Today’s card is inspired by a private contest I held in the forum last month that didn’t have a whole lot of participation, but spawned a variety of fun decks. And that’s what Magic Deck Vortex is all about, right? Decks, decks and more decks.

I will be honest to say that the Firebird isn’t a card I would normally feature in this series, as I didn’t think the card had enough potential to write an entire article about. However, the deckbuilding contest submissions, along with some decks I found online, proved me wrong. This card is capable of some fun interactions, great synergies and, for sure, deserves a second look.

Today I’m going to take a look at the deckbuilding contest submissions, some other decks I found online, and my own creation built around Skarrgan Firebird. Curious what I come up with? Keep reading!

The MDV Forum is more than meets the eye, much like the main site portion of Magic Deck Vortex. The Forum has intellectually intense Mafia games, various brainless humor and game threads, casual and tournament deck sections as well as various article discussion threads. One part of the forum that doesn’t get a lot of exposure on MDV Main is the Clan section of MDV.

Each established clan gets a seat in the Clan Council as well as its own private forum. And that’s why I said it was a private deckbuilding contest as I held it only for my clan mates, the Forum [Wizards]. Now this isn’t a plug to bring more people into my clan, but if you want to know more about out clan or request to join you can always click here.

Being that I had quite a few copies of Skarrgan Firebird, I was able to give a prize to the winner of the contest. The prize was a playset of the card they were building around: Skarrgan Firebird. What better prize, right? What’s even cooler is that each month I plan on featuring a Forum Wizards clan only deckbuilding contest using cards I have oodles of. This month we are building decks around Wand of the Elements. Don’t be surprised if you see a One Card to Rule Them All article next month around the Wand…

I think that’s enough Clan talk for one day. Let’s get into the juicy-ness of the article and talk about Skarrgan Firebird a bit. Here are some random things about the Firebird you didn’t or most likely don’t know:

• Skarrgan Firebird is capable of being the biggest Phoenix cast naturally as long as its Bloodthirst is activated.
• Skarrgan Firebird has probably the best artwork for any card in the Guildpact set. Of course, I’m a huge Kev Walker fan. When is that guy going to get a website of his own??!
• The Firebird’s cousin, the Shard Phoenix, was made famous in 1998 in a deck called “The Forbidden Phoenix”. The deck was known more as Counter-Phoenix considering the Phoenix’s resurrection ability worked great with the buyback cost of Forbid.
• The Firebird works real well with cards that ping your opponent of life once or more a turn. Cards like this include The Fallen, Sulfuric Vortex, Honden of Infinite Rage, Viashino Fangtail, Prodigal Sorcerer, Kyren Sniper, Rumbling Slum and even Thumbscrews as long as you have five or more cards in your hand every turn.
• Of course, all of the cards referenced in the previous bullet work really well with any card that has Bloodthirst…
• You can play Skarrgan Firebird's last ability if an opponent was dealt damage by any source, even if you didn't control that source.
• You can return this card to your hand as many times as you like in one turn, as long as you have enough mana and as long as your opponent was damaged that turn.

Now that’s a lot of information to think about. It’s surprising that this card has landed in the dollar-bin-rares and yet is a pretty good card. If anything, its one of only three cards with Bloodthirst that have Bloodthirst: 3.

Moot point, I know, but still…

Exploring decks using Skarrgan Firebird…

Anyway, let’s take a look at a random deck I found online first:

At a quick glance, I see some interesting card choices, both good and bad. I appreciate the attempt to make a tribal deck with Phoenix cards. And while this deck does have an early game with cheap creatures like Frostling and Dwarven Scorcher, I see it missing a mid-game since most of the cards are either cheap or expensive.

Granite Grip is a nice touch as a finisher card. Slap this Aura on one of your flyers when the coast is clean and with all of your lands being Mountains, it could be the winning swing. I suppose Shivan Meteor plays into that as a means to clear your opponent’s board of its biggest flyer but I personally would have replaced the Meteor with some cheaper burn to help round out the mana curve in the deck.

