"It's weird," Lanny commented to me after the RCQ. "It's weird that you'll play Mono-Red in Premodern... But not in Standard, where it's very good."

Weird?

It was not a wholly unreasonable comment. I had just gone 0-3 in the RCQ with a Roman Fusco Rakdos brew. "I played great. And the deck was great. I just didn't happen to win any matches."

Weird?

Me playing anything but Mono-Red when Red is viaible probably does seem at least a little weird. I supposed I'd have to put in a - forgive me - heat check.

I decided to run a tune up regular old MTGA Event with stock Mono-Red. Let us call it previous level Mono-Red:

Previous Level Mono-Red | LCI Standard | Mike Flores

• Creatures (21)
• 2 Goddric, Cloaked Reveler
• 2 Monastery Swiftspear
• 3 Charming Scoundrel
• 3 Feldon, Ronom Excavator
• 3 Squee, Dubious Monarch
• 4 Bloodthirsty Adversary
• 4 Phoenix Chick

• Instants (12)
• 4 Lightning Strike
• 4 Play with Fire
• 4 Witchstalker Frenzy

• Enchantments (4)
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano

• Lands (23)
• 19 Mountain
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 3 Mishra's Foundry

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Rending Flame
• 4 Urabrask's Forge
• 4 Furnace Punisher
• 4 Lithomantic Barrage

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I'm not sure how the hive mind got to this list. But quizzing various bearers of Basic Mountain around any given room and you'll be most likely to see exactly two Monastery Swiftspears at the one, and a mix of Charming Scoundrels and Ronom Excavators at the two.

Feldon is usually the stronger 2/2 haster for two... But has diminishing returns in numbers. And of course, there's that whole blocking thing.

But the real reason for Charming Scoundrel - which so often feels like the weakest link in the Mono-Red chain - is its ability to place a Wicked Role not on itself, but Phoenix Chick.

This build is willing to skimp on Swiftspears in part because it wants to run so much of its offense through the other hasty 1-drop.

Almost all Red Decks thrive on turning animals sideways; but this particular build combines haste across the board with width. You want the ability to go wide here both to re-buy the four Phoenix Chicks (which comes up more than you might think) but more importantly to discount Witchstalker Frenzy. That new instant gives the deck some welcome main deck resistance to Sheoldred, the Apocalypse... And some opens to unusual lines. For instance, you might not have very much to do with a Witchstalker Frenzy, so it might be better to burn it on your own creature instead of giving the opponent two from The Wandering Emperor.

It won't come up for this Event, but we decided to play Rending Flame as extra Sheoldred insurance in the sideboard, They can be Nahiri's Warcrafting (or End the Festivities, if you want to put your defense in a different direction).

While this is the build I tried in the Event detailed today, it might not be the best build moving forward. One of the biggest enticements to Mono-Red in Standard is Urabrask's Forge. In games where Forge is good, it often seems completely unbeatable. Might main-deck Forge make the Red Deck of the future?

Standard Event

Round One: Esper Mid-Range

The opponent opened this one, putting Our Hero on second. I do not recommend losing the roll under any circumstances. Oh well, it's not usually up to us.

I opened on Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano, but the bad guys caught us on the most obvious Make Disappear of all time.

I think my hand would have been pretty good on the play (two Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano) but only one actual fantastic creature. I only "think" it would have been good because the Esper opponent had three Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivitys.

Argh!

It's weird to me that poor Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki got banned but nothing was done about Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity, a card that guarantees more actual materiel, and multiple avenues to card drawing. One of them tends to be a nightmare for Mono-Red; three copies just let the opponent turtle up into a legion of 3/3s on D.

I tried for a desperation Charming Scoundrel with no cards in hand, but Make Disappear #2 joined hands with one of the Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity tokens to put me dead on board.

0-1

Not the way you want to start your Event.

