facebook

CoolStuffInc.com

Preorder MTG Innistrad Remastered today!
  
Account Meeple
Location IconLocations
Account MeepleLogin
0 Item
Advanced Search
   Sign In
Create Account
Main » Articles » How to Succeed When the Ladder Turns Red

How to Succeed When the Ladder Turns Red

CovertGoBlue
Posted on February 4, 2020
 Reddit

Mono-Red has to be the most played deck in Arena history and this is unlikely to ever change. The deck can win quickly, saving time on those daily quests. The deck can win any matchup, because any deck can have a poor draw. Mono-Red builds are typically budget friendly and new player friendly, as being the "face deck" is an easy concept for any play to grasp. According to Untapped.gg's Twitter, Mono-Red was the most played deck across the accounts they track on MTG Arena during the dominant Standard runs of Field of the Dead and Oko, Thief of Crowns, a time period when Mono-Red wasn't considered a competitive tier deck.

Phoenix of Ash
Anax, Hardened in the Forge

Now that the Theros Beyond Death meta is beginning to settle, and the monthly ladder has reset and tryhards are racing back to Mythic, Mono-Red is seeing a new surge in popularity. Theros Beyond Death cards Anax, Hardened in the Forge and Phoenix of Ash have added needed resilience to the archetype and Red mages are starting to leave their Rakdos and Mardu Knights behind and dive back into the world of Basic Mountains. When Mono-Red gets popular, it gets really popular, especially in best-of-one play where sideboarding is not a factor.

Two slightly different lists of Mono Red have been showing up lately. First, here is a list that renowned Red mage Aaron Barich recommended on her podcast, HardcastMTG.

Mono-Red | THB Standard | Aaron Barich 01-25-2020

I will leave analyzing the Red decks to Red mages, this is about knowing the enemy rather than breaking down the cards in the Red deck. Not to be outdone, sandydogmtg hit number one Mythic with this build of Mono-Red.

Mono-Red Aggro | THB Standard | sandydogmtg 01-26-2020

The decks have some cards in common and several differences, which goes to show how powerful Red Aggro decks are right now. One thing they have in common is that they use Shock and Stomp // Bonecrusher Giant for direct damage, so 3-or-more toughness is a key turning point. Another commonality is the reliance on Embercleave. The mythic legendary sword isn't just for Knights or Gruul mages anymore. Even with most of the creatures in sandydogmtg's deck costing only one mana, Embercleave is still a rockstar when combined with pump spells like Infuriate.

When the meta becomes predictable, it becomes exploitable, but you have to be willing to change up your decks. Here are some of the decks I have been having success with in best-of-one Standard Events and ladder play on MTG Arena.

Deck #1: Esper Exile

Esper Exile | THB Standard | CGB 01-30-2020

Esper Exile started as a solid Esper Hero list that offered a lot of flexibility and had no bad matchups in the format. No bad matchups, except one that is. Hero of Precinct One and Atris, Oracle of Half-Truths die far too easily to Shock and Stomp. Once you get away from Hero of Precinct One, the deck can move in a few directions. I found counterspells to be difficult to keep up, and they took you away from one of your best cards against Red Aggro, Oath of Kaya. So this deck leaned into the planeswalkers theme to make Oath of Kaya even better, and Esper Exile was born. This is really a Superfriends deck, with no creatures, 14 planeswalkers, and Elspeth Conquers Death to get them back.

Interplanar Beacon
Oath of Kaya

Interplanar Beacon and Oath of Kaya are key cards against aggro. Lifegain will not beat Red Aggro on its own, but it will keep them from beating you as fast as they want to. Oath of Kaya is also great at making the Red mages make tough decisions, as each attack step they spend going after your planeswalkers gains you another two life.

Teferi, Time Raveler
Embercleave

Teferi, Time Raveler is your best friend against Embercleave. I see a lot of players using Teferi, Time Raveler's [-3] ability on the first Red critter they see, and while it's sometimes necessary it can also be a huge mistake. A healthy Teferi keeps you from taking 10+ doublestrike damage by not giving the Red mages the ability to cast the Legendary Artifact inside the attack step. Setting Teferi, Time Raveler up to live can be tricky, but it is worth it.

