We have known for a long time that the Red Deck Wins. How it gets there has changed drastically over time. From the earliest days of Sligh with Brass Man, Orcish Librarian, and Fireball to today's versions with hasty guys and the recently resuscitated Lightning Bolt, it doesn't matter if mono-red is taking home the blue envelope. All that matters is it has been a force to be reckoned with for as long as the game has been around. Nowadays, when looking for a home run and not just a string of singles, mono-red has incorporated Shrapnel Blast and artifact lands. But John Wasson left the Great Furnaces at home on his way to first place at a PTQ a couple of weeks ago in Toronto with this:

I love it. No more tinkering with "Should I cut X of this?" or "Should I splash/add X of that?" No need to hold a Shrapnel Blast in hand with no artifacts. This list is as simple as it gets – Twenty spells, twenty creatures, and twenty lands; and four of everything that isn't a Mountain. Other burn decks try to make room for a Shard Volley here or an Incinerate there. There's nothing wrong with those cards, but the extra utility one gets out of Magma Jet (dig) and Flames of the Blood Hand (negating Baneslayer Angel, Martyr of Sands, Kitchen Finks, etc.) push them ahead of the pseudo-Bolts.

I goldfished this list and found that a turn three kill is not necessarily an elusive strain, but still hard to come by. Nonetheless a more likely outcome was turn four or five, and that's without counting things like fetchlands, duals, and Thoughtseize.

One small problem I have with this deck is Cryoclasm in the sideboard. It's cute, but I would much rather run Molten Rain. Cryoclasm does nothing about Dark Depths, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, manlands, and Hypergenesis's entire mana base, just to name a few things.

And now the question every deck asks itself: what can Worldwake bring to the table? It narrows down to maybe only two cards with even a remote possibility: Searing Blaze and Chain Reaction. Searing Blaze could warrant the inclusion of fetchlands for the full effect more often. Chain Reaction would be a great tool against Thopter and the miscellaneous aggro decks in the format. But the more I think about it, the more I realize this deck needs to go to your opponent's face far more often than your opponent's creatures. And since Searing Blaze requires a single target creature, while Chain Reaction is as close to a direct reprint of Wrath of God as red will get, my first version will only bring in Chain Reaction from the new set.

Back to the point about fetchlands: With as little digging as there is in this kind of deck (four copies of Magma Jet will not get the job done), you want to have a small a chance as possible of drawing, of all things, a mountain when the game's on the line. Anywhere between four and eight fetches could work, as long as there's some way to weed out the late game duds.

Here's my version post-Worldwake.

I really wanted to fit Dragon's Claw in here too, but it's one of those cards that has to be a three- or four-of in the sideboard. On top of that, Dark Depths is becoming even more prevalent in the format, while other (mostly) red decks are hard to come by. There's too much in Zoo that won't trigger the Claw to warrant boarding it in for that matchup. So, alas, it stays home for now.

I'll give this a shot at the PTQ at TJ Collectibles in Milford, Massachusetts on the 20th. I won't be hard to find - I'll be donning the ManaNation colors and being my usual eclectic self. Hope to see you there.

One last announcement: Fantasy Realms, the WPN location in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has started Friday Night Magic in a "joint production" with Team Sportscards Plus in Adams, Massachusetts. The two stores will alternate hosting FNM each week, starting at the Realms on February 5th. Check the mothership's tournament locator for more details.

Until next time, go ahead and play with fire.

-Sam