01. You are a Red Mage.
02. You play 1v1 EDH.
03. You enjoy playing with incredibly powerful cards.
04. You enjoy controlling your opponent.
05. You love Artifacts.
06. You love deckbuilding.
07. You like challenges, such as making mono Red viable in a highlander format.
08. You like fine tuning decks to fit your style.
09. You are competitive.
10. The flavor text on the original Shivan Dragon reminds you of yourself.
When my eyes were first opened to the world of EDH about a year and a half ago by my friend and teammate Evergreen, one of my first inquiries was in regards to mono Red being a viable strategy. Rumor at the time (and mostly still, to this day) was that it could not be done successfully; there was too little card advantage, the blue decks were too consistent, black's tutoring was too powerful. Red was just "too narrow."
My goal was simple: port Stax from Type 1 over to EDH as closely and consistently as possible. I wanted my deck to accomplish what I love to do most in Magic: cripple my opponent over the course of several turns to such a crushing degree that they would have little-to-no chance of recovery. As I had no interest in Multiplayer EDH, I set out to make a competitive deck designed exclusively for 1v1 play.
My first choice was Heartless Hidetsugu. Looking back on old builds, they were far from perfect and the strategies were diluted. Hidetsugu is first and foremost a combo deck and fit awkwardly into my game plan. I was competing between playing Prison Warden, and dropping my win condition.
The second choice was Jaya Ballard, Task Mage. Jaya was a card I used in Hidetsugu whose usefulness as a general occurred to me only after the fact. I spent most of my time with mono Red hand in hand with Jaya, and she accomplished the goal much better than Hidetsugu ever did. She was able to dispatch nearly every competitive general with either of her first two abilities, and had a great late game sweeper effect. However, the inherent card disadvantage that comes along with her, combined with so few tutors for Squee, Goblin Nabob, proved to be a problem that could only be solved so far. To add to this problem, the best sweepers available to Red (Wildfire, Burning of Xinye, Fault Line, Molten Disaster, Starstorm, and now All is Dust, etc) all took out Jaya when you would want her most: early on. Lastly, I simply could not beat decks like Azami, Lady of Scrolls or Zur the Enchanter without adding an unacceptable amount of Blue hate. Jaya could easily be stolen, Arrested, bounced to my hand and then Cliqued away. With so few options available to Red, any kind of hindrance to our game plan or tempo is game breaking. This made my game against other decks so poor that I had to choose between a well rounded deck and a deck overstocked with Blue hate so that I could contend with the most popular color in Magic. Neither of these were choices I wanted to make. I wanted both.
And then, like I had done previously, I looked to my best anti-Blue weapon in Jaya as a potential general herself: Akroma, Angel of Fury. Akroma solves quite literally all the problems I had been struggling with in the deck up until that point:
1. She survives all of the sweepers I want to (and should) be running, either due to Flying or a high 6 of toughness.
2. My previously unwinnable matchups turn around significantly in my favour. Akroma cannot be stolen (keep dreaming, Vedalken Shackles), Arrested, or bounced by traditional means. She turns the difficult matchup of Azami or even Erayo into near bye's due to her inevitability.
3. I can finally justify a large amount of Artifact accel that is not awkwardly matched with the other cards in my deck. My #1 goal is to get Akroma onto the battlefield, and kill in 2 swings. The high amount of accel accomplishes this plan very well, and equips me with the ability to survive mass land destruction spells much better than my opponent.
4. Whereas Jaya forced me into situations of card disadvantage, Akroma provides the opposite opportunity to play huge game changing spells that will X-for-1 my opponents.
With that, I set out to work on the deck list. Let's next take a look at it in its current form.
Accel Serum Powder - Currently being tested as an accel piece that can sometimes be used to smooth over bad hands. Since Red has no way of getting out of such hands, redundancy of card choice is necessary. While that doesn't always work, Serum Powder can, theoretically, help throw away an unimpressive hand and get us closer to that explosive start we're hoping for. Khalni Gem - I've gotten a lot of questions about this card and the obvious drawback. There are, however, some interesting tricks to be used with this card. First, you must return 2 lands only if you have them. This can enter the battlefield while you control 1 or 0 lands with no drawback. Second, it helps you set up for a mass land wipe by returning lands you want to replay to your hand. Third, you can sometimes 'net' mana with Ancient Tomb or Mishra's Workshop, or attack with a man land and then replay it to function as a blocker. Fourth, it returns lands tapped under Winter Orb. All in all, yes, getting the Gem destroyed sucks but it simply has not come up enough to outweigh the benefits.
Mana Denial: 1-for-1
To shore up repeated issues vs Black decks, Null Rod, Ensnaring Bridge, and Sword of Fire and Ice, I am making a return to the original style of heavy mana denial that the deck started with in January 2009. The issue with this strategy lied in the generals Heartless Hidetsugu and Jaya Ballard, Task Mage, and that was for two specific reasons.
1.] Both were just weak to mono Blue decks. They both had a hard time dealing with counterspells that stopped our LD. The blue decks would then use draw spells to hit more land, making the LD plan ineffective.
2.] If our LD was able to get a foothold, and incrementally cripple their manabase, these generals were both poor at capitalizing on that position. We could never kick them while they were down; they too often had the time to recover and get back into the game.
The Red Queen solves both of these issues elegantly. She's a frighteningly fast clock when dropped and undealt with. Also, we have a natural edge vs counterspell decks. If they spend their counters on our LD, they won't be stopping our accel and eventually we'll drop Akroma and win. If they counter our accel, the LD will get through, making things very hard for them, and slowing their game. This buys us time for Akroma to comes down and seal the deal.
After countless hours of testing with my teammate Evergreen, as well as MCR, I have learned that the best way to shore up the weakness to black decks is to heavily deny them of mana early on in the game so as to prevent them from comboing off. The addition of cards like Demolish and Sunder from Within help cut them off of accel as well as double as additional hate vs Null Rod and co. as mentioned above.
Mana Denial: Global Devastation - A new addition to the deck that has won me more games outright than any of the other Wildfire effects. This is the grand daddy, and he is a staple. Also, great vs Doran. Destructive Force - A nice addition to the deck, it's basically Wildfire's big brother. Another great card vs Doran. Mishra's Helix - One of the most powerful cards in the deck. This card is impossible to beat for some decks, and often buys you so much time when you untap with it that even if they eventually answer it you've won anyway. Winter Orb - Speaking of winning games, this card fits with the style of the deck perfectly. The high amount of Accel in the deck ensures it always hurts our opponent more than us. I once had a game vs Sharuum the Hegemon that involved Helix and a 2cc Accel piece. They had Basalt Monolith/Rings of Brighthearth, but they could never capitalize on their infinite mana as their outlets were Sorcery speed. It was a race for who could draw more mana. Every turn was intense as we were topdecking lands and simply passing the turn. And then I drew Orb. Now the 2cc Accel piece allowed me to net a mana every turn, and eventually cast Akroma who was lethal in 3 turns. Orb has an absolutely crippling effect on your opponent. I have never been unhappy to see it.
Spot Removal
The quality of removal available to this deck has shot up significantly since RoE (Flame Slash and now Galvanic Blast to name a couple). It is imperative that we can easily and efficiently deal with Zur, Rofellos, Gaddock Teeg, and Braids in a timely manner. Most of the removal here can deal with Zur and below, except for Lightning Bolt, which may be replaced by Galvanic Blast.
Draw, Utility & Search Crystal Ball - A new addition to the deck, currently being tested. I see a lot of potential in this card, in that it helps us dig closer (in ways that Sensei's Divining Top cannot) to whatever type of card we need at the time. Icy Manipulator - Another new addition to the deck. I have been testing this card extensively and it handles a lot of situations. It doubles as a Rishadan Port that hits Artifacts, too. It keeps Rofellos tapped on upkeep until you can find removal. It prevents Iona from killing you until you can find All is Dust, Duplicant, or get enough mana to morph Akroma and flip her over. It prevents Doran from beating you to death. It prevents Zur from getting Solitary Confinement. See where I'm going with this? Imperial Recruiter - Supports a small tutor package which lets us deal with several board state problems. Manic Vandal and Shard Phoenix are here for this very reason. Rings of Brighthearth - This is a card I'm currently experimenting with right now. It has interactions with 22 cards in the deck as well as The Queen herself, always ensuring you can use that colorless mana to pump her firebreathing. This could be underwhelming and far too situational, but that's what testing is for. Expedition Map - The best tutor available to us (sorry Gamble). Played first turn, this ensures an Ancient Tomb or Mishra's Workshop turn 3, which means potentially hard casting Akroma on turn 4 (this is not, in fact, uncommon). Playing vs Control? Get a man land. Have Boom/Bust in hand? Get a Fetch/Wasteland/Citadel. Are you racing? Get Hall of the Bandit Lord. Planning a Geddon effect? Get Thawing Glaciers. The possibilities are numerous with this card.
Plan B Karn, Silver Golem? It really does feel like Type 1 Stax, now! Karn has awesome synergy with this deck. A mass land wipe spell may mean waiting to play Akroma for another few turns, but Karn's very workable 5 casting cost ensures we're not just playing draw-go with Sisay's Ring and Gilded Lotus on the table. Quite possibly the coolest thing Karn makes possible is the following scenario: Attack into their creatures with Karn, forcing the -4/+4 trigger. Animate their Artifacts into creatures, then play a sweeper. Wildfire is the most crushing play, here, as it likely killed all their creatures, their manabase, and ensures (with a little help from Karn) that they will not recover. The game should be yours shortly after.
With a base understanding of what the deck is trying to do, and the key players in it, let's now move to the decks strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
1. Mono Red has the unique position to punish multi-colored decks better than any other colour with incredibly powerful tools like Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, and Ruination. The one sided nature of these cards make Mono Red a frightening adversary.
2. Akroma herself is also unique. She's an efficient and powerful answer to the heavy control decks that take up the top tiers of EDH. Her protection makes her very hard to deal with, and her uncounterability ensures she will always resolve when cast. Lastly, the ability to play her as a morph from the Command Zone has proven to be an invaluably unique ability. I've had opponents make the mistake of forgetting she's capable of this and made decisions contingent on her not entering the battlefield for several more turns, which is always to their detriment.
3. This deck does not rely on creatures in the same way that most EDH decks do. The low amount of creatures in this deck effectively renders the many removal spells typically found in EDH decks useless. Because of this, we can "Wrath" the board with almost no negative consequences. Not only can Akroma survive a Wildfire effect and most sweepers, the high Accel count in the deck let's us recover much quicker than our opponent will.
4. What Mono Red lacks in card draw, tutoring, and counterspells is made up for in sheer, brutal power. No one can annihilate the board and survive it better than Red can. This deck, in particular, plays on that advantage incredibly well. We can blow up creatures and lands all day and simply not care at all.
Weaknesses
1. Null Rod. It's a serious problem. We can push on under it, but not very well. Kill this ASAP or we will just drown. This weakness is being addressed by the modal LD added to the deck.
2. Gaddock Teeg. This is no longer the perceived weakness I previously thought it was. As it stands, I have a positive record against Teeg. Shard Phoenix has made a huge difference in this matchup, as well as the increase in spot removal.
3. Black based decks. Akroma is just cold to a lot of the tools Black has available to them, like tutoring for the right answer to what we're doing or simply being able to efficiently kill Akroma over and over. We really need to concentrate on your prison elements as much as possible. Sometimes we can just gun for Akroma and steal a win, quickly, but that's usually not a good route unless they've got 3 or fewer cards in their hand at the time. This weakness is being addressed by the overall addition of 1-for-1 LD added to the deck.
4. Doran, the Siege Tower. Doran capitalizes on several weaknesses of the deck very, very well. First, Doran is hard to kill. A 5 toughness can be a problem. Second, Doran uses Null Rod. Third, Doran's ability slows Akroma's clock. Fourth, Doran has a very quick clock, himself, and can get a lot of damage in by the time we get our engine going. Fifth, Ensnaring Bridge. Sixth, Meekstone. Seventh, the ability to kill Akroma with Black removal. Try to wipe the board and follow up with some mass LD to seal his grave.
5. Mass Artifact destruction. We invest a lot into the Accel we play, and while the deck can still function without it, it helps a lot. It's a sad day when all of our precious, powerful Artifacts hit the 'yard. Do not lose hope when this happens! You can rebuild, but its going to be arduous to say the least.
This plan has now become outdated and unnecessary. It is incredibly hard to find key meta cards when we want them, given the lack of draw and tutor-ability in mono Red. Rather than attempting to build an advantage over a particular set of decks in any given meta, I have abandoned that plan in favor of a more consistently, universal hate machine.
The plan is now to increase our chances of brutalizing our opponents overall development as much as possible in the first several turns of the game as consistently as possible. Akroma comes down and seals the deal shortly after, all business-as-usual like.
Do not try and build this for your meta, it will not work. Red cannot afford to be so narrow. Embrace modal cards. Embrace cards that are usable in a wide variety of game states. Embrace consistency. Do not get caught up with cute cards.
Lands Hall of the Bandit Lord - The ETBT drawback always hurt more than the Haste ever helped. Spinerock Knoll - Win more. Seriously, getting this Wasted is awful. By the time you're activating this, you're already winning. Rather it be a Mountain.
Man Lands - Unnecessary. The damage these did was inconsequential and was not enough to matter in a consistent amount of games. They do double as Edict-bait, but I would rather have another Mountain anyway. Sandstone Needle/City of Traitors/Crystal Vein - These ultimately were cut due to their card disadvantage. This decks goal is not to combo off, but to gain control of the game over several turns. Having our lands stick around turn after turn is essential to casting Artifact accel upon Artifact accel. These are great for Hidetsugu, but not for The Queen.
Accel Gauntlet of Might - Though it pains me to take this card out, I have recently had a string of situations involving a Moon effect, where this card became a liability and helped my opponent more than it hurt them (notice that this does not happen with Gauntlet of Power, due to the Basic Land clause). I will consider putting this back in after some months of testing without it. Dreamstone Hedron - Too cute. Too expensive. Win more.
General 3cc Accel - Let's break it down like this: 2cc accels takes you from 2 to 4 within a turn, turning on all our 1-for-1 Mana Denial, and gives us 1/2 of our investment back right away. Worn Powerstone/Sisay's Ring/Ur-Golem's Eye all take us from 4 to 7 within a turn, turning on Global Mana Denial, and gives us 1/2 of our investment back right away. 3cc accel like Darksteel Ingot and Forisyian Totem give us 1/3 of our investment back, right away. They are only useful over 4cc accel when Teeg is out, or when we are being mana denied and can't reach 4 mana. Kill Teeg, and be the better mana denial deck. Leave these choices to girly mages who need to be cautious. Prismatic Lens/Star Compass/Heart of Ramos - Earlier builds of this deck used the above cards, but I found the need for 2cc accel to be minimal. I traded these out for the higher casting cost accel and have never regretted it once. Journeyer's Kite - Simply too slow for what it does. Braid of Fire - This card never actually did anything useful. Most of the cards in our deck are cast on our main phase. Sure, you can get some free Instants off of it, and yeah it pumps and Morphs Akroma. But we should never be hurting for mana to cast spells with, and if we've done our job right, Akroma should be killing in 2 swings anyway. Simply not worth the small advantage that it gives us.
Draw/Utility/Search Memory Jar - While this card is explosive, it is not the kind of card I want to see in those early stages of the game where I'm trying to establish the mana gap. Like Mind's Eye, this card does not accomplish what the deck wants to do. Mind's Eye - This is not what the deck wants to do. It conflicts with the gameplan and is costly and mana intensive. I love this card, but this is not where it belongs.
Sweepers Molten Disaster/Pyroclasm/Earthquake/Starstorm/Crater Hellion - The need for sweepers has decreased since focusing more on early aggressive mana denial. Only the best sweepers have been kept, and these aren't them. Inferno - Too expensive, kills Akroma if she's out, can't be cast under Teeg. It does kill Doran and Dragons, but we have better ways of dealing with them. Flamebreak - There aren't too many creatures we want to kill with Flamebreak that can't just be killed with Fallout/Phoenix. I always felt this wasn't as great as it should be, and have never missed it.
Mana Denial/Prison Elements Rack and Ruin - Honestly? Most of the time the opponent only has 1 Artifact out that we want to kill. I've taken this out for Shattering Pulse. Tectonic Break - One of the most underperforming cards in the deck, I'm taking this out for now in lieu of the increase in 1-for-1 Mana Denial and seeing how I feel about it. Thoughts of Ruin - While I've only had it be a terrible topdeck once, and it has won me several games when it was good, the inconsistent nature of this card disqualifies it in the newer, more streamlined build of the deck. Absolute dependency must be achieved in each card for the sake of consistency, and this does not provide that. Uba Mask - This is largely ineffective vs aggro decks (a weakness), and great vs combo/control decks (which should be favorable). Trinisphere - Simply a poor choice in EDH, and underwhelming. Wake of Destruction - A powerful card, but the hardest matches I've faced have all been multi-colored. This was just never as good as it looked on paper. Smokestack - Sadly, this just wasn't that great in testing. It was too slow and could never be abused to the extent that Stax, or even Braids can. Tangle Wire - This card has been great for me in Rofellos, due to the ability to consistently and effectively capitalize on the few turns Wire buys us. That just wasn't the case, here. Flowstone Flood - Some might have thought this was a glaring omission in the main deck, that I somehow just forgot about this incredibly powerful, game changing card. I did not. Let me first say that I know first hand how broken this card is. It has single-handedly won me many, many games. However, looking back on those games, they were matches this current version of the deck would have no problem beating. Flood has also lost me many games, as I was left with no hand to capitalize on the damage Flood did for me. Flood is an "all-in" kind of card, no bones about it. We are essentially 1-for-2ing our opponent every time we play it, and at 30 life we can only keep it up for so long anyway. This was better used in Jaya due to Jaya only costing 3, and access to Squee. Let us not forget that our general costs 8 mana. 8. Mana. The consistency of the deck depends on being able to use every single card available to us to their absolute fullest, and a critical part of that is our accel. Flood is throwing that consistency out in favor of killing a few lands. I have reflected and thought about this issue more than any other single factor involving this deck, and until Flood starts showing up in slinky lingerie with Chipotle in one hand and Blade Runner: The Final Cut in the other, she's just not good enough for this deck.
Spot Removal Urza's Rage - Similar to the two below. Banefire - Better than Demonfire, but still just not enough to make the cut. A poor removal spell, and just inconsistent with our primary means of Akroma damage. Demonfire - Going Hellbent almost never happened, and I realized I kept this card in for the art more than anything. I reluctantly let it go, but I've never once missed it.
Creatures/Planeswalkers Solemn Simulacrum - Underwhelming, and out of place. No way to abuse him over and over. I'd rather have an accel piece that sticks around after a Global Mana Denial spell. Chandra Ablaze/Chandra Nalaar - There seriously better be a good Planeswalker in Return to Mirrodin, otherwise heads will roll. Chandra is so crushingly lackluster. Nalaar costs too much for what she does (just because we have a lot of mana available to us doesn't mean we shouldn't pick the most efficient role players), and is just worse than other sweepers. The single only time I can see her being worth it is against Jhoira of the Ghitu, post board-sweeper. Ablaze, while having a cool 2nd ability, just doesn't fit well with our gameplan. Only about 1/4 of our deck can be effectively discarded to any benefit, and those are cards we'd rather just cast outright. Covetous Dragon - This was me being nostalgic and trying to rekindle those old Urza's Saga/Wildfire days. Gorilla Shaman - Most of the Artifacts we want to destroy cost 2 and up, and Shaman was either killed too quickly or just never did enough to matter. Heretic was always better. Lodestone Golem - This seemed like an auto-include for the deck, but it was just never impressive. Siege-Gang Commander - The damage done by SGC is mostly irrelevant since we're gunning for 21+ general damage anyway. It's ability to double as spot removal is quite enticing, but is this really necessary with all the sweepers and other removal we have? Is this better than Shard Phoenix or Crater Hellion? Though I may be proven wrong in the future, my verdict for now is "likely not."
Lastly, I'll cover some cards yet to be tested that have potential use in the deck.
Aether Flash - I think this card has tremendous potential. It single-handedly prevents certain decks from winning or functioning while it is in play (Braids, Isamaru, Rofellos, Erayo, aggro decks, token decks, etc). The downside is it can't be cast under Teeg (we'd need to kill Teeg first, then play this before he's recast, which might be a problem), and it cuts us off of playing Akroma as a morph creature. Still, I think the benefits could outweigh those very specific downsides. Blinkmoth Urn - Who said you could have too much mana? This could be a soft answer to Null Rod while also serving as accel. It's an interesting card that should be explored. Chain Reaction - Another great sweeper that we might want to use. There may be times where we'd want to use this over Phoenix or Hellion, but that hasn't come up yet. Damping Matrix - This cuts off the abilities of 11 of our cards, plus Akroma. But, like with Aether Flash, certain decks cannot function while this is in play, the biggest of which is Jhoira. This is also great at cutting Black off of Oblivion Stone or Disk, which can elect Akroma as the Mayor of Frowntown. Might be too narrow, but it could have a spot. Dragon Roost - Every nerdy fiber of my entire being stands on end when I'm looking at the things I could do with this card. This could be really stellar in the mirror (should that ever happen), and against slower decks. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn/Kozilek, Butcher of Truth/Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - These may be win more, but I'm damn tempted to try them out. Other than Rofellos/Azusa/Jhoira, the only other deck I can think of realistically casting these guys is this one. Kozilek would be tested first, then Emrakul, and lastly Ulamog. When I test these guys, it will be alongside Eye of Ugin (which tutors for Duplicant and Karn!) and Eldrazi Temple. Fissure Vent - We like 2-for-1s in mono Red, and this card should always be just that. Fork - While this deck is far from a reactive one, Fork could have some interesting targets (Wildfire being one of them). Other uses could be using this as a Counterspell to protect an important spell. Pithing Needle - Probably the better answer to Jhoira. This card should always be useful. I just haven't found the room for its inclusion yet. Platinum Angel - With the right protection, I think Platinum Angel can be good. I have my eye on her pretty closely, as she fits with the style of the deck and can just beat certain decks outright. While I'm not one for playing a defensive role in Mono Red, she does fly above most of our sweeper damage, and assists Akroma in keeping the clock quick. Might be win more?
All in all, Akroma is a blast to play. While the prison elements of the deck may incite some groans from the more casually oriented, there's just something about playing an 8 mana Firebreathing Angel of Destruction that makes the Timmy in all of us wide-eyed with awe. I'm very proud of this deck, and want to see her evolve into the best form she can be. Any and all suggestions are welcomed with open arms.
