Feel the Wrath of the Chain Burn!

Today's post will be dedicated to the deck that everyone hates: Chain Burn. Recently, I posted my opinion on degenerate, helmet decks, and this deck may perhaps be the king of the helmet decks. You can obtain this deck with a $20 bill, get some change to spend on coffee, and pilot a deck that plays itself and win by inflicing cheap burn damage. If you're ever having a lazy day, and/or want to piss off your card community, play this deck and watch the vast amounts of salt accumlate! "Yes. The fire rises."

In all seriousness, though, this deck isn't terrible anymore. While deliberating the new ban list, I kept going over Ring of Destruction, and I got thinking about Chain Burn. I realized this deck has a great matchup against Nekroz and Qliphorts (if those are still around), particularly in game 1. Afterward, you just need to side appropriately to counter their counters, and you'll be fine. I'll discuss all of this in detail, shortly. First, I'll provide the build I've created:

3 cardcar d
3 swift scarecrow
2 santa claws

3 pot of duality
1 one day of peace
3 poison of the old man
2 chain strike

3 threatening roar
3 legacy of yata-garasu
3 reckless greed
3 accumulated fortune
2 ojama trio
3 just desserts
2 ceasefire
3 secret barrel
1 ring of destruction

Most of this deck's choices are self-explanatory, since Chain Burn variants usually play the same burn and draw engine. Santa Claws is my personal tech choice. In game 1, I prefer this monster over Lava Golem, since Lava Golem requires 2 tributes. My favorite part about Santa is that you'll draw a card during the end phase, which is amazing. Imagine playing against Burning Abyss, and they open 2 Dante with a Fire Lake. Santa Claws ruins their day, you'll draw a card at the end of the turn, and if the player is unable to eliminate Santa, they can't summon their Burning Abyss monsters under regular conditions. Santa is also an out to cards like Denko Sekka, Thunder King Rai-Oh, and others.

My favorite part of this deck is that it should always win in time. At a Regionals, you could utilize the strategy of ever-so-slightly stalling. When games 2 and/or 3 go into time, ensure that you are winning in life points due to burn damage, then protect yourself from taking damage.

Here's how the deck should be piloted against the following matchups:

Nekroz: Essentially, you don't want to feel the wrath of Trishula. This monstrosity is the reason why I will not utilize cards like Battle Fader, Magic Cylinder and Dimension Wall in the main: It makes Trishula's effect applicable. If you feel the opponent is about to summon Trihsula after activating a ritual spell, you should just be able to chain all of your traps. This way, Trishula will not be able to use its effect. Game 2 and 3, they may use Denko Sekka and Royal Decree. Santa Claws, Lava Golem, MSTs and Twisters deal with those threats.

*PRO TIP: If you can activate your set cards in the draw phase, before the opponent can summon Denko, they'll get no value from their Denko immediately.

Burning Abyss: In my opinion, this is the hardest mainstream (widely used deck) matchup for this deck. Fire Lake on your backrows the turn you set them can cripple you. Santa Claws and Ojama Trio will help game 1. Siding after game 1 can provide additional assistance. As well, this is the only matchup I may consider wanting to start first, just in case they open 2 Dante and Fire Lake.

Qliphorts: I believe this deck will still be played occasionally. This matchup should be an auto-win, unless they do some sort of Helix/Stealth play. However, if necessary, you can chain all of your cards before they have a chance to do this.

Of course, this deck falls apart when it doesn't draw cards to keep the engine going. As well, not drawing your outs to floodgates game 2 and 3 will force your defeat. This is why the deck will never be "amazing". It'll pop up from time to time, hoping to achieve some cheap wins. However, I truly believe that the player who creates the most consistent build will be able to pilot this deck successfully, and achieve great results.

Until next time, thanks for reading!