In mono red, Heartless Hidetsugu is not considered to be the most competitive of generals (that honor, I believe, goes to Kiki-Jiki). He is, however, the most antagonistic general to play. This deck, based mostly around winning suddenly and unexpectedly, accelerates the pace of any EDH game it's played in, and once you've combo'ed out a couple times your opponents will learn to fear it like the plague. That said, this deck isn't as consistent as many others, and sometimes all you can do is take as many people down as possible before you're knocked out of the game yourself. But that does not make flinging around huge fireballs and doing a couple hundred damage in a turn any less fun!
With this deck, you make mana. Lots of it. With 40 lands and the various artifacts you're running, it's not unlikely that by the end of the game you'll be able to hit 30+ mana for at least a few turns. This and your large suite of burn spells attempt to compensate for your relative lack of creatures, which only number about 17 including your general.
That said, all of your creatures in this deck are extremely useful. There is not a single creature that one could consider chaff or filler in this deck; even Chartooth Cougar is useful for Mountain cycling ability (sometimes you just gotta have that extra land...). This means you'll want to be careful about playing out your creatures willy-nilly, as given the right setup they all have the capability of doing some serious damage to your opponents.
The final important component of this deck is the variety of lifegain and draw effects you're packing, which are absolutely essential if you want to live out a game. Most of your burn spells in this deck will damage YOU as well, meaning that if you don't have some way to finish off your opponents quickly, or some way of making back the life, you're going to be in a rough spot. The card draw (especially all the cycling effects) help you dig for these critical cards or whatever combo pieces you need to win you the game.
Strategy
There are at least three broadly defined win-conditions with this deck:
1. Make mana, burn your opponents out. This works best when you're NOT up against a blue player, of course, but with the sheer number of burn spells you're running it's possible to make your opponent waste counterspell after counterspell until you can finally push one through.
2. Creatures and Enchantments. You are packing some of the best creatures red has to offer. Your enchantments only make them that much more powerful. Furnace of Rath is of course a house, but playing a Repercussion + Crater Hellion against an opponent with a large number of creatures is a blowout. Gratuitous Violence will also effectively wreck any opponent's day, especially if any of your direct damage creatures (Kamahl, Kumano) are out. Also, having Furnace out with Stuffy Doll in play sets up some silly shenanigans (double the damage going in to Stuffy Doll, Furnace doubles it again as it redirects the damage).
3. Set yourself to an odd-numbered lifetotal and then double Hidetsugu's damage. This is really what this deck is based around. Hidetsugu with ANY damage doubling effect is an automatic clock for any player at an even number of life. That said, this will usually only work the first time you try it in any given playgroup before people learn to start removing Hidetsugu immediately... But that's why we play things that make him hasty/shrouded. The earliest I've ever won with this win con is turn 6 against 3 other players.
The problem is surviving until you can set one of these combo's up, which is more difficult than it might be in any other deck. Not drawing too much attention to yourself until you're ready to start beating face is a necessary part of this. Don't start using your burn until you have to, and don't start playing out your bombs until your opponents are distracted. If people start hating on you early because they fear what Hidetsugu can do, you won't be able to stall the game out long enough to drop more than a couple big burn spells. Eternity Vessel, Sun Droplet, Angelheart Vial, and Basilisk Collar all exist to make it more likely that you will survive until late game. Use them as early as possible, and don't be afraid to use the cycling effects to dig for them.
This is also where Obliterate and Jokalhups come in. Sometimes, the board state is just NOT in your favor. Whether you haven't been getting your lands, or an opponent has a massive army built up ready to smash your face, it can sometimes be more advantageous just to reset everything. Usually you can recover from this fairly quickly with your vast profusion of land and mana artifacts. The same cannot always be said of your opponents, who may have the gas taken out of their deck by a well timed board wipe. That said, never do this unless you absolutely have to; it's kind of a dick move.
