While Reservoir was never a tier 1 deck in standard before the rotation, the archetype took a big hit when it lost its "moxen", Cathar's Shield and most importantly Bone Saw.
Even though Mox Amber is legendary which can create awkwardness in some spots, it should bring the deck back to speed. Baral, Chief of Compliance gives us a very natural way to turn the mana-ability on, which works wonderfully with Outcome. This is my current build idea:
I've been working with some guys at my shop on a Storm deck, and we initially started with both Baral and Mox Amber. What we quickly found though was that Baral was awful, and losing it and leaving ourselves with Jhoira meant Mox Amber was also pretty bad. This is where I am at currently:
The things I've noticed. The deck at it's best, wins turn 5. The games with multiple Powerstone Shards are much easier to win than those without. The biggest issue we had was drawing cards during the combo. We initially thought Jhoira was going to be the solution, but she dies a lot, and so we weren't able to consistently draw cards with her. More-so, we had no way of finding her while we were trying to combo. The Cranes were way more effective than Baral ever hoped to be. What we found was we needed a Jaymdae Tomb, and Urza's Tomb is okay, but not fantastic, and Azor's Gateway can never net you a card, but the two together have a lot of play, and they can be searched out with Whir/Inventors Fair while you are comboing. Also, you can use Mirror to copy one while trying to hit a non-land spell in order to untap everything and keep going. The Ballista serves two purposes. First, it's an alternate win condition. More importantly, it's a way to stay alive against the aggressive decks early. Eventually you have enough mana though that drawing one just ends the game.
We like the Red Splash. Initially it was for Jhoira main deck, but now it's mostly for the sideboard. We liked Jhoira against decks that were siding out most of their creature hate. UB should have just Scatters to deal with her post board, which makes her pretty good. I have Baral's Expirtise on a list of cards to mess around with, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. It being a psuedo Wrath of God that also plays a bad Outcome might be worth it in the long run. The commit//Memory is to protect Reservoir if it gets abraded, but it's also a quick draw 7, which is sometimes game winning.
Anyway, thats where I am right now. It's still a work in progress, and Black or Green might be better for different reasons, but Mono Red is abysmal, so I don't know if the deck is going to be able ever truly make it.
I am really curious about the capabilities that Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage gives us in this deck, making the whole deck operable at instant speed. What do you guys think of Raff?
Even though Mox Amber is legendary which can create awkwardness in some spots, it should bring the deck back to speed. Baral, Chief of Compliance gives us a very natural way to turn the mana-ability on, which works wonderfully with Outcome. This is my current build idea:
4 Renegade Map
4 Prophetic Prism
4 Inspiring Statuary
2 Aetherflux Reservoir
3 Baral, Chief of Compliance
4 Ornithopter
4 Glint-Nest Crane
3 Baral's Expertise
4 Reverse Engineer
4 Paradoxical Outcome
18 Island
2 Treasure Map
1 Silent Gravestone
2 Navigator's Compass
2 Negate
2 Metallic Rebuke
1 Spell Swindle
1 Commit // Memory
1 Inventors' Fair
2 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 River's Rebuke
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4 Walking Ballista
1 Trophy Mage
2 Mirage Mirror
3 Whir of Invention
4 Paradoxical Outcome
1 Aetherflux Resevoir
4 Powerstone Shard
3 Cultivators Caravan
3 Gilded Lotus
1 Urza's Tomb
1 Azor's Gateway
1 Commit//Memory
4 Strategic Planning
2 Paradox Engine
4 Sulfur Falls
2 Inventor's Fair
3 Spire of Industry
9 Island
4 Abrade
2 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
3 Sweltering Suns
3 Negate
3 Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain
The things I've noticed. The deck at it's best, wins turn 5. The games with multiple Powerstone Shards are much easier to win than those without. The biggest issue we had was drawing cards during the combo. We initially thought Jhoira was going to be the solution, but she dies a lot, and so we weren't able to consistently draw cards with her. More-so, we had no way of finding her while we were trying to combo. The Cranes were way more effective than Baral ever hoped to be. What we found was we needed a Jaymdae Tomb, and Urza's Tomb is okay, but not fantastic, and Azor's Gateway can never net you a card, but the two together have a lot of play, and they can be searched out with Whir/Inventors Fair while you are comboing. Also, you can use Mirror to copy one while trying to hit a non-land spell in order to untap everything and keep going. The Ballista serves two purposes. First, it's an alternate win condition. More importantly, it's a way to stay alive against the aggressive decks early. Eventually you have enough mana though that drawing one just ends the game.
We like the Red Splash. Initially it was for Jhoira main deck, but now it's mostly for the sideboard. We liked Jhoira against decks that were siding out most of their creature hate. UB should have just Scatters to deal with her post board, which makes her pretty good. I have Baral's Expirtise on a list of cards to mess around with, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. It being a psuedo Wrath of God that also plays a bad Outcome might be worth it in the long run. The commit//Memory is to protect Reservoir if it gets abraded, but it's also a quick draw 7, which is sometimes game winning.
Anyway, thats where I am right now. It's still a work in progress, and Black or Green might be better for different reasons, but Mono Red is abysmal, so I don't know if the deck is going to be able ever truly make it.
I'm not really seeing much at all in Raff, and the fact I'd have have accommodate for the W in the casting cost is definitely too much.
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