Oversoul
The Tentacled One
About 20 years ago, I forcibly introduced all three of my siblings to Magic, as they were too young to stop me. Of course, this didn't really lead anywhere other than helping me learn some of what worked and didn't as far as basic gameplay skills. Later, both of my brothers would briefly return to Magic at a few points, mostly when they had friends in school who wanted to play. My youngest brother, Matt, didn't understand the game very well, but he'd occasionally want to play it with my other brother, our neighbor, or with one of his own friends. However...
-Until recently, the last time I could remember Matt playing Magic at all, he was maybe 10 years old, younger than I was when I started playing for the first time.
-Matt didn't play often enough or pay enough attention to get a very good grasp of the game. He could remember the turn structure and such, but he hadn't reached a point of learning advanced strategy.
-Matt didn't own his own cards and our brother, Josh, because of his personality, was not inclined to let him borrow a deck that would have a semblance of a chance against him.
-Back then, Matt had a below-average reading level for his age and had trouble comprehending the mechanics behind any cards that weren't very straightforward. And because reading was difficult for him, he didn't like playing in situations where a lot of reading would be required.
So the deck he almost always played, if he could, was my Burn deck. It was very simple and straightforward, and didn't put him in spots where he had to read much or use much strategy.
Earlier this month, my brother got back into Magic. And while he has changed a lot, he is still a big fan of aggro decks. Actually, as before, he doesn't have much interest in playing anything besides aggro decks. He remembered my old Burn deck, asked if I still had it, and asked about borrowing it or buying it from me. I did loan it to him, but didn't want to get rid of a deck that I've had (kinda sorta) since the 90's. So as a sort of birthday present, I made him his own Burn deck.
Right now, his deck is better than mine anyway. My Burn deck is in a kind of limbo right now. For his, I built a simple creatureless version. Going creatureless wasn't initially my goal, but the more I thought about it, I realized it was a good fit here. Matt loves aggro decks (currently borrowing and using the Into the Breach Event deck, which Spidey and I played here on the forum and found to be pretty fast) and he'll have plenty of opportunity to try different versions of creature-based beatdown decks. Also, the birthday thing was more of an impulse after the fact (his birthday is over a month out) and when I thought I was going to throw this together and have him give me some cash for the cards I bought to complete it, I was trying to keep costs down. The creatures in my own Burn deck are the most expensive cards in it (Vexing Devil, Goblin Guide, Eidolon of the Great Revel). Also, this deck has a bit more variety in damage spells for him to try out and see what he likes.
So it's nothing all that special or unusual, but it's yet another Burn deck.
Core damage-dealing
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Chain Lightning
4x Lava Spike
4x Rift Bolt
Situational heavy-hitters
2x Scent of Cinder
3x Reverberate
2x Thunderous Wrath
4x Flame Rift
Finishers
4x Fireblast
3x Shard Volley
2x Sonic Burst
2x Cave-In
Permanents
2x Sulfuric Vortex
20x Mountain
Probably any monkey can play this. But for some reason, I'll explain anyway. The idea is to hit the opponent with lots of spells very quickly, bringing the opponent from 20 life down to 0. Rift Bolt has a turn delay, so it should be prioritized for casting first. I tend to hold onto Lightning Bolt and cast the other single-mana spells first, but that part doesn't matter too much. Scent of Cinder can potentially hit for more damage (usually 4, but 5 isn't out of the question), but is a bad topdeck. Thunderous Wrath is an excellent topdeck, but generally dead in an opening hand. Either Thunderous Wrath drawn too early or Scent of Cinder drawn too late can serve as fuel for Sonic Burst or Cave-In, both of which are generally held in-hand until the opponent is within lethal range. Shard Volley competes with Fireblast in using mountains as fuel, but the deck probably draws more than two lands and aims to cast exactly one copy of Fireblast, so this is acceptable. With Fireblast, the usual approach is to tap out, use mana to cast spells that bring the opponent down to 4 life, then cast Fireblast. But it is also possible to float the mana and, after Fireblast is on the stack, follow it up with either Reverberate (copying Fireblast) or Sonic Burst (pitching another card and ensuring that Fireblast isn't the random card discarded to Sonic Burst). Sulfuric Vortex is the slowest card in the deck, but it does have some minor utility in blocking lifegain and providing an inexorable clock against opponents who fail to destroy it.
