Hello everyone. Last week I started a series of articles focusing on decks that are centered around a particular color of mana. Last week were decks featuring Black mana. This week I have five decks that are focused around Red mana, so let's get started.

Mono-Red Prowess

We'll start with a mono-colored Red deck that gets a lot of bonuses by casting noncreature spells. Let's take a look at the deck.

Mono-Red Prowess | OTJ Standard | arstall, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (16)
• 2 Goddric, Cloaked Reveler
• 2 Squee, Dubious Monarch
• 4 Fugitive Codebreaker
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Slickshot Show-Off

• Instants (14)
• 2 Shock
• 4 Lightning Strike
• 4 Monstrous Rage
• 4 Play with Fire

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Ancestral Anger

• Enchantments (8)
• 4 Demonic Ruckus
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan

• Lands (18)
• 18 Mountain

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Slickshot Show-Off might not have prowess, but it still gets a +2/+0 bonus for the turn whenever you cast a noncreature spell. Since this Bird Wizard also has haste, you can quickly rack up some damage with it. It also has flying, making it more difficult for your opponent to block, which can allow you to push more damage through when it attacks.

Boros Aggro

Next, we'll add a little White mana to the mix and take a look at a Boros Aggro deck. Let's check it out.

Boros Aggro | OTJ Standard | MtgMalone, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Illuminator Virtuoso
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Picnic Ruiner
• 4 Slickshot Show-Off

• Instants (13)
• 3 Blessed Defiance
• 3 Loran's Escape
• 3 Monstrous Rage
• 4 Antagonize

• Sorceries (3)
• 3 Homestead Courage

• Enchantments (6)
• 2 Etali's Favor
• 4 Demonic Ruckus

• Lands (22)
• 5 Plains
• 10 Mountain
• 3 Inspiring Vantage
• 4 Battlefield Forge

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Both Monastery Swiftspear and Slickshot Show-Off make an appearance in this deck. This shouldn't be surprising, considering that they are some of the best aggressive Red creatures currently in Standard. There's also a ton of great noncreature spells in this deck that will help boost up their attacking power.

In addition to these hasty attackers, this deck includes a pair of attackers that are capable of dealing a lot of damage and are difficult to block effectively. Both Illuminator Virtuoso and Picnic Ruiner are capable of attacking with double strike, making them perfect targets for the pump spells in this deck. By providing these attackers with trample, you can push through a lot of damage, even if blocked.

Izzet Artifacts

Next, I have an Izzet deck that uses artifacts to gain an advantage over their opponent. Let's take a look at the deck.

Izzet Artifacts | OTJ Standard | XaeroMTG, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (7)
• 1 Charming Scoundrel
• 1 Saheeli, the Sun's Brilliance
• 2 Thran Spider
• 3 Hulking Metamorph

• Instants (8)
• 1 Memory Deluge
• 1 Otherworldly Gaze
• 2 Three Steps Ahead
• 4 Fading Hope

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Strangle
• 2 Brotherhood's End
• 3 Ill-Timed Explosion

• Artifacts (14)
• 1 Braided Net
• 1 Chimil, the Inner Sun
• 1 Cryptic Coat
• 1 Esoteric Duplicator
• 1 The Celestus
• 1 The Irencrag
• 1 The Mightstone and Weakstone
• 1 Worldwalker Helm
• 2 Brass's Tunnel-Grinder
• 4 Simulacrum Synthesizer

• Lands (25)
• 4 Mountain
• 5 Island
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Fomori Vault
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Restless Spire
• 1 Shivan Reef
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1 The Mycosynth Gardens
• 1 Thundering Falls
• 2 Stormcarved Coast
• 2 Xander's Lounge
• 4 Swiftwater Cliffs

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This deck includes a lot of cards that have synergy with your artifacts. Saheeli, the Sun's Brilliance can create a token copy of an artifact (or creature) that you control. It will be sacrificed at the beginning of your next end step. This works well alongside Worldwalker Helm, which will create a Map token whenever you create an artifact token, and Esoteric Duplicator, which allows you to create token copies of artifacts that you sacrifice.

