geezer48

One trick you could try would be to play no creatures in game one. Add Mizzium Mortar and Act of Treason to hold the line. Game 2 bring in the Vexing Devils, Guttersnipe or Young Pyromancer, 8 creatures in total. Your opponent may have removed his creature removal making Vexing Devil pure burn ( combos well with Brimestone Volley). Ex Black mage removes 4 Doom Blade for 4 Duress. If you like the idea of Burn check out the deck type in all formats - Legacy, Modern etc. It is a fun deck to play and requires a little more thought than most people think, and it is usually the cheapest deck in all formats due to a large number of commons used and that it is a mono-color deck.

hope it works out. Give a rep point if it does. I have played burn in all formats and the deck can do well , but it rarely comes in first - a top four type of deck . The Key is always go straight to the opponents head in burn. Life is only a resource to use like any other . If you are at 2 life when he hits 0 you still win the same as the control player who won with 15 life.

This is not really a burn deck, but rather a Pyromancer Ascension deck. If you want Burn take out the blue. Add 4 Flamebreak for creature control, 4 Hellspark Elemental, 4 Magma Jet for moving out unwanted lands, and 2 Reverberate. Grim Lavamancer is another good choice and you can also add Spark Elemental.. Deck gets shut down by Chalice of the Void, so have artifact removal in your sideboard, and Blood Moon for Multi-color decks. Pyroclasm in the sideboard for token/ lifegain creature decks. Deck should kill consistently by turn 5 if they do not play lifegain. Everything gets tossed at your opponent's head. Do not waste burn on his creatures unless lifelink or you are going to die. Play 20 lands all mountains. Hope this helps.

Drop 1 Explore, 1 Cultivate, 1 Gladehart, and 1 Baloth. Move the Spider, Windstorm, and 1 Naruralize to sideboard. Add 2 Deadly Recluse to the main deck. Get the deck to 60 cards.....

The deck seems to have a weakness in that it doesn't do much on turn two. Maybe Pacifism over One Thousand Lashes( Moved to sideboard) to ease up on your mana curve and make a third turn Etheral Armor more effective. I really like Mana Bloom in this deck, and as a card in general. If we see a Standard enchantress effect, it will really shine.

I think you need a little help on the lower end of the creature curve- mana elves or Elvish Visonary. You have Green Sun Zenith so you can afford to cut 2 -3 of your fatties for more early game ramp since this is a legacy deck. Sideboard needs Naturalize, and defense against flying, and maybe fog effects. Garruk Wildspeaker (+1 ability) untapping 2 lands would be a perfect fit for this deck, even a Genesis Wave might help. Good Luck...

Broodstar needs his shoes - Lightning Greaves - To hit the turn he arrives on the battlefield. I think the deck plays better as straight affinity. Drop the Etherium Sculptors and the Juggernauts and replace with 2 Greaves, 1 Myr enforcer and 4 Frogmites. Thoughtcast is the draw spell you need . Try and slip 2 in the deck. Play 4 Seat of the Synod and drop the Lotus Petals and 1 Island. You only need Lotus Petal if you are playing other colors in the deck or in the sideboard. You have to sack it to get the Blue for Broodstar so it does not get him out any faster most of the time. You can also try Salvage Titan in the deck for a free turn one fattie, but this is a very risky way to play the deck, since you have no counter backup except Turn Aside.

Thatcher Revolt over Burning Earth which would go to the sideboard. Kessig Malcontents and Brimestone Volley could fit but both will soon be out of rotation if that is a concern. Rootborn Defense is another possible choice.

This type of deck is in the Scepter /Chant - using Orim's Chant - category. If the deck is based around Scepter , add Boomerang and Fire/Ice, dropping Mind Bend and Cancel - or move them to the sideboard. If you actually have the tolarian Academies sitting around, I guess the Myr kill is reasonable, but the deck would lso worl well with blue or white flying as the finishers.

How about adding Pacifism, Ob;ivion Ring, and Serpent Skin to eliminate some of your opponents creatures,and keep your deathtouch creatures coming back Ancestral Mask is a must for this type of deck. Plummet and Naturalize in the sideboard. If you like Pauper check out some of my odd Pauper decks. I have three posted.

You should make the Lich hexproof, Lightning Greaves, Ranger's Guile, Vines of Vastwood, etc. Also maybe a tutor effect to get the Lich or an Artifact if you are missing one part of the synergy combo - Diabolic Tutor, Beseech the Queen. Darksteel Ingot is also another good indestructible target, and Phyrexian Metamorph could act as another Lich. Nice deck and modern playable.

Excellent suggestion - Jolting Merfolk acts like another Triskelion in the deck. I will try to fit him in if/when I rebuild the deck. Thanks

