2011)

Burn. A single word that every tournament player knows, but none regard as a “true” threat. Legacy is filled with many decks that boast quick turn one, two, or three wins; burn is NOT one of them.

Burn is a deck that many never refer to as being tier one in the Legacy format, but I am here with proof to change your mind. I will first explain the doubt people have about burn, why not to fear running this deck, my deck list, and my recent tournament results running this deck.

The Doubt about Burn
The reason people never consider burn as being tier one in Legacy is simple: there are many decks out there that win faster. A few examples of faster decks seen in Legacy are as follows:

Storm Combo – This deck can get a turn 1 win (yeah, before you even get to draw).
Dredge (or Ichorid) – Typical turn 3 win deck through graveyard manipulation
Reanimate – Turn 3-5 depending on draw and capability of the player

Many of the players running these decks laugh at Burn players, because they know their goldfish is far quicker than Burn’s. “Why would anyone run a deck that takes 5 turns to win when I can win before you even draw your first card?” , a quote of my first round opponent when I told him what deck he was facing.

As you can see, some players use the simple logic of “I’m faster so I’m better”. This is a terrible reason to run a deck. Control decks don’t win on turns 1, 2, or 3. They take much longer to win, but who cares? If you win, you win, regardless of the amount of turns it takes you (and no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get my opponent to see this). At any rate, it’s an argument none the less, and it’s an argument that I tend to hear the most from players (even control players have told me the same thing!).

So, you think that 5 turns is too slow for Legacy? Well then, let me prove you wrong.

Why Burn is a Great Deck
People categorize burn as its own class of deck. It is a mix of tempo and control; of speed and patience. Burn players need to take their time to realize what they are up against before they start throwing their spells in the wrong place. This fundamental reason hinders many players from reaching the capabilities burn has to offer: It’s not the deck list that is bad; it’s the pilot of the deck!

Burn can beat the control match up by timing its spells and smart side boarding; it can smash aggro by removing their creatures with the plethora of burn spells (and the amazing control artifact I will talk about later), it can even beat the combo match up a fair amount of the time (especially if their combo fizzles)

Before I delve into how Burn beats these decks, I give you the following Burn Deck List:

The “REAL” Legacy Burn

MainDeck
Land:
18 - Mountain

Creatures:
4 – Mogg Fanatic
4 – Grim Lavamancer
3 – Simian Spirit Guide

Instants:
4 – Lightning Bolt
4 – Reverberate
4 – Magma Jet
4 – Incinerate
3 – Fireblast
3 – Lava Dart
2 – Price of Progress

Sorceries:
4 – Chain Lightning

Artifacts:
4 – Cursed Scroll

SideBoard
3 – Chalice of the Void
3 – Pithing Needle
4 – Red Elemental Blast
4 – Relic of Progenitus
1 – Price of Progress

Many of you may look at this list and say “This is a joke, right? Reverberate? Is this guy for real? Who even plays Cursed Scroll anymore?” Well, let me explain. Cursed Scroll is the solution to drawing mana in the burn deck. It is also the solution to control decks that can counter your burn (Lavamancer is also a solution here).

But what about Reverberate you say? Reverberate I feel is one of the most powerful cards in the deck. It can copy any instant or sorcery on the stack, making is overpowered in red (it becomes not only a win condition for you with Fireblast, but an answer to an opponent’s spell).
I feel that it is easiest and most useful to explain the power of Burn, its interactions, and the reasoning for the deck list provided by going into my tournament results from the prior week.

Tournament Results
Sunday, November 20th, 2011.

Mid Sunday morning, at the local game shop, I was making the last few adjustments to my sideboard before the match sign ups began. I made the best read of the Meta that I could and came up with the sideboard in the list provided. Ready to play, I entered my first round.

Round 1: Burn vs. Dredge
Game 1:
My opponent won the roll, and opted to draw. Immediately I suspected he was running Dredge. I kept my hand.

