Yep it says that players whine when they can't play something well. Or it says red is bad when MLD is banned out in playgroups.
Those are far more likely than the color being awful.
From my understanding Red isn't the color of mass LD, that is really a white thing.
I'm talking about using "Destroy all lands." cards like Armageddon. White has several strong cards that either do exactly that or a very good impression of that.
Red on the other hand just has Boom//Bust and Decree of Annihilation and they cost more then whites geddons. I suppose they also have Epicenter and Myojin of Infinite Rage, but those cards aren't as dependable because they can be hosed by GY hate or cost a ton of mana.
Red does get cards like Jokulhaups and Obliterate, but those aren't geddons in the traditional sense. You can't just get a few big guys in play and then Obliterate and use your board to mop up, because now you don't have a board anymore either. Maybe there are a few good enchantments that would survive and be able to take over the game, but none spring to mind right now.
I'd argue that mass LD is something that red decks aren't eschewing out of fairness or a desire to play weak decks, the mass LD just doesn't line up with the decks goals. Red doesn't have as good of weenie creatures as white and it's MLD costs 6 mana as opposed to 4.
You actually could use Obliterate/Jokulhaups (But not Apocalypse) to wipe the board clear for your fatty to start smashing face, but the problem with doing so is that you would have to float the mana THROUGH the wipe to be able to cast the fatty. While Red is pretty good at getting some ramp on (Rituals, Mana Flare like cards, etc), it's just simply not going to compete with Green in doing so.
Red is one if the strongest supporting colors inter format artifacts are amoung the most powerful cards in the format and red kills and abuses them quite well in addition it has some of the strongest cards in the format archetype dependent like wheel. I have always found white much more lacking and with much less depth in it's card pool. I also think green is highly over rated in general . For me it's always felt like play blue or lose if not you better play black for broken tutors .
Oh look, a red thread. This happens to be my specialty.
So here's the deal on red as it pertains to other formats - Red has a tremendous amount of cards with very specific uses and scenarios. Pyroblast, Grapeshot, Goblin Welder, Splinter Twin. They've got interesting, useful, and impactful abilities. You can either build your deck around that ability, or use them to augment what plan you already have. As a result, you'll find that a large number of 60 card lists find some way to use red, either through its superior sideboarding or because Blood Moon is hilariously OP. There are the "traditional" red methods, such as every Goblin and Burn deck in existence, and the bizarre, Wizards-hated Storm decks. Either way, you're getting a load of value out of the color. In those formats, every tiny advantage matters - they're 1v1 formats!
So we look at red in EDH, a multiplayer format. Suddenly all those needling effects aren't quite as effective alone. Lightning Bolt goes from a staple to nearly unplayed. (In my opinion, if you need removal, seriously look to this card. Burn is goddamn good.) Because of the perceived lack of individual power of this sideboard color, people turn away from it, and instead gravitate towards blue, black, and green's large and in charge hay-makers. Battlecruiser magic is certainly the term that these colors represent. Yet, overuse of these colors and their similar playstyles make players look at red and think "why doesn't it do what these other colors do?"
The answer to that question is pretty simple - Red isn't another color. It's the color of strange experiments, overflowing lava, awesome flavor text, Norin, and terrible cycle cards. It's going to build and act differently than another color might - because every color plays differently. Anyone who has dabbled with multiple mono colored decks should have realized on at least some basic level the strengths and weaknesses of the various colors. It's the reason why multicolored decks are so popular in every possible format - each color makes up for what another is lacking.