Rakdos Steal and Discard

The next deck I have for you attacks your opponent from two different fronts, stealing their cards to play for yourself, and discarding cards from their hand. Let's check it out.

Rakdos Steal and Discard - OTJ Standard | Sonio, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (10)
• 2 Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead
• 2 Decadent Dragon
• 2 Hostile Investigator
• 4 Trumpeting Carnosaur

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 1 Sorin the Mirthless
• 3 Liliana of the Veil

• Instants (8)
• 1 Outrageous Robbery
• 3 March of Wretched Sorrow
• 4 Go for the Throat

• Sorceries (7)
• 1 Dread Fugue
• 1 Dreams of Steel and Oil
• 1 Duress
• 2 Deadly Cover-Up
• 2 Molten Collapse

• Enchantments (3)
• 1 Case of the Crimson Pulse
• 2 Virtue of Persistence

• Artifacts (2)
• 1 The Celestus
• 1 Unlicensed Hearse

• Lands (26)
• 3 Mountain
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Blast Zone
• 1 Mirrex
• 1 Sunken Citadel
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2 Restless Vents
• 3 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 3 Demolition Field
• 4 Haunted Ridge
• 4 Sulfurous Springs

• Sideboard (9)
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 2 Rakdos, the Muscle
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Bitter Triumph
• 1 Sheoldred's Edict
• 1 Extract the Truth
• 1 Rankle's Prank
• 1 Unlicensed Hearse

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By forcing your opponent to discard cards, you'll limit their options. Creatures like Hostile Investigator and Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead force your opponent to discard cards. You also have spells like Dread Fugue and Dreams of Steel and Oil that force your opponent to discard. Liliana of the Veil also has her +1 loyalty ability that forces each player to discard a card.

The 'Steal' portion of this deck comes from a couple of cards. Virtue of Persistence is a great way for you to return any creature from a graveyard to the battlefield. If you've discarded a creature with a high mana value, you can return it, but you can also return any of your opponent's creatures in their graveyard. There's also Outrageous Robbery, which exiles a variable number of cards from the top of your opponent's library, which you can cast using any mana as the game progresses.

Gruul Haste

The final deck I have for you adds Green mana and is chock-full of creatures with haste. Let's take a look at the deck.

Gruul Haste | OTJ Standard | elrond100, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Axebane Ferox
• 2 Goldvein Hydra
• 2 Shivan Devastator
• 2 Ulvenwald Oddity // Ulvenwald Behemoth
• 3 Feldon, Ronom Excavator
• 3 Frantic Scapegoat
• 3 Reckless Lackey
• 3 Ruby, Daring Tracker
• 3 Samut, Vizier of Naktamun
• 3 Thundering Raiju

• Instants (9)
• 1 Giant Growth
• 1 Great Train Heist
• 2 Snakeskin Veil
• 2 Tyvar's Stand
• 3 Monstrous Rage

• Enchantments (3)
• 3 Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano

• Lands (22)
• 3 Forest
• 5 Mountain
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 4 Copperline Gorge
• 4 Karplusan Forest
• 4 Rockfall Vale

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You can quickly bring games to an end with the help of one spell in this deck, Great Train Heist. By casting this Instant spell for its top spree cost, you'll get an extra combat phase which will allow all of your creatures to attack for a second time. In the late game, you'll most likely be able to attack for more than enough damage to end the game.

Wrapping Up

It's no secret, Red is my favorite color to play, so I'm looking forward to trying out each of these decks. While most of them are more aggro in nature, I think each of these decks has the tools to survive if the game goes long.

What do you think of these decks? Feel free to share this article with your friends anywhere on social media. And be sure to join me here again next week as I continue my search for innovative decks in Standard. I'll see you then!

- Mike Likes