Retro Magic - Wrath of the Mortals Magic the Gathering Event Deck Review

by  ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

The Journey Into Nyx Event Deck - Wrath of the Mortals is a red/blue deck built around Young Pyromancer! In a departure from recent event decks, this Event Deck actually had cards that were only going to be good in Standard for another five months upon release. Also, despite having the usual 10 rares, none of the cards in this deck were worth more than $2 a copy at the time, meaning it doesn't quite have the "bang for the buck" that previous decks have had. Still, Izzet players rejoiced for this deck which gave them the ability to have a solid foundation to start from that would be good for sometime.

It's quite a playable deck. Let's take a look at the list:

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CREATURE SPELLS

However, the creature line-up is where the deck gets interesting, and it is actually quite good. You get an Aetherling, which can be a major finisher late game if you have the mana to protect it. While not a "money" card now, it's still very good. Battlefield Thaumaturge is an excellent play in this deck when you later peruse the non-creature spells - as many of them target creatures and you'll be able to cast them for considerably cheaper with him on the board. You also get a Chandra's Phoenix, the hasty flier that you can get back to your hand from your graveyard whenever you cast a red instant or sorcery spell that deals damage to an opponent. These are three pretty decent rares already.

The other two rares in the deck are Ogre Battledriver and Oracle of Bones. I've been championing Battledriver since his release in Magic 2014, but unfortunately, he never really found a home. Not having Haste himself really hurt his cause. Alas, he was not the new Hellrider, which was a great card from Dark Ascension. In this deck, though, giving your Elemental Tokens from Young Pyromancer haste and a little pump upon entering is certainly not bad. Oracle of Bones is a better fit in this deck. Having  5/3 with Haste or a 3/1 with Haste that lets you play an instant or sorcery from your hand for free seems pretty good to me. Oracle had the potential to be a pretty good card in Constructed, but it has never really caught on after seeing some early Standsrd play upon release.

But the heart of the creature lineup is in the uncommons: Young Pyromancer, Spellheart Chimera, and Guttersnipe. At the time, Pyromancer and Guttersnipe were each worth more than any individual rare in this deck. Pyromancer still is, and should need no introduction. He's still seeing play in Eternal formats, as getting free creatures each time you cast and instant or sorcery spell is pretty good. Guttersnipe also should need no introduction, as dealing 2 damage to each opponent whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell is a nasty effect. Also, Spellheart Chimera is a fan of Izzet players everywhere, as he only gets bigger for each instant or sorcery you have in your graveyard, making for a nice finisher to pair with Aetherling.

Lands (25)
9 Island
4 Izzet Guildgate
12 Mountain

Creatures (15)
1 Aetherling
1 Battlefield Thaumaturge
1 Chandra’s Phoenix
3 Guttersnipe
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Oracle of Bones
4 Spellheart Chimera
3 Young Pyromancer

Other spells (20)
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Divination
1 Fated Conflagration
2 Flames of the Firebrand
1 Harness by Force
4 Lightning Strike
3 Magma Jet
1 Mizzium Mortars
2 Searing Blood
1 Steam Augury
2 Turn // Burn

Sideboard (15)
2 Dispel
2 Elixir of Immortality
3 Essence Scatter
2 Flames of the Firebrand
3 Izzet Staticaster
3 Negate

Noticeably absent from the mana base is a red/blue shock-land (Steam Vents) or the red/blue scry land (Temple of Epiphany). It seems odd that this deck, being a Journey Into Nyx deck, doesn't have one of the set's Temples. You are given the standard boring Ravnica Guildgates instead.

NON-CREATURE SPELLS

The non-creature spell line-up is solid. Anger of the Gods is very effective removal that sees play in Modern as well as Standard. Divination is very standard card-draw but good for this sort of deck, as it triggers both Guttersnipe and Pyromancer. Fated Conflagration is pricey removal, but there will be opportunities for it to be good - though, the triple red in its cost is annoying in a multi-colored deck. Flames of the Firebrand is a lot better when Battlefield Thaumaturge is on board, so while it's usually only good in Limited it's not bad here, especially when you also have a full play-set of Lightning Strike and 3 Magma Jet, which also get cheaper with Thaumaturge on board when they target creatures.

Harness by Force has the ability to be a blow-out. Again, Thaumaturge helps with its Strive cost. Having an Act of Treason that can target multiple creatures is super powerful, and can be yet another finisher. Mizzium Mortars can hit a creature for 4, or be overloaded to deal 4 damage to all opposing creatures; it's simply good removal. Searing Blood has become very useful removal, and there are two copies of it here. Then you have Steam Augury to both fuel your hand and your graveyard, a pretty popular sort of card for decks like this. Finally you have 2 Turn and Burn, one of the best utility cards around, and one that's definitely made better by the presence of Thaumaturge.

SIDEBOARD

The sideboard is fairly generic, but is full of useful cards to deal with certain match-ups. If you are facing more control or burn builds, you have Dispel and Negate to deal with those. You also have two copies of Elixir of Immortality to help you win the race versus burn and reload your deck. Two more copies of Flames of the Firebrand and 3 Izzet Staticaster help you to deal with lots of little threats. It's a simple board, but one that should prove useful.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, this is a very playable deck. The deck's greatest weakness, in fact, is its mana base. It really needs full play-sets of Steam Vents and Temple of Epiphany to be truly consistent. Ogre Battledriver could be replaced by a second Thaumaturge. Depending on how you feel about Oracle of Bones, it could be replaced by another Thaumaturge or Chandra's Phoenix. Personally, I would max out Thaumaturge to make the heart of this deck, casting burn spells for as cheaply as possible, more attainable. I'd also board out the Fated Conflagration for other Flames of the Firebrand, or replaced with a second copy of Mizzium Mortars, unless the Conflagration is found to be truly necessary in whatever match-up you may be facing.

I'd give this deck a B-plus out of the box. It had a chance to be a very good Izzet burn deck before a huge chunk of the deck's core rotated out of Standard in October 2014. Even now, it still does offer a strong base for a Modern burn deck. However, for Modern you'll have to invest even more heavily into the mana base (Scalding Tarns, anyone?) It's not one to buy for the money, but if you want to get 3 Guttersnipes and 3 Young Pyromancer, this is a great way to get them. It's not worth it for FNM anymore, but if you want a cool burn deck out of the box, just ramp up the mana base, make a few tweaks, and you should be good to go.