LotR TCG Wiki → Card Sets:  All 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 → Forums:  TLHH CC

 
Cobra Cards Player Community Forum Index
 Forum index » Magic: The Gathering » MTG Strategy Article Contest
Author Message
Rate this article!

5 (Best)  
0%
  [ 0 ]  0%
 
4  
33%
  [ 1 ]  33%
 
3  
66%
  [ 2 ]  66%
 
2  
0%
  [ 0 ]  0%
 
1 (Worst)  
0%
  [ 0 ]  0%
 

Total Votes : 3
corvus
Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:01 pm
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
--- description ---
Red is well known for ages about its fire-wielding cards. Can they be used to provide a good strategy? How can you beat your opponent in round 4 with an unexpected combo? Check this article to find out!
--- end description ---


I have to start this article with an admittance. I have only been to one FNM. I play only Expanded, so i didn’t get to it with my own deck either. It was a deck provided by my tutor, whom i wish to thank for providing me both with a 50% win ratio deck, and a storm of ideas! Well, the deck had to be simple as i didn’t have much time to focus on copmlicated strategies, and what is simpler than a good old burner deck? Here goes a list of what i played:

Mountain x24

Shock x4
Volcanic hammer x4
Blaze x4
Pyroclasm x2
Lava spike x4
Char x4
Fireball x2
Hidetsugu’s Second rite x2

Enrage x4
Mogg sentry x3
Shivan Dragon
Ryusei, the Falling Star
Rakdos Pit Dragon

A pretty simple deck... Shock, blaze and volcanic hammer are classic burner cards, getting to deal damage on both players and their dangerous creatures. Char is one of the newwest ones, but as proved in gameplay a worthy one as well. Lava spike is a player sniper, and pyroclasm a creature multi-killer. Fireball is a card that can cause some major havoc in future rounds, when enough mana is available, especially since it can clear the whole table of creatures and deal some damage to the enemy player as well with its handy damage splitting ability. Hidetsugu’s second rite is a card for a very specific use, and a pretty sneaky hit as well. But we will emphasize on this card later...

Concerning the creatures, everything is simple... Mogg sentries are fast to get down and very good defenders (actually life-saviors) with their self pumping abilities. All 3 dragons are there to ensure that i will have something heavy to deal damage with other than burners on later rounds and enrage is a strong pump acting pretty much like blaze when a player is defenceless...


What was the outcome? 2 losses (from 2 half-scorched enemies Laughing ) an over-burn victory, and a hidetsugu victory. This card gave me a good 2 rounds on one opponent, and boy, was he mad for that or what? Poor guy thought he would hold for another turn or two and then start controlling, but a surprise came both times. Actually this card gave me something to worry about... a crazy idea, a round-4 victory. But how is that possible? And if it is, what are the odds?



First of all, why a round 4 victory and not an earlier one?

Because Hidetsugu’s second rite costs exactly 4 mana and we need to keep an exact amount of cards in the deck to make sure that all cards have a high possibility of coming when exactly they are meant to, so no room for mana adders, sorry.

What will the deck consist of?

Short answer: Burner cards.

Longer answer: Cards that deal damage and preferably by 2 or 3, we will see more about that. Creature cards will be quite limited, since we need to raise the odds of getting the correct burners. Blaze will be an excellent addition as well, as it can adjust the enemy’s life points exactly to 10 right before the final strike.


With these in mind, how about considering this decklist?

Hidetsugu’s Second Rite x4
Shock x4
Seal of Fire x4
Volcanic Hammer x4
Lava Spike x4
Char x4
Pulse of the Forge x4
Blaze x4
Wheel of fate x4

Mountain x24

Or rather, i would like you to see this decklist as following:


Hidetsugu’s Second Rite x4 (The killer! Or so we hope!)

Shock x4
Seal of Fire x4 (2-damage dealers)

Volcanic Hammer x4
Lava Spike x4 (3-damage dealers)

Char x4
Pulse of the Forge x4 (4-damage dealers)

Blaze x4 (Life-Adjuster, or just killing-mana-user when everything else went wrong)

Wheel of fate x4 (A cheap card of great value for this deck. First you give all you got, then draw a brand-new hand of 7 cards!)