(of course, if you're about to be killed ANYWAY, nothing says "SCREW YOU ALL" quite like an uncounterable reset button)
Finally, it is worth noting that there are only THREE cards in this deck that will deal with enchantments of any sort: Oblivion Stone, Nevinyrral's Disk, and Steel Hellkite. If you're facing an opponent whose deck is based around enchantments (like, for instance, Uril) you had better learn to cooperate with your opponents to take him down or hope that you can burn him out before he turns his attention to you.
Silly interactions
Just some things I've seen happen in this deck that will make any playgroup LOL:
Repercussion + Furnace of Rath/Overblaze
This makes combat math extremely fun.
Repercussion + Pyrohemia
Fun when you don't have any creatures on the board.
Stuffy Doll + any damage doubling effect (Furnace especially)
In theory, with Stuffy Doll, Fire Servant, and Furnace of Rath in play, it's possible to drop an Inferno that does 24 damage to the entire table, as well as an additional 48 damage to whoever Stuffy Doll is targeting (total: 72 damage, hells yes). Even without all that silliness, Stuffy Doll will absolutely love any damage-increasing effect you can make happen.
Deathforge Shaman + a lot of mana or some enchanments
Oh hey, look at that, I kicked him 20 times/kicked him 10 times and made him deal double damage. OOPS.
A fun note for you: Molten Disaster's Split Second kicker allows you to pre-empt any counterspells that might be played against you by abusing the concept of priority. For those who are less familiar with the concept, priority basically says that when it's your turn, you get to do EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO DO in any given phase BEFORE your opponents can respond. Keeping that in mind, if you're holding, say, Molten Disaster and Koth of the Hammer (which you just know your opponents are going to want to counter) it is possible to play out Koth and then, BEFORE PASSING PRIORITY (important that you state this) play Molten Disaster with the kicker. Split Second says that nothing else can be placed on the stack, meaning that your opponents can't possibly counter that Koth you just played out.
Sideboard Cards/Other Cards You Could Play
Here we discuss things I'm not playing because I don't have them, don't like them, or simply don't fit with my playstyle:
Creatures:
Duplicant - a lot of decks run this card as a way to even out your board position or remove enemy generals.
[CARD]Kiki-Jiki, The Mirror Breaker
[/CARD] - You don't have a lot of creatures, and Kiki-Jiki allows you to copy them for more blockiness/shenanigans. Doesn't really combo with anything except Flametongue Kavu, but you could change the creature base around to give you more options.
Magus of the Moon - For disabling your opponents with 5 color manabases.
Hostility - This creates an alternate win-condition to huge fireballs and direct damage; however, it's just as vulnerable to counterspells (no fireball = no tokens). Could also be just a good way to create blockers if you find yourself being overrun by tokens a lot.
Rimescale Dragon - Only useful if you run snow lands, but if you are, there is no damn reason not to play this dude. He is a control HOUSE in monored. Pretty much the last thing opponents will expect to see out of your deck.
Any Big Eldrazi - Hey, you'll have the mana, and it prevents you from being decked.
Enchantments
Vicious Shadows - This has been cited to me before as one of the most dick cards to play in EDH. I think that's silly, especially from people playing something like Shaarum or Azami. Perfect to play the turn before you drop a big-ass Earthquake on your opponents.
Blood Moon - Similar to Magus of the Moon, and in an enchantment slot.
Price of Glory - This stops your opponents from attempting to counter your spells, unless they like losing their lands. However, you'll notice that there are about as many instants as there are sorceries in this deck - playing Price of Glory can put you at as much of a disadvantage as it can your opponent.
Braids of Fire - The utility of this card somewhat depends on how much bounce/enchantment hate your play group is packing. It's easy to see this and salivate over the possibility of being able to drop a 10 damage fireball for free during your upkeep, or popping off any of your other instants for that matter. Before you include this card though, ask yourself a) what you're going to take out of the deck to put this in and b) how long you realistically think this is going to live.
Sorceries and Instants
Ruination - Do you really hate nonbasic lands? Play Ruination and lulz.
Recoup - A better Surreal Memoir. Actually, I don't know why I'm not playing this. Include it where you like, as it serves as a fun way to mitigate the damage counterspells can do to you.
Fork - It's exactly the same as Reverberate, but older and harder to get. Might be a good replacement for Reiterate if you find yourself reluctant to pay the buyback cost.
