Pyromaniac

Last week Wednesday, Derfington shared his take on a Jaya Ballard EDH Deck over at 99 EDH Problems. That same day i finished working on mine. Originally i was going to can the deck list, however i soon found that there where some very big key differences between his version and mine. So let’s get started then:

Just look at her, isn’t she awesome? If any of your friends are playing blue they will be in for a lot of trouble with her first ability. Her second ability though is one of my favorites, mostly because Incinerate is one of my absolute favorite cards, while her last ability… Is just plain brutal; Inferno anyone? God, this card makes me giddy.

But let’s get on to the decklist. If you read his post over there, you will see a vastly different approach in my version. See, in my EDH deck i wanted to capture the essence of red. I really wanted to make myself feel like a temperamental pyromaniac when i played this deck. I wanted to be able to punish anyone and everyone on the table for just looking at me wrong! … Of course, the thing about fire is that if you play with it… Well, you are likely to get burned yourself from time to time.

"Overkill? This isn't a game of Kick-the-Ouphe!"
—Jaya Ballard, task mage

The Deck

It is a very red deck, and as you can see there is also kind of an elemental theme… Fire elemental’s seemed pretty red. The idea is pretty much to play it like this: Is something a problem? Incinerate it. Can’t turn it into a heap of smoldering dead flesh? Set it on fire anyways. Doesn’t burn? Ignore it. Want some more cards? Flip a coin, can always decide to incinerate your opponent instead. Everything i put in this deck, i did in an attempt to replicate the definition of red in some way while still making a viable deck. But really, just kill it with fire. But let’s inspect some of the finer points.

“Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire."
—Jaya Ballard, task mage

The Cards

Hall of Bandit Lord – This land’s sole purpose is to accelerate your creatures—but specifically Jaya. When she comes into play, you want to start setting things on fire right away! This card allows you to do just that.

Rites of Initiation – This is one of the cards i was referring to that sometimes you hurt yourself—but you hurt your opponent more. i really love this card. i feel it is the spiritual successor of Hatred. Personally i really enjoyed Odyssey’s Discard for effect it really eludes as to why most people hated the set. But seriously, i find this card utterly fantastic. Discard some cards, buff all your creatures by +x/+0. trust me, it’s worth it.

Darksteel Colossus – Now some of you may be wondering why i put this card in here… Well, I'm not entirely sure to be honest. I just had this gut feeling that it was the right decision, that Darksteel Colossus could be very red… i think the idea of dropping an Obliterate and this hulking Golem just kind of… walks through the smoke and ashes just as ready to hit you in the face for 11 as before, is very red.

Electropotence – The majority of your creatures have a lot of power when they come into power, so why not making them a little bit more… shocking for your opponent?

Final Fortune – The first final fortune i ever saw i also pulled out of my very first seventh edition booster, and quiet honestly I've always had a weak spot for this card. There is just something about betting absolutely everything on one card, on a single turn Win all or lose all, that just gives me an adrenaline rush.

Obsidian Fireheart – Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Just… Wow. When i pulled this puppy out of a booster, it was a match made in heaven. I knew right away that this little guy here and i would have a long and prosperous journey together. There is simply no better way to make things burn.

Living Inferno – Just look at the name, and don’t question it further.

Mages' Contest – i actually stumbled upon this gem very recently at a place called Game Geeks. I think this card is utterly fantastic and embodies red nicely—it’s also your only counter spell so use it wisely.

Aside from the honorable mentions there is tons of good, red, flametastic stuff in here. Fireball is an obvious classic choice, and in EDH often times you have enough mana to turn it into a makeshift sweeper. Shunt, Reiterate, and Wild Ricochet allows you to wreak a little bit of havoc in the game(beyond what you will already be doing of course).

Krark’s Thumb is there to even the odds for the gambling cards such as Fiery Gambit a bit—because really, even red wouldn’t be so stupid as to not take advantage of a card that was made for its color. Burning Inquiry is another card that allows you to create some rather amusing and chaotic situations(along with getting you a couple of new cards) and firecat blitz is just plain cool to play late game when you have a ton of mana—if of course, your opponents haven’t been burned to a cinder by then.

There are so many cool cards in here and i could just go on and on about them. However, i like to cap myself at a certain word count in order to keep my posts coherent… i passed that roughly 200 words ago. Just, take the deck out for a spin i promise you won’t be disappointed if you enjoy playing red—especially if you enjoy playing red. It does well in both Multiplayer, and 1vs1 games, though after a couple of games my friends caught on to how brutal the deck can be (especially because of the many X mana costed cards) so they started to keep a erh… closer eye on me—should’ve known better from the beginning though heehee. Where it it truly shines though, is in 1vs1, where you will create some serious 3rd degree burns as there are no other players for you to need to worry about.

I hope you will enjoy the deck as much as i have, and please take some important advice with you before you leave;

Some have said there is no subtlety to destruction. You know what? They're dead."
—Jaya Ballard, task mage