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Flag Bangtor December 26, 2012 3:13 PM PST
Alrighty im looking at making my red deck wins deck but i wanna hear from all of you. Now i know Hellkites are HUGE in this but money is an issue for those so yeah... This is what im looking at right now.

4x Stromkirk Noble
4x Rakdos Cackler 
4x Ash Zealot 
4x Gore-House Chainwalker
2x Lightning Mauler
2x Pyreheart wolf
4x Hell rider
1x Archwing Dragon 
creatures: 25

2x Brimstone Volley
2x Geistflame
2x Searing Spear
4x Pillar of Flame
1x Devil's Play
1x Bonfire of the Damned
2x Flames of the Firebrand
1x Thunderbolt
spells: 15

4x Hellion of Crucible
20x mountains

SideBoard:
2x Splatter Thug
2x Rakdos Shred-Freak
1x Ring of Valkas
1x Rakdos Keyrune
1x Flames of the Firebrand
3x Thunderbolt
1x Thunderous Wrath
2x Mark of Mutiny 
2x Mizzium Mortars
 Cards: 15
Flag tehbeast December 26, 2012 3:46 PM PST
64 cards maindeck? Try and get it down to 60. Without a 5-drop, 23 land should suffice, and if you can reduce your 4-drops by 1-2, you can drop down to 22 land. I run 22 land in my Zombies list, and its curve tops out at a set of Aristocrat. 3 Crucible, 19 Mountain is probably how I'd go about it.
Flag Bangtor December 26, 2012 3:57 PM PST

Dec 26, 2012 -- 3:46PM, tehbeast wrote:

64 cards maindeck? Try and get it down to 60. Without a 5-drop, 23 land should suffice, and if you can reduce your 4-drops by 1-2, you can drop down to 22 land. I run 22 land in my Zombies list, and its curve tops out at a set of Aristocrat. 3 Crucible, 19 Mountain is probably how I'd go about it.


Alright yeah that sounds good, anything creature wise for 5-drops that you can think of for a decent price? I just dont wanna drop 39$ for one card.

Flag Anubuss December 26, 2012 5:51 PM PST
Only 5 drop worth the time to play it is Hellkite. Don't bother with the 5 drop slot if you can't swing the cash.

Though that Bonefire is 2 Hellkites if I recall prices.
Flag tehbeast December 26, 2012 7:04 PM PST
Nosir, Bonfire down to about 25-26, just barely more than Snapcaster, while Hellkite is around 40 most shops.
Flag Anubuss December 26, 2012 7:14 PM PST
Wow how the mighty have fallen.

In that case less Geistflame more Spear.
Flag pzbw7z December 26, 2012 7:29 PM PST
Four Crucibles is WAY too many. It will result in many mulligans. You need to start with two . I've been running two and I've gotten away with it so far, but I've never actually gotten to use the thing. I'm seriously considering dropping it altogether.

In any case, you can almost certainly run this with a little less than 24 lands.
Flag Bangtor December 26, 2012 8:36 PM PST
Alright thanks everyone! ill switch it to two crucibles, also what do you all think of stonewrights for the side board? I'm not 100% sure if they are a good fit for the deck.
Flag Anubuss December 26, 2012 9:48 PM PST
On 24 lands I've never been punished for my 4 Crucibles. I have yet to not be able to stick a turn 2 Zealot or Shred-Freak. I rarely ever have had to activate one but when I have its been because I was either already winning or was try to break a board stall. A few times its been for their intended reason, rebounding from a board wipe. I've never been not glad to see one.

I've only had to pitch 1 opening hand because I was rocking two of them but bad hands happen.

Stonewright is solid. I run 2 MD since I opt to skip the 3 drop slot and all my 2 drops have haste. Gives me something to do before Hellrider and Hellkite.
Flag tehbeast December 26, 2012 9:58 PM PST
Plus firebreathing + first strike = pwn
Flag Bangtor December 27, 2012 9:40 AM PST

Dec 26, 2012 -- 9:48PM, Anubuss wrote:

On 24 lands I've never been punished for my 4 Crucibles. I have yet to not be able to stick a turn 2 Zealot or Shred-Freak. I rarely ever have had to activate one but when I have its been because I was either already winning or was try to break a board stall. A few times its been for their intended reason, rebounding from a board wipe. I've never been not glad to see one. I've only had to pitch 1 opening hand because I was rocking two of them but bad hands happen. Stonewright is solid. I run 2 MD since I opt to skip the 3 drop slot and all my 2 drops have haste. Gives me something to do before Hellrider and Hellkite.




Ok so 4 crucibles is alright, and Stonewrights are good, would you recomend them over the lightening maulers? I was thinking about having them in SB just to switch with lightening maulers sometimes. And man i need money for Hellkite lol

Flag tehbeast December 27, 2012 11:43 AM PST
DO NOT buy Hellkite right now, it has nowhere to go but down from here. As soon as a deck that doesn't run them starts dominating again, you'll be left with a quarter of your investment if you're lucky. If you REALLY wanna spend some money on making this deck totally ****ing metal, snap up some Blood Crypt reprints, trade for some Dragonskull Summits and catch Aristocrat when she plummets again (aggressive red creatures cannot stay high-priced, that's blue/white's job).

Hellrider is also going to tank and everyone knows it. This B/r aggro market bubble is a hilarious fluke.