Insurrection - If you can pop this off and there's a board full of creatures, or you have some kind of sac outlet, this card can be TECH. Most of the time it's going to be a dead draw for you though.
Artifacts
Loxodon Warhammer - It's a way to gain life off your creatures/Hidetsugu that doesn't draw quite as much hate as Basilisk Collar. Play it if you like it better than the collar, or really want to be hitting that lifegain.
Planar Portal - Hey, it's tutor in a color where your only option for tutoring is Gamble.
Cursed Scroll - I've seen other decks playing this as a way to deal damage. In a monocolored deck it could be fun.
Sphinx Bone Wand - I don't know about this card, but considering how many spells you play this could become a house... or you could waste a bunch of mana dropping it to do 1 damage to an opponent and then have it removed. Could be a good substitute for another card if you have it and don't want to pick up something more expensive (like, say, Gauntlet).
Relic of Progenitus - See a lot of recursion effects in your playgroup? HATE ON THEM. HATE ON THEM ALL.
Tormod's Crypt - Sometimes, somebody plays a Lord of Extinction and tries to beat your face in. And sometimes, you just have to make their graveyard go away in response.
Mana Accel Artifacts:
These get a separate category because they are all pretty decent and all serve he same purpose. If you want to really power out those fireballs, play these.
Lands: Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Making your big fireballs uncounterable is a BIG plus; however, it's hard to fish it out with limited tutor. This is probably an auto-include if you play in a counterspell-heavy play group; could theoretically be made tutorable by the inclusion of an Expedition Map.
Snow Mountains - Play in a red-heavy environment? Don't want your opponents profiting from your Extraplanar Lens? Make all your Mountains into Snow Mountains!
Spinerock Knoll - You'll do a lot more than 7 damage in a turn. The trouble is choosing exactly what you're going to play...
Miren, the Moaning Well - A way to gain life is always pretty damn cool, but with your limited creature count this is much less useful. Still, your opponents are going to be trying to remove your creatures enough that it might occasionally become relevant.
And that's that for now. I will continue to update this post as things come up... Maybe talk about some ideal sideboard cards. As always, comments, concerns, and suggestions are always welcome.
I love the effect this deck has on the table. It's like the whole table has a doom counter over their head ticking down until it's too late for them to do anything about it. At the same time, it's rather unassuming until it goes off, which is a favorite quality of mine concerning EDH decks.
The best red card I don't see you playing is Godo, Bandit Warlord. Having a way to search up that Basilisk Collar or Lightning Greaves could give your Commander the extra reach he needs to win it for you. Not to mention Godo is a stout beater himself. I like him over the Chartooth Cougar for the same mana cost. His tutoring makes it worth the loss of a landcycler.
I love what you've done here. You've chosen high-quality cards and made the best of a narrow (red) situation. Thanks for your contribution to the primers!
If you really want the game to end fast, consider Fumiko the Lowblood and/or Grand Melee. Fumiko is nice in that only your opponents' creatures need to attack, so you can just sit back with a few blockers and enjoy.
Trust me - forcing everyone to attack can turn a stalemate into a bloodbath, and that's just the way mono-red likes it. (also consider Crawlspace to go with).
As a connoisseur of fun, interesting matches, I still to this day have not been able to craft that "perfect deck"; the deck that I can play and have fun over time, doesn't get boring, but simultaneously is fun to play against. I honestly don't think it exists. It's like a unicorn. A ninja unicorn.
I keep vacillating on Spinerock Knoll. I have so many X spells and so many creatures that need to be strategically played that I don't want just popping out when I deal someone 7 damage. It deserves play testing though.
