I’ve been calling the deck Mono-Red Control but many of the people I’ve played against have been calling it the Historic Red deck (and one called it a pile of Red Junk, which is probably the best name for the deck honestly). Mono-Red Control may seem like an oxymoron, but Dominaria has given enough pieces to make the deck work. The game plan is to grind the game to a halt as you slowly build to the late game where any card you play will be more powerful than what your opponent can play. It does this by taking advantage of numerous interactions between artifacts and historic cards along with plenty of card selection and efficient burn.
Fair warning – This is an extremely grindy, high number of decisions per turn deck. It is not unusual to have to remember to do ten+ little things each turn. That doesn’t even take into account all the other micro decisions you have to make. I’ve played my fair share of grindy Ux Control and Rock decks in the past and I would rank this deck up with some of the most mentally taxing of them. On the other hand it is a very satisfying deck to play because of that.
Card Selection
Core Cards
These are the cards that make this deck tick and outside of how many to play for a few of them they are what Mono-Red Control to work.
Hands down the best card in the deck. It’s a card I’m almost never unhappy to see. It adds so much consistency to the deck and it can make somewhat iffy opening hands into auto-keeps. This is probably the most underrated card in standard at the moment. I feel like I could gush on this card all day, but it is a card that you really have to play with to believe how strong it actually is.
In the early to mid-game it is a powerful, efficient removal spell that can hit Lyra Dawnbringer and other high toughness creatures. Late game it turns into a one-sided wrath or out of nowhere finisher. It is the glue card that lets mono red control work.
It is card selection that eventually gives you card advantage when it flips. Just as important as the ability to draw cards when it flips are the treasures themselves. The mana ramp is always great to play your powerful spells faster, and the treasures are useful in this deck by the very fact they are artifacts.
You are playing so many artifacts that tap and artifact creatures that you get huge extra value anytime this card is on the board. With two things can start to get crazy as you can use some artifacts three times in a turn, such as scrying three times in a turn to flip treasure map or deal six damage with a Quicksmith Rebel artifact. Even on an empty board, a two mana 1/3 is a pretty good blocker that can buy you time against agreesive decks.
This card does a lot of work in this deck as you can get a lot of uses from its ping effect thanks to Voltaic Servant. Against decks with a bunch of small creatures it can be absolutely back breaking if they can’t deal with the rebel right away. Even against control decks this is strong since it doesn’t need to attack, especially UW Control since so much of their removal like Seal Away and Settle the Wreckage require a creature to be tapped or attacking.
He (It?) is the big finisher and one of the reason this deck can be so dangerous. It’s drawback usually doesn’t matter since you have so many ways to untap it making it practically a 7/7 trampler for four mana with vigilance. Most decks aren’t equipped to block a creature like that which means unless they have an answer right away Traxos can just win the game. Even better depending on your hand it is possible to deal a ton of damage out of nowhere after Quicksmith Rebeling Traxos and untapping it four or five times in one turn with historic spells and Voltaic Servants.
There is a strong case to be made for this slot to be Chandra, Torch of Defiance. They are both card advantage engines that require to be answered right away. It really comes down do you want ramp and some more removal or do you want a 6/6 creature that gives you up to two free spells a turn. Right now I think Etali is better. Six toughness means she can attack into most board states. Most creatures played top out at five power. In addition the six power let’s her kill most creatures. Along with the fact Seal Away and Settle are very popular removal spells means you usually get at least one trigger for up to two free spells from her.
This deck doesn’t need the extra utility of going to the face of Shock. Instead since it is so grindy being able to permanently get rid of a creature like Scrap Trawler is preferred.
Playing like its 1998. This card performs a bunch of different little roles and basically covers a bunch of things red decks normally have trouble dealing with. It takes care of indestructible creatures, Ghalta, can randomly mana screw an opponent by tapping down a land during their upkeep. In addition it is the decks best defense against Approach of the Second Sun as it can keep the deck off of the mana needed to cast it.