I played Chain Lightning turn 1. He discarded his Grave Troll. I played 2 Mogg Fanatics and proceeded to timely sacrifice each of them, keeping Bridge from Below from becoming an issue. He had gotten me down to 4 with Ichorid and Narcomoeba attacks, but I managed to play 2 Lightning Blasts, floating 2 and Reverberating, getting a total of 12 damage in for the kill (he was at 11).

Game 2:
I side boarded in the Relic of Progenitus and outed the Lava Darts.
He opted to draw again.
My opening hand was as follows: Relic of Progenitus, Relic of Progenitus, mountain, mountain, mountain, Mogg Fanatic, Magma Jet.

Needles to saw I pulled an easy victory after eradicating his Bridges and then his whole yard.

Round 2 (2-0): Burn vs. High Tide
Game 1:
I won the roll, and opened with a land and passed the turn. He played a land and then played Candelabra of Tawnos then ended his turn. I played a land and decided not to play anything, leaving 2 mana open (I had a Reverberate in hand). He played a land, and Merchant Scrolled a High Tide, ending his turn. I then played 1 more land, played a Lavamancer and ended the turn. He then played his 3rd land, and passed the turn. During my upkeep, he played High Tide, followed by another one, followed by a Reset, followed by a Time Spiral, and after all his playing, he managed to get over 200 mana floating. He proceeded to Blue Sun’s Zenith me for 198 (he didn’t reach a high enough spell count for the Brain Freeze mill). I then Reverberated his Zenith, targeting him! Unfortunately he Force of Willed and I lost game 1.

Game 2
I sided in 4 Red Elemental Blast, 3 Chalice of the Void, and 3 Pithing Needle. Out came 2 Price of Progress, 4 Cursed Scroll, 3 Lava Dart, and a Grim Lavamancer.

I played first. I opened with a Pithing Needle, naming Candelabra of Tawnos. He had no Force of Will to counter with. He played a land and passed the turn. I then played a land and played a Grim Lavamancer and a Mogg Fanatic. He played a land and Preordain, and ended his turn. I then played a land and a Chalice of the Void for 1. He responded by returning an island to cast Daze. I paid 1 mana. He then Force of Willed, and I removed a Simian Spirit Guide from my hand to add 1 red and Red Elemental Blasted my way to victory (he folded, knowing he didn’t have answers to the artifacts).

Game 3:
I did not do any further side boarding.

He opted to play first. He played a land and then played Preordain. I played a land and played a Grim Lavamancer. He played a land and played Merchant Scroll, getting High Tide. I played a land and played a Pithing Needle naming Candelabra of Tawnos. He Dazed it, and I paid the one, and Pithing Needle was active. He played a land, and passed the turn. I played my 3rd land, and a Mogg Fanatic and ended the turn. He played his 4th land, and attempted to go off. He played High Tide, I Red Elemental Blasted, and he Force of Willed. High Tide was active. He played another High Tide and then played Cloud of Faeries. He then played Time Spiral, getting us both 7 cards and himself all his lands untapped with 2 High Tides in effect. He continued to play it out, and ended up fizzling. I Magma Jetted at the end of his turn, scrying up a Chalice of the Void. I played Chalice for 1, and he attempted to Force of Will, but I Red Elemental Blasted my way to victory.

Round 3 (2-0): Burn vs. Phyrexian Dreadnought

For those who do not know the Dreadnought deck, it uses Stifle to counter the Dreadnought’s ability, enabling a turn 2 creature that is a 12/12 with trample.

Game 1:

As it always happens to at least one player, my opponent mulled down to 5, and still kept a crap hand. He never saw his Dreadnought and only delayed my victory by Stifling my Cursed Scroll and Grim Lavamancer whenever he could.

Game 2:

I sided in 4 Red Elemental Blasts, 3 Pithing Needle, and 1 Price of Progress. Out came 3 Lava Darts, 4 Mogg Fanatics, and a mountain.

