Yet another red deck

[hawkwind]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

Greetings, All--

After reading and responding to the other red thread, I went back and
did some more tweaking to my red deck. Please critique and let me know
what you think.

So far:

4x Slith Firewalker
4x Electrostatic Bolt
4x Magma Jet
4x Shrapnel Blast
4x Seething Song
4x Hearth Kami
3x Pulse of the Forge
3x Isochron Scepter
2x Solemn Similacrum
1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1x Kumano, Master Yamamoto
2x Arc-Slogger
2x Furnace Whelp

4x Chrome Mox
4x Blinkmoth Nexus
4x Great Furnace
10x Mountain

SB:
4x Shatter
4x Blood Moon
2x Furnace Dragon
4x Molten Rain
1x Fireball

The deck as it stands plays reasonably well, with a very good playtest
record of dropping a turn 1 Slith, followed by a turn 2 something big
(Arc Slogger, Furnace Whelp, or Kumano) or something downright nasty
(Shrapnel Blast on a stick). It's biggest problems occur in the form
of Ravenger Affinity and Tooth & Nail, with RavFinity being the bigger
problem by far. And so I sideboard appropriately. Stuff I can't
target (like Troll Ascetic) and Pro Red stuff (Auriok Champion) really
give me headaches, though I can usually play around them.

Question #1:
Right now, I know I'm playing with too many two-offs (Arc-Slogger,
Solemn Similacrum, Furnace Whelp) but up until recently, that was all I
had to play with. That has now changed, but what should I get rid of?
I think the replacing the Solemns with one Slogger and one Furnace
Whelp would be key, but I'm not sure.

Question #2:
Should Kiki-Jiki stay or go? I put him in the deck mainly as a place
holder until I got another Kumano. But I've discover that I like him
alot. He's excellent when paired with the Solemn, and is good with
almost anything else. Kiki-Jiki + Hearth Kami against Affinity is just
spiffy. But I think that a second Kumano may just be better for
consistency. Maybe Kiki-Jiki in the sideboard?

Question #3:
Should I replace some mountains with 2x Hall of the Bandit Lord? My
thinking is that if I'm adding more big guns to the deck, then the only
thing better is to let them come out swinging. The life payment
stinks, but if I'm come out hard and fast, then it shouldn't matter.
However, I'm afraid of diluting the red mana base even more.

Question #4:
Should I run some pyrite spellbombs in the sideboard? Like I said
earlier, Pro Red creatures give me a headache. Though I haven't seen
it much, something like Auriok Champion + Worship = very bad for the
deck. I'm thinking of dropping the Molten Rains to make room, and
relying on the Blood Moons for Tooth. Grab the Reins is another
possibility for Tooth. I don't know what I'd drop, though.
Anyways, any comments are welcome. Thanks!

Scott

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

Question One-

I think that Solemn's are key in Big Red. They chump block Affinity,
and can give you a nice amount of card advantage. (Three to one
depending on what you block). They also get you the fifth land that is
pretty key. I would actually take out the Furnace Whelps by the way.

Question Two-

Take out Kiki Jiki, and just play another Slogger. Yes it is great
when paired with Solemn, but its not going to be as effective as
Slogger.

Question Three-

No

Question Four-

No

Realistically, you should take out some cards in your board to play
with 4x Furnace Dragons. You can also take out the Mountains and put
in Darksteel Citadel since that should really ramp up the Furnace count
too.

 

[hawkwind]

Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy (More info?)

After doing some more testing, here's what I've come up with:

4x Slith Firewalker
4x Electrostatic Bolt
4x Magma Jet
4x Shrapnel Blast
4x Seething Song
4x Hearth Kami
3x Pulse of the Forge
3x Isochron Scepter
2x Kumano, Master Yamamoto
3x Arc-Slogger
3x Furnace Whelp

4x Chrome Mox
4x Blinkmoth Nexus
4x Great Furnace
10x Mountain

SB:
4x Shatter
1x Furnace Dragon
4x Molten Rain
3x Pyrite Spellbomb
3x Grab the Reins

In my playtesting, here's what I've discovered. First off, this deck
doesn't need the Solemn Similacrums. The land fetch is okay at best
for this build, but being able to swing with a Dragon Whelp fits with
the tempo and aggressiveness of the deck.

Second, Hall of the Bandit Lord stinks. Good in theory, bad in
practice, especially for this deck.

Third, Pyrite Spellbombs work out surprisingly well for the deck. They
get around pro-red stuff, help cycle through your library, and are good
shrapnel blast fodder. Not to mention that sometimes being able to do
2 points of damage to your opponent is good.
Thanks for all the advice.

Scott