One interesting card that really makes this deck stand out against the rest is Firestorm. With all of your Phoenix cards that keep coming back from the grave, you can discard a full hands worth of Phoenix cards to the Firestorm and potentially do a lot of damage to a number of targets. Don’t forget to make one of those targets your opponent!

This deck focuses more on the Tribal and Mechanical aspects of the Phoenix tribe and not so much on the Bloodthirst aspect of the Firebird.

Is this deck perfect? No. Is it a good start to our review of the Firebird? Yes.

Next up we have a deck that, again, doesn’t center itself on the Firebird so much as it centers on the concept of keeping those annoying counter-spell-fanatics at bay. This deck is also from a previous article here on Magic Deck Vortex, all the way back from 2005!!! Time flies when you are having fun…

To quote this deck’s creator, Russell Cutting:

This deck is a bit different, as you can see. It has several creatures that can reanimate themselves repeatedly, and they all are a good distraction for the opponent to counter, as they are all good cards. It also features Leyline of Lightning; a great rare as the spells that you play doesn’t have to resolve for the ability to trigger. The two Warp Worlds are great because it puts your stuff directly into play, beating counterspells. The Izzet cards included make your non-creature spells go the extra mile, as the opponent has to waste their spells on your copies, giving you great card advantage. The only problem in this deck is getting the cards that are listed. Some of them are quite expensive. On the plus side, this deck can be used as a decent control deck as well. The main win condition is either beatdown by a Skarrgan Firebird or copied burn spells like Lava Spike.

Funnily enough, none of these cards, with exception to Squee, are very expensive. Leyline of Lightning works very well with the Bloodthirst mechanic and it’s great to see the Firebird as the win condition of the deck. One of them, at least. Note that when you counter the Firebird, unless that counter spell is removing it from the game or shuffling it into your library, will be able to come back the following turn thanks to its own resurrection ability. So this card alone will be a nightmare for your blue playing opponent to deal with turn after turn.

Forum Wizards Deckbuilding Building Contest Results!

Next I’d like to show you the submissions from the deckbuilding contest I held in the Forum [Wizards] Clan along with my comments on each deck. After that, I’ll show you my own creation.  If you read my blog from a few weeks ago about this same contest, you can probably skip to the next section of this article since this will be redundant information for you.

Original description: My deck relies on small synergy using Kyren Sniper, Rumbling Slum and Sulfuric Vortex to allow bloodthirst, returning the Phoenix or pumping up the Elemental. I have mana ramp to acceleration, some burn to control creatures, and the legendary land to gain life and take advantage of the phoenix return ability.

My Original Comments: I would describe this as a RG Beatdown/Burn/Suicide deck. Almost Sligh. Very aggro. I liked the inclusion of Miren, the Moaning Well. I even liked the inclusion of War Elemental. However, I feel the Vortex and the War Elemental would be the first to go if this deck was fine tuned. The Miren and Vortex do not work well together. I also think Skred could have been a little better supported. The deck was very RRR heavy and thus the land base should have been tweaked a bit to accommodate it. It does, however, have a nice suite of Into the North and Sakura-Tribe Elder to assist with that problem. So overall, good job. Kyren Sniper scored you some points. Other cards that I would reduce or replace altogether include Borborygmos (takes away from the fun of the Phoenix) and Flame Javelin (there are much better spells you could use than this although it still works nice).

Synergy/Combo - 8
Playability at a glance - 7.5
Overall Score - 7.5
Alterations: -2 for editing after the deadline.

Final Score -- 21

Original Description: This deck is based on getting your Phoenixes into play as fast as possible and taking control of the sky with them. It also use the Phoenixes abilities that return them to the hand to make the cards like Greater Good and Miren, a lot better in the long run.

