Overview
Izzet deck utilizing cards like Vapor Snag, Guttersnipe, and Dissolve disable your opponents threats while simultaneously chewing away at their life total.
Background
I’ve been playing Magic since December of 2012, so at the time of writing, I’ve been playing a little less than two years. While I started out playing mostly multiplayer casual, within a couple months of learning magic I dove into the competitive scene. After bouncing around through a few formats, I’ve settled myself mainly into Limited, Modern, and EDH.
In all of these formats, my favorite colors to play are almost always 2-3 color combinations of blue, green and red. One of my favorite things to do in Magic is take pump spells and bounce spells and use them as 1-for-1s, either by messing with my opponent at instant speed, or just closing out the game before my opponent’s cards are relevant. This deck is one that aims to do just that.
This deck is for you if:
- You enjoy messing with your opponent’s plans
- You like to be very active in the game as early as turn two
- You like lots of decision making in your games
- You like winning seemingly out of nowhere, after your opponent establishes their board.
This deck is not for you if:
- Countermagic makes you angry
- Burn makes you angry
- Decisions make you angry
Decklist
2x Quicken
3x Vapor Snag
2x Fleeting Distraction
2x Shock
3x Voyage’s End
2x Think Twice
1x Volcanic Geyser
2x Skullcrack
4x Krenko’s Command
4x Goblin Electromancer
1x Chasm Skulker
3x Dissolve
3x Guttersnipe
1x Bolt of Keranos
1x Talrand, Sky Summoner
1x Inspiration
1x Time Warp
1x Stormbreath Dragon
1x Inferno Titan
2x Izzet Guildgate
10x Mountain
10x Island
Deck Explanation
The aim of this deck is to play a few threats early, then use a combination of bounce, burn, and countermagic to disrupt opponents until your threats kill them. If that doesn’t get there, any of the powerful spells at the top end of the deck are usually enough to put the final nail in the coffin for your opponent. Mana curve is extremely important, and you really want to maximize your mana efficiency in the early turns of the game for this deck to play at its best.
Here are some explanations on the specific numbers of cards I have in my deck:
Bounce:
- 3x Vapor Snag
- 3x Voyages End
I like going 3-3 on the bounce spells, because while scry is a powerful effect, the one life loss on vapor snag is very relevant, as is the lesser mana cost. Since our aim is to try and win before our opponent can deploy their cards, 6 bounce spells is around where we want to be – they effciently (albeit temporarily) deal with opposing threats so ours can connect with the opponent, as well as messing with tokens, and any auras your opponent might be using. Don’t be afraid to use these on your own creatures when the situation calls for it – especially if you have a Guttersnipe on board!
Burn:
- 2x Shock
- 1x Volcanic Geyser
- 2x Skullcrack
- 1x Bolt of Keranos
The mix here aims for a balance between power and efficiency. Skullcrack can quickly put the game away in conjunction with other damage, and helps fight opposing life gain. Shock provides an easy answer to early creatures from your opponent, and can quickly stack up damage with a Guttersniper. Bolt of Keranos is powerful, dealing with many creatures, and allowing you to scry, but a three-mana sorcery is a little awkward, so I don’t like more than one. Volcanic Geyser is a nice, versatile card that can take out a variety of threats, or end a game that has gone long, but it’s very inefficient compared to the other burn spells, so only one of those as well.
Card Draw:
- 2x Think Twice
- 1x Inspiration
I would probably make this 3x Think Twice if I had the third. These cards can help you recoup lost card advantage from bounce spells, as well as providing some nice synergy with the creatures, which I will talk about below.
Countermagic:
- 3x Dissolve
Dissolve is a bit of an awkward card to cast, but as your only answer to everything non-creature, and even creatures with nasty enters-the-battlefield effects, it’s a necessity. The scry is also awesome. For this reason we give it a huge percentage of the three-mana slot.
Miscellaneous Instants and Sorceries:
- 2x Quicken
- 2x Fleeting Distraction
- 4x Krenko’s Command
- 1x Time Warp
Most of these are here because of the synergy they provide with the creatures, which, once again, I’ll get to in a second. Krenko’s command is nice because the tokens are both a solid offensive force for the price, and also good at chump blocking while you try to cast enough instants and sorceries to kill the opponent with a Guttersnipe, all while playing into the Instant/Sorcery synergies of the deck. Time Warp is just a really good card that can often turn a slight lead into a massive one.
Creatures:
- 4x Goblin Electromancer
- 3x Guttersnipe
- 1x Chasm Skulker
- 1x Talrand, Sky Summoner
- 1x Stormbreath Dragon
- 1x Inferno Titan
And finally, the core of the deck: the goblins! Goblin Electromancer makes it much easier to stay two steps ahead of your opponent, dropping dissolve to two mana, voyage’s end to one, and increasing the power of volcanic geyser, among other things. Guttersnipe is just insane. I often find myself ending games by dropping 3-4 instants and sorceries in one turn for ~10 damage. It synergizes incredibly well with cantripping spells like Quicken and Fleeting Distraction, which let you turn excess mana into free damage, while also providing small upsides (I have used Fleeting Distraction to turn creature fights to my favor many-a-time). Spells like Think Twice are also incredibly powerful, Providing two triggers for the Guttersnipe, and more spells for even more triggers! Talrand has a lot of the same synergy, but instead of doing two damage right away, giving you evasive creatures that can attack for two. I only have one, but I don’t know if I would play two. It’s incredibly powerful, but the extra mana is a little awkward. I would like to play the second, but I really don’t know where I would cut a card to make room, as the deck plays very well as is. Chasm Skulker, Stormbreath Dragon, Inferno Titan are mainly in the deck just as powerful cards to end a game that you have taken control of before your opponent can come back. Don’t forget that you can use draw spells and cantrips with the Skulker as combat tricks!
The Mana:
- 2x Izzet Guildgate
- 10x Island
- 10x Mountain
This split tends to work fairly well for me. There are more blue cards than red, but red has more double costed cards, so an even split works out fairly well. I only play two guildgates because this deck usually likes to play fairly aggressively, and too many lands coming into play tapped can just put you out of the game from the start. Twenty-Two lands has been treating me well, given that the deck has only five cards costing more than three mana, and has plenty of draw spells to hit land drops, as well as Electromancers making Instants and Sorceries cheaper.
Conclusion
That about wraps it up! As I said, this deck has performed extremely well for me, but in order for it to do the same for you, you have to be aware of every possible play you can make. Every decision you make with this deck can make or break the game, but if played correctly, this deck will reward you. Happy dueling!