Thanks In closing, some thanks are in order.
Evergreen: My friend and teammate who I've played more EDH with than anyone else by a country mile. I wouldn't know EDH to be the deck builder's paradise that it is if it weren't for you. Countless hours of testing and long nerdy talks on the phone have made Akroma what she is today, and that could not have happened without your support.
Bimmerbot: 2nd only to Evergreen, I've tested with Bimmerbot a great deal on both MWS as well as my kitchen table. Your patience through my many Wildfires and Mishra's Helixes gave me a chance to test this deck out in its various forms, and I thank you for that.
Matt Murphy & Shuffle and Cut Games: For providing competitive 1v1 EDH tournaments in Southern California and giving us all a place to test our ideas out. I can't wait to start showing the French what a real EDH Tournament looks like.
Wake of Destruction >> Ruination
Not of this World >> Duplicant
Currently testing the following changes:
Main
Urza's Rage >> Crater Hellion
Banefire >> Rolling Earthquake
Foriysian Totem >> Basalt Monolith
Trinisphere >> Uba Mask
Dread Statuary >> Library of Alexandria or Ghost Town
Ghitu Encampment >> Tectonic Edge
Mishra's Factory >> Mouth of Ronom
Lightning Greaves >> Not of This World
3 Meta Slots
Lightning Bolt
Sudden Shock or Magma Jet
Book of Rass
Ever since you posted on the Godo thread that you were working on this, I have been interested. From what you said in that thread, I was able to reverse-engineer this deck to about 75 cards, and from there I just said WWMED, and fleshed out the rest. That said, I must not be a true believer, as I think of the 25 slots I had to guess on, I got about 3 right. That said, I have been able to test a divergent build of this baby, so The results may be of use. I'll start with disagreements I have with your list, and then with things I have tested that you have omitted.
Lands:
Ghost Quarter: Really? I thought about this card for maybe 2 seconds, and decided it wasn't good enough. It certainly isn't good enough to get played over Tectonic Edge. Everything that you want to deal with is quite obviously non-basic, which the edge can handle. The exception here is after you cast a sweeper. The only one here that matters is Maze, as for Kor Haven to matter, and not just be a waste of time waiting for you to draw Pillage or some such, they need to develop, which will turn on the edge. If they rip maze, they rip maze. You have a ton of other ways to answer it, instead of running a bad 1-for-2.
Man-Lands: I never thought to test these, so I am speaking purely on theory here, but do they even do anything? Factory, maybe, is okay, as it is an artifact for Welder (more on him later), but Dread Sanctuary just costs a ton to activate, especially in the aggro match-up where you want him to trade with something. That said, do we really want to be trading land-drops for dorks? The Encampment is probably the best of the bunch, but I'm not really sold.
Dwarven Ruins: I would think this would fall under the same category as City of Traitors and company.
Hall of the Bandit Lord: It's cute, but 3 life is steep. If our game plan is working, they won't be resisting us in any case, so the extra turn should be irrelevant. If our plan isn't in motion yet, the only decks that really scare us are heavy black ones, which can just kill her on her hasty turn as easily as they could on theirs. Even if they can't, they soak up 6 and then off her, or they are locked out and die a turn sooner. Obviously, the extra turn is important, but Hall's drawback when it isn't casting Angry Emma is very steep.
Thawing Glaciers: I know we take Card Advantage where we can get it, but this thing is a tempo black hole the likes of which Muse could write a song about. For that reason I don't play it, but I can understand why you do.
Artifacts:
Pyrite Spellbomb: I've been on the fence with this card for a while. Is it any good? I will test it, as the cycling seems nice.
Memory Jar: Okay... I know I'm about to get punched through the internet for this, but I did not like Jar in this deck. The more I think about that, the more I have no idea why it is, though. But in all my games playing Akroma (I'd guess I'm at 60ish by now), I never wanted to cast it when I drew it. My current build is running a ton of meta-junk, though, so I might go bare-bones and start over with just plain good cards to see what happens.
Lightning Grieves: This looks a lot of Hall of the Bandit Lord to me. It's cute, and the extra turn off the clock is nice, but it doesn't do enough. Grieves is definitely better than Hall though.
Trinisphere: I don't like this at all. As awesome as turn 1 3-ball is, this loses a lot of value after that. I'd run SoR over this, as it's effect applies to cards that cost 3 or more, and we are naturally built to make a billion mana. EDH just isn't the format for this card.
Creatures:
Karn: I cut Karn a while bad, and haven't missed him. This deck doesn't need a plan B, as there is one card that can reliably tuck Akroma
Sorceries: Banefire: I'd run another sweeper over this (and I do). Doming the opponent for a ton is nice, but likely unneeded with Emma fluttering in the wings, waiting to be unleashed to slaughter the innocent masses after we set their town on fire.
Pyroclasm: Just didn't do enough for me. Killing a bunch of mana dorks is cool, but in testing that just didn't happen enough to warrant an otherwise useless card.
Instants: Fault Line: Instant speed X is nice, but not being able to hit fliers has been bugging me with the sweepers we have. I may try this out though.
Volcanic Fallout: Same deal as pyroclasm, just didn't do enough.
Rack and Ruin: Fine card, I prefer Shattering Pulse here, though. Either works fine.
Urza's Rage: I'm just an idiot. This is getting in ASAP.
Okay. Now the part that actually has a bit of signifigance: results of other cards.
Lands:
Library of Alexandria: I have no idea how you can say that we need to take what Card Advantage we can get, and then not include this. This belongs in every EDH deck. At worst, we drop it and it taps for colorless, and the upside is certainly better than Dread Sanctuary.
Vesuva: I'll admit, this is probably too cute, but at worst it is a ETBT snow-mountain, which is generally a little better than Dwarven Sanctuary, unless you needed to sacrifice it. It is awesome, however, copying a Strip effect, or Shop/Tomb or Library. I'm still torn on this card, however.
Kher Keep: This does in 1 card what your man-land package does in 3, and I think it does it better. Kher Keep acts as a Maze of Ith that you can store up if you don't get attacked, and slows down aggro enough until you can clear the board. It doesn't deter 1/1s and 2/2s, but it does it job more than once, as well, and doesn't cost us a land drop to do it.
Mouth of Ronom: Just more removal, likely comparable to Dread Sanctuary, though it can't beat down.It's been solid for me, to the point that I've been considering adding Barbarian Ring.
Ghost Town: Holy jumpin' is this is awesome. It's like... Bobby Orr scoring while in mid-air awesome (to the non-hockey fans out there, think Michael Jordan's famous buzzer beater, or Bacon.) It does pretty much everything this deck wants. It doesn't come into play tapped. It can hide before a sweeper. It sets up a draw engine with Seers Sundial. It bounces every turn under Winter Orb. If you asked it too, I bet it would even throw in a set of knives for only the cost of shipping. I'm even considering Undiscovered Paradise so I can have two of the effect, but the mandatory bounce on UP makes it a little less enticing.
Tectonic Edge: I covered this above, but in summery, it's way better than Ghost Quarter.
Boseju, Who Shelters All: There is relatively little cost to running this, and it is a very powerful effect. If almost no-one is playing blue in your meta I can see cutting it, but that seems unlikely, going into an unknown metagame.
Artifacts: Cantripping Graveyard Removal: This is a 3 or 0 set of cards, I think, and they aren't terrible. Worst case they cycle. Solid role players, really good if graveyard strategies are more prominent than normal. That said, they are really sideboard material, and we all know how sideboards and EDH go together.
Pithing Needle/Cursed Totem/Damping Matrix: Also 3 or 0, I think, though you could maybe run needle on it's own. These shore up the Jhoria matchup, and have splash impact elsewhere, but again they are sideboard material. On the bright side, if we ever do get sideboard for the tournaments here (and I am a firm believer that we should have them) we have 6 cards out of 10, already.
Smokestack: I love this card. While it is true that we do not have the means to break the symmetry of this card like Stax does in vintage, our deck is built to exploit it. It is easy enough to keep around until it cripples the enemy (shout out to my man Vroman), and then we can just sac it off, or we can go nuclear with it for a total reset if we are behind.
Uba Mask: The card advantage this creates can not be ignored. I've had games where this has blanked 9 out of 10 of my opponents draws, and even when it is bad, we still hit a few draw phases, know every card they have available to them, and can force awkward plays. This is all on top of the advantages you outlined.
Creatures: Viashino Heretic: The goal of this deck is X-for-1s, and this guy is good at it. Interchangeable with Shattering Pulse, the latter of which is preferable if running Totem/Matrix.
Dwarven Wasteland Team: Same story as heretic. Walking X-for-1s that force an answer or cripple a good chunk of decks. That said, they are a bit redundant (though not that bad) with the moon effects, so I may try cutting one for Wake of Destruction.
Sorceries: Rolling Earthquake: The best sweeper in the deck. I have no idea how you cut this but left in regular old earthquake.
Fissure Vent: It's a blowout. Play it.
Devastation: This card is perfect for this deck. We have so much artifact mana, and so few creatures (my creature heavy version plays a whopping 7) that is our version of balance. Obviously, this costs a ton more, but it pulls our butts out of the fire if things get bad, and it allows us to cement a strong board position beforesending in Emma on mop-up duty.
Instants:
Sudden Shock: The Jhoria match-up is so abysmal, any little bit helps, and this goes a long way. It also kills every general we would want to kill, save Zur.
Lavaball Trap: This is almost Wildefire/Burning of Xinye #3. 8 mana isn't very hard to get to, and the effect is a blowout. Plus, once in a while you get to trap it, and that feels dirtier than a Tijuana hooker.
*Exhales*
This is all I have for now. Now that your list is posted, I will make an effort to incorporate a few things and resume testing. If any deck can make an opponent run as fast as they can just to stand still, it is this baby.
~Lennon "tl;dr" Marx
Private Mod Note
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"There's no such thing as a good play. There's the right play, then there's the mistake" -Jon Finkel
Edit: Wrote all this before seeing LM's post. I agree with several of his comments, in addition to what I said below, but I'll just sort it out after ME responds.
Beautiful deck, beautiful writeup. It's clear that you've invested a lot of time and brainpower into this deck.
I'm going to poke at it a bit. I expect you have good reason for most (if not all) of these cards, but I'd like to hear you talk about them a bit.
Dread Statuary/Ghitu Encampment/Mishra's Factory/Guardian Idol/Foriysian Totem:
Manlands seem so pointless in this deck, which always wins through general damage. The damage they do seems almost totally irrelevant and there isn't any equipment for them to carry, so they're basically here as blockers, I guess? Foriysian Totem and Mishra's Factory seem okay for that purpose, but the others seem weak. Blinkmoth Nexus seems like it would be better in this role (also, like Mishra's Factory, it's another artifact for Welder). I think you could find better cards to replace the others.
Hall of the Bandit Lord/Lightning Greaves: How important is haste, really? It's been my experience that Akroma doesn't need it: by the time she comes out, the difference between a 2-turn clock and a 3-turn clock is rarely significant. If your opponent can answer her at all, they'll be able to whether she has haste or not. Furthermore, the shroud from Lightning Greaves is usually pointless--a large majority of the targeted removal that can actually target Akroma is instant-speed, making Greaves not so good.
I suppose that Hall of the Bandit Lord is passable, as it doesn't take up a spell slot, but I still don't think it's strong--the benefit may not outweigh the disadvantages. I think Lightning Greaves is a poor use of a spell slot--the haste is not so important, and the shroud is not so good. I'd rather play Not Of This World.
Trinisphere:
I've tried this in several EDH decks (including Akroma), and have always been severely disappointed. I find that it just doesn't do very much against most decks. It's only really good if you've managed to manascrew someone with a Wildfire effect, and it's probably win-more at that point.
Banefire/Parch/Urza's Rage:
Seems like weak spot removal. I guess Banefire is versatile, but it's also very inefficient. Of the list of common generals you want to kill, the only thing this kills that Lightning Bolt wouldn't is Zur, and this is probably too slow against Zur (it also doesn't kill Gaddock Teeg). Bolt seems much better.
Parch also seems to be here just to kill Zur. Unless Zur is extremely prevalent in your meta, I'd rather play something with a little more punch in every other matchup, like Magma Jet or Sudden Shock.
Urza's Rage seems almost strictly worse than Sudden Shock most of the time.
I also find some of your meta choices to be rather weak, but I guess if your meta is skewed enough...I'd like to see a "complete list" of what you'd bring to an unknown meta though, and possible substitutions based on that. My list would include more than 3 cards off of here, as I think some of them (Uba Mask, Duplicant, Sudden Shock, Not Of This World) ought to replace other cards on your list.
Here are a bunch of other cards you didn't mention anywhere that I'd like your opinion on.
Barbarian Ring: When do you hit threshold, on average? If it's before turn 8 or so, this is probably better than a mountain.
Basalt Monolith/Extraplanar Lens/Coalition Relic/Darksteel Ingot:
These all seem like passable accelerators. Basalt Monolith is not much worse than Grim Monolith. Lens is very powerful, despite dissynergy with the Gauntlets. It has some synergy with an early Wildfire. Coalition Relic is quite strong, even in mono-colored decks. If it's good enough for Evergreen to play in Iname, it seems like it might be worth a look here. Darksteel Ingot is pretty tame, but it does survive sweepers and produce colored mana (and it's nice with Karn).
Wheel of Fortune:
Sure, it's sort of risky, but it's a hugely powerful effect, and you are always looking to draw cards. I've had a lot of success with Wheel in mono-red decks. In my experience, it is almost always possible to turn it to your advantage. It's not as good with cards you want to hold onto (like sweepers), but I would consider playing this over a weaker sweeper like Fault Line.
Lightning Bolt/Magma Jet/Spark Spray/Aftershock:
Bolt is great. I prefer it to Flame Slash (though I'd play both)--instant speed counts for a lot. You can frequently timewalk someone in the early game by Bolting in response to an equip or the like. Magma Jet is not quite card advantage, but it's very close. I prefer it to any other Shock. Spark Spray is very strong. When it's useful, it does the job at the best possible price, and when it's not it replaces itself painlessly. Aftershock is not nearly so efficient as the other 3, but it's exceptionally versatile. Demolish may not be worthwhile, but it's certainly good enough when it hits creatures as well.
Book of Rass:
This seems stupid, but have you considered it? Seer's Sundial is just not a very good card. If you're playing Seer's Sundial, and happy with it, I'm pretty sure Book of Rass would be an improvement. It's actually a pretty sweet card.
Mycosynth Lattice:
This almost certainly is stupid, as it does nothing on its own, but it's so appealing. It turns Karn, Shattering Spree, and Goblin Welder into massive, game-winning bombs. It also gives you a second way to destroy enchantments, some of which absolutely wreck you. I guess it also supercharges Akroma's firebreathing a bit. My left brain knows that it's probably not good enough...but my right brain thinks it would be awesome. I think it could be worth testing.
More lands:
Have you considered running more lands than usual? The first solid Akroma list I saw was by frankwu, and contained about 55 lands. The idea was to always make land drops, despite the lack of card draw. I found this strategy to be quite effective. I'm not saying you should add 15 lands, but if you often start missing land drops before you play Akroma, it could well be worth squeezing in a few more.
I'll also just say that I like a lot of the cards on your "to test" list. I think the likeliest cards are Pithing Needle, the whole Eldrazi package, and perhaps Blinkmoth Urn (with the Eldrazi) and Fissure Vent. I think that all of these could be good enough to make the cut. I'm particularly interested in the Eldrazi, because I think they collectively constitute a viable alternate win condition, something this deck otherwise lacks. (However, I'm pretty sure that if one doesn't make the cut, it's going to be Emrakul--Ulamog is a lot more castable and useful in this deck). I would try to test these cards out and find room for them sooner rather than later, because I suspect they'll be keepers.
Ghost Quarter.... It certainly isn't good enough to get played over Tectonic Edge.
As previously stated, I'm not a fan of using case scenarios to back up the inclusion of certain cards. However, there were a couple of instances against the local Sharuum player involving Library of Alexandria that could have gotten out of hand had it not been for Ghost Quarter. In the first, his opener had Library, and mine had Ghost Quarter. Whew, close call. In the second example, he got first turn Library again! Must be nice. I drew my card for the turn and, surprise! It was Ghost Quarter. Now, circumstances were just in my favour in the first example, and I mised hard in the second. The point is, had GQ been Edge, he could have drawn 3-4 cards before Edge could come online. The "needs 4 lands in play" stipulation just makes Edge awful. Also of note is that Edge is a poor answer for Lake of the Dead. GQ is admittedly awkward in some cases, but it is leagues better than Edge. GQ is never trying to mana deny, but to cut them off from options. Edge is already poor at mana denial due to the 4 land stipulation, so what else would we use it for that GQ can't do better?
These are not, in fact, for blockers. I've attacked with them to great success in my experience with the deck. Sometimes there are long periods where a sweeper has reset the board and we're playing draw-go. Man lands capitalize on this kind of downtime nicely. Dread Statuary is better than you would think just looking at it. Perhaps I've been playing too much Standard, but sweeping the board and attacking with man lands just feels right. Also, these are great vs control and heavy counterspell decks. I originally had Mutavault in here but tried Encampment as a substitute for not owning one IRL. I've found Encampment to be really good, despite its ETBT drawback. Mutavault is pretty generic, and not impressive. Blinkmoth Nexus was considered as its potential use with Welder, but the 1 power makes it not worth it. I would either run these 3, or none at all. If my meta continues to lack control decks, I'll likely move these out for something else.
Dwarven Ruins: I would think this would fall under the same category as City of Traitors and company.
It did at first, but the ability to produce R or RR makes it strictly better than Crystal Vein. The fact that I can choose to keep it in play makes it better than City/Sandstone Needle. The drawbacks are that it dies to Ruination, and is worse than a Mountain when a Gauntlet is in play. The upside, though, is that I can play something like Wildfire a turn sooner, and it often ends up being just as good as a Mountain with the sac option. I'm still looking at this land as a potential cut, but it's been fine.
I haven't found the 3 life to be that big of a deal. Maybe this is due to playing against Evergreen's Iname list a lot, but waiting an entire turn to untap with Akroma can be 1 turn too late. Once finals are over, I'm going to post a thread about what I believe to be 3 categories that any given general will fall into and what that means for your deck. Until then, Akroma falls into the category of "My general needs to not be sick to do its job." Because of this, opponents can capitalize on that sickness to do things on your end step (like searching for an answer) and just kill her on their own turn. Hall steals that turn away from them, and forces them to hold mana back to kill Akroma on your own turn. As games tend to go long in EDH, stealing this kind of tempo for 3 life has been worth it in my experience. If they have multiple removal in their hand, you're stealing a full turn away from them by making them play it sooner than they would have otherwise.
Sometimes Glaciers is underwhelming, but the times that it has been good, it has been incredible. Like I said earlier, there are times when a sweeper puts us into topdeck mode, and Glaciers really helps us push ahead through that. I sometimes wonder if it could be better, but haven't had the heart to cut it yet.
Pyrite Spellbomb: I've been on the fence with this card for a while. Is it any good? I will test it, as the cycling seems nice.
It's been straight up solid in my metagame. It has the potential to kill Teeg/Braids/Rofellos/Goblin Lackey/Erayo/etc for a single R, and cycles at worst. It also is recurred with Welder, which is a nice touch.
Memory Jar: Okay... I know I'm about to get punched through the internet for this, but...
I'm basically falling back on the theory of "play incredibly powerful cards so that we can abuse our large amounts of mana to the fullest." I can't find many good reasons to not run this card, to be honest.
This was included as I view the card as an EDH staple (for most decks). I could see cutting this in certain metagames, but there's a lot of Black removal where I play. I was once able to equip a Morphed Akroma (Evergreen had Hero's Demise in hand) and then turn her face up once she was protected. This let's you do (at the slowest) turn 2 Greaves, turn 3 Morph, equip, turn 4 accel piece, turn 5 turn face up and swing. Since most decks I'm playing against aren't running the same amount of sweepers that I do (usually none at all), I don't need to worry too much about indirect damage to her in this state.
I've had mixed feelings on this card, as well. The inclusion is mostly due to combo decks in my meta and aggro (Combo Elf oriented Rofellos, and d.g.'s Wort list for example). A possible replacement could be Sphere of Resistance, or Chalice of the Void (the latter of which might be better than it seems). I think Sphere is probably not good enough for this job, as a lot of decks can just play around it. This might end up just turning into Uba Mask, to be honest.
Karn: I cut Karn a while bad, and haven't missed him. This deck doesn't need a plan B, as there is one card that can reliably tuck Akroma
We might have had different experiences with Karn, then. Every time I've played him, I've won as a result of there being several Artifacts on the table and killing in a few swings. He's the card I want to see most after a Geddon effect, as he helps me kick my opponent when their down harder than any other card in my deck. Can you tell me more about why he wasn't good for you?
Banefire: I'd run another sweeper over this (and I do)
This could easily be another sweeper, and that'd be fine. Pros include the ability to kill Doran and every other relevant general (minus Teeg), and doubles as a finisher. While A sweeper could also do that, the damage incurred from that sweeper can matter (especially in the Doran matchup where life ends up being relevant). If Uril starts showing up again in my meta, and more token decks, I would swap this out for another sweeper for sure.
Pyroclasm: Just didn't do enough for me. Killing a bunch of mana dorks is cool, but in testing that just didn't happen enough to warrant an otherwise useless card.
This has been pretty awesome for me, due to the amount of aggro decks in my meta (5C aggro, the above mentioned Wort and Rofellos lists, etc). Also, while Azami hasn't been present (yet), This is another spell that can be played pre-Azami that can alleviate her effect should she come in. This card isn't really good vs other control decks or decks strictly focused on the general like Zur, Uril, Doran or ETB generals like Sharuum or Iname.
Fault Line: Instant speed X is nice, but not being able to hit fliers has been bugging me with the sweepers we have. I may try this out though.
Great in response to Azami, or any other creature oriented combo deck (Rofellos, Lightning Crafter/Kiki-Jiki tricks, Momir Vig, etc). d.g. has comes back from a sweeper and killed me with Kiki-Jiki/Crafter while I had another Sorcery speed sweeper in my hand. While another removal spell would also have done the trick, I think Fault-Line is one of the best sweepers available to Red with very little drawback (the extra R has never been an issue).
