Affinity vs burn
Modern forum
Posted on June 24, 2015, 8:49 a.m. by tyforthevenom
I'm having difficulty deciding if Vault Skirge is affinities best or worst card vs burn having lost to so many Kolaghan's Command and Searing Blaze after playing it
GlistenerAgent says... #3
Vault Skirge is your best card, probably. Cranial Plating is always good. The matchup is generally pretty good for the Affinity player.
Also, burn doesn't play Kolaghan's Command.
June 24, 2015 8:58 a.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #4
So what's your question? Whether or not to cut Vault Skirge after game 1?
Burn plays KCommand???
This matchup is just a race and unfortunately after board they can kill stuff and deal you damage from Destructive Revelry and Smash to Smithereens...
The upside is worth ot in my opinion, One large hit in with the Skirge puts you well ahead and it dying to removal isn't really a reason to not play it.
June 24, 2015 9 a.m.
That card is the best card against burn! If it survives for a few turns, it will give you just enough life to survive burn. Therefore, burn MUST deal with it (potentially wasting a burn spell on it). Everything with lifelink is good against burn.
June 24, 2015 9 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #6
I'm only asking as I normally get some form of blaze effect after I shock it in turn 1 leaving me behind on life total
June 24, 2015 9:04 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #7
They will have Searing effects. They will kill something with it. The fact that they kill it isn't a good reason to board it out.
fluffy is correct that Etched Champion is also very good against them. It's also very good against nearly everybody save fast combo decks.
June 24, 2015 9:11 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #8
Champion is good in most matchups sucks vs tron combo and the mirror
June 24, 2015 9:17 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #9
Agent it's not "the fact they kill it" but rather the fact I effectively get burnt for 5 damage
June 24, 2015 10:35 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #10
Don't cast it for life, then. Sometimes you have to, but that's totally fine. Skirge is good against Burn.
June 24, 2015 10:38 a.m.
Seraphicate says... #11
Arcbound Ravager is pretty much the next best thing in the deck that helps against burn, after lifelink. A turn 2 ravager will usually save you a lot of pain from Searing Blaze and just discourages them from bolting anything on your board.
June 24, 2015 12:12 p.m.
KillDatBUG says... #12
Draw dependent. Affinity has a naturally fast clock that can sometimes be very difficult to answer for Burn, but Burn has a slightly better sideboard plan in the form of Destructive Revelry and Smash to Smithereens.
June 24, 2015 2:30 p.m.
TheAnnihilator says... #13
Why not just wait on playing the Skirge until you deploy some other threats? You don't have to turn one it.
June 24, 2015 5:35 p.m.
tyforthevenom says... #14
On turn 1 in particular if I have something I can cast in my hand and it's not instant I want to cast it asap
June 24, 2015 5:40 p.m.
Personally, as an affinity player, I disagree with the fact that Etched Champion is the best creature vs burn, it is good, yes, very good even, but it's utterly slow being a 3 CMC drop.
I personally side out 3 Steel Overseer and 1 Etched Champion for 2 Spellskite and 2 Spell Pierce and that is my only sideboarding plan vs burn, then I mulligan agressively to make sure I can overwhelm the board turn 1 and swing strong turn 2. I'll also prefer an Arcbound Ravager rather than a Cranial Plating in that matchup since it makes it possible for me to boost my creatures out of bolt range. Also, if I was a burn player playing vs me, I wouldn't worry so much about my creatures I'd just race the clock and burn my opponent, seems to be the safest strategy, but I don't have much experience with burn so I'm kinda talking through my hat.
And yes, seeing a Vault Skirge in my starting hand is the best thing I can see, and YES I will cast it turn 1, and if he bolts it, it tends to be his first mistake, 'cuz if I kept that hand, I knew I was swinging for lethal turn 3!
June 30, 2015 2:31 a.m.
tyforthevenom says... #16
Zenobius and if he Searing Blaze's it or Destructive Revelry's it?
June 30, 2015 3:18 a.m.
tyforthevenom that's where the fun begins, and that is where your skills and sequencing comes into play!
If you're on the play, that means your opponent won't be able to Searing Blaze or Destructive Revelry your Vault Skirge until your turn 3, by which time you should have 1 hit of vault skirge already in, which means you're at 19 life and by turn 3 if you don't have an Arcbound Ravager, a Cranial Plating or a Master of Etherium then why the hell did you keep that hand?!?!
The fact of the matter is, affinity is the only deck in the meta that can actually race burn in damage, your goal is to saturate the board with all sorts of threats to make it impossible for him to manage them all, on game 1 you'll mulligan until you get a decent affinity hand, on game 2 and 3, you KNOW you need something really explosive!
It's a 50/50 match-up, but if you get and manage to keep a skirge in play, then you can bring this game way out of reach for him, and again, it's definitely not impossible for affinity to swing for lethal on turn 3, if you did all that work using a Vault Skirge then buddy has lost before the game even began...
As for him destroying your creature, I can only say that all is fair in love and war, but being at 18 life on turn 2, while being a disadvantage, doesn't mean you've already lost, there's plenty of threats to go around in affinity!!!
fluffybunnypants says... #2
Etched Champion is actually currently your best creature card.
June 24, 2015 8:58 a.m.