Can be a one sided wrath or a finisher to end the game. Being a legendary sorcery hurts because of the casting drawback, but the deck is running a lot of legends and it can be back breaking enough to win a game outright.
The Dominaria Mountains look really nice in this deck especially if you are using silver sleeves. Otherwise I suggest using either Kamigawa or Mirage Mountains since those are my favorites artworkwise.
Especially good since in long games sometimes all of your copies of the artifact you need are in your graveyard. Also doesn’t require three artifacts to activate.
It isn’t a game stomping card, but it does a lot of little things the deck loves. It gives an artifact creature. It can pump artifact creatures and it can prevent blocking. Just as important it is a three mana legend which can allow for a turn four Jaya’s Immolating Inferno. Against aggro decks that can be enough to win games sometimes.
It wins the award for being the cutest creature in the deck. Other than that it is a solid card. It gains 2 life, it is an artifact, it can trade with a two toughness creature, and when it dies you draw a card. All of which are good in this deck.
This slot had a lot of competition in terms of Glorybringer and Rekindling Phoenix. It beat out the two because it costs four mana for a 4/4 flyer, is legendary, and it is pretty easy to kick in this deck. The two things the competition bring in extra removal and hard to deal with threat is something the deck always would like, but doesn’t need. Also because it is a dragon it can’t be Glorybringered and is one of the best creatures against Ramunap Red because of that.
You are playing enough historic spells where you should usually get an extra card whenever it hits an opponent. It’s not as easy to efficiently crew because there aren’t a lot three power creatures in the deck, but as an evasive threat that gets you cards and is legendary it fits well in the deck as a one of.
You aren’t usually looking to play this on turn three in this deck, but it can be extremely strong against aggressive deck. It’s downside as being a 3/3 first striker for three that pings when it enters the battlefield is good enough to warrant its inclusion as a one of.
This is probably my least favorite card in the deck. It is never as good as I think it should be. And I always wish I drew something else. The deck has better card selection/advantage cards and better threats than its constructs. The only reason I haven’t replaced the last copy is that it is a good removal, over commitment magnet, while also being a serviceable source of card selection/draw and creatures.
I like to bring it in against aggressive decks as a 2/1 first striker is a good blocker with the added bonus of being able to flashback an enemy removal/burn spell sometimes. I haven’t been too impressed with it against control.
At first glance it looks like a card that shouldn’t be here, but it is a card I’ve been impressed with. Bring it in against Second Sun decks to keep them off Second Sun mana. It can destroy Torrential Gearhulk against UW Control. It can destroy any utility land, like Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin. At the very worst it can be cycled away. It is really the ability to be cycled that makes it worthy of the sideboard slot since it is never a completely dead draw.
Decklist
This is the deck I've been using after tweaking it for a while.
Probably the hardest match-up. You don’t have the speed to win fast and don’t have the disruption to get rid of Approach of the Second Sun, only slow it down.
Sideboard - Your best bet is post side boarding to bring in Icy Manipulators, Dire Fleet Daredevil, and Violent Impact for your Magma Sprays and two Abrades. Also a neat trick is if keep track of where their Approach is and they don’t have card draw you can steal it with Etali to give yourself more time.
UW Control
You are the control deck. Your goal is to drag the game out for as long as possible. Your threats are better and in a long game your card selection will give you an advantage over their raw card advantage. In addition some of their removal isn’t as good against your threats because not all of your threats need to attack or tap to deal damage. Also key to remember is that Icy Manipulator can tap lands. If they are on four lands it is almost always the right play to tap down one so they can’t play Lyra or Teferi.
How fast can you stabilize? That is the key question in this matchup. If you stabilize at ten life you are probably going to win. If you stabilize at five you are going to lose. Always keep removal and Filigree Familiar heavy hands. Icy Manipulator is your answer to Hazoret. Verix Bladewing and Fight with Fire are your answers to Glorybringer.