Library of Alexandria: I have no idea how you can say that we need to take what Card Advantage we can get, and then not include this.
I've debated this card a great deal, trust me. My initial thought was that it would compete with early Accel, and influence certain plays. As time has gone on, I've come to doubt that logic. This was supposed to go into the "Cards to Test" section, but I simply forgot to add it in there.
Vesuva: I'll admit, this is probably too cute, but at worst it is a ETBT snow-mountain, which is generally a little better than Dwarven Sanctuary, unless you needed to sacrifice it. It is awesome, however, copying a Strip effect, or Shop/Tomb or Library. I'm still torn on this card, however.
I disagree about the Dwarven Ruins analogy, as Vesuva can't even sac for RR if we want to. I considered this, but I've thought it to be pretty slow in the past. Copying Library seems really good, but that just seems like it will hardly ever happen. I'll be interested to see how your testing with this goes.
Kher Keep: This does in 1 card what your man-land package does in 3, and I think it does it better. Kher Keep acts as a Maze of Ith that you can store up if you don't get attacked, and slows down aggro enough until you can clear the board. It doesn't deter 1/1s and 2/2s, but it does it job more than once, as well, and doesn't cost us a land drop to do it.
First, the point of the man lands wasn't to absorb attackers. Second, while I like the ability to repeatedly block Doran (and Uril, something Maze of Ith couldn't do), it just feels out of place in the deck. I feel like it's only really dealing with the Doran/Uril problem, and not providing much else. We're not even running Skullclamp as a way to abuse it. In what ways has this been good for you?
Mouth of Ronom: Just more removal, likely comparable to Dread Sanctuary, though it can't beat down.It's been solid for me, to the point that I've been considering adding Barbarian Ring.
I considered this, too, actually. It's another card that should have been under the "Cards to Test" section that I just forgot about.
The synergy with Seer's Sundial is the most appealing aspect of this card, but you're still using up your land drop every turn. I see this being great in those post-sweeper draw-go situations. The synergy with Orb is also very interesting. I think this could be a potentially interesting find, and I'll add it to the list of things to test.
Cantripping Graveyard Removal: This is a 3 or 0 set of cards, I think, and they aren't terrible
The problem is that (other than Sharuum) the decks I'd want this against (Braids or Iname) have access to Null Rod and it usually ends up being a race to deal with that, instead. The way I've beat these decks was to just play extremely aggressive and try to prison them out as soon as possible. Being that my primary playtest partner is Evergreen, you'd think I'd be all over the grave hate. I just haven't felt that these cards the best way to handle those decks, at all. These are also pretty underwhelming in the games where I don't care about having them. Sure, they cycle, but I can't help but think there's something just better.
Admittedly, I haven't played against Jhoira at all with the current version of this deck. This might warrant some testing, but I can see pros to all of those. 2/3 of these were already under consideration in my original post.
Smokestack: I love this card. While it is true that we do not have the means to break the symmetry of this card like Stax does in vintage, our deck is built to exploit it. It is easy enough to keep around until it cripples the enemy (shout out to my man Vroman), and then we can just sac it off, or we can go nuclear with it for a total reset if we are behind.
Seems we've had opposite experiences, again. I really, really want this card to be good. I just haven't seen it yet.
Uba Mask: The card advantage this creates can not be ignored. I've had games where this has blanked 9 out of 10 of my opponents draws, and even when it is bad, we still hit a few draw phases, know every card they have available to them, and can force awkward plays. This is all on top of the advantages you outlined.
I'll probably switch Trinisphere out for this card and see where things go with it.
Viashino Heretic: The goal of this deck is X-for-1s, and this guy is good at it. Interchangeable with Shattering Pulse, the latter of which is preferable if running Totem/Matrix.
See previous problems with Heretic. I love Heretic, I just wish he wasn't taken out so easily.
Dwarven Wasteland Team: Same story as heretic. Walking X-for-1s that force an answer or cripple a good chunk of decks. That said, they are a bit redundant (though not that bad) with the moon effects, so I may try cutting one for Wake of Destruction.
I absolutely love these guys. The problem is that my meta has more mono coloured decks than not, so they're a little out of place there. I'll add these to the Meta Slots section.
Rolling Earthquake: The best sweeper in the deck. I have no idea how you cut this but left in regular old earthquake.
I had originally replaced this with something else since I don't own one and we were initially playing without proxies at my local shop. Somehow I missed putting this back in the main deck (yet I remembered it when I got to the Meta section? Weird). It should actually replace Earthquake, as it is strictly better.
Devastation: This card is perfect for this deck. We have so much artifact mana, and so few creatures (my creature heavy version plays a whopping 7) that is our version of balance. Obviously, this costs a ton more, but it pulls our butts out of the fire if things get bad, and it allows us to cement a strong board position beforesending in Emma on mop-up duty.
I've wondered about this card, as well. Even the art is pretty awesome! Casting cost aside, this is better than any sweeper currently in the deck. I'll add it to the "Cards to Test" section."
Sudden Shock: The Jhoria match-up is so abysmal, any little bit helps, and this goes a long way. It also kills every general we would want to kill, save Zur.
This was originally in the deck but was ultimately cut for other burn. This is a meta card for sure.
Lavaball Trap: This is almost Wildefire/Burning of Xinye #3. 8 mana isn't very hard to get to, and the effect is a blowout. Plus, once in a while you get to trap it, and that feels dirtier than a Tijuana hooker.
Whoa whoa whoa, let's not say things we can't take back. I wish this was more like Wildfire/Burning, but it's just not close enough for me. This is obviously good against ramp and decks with a lot of fetches, but I think more often than not it's going to just cost 8 straight up, which competes with The Queen. In what matchups has this been good for you?
Covered this a bit in the LennonMarx reply, but I'll say a few more things. I see your point about the damage being mostly irrelevant when compared to the general damage done by Akroma. I probably just like man lands a lot, to be honest. Also, my favourite matchup in the game is control vs control, so I always think of that first. Man lands are great vs control, but upon further reflection that's a matchup I'm already winning. For Idol/Totem, they're really just the next best accel pieces of their colour. Yes, Idol comes into play tapped and I could run something else like Fellwar Stone, but 9/10 times I'm playing that accel piece on turn 2, and don't have anything to do with it anyway. For Totem, it's just more interesting than Darksteel Ingot and gives me something to do with it during any potential downtime. I also excluded Heart of Ramos from the 3cc Accel slot cause, well, it just doesn't seem that great. I like options, a lot, and Totem gives me more than the others for that casting cost.
Interesting points. I've been wanting to fit in Not of this World lately, and Greaves seems like a good swap for that. The one time use might be enough protection, especially considering the surprise aspect of it. I'll give this change a try.
I feel your pain on pretty much all of those points. One of my first goals was to try all the staple lock pieces found in Stax and see if any of them translated well into the EDH world. I think Trinisphere is much better than Sphere, but Chalice of the Void or Uba Mask might be just better overall. That's the next change I'm going to be looking at with this deck.
The main selling points for Banefire and Rage are the ability to double as a finisher later on in the game, especially in the cases that something bad happens to The Queen. Parch should probably be a metagame slot, in all honesty. I'm pretty happy with Banefire and Rage, at this point, though that could change with time. Parch could become Sudden Shock or Magma Jet, easily.
I also find some of your meta choices to be rather weak, but I guess if your meta is skewed enough...I'd like to see a "complete list" of what you'd bring to an unknown meta though, and possible substitutions based on that. My list would include more than 3 cards off of here, as I think some of them (Uba Mask, Duplicant, Sudden Shock, Not Of This World) ought to replace other cards on your list.
Some explanation to my meta is probably necessary. I've stopped playing randoms on MWS for many reasons (they're usually awful, rude, use the Multiplayer list, SPL me when they're in a losing position, etc etc) and pretty much exclusively play with my buddies or at the local shop. The deck is a little inbred in its current form due to the shop being fairly new and the turnout being low, making meta choices easier and a lot weirder.
As for a "complete list" that I would take to an unknown meta, I'll have to switch a few things around and post that this weekend once finals are over.
Am I the only one that's not impressed by cycling cards? It seems the ETBT drawback could be an issue at times, and I've cut as many of those as I comfortably can to keep the pace of the deck smooth. Has this ever been an issue for you?
Seems everyone's missed that Coalition Relic is already in the deck. I've been looking at Monolith, but what to cut for it? Is it better than anything that's already in there? Maybe Idol (since it's a colourless source trading out for another colourless source)?
I probably had Lens destroyed too many times in the past to properly re-evaluate it under the current list. I'm always on the fence about that card, and I want it to be good..
Ingot just seems like it's too far down the waiting list to ever make the cut. I'd put in Monolith before Ingot. Monolith also gets a ton better with Eldrazi included.
Wheel of Fortune:
Sure, it's sort of risky, but it's a hugely powerful effect, and you are always looking to draw cards. I've had a lot of success with Wheel in mono-red decks. In my experience, it is almost always possible to turn it to your advantage. It's not as good with cards you want to hold onto (like sweepers), but I would consider playing this over a weaker sweeper like Fault Line.
While I don't necessarily agree that Fault Line is a 'weak' sweeper, I've considered all of those points before. Wheel is one of my all time favourite cards, but in my experience it has helped my opponents too much for me to be okay with. I'm still willing to test it again though.
Lightning Bolt/Magma Jet/Spark Spray/Aftershock:
Bolt is great. I prefer it to Flame Slash (though I'd play both)--instant speed counts for a lot. You can frequently timewalk someone in the early game by Bolting in response to an equip or the like. Magma Jet is not quite card advantage, but it's very close. I prefer it to any other Shock. Spark Spray is very strong. When it's useful, it does the job at the best possible price, and when it's not it replaces itself painlessly. Aftershock is not nearly so efficient as the other 3, but it's exceptionally versatile. Demolish may not be worthwhile, but it's certainly good enough when it hits creatures as well.
I've considered Bolt, but really, what is Bolt really killing that any of the other Shocks wouldn't? Rafiq is nowhere to be found (nor do I really feel much concern with that matchup), nor is Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, both of which Parch would deal with.
For Magma Jet: Thanks for reminding me of this. I had originally intended this to go into the "Cards to Test" section but completely forgot about it.
Spark Spray is very strong? Against what? I'm not super worried about Rofellos or Erayo as I should have ample removal for either of them before they do their thang.
Aftershock is a great card, and I love the versatility that it offers. I simply haven't had enough testing with it to determine whether it's sorcery speed is worth it. However, it kills Doran! So that's a huge plus.
Book of Rass:
This seems stupid, but have you considered it? Seer's Sundial is just not a very good card. If you're playing Seer's Sundial, and happy with it, I'm pretty sure Book of Rass would be an improvement. It's actually a pretty sweet card.
Wow, really? I hadn't even thought of this til you mentioned it just now. This actually might be crazy enough to work.
Mycosynth Lattice:
This almost certainly is stupid, as it does nothing on its own, but it's so appealing. It turns Karn, Shattering Spree, and Goblin Welder into massive, game-winning bombs. It also gives you a second way to destroy enchantments, some of which absolutely wreck you. I guess it also supercharges Akroma's firebreathing a bit. My left brain knows that it's probably not good enough...but my right brain thinks it would be awesome. I think it could be worth testing.
Don't think I hadn't considered this super techy card. I think I'd try this out if I were running more Artifact removal than I currently am. Space already feels so tight and dedicated to ensuring consistency for certain matchups that I'm not sure I could justify the space for this. Dealing with enchantments is the biggest plus I can see with this card.
Have you considered running more lands than usual? The first solid Akroma list I saw was by frankwu, and contained about 55 lands. The idea was to always make land drops, despite the lack of card draw. I found this strategy to be quite effective. I'm not saying you should add 15 lands, but if you often start missing land drops before you play Akroma, it could well be worth squeezing in a few more.
I most certainly have. I remember seeing that primer a long time ago and liking the simplicity of the strategy. However, though I'm a control player at heart, I don't think even I have the patience for making so many land drops before The Queen comes down. I sought to fix this by adding more Artifact Accel than usual (what is usual, actually? I guess I'm going by memory here). I think there could be some merit to more lands, though. Maybe capping out at 45? What to cut though?
I'll also just say that I like a lot of the cards on your "to test" list. I think the likeliest cards are Pithing Needle, the whole Eldrazi package, and perhaps Blinkmoth Urn (with the Eldrazi) and Fissure Vent. I think that all of these could be good enough to make the cut. I'm particularly interested in the Eldrazi, because I think they collectively constitute a viable alternate win condition, something this deck otherwise lacks. (However, I'm pretty sure that if one doesn't make the cut, it's going to be Emrakul--Ulamog is a lot more castable and useful in this deck). I would try to test these cards out and find room for them sooner rather than later, because I suspect they'll be keepers.
I agree with pretty much all of those points. I'm really hopeful for the Eldrazi, as well. Blinkmoth Urn was a card I found a long time ago when trying to make Karn viable (you think this deck has problems with Null Rod?), and just recently remembered it exists. It's probably going to go into the next version of Akroma that I test.
After finals, I'll post the changes I've made to the deck based on the more promising suggestions discussed here.
Khymera: When are you going to finally come down and EDH it up with me, Evergreen, and d.g.?
Alright, I guess it's my turn to enter the fray now.
I love red to death. It is my favorite color the game, but I too have always been frustrated with how short-handed red can be at times in EDH. I've seen your approach with Jaya Ballard back in the Elemental Blitz tourney, and it hit me that mono red *could* be viable as long as it was focused and concentrated enough on what it wanted to do. It also REALLY helps that red has the best blue hosers.
My suggestions won't be very groundshaking, but they are still things to consider for a given metagame.
First off, I am going to suggest the proverbial "run graveyard hate". Not because I'm trying to spite Evergreen or anything (;)), but I still believe that every EDH deck should at least have some sort of answer to graveyard shenanigans. They do exist in the 1v1 world aside from just Iname; be it Survival combo (biggie), Sharuum, and just miscellaneous reanimator strategies. Relic of Progentius seems like the best choice right off the bat. Your deck cares very little about its own graveyard aside from Welder, and if need be, Relic can munch away at the opposing graveyard before finally being popped. It replaces itself, making it practically never a dead draw. Alternatively, there is Phyrexian Furnace which does have its advantages over Relic.
Second, there is a card that I believe I read in the Hidden Gems thread that I think could really be effective in this deck -- Omen of Fire. It's like the love child of Boil and Anarchy, but without having to spend extra deck slots for specific hosers. Granted, this deck already is strong against blue and white given Akroma's protections and uncounterability, but Omen of Fire is a card I think is worth exploring. Blue is ubiquitous considering it's by far the best color in the format, and white is definitely no slouch either. Omen of Fire is a crushing hoser against both colors, and it also ruins white/blue decks quite nicely. Instant speed is huge for the surprise factor, considering there aren't many people at all that know this card even exists.
So yeah, these are just some ideas to further round out the deck and cover more of its bases against certain things. It's obvious that you have invested countless time into making mono red viable. As a fellow red player, I salute you for your perseverance.
Khymera: When are you going to finally come down and EDH it up with me, Evergreen, and d.g.?
Embarrassing fact: For the longest of time, I always thought Khymera lived in Europe since he would always seem to post dead at night at around 3-4am Pacific time. It wasn't until I talked to him on AIM a few months ago or so that he told me that he lived on the west coast. >_>
One generalized comment, in reading your responses:
Besides tuning the deck to decks present in your metagame, I think it's even more important to tune the deck to win the matches that are actually close. For instance, you mention mono-blue quite a bit, and even include narrow hate cards like Defense Grid and Boseiju, Who Shelters All in your meta slots...but honestly, are you actually worried about mono-blue? In my experience with Akroma (admittedly, with a somewhat different list), one of my favorite things about the deck was just automatically beating certain strategies (including mono-blue). Many decks simply cannot interact meaningfully with Akroma, and most of these decks have a significantly slower clock. You ought to be able to win these matches without even trying, and as such, it seems silly to tweak your deck to try to beat them even more.
Conversely, I basically gave up on the Doran matchup, after testing about 10 games and winning only 1 (in which I drew a bunch of acceleration and LD, and he got severely manascrewed). The other games were not even close. There comes a point where a matchup is so unfavorable that it's not worth the contortions you have to do to try to beat it, and it's better just to let it go. (You do play significantly more sweepers than I did, so perhaps the Doran matchup is actually consistently winnable for you, but I can't say without testing.)
The point is that you should be tweaking the deck to beat matchups that are tough, but winnable. By and large, I think that it's aggro and certain combo decks that fall into this category. This means that efficient sweepers are valuable, even dinky ones like Volcanic Fallout, and stuff like Defense Grid is basically a bad call.
A few more comments, just on the specific points I'm not sure I agree on.
Manlands:
Not convinced. You should never be in a situation where trying to beatdown with manlands is the plan. Even against control decks after a sweeper it's probably a bad idea, as you're just turning on their removal. I don't think there are any matchups where you need or want these.
Hall of the Bandit Lord:
3 life isn't a dealbreaker, but it's not something you should ignore...especially when aggro is perhaps your toughest matchup. By the point in the game where this has an effect, "tempo" is pretty much gone. You haven't convinced me that giving Akroma is actually important, so it's not worth putting up with the (non-negligible) pain from this thing.
Banefire:
This is just not a good card here. You don't need a X-spell "finisher," and this is crappy removal for Doran (or anything else). This is the point where it's better to just ignore Doran, rather than run a card that's bad against Doran and even worse everywhere else. This deck is way too tight for a lame card like this.
Sudden Shock:
I think this is better than a meta card. Split second is just so good: it's extremely difficult to play around and tends to punish good players even more than bad ones. Word of Seizing might even be worth considering...it's a card that plays a lot better than it looks.
Lavaball Trap:
I haven't tested it, but I think this might be solid. It's versatile enough that at least one side of it always ought to be pretty good, and it should result in blowouts fairly frequently. Instant speed counts for an awful lot on a card like this.
Guardian Idol/Foriysian Totem:
These aren't the next best pieces of acceleration. That would go to Extraplanar Lens/Basalt Monolith/Darksteel Ingot. Options are good to have, but the options on these (especially Guardian Idol) kind of suck. Much like manlands, these are not options you ever want to be utilizing.
Urza's Rage:
Again, you don't need an awkward "finisher." That's one of the main selling points of Akroma. This isn't nearly efficient enough. 3 mana for 3 damage is very subpar, and uncounterability is just not very relevant.
Forgotten Cave:
ETBT is almost never an issue with this one. If you want to play it, it's almost always in the early game, and there will be a turn where you don't need the 1 extra mana (usually turn 1). You don't get a huge benefit out of this, but the disadvantage is almost nil.
Wheel of Fortune:
Think about when you cast this card. There are only two situations where you play it, and it's very good in either. 1) You have a bunch of artifacts and dump your hand on the table very quickly (while your opponent does not). In this situation, Wheel is pure card advantage, gives you a reload, and frequently lets you screw up the hand your opponent has been crafting. 2) It's late, you're out of gas, and Akroma, for whatever reason, is not getting there. In this situation, you're just trying to find an answer before your opponent eventually takes control due to your inability to actually kill them. Trying to topdeck into an answer is miserable, and rarely works. In this situation, Wheel gives you the best chance of drawing into an answer you can play immediately, allowing you to just win the game. Even if these are the only situations you play Wheel of Fortune in, I think these uses are enough to justify its inclusion.
Lightning Bolt:
Instant speed and 1 mana is a big deal. Spot removal is most important in the early game, and it's significantly easier to keep mana open for Bolt while playing out your hand than with any of the 2 mana burn spells. I say again, this is significantly better than Flame Slash (in every non-Zur matchup), because instant speed allows for monstrous tempo blowouts AND lets you effectively circumvent stuff like Lightning Greaves.
More lands:
I do think 45ish might be best, though it depends on when you typically start missing land drops (and on how much draw you can squeeze in). Artifact acceleration is important too, but can't really replace lands for this purpose. You'd probably have to cut control elements, which it sounds like you're uncomfortable with, but that still might be the best way to go. Sometimes control isn't the answer (especially with the nigh-unstoppable Akroma, I think).
Khymera: When are you going to finally come down and EDH it up with me, Evergreen, and d.g.?
I'm busy trying to get into a top-ranked MD/PhD program, most of which accept only 8 students a year (out of a few hundred applicants). I need to increase my MCAT score, so I'm spending about 8 hours a day, every day, studying and dealing with applications. MTGS and my girlfriend are my only breaks, and probably the only things keeping me sane (her more than you guys). I'm basically the lamest person in the world right now. I'll be done with this phase by like...the end of June, and I'll try to EDH it up with you guys then.
Embarrassing fact: For the longest of time, I always thought Khymera lived in Europe since he would always seem to post dead at night at around 3-4am Pacific time. It wasn't until I talked to him on AIM a few months ago or so that he told me that he lived on the west coast. >_>
Yeah...I've had an aberrant circadian rhythm and insomnia issues since I hit puberty, such that I tend to keep 32 hour days. When I don't have a class or a job forcing me to keep certain hours, I tend to stay awake for 24 hours, sleep 8 hours, repeat. Stupid earth days. This often results me in being up through the night (as in this last night...), which is usually when I get my best work done anyway. Oh well.
Ghost Quarter is so much better than Tectonic Edge. Having to wait until turn 4 makes this a dud for any serious LD deck.
Manlands are so damn good. Seriously. Especially in a deck where you're blowing up handfuls of lands, including some of your own. I can't picture playing Akroma/LD without playing the man lands.
Trinisphere seems kind of lame against me since I have so many ways to cheat those creatures into play and the combo creatures cost >3, anyways. Uba Mask seems like the obvious choice given how good it is vs combo and control. It's meh vs. Aggro, but it is still a great card. Having Uba Mask also gives you more reason to play Bazaar of Baghdad, which is straight gangsta, as you know.
The problem with Trini/Smokestack in EDH is that you don't have a reliable way to get them into play turn 1 or 2. It makes Trini lose effectiveness (coming out after they have a few lands in play), and Smokestack seems glacially slow when it can't ramp up on the first few turns. On top of that, the first few turns are when Smokestack is so good since it forces the opponent to start top-decking lands and other permanents to stay in the game.
There are some cards that just don't work in our meta. Pithing Needle, at the moment, is one of them. All the generals in our meta have few/no abilities (Akroma, Anowon, Azusa, Doran, Wort, Iname, Sharuum, Rofellos, Braids, Linvala, etc). It is still worth a slot in most decks because it always has something to stop, but it isn't the omg awesome general shutdown that it would be in a wider meta.
