In Grand Prix San Diego, I forced this archetype in Day 2 and was nicknamed the Garbage Man by Brian David-Marshall. His coverage of Day 2 can be found at the Magic: The Gathering main website, where two perfect examples of the Burning Vengeance deck can be found, highlighting the viability of the mill archetype. I went 5-0-1 forcing this deck, as I have had the most experience drafting this archetype, and I felt that it would give me the best chances to win. I hope that you enjoy this article as much as I did writing it!
The first thing I would like to state about this deck is that everything about Burning Vengeance is difficult. You must find a careful balance of the most cohesive cards in order to draft a deck that flows and is consistent. During game play, you have a LOT of decisions to make (Do I burn them or their guy? Do I mill myself or them? Do I attack with my guys?). You need to find a strategy and direct your cards towards that goal. You cannot half-ass mill them and then decide to win through damage. Commit to a decision. I am going to post a list of pick orders; however the most important thing to know is that cards will rise and fall in value depending on how many of those cards you already have.
For example: Even though I may rate Forbidden Alchemy as a very high card, if I already have two of them, I will not pick a third over a Think Twice. Similarly I will not pick a Silent Departure over a Geistflame if I already have a Silent Departure.
I love this deck because it values cards very differently from a traditional “removal, good creatures, bombs” deck. Many of the cards that this deck needs to function are not picked very high (like Think Twice, Selhoff Occultist, Dream Twist, Silent Departure, Desperate Ravings, Burning Vengeance, Harvest Pyre). When the blue player to your right is making the correct picks (taking Claustrophobia, Stitched Drake, and Skaab Goliath), you are happy to snap up his leftovers (Fortress Crab, Sensory Depravation, Think Twice, Civilized Scholar, Lost in the Mist). This deck is pretty resilient when drafted correctly and is filled with SPELLS. This is the most important aspect to playing this deck. Draft spells.
One of the main mistakes that I have seen players do when drafting this deck is filling it up with too many creatures. My Vengeance decks have usually five or fewer creatures. That’s it. I try to limit the number of dorks (like Ashmouth Hound, Bloodcrazed Neonate, and Kessig Wolf) and focus on the creatures that matter like: Delver of Secrets, Hanweir Watchkeep, Galvanic Juggernaut, Selhoff Occultist, Pitchburn Devils, and Murder of Crows. Notice that many of those cards are uncommon. These are the creatures that can get in there for damage without other support, so when you flashback spells, you can burn them out, not their creatures.
In my opinion, this deck is one of the strongest archetype choices for a late-game control deck. Once the engine gets rolling, the combo and value of playing cards multiple times is very difficult to beat. One of the main concerns however is surviving against aggressive decks. This is why I rate cards like Silent Departure, Geistflame, and Rolling Temblor so highly. You need to have a slew of creature removal or bounce to survive against creature-based decks. Although Silent Departure is often considered a tempo-based card, it is perfect because it buys you time to play your key spells. Rolling Temblor and Geistflame are so strong because they can turn into easy 2+ for 1s.
Draft pick orders:
Burning Vengeance,
Grasp of Phantoms,
————
Rolling Temblor,
Brimstone Volley,
Forbidden Alchemy,
Silent Departure,
Geistflame,
Think Twice,
Desperate Ravings,
Harvest Pyre,
Armored Skaab,
————-
Dream Twist,
Claustrophobia,
Murder of Crows,
Civilized Scholar,
Delver of Secrets,
Dissipate,
Into the Maw of Hell,
Selhoff Occultist,
Ghoulcaller’s Bell,
Lost in the Mist,
Fortress Crab,
Runic Repetition, <== 1 of these is perfect
Sensory Deprivation,
Memory’s Journey
Feeling of Dread,
Bump in the Night,
Shimmering Grotto,
Hanweir Watchkeep,
Pitchburn Devils,
Galvanic Juggernaut,
Curse of the Bloody Tome,
Geistcatcher’s Rig
Rage Thrower,
Stitched Drake,
Deranged Assistant,
Ancient Grudge
——– The line represents cards that vary in pick order GREATLY because they are all very valuable to the deck.
These are all subject to change based on previous picks. I cannot repeat this enough. You need a balanced pile of spells; otherwise the deck will not work. Although the deck CAN function without draw spells (Think Twice, Desperate Ravings), it is very tough. Likewise, the deck CAN function without bounce spells (Silent Departure, Grasp of Phantoms), but sometimes burn is not enough. You should be trying to hit at least ten cards with flashback in order to make this deck work.
Most of the creatures are listed near the bottom because it does not matter really what beaters you draft. As long as you get 3 or 4 creatures that can hit hard if the board is clear, you are golden. And if you do not get these beaters, then it is just as easy to kill them by getting 2+ Curse of the Bloody Tome, 1+ Ghoulcaller’s Bell (often more), and 2+ Dream Twist. The deck can stall long enough to win through the grind, and the Bell is equally efficient at getting your own flashback cards as killing them.
The sweet thing about this deck is that you can go deep into the mill plan and have it be your win condition. You are just using the Burning Vengeance in a different way to kill their creatures instead of hitting their face. Cards like Dream Twist, Curse of the Bloody Tome, and Ghoulcaller’s Bell all table really late, and if you pick up enough (6+), you have a legitimate shot of killing them through milling. On another note, you can also use these spells on yourself to power into flashback spells, if the mill plan doesn’t look like a favorable option. I have been known to Curse of the Bloody Tome myself twice to fuel out a Burning Vengeance strategy burn out win.