Land Destruction is a lost artform in magic as WOTC does not want it playable in standard. Your deck has a few problems as an LD deck, the most important being that it is toooo slow.... You cannot destroy a land until turn three which means your opponent will have a threat on the board already. Aggro decks will have board control, and control decks will be ready with a counter. You have to destroy a land on turn 1 or 2. Chrome Mox would help, but cheaper alternatives are Simian Spirit Guide, Lotus Petal, or red ritual type spells. Also you have no big finisher in the deck. Good Choices - Rorix Bladewing, Arc Slogger, even Shivan Dragon. Avalanche Riders would be a better creature than one of your Dwarves , and Goblin Gardener might also work. Ajani is very good in this deck, but you do not need Armageddon. You are playing only 20 lands so you will not be able to hold many back, which means it only works in your favor with a protected Ajani in play. Play a few more lands with one plain to be fetched by Terramorphic Expanse, or add some r/w dual lands. Life gain should be in the sideboard and Elixir of Immortatity would be more effective than Sacred Nectar. If you play white Pacifism, Brainwash, and Wall of Swords would be helpful. Other cards you may want to think about are Demolish, Tangle Wire , Mizzium Mortars, Raze, and Crack the Earth. I have built at least 6 LD decks over the years in all color combinations. Red/ Green was the color combo I found to be most competitive, followed by mono-red. In a casual environent you can play and comp\bination and win if you keep your opponent off a color, or below three lands. Hope soom of this was helpful

If you are going to play Hive Stirrings and other color slivers you need more any color mana sources to be effective. You could play 2 dual Lands (Sacred Foundry), or Darksteel Ingot, or fetch a single basic (white) with Terramorphic Expanse The deck however, works well as just green/red. Add some cards with the bloodrush mechanic, and some burn Mizzium Mortars, Shock. Sideboard should contain, Pit fight, Fog, Plummet, Smelt, and Clan Defiance. The deck should run smoother, and be less expensive to build. Creeping Renaissance is a nice touch, but I would move it to the sideboard and bring it in vs res/ black decks with a lot of elimination, or board clearing cards.

Deck is now much tighter . Play it a few times and see which cards aren't doing much and try new ones. Rakdos Cackler,
Lightning Mauler, Tragic Slip, Terminate, Lightning Bolt are only a few cards you could try. Also develop a sideboard of cards that solve specific problems to help your deck Ex Shatter to destroy Artifacts, more elimination such as Doom Blade and Tragic Slip. There is a number to the right of each comment with an arrow point above and below it. If you click on it and it is on your page/deck or is a comment someone made to you, you can add or subtract a rep point.

Thank you for your nice reply. If you have any specific questions , post them and I will try to respond. Alwys try to give rep points and Like deck's to people who have helped you.

The main weakness of this deck is that it is top heavy. You have too many creatures and spells that cost 3-4-5 mana and only 20 lands. You will not be able to cast your spells on the turn they should come out, and the delay will cost you the game. You are probably playing the cards you have available which is okay to start, but add 2 or 3 more lands and drop enough creatures to get to 60 cards total. Look what each card does and see which cards work together. You play Liliana's Caress which does damage when an opponent discards, but you have no cards such as Duress to make the opponent discard, so the card does not belong in the main deck. Try and get a few more creatures that cost 1 or 2 mana so you have some early plays to make. Add some more Shocks if you have them. There are many better cards you could play, but getting a cohesive deck with a game plan in mind is the first step. Think how your deck is going to achieve victory, and what the opponent can do to stop you. Then try to make the deck reach its goal faster. Check out other Red/ Black decks on the Vault and see what everyone else is doing and why they are doing it. Have fun, ask questions and learn from your mistakes. Everyone makes bad plays, just try NOT to make it habit forming.

I would make it Green/White dropping the red completely. Parallel Evolution is a great card for your deck but it is not Modern legal. Add Gather the Townfolk, Midnight Haunting for token replacement cards, and Overrun as a finisher. Lure or Taunting Elf would also work to get your army through blockers. Mirror Entity to make them large quickly. Also have some cards in the main deck and the sideboard to protect yourself against artifacts, enchantments, evasion and board wipe.Ex Hurricane, Naturalize, Fog, Basilisk Collar, Tricks you could add - Sublime Angel /Whispersilk Cloak, Coat of Arms, Blood Artist(black mana Splash) / Eternal Witness and a sacrifice effect if needed, The deck need something besides token production to win. Your deck produces a large amount of resources, not find a way to use them effectively.

I do not want to be mean with my comments, but this deck is a clinic on how not to build a deck. 85 cards no 60 cards yes. Get the deck down to that number. If you own all the cards above you can make two decks. Drop all the treefolk cards and concentrate on the elves. You have a card that requires double blue to cast, and one which requires double white. You have only 4 chances in the deck of getting off color mana and that you must lock in to a color. The Magus and . Levitation are not playable in this deck so cut them. Your mana curve is off too many medium and high cost creatures, not enough small cost creatures. Add some sort of mix of Arbor Elf, Lanowar Elf,, Elvish Archdruid, Elvish Visionary, etc. Then add some other spells to pump your creatures, give them evasion (flying or Trample, etc)(Overrun), and elimination spells to protect against artifacts, enchantment and removal. Ex. Naturalize, Plummet, Prey Upon, Elvish Lyrist, Veridien Zealot, Regeneration, etc. You should end up with about 20-25 creatures, 21-24 lands , 10-14 spells in a basic deck. This is not a rule just a guideline. Check out other Elf decks on the Vault and see what they are doing. Look how your spells and creatures interact, what works well together and what works against itself. Establish a goal for your deck, meaning how you plan to win while keeping your opponent from beating you. Put in cards that work toward that goal and go from there. If you follow these guidelines you should win half of your matches if you are playing people with equal experience. If you leave the deck as it is above you may win one or two games out of a hundred. Look at what is out there , and ask questions.

Maybe add Krosan Drover - an elf that drops the eldrazi/ big creature cost by 2. Eternal Witness to bring back a Priest or an Archdruid that hit the graveyard early.