Knollspine Dragon is a card I am EXTREMELY iffy on. Assuming I tried playing it after a Hidetsugu tap (the most used effect of dealing damage to an opponent without using my mana that I have) I would be drawing probably between 10-20 cards if I hadn't doubled his damage in any way; otherwise I would be drawing probably between 40-20, and the game would likely be over anyway. That seems good at first brush; HOWEVER, the only times I really want to be playing Hidetsugu are times when I can win either this turn or the next to avoid having my opponents blow him away. So that seems like a bad interaction. Furthermore, a lot of my spells that would deal big damage are spells that I want to be pumping all of my mana into anyway (i.e. Molten Disaster), and wanting to play the dragon after such a spell means I'm lessening the amount of damage I'm doing. For a fireballing deck, this seems silly. That leaves me my creatures/enchantments, and in all honesty I don't often end up swinging with creatures around turn 7; the number of times when I do that and have Knollspine Dragon in my hand at the same time are likely going to be few and far between.
Thus, for all of these reasons, I am fairly unsold on the dragon. This might change in an environment where Hidetsugu doesn't draw targeted hate like he does in mine locally.
Orrery could make the cut... I would be inclined to take out one of my current artifacts though, as I play far too many for a red burn deck as it is.
Finally, while I like the idea of a combat win condition, especially given red's power in that area, it's just not what this deck is designed to do. I don't want to swing at my opponents with schtuff; I want them to spit and roast them in a 28 damage fireball for the win. I know both Fumiko and Melee are good cards, but I would argue against them mainly because they lie outside the deck's focus.
I keep vacillating on Spinerock Knoll. I have so many X spells and so many creatures that need to be strategically played that I don't want just popping out when I deal someone 7 damage. It deserves play testing though.
Knollspine Dragon is a card I am EXTREMELY iffy on. Assuming I tried playing it after a Hidetsugu tap (the most used effect of dealing damage to an opponent without using my mana that I have) I would be drawing probably between 10-20 cards if I hadn't doubled his damage in any way; otherwise I would be drawing probably between 40-20, and the game would likely be over anyway. That seems good at first brush; HOWEVER, the only times I really want to be playing Hidetsugu are times when I can win either this turn or the next to avoid having my opponents blow him away. So that seems like a bad interaction. Furthermore, a lot of my spells that would deal big damage are spells that I want to be pumping all of my mana into anyway (i.e. Molten Disaster), and wanting to play the dragon after such a spell means I'm lessening the amount of damage I'm doing. For a fireballing deck, this seems silly. That leaves me my creatures/enchantments, and in all honesty I don't often end up swinging with creatures around turn 7; the number of times when I do that and have Knollspine Dragon in my hand at the same time are likely going to be few and far between.
Thus, for all of these reasons, I am fairly unsold on the dragon. This might change in an environment where Hidetsugu doesn't draw targeted hate like he does in mine locally.
Orrery could make the cut... I would be inclined to take out one of my current artifacts though, as I play far too many for a red burn deck as it is.
Finally, while I like the idea of a combat win condition, especially given red's power in that area, it's just not what this deck is designed to do. I don't want to swing at my opponents with schtuff; I want them to spit and roast them in a 28 damage fireball for the win. I know both Fumiko and Melee are good cards, but I would argue against them mainly because they lie outside the deck's focus.
Fair enough on the Spinerock duo, though I think you're underestimating the dragon. But you misunderstand Fumiko and Melee - they're not so that you can kill your opponent in combat, it's so that your opponents soften one another up for that 28 point fireball.
As a connoisseur of fun, interesting matches, I still to this day have not been able to craft that "perfect deck"; the deck that I can play and have fun over time, doesn't get boring, but simultaneously is fun to play against. I honestly don't think it exists. It's like a unicorn. A ninja unicorn.
I've added more sideboard cards that you might want to play in the deck instead, as well as a new, fun interaction that ruins the day of opposing blue mages: Split Second!
Your read on split second is wrong, also, molten is a sorcery so you can't put it on the stack on top of koth sans orrery shenanigans.
Play Koth -> Koth on Stack -> Hold Priority -> Play card with Split Second -> stack is locked -> Split Second Spell resolves -> Opponent gets priority and opportunity to counter -> Koth may/may not be countered.
BTW, I love heartless, I have him built paper and MTGO and he's my favorite general to get in there and make a mess. I don't play to win, I play to do cool stuff with him.
