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Budget Burn

Modern* Budget Burn Mono-Red

JustJohn97

Upvote 5
5

Creature (11)

Land (20)

Enchantment (4)

Sorcery (15)

Instant (10)

Sideboard

Sorcery (4)

Artifact (2)

Creature (3)

Instant (3)

Enchantment (3)

Maybeboard

Instant (6)

Creature (2)

Artifact (1)

Land (1)

Sorcery (1)

I primarily play kitchen table (casual) Magic, but I wanted to make my first Modern deck. This is the result. I shot for a $50 USD budget excluding basic land costs. The idea here is to use non-combat damage to help play Chandra's Incinerator.

Ex. Primary Strategy with preferred hand:

T1: Suspend Rift Bolt / Cast Seal of Fire

T2: Resolve Rift Bolt / Sacrifice Seal of Fire and cast Lightning Bolt / Lava Spike / Skewer the Critics (If resolving Rift Bolt, can also play/sacrifice Seal of Fire), Play Chandra's Incinerator

T3+: Burn and Smash Face

Otherwise, I'm just burning stuff like the caveman magic player I am.

My sideboard currently consists of stuff I threw together after hearing of a couple archetype matchups to be on the lookout for.

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions. I'm relatively new to magic and curious if there are more reliable strategies to find/get out Chandra's Incinerator or similar cards to Chandra's Incinerator to include in my deck. Thanks in advance for suggestions, and I hope you have a pleasant rest of your day.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Deck Update — June 12, 2023
Edit

Hello. I wanted to post an update (and I apologize for it being long overdue). I played my deck against a few friends who themselves played decks such as Blue/Black rogues and a more conventional Mono Red Burn. My deck felt a bit vulnerable against blue due to the combo-esque nature of using burn to cast Chandra's Incinerator, but if it stuck I could quickly win a game. Against the more standard mono red burn, my deck did well. Burn spell damage being equal, if I was able to cast Chandra's Incinerator I typically won since my Lightning Bolt could deal three damage to the face and remove a creature. Searing Blood was a blowout card by potentially removing two creatures and dealing three damage for two mana and a single card. This pattern sort of stuck against other decks I played. The deck worked well against go-wide decks, and I had a lot of fun playing it.

So after playtesting a bit, I figured I would bring it to my local game store that advertised magic nights on Fridays. This was about ten months ago.

Unbeknownst to me this means playing commander...whoops.

Even so, I had fun playing this deck with friends and would recommend it to people looking for a slightly different take on a mono red burn deck.

Recently I was able to play at a FNM event, but the deck is a bit different than the one posted here. Here's my Mono Red Budget Burn (Updated) deck. Overall I thought it performed well. Feel free to check it out.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a pleasant rest of your day.

Comments

JustJohn97 says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #1

GameDragon111 Thanks for the suggestions! I especially like Volcanic Fallout and Lightning Strike as additional budget alternatives.

My only hesitation with cards such as Dictate of the Twin Gods and Torbran, Thane of Red Fell is I would expect those to come down after I went through several burn spells already due to their high(er) CMC, and I'm not sure how much gas would be left in the tank to utilize them effectively. I do think they would be interesting though and likely just require a different playstyle than the one I was initially imagining. Thanks again for the suggestions!

September 28, 2022 6:08 p.m.

wallisface says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #2

Seal of Fire is a card that works great alongside Chandra's Incinerator, as its another option to allow you to cast it turn 2. I’d suggest finding room for a playset if them.

Your mainboard looks pretty solid, except for Guttersnipe… that card is pretty universally bad and i’d suggest cutting it.

Your sideboard also looks really solid. The only odd choice there is Soul-Scar Mage - i don’t see when you’d be bringing this into the deck. If it doesn’t fit in the mainboard i wouldn’t put it into the side.

September 28, 2022 8:12 p.m.

JustJohn97 says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #3

wallisface Thanks for the suggestion! Seal of Fire is an interesting idea! The purpose of Guttersnipe was to take advantage of its trigger to deal noncombat damage. I'm not committed to it, but I considered using it to get additional value out of Lava Dart and other instants/sorceries. It does pair well with the ability of Chandra's Incinerator, but I admit it's on the cutting board and one of the reasons I'm looking for replacements within the community lol! If I remove Guttersnipe I may be looking to replace Lava Dart as well....

