Izzet Blitz
Welcome to the primer and discussion thread for Izzet Blitz. The idea behind the deck is simple; play traditional RDW with the addition of utility cards like Izzet Charm and Counterflux, two cards that make one of your tougher matchups a lot simpler to combat. The mana is not too ambitious, and with that in mind, let's move on to the current working decklist. Keep in mind that this list is subject to change as testing and tuning develops it.[deck=Izzet Blitz, 01/10/2013]
Creatures (28)
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis
Spells (11)
4 Izzet Charm
4 Magma Jet
n3 Turn // Burn
Land (21)
4 Steam Vents
4 Izzet Guildgate
1 Mutavault
8 Mountain
4 Island
Sideboard (15)
3 Izzet Staticaster
4 Counterflux
1 Essence Scatter
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Mizzium Mortars
[/deck]
Breakdown of individual cards and their role in the list
Creatures
Firedrinker Satyr: I'm sure many of you are aware of the importance of having a 1drop 2/1 in your aggressive decks. This card fills that role, as well as filling the role of a mana sink. Although I don't like it nearly as much as I liked some of our fallen mana sinks, it is a necessary evil of the deck that you play it unless something else gets printed in the future. While I think it is a good card for its role, I am eagerly anticipating something else for this slot.
Rakdos Cackler: Yep, this little guy is still relevant.
Not much to say. A turn 1 2/2 is really good.
Ash Zealot: Ashley is back with us for another round, and this time Burning-Tree Emissary isn't a good enough card to keep her out of the spotlight. A 2/2 for 2 is already a perfectly playable card in an aggressive deck like this one, but having first strike puts her over the top. It is also worth mentioning that she is RR, which is worth 2 damage to Fanatic of Mogis later in the game. Synergy!
Frostburn Weird: This card has always been really good, but now that there is no more Burning-Tree nonsense, he gets to rush back on stage with Ashley. Being a 1/4 for 2 is an insane value in the mirror, and the fact that later into the game he can start cracking in for 4 is nothing to scoff at. He's good both on defense and offense, which makes him all-around very good and likely one of
the better cards in the deck.
Gore-House Chainwalker: I'm still debating whether or not I like this card more than Rakdos Shred-Freak. Being a 3/2 is very good, but being 1R instead of RR and not having haste makes me wonder if it wouldn't simply be better to make the switch. I need to test more with it, but thus far I haven't had Fanatic of Mogis come up 1 damage short, so it is probably a wash. For what its worth, Gore-House trades up as far as CMC vs. toughness goes for creatures, so if you even manage to kill a 3/3 with him you've gotten some value out of him.
Boros Reckoner: Beyond being a very good Magic card, (and he is, he's pretty damned good) he also offers a whopping 3 devotion to red. Boros Reckoner does basically everything you'd ever want an aggressive red card to do; he 2 for 1s your opponent often, he has
first strike, and he is a card that demands an immediate answer. I'd say he's one of the best cards in the deck, but unfortunately, there is one card that is still better than him...
Fanatic of Mogis: And it's this dude. He closes out games so much faster than I would have anticipated. When this card was first spoiled I immediately thought to myself "This is going to go into every red deck for the rest of the season." I don't know if I'm right quite yet, but I can't imagine this guy is going anywhere. The reach he provides is just icing on top of the rather sizeable body that he brings to the table. He can close out a game very quickly and is basically immune to Azorius Charm. That's value.
Spells
Izzet Charm: Every mode on this card is relevant. It counters careless [card]Sphinx's Revelation[/card]s, it loots away excess
land, it kills blockers...you're almost never sad about drawing it. I've used this card in more ways than I can hope to illustrate for you. It just does so many things.
Magma Jet: I probably don't have to explain this card to you. Shock, scry 2 is pretty powerful. If the meta evolves in such a way that 3 toughness is the hurdle to jump, swapping it with Lightning Strike is perfectly fine. Basically this slot is simply reserved as a removal slot, and as it stands Magma Jet is the "best" removal spell when going in blind.
[card]Turn // Burn[/card]: I included Turn // Burn as a way to combat enemy Boros Reckoners. I expect to see a lot of these in the coming months, as the card is very good in aggressive mirrors and control matchups alike. It also isn't the worst combat trick in the world, either. Basically it was included simply
as a utility card.
Noteworthy sideboard technology
Counterflux: This is a card that [card]Sphinx's Revelation[/card] decks just cannot beat. They have no way of combating it, so if you simply beat them down while keeping Counterflux mana open, you will eventually win the game because they can't Rev.
Izzet Staticaster: A very good card in aggressive mirrors, specifically against decks that play Firefist Striker, due to the 1 toughness. It blocks forever and makes it so that your 2/2s can trade up with their 3/3s and things. Generally makes awkward board states for your opponent. It is also very good against the Rakdos aggressive decks, as many of their creatures are X/1s.
Chandra, Pyromaster: Although it has some anti-synergy
with the countermagic in the sideboard, I still board this in against control because it's another card they have no way to beat. Especially since Magma Jet isn't very good in that matchup, it's an easy swap.
Jace, Architect of Thought: I board these in against control, too. These are subbed in for [card]Turn // Burn[/card], which is also miserable in control matchups. Though playing these raises the curve of the deck, it also makes it a much more uphill battle for your control opponent. He's also not the worst in some aggro matchups, because the Meekstone can save you a lot of life in the short term, and that could be relevant when trying to race.
Mizzium Mortars: This is not a permanent fixture, I just figured I would toss it in here in case there was a relevant creature it kills. Right now I can't think of anything that it kills that I'm worried about, but I
will keep an eye on this. Other candidates for this slot include Electrickery, Lightning Strike, or some type of dorky combat trick like Thunder Strike.
The math may not back me up necessarily, but results don't lie.
