I feel like modern has become a stale format, dominated by the same decks - Pod variants, Affinity, and Splinter Twin. I myself prefer to brew and create new unique decks, both for fun AND top tier decks never know how to deal with them as they are prepared for other top tier decks. This is my mono red Trading Post deck which is designed to slowly out-value my opponents until I take over. It's still a work in progress so any help would be appreciated!
MAIN DECK:
Phyrexian Metamorph - as my deck is mostly artifacts, this guy always has a target. In the early game I like copying
Tumble Magnet
, but it has so much versatility in this deck that it's a must include.
Solemn Simulacrum - the first of many engines with Trading Post. It ramps me into mana advantage which is great as I'm a control deck. Then with Post, it provides 2 cards for one mana when I sacrifice it, or can be used to recur a previously dead artifact. Also a good target to be copied.
Wurmcoil Engine
- the win condition in the deck. The plan is to cast this turn 7 with a Trading Post out and leave one mana available to sacrifice it if an opponent tries to remove it. When it is sacrificed, one of the 2 tokens left behind can be sacrificed to recur it. Great value and just generally a great beater.
Elixir of Immortality - a one of value card. This deck often goes long and goes through a lot of cards. Shuffling everything back lets me reuse everything and once again, Trading Post lets me get incremental value out of this by activating it and sacrificing it with Post in response, gaining me 5 life, shuffling my graveyard in, AND drawing me a card.
Faithless Looting - a great spell for this sort of deck. I can discard late game cards to get them back later with Trading Post, helping me filter my hand to be better for the situation and digging for the relevant spell.
Galvanic Blast - it was a close choice between this and
Flame Slash
but the instant speed pushed this over the top. It picks off first turn mana dorks in the early game and in the later game with metalcraft, can pick off everything up to a Restoration Angel.
Ancient Grudge - if you've seen my other decks you'll know I'm a fan of the singleton theory. There is only one copy here as there isn't always an artifact to hit, but there are a lot of important ones amongst the top tiers. The flashback is the only use for the green mana sources in the deck.
Howling Mine - an artifact that draws me cards? Yes please. Sure it draws my opponents cards too, but I'm getting more value out of mine as the game goes on so I can deal with that. It helps me dig to useful cards and can be sacrificed to Trading Post once I have a good hand and don't want my opponent's drawing any more.
Ichor Wellspring - the core engine for this deck. Draws a card when it enters, draws 2 for one mana when sacrificed with Trading Post. Huge card advantage. Not leaving home without a playset.
Mycosynth Wellspring - similar to above but a slightly different form of card advantage. It can get my one forest if I really need it, but otherwise it gives me advantage by thinning my deck and ensuring I hit my land drops.
Pyroclasm - this is the card I am having a constant debate over. I can't decide between this and Anger of the Gods. At the moment I'm running this in the main as it only costs 2 mana, and I have the Angers in the board, but I'm really not sure about this one. Any advice here would be appreciated.
Pristine Talisman - this gives me mana advantage which is great for a control deck, can be sacrificed to Trading Post if need be, and the small life gain adds up over time giving me a helpful buffer.
Tumble Magnet
- I love this card. It's great at slowing down aggro, but it is amazing at slowing down Pod decks. I tap their pod in their upkeep and their entire strategy is delayed another turn while I get more time to dig for answers. If they don't have a Pod, tap an early mana dork. The possibilities are endless.
Trading Post - the card behind the deck. At the worst it can cycle itself. At the best it is an unbelievable value engine. Love it.
Blasphemous Act - a catch-all for any decks that start to get out of hand. Could potentially swap for Bonfire of the Damned but I like the guaranteed 13 damage and nobody plays around it, meaning it's often cheap to cast.
The land base is fairly straightforward. One
Buried Ruin
provides value (you may be sensing a theme here). The one forest and playset of Rootbound Crag provide painless ways to flashback Ancient Grudge. The
Phyrexia's Core
act as Trading Post 5-7. It generates less value but acts as a sacrifice outlet which is needed to protect
Wurmcoil Engine
.
SIDEBOARD:
Ancient Grudge - for Pod and Affinity. Fairly self-explanatory.
Anger of the Gods - in the sideboard at the moment. Swapped out for Pyroclasm against Pod decks as the exile clause is a huge blowout.
Boros Reckoner
- this acts as a cheaper threat against control decks and a defensive problem for Zoo and other aggro decks.
Koth of the Hammer - a different angle of attack for against control. They never see this coming.
Shatterstorm - this may look surprising as it's symmetrical, but I can recover/not play into it much more effectively than Affinity can. I cast this against them and they're pretty much done for instantly.
Torpor Orb - in case I haven't made it clear enough, Pod decks are hard for this deck to beat. This is another angle of disruption against them and it also shuts down Twin decks effectively.
Trinisphere - Storm is slowed down immensely against this card. Can come in against any Weenie and Token variants too.
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - another different angle of attack against control decks. I can hold it until I can trigger it to protect it a few turns against
Tectonic Edge
but if they use their mana to Edge it rather than advance their board, that's a win for me.
Thanks for reading and any help or suggestions are appreciated!
