Vial Smasher: EVERY SPELL IS A BURN SPELL

Commander / EDH Burn Casual Four Color Jank UBRG

yardi

Sorcery (31)

• 1x All Suns' Dawn
• 1x Animist's Awakening
• 1x Banefire
• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Clan Defiance
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Damnable Pact
• 1x Echo of Eons
• 1x Explore
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Finale of Revelation
• 1x Fireball
• 1x Genesis Storm
• 1x Journey of Discovery
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Lavalanche
• 1x Mind Spring
• 1x Mystic Retrieval
• 1x Nissa's Renewal
• 1x Reap and Sow
• 1x Reap the Past
• 1x Red Sun's Zenith
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Seeds of Renewal
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Temporal Trespass
• 1x Tempt with Discovery
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Treasure Cruise
• 1x Villainous Wealth

Artifact (4)

• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Prismatic Geoscope
• 1x Sol Ring

Land (36)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 5x Forest
• 5x Island
• 1x Karplusan Forest
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Creature (9)

• 1x Archfiend of Despair
• 1x Draco
• 1x Jace's Archivist
• 1x Kaervek the Merciless
• 1x Riptide Shapeshifter
• 1x Rosheen Meanderer
• 1x Thrasios, Triton Hero
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1x Zaxara, the Exemplary

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Collective Restraint
• 1x Mind's Dilation
• 1x Unbound Flourishing

Commanders (2)

Instant (15)

• 1x Arachnogenesis
• 1x Comet Storm
• 1x Curtains' Call
• 1x Divergent Transformations
• 1x Erebos's Intervention
• 1x Expansion / Explosion
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Fury Storm
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Squall Line
• 1x Stroke of Genius
• 1x Thassa's Intervention

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Maybeboard

Instant (2)

• 1x Expansion / Explosion
• 1x Fury Storm

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-November 25th, 2018 Update-

With the introduction of commander storm cards I've restructured the deck around the card Genesis Storm. So I've ended up cutting all of the signets and a lot of the low impact permanents in the deck. In their place I've added more spell based mana ramp, card draw, and some creature creation. Some lower impact permanents are still in like Basilisk Collar and Chromatic Lantern but I think that their upside outweighs the downside of ripping them off Genesis Storm.

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Introduction

This Deck uses the partner commanders Vial Smasher the Fierce and Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix with Vial Smasher being the main focus. The deck revolves around cards with high CMC's and X costs in order to make the most out of Vial Smasher's damage to face. Kydele serves as a very nice bonus to have on the field after playing any of our draw spells, almost refunding them, and letting us play out our new hand.

An obvious upgrade to the deck would be the ability to make infinite mana but I want stay away from that, especially since this deck seems to be on the more casual side of things.

My Game Plan

During the first phase of the game I need to establish my mana. Being able to cast big spells will require me to ramp fast and ramp hard while getting the colours I need. Without any mana or draw spells we'll just be a sitting duck on the battlefield topdecking, hoping to get any kind of action and playing Red Sun's Zenith for four isn't really my idea of action.

Once mana has been established I'm looking to play card draw spells first and foremost, hopefully with Kydele out in order to get the most out of all my mana. From the card draw all I really want is some more X spells in order to get the most damage off of Vial Smasher's ability and hopefully burn people out for the win.

Why All the Burn Spells?

"With Vial Smasher out every spell will burn my opponent, why should I add in dedicated burn?" Is something I thought while coming up with the deck. As I moved farther into deck building I realized that without Vial Smasher on the field I didn't have any way to actually burn my opponents out or really get in for much damage at all considering my low creature count. Adding some dedicated burn was the result and I think it was an overall good choice.

Some Favorites

Some of my favorite cards to play with Vial Smasher are Mind's Dilation, Draco, and Villainous Wealth.

With Mind's Dilation on the field whenever an opponent casts a spell on their turn they open up someone at the table to potentially be hit for a good amount of damage. This cards lets you steal opponents' cards while burning them for it. I love it

Next is Draco. He's a very simple card included in the deck for one thing only... Getting in for sixteen damage at eight mana. Leaving behind a 9/9 flying body is just gravy for me. In all honesty he's probably not the best card and people looking to improve the deck could easily take him out for something of more substance but I just love the dumb thing!

Villainous Wealth is another fun card that steals cards from someones deck to use against them while also burning someone at the table out for a stupid amount. Hopefully you don't kill the person you targeted with this card by accident!

Riptide Shapeshifter can grab any creature I choose from my deck at instant speed since every creature in the deck have different creature types. 90% of the time this will be grabbing Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre to try and close out a game but the options available with this creature definitely warrant its spot. However, depending on how you build your decks creature base this shapeshifter can be hit or miss.

Maybeboard

Basilisk Collar, Loxodon Warhammer and Eternal Thirst - Gives Vile Smasher lifelink meaning each huge X spell can also be a giant life point swing in your favor but I'll have to see if lifegain becomes a necessity as I playtest the deck

Blightsteel Colossus, Darksteel Colossus, other huge threats - Are all great ways to end the game through combat while also making use of Vial Smasher's ability. These guys could easily switch with Draco or Deep-Sea Kraken for slots in the deck if you want more power. Something to note about the Kozileks are they draw you cards when you play them which can generate value from Kydele if you have her out.

Champion's Helm and Swiftfoot Boots - Potential add-ins if I notice that Vial Smasher is dying too much and is in need of some protection.

Grafted Exoskeleton and Phyresis - Giving Vial Smasher infect followed by playing a spell with a CMC of ten or greater will result in someone dying if they don't have a response. These cards can lead to some pretty quick kills and wins if they are left unchecked. The option for infect is always available but personally I would rather stick to regular burn.

Different Strategies

One of the coolest things about this deck is how malleable it can be. So many different strategies can be employed by this deck and still work out nicely due to the many colors you have and the fact that each spell can burn.

Instant-Heavy - The deck can be a very instant heavy control deck with many counterspells, instant speed removal, and flash effects. Because the first spell each turn will burn someone, playing 1 spell a turn (which includes opponents turns) will quickly lower life totals and hopefully put you in a great position.

Creature-Heavy - Instead of playing huge sorceries on your turn you could choose to play huge HYDRAS on your turn, or demons, or eldrazi, or dragons, or many of the other awesome huge creatures available. Because of Vial Smasher's ability you get value off of every creature even if they die before they get to attack. Keeping permanents on board can keep aggro off of you while you lay in the beats. I think this is a more fair version of the deck where you wont have as many tricks up your sleeve.

Group Slug - You can easily make Vial Smasher + any partner into a passive damage to everyone deck. Slowly pinging away at each person with Vial Smasher can easily speed up the group slug gameplan. And because some of the best group slug cards are in Rakdos colors, if you really wanted to, Vial Smasher could helm this type of deck on her own.

A Mix of it All! - The deck is so customizable that all kinds of strategies could be effective. In my own deck I could switch out some of my sorceries with large eldrazi or hydras and I could still get the same type of gameplay and Vial Smasher goodness. I love this color combo and the freedom that these commanders provide. It would be awesome to see tons lists with many different game-plans and archetypes!

Top Ranked	Achieved #12 position overall 8 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 50 - 0 Rares 11 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.97
Tokens	Hydra 0/0 G, Spider 1/2 G, Spirit 1/1 C
Folders	Decks I Like, EDH Memes, EDH, Commander, EDH decks, EDH, Fun Decks, Decks I like, edh_to_build, Cool decks