Stonewright and Lightning Mauler fill two entirely different roles in your deck; one is a 1-drop and the other is a 2-drop. You want around 10 different turn 1 plays for RDW (4 Noble, 4 Cackler, 2 Stonewright). 9 or 11 is fine also, but your victory depends on you playing a creature your first turn.
Flag Bangtor December 27, 2012 11:47 AM PST

Dec 27, 2012 -- 11:43AM, tehbeast wrote:

DO NOT buy Hellkite right now, it has nowhere to go but down from here. As soon as a deck that doesn't run them starts dominating again, you'll be left with a quarter of your investment if you're lucky. If you REALLY wanna spend some money on making this deck totally ****ing metal, snap up some Blood Crypt reprints, trade for some Dragonskull Summits and catch Aristocrat when she plummets again. This also allows you to run Olivia in the sideboard.

Stonewright and Lightning Mauler fill two entirely different roles in your deck; one is a 1-drop and the other is a 2-drop. You want around 10 different turn 1 plays for RDW (4 Noble, 4 whatever the other one was, 2 Stonewright, or 4/3/3 could also be good).




Yeah im hoping Hellkite drops soon haha 40 bucks too much. And thank you for the advice on Stonewrights and Lightning Maulers. What do you all think of Balefire Dragon? Personally i think it would be funny to get it out but its mana cost is to high imo.....Oh and yeah i already have some Dragonskull summits/Blood Crypt's im just waiting for prices to drop haha.

Flag tehbeast December 27, 2012 11:49 AM PST
Balefire costs more mana than Thundermaw, and does not have haste. That's a negative, good buddy. It's designed for EDH and maybe reanimator, but even reanimator has better options.

As I said earlier, top your curve out at 4.

Black splash allows you to run Hellhole Flailer in the 3-slot, and Knight of Infamy in the 2. Hellhole Flailer could be fun with Lightning Mauler.

Oh yeah, that's why people run Lightning Mauler: When you're playing a deck you know to have board wipes, sandbag a Lightning Mauler and another creature that costs few enough mana to play with Lightning Mauler, pair them and beat the tar out of your control-playing opponent.
Flag Bangtor December 27, 2012 12:04 PM PST

Dec 27, 2012 -- 11:49AM, tehbeast wrote:

Balefire costs more mana than Thundermaw, and does not have haste. That's a negative, good buddy. It's designed for EDH and maybe reanimator, but even reanimator has better options.

As I said earlier, top your curve out at 4.

Black splash allows you to run Hellhole Flailer in the 3-slot, and Knight of Infamy in the 2. Hellhole Flailer could be fun with Lightning Mauler.

Oh yeah, that's why people run Lightning Mauler: When you're playing a deck you know to have board wipes, sandbag a Lightning Mauler and another creature that costs few enough mana to play with Lightning Mauler, pair them and beat the tar out of your control-playing opponent.





Alright thanks and yeah i wasnt going to run it i just was thinking of things that would make me laugh if i saw it happen in a game. The main reason im making this deck is i got rolled by board wipes with my old list and the Vexing Devils i had just didnt do anything because people would just take the damage. I realized i needed creatures on the field so i took them out. 

Flag tehbeast December 27, 2012 1:04 PM PST
It also just occurred to me you could have a very crude Fireball with Stonewright + Hellhole Flailer .
Flag Bangtor December 27, 2012 1:10 PM PST

Dec 27, 2012 -- 1:04PM, tehbeast wrote:

It also just occurred to me you could have a very crude Fireball with Stonewright + Hellhole Flailer .




Wow thats true. If i end up switching to B/R i would try that out for sure

Flag Bangtor December 27, 2012 1:22 PM PST
Oh i was wondering about Zealous Conscripts over Mark of Mutiny. Since its basically Mark of Mutiny + a 3-3 haste, for just 2 mana cost more.
Flag tehbeast December 27, 2012 1:34 PM PST
Mark costs 3, but gives you +1 damage to the creature you stole. Conscripts costs 5, but gives you +3 damage, divided, and is any permanent so you could steal any damn thing you want. Comes down to personal taste, but Conscripts costs 2  more.
Flag Bangtor December 27, 2012 2:20 PM PST
Alright tehbeast you have given me a ton of advice! Thanks!
Flag stepintherift December 27, 2012 4:03 PM PST
Zealous Conscripts isn't really a great card in aggro deck because of its high cost. She goes well with midrange decks such as Naya and Jund, but that's pretty much it. As far as RDW goes, if you dont have Thundermaw Hellkite, skip the 5 cmc slot altogether.

Also, I just want to point out that Traitorous Blood is pretty much always better than Mark of Mutiny , as trample is more relevant than a +1 counter that may come and bite you back. Also, with t blood you can do cute stuff such as stealing their thragtusk and spearing it, keeping the beast token.

Lastly, Stonewright is a boss. He shines the must versus control, in which case you can use his firebreathing to deal tons of damage without overextending, but he is almost never not relevant (unlike most 1 drops).
Flag Chiaelvis December 27, 2012 9:04 PM PST
Zealous Conscripts can be a good sideboard card against control opponents playing the blue planeswalkers - the Jaces and Tamiyo. Once you get the conscripts in your hand you hold on to it until your opponent has their planeswalker ready to ultimate and then on your turn you drop the conscripts and take the planeswalker and trigger the ultimate for yourself. I've faced a few control opponents that were able to stall me long enough that they thought they had control for the long game, but once they prime their planeswalker I just grab it and my game comes back from the agony of defeat.

