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The deck that I have designed and played recently has been a fires deck
that has benefited from some overpowered/ underused black cards. First the
decklist than the explanation.

4 Birds of Paradise
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Fires of Yavimaya
4 Saproling Burst
4 Blastoderm
3 River Boa
3 Flametongue Kavu
3 Thunderscape Battlemage
3 Shivan Worm
2 Void
2 Crypt Angel
4 Rishaden Port
4 Karplusan Forest
4 City of Brass
4 Sulforous Springs
8 Forests

So you looked at the deck list and at first you thought that this was just
another fires deck that claimed to be different but really wasn't. Well
there is a reason that so many decks run the same core of cards. Those
cards are currently the best spells in the game. I am not going to explain
why those cards are in the deck because everybody who has been playing
magic recently has seen it for themselves.

People have been saying that fires does not do well in the late game. The
Black cards that I have added should change that. Crypt Angel is
incredible in the environment. It almost single handedly beats Rebel and
U/W control if it gets active, and when you add the ability to get back
Shivan Worm, Thunderscape Battlemage, or Flametongue Kavu then the card is
broken. The first inclination of people that look at the deck is to thihnk
that it does not have any enchantment removal; well this could be no
further from the truth. Thunderscape Battlemage pulls triple duty as a
Gray Ogre, enchantment removal and discard, and is frequently reusable
with the Shivan Worm and the Crypt Angel. I won a match recently by
destroying two enchantments and forcing my opponent to discard four cards,
all with a single battlemage. It's utility has been impressive in every
matchup. Shivan Worm is chosen over Jade Leech and Lumberying Satyr
strictly because the worm allows the reusal of the creatures with come-in-
to-play effects, and can be gotten out of the graveyard with the Crypt
Angel. The trample ability is nice but the other things is why it made the
cut over cheaper options. Void has been another questionable choice to
some people. It is unquestionably powerful and has caused some people to
continue to try playing R/B in standard despite the fact that it can
almost never beat fires, the most popular deck. Void was the only way that
R/B had to deal with Saproling Burst. So obviously that makes it good in
the mirror. Well it demolishes other decks as well, hindering the
development of Rebel, giving the deck five maindeck ways of killing
Blinding Angel, and getting Wrath of God and Chimeric Idols out of the
way. Plus it is good catchup when you fall behind and is a good way to ice
the game when you are winning. Now for the red and green cards that have
been debated in fires. Three River Boas have proven to be key in the
mirror and against U/W control. I know a lot of people believe now because
of Zvi's success with boaless fires at Chicago that Boas are not good in
fires, but my version has proven to need them. Flametongue Kavu may turn
out to be the best card in Planeshift, and in this deck it is incredible.
I use it for removal over Ghitu Fire and Terminate because it can kill
anything that Fires might need to kill and you do not have to suffer
fattie disadvantage to run it. In the mirror it kills a mana creature of
theirs and attacks on the third turn almost guaranteeing a win. ALso in
the mirror it can remove a River Boa from combat then attck along side
Blastoderm for the finishing blow. It can also kill Lumberying Satyr,
Blinding Angel, Linn Sivvi, and Troublesome Spirit. Unlike Ghitu Fire and
Terminate it can be reused and recurred out of the graveyard.

Now for the sideboard:
4 Tsabo's Decree
4 Kavu Chameleon
2 Chimeric Idol
2 Lumberying Satyr
1 Urza's Rage
1 Thunderscape Battlemage
1 Crypt Angel

I don't know about anyone else but I like being sure about my matchups
against as many of the top archetypes as I can.
Tsabo's Decree and Crypt Angel are silver bullets against rebel, and
between Kavu Chameleon, Chimeric Idol, and the main deck tech, I should
never lose a match to U/W control. The Urza's Rage is in their to finish
off nether/go and draw-go 2k1 which are both played in my area. The one
additional Battlemage is there in case I find that I need some extra
enchantment removal and comes in against fires. You may have been
wondering what I put in, in the mirror. Well if you will notice, during my
article I kept mentioning cards that are good in the mirror, so hopefully
there will not be much use for devoting many sideboard slots to handling
fires. I did however include the Lumberying Satyrs which I would put in
against fires if they run river boas or I was going first in the upcoming
game. If not just put in the Battlemage and rely on the build of the main
deck to pull out the match.

Well that covers it! I hope you enjoyed my article and I hope you try out
the deck and tell me how it does for you! My Email address is
sreu8218@gc.peachnet.edu Email me with any thoughts/complements/criticism
on this deck or this article.