So, I made some proxies today (missing a movie get-together, by accident), and tried out some of the new cards from New Phyrexia for Pyromancer Ascension.
I have to say, charging up PA has become not too difficult between all the Proliferate/Rebound in the deck now. Pretty much every goldfish game had a ton of burn, or a ton of card draw, to the point where I couldn't easily play everything in my hand up to turn 8 or so, when things got really silly.
There is a pretty solid bottleneck at 3 mana, which makes turns 4 and 5 more one-spell turns than anything else.
I started with:
Draw:
4x Preordain
4x Tezzeret's Gambit
4x Treasure Hunt
Burn:
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Arc Trail
4x Volt Charge
4x Staggershock
Combo:
4x Pyromancer Ascension
4x Surreal Memoir
Land:
4x Halimar Depths
4x Scalding Tarn
3x Terramorphic Expanse
4x Island
9x Mountain
Things I noted from this go-around:
++Surreal Memoir
++++I'd often hold Surreal Memoir until it was near the last card in my hand. It was always returning burn, because those are the only instants in the deck right now.
++++I could easily go down to 2 or 3 Surreal Memoirs (3 would be more ideal for charging PA with it), just because it is the only true "4" (mana spell) in the deck. It also doesn't "do" anything persey, typically until next turn. So the board would have to be stabilized before I could cast it, or I'd have to be able to live through the turn, which is plausible.
++++This felt alot like Foresee in terms of "you're dead next turn".
++++Nifty trick: You can cast it (Ascended or not) often without the ability to return enough stuff on your next upkeep. On your next upkeep, you can cast some of the instants you drew, which then can be re-picked-up by the rebounded Surreal Memoir. (This often creates color or mana total problems, but getting a card > not getting a card)
++Tezzeret's Gambit
++++Being able to cast it with no blue mana was awesome. This came up often, even at a 3(PU) cost.
++++Being able to cast it for 3 was great. 3 mana draw 2 + charge PA was definately solid. Drawing 4 for (3) was quite good post-ascending.
++3 mana burn (Volt Charge, Staggershock)
++++These both being instants, that one-card-charge PA was quite good.
++++The low colored requirements (2R casting cost) was quite good. This is important for casting multiple burn spells in the same turn.
++++I often drew one of one, and one of the other, which is not as great for charging up PA, but it gives quite a bit of damage.
++++It was with these spells that I noticed the "pile up" of 3 mana spells the most. I had 5 3 drops and 2 4 drops in my hand one game, on turn 6, with 5 land in play, which was not great times.
++Arc Trail
++++This felt like overkill. In later games, I replaced them with Gitaxian Probe.
++++It was good to have a 2cmc burn spell, since it gave more plays on 4, 5, 6 mana.
++Thinking about Searing Blaze
++++I often did not have RR, I often got blue with the fetches, and had blue off Halimar Depths, which gave me mana bases on turn 4 that were something like RUU1 It definitely did not seem like I had more Mountains than Islands in the deck.
++Treasure Hunt
++++Was still pretty good, even with no Deprive to reset Depths.
++++2 mana draw spell was good.
++++Draws through mana clumps like a champ, Freeroll once you are Ascended.
++++Good 2 drops are really hard to find, and this one is really nice. You also have a 0% chance to flip Deprive off it with this configuration, which is quite strong.
++1 mana spells
++++Lightning Bolt was what I was always scrying to, and hoping to "hit" off Surreal Memoir.
++++Preordain was awesome, like normal.
++++Neither of these are getting cut.
++++I never really wanted to have Burst Lightning. Maybe I needed it though? Probably not.
++Gitaxian Probe
++++This is an incredibly interesting spell.
++++About a third of the time, I cast it for mana. About a third I cast it because I had no more time. About a third of the time I was casting it while trying to go off, in hopes that I'd need the mana.
++++This card feels about as good in it's effect as See Beyond, and it costs between 1 and 2 less mana.
++++Gut Shot is so terrible, it makes my head hurt.
++Tectonic Edge, Halimar Depths
++++I was feeling some mana constraints from these cards. The comes into play tapped of the HD sometimes interfered with plans, and the colorless Tech Edge made playing multiple spells problematic at some points in the game.
++++Part of me wants to go mono-basic + fetch, but HD + TH is so nifty... And Tech Edge gives me something to do with "extra" mana. (Not that I had any time to do anything, but...)
++Things felt pretty non-interactive, outside damage-based solutions.
++++4+ toughness creatures (Exarch, Batterskull, Titan) could be problematic if I'm not Ascended.
++++It would feel nice to have some counters, or Into the Roil, or some other way to interact with an opponents plan. I feel like I could cut 1 land, 1 Surreal, and add 2x Into the Roil as a general solution. But have a 2x and a 3x is much worse for charging up PA than having a 4x and land...
++++ITR or counters would be instants for Surreal Memoir, which would make it somewhat less consistant in what it returns.
P.S. No images this time, check previous posts if you're unfamiliar with the names. I may go back and edit in some images, but it is 1:15, and I need to wake up at 5am to watch GGSLive tomorrow...
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