Sunday, January 29, 2012

Updated RDW

I've been running the same RDW list since Innistrad rotated in: a low curve with 20-21 lands and lots of cheap 1 drops (Lavamancer, Fireslinger). Phoenix sat at the top of the curve next to Volt Charge. I enjoyed the deck, but it seemed to fall too easily to control if they were allowed to stabilize. Without much pressure outside of god-draws of Noble > Berserker > Phoenix/Volt I was losing games that I traditionally handled well in past iterations of Red Deck.

4x Shrine of Burning Rage

4x Stromkirk Noble
4x Goblin Fireslinger
3x Grim Lavamancer
1x Spikeshot Elder
4x Stormblood Berserker
4x Chandra's Phoenix

3x Galvanic Blast
3x Gut Shot
3x Incinerate
4x Volt Charge

2x Arc Trail

4x Rootbound Crag
17x Mountain

I decided it was time to cut some 1 drops, find another 2 drop, and add some land to bump the curve to 4. Cutting 1 drops was easy: Fireslinger and Lavamancer are fine for the long game, but provide little pressure early on (applying pressure early is kinda Red Deck's thing, right?). Finding another red 2-drop in the current standard wasn't easy, but I was VERY pleased when the answer finally came to me. Finally, adding enough land to get to 24 allowed me to bring back an old friend. This is the list I came up with:

4x Shrine of Burning Rage

4x Stromkirk Noble
2x Spikeshot Elder
4x Stormblood Berserker
4x Porcelain Legionnaire
4x Chandra's Phoenix

4x Koth of the Hammer

4x Galvanic Blast
4x Incinerate

2x Arc Trail
1x Devil's Play

2x Rootbound Crag
2x Copperline Gorge
19x Mountain

Sideboard:
2x Whipflare
3x Slagstorm
3x Ancient Grudge
3x Vulshok Refugee
4x Dismember

Let's review some of my card choices:

Spikeshot Elder:  the only non-vampire 1 drop to survive the cut. In a world where the best deck wants to win with a steady stream of 1/1 spirits, the Elder is king. Nobody wants to waste a removal spell on a 1/1 goblin, and if they do remove it, that means 1 less removal for your bigger threats. Delver decks have to remove it immediately or watch their Moorland Haunts sit useless. I'm this close to cutting the Arc Trails and playing 4 of these fellas.

Porcelain Legionnaire:  I bought a playset back on release day, put them in my stack of cards that 'might see play in RDW', and promptly forgot about them. Fortunately, I remembered him while brainstorming this week. People might say he dies to Gut Shot. I guess that's true enough, but so does Delver and people play the shit out of that card. Creatures die to removal spells. Welcome to Magic. The card is amazing and he synergizes very well with what the deck wants to do. He blocks Geist of St. Traft all day long, helps metalcraft for your Galvanic Blasts, the life loss helps against Timely Reinforcements, AND he lives through Whipflare. What's not to love?

Gut Shot:  There's no doubt GS is a nice card. He just isn't for us. 1 card for 1 damage isn't cutting the mustard. As a red mage, you should demand more out of your burn. Yes, it does enable bloodthirst on your Berserkers, but it's just not worth wasting 2 life on turn 2 and getting blown out by a Mana Leak on your creature. Going up to 4 on Incinerate and Galvanic feels right. Speaking of cards that feel right in Red Deck...

Koth of the Hammer:  The argument can be made that Koth is the most powerful planeswalker printed...as long as you're playing Mountains. Why wouldn't RDW want to reinlist him? Moorland Haunt decks will be annoying, but you're not laying him down when he can be obviously killed anyway, right? You have Arc Trails, Spikeshots, and plenty of burn to keep the way clear of danger for him. A resolved Koth is an auto win against a lot of decks out there as long as you play him smart. For example, if you know your opponent is playing Snapcasters then attack with your mountains, but leave a critter home to protect your prized planeswalker. The list of planeswalkers whose ultimates basically win you the game is short, and Koth sits atop that list proudly.

Playing the list at FNM this week I felt much more in control of the game than I have with Red Deck in a while. Most decks have no plan for Koth since no lists play him, and your pressure is much greater with the upgrade in quality creatures. I finished 3-1 only losing in the finals to a Delver deck that had turn 3 Geists with a 2nd one in hand both games. All in all I'm very pleased with how it performed. Going forward, I might consider dropping the Arc Trails and Devil's Play for some combination of Volt Charge and more Spikeshot Elders.

I'd be interested to hear any feedback. Hope you enjoyed reading!