Midrange Burn Cards
Modern forum
Posted on Aug. 16, 2019, 11:16 p.m. by Genderfluidia
So, I'm making a mono-red burn deck, and I really need some cards that can do 6-8 damage to a creature. Anybody have some ideas?
xtechnetia says... #3
There should be little to no reason you need to actually do that much damage to a creature in a burn deck - you should be aiming to kill before creatures that fat are relevant.
Could you explain what exactly you need that much creature damage for? Maybe we can recommend alternate solutions.
August 16, 2019 11:38 p.m.
If you absolutely want to wreck face with a red burn card, go with Banefire. If you somehow need to remove a 12/12 for whatever reason you can just dump mana (or counters off Runaway Steam-kin) but if you are playing Banefire for 20 damage just choose the player instead of the creature.
August 16, 2019 11:42 p.m.
Genderfluidia says... #5
xtechnetia I just have a deck that cranks out big creatures for free as early as turn 4-5, and I wanted to be able to have a deck that can deal with that, but I also really wanted a burn deck.
August 17, 2019 12:51 a.m.
xtechnetia says... #6
Modern burn decks are usually , which gives you access to sideboard Path to Exile and Deflecting Palm for handling troublesome fatties.
In just you're kinda out of luck. Soul-Scar Mage has been mentioned as a tool for cutting fatties down to size a bit. Magmatic Sinkhole can be decent if you only need to go up to 5 damage.
Otherwise I'd probably try to just race, turn 4-5 is slow enough for burn to try and go under it, and even past that you can cross your fingers for topdeck Bolts to seal the game.
August 17, 2019 1:19 a.m.
Yeah in modern if the opponent is still alive by turn 4-5 they better be in one bolt range or you've likely lost, though atm this is a format where 8/8's drop on turn 2 so a deck that aims to make smaller creatures by turn 4-5 might not be that great either.
August 17, 2019 4:23 a.m.
My favorite creature burn card of all time is Lightning Axe . I love it so much that it's almost something like a pet card, but it doesn't quite reach your 6-to-8 damage mark. (May I ask what has 8 toughness that you need to remove so much?)
Boros Reckoner is another option. Anything that hits him he can have that damage thrown back at it. Think of it as red-deathtouch, but you can also sling that damage at your opponents as well.
Fractured Loyalty , that way if you waste a weak spell on the tanky creature, not only do you remove it, but you also get a free-tanky creature.
Inner Struggle also works as well. If the creature has equal or greater power than it's toughness this will remove anything. Justice Strike is better if you're splashing white though.
Indomitable Creativity can remove anything if you're feeling lucky. You can also use it on your weak creatures in hopes of pulling better ones.
Transmogrifying Wand makes big creatures a lot less threatening.
August 17, 2019 6:33 a.m.
Roast might be your best option. Flame Javelin could be helpful too. Combust is good if its blue or white creatures. Collision / Colossus or Crushing Pain or Spitebellows Are all decent choices
August 17, 2019 8:38 a.m.
Genderfluidia says... #10
I think I've found enough cards that can do the job by now. Thanks for the help everyone!
August 17, 2019 11:55 p.m.
Magmatic Sinkhole is clearly one of the best options - due to also killing walkers - the delve however you cannot run multiple copies due to mechanic.
Spitebellows is also one of the top options, and it gets around stuff that counters "non-creature spells" like Stubborn Denial or Force of Negation ... etc.
However the real answer if simply running
Dreadhorde Arcanist
as with bolt "flashback" bolt it is easily able to deal 6 damage - which means that as log as the board is not completely clogged it can successfully attack through things like
Primeval Titan
. That creature is all the hard removal you could ever wish for.
Honorable mentions go to cards like
Lightning Axe
,
Redcap Melee
,
Roast
,
Flame Slash
,
Harvest Pyre
- and
Abrade
(for its versatility)
Snowmen1 says... #2
There is really not much you can do besides use multiple burn spells. Best advice I can give is to take a look on gatherer for red spells that deal damage to creatures. The best I can think of right now is Harvest Pyre which can get to high numbers in damage, but needs a lot of cards in the grave, so it can only really be a 1 of with nothing else utilizing the graveyard. You could also use Flame Slash , which only goes to 4 damage, but can be good in combination with other spells. Another card that may be good if you are worried about big creatures is Soul-Scar Mage . It is played in a lot of red prowess lists and other aggressive decks such as mono red pheonix, and it can make large creatures much more manageable for you. This is a problem that causes a lot of decks to simple splash other colors. I hope it all works out for you that this comment helps. Good luck.
August 16, 2019 11:32 p.m.