MTG Salvation

So, M15 is here and it got me thinking about PDH. Something hit me just now for a deck that would be pretty fun I think: Brood Keeper. There are about 70 common auras in mono-red, a little less when you take out the lands/curses, and each one of them is a potential 2/2 flier. Obviously, we're not going to use all of them. I don't know what the exact ratio should be, but I know that there are three that are mandatory: Ghitu Firebreathing, Crown of Flames, and Mark of Fury with a shout out to Betrothed of Fire. The first two essentially read "RR: Put a 2/2 Dragon into play", the third puts one out a turn for R, and the last one is a pump for all our other creatures. Now, what sort of ratio are we looking at here and how well do you think this could work?

Seems like a cool idea. Auras that replace themselves, such as dragon mantle, might be good candidates for inclusion. I'd also include as many cyclers (chartooth cougar, ridge rannet) as possible, so you can dig past excess land, mid to late game.

I think that you're really gonna need a good suite of equipments to keep your general un-pacified/alive, as she seems like the lynch pin of the entire strategy. I'd make sure you have a couple back up threats, in case broodkeeper is unexpectedly hamstrung. The aforementioned cyclers can double as beaters in a pinch.

Looking forward to your list!

Brood keeper is definitely a card that screams "pdh deck".

Unless the auras have some usefulness to them (cantrip, bounce, protection for your general) you may not want to go TOO crazy. After all, there's pretty significant diminishing returns on firebreathing, since (unless you're blocked) the extra damage you can deal from firebreathing remains equal to your red mana, no matter how many dragons you have. So each additional dragon is usually basically just a wind drake.

In light of that, I wouldn't go too far above ~40 auras or so, and try to stick with ones that will actually be useful outside of dragon creation. Also, figure out what your first 3 turns should be doing, since otherwise you're just durdling (and god forbid you miss a land drop). I would recommend some efficient burn (bolt, strike, incinerate, etc) and possibly some 2-cost ramp to minimize the number of turns you spend doing nothing.

Absolutely. I don't want to go full ham on it, but I would like enough to get the job done. Get some ramp in there lie you sad, have a god removal suite, if I can get removal out of an aura, I will. Thankfully red has a fair amount of that. Otherwise, just vomit dragons and use big buffs like Hearth Charm or Mightstone.

I need to go through a lot of stuff when I get home tonight to put a list together lol

So, I had the most brilliant idea. I have no idea if it's been done in other decks, but we can totally get a Storm Combo out of this.

Ghitu Firebreathing and/or Crown of Flames = RR put 2/2 into play with General out.

Thermopod means I can sac them and get one spell per R mana available. Cast Enchant, get dragon, sac dragon, bounce enchant, repeat. -R/+1Storm per cycle.

Empty the Warrens at this point reads "Add RR to your mana pool for each spell cast this turn"

Keep dropping dat enchant

???

Grapeshot

We also have rituals, and ritual-like cards for Storm purposes like Coal Stoker and Soulbright Flamekin.

It might be too much setup though for Mono-Red with not enough Value. We do have Ignus though lol

Finally, a use for The Brute.

This is an awesome idea - finally something for mono red that has true potential in multiplayer EDH! I think the best auras you'll find are:

• Bestial Fury
  
• Betrothed of Fire
  
• Crown of Flames
  
• Dragon Mantle
  
• Fiery Mantle
  
• Ghitu Firebreathing
  
• Mark of Fury
  
• The Brute

Others that could be considered:

• Dizzying Gaze
  
• Epiphany Storm
  
• Bravado
  
• Claws of Valakut
  
• Crackling Club
  
• Inferno Fist
  
• Lavamancer's Skill
  
• Madcap Skills
  
• Fire Whip
  
• Flamespeakers Will
  
• Galvanic Arc
  
• Power of Fire

I'd suggest finding as many good flying weenies as you can and include all the ground based mass burn you can find to support your army of wee dragons!

Along the lines ability-wise of brood keeper, I'd love to hear if this general can switch hit with akroan conscriptor. I think brood keeper might be a better 1v1 general, while the conscriptor could allow the deck to hold its own in a multiplayer matchup.

Some more removal that can pump out dragons:

• Immolation
  
• Flowstone Blade
  
• Earthbind
  
• Flostone Embrace
  
• Flamespeaker's Will
  
• Lightning Diadem
  
• Latulla's Orders
  

I also wouldn't leave home without Whispersilk Cloak and Goblin Chirurgeon. Probably even Goblin Matron to find the Chirurgeon and for random value package (e.g. Rummaging Goblin, Sparksmith).

After loading a ton of auras onto Brood Keeper shroud and can't-be-blocked become much better. You can also move the cloak onto a dragon or something if/when you accumulate another pile of auras in hand. That sort of play does leave the general open, but only temporarily and at your discretion.

Infusion doesnt seem ideal because in those situations you'll lose your entire dragon army.

I like the list. For a minor tweak, add

• Desert
  
• Quicksand
  
• Haunted Fengraf
  

since these are basically a free-roll in monochromatic PDH.

Edit: I feel like Dangerous Wager and Wild Guess have a place in most red PDH decks, too.

Quote from svdormolen »

I really don't like cards like Dangerous Wager and Wild Guess though. Especially not in EDH.

Suit yourself. I understand where you're coming from, but I like them quite a bit. You're completely right to note that Wild Guess isn't card advantage, but it is card selection without disadvantage (to contrast with Faithless Looting which I also enjoy). You do have to wait to use it sometimes, but if there's nothing in your hand worth discarding then you're not in need of card selection. Dangerous Wager, on the other hand, you almost always have to wait to use. Once you empty your hand, though, it's straight card advantage. To be frank (and I know I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this) red doesn't really have that many playable cards in PDH. I'll take filtering where I can get it.

On an unrelated note, Aftershock has an unusually large amount of utility for a red common.

How many dragons do you get out? Seething Song serves as ramp and firebreathing fodder. Same with Pyretic Ritual and Desperate Ritual. Also, why no Eldrazi? All either of them needs is an aura^

IMHO, the common eldrazi just eat too much removal to justify their costs in this format. Good call to keep them out of the deck.