Round Two: Mono-White Mid-Range

This one was a weird blast from the past. Mono-White used to be one of the most popular decks, but when was the last time you saw one at the top tables?

Heroes had double Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano into Feldon, Ronom Excavator ON THE PLAY, so please refer to the momentum comment, above.

For their part, the opponent just played three copies of Loran; which, to be fair, ate both my Kumanos... But also were not big enough to tussle with my 3/3 Legend.

1-1

Round Three: Simic Something?

I had a Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano to start once again; but going second to a... Let me see here...

I don't think I'd ever seen one of these in play before. Shrug.

I basically never do this, but when in Rome - or Kamigawa I guess - there is no reason not to make a 3/3 Charming Scoundrel to start. I really never make the 2/2 play. Like I said above, either my Wicked Role is on another creature or I try to go Treasure... Unless I can engineer a legitimate card drawing opportunity.

Anyway, the beats were on!

Bad guys make something called a...

Which is apparently a 5/5? What am I supposed to do about that? Finally something to do with this Witchstalker Frenzy! The rest of my hand was two copies of Play with Fire and two Lightning Strikes so I never really found out what my opponent's deck was supposed to do.

2-1

Round Four: Red Mirror

This one was a recipe for Our Hero to go home unhappy... I had no 1-drop, but was stuck on two lands for several turns.

Weirdly, my opponent drew literally no instants and sorceries, so when they were kicking Bloodthirsty Adversary, it was basically a Limited card. Go 3/3 haste for five!

The evil version of the Red Deck did have kind of a cool turn with Chandra, Dressed to Kill into Shivan Devastator... But faded following.

It was a mess where we were both basically dead; but then literally everyone died. I was one one, so basically dead to everything. But the second-to-last turn bloodbath involved my Feldon, Ronom Excavator; which drew me into a lethal Goddric two-spell.

3-1

Round Five: Selesnya Enchantments

Both of us had perfect draws; but heroes were ONCE AGAIN on the draw.

Them: Skrelv, Kami of Transience, Audacity + Weaver of Harmony; KATILDA.

Heroes: Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano; Feldon, Ronom Excavator + Mishra's Foundry; Goddric

Given our first turn Saga, that meant that Goddric would flip immediately and get in for four.

Katilda was going to be a problem because this game was just two offensive decks swinging at each other's faces. Their "perfect" (given a giant lifelink flyer) would simply beat our legendary flyer... If not in the battle, the war.

We drew our fourth land, played a Phoenix Chick, and attacked with everything. Before blocks we spent two of our remaining three mana to Lightning Strike Skrelv... This prompted a Skrelv activation on Katilda. In response our very last mana - powered up by triple attackers - pointed a Witchstalker Frenzy at the most powerful permanent on the battlefield.

In the immortal words of my high school bff Brian Vaughan (yes, that Brian Vaughan) "Good guys win, bad guys die."

4-1

Round Six: Poison!

Just got Poisoned out of this one.

I did have one cool play where I rode the opposing attack to Witchstalker Frenzy an Annex Sentry, which unlocked a 2/2 to eat one of their 1/1s. Sadly once you're Corrupted, a combination of Lifelink and The Seedcore is basically unbeatable for the Red Deck.

4-2

Round Seven: Mono-Black Control

This one was super tight. The opponent had everything, but our having a little less actually ended up making the difference.

They started on Duress... Which whiffed.

The Black creature beatdown commenced with Tenacious Underdog into the creature I once called the best three-mana spell in Standard: Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton.

This came down to a Lightning Strike + sacrificial Squee to take down the 3/3... But then the opponent turtled up into Gix + Sheoldred.

Both stayed home for fear of bad blocks. The opponent looked to clear the way with another Duress... Which also missed!

Between the two of them that more than made up for the Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton, but Sheoldred was proving annoying even without attacks. We obviously eventually drew Witchstalker Frenzy so sent everyone... Which even bought back a Phoenix Chick with +1/+1! Die Sheoldred, die!

