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Felipe Musco
Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 3:22 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
--- description ---
Burn, baby, burn!
--- end description ---

This is a Blaster deck version (very popular in open formats), made standard playable!

MAIN DECK:
Mountain x10
Karplusan Forest x4
Stomping Ground x4
Gruul Signet x3
Booby Trap x2
Heartbeat of Spring x3
Furnace of Rath x2
Lava Spike x4
Volcanic Hammer x4
Shock x4
Seal of Fire x4
Char x4
Pyroclasm x4
Savage Twister x4
Demonfire x4

SIDEBOARD
Flames of the Blood Hand x4
Furnace of Rath x2
Booby Trap x2
Storage Matrix x2
Shattering Spree x4
Heartbeat of Spring x1

Now let’s get to the strategy:
Lands - There’s a smaller number of lands than the average of decks posted here, ’cause most of the spells are cheap, and Heartbeat can accelerate mana generation, as can Furnace accelerate the ability to dish out damage, making it unnecessary to have a lot of spare mana. However, the idea of generating a lot of mana is to burn as much as possible, as fast as possible, thus activating Demonfire’s hellbent ability for a finishing blow. Also, there’s only 8 lands which generate green mana, but there’re also 3 signets, which means 11 in 60 cards. Since you won’t be needing green mana until turn 3, it’s very much likely that you’ll already have means of generating it by then.
Signets - The signets mean mana acceleration, of course, but they also play a very important role: making sure you have green mana, at least ONE, to play the first Heartbeat, or blow everyone to pieces with a Savage Twister.
Booby Trap - I know, this card seems absolutely pointless. However, three words for you: Circle of Protection. What if you can’t activate the hellbent on Demonfire quickly enough? Also, let’s face it, by turn 3 of 4 it’s pretty easy to guess at least SOME of the cards on an opponent’s deck, and 10 damage for 6 mana IS quite nice, specially if you already have a Furnace out, which would mean 6 mana for winning the game, most of the time (IMO, this is a fairly overlooked card...), and since it’s NOT from a red source, bye bye Circles. Also, since you’ll be seeing what your opponent is drawing, it’s easier to come up with a strategy to stop them.
Heartbeat of Spring - Self-explainable. Very useful for a finishing blow, but this deck contains enough burn so that it’s possible to survive without it, should an opponent Naturalize it or something.
Furnace of Rath - A great card to supply Heartbeat, should it be made useless in a game. However, since it’s effect hurt A LOT, it should be used carefully.
Lava Spike - The closest to Lightning Bolt we’ll ever see again, I think too. One mana for 3 damage (6, with Furnace). What else do I have to say?
Volcanic Hammer - 2 mana for 3 damage. Fairly good, I’d say. Since it can also target creatures, even more useful for hacking away those damnable Watchwolves or Scab-Clan Maulers!
Shock and Seal of Fire - I’m putting these two together, ’cause they’re essentially the same: one mana for 2 damage, VERY good. Shock let’s you surprise an opponent, being an instant and all, and Seal of Fire is GREAT for clearing your hand, since it comes to play on turn ONE! Virtually unstoppable, counter-free!
Char - A great burn in all fairness, deals a considerable amount of damage for it’s cost, being an instant and all, in resume, it’s worth the pain.
Pyroclasm - Initially, this card was in the sideboard. However, after some playtests, here is what happened: I had to Main Deck it against agro, tokens, weenies, generators... So, since Flames of the Blood Hand only damages players (and let’s face it: you WILL need to blast creatures a lot, to stay alive), I decided to sideboard it only against White control decks, or slower decks.
Savage Twister - Well, since we’re producing green mana, why use only the somehow limited Pyroclasm, or the hurtful Wildfire? You don’t have any creatures, so don’t feel pity, BURN THEM ALL!
Demonfire - The finisher. This card will most likely win the toughest matches for you, once you hellbent it. Lots of mana+uncounterable/unpreventable damage=ultimate pain!

