Eon: No Satyr Hopilite? He is a great first turn creature, yet may get lost in your 1 cmcs.

Kiln Fiend is amazing in my eyes. Duels 2012 let him shine in 2HG when paired with the Aura deck. My Gruul and Boros aggro centers him, Satyrs and Double-strike Cerberus. I'm not a fan of Mentor of the Meek in this deck style however.

Now I want to make a Naya Kiln Fiend deck..

The deck originally was based off of Boros Heroic Shell. With Satyr Hoplite and Hero of Iroas. I figured that Kiln Fiend would be pretty good in a Heroic shell, since they are already running a good number of spells that activate Heroic (and thus potentially activate Kiln Fiend).

After a decent amount of testing though I found the Heroic stuff to just be lackluster. The Heroic creatures really do not work as well when we are so deep on combat tricks (to fuel Kiln Fiend) compared to the usual Heroic setup of a mix of combat tricks and auras.

With most of the methods of activating heroic being one time combat tricks, even when we are pushing to pump the heroic creatures, they just do not grow as fast as they would using Auras as well (having to use 2-3 spells to turn your creature into a 3/3 or 4/4 really isn't that great). Any time I had a Kiln Fiend and a heroic creature on the table at the same time, I almost always preferred to hit the Kiln Fiend with my tricks to smash in for a bunch rather than spend that turn giving a creature a +1/+1 counter.

Funny thing about you mentioning Naya too. When the build first started (and was still Heroic based) I was looking for spells that could trigger Heroic, activate Kiln Fiend, and allow me to smash for a bunch. For a very short time the build actually splashed and ran 4 copies of Sigil Blessing. It stayed in for awhile after I swapped to the more Kiln Fiend centric build because it worked well with the token producing spells on top of Kiln Fiend.

I soon came to the realization that it wasn't really worth the added strain on the mana base for the effect when I could just as easily run Trumpet Blast or Inspired Charge to gain "basically" the same effect while remaining on color. Sigil Blessing is overall better, but I am not sure if it is really worth adding in another color for. Especially if it has the potential to slow down the decks early game with more tap lands and/or potentially not hitting the colors you need early. The times you mulligan and end up with Forest, Mountain, and all white cards are going to be killer. A case could be made to just run the Naya tri-lands in place of Boros Guildgates which wouldn't slow you down any really, but opens up scenarios where Sigil Blessing just sits rotting in your hand because you can't cast it.

Hunt the Weak was another fun consideration I had back when the deck was built more around Heroic, but now I am getting off topic.


I really suggest people try this out though. I am extremely impressed by how well the deck is doing, and honestly surprised that a deck like this hasn't really been explored more. Even more so because the Izzet Kiln Fiend decks have done so well, and this honestly is pretty similar overall.

Edit: In regards to Mentor of the Meek:

He works so well here. Everything in the deck except Charmbreaker Devils and Brimaz trigger him. Krenko's Command/Raise the Alarm triggers him twice. Rabblemaster triggers him twice the turn he comes into play (once for him, and once for the token) and once every turn after that. Brimaz effectively triggers him at least once a turn, and can potentially trigger him twice (once while attacking, once while blocking, because Vigilance).

If you get him to stick on the table with either Rabblemaster or Brimaz you have an engine to draw a card every turn, and if you can manage to stick him next to a Charmbreaker Devil with one of the token spells in the yard you can potentially loop it and draw 2 cards a turn every turn (although this is usually win-more if you already have Charmbreaker).

Having to pay to draw cards is annoying, but this deck also runs a lot of cheap cards. Devoting a stray 1-2 mana on drawing 1-2 extra cards isn't at all a bad deal when you are also progressing your board state, potentially triggering Kiln Fiend, and may still have mana up to cast your 1 mana combat tricks. T2 Kiln Fiend>T3 Mentor>T4 Krenko's Command/Raise the Alarm draw 2 attack for 4 (6 if you can attack with Mentor) can be pretty oppressive against certain decks. And you always have the option of only drawing 1 card and keeping 1 mana open (which can represent Shock, Swift Justice, Coordinated Assault or Gods Willing all of which can pump Kiln Fiend even further).

The deck can also use Gods Willing in a pinch to save Mentor from removal if you feel you REALLY need those extra draws to win the game.

Wost cast scenario he eats removal (which is almost always just a 1 for 1). Which is almost always a bad idea on your opponents part, because that removal would often have served them better killing the Brimaz/Rabblemaster that is going to drop the following turn, or the Kiln Fiend that was dropped the turn previously, or the Charmbreakers you are going to drop a couple turns later. All of which are likely to kill them in short order if not dealt with quickly.