I haven't played this exact version, but it's close enough to what I've used in the past that I know it tends toward a fourth-turn kill if left unchecked.
-Until recently, the last time I could remember Matt playing Magic at all, he was maybe 10 years old, younger than I was when I started playing for the first time.
-Matt didn't play often enough or pay enough attention to get a very good grasp of the game. He could remember the turn structure and such, but he hadn't reached a point of learning advanced strategy.
-Matt didn't own his own cards and our brother, Josh, because of his personality, was not inclined to let him borrow a deck that would have a semblance of a chance against him.
-Back then, Matt had a below-average reading level for his age and had trouble comprehending the mechanics behind any cards that weren't very straightforward. And because reading was difficult for him, he didn't like playing in situations where a lot of reading would be required.
So the deck he almost always played, if he could, was my Burn deck. It was very simple and straightforward, and didn't put him in spots where he had to read much or use much strategy.
Earlier this month, my brother got back into Magic. And while he has changed a lot, he is still a big fan of aggro decks. Actually, as before, he doesn't have much interest in playing anything besides aggro decks. He remembered my old Burn deck, asked if I still had it, and asked about borrowing it or buying it from me. I did loan it to him, but didn't want to get rid of a deck that I've had (kinda sorta) since the 90's. So as a sort of birthday present, I made him his own Burn deck.
Right now, his deck is better than mine anyway. My Burn deck is in a kind of limbo right now. For his, I built a simple creatureless version. Going creatureless wasn't initially my goal, but the more I thought about it, I realized it was a good fit here. Matt loves aggro decks (currently borrowing and using the Into the Breach Event deck, which Spidey and I played here on the forum and found to be pretty fast) and he'll have plenty of opportunity to try different versions of creature-based beatdown decks. Also, the birthday thing was more of an impulse after the fact (his birthday is over a month out) and when I thought I was going to throw this together and have him give me some cash for the cards I bought to complete it, I was trying to keep costs down. The creatures in my own Burn deck are the most expensive cards in it (Vexing Devil, Goblin Guide, Eidolon of the Great Revel). Also, this deck has a bit more variety in damage spells for him to try out and see what he likes.
So it's nothing all that special or unusual, but it's yet another Burn deck.
Core damage-dealing
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Chain Lightning
4x Lava Spike
4x Rift Bolt
Situational heavy-hitters
2x Scent of Cinder
3x Reverberate
2x Thunderous Wrath
4x Flame Rift
Finishers
4x Fireblast
3x Shard Volley
2x Sonic Burst
2x Cave-In
Permanents
2x Sulfuric Vortex
20x Mountain
Probably any monkey can play this. But for some reason, I'll explain anyway. The idea is to hit the opponent with lots of spells very quickly, bringing the opponent from 20 life down to 0. Rift Bolt has a turn delay, so it should be prioritized for casting first. I tend to hold onto Lightning Bolt and cast the other single-mana spells first, but that part doesn't matter too much. Scent of Cinder can potentially hit for more damage (usually 4, but 5 isn't out of the question), but is a bad topdeck. Thunderous Wrath is an excellent topdeck, but generally dead in an opening hand. Either Thunderous Wrath drawn too early or Scent of Cinder drawn too late can serve as fuel for Sonic Burst or Cave-In, both of which are generally held in-hand until the opponent is within lethal range. Shard Volley competes with Fireblast in using mountains as fuel, but the deck probably draws more than two lands and aims to cast exactly one copy of Fireblast, so this is acceptable. With Fireblast, the usual approach is to tap out, use mana to cast spells that bring the opponent down to 4 life, then cast Fireblast. But it is also possible to float the mana and, after Fireblast is on the stack, follow it up with either Reverberate (copying Fireblast) or Sonic Burst (pitching another card and ensuring that Fireblast isn't the random card discarded to Sonic Burst). Sulfuric Vortex is the slowest card in the deck, but it does have some minor utility in blocking lifegain and providing an inexorable clock against opponents who fail to destroy it.
I haven't played this exact version, but it's close enough to what I've used in the past that I know it tends toward a fourth-turn kill if left unchecked.