Modern Mondays: Improved Red/White Burn

After getting third place at an FNM with my original Red/White burn deck, I decided to make modifications to it in order to make it faster and make it even more "modern."

This, of course, means including cards such as Path to Exile.

Red/White Burn

Creatures x2 Spark Elemental x2 Vexing Devil x2 Spark Trooper Land x4 Clifftop Retreat x4 Sacred Foundry x2 Plains x10 Mountain Artifacts x2 Isochron Scepter	Other Spells x2 Lava Spike x4 Lightning Bolt x2 Path to Exile x4 Boros Charm x4 Lightning Helix x2 Searing Blood x2 Mizzium Mortars x2 Browbeat x4 Rift Bolt x2 Thunderous Wrath Planeswalkers x2 Ajani Vengeant x2 Koth of the Hammer
Sideboard x2 Path to Exile x2 Chained to the Rocks x2 Pithing Needle x2 Lava Spike x2 Molten Rain x1 Echoing Ruin x2 Metal Fatigue x2 Wear // Tear

The original deck was pretty much ripped apart to improve it leaving the land and the planeswalkers alone. As far as the creatures go, the only thing done was the removal of the Ash Zealots. I instead added Vexing Devils. They're a turn one 4/3 that either can stick around or deals 4 damage to an opponent right off the bat, which is faster than a turn one Lightning Bolt.

    

In the spells category, I added two Path to Exile since it is a staple to the format and this way I could take out some creatures without wasting my burn spells on creatures (or trying to stop larger creatures with multiple spells). I also added in a couple Lava Spikes which are sorcery speed Lightening Bolts that target only players. After removing a couple Searing Bloods and Mizzium Mortars each, I was able to add in two Thunderous Wraths. I only wanted two Thunderous Wraths because I don't want to see one until I have at least one red mana open. As long as the only cost payed is the miracle cost, this is a perfect card for the deck.

  

Now we get to the fun part. Card draw in Red is a difficult thing to come by without immediately discarding or else discarding at random. That's where both Browbeat and Isochron Scepter come in. Browbeat is great in that an opponent can take five damage or else let me refill my hand on turn three. Isochron Scepter is quite a different side though. At some point along the way, I will find myself topdecking lands trying to get my last burn spell to finish my opponent. If I played an Isochron Scepter and exiled Lightning Bolt or Lightning Helix, I don't have to worry about anything. Sure I'll lose the chance to burn my opponent on turn two, but I'll have this fun toy to keep burning my opponent with long into the game after I no longer hold cards in my hand. This replaces the need to constantly draw burn spells because I can continue paying two mana each turn.


In theory this would work even better than the previous deck, but it didn't quite work out how I wanted it to work out. I went 2-2 with it but was able to pull out both Isochron Scepters and exile a Lightning Helix with one and a Lightning Bolt with the other which secured the game. This deck definitely could use more refining and hopefully I will get that chance soon.