This deck is part of my pauper dueling deck project. The goal or this project is to create decks that cover a variety to archetypes and play well against each other.
Burn is a spell based aggro deck with high value spells. All of these spells do damage, or allow us to draw into more damage spells. Although the deck is simple to understand, it relies on proper timing and sequencing to get the most out of it. It is most similar to Burn decks in other formats.
The heart of this deck are the one-drop damage spells. Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lava Spike, and Rift Bolt provide efficient direct damage. Lightning Bolt is an instant and should rarely be played on your turn. Holding a mana open and Lightning Bolt allow you to either remove a creature or use it to deal damage to the opponent during their turn. Rift Bolt can be played for 3 mana in a pinch but will usually be suspended for a single red. A suspended Right Bolt will often cause your opponent to play differently which can give you a tempo advantage.
Searing Blaze is another burn spell that can deal 6 damage for 2 mana if you played a land that turn. This card is best used during your combat phase to deal with blocking creatures, but is quite powerful any time so long as you get the landfall trigger.
The deck runs Keldon Marauders as an efficient damage dealer. The Vanishing mechanic means you only get one attack with him, but he will usually deal 5 damage or 2 damage and kill an opponents creature. Both of these are favorable options.
Thermo-Alchemist adds even more value to the cheap spells in this deck. He cannot attack, but instead will be tapped and untapped to add an additional damage to every spell in the deck. He can be left untapped as a blocker, or left tapped with an instant in hand to be used as a surprise blocker when the instant is played. If he is left untapped during your opponents turn, he can be tapped before your untap step for a free damage.
Curse of the Pierced Heart deals a damage to your opponent during their upkeep. If it's played early, this card can do a lot of damage and is even better in multiples because it will do one damage for each copy of the card out in play.
Needle Drop only does a single damage but also allows for card draw. It can be played to finish off a creature that has been dealt damage in combat or with a spell, or directed towards a player. It is also another 1-drop instant to be used with Thermo-Alchemist. It also has great synergy with Curse of the Pierced Heart which guarantees there will always be at least one use for this card during the opponents turn.
Gitaxian Probe is a card that can only be cast for 2 life in this deck, but offers a free spell and card draw. Thermo-Alchemist makes the most use out of the free spells. Card draw is vital to this deck to ensure that you're consistently getting a hold of more damage spells. Otherwise, it's likely to run out of gas against decks with disruption or life-gain.
Sideboard:
Electrickery is a very powerful card when cast for the overload cost. It allows this deck to deal with decks that use a lot of small creatures. It is not very efficient to be killing these with the damage spells in the deck.
Martyr of Ashes is similar to Electrickery but cannot hit creatures with flying. Martyr of Ashes is the ability to deal more than one damage. It will also kill your creatures if X is more than 3, but it is important if your opponent has enough creatures to kill you faster than you can kill them. The ability of Martyr of Ashes can be used at instant speed, so it's possible to deal with larger creatures that have taken damage during the combat phase.
Molten Rain is useful against match up with strict mana requirements. Taking away your opponents access to a single color or important land can swing the game strongly in your favor. The card also deals damage which makes useful with Thermo-Alchemist and Needle Drop. The damage also makes it possible to play this spell while continuing with the primary strategy of the deck, which is to deal as much damage as fast as possible.
Pyroblast gives this deck interaction in the form of counterspells and target removal against blue decks. This can ensure that your important spells can resolve and remove troublesome creatures and other permanents.
Smash to Smithereens deals with artifacts (including artifact lands) while dealing damage to the enemy.