Very similar to Ramunap Red. They have less reach, but more evasive, reoccurring threats. Can you stabilize fast? That is the name of the game. Also because of their stretched mana base Icy Manipulator can be brutal if you tap down the right land at the right time.
Despite their differences your plan against all Bogles decks is the same whether they be UW, Mono-White, WR, or RU. Remove their threats either before or while they are trying to enchant them. If they do manage to voltron a creature outside of burn range (or they have Adanto Vanguard) your best chance is Icy Manipulator. If they used so many enchantments on that one creature they usually don’t have the resources to build a second Voltron for a while. Also always be aware of Dive Down.
The match-up is horrendous. Their threats are too large to burn and they have maindeck artifact removal. I don't really know how to improve it other than hope you get a little lucky and draw lots of Icy Manipulator and Fight with Fire.
Outside of a few other homebrews these are the decks I’ve gotten experience playing against (my meta is over a third some sort of Bogles deck). Because of that I don’t have experience some other match-ups like RG Monsters, Goblin God-Pharaoh’s Gift, and RB Vehicles. I’ll update if I play against them. If anyone plays Mono-Red Control against these decks (or other popular decks) I’ll try to update as well.
Final Thoughts
This deck is a fun and unique deck for people who enjoy playing grinding tedious decks. It might not ever be tier 1, but it is powerful and can win local standard events.
Saying that, it doesn’t play like most other control decks I’ve played and there is a big learning curve on it. Do not pick it up and expect to do well right away. The first time I played it I lost all of my matches, many to embarrassing mistakes. But each time I’ve played it I’ve learned from my mistakes and made mental notes about what to do. And because of that I’ve found myself doing better each time I’ve played it to the point that I got first place in the latest Standard event I played.
I like the deck idea of playing a Big Red midrange-type deck (it is hardly a control deck) and especially the synergy of Voltaic Servant and Traxos and Quicksmith Rebel but ultimately I think you are doing yourself no favors by not playing some of the best red cards (for a midrange deck) in the format, namely: Chandra, Phoenix and Glorybringer (and more Chainwhirler).
I also think that you're massively undervaluing Karn which is one of the better cards in the format and fits great in a mono-colored midrange deck that needs the card draw.
Another generically good card that needs to be in the deck is Walking Ballista as it is just too good not too run especially in a color that has no good 2-drops unless you go aggro with Kari Zev and Earthshaker (though Raptor Hatchling might be worth trying as a blocker that comes back bigger).
Maybe there should be more copies of the PW's in the maindeck and maybe Sweltering Suns (or Bombard/Struggle // Survive)) is a better maindeck option than Cut // Ribbons but it seems like the most cost effiicient removal spell besides Abrade/Fight with Fire and might also offer a finisher option by using treasure tokens to cast the "Ribbons" half in the lategame.
Another option is to play Heart of Kiran over some of the creatures and utilize the PW's to crew them.
As for lands, Arch of Orazca can be a decent 1x-of and maybe Desert of the Fervent is worth it for the cycling though EtB tapped is pretty bad so the scry-land might be better.
While my deck does kind of look like it at first I can guaranty you that the deck is control and not midrange. It is an extremely slow and grindy deck that just tries to answer everything before playing Etali or Traxos to finish out the game. Yes it can get an explosive start by getting a fast Voltaic Servant and Traxos, Scourge of Kroog but those are more of the exceptions than the normal. That is one of the problems with Chainwhirler and Karn, as they do much better in midrange decks than control decks.
I actually played a second Goblin Chainwhirler maindeck this past week in place of a Filigree Familiar, but I've come to the conclusion that the deck needs only one or zero maindeck. It is a much better sideboard card. Seventeen mountains is not enough to cast it consistently turn three and it is only really good against some decks. Against around half the decks it is a 3/3 first striker for three, which is fine, but there are better maindeck cards for a red control deck.