Edit 2: Trying to work in here to splash a couple copies of Artful Dodge could be an interesting premise as well. With Artful Dodge + Gods Willing Kiln Fiend is pretty much guaranteed to get in there for a ton of unblockable damage.

Your deck looks really strong and looking forward to taking it for a spin tonight.

Kiln Fiend + Artful dodge is outstanding - I've been using Hakeem's Blue/Red Kiln Fiend deck and it performs amazingly well. Artful Dodge is also great b/c it has the one recast, so you can double up on triggers.

If you can combine Swift Justice/Gods Willing / Artful Dodge + Kiln Fiend, then you have the best of all combos.

The few times I've actually lost with Hakeems blue/red build is b/c of a well timed shock or similar after massively pumping a Kiln Fiend, and naturally that's where Gods Willing would be optimal. Only issue of course is potential mana struggles trying to fit three colors in.

Note - one thought - have you tried Nimbus Wings to provide evasion for the Kiln Fiends in your testing? That would avoid the blue requirement to fit Artful Dodge in, provide better evasion (overall) and also put them out of shock range.

I went 5-0 with this deck last night, it's fantastic. Generally even the best decks are 5-1 to get 5 wins, so it's very impressive.

That said, I made some changes based on game play that appear to have improved it.

1 - I felt the mentor card draw slowed the deck down and wins were so fast on average that speed is the main asset of this build. I pulled mentor and Brimaz (since they kind of link together and don't like the double white for Brimaz). I also pulled Charmbreaker, again to emphasize speed.
2 - I added in two Act of Treason and two banefire and two guttersnipe. (I swapped banefire in and pulled resounding thunder, mostly to have more flexibility).
3 - I'm testing with Nimbus Wings in there as well (build is over 60 for my test build). I'm so-so on it - works great for evasion but also slows it down a bit since it does not trigger the kiln fiend.


The combo of swift justice + kiln fiend is really amazing. Most games I finished with 30 or so health.

Treason works very well here - you usually kill (via shock or swift justice + Kiln Fiend) their first one or two creatures, and then Treason takes their 2nd or 3rd and clears a path for your strike plus the damage from their own creature and they are often below 10 already at this point.

I've been playing Hakeems Izzet Burn build with is similar concept (and similar success though I think this build is a touch faster) with Kiln Fiends but with blue mix, and that's why I knew that Portent and BaneFire are a very good fit.

Having the full set of Krenkos Command and Raise the Alarm really speeds up the assault since you can just keep wave after wave of creatures coming in plus triggering Kiln Fiends.

Anyway great job on this build!

Just to track things, here's the modified version of your build I am testing:



Two wild cards not shown that I want to further test:
1 - Nimbus Wings
2 - Maniacal Rage

I think Boros is a solid way to take Kiln Fiend, but 24 land seems excessive. I'd play 21/22 and lower the curve to maximize your triggers. Also, playing any less than three Guttersnipe is a mistake, I feel.

@Hakeem:

24 may be a bit much. I really like being able to run/cast Charmbreaker Devils here though and feel if I drop the mana count too low that they may have to get the axe as well. I won't go denying they are slow, but as fast as this deck is, there still are games where I can peter out (against decks with a lot of removal/sweepers, or ones that put out a metric ton of bodies like Spider Spawning decks). Charmbreakers really help in this respect. They do everything Kiln Fiend does but better, and gives us a constant supply of spells to pump it with.

As for Guttersnipe, to be honest with you I completely forgot this card was even a thing until you and CarbonElemental mentioned it. Now I sort of feel like cutting Mentor of the Meek for Guttersnipe is the correct move on my part. I am not going to lie, I would miss Mentor if he were to get cut (I won at least 3 games so far today DIRECTLY off of its back), but Guttersnipe may just push the aggressive nature of the deck better. Mentor would probably overall be a better sideboard card anyways. It is a workhorse in certain matchups, others not so much.

@CarbonElemental:

Your list looks solid.

I already covered how I feel about the Guttersnipe vs Mentor swap above, not at all a bad idea. I also covered how I feel about Charmbreaker Devils, which also seems like a perfectly valid decision.

Banefire is definitely a solid choice. I actually dropped a single copy of Resounding Thunder today (going down to 2x) for a single copy of Banefire. Just seemed like a waste not to. Activates Kiln Fiend (and/or Charmbreakers), allows us to kill stuff above 3/3, is more reach, and gives the deck a nice mana sink in case of flood.

I feel removing Brimaz is a bad idea. I will admit that the can be a pain at times, but the card is another threat that if it isn't answered eventually just takes over. I think the biggest benefit though is that the cards just completely bricks most aggro plans. Dropping Brimaz on T3 is like a giant middle finger to RDW, it also gives us some more protection against Anger of the Gods which can really bork us, especially if we don't have a Gods Willing in hand.