Wort the Raidmother seems to be unwinable in the deck's current configuration. We need to come out of the gate fast, which is true in most matchups. I think 2cc acceleration should be favored over the awkward 3cc acceleration (here's looking at you, Totem).
Thoughts of Ruin is terrible. The fact that it can't scale upwards is a big downer. It is very hard to break parity with (basically requires Gem or Ghost Town). If we want another of this effect (and we might), I'd look at Epicenter. For now I'm running Crater Helion here, which I haven't actually cast yet, but it looks super solid on paper.
Volcanic Fallout has made it's way back into my list (I'll post full list at the end), but Pyroclasm still seem underwhelming. Trying out Slice and Dice in that slot, as I like the cycling option. Could also be Chain Reaction.
If you are running Uba Mask, you have to run Bazaar. If you aren't running Mask, Bazaar is terrible.
Here is my current list, which varies a bit from Muted's. It has been testing well, but Jhoria and apparently Wort are nightmares, and Doran is tough. I also was having trouble with a Wydyen deck last night, which makes me think that pretty much anything with black in it is going to be bad. I don't know that I'd be comfortable playing this is a tournament, at least right now, with how obvious a deck Jhoria has become, and with a shaky combo match (no testing done against 5c Combo style decks yet. Having playing that deck a ton, I think it will be a better matchup than Wort, but still unfavorable. Will get back to you once ME and I have time to actually play the match).
Just updated the list with some new changes I'll be testing. Going to move some things around and add things to the Meta Slots section and Cards to Test sections shortly.
First off, I am going to suggest the proverbial "run graveyard hate"... to spite Evergreen... Survival combo (biggie).. Sharuum... miscellaneous reanimator strategies
Let me touch on a few of these.
Iname: While Relic would be good here (along with Crypt), I'd have to either have it hiding in my hand for a surprise factor or already on the table. In the first scenario, it's quite possible (due to the nature of sweepers in Akroma) that they'll play Iname and Songs of the Damned all in the same turn anyway. In the second scenario, if I leave it out on the table, the decision to tutor for Null Rod is even more easily made. At that point, I need to have the Relic/Crypt, and some Artifact destruction. Since these scenarios happen quite frequently (and depend largely on how the game just so happens to go), this just doesn't feel like a very good answer for the deck. All the games I've won had to do with laying down the prison heavy and aggressively, turn after turn.
Survival Combo: This is one of those situations where mana denial can really help, as well as another target for Pithing Needle (which I think would be more universally utilized than something like Relic).
Sharuum: I've played around 10 games with the local Sharuum player and I've lost only once (due to my own play mistake, admittedly). We've been tweaking the deck to compensate for some weaknesses, and while they've improved the deck greatly, Akroma still has a very favourable matchup against this deck. The sweepers and Artifact destruction just goes SO far in this match. I'm never worried about playing against it.
Misc Reanimator: Barring 1st turn Entomb, 2nd turn Exhume, I'm not super worried about this matchup. For the most part, there's really not a lot of this in my meta (though one competitive player is working on a Teneb deck). I admit I haven't played at all against a well built deck using this strategy, so this could be a problem. I guess I'd have to see?
Given, Relic is leagues better than Crypt, it still feels too narrow to warrant a slot.
High fives for also knowing this card exists. I absolutely love Omen. I was testing this during my "All I want to do with Jaya is beat mono blue" phase. There are a lot of really cool things you can do with this card, and the surprise factor is amazing. It also answers Zur, Doran, and Uril (if there are no plains on the table). The two issues I have with this card is a.) narrow hate, which I'm not sure is even warranted yet, and b.) the times where it's effective most (against the aforementioned three generals), a single plains can be enough to keep their boy on the table. That sucks. Icy Manipulator would be better in 2/3 of those matchups. I also tend to think sweepers would be better against Azami. Could this fill two roles at once? Maybe. But I'm not ready to test this card yet. [/quote]
Glad to see you're enjoying the deck, man. I just have a few responses here:
Thoughts of Ruin has always been stellar for me. This card gets better with Ghost Town, and yes, I've had really crushing plays involving Khalni Gem. However, in regards to the parity remark, the parity should already be broken due to the high amount of Accel pieces in the deck. Like I said in the OP, we don't really care about losing all our lands so long as a.) our opponent is, too, and b.) we have adequate Accel out. That's been the case pretty much every time I've played this card, and I'll keep it in until something better comes along.
I've played with Epicenter before and I don't like it. It costs far too much to just kill a land, which it often will. Threshold cards (Like Barbarian Ring) are just too slow for their purpose. I want crushing LD in the early stages of the game, so that my opponent can't recover. Epicenter will never be a Geddon in time.
..but Jhoria and apparently Wort are nightmares, and Doran is tough.
We kind of discussed this a bit over AIM, but I think it's worth noting here that our playtesting pool is very, very different. I haven't played a single game with this deck vs a deck using the Multiplayer Ban List, and you said those decks accounted for probably more than 75% of your games. I'm loathe to draw parallels under those circumstances. Without logs to analyze what was going on, I'm not comfortable writing some of those matchups off until I'm sure Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, or Crucible had nothing to do with it. [/quote]
Good suggestions. Your logic is on point with nearly all of those, though I do have a few disagreements.
Wheel of Fortune: I think this just gives the opponent far too much of a boost. Being that combo is often a problem for Mono Red, I can't see justifying this. It doesn't do anything to make my bad matchups better, as the answer I'm digging for to get me out of the currently bad situation will also draw them into a follow up answer. Sure, I can dump my hand real quick and draw into more stuff. And that will be good some of the time. I'm mostly just concerned about the situations where I'm losing, and it solidifies my opponents position even moreso, or draws them into three counters, or finds them a new threat. Considering that roughly 2/3 of my deck is mana, my low threat density will likely make their new seven much better than mine.
Forgotten Cave: I'll try this later if I find some cards are underperforming, and I need more lands. Again, not impressed by cycling as much as everyone else seems to be. I remember trying Street Wraith out in 5C Stax when the card first came out, under the theory that it would just draw me into more threats. The problem was that it often just drew me into more mana, and I never used them again. I kind of see Cave being the same thing, especially in a deck with so much mana already. As I don't want to go below 20 mountains, this would either a.) replace existing lands, b.) replace other spells to up the land count. I don't see this being worth it in either case.
"Narrow Hate:" While Defense Grid may not be necessary, I disagree in regards to something like Boseiju. Being able to uncounterably Wildfire against a deck like Azami (a deck that seems to be the bane of my existence, no matter what deck I make) is game breaking. While it's true that Azami can't stop Akroma once she's out, It's possible for them to just go off instead and race me. I don't like that. There are just going to be times when I need to seal the deal against Blue, and Boseiju does that quite well. I don't like the ETBT drawback, and the two life can be annoying, but I don't like losing to Azami even moreso. With testing, I may find that this is wrong. But I haven't had any experiences to contradict this, yet.
Wheel of Fortune: is amazing. You mention that it does not make your bad matchups better. In all reality its a disruptive to an opponent sculpting a hand. Pure combo based stragedies it messes with their overall game plan. It puts you back into the game after you sweep, LD and are both topdecking for the win. Even though it puts you on even ground in reality it doesnt. It gives you the cards right away, and you are able to simple out tempo a opponent. Also the cheap casting cost allows you to wheel into a sweeper.
QUOTE]
Thoughts of Ruin is a terrible topdeck. But the early game power is overwhelming. You also never play it turn 4 for the most part. Usually you wait till you sweep and then cast thoughts of ruin and a land drop.
Not of this world is terrible. You should always simply replay akroma then have this card sitting in your hand all game. Win more
Currently after my intial testing, I shared my thoughts. I've formulated a very rough list.
Major Key points is that their is a considerable lack of spot removal but a more heavy emphasis on sweepers.
All mana accelerants produce 2+ mana. Key point because this deck cannot afford to be playing stuff like fire diamond. They also help reach akroma faster.
More Sweepers for Teeg. Sweepers that are able to be cast under Teeg are very important. In addition since lists such as Khymera's are focused on protecting Teeg, Sweepers ignore shroud making the job a little bit easier. Also by the time you do want to cast a sweeper you can usually get a 2 for one. Shard Pheonix made Teeg cry and it can be fetched via Imperial Recruiter.
I've included more nonbasics to further your options such as removal without making dead cards in other matchups. Cards like Barbarian Ring are purely personal choice.
I've also included more cantrips in the deck. The magic of these cards is that mono red sucks and their are not enough optimal cards to be ran in these slots. They add gravehate, some removal, or just purely a cantrip. The only problem I ever have with these guys is that they make null rod more painful. But mostlikely whatever you would have drawn wouldn't have made a differance. If you are afraid that decks would tutor for null rod more option with these guys in play. I gurante that most decks should automatically get null rod versus akroma.
I keep runing it through my gauntlet playing games here and their. It's been successful but zur is still tough. Even more that some lists are opting for null rod as well. More aggressive zur decks also ruin us. I'm afraid of including flame slash and skred for zur because really whats the point of running sweepers if we're going to burn the most important creatures. Thats a viable option but you seemed happy with the sweepers. Currently with the sweepers you are making the opponenet have dead cards in their hand (creature removal) and gain card advantage from 2 for 1ing a opponent.
I'm trying to include gamble in the list, but thats all for now.
Okay, well I've looked this over a few times, never actually played an Akroma deck, so I may be off on some points, but here are my suggestions.
Fatal Frenzy. This just seems like it should be in here. It's a three-mana card that speeds up the kill by a turn.
Reckless Charge. See above. This one maybe less so, but if you've got an extra mana open when you cast her, this should effectively turn Akroma into a one-turn clock.
Fork has played well in my Xira Arien deck, but I run a lot more good Forkable targets. It doesn't seem like there'd be many occasions on which it'd be worth copying Wildfire, since one is usually crippling enough, and two pushes the damage it deals into Akroma-killing range. If you're looking for counterspell protection, run Red Elemental Blast or Pyroblast. It's worth testing, but depending on what you're going for, there are much better options.
Pyrokinesis/Thunderclap. Both can be free when you need them, Pyro gives you the critical 4 needed to take out Zur, and Thunderclap is nice right before you blast the land off the board.
Aftershock. It can deal with far too many cards to not be good, including both Doran and Null Rod.
Devastation. It just feels like it belongs. It may be too late a drop, or less useful since it hits Akroma too, but again, seems good in the Doran matchup.
Private Mod Note
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EDH FTW
Currently running:
BRG Xira Arien BRG UR Melek, Izzet Paragon UR WUG Jenara, Asura of War WUG WRG Mayael the Anima WRG WB Triad of Fates WB BG Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots BR WR Aurelia the Warleader WR WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores WBG WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG
I had time to test some games against difficult matchups. I won them all (though most of them were very close). I've been testing a sort of hybridized list that definitely isn't optimal yet.
I can tell you that Aftershock and Devastation are phenomenal, and should certainly be played. I'm pretty sure Planar Portal makes the grade too--I usually have more mana than I know what to do with, and this wins games fast if not answered. It's also an out to Hallowed Burial, which we're currently completely cold to.
More importantly, there are several cards I'm dissatisfied with.
Karn, Silver Golem: Irrelevant every single time I've drawn him, which is about 6 times now. He's a miserable win condition, and I don't think he offers enough utility.
Thoughts of Ruin: Useless almost every time I've drawn it--this deck does not maintain cards in hand. The one time I had it AND had cards in hand, it wasn't even the right play. This card is the epitome of situational, and it's not worth screwing around with it. Replace it with Devastation and don't look back.
Pyroclasm/Volcanic Fallout: These are dead almost every game. You have more than enough sweepers. The decks these are good against are slow enough that the X-spells are almost always as good or better. Every game I've had these, they just sat in my hand the entire game. That's too situational. The only match where these are actually particularly good is Gaddock Teeg, and I don't think it's worth running such narrow cards for that matchup. I think single-target burn spells would be better in the majority of situations.
Seer's Sundial:
Extremely clunky. This has drawn me about 1 card per game I've drawn it, on average. Expensive cantrip. Considering that you don't always have land to play, and that sometimes you don't want to play lands because you're setting up an Armageddon, I just don't think this does enough. I'll be testing Book of Rass next, and I'm pretty sure it will be better (though I'm still not sure if it's good enough with 30 life.)
Foriysian Totem/Manlands:
I tested these because you like them so much. They've been just as bad as I expected. I never want to activate these. Ever.
Updated both ordered lists with all the current changes of the deck.
-The "Meta" slots section has been taken down, at least in the lists, as I feel the deck is extremely solid right now. Changes have been made to compensate for problem matchups and none of those changes, so far that I see, have weakened any of the previously favourable matchups.
-The Doran matchup is actually winnable now. I've been playtesting against bimmerbot's Doran list, packed with tutors and removal spells. The games have become much longer, and much more intense. The addition of Devastation, Duplicant, and Aftershock have been incredible in improving this matchup. They are mainstays of the deck now as they provide extremely powerful versatility.
Imperial Recruiter is back in the deck again. The creature count is still very low at 7 bodies, but Recruiter's presence has added that slight edge of versatility that the deck was thirsty for.
-Tuktuk Scrapper was added (instead of Ingot Chewer) to accompany Recruiter as the go-to Artifact destroyer. More on this slot later.
-Goblin Welder got the cut as the cute tricks were simply not enough to warrant his inclusion. The interaction with Duplicant never came up, but that was before the addition of Imperial Recruiter. Welder feels like it should be in this deck, but was never really impressive as I rarely had more than accel in my graveyard. The local meta hasn't had a lot of control lately, and that is one of the matchups where Welder really shines. I'm keeping a close eye on this slot for a potential re-include.
-3 cards from M11 are itching to get into this deck:
-Combust is the new Parch, but on crack. This will likely fill the Pyroclasm slot. "Can't be countered" is extremely useful vs Zur, and the extra point of damage now provides another cheap way of killing Doran. Like Parch, we can still kill other problem generals like Gaddock Teeg. While this card is poor against non-White, aggressive decks, we get another card to fill that spot in Destructive Force.
-Destructive Force is Wildfire's big, meaner brother (Or Devastation's little brother). For only 1 extra mana, an unbuffed Doran or Uril will die, along with mana producing help from Elves or lands. This is not only very easy to abuse in a deck with so much Artifact accel, but Akroma lives through it! This will likely fill the Volcanic Fallout slot, or maybe Earthquake.
-Lastly, Manic Vandal: Red finally gets its own Viridian Shaman/Uktabi Orangutan. Since the deck isn't running Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker to abuse Tuktuk Scrapper's ally clause, Manic Vandal is a straight swap as it's a whole mana cheaper.
That's it for now. Once this summer class is over, I'll be able to update the other sections of the thread with new potential ideas, cards that have proven sub-optimal, etc.
No love for Obliterate? I would think it would be an auto include. Pretty tasty with all the accel. Especially if you include a few choice indestructable elements like Ingot. I've used it extensively in other decks and really liked it a lot.
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Some people like to win MtG matches in the Red Zone. I prefer to win the way God intended: on the stack.
No love for Obliterate? I would think it would be an auto include. Pretty tasty with all the accel. Especially if you include a few choice indestructable elements like Ingot. I've used it extensively in other decks and really liked it a lot.
I considered Obliterate early on, but the fact that it destroys Artifacts too is a problem. It's too symmetrical. The point of the deck is to blow things up asymmetrically; their empty board vs our board of Artifacts. Too many times have I reset the board and the opponent was able to rebuild much quicker than I could, making the sweeper pointless.
Ingot has been kind of underwhelming for me, but I could see its merit with stuff like Obliterate. However, I don't think Obliterate really makes the cut for what this deck wants to do.
Hey glad to see some updates. Currently addressing the doran issue Spells like aftershock have helped. I'm also running Lightning Axe which also deals with Zur quite nicely.
Some questions regarding your testing. I noticed Caldera Hellion did not make it through to the current list. Thoughts? Has the Teeg match-up improved that much that it no longer warrants it. Combust also seems like it has huge potential. It's welcome in my list.
Currently I'm testing Fork and it's new M11 Brother. The idea is that during a match-up such as doran, when they tutor for null rod you can copy the tutor and simply grab removal. It also acts as a counterspell vs the control match-up. This idea has not been tested at all, and I would appreciate your opinions on this idea.
I've also trimmed down on the non-basic's because versus the Roffelos or azusa match-up they are essential. Are each and everyone you are running essential?
What has happened to Pithing Needle?
Finally 3sphere has crept back into your decklist? Has it proven to be not win more after a Mass LD effect?
That's my thoughts now, I have class in 4 hours so I'm off to bed. Hope my input helps
Just noticed the Trinisphere still in the list. It should be Book of Rass, which I just fixed. I just overlooked that when updating the lists is all.
Lightning Axe is cool, but the CDA is a problem that Red can't cope with. I used this in Jaya cause I could abuse Madness stuff or Squee/Anger, but there's nothing like that here.
I'll write more on the other stuff tomorrow, as it's bedtime.
EDIT:
Caldera Hellion: I've thought of this card before, but ultimately decided it wasn't that great. I can't fetch it with Recruiter and I hardly ever have dudes to put towards the Devour ability. It's basically a Flamebreak for 3RR. On that note, Flamebreak might come back in the deck, but right now I'm figuring out the best sweeper to spot removal ratio.
Fork/Reverberate: I'm a huge fan of Fork, but I haven't had too many obvious targets for this card. I suppose I could start keeping it in mind for future games. I'm totally okay with this ending up as a good include, as Fork is one of my favourite Red cards.
Non-basics: I feel they're warranted. While I haven't had a ton of experience against Rofellos, the older lists had no big problem dealing with fast mana dudes. In fact, the current list has better, quicker removal now than it ever has. Why has the non-basic count been a problem against them?
Pithing Needle: I'm still on the fence about this card. I'm not a fan of silver bullets that you can't search up, and I can't help but feel this is just going to be way too random to help me. Still, I've got an open mind about it and it's probably going to be tested soon after the M11 cards come in.
Hey glad to see some updates. Currently addressing the doran issue Spells like aftershock have helped. I'm also running Lightning Axe which also deals with Zur quite nicely.
Some questions regarding your testing. I noticed Caldera Hellion did not make it through to the current list. Thoughts? Has the Teeg match-up improved that much that it no longer warrants it. Combust also seems like it has huge potential. It's welcome in my list.
Currently I'm testing Fork and it's new M11 Brother. The idea is that during a match-up such as doran, when they tutor for null rod you can copy the tutor and simply grab removal. It also acts as a counterspell vs the control match-up. This idea has not been tested at all, and I would appreciate your opinions on this idea.
I've also trimmed down on the non-basic's because versus the Roffelos or azusa match-up they are essential. Are each and everyone you are running essential?
What has happened to Pithing Needle?
Finally 3sphere has crept back into your decklist? Has it proven to be not win more after a Mass LD effect?
That's my thoughts now, I have class in 4 hours so I'm off to bed. Hope my input helps
I considered Obliterate early on, but the fact that it destroys Artifacts too is a problem. It's too symmetrical. The point of the deck is to blow things up asymmetrically; their empty board vs our board of Artifacts. Too many times have I reset the board and the opponent was able to rebuild much quicker than I could, making the sweeper pointless.
Ingot has been kind of underwhelming for me, but I could see its merit with stuff like Obliterate. However, I don't think Obliterate really makes the cut for what this deck wants to do.
You make a reasonable point about the artifact destruction, but the way I see it I can either set up my Obliterate so I can recover better or I'm losing anyways and I need it. If the latter is true they probably have more crap on the table making it asymmetrical anyway and it will both hurt them and save me...and because it can only be countered by Time Stop it is good in a blue environment.
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Some people like to win MtG matches in the Red Zone. I prefer to win the way God intended: on the stack.
It's very possible to recover from a sweeper that hits Artifacts, but it's tedious. Any aggressive deck, or one with a good deal of card draw, can just recover much quicker than I can. Sure, Obliterate would prevent me from dying, but I don't like the idea of fallback cards like that; if I'm not accomplishing my main goal of the deck, I just lose, as I'm mono Red. I'd rather focus on making the deck as consistent at accomplishing what it wants to do as possible before looking into cards like Obliterate.
Do you have any playtesting situations that you could offer on the contrary?
You make a reasonable point about the artifact destruction, but the way I see it I can either set up my Obliterate so I can recover better or I'm losing anyways and I need it. If the latter is true they probably have more crap on the table making it asymmetrical anyway and it will both hurt them and save me...and because it can only be countered by Time Stop it is good in a blue environment.
It's very possible to recover from a sweeper that hits Artifacts, but it's tedious. Any aggressive deck, or one with a good deal of card draw, can just recover much quicker than I can. Sure, Obliterate would prevent me from dying, but I don't like the idea of fallback cards like that; if I'm not accomplishing my main goal of the deck, I just lose, as I'm mono Red. I'd rather focus on making the deck as consistent at accomplishing what it wants to do as possible before looking into cards like Obliterate.
Do you have any playtesting situations that you could offer on the contrary?
While I have played artifact-heavy mono red in the past, I haven't tested your exact build so anything I say about how Obliterate would function in your deck would be speculative at best I'm afraid. I do have plenty of experience playing Obliterate and actually run it in most of my EDH decks that can run it because of it's powerful effect on the game (although it's pretty dead against Zur) but I don't want to start pontificating about situations that are irrelevant because the way a card performs in one deck will be different to how it performs in another. If you've tested it and found it less than ideal then that's fine. I would definitely run it in my mon-R deck, but that may just be preference.
As for the point about recovery...yes, an aggressive deck may have an advantage if you are casting the Obliterate in desperation. But you are going to lose that game anyway or you wouldn't try the Obliterate. I have often cast Obliterate with floating mana so I could get another permanent onto the table (a creature or a mana artifact like Guilded Lotus) to recover quicker. Hell, once I was able to float for Lotus and key, tap and untap lotus, play land and play Shivan (not that Shivan makes too many of my decks, but it was a dragon-themed outing). If you can set it up it can be devastating, but if you can't then you are possibly behind the 8-ball.
Fair enough. As for the other suggestions, Chandra Ablaze: Are you looking to get her ultimate off, or would you use her for the -2 Ability? The ultimate isn't feasible due to there only being 29 red cards I could discard to her, 24 of which would be castable under her ultimate. The -2 Ability seems like it has promise, but I haven't played around with it yet.
Myojin is interesting, and I hadn't considered that before. 10 is quite a bit of mana though. The games I've played are usually decided very early on, but I could see this being great late game against other decks that tend to drag on. Especially ones without counters.