And last but certainly not least, 24 mountains, to make sure that we have enough mana.


Indeed, this strategy is quite risky, but then again, isn’t this the whole point of TCG’s? Hoping one card to be on top of another just at the right time? This strategy just speeds up things. But enough talking, let the numbers speak:

In 4-5 rounds (AKA about 15 cards condsidering to draw a wheel of fate) we hope to draw:

-4x Mountain
-1x Hidetsugu’s second rite

-2x 2-damage dealers and 2x 3-damage dealers
OR
-2x 3-damage dealers and 1x 4-damage dealer
OR
-2x 4 damage dealers and 1x 2-damage dealer

Blaze can always fix this up if going for a later round victory, but we are trying for this now, so we can use it as a "joker" for either of the 2-3 damage dealers, but delaying the strategy. Undoubtedly, it can fix things up, but will cause a headache as well. Wheel of fate can change everything to your advantage providing you with 7 extra cards on a critical turn.

We have in the deck:

-24x mountains
-4x Hidetsugu’s second rite
-8x 2-damage dealers
-8x 3-damage dealers
-8x 4-damage dealers

Who’s feeling lucky today?
Last edited by corvus on Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:13 am; edited 2 times in totalClick here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
Felipe Musco
Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:05 am
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Hey, corvus, welcome to the MTG boards (again)!!! Very Happy
Well, before I say anything, go here and here, to better understand where my points of view come from. They’re old, but not QUITE old.
Too many lands. Also, as LSG once pointed out, the best way to build a burn deck is to make it RW nowadays, so you have access to:
a) Wrath og God, a better board sweeper than Pyroclasm;
b) Lightning Helix, one of the best burn cards around.
That being said, I played an Extended tournament once with a burn deck, and let me just say, it’s... not that good. It just doesn’t win all that much, that’s all. From what I’ve learned, I’d change your deck a little to fit in those 2 cards above, lower the mana count a little (just not that necessary, really), maybe drop those expensive creatures, to REALLY keep it focused at burning, drop the X spells, leaving 2, 3 tops (and preferrably Demonfire), and adding in Lava Dart, to better "shape" your opponent’s life points to 10. Then again, I’d add in Browbeat (maybe over Pulse of the Forge), as it’ll either deal more damage for an easier mana cost, or it’ll draw you more cards, which’s always good. If you want to try something different, sideboard some Lightning Axes, Howling Mines, Akromas (the white ones, please) and Ressurrection. You get the point, right? Wink
All in all, a great idea, and one of my favorites (I’ve got a 4fun monored burn deck ’till today, abusing Mana Flare), but one that’s already been written about here. Twice. The first time, I tried for a RG burn deck (which, btw, is better nowadays, with Groundbreaker and Uktabi Drake), and soon after LSG showed me the mini-combo with Hidetsugu’s Second Rites, and then went for a WR (again, better now with Browbeat).
With PLanar Chaos out, you can also try for a RB burn deck, with Damnation, Phyrexian Arena and perhaps Cabal Therapy and Cranial Extraction for disruption, no to mention the ability to use transmute cards liek Dimir House Guard to fetch Damnation, Cranial Extraction, Hidetsugu’s Second Rites, etc...
PS: Flame Burst is also quite good in the format, as is Rift Bolt, due to the low suspend cost, so you can squeeze it in a flurry of spells.
I don't like YOU.
corvus
Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 5:22 pm
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
Hey FM, thanks for the feedback!

Look, this is more of a Hidetsugu’s second Rite article than a simple burner. I’d like to keep it mono-red, and just focus on winning on round 4-5.

The idea i liked was browbeat, but i wouldn’t use it over pulse of the forge, since this card is here for a reason: it WILL cause 3 damage when asked. Browbeat is an excellent card for any burn deck, offering either 5 damage or 3 cards, except for this one, which tries to speed up ASAP, and deal a specific amount of damage each turn.

