and that gets you to 47-48 cards that are generally only going to get replaced when something ridiculously powerful pushes them out (though I acknowledge that some people cut Eidolons).
I like the first skewer a lot more than the 4th Boros Charm.
I love the idea of cutting white entirely
I think we really can, run a smoother and less painful BR with a lower curve sounds great. I've been testing with both spectacle cards and shard volley, and holy ***** it feels really good and fast and consistent.
By the time you are in topdeck mode the 3cmc cost shouldn't be a problem. Nor is anything else you're mentioning really, sure it's stuff to deal with when casting the card, but in terms of turning on prowess and all the rest you can cast it quicker and more reliably than Rift Bolt even, and none of what you just said would ever be reason to not run Rift Bolt.
You can also turn on spectacle with other burns, not just attacks, and lists that run 20-24 lightning bolts should have no problem using 20 of them to turn on the remaining 4. Fetchlands turn spectacle on as well.
Skewer the Critics will likely see play in Burn. There's a bit of a dilemma: you want to lower your curve so you can cast cheap burn spell + Skewer in one turn more easily, but the cheap burn spells do less damage, so you might not have enough points of burn to kill them even though the damage/mana ratio on your cards is high. To illustrate this, if you need 20 damage to kill your opponent, 4 Bolts and 2 Boros Charms will do it, but 6 Bolts will not, even though Bolt's damage/mana ratio is 3 while Boros Charm's is 2. I'm sure they'll figure out how to make it work though.
Skewer the Critics
Lowering the curve overall means you need less lands, so I think the final list will run the full 20 lightning bolts (Bolt, Bump, Spike, Skewer, Rift) alongside the creature suite (Guide, Swift, Eidolon) and have 4-5 flex spots and 19-20 lands. Shard Volley is a much much more attractive option in such a list, and Shard Volley makes Light Up The Stage even more attractive as Burn's version of thoughtcast, as even lands grabbed with it can be turned into damage.
Regardless, it is 100000% certain that Skewer will see play in Modern burn, and it will be a 4-of. This is by far the best card spoiled so far imo.
Oh well yeah that list isn't even burn, definitely not top tier material, I was talking about the lists we might actually run that will cut some 2 cmc cards for more 1cmc burns
I'm hesitant about Light Up the Stage for the same reason I was on Risk Factor. The deck really doesn't need card draw. It just needs a little bit more speed, and I think Skewer does just that. Even if Cindervines turns out to be less amazing than I suspect (bear in mind I hate KCI, and this card is beautiful for telling KCI to **** off), burn hasn't had a clear spell upgrade in about four or five years, since Swifty.
I think the biggest difference is the consistency and the cost. There is almost zero chance you can't cast it for spectacle cost. 1 mana to draw 2 is right in our wheelhouse for CMC, and I disagree about not needing card draw. We very frequently end up in top deck mode, hell that's one of the premises of the deck; We get our opponent at or near bolt range and then topdeck the win. Wouldn't it be better if instead we didn't have to hope for a solid topdeck and had draw 2?
It feels insanely strong, 20 1-mana bolts makes the deck Lightning fast, Light up the stage adds a lot to the consistency and is worth 1 skullcrack and 1 searing blaze imo
I can imagine Jund or Mardu burn taking off with skewer, which I agree with the seasoned red mages here is an auto-4-of. Don't forget, at it's core all burn really wants to do is spend R on 3 damage. This spell can and should replace some number of 2 cmc cards. I think the 20-bolts list featuring skewer and bump in the night might do really well.
What's the general consensus on Light Up The Stage? In my testing in standard burn over 90% of the time it basically reads R: Draw 2 cards. I'm sure that number would be nearly 100% in modern. Could this be our thoughtcast? Do we need a thoughtcast?
So, I've been thinking about Sphinx of Foresight, and where to best fit it. I feel like it might actually push Heartless Summoning from a fringe deck to an actual contender. It helps find the enchantment for you to ensure your combo goes off, and then it can come down as a 3/3 flyer with more free scry triggers for two mana if you have nothing better to do.
What combos does Heartless Summoning enable? Hoping they're as degenerate as possible (so they punish opponents as quickly and harshly as possible for leaving Heartless Summoning alone).
Wait, doesn't Havengul Lich need to pay 1 every time Perilous Myr dies and newly goes to the graveyard?
