Pursuing Perfection, Part 4: Mono-Red Commanders
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on June 19, 2021, 12:33 p.m. by Mana_Mythic_Legendary
At the outset of this article I wasn’t overly fond of pure red as a concept. In my eyes it’s been too aggressive and too narrow in scope to form a deck that would keep me, specifically me, happy. I say this with a double helping of skepticism, because Omnath, Locus of Rage , Okaun, Eye of Chaos , and Rakdos, Lord of Riots all keep me very happy. Today, we’re talking Burn, Chaos, and Sneak Attack as key concepts in mono-red. As always, please bear in mind that our focus here is not necessarily competitive but rather thematic, archetypical commanders.
Burn
Red patented fast damage output, but the standard RDW strategy has limited viability in EDH. Lightning Bolt and the like often don’t cut it in a format where everyone starts with 40 life. Dig for recurring damage like Irencrag Pyromancer or BIG stuff such as Molten Disaster , though, and you can reach frightening levels of well done and extra crispy.
I am a huge fan, and not just because of the card. Gloriously savage as this card might be, it still pales in comparison to the character in the books. Anyone who single-handedly roflstomps the blue representation on an entire plane and then EATS HIS OWN DEITY should inspire terror even when rendered on cardstock. Make sure that only you have an odd life total, play any Furnace of Rath effect, turn right, leave only blood and ashes in your wake. Seriously. He might pop off the card and eat you if you don’t.
I knew a guy who played Ashling and 99 mountains. I’m fairly sure he never won with it, but nobody laughed either. Hard to laugh at someone whose general is a water balloon slowly filling with napalm.
I don’t like Purphoros. I freely admit to sulking like a teenager with a bad haircut whenever I see him in a game, let alone in the command zone. Indestructible on generals, I can take and even enjoy. Massive damage output tied to creating horde of tokens, I can appreciate (see my favorite in mono-black, hehe). Both of them together, though, is too much for me to take with grace. But who needs to care about grace when you have so. Much. POWA.
Chaos
Some folks aren't looking for anything logical, like winning. Some folks just want to watch the world burn. Such folks come to Red, the color of all true agents of chaos, where they can ensure no plan, no board state, no hand is safe. Planar Chaos , Possibility Storm , and the iconic Wheel of Fortune are all examples of this wild approach to magic. Go nuts, and drive everyone else crazy in the process. Maybe you'll win, maybe you won't, but you'll certainly make a difference and have fun!
Does anything really need to be said, other than a profound sense of pity for opponents who are praying to top deck? Play things like
Seize the Day
and seize all their goodstuffs as well.
Come the time to discuss Izzet we’ll talk a coin deck, but I don’t honestly think ol’ double-or-nothing here is just for flipping coins all game. No, you come to this guy to truly take your chances. Who should his partner be? Don’t have one. That, and the prospect of a twincast
Warp World
will drive opponents bonkers. However, point of order (bleh): Krark is also an unholy terror if you want to break storm spells. Just be sure to bring his thumb.
I'd never heard of Diochan before writing this, and... wow. Just wow. Assuming you aren't stocking a suite of boots or maybe
Darksteel Plate
, how delightfully risky. How marvelously political. Bring
Thornbite Staff
for EXTRA wow... Wow!
Sneak Attack
This is an odd, but potent one. Next to the whole glorious theme of chaos, Red's most irritating archetype may well be creating/playing/stealing creatures for a turn, examples being Tilonalli's Summoner , Insurrection , or even the ludicrously rare keyword Dash. There isn’t a relevant mono-red general that temporarily steals creatures as yet, but there are still some real doozies in the neighborhood. Just ask Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and his blue ETB untap friends (disqualified for extra-chromatic fraternization, but still).
The raw potential here utterly terrifies me: spam useful cantrips and have a
Combustible Gearhulk
in play. Or maybe
Utvara Hellkite
. EeeeEeeeEEEK.
Red has the least graveyard-related cards of any color and arguably the least thematic business to be fiddling about in there, phoenixes notwithstanding, so Feldon’s a bit unusual. Consider the weight of discard/draw in Red’s wheelhouse (see what I did there?). Consider what can be in your graveyard. Consider that it will cost three mana to wink it out. No more, no less.
Solemn Simulacrum
.
Cavalier of Flame
.
Bearer of the Heavens
. Have yourself a time.
We’ve talked graveyard and copies, but red also makes with the actual
Sneak Attack
. I suppose Lord Okkoto makes for a world class distraction. A favorite red archetype of mine is the extra combat phase, and the high mighty porkiness is a marvelous opportunity to fetch opponents an epically
Savage Beating
by dropping all sorts of heinous nastiness without actually paying for it.
And, for my personal favorite...
Rakdos, Lord of Riots and Omnath, Locus of Mana are two of my oldest commanders. Evidently those genes shouldn’t be mixed, because that’s how I surmise we got here. What an absolute beast. I started this article down on red, and ended it with a passionate need to build this monstrosity. As you may have guessed and will confirm in the next article, I am a green player at heart. Neheb sings the song of my people. Loudly. Boisterously. Encouraging atypical silliness like Soulfire Eruption and Apex of Power .
That's it for this round. Thoughts and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoyed it, and will come back next week for Green!
Prior Articles:
I think red chaos is absolutely its most fun playstyle.
June 19, 2021 4:19 p.m.
You didn't mention torbrand? And mono red artifacts is an option
June 19, 2021 4:34 p.m.
Mana_Mythic_Legendary says... #6
You’re not wrong. I felt that blue has a more intrinsic relationship with artifacts, and Torbrand isn’t as interesting to my personal tastes as the other three damage entries.
June 19, 2021 4:59 p.m.
Omniscience_is_life says... #7
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell , in case anyone was wondering :)
June 19, 2021 5:16 p.m.
Zurzoth, Chaos Rider , love crushing stagnancy. Never feel remorse when you wreck a plan
Omniscience_is_life says... #2
I love me some good, scary, silly mono-red.
Red feels like the color that no one's worried about until one card is cast--be it a Fiery Emancipation , Dockside Extortionist , Impact Tremors , or the aforementioned Sneak Attack . And I love it.
June 19, 2021 1:26 p.m.