No comparison to the hellkite, but I think it can have a place in the sideboard for use against control.

I think the most work that needs to be done to Bangtor's build is in the sideboard - needs to have more cards that are threat specific and less cards that would be good in the deck if there was room.
Flag Bangtor December 27, 2012 9:36 PM PST

Dec 27, 2012 -- 9:04PM, Chiaelvis wrote:

Zealous Conscripts can be a good sideboard card against control opponents playing the blue planeswalkers - the Jaces and Tamiyo. Once you get the conscripts in your hand you hold on to it until your opponent has their planeswalker ready to ultimate and then on your turn you drop the conscripts and take the planeswalker and trigger the ultimate for yourself. I've faced a few control opponents that were able to stall me long enough that they thought they had control for the long game, but once they prime their planeswalker I just grab it and my game comes back from the agony of defeat.

No comparison to the hellkite, but I think it can have a place in the sideboard for use against control.

I think the most work that needs to be done to Bangtor's build is in the sideboard - needs to have more cards that are threat specific and less cards that would be good in the deck if there was room.




Any ideas for sideboard cards that would help?

Flag Bangtor December 27, 2012 11:50 PM PST
Alright so this is the edited deck list so far....not alot of changes but some
The main changes were to the side board and the spells, i put an extra archwing dragon in there for now will prolly end up switching the SB archwing out for something else not 100% sure though.
VERSION 2:

4x Stromkirk Noble

4x Rakdos Cackler 
4x Ash Zealot 
4x Gore-House Chainwalker
2x Lightning Mauler
2x Pyreheart wolf
4x Hell rider
1x Archwing Dragon 
creatures: 25

3x Brimstone Volley
2x Geistflame
4x Searing Spear
2x Pillar of Flame
2x Flames of the Firebrand
1x Thunderbolt
1x Bonfire of the Damned
spells: 15

4x Hellion of Crucible
20x mountains

SideBoard:
1x Devil's Play
1x Archwing Dragon
2x Pillar of Flame
2x Stonewright
1x Flames of the Firebrand
3x Thunderbolt
1x Thunderous Wrath
2x Mark of Mutiny 
2x Mizzium Mortars
 Cards: 15
 
Flag tehbeast December 28, 2012 7:45 AM PST
Cut 1 Thunderbolt, 2 Geistflame and 1 Hellion Crucible from your main. Otherwise it looks pretty good.
Flag Bangtor December 28, 2012 8:17 AM PST
alright thanks!
Flag Watercat_ December 28, 2012 8:46 AM PST
i think electrickery is much better than geistflame
Flag Bangtor December 28, 2012 8:49 AM PST
why do you say that?
Flag Watercat_ December 28, 2012 10:06 AM PST
the overload, you can kill a lot of 1 toughness creatures, being lingering souls or arbor elf/pilgrams. Probably wouldn't mainboard it though
Flag Bangtor December 28, 2012 9:24 PM PST
yeah i wouldnt mainboard it eathier
Flag Random_Kid December 29, 2012 3:02 PM PST
I am pleased to be able to report a FNM First place undefeated win last night with this:

 Land
22 x Mountain

 Creatures
4 x Ash Zealot
3 x Hellrider
4 x Lightning Mauler
4 x Rakdos Cackler
4 x Stromkirk Noble
4 x Vexing Devil

 Spells
4 x Brimstone Volley
4 x Pillar of Flame
4 x Searing Spear
3 x Thunderous Wrath

 Sideboard
4 x Flames of the Firebrand
2 x Mizzium Mortars
4 x Traitorous Blood
3 x Thunderbolt
2 x Vandalblast


R1 - 2-0 vs WU Control
R2 - 2-1 vs BG (Either zombies or reanimator. He didn't get that far.)
R3 - 2-0 vs BR Midrange
R4 - 2-0 vs Mono Red Burn
R5 - 2-1 vs BR Midrange (Had a cool sacrifice engine going: Mark of Mutiny / Blood Artist / Bloodthrone Vampire with Aristcrat and Olivia )

This deck basically just paid for itself last night.
Flag Hreth December 29, 2012 4:51 PM PST

Dec 29, 2012 -- 3:02PM, Random_Kid wrote:

I am pleased to be able to report a FNM First place undefeated win last night with this:


Was this by any chance at a certain FLGS in southern NH?

Flag Random_Kid December 29, 2012 5:13 PM PST
That's quite possible. I don't suppose you've seen a deck like that recently?
Flag Hreth December 29, 2012 6:42 PM PST

Dec 29, 2012 -- 5:13PM, Random_Kid wrote:

That's quite possible. I don't suppose you've seen a deck like that recently?


Hypothetically, if it was, then I would have been the U/W spirit deck you obliterated: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...

I'll PM you to verify the story. Too funny if it's true. Regardless, congratulations on the win! I went 3-2, so I'm happy.

Flag Random_Kid December 29, 2012 8:03 PM PST
Yes, I remember. The Delver deck first round. 3-2 is not bad. Good to see you got it to work for you.
Flag Bangtor December 30, 2012 12:47 PM PST
LOL did that really just happen? 2 people who played each other met on here?

