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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Supernova!
June 20, 2007

I've been playing magic now, for nearly three years to the day, and I've always wanted to make a 5 colored deck. This was my first attempt as I was very intrigued by the sunburst mechanic, and I wanted to make a deck that both relied on the sunburst ability and utilized the Fist of Suns. I've read many of your previous deck constructs, and I knew that if anyone could help me it would be you,
Thanks Greg

PS, I don't plan on taking out the wurms, as they are the only fatties I have, and since I am incorporating Fist of Suns, I really intend on using it to the fullest.


Sunburst Deck: Supernova

Lands

Teramorphic Expanse  x 2
Plains x4
Mountain x4
Forest x4
Island x4
Swamp x4

Creatures

Myr Servitor x4
Lunar Avenger x3
Joiner Adept x2
Suncrusher x2
Skyreach Manta x4
Etched Oracle x2
Suntouched Myr x2
Autochthon Wurm x 2
Composite golem x2

Artifacts

Fist of Suns x2
Pentad Prism x4
Energy Chamber x2
Wayfarer's Bauble x2
Infused Arrows x2
Darksteel Forge x1
Heliophial x2
 

So, a typical 5-color Sunburst deck with a Fist of Suns option for playing 9/14 Wurms.  Looks like a supernova blast to play, but there are a few issues-- the main one being your Fist/Wurm strategy.  No, I'm not taking it out.  I just want it to work right.

I know, I've built a reputation for myself here as hating singletons in decklists, but the truth is, I sometimes agree with using only one copy of a card IF there's a good reason.  For example:
-If the card is legendary. (A copy of Konda in a Samurai Deck)
-If it's just a fun "win more" card that you keep in because it's cool, but don't need to draw. (A copy of Charisma in a deck with a lot of pingers)
-If your deck has a lot of ways to tutor for it. (A copy of just about anything in a deck with 4 Diabolic Tutor)
-If it serves a similar purpose to some other cards in your deck.(A deck with 1 Remand, 1 Delay, 1 cancel, 1 Mana Leak, etc.)
-If your metagame includes a lot of Extirpate or Shimian Specter.
For this reason, I am in complete agreement with the fact that you only have two Wurms.  In fact, if you wanted to drop one and play with a single Wurm, that'd be fine too.  But you can't play a Wurm without a Fist of Suns in play, and that's why you need 4 Fists.  Your deck is just too poised to take advantage of the Fist for you to not be running a full set.  Just look at all your Sunburst cards!  If you Fist one out, you're getting 5 counters-- the most you can get.  If it's a card like Suncrusher that costs more than 5, then you're getting it fully charged up for a discount on mana.  And if it's a card like Pentad Prism, you're getting more counters on it than you could otherwise!  Of course, if you get a Fist out and the mana to play things off the Fist, you're unlikely to need a Pentad Prism at that point, but you see what I mean.

Having established that, let's look at your creatures.  Myr Servitor is good, Joiner Adept is very good (and also coming back in Tenth!), and Composite Golem works as an enabler.  For your actual Sunburst cards, you've got Lunar Avenger, Suncrusher, Skyreach Manta, Etched Oracle, and Suntouched Myr. The Myr and the Oracle are each decent.  Skyreach Manta serves as an excellent flying beater.  And you've got Suncrusher and Lunar Avneger at the top of your curve (Wurms notwithstanding).  Suncrusher costs a hefty nine mana (without Fist backup), but can get as big as an 8/8, and can kill other creatures at will without giving up too much of its bulk.  But the clincher is that it has "unsolvability".  It can return itself to your hand to dodge removal spells, so opponents will have a tough time getting rid of it once and for all.  And even if they do, that doesn't solve the issue of all the creatures you may have Suncrushed by that point.  Lunar Avenger, on the other hand, is a potential 7/7 for seven-- still a good value, but it loses counters simply to give itself combat abilities, meaning lit's more likely to widdle away faster.  And it can't really protect itself either.  I'd recommend in its place either Solarion or Arcbound Wanderer.  The Wanderer, while not as big or as ability laden, can come out a turn earlier and also has "unsolvability" in that as long as you have another artifact creature, you can move the counters upon its demise toanother creature, ensuring that you still have the same amount of power on the table.  Solarion, on the other hand, has no intrinsic way of foiling attempts to kill it.  But for the same price as the Avenger, you get a creature that can grow to immense proportions instead of slowly shrink away.

Now, for your noncreature spells-- or in this case, your artifacts.  All your noncreature spells are artifacts.  This is fine, since you'll be able to play them no matter what colors of mana you have, but it also hinders you a little because you have no means of playing anything on your opponent's turn.  Yes, you have activated abilities with mana costs, but they sit on the table and broadcast their effect.  If you had even one card with Flash, it would give you a strategic advantage.  That's why you should make some room for Baton of Courage.

But what to take out?  Infused Arrows and Heliophial make good creature removal (and Heliophial can actually win you the game if it needs to), Pentad Prism and Energy Chamber are both incredible in this deck, and we already determined you need more Fists, so the Wayfarer's Bauble's are likely coming out for that.  I just don't see any room for them.

Which is a shame, because I also wanted to suggest Doubling Season.

Hopefully you'll find a way to make it work.  Good luck on that, and have fun!

~BMoor