Not if it's all done in the same turn i think. But the real havengul lich loop is done with myr moonvessel
Of the cards spoiled so far, my picks for potential modern splashes are Sphinx of Foresight and Electrodominance, and i think Sphinx has by far the most potential. Historically, free effects have always been very good. Whether it's a free recursive effect, free cast, cast reduction, or just plain ole free, free stuff is usually very breakable.
Would more blood artist effects help? Judith, Scourge Diva for 1RB might be worth the red splash, she gives another copy of the blood artist effect and also buffs your whole team with +1/+0
Dovin at the 3 cmc slot might be good enough to see play. I don't think there are any decks it perfectly slots into at the moment, but I do think that there is a great Bant tokens deck out there that could play him alongside the 3 cmc token generator Nissa for a bant token superfriends type thing.
Or maybe something else entirely, but history tells us to never overlook 3 cmc pws, because they almost all find a home somewhere.
I could definitely see Sphinx of Foresight seeing serious play. Serum Powder already sees play in certain eldrazi decks, and I imagine a deck that benefits from one might benefit from both. Or sphinx could just be straight up better (it certainly is in a vacuum)
All the talk comparing spellbreaker to mantis rider is new card glasses skewing your analysis.
Mantis Rider is NOT played because a 3/3 flying haste is good enough value for 3 mana in modern. It really isn't. It's played because it's a HUMAN and works well with all the lords and whatnot in the humans deck. If it were not a human, Mantis Rider would see zero play.
Spellbreaker is worse in terms of evasion, worse in terms of type, slightly better in terms of casting cost, slightly better in terms of other effects. But crucially, it lacks any sort of support to make it better than it is in a vacuum. Building a deck to hit this with coco in a world where smiter and knight of the reliquary and others exist is just silly, and its only being talked about because its a new card with a bunch of different abilities stapled to it.
That said, it will probably see standard play if Steel Leaf Champion is somehow not good enough as a turn 3 play in aggro beatdown.
Strictly better commune stapled to a strictly worse beast within is very interesting. Both are powerful effects on their own, and the flexibility means you can't overlook it. If RUG is ever a thing, and it relies on creatures, expect this card to be in the deck.
Lavinia does in fact stop Mox Opal, only with her second ability, not the first. Same goes for Mishra's Bauble, both should help humans in the KCI and Shadow match-ups. She's great against infect, since she disables Become Immense and Mutagenic Growth. She hoses all pacts, most significantly Summoner's Pact in Titan decks. Amulet Titan can't ramp into any noncreature spell, such as Hive Mind. Ornithopter and Memnite are dead to her as well, but they often come down before she does anyway.
The most significant thing i can think of is how she'll slow down Chord of Calling and Collected Company but not AEther Vial. Terminus Miracle is also potentially haulted, until they get 6 lands of course. She laughs at Rift Bolt as well as combos enabled by Simian Spirit Guide and Desperate Ritual.
All in all I'd say she is sideboard material at best. Very good against certain decks, near useless against others.
in legacy she also stops FoW, and in modern she bricks cascade effects and as foretold and living end and ancestral vision. She also shuts down flashback conflagrate from dredge, shuts off all noncreature delve spells, shuts off hollow one, the list probably goes on.
This was part of your incredulous response to my saying creeping chill will be a 4-of in dredge back in the last spoiler thread. You said chill wouldn't see play and were very condescending about it. You were very wrong.
OK, noted. Well done.
Amulet doesn't have tricks to bluff when passing the turn with UG up. The mana cost is definitely restrictive, hands with Forest + colorless source or land + Amulet + Gruul Turf/Selesnya Sanctuary can cast T2 Explore but not T2 Growth Spiral.
Fair enough, good points. I'm just constantly searching for the card that might replace bloom and make that deck good again, but you're right that this ain't it.
Here's hoping WoTC doesn't go full limp-d*ck mode with spectacle like they did the last few mechanics that actually had potential to be good but didn't have any good cards printed for them (seriously, not even a Shock with jump-start) I'd love to see a spectacle Lightning Bolt, but I doubt they have the stones to print it.
No way. Standard with 3 Bolts + Shock? I cannot image they would. I hope just for something that is a busted kind of draw.
I suppose standard burn would be a bit too strong with that, but maybe a nice spectacle cantrip or something to give blue tempo decks a boost. I don't know if that would be enough to bring back Delver decks, but I miss delver decks.
Here's hoping WoTC doesn't go full limp-d*ck mode with spectacle like they did the last few mechanics that actually had potential to be good but didn't have any good cards printed for them (seriously, not even a Shock with jump-start) I'd love to see a spectacle Lightning Bolt, but I doubt they have the stones to print it.
