Pyromancer Ascension in New Phyrexia

PA definately got some good tools in NPH.  I had initially dismissed the set as being bad, because it encourages people to play enchantment removal for the Splinter Twin combo, but due to the way Twin/Exarch works, you need instant speed removal, and the only color that gives that at this time is Green.

Other colors are going to have to resort to answers that aren't as amazing against PA, like anything from Black, and Tumble Magnet is pretty terrible against PA.

The increased "heat" from more Nature's Claims, or even Into the Roil (who told Caw Blade about this card?  That's supposed to be my sekret tech!) may be too much for PA to deal with, but maybe some handy sideboard-tech like Dispel will be what we're looking for to answer the answers.

In any event, there are actually some pretty good cards from NPH that I'd overlooked.


Phyrexian Mana cards:
Whomever made the red cards has a poor sense of humor.  It seems like most of them are more likely to be played in non-red decks, than red ones.  Gut shot is quite bad (for a deck with Mountains).  Couldn't it have been (PR)(PR) for 4 damage?  or 1(PR)(PR) for 5?  Stupid black, getting the good stuff...

Moltensteel Dragon and the artifact Phyrexian Firebreather are terrible for PA, because the sideboard cards they would bring in against PA auto-kill these guys.  (unlike Kiln Fiend, or the like).  Even Into the Roil is awesome against them.  Ug.

The other Phyrexian Red mana cards are even worse, so lets spend no more time on them.

Phyrexian Blue, on the other hand, has some stuff we should consider.

Mental Mistep is probably not good enough to include in Pyromancer, either main or sideboard.  The only spells it counters of consequence are Spell Pierce, Nature's Claim, and the Discard spells.  These are fairly important spells, but nothing like the 1-flood you'd see in Legacy.  The creature-based one-drop threats we'd see can be handled by our plentiful burn from red, we don't need to try and use blue to solve the same problems red is already handling for us.

It is moderately humerous to me that this spell is shown countering a Myr, when the only "Myr" card at 1cc is Origin Spellbomb...

Gitaxian Probe might be good.  It's a "Free" Peek.  I've considered including Twitch, or Twisted Image, just because they cycle, and this takes cycling to the next level.  The option to play it for no mana can be quite relevant for many reasons.  Trying to keep counter mana up, putting multiple charges on your PA in the same turn, and checking to see whether the coast is clear before casting your "real" spell (often PA).  It'd also let you play turn one Preordains with a little more knowledge of what you should do.  (otherwise, T1 preordain is often non-amazing)

It does only net you even, but "standard" PA cards like See Beyond only do that, and for 1-2 mana more.

You can't cut quality digging like Preordain for this, but it could be a useful way to fill in around the turns.  It also lets you plan your countermagic, and/or tapping out, around your opponents plans, something that only Swamp-Mages have been used to in these times.

Phyrexian Metamorph is the cheapest "Clone" to see print yet.  It can't legend-rule anything relevant, and it is a non-amazing answer to the Primeval Titans out of Valakut, but it could be a useful sideboard option against... something? 

Tezzeret's Gambit, now there's a card!

1) It is Divination, which is pretty non-terrible for PA, because it is actual card advantage at the 3-slot, something we don't have in standard.  Jace B is about as close as we get, and it is not a Instant/Sorcery.
2) In times of mana-flood, we can still cast it for 4, and no life loss.
3) It has proliferate, which means it can be a one-cast full-charge of PA, with one copy in the graveyard.  (Similar to Staggershock)

The only thing this card makes me worry about is flooding on 3's.  Foresee might be better, but the proliferate is worth quite a bit in this deck.  (and 3 is often times less than 4, which is quite important)  If Into the Roil, Hex Parasite, Hexmage and Co. Start to see more play, being able to one-spell yourself back to a full Ascension (while doing something useful) is pretty strong.

Spellskite might be worth thinking about, as a way to protect the Ascension.  Being an artifact in a sideboard plan would often be a terrible plan, if it is an artifact like Moltensteel Dragon.  However, due to what the Spellskite is trying to do, as an artifact, it can redirect most anything that could target PA to itself, which is quite useful.  It even works on otherwise-trumps Hexmage, and Hex Parasite.  Its manaless activation, ability to block any flavor of sworded Mystic, and the ability to screw up the plans of opposing ExarchTwin decks makes it a strong contender for sideboard slots to counter anti-PA tech.

Pretty much the only thing it does not stop is counterspells.  Demystify, Relic Crush, Back to Nature, Ratchet Bomb and Celestial Purge are the only things I can see dealing with a resolved PA, that Spellskite does NOT stop.  None of these are seeing heavy play, and proliferate effects can mess with an opposing Ratchet Bomb quite well =)

Rules clarification:  If a spell said "Destroy target artifact or enchantment", and they targeted PA, I could redirect it to the Spellskite.  If the spell said "Choose one: destroy target artifact or destroy target enchantment" I could not, because you cannot change modes, only targeting.

Lastly, Dismember is a potential sideboard answer to Kor Firewalker.