Now, for the sideboard:
Heartbeat of Spring - If your opponent gives you a hard time keeping your enchantments on the field, add another one! It’s very important to produce a lot of mana, and this is the best way of doing it.
Furnace of Rath - Mana-generating is not a problem, but tough creatures or some combo-locks are. If this is the case, accelerate your burning rate with these bad boys, also making creature-blasting an easier task (just imagine: four mana for a 6 points of damage Savage Twister!).
Booby Trap - Lots of protection and damage-prevention are getting in the way? Figured out his deck and want to finish him quickly? Well, this little toy here’ll get the job done for you! Add together a Furnace, and it’s instantly toast!
Storage Matrix - Initially, I was using Blaze. But honestly, if you DO need to tap ANYTHING aside from mana, it’ll be a signet, and only for a short period of time (probably just one turn), so it’s pretty useful to lock your opponents table with it.
Flames of the Blood Hand - Originally on the Main Deck, since it only damages players, and you’ll DEFINITELY need some firepower against agro, weenie and tokens. Use it against Control decks, which tend to be slower, specially against White decks, since it ignores their Circles of Protection, and stops them from gaining life.
Shattering Spree - Jitte’s and signets are becoming a problem? Never saw that Pariah’s Shield coming? No worries, THIS will finish them off, if you need. Originally, I had saved this space for Wildfire, but since destroying artifacts also hampers a deck strategy nowadays, I decided to go with Shattering Spree. Also, since this deck uses Heartbeat, destroying lands won’t do you any good, ’cause they’ll keep their mana base thanks to you, and with Furnace out, Wildfire would hurt YOU a lot, specially if you draw a bad opening hand, and end up sustaining some heavy damage, before you can get board control.

Some final tips for playing this deck:
1- Carefully choose which blast you’re playing, burning sorceries first and instants laters. Also, don’t waste heavy damagers with few mana (unless it’s absolutely necessary for survival, or for activating hellbent for Demonfire).
2- Hack away as quickly as possible, don’t hesitate to blast an opponent for only a few points of damage if the board is clear of creatures (but PLEASE save Seal of Fire for emergencies, like hasting heavy beaters), the main goal is to burn them to death.
3- Don’t hesitate to kill their creatures, if you feel the need to do so, even wasting a good blaster on the process: another one’ll eventually come by! It’s crucial to stay alive, no matter what, and you don’t quite have a considerable amount of blockers (hum... actually, you’ve got none!).
4- This deck is all about board control. KILL THEM ALL, specially those blasted accelerators (this will make sure you have enough time to blast freely), since ’cause of your Heartbeat your opponents will have enough spare mana, they’ll turn into cheap hitters.
5- Although it may seem nice, avoid Urza’s lands. It’s good on a monochromatic deck, but if you’re using two colors, it can clog your hand, lowering deck speed a lot.
Well, I hope you all like this deck, I’ve put a lot of effort in designing it, and I think it’s pretty playable in standard, even against agro, Dovescape or Izzet. I’ll try some playtests and post the results here.
"Burn, baby, burn!" Twisted Evil
I don't like YOU.
Arbitrary
Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 2:38 pm
Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 6 Location: TopdeckLand
well actually dovescape or izzet aren’t really what makes up standard.

The booby traps are a tad slow to use in a burn deck however

I recommend maindecking flames of the blood hand and taking out the traps.

This deck, as it has no creatures, must go into topdeck mode quite often after running out of its initial salvo of burn. I recommend at least some Kird Apes so that it has some staying power past the initial 7 cards.

18 lands ( yes I see you have signets) are a little low for a 60-card deck. Try 20 minimum.
Felipe Musco
Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 4:25 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Since there’s only a 2-card gap, I wouldn’t use Flames, as for they’re both Protection-busters, and Booby Trap deals A LOT more damage. Also, that’s the reason why I use Heartbeat and Furnace: if Heartbeat is out, then I can play the Booby Trap with 3 lands, and if Furnace is out, it IS worth the while, since it would mean a 20 points of damage hit. Also, since most of the decks tend to try and accelerate the rate of getting at least one or two of their strategic cards, Booby Trap will also make them think twice about doing it. I still think that, on a 2-card basis, Booby Trap is better. Also, have you tried playing this deck? You would be surprised on how little mana it runs, specially if you get Heartbeat out (but, as I said, this is NOT a winning condition, since you can just Furnace your opponent to death).
I don't like YOU.
Felipe Musco
Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 10:13 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Comments, anyone?
I don't like YOU.
La_Sin_Grail
Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 8:38 pm
Joined: 14 Aug 2005 Posts: 806 Location: Maryland
Sorry I didn’t see this one. I would say do this wait until tomorrow and read my new burn deck article. I made the list, just cooking up text.

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