Pyromancer Ascension is a deck that has fallen in and out of favor ever since the card was first printed. From infinite combos to straight burn spells, the deck has seen quite a few variations. Currently, it seems the best option is somewhere in between. Here’s the build I’ve been working with.

[cardlist]

[Spells]

3 Into the Roil

4 Incinerate

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Mana Leak

4 Volt Charge

4 Gitaxian Probe

4 Ponder

4 Preordain

4 Pyromancer Ascension

3 Shrine of Piercing Vision

[/Spells]

[Lands]

6 Island

7 Mountain

1 Evolving Wilds

4 Halimar Depths

4 Terramorphic Expanse

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

4 Combust

4 Flashfreeze

3 Slagstorm

4 Spreading Seas

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

The Deck

Pyromancer Ascension is the heart of the deck. Doubling all your spells is very powerful, and once Pyromancer Ascension is active, it will usually take only three burn spells to kill your opponent.

Preordain and Ponder dig for Pyromancer Ascension, and once it’s active, they can dig up burn spells to finish off your opponent.

Gitaxian Probe helps you dig through your deck more rapidly, and also gives you a peek at what your opponent is planning. Seeing your opponent’s hand is very valuable in this deck, and can help you determine when to leave mana open for a Mana Leak and when to spend your mana on Ponders and Preordains.

Shrine of Piercing Vision can charge up quite quickly with all the cheap Blue spells, and will ensure that you can still find Pyromancer Ascension even when Ponder and Preordain fail.

Mana Leak helps slow down your opponent enough for you to get a Pyromancer Ascension online, and can also protect the enchantment against removal. Once the Ascension is active, it becomes essentially a hard counter, as your opponent will almost never have 6 extra mana to pay.

Into the Roil helps take care of anything that gets past Mana Leak, and assists in slowing down your opponent’s game plan. If you have some extra mana, it can also help dig through your deck a bit more.

Lightning Bolt continues to be an incredibly powerful burn spell. It easily takes care of any aggressive creatures coming your way, and helps to quickly finish off your opponent.

Incinerate serves as Lightning Bolts five through eight. 1 more mana isn’t too much to ask, and it remains an effective burn spell.

Volt Charge is another burn spell to help kill your opponent and his creatures, albeit a more expensive one. The advantage here is that if you can only get one counter on Pyromancer Ascension, a single Volt Charge will activate it. If you need to use it early, it can also proliferate Shrine of Piercing Vision, helping you find the Ascension that much more quickly.

The Sideboard

Combust takes care of Deceiver Exarch quite nicely. It can’t be countered, and it can’t be redirected to Spellskite. With all the ways to dig for it, Combust should be enough to give you an edge over that other R/U deck.

Spreading Seas helps immensely against Valakut decks. It even replaces itself, keeping you on track when digging for an Ascension.

Flashfreeze replaces Mana Leak in the relevant matchups, and makes sure that Valakut decks aren’t safe just leaving up 3 mana.

Slagstorm helps keep you alive against aggressive decks. The popularity of Tempered Steel decks makes dealing 3 damage rather than 2 quite important, and the possibility of using it to kill your opponent in a pinch is an added bonus.

Play-Testing

Valakut – Game 1

I won the roll and kept a hand of two Mountains, Island, Halimar Depths, Lightning Bolt, Preordain, and Mana Leak. I opened with Halimar Depths, putting Gitaxian Probe, Ponder, and Halimar Depths on top. My opponent played a Forest and passed the turn. I drew Gitaxian Probe and cast it, paying 2 life. I drew the Ponder, and saw Forest, Mountain, two Overgrown Battlements, Rampant Growth, Oracle of Mul Daya, and Pyroclasm. I played an Island and cast Ponder. I drew Pyromancer Ascension and put Preordain and Halimar Depths on top. I then cast Preordain, putting Halimar Depths on bottom and drawing the second Preordain. I passed the turn. My opponent played a Mountain, cast Overgrown Battlement, and passed the turn. I drew Lightning Bolt, played a Mountain, and cast Pyromancer Ascension. I then cast Preordain, putting a counter on the Ascension, scrying two lands to the bottom, and drawing a second Pyromancer Ascension. I then ended my turn. My opponent played a Mountain, cast another Overgrown Battlement, and tapped the first to cast Rampant Growth, getting a Mountain. He then passed the turn. I drew Shrine of Piercing Vision, cast the second Pyromancer Ascension, and passed the turn. My opponent played a Forest and cast Primeval Titan. He had 3 mana open, so I didn’t bother casting Mana Leak. He searched up a Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and a Mountain, then cast Harrow, sacrificing a Forest. I Mana Leaked that and he ended his turn. I drew Mana Leak, and cast both Lightning Bolts on the Primeval Titan, killing it and putting a counter on each Pyromancer Ascension. I then passed the turn. My opponent cast Oracle of Mul Daya, revealing Solemn Simulacrum, then played a Forest and passed the turn. I drew Incinerate and cast it, killing the Oracle and dealing 3 to my opponent with the copy. I then ended my turn. My opponent drew the Simulacrum and cast it, searching up a fifth Mountain. He passed the turn. I drew a second Incinerate, cast Shrine of Piercing Vision, and passed the turn. My opponent attacked me for 2 with the Simulacrum, then cast another Oracle of Mul Daya, revealing a Pyroclasm. He ended his turn, and I cast my Incinerate, killing the Oracle and the Solemn Simulacrum and activating the second Pyromancer Ascension. I drew a Mountain, played it, and passed the turn. My opponent passed back with no plays. I drew a third Pyromancer Ascension, cast it, and passed the turn. My opponent cast Rampant Growth, getting a Mountain and dropping me to 15 before ending his turn. I drew an Island, played it, and passed the turn. My opponent played another Solemn Simulacrum, getting a Mountain and dropping me to 12. He then passed the turn. I drew a Terramorphic Expanse, sacrificed it for a Mountain, and ended my turn. My opponent dropped me to 10 with the Simulacrum, then played Verdant Catacombs and passed the turn. I drew another Shrine of Piercing Vision and cracked the first one for 5, getting a Ponder. I cast the Ponder, copying it twice and putting a counter on the third Ascension. When those resolved, I had drawn another Ponder, an Island, and a Mana Leak. I played the Island, then cast the Ponder, copying it twice and activating the third Ascension. This time, I got Lightning Bolt, Preordain, and Into the Roil. I cast the Preordain, copying it three times. I drew Halimar Depths, Ponder, Volt Charge, and the fourth Pyromancer Ascension. I cast the Ascension, then cast Ponder, copying it three times and putting a counter on the last Ascension. That got me a Mountain, a Preordain, and two Volt Charges. I then cast Lightning Bolt, dealing 12 damage to my opponent and activating the last Ascension. I cast Volt Charge for 15 damage, and that was it.