This is a perfectly acceptableHeartless Hidetsugu deck. Unfortunately, this build will never be able to compete at the tier1 level. It's simply not fast enough, CMC is too high, and any bomb-heavy green deck will ultimately overwhelm. Setting up the HH explosion can prove somewhat challenging, but really... it's a 3-card combo with multiple options. You need: HH + Haste + Damage Doubler/Lifelink. That's it. Now... if you want to see a deck made of pure awesome. A deck that can win on turn3. A deck that has won tournaments.
Then check out "Blast 'Em, Heartless Hidetsugu" on EssentialMagic. Should really demonstrate where the power is with HH.
The Deck
1 Heartless Hidetsugu
Creatures
1 Fire Servant
1 Deathforge Shaman
1 Hoarding Dragon
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Kamahl, Pit Fighter
1 Ryusei, the Falling Star
1 Obsidian Fireheart
1 Kumano, Master Yamabushi
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Stuffy Doll
1 Creater Hellion
1 Chartooth Cougar
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
1 Anger
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Inferno Titan
Instants
1 Dead/Gone
1 Wild Ricochet
1 Pulse of the Forge
1 Starstorm
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Shunt
1 Overblaze
1 Reverberate
1 Comet Storm
1 Reiterate
1 Inferno
1 Grab the Reins
1 Flame Javelin
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Banefire
1 Aftershock
1 Pillage
1 Jokulhaups
1 Obliterate
1 Red Sun's Zenith
1 Gamble
1 Molten Disaster
1 Earthquake
1 Fireball
1 Disentegrate
Enchantments
1 Repercussion
1 Gratuitous Violence
1 Furnace of Rath
1 Pyrohemia
Planeswalkers
1 Koth of the Hammer
1 Chandra Ablaze
Artifacts
1 Mind's Eye
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Angelheart Vial
1 Extraplanar lens
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sun Droplet
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Doubling Cube
1 Thousand Year Elixir
1 Eternity Vessel
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Keldon Megaliths
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Smoldering Crater
35 Mountains
General Deck Notes
With this deck, you make mana. Lots of it. With 40 lands and the various artifacts you're running, it's not unlikely that by the end of the game you'll be able to hit 30+ mana for at least a few turns. This and your large suite of burn spells attempt to compensate for your relative lack of creatures, which only number about 17 including your general.
That said, all of your creatures in this deck are extremely useful. There is not a single creature that one could consider chaff or filler in this deck; even Chartooth Cougar is useful for Mountain cycling ability (sometimes you just gotta have that extra land...). This means you'll want to be careful about playing out your creatures willy-nilly, as given the right setup they all have the capability of doing some serious damage to your opponents.
The final important component of this deck is the variety of lifegain and draw effects you're packing, which are absolutely essential if you want to live out a game. Most of your burn spells in this deck will damage YOU as well, meaning that if you don't have some way to finish off your opponents quickly, or some way of making back the life, you're going to be in a rough spot. The card draw (especially all the cycling effects) help you dig for these critical cards or whatever combo pieces you need to win you the game.
Strategy
There are at least three broadly defined win-conditions with this deck:
1. Make mana, burn your opponents out. This works best when you're NOT up against a blue player, of course, but with the sheer number of burn spells you're running it's possible to make your opponent waste counterspell after counterspell until you can finally push one through.
Key Cards:
Any pumpable burn spell
2. Creatures and Enchantments. You are packing some of the best creatures red has to offer. Your enchantments only make them that much more powerful. Furnace of Rath is of course a house, but playing a Repercussion + Crater Hellion against an opponent with a large number of creatures is a blowout. Gratuitous Violence will also effectively wreck any opponent's day, especially if any of your direct damage creatures (Kamahl, Kumano) are out. Also, having Furnace out with Stuffy Doll in play sets up some silly shenanigans (double the damage going in to Stuffy Doll, Furnace doubles it again as it redirects the damage).
Key Cards:
3. Set yourself to an odd-numbered lifetotal and then double Hidetsugu's damage. This is really what this deck is based around. Hidetsugu with ANY damage doubling effect is an automatic clock for any player at an even number of life. That said, this will usually only work the first time you try it in any given playgroup before people learn to start removing Hidetsugu immediately... But that's why we play things that make him hasty/shrouded. The earliest I've ever won with this win con is turn 6 against 3 other players.
