[Primer] Boros Burn

[tzir]

After weeks of tweaking and adjusting and guessing what would show up in my meta, I just said "to hell with it" tonight and played zem's 75. First place, dropped one game all night (vs. white aggro). That'll teach me to think.

[Aodh]

+4 Mortars, +1 Chains, +2 Assemble the Legion (mandatory for MBD, IMO)

(This is not posted directly at you Aodh)

This is prevalent view among our new posters, board in 10000x removals or reactive cards against control decks (including the likes of Esper, Bx and UW).

I tried too explain that diluting your deck is bad vs anything with CA just last page (it maybe two pages back at this point) but - the discussion continues, can someone who shares this view justify it too me?

Miscommunication. 6 cards for control, 4 mortars for monsters, 1 CtR for monsters and MBD,
assemble for mbd. I wasn't recommending all of the mortars against MBD at all, sorry!

[Nezeru]

Hi guys, I know FNM is probably not worth reporting on, but I'm going to do it anyway. 4-0 with Boros Burn, here's the list:
[deck]
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Young Pyromancer

3 Chained to the Rocks

1 Chandra, Pyromaster

3 Shock
3 Searing Blood
3 Warleader's Helix
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
4 Skullcrack
4 Boros Charm

3 Mutavault
2 Boros Guildgate
1 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Malice
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Sacred Foundry
8 Mountain

Sideboard
2 Assemble the Legion
1 Chained to the Rocks
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Glare of Heresy
3 Mizzium Mortars
1 Mutavault
1 Spark Trooper
1 Warleader's Helix
1 Wear/Tear
3 Viashino Firstblade
[/deck]

Round 1: 2-0 vs UW enchantment-based deck

Game 1 I saw Eidolon of Countless Battles, Ethereal Armor, an Island but no blue cards, and crushed him very quickly with Searing Blood.
Sideboard: +1 Glare +1 Wear +3
Mizzium Mortars -4 Boros Charm -1 Shock
Game 2 he didn't play many spells before I burned him out, still not sure what his deck was supposed to do. It apparently boarded in Hopeful Eidolon, which is another Searing Blood target.

Round 2: 2-1 vs Bw Devotion

Game 1 I kept a loose five-lander with Magma Jet and Young Pyromancer, almost got there but when he cast Obzedat, I was in a situation where 20 cards in my deck did not win me the game/allow me to keep playing Magic (17 lands, 3 Chained to the Rocks) and I drew Chained to the Rocks. Had more than 50% to get there with a bad hand against Obzedat, so that's something.
Sideboard: +1 Wear(maybe incorrect but I know he goes up to 2 Whip and I missed Blind Obedience today) +1 Chandra +2 Assemble +1 Mutavault -3 Searing Blood -2 Shock
Game 2 I kept a tighter five-lander with two Mutavaults on the play, so I knew I was getting in some early damage. Assemble the Legion came down on turn 5 and took the game.
Game 3 I actually had my first reasonable hand
and crushed by Shocking his Pack Rat, running out a YP$, getting in some Mutavault damage, and getting there with Boros Charm after he Duressed one and Sin Collectored another.

Round 3 2-0 vs RG Monsters
Game 1 I Chained a Polukranos and won quickly with burn.
Sideboard: +1 Chained +3 Mizzium Mortars -4 Boros Charm
Game 2 he cast a Ruric Thar when my board had a Phoenix and my hand had 2 Mortars and Searing Blood. I was at 17 and went to 5 to kill his Thar (he didn't block), stabilized at 2 with him at 3 and killed him after scrying a Helix to the top because he didn't have enough mana to fuse Flesh//Blood.

Round 4 2-0 vs GW Hexproof
Game 1 a well-timed Skullcrack stopped him from gaining insurmountable life (I did let him hit me once with a Gifted creature but it was only for two) and Young Pyromancer got there in a long struggle.
Sideboard: +1 Wear +3 Mizzium Mortars(his list seemed slower and ran some targets for Searing Blood) +1 Glare -4 Boros Charm -1 Shock
Game 2 his mulligan to 5 and
first-turn Gladecover Scout, second-turn Ethereal Armor did not get there, or even close. He never saw a third land and showed me a hand with 2 Unflinching Courage and 2 Advent of the Wurm.

Overall the deck is performing well, I'd like to fit Toil/Trouble in my sideboard but not sure what to cut.

[TBuzzsaw]

Lost out top 3 because of forgetting one extort trigger on BO. I'm really beating myself over that one.

On the positive note at least I beat Naya Hexproof.

[BiddingMaster]

+4 Mortars, +1 Chains, +2 Assemble the Legion (mandatory for MBD, IMO)

(This is not posted directly at you Aodh)

This is prevalent view among our new posters, board in 10000x removals or reactive cards against control decks (including the likes of Esper, Bx and UW).

I tried too explain that diluting your deck is bad vs anything with CA just last page (it maybe two pages back at this point) but - the discussion continues, can someone who shares this view justify it too me?

The only reason that I board in mortars against mbc is if they have specter. that is all.
I had never sat across from a nightveil and left it alive to win that game and you do not want to spend a chained because you need those vs demons. Searing bloods and shocks are a terrible plan vs nightveil because you do not always draw them and you have plenty of burn to buy back phoenixes and using shocks to do that is alot less exciting than using mortars on it. Your goal is to remove every threat and drop assemble or chandra. their only source of card advantage is their loss of life and if you put them on the plan of using connections to draw their cards they are dead. Very few times have i seen my oppoenent use connections to win a game. this has been my experience. You cannot allow nightveil to hit. Never. If they get a land and a spell that is usually enough points to kill you. 2 attacks plus a 3 point spell is 7 damage and if they have a grey merchant that is 4 more damage to 11 total. that is half of your life. Yes you have warleaders helix/searing blood+shock, but they have a hoard of hand
disruption so you have to have answers to it. Also thats 4 mana which is your whole turn just to deal with that one three drop. So you have told me to watch all of the channel fireball vids to get a read on the mono black plan and you still think the mortars plan is bad. Well z himself has said multiple times in these vids you use as evidence to back your claim contradict you. The reason i started boarding the way that I do is because of the channelfireball vids. I have never had a mortars vs nighveil and lost because
I didnt have that last few points of damage. I usually do not loose to the mono black matchup. So at this point im stil on this plan vs mono black devotion.
-4 shock
-4 searing blood vs nightveil.
(-3 boros charm if they still have lifebane)
+2 assemble
+2 chandra
+1 mutavault
+2 chained

sry *edit* you only need three mortars because it is only there for nightveil.

