Mono-Red Aggro by Kevin Rand

1st Place at StarCityGames Standard Open on 6/21/2014

 

Again we continue with what is slowly looking to be a dominance of Red as we continue creeping into The Bloody Summer. The strange thing being that usually Mono-Red aggro is best positioned at the beginning of a new Standard season when control is not yet prepared to take on an unknown meta, but the abundance of Midrange strategies have allowed Aggro to slip into the metagame and start to dominate. This deck has taken elements of both Festus Resendez winning list and Tom ‘The Boss’ Ross to come up with an amalgamation which delivers a forceful punch with precision and alacrity.

The deck is at its core a solid creature beats concoction with more then half of its slots devoted to them with an extremely low curve reminiscent of a brew we would expect from Legacy. The deck is chock full’o one drops loading up on value with them all. With two power for a single Red we find both Firedrinker Satyr and Rakdos Cackler coming strong out of the gate. We also have Legion Loyalist which with Battalion grands First Strike but more importantly Trample to your assault, and Foundry Street Denizen who when dropped on turn one can offer you so many turns of added value from each and every other creature you pop into play. On two mana you basically have the rest of the team starting on Burning-Tree Emissary to try and chain multiple creatures into play right away, Ash Zealot as a value drop with Haste to lay down the beats as fast as possible, and Firefist Striker with its Battalion trigger to neutralize any big blocker and ram additional damage down your opponents throat. There is also Rubblebelt Makka but he is really there as a cheap pump to ram through as much extra damage as possible working along side Titan’s Strength to take huge chunks out of the opponents life. The deck also has a trio of Shock and a pair of Searing Blood which help to ensure that the path to victory goes unhindered by opposing creatures.

 

It’s hard to say if the meta will continue to be soft to Red based decks but judging by all its success I guess you’d be a fool not to join in. I’m hesitant to say that this is the best strategy but it is always a strong strategy in the hands of a compitant mage. The only caution I would provide is that people are certainly aware of the deck and should plan accordingly. Also, don’t be one of the fools who says that it’s just a simple Red deck and I can pilot it like an expert without practice. This deck requires a precise use of its resources and knowing when to go all out as opposed to ensuring you don’t over commit is crucial. Just make sure you drive it around the block at least a few times, but most of all feel the burn.

Eric J Seltzer

@ejseltzer on Twitter

Email: ejseltzer@hotmail.com‎