I'm in a pickle.
My wifey has a mono-red (non-goblins) creature-based deck that is painful to play.
I've tried to update the list a few times to make it more resilient and quicker (with her permission of course), but it is pretty much impossible to beat any deck with serious lategame pressure or any large amount of lifegain.
I.E. Most decks out there in MP land.
Problem I can see, is most of the cards I would like to include are out of our modest price range.
So far the deck has the usual suspects; Earthquake, Taurean Mauler, Faithless Looting, some Phoenix's for pseudo-card-advantage and some mana-rocks, with a few large dragon's for late game.
> the deck usually gets killed off before it gets to the late game.....
What are some good (budget) options to boost this deck up a bit, with respect to keeping Earthquake (cos it's the only way the deck has for non-creature based damage currently)
Blasphemous Act is really good in multiplayer and you can pick up a playset for around $2. If you post a decklist we will probably be better able to help you. I also have a decent casual multiplayer monored deck. Mine is more of a Big Red Style though, I don;t mind posting it if you want ideas.
Drop a land every turn, play cheap creatures, drop Mogis for damage, then go all out for an alpha strike. Then either Reforge the Soul ( Faithless Looting is crap imho) and repeat or spend your mana on one of the mana sinks in the deck. Of course a lot of slots can be upgraded here, when you have the money for it, like Nobilis of War -> Demigod of Revenge.
Well, you could always steer this thing down the group punishment path... that still runs Earthquake quite happily...
My current decklist looks as such...
Obviously, Ensnaring Bridge is not going to be within budget for you (I'm peronsally lucky to have ganked a playset before someone figured out they were good to drop in response to Show and Tell / Emmy in Legacy!)... it's just a cute combo with Grafted Skullcap here. I'd still run the Skullcap (which is seriously good), and find something else suitably defensive (Portcullis, perhaps? That's much cheaper, and just as annoying).
Can you post what she's running currently? It'll help us a lot to identify current synergies and possible combos to exploit. Is it mostly burn or just red goodstuff?
I'll second the Blasphemous Act. It's pretty much the best multi-player reset button that red has access to. Mogg Maniac is also a good defensive card. It'll buy some time and can sometimes deal quite a bit of damage, especially with the Act in the deck. Fire Servant can give her some reach if she plays enough burn. One of those plus Maniac + Act = someone's probably dead. It makes Sizzle, Earthquake and the like great as well. Glacial Chasm is also another budget card that can save your bacon for a couple of turns. The last post had that and the Quest for Pure Flame. I dig 'em both. Remember that with Quest, if you Earthquake or whatever, it'll get multiple counters in a group game. Those also stack with each other and with Fire Servant for some fearsome damage. Boros Reckoner has gone down quite a bit in price so that may be an option for you. Spitemare is a budget replacement there if not. If you have a damage doubler online Browbeat is fantastic.
All of those cards also keep people off of you. Once you get a couple down, people start looking the other way with their big ground creatures. What's the meta? What is she usually losing against in said late-game? If she doesn't play may artifacts, then Shatterstorm is good. It can really wreck some decks. Someone also posted Sun Droplet. It's a great card but can sometimes make you a target. It's a great hedge against the Earthquake type cards though. I hope that give you some ideas. Good luck!
Edit: I missed the post above where someone suggested the damage-redirectors already. They deserve emphasis though, they're just that strong in multi-player. If you're going the mass-nuke route, take a look at the champion, persist, and suspend cards. Wiping the board and then coming back right away with a Greater Gargadon, Thunderblust, or something hidden with a Nova Chaser can turn a game quick. Worldfire anyone? It's expensive (casting-cost wise) and doesn't work with persist, but it's awesome with suspend. Even a Keldon Halberdier can close it out for you when everyone's at death's door and it's the only permanent one the table. Apocalypse works here as well but it leaves everyone else their cards.
I'm in a pickle.
My wifey has a mono-red (non-goblins) creature-based deck that is painful to play.
I've tried to update the list a few times to make it more resilient and quicker (with her permission of course), but it is pretty much impossible to beat any deck with serious lategame pressure or any large amount of lifegain.
I.E. Most decks out there in MP land.
Problem I can see, is most of the cards I would like to include are out of our modest price range.
So far the deck has the usual suspects;
Earthquake, Taurean Mauler, Faithless Looting, some Phoenix's for pseudo-card-advantage and some mana-rocks, with a few large dragon's for late game.
> the deck usually gets killed off before it gets to the late game.....
What are some good (budget) options to boost this deck up a bit, with respect to keeping Earthquake (cos it's the only way the deck has for non-creature based damage currently)
Thanks in advance guys and gals.
