Red Deck Wins

[Valdarith]

I will tell you that I had someone play Peak Eruption against me in the mirror and it seemed pretty good. If speed is a concern and people begin to adjust to how much Blood Moon is being played, I like Peak Eruption and Cryoclasm.

[Khaospawn]

This is how I feel about Blood Moon: I want to play Blood Moon, cast Vexing Devil, and then message my opponent with," have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight

[Khaospawn]

But yeah, Eruption and Cryo are awesome. With Blood Moon it's probably overkill, but hey, it could be good.

[LaZerBurn]

I've got 'em - PM'ed you on MTGO

[magicdownunder]

I entered my first SE with the recent heal edition - I played G1 URw Delver, G2 Infect and G3 Split - it wasn't really the greatest selection of MUs but the build did well.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable beating Pod and Junk with the list though, it seems like I'll need many things to go in my favor to produce positive results (need to wait until I face them).

[Khaospawn]

It's tough. Not gonna lie. I played an SE and beat UR Twin and then lost Game 3 to Junk. You really gotta fight for your damage. I do enjoy being able to play Blood Moon backed by a creature presence to apply pressure.

After playing Burn and Heals list all day, there is a considerable difference between the two. Kind of like switching from a old Mustang into an SUV.

[PresidentsMustache]

[deck]Creatures:
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Figure of Destiny
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Tarmogoyf

Other spells:
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
2 Forked Bolt
2 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Searing Blaze
4 Molten Rain

Lands:
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
6 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
2 Blood Moon
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Dismember
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Destructive Revelry[/deck]

I played this version in two PTQs with x-2 results both times, almost making top8 in the second one, but screwed up match against Jund in round 7th. It may be a little bit weaker against creatureless combo decks, but overall I recommend splashing green. Tarmogoyf grows really fast in this deck and destructive revelry is great sideboard card. Of course you can clearly see some of your ideas here like singleton Figure and Pillar in Claw's slot=]

[Khaospawn]

I like it, but I think 4 Stomping Ground is a lot. You'll never need more than 2. Also, Blood Moon will just turn them to Mountains. Has that happened during the PTQs?

[PresidentsMustache]

I just want to be sure I can hit green mana on turn two, that's why I have 14 sources. Of course I would prefer to add some Wooded Foothills, but that's impossible ;(
Four Grounds could be problem against traditional burn, but that matchup is already "dice roll depended" so whatever. I hadn't lost game due to shocking myself yet.

I was aware of blood moon issue, so I did play it the way to minimaze chances of be left with useless goyfs in hand (delayed moon if necessary) and never really had any problems with it. But you're right that it could be problem someday, the question is if it's gonna happen more that once in ten games.

[Longtoe]

Presidents mustache now you can have your wooded foothills and perhaps a singleton forest in the deck.

[Khaospawn]

I wrote sort of a sideboard strategy for Zooligan in a PM regarding Heal's latest RDW deck, but I thought it would be a good idea to post it here for everyone to read.

This was Heal's list that recently won a PTQ:

[deck]Creature (20)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Vexing Devil
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel

Sorcery (10)
2 Forked Bolt
4 Molten Rain
4 Rift Bolt

Instant (8)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Searing Blaze

Artifact (2)
2 Shrine of Burning Rage
Land (20)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Keldon Megaliths
11 Mountain

Sideboard (15)
4 Skullcrack
2 Dragon's Claw
2 Dismember
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Blood Moon
2 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Shattering Spree[/deck]

The hardest MU with the original version was any G/B/x variant because those decks thrive off of a GY filled with dead creatures. Heal tried to mitigate this by siding in Skullcracks to counter any lifegain from a ScOoze and
just try to race those decks.

It really is a thinking man's deck. What it tries to do is simply trade with everything the opponent throws out. Eventually all of the little pings, shocks, and Bolts add up to kill them. Sometimes is just gets a free win by tossing out Guides and Devils followed by a Molten Rain, and sometimes each game is an uphill climb into grindy territory.