So now we want to know how to build a red deck, and exactly what it wants from new sets. For this, every general has its own identity that needs to be identified and used. Some generals have more than one, some are clearly terrible at certain things, and some are clearly superior. And for this, we look at new spoils and ooh and ah at the raw power that green or blue might get. The dreadful effects that black might get. The righteous yet terrible angels that white receives. Red mages stare at the broken F5 key, and see small, interesting, but almost insignificant cards. Act on Impulse is a prime example. Ooh, this card is really cool! Hmm, but I can't keep the cards after the turn... blue can... This card is really bad on its own.. I guess it's not very good. In fact, this sort of card is exactly what red wants and receives. It's not supposed to be a stand alone card, it's a card that wants to interact and grow with the rest of the deck. Every red deck should be a Rube Goldberg machine of fiery doom. One rock rolling down a hill is neat to watch. Several is worrying. The whole hill sloughing into the side of your minivan and finally watching that insurance settlement pay off is both horrifying and satisfying.
Red isn't the color of raw power, it's the color of combined power. Fireball alone is horrible. Combine it with the power of Channel and you've got your website registry, as well as one of the most famous combos in this game. Red lets you take the fullest out of every card, and turns them into something new and exciting.
So while red's singular powerlevel in this format is technically lower, in reality it's just a different way of playing for maximum effect. All it takes is one card to change the impression of a color. Wizards officials have assured me that Norin the Planeswalker will be coming out soon, so you'll have to wait until then to see everyone truly know the horrifying power of a 1cc planeswalker. Take that, Jace.
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Tantarus: It didn't make the gaka greifer level, so it should be fine
You want to play Dragons> suck it and play Scion. You want to play mono red dragons then play mono red dragons, And use something that boosts them as your general. Purphoros is a good pick.
i mean red has always been the weakest color in EDH no argument, blue the strongest. Magic was nt built for EDh EDH was built with magic. There are arguments made but Red is weak in EDH, Now powerless, just weak.
It was the "Red Berserker Angry Smash" that Kamahl represents more than any of the other Red legendaries.
That, and maybe MLD combined with someone whose CMC is 6, probably wasn't the best idea.
Though I am taking what this thread said to heart; Double The Damage, Double the Fun can be abused in so many different ways, MLD is nice, especially if you have a commander who is always cheap to cast, and Red has some nice perks to it as well.
Just put a Basilisk Collar on Inferno Titan. Kill three creatures, then force a sacrifice if an opponent doesn't want to be hit with 6+ damage. Call it Shi. Suddenly, card advantage.
Sylvan Primordial isn't really that powerful. You can tell because everyone who complained about it was essentially complaining about a seven-mana Frenzied Tilling on everyone. (Seriously, that was their complaint. That it destroyed lands, for seven mana, and fetched lands for seven mana.) Beyond that, you've just got a 6/8 body with reach, which is notworthsevenmana. If I could destroy any noncreature permanent, I'd probably take out artifacts and enchantments, because at seven mana, you're wasting it targeting lands. Unless they're lands like Gaea's Cradle.
With red it's pretty hard for them to scale up the cards. Are they going to make a double lighting strike? 2RR Deal 6 to target creature or player. Triple Stone Rain? Destroy 3 target lands 6RRR. The entire color seems to be balanced around small manacost small effect and scaling a spell up to EDH level is strange because either the effect grows to little and the manacost too high or the effect grows too high for the manacost. It's hard to design for red in EDH.
I feel another major weakness is that red doesn't have a good planeswalker yet. It has some okay ones, but these aren't in the same ballpark as the other colors good walkers.
Prophetic Flamespeaker is an amazing card btw. It's gives a much better impression when you get to attack with it and cast spells, then it does just reading the textbox.
I also love it because it puts red card draw in Curiosity form. Good for red, rewarding aggressive plays like red should.
Wow, now I want to build a Zo-Zu deck just to show it can be done.
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
Actually, playing with Red with Kamahl, I was not wanting for card advantage with all the Wheel effects, especially if I had Dragon Mage out ("I don't love this hand" *Wheel and Deal!*)
What I was wanting for was a good Voltron General who didn't cost an arm and a leg. Oddly enough, Red doesn't have a cheap Haste dude who can jump out and beat face turn 1-2.
I don't know about you guys, but I would LOVE 2/1 Haste Legendary for R. A Color Shifted Isamaru, Hound of Konda, if you will.
