Okay, here's my opinion. Take into consideration that I've never played the matchup or even seen it. (That says a lot! )
1. I think it could go either way. Burn may have a slightly better matchup because of instant speed removal. Affinity doesn't really have anything in their SB for Burn other than maybe Spell Pierce. Burn plays the "Control" deck in this matchup, but can switch over quickly. Burn also occasionally can play Ancient Grudge in their SB, although I know Blue, Black, and even White are all the rage (I splashed Blue and Green for Cruise and Grudge).
2. I think Affinity is better in the meta just because the draws and plays are so explosive. Sometimes the hate that someone has just doesn't line up and they crush you. I play a deck with 4 maindeck Anger of the Gods and had one in my game 1 vs. Affinity. Guess what? I lost to Etched Champion + Cranial Plating. Then I failed to draw quick enough or enough hate in the 2nd game. There's only so many spots in someone's SB that they can dedicate to Affinity, although the few cards do hurt Affinity pretty badly (Stony Silence, Ancient Grudge, Shatterstorm, occasional Creeping Corrosion, red sweepers). Burn has been hated out somewhat recently by stuff like Kor Firewalker and Dragon's Claw. Not to mention, what I believe to be an increase in the play of Leyline of Sanctity. I do believe firmly that Burn with Cruise crushes UR Delver, so there is that.
3. It's really tough to say which is less susceptible to hate. Most people would say that Affinity is easy to hate because the cards that hate are HIGH impact. It goes that way for Burn too, but not to that level. While there's nothing that Affinity can do about Shatterstorm other than Thoughtseize it early, Burn can easily do Destructive Revelry on Leyline of Sanctity.
My opinion is that Affinity is tougher to hate out (while still preparing for other matchups). The reason I say this is that there are some decks that push Burn out of the metagame and Siege Rhino hasn't helped either. I have played a lot of RUG decks, all with Ancient Grudge in the SB, and have never done better than 50% against Affinity. Sometimes the hate you have or draw too late doesn't line up and they squash you. I feel like Affinity has the best top decks on turns 2-4. What I mean is that there are a lot of threats that they can get and sometimes there isn't much you can do since they can "1 turn lethal" you, either with Poison or damage. That being said, I personally wouldn't play Affinity because I don't really like quick Aggro too much, it's a tough deck to play, and I am too scared of the hate. While I don't really like Burn either for some of the same reasons, I did in fact play it a few weeks simply because of Treasure Cruise until I ran into a few Soul Sister decks. Then I quit.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I think Affinity is favoured game one usually as it can be a bit faster than burn, with a healthy bias towards who is on the play.
After sideboard is similar. I don't think affinity's SB offers much help, but burn isn't really gaining much but additional Searing Blazeeffects.
Meta outlook:
Affinity's hate is pretty unique to it, with a few overlapping one-ofs such as stony silence hitting it. Affinity's power is mostly a function inversely related to it's expected presence. The more people fearing it's presence, the more direct hate you will see.
Burn's spot in the meta is a bit different. The burn strategy is often a sub-strategy of other decks and therefore is more likely to catch overlapping hate - especially from sideboards with Delver in mind as well. I think burn has a weaker post-board game than affinity in most metas.
In some ways they allow each other to co-exist more comfortably. Since their strategies are so different, they demand different sideboard hate. This results in sideboards with few slots to point directly at these decks - especially benefiting one deck when the other is widely expected to make a strong showing.
Resilience to hate:
Both decks tend to have generally poor sideboard games. They have some answers to hate, but generally don't want to slow down to play them. That being said, they are both fast enough to get in under hate, so the speed is a form of resilience. Modern doesn't have great card drawing, so hate might not have the density to be a consistent answer.
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Modern Decks
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
Burn was kinda "eh" before eidolon, eidolon took it from a tier 2 budget deck to a serious competitor, and then Swiftspear + Treasure Cruise pushed it into tier-1 power levels.
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Yes, I am a local area mod. WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
Primary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
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1. Which is better in a head-to-head matchup and why?
2. Which is better in the meta and why?
3. Which is less susceptible to hate and why?
1. I think it could go either way. Burn may have a slightly better matchup because of instant speed removal. Affinity doesn't really have anything in their SB for Burn other than maybe Spell Pierce. Burn plays the "Control" deck in this matchup, but can switch over quickly. Burn also occasionally can play Ancient Grudge in their SB, although I know Blue, Black, and even White are all the rage (I splashed Blue and Green for Cruise and Grudge).
2. I think Affinity is better in the meta just because the draws and plays are so explosive. Sometimes the hate that someone has just doesn't line up and they crush you. I play a deck with 4 maindeck Anger of the Gods and had one in my game 1 vs. Affinity. Guess what? I lost to Etched Champion + Cranial Plating. Then I failed to draw quick enough or enough hate in the 2nd game. There's only so many spots in someone's SB that they can dedicate to Affinity, although the few cards do hurt Affinity pretty badly (Stony Silence, Ancient Grudge, Shatterstorm, occasional Creeping Corrosion, red sweepers). Burn has been hated out somewhat recently by stuff like Kor Firewalker and Dragon's Claw. Not to mention, what I believe to be an increase in the play of Leyline of Sanctity. I do believe firmly that Burn with Cruise crushes UR Delver, so there is that.
3. It's really tough to say which is less susceptible to hate. Most people would say that Affinity is easy to hate because the cards that hate are HIGH impact. It goes that way for Burn too, but not to that level. While there's nothing that Affinity can do about Shatterstorm other than Thoughtseize it early, Burn can easily do Destructive Revelry on Leyline of Sanctity.
My opinion is that Affinity is tougher to hate out (while still preparing for other matchups). The reason I say this is that there are some decks that push Burn out of the metagame and Siege Rhino hasn't helped either. I have played a lot of RUG decks, all with Ancient Grudge in the SB, and have never done better than 50% against Affinity. Sometimes the hate you have or draw too late doesn't line up and they squash you. I feel like Affinity has the best top decks on turns 2-4. What I mean is that there are a lot of threats that they can get and sometimes there isn't much you can do since they can "1 turn lethal" you, either with Poison or damage. That being said, I personally wouldn't play Affinity because I don't really like quick Aggro too much, it's a tough deck to play, and I am too scared of the hate. While I don't really like Burn either for some of the same reasons, I did in fact play it a few weeks simply because of Treasure Cruise until I ran into a few Soul Sister decks. Then I quit.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)I think Affinity is favoured game one usually as it can be a bit faster than burn, with a healthy bias towards who is on the play.
After sideboard is similar. I don't think affinity's SB offers much help, but burn isn't really gaining much but additional Searing Blazeeffects.
Meta outlook:
Affinity's hate is pretty unique to it, with a few overlapping one-ofs such as stony silence hitting it. Affinity's power is mostly a function inversely related to it's expected presence. The more people fearing it's presence, the more direct hate you will see.
Burn's spot in the meta is a bit different. The burn strategy is often a sub-strategy of other decks and therefore is more likely to catch overlapping hate - especially from sideboards with Delver in mind as well. I think burn has a weaker post-board game than affinity in most metas.
In some ways they allow each other to co-exist more comfortably. Since their strategies are so different, they demand different sideboard hate. This results in sideboards with few slots to point directly at these decks - especially benefiting one deck when the other is widely expected to make a strong showing.
Resilience to hate:
Both decks tend to have generally poor sideboard games. They have some answers to hate, but generally don't want to slow down to play them. That being said, they are both fast enough to get in under hate, so the speed is a form of resilience. Modern doesn't have great card drawing, so hate might not have the density to be a consistent answer.
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
Yes, I am a local area mod.WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVEPrimary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm