The Hunt for Red October

Another week, another article. After my shameful play mistake at SPDC 16.03, I found it hard to muster up the courage to sit down at my keyboard and write this one up. But alas, here I am, ready to bare my soul.

'turn me sideways or DIE'

"What happened?" you ask? Well, in the 2nd game of my top 8 match, I'm struggling to survive with 3 land against a very potent MetalHawk deck, (piloted by Mayday11) and he swings with a Glint Hawk and 2 of his statuary cousins, reducing me to 4 life, then Galvanic Blasts me, and, since I'm more or less new to this metalcraft idea, I, of course, take the Blast to the face, not realizing he has metalcraft online, and I lose the game, despite having 2 Golden Urns in play, one charged to 6. Whether or not that Golden Urn would have made a difference is hard to tell, since I immediately exited the match, reported in /spdccom, thanked Jam, and logged. I hate making play errors, and ultimately, I feel the fact that you can't really protect yourself from misclicks or overlooks is about the only thing seriously wrong with MTGO. /rant

'i is ready for battles'

Now that I've had my little pity party emofest, we can get into the topic of the week: Mono Red. Yes, yes, yes. Sligh (click it to read up on the history of a man's man deck) players unite, because I'm taking this one to the top, mark my words. The Red standard pauper pool is overflowing with goodies, and it pains me that I've only seen TWO mono red decks in 7 standard tournaments. Over the course of this article, I'll go over some of the power cards that I feel have been underused, and I'll give you a deck idea I've been toying with, and will be running Monday in paper and Thursday in pixels.



Creatures:

Aside from the obvious powerhouse Plated Geopede, let's look at some of the other unsung heroes our fiery mana symbol has to offer. Blisterstick Shaman immediately pops into my head as a force to be reckoned with. He is a limited winner, and in standard pauper, he's almost as powerful. He is especially well equipped for the meta, with a healthy appetite the Squadron Hawks and Bant tokens that seem to be ripe for the sticking. It's surprising that this 2 for 1 hasn't seen more play. The list goes on and on for what this little guy likes to eat, and if the hefty array of playable 1 toughness dudes isn't reason enough to consider this guy, just think of all the times that a Kor Skyfisher has loomed over the battle field because it eats your 2 power minions, or how many times your opponent has been at 1 life, and you just couldn't eek through 1 more damage.

On that note, let's look an old favorite, hidden in the Oracle's new ways: Goblin Arsonist. If you remember the most lovable little kamikaze goblin Mogg Fanatic, then you remember how you could put combat damage on the stack, and then shoot something for one, effectively getting a nice twofer. Well, Goblin Arsonist gives the exact effect that our little ship jumping goblin buddy always did. He has underlying evasiveness and incredible potency given the current metagame. If you haven't noticed, Perilous Myr has only gone up in popularity, and will probably become a 4of in 90% of the decks going forward. He presents the opponent with a dilemma very early on, the ever trying 'to block or not to block'. Perilous Myr always gets through for a few points before going down in a blaze of Myr glory. I predict our fire loving friend here will do much the same.

Lastly, I'd like to touch on a creature that I truly feel should be MVP. Manic Vandal. This dude is an absolute all-star. He will almost ALWAYS have a target, given that 75% of the field runs some form of artifact maindeck or board. And he's not just vandalizing artifacts that sort of help the opponent, like Prophetic Prism, but game-changing artifacts like Sylvok Lifestaff, Necrogen Censer, and Glint Hawk Idol. If that isn't a nice little ETB effect, I don't know what is. It's actually a wonder that this guy didn't turn out green when the R&D sat down to bang out M11. Uktabi Orangutans were always a force, though mostly in board, so why wouldn't Manic Vandal fill a few board slots as well, if not a couple main deck positions?





Spells:

Ah, yes, the bread and butter category or any successful fireslinger. Now, obviously everyone knows about Lightning Bolt, Staggershock, Burst Lightning, and the lesser Galvanic Blast, Flame Slash, and even Burn the Impure (ultimate board about UG infect, BTW), but I want to talk about some of the lesser used instant spells. Take Crush for instance. Though it doesn't jump out as an impressive main deck game changer, it is most definitely a 4of in the board, simply for the fact that there are so many MetalHawks flying around the top 8s lately. Nothing feels better than targeting that damned Necrogen Senser just as your opponent drops his Glint Hawk, successfully 'crushing' your opponent's soul and leaving him to sift through the dust of his shattered dreams. Ok, so maybe it isn't that dramatic, but it IS about the best twofer you're going to get in this meta.

MMMMM, more Squadron Hawk/Bant hate, this time in the form of a warm and fuzzy Wrap in Flames. If you thought it felt good to Shrivel away a playset of Hawks, then welcome, my friend, to the machine. This card is an unbelievably rogue choice, and has one of the BEST secondary effects I have seen. When you're rushing down you're opponent, and they seem to stabilize with a handful of midrange beefy dudes, Wrap in Flames burns their retinas just long enough for your amassing army of little Gobbos to sneak by and steal the last little bit of gold, errr, life points, your opponent has been surviving on. This, in itself, cures the only problem that truly ailed mono red players in the past standard pauper blocks, lack of reach. I think we will all see this more often, at least as a board card in a deck splashing red, and I hope to see it more as a finisher in some mono red builds.

Similar to Wrap in Flames, but slightly more potent (if you're artifact friendly), is Concussive Bolt. If you can't get past your obnoxious opponent's opposing Bant token task force, then just knock him/her upside the head with something really heavy, push all of his dudes to the side, and go for the throat. This is Concussive Bolt, in a nutshell. I don't know any better way to explain it. I've seen it happen in limited, hell, I've seen it happen in pauper, and let me tell you, it ISN'T PRETTY. Gotta love the outright 'opponent's creatures can't block' effect. This can be devastating in any late game, especially if you've been picking at your opponent's life total continually with a Blisterstick Shaman or a Lightning Bolt here and there. Expect to see this at some point in the season.




Other:

Not a big contender, but I thought it should still be mentioned, as red lacks evasion (aside from the illustrious Goblin Balloon Brigade): Spin Engine. Now, that isn't pronounced SPINE Engine, so please, don't make me stab you. Spin Engine can be suited up with a few nice equipment (i.e. Copper Carapace), provided your opponent isn't packing removal (lol) and all the blockers in the world can't seem to jump in front of a moving Spin Engine in time to stop it from doming your opponent for 3+ damage. It could even be argued that this guy could come in late game in a more control oriented deck to slowly pick away at your opponent while you sit back ad protect your board (and your engine) from enemy threats. It's cards like this and Bladetusk Boar that make me wonder why more people don't 'Spin' the wheel and try out mono red.

 Another metagame choice (and a good one, I might add) comes in the form of red's only viable enchantment: Volcanic Strength. This card is overlooked 9 times out of 10 because most people mistake it for Goblin War Paint or Maniacal Rage, and never notice the Mountainwalk. While this is typically not an amazing ability, the current meta begs to differ. 5/8 and 3/8 decks in the top 8 of the most recent SPDC and MPDC (respectively) contained Mountains, making this card a sideboard powerhouse. Slap it on something with a 3 toughness and you're going to town for ice cream before your opponent knows what hit them. Come to think of it, red actually has more evasion than I thought this go around. I apologize to any Goblin Balloon Brigade enthusiasts I may have offended.






So, red doesn't look so weak all by itself, does it? Well, maybe it still does, but I'm sure I got a few brains churning. I may have even unsettled some cobwebs in the tunnel-visioned minds of a Bant player. Either way, at least red has been done justice, and shown for the shining emblem of power that it always has been. As I raise my imaginary goblet high in the air to toast of RDW victories soon to come, I leave you all with a decklist I plan on taking the Mountain with in this weeks battle for glory.

'Scars Gobbos > all other Gobbos'

Sligh.dec

Creatures:

4 Goblin Arsonist
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Perilous Myr

Spells:
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Burst Lightning
2 Galvanic Blast
4 Searing Blaze
1 Rally the Forces
4 Flayer Husk
4 Panic Spellbomb

Land:
17 Mountain

Sideboard:
4 Burn the Impure
4 Teetering Peaks
4 Crush
3 Concussive Bolt