As discussed earlier, there are two main objectives when drafting this deck. You are either going to kill them through damage, or you are going to mill them.
The main strategy for trying to kill your opponent through damage is to control the board, direct excess Burning Vengeance triggers at your opponent’s face and attack only when you can. Your late game is better than theirs, and eventually you can grind the game out long enough to flashback Forbidden Alchemy or multiple flashback spells a turn. Essential pieces for this version are: Burning Vengeance (hopefully multiples), as many flashback spells as you can get, Harvest Pyre, Brimstone Volley, and a couple of solid beaters like Delver of Secrets (you want at least twelve spells for Delver, which is easy with this build of the deck).
It is not uncommon to snap up some late Bump in the Nights. This card is very good to splash for (even in multiples) because they get drastically better when you have a Vengeance in play. Bump also gets better with multiple Delver of Secrets.
If you are going to mill them, then your strategy for winning the game is very different. The deck turns into an “aggro” deck in that you are trying to race your opponent instead of controlling the game. Although you don’t mind hitting the late game, many of your spells do not directly affect the board, hence making it a bit more difficult to survive the early game compared to the damage plan. The essential pieces for the mill plan are: Burning Vengeance (for creature control), Dream Twist, Ghoulcaller’s Bell, Curse of the Bloody Tome, Rolling Temblor, and Silent Departure. It is worth mentioning that Dream Twist and Ghoulcaller’s Bell are both better than Curse of the Bloody Tome. Any spell that can buy you one more turn (like Hysterical Blindness) gets a lot better as one more tick with Bloody Tome and/or Bell can win you the game. Keep in mind that Blue, Red, Black have a very hard time dealing with the mill strategy. They often mill themselves and have no answer to Curse of the Bloody Tome.
Either version of this deck can often splash a third color (most commonly being black for Forbidden Alchemy and Bump in the Night). However, white or green is also not bad, as it offers us the option to play Feeling of Dread and Memory’s Journey.
Memory’s Journey is good when mill is your method of winning the game. When your deck offers the chance to mill yourself through Dream Twist or Ghoulcaller’s Bell (which fuels the deck milling into more flashback spells), the harsh reality of milling a Burning Vengeance occurs. Memory’s Journey is quite good at retrieving key spells that either don’t have flashback or cards that you accidentally milled. It is even quite viable to combine Memory’s Journey with two Runic Repetition and constantly recycle all of your good cards. It is also worth noting that Memory’s Journey is your answer to enchantment removal. In game 2 and 3, it is quite hard to win when your opponent Naturalizes or Paraselenes your enchantments away. Counterspells work very well with this strategy because so many of our spells are instants.
There are some common signs that depict whether or not this strategy is open to draft. In your first couple of picks, take notice how many Curses/Ghoulcaller’s Bells/Dream Twists there are. It is common for these cards to table, and remember which pack each of these key cards are in. Also keep in mind how many flashback cards or spells in general are remaining in the packs. If a Dream Twist and a Bell make it all the way around the table, then I am pretty confident in moving in on the mill strategy. By the end of the first pack, you should be able to tell whether or not it is safe to all-in on the Burning Vengeance deck.
Keep in mind what you need to do to win when you are drafting this deck. Although Burning Vengeance is the glue that ties this deck all together, it is not hopeless if you only get one or (gasp) none at all. A deck without Burning Vengeance is a pile of decent red/blue cards that can still get double value. You just need to draft a few more creatures to supplement your loss in damage. Conversely, in the mill deck, you must draft a few more defensive creatures to help you survive the late game. The more Burning Vengeances you have, the fewer creatures you need.
Going into a draft with the mindset of trying to force a strategy is rarely a good idea. The best part of drafting this deck is that it is very flexible. After the first pack, we can transition into a standard Blue/Red mill yourself deck, an all-in mill your opponent deck, or a Burning Vengeance to the dome deck. When all of the cards that you are looking for start to dry up, you must be willing to draft a different deck. Keep in mind that although the cards that you want are flexible, you need a proper amount to make each deck work. The only reason I will not play red/blue is opening an absurd bomb (like Bloodline Keeper, Angelic Overseer, or Mayor of Avabruck).
Some rares that are obviously sweet for this deck:
Snapcaster Mage, Cackling Counterpart (maybe not the best, but still fine), Ludevic’s Test Subject, Mirror-Mad Phantasm (I would still take many of the top spells over this), Undead Alchemist (this card + Dream Twist/Curse of the Bloody Tome is nuts), Sturmgeist, Balefire Dragon, Blasphemous Act, Charmbreaker Devils, Devil’s Play (the mother lode), Heretic’s Punishment, Past in Flames.
Not all of these rares would I slam over a Burning Vengeance or a good flashback card, but they are all very valuable to keep in mind when drafting this deck. Some seem obviously better than others; however I do not feel it is as important to discuss as commons/uncommons.
Keep in mind that this is merely my opinion on how to draft the deck effectively. The sweet thing about Innistrad Limited is that you can build a deck with all kinds of synergies that haven’t even been found out yet. So many of the cards that they created with this set may look terrible on its own (I’m looking at you, Altar’s Reap), but may be amazing when combined with other cards (Altar’s Reap is better than Sign in Blood if you do it in response to them killing your guy, and you only need to keep two open!).
Good luck milling and burning your way towards victory!
Aaron Cheng, the Garbage Man