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I'm back! Yesterday I wrote about Apocalypse black and white. Gee, was that
a little boring? I thought so. To tell you the truth (don't get used to
hearing that from me), I hardly ever play black and white. I love blue. I
always will. Countering stuff is fun. Drawing cards is fun. Getting mauled
by an army of creatures...definetly not fun. That's why mono-blue isn't big
right now. It just can't handle a lot of creatures. Splash white however,
and now creatures aren't a problem. On top of that, you get Disenchant and
it's counsins (Dismantling Blow, Aura Blast), and a finisher, such as
Blinding Angel or Mageta. But how about a different color. Red maybe? Red
kills creatures. I've always liked counterburn, and with the new cards from
Apocalypse, it's now possible to make a competitive counterburn deck. Here
are some new cards to aid this strategy:

Suffocating Blast
Rare
Instant
1UUR
Counter target spell and Suffocating Blast deals 3 damage to target
creature.

Fire / Ice
Uncommon
Instant (Split)
1R / 1U
Fire = Fire deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of target
creatures and/or players. ; Ice = Tap target permanent. ; Draw a card.

Shivan Reef
Rare
Land
T: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. ; T: Add U or R to your mana
pool. Shivan Reef deals 1 damage to you.

It's time to build a deck. The Reef is what really makes this deck possible.
Without a solid mana base, a deck can't function properly. The Blast is
cool, but needs two targets, so only two make it into the maindeck. I'm also
going to splash white for Absorb, Dismantling Blow, and a finisher-Lightning
Angel.

Lightning Angel
Rare
Creature - Angel
1RWU
3/4
Flying; haste ; Attacking doesn't cause Lightning Angel to tap.

Fire/Ice is flexible burn, with a little cantrip tacked on. Imagine taking
out an elf and a bird, or maybe a sergeant and a falcon, with one card.
Granted, this won't happen that often, but this card is very solid. Next, we
need card drawing. Accumulated Knowledge works perfectly here. Fact or
Fiction gets you what you need in the late game, and can refill a depleted
hand quickly. Here is the final deck:

4 Shivan Reef           (18 blue sources, 12 red, 8 white)
4 Adakar Wastes
4 Coastal Tower
8 Mountain
6 Island
4 Counterspell          ( 10 counters)
4 Absorb
2 Suffocating Blast
4 Shock                 (12 burn spells, plus the blasts)
4 Seal of Fire
4 Fire/Ice
4 Accumulated Knowledge (8 card drawers)
2 Fact or Fiction
2 Dismantling Blow
4 Lightning Angel

This deck is a new twist on an old favorite. I haven't tested it, and I
doubt it's very competitive, but it looks fun. Try it out and see what you
think. Keep playing and HAVE FUN!

Phil S.