Land destruction is the namesake of the deck, and the cornerstone of the deck's core. With Sandstone Needle we can even get the train wreck going on turn 2.

The two Misguided Rages may seem odd, but theyserves a dual purpose. After insane amounts of playtesting, having exactly 10 LD spells at the 3-mana mark is exactly the count we want. Even if it's less potent then the other spells, it serves to even the casting, and offers additional possiblities. It gives us the possibility to get rid of anything once we've managed to lock out our opponent, which has been a saving grace more than once. If an opponent has managed to slip a Guardian of the Guildpact out, for example, this can prove very problematic. Land-Lock him, however, and Misguided Rage is a Diabolic Edict that Guardian can't survive.

Even if we get the LD ball going quickly, there will be inevitable threats that slip through. Red excels at removal here, and we can often clean up the threats with ease.

We have two sets of threats whose job it is to end things.

Wayward Giant might seem like a very basic creature, but it's something I had been begging for for years prior to its printing. Our threat needs to go the distance once we drop it, and this means surviving our opponents removal. Even if your LD game is on point, they will always be able to drop a land and cast a 1cc spell. With the prevalence of Flame Slash, we need a creature that can survive 4 damage. There are very few choices in mono-red, and Wayward Giant is, hands down, the best option of them. We usually curve out at five mana when we want to lay down our true wincon, and the menace just makes stopping him that much harder. A land-tap-blocker won't give the opponent an extra turn to find a solution.

 Self-Assembler answers the same problems, but in a completely different way. As he always replaces himself, any single removal spell is only a delaying tactic, and going into multi-threat-mode is near automatic with him.

 The only other card I've highly considered is Avarax. He full-fills our needs the same as Self-Assembler. Although he's slightly smaller, he has haste and can pump. Being a 3-toughness creature proves him slightly too vulnerable, compared to the others, however. When I go into end-game mode, I want as few speed bumps as possible, and Lightning Bolt is probably the most prevalent card in all of pauper.