For a long time, EDH burn decks were only mono-red decks based on an infinite mana combo, combined with a Fireball. But what about creatures? Could a burn deck be based on creatures?
Yes, my friends. Yes it can. Here's why.
This deck is based on burning your opponents through creatures, by triggering death and birth effects with creatures. Let's begin the panorama, shall we?
First off, the mana ramp. This deck has access to green, which makes it easy to get more mana more effectively. Cards like Boundless Realms,Search for Tomorrow,
Seek the Horizon
,Cultivate,
Journey of Discovery
and Burnished Hart can fetch all the lands you need, and the permanents (Awakening Zone,
Zhur-Taa Druid
,Astral Cornucopia and Sylvan Caryatid) can supply you with a steady amount of mana. Fairly easy mana ramp.
Let's go already to the core of the deck: the creatures. Disposable, reusable creatures, most of the little guys in this deck have either undying or persist, bringing them back in case of untimely death (by my hand or my opponent's). Plus, a card like Cauldron of Souls can abuse of the triggers and make my undying creatures practically immortal. Other ways to have a lot of creatures (in order to summon the commander at max effiency) are, for example, Chancellor of the Forge, to double my effectives, or Vengevine, a pretty strong guy coming back over and over and over again. Apart from those, very few creatures in the deck aren't made for sacrifice: those would be Stuffy Doll, perfect to discourage a strong creature, and Darksteel Colossus, who is just a gigantic, unkillable creature. Fun stuff!
Let us follow with the triggers. There are two categories of those: creature-death triggers, and enter-the-battlefield triggers. Let's start with those.
The most obvious one is Purphoros, God of the Forge. It burns everyone else but me for two damage for eachc reature that enters the battlefield under my control. Pretty appreciable. Then comes Warstorm Surge, obvious burner, and potentially an instant kill if I can summon my commander with enough strength.
Electropotence
does the same thing as Warstorm Surge, for a lower entry cost and a cost per usage. Finally, Soul of the Harvest is a magnificient way of drawing cards.
Now let us visit the list of death triggers.
Jar of Eyeballs
is maybe one of the only fetchers in the deck, apart from the mana ramp and from Signal the Clans. It triggers when my creatures die, and give me a small advantage in the game. Gutter Grime, on the other hand, can somehow use the remains of my creatures to create more creatures, and more powerful ones as I lose more. It's truly a win-win situation. As for the burn, Flayer of the Hatebound was a no-brainer. Even if I don't have any other undying or persist creature, it's still a 4/2 that burns for 5 when it dies. As for Stalking Vengeance, it enhances this trigger to all of my creatures, allowing them to burn through an opponent's life total. But my favorite trigger is indubitably Vicious Shadows. You see, I play against a lot of blue decks, based on drawing as much as possible. Against such decks, a simple board-wipe is fatal, as I burn them for hundreds of damage.
There are a few cards in the deck designed to cause more of those deadly triggers, like
Culling Dais
and
Carnage Altar
, for death triggers, and Fungal Sprouting / Conjurer's Closet for entry triggers.
Feed the Pack
covers both, for deadly effect.
Despite this deck following the idea of burning through creatures, it still holds three direct burn: Fling, amazing with a huge Thromok the Insatiable,
Soulblast
, now fun for the whole family, and Bonfire of the Damned... Do I really need to explain this one?
I also brought a little help from two buddies: Domri Rade, for even more triggers (and if I'm super lucky, an amazing emblem), and Garruk, Caller of Beasts to get more friends on the field.
I also decided to put a little removal in the deck, since green is good for that. Naturalize and Krosan Grip are simple and clear, along with Acidic Slime.
Rain of Thorns
is splendid, getting loads of things wrecked all at once.
I know some of those cards can destroy lands, but I never use them this way. Because destroying lands is a sad thing to do. Period.
This deck, as you may have noticed, contains very few drawing options. However, it does well into re-using the graveyard (with Eternal Witness, Creeping Renaissance and
Make a Wish
.
Before I finish, let me explain some discussable choices I made for the deck.
Rancor and Nylea, God of the Hunt are mostly there to give trample to Thromok the Insatiable, for a quick and brutal commander kill.
Leyline of Punishment. Because I don't want you to heal. You don't heal. You burn. Nuff said.
Mage Slayer is destined to Thromok (although I wonder how he would weild it... Oh well). If I can get him to over 40 damage (basically, by sacrificing seven creatures or more), it is most likely an instant kill only by attacking.
Power Conduit is a super easy way to recycle undying and persist creatures. So is
Ooze Flux
, although this one has the positive effect to give me more creatures through this recycling.
Glitterfang
. A bad card indeed, but it can, sometimes, give me a trigger per turn (with Warstorm Surge or Soul of the Harvest, for example). Overall it's mostly in the deck because I wish it, and think it's a kinda cute card.
Fresh Meat
, at last, can be triggered by deaths, and trigger some entries. It can also transform a regular boardwipe into a board-filler.
That's it for this deck. Tests so far have been positive, and I will continue to use and abuse it. Suggestions are always appreciated.
Everyone have a nice day!
