Explorations #16 - BaleFireMane Control
Steve Gargolinski
Some Quick Thoughts on NecroSpike
Last Saturday morning I woke up and decided to play in the Classic daily event. I didn't have a deck put together, so I started scrambling to find something to play. At the last minute (and I mean the last minute) I decided to audible intowhiffy penguin and Under_The_Hammer's updated NecroSpike deck with Tarmogoyf (check out this link to read about their deck). I had already made the jump to four maindeck Tombstalkers and Lotus Petals in my straight UB list, and I liked the idea of a semi-transformative sideboard with Tarmogoyf.
I had my deck. The problem is that I really should have had it sooner. I ran out of time and was in the middle of switching myNecroSpike over to whiffy and Hammer's version when I noticed that the event was about to fire. I scrambled to get something legal together and made it in just before round one triggered.
The list did not turn out well; it is not something that I would play again in a million years. It's a NecroSpike deck, so I didn't have TOO many opportunities to screw it up, but I definitely took advantage of the ones I did have. Here's some solid evidence: I ran exactly THREE copies of Brainstorm! What the Hell is that? I also ran four Pithing Needles in the sideboard that really should be either Daze or Hymn to Tourach. What can I say? It was early and I was tired and pressed for time.
So what happened in the tournament? Here's a quick summary:
I finished the Swiss rounds in sixth place, playing against Affinity, the mirror match, Threshold, Dredge, and a final deck that I can't remember. In the first round of the top 8 I was up against Affinity again, which (at least the stock list) is a big underdog to NecroSpike, and I won easily. In game three of the semi-finals I ended up having to go all in with Tombstalker after having my combo busted up despite the fact that I had Duressed earlier and knew that my opponent had Swords to Plowshares. I was counting on zero white sources for the next four turns and that's exactly what happened! I had to drive my parents and it was nicer outside than expected, so thankfully my opponent was up for splitting in the finals.
I was kind of hoping that the list would just go away forever, but now it will be in the decks of the week report for all to see and wonder, "Three Brainstorms and four Ponders? What kind of an idiot made this list?" I am usually meticulous about recording what happens in a tournament, and the shoddy summary above (along with the lame decklist) should show you the amount of love that I gave my NecroSpike deck on Saturday - and I ended up winning anyways.
I didn't totally throw away any matches (that I know of), but I made a few small misplays that I did notice along the way. NecroSpike is just so powerful that it gets you out of situations where most decks would not stand a chance, and on top of that it shows a huge amount of resiliance. The ability to totally screw up your combo (or have it Stifled or whatever) and then end up with 'just' a 5/5 flyer as a win condition is seemingly unfair at times. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that this deck isn't skill intensive, it definitely is, but lots of the time it just wins - assuming that you can do some basic arithmetic.
To use Flores' language, NecroSpike is a very forgiving deck. Contrast this with the UWB Fish deck that I wrote about here. That deck does not ever 'just win' out of nowhere, it can't really blow anybody out, and even games where you are in total control take many turns and decisions to play out in your favor. UWB Fish is definitely not a deck I would play unless I were awake and sharp.
Osyp Lebedowicz once said about Affinity in Standard: "Arcbound Ravager is like a fairy godmother. It sits on your shoulder and says, 'You play badly, but I don't care. I still love you.'" I'm not sure how close to the truth that is, but I couldn't get that quote out of my head during the event on Saturday. NecroSpike is absurdly powerful (even with a lame list), is super-resiliant for a combo deck, and I haven't seen a single metagame reason not to play it. Obviously there are a ton of competitive decks in Classic, and NecroSpike can be hated, but if you're a fan of 'playing the best deck', then I would personally recommend NecroSpike. Am I right about this? What do you guys think?
That was my second Classic daily event, and I will definitely be playing many more in the future! I don't have a ton of experience, but right now Classic is, by a wide margin, my favorite competitive format on MTGO. It's an awesome format and I can't wait to play in more tournaments!
Alright, onto BaleFireMane Control.
