Burn, Baby Zurgo, Burn

Duel Commander* Aggro Mono-Red

thegigibeast

Creature (37)

• 1x Abbot of Keral Keep
• 1x Ash Zealot
• 1x Ball Lightning
• 1x Blistering Firecat
• 1x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh  ^Flip
• 1x Chandra's Phoenix
• 1x Eidolon of the Great Revel
• 1x Ember Hauler
• 1x Flametongue Kavu
• 1x Flamewake Phoenix
• 1x Goblin Guide
• 1x Goblin Heelcutter
• 1x Goblin Rabblemaster
• 1x Goblin Wardriver
• 1x Gore-House Chainwalker
• 1x Hanweir Garrison  ^Meld
• 1x Harsh Mentor
• 1x Hellrider
• 1x Hell's Thunder
• 1x Hellspark Elemental
• 1x Hero of Oxid Ridge
• 1x Ire Shaman
• 1x Keldon Champion
• 1x Keldon Marauders
• 1x Lightning Mauler
• 1x Mardu Scout
• 1x Mindsparker
• 1x Mudbrawler Cohort
• 1x Reckless Reveler
• 1x Scab-Clan Berserker
• 1x Slith Firewalker
• 1x Stigma Lasher
• 1x Stormblood Berserker
• 1x Torch Fiend
• 1x Valley Dasher
• 1x Vexing Devil
• 1x Zo-Zu the Punisher

Instant (11)

• 1x Brimstone Volley
• 1x Burst Lightning
• 1x Char
• 1x Fireblast
• 1x Flame Javelin
• 1x Incinerate
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Lightning Strike
• 1x Price of Progress
• 1x Searing Spear
• 1x Stoke the Flames

Artifact (5)

• 1x Ankh of Mishra
• 1x Bonesplitter
• 1x Grafted Wargear
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Umezawa's Jitte

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Chain Lightning
• 1x Exquisite Firecraft
• 1x Incendiary Flow
• 1x Volcanic Hammer

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Koth of the Hammer

Commander (1)

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Genju of the Spires
• 1x Manabarbs
• 1x Pyrostatic Pillar
• 1x Spellshock
• 1x Sulfuric Vortex

Land (36)

• 1x Barbarian Ring
• 1x Hanweir Battlements  ^Meld
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 33x Mountain

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Maybeboard

Creature (3)

• 1x Earthshaker Khenra
• 1x Lathnu Hellion
• 1x Vaultbreaker

Instant (1)

• 1x Thunderous Wrath

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Lava Spike
• 1x Rift Bolt

Land (2)

• 1x Mutavault
• 1x Ramunap Ruins

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The Primer

High-Level Overview

Archetype - Aggro Burn

Why ?

Why Zurgo Bellstriker?

Strengths

Weaknesses

Why this deck is a strong deck

Card Choices Explained

Criteria for card selection

Lands

Creatures

Instant/Sorceries

Other spells

Omissions

The Strategy

General strategy

Stage 1 - Early Game

Stage 2 - Mid Game

Stage 3 - Late Game

Mulligans

Want to Build This Deck?

Understanding the deck

On a budget?

Other Information

Possible cuts

Possible additions

• Lava Spike would be an interesting 3 to the dome. The only reasons it is not yet in the deck are because it cannot hit creatures, which can sometimes be relevant, and it is at sorcery speed. I still need to playtest it again because when I first built the deck ot was a 30 life format, and dealing more damage to the opponent faster is really important now in a 20 life format. Maybe it will prove to be much, much better.

• Mutavault will need to be tested in the deck, as similarly to Mishra's Factory, it is the only left manland that has a positive mana for transformation/power ratio, at 1:2. Also, against the control matchup it is really great, allowing for a difficult to target (when only a land) source of damage that can evade boardwipes. The downside is that it only taps for colorless, so testing is needed to see if another colorless source would not slow the deck down or make me miss some important turns because I am lacking red.

• Ramunap Ruins could also take the place of a Mountain in the deck. Similarly to Barbarian Ring , it would possibly be a source of damage coming from a land. What is good about it (which makes it playable, in opposition to things like Shivan Gorge , Rath's Edge, Keldon Megaliths, Blighted Groge or Keldon Necropolis ) is that it can still tap for red AND it comes into play untapped. Yes the red source deals one damage, but if you have other red sources out you can tap it for colorless, making this not that much of a downside. Also, even if the ability costs 4 mana (the top of our curve) it is still not impossible to reach it, and it requires no further conditions.

