Comments on: How to Beat Burn https://www.quietspeculation.com/2015/03/how-to-beat-burn/ Play More, Win More, Pay Less Wed, 15 Jul 2015 11:03:10 +0000 hourly 1 By: Christopher D. https://www.quietspeculation.com/2015/03/how-to-beat-burn/#comment-2120365 Wed, 15 Jul 2015 11:03:10 +0000 http://mastersofmodern.com/?p=396#comment-2120365 In reply to J Col.

Well in White anti-burn Arsenal ou miss to put

Sanctimony.
Enchantment
Whenever an opponent taps a Mountain for mana, you may gain 1 life.

]]>
By: J Col https://www.quietspeculation.com/2015/03/how-to-beat-burn/#comment-2120364 Wed, 18 Mar 2015 18:19:43 +0000 http://mastersofmodern.com/?p=396#comment-2120364 Ajani Vengeant is *not* a trap in Burn, nor is he *just* a lightning helix. He is *at worst* a Helix, but when he lands down and domes a dude and they do not have Skull Crack mana at the ready expecting him, or more reaslitically, he’s protected with countermagic, he often ends up netting huge value. For example, dropping down onto an Eidolon, Helix kills Eidolon and nets you 1 life, while Ajani kills Eidolon and nets you 3 life *and is still on the board*. At this point, for ajani to die, he’s soaking up either a hit from a dude or another card. If they try to ignore him and have dudes on the board, he gains you further life with his plus ability. If still unanswered, helixing a second time has put you *very* far ahead of the game, doming two dudes, gaining 6-9 life, and generating between 1-3 cards worth of advantage.

On an empty board, he reverses the damage race. He immediately replaces himself with a card of value by reversing a bolt, then nets you a bolt’s worth of value to their face, and then still must be answered. He’s a potential 3 for one on an empty board if answered on time.

The thing to consider with him as well is that any scenario where he doesn’t eat it right away (gaining you life) is a scenario where you untap, likely in blue, and can have countermagic/threats to back him up. Burn can’t afford to let Ajani sit and tick, but they can’t afford to ignore threats in play, lest the race gets turned back. Ajani is also great in multiples because of this, because the scenario where he double helixes allows you to follow up with the second to tap down their original dude, just outside of bolt range. If they bolt him, you gain 1-3 life via the tapdown, and if not, you gain 3 life and a card’s worth of advantage ready to do it again. When this sequence happens, it’s basically

Helix/Fog/Helix/Helix/Helix while you’re sitting on 4+ mana for 3 of those turns. Burn *cannot* race that without skullcrack.

]]>
By: Eryk Heavyside https://www.quietspeculation.com/2015/03/how-to-beat-burn/#comment-2120363 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 18:00:05 +0000 http://mastersofmodern.com/?p=396#comment-2120363 In reply to Vince Kolman.

Funny, id suggest just playing zoo if youre worried about beating burn. Any deck that provides very cheap fairly big creatures backed my either permission or reach is just a nightmare for burn. Not sure youd want to worry about any anti-burn cards.

]]>
By: Vince Kolman https://www.quietspeculation.com/2015/03/how-to-beat-burn/#comment-2120362 Tue, 17 Mar 2015 15:03:27 +0000 http://mastersofmodern.com/?p=396#comment-2120362 One card that I feel got overlooked was Lone Missionary. While certainly not as consistently strong as Kor Firewalker, the single colored mana in the casting cost makes it far more castable in multi-colored decks. I ran a very low to the ground version of zoo at SCG Baltimore, and was struggling to pick an anti-burn card until a friend suggested Missionary to me. Lone Missionary put in a lot of work for me that day, and helped me win a match against what is easily the worst matchup in the field for me.

]]>
By: Sheridan Lardner https://www.quietspeculation.com/2015/03/how-to-beat-burn/#comment-2120361 Mon, 16 Mar 2015 22:57:02 +0000 http://mastersofmodern.com/?p=396#comment-2120361 In reply to Jake Frondorf.

Interestingly, we have seen Claw show up in Merfolk, Mono U Tron, and Nykthos Green in the past, even though those decks don’t splash red to benefit from the Claw on both sides. As with Kor, that’s a card you see both in decks that pack their own red, but also in decks that do not: BW Tokens, UWR Midrange, etc. But yes, both cards are definitely better in red decks, which was something I was trying to get at in the end of each card’s section.

I agree with your assessment of Feed, which is one reason I highlighted it in the article. Not sure about Feed + Snapcaster, as that’s a synergy that only a few top tier decks can realistically support. Abzan certainly can’t, and that’s the deck that we most think of as a home for Feed. As for Rest, we just don’t see that card a lot in any decks, whether sideboard or mainboard. Feed is much easier to go big on than Rest.

As for Trap, you can’t have a card tech article without a crazy tech idea! It just isn’t kosher.

]]>
By: Liam Lonergan https://www.quietspeculation.com/2015/03/how-to-beat-burn/#comment-2120360 Mon, 16 Mar 2015 21:21:37 +0000 http://mastersofmodern.com/?p=396#comment-2120360 In reply to Jake Frondorf.

I agree with the points you make in paragraphs 2 and 4, but not the others.

In paragraph one, you mentioned that they failed to discuss the upside of playing Dragon’s Claw and Kor Firewalker in red decks, which is incorrect. They mentioned it in the end of each’s section.

I disagree with you evaluation of Timely Reinforcements. It is a three mana sorcery that requires them to not have a Skullcrack effect for it to be at all reasonable (a three mana sorcery that trades for one of their one mana creatures is hardly playable). I’d agree that it is a good maindeck answer for aggressive matchups as a whole (in part because they won’t see it coming), but I don’t think that it is a reliable way to get ahead in the burn matchup.

]]>
By: Jake Frondorf https://www.quietspeculation.com/2015/03/how-to-beat-burn/#comment-2120359 Mon, 16 Mar 2015 20:28:42 +0000 http://mastersofmodern.com/?p=396#comment-2120359 So, it’s interesting how you failed to bring up the best and worst drawbacks for a lot of the tech you mentioned. Dragon’s claw is great in a deck, IF you play red in that deck. That’s why it was the tech of choice for UR delver. The same goes for Kor firewalker: the card isn’t that good if you don’t play red yourself. Granted, it’s much better than dragon’s claw, but more stock should be placed on other options.

Feed the Clan and Rest for the Weary are both amazing if you are playing snapcaster (especially as a four of). The possibility of flashing it back make them worth it, and since they’re both instant, and burn is tapping out at the end of every turn to cast their spells as quickly as possible anyways, playing it in response to a bolt of skullcrack is entirely reasonable. The decks tap out on their own turns if they have a swiftspear out, making it even easier to resolve. If you don’t play snapcaster mage, it’s probably still worth considering them because they counter 3 spells from your opponent.

You mentioned timely reinforcements, but it is also one of the strongest options against burn in any color. You make tokens that force them to trade off a creature, and you gain life, which makes it a 3-for-1. Not only that, but it is very reasonable against a lot of the field, which you can’t say about other pieces of burn tech.

Duress is another card you didn’t mention. It’s not the best card against burn, but anything that let’s you one-for-one against burn is a good trade. It also excels against other decks, so the sideboard slot isn’t as dead as it might be.

Also, refraction trap is a trap.

]]>