I like the element of danger this deck brings to the table. It’s like balancing on a knife edge between reducing your life total enough to profit off SotS, but not burning yourself to a crisp in the process. Awesome build, +1

Thoughtseize is an amazing card for this deck, helps your game plan and prevents the opponents.

Also, Death's Shadow should be here as well. It’s a better version of Scourge.

Dark Confidant might like a spot here too

Hey Daveslab2022, thanks for the suggestions. I’ve been playing around with different possibilities like the ones you mentioned. The issue is how far I want to deviate from the focus on burn. The more creatures and non-burn spells I add, the less focused it becomes, and the odds of drawing a burn spell when I need it decrease.

I had the opportunity to test this deck last night, and it had around a 60% success rate against my friend’s extremely fast Green stompy deck, which usually wins by turns 4-6. That’s the metric I use to judge my decks. I found that I could have won several games had I drawn a burn spell instead of a creature. Plus Scourges and Shadows don’t have trample, and against creature-heavy decks they only serve as blockers. So I’m considering how to make this build even more effective. Perhaps Temur Battle Rage and/or Anger of the Gods would be useful as well.

Yes to Temur Battle Rage You also need Anger of the Gods

And a Singleton of Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip as bolting yourself consistently on turn 1 is important. Especially without Thoughtseize

And Apostle's Blessing to get around your blockers

Thanks for the suggestions defamagraphy1! I had forgotten about Apostle's Blessing. The Blessing seems more versatile than bestowing double strike/trample with Battle Rage, since the former can be used to both neutralize blockers or protect a Scourge from removal. Plus the Blessing costs only 1 mana and enables Scourge. Definitely going to test them out.

If you are not satisfied with Death's Shadow you might give Lightning Skelemental a try, I am intrigued if it fits in your shell :)
+1

Thanks for the suggestion and +1 cyeRunner! I’ll consider Lightning Skelemental, but I think the focus should remain on burn and self life-loss to build up the Scourges and Shadows. I feel like Skelemental is better for Rakdos 8-Rack decks which focus on hand discard. I can imagine that deck running Scourges, 8-Rack, Bolts, and cards like Thoughtseize, Bitterblossom, Kolaghan's Command, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, etc.

Lurrus of the Dream-Den?

This itches my brain

Hey mtgplayer100, thanks for the suggestion. I’ve used Lurrus before as a companion, and the only reason I’m hesitant to include it is because of its companion cost - (3) to put it in hand, then (3) more to cast it. Since I average 3 mana per game, it would take 2 turns of no activity to actually cast it, and then an additional turn to cast a creature from my graveyard. That’s 3 lost turns of no damage-dealing. That delay could potentially be fatal for this deck.

Goblin_Guide, me too! Playing it requires perfect decision-making. It’s like walking a tightrope. One wrong move and you fall off! But that’s what makes it fun to play.

zAzen7977 I love how skill-intensive this archetype is to play. I've actually been working on another deck that fits the almost-suicide-red category for a long time, but I've never really gotten it to work. But, I'm on a pretty tight budget and don't have fetches or shocks or any of the other important lands to modern so I kind of have to stay in mono red, and I try to be as hipster as possible with all of my decks, so those could be reasons why. Plus, I haven't really found any good cards in red that want you to have a low life total. All of those factors add to a deck that looks like it would be really good, but is really just a super consistent T6/maybe 5/sometimes 4 kill ... oh well.

Also, I'm interested in why you aren't playing Gut Shot? It's not a good card, but it seems like a good removal spell at the very least and it's really good for turning on Light Up the Stage ... which I guess you're also not playing.

I've always wanted Vexing Devil to work in this kind of shell, how's it working out for you?

Any suggestions for anyone who wants to go budget maybe $200 max?

deasart_nomads_be_godly

The most expensive part is the land base, which is necessary to get your life total to a low point. I don’t think this is a very budget friendly archetype, sadly.

Deasert_Nomads_be_godly as Daveslab2022 said: the Manabase is the most expensive part, but it is necessary for the Deck. What you can do in Paper is look for cards in suboptimal (Light Played to Poor) condition, this can reduce the price by a lot. Read this if you are interested.
Death's Shadow-Decks usually run between 9-10 Fetchlands, there is a rumor that they will be reprinted next year in MH2 which would also make the price drop a bit.
zAzen7977: Speaking about lands, I highly recommend exchanging 1 Mountain for 1 Swamp to cast Death's Shadow and Scourge of the Skyclaves even with Blood Moon on the field. Also add 1-2 Marsh Flats in exchange for Blackcleave Cliffs.

I’ve been meaning to respond to the most recent comments.

Goblin_Guide, I chose not to include Gut Shot in this build because the cost/damage ratio is too low (cost of 2 life to 1 damage). I also excluded Light Up the Stage so I could focus on burn spells and damage potential. This is essentially a burn deck and too many non-burn spells kill the build’s explosive-ness. I know the purpose of Stage is to gain late-game firepower, but ultimately I would rather just have a burn spell instead.

I am a big fan of Vexing Devil because most players take the 4 damage during the early turns. This allows me to play a 4/4 Scourge as early as turn 2 if I have the right lands. Plus they are amazing blockers if the opponent chooses to keep them around during the late-game. Very good value for 1 mana.

Deasert_Nomads_be_godly, thanks for commenting. As Daveslab2022 and cyeRunner eloquently stated, unfortunately the fetchlands are necessary for this suicidal deck to function optimally. There is no other way to inflict damage on yourself while also advancing your board position. The closest thing are the Zendikar Rising lands, but they don’t further the strategy.