• Rift Bolt is another potentoial 3 for 1 mana, the only thing is that it is delayed... And I don't really want to play this on turn 1, the Zurgo Bellstrikerturn, nor on turn 2 because I play almost no other 1 drop, and on turn 3 the delay would be too long... And I don't want to pay 3 for it... And it is sorcery speed... Maybe it is me, maybe the card is in an awkward spot for the deck, but I still need to test it to be sure.

Game history

Overview

-Brago, King Eternal 2-0

• Daretti, Scrap Savant2-1

• Geist of Saint Traft 2-0

• Kaalia of the Vast 2-0

• Keranos, God of Storms2-0

• Lavinia of the Tenth2-0

• Nin, the Pain Artist 2-0

June 30, 2017

Game 1: 2-0 vs. Brago, King Eternal

The same kid as last tournament. He had a better deck this time (I gave him a lot of advices but he was still on a tight budget), and he almsot had me game two with a Dragonlord Ojutai, but overall it was a pretty easy matchup.

• Game 2: 2-0 vs. Nin, the Pain Artist

Game 1 was really easy, no real opposition. He was not drawing into any answers, so... Game 2 was really different and I was to lack some gas and was really lucky. I drew into the only card that could save me: Exquisite Firecraft. My opponent was down at 9 life, counterspelled my Volcanic Hammer . My Searing Spear passed, down to 6. This allowed me on my following turn to play Exquisite Firecraftwith spell mastery, so opponent down to 2. I had a Barbarian Ring in play and Exquisite Firecraftjust triggered threshold, so I was able to deal the 2 last damage. He dug for answers as a formality, found nothing.

• Game 3: 2-0 vs. Geist of Saint Traft

This maybe was the thoughest matchup I feared, but game 1 was pretty easy. He was flooded, so I simply casted things until he ran out of counterspells and then he died. Game 2 was a lot harder, because he was not flood nor screw, and he was countering/bouncing everything. What brought me to victory were Exquisite Firecraft with spell mastery, Genju of the Spires and Mishra's Factorybecause they were lands and he had trouble dealing with them. Even if it is described as simple here, this probably was the thoughest game in all the small tournament, with the second game against Nin, the Pain Artist.

Sept. 9, 2016

• Game 1: 2-0 vs. Lavinia of the Tenth

A young kid playing his first commander tournament, easy matchup. Not much to say, both games ended up pretty fast.

• Game 2: 2-0 vs. Kaalia of the Vast

Game 1 was really easy, won before he could even cast his commander. Almost assembled Hanweir Battlements + Hanweir Garrison , but killed him one turn before I could. Game 2 was harder. He succesfully played a Voice of All and equipped it with Quietus Spike. He also had Standard Bearer on the battlefield, not much but I had only one burn spell in hand so I had tu burn it first. He swung me and dropped me to 10, while he was at 8. I needed to kill him next turn, else he was winning. I had Zurgo Bellstriker, an hasty 2/2 I can't remember and Sulfuric Vortex in play. I drew Bonesplitter. Since he had no creatures to block ( Voice of All was tapped, earlier I blocked Kaalia of the Vast with Chandra's Phoenix and I played Exquisite Firecraft to get rid of Standard Bearer ), I casted Bonesplitter and equipped it to my commander, swung for 7. Sulfuric Vortex killed him at his upkeep.

• Game 3: 2-1 vs. Daretti, Scrap Savant

Toughest matchup. Lost game 1 very badly, he had Sundering Titan turn 3 thanks to a Trash for Treasure , copied it on turn 4 with Sculpting Steel, and got Wurmcoil Engine turn 5, thanks to Daretti, Scrap Savant returning him thanks to Faithless Looting and Winter Orb. Game 2 and 3 he was mana screwed, so they were pretty easy wins, but it would have been much more difficult if he got the lands he needed I think.

• Game 4: 2-0 vs. Keranos, God of Storms

Actually, both games were pretty easy for me. It was a classic control deck, but it was way too slow to do anything against me, and he did not drew into any boardwipes, so I had a clear field to attack. It was pretty easy to bait counterspells as many cards in my deck were threatening for him, but I ended up being able to drop Ankh of Mishra both games, and in addition to combat damage it did it. Fun fact, game 2 he Bribery'ed me, and found nothing interesting to stop me!

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Exclude colors	WUBG
Key combos	Hanweir Battlements + Hanweir Garrison
Legality	This deck is not Duel Commander legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 0 Mythic Rares 27 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.52
Tokens	Emblem Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh, Goblin 1/1 R, Human 1/1 R, Morph 2/2 C