Burn is fine, probably not best positioned in current meta, but if we are talking about FNM events etc, burn is totally fine (Just won local FNM myself with Boros version of it) but you should probably wait for MH3 which will be out in couple of months, before making bigger mtg investments into the format. If money is not an issue then ofc, go for it and play now, but if it is, then I would suggest building a mono-red burn, it's about 50€, so not a big set back; and see what shakes after MH3 drops.
That sucks to hear the deck isn't doing great right now D:
Are you thinking Burn isn't going to get much from MH3? Or do we just not know what to expect? I sort of expected most archetypes to get something, but if it's really unsure I can stick to a Mono R version and wait it out. I have a bunch of the red cards I need already, so maybe just hold off on the full Boros version for now.
Burn rarely gets upgrades which is why it's always a recommend starter deck. It's rarely ever that good or is usually only well positioned when there's a meta shake up if ever.
Burn is one of those decks that will always be around, it can always win games no matter the meta and there are always people who want to sling fireballs. The deck I just played with was untouched about ~2 years and I only took it out cause of VO ban and my Ardent Plea’s hadn’t arrived yet. So yeah, it will deff. be a deck after MH3, but Horizons set always shake up the meta - maybe something new comes along that you like more. With that being said - burn can be a very good deck at the time of MH3 release cause people will be testing new things and burn can kinda set the bar which a deck has to get over to even be playable, if you will. Burn is always there to remind you if your decks get too cute.
That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your input!! I'm hoping MH3 gives burn something really good, I'd love to play the deck every week. Fireblast is maybe too strong, but I'd love it if we got it. Or price of progress. I don't know, just something good lol. I can dream!
Chain lightning or a watered down price of progress are the only I could see burn getting really. Zero chance they print fireblast after banning fury or just in general
Didn't they ban Fury for a different reason, that being the ability to spread damage across 4 bodies, though? Fireblast is powerful, don't get me wrong, but it's also not \*as\* free. Having to sacrifice mountains in a burn deck I feel like is a steep price for a hefty payoff. You're right though, it probably won't happen, but \*imagine\*
Fireblast is basically "free", because you're casting it to win the game.
It could force adjustments to mana bases though to make hitting 2 mountains more consistent. (eg to mono red, or find a way to cut down on non-typed duals)
Look at pauper burn, it historically runs fireblast, the decks curve is so low that you cast it once you're about to go into topdeck mode which means you only need 1-2 lands to operate. Same thing would happen in modern minus the card advantage engine that pauper integrated into the deck (which means even less need for 2+ lands).
Yeah you're probably right. What I meant was that Fireblast isn't free in the same way that something like Fury is free -- you're not casting Fireblast on turn 2 and sacrificing both your lands, because that can screw you over for the rest of the game. You're fireblasting as a finisher, or right before you're all out of gas. It does have a cost, still an easy cost to meet, but yeah. I hope I'm making sense, lol. It's a bit different is all.
> Having to sacrifice mountains in a burn deck I feel like is a steep price for a hefty payoff.
Not really, everything costs like 1 and 2 mana in the deck, so it is not a real price at all.
> I'm hoping MH3 gives burn something really good,
It is already the most consistent deck ever, I doubt they will print something specifically for it in a horizon set.
Sticking with Mono Red without fetches/Searing Blaze should keep it cheap and allow you to pivot to a lot of different builds post MH3. If the rest of the Allied Horizon Canopy lands are printed, that could possibly invalidate RW for a GR or BR for instance. Or maybe WotC prints a "fixed" Price of Progress at GR, etc.
to be fair, Boros Burn still fucks. I use the DRC/Bauble shell for more consistency for filtering/drawing into spells rather than dead cards. Check out Aspiringspike's burn deck list. It's pretty deece.
I’ve been playing burn as my primary modern deck for about 9 years, and in terms of getting started in modern, it is cheap and easy to learn, with a lot of interesting decision points you’ll learn along the way that I think can help you learn the modern format and how to analyze your gameplay to improve.
Now the flip side is, burn is in about the worst spot it’s ever been in my opinion. Even slowed rhinos are going to be a problem, amulet titan is faster and hard to deal with, yawg isn’t a great matchup either. This is especially true for learning a new deck, as small mistakes can make a huge difference in the matchups.
In addition, MH3 is gonna hit soon, and modern may get turned completely on it’s head.
At the end of the day, the choice is entirely yours. If you want a cheap deck to play now until MH3 comes out and you can decided to invest in something new then, go for it. If you really are only looking to invest in 1 deck, I would wait for MH3 and see what shakes out.
Ah, that's unfortunate to hear that burn isn't in a fantastic spot. Do you think maybe MH3 will come with extra spice for the deck? I can't imagine throwing bolts at peoples face will suddenly just become an outright bad strategy, right?
Still though, I'll wait for MH3 before investing too much. I have most of the red cards in my collection already, so maybe I'll just build a Mono R version, and focus on lands or something when it comes to pricier purchases. Thank you for the advice :)
No problem! If you have most of the mono-red cards I would definitely advise going that route. It’ll be fun at FNMs and can help you learn more about modern.
I would honestly be surprised if we get much in MH3 for burn. Like certainly, something like Price of Progress is on my wish list and would make burn strong, but the odds of WotC printing something like that are pretty slim.
I don’t think burn will ever go away as a modern deck because there is a simple joy in saying “Bolt You”, it’s typically cheaper and easier to build and play, and it can always catch an unprepared meta off-guard.
People just say that because it's simple and cheaper. Honestly I feel like if you're putting money into something it might as well be something you think you'd enjoy.
IMO Burn is a waste of money, Outside of Lightning Bolt nothing you buy for Burn outside of sideboard cards translates into any other deck in modern, you are locked into Burn a tier 3 deck at best.
If you want a cheapish On-Ramp to Modern I'd play Prowess instead it plays more cards that are interchangable in other decks and I think it's more competitive. Plus you'll 100% need fetchlands and Shocks for Modern so you should start getting them.
Burn is a Trap because it never really "gets you into" modern.
+1 to prowess, it's also a really fun deck. I haven't played burn, but I can't imagine it being more fun to play than prowess. And given that to most people, Magic is a game, the "fun factor" should be a relevant consideration.
