Need help with deck

[sparkmage]

I need help deciding between playing Brimstone Mage or Vithian Stinger. Here's the deck list
Creatures:
4x Cunning sparkmage
4x Prodigal pyromancer
4x Deathbringer Thoctar
1x Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
4x Vithian Stinger or Brimstone Mage
1x Magma Phoenix
Equipments:
4x Basilisk Collar
4x Gorgon Flail
Instant/ Sorcery's:
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Blightning
1x Ricochet trap
Planes Walkers:
2x Chandra Ablaze
Artifact
1x Amulet of Vigor
Land
2x Teetering Peeks
1x Laveclaw Reaches
1x Smoldering Spires
1x Bojuka Bog
9x mountian
9x swamp
Any help would be great =) thank you

[browncoat]

Welcome to deckconstruct!

So if you are trying to make sniper.dec I think you want the vithian stinger, brimstone mage takes too long to get online. Honestly I don't see a real reason for you to run black. Deathbringer thoctar is cute but necessary. And yes I am doing the unthinkable and advising you to cut one of the best cards in the format: blightning. you probably want to add more burn, which makes chandra ablaze much better. It also stabilizes your mana-base. You also don't need the teetering peaks as you deck does not really use them. I would also clean out the singleton rares and consolidate them into 1-2 cards with multiple copies. Otherwise it looks like a fun deck.

[sparkmage]

So you are saying cut deathbringer, blightning, and teetering(i was gonan cut that anyway i used to have geopede thats y i had teetering) and more chandra?

[browncoat]

Yeah I am suggesting:

remove:
4 blightning
4 deathbringer thoctar
1 amulet of vigor
1 ricochet trap
2 teetering peak
1 lavaclaw reaches
1 smoldering spires
1 bojuka bog
9 swamps

add:
14 mountain
burn (burst lightning, forked bolt, staggershock or whatever you prefer)
and decide if you want kazuul, magma phoenix or some other red control card. Pick one as opposed to having singleton copies of many.

[sparkmage]

so maybe, 4 forked, 4 stagger, and 4 kazuul?

[browncoat]

I would add burst lightning before forked bolt but that is personal preference. 4 kazuul is overkill, I would use 3 and then add another chandra.

[sparkmage]

(2010-05-11 01:40 AM)browncoat Wrote:  I would add burst lightning before forked bolt but that is personal preference. 4 kazuul is overkill, I would use 3 and then add another chandra.

hmmm it sounds good but death is a really big part and basically is the winner but i will def try this next fnm =)

---

damnn this is gonna be so different
what about putting earthquake?

[Dark Wolf]

You won't need Deathbringer if you have more burn. You're going for a quick, aggroish finish, not to draw out the game long enough for to get Deathbringer out and make him big enough to have an impact. I'd also use Burst Lightning before Forked Bolt. But that's just me.

[sparkmage]

Okk thank you =)

---

but why not use blightning?

[Dark Wolf]

You'd have to ask browncoat that. I guess I'm not sure of his line of thinking there either. Unless of course that's the only black/red card in your deck? If it is then I understand his point. If you want to splash for black you'll need Dragonskull Summit and other cards to smooth out your mana base, which can not only be pricey but can mess up the deck if you aren't careful. If you're going for a black/red aggro deck, I'd suggest Blightning Deck Wins. It seems I have been beating that deck into the ground lately with how much I'm advocating its usage.

[sparkmage]

oh ya i forgot its black 2 lol.
I guess i'll use this build for fnm's and other non causal.

[valk]

I like what's here. Run terramorphic expanse, a few swamps and some evolving wilds, then keep blightning, run mortician beetle instead of deathbringer as it has more opportunity to see more deaths and get bigger, faster. Maybe run some searing blaze to make use of the extra landfall availability? Just some ideas to try and keep with the orginal theme.

I'd seriously consider quest for pure flame too. Surely...

[browncoat]

To explain my reasoning for making the deck mono-red: blightning is a really good card but is not a good enough reason for a black splash. The thoctar can be pretty scary but is too expensive for what it does (maybe if it was a little more durable starting out it would be better). With burn and all the pingers (especially if they have deathtouch) you don't need black's removal. Duress or inquisition of kozilek could be nice but they are not necessary. If blightning is you only reason to run black then why bother running it, your mana-base will be far more resilient (and less expensive).

(2010-05-11 14:59 PM)valk Wrote:  I like what's here. Run terramorphic expanse, a few swamps and some evolving wilds, then keep blightning, run mortician beetle instead of deathbringer as it has more opportunity to see more deaths and get bigger, faster. Maybe run some searing blaze to make use of the extra landfall availability? Just some ideas to try and keep with the original theme.

I'd seriously consider quest for pure flame too. Surely...

8 terramorphic expanses won't fix the mana. Also reread mortician beetle, it does not do what you think it does. Deathtouch destroys creatures damaged not forcing the controller to sacrifice them. Quest for pure flame takes too long to get running, and only would help as a finisher which this deck does not need.

[sparkmage]

4x Cunning sparkmage
4x Prodigal pyromancer
2x Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
2x Mortician Beetle
Equipments:
4x Basilisk Collar
4x Gorgon Flail
Instant/ Sorcery's:
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Blightning
4x burst lightning
4x Forked Bolt
Planes Walkers:
3x Chandra Ablaze
Land
3x terramorpic expanse
3x Evolving wild
9x mountian
6x swamp
new list

[browncoat]

As I said earlier, morticians beetle is useless in this deck as its +1/+1 counter ability will not trigger. Even with the terramorphic expanses you are running way too many swamps. Your new list has lost a lot of its purpose as you have removed some of your pingers which makes getting deathtouch snipers online is even harder.