Fire. Throughout history, man has feared nothing, relied upon nothing, desired nothing so much as the power of fire. It cooks his food. It keeps him warm. It powers his machines. Yet when it is disrespected, it brings the mightiest of mankind's cities to their knees. Truly, fire is a beast that cannot be tamed, only placated and contained, carefully directed to mankind's ends. But there are those who do not believe this. There are those who seek to dominate fire, to command its incredible power for themselves. Through their obsessive dedication, these people master the art of manipulating fire, of channeling their own rage, hatred, pride, and ego, the powers of their rawest, deepest emotions, and using that unfathomable strength to wrestle control of raging fire. We call these people "Pyromancers". Some pyromancers seek the art simply to prove they can. Others seek vengeance or respect, admiration or fear. Still others just want to bring ruin and pain. But all have something in common; they are all mad. Indeed, only the insane have the sheer force of will to become pyromancers, for the chaotic spirit of strength and pride required to truly tame fire is born only of madness. In some it is subtle; perhaps a more benevolent pyromancer has a tendency to immolate his foes, when he should take them alive, or perhaps an arrogant mage answers questions unasked by his peers in the midst of conversation. In others, however, the madness is stronger even than the fire they wield. Screaming lunatics, roaring louder than any inferno, they live for chaos. No matter how much they burn, they are cursed with a burning hunger, a psychological need for destruction, a hunger they can never slake. Fire; handled with care, it brings comfort and warmth, sustenance and power. But in the hands of the wicked and mad... it brings only ruin.
And that is just how they like it.
This deck is simple, relatively inexpensive, and contains only a single rare card. Therefore, it is an excellent deck for beginners. There isn't too much strategy involved: Burn your enemy alive as quickly as possible. Whenever possible, your burn spells should be directed at the opponent, not their creatures. Remember, you can afford to take a couple of hits along the way. Don't forget to play your creatures as soon as you can! Both Guttersnipe and Young Pyromancer benefit from the use of every other card in your deck; when you cast your other spells, Guttersnipe will boost their damage potential, and Young Pyromancer will fill up your field. The Elemental tokens created by Young Pyromancer are weak, and you won't have the numbers of a dedicated token deck, but they can save your life when your opponent has a big creature that you don't want to waste spells burning up; just throw elementals in front of it to keep it at bay while you eat through your enemy's life. Unlike beatdown decks, another common mono-red style, this deck doesn't usually put out the kind of damage required to take an opponent down in six rounds (barring a perfect opening hand, of course) but it puts pressure on your foe quickly, and can easily take them down by round nine or ten if they aren't able to push back in time.
A pair of notable exceptions to the rule of targeting your opponent: Flames of the Firebrand and Chandra's Outrage.
The 3 damage from Flames of the Firebrand can be divided as you choose, which means it is very good at taking out several weak creatures. Three 1/1's, a 1/2 and a 1/1, you can even target a single creature with 1 or 2 toughness and still get a little damage on your opponent. If you've got a Guttersnipe out, it only makes things easier, as you'll feel a lot better about putting all 3 damage into your opponent's creatures knowing you'll still stick something in their face. Definitely my favorite burn spell.
Chandra's Outrage, unique among the cards in this deck, can only target creatures. At four damage, it's a solid card, capable of dealing with most early-game threats, and a number of mid-game threats by itself. On top of that, it deals two damage to your opponent too, which means a Guttersnipe doubles its secondary effect. Personally, one of my favorite cards.
Notes on Young Pyromancer and Guttersnipe:
Young Pyromancer: This card is by no means essential. If you are making a sideboard, this is probably the first card to go. That doesn't mean it doesn't have a purpose, however. While there are cards that do the job better, Young Pyromancer was included because he is uncommon, making him an easier, cheaper card to get, and because he fits the theme. That said, Young Pyromancer does serve two helpful roles: Blocking, and getting that last bit of damage through. Every spell you cast with him on the field gives you a 1/1 creature. By the end of the game, if your opponent is hanging on by the skin of their teeth and you've run out of burn in hand, you've probably got enough elementals lying around to get that last bit of damage in. Further, if you have young pyromancer in your starting hand, or otherwise get him out early, you can completely change your strategy. By focusing your burn on your opponent's creatures, you can keep the field clear for your ever expanding army of weenies to get through. If there's no blockers up, you can even swing in with Young Pyromancer and Guttersnipe for two each. And don't forget the obvious: if you've got more than one pyromancer, you get more elementals per spell. If you have two or even three out, the elementals can quickly become too much for an enemy to handle.
If your opponent is running a creature heavy deck, and worst case scenario, puts you on the defensive, this card can save your life. As you focus burn on enemy creatures to weaken the enemy's offensive, you'll simultaneously fill your field, allowing you to block and survive while you whittle the enemy down.
Guttersnipe: This card greatly helps the deck, but again, he is not essential. He adds 2 damage to every burn you throw at your enemy, but remember Guttersnipe's damage can only target the opponent, not his or her creatures. On the plus side, this makes focusing on creature burn a viable strategy, as you'll still be doing damage to your opponent.
Guttersnipe and Young Pyromancer have great synergy together, especially in a spell-heavy deck like this. If you have both on the field, you're shoring up your defenses, burning through your opponent's life, and increasing your offensive potential, all at the same time every time you cast a spell!
In the end, the deck's strategy boils down to Burn Burn Burn, but careful consideration needs to be taken when choosing targets for your spells.