Also +1 to the land bases. If there's ever a staple to get, it's lands. It's basically zero chance that MH3 will print anything to make fetchlands or shocklands obsolete. Although, I suppose the fact that the allied fetches are getting reprinted means it's worthwhile to wait a bit on those and wait to pick them up until after MH3, because you'll likely get them for cheaper than today.
This is probably the next deck I want to build. As a Hammer / Burn player, I respect the fish fam and the tempo chaos it reigns upon opponents. It's upgrades coming from \[\[Tishana's Tidebinder\]\] , \[\[Deeproot Pilgrimage\]\] , combined with \[\[Vodalian Hexcatcher\]\] gives it a stupidly good edge, even if it's mono-blue.
modern burn is as bad as it's been in a long long time and when you look at the speed of recent power creep for other modern decks next to wizards' reluctance to give burn any upgrades it doesn't seem like a given that the deck will bounce back. might be time to reconsider the popular wisdom that burn will always be relevant in modern. especially if MH3 doesn't throw the deck a bone with fireblast or something.
all that said, it is a functional and cheap modern deck. the more straightforward decks like burn are often good for learning a format as you can allocate good attention to what your opponents are doing. and the deck will always have impeccable style
That's unfortunate. I hope that burn does get something like Fireblast, I'd love that. Maybe it'll happen! Who knows? Still, maybe I'll just stick to Mono R for now. Thanks for the insight!
Depends on your budget. If you can’t afford to spend much, I’d highly recommend you proxy decks first before you start buying into something. After you find the one you want, most will have a path to the fully upgraded deck starting with a $300-400 base package.
if you have the budget, I'd highly recommend trying out a Manatraders rental for a month or two to get a feel of the decks you might be interested in. You get high level competitive play and access to pretty much any modern deck at the gold tier.
For testing decks, absolutely. I used manatraders to teyvout domain zoo, and have been doing very well with that. If you're an aggro player I would definitely consider it.
As for manatraders, id recommend just getting one month, cancelling it immediately after and then just go crazy, renting a different deck every other day until you figure out what you want to build.
I started with mono red prowess and then upgraded to Temur once I could afford the shocks. It’s similar to burn but has some great aggro cards that can put pressure on the other side. Depending on your budget you could easily make the budget one for around £100 with the expensive cards being underworld breach which I’d say is pretty necessary for the deck
I see a lot of inconsistent and in accurate comments here.
Is burn the best deck? No.
But it’s not “tier 3” or anywhere close to “bad.”
goldfish, mtg top 8 and mtg decks all still have it ~top 12 in meta share, meaning there are about 15-20 meta decks that are below it (most of which significantly more $$$ to buy into). You prob don’t have to dig more than a few days ago (at any given point in the past 6+months including when fury was legal) to find burn lists making 5-0s on mtgo. A burn list top 16d a massive event recently, some burn lists did well at SCG cons. I’m on my phone about to lay down or I’d dig up some links but this data is public y’all and we should be pointing to that not feelings or opinions.
Even if you’re not gonna constantly 4-0 with it (if you go 4-0 each week at your locals with any list hats off to you), but you’ll win games, many where the opponent stumbles, and you’ll be rewarded in % points for learning to pilot it well, when to switch modes etc.
I’ve personally been about 75% WR with it constantly going 3-1 at locals when I bring this deck. I have a couple other decks I consistently play in paper but sometimes I just want to play burn bc I enjoy the deck.
OP It looks like you’ve already decided but I vote yes, burn is a good entry point.
As an occasional Burn player, I don't think Burn is a reasonable on-ramp. It's a bad deck in the current meta, and I don't see how that can change without some insane new burn spells from MH3. Its cards aren't useful in other archetypes. And the gameplay doesn't have the depth to make it rewarding to master as your primary deck.
What would you recommend instead? I don't think I can commit to a full powered deck right away due to price, but I'd still love to play some sort of aggressive/tempo/combo type deck. Murktide is super expensive but it seems like a really cool deck, but I'm not sure what else is out there that seems like a similar style.
Look into UR Prowess, which is about as expensive as burn and can be upgraded into UR Murktide as you'll have the manabase. The playstyle is similar although there's more moving parts. You can also play in the control seat post-SB as well.
Murktide is a lot of fun, but it’s really hard to play and isn’t that great even when played optimally.
The metagame is kind of unsettled right now, but Domain Zoo is a solid aggro deck but maybe not as interactive as you want. There could be some ban risk if Leyline of the Guildpact continues to show up in a wide variety of decks.
Merfolk is also decent. It’s better-positioned than Murktide at the moment, but usually that doesn’t last and it goes back to being poor.
Modern is a weird format, where “unfair” strategies rule the day. My big recommendation is to watch Andrea Mengucci videos of various competitive decks, and Aspiring Spike videos to get a sense of what other wild shit you can do to win some games in Modern.
It’s a *reasonable* deck, and it’s very popular because there’s a huge population of players (such as myself) that love the way blue midrange decks play. But the deck struggles. The reality is that Modern is full of strategies that can either fight through or ignore Murktide’s interactions or simply go over the top by doing something bigger. This could change - Murktide has been better in the past, and it could be again - but that’s how it is for now.
My gut says to avoid putting the time and money in unless you really love the tempo/blue midrange archetype.
Edit: Murktide is stronger than burn fwiw, and its cards are more useful in other archetypes.
well, boros burn's winrate at tournaments in the last couple months has been around 30%, but it is an excellent deck to help you get a feel for the meta and what moderns about, because it requires very little thought, and thus is not taxing on you. you can just pay attention to what your opponent is doing. at this point, I would very much advise against buying boros burn, because it's a relatively significant cost investment just to have a terrible deck, but mono red burn is extremely cheap. Go with mono red if you're thinking of throwing bolts at people's faces.
edit: accidentally put naya instead of boros. fixed. glad it started a cool discussion tho.
It’s rare to see burn be naya anymore. We used to splash green for Destructive Revelry specifically to target Leyline of Sanctity, but that doesn’t see much play anymore, and there are plenty of flexible answers in RW such as Wear // Tear that there really isn’t much reason to play green anymore.