BaleFireMane Control
I'm a huge fan of the Lieges from Shadowmoor and Eventide. I am usually a fan of cycles of large monsters, and this one is no different. Here are a few badass monsters:
Unfortunately, not too many of these guys have been used much in the tournament scene. It's always a shame when cool creatures fail to find a deck, and it seems like that's the case with most of these guys. Boartusk Liege saw some play in red aggro decks, Thistledown Liege has been included in Kithkin lists, and Wilt-Leaf Liege found a home in green-white aggro decks for a short time - but that's about it!
I think that this is largely a function of the "color matters" theme not really working out well for Wizards, but whatever the reason people are just not taking Lieges to tournaments. This isok though, since Lieges are still very popular with casual players. I decided that I wanted to put together a deck based on one of these Lieges, and quickly settled on Balefire Liege.
I chose Balefire Liege for two mains reasons: Lightning Helix and Firemane Angel.
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Two of my personal favorites |
The basic goal of a deck based around Balefire Liege is to hook a bonus Lightning Helix onto every single spell you cast. Sometimes you'll just get a bonus Lava Spike or Healing Salve, but those are pretty decent also. Just about any red or white spell is good in this situation, but one that you can recur is even better. The first thing that popped into my head was Firemane Angel, which is one of my favorite creatures of all time.
Firemane Angel was played a decent amount during the Ravnica Standard days as a finisher in multi-color control decks. Not only is the Angel a 4 power evasive threat with some lifegain attached, but it is extremely difficult to kill. That's not exactly ture - it's not too hard to kill, but it's very difficult to keep dead. And every time Miss Firemane returns back from the dead, she triggers a Lightning Helix courtesy of the Balefire Liege. Seems like a match made in heaven!
If we're building a deck based on Balefire Liege and Firemane Angel, then we're building a deck around a card that costs five mana and a card that costs six mana (not to mention a a strong ability that requires a full ten mana). We are clearly not working on a aggressive deck here, so every card choice that we make will be towards a control strategy. One option is to run a blue component in the deck to provide access tocounterspells, but this will weaken the red-white synergy that I was so excited about in the first place. For this deck I'm going to stick with red and white.
Time to brainstorm cards. I know that Standard is out the window, so I'm going to either be making a deck for Extended or Classic. Eventide provided us with a bunch of red-white cards, but so did Ravnica. I definitely don't want to leave all of those cool options off the table. I'm going to shoot for Extended, but if I find something fun in Classic then I'll consider going all the way.
Alright time for my first brainstorm list. We'll start with red/white multicolor cards. One thing worth noting here: the new gatherer is AWESOME for this! You can check out the beta here. The old version wouldn't let you sort multicolor cards by anything other than "multicolor". You could not, for example, take a look at all red-white cards - at least not as far as I could figure out. This is a very simple task with the new version. Another cool thing about the new Gatherer is the 'Random Card' function. It kept me busy for a while anyway, check it out!
Onto some evaluations. Note that every card in this first section triggers both abilities of Balefire Liege: Lava Spike plus Healing Salve or just simply Lightning Helix that can only targets players.
Lightning Helix
Where else to start? With Balefire Liege in play we're talking about a twelve life swing, even better than the strong six life swing that it normally provides.
Firemane Angel
Already discussed above. Fantastic finisher. Ends the game quickly, tough to kill, comes back from the dead.
Spitemare
This is a solid anti-aggro option. It's very tough to attack into, and becomes much worse under Balefire Liege.
Ajani Vengeant
Solid control-oriented Planeswalker. Taps down a threat or stunts mana development, adds ANOTHER Lightning Helix effect, and has an ultimate ability that provides another route to victory. A fun card that I haven't had a chance to play with yet.
Searing Meditation
Combos well with a lot of the cards in this deck. Attaches a two-mana Shock to every life-gain effect in the deck: Lightning Helix, Ajani, Balefire Liege, Firemane lifegain, etc.
Battlegate Mimic
Might work well in an aggro deck, but doesn't fit as well into a control strategy.
Rise of the Hobgoblins
Solid manasink in the late game. Seems like a weird version of Decree of Justice. No cycling option and doesn't produce evasive threats, but is a bit cheaper and makes red and white creatures that get +2/+2 underBalefire Liege.