And holy crap that red deck is burn haha
Flag Chiaelvis December 31, 2012 9:09 AM PST
@Random_Kid - Good job! You're lucky there was no Naya player matchups - you got 5 perfect match-ups pretty much. A Very Magic Christmas for you. Cool

@Bangtor - Look at Random_Kid's sideboard. Your sideboard should looke something like that. Although, I would switch Vandalblast for Torch Fiend and for my local meta I would switch Mizzium Mortars for Reverberate - which is best played in a control match up where your opponent is running Entreat the Angels and/or Sphinx's Revelation .
Flag Watercat_ December 31, 2012 9:28 AM PST
How do you feel about lightning mauler?
7 of your dudes already have haste, and since i don't consider vexing devil a dude, you have 8 potential 1 drop targets
Is it really better than stonewright or gorehouse chainwalker? 
Flag Hreth December 31, 2012 11:32 AM PST

Dec 30, 2012 -- 12:47PM, Bangtor wrote:

LOL did that really just happen? 2 people who played each other met on here?


Yup, I confirmed via PM that it we played the first-round game. My deck is listed here: community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758... (note my comment at the very end, "lost to a fast RDW").

Flag Bangtor December 31, 2012 4:06 PM PST

Dec 31, 2012 -- 9:09AM, Chiaelvis wrote:

@Random_Kid - Good job! You're lucky there was no Naya player matchups - you got 5 perfect match-ups pretty much. A Very Magic Christmas for you. Cool

@Bangtor - Look at Random_Kid's sideboard. Your sideboard should looke something like that. Although, I would switch Vandalblast for Torch Fiend and for my local meta I would switch Mizzium Mortars for Reverberate - which is best played in a control match up where your opponent is running Entreat the Angels and/or Sphinx's Revelation .




alright ill look into torch fiend the reverberate might not be great at my stores meta but ill look into it.

Flag pzbw7z December 31, 2012 4:47 PM PST

Dec 31, 2012 -- 9:28AM, Watercat_ wrote:

How do you feel about lightning mauler?
7 of your dudes already have haste, and since i don't consider vexing devil a dude, you have 8 potential 1 drop targets
Is it really better than stonewright or gorehouse chainwalker? 




Rakdos Shred-Freak is the card I've seen most often in that slot.

Flag Watercat_ December 31, 2012 5:19 PM PST
i personally prefer Gore-house Chainwalker over shred freak but thats just me
Flag MasterPlo December 31, 2012 6:40 PM PST
Mizzium Mortars is a good SB card for GW decks.  You can take care of a 4/4 Loxodon Smiter or restoration angel with it.  And congrats to RandomKid.  My fav color in magic is red, and in the last standard I had lots of good matches with RDW.  But in this new standard the few times I went in all gung ho to play RDW I got my ass handed to me on a silver platter.
Flag Random_Kid January 1, 2013 6:01 PM PST

Dec 31, 2012 -- 9:28AM, Watercat_ wrote:

How do you feel about lightning mauler?
7 of your dudes already have haste, and since i don't consider vexing devil a dude, you have 8 potential 1 drop targets
Is it really better than stonewright or gorehouse chainwalker? 




The 2 Slot seems to be incidental at best. Turn two usually seems to get spent on burn for me. Lightning Mauler , like the other cheap red creatures, have their strengths and weaknesses depending on the situation. I don't see alot of direct creature removal in my meta that early in the game, so the Lightning Mauler will often be a turn three with a Noble or Devil if an Ash Zealot is unavailable. Worst case, I just pair him with a creature from last turn and he becomes a defacto shred-freak .

The Chainwalker has it's place if your meta allows you the extra turn or you need a little more toughness that early. I can not afford to be that slow, so I can't play with it.

I've tried the Stonewright , but I never found myself with significant mana to spare. I'm typically tapping out every turn and playing as much as I can. If I'm not, it's to hold on for burn on my opponent's turn.

The Devil comes out more often than I thought he would. The chances go up with 4 mountains in play.

Flag tehbeast January 2, 2013 9:18 AM PST
Since RDW doesn't have the resilience to wipes that Zombies does, I'm coming around to the point of view that Lightning Mauler is a lightning baller. Sandbag him with another creature you want to attack with after a Wrath of God and laugh at your opponent. Bonus points for pairing the post-wrath Mauler with Stonewright .
Flag Bangtor January 2, 2013 11:41 AM PST
Alright so i went 1-3 at my shop with this deck....but on a side note there were 4 other aggro decks (two being RDW's), so im not 100% sure if it was a good test run. Also i had to muligan down to 5 twice because for some reason i never saw a one drop until my last round......i run so many and they just didnt want to appear.
Flag CarbonatedSoda January 2, 2013 12:41 PM PST
I managed to get a first place undefeated streak a couple of weeks ago with my RDW. Pyreheart and Hellrider truly are the MVP's of the deck to me. More than even Thundermaw in my opinion. Brimstone also attributes to probably over half my wins with the deck. I've tried archwing before and found him utterly underwhelming. Lightning mauler can be nice but I've since dropped him. Heres what I run for the time being.

Creatures: 25
4 x Stromkirk Noble
4 x Hellrider
1 x Thundermaw Hellkite
4 x Ash Zealot
4 x Rakdos Cackler
2 x Stonewright
2 x Pyreheart Wolf
4 x Gore-house Chainwalker

Spells: 12
4 x Brimstone Volley
4 x Searing Spear
3 x Pillar of Flame
1 x Devil's Play

Land: 23
2 x Hellion Crucible
21 x Mountain

Sideboard
2 x Tormod's Crypt
2 x Volcanic Strength
3 x Flames of the Firebrand
3 x Thunderbolt
3 x Mizzium Mortars
2 x Mark of Mutiny

1 Thundermaw because I only have one and I'm highly considering trading/selling it because I really don't value the thing at 40+ dollars and would probably rather have whatever I can get over one super duper card in my deck out of 60.