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Oath of the Gatewatch; the set that caused the competitive community to freak out over Basic Lands.
There are two problems with Scion 1. I can't afford a 5 colour mana base 2. Its too combotastic/expected to be combotastic.
I think EDH is helping red as a colour in all of magic. WotC has a format to focus on what "casual" and multiplayer kind of looks like, they have a better guess at least. Red is normally awful in multiplayer I can't burn its way through multiple opponents and playing early aggression places a target on its head. They have had to face the reality that all colours need to be able to sustain themselves in a longer match and work out how to allow red to do this.
The advantage Mono red has in EDH and why I think it is better than Mono White is that most of its commanders approach a game in a very different way to what is expected. mono red good stuff isn't really a thing and can't be, red wins by coming at things from an unexpected angle. A lot of them are some kind of combo.
WotC has removed Mass land destruction form the game and is well aware that most EDH players despise it, it is basically Red and White deciding they can't possibly win the late game and never allowing the late game to happen rather than solving the issues within the colours.
Time will tell, I choose to think Act on impulse is the sign of good things to come for red. I also think Possibility storm is a great use of chaos, locks out players without truely locking them out and is enjoyable to play with (even from the other side)
Red gets lots of good cards, red is competitive in almost every 60 card format that ever existed. The problem is that EDH is specifically designed to make Lightning Bolt and Red in general bad.
Don't complain to Wizards (they've actually been doing a very good job printing more controlling and midrange red cards), complain to the Rules Committee.
I feel another major weakness is that red doesn't have a good planeswalker yet. It has some okay ones, but these aren't in the same ballpark as the other colors good walkers.
I would love to see red not get a tutor based on finding critters like for goblins and dwarves. The only tutor like that is Gamble, and like its name states, its the only tutor outside of unsets in the game that literally makes it a gamble, a risk, a possibly unfavorable result for a 1cmc tutor. Whats black's drawback gets? Oh its just loses 2-3 life (sans Rhystic Tutor), no biggie. What is blue's drawback? Oh it can only focus on tutoring up a instant, artifact, or sorcery most of the time. What is green's drawback? It can only tutor up lands and creatures for the most part. What is white's drawback? It usually can only tutor for artifacts or enchantments most of the time.
I just hope we see one good tutor for red in Khans of Tarkir block as it is literally atrocious to how few tutors they really do have that doesn't focus on creatures.
I don't think we need Tutors per say (And I highly doubt we will see anything like Gamble or Vampiric Tutor in any actual standard set, especially since the power level of standard has gone WAAAAY down.)
In fact, playing with Red, I don't think we really need more card advantage per say. We could definitely use our own niche, though, since Red's Niche is rather bad in Commander.
Fast Agro just doesn't WORK in EDH, due to having to chew through 120 life and having it be 3-1 card disadvantage.
Though if we started seeing some things like Hydra Omnivore for a couple of Red 1 Drops, I could see Red being able to pull it off.
Alternatively;
White: Controls the board, swarms with weenies.
Blue: Controls the board, Combos out.
Black: Bit of everything (Off topic, but I'm waiting for the card that says "Play any card as though it has Flash. Lose life equal to it's casting cost).
Green: Ramps out of control and turns sideways.
Red: ????
Red has LD, Chaos, and what else? LD isn't supported anymore (Since one land is never worth a card slot, and no more MLD will be printed), which leaves Chaos (Since Whim of the Fates was pretty recent, it's still supported).
The one thing that Red has that no other color has is its Aggro and it's Damage Doublers. Aggro can't hold water against three people all willing and able to Wrath at any moment, and you can't double damage if you don't have those creatures.
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Oath of the Gatewatch; the set that caused the competitive community to freak out over Basic Lands.
Goblins are only good en-mass
Haste is, in mono red, not as good as it is anywhere else.
White has just as much Double Strike
Dragons can't compete with a lot of higher end creatures from other colors.
