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I am not really sure where we are supposed to submit these decks and I don't really know how to do the really cool formatting. I read that next week is Izzet so I thought I would put my Izzet deck up here. I have been working on this ever since your "Attacking for 22 on turn Three" article. I have been doing very well with it in both tournament practice and just for fun rooms on magic online. I'll post the deck, which is the combination of a few decks from your article and just a few of my own inclusions, then I will explain a few card choices.

Creatures
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Guttersnipe
2 Talrand, Sky Summoner
3 Thundermaw Hellkite

Spells
3 Izzet Charm
2 Brimstone Volley
3 Syncopate
4 Think Twice
4 Searing Spear
2 Dissipate
2 Cyclonic Rift
3 Mizzium Mortars

Land
10 Island
2 Sulfur Falls
8 Mountain
4 Steam Vents

Sideboard
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Negate
4 Pillar of Flame
2 Smelt
2 Essence Scatter
2 Devil's Play
1 Cyclonic Rift

The first thing you will notice is that there is not Delver of Secrets. This was a very difficult decision for me to make on cutting him. He was in my deck for the first 3 renditions, but I found that with the higher land count than the older UR Delver decks that even if I got him out early he had trouble flipping. Added to that almost all decks out there are playing burn and easy removal to kill him. I needed something that just plan did more especially in the late game. So I dropped 4 Delvers and added 4 Guttersnipes. This card I was very weary about playing. When I finally added it it blew me away. With this guy on the field on turn 3 all of your card from then on read "each opponent takes 2 damage" after their text. In the late game he can help you finish off an opponent with burn. Your searing spear now does 5 damage!

The limited counters in this deck are strictly use to counter threats you cant handle with your burn or to protect your finishers. You really have to remember this! This deck is not meant to win in the early game. I very rarely lose a game after turn 10. With 5 counters in the deck and 4 snapcasters you in essence have accsess to 10 (not including izzet charm which I use its counter ability about every 4th game).

My finishers back in my first few attempts at this deck were 2 Thundermaw Hellkites and 2 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius. I found that Mizzet was just too vunerable to removal. Most good removal in Standard right now is at sorcery speed ie Dreadbore,  Detention Sphere, Supream Verdict.
That being said Haste is key here. I decided to drop Mezzit and add a 3rd Hellkite the other spot I filled with Talrand, Sky Summoner. I dropped something else for a 2nd Talrand but I cant remember what. Talrand works really well with Hellkite allowing your team to get to the red zone all in 1 turn. I also like Talran bc even if they can deal with him most likely you will have a token or 2 left afterward. Eventually this might just turn into 1 more Hellkite and another support spell but so far he has been working well.

Cyclonic Rift and Mizzium Mortars! In this deck these 2 cards are amazing. Early on they can help you disrupt your opponent later they can win you the game. Quite a few times I have played Rift at the end of their turn play a Hellkite on mine and put it in for leathal damage. With your ability to disrupt your opponent early you will find that being able to cast Mizzium Mortars with overload is quite easy. At 6 mana you will be wiping the board at least 30% of the time. In the really late game even snapcasting one of these bad boys back with overload is viable.

Well that's the deck I hope you like it! I can't wait to see what you post next week about Izzet. If you or any readers for that matter have any question you can find me on magic online user name TheChad0331.
 

Nov 6, 2012 -- 1:17PM, Pope_Smotage wrote:

I disagree with stating Safe Passage doesn't protect your planeswalkers. Although it may not protect it from creatures, it protects it from burn spells which no other fog-like card can do in standard at the moment!

Safe Passage doesn't actually protect your planeswalkers from burn.  I wish there were a way to move away from planeswalkers with this deck after playing it a couple times, but there honestly isn't.  Anyway, Safe Passage only protects you from burn.  Your opponent can still decide to direct the burn at your planeswalkers, and Safe Passage is specifically creatures and YOU.  So unfortunately, it does nothing to help you.

After having played the deck he's suggested in the article, I feel the planeswalkers aren't pulling their weight.  After seeing several being taken down by Dreadbore and then losing a lot of card advantage from Rakdos's Return , I think the Elixir of Immortality is much better against these matchups (and Jund Midrange is really big right now).  I also wonder about a few other cards, specifically Witchbane Orb (which deals a major blow to targetted burn) and Curse of Echoes , which helps against burn and counter spells.  With a deck like this meant to slow down the game to a dead stop, these cards are much easier to play.

I'm going to probably be testing these out.  I think this deck is very well positioned against most of the midrange decks and some of the control, and I've been seeing a lot of midrange and control lately.  Even if people move to burn/aggro decks, you'd still be able to have some chance against them, possibly using a transformative sideboard to switch completely into a lifegain deck.  Might be possible.

Nov 8, 2012 -- 2:21AM, alextfish wrote:

At the moment the Shock to your head is resolving, there are two replacement effects which could apply to the damage: the planeswalker redirection rule, and Safe Passage 's prevention. Because you are the player being damaged, you get to choose which replacement effect to apply first. So you can apply Safe Passage to reduce the damage to 0, and then the opponent gets to redirect 0 damage to the planeswalker, which doesn't really accomplish what they wanted.

Not that I'm arguing after having dug into the comprehensive rules, but I do find it interesting that you can't damage a planeswalker when you want to.  I suppose I thought the player trying to do the damage would be the active player, and therefore would be the one to decide which replacement effect happened first; however, apparently rule 616 states the player or permanent's controller is the player who decides when replacement effects happen.

I'm sure I've seen other instances when this rule has been broken unknowingly by players, but carrying around a comprehensive rulebook to prove a point seems a little much.  Hopefully either the judge will be knowledgeable enough, or you'll just overwhelm them and they won't argue.