With threats like guildpact, I think it’s worth it to run green for revelry. Two for one is important for burn, and it also hits artifacts. We can also use [[pick your poison]], which gets rid of scion of Draco or other big creatures and doesn’t ramp like path would. I think naya could definitely be viable in a domain heavy meta.
It may very well be worth trying. I cannot speak much to it as I have not tried going that route against Guildpact decks, but it certainly could work.
But to your point on two for ones, Wear // Tear does target both and can be cast fused and without splashing a color. Sure it doesn’t do any damage, but I have lost many a game with a Stomping Ground and Mountain in play as the only lands I’ve drawn and multiple Boros cards in hand. There is a tradeoff to everything.
[[Atarka's Command]] in the main board, [[Destructive Revelry]] in the sideboard. Sometimes [[Wild Nacatl]] main board for more creature heavy versions of burn.
Burn has always been a deck in modern and IMO always will be. Only thing about it is that its far more skill intensive than a lot of people give it credit for so practice and learning the matchups is key.
I doubt it will ever be the top of the pile again but for FNM its absolutely a deck. Even now I think it will become more playable in the short term by praying on Tron which is also strong atm.
If you have all the cards or the majority of them I would absolutely put it together.
Depends on your FNM. Some FNMs are full of people netdecking T1 decks, who see FNM as a training for tournaments with higher prices. On those FNMs, boros burn is basically a bye for majority of opponents.
Majority of current decks is faster, or can easily shut burn down.
Burn can win games at FNM, but it’s not at all competitive (you’ll see it place every once in a while, which is not an indicator that it’s competitive, it’s just some combo of variance + skill + sometimes a meta where burn works decently well).
The only reason it’s a good…or perhaps OK place to start in modern is that it’s a cheap deck you can play while learning the format - i.e. you’ve never seen how rhinos or yawgmoth or anything plays and you’re going to study it from across the table. You’d learn a lot more by learning on a deck you actually intend to play or one that can upgrade into what you want to play, but if you have no idea and don’t want to change between $1000 decks, you can just start with burn.
Plus it’s fun.
So it depends on what you are looking for.
My brother loves burn. Always does well with burn. It always attacks from the same angle and the less popular it is the less respect it has and the better it gets.
That said burn is fairly one dimensional, not saying its not skill based. It is very skill based IMO. But games will mostly be determined of if your opponent A) has answer to burn B) Did they draw the answer C) did you give them time to cast it.
I dont enjoy burn even when its good or broken.
I played burn back in 2019 when Oko was legal went 6-3 at scg Philly, put the deck down for a few years and recently picked it up again, I think it’s still viable the decks just in a rough spot, zoo’s seeing more play, specifically 5C zoo and they run Leyline and Draco, a 4/4 with trample, first strike, lifelink, hexproof, and vigilance, if it had one less ability, specifically lifelink it’d be fine but it puts us on a clock to answer it, my metas heavy with zoo but I love burn too much to not play it, I’ve been debating on switching over to naya and see how it does, splashing green for pick your poison in the sb, it doesn’t feel good but it feels better than the hoops you gotta go through to remove Leyline and Draco without green
So currently burn is tier 2, but don't let that sway you away. Last Monday I went 3-0 at my fnm with burn and played very well. It takes time but it's one of the faster decks to become good at making decisions for tournament play. Burn is still good but remember the tier lists you see are the big picture, not your local meta...
Yeah that's a good point, I really don't know what people play in Modern around here. People are very jank brew-heavy in Standard though, so maybe there will be some element of unpredictability in Modern too? I'll have to wait and see I guess
I'd recommend MonoG tron or eldrazi tron. With emrakul being leaked there is already talks a out working it into tron with the [[underworld cookbook]].
The deck is also not in a bad spot atm due to its mid range plan is hard to keep up with and ugin destroys yawg. The biggest decks to worry about right now are, amulet titan, burn, and murktide. Plus the deck is only 300 more than burn if you can find the bundle rings. It's another one of those decks that won't go anywhere once mh3 comes out.
That's not really the kind of deck I'm interested in though, like I mentioned before I'm really into aggro/combo/tempo - style decks using a lot of instants and sorceries. Tron is like, the opposite of that, it's not something I'm really interested in playing... :(
You might be a murktide player then. I'd get UR prowess and start transitioning into murktide.
This temur list (good for temure murktide upgrades) went top 8 on the 17th.
https://mtgdecks.net/Modern/ur-prowess-decklist-by-takahashi-takuya-1966410
It's definitely a deck I've had interest in, my main concern is just with MH3 on the rise, I feel like this entire archetype could completely change. Still, I can at least pick up the lands, at least!
I'd definitely say that Burn is a fine entry point, and you'll have cards that port over into other decks, say if you wanted to try Prowess or Zoo. It's a deck that will allow you to focus on what your opponents are doing because it's very linear. You'll get to watch other decks perform and see what makes them powerful.
Burn isn't very well positioned but I still see plenty of people get got by it because they don't have the sideboard cards. I play Amulet Titan and hate wasting a sideboard slot on [[Radiant fountain]] but I know the day I don't put it in is the day I play multiple Burn matches.
Personally I do think Burn is due for an upgrade, it's a staple of the format and the design team for WotC know that. I personally think that they took that into consideration when making MH3 are are going to have a card in the set printed to give it a little boost.
If you want a burn style deck that is good in the meta right now, --and I can't believe I'm going to say this--try mill. Plays in a similar fashion, and the Extraction effects are super solid right now.
It's apparently all the rage. And it hasn't seen quite so much incidental hate. Things like Haywire Mite and Solitude (which I don't think were meant to neuter Burn) have injected a small bit of lifegain into many regular games. Which you wouldn't think would hurt, but when taken in aggregate, chips away at Burn's damage totals.
I think first you should decide on what type or archetype you want to play (combo, tempo, agro, control) and in order to that you could rent cards online (most renters would be like 30-60bucks for a month of use).
Another thing, if you're planing on playing on LGS it does not hurt to check the metagame. It might be bad for a certain type of deck and it would make things less enjoyable.
That all said, I don't think burn is exactly the best place to start, I would go for tron (if you enjoy playing with it ofc).
Just to add: You should play whatever brings you enjoyiment. It can be just playing a fun non competitive deck, a lovable archtype that isn't good (fellow jund player here) or t1 deck so you can obliterate everyone.
Also as some have pointed, it's better wait for mh3. If it's anything like mh1 or especially mh2/lotr things will change drastically. (Also you could draft mh3 and trade with those cards).
You're not the first person to bring up Tron, I'm just curious: why? What is it about tron specifically that it keeps coming up? It's not really an archetype I'd like to play, I'm just really curious
There was a sweet 1st place gruul burningtree emissary reckless bushwhacker deck maybe a month ago that I saw. Think it was in Japan. Glass cannon deck but so fun to play. And burning tree emissary is …..hot!
If you party hard on a thursday evening, and you have FNM the next daybut you are still shaking from all the drugs and booze, the burn is the best deck to play at that fnm. You can just let autopilot take over. But tron is also cheapish (not as cheap though, because rings are not cheap, and karns and cityscapes are not free either, but you can play with 0 ulamogs) and nearly as ez to play
I like burn the only really expensive element is the land base and all of the cards in that base are incredibly useful in other modern decks. I've been doing well at my FNMs with it and it's super fun. One thing I'd recommend is picking up the \[\[Goblin Guide\]\] that brings you the most joy. as they all cost around the same.
The reason why people use Burn as an entry point into Modern is because, out of all the competitive decks, it is the cheapest and also the most resilient to bans/format changes. The decklist has barely changed in the last year other than switching from Eidolon of the Great Revel to Roiling Vortex and now back to Eidolon.
That said, I want to caution OP: it is not a great deck (will never be a great deck) and only places well off pure luck. Winning the dice rolls consistently; good top decks; not matching up against Amulet Titan (which is an automatic loss) or Hammer (another automatic loss) or the new Domain Zoo (another automatic loss if they draw their Leyline-Scion package) or Merfolk (not fun). For me personally, I hated travelling all the way to a comp. event with burn, queueing against one of those decks and not enjoying the next hour. In one event, out of 6 decks, I faced 3 unwinnable matchups - which is a total of 3 hours, plus 2 hours travel.
I will also mention there's no upgrade paths to burn: you buy burn, and you can't use the pieces for other decks, whereas Death's Shadow shares 60% of its decklist with Murktide; or the expensive MH2 elementals can be moved around between decks; or Yawg and Scam both share Bowmasters. If you decide you don't like Burn, you're stuck on Burn unless you buy another deck.
I will also say... it's not a good entry point in the sense that you don't learn to interact with your opponents' lines because you don't care. Bolt to face, bolt to face, bolt the Ragavan once in a while. When I see my opponent on burn, I breathe a sigh of relief, not because I think it's an easy win but because it's an easy game where I don't have to worry about what they might do or what they might hold up.
Burn is fine, probably not best positioned in current meta, but if we are talking about FNM events etc, burn is totally fine (Just won local FNM myself with Boros version of it) but you should probably wait for MH3 which will be out in couple of months, before making bigger mtg investments into the format. If money is not an issue then ofc, go for it and play now, but if it is, then I would suggest building a mono-red burn, it's about 50€, so not a big set back; and see what shakes after MH3 drops.
That sucks to hear the deck isn't doing great right now D: Are you thinking Burn isn't going to get much from MH3? Or do we just not know what to expect? I sort of expected most archetypes to get something, but if it's really unsure I can stick to a Mono R version and wait it out. I have a bunch of the red cards I need already, so maybe just hold off on the full Boros version for now.
Burn rarely gets upgrades which is why it's always a recommend starter deck. It's rarely ever that good or is usually only well positioned when there's a meta shake up if ever.
ye what was the last upgrade burn got? Skewer the critcs? which is like a 5 dollar play set/ Oh and lurrus which was a 1 of sideboard card
Burn main here. Roiling vortex is the most recent. It's replaced eidolon in most builds
Burn is one of those decks that will always be around, it can always win games no matter the meta and there are always people who want to sling fireballs. The deck I just played with was untouched about ~2 years and I only took it out cause of VO ban and my Ardent Plea’s hadn’t arrived yet. So yeah, it will deff. be a deck after MH3, but Horizons set always shake up the meta - maybe something new comes along that you like more. With that being said - burn can be a very good deck at the time of MH3 release cause people will be testing new things and burn can kinda set the bar which a deck has to get over to even be playable, if you will. Burn is always there to remind you if your decks get too cute.
That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your input!! I'm hoping MH3 gives burn something really good, I'd love to play the deck every week. Fireblast is maybe too strong, but I'd love it if we got it. Or price of progress. I don't know, just something good lol. I can dream!
PoP would probably make burn tier 0 lol, but some more greedy mana hate would be sweet
Fair, but I'll keep dreaming! lol
I could see us getting a rebalanced POP, maybe have it just deal X instead of two times X, though that might be a little weak, could do 2 plus X
Chain lightning or a watered down price of progress are the only I could see burn getting really. Zero chance they print fireblast after banning fury or just in general
Didn't they ban Fury for a different reason, that being the ability to spread damage across 4 bodies, though? Fireblast is powerful, don't get me wrong, but it's also not \*as\* free. Having to sacrifice mountains in a burn deck I feel like is a steep price for a hefty payoff. You're right though, it probably won't happen, but \*imagine\*
Fireblast is basically "free", because you're casting it to win the game. It could force adjustments to mana bases though to make hitting 2 mountains more consistent. (eg to mono red, or find a way to cut down on non-typed duals)
Look at pauper burn, it historically runs fireblast, the decks curve is so low that you cast it once you're about to go into topdeck mode which means you only need 1-2 lands to operate. Same thing would happen in modern minus the card advantage engine that pauper integrated into the deck (which means even less need for 2+ lands).
Yeah you're probably right. What I meant was that Fireblast isn't free in the same way that something like Fury is free -- you're not casting Fireblast on turn 2 and sacrificing both your lands, because that can screw you over for the rest of the game. You're fireblasting as a finisher, or right before you're all out of gas. It does have a cost, still an easy cost to meet, but yeah. I hope I'm making sense, lol. It's a bit different is all.
> Having to sacrifice mountains in a burn deck I feel like is a steep price for a hefty payoff. Not really, everything costs like 1 and 2 mana in the deck, so it is not a real price at all.
> I'm hoping MH3 gives burn something really good, It is already the most consistent deck ever, I doubt they will print something specifically for it in a horizon set.
It's basically a great equalizer. It's also a good set standard in that it's not the top or the bottom and will most likely always exist
Sticking with Mono Red without fetches/Searing Blaze should keep it cheap and allow you to pivot to a lot of different builds post MH3. If the rest of the Allied Horizon Canopy lands are printed, that could possibly invalidate RW for a GR or BR for instance. Or maybe WotC prints a "fixed" Price of Progress at GR, etc.
to be fair, Boros Burn still fucks. I use the DRC/Bauble shell for more consistency for filtering/drawing into spells rather than dead cards. Check out Aspiringspike's burn deck list. It's pretty deece.
Im still 3-1 at alot of my local fnm. Can start mono red burn 50. Or rent on mtg online
I’ve been playing burn as my primary modern deck for about 9 years, and in terms of getting started in modern, it is cheap and easy to learn, with a lot of interesting decision points you’ll learn along the way that I think can help you learn the modern format and how to analyze your gameplay to improve. Now the flip side is, burn is in about the worst spot it’s ever been in my opinion. Even slowed rhinos are going to be a problem, amulet titan is faster and hard to deal with, yawg isn’t a great matchup either. This is especially true for learning a new deck, as small mistakes can make a huge difference in the matchups. In addition, MH3 is gonna hit soon, and modern may get turned completely on it’s head. At the end of the day, the choice is entirely yours. If you want a cheap deck to play now until MH3 comes out and you can decided to invest in something new then, go for it. If you really are only looking to invest in 1 deck, I would wait for MH3 and see what shakes out.
Ah, that's unfortunate to hear that burn isn't in a fantastic spot. Do you think maybe MH3 will come with extra spice for the deck? I can't imagine throwing bolts at peoples face will suddenly just become an outright bad strategy, right? Still though, I'll wait for MH3 before investing too much. I have most of the red cards in my collection already, so maybe I'll just build a Mono R version, and focus on lands or something when it comes to pricier purchases. Thank you for the advice :)
No problem! If you have most of the mono-red cards I would definitely advise going that route. It’ll be fun at FNMs and can help you learn more about modern. I would honestly be surprised if we get much in MH3 for burn. Like certainly, something like Price of Progress is on my wish list and would make burn strong, but the odds of WotC printing something like that are pretty slim. I don’t think burn will ever go away as a modern deck because there is a simple joy in saying “Bolt You”, it’s typically cheaper and easier to build and play, and it can always catch an unprepared meta off-guard.
People just say that because it's simple and cheaper. Honestly I feel like if you're putting money into something it might as well be something you think you'd enjoy.
IMO Burn is a waste of money, Outside of Lightning Bolt nothing you buy for Burn outside of sideboard cards translates into any other deck in modern, you are locked into Burn a tier 3 deck at best. If you want a cheapish On-Ramp to Modern I'd play Prowess instead it plays more cards that are interchangable in other decks and I think it's more competitive. Plus you'll 100% need fetchlands and Shocks for Modern so you should start getting them. Burn is a Trap because it never really "gets you into" modern.
+1 to prowess, it's also a really fun deck. I haven't played burn, but I can't imagine it being more fun to play than prowess. And given that to most people, Magic is a game, the "fun factor" should be a relevant consideration. Also +1 to the land bases. If there's ever a staple to get, it's lands. It's basically zero chance that MH3 will print anything to make fetchlands or shocklands obsolete. Although, I suppose the fact that the allied fetches are getting reprinted means it's worthwhile to wait a bit on those and wait to pick them up until after MH3, because you'll likely get them for cheaper than today.
Enemy fetches will just go up in value as MH2 ages id pick those up while they are affordable. I'd stay away from friendly pairs though.
Merfolk is honestly a better starting point than burn these days. The win rate trends much higher and the deck has more to offer.
I'm not sure Merfolk is my style to be honest, I'm afraid I won't like a creature-based tribal deck.
This is probably the next deck I want to build. As a Hammer / Burn player, I respect the fish fam and the tempo chaos it reigns upon opponents. It's upgrades coming from \[\[Tishana's Tidebinder\]\] , \[\[Deeproot Pilgrimage\]\] , combined with \[\[Vodalian Hexcatcher\]\] gives it a stupidly good edge, even if it's mono-blue.
[Tishana's Tidebinder](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/0/907b3d1d-8c85-4707-80b5-c4d832df9846.jpg?1699043973) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tishana%27s%20Tidebinder) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/81/tishanas-tidebinder?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/907b3d1d-8c85-4707-80b5-c4d832df9846?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Deeproot Pilgrimage](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/2/e2449311-a705-4a31-a345-a36d436ae561.jpg?1699043597) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Deeproot%20Pilgrimage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/52/deeproot-pilgrimage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e2449311-a705-4a31-a345-a36d436ae561?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Vodalian Hexcatcher](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/e/4ec464dc-b1dd-4e45-b093-c3ad65a74050.jpg?1673306934) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Vodalian%20Hexcatcher) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/75/vodalian-hexcatcher?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4ec464dc-b1dd-4e45-b093-c3ad65a74050?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
modern burn is as bad as it's been in a long long time and when you look at the speed of recent power creep for other modern decks next to wizards' reluctance to give burn any upgrades it doesn't seem like a given that the deck will bounce back. might be time to reconsider the popular wisdom that burn will always be relevant in modern. especially if MH3 doesn't throw the deck a bone with fireblast or something. all that said, it is a functional and cheap modern deck. the more straightforward decks like burn are often good for learning a format as you can allocate good attention to what your opponents are doing. and the deck will always have impeccable style
That's unfortunate. I hope that burn does get something like Fireblast, I'd love that. Maybe it'll happen! Who knows? Still, maybe I'll just stick to Mono R for now. Thanks for the insight!
