Counter-Burn is an archetype from long ago, and despite it not lasting very long, several people have tried to recreate the archetype over the years. Dare I say that this one actually looks reasonable.
Most of the time, “counter” refers to Counterspell, but this time we’re working with a Counterbalance strategy. Martin’s plan is to sit behind the Sensei’s Divining Top + Counterbalance soft-lock, find an Ensnaring Bridge to stop them from attacking, and eventually burn his opponents out with Lightning Bolt, Keranos, God of Storms, Volcanic Fallout, or a spicy Price of Progress. Snapcaster Mage and True-Name Nemesis do double duty as blockers or attackers with the hopes of softening up the opponent.
Some may say that this is obviously a worse Miracles deck, but it’s got a couple advantages over Miracles. First of all, it’s very threat-heavy, meaning that opposing Miracles decks are going to have a difficult time answering everything. It certainly helps that cards like Keranos don’t really care about opposing Counterbalances.
The other potential advantage is when the red cards are better than white cards. Yes, Miracles can and does play some red cards, but they don’t go so far as to play Lightning Bolt and Volcanic Fallout. There are also matchups where Ensnaring Bridge and Volcanic Fallout are better than Terminus. There’s the fun factor and the rogue factor at play here too.
The deck looks a little loose and could use some tuning, but it could be sweet.
Creatures (8)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (22)
Spells (27)