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Scourge of the Nobilis
Based on the powerful finishers discussed above, Scrourge of the Nobolis doesn't seem like something that we need.
Nobilis of War
If we're attacking with creatures, then we should have solid control over the game. At this point, the +2/+0 shouldn't really be necessary.
Figure of Destiny
This seems like a red-white deck that actually doesn't want to run Figure of Destiny! Maybe I'm wrong, but either way I don't have any - so he's getting left off of this list.
Duergar Hedge-Mage
Allows us to take out artifacts and enchantments while still being able to chump block.
Brion Stoutarm
I've always been surprised that this guy didn't make more of a splash in Standard. A 4/4 with lifelink and a solid ability for just four mana seems very strong to me. Unfortunately for Brion he was the memeber of an underpowered tribe.
Powerstone Minefield
No longer in Standard, but provides some decent protection against aggressive decks. Doesn't come down until turn four. Something like Ghostly Prison might just be better for our purpose.
That about does it for the red-white options. I'm particularly excited about running Ajani Vengeant and Searing Meditation in addition to the Liege and Angel. I'm going to check out some other cards that can be used to take advantage of the red/white board control andlifegain strategy that's been discussed thus far.
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Wrath of God
What more needs to be said about the ultimate creature-cleanser? Most control decks with a solid white component want at least a few copies of this powerful spell.
Pyroclasm / Firespout
More options to take out creatures in the early game. Firespout takes out the Firemane Angel, which is kind of a bummer - but probably not such a big deal.
Sun Droplet
Comes down early and helps prevent damage throughout the rest of the game. Triggers Searing Meditation early and often.
Demonfire
Strong finisher if the Firemane Angel plan doesn't work out. Generally a useful card. We'll be running a bunch of lands/mana to support the ten mana Firemane resurrection, so we will probably have plenty to pump into a big Demonfire.
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Austere Command
Versatile board sweeper, can deal with troublesome artifacts and enchantments.
Oblivion Ring
Versatile board control, everyone knows how useful this one is.
Faith's Fetters
Probably not as good as Oblivion Ring these days. The life gain could be used with Searing Meditation, but that doesn't seem like enough of a reason to run it.
Boros Signet
This deck wants a ton of mana, and Boros Signet one of the better ways to get there.
Mind Stone
Depending on how often we run into colored mana issues, this may be a better option than Boros Signet
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I think I've talked about enough cards to put together an initial list and hit up a few test games. Here's what I'm going to start off with:
The basic idea here is pretty much as discussed above. Use cards like Wrath of God, Oblivion Ring, and Pyroclasm to control the game. Land a Searing Meditaiton and use the various lifegain options to send shocks at your opponent. Play out Balefire Liege and exploit his ability to create Lava Spikes and Healing Salves. Play out Firemane Angel and finish off the game. Let's see how this plan works out.
Game 1 vs Mono Green Beacon of Creation
I keep a questionable two land hand with Boros Garrison and end up having to discard on my second turn. I throw away Firemane Angel, which isn't all bad - but obviously far from ideal. My opponent plays out Kodama's Reach, cycles Krosan Tusker, and then plays Journey of Discovery to put about ten Forests into play. Thankfully I'm not really under pressure and I can play downAjani and start building up to the ultimate ability. I'm holding double Wrath of God, double Lightning Helix, and Oblivion Ring - so I'm feeling well equipped to deal with whatever my opponent plays out.
He ends up casting Beacon of Creation, which is normally a real beating when X is such a big number, but Ajani hides safely behind Wrath of God. I safely fire off Ajani's ultimate ability and my opponent concedes. Even at the end I only had three lands and the Boros Signet, where are all of my lands?
Analysis: Well that's one game in the books and I didn't see a single Balefire Liege, and the one Firemane Angel that I did see went to the bin in about five seconds. That's sort of a bummer, but it was cool to see Ajani take over the game so completely. It takes a few turns to fire off his Armageddon ability, but it's completely backbreaking if you manage to do so. |
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Game 2 vs Realm Razer
My opponent comes out with Treetop Village, a few random painlands, and Reflecting Pool into (Wooly Thoctar). I use Oblivion Ring on the Thoctar, but am light on mana again. I use Lightning Helix to take out an animated Treetop Village and then topdeck a few lands and tap out for Balefire Liege. My opponent takes down the Liege with Flame Javelin and then casts Realm Razer.