The opponent refused to let it go and game back with a Phyrexian Fleshgorger. I let it hit me because there was going to be lifelink either way, but a Gix trigger would actually prove a life point (which I was interested in). Topdecked a Play with Fire to finish it.

Whew.

5-2

Round Eight: Mono-White Weenie

The whole last part of this Event was ridiculous and I honestly don't know how I won them all.

The whole "the opponent is the last Mono-Black player on earth still starting Graveyard Trespasser // Graveyard Glutton" and "jeez did that Sheoldred really stick around for that many turns" thing was tough to beat, but Adeline is actually the most difficult card for Mono-Red to contend with in Standard.

The opponent opened, frankly, perfectly. Recruitment Officer into Thalia, Guardian of Thraben into Adeline!

On turn four they activated the Officer (revealing Coppercoat Vanguard); and then - tapped out - sent everyone? So, I just Play with Fire'd Thalia, won on blocks, and took all one one Adeline damage. She would stay home for several turns.

With Adeline scared of my 3/3 Charming Scoundrel I outlasted multiple Intrepid Adversaries. No one was willing to risk The Red Zone, despite Adeline triggers and lifelink. Eventually I just drew Goddric and flew over for the kill.

Still, would not want to try to navigate this one again soon.

6-2

Round Nine: U/W Control Who Apparently Hates Our Hero

The previous two rounds have nothing - and I mean nothing - on the Round Nine end boss.

I beat triple Union of the Third Path this one. Not just that; but all that Union action buoyed the opponent's life total... But not enough that they didn't also get max value out of main-deck Sunset Revelry. That's okay. We have hard-working Phoenix Chicks. Even if the opponent kills them... Oh no! Sunfall, too!

Okay at least people actually play Sunfall.

Did I mention I was on the draw this game also?

Still, Red Deck proved relentless and a mid-Game 3/3 Bloodthirsty Adversary put the opponent near death. Witchstalker Frenzy proved its worth once again in a low creature matchup, taking out a 4/4 Incubator.

Did the opponent fall to The Danger of Cool Things?

I guess they were on a two-turn clock to my Bloodthirsty Adversary anyway.

Jace, ultimate; second Jace.

Double Jace wasn't enough to actually deck me, so the second one was "just" Ancestral Recall (personally, I would have neutralized the Adversary). Only I wasn't actually so smart. That Ancestral Recall-type activation gave them a main-deck Knockout Blow! Do you see the problem?

This opponent had cast three Union of the Third Path and was playing both Knockout Blow and Sunset Revelry main deck. But... Do. You. See. The. Problem?

The first Jace for fifteen gave me both a Squee and the fuel necessary to kill them. Which, I think, should have been obvious. I did also need a lethal burn spell to go along with the freebie Squee... But I think we can all agree I deserved it when I drew it.

7-2 AND THE EVENT.

Next Level Red?

The main enticement to Mono-Red in Standard isn't even the main deck. Though this cat, Witchstalker Frenzy, is pretty spectacular. The difference that makes the difference is actually Urabrask's Forge.

What might a version with Urabrask's Forge look like?

Lost in the Top 8 of the first Standard RCQ with this Mono Red deck! I looked at all the stock lists online and I felt like they weren't built properly for all the midrange piles. Opted to play a list similar to what @JosephKarani56 and I were very close to submitting at Worlds! pic.twitter.com/oXoq2bOTPn

— Zen Takahashi (@mtgzen) January 13, 2024

Charming Scoundrel is consistently the worst performer in the deck, so I don't mind cutting it here. Embereth Veteran, though? I'd have to practice more with that card but my instinct is I'd rather have Phoenix Chick.

Cutting Goddric to make room for all those Forges main just makes sense on curve... But the real thing I love about this list? I get to play Koth out of the sideboard! This deck can just be removal and unbeatable permanents.

Gotta say... I think I'm here for them all.

LOVE

MIKE