I think we really can, run a smoother and less painful BR with a lower curve sounds great. I've been testing with both spectacle cards and shard volley, and holy ***** it feels really good and fast and consistent.
You can also turn on spectacle with other burns, not just attacks, and lists that run 20-24 lightning bolts should have no problem using 20 of them to turn on the remaining 4. Fetchlands turn spectacle on as well.
Skewer the Critics
Lowering the curve overall means you need less lands, so I think the final list will run the full 20 lightning bolts (Bolt, Bump, Spike, Skewer, Rift) alongside the creature suite (Guide, Swift, Eidolon) and have 4-5 flex spots and 19-20 lands. Shard Volley is a much much more attractive option in such a list, and Shard Volley makes Light Up The Stage even more attractive as Burn's version of thoughtcast, as even lands grabbed with it can be turned into damage.
Regardless, it is 100000% certain that Skewer will see play in Modern burn, and it will be a 4-of. This is by far the best card spoiled so far imo.
I think the biggest difference is the consistency and the cost. There is almost zero chance you can't cast it for spectacle cost. 1 mana to draw 2 is right in our wheelhouse for CMC, and I disagree about not needing card draw. We very frequently end up in top deck mode, hell that's one of the premises of the deck; We get our opponent at or near bolt range and then topdeck the win. Wouldn't it be better if instead we didn't have to hope for a solid topdeck and had draw 2?
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
4 Bump in the Night
4 Skewer the Critics
3 Searing Blaze
3 Skullcrack
2 Light Up the Stage
2 Mountain
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
It feels insanely strong, 20 1-mana bolts makes the deck Lightning fast, Light up the stage adds a lot to the consistency and is worth 1 skullcrack and 1 searing blaze imo
What's the general consensus on Light Up The Stage? In my testing in standard burn over 90% of the time it basically reads R: Draw 2 cards. I'm sure that number would be nearly 100% in modern. Could this be our thoughtcast? Do we need a thoughtcast?
Not if it's all done in the same turn i think. But the real havengul lich loop is done with myr moonvessel
Of the cards spoiled so far, my picks for potential modern splashes are Sphinx of Foresight and Electrodominance, and i think Sphinx has by far the most potential. Historically, free effects have always been very good. Whether it's a free recursive effect, free cast, cast reduction, or just plain ole free, free stuff is usually very breakable.
Sphinx has insane deckbuilding ramifications, starcitygames already did a big write up on it here: http://www.starcitygames.com/articles/38148_Sphinx-Of-Foresight-Is-Busted.html
TLDR: Sphinx of Foresight is a potential multi-format allstar that just needs the right list.
Or maybe something else entirely, but history tells us to never overlook 3 cmc pws, because they almost all find a home somewhere.
I could definitely see Sphinx of Foresight seeing serious play. Serum Powder already sees play in certain eldrazi decks, and I imagine a deck that benefits from one might benefit from both. Or sphinx could just be straight up better (it certainly is in a vacuum)
Mantis Rider is NOT played because a 3/3 flying haste is good enough value for 3 mana in modern. It really isn't. It's played because it's a HUMAN and works well with all the lords and whatnot in the humans deck. If it were not a human, Mantis Rider would see zero play.
Spellbreaker is worse in terms of evasion, worse in terms of type, slightly better in terms of casting cost, slightly better in terms of other effects. But crucially, it lacks any sort of support to make it better than it is in a vacuum. Building a deck to hit this with coco in a world where smiter and knight of the reliquary and others exist is just silly, and its only being talked about because its a new card with a bunch of different abilities stapled to it.
That said, it will probably see standard play if Steel Leaf Champion is somehow not good enough as a turn 3 play in aggro beatdown.
Strictly better commune stapled to a strictly worse beast within is very interesting. Both are powerful effects on their own, and the flexibility means you can't overlook it. If RUG is ever a thing, and it relies on creatures, expect this card to be in the deck.
in legacy she also stops FoW, and in modern she bricks cascade effects and as foretold and living end and ancestral vision. She also shuts down flashback conflagrate from dredge, shuts off all noncreature delve spells, shuts off hollow one, the list probably goes on.
Fair enough, good points. I'm just constantly searching for the card that might replace bloom and make that deck good again, but you're right that this ain't it.
I suppose standard burn would be a bit too strong with that, but maybe a nice spectacle cantrip or something to give blue tempo decks a boost. I don't know if that would be enough to bring back Delver decks, but I miss delver decks.