Sideboarding is kind of tricky because it's really easy to go overboard and end up diluting your deck. I try to just find the lowest denominator when figuring out a deck's weakness. Tron, for instance, is easy: it relies on its manabase to kill you with a 6/6 lifelinker. Solution? Damage its manabase and try to race it with Blood Moon and Skullcrack. Shrine can go because it's too slow, and quite possibly definitely the Grim Lavamancers Searing Blaze. That's 6 cards for 6 cards.

Rock is the hardest because a ton of the sideboard cards are good against it: Dismember (for
Tarmogoyf), Relic, Blood Moon, Skullcrack. That's 10 cards. What do you take out? I can see an argument for removing the slower cards that are easy for Rock to remove, like Shrine, Lavamancer, and the low impact Forked Bolt, but that's only 8 cards. Dismember, Relic, and Skullcrack will most likely fill that void. However, the position you'll be in (draw or play) is also very important. I think that if you're on the play, then Blood Moon is definitely a good, proactive plan to try out. Deploy a creature and start attacking right away to apply pressure. It's possible that even 2 Searing Blaze could come out to make room for the Blood Moon if you're on the play.

Against Twin, Delver, and Pod, you'll definitely want the extra kill spells. Dismember and Spellbomb are good for this. Multiple Kitchen Finks is a nightmare for this deck to handle, so you'll also want Skullcrack. For Pod, if you're on the draw, definitely take out the Eidolons and possibly the Molten Rains to make room for Skullcracks
AND the extra kill spells. Relic of Progenitus is also handy if you still think they're going to try the Melira/Seer combo.

The Affinity matchup is actually pretty good with access to a full set of Lavamancers and Fanatics. Dismember (for those 5/5 indestructible Ensouled Citadels!), Pyrite Spellbomb (dat Etched Champion!), and Shattering Spree all come in. It's up to you if you want to remove Shrine, as it can still kill an Etched Champion, but I definitely take out the Eidolon since Affinity almost always starts out ahead. Molten Rain can probably come out on the draw, but it is rarely a dead card against them.

Storm is really easy for the most part since you maindeck Eidolon. Postboard, you always bring in the Dragon's Claw and Relic. You could also bring in the Skullcracks over the Molten Rain since you are still trying to race.

Fighting Burn is a no-brainer: Dragon's Claw.

As for control style decks like UWR, you really want to just damage their manabase while applying pressure. Shrine
is also your best weapon since it's capable of winning the game on its own. What few games I did get in against it, I just brought in Blood Moon and Skullcracks, removing Forked Bolt and Searing Blaze.

That's pretty much about the long and the short of it. Obviously, you can't prepare against everything, but having a plan for the 6-7 major archetypes will go a long way. Good luck!

[LP, of the Fires]

[deck]Creatures:
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Figure of Destiny
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Tarmogoyf

Other spells:
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
2 Forked Bolt
2 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Searing Blaze
4 Molten Rain

Lands:
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
6 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
2 Blood Moon
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Dismember
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Destructive Revelry[/deck]

I played this version in two PTQs with x-2 results both times, almost making top8 in the second one, but screwed up match against Jund in round 7th. It may be a little bit weaker against creatureless combo decks, but overall I recommend splashing green. Tarmogoyf grows really fast in this
deck and destructive revelry is great sideboard card. Of course you can clearly see some of your ideas here like singleton Figure and Pillar in Claw's slot=]

I REALLY like this deck. Not sure how keen I am on running a basic forest with wooded foothills. Might be fine, but it's a very real cost. I could see SB 1 forest to come in with blood moon actually.

