Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan was a breakout weekend for Young Pyromancer in Modern. We've known for many years now how powerful the card is in Legacy, and it's shown up in Modern decks before. That said, it's never put multiple decks into the Top 8 before. What we saw this weekend is that Modern has shifted to a point where Young Pyromancer backed by efficient removal and disruption is a very reasonable gameplan, and there were a number of interesting takes on that idea:

Blue Red Pyromancer - Modern | Pascal Vieren, Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan

• Creatures (10)
• 3 Thing in the Ice
• 3 Young Pyromancer
• 4 Snapcaster Mage

• Instants (19)
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Electrolyze
• 1 Logic Knot
• 1 Spell Snare
• 2 Mana Leak
• 2 Remand
• 3 Cryptic Command
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Opt

• Sorceries (9)
• 2 Roast
• 3 Ancestral Vision
• 4 Serum Visions

• Lands (22)
• 1 Island
• 1 Snow-Covered Mountain
• 4 Snow-Covered Island
• 1 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Spirebluff Canal
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 2 Flooded Strand
• 3 Field of Ruin
• 3 Steam Vents
• 4 Scalding Tarn

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Abrade
• 2 Anger of the Gods
• 2 Ceremonious Rejection
• 1 Crumble to Dust
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 Dispel
• 1 Electrolyze
• 1 Molten Rain
• 1 Negate
• 1 Relic of Progenitus
• 1 Spell Snare
• 1 Vendilion Clique

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One of the most interesting things about this deck is that it includes Thing in the Ice. Thing in the Ice is another payoff similar to Young Pyromancer. It gives you a way to interact with creature decks, by bouncing their board back to their hand while giving you a cheap way to generate pressure against aggressive decks.

If you're looking for a Blue tempo deck, this seems like a great choice. Many of them opt for combo finishes like Through the Breach or Madcap Experiment, but Pascal Vieren has shown that it's possible to play a fair, interactive game and leverage Ancestral Vision and Young Pyromancer, and that's something many players, myself included, are excited about.