Act of Treason seems solid, although I would lower the number by a bit.

The only other thing I would mention is that you should probably run the 4th copy of Gods Willing over the 4th copy of Swift Justice.

Swift Justice is really really good here, but God's Willing is still better. This is by far our most reliable way to get Kiln Fiend/Charmbreakers/Rabblemaster in for those stupid swings. Pretty much any game where you get a Kiln Fiend on the table, Gods Willing, and any other cheap instant/sorcery is a game you are probably going to win.

If you manage to get two Kiln Fiends on the table stuff gets stupid. I killed someone earlier today by attacking in for 30 unblockable damage on T4. T2 Kiln Fiend>T3 Kiln Fiend>T4 Gods Willing x2, Coordinated Assault x2.

The moral of the story is, if you see a Kiln Fiend, kill it instantly. All it takes is one turn for things to go very bad for you if you don't lol.

Went 2:2 against a Golgari Swarm deck that was only a couple cards off of Hakeems build, so that is something XD

I was talking about Carbon's Charmbreaker-less deck when suggesting cutting land. If you are playing Charmbreaker then I would certainly play 24.

Agree about the land. I hadn't adjusted it yet but w/o Charmbreaker in there, it's a great point.

Re: Guttersnipe - another good point. I'll up it to three.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll put Brimaz back in and test that further as well as lower Treason by 1 in exchange. I'll also switch to 4 Gods Willing and 3 Swift Justice and test that out.






Re: "If you see a Kiln Fiend, kill it instantly" - you are absolutely correct but from playing both your build and Hakeems, I've been (pleasantly) surprised at how relaxed people are around the Kiln Fiends.

I think as long as they have a blocker out (or blocker with first strike, etc), they are pretty comfortable that Kiln Fiend is not going to get through, and that's why I've found Treason to be so successful.

I'm not too impressed with Squadron Hawk after some more testing, I only want to cast him if I have nothing else to do with my mana. In those four slots I'm trying this:

+2 Stoneforge Mystic
+1 Avarice Amulet
+1 Inferno Titan

The Stoneforge/Amulet plan works in my Orzhov Heroic deck so I'm just going to port that in here and see how it plays.

Hi Eon, the deck is great, really fun. I've been thinking about making a Gruul Fiend deck as an alternative to the standard Izzet one, but Boros might be a better way to go!

Above is the list how I optimized your deck for myself.

I played against Eon last night and the Boros Fiend deck was indeed ridiculous. That version looks solid, Auunj.

This deck is insanely fun

It went something like this:

t2: Kiln Fiend
t3: Kiln Fiend, swing for 1
t3: he casts Anger of the Gods
t4: Goblin Rabblemaster
t4: he casts Banefire on my Goblin Rabblemaster
t5: Guttersnipe, Krenko's Command
t5: he casts Indulgent Tormentor
t6: Banefire on his Indulgent Tormentor, swing
t6: he casts Obelisk of Alara
t7: Raise the Alarm, Coordinated Assault, Shock to the face.

GG :o

Hehe, I tried to tell you guys.

It is indeed bonkers.

I swapped up the list some last night after some games against Hakeem.

I made the swap from Mentor to Guttersnipe before I had my matches against Hakeem, but to include all 3 copies, I had to drop down to 1 Charmbreaker Devil.

After Hakeem logged off for the night I got to thinking that it honestly wasn't worth running 24 mana JUST for a single copy of Charmbreaker Devils.

So this is what I ended up with.



Hellspark Elemental is definitely worth it here. The amount of added options it gives you it worth it alone.

Going T2 Hellspark > T3 Kiln Fiend with Gods Willing up is pretty amazing. Gives you so many options on T4 it is kind of stupid.

Not sure if this single copy of Resounding Thunder should be a second copy of Act of Treason. Act of Treason is really good here, but it doesn't always guarantee damage, which Resounding Thunder does. It serves the same purpose (activating Kiln Fiend while clearing the way for it to attack), but with the deck being so quick, sometimes I think it may just be better to be able to just burn someone out instead of going around corners to kill them with a Threaten effect.

How about Ogre Battledriver in place of Thunder and Treason? The card seems good here.

I'm not really feeling this, either. I'm keeping the Titan but the other three slots are going to Sigiled Paladin. I don't like the mana cost but it's a strong creature for two mana.

ugh, what's happening to your Boros Heroic deck reminds me of the end of my marriage

Well through it all it's really just minus three Ordeals plus three Paladins. I just arrived there in a roundabout way!