Let me be up-front here: This is not a story of victory and glory. This is a story of high-level competition, useful experience, and hard lessons learned. I competed at U.S. Nationals at GenCon this year, and this is the story of my experiences there.

On Day 1, the first format was Standard. My decision to participate in Nationals was somewhat of a last-minute one (not recommended!), so I was heavily leaning toward playing Red Deck Wins. I had success playing RDW at PT: Puerto Rico, and I qualified for the TCGPlayer Championship with it also. While I’ve played an incredibly wide variety of decks over the years—Academy, The Rock, NecroDonate, Buried Alive, Merfolk Opposition, Mercenaries, Dragons, Recur/Survival, Tinker, White Weenie, Affinity, Prison, Bloom/Drain, Wildfire, and Living Death, just to name a few—there is a good case to be made for playing something you’re experienced and are comfortable with, as long as it’s viable in an environment.

I felt that prior to the recent bannings and the subsequent addition of Magic 2012 to the environment, RDW was a decent choice, given the right version in the hands of a good player. Obviously, the bannings of Jace and Mystic were good for RDW. There are many, however, who feel that the addition of Timely Reinforcements to the environment spells doom for Red. I think it’s also important to look at what new options M12 adds to RDW: Grim Lavamancer, Incinerate, Shock, Stormblood Berserker, and Chandra's Phoenix. Many people seem to think that Grim Lavamancer was the most significant addition; I believe Chandra's Phoenix is that card. My first build looked like this:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Chandra's Phoenix

4 Goblin Guide

4 Kiln Fiend

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Burst Lightning

4 Galvanic Blast

4 Incinerate

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Staggershock

4 Shrine of Burning Rage

[/Spells]

[Lands]

20 Mountain

4 Teetering Peaks

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

I was going for powerful synergy. I think the must-have cards for RDW are Goblin Guide, Lightning Bolt, and Burst Lightning (although I have seen a version without Burst Lightning). After these three cards, the contents of various versions vary wildly. Most have more 1-drops, usually at least Lavamancer and sometimes Furnace Scamp or Spikeshot Elder. 2-cost burn spells like Searing Blaze and Arc Trail are also popular. Some versions have curves that go all the way up to 4 with Hero of Oxid Ridge or Koth of the Hammer.

The core of my deck was Kiln Fiend, Shrine of Burning Rage, and Chandra's Phoenix. All three synergize well with cheap burn. In addition, Staggershock seems a perfect fit with the three of them as well. Over time, I decided that I was unhappy with the Shrine. It was 2 mana that didn’t affect the board or my opponent, which might be powerful if I spent 3 mana on a future turn. I switched to Dragonlord and was much happier. After I pulled the Shrines, Staggershock seemed less critical, and I found myself constantly sideboarding it out, because I felt that eight 3-mana cards were too many. I made my last change the night before the event. I decided that 2 damage for 1 mana (Shock) was better than 3 damage for 2 mana in my deck. Taking out Shrine, Staggershock, and Incinerate in favor of Forked Bolt, Shock, and Kargan Dragonlord greatly improved the tempo of my deck, which is an irreplaceable essential in RDW. Thanks to Dragonlord and Phoenix, I still managed to have a decent late game as well:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Chandra's Phoenix

4 Goblin Guide

4 Kargan Dragonlord

4 Kiln Fiend

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Burst Lightning

4 Galvanic Blast

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Shock

4 Forked Bolt

[/Spells]

[Lands]

20 Mountain

4 Teetering Peaks

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

4 Manic Vandal

3 Act of Aggression

4 Combust

4 Dismember

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

Act of Aggression is mainly for bringing in against Ramp decks. Dismember is good against almost everything except aggressive decks like mine and creatureless decks like Pyromancer Ascension. Combust is great against Splinter Twin and solid against Caw-Blade. Manic Vandal is great against Tempered Steel and good against Shrine.

Round 1: Mark Constantini – Caw-Blade

Game 1, I went first and had a Goblin Guide, which usually means a win for me unless I’m mana-flooded. After he Preordained, I played a Kiln Fiend. After he said go, leaving 2 mana open, I figured he was sitting on Mana Leak and I decided to play a Phoenix. If he countered it, I could get it back later; if not, it would be a solid turn-three play. He Leaked it and I hit him for 3, knocking him down to 13. Next he played a Squadron Hawk. On my turn, I Bolted him and replayed my Phoenix. He chump-blocked my 4-power Fiend and took 4 damage, dropping to 6 life. On his turn four, he played a Blade Splicer. I finished him on turn five by Bolting him and pumping my Phoenix with a Teetering Peaks.

