Today I'm going to step out of my wheelhouse a bit and present to you two Red decks that have piqued my interest. The first is a Historic deck that was sent to me by my buddy and Freshly Brewed cohost, Robert Castillo. The other is a Modern deck that went 4-1 in a Modern Preliminary on Magic Online in the hands of user OscarS66. While the first deck is Mono-Red, the second one adds Black to maximize the amount of disruption the deck can churn out.

Let's take a look at the first offering!

Mono-Red Incinerator | Historic | Robert Castillo

• Creatures (18)
• 2 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Chandra's Incinerator
• 4 Electrostatic Field
• 4 Runaway Steam-Kin
• 4 Thermo-Alchemist

• Instants (6)
• 2 Thrill of Possibility
• 4 Shock

• Sorceries (16)
• 4 Crash Through
• 4 Light Up the Stage
• 4 Skewer the Critics
• 4 Warlord's Fury

• Lands (20)
• 18 Mountain
• 2 Castle Embereth

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Fry
• 4 Rampaging Ferocidon
• 3 Tormod's Crypt
• 3 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
• 2 Redcap Melee

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Rob sent me this list a few days ago, after the following exchange took place within our messages.

While I don't feel great about shaming Rob for his "month Red" typo, I did think the deck was pretty neat and I was a huge fan of Chandra's Incinerator; in fact, I'm still not sure why the card doesn't see more play in older formats, like Modern, where being able to cast this on turn two or three is much more consistent. As I've mentioned on the podcast, the card dodges so much removal: Abrupt Decay, Dismember, Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, Eliminate. Two of the only cards that can touch it seem to be Assassin's Trophy and Path to Exile, both of which at least net you a land.

The basic goal of the deck is to take advantage of the creatures in historic that can easily deal several points of damage to the opponent, in order to get a cheaper Chandra's Incinerator, specifically guys like Electrostatic Field and Thermo-Alchemist. You have eight copies of Red cantrips in the form of Crash Through and Warlord's Fury, both of which are meant to trigger the aforementioned creatures and net you extra damage. Keep in mind everything from Shock to the creatures we mention all trigger spectacle, which is extremely helpful when you're trying to reduce the cost of a Chandra's Incinerator with a Skewer the Critics.

Speaking of the deck's namesake card, the reason it seems so powerful in Modern is due to the abundance of one mana cards that deal three damage. The equation for Chandra's Incinerator is that for every damage over the mana cost, you're going to save that much mana. So Shock, unfortunately, is only going to save us one mana (we spend one mana on Shock, and we're then able to spend four mana on the Incinerator, etc.). This is why cards like Skewer the Critics are so important, and - I never thought I would say this - the more three damage cards for one mana that the Historic format gets, the better this card gets.

The great thing is that the deck does have lines like pinging them with Thermo-Alchemist on turn three, casting Skewer the Critics for one mana, untapping the Alchemist, pinging them again, then living the dream by casting the Incinerator for one mana. The problem is this gets a little harder with things like Shock and Electrostatic Field. In that situation, you play the Field on turn two, then on turn three you can Shock the opponent, dealing three total, but that still leaves you with a three cost Incinerator and only two remaining mana.

Unfortunately, after searching through the historic instants and sorceries that cost two or less, the only other card I found that would really fit the bill was Collateral Damage: a Fate Reforged card that was recently reprinted in Jumpstart. While this is the ideal three-damage for one mana we're looking for, we do have to sacrifice a creature to get it, which might not be a deal we're willing to take. I'm not sure, but it might be worth considering. All the other cards in the format are unfortunately limited to dealing damage to a creature or a planeswalker. Even something like Slaying Fire, which is a reasonable deal at three-mana for four damage, still means you need to spend five mana to cast both it and the Incinerator.

While I think there's definitely room for some improvements, I think this is a great starting point for a Chandra's Incinerator deck in Historic, and the idea should only improve once more and more cards enter the cardpool.

The other deck is using a ton of value creatures to disrupt the opponent's game plan.

B/R Midrange | Modern | OscarS66, Modern Preliminary

• Creatures (20)
• 4 Bonecrusher Giant
• 4 Fulminator Mage
• 4 Insolent Neonate
• 4 Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger
• 4 Seasoned Pyromancer

• Instants (4)
• 4 Lightning Bolt

• Sorceries (15)
• 3 Collective Brutality
• 4 Inquisition of Kozilek
• 4 Thoughtseize
• 4 Unearth

• Lands (21)
• 2 Mountain
• 3 Swamp
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Bloodstained Mire
• 4 Verdant Catacombs

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Dismember
• 2 Fatal Push
• 2 Kolaghan's Command
• 1 Magus of the Moon
• 2 Murderous Rider
• 2 Nihil Spellbomb
• 3 Pyroclasm
• 2 Waste Not

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Admittedly I'm a huge fan of this deck using things like Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, Unearth, and Fulminator Mage. Being able to kill two lands on turn four with a Fulminator Mage and an Unearth is pretty big game in Modern. This is ideally preceded by you casting a one-mana discard spell on turn one (of which there are eight), and a Kroxa (or another one-mana discard spell) on turn two.

One card I don't really understand in this deck is the Insolent Neonate. While I have to assume that its sole purpose is to add two cards to the graveyard for Kroxa, doing its best Faithless Looting impersonation, it just seems pretty unimpressive. I can't help but wonder if there's a better option than a one-time look effect for one mana.

While this deck is extremely low to the ground and has nothing costing more than three mana, I love the sheer amount of value creatures present. Seasoned Pyromancer is a Modern staple now, and being able to either a) draw two cards for free when you have none in hand, or b) discard a couple cards to either feed Kroxa or make tokens is such a beneficial effect. Bonecrusher Giant is one of my favorite new creatures, providing both solid removal at a great rate, as well as a formidable body with another great ability. Kroxa is pure value, especially with how efficiently this deck seems like it can fill the yard (including the eight fetch lands), and Fulminator Mage has been a consistent beating in Modern for a huge number of decks.

The deck has 16 spells that cost one mana and only three that cost two, while the four copies of Unearth can target any creature in the deck. Killing a land, filtering two cards, making the opponent discard and take three damage, or getting a 4/3 all for one mana is a pretty great deal. I mean, you can also just cycle the Unearth as well for two mana, but I imagine you're just going to be casting it most of the time.

This deck is super straightforward and looks like a streamlined blast to play. I love a lot of the cards in here, and the efficiency of cards like Kroxa and Unearth in the deck just seems great.

I haven't talked about Historic ever and Modern in quite some time, so be sure and let me know what you think of these lists. They really caught my eye and included some of my favorite cards in the newer sets, so I felt a bit compelled to write about them, despite them being Red decks, which is not often my preferred color.

As usual, thank you guys so much for reading. I appreciate you every week, I love you all, and I hope you're staying safe. Be sure to shoot me a comment down below with your thoughts and what you think of the lists, as I'd love to hear your feedback. You can also use promo code FRANK5 to get 5% off! As always, I'll catch you all next week!

Frank Lepore

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