I have a Boros Signet in play as well as double Pyroclasm and Lightning Helix in my hand, but I take many hits from the Realm Razer without drawing a single land. Actually, I draw a Boros Garrison but don't have a land to bounce. I discard two copies of Firemane Angel during this, but the life gain doesn't save me for long.
Analysis: It was almost defintely a mistake to tap out for Balefire Liege, but I think I was restless and making mistakes due to my mana issues in these first two games. I'm not sure why I've been so light on lands (I'm running twenty-four with an additional four Boros Signets), but maybe I need to run another one or two mana sources. Or maybe it's just a small sample size. Of course it's a small sample size (two), I need to play more games.
Game 3 vs Green Mana Screw
I play out Sun Droplet, Boros Garrison, and then Searing Meditation and my opponent concedes. He only has a single Forest in play.
Analysis: There's manascrew everywhere tonight. I'm going to cut one Pyroclasm for another land.
Out: 1x Pyroclasm
In: 1x Battlefield Forge
This deck really wants to get ten mana in the long game and I need to make sure that I get there. Twenty-five lands sounds better than twenty-four (even with the Signets); time to test it out a bit more.
Game 4 vs Esper Artifacts
My opponent plays down double Ornithopter and then fires off Esper Panorama. I cast out Boros Signet and then try to play Sun Droplet, but my opponent uses Negate to keep it off the table. He plays out double Etherium Sculpter and I play another Boros Signet into Firemane Angel.
Citanul Flute comes into play and my opponent tutors up a few Ornithopters and then plays out double Master of Etherium. I use Oblivion Ring to take out one of them, and then Demonfire the other one. I cast Sun Droplet and then my opponent casts a third Master of Etherium, but I have enough mana (again) to Demonfire it away. My opponent concedes.
Analysis: Using Demonfire and Oblivion Ring to remove Masters of Etherium from the game turned off the main target for my opponent's Sanctum Gargoyles. After I removed the third one from the game my opponent just concedes, even though he wasn't completely behind on the board. I did haveFiremane Angel online, which is difficult to deal with, but he had a decent army, Citanul Flute, and three more cards in hand than me.
Game 5 vs UG Rites of Flourishing
I am a little light on mana, but play down Sun Droplet and then Boros Garrison. My opponent plays Rites of Flourishing, which conveniently draws and accelerates me into five mana and Balefire Liege. He plays out Carven Caryatid and I come back with Oblivion Ring on Rites of Flourishing and then Sun Droplet and a second Balefire Liege. I cast both Pyroclasms in my hand for six damage each, and then Demonfire plus six for the win.
Analysis: It's always convenient when your opponent accelerates you into your win conditions! One Balefire Liege is pretty awesome, but two is just downright nasty.
Game 6 vs UGW Cloudpost
My opponent plays out Cloudpost, (Selesnya Santuary), and Simic Growth Chamber. I play Sun Droplet and then Ajani Vengeant, tapping down one of the Ravnica lands. My opponent says, "Hurray for LD" and concedes. |
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Analysis: Are you kidding me? A planeswalker ultimate ability that takes four turns to fire off is unacceptable? Seems crazy to me.
Game 7 vs Five Color Hondens
I get out Boros Signet and Sun Droplet, eventually accelerating myself into Balefire Liege. While this is going on my opponent does some acceleration of his own: Terramorphic Expanse into Mountain, Rampant Growth, Kodama's Reach, and then Disintegrate to take out my newly played Liege.
My opponent casts Compulsive Research and then I make my land drop and cast Firemane Angel. Things are looking good, but Violent Ultimatum changes that in a hurry. Two of my lands and the Firemane Angel hit the bin. My opponent untaps and then casts both Honden of Seeing Winds and (Honden of Infinite Range). I have Oblivion Ring, which takes out the blue Honden - the red one is offset by my Sun Droplet.