Key Cards
The problem is surviving until you can set one of these combo's up, which is more difficult than it might be in any other deck. Not drawing too much attention to yourself until you're ready to start beating face is a necessary part of this. Don't start using your burn until you have to, and don't start playing out your bombs until your opponents are distracted. If people start hating on you early because they fear what Hidetsugu can do, you won't be able to stall the game out long enough to drop more than a couple big burn spells. Eternity Vessel, Sun Droplet, Angelheart Vial, and Basilisk Collar all exist to make it more likely that you will survive until late game. Use them as early as possible, and don't be afraid to use the cycling effects to dig for them.
This is also where Obliterate and Jokalhups come in. Sometimes, the board state is just NOT in your favor. Whether you haven't been getting your lands, or an opponent has a massive army built up ready to smash your face, it can sometimes be more advantageous just to reset everything. Usually you can recover from this fairly quickly with your vast profusion of land and mana artifacts. The same cannot always be said of your opponents, who may have the gas taken out of their deck by a well timed board wipe. That said, never do this unless you absolutely have to; it's kind of a dick move.
(of course, if you're about to be killed ANYWAY, nothing says "SCREW YOU ALL" quite like an uncounterable reset button)
Finally, it is worth noting that there are only THREE cards in this deck that will deal with enchantments of any sort: Oblivion Stone, Nevinyrral's Disk, and Steel Hellkite. If you're facing an opponent whose deck is based around enchantments (like, for instance, Uril) you had better learn to cooperate with your opponents to take him down or hope that you can burn him out before he turns his attention to you.
Silly interactions
Just some things I've seen happen in this deck that will make any playgroup LOL:
Repercussion + Furnace of Rath/Overblaze
This makes combat math extremely fun.
Repercussion + Pyrohemia
Fun when you don't have any creatures on the board.
Stuffy Doll + any damage doubling effect (Furnace especially)
In theory, with Stuffy Doll, Fire Servant, and Furnace of Rath in play, it's possible to drop an Inferno that does 24 damage to the entire table, as well as an additional 48 damage to whoever Stuffy Doll is targeting (total: 72 damage, hells yes). Even without all that silliness, Stuffy Doll will absolutely love any damage-increasing effect you can make happen.
Deathforge Shaman + a lot of mana or some enchanments
Oh hey, look at that, I kicked him 20 times/kicked him 10 times and made him deal double damage. OOPS.
A fun note for you: Molten Disaster's Split Second kicker allows you to pre-empt any counterspells that might be played against you by abusing the concept of priority. For those who are less familiar with the concept, priority basically says that when it's your turn, you get to do EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO DO in any given phase BEFORE your opponents can respond. Keeping that in mind, if you're holding, say, Molten Disaster and Koth of the Hammer (which you just know your opponents are going to want to counter) it is possible to play out Koth and then, BEFORE PASSING PRIORITY (important that you state this) play Molten Disaster with the kicker. Split Second says that nothing else can be placed on the stack, meaning that your opponents can't possibly counter that Koth you just played out.
Sideboard Cards/Other Cards You Could Play
Here we discuss things I'm not playing because I don't have them, don't like them, or simply don't fit with my playstyle:
Creatures:
Duplicant - a lot of decks run this card as a way to even out your board position or remove enemy generals.
[CARD]Kiki-Jiki, The Mirror Breaker
[/CARD] - You don't have a lot of creatures, and Kiki-Jiki allows you to copy them for more blockiness/shenanigans. Doesn't really combo with anything except Flametongue Kavu, but you could change the creature base around to give you more options.
Magus of the Moon - For disabling your opponents with 5 color manabases.
Viashino Heretic - Artifact haaaaaaaaaate.
Anarchist - Recurring a spell seems good.
Hostility - This creates an alternate win-condition to huge fireballs and direct damage; however, it's just as vulnerable to counterspells (no fireball = no tokens). Could also be just a good way to create blockers if you find yourself being overrun by tokens a lot.