[naranja]

[deck]
BURN
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
2 Searing Blood
4 Skullcrack
4 Warleader's Helix
4 Boros Charm
4 Shock

OTHER SPELLS
3 Chained to the Rocks

CREATURES
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Young Pyromancer

LAND
3 Mutavault
8 Mountain
2 Temple of Silence
2 Temple of Malice
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Sacred Foundry

SIDEBOARD
1 Chained to the Rocks
2 Assemble the Legion
2 Wear/Tear
1 Mutavault
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Viashino Firstblade
[/deck]

I ran the 8 scry variant of zem's 75 tonight at an FNM in preparation for a SCG Super IQ tomorrow. The meta he describes seems to match my LGS well enough - diverse match ups of the recent top 8 decks with plenty of control and mono black.

I love playing the deck as it feels every decision matters - if i don't get the right choices for scry, pointing burn at the opponent vs Planeswalker or creature, or when
to go for it, I lose. Challenging and rewarding just as many have written about.

I faced a very weak beginner playing a slow Simic evolve deck in Round 1 and easily won, despite a misplay on my part paying tribute to a Snake of the Golden Grove and then trying to kill it with Helix. Oops.

Round 2 I faced an experienced player with a Bant control variant featuring Prophet of Kruphix and Kiora. This was tough and I got close a couple of times (including once in which if i top decked a Boros Charm it would be gg) but the Prophet was very difficult to beat - once it drops basically everything can be countered always.

Round 3 I played another experienced player piloting WUR control. I may have had a chance in G3 but ran into 2 last breaths vs my Firstblade and Mutavault and then 4 azorious charms functioning as time walks vs my Phoenix.

Round 4 I defeated a decent player on the Ash Zealot burn plan. Opponent made some exploitable mistakes like main phasing burn and not threatening Searing Blood vs my
mutavault, or not saving 1R to threaten Skullcrack to my Helix.

Overall I felt like the list had a great shot in the tougher control match ups and I just missed draws. Against the Bant deck if i ever got a Chained or a Lightning Strike I may have been able to do something.

Watching some videos I realized I wasn't attacking Jace often enough and that's probably costing me the control matches. In general I tend to ignore Planeswalkers since attacking them can be like time walks for the opponent, and burning can waste a resource, but I think Jace is not drawing my attention quite enough.

I am having trouble with the SB - it's unclear to me which cards ought to come out in each matchup.

Here's my current plan:

Mono Black
+2 Assemble +1 Chained +2 Chandra
-2 Searing Blood -3 Shock?
Not sure if this is right. Basically preparing for a long game if necessary and removing the cards that don't have tremendous value. Cutting 5 burns dilutes the deck some and I am just
not sure this is right. Should I cut Pyromancers instead since they are weak to removal and then the last cut is Searing Blood due to it being limited? Is Wear//Tear worthwhile in the case of Whip or Staff showing up?

Mono U: I almost never run into this deck as I think it is one top8 deck not so popular here. My plan is:
+1 Chained +4 Mortars
-2 Searing Blood -3 Shock
Again not sure about the dilution, but the goal is to have answers for Frostburn and Master and also a board sweep for tokens late?

Control: I am encountering Azorious, Esper, and Bant variants. Not sure if they should merit separate consideration, plan is
+1 Mutavault +3 Firstblade +2 Chandra
-2 Searing Blood -3 Chained -1
Seems that I always cut Shock because it is inefficient compared to other spells, but I do wonder if I should just cut YP instead here. Chained leaves me vulnerable to Archangel but not everyone runs it.

Monsters: I see Jund and GR
variants
+4 Mortars +1 Chained
-4 Skullcrack -1 Shock
I feel more confident in how to play against this matchup, it just comes down to do I get an answer for Courser early enough, and can I race the fatties late.

Burn Mirror: See some Ash Zealot decks, some Firedancer decks, few YP decks it seems
+3 Firstblade +2 Chandra
-4 YP -1 Shock
Not sure about this one. Thought process here was Pyro is way too vulnerable and the Firstblades can be played when opponent taps out for a Phoneix or is out of cards. Chandra a way to win late. Key thing is of course never tap out vs 4 mana open (Spark Trooper and Helix are too much).

B/W Midrange: a few of these floating around, no idea how to approach that. My guess is:
+2 Assemble +2 Chandra
-2 Shock -2 Searing
Feel lost here. Just thinking go with a variant of the 'long game' plan but this isn't a cohesive idea. Obzedat and Blood Barons are big problems

How are these SB choices looking? Am I missing
anything obvious?

[BiddingMaster]

[deck]
BURN
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
2 Searing Blood
4 Skullcrack
4 Warleader's Helix
4 Boros Charm
4 Shock

OTHER SPELLS
3 Chained to the Rocks

CREATURES
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Young Pyromancer

LAND
3 Mutavault
8 Mountain
2 Temple of Silence
2 Temple of Malice
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Sacred Foundry

SIDEBOARD
1 Chained to the Rocks
2 Assemble the Legion
2 Wear/Tear
1 Mutavault
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Viashino Firstblade
[/deck]

I ran the 8 scry variant of zem's 75 tonight at an FNM in preparation for a SCG Super IQ tomorrow. The meta he describes seems to match my LGS well enough - diverse match ups of the recent top 8 decks with plenty of control and mono black.

I love playing the deck as it feels
every decision matters - if i don't get the right choices for scry, pointing burn at the opponent vs Planeswalker or creature, or when to go for it, I lose. Challenging and rewarding just as many have written about.

I faced a very weak beginner playing a slow Simic evolve deck in Round 1 and easily won, despite a misplay on my part paying tribute to a Snake of the Golden Grove and then trying to kill it with Helix. Oops.

Round 2 I faced an experienced player with a Bant control variant featuring Prophet of Kruphix and Kiora. This was tough and I got close a couple of times (including once in which if i top decked a Boros Charm it would be gg) but the Prophet was very difficult to beat - once it drops basically everything can be countered always.

Round 3 I played another experienced player piloting WUR control. I may have had a chance in G3 but ran into 2 last breaths vs my Firstblade and Mutavault and then 4 azorious charms functioning as time walks vs my Phoenix.

Round 4 I defeated a decent
player on the Ash Zealot burn plan. Opponent made some exploitable mistakes like main phasing burn and not threatening Searing Blood vs my mutavault, or not saving 1R to threaten Skullcrack to my Helix.

Overall I felt like the list had a great shot in the tougher control match ups and I just missed draws. Against the Bant deck if i ever got a Chained or a Lightning Strike I may have been able to do something.

Watching some videos I realized I wasn't attacking Jace often enough and that's probably costing me the control matches. In general I tend to ignore Planeswalkers since attacking them can be like time walks for the opponent, and burning can waste a resource, but I think Jace is not drawing my attention quite enough.

