19, 2012 4:43 a.m.
First, I need to say that what you're doing with the detailed description and regular updates is brilliant - I haven't seen anyone else put in this amount of effort to updating their deck on this site.
I also read your disclaimer that:
"I can see plenty of potential weaknesses in this deck.
As I am still relatively new to Magic the Gathering, I would indeed greatly appreciate any suggestions and/or constructive criticism that you may have to offer."
I want you to know that I understand this, so don't take it too hard when I say this deck isn't very good.
As cartwheelnerd pointed out, this deck is divided in purpose between trying to be fast burn and more midrange combo. Ultimately, building around Quest for Pure Flame is a flawed concept if you want to be Modern / Legacy competitive. So, you have a choice to make:
If you want to be Modern / Legacy competitive, until you have significantly more experience, your deck is likely going to look very similar to a pro's list:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/rc/217
But, if you don't mind being a little less serious, you can try to do something original towards the midrange combo around Quest for Pure Flame . You just need to decide which you prefer, and then work toward that.
October 19, 2012 1:10 p.m.
After playtesting some more, I was pleased to discover it has sped up by 2 turns on average since my last comment.
Given you want to commit to the Quest for Pure Flame , here are my next two cents.
One thing I noticed, your only way to win by turn 3 is with Vexing Devil or a god hand of nothing but 1 drops for 3 damage, 3 Mountain , 1 Quest for Pure Flame , and a Fireblast .. Meaning, I would highly suggest you swap out both Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle for + 2x Vexing Devil .
Valakut, although I understand why you want him in there, comes into play tapped, thus he really hampers your tempo. Vexing Devil on the other hand, will probably translate into a Lava Spike for 4 damage into 3.
Other than that, I like where it's at and what you've done :) I'd say think about Browbeat , that may or may not be a good suggestion.
October 20, 2012 11:25 a.m.
After a little more thought, I came to a conclusion: Don't drop below 20 mountains, I say drop it to 20, drop the Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle drop 2x Elemental Appeal , add in 2x Vexing Devil s, and add in 3 Ball Lightning .
You need a minimum of 20 to make sure that if need be, you can hit those 3 and 4 drop spells. As I said in my last post, Valakut just slows you down too. Elemental Appeal is a great card, but it is slightly overpriced because of the kicker cost. Ball Lightning gets you the same exact effect, but for 1 less mana and damage. Meaning an entire turn faster.
As a rule of thumb for a deck like this, don't drop below anything that is less than 2 damage for 1 mana unless you need the versatility of the card, hence Slagstorm .
So uh, yeah, I was also an idiot. Don't put in Browbeat , by the time you'd play it, you could've just done 9 damage instead.
Please seriously consider my first paragraph of this post. I feel like I am on to something here.
October 20, 2012 11:40 a.m.
Sorry for post spamming, but what about infect? like, are you just gonna handle it like a normal deck or...? I have a U/G Modern infect deck that just won 5 out of 7 rounds against this deck :/ http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/please-help-my-modern-infect-ug/
Like, I don't wanna sound mean or conceded, but playtesting is better than goldfishing and uh, yeah :/
October 20, 2012 12:11 p.m.
funny that you should have the art for Flamebreak , yet no actual Flamebreak at all to be seen. I think you might want to run Flamebreak instead of Slagstorm , (and in the sideboard for that matter)
I'm not entirely sure how Thunderous Wrath or Quest for Pure Flame will play out, but at first glance they appear to be dead some of the time.
if Quest for Pure Flame is the first card that you play, then it doesn't pay for what say... Lightning Bolt would have paid for until your 7th card, causing you to have done 24 damage instead of 21 if you did all 3-damage spells.
but again, you'll never know until you play it. so play your deck. You're not going to know for sure based solely on theory.
Searing Blaze is a good card, considering that it can kill a creature and bolt the player at the same time.
Price of Progress is mainboardable in most legacy formats, and it will probably net you 4-6 damage
I'd run 4 Goblin Guide definitely. He's the best card for a burn deck. I'd also run 2 more Vexing Devil .
I'd cut Valakut like a bad habit. Again, play your deck and see how it feels. coming in tapped is going to matter more than the burn will.
as good as Everlasting Torment seems, the current go-to card for that slot is Sulfuric Vortex .
some other cards to consider:
I think thalt Reforge the Soul definitely belongs in your sideboard. It's more of a card for the long game.
October 22, 2012 12:15 p.m.
Kiln Fiend is an excellent way to deal out massive damage after playing piles of removal on your opponent's board!
October 22, 2012 2:25 p.m.
Kiln Fiend is an excellent way to deal out massive damage after playing piles of removal on your opponent's board!
October 22, 2012 2:25 p.m.
Kiln Fiend is an excellent way to deal out massive damage after playing piles of removal on your opponent's board!
October 22, 2012 2:25 p.m.
Kiln Fiend is an excellent way to deal out massive damage after playing piles of removal on your opponent's board!
October 22, 2012 2:28 p.m.
Braynedehd says... #19
Lava Spike > Flame Slash this is a burn deck, if they have no creatures left, Flame Slash becomes a dead card in your hand.
October 23, 2012 10:09 a.m.
PaperNinja says... #20
Wouldn't you want Chandra ablaze? Or is that too slow?
October 23, 2012 6:02 p.m.
ResurrectedSage says... #21
I really do like this deck. The only thing that would make it better IMO is Disintegrate or similar X cost spells.
October 24, 2012 10:24 a.m.
ResurrectedSage says... #22
I really do like this deck. The only thing that would make it better IMO is Disintegrate or similar X cost spells.
October 24, 2012 10:24 a.m.
Human_Rogue_21 says... #24
I would run Chandra Ablaze .... I think it could really help...
October 24, 2012 5:50 p.m.
What do you think of Price of Progress and Grim Lavamancer ? They are both very powerful cards in legacy. Price of Progress is usually for at least six to eight in a legacy game and Grim Lavamancer puts your already used burn spells to good use. I do like your deck. +1 from me.
Solomon says... #2
Hello Everyone!
Thank you so very much for your wonderful suggestions! For this week's update, I carefully went through all of the comments posted under this topic as of October 19, 2012.
I have to say that I am very pleased with the advice given to me so far in the development of this deck. To promote fast, comprehensible reading, this week I have changed the update log "format" from the previous block paragraph structure into a shorter, concise bullet list. Without further ado, I would like to explain the changes incorporated into the creation of the third revision.
Change Log:
October 19, 2012 3:23 a.m.