Rimescale Dragon - Only useful if you run snow lands, but if you are, there is no damn reason not to play this dude. He is a control HOUSE in monored. Pretty much the last thing opponents will expect to see out of your deck.
Any Big Eldrazi - Hey, you'll have the mana, and it prevents you from being decked.
Enchantments
Vicious Shadows - This has been cited to me before as one of the most dick cards to play in EDH. I think that's silly, especially from people playing something like Shaarum or Azami. Perfect to play the turn before you drop a big-ass Earthquake on your opponents.
Blood Moon - Similar to Magus of the Moon, and in an enchantment slot.
Price of Glory - This stops your opponents from attempting to counter your spells, unless they like losing their lands. However, you'll notice that there are about as many instants as there are sorceries in this deck - playing Price of Glory can put you at as much of a disadvantage as it can your opponent.
Braids of Fire - The utility of this card somewhat depends on how much bounce/enchantment hate your play group is packing. It's easy to see this and salivate over the possibility of being able to drop a 10 damage fireball for free during your upkeep, or popping off any of your other instants for that matter. Before you include this card though, ask yourself a) what you're going to take out of the deck to put this in and b) how long you realistically think this is going to live.
Sorceries and Instants
Ruination - Do you really hate nonbasic lands? Play Ruination and lulz.
Recoup - A better Surreal Memoir. Actually, I don't know why I'm not playing this. Include it where you like, as it serves as a fun way to mitigate the damage counterspells can do to you.
Fork - It's exactly the same as Reverberate, but older and harder to get. Might be a good replacement for Reiterate if you find yourself reluctant to pay the buyback cost.
Insurrection - If you can pop this off and there's a board full of creatures, or you have some kind of sac outlet, this card can be TECH. Most of the time it's going to be a dead draw for you though.
Artifacts
Loxodon Warhammer - It's a way to gain life off your creatures/Hidetsugu that doesn't draw quite as much hate as Basilisk Collar. Play it if you like it better than the collar, or really want to be hitting that lifegain.
Planar Portal - Hey, it's tutor in a color where your only option for tutoring is Gamble.
Sensei's Divining Top / Scroll Rack / Crystal Ball - These are all ways to filter your draws.
Cursed Scroll - I've seen other decks playing this as a way to deal damage. In a monocolored deck it could be fun.
Sphinx Bone Wand - I don't know about this card, but considering how many spells you play this could become a house... or you could waste a bunch of mana dropping it to do 1 damage to an opponent and then have it removed. Could be a good substitute for another card if you have it and don't want to pick up something more expensive (like, say, Gauntlet).
Relic of Progenitus - See a lot of recursion effects in your playgroup? HATE ON THEM. HATE ON THEM ALL.
Tormod's Crypt - Sometimes, somebody plays a Lord of Extinction and tries to beat your face in. And sometimes, you just have to make their graveyard go away in response.
Mana Accel Artifacts:
These get a separate category because they are all pretty decent and all serve he same purpose. If you want to really power out those fireballs, play these.
Lands:
Boseiju, Who Shelters All - Making your big fireballs uncounterable is a BIG plus; however, it's hard to fish it out with limited tutor. This is probably an auto-include if you play in a counterspell-heavy play group; could theoretically be made tutorable by the inclusion of an Expedition Map.
Snow Mountains - Play in a red-heavy environment? Don't want your opponents profiting from your Extraplanar Lens? Make all your Mountains into Snow Mountains!
Spinerock Knoll - You'll do a lot more than 7 damage in a turn. The trouble is choosing exactly what you're going to play...
Miren, the Moaning Well - A way to gain life is always pretty damn cool, but with your limited creature count this is much less useful. Still, your opponents are going to be trying to remove your creatures enough that it might occasionally become relevant.
And that's that for now. I will continue to update this post as things come up... Maybe talk about some ideal sideboard cards. As always, comments, concerns, and suggestions are always welcome.
RRRHeartless Hidetsugu: The Ogre for TrollsRRR
BBBSeizan's Perverted VicesBBB
The best red card I don't see you playing is Godo, Bandit Warlord. Having a way to search up that Basilisk Collar or Lightning Greaves could give your Commander the extra reach he needs to win it for you. Not to mention Godo is a stout beater himself. I like him over the Chartooth Cougar for the same mana cost. His tutoring makes it worth the loss of a landcycler.
