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My friend Joey Pasco sent me a new look Mono-Red deck with key pieces from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. I told him there was an effectively 0% chance that I was going to play Wayward Guide-Beast in Standard; and saw no reason to cash in three precious Gold Wildcards for Shatterskull Charger when I owned four carefully drafted Reckless Stormseekers at the three.

So, with a couple whacks with the ole tire thumper, this is what I ended up testing today:

Mono-Red | NEO Standard | Michael Flores

• Creatures (24)
• 4 Bloodthirsty Adversary
• 4 Cemetery Gatekeeper
• 4 Rabbit Battery
• 4 Reckless Stormseeker
• 4 Reinforced Ronin
• 4 Voldaren Epicure

• Instants (4)
• 4 Play with Fire

• Sorceries (8)
• 4 Reckless Impulse
• 4 Roil Eruption

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano

• Lands (20)
• 15 Mountain
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 4 Den of the Bugbear

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I actually had to finish up my previous Gold Standard Event before trying this piece on. Finished 7-1 with trusty Azorius. I had actually started that event before Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty cards became legal over the weekend. My current impression is that the same feature that bedeviled in the previous format holds down the hot new [Blue] tech from future-Japan. Namely, Cemetery Protector kind of humiliates most of the good Ninjas. But what do I know? The rest of the pre-Kamigawa world seemed to think that Orzhov Control was the best. Pssst. I have still found no evidence contrary to the Azorius conclusion.

Anyway, the first Standard Event I entered did not go so great.

Round One - White Weenie

I basically murdered a stock [former] The Deck to Beat. They played turn one Portable Hole on my turn one Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano, so I figured I started up one-third of a card. The game was thoroughly uninteresting, with my cheap removal managing the opposing battlefield while all my guys got in with haste; drawing a concession before turn five.

1-0

Round Two - Simic Dragonsguard Elite

I got in solidly the first two or three turns, but got stuck on two lands. If I'd drawn a third land earlier, I probably would have just run them over; but I basically found myself down 16 to 9 through a huge turn with multiple pump spells, finishing on a Blizzard Brawl.

They were on five, so I couldn't win on my next alpha, even if I drew a fourth land. So, I sent a Reinforced Ronin (that wouldn't be able to block anyway) and left behind that most desirable of 2-drops: Bloodthirsty Adversary (no kicks).

I figured they'd need a fight spell at the minimum to win, and possibly an additional pump spell. You can probably see where this went.

1-1

Round Three - Gruul Werewolves

Got destroyed. Stalled on mana again. I was super annoyed by the "Good Game" emote one turn early. Was there any way I could make them pay for the arrogance? Any? They were on eight and I had two Roil Eruptions and a Play With Fire, but there was no reasonable window where I would be able to cast them fast enough. Is there a "sacrifce my Blood token" line? Not that gets my mana before their second 15+ point alpha. Man! Maybe they'll let one of my guys in? No dice.

1-2

Round Four - Boros Aggro

I was actually kind of super apprehensive on this one. They opened with Fireblade Charger and all I could think of was "I really hope I don't get murdered by Angelfire Ignition". I didn't, on account of killing them before their fourth turn. Nice Maul of the Skyclaves, though!

This one was one of those games that really gets you charged up, Fireblade or no. Like it was almost a disaster, but instead you stay alive in the event? Ready to take on the world!

That didn't last.

Round Five - Selesnya Enchantments and Dudes

I got stuck on two again!

Double missed on Reckless Impulse. THEN missed the natural land drop the next turn. If I had hit a land in a two-turn window I would have been able to Play with Fire their Jukai Naturalist, then remove it with Cemetery Gatekeeper, which would have been hits on both types of permanents! Instead, I lost a super tight one that culminated in a concession the first time I got whacked for seven lifelink in the sky.

2-3

Two-Three? Wow that's not good. But rather than quitting, I immediately played another Standard event.

Not to bury the lead too much, it was a pretty smooth 7-1. In the first Standard Event, I got stuck on lands in all three of my losses. Still, the margins weren't even that bad.

In the second event I just ran over all my opponents!

Crushed the Gruul Werewolves rematch.

Beat Orzhov Control two or three times.

Most interestingly I played against two different Blue tempo-ish decks (Rogues or Ninjas or Equipment dudes). Man oh man are those matchups a bye. Basically, you are playing on the same axis that they are but all your guys have haste.

I properly will finish this article with some play patterns, but one of the less intuitive ones is this:

When given the option of a Rabbit Battery and a Voldaren Epicure, I think the right play is the Battery; then use both your mana to play the Epicure and equip the Battery. This has a slightly higher damage expectation, all things considered, than leading with the Vampire. Moreover, it makes it more likely you'll get your damage through on turn two.

I mention this because I definitely flubbed a match on the turn five version of this play pattern (though I still ended up winning). My opponent had Sorin the Mirthless and made the lifelink defender. On my turn I hit it with Roil Eruption and played double Rabbit Battery + Voldaren Epicure to kill the two-loyalty Sorin and get in for a little damage.

As soon as I did it, I knew that I was going to be punished. Instead of casting the second Rabbit Battery I should have just equipped the Epicure. What did the opponent have?

It's obvious, right?

The Meathook Massacre!

