[Deck] Marlboro Red

[death]

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=214350&type=cardhttp://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=185815&type=cardhttp://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=25685&type=cardhttp://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=4334&type=card



An upgraded version of an old legacy deck which has been doing quite well in testing. Compared to more familiar decks that run Chalices/3spheres like variations of Stax or MUD, this Mono-red build feels a bit more consistent at what it tries to achieve. While you can often fumble with Stax or MUD when you don't have that particular card you need, this deck in contrast has redundant spells that can significantly alter the board state into your favor. Single spells that definitely put pressure on the board more than 2- or 3-artifact combos.

The amount of threats is again what makes this deck strong, those require an immediate counterspell from the opponent otherwise their permanents are kaput :eek:

The game play is pretty simple:
1. Deploy speed bumps
2. Build up your resources
3. Drop them bombz..


3x Karn Liberated
2x Chandra Nalaar
3x Crater Hellion
4x Wildfire
4x Devastation

4x Chalice of the Void
4x Trinisphere

4x Talisman of Impulse
4x Coalition Relic
4x Thran Dynamo
4x Gilded Lotus

4x Ancient Tomb
4x City of Traitors
4x Sandstone Needle
4x Snow-Covered Mountain

[from Cairo]

Your list is short 4 cards, presumably land.

That said, the deck seems slow and very susceptible to Wasteland. I'd be worried of Bant, Delver RUG and Maverick either one can really bury you. IE Noble Hierarch, Knight of the Reliquary, chain a pair of Wastelands OR Delver, Daze accel, Wasteland, Force w/e.

I think this sort of list wants more land in general, 20 is low for decks with curves topping at 2-3, your running several 7cc cards. I realize many of your lands produce two mana, but even still in a format full of Wasteland it's ambitious to think they're going to stay on board for multiple turns.

Crucible of Worlds seems like it would help, getting back City of Traitors or lands post Wildfire. You could include 4-6 Fetches to utilize Crucible better as a means of "drawing" an extra land a turn.

Ensnaring Bridge would be a good way to keep Knights and big Reanimator targets back while you set up.

Chandra, the Firebrand could definitely be worth consideration as well. I think it has better synergy with Wildfire. You can use it's +1 ability to finish off a 5 power creature, it's -2 to double up the Wildfire and surely clear a board. It's ultimate isn't quite as good as Nalaar's, but it's not far off.

[death]

Your list is short 4 cards, presumably land.

Yes there should be 8x Snow-Covered Mountain on the list above.

As for susceptibility to Wasteland it's true the deck can fold to double Waste as most legacy decks that are heavy on dual lands. That is the drawback inherent with Sol-lands too. Against decks that pack Wasteland, Sinkhole, Vindicate etc. it's best to keep a hand that is heavy on lands and accelerants so you don't risk losing to land destruction.

I don't worry too much about counterspells because the deck has tons of spells that need to be dealt with and it's easy to overwhelm an opponent with them. But there are bad draws with this deck as well as there are good hands, if an opponent has a better hand than you (double Waste, triple Daze, Delver for example) there is only little you can do about it to not lose. However, Delver aren't bad matchups at all as I've won a good number of games against it. There's just so much they have to counter or else they inevitably lose to a Wildfire or Devastation.

I think 20 lands is just right with all the artifact acceleration. I don't want to risk getting flooded and without any threats in hand since the deck doesn't have Jace or Brainstorm for library manipulation. The deck looks slow on paper but it can sometimes dominate fast aggro like Burn & Merfolk before you go below 6 life. That is the beauty of this deck, you take in damage and then beat them when you're at 1-5 life and they think they have the upper hand.

Chandra, the Firebrand's -2 ability looks promising but I don't remember wanting to cast a second Wildfire in a turn. Aside from Firebrand having such an ugly face, her ultimate ability is the worst. I imagine getting to 6 from 3 loyalty seems terrible and it seems she can only defend herself from Kitchen Finks with a Persist counter and the likes. For creatures with 5 toughness up, Karn Liberated takes care of those, as well as Nalaar. Chandra Nalaar can finish off critters that are outside Wildfire range too and she's tougher at 6+ loyalty.

