TNT FNM 9/30/11 *3-1*

Hello everybody! When I posted the UR Burn deck last Wednesday, I was thinking it was going to be a very fast deck that could burn players out very quickly and efficiently. So when I opened a Snapcaster in a pack, bought a Snapcaster at $22, and then traded 8 B/R Dual Lands (M12/SoM) for a third, I knew I should give the deck a try at FNM. Here's the deck I registered:

4x Delver of Secrets // Insectile Aberration
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Grim Lavamancer

4x Gitaxian Probe
3x Galvanic Blast
3x Shock
1x Devil's Play
4x Incinerate
4x Brimstone Volley
4x Arc Trail
4x Ponder

4x Sulfur Falls
10x Mountain
7x Island

Sideboard:
4x Mana Leak
4x Twisted Image
2x Falkenrath Marauders
2x Inferno Titan
3x Ancient Grudge

So as it turns out, this deck does win with a flurry of burn spells, but I wouldn't exactly call it fast.... This deck basically played as a ton of 2-for-1s grinding out incremental advantage then slowly getting there with the creatures. I played against GW Humans round 1, UW Puresteel round 2, UB Control round 3, and UW Venser round 4. The games were generally slow and not so memorable, but I will never forget round 3 game 3...

I'm playing against UB Control that has approx 2 Grave Titans and 2 Consecrated Sphinx for threats, and then everything else was control magic. For game 3, we had a long series of draw-go magic as any threat I played would get killed. He plays a Consecrated Sphinx into a Mana Leak that he hasn't seen in the previous 2 games, and I feel like I'm far ahead. However, he has 3 Lilianas! To make a long story short, I had 10 lands in play (note: 20 in the whole deck) with a couple in the yard from Liliana +1 activations and then he sacrificed his Liliana to -6 and destroy 5 lands. He then followed up with another Liliana in the same turn (though forgot to do anything with the new Liliana). I have 0 cards in hand, and so does he. Every card I play revolves around Liliana. I can't play creatures, because they just die to the -2. If I don't play my land, then he may trade a real card for it when Liliana +1, and if it's a burn spell I can just burn in response. The game slowly drags on, and he ultimates Liliana AGAIN splitting it so I have to choose between 4 Islands or a Mountain + Sulfur Falls pile. I have to take the red lands in case of any topdeck. The game slowly drags on and I eventually have 5 lands in play, which is important because I had 2 Falkenrath Marauders in my deck (they singlehandedly won me game 2). The game goes very slowly on and on until I win by drawing out his counterspell with a Grim Lavamancer while he's at 1 and then Arc Trailing him.

There were 18 cards left in my deck at the end of that game.

That exemplified perfectly what this deck seems to do. Grim Lavamancer is all about extra value, and so is Snapcaster Mage. Arc Trail is an inherent 2-for-1, and Brimstone Volley rewards you for stalling your opponent's attacks. Devil's Play has flashback by itself.

Sidenote
{
Insane play that happens alot: Opponent attacks with an X/2 creature. I flash in Snapcaster Mage and give Brimstone Volley flashback. Trade creatures with the opponent and burn face for 5!
}
End Sidenote

However, there's a different side to this deck. Turn 1 Delver of Secrets is THE fastest start available in all of standard. If you flip over an instant or sorcery (28/60 cards) you're swinging with a flying Wild Nacatl. An insane opening may be:

Turn 1: Delver of Secrets
Turn 2: (no transform) Ponder (put instant/sorcery 2nd to top), Grim Lavamancer
Turn 3: play draw-go for the rest of the game without your opponent on a 6-turn clock just from the Delver of Secrets, while you gain control of the board with Grim Lavamancer and you throw burn at your opponent's face to win by turn 5 or 6.

They say the best decks can attack from multiple angles, and I think this deck can provide that. If one Delver of Secrets is good, then 2 is insane right? I have had a few games in testing that you just play 2 Delver of Secrets and win in elementary fashion. Those games are free when you attack for 3 on turn 2 and 6 on turn 3, your opponent typically isn't ready for those.

A big thing with this deck is that it's not that impressive without any creatures. The best creature to have in the opening hand is obviously Delver of Secrets because it puts so much pressure on your opponent, and then that is followed by Grim Lavamancer and last Snapcaster Mage. Snapcaster is good, but not until the lategame which is why a hand with a 1-drop creature is just amazing!

After playing the FNM (and winning a $20 prize) I decided to change the deck to look more like this:

4x Delver of Secrets // Insectile Aberration
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Grim Lavamancer

4x Gitaxian Probe
2x Devil's Play
4x Incinerate
4x Brimstone Volley
4x Arc Trail
4x Ponder
4x Mana Leak
1x Shock

4x Sulfur Falls
2x Rootbound Crag
8x Mountain
7x Island

Sideboard:
2x Nihil Spellbomb
4x Twisted Image
3x Falkenrath Marauders
3x Inferno Titan
3x Ancient Grudge

I added 2 Rootbound Crag in the manabase so that you can get random value out of the board with Ancient Grudge. I also moved Mana Leak from the board to the Main and replaced it with another Marauder, Titan, and 2 Nihil Spellbombs. The Spellbombs are for Solar Flare and and sort of random mill-me decks that I may face. Ancient Grudge is good against Tempered Steel, Puresteel Paladin, and Birthing Pod decks. Twisted Image is in mainly for Tree of Redemption, so depending on that card's popularity, it may or may not remain. Falkenrath Marauders is for control decks where you can unload some burn on them on their end step to try and tap them out, and then Falkenrath wins the game for you! After just 1 hit, he's too big to die to anything short of a Consecrate Sphinx or Doom Blade. As Flores pointed out, he's a 4-turn clock when the opponent is at 20 life! Inferno Titan is for against weenie decks like the Humans deck where he is just an unbeliavable card advantage machine! With just 21 lands and a little luck you can reasonably expect to cast him on turn 7 or 8 (which you should be able to last to warrenting effective use of burn) and simply win from there.

This deck is really exciting and really skill testing! I have joined with a few guys at toys to do a lot of testing with for states, and this is probably going to be the deck I champion and get tons of practice with over the next couple weeks!

Until next time, Stay Classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack