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In Zendikar, the Ascension enchantments take you on an "occupational" journey rather than the material journey you take on with the common and uncommon quests. Completing complex tasks elevate you to some glorified title, be it Luminarch, Archmage, Bloodchief, Beastmaster, or in the case of the red mage and this week's article, Pyromancer.
Pyromancer Ascension is a well designed card in the sense that it can appeal to Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. It has explosive possibilities for Timmy, combo appeal for Johnny, and efficiency and consistency for Spike. Finally, there's something that the three bickering brothers can agree on. Today we'll look at three different ways to build around Pyromancer Ascension, one for each of our psychological profile friends, as well as how they win and where they could use some work. Let's start with Timmy's explosive number, Pyro-Go.
[deck title="Timmy: Blue-Red Pyro-Go" author="Kenny 'Lan' Karasu, MTG Salvation" align="center"]Main Deck
3 Chandra Ablaze
3 Jace Beleren
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Burst Lightning
4 Punishing Fire
4 Volcanic Fallout
3 Double Negative
3 Into the Roil
4 Pyromancer Ascension
4 Divination
7 Island
9 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Crumbling Necropolis
Sideboard
3 Banefire
3 Unstable Footing
3 Pyroclasm
3 Flashfreeze
3 Negate[/deck]
We talk about efficiency and consistency being Spike values, but Timmy gets a piece of the tournament pie in this FNM-viable deck. Of course, Timmy is Timmy, so he also gets what every Timmy dreams of. One of the most hellacious knockouts I have ever seen in the form of Chandra Ablaze's ultimate and Pyromancer Ascension. Your head asplode, indeed.
[deck title="Johnny: 'Lucky Charms'" author="Kenny 'Lan' Karasu, MTG Salvation" align="center"]Main Deck
4 Pyromancer Ascension
4 Violent Outburst
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Volcanic Fallout
4 Naya Charm
4 Intimidation Bolt
2 Ajani Vengeant
4 Day of Judgment
4 Captured Sunlight
4 Bloodbraid Elf
5 Plains
6 Mountain
3 Forest
3 Rootbound Crag
2 Sunpetal Grove
3 Jungle Shrine
No Sideboard Provided[/deck]
This deck wins by recurring anything and everything over and over with copies of Naya Charm. To complete the Ascension, Lan cascades into his spells rather than casting a bunch of cheap ones. He also has eight shots at Pyromancer Ascension with Violent Outburst. (Pray you don't hit Lightning Bolt instead.) There's also been talk of putting together a mana base that can get infinite turns by recurring Time Warp with Naya Charm. While explosive, again remember that it's very difficult, if not impossible, to pull off considering what our mana options are in today's Standard. Once again I point to the lack of Vivids and Reflecting Pool in this format as something hindering this deck concept.
[deck title="Spike: Creatureless Pyromancer Ascension" author="Karl Goronowski" align="center"]Main Deck
4 Crumbling Necropolis
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
1 Exotic Orchard
3 Island
3 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Swamp
4 Cruel Ultimatum
4 Double Negative
2 Earthquake
4 Grixis Charm
2 Jace Beleren
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
4 Pyromancer Ascension
4 Time Warp
4 Worldly Counsel
Sideboard
2 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Countersquall
4 Magma Spray
2 Swerve
3 Terminate[/deck]
Of course, we save the tournament winner for Spike. This list captures what I believe is the core idea of a Pyromancer Ascension deck: Get two counters on the enchantment as quickly as possible with cheap spells, then lower the boom with Cruel Ultimatum and Lightning Bolt, while taking all the time in the world (quite literally) with Time Warp. You also have efficient digging with Jace, Ponder, and a surprise addition in Worldly Counsel. The sideboard also sets up quite nicely with Bogardan Hellkite as extra protection from things like those pesky Vampires. I just don't know abut Grixis Charm, though. Remember that if you copy it with Pyromancer's Ascension, the copy is locked into the same mode as the original. I would add an extra win condition, such as Banefire, Burst Lightning, and/or Bogardan Hellkite.
Other cards to consider
The great part about not kicking Sphinx this deck is that if you're short on quest counters, you can discard cards from the Comes into Play – I mean Enters the Battlefield – trigger to fill up your graveyard and give you more options to level up.
I didn't know a 5/5 untargetable flyer that gives you valuable information would have such a hard time finding a home in this format. This, along with Guardian Seraph, is one of the most underrated cards in Standard. Respect the peeker.
If you're going to build one of these lists for States or FNM, I would suggest Karl's Grixis list. It does everything you want Pyromancer's Ascension to do – and everything it should do – with no extraneous bells and/or whistles. It's consistent, it's fun, and most importantly, it's good. Make tweaks if you must, but give it a shot.
Next week, while you recover from the tryptophan in your Thanksgiving turkey, I'll take a break from decklists and give you a PTQ report. Hopefully it'll consist of more than two rounds of thoughts. *cough*
Until next time, double your pleasure.
-Sam