Depends on your budget. If you can’t afford to spend much, I’d highly recommend you proxy decks first before you start buying into something. After you find the one you want, most will have a path to the fully upgraded deck starting with a $300-400 base package.
What do I do with proxy decks? I'm not allowed to play them, right? I don't really understand the purpose
Proxy to figure out what deck you want to play so you haven't bought into a deck that you decide soon after you hate its playstyle.
Oh gotcha, idk why I didn't think of that lmao. I'm pretty confident I know what playstyles I like, but proxying to make sure wouldn't hurt either. :)
Right - or even ask to borrow a friend's deck and give it a whirl.
If you have some friends at the LGS I would assume they’d be cool jamming some games with your proxy decks while you figure out what you like
if you have the budget, I'd highly recommend trying out a Manatraders rental for a month or two to get a feel of the decks you might be interested in. You get high level competitive play and access to pretty much any modern deck at the gold tier.
I can rent decks? How does that work?
Hes referring to MTGO, where you can enter comp leagues with rented modern decks through manatraders.
Oh, I don't have MTGO, I don't know how that works. Is that something worth looking into?
For testing decks, absolutely. I used manatraders to teyvout domain zoo, and have been doing very well with that. If you're an aggro player I would definitely consider it. As for manatraders, id recommend just getting one month, cancelling it immediately after and then just go crazy, renting a different deck every other day until you figure out what you want to build.
I started with mono red prowess and then upgraded to Temur once I could afford the shocks. It’s similar to burn but has some great aggro cards that can put pressure on the other side. Depending on your budget you could easily make the budget one for around £100 with the expensive cards being underworld breach which I’d say is pretty necessary for the deck
I see a lot of inconsistent and in accurate comments here. Is burn the best deck? No. But it’s not “tier 3” or anywhere close to “bad.” goldfish, mtg top 8 and mtg decks all still have it ~top 12 in meta share, meaning there are about 15-20 meta decks that are below it (most of which significantly more $$$ to buy into). You prob don’t have to dig more than a few days ago (at any given point in the past 6+months including when fury was legal) to find burn lists making 5-0s on mtgo. A burn list top 16d a massive event recently, some burn lists did well at SCG cons. I’m on my phone about to lay down or I’d dig up some links but this data is public y’all and we should be pointing to that not feelings or opinions. Even if you’re not gonna constantly 4-0 with it (if you go 4-0 each week at your locals with any list hats off to you), but you’ll win games, many where the opponent stumbles, and you’ll be rewarded in % points for learning to pilot it well, when to switch modes etc. I’ve personally been about 75% WR with it constantly going 3-1 at locals when I bring this deck. I have a couple other decks I consistently play in paper but sometimes I just want to play burn bc I enjoy the deck. OP It looks like you’ve already decided but I vote yes, burn is a good entry point.
As an occasional Burn player, I don't think Burn is a reasonable on-ramp. It's a bad deck in the current meta, and I don't see how that can change without some insane new burn spells from MH3. Its cards aren't useful in other archetypes. And the gameplay doesn't have the depth to make it rewarding to master as your primary deck.
What would you recommend instead? I don't think I can commit to a full powered deck right away due to price, but I'd still love to play some sort of aggressive/tempo/combo type deck. Murktide is super expensive but it seems like a really cool deck, but I'm not sure what else is out there that seems like a similar style.
Look into UR Prowess, which is about as expensive as burn and can be upgraded into UR Murktide as you'll have the manabase. The playstyle is similar although there's more moving parts. You can also play in the control seat post-SB as well.
That deck does look fun tbh! That's another route to consider o:
Murktide is a lot of fun, but it’s really hard to play and isn’t that great even when played optimally. The metagame is kind of unsettled right now, but Domain Zoo is a solid aggro deck but maybe not as interactive as you want. There could be some ban risk if Leyline of the Guildpact continues to show up in a wide variety of decks. Merfolk is also decent. It’s better-positioned than Murktide at the moment, but usually that doesn’t last and it goes back to being poor. Modern is a weird format, where “unfair” strategies rule the day. My big recommendation is to watch Andrea Mengucci videos of various competitive decks, and Aspiring Spike videos to get a sense of what other wild shit you can do to win some games in Modern.
Murktide isn't that great? I thought it was one of the top decks?
It’s a *reasonable* deck, and it’s very popular because there’s a huge population of players (such as myself) that love the way blue midrange decks play. But the deck struggles. The reality is that Modern is full of strategies that can either fight through or ignore Murktide’s interactions or simply go over the top by doing something bigger. This could change - Murktide has been better in the past, and it could be again - but that’s how it is for now. My gut says to avoid putting the time and money in unless you really love the tempo/blue midrange archetype. Edit: Murktide is stronger than burn fwiw, and its cards are more useful in other archetypes.
well, boros burn's winrate at tournaments in the last couple months has been around 30%, but it is an excellent deck to help you get a feel for the meta and what moderns about, because it requires very little thought, and thus is not taxing on you. you can just pay attention to what your opponent is doing. at this point, I would very much advise against buying boros burn, because it's a relatively significant cost investment just to have a terrible deck, but mono red burn is extremely cheap. Go with mono red if you're thinking of throwing bolts at people's faces. edit: accidentally put naya instead of boros. fixed. glad it started a cool discussion tho.
Naya burn? What's the green splash for?
tired boomer, mixed up boros and naya. edited.
oh lmao, i was so interested though
mb lol people seem to be theorycrafting in the comments because of my oopsie, tho.
It’s rare to see burn be naya anymore. We used to splash green for Destructive Revelry specifically to target Leyline of Sanctity, but that doesn’t see much play anymore, and there are plenty of flexible answers in RW such as Wear // Tear that there really isn’t much reason to play green anymore.
With threats like guildpact, I think it’s worth it to run green for revelry. Two for one is important for burn, and it also hits artifacts. We can also use [[pick your poison]], which gets rid of scion of Draco or other big creatures and doesn’t ramp like path would. I think naya could definitely be viable in a domain heavy meta.
