Red Deck Wins on MTGO is Destroying :D

This card is amazing!!

Hey guys, it's GuitarSlam.

First off, sorry for not posting recently.  I went away for a mini vacation last week (meaning that I didn't play any mtg) and then I've been working non-stop this week (because it's the last week before my fall semester starts) so overall, I haven't had much time for magic.  Luckily for me, and for my avid readers, tonight I was able to find some time to spend playing on mtgo :)  I've been doing some drafts recently, but I really wanted to play Standard, but I didn't have a deck and didn't want to invest a huge amount of money into a deck, so I began looking for alternatives.  My White Weenie deck was certainly an option, but I felt like going for a more aggressive route... a more... red one.

That's what got me, the most control-loving player in the world, looking up mono red decks.  I knew that the deck was going to be cheap and fairly simple to run (although there's definitely some skill in learning when it's the right time to attack and when you should stay back and block) so I began my search.  After a little bit of looking, I stumbled upon Patrick Sullivan's mono red deck from a StarCity Event last month.  Check out the deck tech here:  Patrick Sullivan's Mono Red Deck.

I decided to make a few changes to make it cost even less.  I cut the Mutavaults not because they're bad, but because they're expensive.  When you get Wrathed, it's nice to have a creature waiting to attack again, but it's far beyond what I wanted to pay.  I also added in some extra burn, as you'll see.  The final major change was replacing Hellrider with Ogre Battledriver.  Hellrider is probably better, but the Battledriver is still powerful and much cheaper.  Here's my list, clocking in at 20.7 mtgo tickets.

Creatures: 28

4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Firefist Striker
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Ogre Battledriver

Other Spells: 10

4 Pillar of Flame
4 Searing Spear
2 Brimstone Volley

Lands: 22

22 Mountain

Sideboard: 15

4 Burning Earth
4 Volcanic Strength
4 Skullcrack
3 Mark of Mutiny

As you can see, this is just straight up Mono Red.  The point is to play a lot of creatures and bash face, adding in burn to finish off the game or clear up the path for your creatures.  There's really not too much to explain past that.  I went 4-1 in the casual room (with my 1 loss being due to a gigantic misplay) so instead of taking about those (because they were against random decks) I'll go over my first venture into the 2-man queues.

Mono Red vs. Bant Control

Game 1: I won the roll and was on the play.  I played a t1 Foundry Street Denizen and he shocked himself to play a Temple Garden and an Avacyn's Pilgrim.  On t2 I played Burning-Tree into Burning-Tree into Firefist Striker.  I swung with my 4-1 and he blocked.  I liked that trade.  He was at 18, lost his mana accelerator, and I had 6 power on board.  He played a Voice of Resurgence.  I then attacked with my whole team, making his Voice unable to block.  I then played a Mogg Flunkies and passed.  He untapped and played a Loxodon Smiter.  On my turn I Pillar of Flamed his Voice, swung in, and ended.  He drew his card and then conceded the game.

Game 2: I opened with a slower hand on the draw, but I was holding a Burning Earth (which I had sided in) and 4 lands.  I kept.  Throughout the game I played some creatures and he would play his own Loxodon Smiters and Restoration Angels, but I was just waiting for him to tap out so I could safely resolve Burning Earth.  He finally did, and that card absolutely won me the game.  The next turn he cast a Thragtusk but he ended up losing 5 life to do it, so Burning Earth completely erased the life gain.  He was at 7 and he knew that he couldn't really tap his mana effectively at this point.  He decided to risk playing a Supreme Verdict to wipe the board, dropping down to 3 life to do so.  I untapped, played Searing Spear, and won my booster pack.

*Note: I want to take a second to give a big shoutout to my friend tton for telling me how great Burning Earth was back when it was spoiled.  I thought it was going to be ok, maybe a 5/10, but I felt like it was too slow for an aggro deck to play.  I guess that shows how little I know about playing aggro.  He told me that this card was going to be a 10/10, slam dunk great card for aggro decks and from my testing so far, he's absolutely right!

What I'm taking away from this is that this super budget Mono Red deck is capable to competing with the other full power decks of the format.  Obviously I need to do more testing, but for now I'm feeling incredible about this deck.  For roughly $21, it seems like you can buy a competitive deck on mtgo and get in there with the big guns.  I'll keep posting updates as I play more with the deck.  Give it a try!  I'd love to hear what you think of it!

See you guys later.