2
Vampiric Dragon
4 Varchild's War-Riders
2
Argivian Find
2
Aura of Silence
4 Burning Sands
2
Dingus Staff
2
Fire Diamond
2 Marble Diamond
2 Powerstone Minefield
2 Pyroclasm
4 Seal of Fire
4
Swords to Plowshares
4 Wrath of God
6 Mountain
8 Plains
3
Polluted Mire
2
Shivan Gorge
3
Urborg Volcano
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   Varchild
at the Beach.
Description of deck by its author (quoted):
Perhaps one of the most despised bad Odyssey rares, Burning Sands
just feels like it mocks you, doesn't it? I actually heard one laughing
at me when I busted open its pack a few weeks ago.
But looking more closely at it, I realized that it isn't just a bad
Armageddon. It's an overpowered, undercosted Earthlink and should be
treated with all respect due such an amazing (see note above) echo of
the so-called Magic Golden Age. They don't make cards like they used to,
you say? Well, guess again.
Burning Sands is not just a vessel for criticism. It actually can serve
as the linchpin in a creatureless--or, as we'll see,
near-creatureless--deck that seeks mana advantage by wiping out other
players' creatures. Simply add Dingus Staff or burn for a win condition.
It's a fair question to ask what a deck like this would do against
another creatureless deck. And so I thought of an old favorite of many a
casual player: Varchild's War-Riders. Not only does this give creatures
to the creatureless player, but it also greatly increases the
effectiveness of the central Burning Sands - Wrath of God combo.
Notes on selected cards: Like most control decks, this deck is all about
stall. It has targeted removal, global removal, and permanent
disincentives (Seal of Fire, Powerstone Minefield) to get there. But the
path can be awfully slow--attacking with the War-Riders, hoping for a
good catch with Dingus Staff, or pinging with the Shivan Gorge. So I
went a bit less creatureless and added two Vampiric Dragons, which will
give you both beef in the air and a way to shoot more lands--er, I mean,
creatures. Argivian Find is simply one of the most underrated and
unfairly forgotten cards of our time. Not only would Replenish be just
plain overkill, it would smack of the road too well traveled.
Design alternatives: Red-white often makes use of cheesy life-gain -
global-damage combos to win. This would work fine in a completely
creatureless model of the deck. Think Earthquake and Moonlit Wake, for
starters. (Yes, they work even better with the Riders in.) Many red burn
spells would work fine, including the common Rolling Thunder if you
don't have enough Earthquakes. (Don't forget to take out the black mana;
you won't need it anymore.) If you like keeping the creatures, I also
toyed with Infinite Authority on the War-Riders. For card drawing,
Inheritance is decent in any of the designs.
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