Hey guys, thanks for checking out this deck which is going to be for the Star City games Open in Providence, Rhode Island.
I believe in my right mind that Mono-Red has little to no resistance against the most popular decks in the format pre-sideboard, so I have a few pre-sideboard card choices for specific values and reasons as well as sideboard reasoning.
Q&A
- Why no Zurgo Bellstriker?
A. UPDATE: we now run 1 Zurgo bellstriker, since with the cut of Searing Blood against a format heavy with 3 toughness creatures it makes Monastery Swiftspear go down a peg in power level.
- Why do you run Collateral Damage?
A. it counters Bile Blight, which is now more often is making the Main Board as a solid removal spell against Red/Green's Mana Dorks, Red Deck Wins tokens and other aggressive decks. Sacrificing the creature is part of its cost, so even if the spell is countered the creature won't be there anymore so it works out. I can also count on Collateral to be a major contributor to power out a direct damage win (12 or more points of damage over 2 turns of burn spells).
- Why no Goblin Rabblemaster? Are you crazy?
A. Every game, all 15, that I played during the Star City games Open didn't allow me to resolve one Rabblemaster without a response of some kind (Kill spell, counterspell, etc) which tells me that in hindsight I would rather play Heelcutter. Heelcutter is ultimately better against Abzan, and believe it or not Abzan is our worst match-up.
- What the hell is going on with your Sideboard?
A. Obelisk of Urd goes in against a few decks, including Abzan and control to deal with board wipes, it can also be used to steal wins against some decks that otherwise have no idea you run it. Eidolon of the Great Revel is made specifically for Control and Jeskai Tokens/Combo. Scouring Sands is made for the mirror and Roast against Abzan.
Opinions? Feel free to leave comments or shoot me a message :-)
