Lightning Bolt.
Goblin Guide.
Searing Blaze.
Ember Hauler.
Plated Geopede.
Teetering Peeks.
Arid Mesa/Scalding Tarn.
Forked Bolt.
Staggershock.
Burst Lightning.
Flame Slash.
All of the these cards have been staples in Red Deck Wins
for so long it’s painful to imagine a Standard environment without them. There
is little doubt that the rotation of Zendikar Block will have a substantial
impact on the brute force speed the old list was capable of. Turn 1 Guide into
Turn 2 Searing Blaze, attack with Guide is a brutal start that few decks could
recover from.
RDW has lost a lot of what made it great, but that’s certainly
no reason to count the archetype out. 2 of the deck’s biggest roadblocks: Kor
Firewalker and Obstinate Baloth are on the way out too. There are still efficient
creatures and burn so let’s see what could potentially be cobbled together:
4 Furnace Scamp
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Stormblood Berserker
4 Chandra’s Phoenix
4 Hero of Oxid Ridge
4 Arc Trail
4 Incinerate
4 Brimstone Volley
4 Shrine of Burning Rage
24 Mountain
Furnace Scamp: Frequently seen in previous RDW lists,
Scamp represents a lot of potential damage. With plenty of burn to keep his
path clear, this can be held to the last moment to be pitched for 3.
Stromkirk Noble: As soon as this card was spoiled I
knew I wanted a playset. Like scamp above, there are plenty of ways to clear
out blockers. Having him unblockable by humans is not a little thing. Humans
should feature heavily in a White Weenie archetype (the deck is just too easy
to build to not be a player in the early days of new Standard), not to mention the
popular Snapcaster Mage can’t flash in and stop our noble vampire either. In a
deck with so much point removal, Noble represents inevitability if not dealt
with quickly.
Stormblood Berserker: Another creature with evasion,
Berserker is a fine 2 drop. On the play you should be able to get him out on
turn 2 with bloodthirst enabled. You won’t always be able to achieve this, but
even getting him out on turn 3-4 isn’t bad. He’s 3 guaranteed damage every time
he swings and that ain’t bad.
Chandra’s Phoenix:
Following our evasion theme we have a recurring 2/2 flying haster for 3 mana
that gives the deck much needed reach. This one’s a no-brainer folks, let’s move
along.
Hero of Oxid Ridge: Sitting at the top of our curve
is the hero. This card would be Koth if cards like Timely Reinforcements and
Spellskite didn’t exist. Even though he doesn’t have an ultimate that reads
“YOU WIN THE GAME”, the good hero is a great card. Fitting in nicely with our
theme of evasion (seriously, who would have expected Red to have so much
relevant evasion?), Hero makes for an excellent finisher. “Oh, you gained 6
life and have 3 chump blockers? Take 13.”
Arc Trail: 2 for 1 is always good. In a pinch you can
also direct it at your opponent’s dome.
Incinerate: Not really sure if I want this over
Shock, but running it for now since 3 is more than 2.
Brimstone Volley: This card was Shock until the final
spoilers were released. 5 damage for 3 mana at instant speed is just too good
to pass up. There should rarely be an occasion where you’ll be tapping 3 for 3 with
this card.
Shrine of Burning Rage: Yet another instance where
you’ll be tapping 3 for more than 3, Shrine has been a staple in RDW since it
was released. Provides another means to clear the way for your attackers and a
nifty way to finish off your opponent.
Cards to consider:
Shock: More cheap removal. Just depends on if 3 from
Incinerate is relevant to the meta.
Bloodcrazed Neonate: If it had haste it would be an
easy inclusion. The +1 counters could be relevant in a slow enough meta though…
Grim Lavamancer: Could provide some reach for the
deck. With the exit of fetch lands, could be hard to hit that critical mass of
cards in the graveyard needed to make lavamancer cruise.
Kruin Outlaw: If control or draw-go archtypes become
the best deck, this could be one to look out for. First strike is excellent,
double-striking is what could push this over the top.
Reckless Waif: This could very easily replace scamp
in the list. Despite what I said about Kruin Outlaw, I’m still undecided on how
much I would want to lean on double-faced cards.
Many said Red was dead with the printing of Timely Reinforcements. Sure, it hurts red mages, but Hero cures
those ills very efficiently. The only card you really need fear is a turn 2
Spellskite. He represents a cheap blocker, a threat to your ability to use burn
as a finisher, and will likely take 2 pieces of burn to move out of the way.
Fortunately, 3 out of our 5 creatures evade Spellskite easily enough and you
should have Vandals in the sideboard to deal with him in games 2 or 3.
Tree of Redemption is another card that has the potential to
put the brakes on RDW, but the fact that it has zero power is very relevant. It
can’t take out any of your creatures and it is easily dodged by many of them
anyway. Hero hits for so much so fast that the life swing will likely only mean
the difference of a turn in most cases. Also remember that Incinerate, Volley,
and Shrine can respond to the tree’s ability at instant speed. Your opponent is
going to have to play very carefully with Tree: if they let themselves get too
low, you can kill them in response to the Tree’s ability. On paper it looks
like a 13 point life swing, but any smart red mage knows it’s going to be quite
a bit less.
With the rotation of cards like Kor Firewalker, Leyline of
Sanctity, and Obstinate Baloth there are fewer cards that directly hose RDW.
You no longer have to race decks like Valakut or Splinter Twin so the deck can
afford to be slower than it was before. Without direct color hosers or
non-interactive combo decks, the meta should be somewhat friendly to RDW type
strategies.
Thanks for reading! I’ll be taking this list out for a test
drive at FNM and look forward to updating you on my results. If you have any
comments or criticism I would love to hear from you. See you next posting where
I discuss my new take on Mono R Control.