Karn, Scion of Urza I've found has a similar issue to Goblin Chainwhirler. It is great in midrange decks which can apply a lot more pressure, but in my deck it's all about getting the right answers. Karn is card advantage, but delayed card selection. The opponent will never give me the card I want on the +1 ability. Meaning the card I want is a turn away. That has been my main issue when I play it. The other is that the deck just doesn't play enough artifacts to get really big constructs from him unless you keep up treasure chests, but you want to cash those in for mana or cards whenever you can. I mostly keep the one in for the long games where you are looking for pure card advantage.
Also Quicksmith Rebel is better than Walking Ballista if you have Voltaic Servant on the battlefield. Without that card I would playing Ballista hands down. I've tried both in the deck and Quicksmith Rebel is the better card in this deck. It's more mana efficient and deals more damage per turn.
Arch of Orazca is a card I really want to find room for, but I don't know where. I don't want to cut a mountain since it is already kind of mountain lite for a mono-colored deck, but I also don't think it is better than the non-mountain lands. I guess probably the best spot for it would be to move a Chainwhirler to the sideboard and throw in an Arch.
Desert was in my first version of this deck. The EtB tapped really hurts when you want to be using all your mana every turn. Also the cycling wasn't as useful since you almost always want to play a land since you need nine mana for Fight with Fire. I actually replaced them with Zhalfirin Void on a whim and was surprised how good they were.
Finally I did play against Ghalta green this Saturday. The match-up is horrendous. Their threats are too large to burn and they have maindeck artifact removal. I don't really know how to improve it other than hope you get a little lucky and draw lots of Icy Manipulator and Fight with Fire. On the bright side Ghalta Green was my only lost so I got second place (Ghalta Green got first).
Edit: I am looking to add a Glorybringer or two in the main or side, to help out a little bit against higher toughness creatures, but I can't really decide the cuts.
Then you can use vanquisher's banner for card advantage since red doesnt really do well in that department. Cast squee over and over for extra card draw.
How you are not running banefire main deck is beyond me, if you want to get to the late game then this is the best finisher in standard right now, no deck can oppose it.
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Introduction
I’ve been calling the deck Mono-Red Control but many of the people I’ve played against have been calling it the Historic Red deck (and one called it a pile of Red Junk, which is probably the best name for the deck honestly). Mono-Red Control may seem like an oxymoron, but Dominaria has given enough pieces to make the deck work. The game plan is to grind the game to a halt as you slowly build to the late game where any card you play will be more powerful than what your opponent can play. It does this by taking advantage of numerous interactions between artifacts and historic cards along with plenty of card selection and efficient burn.
Fair warning – This is an extremely grindy, high number of decisions per turn deck. It is not unusual to have to remember to do ten+ little things each turn. That doesn’t even take into account all the other micro decisions you have to make. I’ve played my fair share of grindy Ux Control and Rock decks in the past and I would rank this deck up with some of the most mentally taxing of them. On the other hand it is a very satisfying deck to play because of that.
Card Selection
Core Cards
Zhalfirin Void
Hands down the best card in the deck. It’s a card I’m almost never unhappy to see. It adds so much consistency to the deck and it can make somewhat iffy opening hands into auto-keeps. This is probably the most underrated card in standard at the moment. I feel like I could gush on this card all day, but it is a card that you really have to play with to believe how strong it actually is.
Fight with Fire
In the early to mid-game it is a powerful, efficient removal spell that can hit Lyra Dawnbringer and other high toughness creatures. Late game it turns into a one-sided wrath or out of nowhere finisher. It is the glue card that lets mono red control work.
Treasure Map
It is card selection that eventually gives you card advantage when it flips. Just as important as the ability to draw cards when it flips are the treasures themselves. The mana ramp is always great to play your powerful spells faster, and the treasures are useful in this deck by the very fact they are artifacts.
Voltaic Servant
You are playing so many artifacts that tap and artifact creatures that you get huge extra value anytime this card is on the board. With two things can start to get crazy as you can use some artifacts three times in a turn, such as scrying three times in a turn to flip treasure map or deal six damage with a Quicksmith Rebel artifact. Even on an empty board, a two mana 1/3 is a pretty good blocker that can buy you time against agreesive decks.
