Do you have a sample list? Red's the primary aggro color in my cube, and I'm concerned that without it dedicating a lot of spots to aggro, the whole archtype will be weakened. How many cards do you dedicate to diversity in red?
I disagree with the premise that red aggro isn't interesting. Richard Garfield gave a talk once about the reasons why people play games. Most of the reasons mapped fairly well to Rosewater's psychographic profiles. One of Garfield's ideas is that some people are "honers," people who like refining a deck, iterating until they find the most optimal form. The honers are the type of people who enjoy mono-red aggro. Mono-red is all about maximizing damage as a function of time, mana, and cards. It can be a fun problem to solve.
I also don't think you can muck with red too much and preserve it's aggressiveness. Burn is so flexible other players will usually snap it up, and red's creatures aren't that great on their own without it.
Do you have a sample list? Red's the primary aggro color in my cube, and I'm concerned that without it dedicating a lot of spots to aggro, the whole archtype will be weakened. How many cards do you dedicate to diversity in red?
Hey Braid, I'm not the author of this article, so I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer your question. However, if you want to compare notes, I believe Dom has a list of his red cards here, if you click open the Spoiler tag about halfway down the page.
Jim -
I think the reasons you state are exactly why most people find drafting and building mono-red aggro a bit dull. Oftentimes, there's only a couple of ways to optimize an aggro build, which doesn't leave a whole lot of room for creativity and personality. Speaking personally, there's little I love more than jamming Goblin Guide, Rakdos Cackler, and Intimidator Initiate into a sleek, low-curve red deck. But I think that for others, once they've played that deck once, they've played it a million times. Draft the smallest red guy in the pack, or take the burn spell, pass the pack, and repeat.
I don't really have answers to this problem myself, and I still struggle with red's identity in cube outside of aggression and burn. This is why I thought Dom's article might be a fun read.
I think it's an interesting article. I'm certainly interested in reading opinions, especially ones that are outside the box. For me, I am not someone who really loves mono-red aggro, but I'm glad it exists in my cube for those that do. It's also a good archetype for newer cubers to try to draft.
I wish there were a few more cards like Kiki-Jiki or Koth in red. Cards that play well with existing red creatures, but open up new strategies (etb creatures with Kiki-Jiki, red ramp with Koth). I would like a few "build arounds" in red. I think red's color pie just hasn't been fleshed out that much beyond aggro dudes, burn, and land destruction. Unfortunately, constructed format requirement makes it hard to push rituals and some other interesting themes.
Between red aggro/tempo, control using sweepers and dividable damage for counter-burn type decks, wildfire decks and "big red" strategies, discard outlets and sneak attack for reanimation/GY based decks, cards like Welder/Squee for Mud, and Recruiter/Looting/Gargadon type cards for BR Stax ...red does a ton of stuff in my cube, and it's certainly not pigeonholed into aggro.
My experience is similar to wtwlf's. Although red is more aggro-focused than any of the other colours, having a number of open-ended cards keep it from being boring. In addition to the ones already mentioned, Kiki-Jiki and Zealous Conscripts are cards that have a load of interactions. I prefer this to going down a narrower route like storm.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
Between red aggro/tempo, control using sweepers and dividable damage for counter-burn type decks, wildfire decks and "big red" strategies, discard outlets and sneak attack for reanimation/GY based decks, cards like Welder/Squee for Mud, and Recruiter/Looting/Gargadon type cards for BR Stax ...red does a ton of stuff in my cube, and it's certainly not pigeonholed into aggro.
Some of those strategies don't work as well in unpowered or more budget cubes. Without Burning of Xinye, moxes/lotus for mud, and some other interactions red is more limited. In my experience, many decks will play red, but most heavy red decks are aggro.
My experience is similar to wtwlf's. Although red is more aggro-focused than any of the other colours, having a number of open-ended cards keep it from being boring. In addition to the ones already mentioned, Kiki-Jiki and Zealous Conscripts are cards that have a load of interactions. I prefer this to going down a narrower route like storm.
How could your experience possibly be similar to wtwlf's when what he listed isn't an experience but rather a tenuously strung together list of every peripheral red card he could possibly include?
Unless your cube experience is centered around inaccurate hyperbole and misunderstanding what a "role" represents I guess.
How could your experience possibly be similar to wtwlf's when what he listed isn't an experience but rather a tenuously strung together list of every peripheral red card he could possibly include?
Unless your cube experience is centered around inaccurate hyperbole and misunderstanding what a "role" represents I guess.
I guess you'd be surprised to hear that we include cards to get played in decks. Those peripheral red cards serve a purpose, and get played in decks beyond just red aggro. Because of that, red isn't just an aggro color in my cube.
The color serves multiple roles, and supports all three theaters and multiple archetypes. It seems that you may be struggling with understanding what a "role" represents.
I also don't think you can muck with red too much and preserve it's aggressiveness. Burn is so flexible other players will usually snap it up, and red's creatures aren't that great on their own without it.
Hey Braid, I'm not the author of this article, so I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer your question. However, if you want to compare notes, I believe Dom has a list of his red cards here, if you click open the Spoiler tag about halfway down the page.
Jim -
I think the reasons you state are exactly why most people find drafting and building mono-red aggro a bit dull. Oftentimes, there's only a couple of ways to optimize an aggro build, which doesn't leave a whole lot of room for creativity and personality. Speaking personally, there's little I love more than jamming Goblin Guide, Rakdos Cackler, and Intimidator Initiate into a sleek, low-curve red deck. But I think that for others, once they've played that deck once, they've played it a million times. Draft the smallest red guy in the pack, or take the burn spell, pass the pack, and repeat.
I don't really have answers to this problem myself, and I still struggle with red's identity in cube outside of aggression and burn. This is why I thought Dom's article might be a fun read.
I wish there were a few more cards like Kiki-Jiki or Koth in red. Cards that play well with existing red creatures, but open up new strategies (etb creatures with Kiki-Jiki, red ramp with Koth). I would like a few "build arounds" in red. I think red's color pie just hasn't been fleshed out that much beyond aggro dudes, burn, and land destruction. Unfortunately, constructed format requirement makes it hard to push rituals and some other interesting themes.
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"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
Some of those strategies don't work as well in unpowered or more budget cubes. Without Burning of Xinye, moxes/lotus for mud, and some other interactions red is more limited. In my experience, many decks will play red, but most heavy red decks are aggro.
How could your experience possibly be similar to wtwlf's when what he listed isn't an experience but rather a tenuously strung together list of every peripheral red card he could possibly include?
Unless your cube experience is centered around inaccurate hyperbole and misunderstanding what a "role" represents I guess.
I guess you'd be surprised to hear that we include cards to get played in decks. Those peripheral red cards serve a purpose, and get played in decks beyond just red aggro. Because of that, red isn't just an aggro color in my cube.
The color serves multiple roles, and supports all three theaters and multiple archetypes. It seems that you may be struggling with understanding what a "role" represents.
My 630 Card Powered Cube
My Article - "Cube Design Philosophy"
My Article - "Mana Short: A study in limited resource management."
My 50th Set (P)review - Discusses my top 20 Cube cards from OTJ!