I am still swinging Burn in Modern. Here is a sample match against Time Walk Combo.
This is my updated deck list.
Main deck
4 Atarka's Command
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Boros Charm
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
3 Stomping Ground
4 Rift Bolt
2 Mountain
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Searing Blaze
1 Grim Lavamancer
4 Wild Nacatl
3 Arid Mesa
4 Wooded Foothills
Sideboard
2 Deflecting Palm
4 Destructive Revelry
4 Kor Firewalker
2 Path to Exile
3 Skullcrack
One extensive sideboard plan for Burn: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IAUv_SnPqTzsyRelnrOiotMBInzw0zKm5xeCN5ZJZdQ/edit?pageId=106024238989036834136#gid=1948138265
Another sideboard plan: http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/sideboard-like-a-grand-prix-finalist/
I don't feel this is a super good matchup for burn. I did get an interesting comment I wanted to share with you here in the everlasting discussion about playing Wild Nacatl or not in Naya Burn.
Taylor said: "Great job!! I'm starting to see through your games (and my own small play testing) that Nacatyl might not deserve a place in the current meta, so thank you for letting me see how a Nacatyl-less build plays out. "
Match #4 was against Bant Eldrazi. Here is where my inexperience got the best of me. I had not even seen this deck before and I was unsure of what to do against it.
Next week I will share the last match with you. Overall the experience of playing a Constructed League for the first time has been a good one. There will be more.
I have not changed a single card. After 22-5 in practice I felt that the time had come to play my first constructed league on MTGO with the list.
For my first constructed match with my new deck I faced a BW Hate Bears deck. I did not even know that was a thing. I was fairly sure I would win the first duel but I also expected some heavy Burn hate in his sideboard.
In my second match I faced Affinity. This is a tough matchup as both decks are lightning fast. It is fairly hard to know when to play for the win or when to defend myself.
My sideboarding was: -4 Boros Charm, -4 Eidolon, +1 Smash to Smithereens, +4 Destructive Revelry, +1 Lightinng Helix, +1 Searing Blaze, + 1 Path to Exile
I will finish the league and report on the final result here.
Overall I feel I am quite inexperienced with the deck and don't know enough about the meta. Naya Burn still seems to be a solid choice, As of today it is 3.65% of the winning decks on MTGO.
And for all of you wondering, I will probably write a Modern Bible of Naya Burn eventually. I definitely want to get in 100 matches with the deck first and do some serious studying. Somebody already wrote an article named The Modern Burn Bible but it is nowhere near as comprehensive as my study on RG Tron last year which you can find here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/02/the-modern-bible-of-rg-tron-part-1.html
Windswept Heath should really be Scalding Tarn or Arid Mesa but they are just out of my price range (and dangerous investments) right now. Windswept Heath is worse but I figured it is good enough for testing. Here is an initial match with the deck Here are some Naya Burn resources I am using: Red Deck Winning's guide to Naya Burn: https://reddeckwinning.com/2016/01/18/the-modern-burn-bible/
Oh, Atarka's Command! Why are you Atarka's Command? I thought I had this matchup figured out and then you came along! Oh well, I guess eight ways to negate my lifegain from Nature's Claim and Wurmcoil Engine is just what we have to live with now.
Is this a bad matchup for RG Tron? I used to be very convinced that this was a 50/50 matchup for Tron. Then it all changed. The most recent version of Naya Burn uses another card we truly fear - Wild Nacatl! That is even worse. Here is a deck list: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-nacatl-burn-21367#online
This does look pretty bad for us.
Things to consider when playing RG Tron vs Burn It is all about Wurmcoil Engine and surviving. Don't make the mistake that this matchup is about assemling your Urza lands and casting powerful bombs. It is all about gaining life and not taking damage. If you manage to land one hit with Wurmcoil Engine you are quite well off, especially if you can then Nature's Claim it on their turn and surprise block some of their attacks and gain additional life. You only need the Wurmcoil Engines to win. They are both your best defensive cards and your road to victory.
Useful and less useful sideboard cards I have been very against fililng your sideboard with cards that are useful in only one matchup. That would leave me with Nature's Claim (on my own artifacts) and Wurmcoil Engine to gain life. That used to be enough. Now I am not so sure. If Burn is heavy in your meta, you have to pack your sideboard with specific cards. Dragon's Claw: While this may look good in theory I think it is too slow and yet another Smash to Smithereens target.
Feed the clan Gaining five (or ten!) life is quite useful against Burn. The problem is once against his ability to negate your life gain. Leyline of Sanctity Leyline requires you to dedicate at least three slots in your sideboard that are not useful against many other decks but it is an option. Be aware that a lot of cards in the burn deck will ignore this. Some RG Tron players consider this the #1 best card against Burn.
Nature's Claim: Our catch-all answer comes in here as well. The sole purpose is to gain 4 life by claiming your own stars (or other artifacts) to stay alive.