Punisher isn't really Mono Red, it's R/B
LD isn't supported by Wizards anymore.
Burn only truely works on low toughness creature in a format where the norm is x/4 for non utility.
Exile to cast is a very bad card draw
Disintegration only works when things die, and a lot of the things you NEED to die are indestructible.
Kumano/Firebreathing/X spells cost a LOT of mana that Red just doesn't have the access to, unlike Green or Black. Green can power out a giant number of forests for shenanigans, Black can do the Urborg/Coffers combo and ramp up any deck with any number of colors, not to mention the amount of "Crypt Ghasts" it has.
Red's equivalent kills your multicolored mana base/is very much a one shot thing.
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Oath of the Gatewatch; the set that caused the competitive community to freak out over Basic Lands.
This stigma of Lightning Bolt being bad is really, really misplaced. Most likely it has to do with the complete lack of removal options too many decks seem to prefer. Lightning Bolt in fact creature removal. Is your scary creature X/3 or lower? It's dead. That's a cute Sisay you have there, it's dead the turn you cast it. That's time for other options to present themselves.
Bolt also can hit planeswalkers, which is a fact that seems to be overlooked as well. Red is by far the best color in the game for dealing with 'walkers. You have burn, haste critters, and other various means of saying "no."
And, in certain situations, it can go to the dome. It's still three damage. When it's down to the wire, that's a big difference.
Basically - Burn isn't bad. It's just not seen as a removal option when it is, in fact, some of the best removal.
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Tantarus: It didn't make the gaka greifer level, so it should be fine
The best burn spell in EDH is actually Skred, because it can scale up to kill a creature with a big butt provided that you have enough lands in play.
One thing I keep seeing voiced is that red is just fine because it is a good color in 60-card eternal formats, Legacy and Modern. I can't help but disagree with this, in eternal formats the amount of red cards being played shrinks very rapidly compared to other colors. You don't see decks that are red at their core, you see other color decks that play 1 or 2 red cards. Legacy is in worse shape then Modern. In Legacy if you're playing red, it's often narrows down to just Lightning Bolt. An entire color of magic being defined solely by it's OP alpha boon.
From my understanding Red isn't the color of mass LD, that is really a white thing.
I'm talking about using "Destroy all lands." cards like Armageddon. White has several strong cards that either do exactly that or a very good impression of that.
Red on the other hand just has Boom//Bust and Decree of Annihilation and they cost more then whites geddons. I suppose they also have Epicenter and Myojin of Infinite Rage, but those cards aren't as dependable because they can be hosed by GY hate or cost a ton of mana.
Red does get cards like Jokulhaups and Obliterate, but those aren't geddons in the traditional sense. You can't just get a few big guys in play and then Obliterate and use your board to mop up, because now you don't have a board anymore either. Maybe there are a few good enchantments that would survive and be able to take over the game, but none spring to mind right now.
I'd argue that mass LD is something that red decks aren't eschewing out of fairness or a desire to play weak decks, the mass LD just doesn't line up with the decks goals. Red doesn't have as good of weenie creatures as white and it's MLD costs 6 mana as opposed to 4.
Also, something Red has that no other color has is stuff like Dictate of the Twin Gods or Gratuitous Violence. The problem is, most of them buff up your enemies as well.
Damia http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=410191
DDFT Legacyhttp://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=505247
Domain Zoo http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=10212429#post10212429
Heartless Hidetsugu! >:D
Might try to branch out to a different color, but keep it two colored. Trying to have a beat down commander.
Have you tried Akroma, Angel of Fury?