If you are looking for a similar budget friendly deck, you can cut out the fetchlands and keep the manabase mono-red, and you have a traditional and highly effective burn deck. Bring in Rift Bolt, Shard Volley, Skullcrack, Monastery Swiftspear, Goblin Guide, maybe Light Up the Stage...sideboard Blood Moon, etc.

Or you can focus on Boros, run less fetchlands, and go with Lightning Helix and Boros Charm plus a combination of the above mentioned cards. Sunbaked Canyons are amazing because you can sac’em to draw a card when you need it, and without watering down your burn spell count. Plus you get access to good artifact and enchantment removal.

Honestly, I’m not sure what works best, traditional Boros burn or this hybrid suicide Mardu version. The former is more reliable during the early game, but the latter has more staying power for longer games.

cyeRunner, thanks for your suggestion. I took your advice and dropped the Blackcleave Cliffs. The idea was to have a black mana source that didn’t inflict life-loss, to balance with all the other sources of life-loss; but after lots of testing I never wanted to draw the Cliffs and would have preferred the life-loss every time. I kept at least 2 mountains in addition to a swamp to give me the option of searching for up to 3 basic lands. I’m not too worried about Blood Moon, but you are right about needing the swamp just in case. Also I can sideboard-out black cards if I think Blood Moon will be an issue. This deck primarily functions as a red burn deck anyway.

i like it... definitly like the idea of Fling in here for just 10 damage to the dome lol.... maybe Night's Whisper can be good here as well to get more spells in hand and lower your life total?

Hey Icbrgr, thank you for your comment and suggestions! I’ve definitely considered Fling , and Night's Whisper is a great suggestion as well. Every card in the deck is so important (especially the burn spells) that I don’t know what to cut for anything else. My concern is that I can’t remove too many burn spells, because I need to be able to draw into one to seal the deal turns 4-5. I’ll keep tinkering with it.

Hi, I came up with a deck similar to yours: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/mardu-scourge-2/

But I cut the Death's Shadows, so I can avoid such a suicidal strategy. Fetch + shock lands are enough to grow our Scourges.

I think Monastery Swiftspear and Goblin Guides are great to early damage, and they help to make some presence in our battlefield. I would cut 4 Lava Spikes and add some burn/prowess creatures. I prefer cutting Lava Spike (diversify color damage) but it would be okay cutting Bumps instead.

There is something might be a problem in my list. As i told before, I cut the DS and now I have kind of few "killer conditions". My efficient creatures and the burn spells works in the early game to reduce OP life, but the list itself isn't a BURN or PROWESS deck. It depends to much in Scourge to actually kill my opponent. Thats why Im looking for a partner to Scourge, a big creature that helps me to finish the game. I was thinking about Spawn of Mayhen, but the CMC is a bit prohibitive. Any ideas?

PS: sorry if my english is not the best, I'm a portuguese speaker ;)

vladpontes depending on how big you want the creature to be, Shadow is really the only comparable creature in terms of the actual strategy -- there aren't really any non-prowess creatures that can get to be as big as a Scourge for only 1-2-3 mana. If your problem is that you're not finding Scourge fast enough, I think adding Shadow is your best bet, but if the problem is that it gets killed too quickly you can add some cheap reanimation effects ( Claim , Unearth , etc.). There are also obviously some really overkill ways to get your life total down if it's just too small (like Spoils of the Vault ) but I wouldn't recommend that.

Hey vladpontes, thanks for your suggestions. In the past I ran a different variation of burn which used creatures like Monastery Swiftspear and Goblin Guide , and it worked very well. With enough burn spells it doesn’t need Scourge of the Skyclaves to win, but it runs out of steam really fast. This is why I transitioned away from prowess and focused on reducing my life and my opponent’s as fast as possible with this new hybrid “suicide burn.” Since I was running fetches and Sunbaked Canyon already, I thought I would take advantage of the synergy and put the life-loss to good use.

Like you I was reluctant to run Death's Shadow s at first. I thought too many creatures would water down the burn potential of the deck. But after many games it turns out that the Shadows work very well. Running 4 Scourges and 3 Shadows make it likely to draw at least 1 of either during the game. There are no other creatures with the size potential of Scourge or Shadow for their mana cost that I am aware of.

Also I think you’re placing too much importance on the creatures instead of focusing on dealing damage. The burn spells are the most consistent way to deal damage in burn decks. In the early game, a strong blocker will immediately shut down burn decks relying on Swiftspear, Guide, etc, but Lightning Bolt always deals damage.

This variant has Shadows and Scourges to fill in during the mid-late game (which is turns 3-5 for burn decks) and Canyons and Street Wraith s for card draw, whereas other decks have tiny blockers and rely on top decking a burn spell to seal the deal. Shadows and Scourges are unique because they are aggressive by being defensive and lock down the board, so I can stall a turn or two if necessary. The trick is carefully monitoring life totals to not overextend too quickly. I want to be in control of the life loss.

Goblin_Guide, thanks for commenting. You make a good point about using cheap reanimation spells like Unearth to bring back Shadows and Scourges if they die. That is definitely a valid approach. Personally I really like Apostle's Blessing as a way to pay life while preventing a creature’s death, or making it essentially unblockable. This prevents graveyard interaction so I can run Rest in Peace on the sideboard and ignore grave-hate in general.