Hello everyone. I'm continuing my look at decks that are focused on a singular color, and I've reached Red decks. Red is usually an aggressive color, so I have a feeling that most of these decks will hit hard and fast. Let's get started.

Mono-Red Aggro

Speaking of aggression, the first deck I have is a Mono-Red deck that is super quick. Let's take a look at the deck.

Mono-Red Aggro | DSK Standard | MTG_Joe, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (24)
• 4 Emberheart Challenger
• 4 Heartfire Hero
• 4 Hired Claw
• 4 Manifold Mouse
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Screaming Nemesis

• Instants (15)
• 3 Witchstalker Frenzy
• 4 Lightning Strike
• 4 Monstrous Rage
• 4 Shock

• Lands (21)
• 17 Mountain
• 4 Rockface Village

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By starting off quickly with a hasty creature like Monastery Swiftspear or Emberheart Challenger, you'll put pressure on your opponent right away. As the game goes on, you might be able to give haste to some of your creatures with the ability found on Rockface Village. This can make blocking difficult for your opponent, as they will never be sure of the number of creatures you have that will be attacking them.

Screaming Nemesis is a great addition to any Mono-Red deck. Dealing damage to your opponent, only to see that damage healed up through the use of spells and lifelink abilities can make winning difficult. With Screaming Nemesis on the battlefield, you can target it with Shock, then send that same amount of damage directly at your opponent's life total, causing them to be unable to gain life for the rest of the game. This also works when blocking or being blocked, causing your opponent to want to straight up destroy or exile Screaming Nemesis.

Boros Auras

Next, I have a Boros deck that utilizes aura enchantment spells to win games quickly and efficiently. Let's take a look at the deck.

Boros Auras | DSK Standard | MTG_Joe, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (18)
• 2 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Emberheart Challenger
• 4 Heartfire Hero
• 4 Manifold Mouse
• 4 Optimistic Scavenger

• Instants (4)
• 4 Monstrous Rage

• Enchantments (18)
• 3 Demonic Ruckus
• 3 Feather of Flight
• 4 Ethereal Armor
• 4 Shardmage's Rescue
• 4 Sheltered by Ghosts

• Lands (20)
• 6 Mountain
• 6 Plains
• 4 Battlefield Forge
• 4 Inspiring Vantage

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This deck utilizes many of the same creatures as the Mono-Red deck does, simply because they're that good. One new addition is Optimistic Scavenger, who will be able to boost any of your creatures with a +1/+1 counter whenever an enchantment enters the battlefield. Since all of the enchantments in this deck naturally boost the enchanted creature's power or toughness, you'll see your creatures get real big real fast.

Sheltered by Ghosts is one of the best new auras to come out of Duskmourn: House of Horrors. Not only does it give the enchanted creature a +1/+0 boost plus lifelink and ward , but it also exiles a troublesome nonland permanent your opponent controls for as long as Sheltered by Ghosts remains in play. All of this is from an uncommon, which goes to show that powerful cards can be at all rarity levels.

Izzet Otters

Next, I have an Izzet deck for you that really benefits from you casting noncreature spells. Let's check it out.

Izzet Otters | DSK Standard | MTGA-Assistant-Meta, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (14)
• 2 Kitsa, Otterball Elite
• 4 Stormcatch Mentor
• 4 Stormsplitter
• 4 Valley Floodcaller

• Instants (14)
• 2 Transcendent Message
• 4 Meeting of Minds
• 4 Negate
• 4 Stoke the Flames

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Pearl of Wisdom

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Stormchaser's Talent

• Lands (24)
• 9 Mountain
• 10 Island
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 4 Eroded Canyon

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Both Kitsa, Otterball Elite and Stormcatch Mentor have prowess, giving you ample reason to want to cast a lot of cheap noncreature spells. Kitsa offers you the potential in the later stages of the game to copy your spells, making them doubly effective. Since copies of spells are still considered to be cast, you'll be able to create numerous copies of Stormsplitter throughout the game, making combat math difficult for your opponent.

Since casting multiple noncreature spells will amount to your creatures becoming more powerful, you'll want to maximize your effectiveness when casting. Spells like Transcendent Message, Meeting of Minds, and Stoke the Flames all have convoke, allowing your creatures to help with the casting costs. This can be very useful, especially if you're created some 1/1 Otter creature tokens with the level 3 ability of Stormchaser's Talent.

(Mostly) Rakdos Demons

The next deck I have for you adds Black mana to the mix and focuses on the benefits of being backed by a Demon. Let's take a look at the deck.

(Mostly) Rakdos Demons | DSK Standard | SwayzeMTG, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (13)
• 2 Rakdos, Patron of Chaos
• 3 Sol'Kanar the Tainted
• 4 Archfiend of the Dross
• 4 Deep-Cavern Bat

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Liliana of the Veil

• Instants (10)
• 2 Sheoldred's Edict
• 4 Cut Down
• 4 Go for the Throat

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Duress

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber

• Lands (25)
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 15 Swamp
• 4 Cavern of Souls
• 4 Fabled Passage

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Rakdos, Patron of Chaos is one of the best Demons you can cast. Not only does Rakdos have both flying and trample, but you'll be able to draw two cards during your end step if your opponent chooses not to sacrifice two nonland, nontoken permanents. If you are able to keep Rakdos alive for a few turns, you'll either gain a lot of card advantage, or your opponent will have a decimated team.

Gruul Prowess

The final deck I have for you is another example of just how important prowess is to Red's color identity. Let's take a look at the deck.

Gruul Prowess | DSK Standard | MTG_Joe, aetherhub.com user

• Creatures (22)
• 2 Questing Druid
• 4 Emberheart Challenger
• 4 Heartfire Hero
• 4 Manifold Mouse
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Slickshot Show-Off

• Instants (15)
• 2 Snakeskin Veil
• 2 Witchstalker Frenzy
• 3 Might of the Meek
• 4 Monstrous Rage
• 4 Shock

• Enchantments (3)
• 3 Innkeeper's Talent

• Lands (20)
• 6 Mountain
• 2 Restless Ridgeline
• 2 Rockface Village
• 2 Thornspire Verge
• 4 Copperline Gorge
• 4 Karplusan Forest

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Once again, Monastery Swiftspear, Emberheart Challenger, Heartfire Hero, and Manifold Mouse are all key creatures in this deck. It should come as no surprise, as these are all very aggressive creatures and this is an aggressive deck. In addition to these expected creatures, this deck adds a playset of Slickshot Show-Off, a flying creature that also benefits from you casting noncreature spells.

As an aggressive deck, you need to be able to keep creatures on the battlefield as a means of dealing consistent damage to your opponent. This deck includes an interesting way to protect your creatures from targeted removal spells. By playing Innkeeper's Talent, you not only get to give your creatures +1/+1 counters, making them even bigger threats, but you also are able to provide any creature that has a counter ward , once Innkeeper's Talent reaches level 2. This class acts as both an offensive and defensive threat, making your opponent hope for a card that can destroy it.

Wrapping Up

As you can see, prowess is very important to most of these Red-based decks. By casting noncreature spells, which are usually causing damage to something, you're able to power up your creatures for the turn, hitting for more damage very quickly. This can allow you to win games in very few turns. It's no wonder I love playing Red decks.

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