Burn (with a taste of white)

[Maraxus of Keld]

Lands:

1x Plateau
10x Mountain
5x Plains
3x Barbarian Ring

Burn Spells:

4x Lightning Bolt
4x Shock
4x Incinerate
4x Kindle
2x Hammer of Bogardan
2x Fire/Ice
2x Disintegrate
1x Flamebreak
4x Browbeat

Artifacts:

4x Isochron Scepter
1x Howling Mine
1x Nevinyrral's Disk
1x Howling Mine

Misc.:

1x War Elemental
3x Swords to Plowshares
4x Disenchant
1x Shattering Pulse
2x Breaking Point
1x Wrath of God

Unfortunately, Wizards chose to model the Oracle text of Disintegrate after the old alpha/beta wording, rather than the later Revised/4th/5th Edition wording. What this means is that the target is removed from the game only if it would go to the graveyard, rather than if it "receives lethal damage." Therefore it can't take out indestructible creatures. I don't know why WotC would want to be stupid and go with the oldest wording of the card rather than that of its last three printings, but unfortunately they did.

That little rant aside, this is my burn deck. It differs from any other deck of its kind I've seen in that it splashes white. This allows it to use the best creature removal spells around, including StP for targeted removal (the only things it can't get are those with pro-white) and Wrath of God, which can sweep away an entire army if they happen to survive all my burn spells. Also, Disenchant spares me the need for Shatter, and can also handle enchantments.

There are a couple cards I'm not too sure of in this deck. First and foremost is War Elemental. In theory, this is just the kind of deck where War Elemental should thrive. The deck is almost never without a burn spell in hand, and therefore War Elemental could get really big really quick. Problem is, I almost never draw the stupid thing. There were once two more in the deck, but before I ever got to test that build out I traded them for something much more valuable. So I'm really not sure if War Elemental is worth keeping in the deck.

The other card I'm not totally sure if I like in here is Mirari. I know, shocking, isn't it? Again, this is exactly the type of deck that card is made for. But the casting cost of 5 can sometimes be hard to meet, and I don't really use it that often.

Any suggestions/improvements/mindless praise would be greatly appreciated.

[Maraxus of Keld]

One stipulation though: please do not tell me to put Ball Lightning in the deck. It is a bad card. If you do not believe me I will be happy to debate with you, but it is not going in this deck because it sucks.

[Maraxus of Keld]

Okay, the deck has undergone a slight change. War Elemental, Breaking Point, and something else (I forget what exactly) have left the deck, and been replaced by 4 copies of Balance. Aren't I a bastard?

[Baron Sengir]

I do believe I've seen this deck before in action, and its pretty good. Especially that Isochron Scepter.

[Volrath, the Fallen]

i don't know why none of us ever thought of this but Balance works very well with Zuran Orb. Gain some life and make your opponent lose more lands

[Maraxus of Keld]

That's not a bad idea. And I just happen to have an orb or two that I can spare to put in there.

[Volrath, the Fallen]

it would definately help. Especially if its turning into a close game. that extra life could save the game for you

[Maraxus of Keld]

Cut the Barbarian Rings in favor of an additional Fire/Ice and two Zuran Orbs.

[Volrath, the Fallen]

i don't think the rings really helped that much

[Maraxus of Keld]

I can recall only one game (and that one just recently) that they made a difference.

[Maraxus of Keld]

Maraxus said:

Okay, the deck has undergone a slight change. War Elemental, Breaking Point, and something else (I forget what exactly) have left the deck, and been replaced by 4 copies of Balance. Aren't I a bastard?

The other card that I cut at that time was Flamebreak.

[Volrath, the Fallen]

yeah, balance helps a lot more than that.

[Maraxus of Keld]

And for some reason I never drew it anyway.

[Maraxus of Keld]

Current deck list:

Shock x4
Lightning Bolt x4
Kindle x4
Incinerate x4
Fire/Ice x3
Browbeat x4
Fireblast x4
Balance x4
Wrath of God x1
Swords to Plowshares x3
Disenchant x4
Isochron Scepter x4
Nevinyrral's Disk x1
Zuran Orb x2
Plateau x1
Battlefield Forge x1
Sacred Foundry x1
Mountain x10
Plains x4

[Maraxus of Keld]

I updated the deck list to what it's been for quite awhile now. I used to have two Lightning Helixes in the deck, but I traded them to Alex and never bothered to replace them.

One thing that bugs me a little bit about this deck is having four Balances. It didn't used to bother me that I wasn't abiding my tournament restrictions, but I've grown to really understand why that restriction is in place. I planned to replace three of them with extra Wrath of Gods, but I decided not to spend the money since WoG costs a little bit more than I want to spend on individual cards at the moment.