Spellskite: Spellskite both blocks their creatures and reduces the damage of some of their burn spells by 1. This is worthwhile. Spellskite is key to the matchup. Thragtusk: Five mana is a lot against Burn but if it resolves you have an excellent blocker as well as five more lives. I have not tested this properly yet but some RG Tron players like this option. Wurmcoil Engine:This is the way you win the match. Playing White-Green instead of Red-Green: This matchup is the biggest argument to exchange Red for White in your Tron deck. I generally think this is a really bad matchup (as you are giving up the best Dual Land in Modern), but now you have access to white sideboard cards such as Timely Reinforcements.
Less useful main deck cards Karn Liberated: While Karn is super powerful you can hardly afford to tap out and he does very little to stabilize. Removing a card from their hand each turn is very useful though. He is slow though. Emrakul: The big girl idoes nothing in this matchup. She is just a dead draw. Take her out if you are still maindecking her. Eye of Ugin: In theory you can chain Wurmcoil Engines with this card or even get a crucial Spellskite. I am reluctant to take it out but it is sloooow. Oblivion Stone: I have mixed feelings on the O-stones here. They are very slow but they can just save you. Getting a stone smashed to smithereens is the worst. Against a more red Burn deck with Blood Moons, O-stone is obviously more useful.
Relic of Progenitus: Relic does not do anything here. Sundering Titan: Of your giant threats Titan is the most useful. He blocks and he totally wrecks their greedy manabase. Sylvan Scrying: This is the slowest of your engine cards. I would not fault you for taking out one or two to fit in more SB cards. Ugin, the Spirit Dragon: If Karn is too slow, Ugin is ever worse. To the sideboard with him. The lifegain looks tempting but it is just too much mana. Ulamog, the Infnite Gyre: You are better off if this is your maindeck Eldrazi but it is hard to keep him in after boarding. As you are not as focused on getting to your Tron this is one of the few matchups where you can consider taking out a single compy of Chromatic Sphere or Sylvan Scrying. Try to avoid it, though, if at all possible.
What do they bring in? Ancient Grudge: Turns out that killing our artifacts can wreck us in the early game, allowing them time to set up. They are also pretty good against Oblivion Stone. Blood Moon used to be a big consideration but given their greedy mana bases now you don't have to fear it as much. It would hurt to take out the O-stones and face a Moon though. Destructive Revelry: See Smash to Smithereens.
Molten Rain/Stone Rain: I think it is a mistake by the Burn player to try to 1-for-1 your lands. This will dillute their deck. They should just go for the kill instead. Path to Exile: This is one of the few matchups where I really fear Path. It does dillute their deck but our extra land helps very little in this matchup. Being able to out-wurmcoil their paths is probably a reason to keep Eye of Ugin in your deck. Spellskite shines here, of course.
Smash to Smithereens: This has the unique ability to both wreck your development and do damage. Fear it. Destructive Revelry does the same thing. Skullcrack: Expect the full 8 cards to stop your lifegain in the second and third duel.
Sample video In this video I take on Burn with one of my RG Tron builds.
Until next week - may you please gain twelve life from your Wurmcoil Engines. Next week we take on that beast that never truly goes away; Affinity.
Two decks enter, one deck leave. Stompy and Burn went into the tournaments rounds this week, playing a two-man tournament each.
BURN vs MBC
Burn ran into MBC with Gray Merchants and Corrupt!
Stompy
Stompy faced its nightmare matchup: Hexproof. Deluxeicoff once said that this match is 97-3 for Hexproof.
The End
As one deck won and the other lost, we now have a winner of the Gauntlet. Congratulations to the deck and to denofbears, who was its champion. He wins two foil paper Shocklands and a MTGO Elspeth, Sun's Champion.
I will present the final result of the Gauntlet and then we will discuss the Pauper Gauntlet itself and how to improve it for a possible third season in the next article. After that this five month journey is over. Thank you so much for following the Gauntlet.
We started this adventure in August with 77 decks and after a turbulent round 9 we now only have two decks left. One of these will be the winner - maybe even this week!
It is Stompy vs Burn.
The result of round 12 was surprising.
Stompy ran into my Magic mentor, Power_T, playing RB LD Flashback (?).
Burn went up against Affinity. I have played this matchup from both sides several times in the Gauntlet and I feel that Burn is slightly favored. My opponent disagreed. He managed to land the right number of early 4/4s and proceeded to destroy me.
So with both deck losing in round 12 (after they both went 11-0), the Gauntlet goes into the tournament rounds.
Burn
Championed by jphsnake
Casting 7 lightning bolts to the face is still a viable tactic in magic it seems. Despite having played this deck a lot I only had a 55% winning record before I switched to this build right before the Gauntlet. And it seems to have worked!
Deck list: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/the-top-decks-of-pauper-burn.html
Upcoming rounds
Round 13 is the two-man round. Both decks play a two-man tournament. There is about 50% chance that the Gauntlet continues into round 14 after that (if both decks win or both decks lose).
Round 14 is the eight-man round. This should settle things. I sure hope it does because if it doesn't I am going to have to play middle-of-the-night Pauper Daily Events in round 15. More about that next week if it happens, but hopefully we will have a winner to present here.
Which deck do you think will win the Pauper Gauntlet?
How can you follow the Pauper Gauntlet? The twitter account @MagicGathStrat tweets whenever a video is uploaded to the two YouTube channels that feature the Gauntlet: MagicGatheringStrat and sngprop.
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.
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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