I looked online to see what the top performing lists looked like, and unsurprisingly when it comes to Magic Online tournaments, there was a clearly defined “stock” list that almost everyone was playing. 

Although I hadn’t played Standard since Lost Caverns of Ixalan came out, this list just didn’t look good to me. I tested a lot of Mono Red Aggro leading up to the World Championships as it was one of my front-runner choices till the very end, and the stock lists at the time looked mostly like the one above, and even then, they weren’t performing well. 

The key issue I had with this list was that it was simply too focused on trying to get your opponent dead as quickly as possible, and was therefore forced to play weak cards like Phoenix Chick to try to make that happen.

The sideboard was also mostly an extension of the same plan – it looked to bring in some other efficient removal spells (End the Festivities, Lithomantic Barrage, Nahiri’s Warcrafting) or exchange the three-drop slots depending on the matchup (Furnace Punisher, Urabrask’s Forge). 

Therefore, I wanted to rebuild the Mono Red deck so that it was capable of playing a longer game in pre-board games, and could battle through multiple lifegain cards, while also having an alternative plan that could matchup well against the commonly played sideboard cards in the format. 

As you can see, I made some key changes in the main-deck.

The main change I made was bringing in the full playset of Urabrask’s Forge from the sideboard.

Simply put, I think this card is too good not to play in the main-deck, and is one of the best tools we have to fight midrange decks (which there are a lot of in Standard). As mentioned above, I wanted to build my list in such a way that it had more staying power and could grind out longer games, and Urabrask’s Forge is the perfect card for that.

When we were testing for the World Championships, we referred to this card as Red’s Wedding Announcement, and after playing the RCQ, I still fully believe in the card’s strength. 

I also didn’t like Goddric, Cloaked Reveler in general, as it’s just too weak to removal spells. Squee, Dubious Monarch is resilient and has a fast clock, but my issue with playing multiple copies of the legendary goblin is that when the first copy is contained on board, such as when your opponent has a big blocker, any additional copies are just dead in hand, while with Urabrask’s Forge they’ll just keep ticking up until it outsizes the blocker in play. 

Lastly, I moved the twenty-third land in the main-deck to the sideboard for a third Charming Scoundrel. Bloodthirsty Adversary’s flashback ability was worse now that we’d swapped out Nahiri’s Warcrafting for Witchstalker Frenzy, so instead of reliably trying to flashback spells, I preferred to instead focus on not getting mana flooded.

The changes to the sideboard were even more significant.

I cut the Furnace Punishers as I just couldn’t really figure out what deck I wanted them for – most decks in Standard had a decent amount of basic lands, and those that didn’t (primarily the Esper decks), the 3/3 body seemed underwhelming and weak to removal spells.

In its place, I brought in Koth, Fire of Resistance. I really liked Koth from when I played Mono Red before, and I felt that in combination with Urabrask’s Forge, it truly gave you a powerful late game plan against the midrange decks.

It also worked well with Charming Scoundrel, as a turn three Koth, especially on the play, was often too quick at reaching its ultimate for your opponent to handle. I understand that the Planeswalker became worse with the presence of Tishana’s Tidebinder in the format, but I still felt that it was a good card for the midrange matchups. To supplement the Koths, I added a Mountain to the sideboard, as I wanted twenty-three lands when I had multiple four-drops in my deck. 

I also added more removal spells in the form of Obliterating Bolt and Nahiri’s Warcrafting.

I was surprised that Obliterating Bolt wasn’t played in the stock lists – looking at the decks in the format, there were so many four-toughness creatures that needed to be dealt with.

Obliterating Bolt was a clean answer to cards like Preacher of the Schism, Sentinel of the Nameless City and Chrome Host Seedshark.

I also liked having Nahiri’s Warcrafting to have two more answers for Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, and since post-board games dragged out longer, I wanted more cards I could flashback with Bloodthirsty Adversary.

Finally, I swapped out two copies of End the Festivities for Vampires’ Vengeance.

I love the three-mana sweeper, and it’s often game-winning against decks like Bant Toxic, Azorius Soldiers and Boros Convoke.

End the Festivities is also good against these decks, but it being sorcery speed is a massive cost, and I disliked that it was basically dead if they had a flipped Wedding Announcement in play. Since my plan post-board against these decks was to transform into a full control plan, I didn’t mind having a symmetrical sweeper, and the blood token is relevant for filtering through dead draws later in the game.

This matchup is all about speed, and trying to get them dead before they can stabilize.

Post-board, they tend to bring in creatures like Chrome Host Seedshark and Obstinate Baloth, so it is good to have more removal spells that can deal with four-toughness creatures.

Remember, if they have a lifelink creature such as Archangel of Wrath or Atraxa, Grand Unifier in play, you can attack, then kill your creature being blocked by their lifelink creature so they don’t gain any life.

There are multiple variants of Esper Midrange, so you need to sideboard based on what you see.

However, if you are playing against the version with many one-toughness creatures like Deep-Cavern Bat and Wedding Announcement, I have liked this fifteen-card full transformation plan where we just completely morph into a control deck.

Post-board, your deck is essentially all removal spells with Urabrask’s Forge and Koth, Fire of Resistance as your win conditions. They don’t have much card advantage so if you can deal with their threats (which we have enough removal spells to do so), you’ll eventually grind them out with Bloodthirsty Adversary and your win conditions. 

You may also find that your opponent “mis-sideboards” against you as they treat you like an aggressive red deck and bring in more cheap removal spells, which are mostly irrelevant against your control plan. 