[PresidentsMustache]

Well basic forest is an option if you expect to use Blood Moon a lot. I play mostly irl and my local metagame is "creature heavy" so I can't even say I'm facing problems with Moon - RG duals antisynergy. And like Nicholas Heal said - this deck could probably run only 19 lands, so forest could be this additional one instead of Megaliths.
But I must say that I started to play Flame Javelins instead of Molten Rains to fight all these Tarmogoyfs, Oozes, Smiters, Exarchs etc. (with quite good result), so now basic forest is no option for me.

If my metagame ever shifts to more control and combo-ish I will for sure try this latest Heal's version which Khaos posted.

As for sideboarding strategy I must quote myself: "destructive revelry is a great card". I really use it a lot. Against Twin, Merfolks, Affinity, Storm, Rock, Tron, some weird combos like infinite time warps...well maybe it could be even a good
choice in Heal's RDW mirror to fight opposing Eidolons and Dragon's Claws, but I've never faced it=]

[PresidentsMustache]

[deck]Creatures:
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Goblin Guide
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Figure of Destiny
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Young Pyromancer

Other spells:
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
2 Forked Bolt
2 Shrine of Burning Rage
4 Searing Blaze
4 Stoke the Flames

Lands:
10 Fetchlands
4 Stomping Ground
6 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
2 Blood Moon
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Dismember
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Destructive Revelry[/deck]

This is what i am now testing. As for now i'm not impressed with Pyromancer though he is surely solid. I will also try running Goblin Rabblemaster in this slot. Has anybody else tried Pyromancer/Rabblemaster in RDW?

[Toddington]

Is there any reason to play RDW a la Heal at the moment? Burn is obviously decent, but I was just wondering what the best Eidolon of the Great Revel deck is. Mogg Fanatic seems very well positioned against the Delver meta.

The most up to date Heal decklist I could find is here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/ar ... 2014-08-14

[deck]Creature (20)
4 Goblin Guide
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Vexing Devil
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel

Instant (8)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Searing Blaze

Artifact (2)
2 Shrine of Burning Rage

Sorcery (10)
2 Forked Bolt
4 Molten Rain
4 Rift Bolt

Land (20)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Keldon Megaliths
11 Mountain


Sideboard (15)
4 Skullcrack
2 Dragon's Claw
2 Dismember
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Blood Moon
2 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Shattering Spree [/deck]
This year's earlier RDW had around a 20/20/20 split of lands/creatures/spells, it's not a stretch to imagine Monastery Swiftspear here. Over Vexing Devil? Considering the Delver matchup, Grim Lavamancer seems nut high.

[Valdarith]

Ask yourself these questions:

1) Why is this better than Burn?
2) Why am I not running Treasure Cruise?

I have a legit reason for #2 in my meta, but #1 is a bit harder to justify.

[Toddington]

1) Why is this better than Burn?

Yeah exactly, this is the issue. I feel like RDW is better against Delver than Burn, no idea about the rest of the field. RDW probably gets splash hate at the moment.

[Toddington]

Post-ban week 0 RDW?

[deck]
Land (22)
4x Arid Mesa
4x Bloodstained Mire
7x Mountain
2x Mutavault
4x Scalding Tarn
1x Wooded Foothills

Creature (16)
4x Eidolon of the Great Revel
4x Goblin Guide
2x Grim Lavamancer
4x Monastery Swiftspear
2x Stonewright






Instant (8)
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Searing Blaze

Sorcery (8)
4x Molten Rain
4x Rift Bolt

Planeswalker (2)
2x Chandra, Pyromaster

Enchantment (2)
2x Blood Moon

Artifact (2)
2x Shrine of Burning Rage

Sideboard (15)
2x Combust
1x Dismember
4x Searing Blood
4x Skullcrack
4x Smash to Smithereens[/deck]
I always liked attacking manabases when greedy decks like Junk are at the top, this seems like a better red shell to do it than Burn. Chandra lines up well against Rhino?

Sideboard is loose, but I think I want Crack and Blood for sure. I could see splashing black, green, or white for more options.

EDIT: Probably need some sort of way to interact with Souls (Forked Bolt?)