I am having trouble with the SB - it's unclear to me which cards ought to come out in each matchup.

Here's my current plan:

Mono Black
+2 Assemble +1 Chained +2 Chandra
-2 Searing Blood -3 Shock?
Not sure if this is right. Basically preparing
for a long game if necessary and removing the cards that don't have tremendous value. Cutting 5 burns dilutes the deck some and I am just not sure this is right. Should I cut Pyromancers instead since they are weak to removal and then the last cut is Searing Blood due to it being limited? Is Wear//Tear worthwhile in the case of Whip or Staff showing up?

Mono U: I almost never run into this deck as I think it is one top8 deck not so popular here. My plan is:
+1 Chained +4 Mortars
-2 Searing Blood -3 Shock
Again not sure about the dilution, but the goal is to have answers for Frostburn and Master and also a board sweep for tokens late?

Control: I am encountering Azorious, Esper, and Bant variants. Not sure if they should merit separate consideration, plan is
+1 Mutavault +3 Firstblade +2 Chandra
-2 Searing Blood -3 Chained -1
Seems that I always cut Shock because it is inefficient compared to other spells, but I do wonder if I should just cut YP
instead here. Chained leaves me vulnerable to Archangel but not everyone runs it.

Monsters: I see Jund and GR variants
+4 Mortars +1 Chained
-4 Skullcrack -1 Shock
I feel more confident in how to play against this matchup, it just comes down to do I get an answer for Courser early enough, and can I race the fatties late.

Burn Mirror: See some Ash Zealot decks, some Firedancer decks, few YP decks it seems
+3 Firstblade +2 Chandra
-4 YP -1 Shock
Not sure about this one. Thought process here was Pyro is way too vulnerable and the Firstblades can be played when opponent taps out for a Phoneix or is out of cards. Chandra a way to win late. Key thing is of course never tap out vs 4 mana open (Spark Trooper and Helix are too much).

B/W Midrange: a few of these floating around, no idea how to approach that. My guess is:
+2 Assemble +2 Chandra
-2 Shock -2 Searing
Feel lost here. Just thinking go with a variant of the 'long
game' plan but this isn't a cohesive idea. Obzedat and Blood Barons are big problems

How are these SB choices looking? Am I missing anything obvious?

MDU and I are in an ongoing debate one whether or not to bring in mortars vs mono black. The way I do it is if they have nightveils specter I bring in mortars and if they have lifebane I leave in bloods

against mono blue i bring in assemble as well because if they cant deal with the tokens in time they die to them. i take out skullcracks because all it does is three damage. They have no life gain. I would take out things that dont interact with critters in this matchup.

monsters is correct from what I understand.

control seems fine.

Chained and mutavault to win the land race and remove pheonixes.

in the black white matchup i would be trying to 2-1 the obzy daddies and land an assemble.

[magicdownunder]

@Nezeru and TBuzzsaw: Welldone, esp. TBuzzsaw since I know you were struggling last week

@naranja: I'm glad more people are trying 8 "scry" lands.

In regards with your SB:

Vs Black:
Don't cut YP$ its or only answer in dealing with DD if you don't have that timely chains or assembles.
I also wouldn't recommend reactive cards like W//T, though some players like them.....

Vs Mono U:
Shock and Searing Blood are really good in this MU, cut some Boros Charm and/or Skullcracks instead

Vs B/W Midrange:
Run some Mortars since you'll have a number of decent targets - its not a great MU but it is winnable unless they draw whip + ghostdad...

The rest seems ok... I don't like CP or VFB vs Burn but if they don't have BO or use a burn
outside Searing Blood you end up gaining life so it isn't horrible.

@Closed/BiddingMaster

I can't imagine Z recommending more then 1-2x MM in that MU or the insane 4x Chains and 2x Glare in control like you suggested.

I'll ask him, either-way I wouldn't recommend it (esp. in the 4x creature version which is weaker against Bx devotion) - that said I do run 1x MM at times just to catch the Pact Rat swarms if the match goes the distance but that would be it.

Thus I still stand by my diluting comment which I posted yesterday, you can choose to ignore my comments but I do say this from rather heavy testing and discussion which shows in my 1800-1920 rating and top30 position.

[BiddingMaster]

Ill concede that the mm and glare+chained is bad vs control but you cant classify both esper and mono black devotion in the same category. Yes they are card advantage decks but they play out completely differently and demand different answers. Also your rating does not entitle you to anything or elevate your opinion over anyone elses. This is a game of numbers and percentages and that should be the only standard we use for comparison. In an average match they are going to draw a nightveil and through all of their discard you need to be able to deal with it. So far ive given a clear reason why I want mortars and why nightveil is a serious threat to us. If you one for one every threat they play then land an assemble or chandra that is pretty much game and that is our plan post board so why not do everything we can to acheive it. So I am not diluting my plan as you say. Also I have not said anything about him suggesting any
such plan vs control. The only deck/sb plan I argued over was mono black.

how is your assessment of nightveil, its threat lvl, and your ability to deal with it on an average hand?

[TBuzzsaw]

It was the second FNM in a row losing out of top 3, which was $50 store credit total and 30 points for the store's $1k Invitational. It just sucks to lose due to my own stupidity.

I've found my sideboard is just fine, although I never got to see Burning Earth all night despite siding in all three copies 3 out of 6 matches. Glare worked perfectly getting ride of two FSP, a D-Sphere, and an opposing BO. Against Naya Hexproof it hit a Voice and an Unflinching Courage. I think it's perfect for my meta.

[LaZerBurn]

DISCLAIMER This post is aimed entirely at MDU and in no way relates to any posts made by any person, living or dead, in this thread, or in any thread, ever, on any Forum, anywhere, ever

Thus I still stand by my diluting comment which I posted yesterday, you can choose to ignore my comments but I do say this from rather heavy testing and discussion which shows in my 1800-1920 rating and top30 position.

i know you're like, really really good and play a lot and have played Burn for years in all kinds of formats but this one time at FNM last week i ran 4 x Solemn Offering
because i figured out that if my opp got me to no life before i got him to no life i'd like lose the game so if i could destroy his Chains and get my Phoenix back and get like more life than him it would like awesome and i'd like win and i ran 2 x Hold At Bay too 'cos like keeping my life total high is like the most important thing like what i said before but like 4 copies is like way too many and anyway i won so i figured this proves i'm right and the best plan is to figure out how they win and then stop them doing it so for the next FNM i'm gonna try this against control and run like 4 Fated Conflagration cos it'll like kill Jace and Elspeth and then they like can't win and like logically if they can't win i'll like win. do you think this is a solid plan or do you think i should like bring in more hate for in case i don't draw my tech?

