‘Ello ladles and jellyspoons! I’m feeling spontaneous right now and decided to sit down and crank one of these out. I really enjoy writing these type of articles because it allows me to pay homage to articles found in The Magic Dojo archives (RIP) on Magic theory, strategy, and just becoming a better Magic player in general.
With GP Vegas just a day away I felt it was suiting to discuss a couple of concepts that have been rumbling around my brain lately that I feel are all intertwined. So here we go:
#1 “But every once in a while, the lion has to show the jackals who he is.” -Christopher Walken in Poolhall Junkies, 2002.
So, I used to follow Travis Woo before he went off the deep end and got his DCI banned. During that time I would watch some of his weekly videos discussing different aspects of the game that people could improve on to gain a slight advantage. In one of these videos, I remember him discussing the Modern deck Living End that most people accredited him with creating and how he wanted to dispel this misconception. He made clear that he didn’t create the deck from scratch but did help develop it from its early inception. I distinctly recall him saying that he was the one who (and I quote here) “had the balls” to play it at GP Oakland and make Top 8 which put Living End on the map making his name synonymous with it. Moral of this story was that Twoo was willing to sell off his entire card collection to fund flying out to these high profile events and playing a rogue fringe deck in the face of Tier 1 Top 8 decks.
#2 “Think Outside The Bun.” -Taco Bell
One of my heroes is Patrick Chapin AKA The Innovator. I just remember a while back, shortly after Khans of Tarkir block dropped, Patrick started testing with Gurmag Angler in a bunch of different shells trying to find the best home to abuse it’s Delve ability in. I remember people on social media sites and at LGSs scoffing its merit and basically just being naysayers/nonbelievers calling him crazy. Patrick had discovered the truth and was preaching its awesomeness. It was until Gurmag Angler started getting table time on camera at some major high profile events that people saw the truth in action. Cut to today and we see the big dumb 5/5 beat stick fish being played in every format. The point is, despite people’s lack of faith in Gurmag Angler in the beginning it didn’t stop Patrick Chapin from championing the ol’ fish and proving the haters wrong. Some times you just need to have faith and don’t give up on a card or an entire deck that goes against the grain when you know that you’re on to something.
#3 “Awake! Avast! Hold tight your buns, if buns you do hold dear, for time has come wake and run AND NOT GIVE WAY TO FEAR!!!” – Lemongrab
People sometimes make the mistake of speaking from a place of fear. They might not know any better at the time but humans have a natural tendency to write something off as “bad”, “dangerous”, or “weird” if it’s foreign to us at first. It’s no different for Magic cards and this tendency is toxic, contagious, and unhealthy as it prohibits knowledge expansion as a player.
I noticed this the other day as I was studying Modern Burn lists in preparation for GP Vegas. I posed the question on the Modern Burn Facebook group as a study in the different directions Burn can be built right now. I noticed a spicy, essentially Mono-Red, list the other day that has been putting up multiple 5-0 MTGO finishes. This is one of the comments I received when initiating a discussion on the matter.
I’m not saying that this person’s opinion of calling Seal of Fire “bad” is wrong (and they are completely entitled to their opinion) what worries me is that this type of thinking stifles growth as players and stymies the development and progression of the deck as a whole. This close-minded thinking doesn’t help the Burn community advance when people are afraid to leave their comfort zone to try something other than the “stock list”.
Side note: I did spend 6+ hours testing the list above along with Rakdos and Boros builds and they all consistently turn 4 kill 70% of the time. The lack of white sideboard cards games 2 and 3 is what had me coming back to Boros in the end and plan on playing that this weekend. After something in Hogaak gets banned (which I’m 99.9% sure they will) and the metagame changes I will come back to these lower CMC mana efficient versions of Burn.
In conclusion, before you call a new card or deck “bad” without consideration or testing just remember that every established deck started from a crazy idea at some point and evolved into what we see today. But don’t worry it’s still safe to say that Lava Axe is a “bad” Burn spell… 😛
Thank you so, so much for reading! ❤️🤗❤️
And as always, if you’re in the market for some snazzy new sleeves be sure to cruise on over to the shop and use my discount code MADMAGIC for 15% off on your next purchase.
