This deck combines Arclight Phoenix with Elements of a traditional 'Hollow One' build. Depending on the amount of interaction from your opponent's deck, this deck can win anywhere from 3-6 turns consistently. The deck is a mono red mainboard and splashes white for sideboard tech.
The deck runs a significant amount of bolt effects as well for removal or as finishers. One of the things I like most about this deck, besides it applying immense amounts of pressure quickly; is that it naturally resists Blood Moon/hand disruption, almost never has to mulligan and can refill the players hand with cards as needed. Its a surprisingly resilient and versatile deck for being mono colored.
General strategy for cards is as follows:
Flameblade Adept
1 of the hallmark cards of the aggro for this deck, this card is able to produce remarkable amounts of damage if left unchecked. By turn 2 it can potentially produce up to a maximum of 7 damage. (Use 2x Burning Inquiry) If that wasn't good enough the creature has menace; making blocking not the most reliable way for your opponent to deal with it.
Arclight Phoenix
The All-Star of the deck, phoenix can potentially see play as early as turn 2. Decks that run Gut Shot can technically see it as early as turn 1. (For reasons I'll explain later this doesn't necessarily mean better) The idea is to discard phoenix and recur it out as quickly as possible. Which is relatively easy in a card selection/discard deck and the fact it runs 8 “free” spells. Opponents that fail to exile phoenix are going to have a tough time keeping it off the battlefield since it can just keep returning. The fact it has flying/haste is icing on the cake.
Hollow One
The other side of the coin of this deck is this card. With all of the discard effects this deck has, this card can see play as early as turn 1. A 4/4 creature that early in the game puts a pretty fast clock on you opponent if they can't deal with it promptly (especially since you can throw out more then 1 at a time) The good thing about this card is that it is out of bolt and push range. This severely limits your opponents options to remove it early game. Even late game, its still an outstanding card. As an added bonus, you can also cycle the card and pump Flameblade simultaneously if casting it ever becomes an issue.
Bedlam Reveler
This card helps out tremendously when you start to get low on useful cards and can be cast for as little as 2 mana; granted you have atleast 6 instant/sorcery in the graveyard. This is generally easy to pull off mid to late game when you’re pitching cards left and right. In addition to supplying you with card advantage, reveler is a 3/4 body with prowess, which makes it a threat in its own right. As an added bonus it can trigger discard triggers when pitching your old hand before drawing 3 cards.
Burning Inquiry
This card has quite a few uses aside from pitching phoenix away. Most notably it is the card that can potentially let you throw out Hollow One on turn 1. Aside from that it can generally be worth keeping if you have an opening hand with too much or too little mana. Odds are usually in your favor to pitch almost half of your hand and drawing better cards without the penalty of a mulligan. In paper magic if your opponent has a poor poker face and gives away they may have something good in their hand, this card potentially lets you disrupt their lines of play by potentially getting rid of their good cards. Lastly, the card is good for pumping Flameblade and activating cards with 'Madness'. While the card technically is a gamble, the deck is constructed as such where the odds are generally in your favor.
Faithless Looting
Lets you pitch phoenix and madness cards more accurately while replacing them. Obviously it lets pump flameblade as well but the kicker is that this card has flashback. This can be extremely useful if you find yourself with limited options in your current hand.
Lightning Bolt
Good ole fashioned versatile damage/removal.
Goblin Lore
Has all of the benefits as Burning Inquiry except you get to net a card. Not a bad deal at all for 2 mana.
Manamorphose
This spell is primarily used as a "free" spell to aid you into getting out phoenix from a graveyard quicker. The fact it replaces itself is also outstanding. When sideboard cards come into play it becomes even more useful since you can create different colors of mana, if for some reason you haven't been able to get out your white mana producing land cards.
Fiery Temper
Basically becomes a second copy of bolt in this deck because of the amount of discard. It ensures that discarded cards aren't just being thrown away without use. Sometimes when you have zero cards in hand, casting a Burning Inquiry can net you this card and let you get use out of it since you won't be netting any cards. It's also a great card to use when Jump-Starting Risk Factor.
Rift Bolt
Ok, here is why I have decided that Rift Bolt is better then Gut Shot in this deck. Rift Bolt deals more damage and can effectively remove things a bit easier. In addition, it also counts as a "free" spell for the turn it is cast which helps get phoenix out. Rift Bolt is also a good tempo play as well. Opponents that need their creatures to stick (Infect, Storm etc.) are going to be reluctant to resolve creatures when they see a Rift Bolt suspended. Often times you can delay your opponent an entire turn as they wait for the rift bolt to pass over. It's just an overall more reliable card that trumps the prospect of a T1 phoenix that will cost you 4 life if you're packing a double gut-shot. The odds of you having 2 gut shots, playing a land and discarding a phoenix on turn 1 are too low vs the reliability of what Rift Bolt can do. Just my opinion. I've play tested both and Rift Bolt has just done better by leaps and bounds.
Risk Factor
This card is phenomenal and it's the reason we don't run 4x Bedlam Reveler. 2 or more Bedlam Revelers in hand is not a good thing. It's a late game card with no way to recur itself. This means if at any time you have more then a single Reveler in hand, using one will cause you to discard the others you have in hand. That's where this card comes in. It has a modest CMC that can be used twice at instant speed. It can feed into your agro stream or refill your hand. In addition, its Jump-Start ability can allow you activate a 'Madness card and pump Flameblade as well. This card just has no downside in this deck. ::::Example:::: EOT Risk Factor, opponent takes 4 and doesn't let you draw, untap, jump-start risk factor with fiery temper. Now the opponent can collectively take 7 more damage or take 3 and let you draw 3 cards while pumping your Flameblade. Card is just nuts in this deck.
SIDEBOARD::
Eidolon of the Great Revel
Can stop Storm and KCI from going off unchecked. Also great against decks that attempt to interact with you a lot such as control decks.
Tormod's Crypt
Standard Graveyard hate that doesn't punish your own graveyard.
Wear / Tear
Standard Artifact and Enchantment Removal for Red/White.
Dragon's Claw
Card is most useful against burn decks. However if playing against another red deck, you tend to gain a lot of life between your spells and your opponents.
Grim Lavamancer
Thisncard abaolutkey devastates creature decks like humans or spirits. Especially in a deck that constantly fills its graveyard.
Stony Silence
Artifacts with activated abilities are a very real threat in modern. This can just outright make certain decks lose such as KCI and Affinity variants. It also is good at slowing down green Tron.
Blood Moon
Another feared card in modern that can just outright make some decks just auto lose with no down-side to you.
Path to Exile
Sometimes a bolt or 2 won’t take care of creatures that get out of control like goyfs. Path takes care of that.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The deck is reliable and consistent with its draws and hardly ever mulligans. Can apply pressure quickly while maintaining a decent card draw engine to keep the pressure on as well as utilizing the graveyard. Not to mention a ton of interaction with all of the removal effects. I can easily see this deck or a variant becoming a top contender in pro-tours to come.