Devil's play is just a fun 1 of card, really. It's probably not super viable but I had an empty spot open so it went in.

The sideboard is completely developed for my local shops meta. So if it looks wrong or bizarre for what you face, it might be.

I'm eagerly awaiting whatever mono-red cards may come in gatecrash as I'll probably continue to run this deck Post-Gatecrash Standard.

Jan 2, 2013 -- 11:41AM, Bangtor wrote:

Alright so i went 1-3 at my shop with this deck....but on a side note there were 4 other aggro decks (two being RDW's), so im not 100% sure if it was a good test run. Also i had to muligan down to 5 twice because for some reason i never saw a one drop until my last round......i run so many and they just didnt want to appear.



Try shuffling a lot. I sometimes take 3 minutes each game to shuffle because I'm wary of horrible hands like 6 mountains and a thundermaw or 0 lands. It's something that you really can't test online since computer shuffling and a human shuffling are entirely different and a human cannot truly be random in shuffling.

As for aggro decks beating you...I'd say my two biggest threats atleast where I am are other similarly built RDW's and the one guy who runs a B/R Vampires deck due to the high amount of lifegain and fliers being problematic.

Flag re4leonkennedy January 2, 2013 4:36 PM PST
I'm planning on updating my RDW deck (haven't played standard in about 2 months) and was just wondering what people thought of some ideas I had. 

#1 Kessig Malcontents . I usually like running a few 3 drops in RDW. The selection of creatures for that cost doesn't seem great at the moment. Kessig Malcontents seems okay, since you'll get some damage out of it when it enters the battlefield. Seems like a lot of creatures that the deck plays/could play are human (ash zealot, gore-house chainwalker, lightning mauler, rakdos shredfreak, reckless waif, stonewright, and burning-tree emissary from gatecrash) Getting 2-3 damage(1 minimum) out of a 3 drop doesn't seem bad to me. It's not Geralf's Messenger , but it seems fine to me. 

#2 Dynacharge . Seems like good potential with burning tree emissary. Can add quite a bit of damage if you have multiple attacking creatures out which this deck does quite frequently. Can also make your creatures trade with stuff in combat that usually just kill your creature (resoration angel, loxodon smiter). Isn't always useful though.

#3 Splashing Green. Flinthoof Boar is a great two drop and can also fill the 3 drop role as a hasty 3/3. One card is obviously not worth splashing for and having to buy/trade for  Stomping Ground s. Gatecrash might offer some good cards for this deck that make the splash worth it though. 

So basically three ideas I'm unsure about. I'm excited that RDW looks like it will be great again. It's a deck I've always enjoyed playing. Probably because Goblin Guide , Staggershock , Lightning Bolt , Burst Lightning , Searing Blaze ,etc were all standard legal when I started playing. Any merits to any of those 3 ideas?  
    



    
Flag Watercat_ January 2, 2013 7:05 PM PST

Jan 2, 2013 -- 4:36PM, re4leonkennedy wrote:

I'm planning on updating my RDW deck (haven't played standard in about 2 months) and was just wondering what people thought of some ideas I had. 

#1 Kessig Malcontents . I usually like running a few 3 drops in RDW. The selection of creatures for that cost doesn't seem great at the moment. Kessig Malcontents seems okay, since you'll get some damage out of it when it enters the battlefield. Seems like a lot of creatures that the deck plays/could play are human (ash zealot, gore-house chainwalker, lightning mauler, rakdos shredfreak, reckless waif, stonewright, and burning-tree emissary from gatecrash) Getting 2-3 damage(1 minimum) out of a 3 drop doesn't seem bad to me. It's not Geralf's Messenger , but it seems fine to me. 

#2 Dynacharge . Seems like good potential with burning tree emissary. Can add quite a bit of damage if you have multiple attacking creatures out which this deck does quite frequently. Can also make your creatures trade with stuff in combat that usually just kill your creature (resoration angel, loxodon smiter). Isn't always useful though.

#3 Splashing Green. Flinthoof Boar is a great two drop and can also fill the 3 drop role as a hasty 3/3. One card is obviously not worth splashing for and having to buy/trade for  Stomping Ground s. Gatecrash might offer some good cards for this deck that make the splash worth it though. 

So basically three ideas I'm unsure about. I'm excited that RDW looks like it will be great again. It's a deck I've always enjoyed playing. Probably because Goblin Guide , Staggershock , Lightning Bolt , Burst Lightning , Searing Blaze ,etc were all standard legal when I started playing. Any merits to any of those 3 ideas?  
    