I drop a second Sun Droplet, and now my opponent's Honden is actually gaining me life. He starts targeting himself to avoid this, and then casts Blightning and drops Honden of Night's Reach. I discard Pyroclasm and Wrath of God, but connect with Lightning Helix. We topdeck for a while and not much happens other than a bunch of upkeep triggered events firing off, but then I draw Searing Meditation and win quickly.
Analysis: This is the first game where I've had the chance to play Searing Meditation - what a beating that card can be with double Sun Droplet and a bunch of land! I might want to add another copy just to make sure that I draw it more often. Also, apparently in this game I was "just a lucky ^$#@" according to my opponent - in case you were wondering. This is coming from a guy who just targeted himself with his own red Honden =)
Game 8 vs UBr Sedris
My opponent plays Dimir Signet, Rakdos Signet, and double Plague Beetle. I use Pyroclasm to clear things away and play out Searing Meditation; my opponent comes back with (Sedris the Traitor King). I use Wrath of God to take out Sedirs, and my opponent plays Vampire Bats and Mortivore. I case Balefire Liege and then Ajani Vengeant to tap down the Mortivore. |
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Another copy of Sedris the Traitor King hits the table, but I have Oblivoin Ring this time. I use the lifegain from Oblivion Ring to take out the Vampire Bats with Searing Meditation to keep Ajani safe. I cast a second Balefire Liege and then Lightning Helix for nine damage and the win.
Analysis: Once again Searing Mediation was useful and double Balefire Liege seals up the game. I'm not sure if double Balefire is a win-more move (it probably is), but it sure is fun! Playing out two copies of Balefire Liege is risky depending on your opponent's deck, but the second copy is at least guaranteed to trigger one Lightning Helix as he comes into play so it's never a total loss.
I'm also becoming a huge fan of Ajani Vengeant. When the spoiler hit I was a little underwhelmed, and I was definitely wrong. His +1 ability doesn't tap the target, it just keeps it tapped. This didn't seem so hot to me on paper, but in practice it's devastating. It can create a huge tempo advantage if used correctly, and many decks have a hard time breaking out of even this type of soft lock. Of course, lots of other people have already figured out that the angryAjani is very good, so I'm not really telling you anything that you don't already know.
Game 9 vs UB Rogues
My opponent comes out of the gate with Nightshade Stinger, (Cload and Dagger), and then Mothdust Changeling. I clear all of that away with Pyroclasm, but then Marsh Flitter comes into play. I cast Sun Droplet and then take some damage in the red zone. My opponent drops Ghostly Changeling, but I draw the fourth land that I need and take out everything with Wrath of God.
Frogtosser Banneret comes down, but I have Lightning Helix in response to the Cloak and Dagger trigger. My opponent has another Frogtosser Banneret, but I have another lightning Helix. I play out Searing Meditation and then Balefire Liege, using Oblivion Ring to get rid of Cloak and Dagger. Compulsive Research draws my opponent into a decent turn of Oona's Blackguard, Prickly Boggart, and then Pestermite - but I use Lightning Helix and Searing Meditation to pick his guys off. I cast Firemane Angel and my opponent gives this one up.
Analysis: If you're able to cast Sun Droplet and then Wrath of God against an aggressive deck, then it's pretty difficult to lose. Once that lifegain gets going, you move farther and farther away from their comfort zone. Of course it helps when Searing Meditation can take out every creature in their deck.
Budget BaleFireMane
This deck is going to need a significant overhaul to resemble a budget deck in any way. The Balefire Lieges alone are about 2.5 tickets each, so 10 tickets in the deck are going straight to this guy. I'm going to have to cut back quite a bit from the deck, but I'll do my best to recreateBaleFireMane Control for the budget player.
First I'm going to go through and take out the cards that I know need to go. The main offenders are the manabase, Ajani Vengeant, and Wrath of God.
Out: 4x Sacred Foundry, 4x Rugged Prairie, 1x Battlefield Forge, 2x Ajani Vengeant, 4x Wrath of God
In addition, Demonfire hasn't been too great for me. I've had it in my hand a bunch of times and never really wanted to cast it too badly. I'm going to take out one copy and try something else in that slot. I want to keep one in for the really long game, but that's about it.