Jalira, Master Polymorphist | Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder | Bosh, Iron Golem | Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Brago, King Eternal | Oona, Queen of the Fae | Wort, Boggart Auntie | Wort, the Raidmother
Captain Sisay | Rhys, the Redeemed | Trostani, Selesnya's Voice | Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight | Obzedat, Ghost Council | Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind | Vorel of the Hull Clade
Uril, the Miststalker | Prossh, Skyraider of Kher | Nicol Bolas | Progenitus
Ghave, Guru of Spores | Zedruu the Greathearted | Damia, Sage of Stone | Riku of Two Reflections
So here's the deal on red as it pertains to other formats - Red has a tremendous amount of cards with very specific uses and scenarios. Pyroblast, Grapeshot, Goblin Welder, Splinter Twin. They've got interesting, useful, and impactful abilities. You can either build your deck around that ability, or use them to augment what plan you already have. As a result, you'll find that a large number of 60 card lists find some way to use red, either through its superior sideboarding or because Blood Moon is hilariously OP. There are the "traditional" red methods, such as every Goblin and Burn deck in existence, and the bizarre, Wizards-hated Storm decks. Either way, you're getting a load of value out of the color. In those formats, every tiny advantage matters - they're 1v1 formats!
So we look at red in EDH, a multiplayer format. Suddenly all those needling effects aren't quite as effective alone. Lightning Bolt goes from a staple to nearly unplayed. (In my opinion, if you need removal, seriously look to this card. Burn is goddamn good.) Because of the perceived lack of individual power of this sideboard color, people turn away from it, and instead gravitate towards blue, black, and green's large and in charge hay-makers. Battlecruiser magic is certainly the term that these colors represent. Yet, overuse of these colors and their similar playstyles make players look at red and think "why doesn't it do what these other colors do?"
The answer to that question is pretty simple - Red isn't another color. It's the color of strange experiments, overflowing lava, awesome flavor text, Norin, and terrible cycle cards. It's going to build and act differently than another color might - because every color plays differently. Anyone who has dabbled with multiple mono colored decks should have realized on at least some basic level the strengths and weaknesses of the various colors. It's the reason why multicolored decks are so popular in every possible format - each color makes up for what another is lacking.
So now we want to know how to build a red deck, and exactly what it wants from new sets. For this, every general has its own identity that needs to be identified and used. Some generals have more than one, some are clearly terrible at certain things, and some are clearly superior. And for this, we look at new spoils and ooh and ah at the raw power that green or blue might get. The dreadful effects that black might get. The righteous yet terrible angels that white receives. Red mages stare at the broken F5 key, and see small, interesting, but almost insignificant cards. Act on Impulse is a prime example. Ooh, this card is really cool! Hmm, but I can't keep the cards after the turn... blue can... This card is really bad on its own.. I guess it's not very good. In fact, this sort of card is exactly what red wants and receives. It's not supposed to be a stand alone card, it's a card that wants to interact and grow with the rest of the deck. Every red deck should be a Rube Goldberg machine of fiery doom. One rock rolling down a hill is neat to watch. Several is worrying. The whole hill sloughing into the side of your minivan and finally watching that insurance settlement pay off is both horrifying and satisfying.
Red isn't the color of raw power, it's the color of combined power. Fireball alone is horrible. Combine it with the power of Channel and you've got your website registry, as well as one of the most famous combos in this game. Red lets you take the fullest out of every card, and turns them into something new and exciting.
So while red's singular powerlevel in this format is technically lower, in reality it's just a different way of playing for maximum effect. All it takes is one card to change the impression of a color. Wizards officials have assured me that Norin the Planeswalker will be coming out soon, so you'll have to wait until then to see everyone truly know the horrifying power of a 1cc planeswalker. Take that, Jace.
EDH:
RNorin the WaryR <-Link! (Primer - Mono Red Control)
GUEdric, Spymaster of TrestUG <- Link! (Mini-Primer - Dredge)
Duel Commander:
WUGeist of Saint TraftUW <- Link! (Aggro-Control)
BGSkullbriar, the Walking GraveGB <- Link! (Aggro)
BUGDamia, Sage of StoneGUB <- Link! (Extinction Control)
Church of the Wary
Sig and Avatar Credit: Heroes of the Plane Studios
Sarkhan + Dragon history = there will be dragons in the block.
i mean red has always been the weakest color in EDH no argument, blue the strongest. Magic was nt built for EDh EDH was built with magic. There are arguments made but Red is weak in EDH, Now powerless, just weak.