[magicdownunder]

It suck losing to misplay

@Closed/BiddingMaster:

I don't consider Bx a bad MU, though I'm playing a different 75 then you are (I found the Bx MU harder with 4x CP only version as well) - in my current version I have more answer against NVS MD then your list.

That said no matter with version I was on I personally didn't mind if NVS got a few potshots, thus I focus on burning them out with Assembles as Plan B. In order to achieve plan A (burn plan, which is the decks main strength) I couldn't dilute my deck with stuff like 1+ W//T, 3+ MM since topdecking or drawing multiple can be bad esp. if your up against a competent play who can manage discard correctly.

Your plan seem to be: control the control player long enough until you hit your 2x Assemble before they out resources you (it can work, but I'll recommend
upping the Assemble count if that is your focus).... I'm sure you heard the saying before but you shouldn't drop too your opponents level or they'll beat you with experience (in Bx case they just better designed at controlling us then we are of them).

We actually have a very well written article about the "roles" the red deck can take, I suggest reading it.

@Lazerburn:

[montu]

Going dancer/anger is opening up the possibility of dead cards in your hand while they beat up on you.

If my opening 7 has Dancer and Anger, I consider that optimal for small aggro. I hit them with burn while they put creatures on the board, cast T3 Anger to wipe the board. And then T4 Dancer takes care of anything they put on the board after that.

This is exactly what happened last night at FNM on G2 playing against Ux Devo. On T3, I wiped 2 Cloudfins and a Nightveil Specter with Anger, and then played Dancer T4, winning easily.

I went 4-1, beating Ux Devo, Rakdos
Midrange, UW Control, and BUG Devo. I lost to Bx Devo in a very tight game 3 that came down to who was getting the better top decks, and I lost by half a turn, placing 3rd out of 34.

[Khaospawn]

+1 Lazerburn.

[hamfactorial]

Bangarang LaZer

[Aodh]

Lazer. Nice FNM results, guys. Good to see the deck's still working at the FNM-level as well. I didn't make it to FNM, but will give whatever-DM report this upcoming week!

[naranja]

I played the list from my previous post (the 8 scry variant) today in a StarCityGames Super IQ. The event was 6 rounds before cut to Top 8. Attendance was a little light compared to previous tournaments (only 60 entrants, last few times this store drew well over 100). I chalk that up to everyone being Magic'd out from the SCG Open last weekend as well as the Easter weekend (and the weather was nice, so maybe some people went out in the real world

I decided to take some notes about my experience to share, especially since MDU and BiddingMaster gave some helpful advice. The deck:

[deck]
BURN
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
2 Searing Blood
4 Skullcrack
4 Warleader's Helix
4 Boros Charm
4 Shock

OTHER SPELLS
3 Chained to the Rocks

CREATURES
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Young Pyromancer

LAND
3
Mutavault
8 Mountain
2 Temple of Silence
2 Temple of Malice
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Sacred Foundry

SIDEBOARD
1 Chained to the Rocks
2 Assemble the Legion
2 Wear // Tear
1 Mutavault
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Viashino Firstblade
[/deck]

Round 1
U/W Control

---

Game 1
I'm on the draw and the game goes typically. I get him to within range and he taps out to play Elspeth. It's my chance... I just need 4 damage. I scry away a Skullcrack realizing that leaving him at 1 is as good as 10 with him having a reasonably full hand and Elspeth presenting a 3 turn clock. I brick out and miss out on a Boros Charm or Warleader's Helix to lose. It sucked to get so close and then brick but that's what happens sometimes.

Sideboard
+3 Viashino Firstblade
+2 Chandra, Pyromaster
+1 Mutavault
-3
Chained to the Rocks
-2 Searing Blood
-1 Shock

Game 2
Opponent mulligans to 5 and I win pretty quickly with nothing especially interesting happening. He did land a Jace late and I made sure to attack into it with Mutavault to keep him on his heels.

Game 3
Opponent mulligans to 6 and I had a pretty good draw with Firstblades and perfect lands to scry into a turn 3 drop. I made a mistake on turn 2 attacking into open 1W with mutavault, but thankfully opponent did not have Last Breath. Oops, but didn't hurt me. Turn 3 I drew another Firstblade but opponent showed BBW untapped. I went for it anyways knowing I had 2 in hand and he Syncopated. I didn't mind that as that's 1 less Syncopate for my Phoenix. Turn 4 same play and he Syncopated again. I thought I was in trouble at this point as I had done only 2 damage to him
by turn 5 but then I started to get the burn online. Killed a Jace with a vault, kept plugging, and finally got to 6 land up when he tapped out to Elspeth again. I cast 3 spells to win on that turn (Helix, Charm, and Jet I believe).

Match Summary
I benefitted from Opponent's unfortunate mulligan draws, but mostly won because he tapped out to play Elspeth in two different games while I had the answers in hand. I think my gamble in Game 1 was correct but it's interesting to think about. I wish I had recorded graveyards at that point to calculate after the fact the odds of him having a counter vs me drawing a 4 damage spell.

Game 1: Loss (on the draw)
Game 2: Win (on the play)
Game 2: Win (on the draw)

Round 2
Esper Control

---

Game 1
The key play in this game was the opponent landing a Thoughtseize
to clear away a Skullcrack. That enabled him to [card]Sphinx's Revelation[/card] twice within a few turns as I did not draw any more Skullcracks. I may have gotten into a hurry in this game by tapping out due to having weak cards in hand. If I had to take it back I wished I had kept 1R open on one turn to scare away a revelations. He gained a total of 7 life in the match. I wonder what the maximum amount of life I can reasonably allow an opponent to gain? That curve of life opponent gained versus my win % is probably something rapidly falling off after 2 it feels like...

Sideboard
+3 Viashino Firstblade
+2 Chandra, Pyromaster
+1 Mutavault
-3 Chained to the Rocks
-2 Searing Blood
-1 Shock

Game 2
Game 2 I am on the play and missed my second red
mana source until turn 6 meaning Chandra's Phoenix just sat in my hand. That was far too late as by then my opponent had dropped a turn 2 Elixir of Immortality and plenty of land. A Fiendslayer Paladin combined with an Archangel of Thune were just too much at this point. I never know if I should side out all of my Chained to the Rocks in these matchups and in this case it really bit me. That said, the mana screw was not something I could do anything about.

Match Summary
Lost patience late in Game 1 and mana didn't work out in Game 2. Opponent essentially out-boarded me.