Proliferate Cards: (And rebound?)
Proliferate is awesome, because it is a one-spell full-charge of a Pyromancer Ascension, with one duplicate of the card in the graveyard.  Some people were using Steady Progress (3 mana instant, draw-proliferate) in PA before New Phyrexia came out, and NPH gives us a few more options for consideration.

Steady Progress is on the verge of being good enough in my book.  It only draws one, but it is an instant, and proliferate is quite good at charging PA.  Basically this competes with Treasure Hunt, and See Beyond, as net-zero card source, and it takes 3 mana to do it, which is not amazing.  Compare with Staggershock for general usefulness.

Tezzeret's Gambit, great.  See above.

Volt charge is pretty nifty. 

Three damage kills equipped Squadron Hawks, which is pretty important, as well as killing brainstorming JtMS's.

When combined with a Lightning Bolt, Volt Charge can takes down a resolved Titan.  (The cheapest way we can burn out a Titan, at instant speed even)  Burst Lightning requires 6 mana to do the same task, which is too late.  Ascended Volt Charges also one-shot a Titan, which is about as good as we can do.

This competes with Staggershock (want both), and Arc Trail (good caw-blade and misc aggro killer)

Something this spell, and Tezzeret's Gambit open up the possibility for, is going heavier towards Red than Blue.  TG can be cast for no Blue at all, and Red has a few good spells for charging up the Ascension, and/or killing them.  Searing Blaze could become more of a valuable tool in the opponent-murdering business if we're playing a land split more like 7I/13M + 4ST, rather than 9I+4HD/7M +4ST.  Three cheers if you can read that.

Gitaxian Probe also plays pretty nicely with that strategy. 

Surreal Memoir, a rebound spell (also a one-card charge of PA with a copy in the GY) does a pretty awesome Call to Mind impersonation, when your goal is to spend R for 3 damage.  It is also a two-for-one even unascended.

And really, who doesn't want to cast a spell with a freaking floating eyeball on it!  Theme deck with Gitaxian Probe...

Lightning Bolt
Preordain

Arc Trail
Searing Blaze
Pyromancer Ascension

Volt Charge (P)
Staggershock (R)

Tezzeret's Gambit (P)


Surreal Memoir (R)

Seems like a pretty interesting list.  Missing any sort of countermagic, Gitaxian Probe, Treasure Hunt/See Beyond, Into the Roil, and Call to Mind.  Sideboarding Searing Blaze (for main-board Treasure Hunt/See Beyond, or Into the Roil) against creature decks would be reasonable.  Something like 2x Surreal + 4x someting else + 22 land could also be doable, since we're aiming more towards the game being over, than having it draw out as a card advantage war.

I'll do some testing on this, and branch out into another blog post.

Other Colored Cards:
No creatures/artifacts to sacrifice to Artillerize.  Nothing to cast with Geosurge.  Victorious Destruction is a full mana slower than a spell I realized was too slow(Demolish).  Shatter/Crush may be necessary with our new artifact overlords.  Batterskull, and Swords are a nightmare for a long game.

Vapor Snag (Unsummon + Lose 1 life) could be interesting, but I prefer the versatility of Into the Roil.  ITR can't bound manlands that Vapor Snag can, but ITR gets planeswalkers, non-creature artifacts, and enchantments.  <3 Into the Roil.


Artifacts:
Batterskull: What, no inate flash on this, for the full aggro-screwing?  This card just makes it that much more imperative that we burn out those Stoneforge Mystics, and don't wait to "waste" their mana.

Hex Parasite:  Could be a strong sideboard card against Planeswalkers, but killing them (or the player) is a pretty good strategy.

Immolating Souleater:  If only this wasn't a artifact (to be vulnerable to the same hate as PA), a sideboard Kiln Fiend + burn strategy would have been that much more viable.  As is, unusable.

Kiln Walker: Not remotely Kiln Fiend 2.0

Shrine of Burning Rage:  An answer to Kor Firewalker, which would be troublesome in the more burn-heavy deck above.  (Ascended burn spells kill through KFW pretty well though)

Shrine of Piercing Vision:  This is a joke, right?  I'd love to play "Impulse", but I am not interested in this "better" version.

Sword of War and Peace:  More reason to either burn out all their creatures, or sideboard some Shatter/Crush action.

Overall:
The best spells in NPH are the proliferate ones.  Volt Charge and Tezzeret's Gambit are both very good.  (Though perhaps encouraging a 3-heavy deck).

Gitaxian Probe is interesting.

Spellskite has amazing potential as a sideboard card, to counter their hate.

The density of good red cards, that work well with PA may indicate that there is enough power in Red to move away from some of the Blue.  The spells I'd miss most would be Treasure Hunt + Halmiar Depths (Hard to have minimal Blue, with Blue Taplands), and Into the Roil.  Double-Blue spells are hard to rely on even with 17 blue sources.

It also might be worth considering some of the green or black options, like Explore (as good as anything in blue), or Doom Blade/Memoricide (Not terrible against Valakut).  "Splashing" Tezzeret's Gambit of course!  If only the green/black proliferate/rebound options were not so terrible....