UB Vela the Night-Clad BUDecklist
WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores GBW
WUBRGThe Ur-DragonWUBRGDecklist
It was the "Red Berserker Angry Smash" that Kamahl represents more than any of the other Red legendaries.
That, and maybe MLD combined with someone whose CMC is 6, probably wasn't the best idea.
Though I am taking what this thread said to heart; Double The Damage, Double the Fun can be abused in so many different ways, MLD is nice, especially if you have a commander who is always cheap to cast, and Red has some nice perks to it as well.
So, I decided that I am going to make a Tymaret, the Murder King deck, complete with Obsidian Battle-Axe, Ronin Warclub, and Gratuitous Violence. I was planning on doing something similar with Derevi, but doing with with all the Red damage doublers just sounds hilariously fun.
You realize that Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger get hated off the board really quickly, just because of how OP Jin is and how annoying Vorinclex is?
Sylvan Primordial isn't really that powerful. You can tell because everyone who complained about it was essentially complaining about a seven-mana Frenzied Tilling on everyone. (Seriously, that was their complaint. That it destroyed lands, for seven mana, and fetched lands for seven mana.) Beyond that, you've just got a 6/8 body with reach, which is not worth seven mana. If I could destroy any noncreature permanent, I'd probably take out artifacts and enchantments, because at seven mana, you're wasting it targeting lands. Unless they're lands like Gaea's Cradle.
But what? No mention of Purphoros, God of the Forge? Actually, Purphoros with Tainted Strike is a wincon in my Prossh, Skyraider of Kher deck.
For all your doubling needs. And your other doubling needs.
I don't know, playing a turn 5 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth is pretty awesome. Chandra, the Firebrand is also good. It's just that Chandra Ablaze is niche and Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded's niche is in the back of my trade binder.
I also love it because it puts red card draw in Curiosity form. Good for red, rewarding aggressive plays like red should.
Land destruction (especially mass land destruction), damage doublers, possibly a Grafted Exoskeleton.
Wow, now I want to build a Zo-Zu deck just to show it can be done.
On phasing:
Bosh? Purphoros? Kamahl? Zo-Zu? SLAP A GRAFTED EXOSKELETON ON EM AND WATCH IT UNFOLD!
What I was wanting for was a good Voltron General who didn't cost an arm and a leg. Oddly enough, Red doesn't have a cheap Haste dude who can jump out and beat face turn 1-2.
I don't know about you guys, but I would LOVE 2/1 Haste Legendary for R. A Color Shifted Isamaru, Hound of Konda, if you will.
There are two problems with Scion 1. I can't afford a 5 colour mana base 2. Its too combotastic/expected to be combotastic.
I think EDH is helping red as a colour in all of magic. WotC has a format to focus on what "casual" and multiplayer kind of looks like, they have a better guess at least. Red is normally awful in multiplayer I can't burn its way through multiple opponents and playing early aggression places a target on its head. They have had to face the reality that all colours need to be able to sustain themselves in a longer match and work out how to allow red to do this.
The advantage Mono red has in EDH and why I think it is better than Mono White is that most of its commanders approach a game in a very different way to what is expected. mono red good stuff isn't really a thing and can't be, red wins by coming at things from an unexpected angle. A lot of them are some kind of combo.
WotC has removed Mass land destruction form the game and is well aware that most EDH players despise it, it is basically Red and White deciding they can't possibly win the late game and never allowing the late game to happen rather than solving the issues within the colours.
Time will tell, I choose to think Act on impulse is the sign of good things to come for red. I also think Possibility storm is a great use of chaos, locks out players without truely locking them out and is enjoyable to play with (even from the other side)
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
Red gets lots of good cards, red is competitive in almost every 60 card format that ever existed. The problem is that EDH is specifically designed to make Lightning Bolt and Red in general bad.