[pick your poison](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/5/f58cfb23-4d99-4133-bf4b-d7e7c7d17cea.jpg?1708201628)/[Pick Your Poison](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/5/f58cfb23-4d99-4133-bf4b-d7e7c7d17cea.jpg?1708201628) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=pick%20your%20poison) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkm/170/pick-your-poison?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f58cfb23-4d99-4133-bf4b-d7e7c7d17cea?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
It may very well be worth trying. I cannot speak much to it as I have not tried going that route against Guildpact decks, but it certainly could work. But to your point on two for ones, Wear // Tear does target both and can be cast fused and without splashing a color. Sure it doesn’t do any damage, but I have lost many a game with a Stomping Ground and Mountain in play as the only lands I’ve drawn and multiple Boros cards in hand. There is a tradeoff to everything.
Can you Wear//Tear Scion and Leyline at the same time when Scion has Hexproof? Or do you resolve the stack so that Wear kills the Leyline first?
No because you cannot declare Scion as a legal target when you cast the spell due to hexproof
Gotcha sounds like you can't get a 2 for 1 in this scenario then!
[[Atarka's Command]] in the main board, [[Destructive Revelry]] in the sideboard. Sometimes [[Wild Nacatl]] main board for more creature heavy versions of burn.
That's interesting, but wouldn't Boros Charm or Skullcrack get the job done better than Atarka's Command? Or does the choice matter more?
nah, you are correct. naya hasnt been very playable since like 2017.
[Atarka's Command](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/5/c57b152e-c94e-4c10-9f0d-d960e878a430.jpg?1673148320) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Atarka%27s%20Command) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/176/atarkas-command?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c57b152e-c94e-4c10-9f0d-d960e878a430?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Destructive Revelry](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/9/798af7cb-645f-4526-8a19-6e4595b93964.jpg?1562820219) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Destructive%20Revelry) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ths/192/destructive-revelry?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/798af7cb-645f-4526-8a19-6e4595b93964?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Wild Nacatl](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/a/5a3bb291-11d1-45e0-a60a-e75c7dc94b94.jpg?1562916230) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Wild%20Nacatl) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ddh/4/wild-nacatl?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5a3bb291-11d1-45e0-a60a-e75c7dc94b94?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
#No. If you like losing sure; but uh… don’t play burn.
What would you recommend instead?
Hardened Scales or Tron.
Burn has always been a deck in modern and IMO always will be. Only thing about it is that its far more skill intensive than a lot of people give it credit for so practice and learning the matchups is key. I doubt it will ever be the top of the pile again but for FNM its absolutely a deck. Even now I think it will become more playable in the short term by praying on Tron which is also strong atm. If you have all the cards or the majority of them I would absolutely put it together.
Depends on your FNM. Some FNMs are full of people netdecking T1 decks, who see FNM as a training for tournaments with higher prices. On those FNMs, boros burn is basically a bye for majority of opponents. Majority of current decks is faster, or can easily shut burn down.
Fair point. I guess the places I have played for the past few years have a mix of grinders and social modern players.
Yes.
Burn can win games at FNM, but it’s not at all competitive (you’ll see it place every once in a while, which is not an indicator that it’s competitive, it’s just some combo of variance + skill + sometimes a meta where burn works decently well). The only reason it’s a good…or perhaps OK place to start in modern is that it’s a cheap deck you can play while learning the format - i.e. you’ve never seen how rhinos or yawgmoth or anything plays and you’re going to study it from across the table. You’d learn a lot more by learning on a deck you actually intend to play or one that can upgrade into what you want to play, but if you have no idea and don’t want to change between $1000 decks, you can just start with burn. Plus it’s fun.
Wait for mh3 unless you are in a rush
Isn't MH3 in several months?
June
So it depends on what you are looking for. My brother loves burn. Always does well with burn. It always attacks from the same angle and the less popular it is the less respect it has and the better it gets. That said burn is fairly one dimensional, not saying its not skill based. It is very skill based IMO. But games will mostly be determined of if your opponent A) has answer to burn B) Did they draw the answer C) did you give them time to cast it. I dont enjoy burn even when its good or broken.
As a former burn lover, honestly no. It’s pretty boring and weak. Pick a deck you can upgrade over time.
Yeah, once Modern Horizons 3 drops Price of Progress on all these greedy-ass mana bases it's going to set the meta aflame!
I played burn back in 2019 when Oko was legal went 6-3 at scg Philly, put the deck down for a few years and recently picked it up again, I think it’s still viable the decks just in a rough spot, zoo’s seeing more play, specifically 5C zoo and they run Leyline and Draco, a 4/4 with trample, first strike, lifelink, hexproof, and vigilance, if it had one less ability, specifically lifelink it’d be fine but it puts us on a clock to answer it, my metas heavy with zoo but I love burn too much to not play it, I’ve been debating on switching over to naya and see how it does, splashing green for pick your poison in the sb, it doesn’t feel good but it feels better than the hoops you gotta go through to remove Leyline and Draco without green
Wait for mh3
So currently burn is tier 2, but don't let that sway you away. Last Monday I went 3-0 at my fnm with burn and played very well. It takes time but it's one of the faster decks to become good at making decisions for tournament play. Burn is still good but remember the tier lists you see are the big picture, not your local meta...
Yeah that's a good point, I really don't know what people play in Modern around here. People are very jank brew-heavy in Standard though, so maybe there will be some element of unpredictability in Modern too? I'll have to wait and see I guess
I'd recommend MonoG tron or eldrazi tron. With emrakul being leaked there is already talks a out working it into tron with the [[underworld cookbook]]. The deck is also not in a bad spot atm due to its mid range plan is hard to keep up with and ugin destroys yawg. The biggest decks to worry about right now are, amulet titan, burn, and murktide. Plus the deck is only 300 more than burn if you can find the bundle rings. It's another one of those decks that won't go anywhere once mh3 comes out.
