Title: Regionals on $200 or Less: RDW (aka the Faeries Killer)
Tags: mono red burn standard t2
Blog Entry: If there's anything the last Star City Games tournaments told us about the standard format, it's "be prepared for Faeries". Red decks have always had a good matchup against faeries, but I wanted to improve that matchup even more. Here's one of the red decks I've been playing. Maindeck: 4 Keldon Megaliths 18 Mountain 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 Tattermunge Maniac 4 Mudbutton Clanger 4 Keldon Marauders 4 Mudbrawler Cohort 4 Boggart Ram-Gang 2 Shard Volley 4 Tarfire 4 Incinerate 4 Flame Javelin Sideboard: 4 Countryside Crusher 3 Smash to Smithereens 4 Magus of the Moon 1 Ghitu Encampment 3 Greater Gargadon You may recognize the maindeck from Bill Stark's article on Star City Games. The sideboard is from a 1800+ rated player on Magic-League. Anyways, this deck good is great against Faeries. However, it has a hard time against white decks packing Kitchen Finks (aka the new Loxodon Hierarch) or Aven Riftwatcher. So, I tried to improve its matchup against those white decks while also making the Faeries match up even better. Changes I took out Mudbutton Clanger and replaced it with Blood Knight. Mudbutton Clanger is not that great because half the time he's only a 1/1. Blood Knight has proved to be amazing in the metagame. He kills most of the creatures in a Faerie deck because of first strike. Since you have burn, he can also take down a 4/5 Tarmogoyf. He can't be blocked by Kitchen Finks, Aven Riftwatcher, Doran, and Wilt-Leaf Liege, just to name a few popular white creatures. He's "good game" against Kithkin. He can't be targeted by Condemn or Oblivion Ring. I replaced Mudbrawler Cohort with Adder-Staff Boggart. Mudbrawler Cohort is not a bad card, but with Faeries packing more removal, I'm afraid he'll be a 1/1 more often than not. For two mana, I'll take a 2/1 without haste over a 1/1 with haste. Also, the 2/1 can also become a 3/2 if you're lucky. I replaced Boggart Ram-Gang with Ashenmoor Gouger. Many of you will probably disagree with this choice, but let me explain myself. Boggart Ram-Gang dies to much of the removal in the format. For example, Nameless Inversion, Terror, Incinerate, Shard Volley, Rift Bolt, and Shriekmaw all kill it. However, Ashenmoor Gouger doesn't die to those cards. Plus, he can take down a Mistbind Clique. I kept the burn spells the same except I removed Tarfire. Tarfire was there to increase the Goblin count for Mudbutton Clanger. However, I took out Mudbutton Clanger so I can replace it with a better spell. My choices came down to Rift Bolt or Lash Out. It was close but I chose Lash Out because it's an instant. This is relevant against Faeries. When they tap out for Scion of Oona at the end of your turn, you'll wish that your Rift Bolt was a Lash Out. I didn't change the land base. You can argue for Ghitu Encampment or Mutavault but Keldon Megaliths has been working well. Faeries has increased their removal so Ghitu Encampment is less effective. And Mutavault is risky because of the mana requirements of Flame Javelin and Boggart Ram-Gang. The sideboard needed some changes. I added 3 Tormod's Crypt in place of 3 Smash to Smithereens. Reveillark seems to be gaining popularity even though it loses to Faeries. The Smash to Smithereens was there for Dragon's Claw, but I haven't seen that card in a while. I changed the Ghitu Encampment for a Mountain because I didn't want 5 lands the come into play tapped. Final Decklist Maindeck: 4 Keldon Megaliths 18 Mountain 4 Tattermunge Maniac 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 Keldon Marauders 4 Blood Knight 4 Adder-Staff Boggart 4 Ashenmoor Gouger 2 Shard Volley 4 Incinerate 4 Lash Out 4 Flame Javelin Sideboard: 1 Mountain 4 Countryside Crusher 4 Magus of the Moon 3 Greater Gargadon 3 Tormod's Crypt Total Cost* $148.25 In my next post, I'll put my Magic-League rating on the line with this deck and play a couple league matches. Update: The next post is up . I played against Merfolk and GW Big Mana Control. * Based on the average price of the cards on store.tcgplayer.com on May 13, 2008 except for the basic lands. I valued those at $0.00.
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