For Game 2, I sideboarded in Combusts and Dismembers for Shocks and Galvanic Blasts. He went first and neither of us played a spell until my turn two, when I played a Goblin Guide with Teetering Peaks, which he Dismembered. On turn three, he stopped my Fiend with a Flashfreeze, but then I surprised him by playing a third land and another Guide to start the pressure. Next he played a Blade Splicer. On my turn, he Dispeled my Lightning Bolt, but I Combusted the Golem and Forked Bolted the Splicer and him. On turn five, he played two Hawks. I played a Phoenix and attacked with both my dudes. He double-blocked my Guide and then Dispelled my attempt to burn one of them. On turn six, he tried to block my Phoenix with a Colonnade, but I Dismembered it. Next he played a Hawk and blew up both of my Teetering Peaks with Tectonic Edges. He chump-blocked, which allowed him to maximize a Timely Reinforcements and then play another Hawk. On my eighth turn, I played a Dragonlord and started to level it. On turn nine, I flew over his reinforcements with both my creatures. On turn ten, I finished him with a Forked Bolt and a final aerial assault.

Round 2: Andrew Cooperfauss – Caw-Blade

This was a complete reversal of my first round. I had to mulligan seven mountains, and then he Oblivion Ringed my first two creatures. The combination of Hawks, an Emeria Angel, Sword of Feast and Famine, and a Colonnade overwhelmed my removal.

Game 2 wasn’t much better. I kept a one-land hand because I had a Guide, but I stalled first at one land and then later at two land for multiple turns. When I eventually got to 4 mana, he Tectonic Edged the two that were Teetering Peaks. I killed an Emeria Angel and a Colonnade, but he played three Timely Reinforcements and eventually I succumbed.

Round 3: Brian Kibler – Red/Green

Brian went first, and when he played a Lotus Cobra on turn two, I thought perhaps he was playing Valakut Ramp. I Shocked his Cobra and played a Dragonlord on my second turn. On his next turn, Brian played a Skinshifter, which alerted me that he wasn’t playing Valakut, but rather some special brew of his own. I attacked with my Dragonlord and he blocked. When he tried to make the Skinshifter into a 4/4, I Blasted it and then played another Dragonlord. Brian raised the ante with a turn-four Thrun. I answered by leveling up a Dragonlord and hitting him for 4 in the air.

On his turn five, Brian went into the tank for a while and then played a Hero of Oxid Ridge. He attacked with both his guys, and I traded my 2/2 Dragonlord for his Hero and took 5 from the troll. With him tapped out again, I didn’t bother with my hand and just leveled up my Dragonlord more and hit him for 9. Brian checked his draw and then scooped.

In the second game, I kept another one-land hand because I was on the draw and I had a Guide. I hit him with the Guide, but he Arc Trailed it while I stalled at 1 mana. He played a Sword of War and Peace and I play a Dragonlord. He Arc Trailed my Dragonlord and I stalled at 2 mana. Sad that he didn’t have a creature yet, Brian played a second Sword. I tapped out to play a Phoenix, but I had a grip full of removal including two Dismembers, so I figured I didn’t have to worry too much about him equipping a creature. My main concern at this point was an equipped Thrun, so I wanted to hurry up and kill Brian before that happened. Brian Flame Slashed my Phoenix, but I drew a fourth land and played a second Phoenix, leaving a mana open. Brian played a Hero, but I Bolted it in response to him equipping it. On his next turn, Brian played a Birds of Paradise and double-equipped it, only to have me Dismember it. At the end of his turn, I Bolted him, getting back my first Phoenix. I played that Phoenix, attacked with both, and then Forked Bolted him for the win.

Round 4: Alex Alepin – Splinter Twin

In my initial game with Alex, I kept a five-land hand because I had a Guide. He played an Exarch on turn three, and when I tried to use two burn spells on it, he Mental Misstepped the second one. Fortunately, he didn’t have a Splinter Twin, so I was able to start hitting him with a Phoenix. Unfortunately, when I got him down to 5 life, he drew Splinter Twin, and I didn’t have two burn spells to try to stop him.

In the second game, I mulliganed a three-land hand because I didn’t have any creatures. My second hand was better with two Mountains, three burn spells, and a Guide. He Pyroclasmed the Guide, but I started hitting with a Phoenix. He played an Exarch, but I burned it away. When I got him to 7, he played another Exarch and was able to combo me out, because he had a Mental Misstep for my second burn spell and I didn’t have a Dismember or a Combust.

With a record of 2–2 after Day 1’s Standard rounds, I was behind where I was hoping to be, but I certainly wasn’t giving up hope of a strong finish. Now I just needed a good M12 draft to get me into Day 2 on a strong note. Tune in next week to hear about my tight three-game match with Conley Woods.