Out: 1x Demonfire
The first thing that I want to do is add another copy of Searing Meditation and fill out the playset of Sun Droplets. I love that interaction and want to make it an even more prominant component of this deck.
In: 1x Searing Meditation, 1x Sun Droplet
The main loss here is definitely Wrath of God, which is a difficult card to replace. That's why it costs fifteen tickets even though it's been printed in a ton of different sets. There are a few options for this deck if you want a replacement:
Hallowed Burial
Costs about 2.5 tickets, but one more mana to cast. In some matchups it's more powerful than Wrath of God, but sometimes you'd rather send those creatures to the graveyard.
Austere Command
Discussed above. Wrath for two more mana, can also get out of tough situations involving artifacts and enchantments. Under one ticket each.
(Final Judgement)
Probably just worse than Austere Command 99% of the time.
Ghostly Prison
If you're worried about stopping an aggro rush, then you should always consider Ghostly Prison. It doesn't do anything against huge monsters or utility creatures, but it can really stunt the development of an aggressive player.
Sunscour
Well under half a ticket each. Creatures destroyed this way can still be regenerated, although just about every card in this deck is at least partially white - so the odds of pitching it seem decent at least.
Solar Tide
Is this strictly inferior to Austere Command?
My favorite card in this list is definitely Austere Command. I love cards that give me a lot of options, so that's the one I'm going to pick as my Wrath of God replacement. It costs sixmana, so I'm going to add two copies and then go up to the full playset of Pyroclasm to handle the early game rush.
In: 2x Austere Command, 1x Pyroclasm
This leaves us with two slots in the deck to work with, as well as fixing up the manabase. I'm going to use the last two slots for Spitemare. This guy does even more to stop early aggro, is strong late under Balefire Liege, and has synergy with Pyroclasm.
In: 2x Spitemare
And then I'll take a shot at fixing up the manabase.
In: 1x Boros Garrison, 2x Mountain, 6x Plains
That's a full sixty cards. Here's the list:
... and here's how the cost breaks down:
Boros Garrison = $0.12
Boros Signet = $0.12
Balefire Liege = $10.00
Firemane Angel = $1.80
Spitemare = $0.50
Austere Command = $1.60
Pyroclasm = $0.80
Lightning Helix = $1.60
Sun Droplet = $0.96
Oblivion Ring = $0.24
Searing Meditation = $0.75
Demonfire = $1.00
... for a total of $19.49. That's not too bad! I'm going to play a few games with this list, and see how it goes.
Game 10 vs GRW
My opponent plays out Vivid Crag and Treetop Village. I play out Boros Signet and then use Lightning Helix to take down the Treetop Village. I cast Balefire Liege, but my opponent uses Incinerate plus Lightning Helix to take him out. I come back with Firemane Angel and my opponent uses Threaten to bash me with it two turns in a row. During this time I play out another Balefire Liege, and then cast Searing Meditation. My opponent plays Tarmogoyf, but I use Oblivion Ring to remove it and come through with a bunch of damage.
Analysis: Good showing for the first game with the budget version of BaleFireMane Control. Pretty much all of the main components of the decks were showcased in this one, against some fairly powerful cards. My opponent in this one was very cool. After the game he said, "Nice deck. I had 12 wins in a row before this, and 32 out of the last 37 games!"
Woukdn't that make you feel better than going off on your opponent about how he got F&!@#$# lucky Mr. I-Hit-Myself-With-My-Own-Red-Honden?
Game 11 vs Power Conduit and Charge Counters
I start off with a mulligan, Boros Garrison, and then Searing Meditation. My opponent plays City of Brass, Rakdos Signet, Sun Droplet, and then Chimeric Egg. I play a Sun Droplet of my own and then Balefire Liege. Another Chimeric Egg comes down for my opponent along with Power Conduit. He starts moving counters around, and I Oblivion Ring away one of his Chimeric Eggs. A second and third Power Conduit come into play, which means that he gets one Chimeric Egg per turn thanks to his Sun Droplet.
