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.
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.
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.
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
Back when I was in high school, I used to write little quotes on the whiteboard of my chemistry class, little, funny things that I'd made up and attributed to an anonymous author. Just tiny things I found amusing. Some time near the end of the year, a substitute teacher game in, read it, and told us a quote she had heard from a 13 year old girl. I don't remember what it was, but the quote sounded deep and philosophical. Then I actually thought about it. I realized that the quote was actually meaningless, but simply couched in the language of philosophy and depth. And that's what your post is. It is meaningless bull**** that you said in such a way as to make it seem sophisticated. But just as a lab coat doesn't make you a scientist, language won't make you a philosopher. Only love of wisdom will. And until then, you will always remind me of a nameless 13 year old.
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
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.
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;
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
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.