Game 1: Loss (on the draw)
Game 2: Loss (on the play)

Round 3
Jund Monsters (aka the Sire of Insanity Match)

---

Game 1[/b:
bh1wre99]
Opponent landed a turn 3 Courser of Kruphix and I never drew Chained to the Rocks or [card]Warleader's Helix[/card]. I considered Shock + Lightning Strike to kill it when it landed but decided I didn't want to get two-for-oned. I wish I had that decision back. The game did get close but he gained 3 total life and that was the difference - I was within 1 burn spell of victory late. In fact I drew Searing Blood with 5 mana open but had no target to kill - It didn't matter, but opponent forgot to remove the Satyr token from previous turn's trade which momentarily got my hopes up . If I had a target, or had drawn Lightning Strike or Skullcrack, I could have used the Phoenix to return from graveyard for the win.

The courser decision still bothers me.
On the one hand he only gained 3 from it, and the burn I saved cost him 5. So I still got within 1 spell of win even saving all the burn for him.

Sideboard
+4 Mizzium Mortars
+1 Chained to the Rocks
-4 Skullcrack
-1 Shock

Game 2
I had to mulligan to 6. Opponent opened with 3 Sylvan Caryatid and I held Mizzium Mortars in hand. I was waiting to get to overload mana when opponent landed a Sire of Insanity! I was totally surprised to run into what I presume was a singleton of this card. I responded by casting Shock and Magma Jet and having to ditch the mortars. Life sat at my 16 to his 10 at this point and I had 2 Mutavault and 3 other mana while
he had plenty of land, the Sire, and 3 Caryatid. So at this point we just got into topdeck war, him with the better board and me in a race to cast 4 spells.

My Turn 1 post-Sire: I draw Young Pyromancer and played it.
His Turn 1 post-Sire: don't recall what he drew (land I think), he attacks I take 6, life totals 10 - 10

My turn 2: I draw Mutavault and played it, giving me 6 mana but nothing in hand (my goodness I would have loved those Mortars I had to pitch!)
His turn 2: I don't recall what he drew, he attacked. I didn't want to get too low so I chumped with the Pyromancer.

My turn 3: I draw Chandra's Phoenix. Now I have a threat! Attack, 10 - 8.
His turn 3: He drew Xenagos, the Reveler. Attacks with a fresh Satyr token and Sire. I chump Sire with a Mutavault realizing that Xenagos can win the race by himself. I can't just wait to draw a Mortars when I can instead buy time to draw a burn spell to
point at him.

My turn 4: I draw a Mountain and play it. Attack with Phoenix, 8 - 6.
His turn 4: He plays Mutavault I think. Attacks with a new Satyr and Sire. I trade 2 Mutavault for Sire, take 2 from Satyr, 6 - 6.

My turn 5: I draw a Temple, giving me RRRW on board. I scry and as I pick up my top card (which I didn't actually see) I accidentally flip second card up (a Boros Charm..) Judge is called and I receive warning, reshuffle the cards back in. This time Scry reveals Chained. I decide that has to go to bottom because there's no real target and I need burn next turn. I attack with Phoenix, 6 - 4.
His turn 5: He draws Courser (noooooo!). Plays a land, attacks with Satyr, 4 - 5

My turn 6: I brick and hang back now.
His turn 6: Plays another land, 4-6, and now has lethal on board after making another Satyr and activating Mutavault

Running into the Sire was totally random and it ultimately did lead to the win as he was able to draw better threats than me (
1 spell away again!)

Match Summary
1 spell away two times. Some key decisions involving killing Courser killing in Game 1, and the clock/trades for Sire, and then scrying Chained to look for burn in Game 2.

Game 1: Loss (on the play)
Game 2: Loss (on the play)

Round 4
Mono Blue Devotion

---

Game 1
Game 1 was super close. I declined to spend Lightning Strike on Cloudfin on turn 2 hoping to use it on something bigger or just go to the dome. That may have been a mistake. I think another key play ended up being Helix to opponent instead of Frostburn Weird. A few turns later it enabled Thassa to come calling. I again was 1 spell away, with opponent at 9, a cleared Phoenix on board and 3 damage in hand.

Sideboard
+1 Chained to the Rocks
+4 [card]Mizzium Mortars[/card:
bh1wre99]
-4 Skullcrack
-1 Boros Charm

Game 2
I had a weaker draw but playable. However opponent landed turn 1 Cloudfin Raptor turn 2 Cloudfin Raptor and Judge's Familiar and I couldn't beat the tempo. I had to play around the Familiar countering my burn and eventually killed a 3/4 Cloudfin with Mortars and Chained a Frostburn. Howeven next turn opponent landed a Master of Waves and it was done on the turn after that. I don't know it would have mattered what I did with the ultra-fast start he had.

Match Summary
Two decisions to ponder in game 1, and a nut draw from opponent I couldn't fade.

Game 1: Loss (on the play)
Game 2: Loss (on the play)

Round 5
Mono Black Devotion

---

Game 1
Game 1 I won quickly. Searing Blood a poorly timed
rat, burn burn burn and burn.

Sideboard
+2 Assemble the Legion
+2 Chandra, Pyromaster
+1 Chained to the Rocks
+2 Mizzium Mortars since opponent played Nightveil Specter
-2 Searing Blood
-4 Shock
-1 Magma Jet

Game 2
I got very close with some burn and Phoenix in play but opponent landed Demon and Specter soon enough. Still I was one Boros Charm away and didn't draw it.

During this game I noticed my opponent killed Phoenix with [card]Hero's Downfall[/card] and so I decided to adjust my board.

Sideboard
+2 Assemble the Legion
+1 Chained to the Rocks
+2 [card]Mizzium Mortars[/
card]
-2 Searing Blood
-3 Shock

Basically I took the Planeswalker back out since opponent kept in removal.

Game 3
This game ended up being all about a slower mana start for me, hand destruction from him early, then Nightveil Specter late. He cast 1 Duress and 2 Thoughtseize stripping a Helix, Magma Jet, and another burn. I eventually got him to 7 anyways, and with a Skullcrack in hand I just needed to draw Boros Charm or Helix on any of 4 consecutive turns. Instead opponent got out 3 Spectres while I bricked and all of my burn ended up under them including what would have been the winning Boros Charm . It ended up being a fun, entertaining match as I watched all my precious spells go away. An 11-point [card]
Gray Merchant of Asphodel[/card] ended up being the finisher, as the Skullcrack in hand didn't prevent life loss of course.

Match Summary
1 spell away in the 2 games I lost post-board. None of the sideboard cards ever came up (excepting the Assemble the Legion the Spectre stole).

