By Kevin W. Stallings
Grab your Embercleaves and sleeve up Anax because it’s Mono Red time! Mono Red Aggro is my favorite archetype in Magic and it has finally returned to the meta with a vengeance! Before the release of Theros Beyond Death, the archetype felt lackluster as it only gained a couple of strong cards from Throne of Eldraine. These cards were namely Torbran, Thane of Red Fell and Embercleave. While both of these cards are game winners and can really pack a punch, the deck was very weak to board wipes and one for one removal (I won’t even mention Oko). Mono Red has gained some upgrades from Theros Beyond Death and is once again a top tier contender.
The Game Plan
True to its nature, Mono Red looks to end the game by turns 4 or 5 through low mana cost creatures. The game plan is relatively simple, your first two turns you will ideally play one and two mana creatures to get some early damage in. Your best three mana cost creatures in the deck is Anax, Hardened by the Forge. If you have hit your land drops, and your board is still alive, you can have an impactful turn four by flashing in an embercleave and equipping Anax with it.
Being in red allows you to also run burn spells such as Shock and Stomp to help deal some extra damage, or clear your opponents board. While Anax and Embercleave are the strongest cards in the deck, there are other noteworthy cards that can end games quickly. Fervent Champion in multiples is an insane one mana creature that can rack up damage quickly. Oddly enough his last ability of reducing equip costs by three on himself is very relevant for picking up embercleave for free. Bonecrusher Giant is my second favorite embercleave target since his base combat stats (4/3) allow him to swing in for 10 damage.
How the Mighty Fall
While the deck is very fast and can close out games before your opponent knows what hit them, there are some flaws to the deck. As I stated before, Mono Red decks have suffered to board wipes in the past and this weakness still persists. Anax’s ability to create 1/1 Satyrs whenever a nontoken creature you control dies helps you recover from the first board wipe. Against decks like Jeskai Fires and Azorius Control, the chances of the board being wiped away multiple times are increased. With the printing of Shatter the Sky, these decks have access to a turn four wrath effect that can leave Mono Red players helpless.
Another problem that often comes up is the consistency of the deck. Ideally every game you will always get three or four lands, an embercleave, an Anax, and a bunch of Fervent Champions, but this is not always the case. In some games you will not see your embercleaves, or maybe you only see two lands the whole game. The only draw type spell in the deck is Light up the Stage which can be tricky to cast if you cannot enable its spectacle cost. I highly advise against taking one land hands even with Light up the Stage in hand because if you miss the land then you are out of the game!
Final Remarks
Mono Red is looking very strong right now and I will be playing this at Gamers’ Haunt and on the Arena ranked ladder. As of right now Jeskai Fires is on the decline which is probably Mono Reds worst matchup. Azorius control is also a challenging matchup, but Red has the tools and speed to compete once again. There are many ways to build Mono Red, so I suggest checking out sites such as MTGgoldfish to see the different variations. With that being said I hope you are excited to play some Mono Red and may your starting seven be a keep!