So, it’s a no for your suggestions so far. I don’t think you took a REALLY good look on the second (the ACTUAL) dexklist, as it has no big creatures (it only had a couple of mogg sentries that i switched for spark elementals), so take a look again... Wink
Click here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
Felipe Musco
Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:42 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Yes, as I said before, your article is more on the line of LSG’s. AND, as I ALSO said before, seriously, it won’t win in Extended without a REALLY good board sweeper. As for the big beaters, yeah, I saw the final list and forgot to delete that part! Razz Won’t do it now, though, since it’ll make your post make no sense. Wink
I don't like YOU.
corvus
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:13 am
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
But why would i need a board sweeper if i plan on such an early win, and i can hurt any early attackers need be pretty badly? Think
Click here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
Felipe Musco
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:51 am
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
You see, what happens if you face Boros? They play Savannah Lions, Knight of the Holy Nimbus, Soltari Priest. You try for the win, they play Honorable Passage... Ouch! Gruul can go turn 1 Kird Ape, turn 2 Scab-clan Mauler, turn 3 Burning-Tree Shaman. Gifts Rock can go turn 1 Birds, turn 2 Cabal therapy, another accelerator, turn 3 flashback Cabal Therapy (bye bye, Secon Rites), Loxodon Hierarch. Not to mention possible Cranial Extractions! Games are best 2 out of 3, right? THAT’S the problem. You catch them off guard game 1, but that’s it. Also, if you have to spend burn to keep their creatures under control (harder to do with cards like Second Rites, Pulse of the Forge and Lava Spike, mind you), you’re not burning HIM, and the deck does not draw a lot of cards. And, if you check the examples above, you’ll see Pyroclasm would be of little avail to you in pretty much any of them. That’s why having a Wrath effect is so mandatory (and, in turn, it gives you access to one of the most useful AND versatile burn spells nowadays). As I said before, I played pretty much the exact same deck, but with Browbeat over Pulse, and Lightning Helix maindecked, and even though I still had problem due to lack of cards drawn... Perhaps if you could fit in either Wheel of Fate or Howling Mine, it’d work better, I didn’t try neither of them. But do as I say, playtest it against some decks and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Wink
I don't like YOU.
corvus
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 9:21 am
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
Wow, thank god you’re here! Wheel of fate is just the card i was missing! After i give out 3 lands and 3 burners, i re-new my hand and get another 7 cards! That means that i can actually double my hand! And all that FOR NO MANA AT ALL!

Wait a minute, suspend isn’t mandatory is it? If not...

Twisted Evil Twisted Evil Twisted Evil

MAN THIS DECK ROCKS NOW!!!
Click here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain
Felipe Musco
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 12:10 pm
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 2434 Location: Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Sorry to bust your bubble, but yes, it is. THe rules state that you can’t play a spell without a mana cost (such as Ancestral Vision, Wheel of Fate, Hypergenesis, etc) unless you have a way that allows you to "play without paying it’s mana cost". So, if you suspend it, once suspend is over, you play it for free. Also, if you remove it with the ability of Intet, the Dreamer, you can ALSO play it right away, for free. But otherwise, no, you can’t just play it. For that to happen, you’d have to have a cost of 0 (like Chrome Mox), and not no cost at all.
I don't like YOU.
bandfreak9
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 7:40 pm
Joined: 24 Jan 2007 Posts: 84 Location: Virginia
Its been awhile since I’ve seen a burn deck. Don’t have time to read all the way through but I will before the end of the month

Hey are there more cards like Wheel of Fate besides the ones you mentioned
corvus
Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:34 am
Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Posts: 1696 Location: Roaming, but dangerous!!!
What kind of an idiot makes those rules? Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing Laughing

Whatever, am i obliged to use it exactly in 4 turns, or can i keep it for longer down? At least that would help. If i kept it as it is, how would you rate it? Think

Do you think i should use orcish librarian instead to get all i need when i need it?

Will you trade me some browbeats? Mr. Green
Click here if you want to trade some foils away Wink
Far, Far beyond the island we dwelt in shapes of twilight
Through draught and weary days
Through grief and endless pain

Display posts from previous:  

 Forum index » Magic: The Gathering » MTG Strategy Article Contest
All times are UTC - 4
Page 1 of 2 [15 Posts]   Goto page: 1, 2 Next
View previous topic   View next topic