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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Voodoo Burn
October 31, 2006

Hey BMoor,

I built a Burn deck and in light of the New Card Stuffy Doll, I decided to make a definite win condition. The deck runs pretty well and the mana base does well without dual lands. I need help on building a sideboard, adjusting cards (quantities) in the deck(including pyroclasm), and I also have the question if The izzet guildmage can copy a suspended spell (good combo with wheel of fate if it could). Thanks and hopefully you can help me and my deck.

Creatures(10)
4 Stuffy Doll

4 Outrider En-Kor
2 Lightning Serpent

Other Spells(28)
4 Rift Bolt
3 Volcanic Hammer
1 Wheel of Fate
3 Lotus Bloom
4 seal of Fire
3 Skred
4 Char
4 Lightning Helix
1 Browbeat

Lands(22)
1 Arena
2 Mouth of Ronom
8 Snow-covered Plains
12 Snow-covered Mountain


PS. Its in Post Time Sprial T2.

First of all, I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your Izzet Guildmage/suspend question.  I know that the Guildmage can copy it if its converted mana cost is 2 or less, but what's Wheel of Fate's converted mana cost count as?  I'm almost positive it's zero, but I'm not positive enough.  Either way, if you did copy Wheel of Fate, you discard and draw 7 only to discard those 7 and draw a new 7 again.  Wheel of Fate doesn't really copy well.  Ancestral Vision, however.....
 
Anyway, onto the decklist.  Ah, Stuffy Doll.  So amusing, and so full of nostalgia.  The Rack, Black Vise, even Darksteel Reactor come to mind.  Good ol' Stuffy makes a great addition to add to any deck, and makes a good centerpiece too.  So how do you build around it?  Well, Outrider en-Kor was a cool idea.  All that burn, too, though are you using the burn spells on your opponent's creatures, on your opponent, or on Stuffy Doll?  If you aim a burn spell at Stuffy, you may as well just target your opponent-- it's the same end result.  And for all this burn, you don't have much else beyond a lone Wheel of Fate.  I think some more support cards are in order here.
 
The first card, or class of cards, that comes to mind in a Stuffy Doll deck is red board sweepers.  You know, the kind that say, "N damage to each creature and each player".  Sulfurous Blast makes a good case for itself, as does Wildfire if you're willing to sacrifice the lands.  Rain of Embers, Martyr of Ashes, or the old standby Pyroclasm all work just as well.  Just think about it.  You play Pyroclasm.  That's 2 to all your opponent's creatures, 2 to each of your Stuffy Dolls, and 2 to each of your Outriders.  Your Outriders redirect the damage to the Stuffy Dolls.  The Stuffy Dolls reflect it back to your opponent.  Pyroclasm now effectively says "deals 2 damage to each of your opponent's creatures, and 2 damage to your opponent for each creature you control."  And then you tap Stuffy for 1 more damage.
 
If that's not quite tricky enough for you, here's a card you and only you could make good use out of-- Valor made Real.  This card is still not that great even in your deck, but against a token army?  Your opponent figures he's willing to take the damage from one token if all his others get through.  He figured wrong.  You play Valor Made Real on your Stuffy Doll, and suddenly your opponent realized he just attacked himself.  It's not only devastating, it's shameful!  Trouble is, your opponent needs to attack with creatures that Stuffy Doll can actually block.  What opponent would do that?
 
An opponent who's unable to counter a Master Warcraft, that's what opponent.  This is beginning to get unwieldy as a combo, but just picture Warcrafting your opponent into swinging headlong into you Valor-made Stuffy Doll.  It's downright hilarious.  But I just can't see it winning tournaments, so let's leave that alone and focus on those red board sweepers.  You say you want help with the quantity of your spells, and I'm here to give it to you.
Four copies of Char, Seal of Fire, Rift Bolt, and Lightning Helix is a good move.  As is Wheel of Fate and Browbeat, since burn decks tend to "burn up" their supply of cards quickly.  Skred targeting Stuffy as a win condition is a nice move, and I love your use of Arena.  But Volcanic Hammer underwhelms me, honestly.  Volcanic Hammer, while a solid card, is lukewarm next to the blistering heat of Char, Helix, and Seal or the unforgiving cold of Skred.  Lotus Bloom also doesn't do much for you here-- it hits play on turn 4 at the earliest, and by then you should already have enough mana to cast any spell in your deck, save a lethal Lightning Serpent.  I'd say take those cards out, in favor of 3 Pyroclasm, and 3 Sulfurous Blast.  That should seriously increase your offensive capabilities.
 
As for your sideboard, I just don't know enough about what decks you face often or what strategies you're struggling against.  I could make a few suggestions though--
 
Against quick rush decks or token swarm decks: Valor made Real or Cover of Winter.  This should hold off an opposing army nicely, especially one that's overconfident about its abiltiy to race a Stuffy Doll.
 
Against that one enchantment that ruins your strategy: Disenchant, Return to Dust, etc.  For every deck, there is an enchantment that makes the deck incapable of winning.  For most decks, that enchantment is Worship.  But with your ability to keep creatures off the table, I think Ivory Mask might hurt you more.  Of course, the Mask won't stop Stuffy Doll, so I'm not sure what your Achilles' Enchantment is.  When you find it, have a few of these to bring in.  Disenchant is back, and you should be taking advantage of it.
 
Against creatures too big to burn: Temporal Isolation.  Pacifism or Faith's Fetters will work too, but this one is cheap and does mostly the same job.
 
Against alternate win conditions: Angel's Grace.  Door to Nothingness, Coalition Victory, and the like are all really annoying.  Angel's Grace shuts them up but good.  I don't know if there's an effect like that in Standard right now, but if there is, this'll stop it.
 
That's all I've got for this deck.  Good luck, and happy char-broiling!
 
~BMoor
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