Also, while the Stomp side may not be able to kill big creatures, it can do so when combined with another burn spell, and then you mitigate the card disadvantage by then casting the creature side. The card just covers a lot of ground and is really flexible.Įven though the Stomp side may feel weak when being pointed at the face, if you have two prowess creatures in play, that’s four damage. However, when I started playing lists without them, I immediately started to miss them.
You’d much rather have Viashino Pyromancer – two damage and a 2/1 body for two mana, than Bonecrusher Giant – two damage and a 4/3 body over five mana. Putting them together is fine, but if you think of Stomp as only being able to target their face, which commonly is the case, then the card isn’t very exciting. The creature side is just a 4/3 for three mana, which isn’t a playable rate on its own in this format. On turn two on the draw, you’re probably facing down an Old-Growth Troll, or the same Favored Hoplite/ Soul-Scar Mage can now be grown out of size. On the play, it’s fine to go one-drop into Stomp on Llanowar Elves/ Favored Hoplite/ Soul-Scar Mage. Other than against Spirits, most of the deck’s two-damage targets are one-drop creatures. Initially, I was underwhelmed by the card, as I felt like I wasn’t making the best use of the Stomp side, especially on the draw. Runaway Steam-Kin is great on turn-two and works great with Experimental Frenzy, but it’s very weak to removal and can be a bad draw later in the game. I like Kari Zev a lot, and it works well with Kumano Faces Kakkazan, as a 2/4 is quite hard to kill in this format, especially for red-based decks, dodging removal like Flame-Blessed Bolt, Lightning Strike and Fiery Impulse. Other reasonable options include Kari Zev, Skyship Raider and Runaway Steam-Kin. I wouldn’t play the card if I wasn’t looking to support Wizard’s Lightning, but I’m happy to play it to make it work. I’ve also liked how it can kill Planeswalkers – whether it be finishing off Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner or The Wandering Emperor in the second main-phase. It’s not great by any means, but it applies a decent amount of pressure, and you can probably get four to eight damage out of it if you cast it on turn two. I initially expected the card to be terrible, but I was surprised by how reasonable it actually is. If you go down the Wizards route, then your two-drop of choice will be Viashino Pyromancer.
Having to play Ghitu Lavarunner is my main criticism of this version. However, I dislike the card as I do not believe the average list plays enough instants and sorceries to support it, and Frank Karsten’s math seems to indicate you need about eighteen to nineteen instants and sorceries to make it work, which the Wizard deck doesn’t play. If you go down the Wizards path, then Ghitu Lavarunner is an option. Even if you are playing the Devotion list with less non-creature spells, I still believe these one drops are the best. Of the one-drops you have available, I think Monastery Swiftspear, Soul-Scar Mage and Kumano Faces Kakkazan are the best options by a large margin. Your best draws tend to be the aggressive ones, so it’s important you lean into that.Īgainst the unfair decks of the format, like Mono Green Devotion and Lotus Field, being fast is crucial to winning the game. I believe that the red decks in Pioneer want at least twelve one-drops, with the more aggressive builds wanting even more. This means you can replicate the play patterns you’re after more consistently. Monastery Swiftspear and Soul-Scar Mage, Lightning Strike and Skewer the Critics. You also have a lot of redundancy because many of your cards are similar to one another, e.g. Your burn spells double up as being both creature removal and going right at their face, which means you’re not worried about having “dead” cards in hand like you might do if you had Dire Tactics instead. You have more utility lands than any other deck in the format, which means you’re less likely to lose to flooding. The strength of the red deck is its consistency and malleability. your creatures are smaller, and your average curve isn’t as smooth as that of Humans’.
If you compare Mono Red to other aggro decks like Humans, I think you’re a “worse” aggro deck i.e. I don’t think Mono Red is particularly better than the other strategies in the format, but I like how well-rounded the Red decks in the format are. I initially tried a couple of different archetypes, but quickly found myself being drawn to the Mono Red decks.
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