Quicksmith Rebel
This card does a lot of work in this deck as you can get a lot of uses from its ping effect thanks to Voltaic Servant. Against decks with a bunch of small creatures it can be absolutely back breaking if they can’t deal with the rebel right away. Even against control decks this is strong since it doesn’t need to attack, especially UW Control since so much of their removal like Seal Away and Settle the Wreckage require a creature to be tapped or attacking.
Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
He (It?) is the big finisher and one of the reason this deck can be so dangerous. It’s drawback usually doesn’t matter since you have so many ways to untap it making it practically a 7/7 trampler for four mana with vigilance. Most decks aren’t equipped to block a creature like that which means unless they have an answer right away Traxos can just win the game. Even better depending on your hand it is possible to deal a ton of damage out of nowhere after Quicksmith Rebeling Traxos and untapping it four or five times in one turn with historic spells and Voltaic Servants.
Etali, Primal Storm
There is a strong case to be made for this slot to be Chandra, Torch of Defiance. They are both card advantage engines that require to be answered right away. It really comes down do you want ramp and some more removal or do you want a 6/6 creature that gives you up to two free spells a turn. Right now I think Etali is better. Six toughness means she can attack into most board states. Most creatures played top out at five power. In addition the six power let’s her kill most creatures. Along with the fact Seal Away and Settle are very popular removal spells means you usually get at least one trigger for up to two free spells from her.
Removal
This deck doesn’t need the extra utility of going to the face of Shock. Instead since it is so grindy being able to permanently get rid of a creature like Scrap Trawler is preferred.
Abrade
In the same vein as Magma Spray this deck values the utility of being able to destroy artifacts more than being able to go to the face.
Icy Manipulator
Playing like its 1998. This card performs a bunch of different little roles and basically covers a bunch of things red decks normally have trouble dealing with. It takes care of indestructible creatures, Ghalta, can randomly mana screw an opponent by tapping down a land during their upkeep. In addition it is the decks best defense against Approach of the Second Sun as it can keep the deck off of the mana needed to cast it.
Jaya’s Immolating Inferno
Can be a one sided wrath or a finisher to end the game. Being a legendary sorcery hurts because of the casting drawback, but the deck is running a lot of legends and it can be back breaking enough to win a game outright.
Lands
The Dominaria Mountains look really nice in this deck especially if you are using silver sleeves. Otherwise I suggest using either Kamigawa or Mirage Mountains since those are my favorites artworkwise.
Field of Ruin
Good at taking care of pesky utility lands.
Inventors’ Fair
Can find you an artifact from your deck. Can gain you some incidental life. Also legendary which is a slight plus instead of a drawback in this deck.
Sequestered Stash
Especially good since in long games sometimes all of your copies of the artifact you need are in your graveyard. Also doesn’t require three artifacts to activate.
Other Cards
It isn’t a game stomping card, but it does a lot of little things the deck loves. It gives an artifact creature. It can pump artifact creatures and it can prevent blocking. Just as important it is a three mana legend which can allow for a turn four Jaya’s Immolating Inferno. Against aggro decks that can be enough to win games sometimes.
Filigree Familiar
It wins the award for being the cutest creature in the deck. Other than that it is a solid card. It gains 2 life, it is an artifact, it can trade with a two toughness creature, and when it dies you draw a card. All of which are good in this deck.
Verix Bladewing
This slot had a lot of competition in terms of Glorybringer and Rekindling Phoenix. It beat out the two because it costs four mana for a 4/4 flyer, is legendary, and it is pretty easy to kick in this deck. The two things the competition bring in extra removal and hard to deal with threat is something the deck always would like, but doesn’t need. Also because it is a dragon it can’t be Glorybringered and is one of the best creatures against Ramunap Red because of that.