So, they gained four, and I lost four guys. Had I played properly, I would have only lost my incumbent creature and the Epicure. Rabbit Battery #1 would have lived, and Rabbit Battery #2 would have been waiting safely in my hand. Not only would I have preserved two creatures, but would have denied the opponent two points of life gain. But not only that, I would have had two more attackers, one of which was already in play!

Luckily my follow-up was Adversary for the Roil Eruption, so a six-point attack. They didn't recover enough, fast enough, against a deck with almost mono-Haste. Would have been less nail-biting with two more creatures, obviously.

My solo loss was to Rakdos Dragons. As soon as I kept, I was pretty sure I would lose to whatever kind of opponent. Here is the hand I kept:

This hand just isn't fast. It has no 1-drop. I don't think you should default to Adversary on turn two; and there isn't even a guarantee of hitting Reckless Stormseeker on time. Plus, the hand starts with literally no removal, so if the opponent doesn't put something - anything - into the graveyard themselves, Those Cemetery Gatekeepers aren't going to expect much extra damage.

The game actually ended up looking pretty close. But it wasn't really close. At first, I thought I might have a chance when they followed up the perennially underrated Immersturm Predator with Burn Down the House... Until I realized they were making Devils. Would have much preferred putting my dudes in the graveyard to be gobbled by their Dragon.

My last match was pretty edifying. Mono-Green Aggro! After removing the first Werewolf Pack Leader with Cemetery Gatekeeper I was pretty sure they would not be able to win. If turn four didn't reveal an Esika's Chariot I didn't see a path to victory for the other side. They would take two for every potential blocker, and probably would be able to play only one spell per turn. Meanwhile I was going to be hasting down 6+ damage on super cheap sacrificial lambs turn after turn after turn. Esika's Chariot did not, in fact, appear.

7-1

Two events; one miserable, one looking unstoppable. I don't think that "minimally viable" is an overstatement for this deck, though it does not currently strike me as overpowered relative to the format [despite roflstomping The Deck to Beat multiple times].

Let's Finish with the Top 8 Tips, Tricks, and Play Patterns

1. Don't sandbag Bloodthirsty Adversary. Just don't do it. This deck doesn't hit 5 mana very often. 2/2 haste is just what is going to be on the table most of the time. In this deck that is pretty much fine; and pretty much fosters redundant and consistent draws. You will get 3/3 haste sometimes via Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano, anyway.
2. This deck is surprisingly good at going tall. Most of the creatures look like one-toughness dorks, but moving around +1/+1 with Rabbit Battery, one-time buffs from your Saga, and stacking triggers (and sometimes trample) from Reckless Stormseeker can actually turn a battlefield of wide lamers into a respectable single attacker. And another one the next turn after the opponent has experienced their first visit to The Abyss.
3. The preferred open is usually Kumano Faces Kakkazan. Your low end play will be a 2/2 Epicure that can't attack, but most other follow ups can put on immediate pressure; on turn two even Mono-Green will have a hard time out pacing your expected size.
4. The next best open is Rabbit Battery followed by {something}. Voldaren Epicure is a reasonable follow up, where Rabbit Battery can help preserve your mana expenditure-versus-damage expectation ratios.
5. Look for spots where Rabbit Battery can give haste specifically to Cemetery Gatekeeper. The opponent might not be planning for a three point attack. Not for nothing, the slight increase to the Gatekeeper's toughness may also assist in getting trigger damage. If it can get in for five, you're usually ahead of the game.
6. Rabbit Battery is the most strategic card in the deck. Look for any spot where you can use Rabbit Battery to preserve card economy against opposing removal. A single follow up point from its "Look ma, I'm a creature now" mode can be the difference between what looks like a blowout in your favor (on speed) and what ends up a blowout in the opponent's favor (on card advantage) in actuality.
7. This deck does not have an overabundance of long game staying power. Get damage in as quickly as possible, including Gatekeeper triggers whenever possible. Your wins are going to come from cornering the opponent into painful decisions, and then hoping to rip a Roil Eruption or the rare five-mana Adversary after they think they've found a respite.
8. This deck is kinda, sorta, like playing another format. The mana costs and activation costs are so low, you can often take three or more actions per turn. At no reasonable point in the game are those actions likely better than what you might find in the opponent's deck... but any one is often par with what they've already done, at least on mana. But guess what? You have two more! I was surprised to blow out an Orzhov opponent who got value on two different Eyetwitches (Deadly Dispute and Rite of Oblivion) and who successfully hid behind multiple life gain Pests. Nothing I was doing was so spectacular, but I was confident I wasn't going to lose combat any time soon, and Cemetery Gatekeeper was making defense annoying. They just don't want to be spending Vanishing Verse on Etching of Kumano... But when that's what's in your deck, that's the exchange they get. I just moved around my Batteries to get in, knowing when the inevitable bomb removal hit, I'd follow up with 6+ points of open haste.

Would I replace Reckless Stormseeker with Joey's proposed Shatterskull Charger, or perhaps power creep Lava Hounds?

I don't think so. This deck isn't super great at getting to four mana, and the ability to go tall with Stormseekers offers a useful additional plan to a seemingly straightforward strategy.

This deck's brand new... More to come!

LOVE

MIKE