Burn — Legacy Deck Guide

Mainboard — 60 Cards

4Goblin Guidethreathaste, T1 clock

4Monastery Swiftspearthreatprowess

4Eidolon of the Great Revelenginesymmetric 2dmg

4Lightning Boltburn3 dmg · 1 mana

4Chain Lightningburn3 dmg · sorcery

4Lava Spikeburn3 dmg · face only

4Rift Boltburnsuspend R

4Price of Progressreach2× nonbasics

4Fireblastfinisherfree · sac 2 Mtns

2Searing Blazeremovalcreature + face

2Skullcrackreachanti-lifegain

10Mountainlandbasic

4Inspiring VantagelandRW fastland

2Barbarian Ringreachthreshold 2dmg

2Fiery Isletdrawdraw if flooded

2Wooded Foothillslandfetch

Sideboard — 15 Cards

4Pyroblasthateblue decks

3Smash to Smithereensremovalartifacts + 3dmg

2Ensnaring Bridgehatecreature decks

2Roiling Vortexenginefree spells

2Searing Bloodremovalsmall creatures

2Exquisite Firecraftreachuncounterable

Deck Construction Findings

Meta-weighted vs flat WR-5.0pp

Smallest drop of any T1 deck — Burn beats strong decks nearly as well as weak ones.

Best formula: 2L-1C-4S79.8%

2 lands, 1 creature, 4 burn spells. +6.4pp above baseline. Composition > individual cards.

Key cards barely matter±2pp

No single card swings WR more than 2pp. The FORMULA is what matters, not the specific spells.

Best matchup: uwx100%

Worst matchup: depths42%

T1–T2: Deploy + Burn

Mountain → Goblin Guide (2 damage immediately) or suspend Rift Bolt. T2: Monastery Swiftspear + burn spell = prowess trigger for 4+ damage. Eidolon on T2 punishes opponent for casting spells. Target: 6-8 damage by end of T2.

T3–T4: Reach Phase

Price of Progress hits for 4-8 damage against dual land manabases (most of Legacy). Chain Lightning and Lava Spike for face damage. Prowess triggers on Swiftspear. Target: opponent at 4-6 life.

T4–T5: Fireblast Finish

Fireblast (sacrifice 2 Mountains, 4 damage for free) is the closer. Can double-Fireblast for 8 damage if you have 4 Mountains. Average kill: T4.2 — faster than any fair deck in Legacy.

✓ WON — T3 Kill vs Dimir Control

Mountain, Inspiring Vantage, Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear, Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Rift Bolt

T1: Mountain → Goblin Guide → attack 2 (opp at 18).
T2: Vantage → Swiftspear → suspend Rift Bolt → Bolt face (prowess) → attack Guide 2 + Swiftspear 2 = 4 (opp at 11).
T3: Rift Bolt resolves (3, prowess) → Chain Lightning (3, prowess) → attack Guide 2 + Swiftspear 4 = 6 (opp at -1). 20 damage in 3 turns.

✓ WON — Price of Progress for 8 vs Duals

Mountain, Mountain, Goblin Guide, Lava Spike, Price of Progress, Price of Progress, Fireblast

T1: Guide → 2 (18). T2: Lava Spike (15). T3: Price of Progress — opponent had 4 nonbasic lands = 8 damage (7). T4: Fireblast (sac 2 Mountains) = 4 (3), Guide attacks = dead. Price of Progress is the Legacy-specific card that makes Burn tier 1.

LOST — 4 Lands, Not Enough Burn

Mountain, Mountain, Inspiring Vantage, Wooded Foothills, Goblin Guide, Eidolon, Searing Blaze

4 lands + 2 creatures + 1 conditional burn (Searing Blaze needs landfall). Only 5 total damage from non-land cards. Drew more lands. Opponent stabilized at 8 life. This is why 4+ land hands win only 58.3% — each land past 2 is a dead draw.

Win Rate by Opponent Archetype

Prison

100%

Ramp

92%

Control

88%

Tempo

82%

Aggro

74%

Midrange

70%

Combo

65%

Burn preys on anything that spends mana on non-damage. Only fast combo threatens.

8-Round Tournament Simulation

2-6

3-5

12%

4-4

24%

5-3

30%

6-2

23%

7-1

8-0

Avg: 5.7 wins Top 8 rate: 59.5%

10,000 simulated tournaments. Opponents weighted by meta strength.

