My take on everyone's favorite archetype, aggro red. The main difference between my build and the others is that I run a couple of
Scythe Leopard
s. I feel that they're a very good card at the cost of needing a turn 1 Forest. Below I'll give a reason as to why I run the cards I do.
Creatures
Abbot of Keral Keep
- There are two main reasons to play this guy. The first reason is that he is a two-drop prowess creature in our colors. This allows him to get very big, very quickly. The second reason to play him is that he provides some card advantage. When not played on turn two, there is a strong chance that anything he turns over can be cast. It is especially useful on turn three to hit another land drop.
Monastery Swiftspear
- She does bonkers damage. Prowess gets her big and haste gives you an immediate threat from an empty board. Having two toughness is also a big deal as she can run through tokens and other small creatures without a worry.
Scythe Leopard
- The way I look at it, a large percentage of the time it is a
Wild Nacatl
. A one drop 3/3 can cause a lot of havoc. Being green, it also manages to go around
Surge of Righteousness
and can make the opponent think we're on the landfall version instead of the Atarka Red version.
Zurgo Bellstriker - He also serves two purposes. Most of the time he is just a one drop 2/2 to swing in with. However, dash allows you to play around sorcery speed removal such as Silk Wrap or any wrath effect.
Non-Creatures
Dragon Fodder
- Two goblins for two mana. These guys are useful for going wide to get some value out of pump spells when you can't grant trample with Temur Battle Rage. They're also good against control because it can be very inefficient to remove.
Atarka's Command - The decks namesake card. Most of the time it is used for three damage to the dome and +1/+1 to the team, but it can also serve as a Skullcrack or to block flying threats. Generally, this card pumps out a lot of damage.
Become Immense
- Make a guy fuckin' huge. Mainly to be played as a combo with Temur Battle Rage, but also works well on any unblocked target.
Temur Battle Rage - The other half to
Become Immense
. Allows you to not care about the opponent's creatures since you can just run them over. It also pairs well with Titan's Strength or a couple of prowess triggers on
Abbot of Keral Keep
or
Monastery Swiftspear
.
Titan's Strength - Generally acts like a Lightning Bolt to the dome. The scry can also be really nice to set up the draw for the next turn. Comboing with Temur Battle Rage allows you to trample over the opposition.
Wild Slash
- The best suited removal for this deck. While it can be slightly worse than
Fiery Impulse
in quite a few matches, the ability to go to the dome for some reach shouldn't be under-valued.
I run the Become Immense
+
Temur Battle Rage
combo as a 4-of because of how well it can end a game. Almost any time you're in the position of having three mana open, 5 cards in the yard, and a dude ready to attack, you're producing enough damage to close out the game. The downside of being "three for one"d can usually be played around. If not, you probably wouldn't be able to draw other cards that would win you the game.