My Comments: I smiled at seeing a Phoenix Tribal deck, so I applaud you there. The inclusion of Urza's Incubator and Roar of the Crowd were nice touches. The thing that kept up your Synergy/Combo score is Greater Good. And the thing that kept down your Synergy/Combo score is that Greater Good. It only works well with a Bloodthirsted Skarrgan Firebird. He's the only creature capable of more than three power by itself. In short, sacrificing your other Phoenixes will net you no additional cards or less cards than you started with. Oh wait, Worldheart phoenix will net you more cards, but that's only if you pay WUBRG to bring him back from the grave.

You could have used some boost in this deck and some acceleration. The deck appears slow and top heavy, and the land choices look interesting and in my opinion, may need a tweak or three. It still looks like a fun deck. With some modifications, it could become quite good. Thanks for being the only Tribal deck in this round.

Synergy/Combo - 7
Playability at a glance - 6
Overall Score - 7

Final Score -- 20

Original Description: So it basically a burn deck with Bloodthirst critters, Bloodthirsters Love Chandra. the Honden helps Bloodthirst as well. Wargears in there for some extra boost plus it help the Rouser's ability.

My Comments: This deck revolves a little more around creatures with Bloodthirst. Chandra, Jeska and Honden of Infinite Rage (an excellent way to use up a Legendary card slot) help to fuel the Bloodthirsts of all the other creatures in the deck. Plus, all of the cards seem to work a little better together which is one reason this deck got a higher Synergy score.

If I were to be a harsh critic, I would have added four more lands, modified the land structure a bit with some more variety, replaced Char and Flame Javelin with some better burn cards, and added either some better acceleration or some cheaper spells. The deck felt a bit top heavy at a glance. If I were to classify this deck, I would either make it a Beatdown/Burn deck or a Theme Deck: Bloodthirst. Thanks for the entry!

Synergy/Combo - 8
Playability at a glance - 7
Overall Score - 7.5
Alterations: n/a

Final Score -- 22.5

Rule of Thumb…

And now for that deck of my creation. Which path shall I take? The path of Bloodthirst craze? The path of Tribal? No and no - both have already been done. How's about a counter deck that relies on lots of counterspells and the Firebird for the win?

Nope... not today. How’s about using Thumbscrews and a plethora of card drawing spells??? How’s about no…

What about something I haven't done in a while... a theme deck!?

Behold! My first all "FIRE" theme deck. With exception to the lands, every card in the deck has "FIRE" somewhere in its name. I'll be honest to say that all of the card choices aren’t optimal, but it’s the best I could do with cards that have "FIRE" in the name.

The heart of the deck revolves around Braid of Fire. This enchantment revs up your mana faster than any elf strategy could and bigger than any signet build can ever dream of. The trick is keeping it in play and having outlets to put the mana into if you don't have something else to cast or play. What are my outs? Spitfire Handler, Deepfire Elemental and Sword of Fire and Ice (think equipping over and over again). Each of these will help me prevent mana burning myself to death, should I have nothing else to do.

To enable the Bloodthirst of the Firebird, I have a suite of burn spells like Firebolt (which can be Flashbacked), Fireblast (which you can play for free for a few mountains), Banefire and Goblin Firestarter. Be sure and play those cards wisely as you don't want to drop any too soon if you know a Firebird is coming up. Unfortunately, "FIRE" didn't give me any recurring damage every turn.

Overall, this is a fun deck that you can certainly tailor to fit your own collection. You could even ditch the "FIRE" theme and make it better with some legendary lands and recurring damage dealers, like the ones mentioned in the beginning of this article.

Thank you for taking the time to read through today's One Card to Rule Them All. I hope you enjoyed my journey into exploring a card I normally wouldn't and that you enjoyed checking out the deckbuilding contest I held for my other clan members. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or general comments about this article, site, or my deckbuilding contests, please shout out in the forum thread.

Sincerely,

John Streetz
www.magicdeckvortex.com

P.S. Check out my new Twitter Account.

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.
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