I cast Spitemare, and he comes back with Loxodon Warhammer. I trade my Spitemare for his final Egg, and then cast Firemane Angel. Festercreep comes into play and grabs the Warhammer, but I take it out with Searing Meditiation. I beat down with Firemane Angel and Searing Meditation for the win.
Analysis: Another fine example of what this deck can do. Having Searing Meditation, Firemane Angel, Sun Droplet, and Balefire Liege all in play at the same time is a powerful position to be in! This deck has a really solid long game, assuming that you're able to stabilize past the first few turns and assemble some of these synergistic pieces. |
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Those are two pretty solid showings for the budget version of this deck. Might as well quit while I'm ahead, am I right? I'm definitely satisfied with how this deck ended up playing out. I knew thatFiremane Angel was a blast to play, but Balefire Liege turned out to be just as much fun. I love all of the synergies that emerge between all of this deck's components.
Thanks for reading!
Steve Gargolinski
spgmtgo@gmail.com
16 Comments
Just a minor correction. In the (I'm guessing) very few games you will have Liege in play, Angel in graveyard, and 10 mana to pay to return it, it returns directly into play without being played at all, so you won't in fact trigger the "free helix".
Firemane Angel returns directly to play and will not trigger Balefire Liege, that is my mistake.
I look forward to your articles, Steve. They are always well written and full of interest. You seem to have a good eye for picking up interesting card combinations. Keep them coming as I always learn something new.
I really liked the deck. You found the right way to go with that liege. I think it isn't as popular because people want to be aggro with it, and due to the casting cost that doesn't work. R/W control bugs a decent amount of players in the casual room, as a lot of them are playing creature oriented decks that get mauled by decks like yours. I'm actually surprised you didn't get more concessions when you dropped Ajani as people tend to freak out whenever they get a whiff of possible land destruction.
BTW, I repriced the budget deck (MTGO Traders of course). Current price is $24.74. Still not bad, but it illustrates the increases in card values since you wrote this article.
Wow, thanks for doing that - I did the original price breakdown about two week ago. A 25% price increase in only two weeks!
Good Times for collectors
Nice play!
The price increase is almost all because balefire has jumped 1 tix each over the past week due to RW standard starting to have it pop up in them.
First off, very interesting deck. Looks like one of the most fun decks I've seen in a while.
Anyway, you say that Firespout would take out the Firemane Angel (in your possible card analysis section), but I don't think this is true. It plays an earthquake effect when red is used to cast it (which is what you'd be doing), and only plays the hurricane effect when green is used to cast it (which I don't see how you would be doing that), so the Angel wouldn't be targeted by the 3 damage.
Yep you're absolutely right. My mistake!
I like how you build decks. It may be just a bunch of fun RW cards, but it has a lot of synergy. Sun Droplet + Searing Meditation is a combo. SM + Firemane Angel. But then also Balefire Liege + any of those, especially SM too. That's slick.
There's a Conflux card whose name is like "balefire" but not quite. There's another fun red card that could work. Although it might have to take Demonfire's spot.
The guy who ran away from Ajani is just an idiot. Ajani's not a Sinkhole, he's not a Wasteland, and he's easily stoppable by attacking your opponent. ugh
Is it just me or is the casual room the worst place to play Magic on mtgo? I've gotten bitched out for playing aggro, for playing control, for playing storm, all of which were "not casual" or "boring". :P
Excellent article, though. I've always been a fan of the anglefire type of multicolor control decks. Lovely to see them revived.
Yeah it is a little disappointing. My stance is this: if you don't like the deck that you're up against, then just get over it. Either tough it out and learn something about your deck and your opponent's, or just concede and get on with your life. Complaining that you know the correct definition of "casual", "exciting", or "boring" doesn't seem like the way to go.
I never find any duel boring. Even if my deck is totally out-classed, there is always things to be learned...new card combinations, synergies, general play strategies... to be bored. You never know what is going to trigger the next idea.
Thanks for the article, I played an standard version with titans revenge and is really efective to see it bounce back a few times with the balefire liege in play. Also added Squee, goblin nabob and a knollpine invocation.