Burn Deck

[Doombringer]

Well, I'm back again, I kind of lost interest in magic, but then I got a strong urge to make a good burn deck when I saw Fireblast sorta reprinted in Betrayers, so here I am.

The cards I have, and want to put in this deck are as follows:

Land
18 Mountain
18 Land

Creatures
3 Spark elemental
3 creatures

Spells
4 Lava Spike
4 Fists of the anvil(I've used them in countless other decks, and they've worked wonders)
4 Lightning Bolt(I actually have these, they're the prize of my collection)
12 spells

42 cards

The cards I want to put in are:

Creatures
4 Mogg Fanatics
4 Ball Lightning/blistering firecat(though I acknowledge I have little chance of getting these on my budget)

Spells
4 Fireblast
4 shock
4 seal of fire
X other low mana cost burn spells

I want to know some other good burn spells, especially arcane ones, so that I can effectively use Glacial ray and Torrent of stone, and i want to know some good low cost creatures that would work here too.

PLMKWYT

 

[Oversoul]

Battle-mad Ronin: This card has absolutely no place in a burn deck. It's awful. Do not use it.

Akki Rockspeaker: Even worse. This creature is so pathetic that I have to compare it to Crazed Goblin. It is like strychnine for your deck. Never, ever use this card unless it is for some sort of combo that puts it into play multiple times, thereby generating mana.

Spark Elemental: I believe we have covered the extent to which Spark Elemental is useful at least once in these forums. It is a burn spell that allows your opponent to decide to redirect the damage to a creature. This should be seen as a bad thing. Spark Elemental is like Lava Spike, but much worse.

Lava Spike: It is 3 damage for 1 mana, which is good. It is sorcery speed, which isn't so amaranthine. It can only hit players. This is very bad for a sligh deck or other type of red aggro/aggro-control deck. It is fine for burn decks that ignore the presence of creatures altogether.

Glacial Ray: Inefficient as a burn spell. It can be reusable with arcane spells, but that won't make Lava Spike good. This sucker could be nasty on an Isochron Scepter (but that's a different archetype) and looks mildly good in your deck, but there are better cards.

Fists of the Anvil: On a Spark Elemental, this can deal 7 to your opponent. Ball Lightning costs the same as both cards combined, and does one less damage without the same card disadvantage (and without being a two-card combo). In a burn deck, you should not be planning on fighting your way through blockers, but rather hitting your opponent directly. Fists of the Anvil is a step in the wrong direction.

Lightning Bolt: This is, of course, perfect in most any casual red deck.

Torrent of Stone: This is not a Fireblast reprint. It is inferior to Pyrokinesis. I never use Pyrokinesis although it can make a threatening sideboard card. Torrent of Stone is total crap.

Cards you want to put in...

Mogg Fanatic: Worlds better than the creatures in the deck at this point. It's the only creature other than Ball Lightning I ever use in burn decks. I'd call it a good choice.

Ball Lighting: It has the same problem as Spark Elemental, but it swings for twice as much. This is important. Ball Lightning is a good card for burn decks, generally. It can kill most blockers and even if they soak up all the damage, it's still a good deal.

Blistering Firecat: Not so good as Ball Lightning, but it's better than the creatures which are currently in the deck...

Spark Elemental: No! Do not put another Crap Elemental in this deck. That's a bad idea.

Fireblast: This card needs no introduction. It is awesome.

Glacial Ray: I wouldn't. Try instead to obtain 4 copies of Seal of Fire. It costs half as much mana. Who needs arcane spells?

Shock: I've never liked Shock, but it definitely gets the job done. Use it, but Seal of Fire is still better...

Other cheap burn spells: I get the feeling that Chain Lightning is not what you have in mind here (since my fourth one cost me about $4, but it was wort it). That is unfortunate. But Incinerate, Sonic Burst, Flame Rift, and Scent of Cinder are some that come to mind.

 

[Doombringer]

Well, quite a spirited response. I stand by my Anvil's, they work well because, the opponents usually dismiss the 1/1 im attacking with, and if they don't, I simply dont use the spell. I also stand by my sparkies, because I need some thing to put my anvils on! I like your suggestions, but getting them will be hard in my town

 

[Oversoul]

Yeah, I understand what it's like being on a budget. And I know in some regions, it's hard simply to find the cards you're looking for. If you can find Ball Lightnings from like Beatdown or something, they'll probably be affordable...

I would definitely cut the Ronins and Rockspeakers for something more effective. The Rockspeaker especially...

 

[TheCasualOblivion]

First thing you have to do is to answer what kind of burn deck this is. What kind usually depends on how many creatures you have, though some creatures like Spark Elemental and Ball Lightning should be counted as burn and not creatures.

Assuming a 60 card deck with 20 land:
(which for the sake of argument is not ideal for a burn deck, but 40 is a nice number to play with and these are just examples)

25+ creatures, the rest burn and removal: You'll be doing the heavy lifting with creatures with this one. Some creatures like Mogg Flunkies and Goblin Piledriver will really be your friends with this deck. Reusable burn like Sparkcaster also really helps here.

16-20 creatures, 20-24 burn/removal: This one your goal is still to hit with the creatures, but the burn is more critical since you're hitting with less creatures. Burn should be used first to sweep your opponents creatures out of the way. Shock deals 2 damage once, Jackal Pup deals 2 damage every turn. You want creatures you'll get out fast, and follow them with burn, only burning your opponent when it will finish them off. Speed is more important than power when it comes to creatures here.

10-14 creatures, 26-30 burn: This deck is heavier burn, and you should assume they're never going to have a blocker. With this deck its easier to pack creatures like Genju of the Spires and Goblen Cadets that don't do well against blockers. It is both more and less important to save your burn for creatures since on one hand, you have more burn, but on the other hand, you need them to have no creatures even more.

Pure burn. Screw creatures, just hit your opponent with burn. Simple enough.

 

[Oversoul]

I wouldn't even classify the first two categories you listed as burn decks. Such a creature-heavy deck is more controlling than burn style decks...

 

[TheCasualOblivion]

I guess you do have a point there.

 

[Doombringer]

Well, now that I bought a Kamigawa sleeve box, I have decided to use proxies. All cards added to this decklist that werent in the original (excluding the shocks, I barely got a hold of those) are proxies, and will likely stay that way.

Land
18 Mountains

Creatures
4 Jackal pup
4 Mogg fanatic
4 Spark elemental
12 Creatures

Spells
4 Falme rift
4 Shock
4 Lightning bolt
4 Fists of the anvil
4 Lava Spike
4 Fireblast
4 Seal of Fire
2 Sulfuric vortex
30 spells

I know I'm going against better judgement with the anvils and sparks, but they're just fun to play with, and my playgroup is by no stretch a hardcore enough scene that these cards will spell certain doom to me for all eternity. So, they stay.

 

[jorael]

Why not use crafted wargear instead of the anvils? Having one in play could make any creature you attack with very dangerous. you loose the surprise value, but you gain a more permanent boost.

War elemental is a .50 cent rare that is very cool if you can get it to work. With your build that should not be a problem! If you play the war elemental, respond to the comes in to play trigger that says you need to sac it by damaging an opponent (seal of fire, fireblast, etc.) that way the elemental lives AND gets some +1/+1 counters immediately


EDIT: crafted wargear works nice with the spark elementals, but also with creature you're going to sac (the mogg fanatics you already use) and creatures like Spikeshot Goblin and viashino Sandstalker.