I think Ensnaring Bridge can be considered a sideboard card. But I don't feel it's needed in the main. The deck has spells that can deal with an Emrakul or Progenitus and I've also managed to sneak a Devastation against those decks and won. We don't need to run scared, it's the other way around.

[Qweerios]

Seems to me like Chandra should be Koth of the Hammer. You should probably consider Blood Moon as well. 4 Crater Hellion and 4 Devastation looks really off. I suggest you cut those down to 1-2 copies a piece of smoothen your curve. I also suggest you consider Solemn Simulacrum and Tuktuk the Explorer, or any cheap creatures with 5+ toughness that costs the least mana possible. Volcanic Fallout is probably a must against deck using Dark Confidant and Mother of Runes, it also helps against swarm decks when you don't get a chalice.

[waSP]

No Chrome Mox? It seems like you're trying to resolve bombs rather than winning through 1:1 card advantage. You could power out some turn 1 Trinispheres that way.

What about Candelabra to speed you up or convert some colorless mana into red? Turn 2 Candel gets you to 5 mana with double Sol lands. Could power out a fast Gilded Lotus.

Overmaster?

[Richard Cheese]

Seems to me like Chandra should be Koth of the Hammer. You should probably consider Blood Moon as well. 4 Crater Hellion and 4 Devastation looks really off. I suggest you cut those down to 1-2 copies a piece of smoothen your curve. I also suggest you consider Solemn Simulacrum and Tuktuk the Explorer, or any cheap creatures with 5+ toughness that costs the least mana possible. Volcanic Fallout is probably a must against deck using Dark Confidant and Mother of Runes, it also helps against swamp decks when you don't get a chalice.

I think I'd actually rather have 4 Devastatoin and possibly less Wildfire. The problem I see with Wildfire is that if your opponent lands a Knight of the Reliquary/Countryside Crusher/Terravore, it's most likely dead in hand, unless you want to be facing down a now-giant fattie. Your only answers to those guys are Karn and Devastation, and maybe Hellion if you drop one early. I don't know what kind of targeted removal you can really run here...Chaos Warp?

[Koby]

I second the Solemn Simulacrum addition. it provides a good ramp, good value, and a blocker for the various PW'ers. 4 copies of Devastation alongside 4 Wildfire and 4 Crater Hellion is also way too much. Have you considered Tectonic Break?

I agree with death that Chandra Nalaar is the better suited red PW'er. It's very often that you can just ramp +2 then use her ultimate to Searing Wind the shit out of your opponent. That makes it a relatively quick clock.

[Malchar]

As for susceptibility to Wasteland it's true the deck can fold to double Waste as most legacy decks that are heavy on dual lands. That is the drawback inherent with Sol-lands too. Against decks that pack Wasteland, Sinkhole, Vindicate etc. it's best to keep a hand that is heavy on lands and accelerants so you don't risk losing to land destruction.

Most decks don't fold to 2x Wasteland. Against duals, wasteland trades 1 mana for 1 mana. Against sol land, they get 2 for 1. Also, most decks curve out at 4, so it's still possible to recover after a few wastelands. With this deck, it seems much harder to recover.

Stompy decks avoid these problems. They use sol land, but they keep a low curve - usually spells cost 3 to 5 mana. They can survive with one or two basics and a single sol land. Even if the opponent has a wasteland in play, you can drop a sol land and use it right away to cast something for 3 or 4.

It might help if you used a mox or some artifact mana that costs 3 to cast so you could have more to do in the early game. Blood Moon is also a card to consider. It is an extremely good card, and easy to cast with the sol land, and there's virtually no disadvantage to using it in your deck. The other thing you could do would be to cut some of the bombs and add more low-costing cards so the deck isn't as top-heavy. You could try using Burning Wish for that reason. Someone else mentioned Solemn, and cards like that seems like a good idea as well.

[Qweerios]

Wurmcoil Engine and Steel Hellkite are probably better than Crater Hellion at 6 mana too.

A white splash could also be interesting if you don't want to play Blood Moon. You get access to Eternal Dragon, Flagstones of Trokair, and Ajani Vengeant.

[Blackmagic]

Cards I would strongly consider:

Foriysian Totem
Starstorm

And maybe even, Magma phoenix?

the totem can be an alternative win con, starstorm can be cycled away if it's not of any use but it is very useful in aggro matchups especially coz it's an instant.