One of the best places to look when building a budget deck is at the commons and uncommons of a set. You can often find at least one or two cards designed to be drafted around. The effectiveness of these cards depends highly on what else you have in your deck, making them risky choices when drafting but prime candidates for an inexpensive Constructed deck. Today, I'll be looking at a deck built to take advantage of one of these cards: Spellheart Chimera.

"Izzet Blitz"

• Creatures (12)
• 4 Guttersnipe
• 4 Nivix Cyclops
• 4 Spellheart Chimera

• Spells (25)
• 3 Disperse
• 4 Izzet Charm
• 4 Quicken
• 3 Mizzium Mortars
• 3 Teleportal
• 4 Armed // Dangerous
• 4 Mugging

• Lands (23)
• 11 Mountain
• 8 Island
• 4 Izzet Guildgate

Buy This Deck

The Creatures

Spellheart Chimera isn't nearly as fast, but it does come with its own advantages. It has flying, so many decks will have a hard time blocking at all. In addition, the combination of flying and 3 toughness allows it to win in combat against Nightveil Specter, which has become quite popular thanks to the recent Pro Tour. It also doesn't require you to keep casting instants and sorceries throughout the game. Once you've cast four or five, it will continue to be a powerful attacker even if you start top-decking lands.

Guttersnipe doesn't deal as much damage per spell as Nivix Cyclops can, but it also doesn't require you to attack, making it easy to keep the damage flowing when you don't have a Teleportal or removal spell to clear the way. It can also deal damage the turn you cast it, allowing you to surprise your opponent after he's dealt with your other creatures.

The Spells

Teleportal is key to making Nivix Cyclops work. Attacking for 10 damage isn't going to do much if your opponent can just block it. In addition to making a big, unblockable Cyclops, Teleportal can be overloaded later in the game to allow you to swing in with your whole army, including the noncombatant Guttersnipe. This is another great way to finish off your opponent, even from a fairly high life total.

Mugging, despite all appearances, is actually a split card. On one side, you have Shock, a reasonable if unspectacular removal spell. On the other, side you have Panic, a more temporary way to get rid of a creature, but one whose effectiveness does not depend on toughness. Having both of these abilities on one card is quite valuable for a deck like this, and it goes a long way toward making sure Nivix Cyclops doesn't have to worry about blockers. Besides, Mugging a God is a lot of fun.

Izzet Charm is among the best spells in this deck. It really does it all. You can use it as a Shock to get rid of a small creature or to protect your own creature from a removal spell with the Spell Pierce mode. As though that weren’t enough, the Faithless Looting mode smooths your draws and allows you to dump an instant or two into the graveyard to pump up Spellheart Chimera. This is another way to earn surprise wins, using Izzet Charm mid-combat to put an extra 3 power on your Chimera for only 2 mana. It may not be the most efficient card for any one of its modes, but its extreme versatility makes it incredibly valuable.

Disperse is largely a nod to the popularity of Master of Waves, whose protection from red would otherwise be a big problem. Although it's not a permanent solution, getting rid of the Master and all his waves for one turn can often give you an opening large enough to steal victory. In addition to Master of Waves, Disperse can temporarily get rid of any threat. You can get rid of a Whip of Erebos mid-combat to prevent your opponent from gaining life or from using the ability or you can even poof away one of the Gods.

Quicken is a cheap cantrip that triggers Nivix Cyclops and Guttersnipe without costing you a card. It also allows you to cast your sorceries at instant speed. You can remove a creature with Mizzium Mortars or Mugging on your opponent's turn if necessary, and, perhaps most importantly, you can cast Armed // Dangerous after your opponent has declared blockers.

Playtesting

Devoted to U – Game 1

I drew Izzet Charm, played my Island, and ended my turn. My opponent played another Island and passed. I cast Quicken at the end of his turn and killed the Cloudfin Raptor with Mugging. I drew Teleportal from the Quicken and a Mountain on my turn.

I played my Mountain, cast Spellheart Chimera, and ended my turn. My opponent played a Mutavault and cast Thassa, God of the Sea. He passed the turn.

I drew another Spellheart Chimera and attacked for 2. I cast the second copy of the creature and ended my turn. My opponent played an Island and cast Jace, Architect of Thought. He used his +1 ability and ended his turn.

I drew a Mountain and cast Izzet Charm to draw. I drew a Mountain and another Izzet Charm, and I discarded Quicken and Teleportal. I cast the second Charm, drawing Disperse and a Mountain and discarding the two Mountains. I then attacked, killing Jace with one Chimera and hitting my opponent for 5 with the other. I ended my turn. My opponent played an Island, cast Nightveil Specter, and passed back.

I drew Mugging, killed the Specter with Mizzium Mortars, and attacked with my now-7/3 Chimeras for the win.

Game 2

My opponent played an Island and cast another Raptor before ending his turn. I drew an Island, played it, and passed.

My opponent played an Island and cast Thassa, God of the Sea. He ended his turn. I drew Disperse, played a Mountain, and cast Nivix Cyclops before passing the turn.

He played an Island and cast two Frostburn Weirds, putting 2 counters on each Cloudfin Raptor. The Raptors and Thassa attacked, and I dropped to 11. I drew Izzet Guildgate, played it, and passed the turn.

My opponent played an Island and attacked with everything. I blocked Frostburn Weird with Nivix Cyclops, and I bounced Thassa with Disperse. My opponent pumped up the unblocked Weird twice, and I dropped to 4. He cast Thassa again, putting a counter on each Cloudfin Raptor, and he ended his turn. I drew a Mountain, played my Island, and cast Armed on Nivix Cyclops. I cast Mugging on Thassa, killed a Cloudfin Raptor with Mizzium Mortars, and attacked for 22 damage with the Cyclops to win the game.

Wrap-Up

This deck really thrives against decks with little removal, such as mono-blue. The flying Chimeras are difficult to race, and Nivix Cyclops can kill you out of nowhere. It's also a lot of fun to play, and it’s very deep strategically. Since everything in the deck costs 3 mana or less, you have an incredibly large number of options each turn, and which choice you make can have a drastic impact on subsequent turns. If you're looking for an explosive deck that will catch many players by surprise, give this one a try.