Weatherlight
You are playing enough historic spells where you should usually get an extra card whenever it hits an opponent. It’s not as easy to efficiently crew because there aren’t a lot three power creatures in the deck, but as an evasive threat that gets you cards and is legendary it fits well in the deck as a one of.
Goblin Chainwhirler
You aren’t usually looking to play this on turn three in this deck, but it can be extremely strong against aggressive deck. It’s downside as being a 3/3 first striker for three that pings when it enters the battlefield is good enough to warrant its inclusion as a one of.
Karn, Scion of Urza
This is probably my least favorite card in the deck. It is never as good as I think it should be. And I always wish I drew something else. The deck has better card selection/advantage cards and better threats than its constructs. The only reason I haven’t replaced the last copy is that it is a good removal, over commitment magnet, while also being a serviceable source of card selection/draw and creatures.
Sideboard Only Cards
I like to bring it in against aggressive decks as a 2/1 first striker is a good blocker with the added bonus of being able to flashback an enemy removal/burn spell sometimes. I haven’t been too impressed with it against control.
Sweltering Suns
Good against aggressive decks and if you don’t want/need to cast it, it can always be cycled.
Urza’s Tome
Great in control mirrors as the games go long and you should have plenty of historic cards to exile from your graveyard.
Crook of Condemnation
For God-Pharaoh’s Gift decks. Better than Scavenger Grounds because it is an artifact.
Violent Impact
At first glance it looks like a card that shouldn’t be here, but it is a card I’ve been impressed with. Bring it in against Second Sun decks to keep them off Second Sun mana. It can destroy Torrential Gearhulk against UW Control. It can destroy any utility land, like Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin. At the very worst it can be cycled away. It is really the ability to be cycled that makes it worthy of the sideboard slot since it is never a completely dead draw.
Decklist
This is the deck I've been using after tweaking it for a while.
17 Mountain
4 Zhalfirin Void
1 Sequestered Stash
1 Inventors' Fair
1 Field of Ruin
Creatures
4 Voltaic Servant
3 Quicksmith Rebel
3 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
2 Etali, Primal Storm
2 Filigree Familiar
2 Pia Nalaar
1 Goblin Chainwhirler
1 Verix Bladewing
3 Treasure Map
2 Icy Manipulator
1 Weatherlight
Instants
4 Abrade
3 Magma Spray
Sorceries
3 Fight with Fire
1 Jaya's Immolating Inferno
Planeswalkers
1 Karn, Scion of Urza
3 Sweltering Suns
3 Crook of Condemnation
2 Violent Impact
2 Filigree Familiar
2 Icy Manipulator
1 Magma Spray
1 Dire Fleet Daredevil
1 Urza's Tome
Matchups
Approach of the Second Sun
Sideboard - Your best bet is post side boarding to bring in Icy Manipulators, Dire Fleet Daredevil, and Violent Impact for your Magma Sprays and two Abrades. Also a neat trick is if keep track of where their Approach is and they don’t have card draw you can steal it with Etali to give yourself more time.
UW Control
Sideboard - If they are playing Torrential Gearhulks bring in Violent Impacts, Urza’s Tome, and Icy Manipulator for Magma Spray and Filigree Familiar. If they are not then don’t bring in Violent Impacts and keep in the Filigree Familiars.
Ramunap Red
Sideboard – The key is to slim down as much as possible and stabilize at as high of a life total as possible. Take out Karn, Scion of Urza, a Traxos, Scourge of Kroog, Jaya’s Immolating Inferno, a Voltaic Servant, Weatherlight, and a Quicksmith Rebel for a Magma Spray, Dire Fleet Daredevil, Filigree Familiar, and two Sweltering Suns.
Mardu Vehicles
Sideboard – The key is to slim down as much as possible and stabilize at as high of a life total as possible. Take out Karn, Scion of Urza, a Traxos, Scourge of Kroog, Jaya’s Immolating Inferno, a Voltaic Servant, Weatherlight, and a Quicksmith Rebel for a Magma Spray, Dire Fleet Daredevil, one Violent Impact, and three Sweltering Suns.
