Red-Green Low Mana Aggro

[wintershaker]

Hi everyone. First time posting here. I played a lot of MTG in high school but haven't followed it in about a decade. Lately my interest in MTG has been reinvigorated and I'm trying to retool my red-green deck as I think some of the cards in it can be replaced with better, more recent cards (goodbye Scab-Clan Mauler). I've already purchased some cards but am looking for any suggestions. I want it to be aggro low mana cost (Blitz Hellion the one exception to this; I'd like to keep everything else ideally 3 or under).

Lands
10 Mountain (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Mountain?fromqs=true)
8 Forest (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Forest?fromqs=true)
4 Rootbound Craig (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Rootbound%20Crag?fromqs=true)

Enchantments
4 Rancor (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Rancor?fromqs=true)

Instants
4 Lighting Bolt (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Lightning%20Bolt?fromqs=true)
4 Incinerate (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Incinerate?fromqs=true)
2 Naturalize (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Naturalize?fromqs=true)

Creatures
4 Vexing Devil (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Vexing%20Devil?fromqs=true)
4 Kird Ape (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Kird%20Ape?fromqs=true)
4 Monastery Swiftspear (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Monastery%20Swiftspear?fromqs=true)
4 Ghor Clan Rampager (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Ghor-Clan%20Rampager?fromqs=true) (mostly using this for Bloodrush ability; it seems to combine Colossal Might (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Colossal%20Might?fromqs=true) with the option of casting as a creature)
Blitz Hellion? (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Blitz%20Hellion?fromqs=true&printing=5781)
Voltaic Brawler? (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Voltaic%20Brawler?fromqs=true&printing=33587)
Eidolon of the Great Revel? (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Eidolon%20of%20the%20Great%20Revel?fromqs=true)

Questions
- Should I spring for a set of Stomping Grounds (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Stomping%20Ground?fromqs=true)?
- Replace Naturalize with Hull Breach (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Hull%20Breach?fromqs=true)?
- Too many creatures?
- Add Banefires (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Banefire?fromqs=true)?
- I'm trying to think of other good Auras. I had Moldervine Cloak (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Moldervine%20Cloak?fromqs=true) in the deck before but not sure if there's something better?
- Any other cards?

Thanks for any suggestions/tips!

[alec]

Hi there, wintershaker! Welcome back to the game!

This seems like a very casual list, as many of the cards you’re playing - including Naturalize and Incinerate — can be replaced with much better cards in the Legacy pool. So before I critique, do you mind letting us know what kind of perspective you’d like? Are you looking to play casually at a kitchen table, maybe at a weekly low-stakes Legacy event at a local shop, or maybe play something a little more competitive? Normally the “new and developing decks” forum is used for decks that need slightly further tuning until they can become competitive, but there’s no harm in creating a casual, yet Legacy-legal, build. I just want to confirm your thoughts. :smile:

That being said ... no matter what your plans are, get some Wild Nacatl in there! I think you’ll like her. :cool:

[wintershaker]

Hi there, wintershaker! Welcome back to the game!

This seems like a very casual list, as many of the cards you’re playing - including Naturalize and Incinerate — can be replaced with much better cards in the Legacy pool. So before I critique, do you mind letting us know what kind of perspective you’d like? Are you looking to play casually at a kitchen table, maybe at a weekly low-stakes Legacy event at a local shop, or maybe play something a little more competitive? Normally the “new and developing decks” forum is used for decks that need slightly further tuning until they can become competitive, but there’s no harm in creating a casual, yet Legacy-legal, build. I just want to confirm your thoughts. :smile:

That being said ... no matter what your plans are, get some Wild Nacatl in there! I think you’ll like her. :cool:

Hi alec, and thanks for the welcome.

I thought this was a competitive-looking deck! :tongue: But I guess it would be more casual. Given that I haven't played in about a decade, I'm unaware of many cards that would be improvements. Another friend suggested today, for instance, Cindervines (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Cindervines?fromqs=true) or Destructive Revelry (https://deckbox.org/mtg/Destructive%20Revelry?fromqs=true) instead of Naturalize but that'd be an example where I'm eager to learn about new, better cards but I've just been away from MTG so long...

[H]

Well, are you looking to be competitive with Legacy decks, or just competitive with, say, your play-group's general meta?

[ReAnimator]

A few suggestions:

Chain lightning is better than Incinerate
Berserks are cheap now!
Soul-Scar Mage is like another Swiftspear not as fast but the ability is very relevant vs big creatures
Collision//Colossus is an upgraded Colossal Might
Mutagenic Growth is pretty great
Kiln fiend is cool and hits hard and is cheaper than Goyf's
Dreadhorde Arcanist is a hell of a card

When i was playing more often i would often try wacky brews based around cards i liked just to jam them at FNM, actually had some reasonable success with a Berserk Prowess deck that had a lot of similarities. If i would build it again with new cards i'd start with something like this and tweak accordingly. You don't need to be a berserk deck that's just my preference, but if you want it to be better just being more burn focused might be stronger and less all in.
If you can afford Fetch lands it opens things up a lot. You could play things like Invigorate and Grim Lavamancer, but without shock/dual lands it's not as worth it. Here are some lists off the top of my head, they would need testing and adjusting but might give you some ideas:


Berserk build
4 Soul-Scar Mage
4 Monestery Swiftspear
3 Goblin Guide
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Dreadhorde Arcanist

4 Berserk
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
3 Invigorate
2 Reckless Charge
2 Collision//Colossus

4 Taiga/Stomping Grounds
3 Mountain
1 Forest
10 Fetch Lands

Burn Build (more Resilient)
4 Soul-Scar Mage
4 Monestery Swiftspear
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Dreadhorde Arcanist

3 Mutagenic Growth
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Collision//Colossus
3 Reckless Charge
2 Destructive Revelry

4 Taiga/Stomping Grounds
3 Mountain
1 Forest
10 Fetch Lands

Without Dual lands things like Coperline Gorge get more attractive.

[wintershaker]

Well, are you looking to be competitive with Legacy decks, or just competitive with, say, your play-group's general meta?

I suppose more casual.

Thanks for the suggestions, ReAnimator. Some of those cards look like they'd fit in very well. I will definitely be looking to acquire some of these. Invigorate looks good!

[FTW]

I recommend looking into some of these creatures:


//1 mana:
Goblin Guide
Narnam Renegade
Experiment One
Hexdrinker
Pelt Collector
Kird Ape
Soul-Scar Mage
Grim Lavamancer

//2 mana:
Burning-Tree Emissary
Voltaic Brawler
Eidolon of the Great Revel
Scavenging Ooze
Dreadhorde Arcanist
Robber of the Rich
Ash Zealot
Greenwheel Liberator

//3 mana:
Bonecrusher Giant
Gruul Spellbreaker
Reclamation Sage

//Spells:
Lightning Bolt
Chain Lightning
Skewer the Critics
Become Immense
Atarka's Command
Temur Battle Rage
Cindervines


I assume stuff like Tarmogoyf and Taiga are out of your budget and even Berserk may be expensive.