I absolutely love the artwork on this card and its effect is a combination of some of my favorite things in magic. Combat damage, Mono-Red and landfall. So here it is, my take on Moraug, Fury of Akoum. The first thing I wanted to do was find ways to cause extra Landfall Triggers. Mono-red really doesn't have a way to 'allow' an additional land drop outside of cards like Ghirapur Orrery and Storm Cauldron which also benefit our opponents and we definitely don't want to give our opponents any more gas to outpace us. With that in mind I looked to cards that caused lands to hit the battlefield, not our hand. Wayfarer's Bauble, Solemn Simulacrum, Burnished Hart and Alpine Guide all fit that description. With three of them being artifacts we're running Goblin Welder, Goblin Engineer and Daretti, Scrap Savant to let us reuse and abuse these cards. Goblin Engineer also works as a tutor, something red really lacks, for any of these cards while Imperial Recruiter can grab any of the creatures outside of the Alpine Guide. From the Ashes is a great way to punish mutli-colored decks and slow them down. At the very least it can off one of our own non-basic lands to cause an extra landfall.
Traveler's Amulet and Wanderer's Twig are the most mana efficient -To Hand- effects to run to make sure we don't miss our normal land for turn.
In the land slots we've got Scalding Tarn, Wooded Foothills, Bloodstained Mire, Arid Mesa, Prismatic Vista and Warped Landscape all allowing us to cause extra landfall triggers while Ghost Quarter can take care of other problem lands if needed or target one of our own for an additional landfall trigger. We run a Crucible of Worlds to allow us to reuse these lands. Following in the steps of Ghost Quarter we've got Geomancer's Gambit and Cleansing Wildfire both able to deal with an opponents land if needed or to sacrifice one of our own lands to cause landfall AND they draw us a card. A special shoutout goes to Nahiri's Lithoforming for acting as both card draw and win-con. This card can often be used to dig out those last few lands and play them for game. Especially when paired with Crucible of Worlds. In total this gives us about 15 ways to cause an additional land to hit to battlefield. You only need one additional land to hit for Moraug to KO someone.
The next thing I wanted to do was find ways to cause additional combat phases outside of Moraug. To that end we've got Savage Beating. This card is great in that every mode is functional for us at almost any point. Either by causing another combat phase or giving Moraug double strike. Next up we've got Combat Celebrant and Port Razer. While the former can cause one extra combat a turn the latter is capable of chaining the game to an end. Last but never least is Aggravated Assault. Able to pump out combat steps as long as we can pump it mana, also goes infinite with Neheb, the Eternal... just saying. I want to point out I chose these specific cards because their text, like Moraug, untaps all of our creatures. Not just the ones that attacked that turn. Allowing us to abuse tap effects.
Strionic Resonator and Lithoform Engine can copy Moraug's Landfall ability as well as many other abilities in the deck.
Let's talk about ramp. Ain't no ramp like artifact ramp. Mana Crypt, Mox Opal, Chrome Mox, Sol Ring, Mind Stone and Arcane Signet make up the basic artifact ramp with Ruby Medallion providing overall cost reduction and Hazoret's Monument with creature cost reduction. Sword of the Animist attached to anything is amazing. Treasonous Ogre stands alone in ability its to generate Mana. Because of the way our commanders landfall ability works a lot of our stuff will be done in the second main phase so Neheb, the Eternal steps in. Captain Lannery Storm comes out early and with built in haste really racks up the treasure tokens. Speaking of treasure tokens, let's take advantage of all those lands with a Brass's Bounty. In the lands slot we've got good 'ol Ancient Tomb
For card draw we've got Commune with Lava, a seriously underrated card. Valakut Awakening
a great way to pitch things you just don't need for new things. Valakut Exploration puts in so much work in this deck it's insane. Not only does it let us work through our deck with all the landfall it does cause us to necessarily lose the cards we don't cast they just go to our yard. A rare thing in red. If that wasn't enough Valakut Exploration comes out swinging again in that it deals damage to EACH opponent equal to the number of cards still in exile at end of turn. Tectonic Reformation with our higher than average land count this card can easily draw an extra one or two cards a turn.
Faithless Looting. Classics never die.
Memory Jar actually functions as a better Wheel of Fortune as its one turn benefits are harder for opponents to take advantage of and we can actually reuse this with Daretti, Scrap Savant or Goblin Welder. Mind Stone serves its purpose as both ramp and card draw. Key to the City is the least affective card draw we have here but its bonus ability to make Moraug completely unlockable makes it worth it. Tectonic Giant synergizes well here by letting us dig two cards deep with every combat or just speeding up the clock to close the game. While not technically card draw Experimental Frenzy is amazing at letting us dig deep for what we need and works very well with our various shuffle effects. Already mentioned cards Geomancer's Gambit, Cleansing Wildfire, Nahiri's Lithoforming, Hazoret's Monument all let us draw cads in addition to other effects.
For haste enablers we've got the power couple Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots. We are also running Tuktuk Rubblefort because it's a fetchable Fervor for us thanks to Imperial Recruiter. Final Fortune also acts as a haste enabler and a cost reducer. Just make sure you've got the gas to finish the race.
We don't have a whole lot to interact with the board outside of creature damage and artifact hate. Blasphemous Act and Mizzium Mortars make up our main board wipes. While the former is reds, red button the latter can sweep away the board and clear a path for Moraug. Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots and Whispersilk Cloak provide protection for the equipped creature while Ilharg, the Raze-Boar can take advantage of the red zone to cheat out threats around counter magic, even Moraug when used with Command Beacon. Speaking of cheating out threats the new Hellkite Courser is AMAZING along side the Raze-Boar for some out of nowhere Moraug tricks. Vandalblast is our main form of artifact hate with Goblin Welder being able to trade any players troublesome artifact with a lesser one from their yard. Deflecting Swat has become and auto include in all my red decks. Disrupt Decorum is a great way to clear our path for attack, or to force utility creature to attack. At the very least I've seen players tap Mana dorks just to avoid it dying in combat. Chaos Warp stills holds its place as reds primary piece of interaction.
To help speed up the damage clock were running a Fiery Emancipation. This card just cannot be ignored here. It allows Moraug to swing for lethal with only our land drop for turn. Jeska, Thrice Reborn fills much the same roll but only targets one creature. Torbran, Thane of Red Fell has proven time and time again how quickly his extra 2 damage can add up. Savage Beating can provide double strike. Last but certainly not least is Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar. A two Mana Hydra Omnivore for our commander is insane. This little dude allows Moraug to KO the table with as little as one land drop.
To help make sure all that damage can get through we are running Whispersilk Cloak, Rogue's Passage and Key to the City all of which make a creature completely unlockable.
To finish up this list I'll mention some just good synergistic cards. I did not want to build this as a voltron deck with a lot of equipment and auras but Helm of the Host cannot be ignored. This attached to just about any creature in this deck is bonkers. Especially since the equiped creature doesn't need to attack. Etali, Primal Storm is the last card to mention. In a deck that wants to attack multiple times this big 'ol dino just eats away at our opponents decks while at the very worst functions like a draw two. Allowing us to cast things outside our colors makes for endless possibilities.
And there it is folks. If you like the deck please upvote. Leave a comment with any questions or suggestions.