Voltaic Key (mentioned in your above example).. I've considered this in the deck, and it seems since I've been moving towards the higher casting cost accel pieces, this would fit in nicely. I think I'll try this out as soon as I can.
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01. You are a Red Mage.
02. You play 1v1 EDH.
03. You enjoy playing with incredibly powerful cards.
04. You enjoy controlling your opponent.
05. You love Artifacts.
06. You love deckbuilding.
07. You like challenges, such as making mono Red viable in a highlander format.
08. You like fine tuning decks to fit your style.
09. You are competitive.
10. The flavor text on the original Shivan Dragon reminds you of yourself.
When my eyes were first opened to the world of EDH about a year and a half ago by my friend and teammate Evergreen, one of my first inquiries was in regards to mono Red being a viable strategy. Rumor at the time (and mostly still, to this day) was that it could not be done successfully; there was too little card advantage, the blue decks were too consistent, black's tutoring was too powerful. Red was just "too narrow."
My goal was simple: port Stax from Type 1 over to EDH as closely and consistently as possible. I wanted my deck to accomplish what I love to do most in Magic: cripple my opponent over the course of several turns to such a crushing degree that they would have little-to-no chance of recovery. As I had no interest in Multiplayer EDH, I set out to make a competitive deck designed exclusively for 1v1 play.
My first choice was Heartless Hidetsugu. Looking back on old builds, they were far from perfect and the strategies were diluted. Hidetsugu is first and foremost a combo deck and fit awkwardly into my game plan. I was competing between playing Prison Warden, and dropping my win condition.
The second choice was Jaya Ballard, Task Mage. Jaya was a card I used in Hidetsugu whose usefulness as a general occurred to me only after the fact. I spent most of my time with mono Red hand in hand with Jaya, and she accomplished the goal much better than Hidetsugu ever did. She was able to dispatch nearly every competitive general with either of her first two abilities, and had a great late game sweeper effect. However, the inherent card disadvantage that comes along with her, combined with so few tutors for Squee, Goblin Nabob, proved to be a problem that could only be solved so far. To add to this problem, the best sweepers available to Red (Wildfire, Burning of Xinye, Fault Line, Molten Disaster, Starstorm, and now All is Dust, etc) all took out Jaya when you would want her most: early on. Lastly, I simply could not beat decks like Azami, Lady of Scrolls or Zur the Enchanter without adding an unacceptable amount of Blue hate. Jaya could easily be stolen, Arrested, bounced to my hand and then Cliqued away. With so few options available to Red, any kind of hindrance to our game plan or tempo is game breaking. This made my game against other decks so poor that I had to choose between a well rounded deck and a deck overstocked with Blue hate so that I could contend with the most popular color in Magic. Neither of these were choices I wanted to make. I wanted both.
And then, like I had done previously, I looked to my best anti-Blue weapon in Jaya as a potential general herself: Akroma, Angel of Fury. Akroma solves quite literally all the problems I had been struggling with in the deck up until that point:
1. She survives all of the sweepers I want to (and should) be running, either due to Flying or a high 6 of toughness.
2. My previously unwinnable matchups turn around significantly in my favour. Akroma cannot be stolen (keep dreaming, Vedalken Shackles), Arrested, or bounced by traditional means. She turns the difficult matchup of Azami or even Erayo into near bye's due to her inevitability.
3. I can finally justify a large amount of Artifact accel that is not awkwardly matched with the other cards in my deck. My #1 goal is to get Akroma onto the battlefield, and kill in 2 swings. The high amount of accel accomplishes this plan very well, and equips me with the ability to survive mass land destruction spells much better than my opponent.
4. Whereas Jaya forced me into situations of card disadvantage, Akroma provides the opposite opportunity to play huge game changing spells that will X-for-1 my opponents.
With that, I set out to work on the deck list. Let's next take a look at it in its current form.
100 Akroma, Angel of Fury
Land [40]
01-22 Snow-Covered Mountain
23 Arid Mesa
24 Bloodstained Mire
25 Scalding Tarn
26 Wooded Foothills
27 Dust Bowl
28 Ghost Quarter
29 Rishadan Port
30 Strip Mine
31 Wasteland
32 Ancient Tomb
33 Darksteel Citadel
34 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
35 Mishra's Workshop
36 Mouth of Ronom
37 Tectonic Edge
38 Thawing Glaciers
39 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
40 Library of Alexandria
Artifacts [25]
41 Basalt Monolith
42 Coalition Relic
43 Coldsteel Heart
44 Everflowing Chalice
45 Fire Diamond
46 Gauntlet of Power
47 Gilded Lotus
48 Grim Monolith
49 Guardian Idol
50 Khalni Gem
51 Mana Vault
52 Mind Stone
53 Serum Powder
54 Sisay's Ring
55 Thran Dynamo
56 Ur-Golem's Eye
57 Worn Powerstone
59 Expedition Map
60 Icy Manipulator
61 Mishra's Helix
62 Pyrite Spellbomb
63 Rings of Brighthearth
64 Sensei's Divining Top
65 Winter Orb
Colorless [1]
66 All is Dust
Creatures [6]
67 Duplicant
68 Imperial Recruiter
69 Karn, Silver Golem
70 Magus of the Moon
71 Manic Vandal
72 Shard Phoenix
Enchantments [1]
73 Blood Moon
Sorceries [18]
74 Aftershock
75 Boom/Bust
76 Burning of Xinye
77 Decree of Annihilation
78 Destructive Force
79 Demolish
80 Devastation
81 Earth Rift
82 Fissure Vent
83 Flame Slash
84 Molten Rain
85 Pillage
86 Rolling Earthquake
87 Ruination
88 Shattering Spree
89 Stone Rain
90 Sunder from Within
91 Wildfire
92 Burst Lightning
93 Char
94 Fault Line
95 Lightning Bolt
96 Parch
97 Shattering Pulse
98 Skred
99 Volcanic Fallout
100 Akroma, Angel of Fury
Land - Mana [24]
1-22 Snow-Covered Mountain
23 Ancient Tomb
24 Mishra's Workshop
Land - Fetch [5]
25 Arid Mesa
26 Bloodstained Mire
27 Scalding Tarn
28 Thawing Glaciers
29 Wooded Foothills
Land - Free Mana Denial [6]
30 Dust Bowl
31 Ghost Quarter
32 Rishadan Port
33 Strip Mine
34 Tectonic Edge
35 Wasteland
Land - Utility [5]
36 Darksteel Citadel
37 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
38 Library of Alexandria
39 Mouth of Ronom
40 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Acceleration [17]
41 Basalt Monolith
42 Coalition Relic
43 Coldsteel Heart
44 Everflowing Chalice
45 Fire Diamond
46 Gauntlet of Power
47 Gilded Lotus
48 Grim Monolith
49 Guardian Idol
50 Khalni Gem
51 Mana Vault
52 Mind Stone
53 Serum Powder
54 Sisay's Ring
55 Thran Dynamo
56 Ur-Golem's Eye
57 Worn Powerstone
58 All Is Dust
59 Fault Line
60 Rolling Earthquake
61 Shard Phoenix
62 Volcanic Fallout
Mana Denial: 1-for-1 [11]
63 Aftershock
64 Demolish
65 Earth Rift
66 Fissure Vent
67 Manic Vandal
68 Molten Rain
69 Pillage
70 Shattering Pulse
71 Shattering Spree
72 Stone Rain
73 Sunder from Within
Mana Denial: Global [11]
74 Blood Moon
75 Boom/Bust
76 Burning of Xinye
77 Decree of Annihilation
78 Destructive Force
79 Devastation
80 Magus of the Moon
81 Mishra's Helix
82 Ruination
83 Wildfire
84 Winter Orb
85 Burst Lightning
86 Char
87 Duplicant
88 Flame Slash
89 Lightning Bolt
90 Parch
91 Pyrite Spellbomb
92 Skred
Draw, Utility & Search [6]
93 Crystal Ball
94 Expedition Map
95 Icy Manipulator
96 Imperial Recruiter
97 Rings of Brighthearth
98 Sensei's Divining Top
Plan B [1]
99 Karn, Silver Golem
I'll go into the less obvious card choices as I feel many of these should speak for themselves.
Land
Ghost Quarter - The ability to kill Library of Alexandria, Maze of Ith, and Kor Haven is of the utmost importance.
Darksteel Citadel - Synergy with both sides of Boom/Bust, Burning of Xinye, and Devastation. Also useful against opposing Geddon effects.
Mishra's Workshop - 1/3 of our deck is Artifacts. Workshop feels quite at home here, as it should: Red interacts with Artifacts better than any other colour in the game.
Accel
Serum Powder - Currently being tested as an accel piece that can sometimes be used to smooth over bad hands. Since Red has no way of getting out of such hands, redundancy of card choice is necessary. While that doesn't always work, Serum Powder can, theoretically, help throw away an unimpressive hand and get us closer to that explosive start we're hoping for.
Khalni Gem - I've gotten a lot of questions about this card and the obvious drawback. There are, however, some interesting tricks to be used with this card. First, you must return 2 lands only if you have them. This can enter the battlefield while you control 1 or 0 lands with no drawback. Second, it helps you set up for a mass land wipe by returning lands you want to replay to your hand. Third, you can sometimes 'net' mana with Ancient Tomb or Mishra's Workshop, or attack with a man land and then replay it to function as a blocker. Fourth, it returns lands tapped under Winter Orb. All in all, yes, getting the Gem destroyed sucks but it simply has not come up enough to outweigh the benefits.
Mana Denial: 1-for-1
To shore up repeated issues vs Black decks, Null Rod, Ensnaring Bridge, and Sword of Fire and Ice, I am making a return to the original style of heavy mana denial that the deck started with in January 2009. The issue with this strategy lied in the generals Heartless Hidetsugu and Jaya Ballard, Task Mage, and that was for two specific reasons.
1.] Both were just weak to mono Blue decks. They both had a hard time dealing with counterspells that stopped our LD. The blue decks would then use draw spells to hit more land, making the LD plan ineffective.
2.] If our LD was able to get a foothold, and incrementally cripple their manabase, these generals were both poor at capitalizing on that position. We could never kick them while they were down; they too often had the time to recover and get back into the game.
The Red Queen solves both of these issues elegantly. She's a frighteningly fast clock when dropped and undealt with. Also, we have a natural edge vs counterspell decks. If they spend their counters on our LD, they won't be stopping our accel and eventually we'll drop Akroma and win. If they counter our accel, the LD will get through, making things very hard for them, and slowing their game. This buys us time for Akroma to comes down and seal the deal.
After countless hours of testing with my teammate Evergreen, as well as MCR, I have learned that the best way to shore up the weakness to black decks is to heavily deny them of mana early on in the game so as to prevent them from comboing off. The addition of cards like Demolish and Sunder from Within help cut them off of accel as well as double as additional hate vs Null Rod and co. as mentioned above.
Mana Denial: Global
Devastation - A new addition to the deck that has won me more games outright than any of the other Wildfire effects. This is the grand daddy, and he is a staple. Also, great vs Doran.
Destructive Force - A nice addition to the deck, it's basically Wildfire's big brother. Another great card vs Doran.
Mishra's Helix - One of the most powerful cards in the deck. This card is impossible to beat for some decks, and often buys you so much time when you untap with it that even if they eventually answer it you've won anyway.
Winter Orb - Speaking of winning games, this card fits with the style of the deck perfectly. The high amount of Accel in the deck ensures it always hurts our opponent more than us. I once had a game vs Sharuum the Hegemon that involved Helix and a 2cc Accel piece. They had Basalt Monolith/Rings of Brighthearth, but they could never capitalize on their infinite mana as their outlets were Sorcery speed. It was a race for who could draw more mana. Every turn was intense as we were topdecking lands and simply passing the turn. And then I drew Orb. Now the 2cc Accel piece allowed me to net a mana every turn, and eventually cast Akroma who was lethal in 3 turns. Orb has an absolutely crippling effect on your opponent. I have never been unhappy to see it.
Spot Removal
The quality of removal available to this deck has shot up significantly since RoE (Flame Slash and now Galvanic Blast to name a couple). It is imperative that we can easily and efficiently deal with Zur, Rofellos, Gaddock Teeg, and Braids in a timely manner. Most of the removal here can deal with Zur and below, except for Lightning Bolt, which may be replaced by Galvanic Blast.
Draw, Utility & Search
Crystal Ball - A new addition to the deck, currently being tested. I see a lot of potential in this card, in that it helps us dig closer (in ways that Sensei's Divining Top cannot) to whatever type of card we need at the time.
Icy Manipulator - Another new addition to the deck. I have been testing this card extensively and it handles a lot of situations. It doubles as a Rishadan Port that hits Artifacts, too. It keeps Rofellos tapped on upkeep until you can find removal. It prevents Iona from killing you until you can find All is Dust, Duplicant, or get enough mana to morph Akroma and flip her over. It prevents Doran from beating you to death. It prevents Zur from getting Solitary Confinement. See where I'm going with this?
Imperial Recruiter - Supports a small tutor package which lets us deal with several board state problems. Manic Vandal and Shard Phoenix are here for this very reason.
Rings of Brighthearth - This is a card I'm currently experimenting with right now. It has interactions with 22 cards in the deck as well as The Queen herself, always ensuring you can use that colorless mana to pump her firebreathing. This could be underwhelming and far too situational, but that's what testing is for.
Expedition Map - The best tutor available to us (sorry Gamble). Played first turn, this ensures an Ancient Tomb or Mishra's Workshop turn 3, which means potentially hard casting Akroma on turn 4 (this is not, in fact, uncommon). Playing vs Control? Get a man land. Have Boom/Bust in hand? Get a Fetch/Wasteland/Citadel. Are you racing? Get Hall of the Bandit Lord. Planning a Geddon effect? Get Thawing Glaciers. The possibilities are numerous with this card.
Plan B
Karn, Silver Golem? It really does feel like Type 1 Stax, now! Karn has awesome synergy with this deck. A mass land wipe spell may mean waiting to play Akroma for another few turns, but Karn's very workable 5 casting cost ensures we're not just playing draw-go with Sisay's Ring and Gilded Lotus on the table. Quite possibly the coolest thing Karn makes possible is the following scenario: Attack into their creatures with Karn, forcing the -4/+4 trigger. Animate their Artifacts into creatures, then play a sweeper. Wildfire is the most crushing play, here, as it likely killed all their creatures, their manabase, and ensures (with a little help from Karn) that they will not recover. The game should be yours shortly after.
With a base understanding of what the deck is trying to do, and the key players in it, let's now move to the decks strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
1. Mono Red has the unique position to punish multi-colored decks better than any other colour with incredibly powerful tools like Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, and Ruination. The one sided nature of these cards make Mono Red a frightening adversary.
2. Akroma herself is also unique. She's an efficient and powerful answer to the heavy control decks that take up the top tiers of EDH. Her protection makes her very hard to deal with, and her uncounterability ensures she will always resolve when cast. Lastly, the ability to play her as a morph from the Command Zone has proven to be an invaluably unique ability. I've had opponents make the mistake of forgetting she's capable of this and made decisions contingent on her not entering the battlefield for several more turns, which is always to their detriment.
3. This deck does not rely on creatures in the same way that most EDH decks do. The low amount of creatures in this deck effectively renders the many removal spells typically found in EDH decks useless. Because of this, we can "Wrath" the board with almost no negative consequences. Not only can Akroma survive a Wildfire effect and most sweepers, the high Accel count in the deck let's us recover much quicker than our opponent will.
4. What Mono Red lacks in card draw, tutoring, and counterspells is made up for in sheer, brutal power. No one can annihilate the board and survive it better than Red can. This deck, in particular, plays on that advantage incredibly well. We can blow up creatures and lands all day and simply not care at all.
Weaknesses
1. Null Rod. It's a serious problem. We can push on under it, but not very well. Kill this ASAP or we will just drown. This weakness is being addressed by the modal LD added to the deck.
2.
Gaddock Teeg. This is no longer the perceived weakness I previously thought it was. As it stands, I have a positive record against Teeg. Shard Phoenix has made a huge difference in this matchup, as well as the increase in spot removal.3. Black based decks. Akroma is just cold to a lot of the tools Black has available to them, like tutoring for the right answer to what we're doing or simply being able to efficiently kill Akroma over and over. We really need to concentrate on your prison elements as much as possible. Sometimes we can just gun for Akroma and steal a win, quickly, but that's usually not a good route unless they've got 3 or fewer cards in their hand at the time. This weakness is being addressed by the overall addition of 1-for-1 LD added to the deck.
4. Doran, the Siege Tower. Doran capitalizes on several weaknesses of the deck very, very well. First, Doran is hard to kill. A 5 toughness can be a problem. Second, Doran uses Null Rod. Third, Doran's ability slows Akroma's clock. Fourth, Doran has a very quick clock, himself, and can get a lot of damage in by the time we get our engine going. Fifth, Ensnaring Bridge. Sixth, Meekstone. Seventh, the ability to kill Akroma with Black removal. Try to wipe the board and follow up with some mass LD to seal his grave.
5. Mass Artifact destruction. We invest a lot into the Accel we play, and while the deck can still function without it, it helps a lot. It's a sad day when all of our precious, powerful Artifacts hit the 'yard. Do not lose hope when this happens! You can rebuild, but its going to be arduous to say the least.
This plan has now become outdated and unnecessary. It is incredibly hard to find key meta cards when we want them, given the lack of draw and tutor-ability in mono Red. Rather than attempting to build an advantage over a particular set of decks in any given meta, I have abandoned that plan in favor of a more consistently, universal hate machine.
The plan is now to increase our chances of brutalizing our opponents overall development as much as possible in the first several turns of the game as consistently as possible. Akroma comes down and seals the deal shortly after, all business-as-usual like.
Do not try and build this for your meta, it will not work. Red cannot afford to be so narrow. Embrace modal cards. Embrace cards that are usable in a wide variety of game states. Embrace consistency. Do not get caught up with cute cards.
Lands
Hall of the Bandit Lord - The ETBT drawback always hurt more than the Haste ever helped.
Spinerock Knoll - Win more. Seriously, getting this Wasted is awful. By the time you're activating this, you're already winning. Rather it be a Mountain.
Man Lands - Unnecessary. The damage these did was inconsequential and was not enough to matter in a consistent amount of games. They do double as Edict-bait, but I would rather have another Mountain anyway.
Sandstone Needle/City of Traitors/Crystal Vein - These ultimately were cut due to their card disadvantage. This decks goal is not to combo off, but to gain control of the game over several turns. Having our lands stick around turn after turn is essential to casting Artifact accel upon Artifact accel. These are great for Hidetsugu, but not for The Queen.
Accel
Gauntlet of Might - Though it pains me to take this card out, I have recently had a string of situations involving a Moon effect, where this card became a liability and helped my opponent more than it hurt them (notice that this does not happen with Gauntlet of Power, due to the Basic Land clause). I will consider putting this back in after some months of testing without it.
Dreamstone Hedron - Too cute. Too expensive. Win more.
General 3cc Accel - Let's break it down like this: 2cc accels takes you from 2 to 4 within a turn, turning on all our 1-for-1 Mana Denial, and gives us 1/2 of our investment back right away. Worn Powerstone/Sisay's Ring/Ur-Golem's Eye all take us from 4 to 7 within a turn, turning on Global Mana Denial, and gives us 1/2 of our investment back right away. 3cc accel like Darksteel Ingot and Forisyian Totem give us 1/3 of our investment back, right away. They are only useful over 4cc accel when Teeg is out, or when we are being mana denied and can't reach 4 mana. Kill Teeg, and be the better mana denial deck. Leave these choices to girly mages who need to be cautious.
Prismatic Lens/Star Compass/Heart of Ramos - Earlier builds of this deck used the above cards, but I found the need for 2cc accel to be minimal. I traded these out for the higher casting cost accel and have never regretted it once.
Journeyer's Kite - Simply too slow for what it does.
Braid of Fire - This card never actually did anything useful. Most of the cards in our deck are cast on our main phase. Sure, you can get some free Instants off of it, and yeah it pumps and Morphs Akroma. But we should never be hurting for mana to cast spells with, and if we've done our job right, Akroma should be killing in 2 swings anyway. Simply not worth the small advantage that it gives us.
Draw/Utility/Search
Memory Jar - While this card is explosive, it is not the kind of card I want to see in those early stages of the game where I'm trying to establish the mana gap. Like Mind's Eye, this card does not accomplish what the deck wants to do.
Mind's Eye - This is not what the deck wants to do. It conflicts with the gameplan and is costly and mana intensive. I love this card, but this is not where it belongs.
Sweepers
Molten Disaster/Pyroclasm/Earthquake/Starstorm/Crater Hellion - The need for sweepers has decreased since focusing more on early aggressive mana denial. Only the best sweepers have been kept, and these aren't them.
Inferno - Too expensive, kills Akroma if she's out, can't be cast under Teeg. It does kill Doran and Dragons, but we have better ways of dealing with them.
Flamebreak - There aren't too many creatures we want to kill with Flamebreak that can't just be killed with Fallout/Phoenix. I always felt this wasn't as great as it should be, and have never missed it.
Mana Denial/Prison Elements
Rack and Ruin - Honestly? Most of the time the opponent only has 1 Artifact out that we want to kill. I've taken this out for Shattering Pulse.
Tectonic Break - One of the most underperforming cards in the deck, I'm taking this out for now in lieu of the increase in 1-for-1 Mana Denial and seeing how I feel about it.
Thoughts of Ruin - While I've only had it be a terrible topdeck once, and it has won me several games when it was good, the inconsistent nature of this card disqualifies it in the newer, more streamlined build of the deck. Absolute dependency must be achieved in each card for the sake of consistency, and this does not provide that.
Uba Mask - This is largely ineffective vs aggro decks (a weakness), and great vs combo/control decks (which should be favorable).
Trinisphere - Simply a poor choice in EDH, and underwhelming.
Wake of Destruction - A powerful card, but the hardest matches I've faced have all been multi-colored. This was just never as good as it looked on paper.
Smokestack - Sadly, this just wasn't that great in testing. It was too slow and could never be abused to the extent that Stax, or even Braids can.
Tangle Wire - This card has been great for me in Rofellos, due to the ability to consistently and effectively capitalize on the few turns Wire buys us. That just wasn't the case, here.