✓ Prey On (16 decks)

80-100%

Control, tempo, ramp all fold. They spend mana on card advantage while you spend it on damage. Force of Will costs them 1 life + 1 card — you have 28 more burn spells.

⚖ Competitive (16 decks)

50-80%

Aggro mirrors, slow combo. Eidolon is the key — it turns every opponent's 1-mana spell into a Lightning Bolt for you. Price of Progress hits anyone with dual lands.

⚠ Danger (3 decks)

42-46%

Depths (42%), Oops (44%), Reanimator (46%). All kill before T4. No interaction available — race plan only. Pray they stumble.

Tournament Arc — 8 Rounds

R1-3: Bank Wins

R4-6: T1 Gauntlet

R7-8: Top Tables

Rounds 1-3: Expect 2-3 free wins vs mid-tier (Dimir, D&T, Elves). 82-96% WR. Bank early record.

Rounds 4-6: Face T1 decks. UR Delver (62%), Infect (50%), Depths (42%). Tournament is won or lost here.

Rounds 7-8: Top tables = T1 only. Want UR Tempo (76%) or Eldrazi (52%). Dodge Depths (42%).

Why Burn is #1 — The Delta Proof

Burn

-5.0pp

Depths

-5.7pp

Infect

-6.7pp

UR Delver

-7.4pp

UR Tempo

-7.7pp

Flat → T1/T2 weighted drop. Smaller = genuinely strong vs real field. Burn's -5.0pp is the smallest — it beats strong decks almost as well as weak ones. Other T1 decks drop 6-8pp because they farm weak opponents.

Danger Matchups — How to Steal Games

Burn is the format's speed police. It forces every deck to win by T4 or have lifegain. Decks that spend early turns setting up (control, tempo, ramp) get punished — 82-100% WR. The only decks that threaten Burn are faster combo (Depths 42%, Oops 44%, Reanimator 46%) that can kill before Burn assembles 20 damage.

By Archetype

vs Control/Ramp (88-100%): Free wins. They tap out for card advantage while you kill them.
vs Tempo (82%): Their Force of Will costs 1 life + 1 card. You have 28 burn spells — they can't counter all of them.
vs Aggro (74%): Eidolon punishes their cheap spells. Price of Progress punishes their manabase. You're faster.
vs Combo (65%): The danger zone. Fast combo (Depths, Reanimator, Oops) can goldfish before you deal 20. Slow combo (Doomsday, Storm) still loses because their setup takes too long.

Tournament Arc (8 Rounds)

Expected record: 5.7 wins / 8 rounds (59.5% Top 8 rate — highest of any deck).
Rounds 1-3: Expect 2-3 free wins against mid-tier decks (Dimir variants, D&T, Elves). Bank early wins.
Rounds 4-6: Face T1 decks (UR Delver 62%, Infect 50%, Depths 42%). This is where the tournament is won or lost. Against Depths/Reanimator you're unfavored — but you only need to dodge 1-2 of these per event.
Rounds 7-8: Top tables are T1 decks. You want to hit UR Tempo (76%) or Eldrazi (52%), not Depths (42%).

Depths

combo

42%

✗Combo is lands — no stack interaction possible

⚡T2 Marit Lage (10%) = auto-loss

★Price of Progress hits 8+ nonbasics = 16 dmg

★Eidolon T2 taxes their Crop Rotation

Oops All Spells

combo

44%

✗Veil of Summer blanks all interaction

⚡T1-T2 Balustrade Spy / Undercity Informer = faster than your clock

★Eidolon taxes every 1-CMC cantrip = 2 dmg

★T3 kill before they assemble Pact of Negation

Reanimator

combo

46%

✗T1 Griselbrand (~8%) = auto-loss

⚡Entomb + Reanimate draws 7-14 cards to find protection

★They pay 7+ life to combo — you need only 12 dmg

★Skullcrack stops Griselbrand lifelink

Why Burn is #1

Smallest flat→weighted drop (-5.0pp) of any T1 deck. UR Delver drops -7.4pp, Infect drops -6.7pp, UR Tempo drops -7.7pp. This means Burn doesn't farm weak decks — it beats the real meta field almost as hard. In a tournament where you face 60% T1-T2 opponents, Burn's advantage compounds: 59.5% Top 8 rate vs ~40% for other T1 decks.