Bogles
Sideboard – Take out Karn, Scion of Urza, Weatherlight, and Filigree Familiar for Magma Spray, one Icy Manipulator, and two Sweltering Suns. The gameplan is Voltron prevention or if they do Voltron to just tap it down.
Ghalta Green aka Mono Green Stompy
Sideboard - Replace Goblin Chainwhirler and Filigree Familiar for two Icy Manipulator. Also if you expect this match-up a lot throw a fourth Fight with Fire in the sideboard for a Sweltering Suns. Glorybringer is also an option. Then again if you are expecting to see it a lot you should probably just play a different deck.
Outside of a few other homebrews these are the decks I’ve gotten experience playing against (my meta is over a third some sort of Bogles deck). Because of that I don’t have experience some other match-ups like RG Monsters, Goblin God-Pharaoh’s Gift, and RB Vehicles. I’ll update if I play against them. If anyone plays Mono-Red Control against these decks (or other popular decks) I’ll try to update as well.
Final Thoughts
This deck is a fun and unique deck for people who enjoy playing grinding tedious decks. It might not ever be tier 1, but it is powerful and can win local standard events.
Saying that, it doesn’t play like most other control decks I’ve played and there is a big learning curve on it. Do not pick it up and expect to do well right away. The first time I played it I lost all of my matches, many to embarrassing mistakes. But each time I’ve played it I’ve learned from my mistakes and made mental notes about what to do. And because of that I’ve found myself doing better each time I’ve played it to the point that I got first place in the latest Standard event I played.
4x Walking Ballista
4x Soul-Scar Mage
2x Wily Goblin
1x Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
4x Goblin Chainwhirler
1x Pia Nalaar
2x Glorybringer
2x Siege-Gang Commander
Instants and Sorceries (9):
1x Magma Spray
3x Abrade
2x Lightning Strike
3x Fight with Fire
3x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2x Karn, Scion of Urza
Artifacts (2):
2x Treasure Map
Lands (24):
20x Mountain
2x Scavenger Grounds
1x Field of Ruin
1x Desert of the Fervent
2x Magma Spray
2x Dire Fleet Daredevil
1x Abrade
3x Crook of Condemnation
2x Sorcerous Spyglass
2x Aethersphere Harvester
3x Sweltering Suns
I also think that you're massively undervaluing Karn which is one of the better cards in the format and fits great in a mono-colored midrange deck that needs the card draw.
Another generically good card that needs to be in the deck is Walking Ballista as it is just too good not too run especially in a color that has no good 2-drops unless you go aggro with Kari Zev and Earthshaker (though Raptor Hatchling might be worth trying as a blocker that comes back bigger).
Here is my idea for a deck like this:
4x Walking Ballista
4x Goblin Chainwhirler
4x Rekindling Phoenix
1x Verix Bladewing
4x Glorybringer
Planseswalker (4)
2x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2x Karn, Scion of Urza
4x Treasure Map
Sorcery (7)
4x Cut // Ribbons
3x Fight with Fire
Instant (4)
4x Abrade
Land (24)
16x Mountain
4x Zhalfirin Void
2x Field of Ruin
2x Scavenger Grounds
4x Sweltering Suns
3x Magma Spray
1x Vance's Blasting Cannons
2x Hour of Devastation
2x Karn, Scion of Urza
2x Dire Fleet Daredevil
1x Etali, Primal Storm
Maybe there should be more copies of the PW's in the maindeck and maybe Sweltering Suns (or Bombard/Struggle // Survive)) is a better maindeck option than Cut // Ribbons but it seems like the most cost effiicient removal spell besides Abrade/Fight with Fire and might also offer a finisher option by using treasure tokens to cast the "Ribbons" half in the lategame.
Another option is to play Heart of Kiran over some of the creatures and utilize the PW's to crew them.