Kaya's Wrath
Shatter the Sky

Having a universal four-mana board wipe spell is crucial, and Kaya's Wrath is a great one in most Esper decks, but this deck runs four copies of Interplanar Beacon and a basic Island, making it much harder to cast Kaya's Wrath on turn four. Shatter the Sky has a much more forgiving mana cost and it doesn't give the Red mages an extra card draw very often. If you are facing Anax, Hardened in the Forge, do all you can to get him off the battlefield before you Shatter the Sky. If you get the chance to Anax, Hardened in the Forge out of your opponent's hand with Thought Erasure or Agonizing Remorse, you should probably take it.

Deck #2: Temur Reclamation

This deck started out as the list that streamer crokeyz tweeted about. It was quickly clear that the deck needed some adjustments to stay competitive in best-of-one. Temur Reclamation is a great deck for tournament Magic because it has excellent sideboard options, but for best-of-one we had to have earlier interaction, and we could afford to streamline the game plan since very few opponents have ways to stop a big Explosion to the face.

Temur Rec for BO1 | THB Standard | CGB 02-01-2020

Storm's Wrath, Thassa's Intervention, and Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath are huge additions to this deck from Theros Beyond Death. Niv-Mizzet, Parun was the deck's default back-up wincon in the past, but it was only good against control and terribly slow against aggro. Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath is great against both, and it plays very well with your primary game plan by ramping out lands and giving you life to stay alive. If your opponent is trying to check your Wilderness Reclamation with removal or counterspells, you can Escape Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath over and over to wear them down and create a window to resolve a giant Explosion.

Scorching Dragonfire
Brazen Borrower

Scorching Dragonfire and Brazen Borrower are your interactive spells because they are good against Embercleave and Teferi, Time Raveler, two extremely popular cards that can wreck Temur Reclamation by themselves. Hitting Nissa, Who Shakes the World with Scorching Dragonfire and following up a turn or two later with Storm's Wrath is also a very nice way to thwart a Simic player's plans.

Opt
Omen of the Sea

Opt vs Omen of the Sea. I feel like this debate could last all day. My take is that Opt is half the cost, half! In a hyper-fast meta like BO1 Standard, every mana counts more than ever. I also want my Opt in the graveyard to help Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath escape! Opt can be copied by Expansion in a pinch, Omen of the Sea cannot. Yes, the additional Scry 2 that Omen of the Sea can provide is nice, but is it necessary? Often when I have that much time and mana, I have Castle Vantress to do the job, or I am winning anyway. Omen of the Sea is great against the occasional Doom Foretold list, but Brazen Borrower is better and we already have four of them. I will stick with Opt, but if you want to write another college-thesis-length summary of why you believe Omen of the Sea to be superior, the comments are at the bottom of the page. Come at me bro!

Deck #3: Green/White Auras

Green/White Auras | THB Standard | CGB 02-02-2020

I just finished a 7-0 Standard Event with this list, and five of those games were against Mono-Red. I worked on Green/White Enchantments lists that included cards like Transcendent Envoy, Bronzehide Lion, Setessan Training, Starfield Mystic, Banishing Light, Elspeth Conquers Death, and many more. I ended up on this very low-to-the-ground streamlined list that could put big aura pants on a lifelink creature quickly and get it way out of burn range.

Glaring Aegis
Hunted Witness

I am sure most readers will find these two cards the most surprising. The biggest issue I had with this deck against Red Aggro was that you could never block anything because that is how you end up losing your creature to Rimrock Knight, Infuriate, Stomp, or Shock. Therefore, you have to spend a lot of turns taking damage, and then you ended up getting smashed by Embercleave a turn before going nuts with Setessan Champion and Season of Growth. My solution was to cut fragile 2-drops like Transcendent Envoy and Starfield Mystic for these off-the-radar gems. Hunted Witness isn't afraid to block, and he leaves behind a little lifelink Soldier token to put some auras on. Glaring Aegis gets your critter out of burn range quickly. Once this card is attached to Paradise Druid or Alseid of Life's Bounty, you can usually block those aggressive 1/1's without fear (but don't rule out double Rimrock Knight or Infuriate, use good judgement). The "tap target creature an opponent controls" effect isn't the major draw to Glaring Aegis, but it isn't useless either. Tapping down a Cavalier of Whatever or a Dream Trawler can open up a lethal attack on a critical turn for just 1 mana.

If you are one of the 25-30% of MTG Arena players who runs Red Aggro every single day then you are probably thrilled to see your deck on top of the meta once again. But if you are one of the rest of us, I hope you see a list here that is your style and it helps you defy a fiery fate.

TAGS articles, standard, constructed, analysis, decklist, arena, mtg arena, covertgoblue, thb standard, 02042020

Recent Articles

View Archive
Sell your cards and minis 25% credit bonus