Don't complain to Wizards (they've actually been doing a very good job printing more controlling and midrange red cards), complain to the Rules Committee.
Should probably mention Chandra Pyromaster aka the best mono-red planeswalker ever printed. The other's aren't even close to as good as she is.
How does red make up for this? Artifacts, something every other color has had access to already.
Tutors like: Ring of Three Wishes, Kuldotha Forgemaster, Planar Portal, Mangara's Tome, and other such tutors.
I just hope we see one good tutor for red in Khans of Tarkir block as it is literally atrocious to how few tutors they really do have that doesn't focus on creatures.
In fact, playing with Red, I don't think we really need more card advantage per say. We could definitely use our own niche, though, since Red's Niche is rather bad in Commander.
Fast Agro just doesn't WORK in EDH, due to having to chew through 120 life and having it be 3-1 card disadvantage.
Though if we started seeing some things like Hydra Omnivore for a couple of Red 1 Drops, I could see Red being able to pull it off.
Alternatively;
White: Controls the board, swarms with weenies.
Blue: Controls the board, Combos out.
Black: Bit of everything (Off topic, but I'm waiting for the card that says "Play any card as though it has Flash. Lose life equal to it's casting cost).
Green: Ramps out of control and turns sideways.
Red: ????
Red has LD, Chaos, and what else? LD isn't supported anymore (Since one land is never worth a card slot, and no more MLD will be printed), which leaves Chaos (Since Whim of the Fates was pretty recent, it's still supported).
The one thing that Red has that no other color has is its Aggro and it's Damage Doublers. Aggro can't hold water against three people all willing and able to Wrath at any moment, and you can't double damage if you don't have those creatures.
Goblins are only good en-mass
Haste is, in mono red, not as good as it is anywhere else.
White has just as much Double Strike
Dragons can't compete with a lot of higher end creatures from other colors.
Punisher isn't really Mono Red, it's R/B
LD isn't supported by Wizards anymore.
Burn only truely works on low toughness creature in a format where the norm is x/4 for non utility.
Exile to cast is a very bad card draw
Disintegration only works when things die, and a lot of the things you NEED to die are indestructible.
Kumano/Firebreathing/X spells cost a LOT of mana that Red just doesn't have the access to, unlike Green or Black. Green can power out a giant number of forests for shenanigans, Black can do the Urborg/Coffers combo and ramp up any deck with any number of colors, not to mention the amount of "Crypt Ghasts" it has.
Red's equivalent kills your multicolored mana base/is very much a one shot thing.
Bolt also can hit planeswalkers, which is a fact that seems to be overlooked as well. Red is by far the best color in the game for dealing with 'walkers. You have burn, haste critters, and other various means of saying "no."
And, in certain situations, it can go to the dome. It's still three damage. When it's down to the wire, that's a big difference.
Basically - Burn isn't bad. It's just not seen as a removal option when it is, in fact, some of the best removal.
EDH:
RNorin the WaryR <-Link! (Primer - Mono Red Control)
GUEdric, Spymaster of TrestUG <- Link! (Mini-Primer - Dredge)
Duel Commander:
WUGeist of Saint TraftUW <- Link! (Aggro-Control)
BGSkullbriar, the Walking GraveGB <- Link! (Aggro)
BUGDamia, Sage of StoneGUB <- Link! (Extinction Control)
Church of the Wary
One thing I keep seeing voiced is that red is just fine because it is a good color in 60-card eternal formats, Legacy and Modern. I can't help but disagree with this, in eternal formats the amount of red cards being played shrinks very rapidly compared to other colors. You don't see decks that are red at their core, you see other color decks that play 1 or 2 red cards. Legacy is in worse shape then Modern. In Legacy if you're playing red, it's often narrows down to just Lightning Bolt. An entire color of magic being defined solely by it's OP alpha boon.