Budget Blue/Red deck that focuses on countering and burning. (Feedback appreciated)
General description: This deck highly focuses on burning in the early game and countering in the late game to stabilize into a Ral, Izzet Viceroy or a Niv-Mizzet, Parun. This is an experimental deck that I created on MtG Arena and so far it has gotten me from Bronze to Platinum with little to no effort. It primarily is strong against control decks but can take wins off of agro and midrange as well. First I will describe the general play style of the deck, then highlight its win conditions, then finally give match breakdowns. If you're looking for a deck around 100 dollar range, this is for you. Some upgrades are possible, notably the lands, but I've found that these cards work fairly well.
General play pattern
Typically, when playing control decks, one or two guys may have to pass through. However, with Shock in play, it makes it viable to kill early monsters to prevent early snowballing. It utilizes creatures that synergize with burning and counterpunching. While you do have monsters, often they do not attack unless they are triggering Chart a Course. This is especially potent if you attack with Goblin Electromancer. This allows you to draw 2 cards for 1 blue mana. Goblin Electromancer allows hand 2 land hands viable. Even playing with only 22 lands, this deck can still be prone to land flooding since spells are so cheap. I wouldn't recommend taking a 5 land hand. 3 lands are ideal.
Win Conditions
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Niv-Mizzet, Parun is a staple that can easily win you the game. 5/5 flying body that can't be countered makes it evasive. If it sticks on the board for even a turn, it can create a loop of draw, cast, burn that will leave your opponent dead in a few turns, or your board at least stabilized for another win condition.
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Ral, Izzet Viceroy can easily win a game with his -8. He makes the same combo as Niv-Mizzet, Parun, but even more potent. Usually, 1-2 turns with the emblem up is death, and with the amount of counter and burn in this deck, his -8 is a really strong threat. Even before that, his +1 helping fix your hand is super relevant, preventing dead land draws.
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General burn/monster damage. Electrostatic Field can dish out a lot of damage passively while being a good defense mechanism. Having multiples of these will easily put your opponent within burn range. Enigma Drake can also play a strong part in direct damage.
Specific match ups
Against Agro:
Focus on condition 1 or 3. This is a very traditional control vs agro problem. They swarm you? You lose. If you stablize, you win. Thankfully with 8 cheap burns, stabilizing can be a lot easier. Decks that go wide with a lot of 1/1 tokens can prove to be a problem. Expect your life to get low, but you can pull this away sometimes. Ral, Izzet Viceroy may only get to use his -3 and kill a high-priority target, but it if you are out of burn, it will do. Getting Niv-Mizzet, Parun out without dying gives you a great chance of stabilizing and winning.
Sideboarding: Take out 2x Ral, Izzet Viceroy, 2x Risk Factor, and 2xcard:2x Disdainful Stroke. These cards are too heavy for these match ups. If you are playing against a lot of 1/1 bodies tokens that swarm the field, take 4x Dual Shot and 2x Lava Coil. If the bodies have more than 1 health, take 2x Dual Shot and 4x Lava Coil
strong textAgainst Midrange
Focus on condition 1 or 2. This can potentially be your worst match up, primarily because of one card: Carnage Tyrant. If this card hits the field turn 4/5/6, it's likely over. The only way to viably kill it is through a powered up Enigma Drake, which isn't likely. Beyond that, generally, you burn and counter most things played with ease. Use Risk Factor on turns where you have the mana on the opponent's end phase. Just 2 of these results in 16 points of burn, and can turn dead lands into something useful, easily enough damage to burn through or refill your hand to keep the counters up.
Sideboarding: Against cards that can't be countered, you may want to take out 1x Shock and 1x Lightning Strike for 2x Fiery Finish. In creature heavy decks, replacing some Shock for Lava Coil may be helpful. If they use enchantment removal such as Seal Away, take out 1x Shock and 1x Lightning Strike for 2x Disperse.
Against Control
Focus on condition 3. It may lead to openings for condition 1 and 2 to be met. This is potentially your easiest match up. With Goblin Electromancer, Electrostatic Field and Enigma Drake able to dish out damage and eat removal, you may get chances to play Ral, Izzet Viceroy or Niv-Mizzet, Parun. Having 2 Electrostatic Field on the field makes just countering and burning threats slowly eat at their life. Use Risk Factor at the end of your opponents end turn if you have mana. Its a free burn or draw three, or it will eat an important counter.
Sideboarding: Replace 2x Essence Scatter with 2x Ionize. It will make counters hurt your opponent more, and creatures will not be frequent enough to get use. If they use enchant removal, replace 2x Shock and 1xLightning Strike for 3x Disperse.