    



1. Kessig Malcontents is probably too slow unless you have a lot of humans with gather the townsfolk, champ, but doesn't work in an RDW. How late are you planning to play it? T3 is too early, and later most of your dudes will die so it won't do that much damage. Pyreheart wolf or hellhole flaier are often used as 3 drops.
2. I think Hellrider is better for damage and if you want to kill their creatures straight burn usually works better
3. Stomping Grounds is currently not standard legal, probably wouldn't work. You usually also have enough 2 drops with Lightning mauler, ash zealot, gore-house chainwalker. and rakdos shred freak. Some people like to splash black though

Flag re4leonkennedy January 2, 2013 7:40 PM PST
Thanks for the input. Kessig Malcontents is probably too slow. Hellrider is great and I will be playing them. I just thought dynacharge might be a good fit for many of the same situations where hellrider is good. Such as attacking with 4 creatures (2 blocked + 2 unblocked). Hellrider would cause 4 extra damage to the opponent and so would dynacharge. Obviously Hellrider is better, but I thought it might be a good additional card to use in the deck (not a replacement). Stomping grounds comment was about in a month from now with gatecrash's release. There are a lot of good two drops, but I think flinthoof boar is better than some of the ones that see play. It has one more defense than gore-house chainwalker unleashed, can block if necessary, and can gain haste for 1 mana.  
Flag Anubuss January 3, 2013 7:59 PM PST

Jan 2, 2013 -- 4:36PM, re4leonkennedy wrote:

I'm planning on updating my RDW deck (haven't played standard in about 2 months) and was just wondering what people thought of some ideas I had. 

#1 Kessig Malcontents . I usually like running a few 3 drops in RDW. The selection of creatures for that cost doesn't seem great at the moment. Kessig Malcontents seems okay, since you'll get some damage out of it when it enters the battlefield. Seems like a lot of creatures that the deck plays/could play are human (ash zealot, gore-house chainwalker, lightning mauler, rakdos shredfreak, reckless waif, stonewright, and burning-tree emissary from gatecrash) Getting 2-3 damage(1 minimum) out of a 3 drop doesn't seem bad to me. It's not Geralf's Messenger , but it seems fine to me.




Actually, you can get 0 damage if they have instant speed removal for Malcontent and he was the only human you had in play.  His ability goes on the stack and when it resolves, if it sees 0 humans in play, you're out of luck for damage.  I also wouldn't MD Waif.  Too risky of a call.

The 3-drop slot really shouldn't be used right now IMHO.  There's just nothing strong enough not to just run more 1/2-drops, or dipping into the 5-drop.


#2 Dynacharge . Seems like good potential with burning tree emissary. Can add quite a bit of damage if you have multiple attacking creatures out which this deck does quite frequently. Can also make your creatures trade with stuff in combat that usually just kill your creature (resoration angel, loxodon smiter). Isn't always useful though.




Seems like this would favor some Wolfs and lots of 1/2-drops.  Very light on burn, maybe just Spear and Pillar.  Feels liek it'd be a very hit or miss deck.


#3 Splashing Green. Flinthoof Boar is a great two drop and can also fill the 3 drop role as a hasty 3/3. One card is obviously not worth splashing for and having to buy/trade for  Stomping Ground s. Gatecrash might offer some good cards for this deck that make the splash worth it though. 




I do like Boar if there's enough to justify a Green splash.  I've seen some goodies for Gruul but haven't tested enough to say anything 1 way or another.  I do like the look of Emissary, but it can be played in mono-Red, and the 2-drop slot is already mostly full.  Zealot eats up 4, so unless you play on running 10+ 2-drops there isn't much call for the Mauler + Emissary turn 2 double wammy.

Flag re4leonkennedy January 4, 2013 11:02 AM PST
Thanks for the response. I'll probably skip trying out kessig malcontents. I thought it might be okay in a mostly human based RDW. Didn't think it would be great, but I usually like playing RDW with some creature at the 3 mana cost(and I'm not a fan of pyreheart wolf). Mostly just burning-tree emissary being human gave me the idea that it might work. Maybe if there was a 1 drop human in red that I like. Probably won't be 1 in gatecrash, but seems like a pretty good curve. Ex. 1 drop human turn 1, Burning-Tree Emissary + gorehouse chainwalker/lightning mauler/b-t e, kessig malcontents (4 damage), hellrider. Dynacharge was also largely inspired by burning-tree emissary and the lack of a three drop. Basically get 3 creatures out by turn 2 and dynacharge turn 3. Dynacharge does seem hit or miss unlike burn. This is pretty much an outline of the deck I plan to do.

10-11 1 drop creatures (4 rakdos crackler, 4 stromkirk noble, maybe 2 vexing devils or stonewright)
10 burn spells ( 4 searing spear, 3 brimstone volley, 3 pillar of flame)
4 4 drops (Hellriders)
22 Lands
Which would leave 14 open spots for 2,3,or 5 mana creatures. I don't have any thundermaw hellkites and I won't be acquiring them at the price they're at. I don't play enough standard to justify their price. With only 22 lands it probably wouldn't be smart to play any other 5 drop mainboard. Would probably sideboard 1-2 zealous conscripts though. The 3 drop slot is pretty bad at the moment as you said. That basically just leaves those spots for 2 drop creatures or additional burn. Ash Zealot would definitely be a 4 of. That leaves 10 spots. Gorehouse Chainwalker would probably be a 3-4 of. If burning-tree emissary is as good as I think it will be it should probably be a 4 of and the 2 drop roll should have a lot of creatures that you can cast with it on turn 2. So probably Lightning Mauler for whatever spots are left. 

Does that look like a reasonable deck? Any opinions on Thunderous Wrath in low quantity either maindeck or sideboard? It's awesome when you miracle it, but is horrible in opening hands or if you draw it when you're low on mana and have better moves for that turn.   