I love what you've done here. You've chosen high-quality cards and made the best of a narrow (red) situation. Thanks for your contribution to the primers!
:symu::symr: Melek WheelStorm
:symw::symg: Trostani Enchantress (updated 6/5)
:symg::symr::symu: Unexpected Results.dec
Thada Adel Stax WIP
You may know me as Doctor Rocktopus.
More EDH decks of varying quality here.
RRRHeartless Hidetsugu: The Ogre for TrollsRRR
BBBSeizan's Perverted VicesBBB
Trust me - forcing everyone to attack can turn a stalemate into a bloodbath, and that's just the way mono-red likes it. (also consider Crawlspace to go with).
PS: No Vedalken Orrery? For shame.
PPS: This deck should DEFINITELY be running Knollspine Dragon. And probably Spinerock Knoll.
Knollspine Dragon is a card I am EXTREMELY iffy on. Assuming I tried playing it after a Hidetsugu tap (the most used effect of dealing damage to an opponent without using my mana that I have) I would be drawing probably between 10-20 cards if I hadn't doubled his damage in any way; otherwise I would be drawing probably between 40-20, and the game would likely be over anyway. That seems good at first brush; HOWEVER, the only times I really want to be playing Hidetsugu are times when I can win either this turn or the next to avoid having my opponents blow him away. So that seems like a bad interaction. Furthermore, a lot of my spells that would deal big damage are spells that I want to be pumping all of my mana into anyway (i.e. Molten Disaster), and wanting to play the dragon after such a spell means I'm lessening the amount of damage I'm doing. For a fireballing deck, this seems silly. That leaves me my creatures/enchantments, and in all honesty I don't often end up swinging with creatures around turn 7; the number of times when I do that and have Knollspine Dragon in my hand at the same time are likely going to be few and far between.
Thus, for all of these reasons, I am fairly unsold on the dragon. This might change in an environment where Hidetsugu doesn't draw targeted hate like he does in mine locally.
Orrery could make the cut... I would be inclined to take out one of my current artifacts though, as I play far too many for a red burn deck as it is.
Finally, while I like the idea of a combat win condition, especially given red's power in that area, it's just not what this deck is designed to do. I don't want to swing at my opponents with schtuff; I want them to spit and roast them in a 28 damage fireball for the win. I know both Fumiko and Melee are good cards, but I would argue against them mainly because they lie outside the deck's focus.
RRRHeartless Hidetsugu: The Ogre for TrollsRRR
BBBSeizan's Perverted VicesBBB
Fair enough on the Spinerock duo, though I think you're underestimating the dragon. But you misunderstand Fumiko and Melee - they're not so that you can kill your opponent in combat, it's so that your opponents soften one another up for that 28 point fireball.
I've added more sideboard cards that you might want to play in the deck instead, as well as a new, fun interaction that ruins the day of opposing blue mages: Split Second!
RRRHeartless Hidetsugu: The Ogre for TrollsRRR
BBBSeizan's Perverted VicesBBB
Play Koth -> Koth on Stack -> Hold Priority -> Play card with Split Second -> stack is locked -> Split Second Spell resolves -> Opponent gets priority and opportunity to counter -> Koth may/may not be countered.
Also to make Heartless even more bonkers:
magewright's stone
rings of brighthearth
seize the day
aggravated assault
Hall of the Bandit Lord
BTW, I love heartless, I have him built paper and MTGO and he's my favorite general to get in there and make a mess. I don't play to win, I play to do cool stuff with him.
You cannot outrun the beast within.
[Horde] Phyrexia ascendant - The Virus
WUBRG - [Primer] Sliver Overlord - The Swarm - WUBRG
From Disappointing Signet Inc.!
Generation 16: First time you see this, change the number up 1 and copy into sig. It's a social experiment.
Then check out "Blast 'Em, Heartless Hidetsugu" on EssentialMagic. Should really demonstrate where the power is with HH.