"Red Devotion: RDW 2013"

"Red Devotion: RDW 2013"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

When I started playing competitive magic I started with a mono red deck that proved to be really great in play testing but lost steam when it came to actual play. There were just too many decks that could outrace me and messed up my plans really good.It was a frustrating start but I kept at it. I believed in Red despite the odds.

I think I have never learned my lesson because here I am contemplating a Mono Red standard deck. I was looking at the available cards from Return to Ravnica , M14 and Theros and it really was feasible to run a competitive burn deck again.

22 X Mountains

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22 Lands

4 X Lightning Strike

4 X Magma Jet

3 X Anger of the Gods

4 X Shock

4 X Skullcrack

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17 Spells

4 X Chandra's Phoenix

4 X Young Pyromancer

3 X Purphoros ,God of the Forge

3 X Boros Reckoner

4 X Ash Zealot

3 X Fanatic of Mogis

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21 Creatures

Like in most burn decks the plan is to attack early and do timely burning. (End of Turn Lightning Strike for example). The mana cost is relatively low for this deck maxing out at 4 mana for Purphoros and the Fanatic. I would like to focus on some of the things that would make this deck stand out. 

Some of the interactions that are inherent in this deck starts with Young Pyromancer and Purphoros. So if you burn someone with a spell , Young Pyromancer puts a 1/1 Elemental token into play  , triggering Purphorus which deals 2 damage to each player when a creature comes into play. So let us say you burn someone with Lightning Strike for 3 plus 2 damage with Purphoros netting you 5 damage for the combo. You do not even need to attack for this 5 damage which is good because a lot of times the battlefield will be clogged up with tokens or creatures on the opposing side as well.

Since this is a dedicated Red deck I put creatures here that would play on the Devotion mechanic. I put in 3 Fanatic of Mogis as an insurance. You have creatures like Ash Zealot and Chandra's Phoenix in play and with a Fanatic of Mogis added to the mix you could count 5 red mana symbols which means 5 damage to all of your opponents. Which makes the Fanatic and Puphroros a great addition to mono Red EDH decks as well.

This deck was built to attack and burn but in my experience both of these plans of attack are not enough. There will always be a deterrent to them , opponents expect you to have these options. The Devotion Mechanic and Fanatic of Mogis may be the extra damage you need to win the game.An edge. 

I am also excited to play the 6/5 Indestructible god in the form of Purphoros. With the mono red creatures in this deck making this god manifest is really easy. His ability to pump all of your creatures for +1/0 for just 3 mana also plays well in the end game. 

I am not sure of how the deck will run but I am excited to give it a try. Now the hunt starts for all the pieces.