Note, Tishana’s Tidebinder stops Urabrask’s Forge. If you have a removal spell for it, though, it will only be for one turn. 

Unlike Esper Midrange, they have more natural card advantage through their creatures with Discover. In addition, removal spells like Vampires’ Vengeance and Lithomantic Barrage are not good against them. Therefore, I don’t think you want to go down the full control plan, but rather, remain an aggressive deck post-board with the ability to grind better with bigger removal spells and Koth, Fire of Resistance. 

Post-board, they have Abrade and Brotherhood’s End as answers to Urabrask’s Forge.

Like the other midrange decks in Standard, how you sideboard largely depends on their list.

If they are low to the ground, I would do the full fifteen-card transformation plan similar to the one listed above for Esper Midrange. If they are not, I would sideboard as above, where I mostly remain an aggressive deck but with the ability to play the long game.

Card advantage is important, but staying alive even more so.

You generally want to make profitable exchanges, but don’t do so at a huge risk of your life total, since you may find yourself dead with four or five cards left in hand. Think carefully about whether you want to just jam Bloodthirsty Adversary to trade with their creature, or hold it as a Snapcaster Mage for later in the game. 

This matchup is similar to that of Rakdos Midrange – we want to stay aggressive post-board or else we will get out-grinded by cards like Mooswood Dreadknight and Restless Cottage. 

If I have board presence and am pressuring my opponent, I am happy to kill Mosswood Dreadknight as you want them to spend mana to draw a card off it. Kill it on your turn so that they only have a one-turn window to re-cast it.

Post-board, you want to hold an Obliterating Bolt for Mooswood Dreadknight.

Post-board, we transform into a control deck that focuses on killing their creatures. We don’t want Koth, Fire of Resistance in this matchup though, as they have enough flash creatures that can pressure it, and they usually have two or three copies of Tishana’s Tidebinder. 

Try to keep their board as clear as possible so that they cannot generate card advantage with Knight-Errant of Eos, and always try to play around Zephyr Sentinel to the extent that you can. 

Your plan is similar to that of the Azorius Soldiers matchup, but they are faster due to having access to Imodane’s Recruiter, while also being weaker to removal spells as they don’t have Zephyr Sentinel. 

Note, Vampires’ Vengeance does not kill Sanguine Evangelist. 

Like the Azorius Soldiers and Boros Convoke matchups, you become a control deck post-board. They don’t play well from behind, so apply pressure where you can. 

Annex Sentry can exile Urabrask’s Forge, which is especially annoying pre-board as we have less ways to deal with a four-toughness creature. Post-board, try to hold a Lithomantic Barrage or Obliterating Bolt for it. 

Skrelv, Defector Mite gives hexproof but not protection, so any “protected” creature will still die to sweepers.

You can aggressively loot away Witchstalker Frenzy with Charming Scoundrel in pre-board games as they are practically dead.

Urabrask’s Forge is great for beating the sweepers. The best way to handle Brotherhood’s End is to present a combination of creatures and Urabrask’s Forge, so they’re forced to pick between one of the two modes but still have to face pressure on board. 

Although they don’t have many creatures pre-board, they sideboard into Preacher of the Schism and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, so you need more removal spells for them post-board.

Koth, Fire of Resistance is poor here because both their red sweepers hit planeswalkers.

You don’t need the big removal spells in this matchup, because they don’t have Sheoldred, the Apocalypse unlike all the other midrange decks. 

I dislike Koth, Fire of Resistance in this matchup as they line up poorly against four Subterranean Schooner and four Tishana’s Tidebinder.

Overall, the RCQ went well, as I lost my first round to Domain Ramp, but then battled back and made the Top 8, before losing to Domain Ramp again in the quarter-finals.

I felt that my list was worse against the ramp deck than the stock list, as that is one of the few matchups where you do really want to be as fast as possible in both pre-board and post-board games.

That said, I do think that with the amount of lifegain they have in the main-deck (Herd Migration, Archangel of Wrath and Atraxa, Grand Unifier), as well as the good sideboard cards they have for the matchup (Temporary Lockdown, Knockout Blow, Chrome Host Seedshark and Obstinate Baloth), it was always going to be an uphill battle.

What was promising though, was I managed to beat three midrange decks (Esper, Dimir and Golgari) with my “go-big” strategy. I lost all three pre-board games, then won all six post-board games. Koth, Fire of Resistance was fantastic, as I was having access to bigger removal spells.

Against Dimir and Esper, I brought in the full fifteen cards, and I definitely felt like I wouldn’t have won these post-board games had I not had this plan. 

Going forward, I do think this deck is viable, and I’m excited to work on it further. My main focus right now is on the upcoming Regional Championships in March, which will be Modern, but I’ve enjoyed playing this Standard format thus far and this Mono Red deck will be high on my radar for the next few upcoming RCQs in my city!

Till next time!

Zen Takahashi

@mtgzen on Twitter 

Zen Takahashi is a seasoned writer and mainstay on the Three for One Trading writing team. He is an avid Eternal player from Auckland, New Zealand and enjoys competing in local Legacy events and playing Old School over webcam with friends.

Previously, he was a Silver Pro for multiple years and his results included five Grand Prix Top 8s, a 27th place at Pro Tour Amonkhet, three consecutive online Regional PTQ wins, and he co-created the Modern Dredge deck.

Nowadays though, he primarily plays Legacy, his favorite format, but he also branches out into Pioneer and Modern.