Game 1: Win (on the play)
Game 2: Loss (on the draw)
Game 3: Loss (on the play)

Round 6
Rakdos Control

---

Game 1
Opponent led with Temple of Malice and Blood Crypt so I wasn't sure what to expect. I just burned away with Boros Charm on turns 2 and 3. Opponent did surprise me by landing two consecutive Slaughter Games stripping me of Lightning Strike and Warleader's Helix (I suppose he named Lightning Strike since I had already used two Charms&
#41;. I found some more burn, a Phoenix, plugged away, and won a few turns later despite a Mogis, God of Slaughter landing and a Pack Rat making an appearance late.

Sideboard
+2 Assemble the Legion
+1 Chained to the Rocks
+2 Chandra, Pyromaster
-2 Searing Blood
-3 Shock

I wasn't sure how to approach this, and decided to just treat it similar to Mono-black Devotion but bring in Chandra over the Mortars since opponent lacked relevant creatures. I briefly toyed with [card]Wear // Tear[/card] but decided to keep the deck focused on the main plan and the backup plan.

Game 2
Opponent landed only 1 Slaughter Games this time and chose Helix again. Noted my sideboard choices. The Phoenix came in and went to work, while
he landed a Whip. Fortunately I was able to play around the creatures and then Skullcrack beat the lifegain the one time it was relevant. I was able to close out the game with burn.

Match Summary
I survived the hand/deck molestation with diversity of threats. Ultimately Mogis and rats were too slow for him to keep up with me and I dodged his Gray Merchant of Asphodel.

Game 1: Win (on the play)
Game 2: Win (on the draw)

Overall Results
I finished 2 - 4 on the day as far as match results.

For game results:
On the play: 3 - 6, 33% win percentage
On the draw: 2 - 3, 40% win percentage
TOTAL: 5 - 9, 35.7% win percentage

Pre-board: 2 - 4, 33% win percentage (both wins were on the play)
Post-board: 3 - 5, 37.5% win percentage (one win on the play)

Subjective Evaluation
I played against matchups which are favorable to
me in most matches but had poor results. Many times I was one spell away. While it is tempting to blame the draws, I do believe there may have been a win or two to be had in better sequencing somewhere, or pointing burn in a different direction.

RE: 8 scry variant, in a couple of games I had a slower mana start but I don't believe the answer is to cut tap lands for mountains as that starves the deck of the white sources. In one game I was light on red sources. On the flip side, the extra scry lands give myself extra chances to dig for something I wanted. Still happy with the 8 scrys.

[card]Wear // Tear[/card] never made it into play for me. I wonder if there's a better use for that slot. In the past I have tried Blind Obedience, Glare of Heresy, Fated Conflagration, Burning Earth, Spark Trooper but nothing has stuck. [card:
bh1wre99]Satyr Firedancer[/card] would be interesting but at only 2 of it's hard to see it being consistent enough.

Young Pyromancer feels somewhat inconsistent to me after playing with it again for a couple of weeks. Sometimes it is really really good -- generating multiple tokens against a deck that can't remove it and just marching along as you burn away their threats and make an army in the process. Other times it is a dead card.

I briefly experimented with the [card]Toil // Trouble[/card] build last week but decided not to run it due to a lack of experience playing it. Landing Trouble on turn 3 is awesome against some decks but it also falls victim to being a dead card quickly. With the LGS having so much Control and Mono Black it may be worth a shot.

I feel like I had the best success overall with the Ash Zealot variant, but there are so many games I played lately where I have a Young Pyromancer and thought to myself "Wow if I
had a Zealot here it would be completely useless."

So on balance the YP may be the best choice at the moment.

Next Steps
I want to find a Sideboard choice I really like for the W/T.

I want to try the T/T build a little more.

Just get more experience. Think critically about my lines and identify places where I can improve.

I want to give some Journey into Nyx cards a try: Magma Spray may find a place in the mirror or verus Voice of Resurgence. Deicide would be useful against many opponent sideboards. Banishing Light would be another versatile choice for the sideboard slots. Eidolon of the Great Revel would be an amusing card in matchups where my life total isn't relevant. Spite of Mogis would give me a way to kill some large creatures efficiently (possibly moreso than via Mortars).

[magicdownunder]

Thanks for the detailed report naranja, I think Burn takes awhile to get consistence finishes with (I feel like most of you wins comes from your decisions with Scry) I do recommend cutting the VFB in favor of T//T since its harder to blank.

We shouldn't be talking about Post JiN burn here (but I have started a thread for it).

[LaZerBurn]

Excellent report naranja!

Do you play on MTGO? If do I highly recommend recording your games and reviewing them. If you upload them you can get feedback from others too which I've found to be invaluable in helping me improve as a player

[Rhyno]

Hey guys, I figured I'd make an account here because I've been playing Burn since about mid Theros and the most discussion seems to take place here.

Recently I've made Top 8 in a Win a Case tournament and 2 1Ks, one of which was an SCG IQ and the other was a Super IQ. This is the list I ran most recently, it's very similar to what most people seem to agree with now with a couple last second meta decisions.

I cut a Mountain for a Mutavault because there was a heavy control showing, and I cut 1 Searing Blood from the board because I saw little to no aggro (which I'm used to seeing a lot of)

[deck]
BURN
2 Shock
3 Searing Blood
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
4 Skullcrack
4 Warleader's Helix
4 Boros Charm

OTHER SPELLS
4 Chained to the Rocks

CREATURES
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Ash Zealot

LAND
4 Mutavault
9 Mountain
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Boros Guildgate

SIDEBOARD
3 Assemble
the Legion
2 Wear//Tear
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Burning Earth
4 Firedrinker Satyr
[/deck]

So when Born came out, I experimented a bunch with Dega, playing Toil//Trouble in the main and in the board, even with Oracle of Bones at times. I decided that I wanted to be running 4 Mutavaults in the 75 and that the Toil//Trouble against control wasn't worth the mana inconsistencies and Sorcery Speed. I'm personally settled on the Boros version.

The main 2 things I know people here disagree with are Ash Zealot and the Burning Earth.
It's possible that my Meta (Rochester and surrounding area) is different, but I run into so many 3 color variants that a speedy beatdown and/or a curve topped by Burning Earth auto-wins matchups.

I still may cut the Burning Earths for a 2nd Chandra, Pyromaster and either a 4th Mizzium Mortars or 2nd Searing Blood where there's a normal aggro showing.

I've had everything in my board at one point or another. Firstblades, T//T, Blind Obedience,
Peak Eruption, etc. etc. I either felt they didn't have high enough or were too narrow (Peak Eruption.)