Flowstone Flood - Some might have thought this was a glaring omission in the main deck, that I somehow just forgot about this incredibly powerful, game changing card. I did not. Let me first say that I know first hand how broken this card is. It has single-handedly won me many, many games. However, looking back on those games, they were matches this current version of the deck would have no problem beating. Flood has also lost me many games, as I was left with no hand to capitalize on the damage Flood did for me. Flood is an "all-in" kind of card, no bones about it. We are essentially 1-for-2ing our opponent every time we play it, and at 30 life we can only keep it up for so long anyway. This was better used in Jaya due to Jaya only costing 3, and access to Squee. Let us not forget that our general costs 8 mana. 8. Mana. The consistency of the deck depends on being able to use every single card available to us to their absolute fullest, and a critical part of that is our accel. Flood is throwing that consistency out in favor of killing a few lands. I have reflected and thought about this issue more than any other single factor involving this deck, and until Flood starts showing up in slinky lingerie with Chipotle in one hand and Blade Runner: The Final Cut in the other, she's just not good enough for this deck.
Spot Removal
Urza's Rage - Similar to the two below.
Banefire - Better than Demonfire, but still just not enough to make the cut. A poor removal spell, and just inconsistent with our primary means of Akroma damage.
Demonfire - Going Hellbent almost never happened, and I realized I kept this card in for the art more than anything. I reluctantly let it go, but I've never once missed it.
Creatures/Planeswalkers
Solemn Simulacrum - Underwhelming, and out of place. No way to abuse him over and over. I'd rather have an accel piece that sticks around after a Global Mana Denial spell.
Chandra Ablaze/Chandra Nalaar - There seriously better be a good Planeswalker in Return to Mirrodin, otherwise heads will roll. Chandra is so crushingly lackluster. Nalaar costs too much for what she does (just because we have a lot of mana available to us doesn't mean we shouldn't pick the most efficient role players), and is just worse than other sweepers. The single only time I can see her being worth it is against Jhoira of the Ghitu, post board-sweeper. Ablaze, while having a cool 2nd ability, just doesn't fit well with our gameplan. Only about 1/4 of our deck can be effectively discarded to any benefit, and those are cards we'd rather just cast outright.
Covetous Dragon - This was me being nostalgic and trying to rekindle those old Urza's Saga/Wildfire days.
Gorilla Shaman - Most of the Artifacts we want to destroy cost 2 and up, and Shaman was either killed too quickly or just never did enough to matter. Heretic was always better.
Lodestone Golem - This seemed like an auto-include for the deck, but it was just never impressive.
Siege-Gang Commander - The damage done by SGC is mostly irrelevant since we're gunning for 21+ general damage anyway. It's ability to double as spot removal is quite enticing, but is this really necessary with all the sweepers and other removal we have? Is this better than Shard Phoenix or Crater Hellion? Though I may be proven wrong in the future, my verdict for now is "likely not."
Lastly, I'll cover some cards yet to be tested that have potential use in the deck.
Aether Flash - I think this card has tremendous potential. It single-handedly prevents certain decks from winning or functioning while it is in play (Braids, Isamaru, Rofellos, Erayo, aggro decks, token decks, etc). The downside is it can't be cast under Teeg (we'd need to kill Teeg first, then play this before he's recast, which might be a problem), and it cuts us off of playing Akroma as a morph creature. Still, I think the benefits could outweigh those very specific downsides.
Blinkmoth Urn - Who said you could have too much mana? This could be a soft answer to Null Rod while also serving as accel. It's an interesting card that should be explored.
Chain Reaction - Another great sweeper that we might want to use. There may be times where we'd want to use this over Phoenix or Hellion, but that hasn't come up yet.
Damping Matrix - This cuts off the abilities of 11 of our cards, plus Akroma. But, like with Aether Flash, certain decks cannot function while this is in play, the biggest of which is Jhoira. This is also great at cutting Black off of Oblivion Stone or Disk, which can elect Akroma as the Mayor of Frowntown. Might be too narrow, but it could have a spot.
Dragon Roost - Every nerdy fiber of my entire being stands on end when I'm looking at the things I could do with this card. This could be really stellar in the mirror (should that ever happen), and against slower decks.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn/Kozilek, Butcher of Truth/Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - These may be win more, but I'm damn tempted to try them out. Other than Rofellos/Azusa/Jhoira, the only other deck I can think of realistically casting these guys is this one. Kozilek would be tested first, then Emrakul, and lastly Ulamog. When I test these guys, it will be alongside Eye of Ugin (which tutors for Duplicant and Karn!) and Eldrazi Temple.
Fissure Vent - We like 2-for-1s in mono Red, and this card should always be just that.
Fork - While this deck is far from a reactive one, Fork could have some interesting targets (Wildfire being one of them). Other uses could be using this as a Counterspell to protect an important spell.
Pithing Needle - Probably the better answer to Jhoira. This card should always be useful. I just haven't found the room for its inclusion yet.
Platinum Angel - With the right protection, I think Platinum Angel can be good. I have my eye on her pretty closely, as she fits with the style of the deck and can just beat certain decks outright. While I'm not one for playing a defensive role in Mono Red, she does fly above most of our sweeper damage, and assists Akroma in keeping the clock quick. Might be win more?
All in all, Akroma is a blast to play. While the prison elements of the deck may incite some groans from the more casually oriented, there's just something about playing an 8 mana Firebreathing Angel of Destruction that makes the Timmy in all of us wide-eyed with awe. I'm very proud of this deck, and want to see her evolve into the best form she can be. Any and all suggestions are welcomed with open arms.
Thanks
In closing, some thanks are in order.
Evergreen: My friend and teammate who I've played more EDH with than anyone else by a country mile. I wouldn't know EDH to be the deck builder's paradise that it is if it weren't for you. Countless hours of testing and long nerdy talks on the phone have made Akroma what she is today, and that could not have happened without your support.
Bimmerbot: 2nd only to Evergreen, I've tested with Bimmerbot a great deal on both MWS as well as my kitchen table. Your patience through my many Wildfires and Mishra's Helixes gave me a chance to test this deck out in its various forms, and I thank you for that.
Matt Murphy & Shuffle and Cut Games: For providing competitive 1v1 EDH tournaments in Southern California and giving us all a place to test our ideas out. I can't wait to start showing the French what a real EDH Tournament looks like.
-Book of Rass
-Solemn Simulacrum
-Mind's Eye
-Dreamstone Hedron
-Memory Jar
-Gauntlet of Might
-Tectonic Break
-Thoughts of Ruin
-Rack and Ruin
-Crater Hellion
-Earthquake
-Starstorm
-Pyroclasm
-Tuktuk Scrapper
+Serum Powder
+Crystal Ball
+Icy Manipulator
+Rings of Brighthearth
+Shard Phoenix
+Demolish
+Earth Rift
+Fissure Vent
+Molten Rain
+Stone Rain
+Sunder from Within
+Shattering Pulse
+Volcanic Fallout
+Manic Vandal
+Destructive Force
-Goblin Welder
-Seer's Sundial
-Molten Disaster
-Uba Mask
+Devastation
+Imperial Recruiter
+Tuktuk Scrapper
+Aftershock
Wake of Destruction >> Ruination
Not of this World >> Duplicant
Main
Urza's Rage >> Crater Hellion
Banefire >> Rolling Earthquake
Foriysian Totem >> Basalt Monolith
Trinisphere >> Uba Mask
Dread Statuary >> Library of Alexandria or Ghost Town
Ghitu Encampment >> Tectonic Edge
Mishra's Factory >> Mouth of Ronom
Lightning Greaves >> Not of This World
3 Meta Slots
Lightning Bolt
Sudden Shock or Magma Jet
Book of Rass
40th Land
Spinerock Knoll
Meta Mass LD
Wake of Destruction
Ever since you posted on the Godo thread that you were working on this, I have been interested. From what you said in that thread, I was able to reverse-engineer this deck to about 75 cards, and from there I just said WWMED, and fleshed out the rest. That said, I must not be a true believer, as I think of the 25 slots I had to guess on, I got about 3 right. That said, I have been able to test a divergent build of this baby, so The results may be of use. I'll start with disagreements I have with your list, and then with things I have tested that you have omitted.
Lands:
Ghost Quarter: Really? I thought about this card for maybe 2 seconds, and decided it wasn't good enough. It certainly isn't good enough to get played over Tectonic Edge. Everything that you want to deal with is quite obviously non-basic, which the edge can handle. The exception here is after you cast a sweeper. The only one here that matters is Maze, as for Kor Haven to matter, and not just be a waste of time waiting for you to draw Pillage or some such, they need to develop, which will turn on the edge. If they rip maze, they rip maze. You have a ton of other ways to answer it, instead of running a bad 1-for-2.
Man-Lands: I never thought to test these, so I am speaking purely on theory here, but do they even do anything? Factory, maybe, is okay, as it is an artifact for Welder (more on him later), but Dread Sanctuary just costs a ton to activate, especially in the aggro match-up where you want him to trade with something. That said, do we really want to be trading land-drops for dorks? The Encampment is probably the best of the bunch, but I'm not really sold.
Dwarven Ruins: I would think this would fall under the same category as City of Traitors and company.
Hall of the Bandit Lord: It's cute, but 3 life is steep. If our game plan is working, they won't be resisting us in any case, so the extra turn should be irrelevant. If our plan isn't in motion yet, the only decks that really scare us are heavy black ones, which can just kill her on her hasty turn as easily as they could on theirs. Even if they can't, they soak up 6 and then off her, or they are locked out and die a turn sooner. Obviously, the extra turn is important, but Hall's drawback when it isn't casting Angry Emma is very steep.
Thawing Glaciers: I know we take Card Advantage where we can get it, but this thing is a tempo black hole the likes of which Muse could write a song about. For that reason I don't play it, but I can understand why you do.
Artifacts:
Pyrite Spellbomb: I've been on the fence with this card for a while. Is it any good? I will test it, as the cycling seems nice.
Memory Jar: Okay... I know I'm about to get punched through the internet for this, but I did not like Jar in this deck. The more I think about that, the more I have no idea why it is, though. But in all my games playing Akroma (I'd guess I'm at 60ish by now), I never wanted to cast it when I drew it. My current build is running a ton of meta-junk, though, so I might go bare-bones and start over with just plain good cards to see what happens.
Lightning Grieves: This looks a lot of Hall of the Bandit Lord to me. It's cute, and the extra turn off the clock is nice, but it doesn't do enough. Grieves is definitely better than Hall though.
Trinisphere: I don't like this at all. As awesome as turn 1 3-ball is, this loses a lot of value after that. I'd run SoR over this, as it's effect applies to cards that cost 3 or more, and we are naturally built to make a billion mana. EDH just isn't the format for this card.
Creatures:
Karn: I cut Karn a while bad, and haven't missed him. This deck doesn't need a plan B, as there is one card that can reliably tuck Akroma
Sorceries:
Banefire: I'd run another sweeper over this (and I do). Doming the opponent for a ton is nice, but likely unneeded with Emma fluttering in the wings, waiting to be unleashed to slaughter the innocent masses after we set their town on fire.
Pyroclasm: Just didn't do enough for me. Killing a bunch of mana dorks is cool, but in testing that just didn't happen enough to warrant an otherwise useless card.
Instants:
Fault Line: Instant speed X is nice, but not being able to hit fliers has been bugging me with the sweepers we have. I may try this out though.
Volcanic Fallout: Same deal as pyroclasm, just didn't do enough.
Rack and Ruin: Fine card, I prefer Shattering Pulse here, though. Either works fine.
Urza's Rage: I'm just an idiot. This is getting in ASAP.
Okay. Now the part that actually has a bit of signifigance: results of other cards.
Lands:
Library of Alexandria: I have no idea how you can say that we need to take what Card Advantage we can get, and then not include this. This belongs in every EDH deck. At worst, we drop it and it taps for colorless, and the upside is certainly better than Dread Sanctuary.
Vesuva: I'll admit, this is probably too cute, but at worst it is a ETBT snow-mountain, which is generally a little better than Dwarven Sanctuary, unless you needed to sacrifice it. It is awesome, however, copying a Strip effect, or Shop/Tomb or Library. I'm still torn on this card, however.
Kher Keep: This does in 1 card what your man-land package does in 3, and I think it does it better. Kher Keep acts as a Maze of Ith that you can store up if you don't get attacked, and slows down aggro enough until you can clear the board. It doesn't deter 1/1s and 2/2s, but it does it job more than once, as well, and doesn't cost us a land drop to do it.
Mouth of Ronom: Just more removal, likely comparable to Dread Sanctuary, though it can't beat down.It's been solid for me, to the point that I've been considering adding Barbarian Ring.
Ghost Town: Holy jumpin' is this is awesome. It's like... Bobby Orr scoring while in mid-air awesome (to the non-hockey fans out there, think Michael Jordan's famous buzzer beater, or Bacon.) It does pretty much everything this deck wants. It doesn't come into play tapped. It can hide before a sweeper. It sets up a draw engine with Seers Sundial. It bounces every turn under Winter Orb. If you asked it too, I bet it would even throw in a set of knives for only the cost of shipping. I'm even considering Undiscovered Paradise so I can have two of the effect, but the mandatory bounce on UP makes it a little less enticing.
Tectonic Edge: I covered this above, but in summery, it's way better than Ghost Quarter.
Boseju, Who Shelters All: There is relatively little cost to running this, and it is a very powerful effect. If almost no-one is playing blue in your meta I can see cutting it, but that seems unlikely, going into an unknown metagame.
Artifacts:
Cantripping Graveyard Removal: This is a 3 or 0 set of cards, I think, and they aren't terrible. Worst case they cycle. Solid role players, really good if graveyard strategies are more prominent than normal. That said, they are really sideboard material, and we all know how sideboards and EDH go together.
Pithing Needle/Cursed Totem/Damping Matrix: Also 3 or 0, I think, though you could maybe run needle on it's own. These shore up the Jhoria matchup, and have splash impact elsewhere, but again they are sideboard material. On the bright side, if we ever do get sideboard for the tournaments here (and I am a firm believer that we should have them) we have 6 cards out of 10, already.
Smokestack: I love this card. While it is true that we do not have the means to break the symmetry of this card like Stax does in vintage, our deck is built to exploit it. It is easy enough to keep around until it cripples the enemy (shout out to my man Vroman), and then we can just sac it off, or we can go nuclear with it for a total reset if we are behind.
Uba Mask: The card advantage this creates can not be ignored. I've had games where this has blanked 9 out of 10 of my opponents draws, and even when it is bad, we still hit a few draw phases, know every card they have available to them, and can force awkward plays. This is all on top of the advantages you outlined.
Creatures:
Viashino Heretic: The goal of this deck is X-for-1s, and this guy is good at it. Interchangeable with Shattering Pulse, the latter of which is preferable if running Totem/Matrix.
Dwarven Wasteland Team: Same story as heretic. Walking X-for-1s that force an answer or cripple a good chunk of decks. That said, they are a bit redundant (though not that bad) with the moon effects, so I may try cutting one for Wake of Destruction.
Sorceries:
Rolling Earthquake: The best sweeper in the deck. I have no idea how you cut this but left in regular old earthquake.
Fissure Vent: It's a blowout. Play it.
Devastation: This card is perfect for this deck. We have so much artifact mana, and so few creatures (my creature heavy version plays a whopping 7) that is our version of balance. Obviously, this costs a ton more, but it pulls our butts out of the fire if things get bad, and it allows us to cement a strong board position beforesending in Emma on mop-up duty.
Instants:
Sudden Shock: The Jhoria match-up is so abysmal, any little bit helps, and this goes a long way. It also kills every general we would want to kill, save Zur.
Lavaball Trap: This is almost Wildefire/Burning of Xinye #3. 8 mana isn't very hard to get to, and the effect is a blowout. Plus, once in a while you get to trap it, and that feels dirtier than a Tijuana hooker.
*Exhales*
This is all I have for now. Now that your list is posted, I will make an effort to incorporate a few things and resume testing. If any deck can make an opponent run as fast as they can just to stand still, it is this baby.
~Lennon "tl;dr" Marx
Beautiful deck, beautiful writeup. It's clear that you've invested a lot of time and brainpower into this deck.
I'm going to poke at it a bit. I expect you have good reason for most (if not all) of these cards, but I'd like to hear you talk about them a bit.
Dread Statuary/Ghitu Encampment/Mishra's Factory/Guardian Idol/Foriysian Totem:
Manlands seem so pointless in this deck, which always wins through general damage. The damage they do seems almost totally irrelevant and there isn't any equipment for them to carry, so they're basically here as blockers, I guess? Foriysian Totem and Mishra's Factory seem okay for that purpose, but the others seem weak. Blinkmoth Nexus seems like it would be better in this role (also, like Mishra's Factory, it's another artifact for Welder). I think you could find better cards to replace the others.
Hall of the Bandit Lord/Lightning Greaves: How important is haste, really? It's been my experience that Akroma doesn't need it: by the time she comes out, the difference between a 2-turn clock and a 3-turn clock is rarely significant. If your opponent can answer her at all, they'll be able to whether she has haste or not. Furthermore, the shroud from Lightning Greaves is usually pointless--a large majority of the targeted removal that can actually target Akroma is instant-speed, making Greaves not so good.
I suppose that Hall of the Bandit Lord is passable, as it doesn't take up a spell slot, but I still don't think it's strong--the benefit may not outweigh the disadvantages. I think Lightning Greaves is a poor use of a spell slot--the haste is not so important, and the shroud is not so good. I'd rather play Not Of This World.
Trinisphere:
I've tried this in several EDH decks (including Akroma), and have always been severely disappointed. I find that it just doesn't do very much against most decks. It's only really good if you've managed to manascrew someone with a Wildfire effect, and it's probably win-more at that point.
Banefire/Parch/Urza's Rage:
Seems like weak spot removal. I guess Banefire is versatile, but it's also very inefficient. Of the list of common generals you want to kill, the only thing this kills that Lightning Bolt wouldn't is Zur, and this is probably too slow against Zur (it also doesn't kill Gaddock Teeg). Bolt seems much better.
Parch also seems to be here just to kill Zur. Unless Zur is extremely prevalent in your meta, I'd rather play something with a little more punch in every other matchup, like Magma Jet or Sudden Shock.
Urza's Rage seems almost strictly worse than Sudden Shock most of the time.
I also find some of your meta choices to be rather weak, but I guess if your meta is skewed enough...I'd like to see a "complete list" of what you'd bring to an unknown meta though, and possible substitutions based on that. My list would include more than 3 cards off of here, as I think some of them (Uba Mask, Duplicant, Sudden Shock, Not Of This World) ought to replace other cards on your list.
Here are a bunch of other cards you didn't mention anywhere that I'd like your opinion on.
Forgotten Cave:
Seems like an autoinclude to me.
Barbarian Ring: When do you hit threshold, on average? If it's before turn 8 or so, this is probably better than a mountain.
Basalt Monolith/Extraplanar Lens/Coalition Relic/Darksteel Ingot:
These all seem like passable accelerators. Basalt Monolith is not much worse than Grim Monolith. Lens is very powerful, despite dissynergy with the Gauntlets. It has some synergy with an early Wildfire. Coalition Relic is quite strong, even in mono-colored decks. If it's good enough for Evergreen to play in Iname, it seems like it might be worth a look here. Darksteel Ingot is pretty tame, but it does survive sweepers and produce colored mana (and it's nice with Karn).
Wheel of Fortune:
Sure, it's sort of risky, but it's a hugely powerful effect, and you are always looking to draw cards. I've had a lot of success with Wheel in mono-red decks. In my experience, it is almost always possible to turn it to your advantage. It's not as good with cards you want to hold onto (like sweepers), but I would consider playing this over a weaker sweeper like Fault Line.
Lightning Bolt/Magma Jet/Spark Spray/Aftershock:
Bolt is great. I prefer it to Flame Slash (though I'd play both)--instant speed counts for a lot. You can frequently timewalk someone in the early game by Bolting in response to an equip or the like. Magma Jet is not quite card advantage, but it's very close. I prefer it to any other Shock. Spark Spray is very strong. When it's useful, it does the job at the best possible price, and when it's not it replaces itself painlessly. Aftershock is not nearly so efficient as the other 3, but it's exceptionally versatile. Demolish may not be worthwhile, but it's certainly good enough when it hits creatures as well.
Book of Rass:
This seems stupid, but have you considered it? Seer's Sundial is just not a very good card. If you're playing Seer's Sundial, and happy with it, I'm pretty sure Book of Rass would be an improvement. It's actually a pretty sweet card.
Mycosynth Lattice:
This almost certainly is stupid, as it does nothing on its own, but it's so appealing. It turns Karn, Shattering Spree, and Goblin Welder into massive, game-winning bombs. It also gives you a second way to destroy enchantments, some of which absolutely wreck you. I guess it also supercharges Akroma's firebreathing a bit. My left brain knows that it's probably not good enough...but my right brain thinks it would be awesome. I think it could be worth testing.
More lands:
Have you considered running more lands than usual? The first solid Akroma list I saw was by frankwu, and contained about 55 lands. The idea was to always make land drops, despite the lack of card draw. I found this strategy to be quite effective. I'm not saying you should add 15 lands, but if you often start missing land drops before you play Akroma, it could well be worth squeezing in a few more.
I'll also just say that I like a lot of the cards on your "to test" list. I think the likeliest cards are Pithing Needle, the whole Eldrazi package, and perhaps Blinkmoth Urn (with the Eldrazi) and Fissure Vent. I think that all of these could be good enough to make the cut. I'm particularly interested in the Eldrazi, because I think they collectively constitute a viable alternate win condition, something this deck otherwise lacks. (However, I'm pretty sure that if one doesn't make the cut, it's going to be Emrakul--Ulamog is a lot more castable and useful in this deck). I would try to test these cards out and find room for them sooner rather than later, because I suspect they'll be keepers.
That's all I got for now.
As previously stated, I'm not a fan of using case scenarios to back up the inclusion of certain cards. However, there were a couple of instances against the local Sharuum player involving Library of Alexandria that could have gotten out of hand had it not been for Ghost Quarter. In the first, his opener had Library, and mine had Ghost Quarter. Whew, close call. In the second example, he got first turn Library again! Must be nice. I drew my card for the turn and, surprise! It was Ghost Quarter. Now, circumstances were just in my favour in the first example, and I mised hard in the second. The point is, had GQ been Edge, he could have drawn 3-4 cards before Edge could come online. The "needs 4 lands in play" stipulation just makes Edge awful. Also of note is that Edge is a poor answer for Lake of the Dead. GQ is admittedly awkward in some cases, but it is leagues better than Edge. GQ is never trying to mana deny, but to cut them off from options. Edge is already poor at mana denial due to the 4 land stipulation, so what else would we use it for that GQ can't do better?