        
Flag Anubuss January 4, 2013 12:17 PM PST
I'm not a big fan of Wrath. Miricle is a pretty bad mechanic IMHO.  If you run it, cap the count at 2.

Be careful with a lot of 2-drops.  Red can get small, fast guys, but they quickly get outclassed.  If you are looking to run 10+ 2-drops, you'll want to go with Furor of the Bitten and Dynacharge to help all those 2-drop go the distance during turns 4 through 6.

I'm thinking most of the time I'll be using Emmisary to give me a body on the same turn I Spear a blocker. Guy into Guy feels like I'm over extending a little.  And the only thing I'd want to Emmisary into is Lightning Mauler.  Turn 1 Cackler, Turn 2 Emmisary into Mauler, swing for 6 seems pretty tech.  If there isn't a 2 mana 2-damage sweeper come Gatecrash, I might have to look into cutting my Shread-Freaks for 3 Emmisary and 3 Mauler.  That way I still have plenty of room for my Hellriders/Hellkites, without cutting too much into my burn count.
Flag CarbonatedSoda January 4, 2013 1:55 PM PST
I don't personally use it, but I think wrath i alright as a one of if you have an open slot for it. At 1, it's unlikely to end up in your opening hand and you're clearly never planning on hardcasting the thing so it's best to look at it as just a R for 5 spell. And 5 is a special number for monored.

Theres betterr things to go in the spot but I don't think it's unusable. Certainly better than Vexing devil in my opinion.

I also vastly prefer Volcanic Strength to furor. It costs one more, but a lot of decks where I play run some form of red. And it can be very joyous on a Stromkirk Noble
Flag Random_Kid January 12, 2013 8:33 AM PST
I saw this the other day and I thought it might help.

Red Deck Wins
Kevin Brumley
1st Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/6/2013 Columbus, OH
Lands (22 x )
 21 x Mountain
 1 x Hellion Crucible

Creatures (29 x )
 4 x Ash Zealot
 4 x Hellrider
 4 x Lightning Mauler
 3 x Pyreheart Wolf
 4 x Rakdos Cackler
 2 x Rakdos Shred-Freak
 2 x Stonewright
 4 x Stromkirk Noble
 2 x Zealous Conscripts

Spells (9 x )
 4 x Brimstone Volley
 3 x Searing Spear
 2 x Pillar of Flame

Sideboard
 1 x Grafdigger's Cage
 4 x Reckless Waif
 2 x Thunderbolt
 1 x Flames of the Firebrand
 2 x Mizzium Mortars
 2 x Pillar of Flame
 3 x Traitorous Blood


Link: sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/di...


Runs with more creatures than most I've seen, and he splits up his spots for some diversity.
Maybe that's the way to go?

The other decks that placed that day seem solid. This list is worth talking about.
Flag Angry_Toy_Poodle January 12, 2013 9:19 AM PST
i would consider wall of fire and splatter thug as 3 drops
Flag Bangtor January 12, 2013 12:33 PM PST

Jan 12, 2013 -- 8:33AM, Random_Kid wrote:

I saw this the other day and I thought it might help.

Red Deck Wins
Kevin Brumley
1st Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/6/2013 Columbus, OH
Lands (22 x )
 21 x Mountain
 1 x Hellion Crucible

Creatures (29 x )
 4 x Ash Zealot
 4 x Hellrider
 4 x Lightning Mauler
 3 x Pyreheart Wolf
 4 x Rakdos Cackler
 2 x Rakdos Shred-Freak
 2 x Stonewright
 4 x Stromkirk Noble
 2 x Zealous Conscripts

Spells (9 x )
 4 x Brimstone Volley
 3 x Searing Spear
 2 x Pillar of Flame

Sideboard
 1 x Grafdigger's Cage
 4 x Reckless Waif
 2 x Thunderbolt
 1 x Flames of the Firebrand
 2 x Mizzium Mortars
 2 x Pillar of Flame
 3 x Traitorous Blood


Link: sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/di...


Runs with more creatures than most I've seen, and he splits up his spots for some diversity.
Maybe that's the way to go?

The other decks that placed that day seem solid. This list is worth talking about.




i saw this and i did make some adjustments and ended up going 3-2 at fnm, got some prizes.

Jan 12, 2013 -- 9:19AM, Angry_Toy_Poodle wrote:

i would consider wall of fire and splatter thug as 3 drops




as for the wall of fire this is totally against the red deck aggro, it slows me down where i should be trying to win very fast. Splatter thugs are nice but still are out played by ash zealot in my opnion 

Flag pzbw7z January 12, 2013 4:02 PM PST

Jan 12, 2013 -- 8:33AM, Random_Kid wrote:

I saw this the other day and I thought it might help.

Red Deck Wins
Kevin Brumley
1st Place at StarCityGames.com Standard Open on 1/6/2013 Columbus, OH




Well, it's obviously better than my crap, or maybe he's better than me - or both.

There's nothing that hasn't been discussed in one of the many, RDW threads. Main-deck Conscripts is unusual. Still, I think I'm going to take a few cues from this.

Thanks for posting it.