19x Mountain
4x Myriad Landscape
2x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Creatures (23)
4x Figure of Destiny
1x Feldon of the Third Path
4x Taurean Mauler
4x Flametongue Kavu
3x Zealous Conscripts
4x Inferno Titan
3x Molten Primordial
4x Fire Diamond
1x Goblin Bombardment
2x Worn Powerstone
1x Mimic Vat
1x Mass Mutiny
2x Staff of Nin
1x Insurrection
This is my current de facto Red deck. You can obviously modify it however you want but the shell is strong, flexible and inexpensive.
Guilds of Ravnica - Commander 2018 - Core 2019 - Battlebond - Dominaria - Rivals of Ixalan - Ixalan - Commander 2017 - Hour of Devastation - Amonket - Aether Revolt - Commander 2016 - Kaladesh - Conspiracy 2 - Eldritch Moon - Shadows Over Innistrad - Oath of the Gatewatch - Commander 2015 - Battle for Zendikar - Magic Origins - Dragons of Tarkir
Green - Blue - Red - White - Gold
3 Archetype of Aggression
4 Mindsparker
4 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Lord of Shatterskull Pass
3 Obsidian Fireheart
2 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
4 Nobilis of War
3 Sun Droplet
Enchantments 3
1 Five-Alarm Fire
1 Hand to Hand
1 Planeswalker's Fury
Card draw 3
3 Reforge the Soul
4 Fire Diamond
Land 25
2 Ghitu Encampment
23 Mountain
Drop a land every turn, play cheap creatures, drop Mogis for damage, then go all out for an alpha strike. Then either Reforge the Soul ( Faithless Looting is crap imho) and repeat or spend your mana on one of the mana sinks in the deck. Of course a lot of slots can be upgraded here, when you have the money for it, like Nobilis of War -> Demigod of Revenge.
Other options:
Mogg Maniac keeps them away. (Spitemare and Boros Reckoner too...)
Loxodon Warhammer keeps your life up. And yes it works with all of the above!
My meta: 3 or 4 player free for all, anything goes but boring games or broken decks cause a vote to end that game.
My current decklist looks as such...
4 Sulfuric Vortex
3 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Flame Rift
4 Sizzle
4 Quest for Pure Flame
4 Glacial Chasm
2 Seismic Assault
23 Mountain
Obviously, Ensnaring Bridge is not going to be within budget for you (I'm peronsally lucky to have ganked a playset before someone figured out they were good to drop in response to Show and Tell / Emmy in Legacy!)... it's just a cute combo with Grafted Skullcap here. I'd still run the Skullcap (which is seriously good), and find something else suitably defensive (Portcullis, perhaps? That's much cheaper, and just as annoying).
My Stupidly Large Number of Current Decks
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The Multiplayer Power Rankings
Cube: the Gittening (My Multiplayer Cube) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor
The N00b Cube (Peasant cube for new players) - MTGS Cube List | @ CubeTutor
I'll second the Blasphemous Act. It's pretty much the best multi-player reset button that red has access to. Mogg Maniac is also a good defensive card. It'll buy some time and can sometimes deal quite a bit of damage, especially with the Act in the deck. Fire Servant can give her some reach if she plays enough burn. One of those plus Maniac + Act = someone's probably dead. It makes Sizzle, Earthquake and the like great as well. Glacial Chasm is also another budget card that can save your bacon for a couple of turns. The last post had that and the Quest for Pure Flame. I dig 'em both. Remember that with Quest, if you Earthquake or whatever, it'll get multiple counters in a group game. Those also stack with each other and with Fire Servant for some fearsome damage. Boros Reckoner has gone down quite a bit in price so that may be an option for you. Spitemare is a budget replacement there if not. If you have a damage doubler online Browbeat is fantastic.
All of those cards also keep people off of you. Once you get a couple down, people start looking the other way with their big ground creatures. What's the meta? What is she usually losing against in said late-game? If she doesn't play may artifacts, then Shatterstorm is good. It can really wreck some decks. Someone also posted Sun Droplet. It's a great card but can sometimes make you a target. It's a great hedge against the Earthquake type cards though. I hope that give you some ideas. Good luck!
Edit: I missed the post above where someone suggested the damage-redirectors already. They deserve emphasis though, they're just that strong in multi-player. If you're going the mass-nuke route, take a look at the champion, persist, and suspend cards. Wiping the board and then coming back right away with a Greater Gargadon, Thunderblust, or something hidden with a Nova Chaser can turn a game quick. Worldfire anyone? It's expensive (casting-cost wise) and doesn't work with persist, but it's awesome with suspend. Even a Keldon Halberdier can close it out for you when everyone's at death's door and it's the only permanent one the table. Apocalypse works here as well but it leaves everyone else their cards.