My thinking with Soul-Scar Mage was to get around indestructible or whittle down large creatures. Additionally I considered using it against protection from red in conjunction with Anger of the Gods, but I'm realizing as I type this it would likely be a niche situation where both are needed. Concerning indestructible or large creatures, I could see Soul-Scar Mage doing real work with Chandra's Incinerator if they're both on the battlefield. To be honest though I don't know the prevalence of these strategies or how well this might answer them....

Thanks again for your suggestion though, much appreciated!

September 28, 2022 10:04 p.m.

TapatioDorito says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #4

Temur Battle Rage or Assault Strobe could be especially dangerous here. TBR enables Trample onto both Bedlam Reveler and Vexing Devil even if they are alone on your side of the field. You can also use Flame Rift as a risky but higher source of player damage, and Unholy Heat to deal with creatures, since you will likely want to go after Delirium anyway.

Finally, if you're going for a Shock type of card, try Wild Slash, Play with Fire, or even Tarfire, as Tribal is a card type that Delirium checks for.

September 29, 2022 2:06 p.m.

wallisface says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #5

JustJohn97 I really like your thought processes here - even those less-optimal cards have really good justifications for existing.

I’m keen to hear how the deck performs when you take it to some games - i’m pretty confident it’ll do very well

September 29, 2022 3:22 p.m.

JustJohn97 says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #6

TapatioDorito Thanks for the suggestions! I like the idea of using Play with Fire to help scry for cards. That was actually my thought process for switching out my Monastery Swiftspear with Dragon's Rage Channeler. The suggestion by wallisface to add Seal of Fire just confirmed it haha! I may end up switching in Play with Fire for Lava Spike if I decide I want to manipulate that top card more. I think Dragon's Rage Channeler beats out Play with Fire for now because I prefer Lava Dart in the graveyard and surveil fuels Bedlam Reveler.

Temur Battle Rage and similar effects are interesting and something I hadn't considered. It would help increase combat damage, but I think it makes me more vulnerable to creature removal by piling effects onto one creature. I'll keep that in mind though!

Thanks again for the suggestions!

September 29, 2022 4:45 p.m.

JustJohn97 says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #7

wallisface Thanks for the support! I'll be sure to make a post once I get a few games in. I'm waiting to order the missing pieces because the community here has been very helpful and informed me of a lot of options I wasn't aware of. I've already made a couple changes due to suggestions haha! The community here has been very helpful.

September 29, 2022 4:57 p.m.

JustJohn97 says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #8

I ordered the missing pieces! I'm looking forward to trying this deck out and will make a post after I get a few games in.

October 4, 2022 5:39 p.m.

Dead_Blue_ says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #9

I want to point out that Goblin Guides are only 5$ right now. Pretty much the cheapest they’ve ever been.

Another budget card I’m fond of is Needle Drop

October 13, 2022 9:09 p.m.

JustJohn97 says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #10

Dead_Blue_ Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate the heads up about Goblin Guide and budget card recommendations are always welcome. I've heard Goblin Guide is a good card but never grabbed a copy/playset myself. In this deck it would probably be competing for a spot with Dragon's Rage Channeler and/or Vexing Devil. At this time I think I prefer Dragon's Rage Channeler due to its ability to manipulate my next draw, and Vexing Devil would help me cast Chandra's Incinerator early should an opponent decide to sacrifice it (4 damage for 1 mana ain't bad either). Plans always change though and perhaps as I get a few games in I might feel differently.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

October 13, 2022 11:15 p.m.

GameDragon111 says... Edit Remove Edit Delete #11

This is a good theme. Some other burn cards are Shock, Volcanic Fallout, Electrickery, Lightning Strike, and Seismic Wave. All of these are less than 30 cents.

Increasing damage dealt by these is more expensive, but some of the cheaper cards are Dictate of the Twin Gods and Torbran, Thane of Red Fell.

Hope these help and I hope you enjoy making more decks.

September 28, 2022 5:46 p.m.

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Created with Highcharts 9.3.3Card costs (outer) ​Land mana (inner)
Created with Highcharts 9.3.3Creature​CreatureLand​LandEnchantment​EnchantmentInstant​InstantSorcery​Sorcery
Created with Highcharts 9.3.3Converted mana costMana-curve​47.5%​47.5%7.5%​7.5%30.0%​30.0%​​10.0%​10.0%​5.0%​5.0%01234567805101520

Casual

95% Competitive