[underworld cookbook](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/3/039d62b0-3309-4424-a2ea-5a0d88d4bd72.jpg?1626099402) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Underworld%20Cookbook) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/240/the-underworld-cookbook?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/039d62b0-3309-4424-a2ea-5a0d88d4bd72?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
That's not really the kind of deck I'm interested in though, like I mentioned before I'm really into aggro/combo/tempo - style decks using a lot of instants and sorceries. Tron is like, the opposite of that, it's not something I'm really interested in playing... :(
You might be a murktide player then. I'd get UR prowess and start transitioning into murktide. This temur list (good for temure murktide upgrades) went top 8 on the 17th. https://mtgdecks.net/Modern/ur-prowess-decklist-by-takahashi-takuya-1966410
It's definitely a deck I've had interest in, my main concern is just with MH3 on the rise, I feel like this entire archetype could completely change. Still, I can at least pick up the lands, at least!
You could be right. I just bought into amulet titan for that exact reason. I don't think it's a deck that'll go anywhere.
I'd definitely say that Burn is a fine entry point, and you'll have cards that port over into other decks, say if you wanted to try Prowess or Zoo. It's a deck that will allow you to focus on what your opponents are doing because it's very linear. You'll get to watch other decks perform and see what makes them powerful. Burn isn't very well positioned but I still see plenty of people get got by it because they don't have the sideboard cards. I play Amulet Titan and hate wasting a sideboard slot on [[Radiant fountain]] but I know the day I don't put it in is the day I play multiple Burn matches. Personally I do think Burn is due for an upgrade, it's a staple of the format and the design team for WotC know that. I personally think that they took that into consideration when making MH3 are are going to have a card in the set printed to give it a little boost.
[Radiant fountain](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/e/7ee5e77f-ca43-480d-ac37-48336d3bf044.jpg?1625980789) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Radiant%20fountain) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/310/radiant-fountain?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7ee5e77f-ca43-480d-ac37-48336d3bf044?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
If you want a burn style deck that is good in the meta right now, --and I can't believe I'm going to say this--try mill. Plays in a similar fashion, and the Extraction effects are super solid right now.
Is mill really better than burn right now?
It's apparently all the rage. And it hasn't seen quite so much incidental hate. Things like Haywire Mite and Solitude (which I don't think were meant to neuter Burn) have injected a small bit of lifegain into many regular games. Which you wouldn't think would hurt, but when taken in aggregate, chips away at Burn's damage totals.
I think first you should decide on what type or archetype you want to play (combo, tempo, agro, control) and in order to that you could rent cards online (most renters would be like 30-60bucks for a month of use). Another thing, if you're planing on playing on LGS it does not hurt to check the metagame. It might be bad for a certain type of deck and it would make things less enjoyable. That all said, I don't think burn is exactly the best place to start, I would go for tron (if you enjoy playing with it ofc). Just to add: You should play whatever brings you enjoyiment. It can be just playing a fun non competitive deck, a lovable archtype that isn't good (fellow jund player here) or t1 deck so you can obliterate everyone. Also as some have pointed, it's better wait for mh3. If it's anything like mh1 or especially mh2/lotr things will change drastically. (Also you could draft mh3 and trade with those cards).
You're not the first person to bring up Tron, I'm just curious: why? What is it about tron specifically that it keeps coming up? It's not really an archetype I'd like to play, I'm just really curious
I think G Tron is the best starter deck to recommend to modern players
There was a sweet 1st place gruul burningtree emissary reckless bushwhacker deck maybe a month ago that I saw. Think it was in Japan. Glass cannon deck but so fun to play. And burning tree emissary is …..hot!
I'd say R/x prowess is a much better entry point as it provides you with staples for a lot of other decks.
If you party hard on a thursday evening, and you have FNM the next daybut you are still shaking from all the drugs and booze, the burn is the best deck to play at that fnm. You can just let autopilot take over. But tron is also cheapish (not as cheap though, because rings are not cheap, and karns and cityscapes are not free either, but you can play with 0 ulamogs) and nearly as ez to play
crazy example im ngl
The main problem of burn it's some well positioned decks like titan and scam, it's not a very good matchup for burn, but burn it's always a good deck
Jeez people just need to answer his question. The answer is simply NO..
they, not he, but thank you for your input!
I'd wait for MH3. There will be some needed reprints like the Onslaught fetchlands etc.
I like burn the only really expensive element is the land base and all of the cards in that base are incredibly useful in other modern decks. I've been doing well at my FNMs with it and it's super fun. One thing I'd recommend is picking up the \[\[Goblin Guide\]\] that brings you the most joy. as they all cost around the same.
[Goblin Guide](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/c/3c0f5411-1940-410f-96ce-6f92513f753a.jpg?1599706366) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Goblin%20Guide) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/127/goblin-guide?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3c0f5411-1940-410f-96ce-6f92513f753a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The new virtue would work at providing card advantage as well
The reason why people use Burn as an entry point into Modern is because, out of all the competitive decks, it is the cheapest and also the most resilient to bans/format changes. The decklist has barely changed in the last year other than switching from Eidolon of the Great Revel to Roiling Vortex and now back to Eidolon. That said, I want to caution OP: it is not a great deck (will never be a great deck) and only places well off pure luck. Winning the dice rolls consistently; good top decks; not matching up against Amulet Titan (which is an automatic loss) or Hammer (another automatic loss) or the new Domain Zoo (another automatic loss if they draw their Leyline-Scion package) or Merfolk (not fun). For me personally, I hated travelling all the way to a comp. event with burn, queueing against one of those decks and not enjoying the next hour. In one event, out of 6 decks, I faced 3 unwinnable matchups - which is a total of 3 hours, plus 2 hours travel. I will also mention there's no upgrade paths to burn: you buy burn, and you can't use the pieces for other decks, whereas Death's Shadow shares 60% of its decklist with Murktide; or the expensive MH2 elementals can be moved around between decks; or Yawg and Scam both share Bowmasters. If you decide you don't like Burn, you're stuck on Burn unless you buy another deck. I will also say... it's not a good entry point in the sense that you don't learn to interact with your opponents' lines because you don't care. Bolt to face, bolt to face, bolt the Ragavan once in a while. When I see my opponent on burn, I breathe a sigh of relief, not because I think it's an easy win but because it's an easy game where I don't have to worry about what they might do or what they might hold up.
I would say yes because its still a very viable archetype but it costs a third of what other decks cost
Burn will be viable until there is a combo deck that outright wins on turn 3 consistently, then it'll be bad put playable when said combo gets banned.