These are not, in fact, for blockers. I've attacked with them to great success in my experience with the deck. Sometimes there are long periods where a sweeper has reset the board and we're playing draw-go. Man lands capitalize on this kind of downtime nicely. Dread Statuary is better than you would think just looking at it. Perhaps I've been playing too much Standard, but sweeping the board and attacking with man lands just feels right. Also, these are great vs control and heavy counterspell decks. I originally had Mutavault in here but tried Encampment as a substitute for not owning one IRL. I've found Encampment to be really good, despite its ETBT drawback. Mutavault is pretty generic, and not impressive. Blinkmoth Nexus was considered as its potential use with Welder, but the 1 power makes it not worth it. I would either run these 3, or none at all. If my meta continues to lack control decks, I'll likely move these out for something else.
It did at first, but the ability to produce R or RR makes it strictly better than Crystal Vein. The fact that I can choose to keep it in play makes it better than City/Sandstone Needle. The drawbacks are that it dies to Ruination, and is worse than a Mountain when a Gauntlet is in play. The upside, though, is that I can play something like Wildfire a turn sooner, and it often ends up being just as good as a Mountain with the sac option. I'm still looking at this land as a potential cut, but it's been fine.
I haven't found the 3 life to be that big of a deal. Maybe this is due to playing against Evergreen's Iname list a lot, but waiting an entire turn to untap with Akroma can be 1 turn too late. Once finals are over, I'm going to post a thread about what I believe to be 3 categories that any given general will fall into and what that means for your deck. Until then, Akroma falls into the category of "My general needs to not be sick to do its job." Because of this, opponents can capitalize on that sickness to do things on your end step (like searching for an answer) and just kill her on their own turn. Hall steals that turn away from them, and forces them to hold mana back to kill Akroma on your own turn. As games tend to go long in EDH, stealing this kind of tempo for 3 life has been worth it in my experience. If they have multiple removal in their hand, you're stealing a full turn away from them by making them play it sooner than they would have otherwise.
Sometimes Glaciers is underwhelming, but the times that it has been good, it has been incredible. Like I said earlier, there are times when a sweeper puts us into topdeck mode, and Glaciers really helps us push ahead through that. I sometimes wonder if it could be better, but haven't had the heart to cut it yet.
It's been straight up solid in my metagame. It has the potential to kill Teeg/Braids/Rofellos/Goblin Lackey/Erayo/etc for a single R, and cycles at worst. It also is recurred with Welder, which is a nice touch.
I'm basically falling back on the theory of "play incredibly powerful cards so that we can abuse our large amounts of mana to the fullest." I can't find many good reasons to not run this card, to be honest.
This was included as I view the card as an EDH staple (for most decks). I could see cutting this in certain metagames, but there's a lot of Black removal where I play. I was once able to equip a Morphed Akroma (Evergreen had Hero's Demise in hand) and then turn her face up once she was protected. This let's you do (at the slowest) turn 2 Greaves, turn 3 Morph, equip, turn 4 accel piece, turn 5 turn face up and swing. Since most decks I'm playing against aren't running the same amount of sweepers that I do (usually none at all), I don't need to worry too much about indirect damage to her in this state.
I've had mixed feelings on this card, as well. The inclusion is mostly due to combo decks in my meta and aggro (Combo Elf oriented Rofellos, and d.g.'s Wort list for example). A possible replacement could be Sphere of Resistance, or Chalice of the Void (the latter of which might be better than it seems). I think Sphere is probably not good enough for this job, as a lot of decks can just play around it. This might end up just turning into Uba Mask, to be honest.
We might have had different experiences with Karn, then. Every time I've played him, I've won as a result of there being several Artifacts on the table and killing in a few swings. He's the card I want to see most after a Geddon effect, as he helps me kick my opponent when their down harder than any other card in my deck. Can you tell me more about why he wasn't good for you?
This could easily be another sweeper, and that'd be fine. Pros include the ability to kill Doran and every other relevant general (minus Teeg), and doubles as a finisher. While A sweeper could also do that, the damage incurred from that sweeper can matter (especially in the Doran matchup where life ends up being relevant). If Uril starts showing up again in my meta, and more token decks, I would swap this out for another sweeper for sure.
This has been pretty awesome for me, due to the amount of aggro decks in my meta (5C aggro, the above mentioned Wort and Rofellos lists, etc). Also, while Azami hasn't been present (yet), This is another spell that can be played pre-Azami that can alleviate her effect should she come in. This card isn't really good vs other control decks or decks strictly focused on the general like Zur, Uril, Doran or ETB generals like Sharuum or Iname.
Great in response to Azami, or any other creature oriented combo deck (Rofellos, Lightning Crafter/Kiki-Jiki tricks, Momir Vig, etc). d.g. has comes back from a sweeper and killed me with Kiki-Jiki/Crafter while I had another Sorcery speed sweeper in my hand. While another removal spell would also have done the trick, I think Fault-Line is one of the best sweepers available to Red with very little drawback (the extra R has never been an issue).
See above.
I've debated this card a great deal, trust me. My initial thought was that it would compete with early Accel, and influence certain plays. As time has gone on, I've come to doubt that logic. This was supposed to go into the "Cards to Test" section, but I simply forgot to add it in there.
I disagree about the Dwarven Ruins analogy, as Vesuva can't even sac for RR if we want to. I considered this, but I've thought it to be pretty slow in the past. Copying Library seems really good, but that just seems like it will hardly ever happen. I'll be interested to see how your testing with this goes.
First, the point of the man lands wasn't to absorb attackers. Second, while I like the ability to repeatedly block Doran (and Uril, something Maze of Ith couldn't do), it just feels out of place in the deck. I feel like it's only really dealing with the Doran/Uril problem, and not providing much else. We're not even running Skullclamp as a way to abuse it. In what ways has this been good for you?
I considered this, too, actually. It's another card that should have been under the "Cards to Test" section that I just forgot about.
The synergy with Seer's Sundial is the most appealing aspect of this card, but you're still using up your land drop every turn. I see this being great in those post-sweeper draw-go situations. The synergy with Orb is also very interesting. I think this could be a potentially interesting find, and I'll add it to the list of things to test.
See above.
This is actually in my meta slots section.
The problem is that (other than Sharuum) the decks I'd want this against (Braids or Iname) have access to Null Rod and it usually ends up being a race to deal with that, instead. The way I've beat these decks was to just play extremely aggressive and try to prison them out as soon as possible. Being that my primary playtest partner is Evergreen, you'd think I'd be all over the grave hate. I just haven't felt that these cards the best way to handle those decks, at all. These are also pretty underwhelming in the games where I don't care about having them. Sure, they cycle, but I can't help but think there's something just better.
Admittedly, I haven't played against Jhoira at all with the current version of this deck. This might warrant some testing, but I can see pros to all of those. 2/3 of these were already under consideration in my original post.
Seems we've had opposite experiences, again. I really, really want this card to be good. I just haven't seen it yet.
I'll probably switch Trinisphere out for this card and see where things go with it.
See previous problems with Heretic. I love Heretic, I just wish he wasn't taken out so easily.
I absolutely love these guys. The problem is that my meta has more mono coloured decks than not, so they're a little out of place there. I'll add these to the Meta Slots section.
I had originally replaced this with something else since I don't own one and we were initially playing without proxies at my local shop. Somehow I missed putting this back in the main deck (yet I remembered it when I got to the Meta section? Weird). It should actually replace Earthquake, as it is strictly better.
Planning on it!
I've wondered about this card, as well. Even the art is pretty awesome! Casting cost aside, this is better than any sweeper currently in the deck. I'll add it to the "Cards to Test" section."
This was originally in the deck but was ultimately cut for other burn. This is a meta card for sure.
Whoa whoa whoa, let's not say things we can't take back. I wish this was more like Wildfire/Burning, but it's just not close enough for me. This is obviously good against ramp and decks with a lot of fetches, but I think more often than not it's going to just cost 8 straight up, which competes with The Queen. In what matchups has this been good for you?
Thank you! Evergreen can attest to this being the deck I've spent the most time fine tuning, losing sleep over, and shirking study time for.
Covered this a bit in the LennonMarx reply, but I'll say a few more things. I see your point about the damage being mostly irrelevant when compared to the general damage done by Akroma. I probably just like man lands a lot, to be honest. Also, my favourite matchup in the game is control vs control, so I always think of that first. Man lands are great vs control, but upon further reflection that's a matchup I'm already winning. For Idol/Totem, they're really just the next best accel pieces of their colour. Yes, Idol comes into play tapped and I could run something else like Fellwar Stone, but 9/10 times I'm playing that accel piece on turn 2, and don't have anything to do with it anyway. For Totem, it's just more interesting than Darksteel Ingot and gives me something to do with it during any potential downtime. I also excluded Heart of Ramos from the 3cc Accel slot cause, well, it just doesn't seem that great. I like options, a lot, and Totem gives me more than the others for that casting cost.
Interesting points. I've been wanting to fit in Not of this World lately, and Greaves seems like a good swap for that. The one time use might be enough protection, especially considering the surprise aspect of it. I'll give this change a try.
I feel your pain on pretty much all of those points. One of my first goals was to try all the staple lock pieces found in Stax and see if any of them translated well into the EDH world. I think Trinisphere is much better than Sphere, but Chalice of the Void or Uba Mask might be just better overall. That's the next change I'm going to be looking at with this deck.
The main selling points for Banefire and Rage are the ability to double as a finisher later on in the game, especially in the cases that something bad happens to The Queen. Parch should probably be a metagame slot, in all honesty. I'm pretty happy with Banefire and Rage, at this point, though that could change with time. Parch could become Sudden Shock or Magma Jet, easily.
Some explanation to my meta is probably necessary. I've stopped playing randoms on MWS for many reasons (they're usually awful, rude, use the Multiplayer list, SPL me when they're in a losing position, etc etc) and pretty much exclusively play with my buddies or at the local shop. The deck is a little inbred in its current form due to the shop being fairly new and the turnout being low, making meta choices easier and a lot weirder.
As for a "complete list" that I would take to an unknown meta, I'll have to switch a few things around and post that this weekend once finals are over.
Am I the only one that's not impressed by cycling cards? It seems the ETBT drawback could be an issue at times, and I've cut as many of those as I comfortably can to keep the pace of the deck smooth. Has this ever been an issue for you?
I haven't hit threshold that often, to be honest. The times where Ring would be useful, it's usually too late. I'd run Mouth of Ronom before this.
Seems everyone's missed that Coalition Relic is already in the deck. I've been looking at Monolith, but what to cut for it? Is it better than anything that's already in there? Maybe Idol (since it's a colourless source trading out for another colourless source)?
I probably had Lens destroyed too many times in the past to properly re-evaluate it under the current list. I'm always on the fence about that card, and I want it to be good..
Ingot just seems like it's too far down the waiting list to ever make the cut. I'd put in Monolith before Ingot. Monolith also gets a ton better with Eldrazi included.
While I don't necessarily agree that Fault Line is a 'weak' sweeper, I've considered all of those points before. Wheel is one of my all time favourite cards, but in my experience it has helped my opponents too much for me to be okay with. I'm still willing to test it again though.
I've considered Bolt, but really, what is Bolt really killing that any of the other Shocks wouldn't? Rafiq is nowhere to be found (nor do I really feel much concern with that matchup), nor is Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, both of which Parch would deal with.
For Magma Jet: Thanks for reminding me of this. I had originally intended this to go into the "Cards to Test" section but completely forgot about it.
Spark Spray is very strong? Against what? I'm not super worried about Rofellos or Erayo as I should have ample removal for either of them before they do their thang.
Aftershock is a great card, and I love the versatility that it offers. I simply haven't had enough testing with it to determine whether it's sorcery speed is worth it. However, it kills Doran! So that's a huge plus.
Wow, really? I hadn't even thought of this til you mentioned it just now. This actually might be crazy enough to work.
Don't think I hadn't considered this super techy card. I think I'd try this out if I were running more Artifact removal than I currently am. Space already feels so tight and dedicated to ensuring consistency for certain matchups that I'm not sure I could justify the space for this. Dealing with enchantments is the biggest plus I can see with this card.
I most certainly have. I remember seeing that primer a long time ago and liking the simplicity of the strategy. However, though I'm a control player at heart, I don't think even I have the patience for making so many land drops before The Queen comes down. I sought to fix this by adding more Artifact Accel than usual (what is usual, actually? I guess I'm going by memory here). I think there could be some merit to more lands, though. Maybe capping out at 45? What to cut though?
I agree with pretty much all of those points. I'm really hopeful for the Eldrazi, as well. Blinkmoth Urn was a card I found a long time ago when trying to make Karn viable (you think this deck has problems with Null Rod?), and just recently remembered it exists. It's probably going to go into the next version of Akroma that I test.
After finals, I'll post the changes I've made to the deck based on the more promising suggestions discussed here.
Khymera: When are you going to finally come down and EDH it up with me, Evergreen, and d.g.?
I love red to death. It is my favorite color the game, but I too have always been frustrated with how short-handed red can be at times in EDH. I've seen your approach with Jaya Ballard back in the Elemental Blitz tourney, and it hit me that mono red *could* be viable as long as it was focused and concentrated enough on what it wanted to do. It also REALLY helps that red has the best blue hosers.
My suggestions won't be very groundshaking, but they are still things to consider for a given metagame.
First off, I am going to suggest the proverbial "run graveyard hate". Not because I'm trying to spite Evergreen or anything (;)), but I still believe that every EDH deck should at least have some sort of answer to graveyard shenanigans. They do exist in the 1v1 world aside from just Iname; be it Survival combo (biggie), Sharuum, and just miscellaneous reanimator strategies. Relic of Progentius seems like the best choice right off the bat. Your deck cares very little about its own graveyard aside from Welder, and if need be, Relic can munch away at the opposing graveyard before finally being popped. It replaces itself, making it practically never a dead draw. Alternatively, there is Phyrexian Furnace which does have its advantages over Relic.
Second, there is a card that I believe I read in the Hidden Gems thread that I think could really be effective in this deck -- Omen of Fire. It's like the love child of Boil and Anarchy, but without having to spend extra deck slots for specific hosers. Granted, this deck already is strong against blue and white given Akroma's protections and uncounterability, but Omen of Fire is a card I think is worth exploring. Blue is ubiquitous considering it's by far the best color in the format, and white is definitely no slouch either. Omen of Fire is a crushing hoser against both colors, and it also ruins white/blue decks quite nicely. Instant speed is huge for the surprise factor, considering there aren't many people at all that know this card even exists.
So yeah, these are just some ideas to further round out the deck and cover more of its bases against certain things. It's obvious that you have invested countless time into making mono red viable. As a fellow red player, I salute you for your perseverance.
Embarrassing fact: For the longest of time, I always thought Khymera lived in Europe since he would always seem to post dead at night at around 3-4am Pacific time. It wasn't until I talked to him on AIM a few months ago or so that he told me that he lived on the west coast. >_>
Besides tuning the deck to decks present in your metagame, I think it's even more important to tune the deck to win the matches that are actually close. For instance, you mention mono-blue quite a bit, and even include narrow hate cards like Defense Grid and Boseiju, Who Shelters All in your meta slots...but honestly, are you actually worried about mono-blue? In my experience with Akroma (admittedly, with a somewhat different list), one of my favorite things about the deck was just automatically beating certain strategies (including mono-blue). Many decks simply cannot interact meaningfully with Akroma, and most of these decks have a significantly slower clock. You ought to be able to win these matches without even trying, and as such, it seems silly to tweak your deck to try to beat them even more.
Conversely, I basically gave up on the Doran matchup, after testing about 10 games and winning only 1 (in which I drew a bunch of acceleration and LD, and he got severely manascrewed). The other games were not even close. There comes a point where a matchup is so unfavorable that it's not worth the contortions you have to do to try to beat it, and it's better just to let it go. (You do play significantly more sweepers than I did, so perhaps the Doran matchup is actually consistently winnable for you, but I can't say without testing.)
The point is that you should be tweaking the deck to beat matchups that are tough, but winnable. By and large, I think that it's aggro and certain combo decks that fall into this category. This means that efficient sweepers are valuable, even dinky ones like Volcanic Fallout, and stuff like Defense Grid is basically a bad call.
A few more comments, just on the specific points I'm not sure I agree on.
Manlands:
Not convinced. You should never be in a situation where trying to beatdown with manlands is the plan. Even against control decks after a sweeper it's probably a bad idea, as you're just turning on their removal. I don't think there are any matchups where you need or want these.
Hall of the Bandit Lord:
3 life isn't a dealbreaker, but it's not something you should ignore...especially when aggro is perhaps your toughest matchup. By the point in the game where this has an effect, "tempo" is pretty much gone. You haven't convinced me that giving Akroma is actually important, so it's not worth putting up with the (non-negligible) pain from this thing.
Banefire:
This is just not a good card here. You don't need a X-spell "finisher," and this is crappy removal for Doran (or anything else). This is the point where it's better to just ignore Doran, rather than run a card that's bad against Doran and even worse everywhere else. This deck is way too tight for a lame card like this.
Sudden Shock:
I think this is better than a meta card. Split second is just so good: it's extremely difficult to play around and tends to punish good players even more than bad ones. Word of Seizing might even be worth considering...it's a card that plays a lot better than it looks.
Lavaball Trap:
I haven't tested it, but I think this might be solid. It's versatile enough that at least one side of it always ought to be pretty good, and it should result in blowouts fairly frequently. Instant speed counts for an awful lot on a card like this.
Guardian Idol/Foriysian Totem:
These aren't the next best pieces of acceleration. That would go to Extraplanar Lens/Basalt Monolith/Darksteel Ingot. Options are good to have, but the options on these (especially Guardian Idol) kind of suck. Much like manlands, these are not options you ever want to be utilizing.
Urza's Rage:
Again, you don't need an awkward "finisher." That's one of the main selling points of Akroma. This isn't nearly efficient enough. 3 mana for 3 damage is very subpar, and uncounterability is just not very relevant.
Forgotten Cave:
ETBT is almost never an issue with this one. If you want to play it, it's almost always in the early game, and there will be a turn where you don't need the 1 extra mana (usually turn 1). You don't get a huge benefit out of this, but the disadvantage is almost nil.
Wheel of Fortune:
Think about when you cast this card. There are only two situations where you play it, and it's very good in either. 1) You have a bunch of artifacts and dump your hand on the table very quickly (while your opponent does not). In this situation, Wheel is pure card advantage, gives you a reload, and frequently lets you screw up the hand your opponent has been crafting. 2) It's late, you're out of gas, and Akroma, for whatever reason, is not getting there. In this situation, you're just trying to find an answer before your opponent eventually takes control due to your inability to actually kill them. Trying to topdeck into an answer is miserable, and rarely works. In this situation, Wheel gives you the best chance of drawing into an answer you can play immediately, allowing you to just win the game. Even if these are the only situations you play Wheel of Fortune in, I think these uses are enough to justify its inclusion.
Lightning Bolt:
Instant speed and 1 mana is a big deal. Spot removal is most important in the early game, and it's significantly easier to keep mana open for Bolt while playing out your hand than with any of the 2 mana burn spells. I say again, this is significantly better than Flame Slash (in every non-Zur matchup), because instant speed allows for monstrous tempo blowouts AND lets you effectively circumvent stuff like Lightning Greaves.
More lands:
I do think 45ish might be best, though it depends on when you typically start missing land drops (and on how much draw you can squeeze in). Artifact acceleration is important too, but can't really replace lands for this purpose. You'd probably have to cut control elements, which it sounds like you're uncomfortable with, but that still might be the best way to go. Sometimes control isn't the answer (especially with the nigh-unstoppable Akroma, I think).
I'm busy trying to get into a top-ranked MD/PhD program, most of which accept only 8 students a year (out of a few hundred applicants). I need to increase my MCAT score, so I'm spending about 8 hours a day, every day, studying and dealing with applications. MTGS and my girlfriend are my only breaks, and probably the only things keeping me sane (her more than you guys). I'm basically the lamest person in the world right now. I'll be done with this phase by like...the end of June, and I'll try to EDH it up with you guys then.
Yeah...I've had an aberrant circadian rhythm and insomnia issues since I hit puberty, such that I tend to keep 32 hour days. When I don't have a class or a job forcing me to keep certain hours, I tend to stay awake for 24 hours, sleep 8 hours, repeat. Stupid earth days. This often results me in being up through the night (as in this last night...), which is usually when I get my best work done anyway. Oh well.
Ghost Quarter is so much better than Tectonic Edge. Having to wait until turn 4 makes this a dud for any serious LD deck.
Manlands are so damn good. Seriously. Especially in a deck where you're blowing up handfuls of lands, including some of your own. I can't picture playing Akroma/LD without playing the man lands.
Trinisphere seems kind of lame against me since I have so many ways to cheat those creatures into play and the combo creatures cost >3, anyways. Uba Mask seems like the obvious choice given how good it is vs combo and control. It's meh vs. Aggro, but it is still a great card. Having Uba Mask also gives you more reason to play Bazaar of Baghdad, which is straight gangsta, as you know.
The problem with Trini/Smokestack in EDH is that you don't have a reliable way to get them into play turn 1 or 2. It makes Trini lose effectiveness (coming out after they have a few lands in play), and Smokestack seems glacially slow when it can't ramp up on the first few turns. On top of that, the first few turns are when Smokestack is so good since it forces the opponent to start top-decking lands and other permanents to stay in the game.
There are some cards that just don't work in our meta. Pithing Needle, at the moment, is one of them. All the generals in our meta have few/no abilities (Akroma, Anowon, Azusa, Doran, Wort, Iname, Sharuum, Rofellos, Braids, Linvala, etc). It is still worth a slot in most decks because it always has something to stop, but it isn't the omg awesome general shutdown that it would be in a wider meta.
d.g
Wort the Raidmother seems to be unwinable in the deck's current configuration. We need to come out of the gate fast, which is true in most matchups. I think 2cc acceleration should be favored over the awkward 3cc acceleration (here's looking at you, Totem).
Thoughts of Ruin is terrible. The fact that it can't scale upwards is a big downer. It is very hard to break parity with (basically requires Gem or Ghost Town). If we want another of this effect (and we might), I'd look at Epicenter. For now I'm running Crater Helion here, which I haven't actually cast yet, but it looks super solid on paper.
