Overall Function:
Overall this deck is the attempt to turn a green and red deck into a deck that functions more like mono red. Pumping out creatures and burn spells constantly to poke your opponent to death, or destroy their creatures before they can do anything. However, thanks to creatures like Questing Beast, Almighty Brushwagg, and Scavenging Ooze (seriously what problem can't be solved with some scooze?) this deck patches up the weakness of mono red creatures being frail, small. Basically, you're able to pump out some large 4/4s as quickly as you would a 2/2, turning your machine gun's ammo into essentially Cannon balls shot at the same speed and rate. Take note that I am not a very experienced player. I have played only for 2 years in high school and then recently got back into it in MTG Arena. HOWEVER, this deck has taken this very same inexperienced player up to Platinum Rank in mere days, and has been tested against some of the most poisonous decks my friend of 10 years MTG experience had to offer and managed to secure some vicious wins. Point is, this deck makes use of one of the most OP green cards of Standard and the most OP meta of the red color, and turns into a perfect bazooka for beginners in the game.
Essential cards:
Take note that Scooze can be replaced with cards like Kraul Harpooner and a few gruuls like Gruul Spellbreaker. However, this deck originally used those two very cards and replaced them with Scooze due to the inescapable fact that these cards will be rotated out in October. Scooze isn't too expensive, but it should be a goal to get them as soon as possible, as they are one of the most functional "Get Thicc Guys Out Fast" type cards in this deck whose main purpose is to "Get Thicc Guys Out Fast."
Questing Beast is the most expensive option, the boss monster, your 'get rid of this or start losing to me' card that sends your opponent into a frenzy, with the cheapest price online being just over 8 dollars. He is non negotiable, and the essential number is 2, though you can run 4 if you feel like you need it. However as a Legendary card, 2 is probably the better option.
Four Bonecrusher Giants is also nonnegotiable due to it's functionality and contribution to getting big bois out into the field soon, and not just a big boi, but one that's hard to remove.
For small monsters, you can go with basically any one or two drop reds that can throw a punch early. I personally use Scorch Spitter because I don't like playing humanoid characters much, I'm a monster lovin' girl. But one drops with haste work just fine. Green doesn't have many small guys with much offense however, as most of them are just mana ramps or reach blockers, or land setters. Luckily, we have Da Almighty Bruswagg in da house! He can essentially become a 4/4 with Trample later into the game to function as backup for your Questing Beast or Gemrazer. Brushwagg is often underestimated too, which works to your advantage. I once managed to win an entire troublesome game with just one brushwagg and a bunch of kill spells.
Instants, enchantments and Sorceries: Shock is the staple of every burn deck and four is automatic. Scorching Fire is also very good, though it should be warned that it won't do you any favors if you're trying to fuel your Scooze, and if that bothers you, Fire Prophecy is a nice alternative so you don't exile the creature before Scooze has a chance to feed. Lava Coil should also be picked up to deal with any big bois that might get in the way of Questing Beast or your smaller monsters. As for greens, cards like Giant Growth, Growth Cycle, or Ranger's guile, pretty much any card that can boost power and survivability in an instant is welcome on the green side of the instant and sorcery area, allowing Questing Beast or Brushwagg to load nukes onto an opponent, or keep your essential creatures alive. As for enchantments, not many qualify, but Rythm of the Wild compliments this deck in a huge way, turning many of your creatures into gigantic horrifying memes of constant destruction. However, Rythm is rotating out in October, and as such it is not included in the final deck.
Weaknesses and counters:
This deck has several areas where it suffers but can counteract given an opportunity.
Against Control Decks, especially White Blue, this deck can find itself in a nightmare situation, especially when Pacifism or Tribunal is cast on Questing Beast or another cheap big boi like your Bonecrusher. That is why you should make it a point to always include a few Gemrazers, whose mutate function also allow your smaller creatures become big tanks fast.
Swarm type decks which swarm your field with tons of tiny tokens or goblins trying to steal your guts, usually find themselves helpless against this deck due to Questing Beast's vigilance and unblockable by small peeps combination. However it should be noted that if you can't get Giants or Questing Beast or a ramped up Scooze out early, they'll quickly become a massive pain in the neck. Decks that run Bastion or Witch's Oven can also screw up things for Questing Beast before it has even had time to go questin'. make sure to try and get Gemrazer out as soon as possible to deal with troublesome artifacts and enchantments/enchantment creatures that fuel those decks.
Mana Ramp Decks: Mana ramp type decks which are designed to pump out an 8/8 by turn 3 will quickly rip this deck to shreds if you aren't careful to save your Giants, Lava Coils, and Shocks. As somebody who runs a mana ramp deck centered around Godzilla (Zilortha) and Terror of the Peaks, I can attest to how tough a time burn decks will have when a giant blocker able to kill Questing Beast with a block comes out to play earlier than usual. This deck is designed to murder opponents before the big bois start coming out of your opponent, and when the Big Bois come out early, even a 4/4 mythic rare stands to have a lot of problems when taking on a beefy 8/8 creature that popped out of the ground. Luckily, this can be easily countered. While Paradise Druids are near impossible to deal with unless you decide to throw in flamesweep, killing off cards like Gilded Goose instantly will at least delay horrifying burn counters like Terror of the Peaks before he can start wrecking your house. And for those of you dealing specifically with Uro centered decks, make full use of your Scooze!
Hand shortages. As is usual with every typical red deck, your hand will get pretty empty pretty fast, make sure you consider your options before throwing out a shock directly at your opponent.
Notes:
Take note that the deck you see is not the original one but the one that I have readied for Rotation. Cards that made this deck powerful such as Rythm of the Wild and Gruul Spellbreaker,and also Scorch Spitter have been replaced with other place holders for now, though this deck continues to function well. I might aim for Fervent Champion in the future when I have enough wildcards in Arena.
Tips:
Using Giant Growth in tandem with Heartfire Immolator can get downright poisonous if not horrifically overpowered. Also if you have a need to mutate Gemrazer over Questing Beast, always go with Questing Beast underneath, as changing the name to Gemrazer will allow you to summon a second Questing Beast to fill the board with two overpowered unblockable forces of nature. (take note that I have not tested the Gemrazer trick in Arena yet with Questing Beast, I will update this deck when I do).