Here were my matches from the recent Super IQ:

2-0 Mono Black
2-1 Jund Monsters
2-0 Naya Hexproof
2-1 WU Control
2-0 Mono Black
0-0 ID
0-0 ID
---
2-0 Esper Control
Prize Split in Top 4

And yes, the Naya Hexproof guy got stuck on 2 lands Game 1 and mulled to 5, ending up stuck with a Voice of Resurgance as his main thread in Game 2. I drew a 2nd Chained to the Rocks turn 1.

The Jund matchup was my closest by far. He cast a total of 5 Courser of Kruphix in the match but 3 Mizzium Mortars and 4 Chained to the Rocks kept them under control. As I said I'm considering a 4th Mortars.

[montu]

The main 2 things I know people here disagree with are Ash Zealot and the Burning Earth.

Only 1 burn deck made top 16 in the Milwaukee SCG open, and it ran Ash:

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat ... ckID=66527

This is true in general. Over the last few weeks, the majority of burn decks that have placed were running Ash.

[Rhyno]

The main 2 things I know people here disagree with are Ash Zealot and the Burning Earth.

Only 1 burn deck made top 16 in the Milwaukee SCG open, and it ran Ash:

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdat ... ckID=66527

This is true in general. Over the last few weeks, the majority of burn decks that have placed were running Ash.

Maybe I was just conflating this community's opinion with Zemanjaski's.
Two Burning Earths in the side too.

[Aodh]

The placing lists have AZ because most lists have AZ because most lists are two or so weeks behind MODO and consequently DtR tech.

[Purp]

It's not strictly proven that YP$ is better. Results would say Ash is better. Neither is more right or wrong than the other.

[Rhyno]

I wouldn't consider lists with Ash Zealots to be "behind," I'm sure every burn player is well aware of the card. I know I at least tested it a while ago and while I don't consider it bad, I preferred the Zealots. Certainly the results could be due to more people running Zealots though. I also do not play Burn on MTGO so I can't make a statement on which I'd prefer in that meta.

[magicdownunder]

Ash is better vs control and on the top-deck, YP$ is better vs everything else. Out of the T1 decks I rate control as the 2nd hardest so I wouldn't condemn the choice.

Last Time

---

Here is the list I was running last week (I have 5 finishes recorded with it before I made some more adjustments):

[deck=MDU's Barely Boros Burn]Lands 23
7 Mountain
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Mutavault
1 Boros Guildgate
2 Temple of Silence
2 Temple of Malice

Creatures 8
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Chandra's Phoenix

Enchantments 3
3 Chained to the Rocks

Burns 26
4 Skullcrack
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
2 Searing Blood
4 Warleader's Helix
4 Shock

Sideboard 15
4 Toil // Trouble
3 Peak Eruptions
3 Satyr firedancer
2 Assemble the Legion
1 Glare of Heresy
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Chained to the Rocks[/deck]
SE Report 6985077[
/b]
G1 Bx Devotion vs Young Dancers (MDU) SE 6985077
G2 Ux Devotion vs Young Dancers (MDU) SE 6985077
G3 Split

SE Report 6988149
G1 Esper Control vs Young Dancers (MDU) SE 6988149
G2 Ux Devotion vs Young Dancers (MDU) SE 6988149
G3 Split

I do have a sideboard plan with explanations written out - which I'll post either sometime after the sets are complete or if I get 9 new subs or 20 new
comments from different people (yeah yeah, I'm fishing for higher view count - whatever works).

SE Report 6989030
G1 Bx Devotion vs Young Dancers MDU SE 6989030
G2 Dredge vs Young Dancers MDU SE 6989030
G3 Bx Devotion vs Young Dancers MDU SE 6989030

I highly recommend reading some of the comments posted in the earlier videos - since they reminded/taught me new things which I didn't notice.

(p.s. I'm still working on that DtR add, so forgive the horrible mess in G2 & G3).

SE Report 6992287[/
u]
G1 GB Midrange vs Young Dancers (MDU) SE 6992287
G2 BW Control vs Young Dancers (MDU) SE 6992287
G3 Split

I've updated the DtR introduction so I'll like some feedback on that (next week all the videos should include the DtR Mat as well.

[Elricity]

Much better introduction. MODO being the background for your intro just wasn't working.

[Aodh]

I didn't necessarily mean YP$ > AZ (although this is what I believe). I was just making note that AZ lists might be the ones posting results because of their popularity over YP$ lists. I'm just glad this deck's still hot.

[magicdownunder]

I had a fairly interesting finals today against Ux Devotion - my Opp. was on top-deck mode with thasa while I had Chandra on 7 counters.

My Opp. side of the the board was clear so I could have ticked up into 8 before going ultimate however since my Opp. had Thasa on the field I was concerned about him topping Cyclonic Rift so i decided to go for it since I only hit 1x LS and 1x WLH during that match (everything else was just Shocks and Flames).

I end up hitting ZERO burns just 7 lands, 2 creatures and my 2nd Chandra (Ninja Edit:) It was 3 creatures, 1 chandra, 1 chains and 5 lands... the very next card I drew was WLH.... I did win in the end but if I had waited it would of been much easier.

So what would you guys do vs Ux Devotion? Keep ticking up to ensure safety or just go for the ultimate? I tend to use the ultimate asap vs anything
with cards like HDF, Dshperes, Burn or Bounce.

[Rhyno]

So what would you guys do vs Ux Devotion? Keep ticking up to ensure safety or just go for the ultimate? I tend to use the ultimate asap vs anything with cards like HDF, Dshperes, Burn or Bounce.

Of course you know the chance of whiffing is way lower than the chance of them hitting an answer. Sounds like you made the right play and got rewarded with a funny story. Sure, tick up if ulting wont close out the game but don't tick up because you're afraid of a whiff.

[montu]

So what would you guys do vs Ux Devotion? Keep ticking up to ensure safety or just go for the ultimate? I tend to use the ultimate asap vs anything with cards like HDF, Dshperes, Burn or Bounce.

Go for the ultimate. It will win more than it whiffs.

Last FNM, I was getting behind against Bx Devo, so I cast T//T on myself, only to draw 2 more T//T. It happens.

[LaZerBurn]

So what would you guys do vs Ux Devotion? Keep ticking up to ensure safety or just go for the ultimate? I tend to use the ultimate asap vs anything with cards like HDF, Dshperes, Burn or Bounce.

Generally I go for the ultimate - odds are generally always in our favour. Out of interest what life was your opp on?

[magicdownunder]

Great answers guys, I'm glad most of us are in agreement.