Volcanic Fallout has made it's way back into my list (I'll post full list at the end), but Pyroclasm still seem underwhelming. Trying out Slice and Dice in that slot, as I like the cycling option. Could also be Chain Reaction.
If you are running Uba Mask, you have to run Bazaar. If you aren't running Mask, Bazaar is terrible.
Here is my current list, which varies a bit from Muted's. It has been testing well, but Jhoria and apparently Wort are nightmares, and Doran is tough. I also was having trouble with a Wydyen deck last night, which makes me think that pretty much anything with black in it is going to be bad. I don't know that I'd be comfortable playing this is a tournament, at least right now, with how obvious a deck Jhoria has become, and with a shaky combo match (no testing done against 5c Combo style decks yet. Having playing that deck a ton, I think it will be a better matchup than Wort, but still unfavorable. Will get back to you once ME and I have time to actually play the match).
The Red Queen Principle (ver. 3.1415)
1 Arid Mesa
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Wasteland
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mishra's Workshop
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Dust Bowl
20 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Strip Mine
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Rishadan Port
1 Vesuva
1 Ghost Town
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Kher Keep
1 Boseju, Who Shelters All
1 Mouth of Ronom
Acceleration (21)
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Mana Vault
1 Fire Diamond
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Guardian Idol
1 Grim Monolith
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Mind Stone
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Coalition Relic
1 Khalni Gem
1 Ur-Golem's Eye
1 Sisay's Ring
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Khalni Gem
1 Gauntlet of Might
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Dreamstone Hedron
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Flame Slash
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Burst Lightning
1 Skred
1 Parch
1 Urza's Rage
Artifact Removal (3)
1 Shattering Spree
1 Pillage
1 Fissure Vent
Sweepers (13)
1 Earthquake
1 Rolling Earthquake
1 Molten Disaster
1 Fault Line
1 Volcanic Fallout
1 Starstorm
1 Wildfire
1 Burning of Xinye
1 Slice and Dice
1 Crater Hellion
1 Devastation
1 All Is Dust
1 Lavaball Trap
Prison Elements (10)
1 Winter Orb
1 Tectonic Break
1 Blood Moon
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Ruination
1 Smokestack
1 Mishra's Helix
1 Wake of Destruction
1 Boom/Bust
1 Decree of Annihilation
1 Goblin Welder
1 Sensei's Diving Top
1 Expedition Map
1 Seer's Sundial
1 Mind's Eye
1 Memory Jar
For now, some replies.
Let me touch on a few of these.
Iname: While Relic would be good here (along with Crypt), I'd have to either have it hiding in my hand for a surprise factor or already on the table. In the first scenario, it's quite possible (due to the nature of sweepers in Akroma) that they'll play Iname and Songs of the Damned all in the same turn anyway. In the second scenario, if I leave it out on the table, the decision to tutor for Null Rod is even more easily made. At that point, I need to have the Relic/Crypt, and some Artifact destruction. Since these scenarios happen quite frequently (and depend largely on how the game just so happens to go), this just doesn't feel like a very good answer for the deck. All the games I've won had to do with laying down the prison heavy and aggressively, turn after turn.
Survival Combo: This is one of those situations where mana denial can really help, as well as another target for Pithing Needle (which I think would be more universally utilized than something like Relic).
Sharuum: I've played around 10 games with the local Sharuum player and I've lost only once (due to my own play mistake, admittedly). We've been tweaking the deck to compensate for some weaknesses, and while they've improved the deck greatly, Akroma still has a very favourable matchup against this deck. The sweepers and Artifact destruction just goes SO far in this match. I'm never worried about playing against it.
Misc Reanimator: Barring 1st turn Entomb, 2nd turn Exhume, I'm not super worried about this matchup. For the most part, there's really not a lot of this in my meta (though one competitive player is working on a Teneb deck). I admit I haven't played at all against a well built deck using this strategy, so this could be a problem. I guess I'd have to see?
Given, Relic is leagues better than Crypt, it still feels too narrow to warrant a slot.
High fives for also knowing this card exists. I absolutely love Omen. I was testing this during my "All I want to do with Jaya is beat mono blue" phase. There are a lot of really cool things you can do with this card, and the surprise factor is amazing. It also answers Zur, Doran, and Uril (if there are no plains on the table). The two issues I have with this card is a.) narrow hate, which I'm not sure is even warranted yet, and b.) the times where it's effective most (against the aforementioned three generals), a single plains can be enough to keep their boy on the table. That sucks. Icy Manipulator would be better in 2/3 of those matchups. I also tend to think sweepers would be better against Azami. Could this fill two roles at once? Maybe. But I'm not ready to test this card yet. [/quote]
Glad to see you're enjoying the deck, man. I just have a few responses here:
Thoughts of Ruin has always been stellar for me. This card gets better with Ghost Town, and yes, I've had really crushing plays involving Khalni Gem. However, in regards to the parity remark, the parity should already be broken due to the high amount of Accel pieces in the deck. Like I said in the OP, we don't really care about losing all our lands so long as a.) our opponent is, too, and b.) we have adequate Accel out. That's been the case pretty much every time I've played this card, and I'll keep it in until something better comes along.
I've played with Epicenter before and I don't like it. It costs far too much to just kill a land, which it often will. Threshold cards (Like Barbarian Ring) are just too slow for their purpose. I want crushing LD in the early stages of the game, so that my opponent can't recover. Epicenter will never be a Geddon in time.
I'm all about making this work in EDH, so I'll probably test this out once I decide that Uba Mask is worth the slot.
We kind of discussed this a bit over AIM, but I think it's worth noting here that our playtesting pool is very, very different. I haven't played a single game with this deck vs a deck using the Multiplayer Ban List, and you said those decks accounted for probably more than 75% of your games. I'm loathe to draw parallels under those circumstances. Without logs to analyze what was going on, I'm not comfortable writing some of those matchups off until I'm sure Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, or Crucible had nothing to do with it. [/quote]
Good suggestions. Your logic is on point with nearly all of those, though I do have a few disagreements.
Wheel of Fortune: I think this just gives the opponent far too much of a boost. Being that combo is often a problem for Mono Red, I can't see justifying this. It doesn't do anything to make my bad matchups better, as the answer I'm digging for to get me out of the currently bad situation will also draw them into a follow up answer. Sure, I can dump my hand real quick and draw into more stuff. And that will be good some of the time. I'm mostly just concerned about the situations where I'm losing, and it solidifies my opponents position even moreso, or draws them into three counters, or finds them a new threat. Considering that roughly 2/3 of my deck is mana, my low threat density will likely make their new seven much better than mine.
Forgotten Cave: I'll try this later if I find some cards are underperforming, and I need more lands. Again, not impressed by cycling as much as everyone else seems to be. I remember trying Street Wraith out in 5C Stax when the card first came out, under the theory that it would just draw me into more threats. The problem was that it often just drew me into more mana, and I never used them again. I kind of see Cave being the same thing, especially in a deck with so much mana already. As I don't want to go below 20 mountains, this would either a.) replace existing lands, b.) replace other spells to up the land count. I don't see this being worth it in either case.
"Narrow Hate:" While Defense Grid may not be necessary, I disagree in regards to something like Boseiju. Being able to uncounterably Wildfire against a deck like Azami (a deck that seems to be the bane of my existence, no matter what deck I make) is game breaking. While it's true that Azami can't stop Akroma once she's out, It's possible for them to just go off instead and race me. I don't like that. There are just going to be times when I need to seal the deal against Blue, and Boseiju does that quite well. I don't like the ETBT drawback, and the two life can be annoying, but I don't like losing to Azami even moreso. With testing, I may find that this is wrong. But I haven't had any experiences to contradict this, yet.
Glissa, the Traitor, Ulasht, the Hate Seed, The Mimeoplasm
Wheel of Fortune: is amazing. You mention that it does not make your bad matchups better. In all reality its a disruptive to an opponent sculpting a hand. Pure combo based stragedies it messes with their overall game plan. It puts you back into the game after you sweep, LD and are both topdecking for the win. Even though it puts you on even ground in reality it doesnt. It gives you the cards right away, and you are able to simple out tempo a opponent. Also the cheap casting cost allows you to wheel into a sweeper.
QUOTE]
Thoughts of Ruin is a terrible topdeck. But the early game power is overwhelming. You also never play it turn 4 for the most part. Usually you wait till you sweep and then cast thoughts of ruin and a land drop.
Not of this world is terrible. You should always simply replay akroma then have this card sitting in your hand all game. Win more
Currently after my intial testing, I shared my thoughts. I've formulated a very rough list.
Major Key points is that their is a considerable lack of spot removal but a more heavy emphasis on sweepers.
All mana accelerants produce 2+ mana. Key point because this deck cannot afford to be playing stuff like fire diamond. They also help reach akroma faster.
More Sweepers for Teeg. Sweepers that are able to be cast under Teeg are very important. In addition since lists such as Khymera's are focused on protecting Teeg, Sweepers ignore shroud making the job a little bit easier. Also by the time you do want to cast a sweeper you can usually get a 2 for one. Shard Pheonix made Teeg cry and it can be fetched via Imperial Recruiter.
I've included more nonbasics to further your options such as removal without making dead cards in other matchups. Cards like Barbarian Ring are purely personal choice.
I've also included more cantrips in the deck. The magic of these cards is that mono red sucks and their are not enough optimal cards to be ran in these slots. They add gravehate, some removal, or just purely a cantrip. The only problem I ever have with these guys is that they make null rod more painful. But mostlikely whatever you would have drawn wouldn't have made a differance. If you are afraid that decks would tutor for null rod more option with these guys in play. I gurante that most decks should automatically get null rod versus akroma.
I keep runing it through my gauntlet playing games here and their. It's been successful but zur is still tough. Even more that some lists are opting for null rod as well. More aggressive zur decks also ruin us. I'm afraid of including flame slash and skred for zur because really whats the point of running sweepers if we're going to burn the most important creatures. Thats a viable option but you seemed happy with the sweepers. Currently with the sweepers you are making the opponenet have dead cards in their hand (creature removal) and gain card advantage from 2 for 1ing a opponent.
I'm trying to include gamble in the list, but thats all for now.
23 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Dust Bowl
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Rishadan Port
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Dwarven Ruins
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Mishra's Workshop
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Mouth of Ronom
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
// Creatures
1 Goblin Welder
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Crater Hellion
1 Caldera Hellion
1 Imperial Recruiter
1 Shard Phoenix
1 Coalition Relic
1 Dreamstone Hedron
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Gauntlet of Might
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Grim Monolith
1 Khalni Gem
1 Mana Vault
1 Mind Stone
1 Sisay's Ring
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Ur-Golem's Eye
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Expedition Map
1 Memory Jar
1 Mind's Eye
1 Mishra's Helix
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Seer's Sundial
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Blood Moon
1 Boom/Bust
1 Burning of Xinye
1 Decree of Annihilation
1 Earthquake
1 Molten Disaster
1 Pillage
1 Pyroclasm
1 Shattering Spree
1 Tectonic Break
1 Thoughts of Ruin
1 Wildfire
1 Fault Line
1 Starstorm
1 Volcanic Fallout
1 Winter Orb
1 Mishra's Bauble
1 Phyrexian Furnace
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Scrabbling Claws
1 Urza's Bauble
1 Steam Blast
1 Flamebreak
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Rolling Earthquake
1 Voltaic Key
1 Basalt Monolith
Fatal Frenzy. This just seems like it should be in here. It's a three-mana card that speeds up the kill by a turn.
Reckless Charge. See above. This one maybe less so, but if you've got an extra mana open when you cast her, this should effectively turn Akroma into a one-turn clock.
Fork has played well in my Xira Arien deck, but I run a lot more good Forkable targets. It doesn't seem like there'd be many occasions on which it'd be worth copying Wildfire, since one is usually crippling enough, and two pushes the damage it deals into Akroma-killing range. If you're looking for counterspell protection, run Red Elemental Blast or Pyroblast. It's worth testing, but depending on what you're going for, there are much better options.
Pyrokinesis/Thunderclap. Both can be free when you need them, Pyro gives you the critical 4 needed to take out Zur, and Thunderclap is nice right before you blast the land off the board.
Aftershock. It can deal with far too many cards to not be good, including both Doran and Null Rod.
Devastation. It just feels like it belongs. It may be too late a drop, or less useful since it hits Akroma too, but again, seems good in the Doran matchup.
Currently running:
BRG Xira Arien BRG
UR Melek, Izzet Paragon UR
WUG Jenara, Asura of War WUG
WRG Mayael the Anima WRG
WB Triad of Fates WB
BG Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots BR
WR Aurelia the Warleader WR
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores WBG
WUBRG Horde of Notions WUBRG
I can tell you that Aftershock and Devastation are phenomenal, and should certainly be played. I'm pretty sure Planar Portal makes the grade too--I usually have more mana than I know what to do with, and this wins games fast if not answered. It's also an out to Hallowed Burial, which we're currently completely cold to.
More importantly, there are several cards I'm dissatisfied with.
Karn, Silver Golem: Irrelevant every single time I've drawn him, which is about 6 times now. He's a miserable win condition, and I don't think he offers enough utility.
Thoughts of Ruin: Useless almost every time I've drawn it--this deck does not maintain cards in hand. The one time I had it AND had cards in hand, it wasn't even the right play. This card is the epitome of situational, and it's not worth screwing around with it. Replace it with Devastation and don't look back.
Pyroclasm/Volcanic Fallout: These are dead almost every game. You have more than enough sweepers. The decks these are good against are slow enough that the X-spells are almost always as good or better. Every game I've had these, they just sat in my hand the entire game. That's too situational. The only match where these are actually particularly good is Gaddock Teeg, and I don't think it's worth running such narrow cards for that matchup. I think single-target burn spells would be better in the majority of situations.
Seer's Sundial:
Extremely clunky. This has drawn me about 1 card per game I've drawn it, on average. Expensive cantrip. Considering that you don't always have land to play, and that sometimes you don't want to play lands because you're setting up an Armageddon, I just don't think this does enough. I'll be testing Book of Rass next, and I'm pretty sure it will be better (though I'm still not sure if it's good enough with 30 life.)
Foriysian Totem/Manlands:
I tested these because you like them so much. They've been just as bad as I expected. I never want to activate these. Ever.
1 Akroma, Angel Of Fury
7 Creatures
1 Duplicant1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Magus Of The Moon
1 Dwarven Blastminer
1 Dwarven Miner
1 Goblin Welder
15 Sorceries
1 Molten Disaster
1 Tectonic Break
1 Earthquake
1 Decree Of Annihilation
1 All Is Dust
1 Devastation
1 Wildfire
1 Boom/Bust
1 Aftershock
1 Ruination
1 Wheel Of Fortune
1 Pillage
1 Pyroclasm
1 Shattering Spree
1 Starstorm
1 Fault Line
1 Urza's Rage
1 Rack And Ruin
1 Magma Jet
1 Lightning Bolt
8 Artifacts
1 Planar Portal
1 Memory Jar
1 Mind's Eye
1 Mishra's Helix
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Trinisphere
1 Winter Orb
19 Artifact Accel
1 Guantlet Of Power
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Sisay's Ring
1 Ur-Golem's Eye
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Coalition Relic
1 Heart Of Ramos
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Guardian Idol
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Grim Monolith
1 Fire Diamond
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Everflowing Chalice
36 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Strip Mine
1 Wasteland
1 Dust Bowl
1 Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Dwarven Ruins
1 Crystal Vein
1 Darksteel Citadel
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Looking for Karakas, Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Aether Vials and more
-The "Meta" slots section has been taken down, at least in the lists, as I feel the deck is extremely solid right now. Changes have been made to compensate for problem matchups and none of those changes, so far that I see, have weakened any of the previously favourable matchups.
-The Doran matchup is actually winnable now. I've been playtesting against bimmerbot's Doran list, packed with tutors and removal spells. The games have become much longer, and much more intense. The addition of Devastation, Duplicant, and Aftershock have been incredible in improving this matchup. They are mainstays of the deck now as they provide extremely powerful versatility.
Imperial Recruiter is back in the deck again. The creature count is still very low at 7 bodies, but Recruiter's presence has added that slight edge of versatility that the deck was thirsty for.
-Tuktuk Scrapper was added (instead of Ingot Chewer) to accompany Recruiter as the go-to Artifact destroyer. More on this slot later.
-Goblin Welder got the cut as the cute tricks were simply not enough to warrant his inclusion. The interaction with Duplicant never came up, but that was before the addition of Imperial Recruiter. Welder feels like it should be in this deck, but was never really impressive as I rarely had more than accel in my graveyard. The local meta hasn't had a lot of control lately, and that is one of the matchups where Welder really shines. I'm keeping a close eye on this slot for a potential re-include.
-3 cards from M11 are itching to get into this deck:
-Combust is the new Parch, but on crack. This will likely fill the Pyroclasm slot. "Can't be countered" is extremely useful vs Zur, and the extra point of damage now provides another cheap way of killing Doran. Like Parch, we can still kill other problem generals like Gaddock Teeg. While this card is poor against non-White, aggressive decks, we get another card to fill that spot in Destructive Force.
-Destructive Force is Wildfire's big, meaner brother (Or Devastation's little brother). For only 1 extra mana, an unbuffed Doran or Uril will die, along with mana producing help from Elves or lands. This is not only very easy to abuse in a deck with so much Artifact accel, but Akroma lives through it! This will likely fill the Volcanic Fallout slot, or maybe Earthquake.
-Lastly, Manic Vandal: Red finally gets its own Viridian Shaman/Uktabi Orangutan. Since the deck isn't running Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker to abuse Tuktuk Scrapper's ally clause, Manic Vandal is a straight swap as it's a whole mana cheaper.
That's it for now. Once this summer class is over, I'll be able to update the other sections of the thread with new potential ideas, cards that have proven sub-optimal, etc.
I considered Obliterate early on, but the fact that it destroys Artifacts too is a problem. It's too symmetrical. The point of the deck is to blow things up asymmetrically; their empty board vs our board of Artifacts. Too many times have I reset the board and the opponent was able to rebuild much quicker than I could, making the sweeper pointless.
Ingot has been kind of underwhelming for me, but I could see its merit with stuff like Obliterate. However, I don't think Obliterate really makes the cut for what this deck wants to do.
Some questions regarding your testing. I noticed Caldera Hellion did not make it through to the current list. Thoughts? Has the Teeg match-up improved that much that it no longer warrants it. Combust also seems like it has huge potential. It's welcome in my list.
Currently I'm testing Fork and it's new M11 Brother. The idea is that during a match-up such as doran, when they tutor for null rod you can copy the tutor and simply grab removal. It also acts as a counterspell vs the control match-up. This idea has not been tested at all, and I would appreciate your opinions on this idea.
I've also trimmed down on the non-basic's because versus the Roffelos or azusa match-up they are essential. Are each and everyone you are running essential?
What has happened to Pithing Needle?
Finally 3sphere has crept back into your decklist? Has it proven to be not win more after a Mass LD effect?
That's my thoughts now, I have class in 4 hours so I'm off to bed. Hope my input helps
Lightning Axe is cool, but the CDA is a problem that Red can't cope with. I used this in Jaya cause I could abuse Madness stuff or Squee/Anger, but there's nothing like that here.
I'll write more on the other stuff tomorrow, as it's bedtime.
EDIT:
Caldera Hellion: I've thought of this card before, but ultimately decided it wasn't that great. I can't fetch it with Recruiter and I hardly ever have dudes to put towards the Devour ability. It's basically a Flamebreak for 3RR. On that note, Flamebreak might come back in the deck, but right now I'm figuring out the best sweeper to spot removal ratio.
Fork/Reverberate: I'm a huge fan of Fork, but I haven't had too many obvious targets for this card. I suppose I could start keeping it in mind for future games. I'm totally okay with this ending up as a good include, as Fork is one of my favourite Red cards.
Non-basics: I feel they're warranted. While I haven't had a ton of experience against Rofellos, the older lists had no big problem dealing with fast mana dudes. In fact, the current list has better, quicker removal now than it ever has. Why has the non-basic count been a problem against them?
Pithing Needle: I'm still on the fence about this card. I'm not a fan of silver bullets that you can't search up, and I can't help but feel this is just going to be way too random to help me. Still, I've got an open mind about it and it's probably going to be tested soon after the M11 cards come in.
You make a reasonable point about the artifact destruction, but the way I see it I can either set up my Obliterate so I can recover better or I'm losing anyways and I need it. If the latter is true they probably have more crap on the table making it asymmetrical anyway and it will both hurt them and save me...and because it can only be countered by Time Stop it is good in a blue environment.
Do you have any playtesting situations that you could offer on the contrary?
While I have played artifact-heavy mono red in the past, I haven't tested your exact build so anything I say about how Obliterate would function in your deck would be speculative at best I'm afraid. I do have plenty of experience playing Obliterate and actually run it in most of my EDH decks that can run it because of it's powerful effect on the game (although it's pretty dead against Zur) but I don't want to start pontificating about situations that are irrelevant because the way a card performs in one deck will be different to how it performs in another. If you've tested it and found it less than ideal then that's fine. I would definitely run it in my mon-R deck, but that may just be preference.
As for the point about recovery...yes, an aggressive deck may have an advantage if you are casting the Obliterate in desperation. But you are going to lose that game anyway or you wouldn't try the Obliterate. I have often cast Obliterate with floating mana so I could get another permanent onto the table (a creature or a mana artifact like Guilded Lotus) to recover quicker. Hell, once I was able to float for Lotus and key, tap and untap lotus, play land and play Shivan (not that Shivan makes too many of my decks, but it was a dragon-themed outing). If you can set it up it can be devastating, but if you can't then you are possibly behind the 8-ball.
Other suggestions:
I didn't see Chandra Ablaze in your list. Or Myojin of Infinate Rage, which is really, really expensive, but has a very valuable ability.
/M
Fair enough. As for the other suggestions, Chandra Ablaze: Are you looking to get her ultimate off, or would you use her for the -2 Ability? The ultimate isn't feasible due to there only being 29 red cards I could discard to her, 24 of which would be castable under her ultimate. The -2 Ability seems like it has promise, but I haven't played around with it yet.
Myojin is interesting, and I hadn't considered that before. 10 is quite a bit of mana though. The games I've played are usually decided very early on, but I could see this being great late game against other decks that tend to drag on. Especially ones without counters.
Voltaic Key (mentioned in your above example).. I've considered this in the deck, and it seems since I've been moving towards the higher casting cost accel pieces, this would fit in nicely. I think I'll try this out as soon as I can.