Sideboarding:

−4 Mana Leak

−3 Into the Roil

−1 Volt Charge

+4 Flashfreeze

+4 Spreading Seas

Valakut – Game 2

I kept a hand of Halimar Depths, Terramorphic Expanse, Mountain, Shrine of Piercing Vision, Volt Charge, Spreading Seas, and Flashfreeze. My opponent opened with a Forest and a Birds of Paradise. I drew Gitaxian Probe and played Halimar Depths, putting two Preordains and an Incinerate on top before passing the turn. My opponent played a Mountain, cast Explore, played a Forest, and cast Overgrown Battlement. He then passed the turn. I drew Preordain, then paid 2 life to cast Gitaxian Probe. I saw Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Green Sun's Zenith, and Terramorphic Expanse, and drew the second Preordain. Assured that there was no way for him to get Primeval Titan just yet, I cast Shrine of Piercing Vision and passed the turn. My opponent played Valakut and passed the turn. I drew Incinerate, played Terramorphic Expanse, sacrificed it for an Island, and passed the turn. My opponent followed suit with a Terramorphic Expanse of his own, sacrificing it for a Mountain and passing the turn. I drew a Mountain, played it, and cast Spreading Seas on Valakut. I drew a Mountain and passed the turn. My opponent played a Mountain and cast Harrow, sacrificing the Valakut and getting two Mountains. He then ended his turn. I drew a Lightning Bolt, played my Mountain, and cast Preordain, putting a land on bottom and drawing another Flashfreeze. I then passed the turn. My opponent played a Forest and cast Green Sun's Zenith for 6, leaving 3 mana open. I countered it with Flashfreeze, and he ended his turn. I drew Halimar Depths and played it, putting Gitaxian Probe, Ponder, and Spreading Seas on top. I then ended my turn. My opponent cast Oracle of Mul Daya, revealing a Terramorphic Expanse. He played it using his extra land drop for the turn, then sacrificed it. I Incinerated the Oracle in response, and he searched up a Mountain. He then played a Mountain from his hand and passed the turn. I drew Gitaxian Probe and played it, drawing a Ponder. My opponent had no cards in hand. I cast the Ponder, drawing another Preordain, then cracked my Shrine of Piercing Vision for 10, getting and casting a Pyromancer Ascension before passing the turn. My opponent cast Primeval Titan. I countered it with Flashfreeze, putting a counter on the Ascension. He passed the turn. I drew and played an Island, then cast Preordain, activating the Ascension and drawing a Gitaxian Probe, with a Volt Charge on top. I cast the Gitaxian Probe, drawing Volt Charge and Shrine of Piercing Vision, then cast another Preordain. I drew Lightning Bolt and Incinerate, and passed the turn. My opponent played Evolving Wilds and sacrificed it for a Mountain. At the end of his turn, I cast two Lightning Bolts and an Incinerate, dropping him to 2. I cast Volt Charge for the win during my upkeep.

This deck definitely has what it takes to compete in Standard. It preys on decks like Valakut that can’t very well interact with it, and Gitaxian Probe makes the deck much more resilient, letting you know when you need to leave up mana for a counterspell. Best of all, the deck is extremely cheap to build. It only uses two different rares between the main deck and sideboard, and you should be able to purchase everything you need for around $20. If you’re looking for a deck with a high power-to-price ratio, this might just be the best one in Standard.

As always, If you have any questions or comments, you can find me on the forums under Twinblaze, on Twitter under @Twinblaze2, or simply leave a comment below.