Continuing with our on-going Glowing Ranks segment, today's topic is Red Legends.
Because the card advantage is basically non-existent when we compare it to the other "slices" in Magic's color pie, Red has been historically the "least competitive" mono-color.
Although I don't disagree with the popular opinion, I can tell you that Red decks still have a lot to offer the general metagame, forcing tempo and pressure even without the taboo. When up against the amalgam of 20 years of Magic's most overpowered, it's a daunting task to risk managers and control players who feel the need to play the format with better support.
What draws me to the red decks I've played is both the inherent challenge of overcoming better designs and flipping the script on the players who are more Wrath-inclined. By going all-in, dedicating a majority of your deck to aggressive combos, most of the best decks have success in creating an early pressure, which forms chaos, which opens up the game to players making mistakes. And if you play them with tempo, it can both render control-heavy decks completely useless and set you up on a path to victory.
Coupled with the latest in R&D, there's really never been a better time to invest in the Red sector, and I'll show you why.
Honorable Mentions
Starke of Rath
The first Commander product is what gave Starke an actual chance at the table, as he inherited a very lonely road named Homeward Path. Add an Expedition Map, and now you have two copies, giving us a "free" slot in our mana base and a real slot which could also provide design for a nice set of nonbasics, which does come in handy.
As mentioned in the Better Deckbuilding article, the trick with Starke is to assemble a removal engine with an indestructible artifact, and a way to copy his ability, whether it be the beat-me-over-the-head Rings of Brighthearth, or an untap effect like Umbral Mantle. Using the Stack, your first target is the indestructible item, and then whatever thing your opponent has, making sure Starke never leaves.
The amount of half-decent cards that can enable Starke and aid in building an offensive engine give this deck a very nice little control package that gives you enough time to find other heinous combos you'd want to play with Rings, or perhaps you just take the route I did and load it up with Dragons for the later stages. Overall, it's a neat deck with cool tricks that gives you a chance, which, if you're any good, is really all you'll need.
Squee, Goblin Nabob
Often, most of the red card draw spells aren't going to give you an advantage, because they take cards away. With Squee as your Commander, these problems can be lessened, and a Red engine deck can begin to emerge.
Unlike Starke, Squee is probably the most travelled commander you'll see. The card will go to the graveyard, the player's hand, and the battlefield more than several times throughout the course of the game, and it is both very difficult to stop, and inefficient to waste single removal spells on. He'll basically do whatever you want, whenever, from the too-easy Skullclamp, to the
5. Ashling, the Pilgrim
The idea behind this deck, and most "Aggro" red decks in the format is that they're going to try and find a nice combination of combat damage and burn to finish an opponent off. Ashling is pretty successful in this way, considering that she has the ability to do two things at once: Control the board and deal damage to everyone and everything.
What limits her from beating out the other decks in the list is how many times you're going to have to cast her in a given game. Hence the Mountains moniker and joke for this deck. You have to commit to a serious amount of lands, but it's worth it. There are very few other cards you'll want to play that are as good as just laying down Mountain, and at a certain point, all you'll need to have is one big combat dealing 6-10 damage to make sure you're ahead. Of course, getting a Loxodon Warhammer or Basilisk Collar will help too.
4. Heartless Hidetsugu
One of the other things about HH is that he matches up significantly better with decks using life gain strategies, effectively halving the big boppers like Beacon of Immortality, and stopping the slow-rolling Oloro deck from staying ahead in the game, and therefore keeping the deck from its big Lim-Dul's Vault or Ad Nauseam.
HH also makes burn spells better, as he magnifies them exponentially throughout the course of the game. Two activations of HH can effectively put you in a position where one 4 power dude and a decent Fireball can finish an opponent, potentially more than one.
3. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Against most other decks, I think HH is going to hold up better on the whole, as Kiki-Jiki, even if you don't go infinite, brings a stigma to the table that people might not like. He's going to be a lot harder of a commander to stick at the table than HH, even if HH brings more devastation.
2. Purphoros, God of the Forge
One of the reasons for Purfy's vastly superior success when compared to the other gods is the fact that the card is generally not going to be a creature if you're playing it right. Unlike his fellow com-Pantheons, Purph's strength lies in a combination of him, haste outlets, and spells/permanents that spit out copious amounts of tokens. The deck's success is attributed mostly to the noncombat damage each opponent takes when he comes into play, which avoids people playing their own chump blockers while you create your own.
It is very similar HH and Ashling in this respect, the big differences being resilience and like Kiki-Jiki, it's dedication to token copies for ETB value. This blend is really a potent recipe for face-smashers everywhere.
1. Norin the Wary
What makes Norin so good is his ability to get everyone's best creatures via Confusion in the Ranks or Pandemonium, while basically dodging every relevant removal spell.
The deck is surely one of the more inconsistent decks without reliable tutelage for the key combo pieces, but it's nothing a Crystal Ball and Scroll Rack and Memory Jar and a few Wheel Effects can't find. In the meantime, this deck can also bide time with Genesis Chamber and Kiki-Jiki, as most of the better cards in Red fit right into this deck without too much tinkering.
The result is a map of various routes to chaos, which becomes a powerful ally for the Norin deck and a hard thing for an opponent to have to play against when they're already playing against another person.
That's all we have for today. Do you like these ranks? Do you disagree? Did I miss something? Lemme know in the comments below.
-UL
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