@LaZerBurn: He was on 9, I was on 20 with 1x WLH in hand (when I upload the video, I think you'll hear me overreact and complain for about 20 seconds)

@Rhyno: Welcome too DtR, I'm really enjoying the qualities of your post keep them up

[Valdarith]

I had a fairly interesting finals today against Ux Devotion - my Opp. was on top-deck mode with thasa while I had Chandra on 7 counters.

My Opp. side of the the board was clear so I could have ticked up into 8 before going ultimate however since my Opp. had Thasa on the field I was concerned about him topping Cyclonic Rift so i decided to go for it since I only hit 1x LS and 1x WLH during that match (everything else was just Shocks and Flames).

I end up hitting ZERO burns just 7 lands, 2 creatures and my 2nd Chandra (Ninja Edit:) It was 3 creatures, 1 chandra, 1 chains and 5 lands... the very next card I drew was WLH.... I did win in the end but if I had waited it would of
been much easier.

So what would you guys do vs Ux Devotion? Keep ticking up to ensure safety or just go for the ultimate? I tend to use the ultimate asap vs anything with cards like HDF, Dshperes, Burn or Bounce.

Sounds like it DID win you the game considering the fact that it enabled you to draw into Warleader's Helix.

[LaZerBurn]

Great answers guys, I'm glad most of us are in agreement.

@LaZerBurn: He was on 9, I was on 20 with 1x WLH in hand (when I upload the video, I think you'll hear me overreact and complain for about 20 seconds)

I'd have gone for the ult there too and I think I may have grumbled myself in that situation

[BrainsickHater]

Hey guys, I figured I'd make an account here because I've been playing Burn since about mid Theros and the most discussion seems to take place here.

Recently I've made Top 8 in a Win a Case tournament and 2 1Ks, one of which was an SCG IQ and the other was a Super IQ. This is the list I ran most recently, it's very similar to what most people seem to agree with now with a couple last second meta decisions.

I cut a Mountain for a Mutavault because there was a heavy control showing, and I cut 1 Searing Blood from the board because I saw little to no aggro (which I'm used to seeing a lot of)

[deck]
BURN
2 Shock
3 Searing Blood
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
4 Skullcrack
4 Warleader's Helix
4 Boros Charm

OTHER SPELLS
4 Chained to the Rocks

nCREATURES
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Ash Zealot

LAND
4 Mutavault
9 Mountain
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Boros Guildgate

SIDEBOARD
3 Assemble the Legion
2 Wear//Tear
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Burning Earth
4 Firedrinker Satyr
[/deck]

So when Born came out, I experimented a bunch with Dega, playing Toil//Trouble in the main and in the board, even with Oracle of Bones at times. I decided that I wanted to be running 4 Mutavaults in the 75 and that the Toil//Trouble against control wasn't worth the mana inconsistencies and Sorcery Speed. I'm personally settled on the Boros version.

The main 2 things I know people here disagree with are Ash Zealot and the Burning Earth.
It's possible that my Meta (Rochester and surrounding area) is different, but I run into so many 3 color variants that a speedy beatdown and/or a curve topped by Burning Earth auto-wins matchups.

I still may cut the Burning Earths for a 2nd Chandra, Pyromaster and either a 4th Mizzium
Mortars or 2nd Searing Blood where there's a normal aggro showing.

I've had everything in my board at one point or another. Firstblades, T//T, Blind Obedience, Peak Eruption, etc. etc. I either felt they didn't have high enough or were too narrow (Peak Eruption.)

Here were my matches from the recent Super IQ:

2-0 Mono Black
2-1 Jund Monsters
2-0 Naya Hexproof
2-1 WU Control
2-0 Mono Black
0-0 ID
0-0 ID
---
2-0 Esper Control
Prize Split in Top 4

And yes, the Naya Hexproof guy got stuck on 2 lands Game 1 and mulled to 5, ending up stuck with a Voice of Resurgance as his main thread in Game 2. I drew a 2nd Chained to the Rocks turn 1.

The Jund matchup was my closest by far. He cast a total of 5 Courser of Kruphix in the match but 3 Mizzium Mortars and 4 Chained to the Rocks kept them under control. As I said I'm considering a 4th Mortars.

Evil Ryan, is that you?

[zenbitz]

I was waiting to get to overload mana when opponent landed a Sire of Insanity! I was totally surprised to run into what I presume was a singleton of this card. I responded by casting Shock and Magma Jet and having to ditch the mortars.

Why didn't you just kill the Sire with your shock+jet? Obviously it's a 2-for-1 but it's really a 2-for-2 since you would otherwise lose your mortars. I guess he is discarding too, but I think we can assume that if he plays Sire he is OK with that. I don't think you lost to the CA here, but to the 6-power beater.

[dauntless268]

So what would you guys do vs Ux Devotion? Keep ticking up to ensure safety or just go for the ultimate? I tend to use the ultimate asap vs anything with cards like HDF, Dshperes, Burn or Bounce.

For future ref, it's maybe nice to have the math on this:
(Assumption: Chandra ultimates on t10, burn has same concentration in the 43 cards you haven't seen as in your 60)

Post-SB vs. Ux, the odds of hitting no burn in 10 cards varies between 0.5% (SB out only Skullcrack, 2 extra burn spells like Flames = 22 burn spells total) and 2.8% (SB out Skullcrack and Charm, no extra Burn Spells = 16 Burn Spells total). As an aside, for those who are playing Chandra main (Hi Lazer ), before SB your chance of a "whiff" is 0.2% only.

This stands against a chance of them hitting Bounce of 4.0% (1 copy left in the deck), 7.9% (2 copies), 11.8% (3 copies). Note this is with Thassa, where they get 2 chances effectively. In a situation without scry, the odds of them drawing a kill spell are 2.3% (1 copy left in the deck), 4.7% (2 copies), 7.0% (3 copies), 9.3% (4 copies). So generally, I would say the risk of them drawing a kill spell is in almost all instances higher than your risk of failing Chandra's ultimate.

In your particular situation MDU:

1) Wouldn't Cyclonic Rift be a card that they likely SB out as it's pretty ineffective against us?
2) The one argument I can see for playing it safe is that even if they draw bounce you are still in a very favorable board position as you can play Chandra again.

Needless to say I myself in the game would have probably mindlessly
+0ed in hope to find another burn spell

[Jedi]

So what would you guys do vs Ux Devotion? Keep ticking up to ensure safety or just go for the ultimate? I tend to use the ultimate asap vs anything with cards like HDF, Dshperes, Burn or Bounce.

Right call. I would've done the same thing.

(EDIT: Especially with Thassa, God of the Sea in play!)

[BrainsickHater]

So I'm god-awful at the control matchup. I have never won a single match against a UWx control deck. How do people play against control? What things specifically do you watch out for (besides leaving up skullcrack mana)?