Flag Bajao January 13, 2013 11:49 AM PST
im doing decent with my rdw , but still lacking in upper competiton on mtgo. i seek for constructive criticism on my deck. heres what it looks like currently;

4 ash zealot
2 gorehouse walker
3 lighting mauler
3 pyreheart wolfs
4 rakdos cackler
2 rakdos shredfreaks
4 stromkirk noble
1 torchfiend
1 zealous conscripts

1 volcanic strength
4 searing spear
4 brimstone volley
1 geistflame

3 pillar of flame
1 traitorous instinct

1 hellion crucible
2 kessig wolf run
2 rootboung cag 
17 mountain


Im lacking in creatures. would adding hellriders be a huge improvement to my deck? or vexing devil? i cant afford thundermaw hellkite for now.
Also, do you think hellriders would be outdated once gatecrash is released? thanks  
Flag pzbw7z January 13, 2013 12:10 PM PST

Jan 13, 2013 -- 11:49AM, Bajao wrote:


Im lacking in creatures. would adding hellriders be a huge improvement to my deck? or vexing devil? i cant afford thundermaw hellkite for now.
Also, do you think hellriders would be outdated once gatecrash is released? thanks  




Hellrider is a key component of RDW. Vexing Devil is used, but there is disagrement as to it's value. I've been running four of them but I am not thrilled with their performance. I'm thinking of cutting down on them now, but I will defiantely remove them all once Gatecrash comes out.

I think Hellrider will endure long after Gatecrash.

Flag Random_Kid January 13, 2013 2:36 PM PST

Jan 13, 2013 -- 11:49AM, Bajao wrote:

im doing decent with my rdw , but still lacking in upper competiton on mtgo. i seek for constructive criticism on my deck. heres what it looks like currently;
4 x ash zealot
2 x gore-house chainwalker
3 x lightning mauler
3 x pyreheart wolf
4 x rakdos cackler
2 x rakdos shred-freak
4 x stromkirk noble
1 x torch fiend
1 x zealous conscripts

1 x volcanic strength
4 x searing spear
4 x brimstone volley
1 x geistflame

3 x pillar of flame
1 x traitorous instinct

1 x hellion crucible
2 x kessig wolf run
2 x rootbound crag
17 x mountain


Im lacking in creatures. would adding hellriders be a huge improvement to my deck? or vexing devil? i cant afford thundermaw hellkite for now.
Also, do you think hellriders would be outdated once gatecrash is released? thanks  



Hellrider is solid agro. I think we'll be running it until it cycles out.

As for your deck, what stands out is that you're splashing green for a Kessig Wolf Run . Of the 22 land you have, 3 don't produce red, and 2 more can't be played first turn. It's not common, but you could potentially find yourself in a situation where you might lose your first turn to land lag.
Volcanic Strength and Geistflame are questionable in the maindeck. The Volcanic strength is only efficient against Red, otherwise there are faster options. The Geistflame is just too expensive for what it does... and no Hellrider .

Flag Bangtor January 14, 2013 11:42 AM PST

Jan 13, 2013 -- 12:10PM, pzbw7z wrote:

Jan 13, 2013 -- 11:49AM, Bajao wrote:


Im lacking in creatures. would adding hellriders be a huge improvement to my deck? or vexing devil? i cant afford thundermaw hellkite for now.
Also, do you think hellriders would be outdated once gatecrash is released? thanks  




Hellrider is a key component of RDW. Vexing Devil is used, but there is disagrement as to it's value. I've been running four of them but I am not thrilled with their performance. I'm thinking of cutting down on them now, but I will defiantely remove them all once Gatecrash comes out.

I think Hellrider will endure long after Gatecrash.



 
Hellrider is a must. Vexing devils imo are meh because you want creatures on the field and they just take the 4 life hit and its gone. 

Flag Bajao January 15, 2013 8:31 PM PST
what to do against counterflux,rewind and other counter spells? soon as i bring a creature out they counter spelled it.
And if loxodon smiter comes out in 2 turns, how to deal it? 
Flag pzbw7z January 16, 2013 2:49 PM PST
Mizzium Mortars is suffcient for Smiter.
Flag Bajao January 16, 2013 3:26 PM PST

Jan 16, 2013 -- 2:49PM, pzbw7z wrote:

Mizzium Mortars is suffcient for Smiter.


good idea

Flag Anubuss January 17, 2013 8:32 AM PST

Jan 15, 2013 -- 8:31PM, Bajao wrote:

what to do against counterflux,rewind and other counter spells? soon as i bring a creature out they counter spelled it.
And if loxodon smiter comes out in 2 turns, how to deal it? 




As mentioned, Mortars answers Smiter nicely.  Killing their mana dork makes sure it comes down on turn 3 like it's supposed to.  Ash Zealot can also answer Smiter if you have a burn spell in hand.

As for counter magic, you just need to learn to play around it.  If you think they're packing a counter, don't play your best threat, try to bait that counter out of them.  Looking at your list, you shouldn't have a huge problem with them since most counters are 3 cmc+ or are narrow like Essence Scatter / Negate , and you list if full of cheap threats.  To cheap on that whole "learning to play better" thing though, you could just run some Cavern of Souls .  Name Human and you list picks up 12 possible uncounterable creatures.

On Hellrider:

I really don't think he'll get out classed in a hurry.  He's a 3/3 haste for 4, that has a nice ability that pushes damage through before blockers.  It's safe to say he'll be used in most mono-Red Aggro builds from now until October when he rotates out.  I'm glad I got my four when they were still ~$2 a piece.

I only say most because crazy people like Islands are out there and they cook up some wierd, but potent brews.

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