The Top Decks of Pauper: Burn

In this series we will walk you through the top decks of Pauper as played on Magic Online. Pauper is the Magic Online format where you are only allowed to play commons.  These are the official rules: http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/pauper

We will be using this tier page as the basis or our walkthrough: http://mtgostrat.com/pauper-tier-listing/

Today we will be discussing Burn. Burn is somewhat like Herpes - it comes and goes, but it never goes away completely. When Delver is powerful, Burn has a very hard time (it is a very hard matchup), but when combo or control runs rampant, Burn steps up to stabilize the metagame.

Earlier installments in the series:

Affinity: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/the-top-decks-of-pauper-affinity.html
Delver: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-delver.html
DelverFiend: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/the-top-decks-of-pauper-delverfiend.html
Stompy: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-stompy.html
UB Trinket Control: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-ub-trinket.html

A sample deck list

This deck was played by hey_guess_what in the Daily Event on November 11, 2013.

2 Forgotten Cave
17 Mountain
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Chain Lightning
4 Fireblast
3 Flame Rift
2 Incinerate
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Needle Drop
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
1 Shard Volley
3 Staggershock

Sideboard
2 Curse of the Pierced Heart
2 Electrickery
2 Flaring Pain
3 Martyr of Ashes
3 Pyroblast
3 Smash to Smithereens

 

In a world where MBC is very powerful, Burn decks have moved away from Kiln Fiend and other creatures. I personally never play Needle Drop, as it tends to get stuck in hand against Counterspell decks and is 100% horrible against Chittering Rats, often costing whole matches.

My Burn walkthrough video

I made this video earlier this year. Some of the information may be dated, but the principles still apply. It also shows what cards I prefer in the deck

The idea

Throw bolts on your opponents until he dies. This might be the simplest deck to play in Pauper. There are some very hard decisions to make, though, so don't underestimate how the deck.

 

Financial implications of the deck

Pyroblast is very important to the deck, but it helps in matchups where you still don't stand much of a chance, so the deck can definitely be played without it.

Flame Rift is extremely expensive (but can easily be cut) as it is played in Legacy and Vintage burn and in short supply on MODO.

Chain Lightning is a very interesting card as it moves a lot - it goes down to 0.3 tix when Burn is out of fashion and can rise as high as 1.3 tix when Burn is in season.

Fireblast is a bit more stable, but also a costly card. Look to pick it up when it is drafted in Flashback Drafts.

I predict that Forgotten Cave will move above its upper-bulk price during the coming 12 months.



Learn more about Pauper

Here are some more relevant Pauper videos and articles
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Competetive Pauper Cast - our podcast about winning Pauper tournaments: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mtgostrat.com-cpc/id698010096

Jphsnakes reinvents Freed from the Real combo in the LOVE TRAIN deck: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/07/my-train-of-thought-decks-im-thinking-of-abusing/

Bava plays Po Dragons in a Pauper Daily. Deck list and tech here: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/05/pauper-brew-po-dragons-by-andrew-lakie/

A Pauper Chat with Deluxeicoff - Episode 2 (DelverFiend & Elves): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YX3F5UPtv0

A Pauper Chat with Deluxeicoff - Epsiode 3 (BorosKitty & Grey Ghost)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb0i8vkwPAo

More about the deck Illusory Tricks: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/05/pauper-brew-illusory-tricks-by-bava/

DelverFiend deck list and interview with Deluxeicoff here: http://puremtgo.com/articles/pauper-chat-deluxeicoff-episode-2-elves-and-delverfiend

A Pauper Chat with Deluxeicoff (hexproof)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C1-SXibr0Y

Every article about UB Trinket Control on mtgostrat.com:
http://mtgostrat.com/category/trinket-control/

The Pauper Gauntlet first season recently finished:  http://puremtgo.com/articles/pauper-gauntlet

Pauper Walkthroughs Episode 9 - Delver with Cweaver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxavc6y8sbg

Pauper Walkthroughs Episode 6 - UB Trinket Control
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuDh39fnifU

Pauper Walkthroughs Episode 5 - Stompy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwOntadLP6g

Contact Info:
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Deluxeicoff deck tech as it happens: facebook.com/deluxeicoff