As for lands, Arch of Orazca can be a decent 1x-of and maybe Desert of the Fervent is worth it for the cycling though EtB tapped is pretty bad so the scry-land might be better.
I actually played a second Goblin Chainwhirler maindeck this past week in place of a Filigree Familiar, but I've come to the conclusion that the deck needs only one or zero maindeck. It is a much better sideboard card. Seventeen mountains is not enough to cast it consistently turn three and it is only really good against some decks. Against around half the decks it is a 3/3 first striker for three, which is fine, but there are better maindeck cards for a red control deck.
Karn, Scion of Urza I've found has a similar issue to Goblin Chainwhirler. It is great in midrange decks which can apply a lot more pressure, but in my deck it's all about getting the right answers. Karn is card advantage, but delayed card selection. The opponent will never give me the card I want on the +1 ability. Meaning the card I want is a turn away. That has been my main issue when I play it. The other is that the deck just doesn't play enough artifacts to get really big constructs from him unless you keep up treasure chests, but you want to cash those in for mana or cards whenever you can. I mostly keep the one in for the long games where you are looking for pure card advantage.
Also Quicksmith Rebel is better than Walking Ballista if you have Voltaic Servant on the battlefield. Without that card I would playing Ballista hands down. I've tried both in the deck and Quicksmith Rebel is the better card in this deck. It's more mana efficient and deals more damage per turn.
Arch of Orazca is a card I really want to find room for, but I don't know where. I don't want to cut a mountain since it is already kind of mountain lite for a mono-colored deck, but I also don't think it is better than the non-mountain lands. I guess probably the best spot for it would be to move a Chainwhirler to the sideboard and throw in an Arch.
Desert was in my first version of this deck. The EtB tapped really hurts when you want to be using all your mana every turn. Also the cycling wasn't as useful since you almost always want to play a land since you need nine mana for Fight with Fire. I actually replaced them with Zhalfirin Void on a whim and was surprised how good they were.
Finally I did play against Ghalta green this Saturday. The match-up is horrendous. Their threats are too large to burn and they have maindeck artifact removal. I don't really know how to improve it other than hope you get a little lucky and draw lots of Icy Manipulator and Fight with Fire. On the bright side Ghalta Green was my only lost so I got second place (Ghalta Green got first).
Edit: I am looking to add a Glorybringer or two in the main or side, to help out a little bit against higher toughness creatures, but I can't really decide the cuts.
Then you can use vanquisher's banner for card advantage since red doesnt really do well in that department. Cast squee over and over for extra card draw.
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Mtg Lifestyle
Abrade, Sweltering Suns, Walking Ballista and Chandra, Torch of Defiance (biggest hit to the deck).
Here is my take on it (slightly updaed version of this):
4x Dire Fleet Daredevil
4x Goblin Chainwhirler
4x Rekindling Phoenix
1x Verix Bladewing
4x Demanding Dragon
Planseswalker (4)
4x Karn, Scion of Urza
Artifact (4)
4x Treasure Map
3x Shivan Fire
4x Lava Coil
Instant (4)
4x Lightning Strike
Land (24)
16x Mountain
2x Memorial to War
4x Zhalfirin Void
2x Field of Ruin
3x Legion Warboss
2x Sarkhan, Fireblood
1x Etali, Primal Storm
3x Fight with Fire
2x Fiery Cannonade
2x Banefire
2x Sorcerous Spyglass
The main slots I'm still unsure about are the 2-drop slot which is now occupied by Dire Fleet Daredevil but could also possibly be:
Raptor Hatchling, Goblin Cratermaker, Goblin Instigator, Electrostatic Field or Lightning Mare.
And also about what should be in the SB, more answers or more threats to bring in as Mono Red doesn't really interact well with non-creature spells anyway.
Regarding removal some other decent options seem to be Response // Resurgence (a better Gideon's Reproach) and Spit Flame
(an instant speed Lava Coil which can be reused with the 5x dragons in the deck).