My opponent played first. He played a Darkslick Shores and passed the turn. I played a land, and played a Pithing Needle, naming Polluted Delta. I could see the frustration in his face when he Force of Willed, removing Daze from the game. He played his 2nd land (Polluted Delta) and ended his turn. I played a land and a Grim Lavamancer and ended my turn. At the end of my turn he fetched an Underground Sea with his Polluted Delta. He then played his 3rd land (Darkslick Shores, coming into play tapped), and then played the Dreadnought followed by a Stifle. I Red Elemental Blasted his Stifle, and he had no answer for it. He lost his Dreadnought. That was the last time any Dreadnought saw the board, and I ended the game with a Price of Progress and a Fireblast two turns later.

Round 4 (3-0): Draw match

I ended up being matched against my friend for the last round, and we decided to draw so we would both make it into the finals. We also needed a lunch break, and figured that now would be the best time.

Top 4 Semi Finals Round (3-0-1): Burn vs. Zoo

Game 1:
This game was probably the easiest I had all day. I managed to burn every single one of his creatures, and even was able to burn out the Tarmogoyf. I took the win by Reverberating a Fireblast.

Game 2:
Side boarded in 2 Price of p\Progress and 4 Relic of Progenitus for 1 Cursed Scroll, 1 Lavamancer, 1 Lava Dart, and 3 Simian Spirit Guide.

He played first. He got out a Birds of Paradise turn one, but I popped Mogg Fanatic on my turn to remove it. He then played Dark Confidant, and I Magma Jetted him at the end of my turn. The then got Tarmogoyf out as a 2/3. I answered it on my turn by playing an Incinerate before it could get any bigger, and played a Cursed Scroll after that. He played a Birds of Paradise, a Noble Hierarch, and another Tarmogoyf. I drew the answer I was looking for on my turn: Relic of Progenitus. I got goyf to become a 0/1 and removed him with a lethal Lava Dart. The rest of the game was my opponent trying to get an answer for my Cursed Scroll (which kept his board clear of creatures) while I was throwing burn spells at his face. He never saw an answer.

Final Round (4-0-1): Burn vs. Merfolk

I ended up playing the same friend that I drew against in round 4. I knew his merfolk deck, and he knew my burn deck.

Game 1:
He won the roll and went first. Turn 1 he played an Aether Vial. I played a Grim Lavamancer. He played Lord of Atlantis turn 2 and passed to me. I played a land and a Chain Lightning targeting his Lord, and I ended the turn. He played his 3rd land, and went to 2 counters on Aether Vial. He played Jitte and passed the turn. I knew I needed to keep his creatures clear, so I played a land and passed the turn, holding some burn back. At the end of my turn, he put a Stonybrook Banneret into play, and I responded with a Magma Jet. He did not play a 4th land this turn and kept Aether Vial on 2 counters. He played a Coralhelm Commander and ended his turn. I knew I had the lockdown on when I drew another land and played my Cursed Scroll. I was able to keep all his creatures off the board and went on to win game 1 on the backs of Cursed Scroll and Lavamancer.

Game 2:
I side boarded in 4 Red Elemental Blasts and 3 Pithing Needles. I outed 2 Price of Progress, 3 Simian Spirit Guide, and a Mogg Fanatic.

He played first. This game was an embarrassment for me. I kept a crap hand because it had 2 Pithing Needles in it. Even though I got both onto the field, which stopped Aether Vial and his leveling of Coralhelm Commander, he overran me by getting too many creatures out too quickly for me to deal with.

Game 3:
I decided to keep the same cards and to not keep a crap hand.

I played first. I played Pithing Needle turn 1 naming Aether Vial. He played a land and passed. I played my second land and played a Grim Lavamancer. He attempted to Force of Will it, but I Red Elemental Blasted it. He played another land and passed the turn. I played my 3rd land, and a Chain Lightning and a Mogg Fanatic. He did not play a 3rd land. He played Lord of Atlantis and ended his turn. I hit his Lord with the Lavamancer and swung with Mogg Fanatic. I played Cursed Scroll on my second main and ended the turn. He folded. He had no land in his hand, and drew into 4 more creatures before he saw any land.

Outcome: 1st place with a record of 5 wins, 0 losses, and 1 draw.

There are so many interactions that this Burn deck has within itself and with other decks, that I cannot describe them all to you. As you can see from the tournament play and results, the Burn deck is powerful, and the right plays are what’s key to the success of the deck.

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