Pandeburst

Today we are learning about a deck that I knew very little about prior to writing this article. Apparently, it was actually a pretty popular deck back in the semi-old days; I just wasn’t aware of it because I had stopped playing the game by the time it existed. I find the way it works to be quite fascinating however, and decided to look into its history a bit to see what I could design within the Ancient rules. So let’s remember that we should a) always be nice to pandas, and b) read on about something entirely unrelated to them: Pandeburst.

To begin, let’s first take a look at the namesake cards of the deck to better understand how it works. Pande- comes from Pandemonium, a card we’ve actually talked about in a different deck some time ago. The second half, -burst, comes from Saproling Burst, another relatively obscure card by the average player nowadays. The name is rather fitting, as the two combine to form a winning combo when they’re both in play. So how does it work? Essentially – with Pandemonium on the board, Saproling Burst becomes a pinger-type outlet via its tokens. The first token being a 7/7, then a 6/6, then a 5/5, then a 4/4.. you get the idea. Sacrifice these to Pandemonium, send some direct damage to your opponent, and ta-da – you win the game.

The rest of the cards act as your standard combo-type of deck; the main ones are used to assemble the combo pieces so you can win the game. Brainstorm is an obvious inclusion, but you might be wondering about Intuition and Careful Study. The reason we use these are actually because the win con can often be a combo within a combo. What do I mean by that? Well to start, the latter 2 cards are used to collect your win pieces – whether that means putting them into your hand or into your graveyard. That’s where the second combo sort of comes into play – how do we win if our card is in the ‘yard? The answer is.. in the next paragraph. DUN DUN DUN.

Alrighty, as promised – the answer to our obvious riddle. What’s the best way to get enchantments from the graveyard into play? Replenish of course! In fact, I would argue that this is the real combo to the deck, as it lets you circumvent the casting costs of your win conditions. Not only does this mean getting a combined 9 CMC out for the cost of a Replenish, but it also means that both cards hit the board at the same time – avoiding the awkwardness of one being destroyed or countered while the other is in play.

One thing that stands out to me is that the deck contains 4 colours. This is normally something that I avoid doing, as I find it to be very easy for an opponent to ruin your mana base. The reason I am fine with it here is because there is no spell, aside from the two creatures, that requires 2+ of a colour to be cast. In fact, the deck can technically be played without the G or R mana base – I just chose to add the Island duals because I prefer being able to cast any card in the deck. This is not a rule that you need to abide by, simply a preference of mine when it comes to deck construction. In other words, build the deck based on your play style. Happy Brewing!

Pandeburst

Land

4 Tundra

2 Volcanic Island

2 Tropical Island

4 Island

1 Plains

4 Ancient Tomb

7 Fetch lands

Total: 24

Creatures

2 Gigapede

Total: 2

Spells

4 Pandemonium

4 Saproling Burst

4 Replenish

4 Brainstorm

1 Sleight of Hand

1 Opt

4 Intuition

4 Careful Study

4 Force of Will

4 Swords to Plowshares

Total: 34

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Disenchant

2 City of Solitude

2 Meekstone

1 Aegis of Honor

2 Circle of Protection: Red