Instant (10)
Creature (7)
Enchantment (4)
Artifact (7)
Land (23)
Planeswalker (6)
Sorcery (3)
Sideboard
Artifact (5)
Instant (2)
SKRED RED WON A GRAND PRIX!!!
Below is the video of the finals match. If you watch closely there are tons of misplays on both players parts. Albeit minor ones for the most part revolving around odd sequencing.
Control
Non-Creature Combo: This is the worst match up for skred. Skred's main game plan is to interact with creatures and push for a mid to long game plan. Non-creature combo decks can just play solitaire . Skred is generally unable to race these decks and this results in a very bad match up. In the sideboard you can bring in a couple of cards but it does not improve the match up very much. The only exception here is some combo decks do not want all red mana. Blood Moon can be the saving grace in these match ups.
Creature combo: This is not a terrible match up for the Skred player. Skreds game plan is to interact with creatures. Creature based combos like kiki chord, abzan coco etc have a ton of these creatures and the best thing is most die to Anger of the Gods . In this match up skred needs to play a control game and hold back for the right time to smack down threats. And as always, Blood Moon can pull some serious weight here.
Aggro: Probably the best match up for Skred. The deck is full of 1 mana removal, sweepers and powerful planeswalkers. I do not think I need to say more about this match up. However, I will mention burn in this section. Many see burn as one of the worst match ups for a deck like this. In the burn matches Blood Moon is an incredibly powerful card as it prevents them from casting all of their non red spells, which in the current burn decks is a very large portion of the deck. If you can land a Blood Moon you are in a good place but overall game 1 is about a 50-50. In the SB the game gets better as we bring in Dragon's Claw . The best thing about claw in this match is you gain life off of their spells and off of your spells. If you slam down you Blood Moon then resolve a claw they will have no way of dealing with Dragon's Claw because Destructive Revelry is now played over Wear / Tear . You can also bring in Goblin Rabblemaster to race them.
Mid-Range: Let me start off by saying Skred does well against decks trying to play "fair magic". In these mid-range match ups Blood Moon , Skred and Pia and Kiran Nalaar shine. Skred has a favorable match up against most mid-range decks with the exception of tron. Tron is one of the worst possible match ups for Skred in the MB. We generally do not race very quickly and eventually tron will be able to cast their stuff through our Blood Moon . There are some game 1's that we will win due to great draws but it is generally not the best. Bring in Rabblemaster, Molten Rain and anything else useful from the SB to help in games 2 and 3. GBx decks like Jund and Abzan are favorable to even game 1 due to MB Blood Moon to deal with their mana base, Relic of Progenitus makes goyf less of a threat, Skred can be used to kill any creature based threat they throw out, Pia and Kiran Nalaar are incredibly good here as they spit out 3 bodies with two fliers which is only vulnerable to Kolaghan's Command and Maelstrom Pulse . The difficult creatures to deal with here are Siege Rhino , Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Gurmag Angler . However, a mid to late game Skred will deal with these. As well, many of their creatures are boltable and it so happens we run 4 bolts and 4 super bolts in the form of Skred . Apart from this skred is resilient against GBx matchups due to most of its threats dodging Abrupt Decay and with the new addition of Eternal Scourge GBx decks will have a rough time. Furthermore, they do not run a ton of creatures and it is very easily for one of our PW's to stick once it has landed. When we are playing against GBx decks we want to try and slam down a Blood Moon ASAP. If this does not happen we are in luck because GBx tends to be a bit slow which works in our favor. You will want to try and stick one of your Chandra, Torch of Defiance to get card advantage and in a pinch she can Flame Slash one of their creatures. You will also want to use your bolts early on to kill creatures and save the skreds for potentially larger threats. If you do have to anger then bolt to kill a goyf then at least it is gone and the good thing is there are only 4 of those. Post board you bring in Molten Rain to deal with their man lands and kill any basics that slip through a Blood Moon . But at the end of the day they will tend to top deck better than we will but if we can stick a PW we are in a VERY good place.
Burrenton Forge-Tender : This little guy has pro red which makes it a nightmare for mono red skred red decks. It will easily block koth mountain elementals and it can be sacrificed to prevent an Anger of the Gods or a Skred which targeted one of your key creatures. Skred does sometimes have an answer to this guy in the form of Pyrite Spellbomb or Ratchet Bomb . Skreds other answer to this is Kozilek's Return .
Kor Firewalker : A pro red 2/2 beat stick that gains life is very lethal against a mono red deck. Skred has two options to deal with this guy Pyrite Spellbomb or Ratchet Bomb . If left unchecked kor firewalker can block koths mountains, attack straight through skreds defenses Generally, skred players should be preparing for this potential. However, with the recent addition of Eternal Scourge kor firewalker has its work cut out for him. Skreds other answer to this is Kozilek's Return .
Pithing Needle : Naming Koth of the Hammer or Chandra, Torch of Defiance can do some work. You must be careful! Skred has the ability to deal with artifacts so this may not be a perfect solution!
Mark of Asylum : Skred has ONE, i repeat ONE way of dealing with enchantments and that is Ratchet Bomb . This handy little enchantment will protect your creatures from all of skreds sweepers, bolts and skred! This means the only way skred can remove your creatures is through blocking / attacking.
Runed Halo : Runed halo naming Snow-Covered Mountain makes koth all but useless. It can also protect white decks from Stormbreath Dragon . Skred only has Ratchet Bomb in the SB to combat this threat.
Leyline of Sanctity : Skred has 1 way of dealing with this, Ratchet Bomb . A leyline will not prevent beatdown from a 4/4 elemental from koth or the creature beatdown plan of skred but it does prevent koths emblem and chandras emblem from being effective. As far as SB options goes this would not be my first choice but if you do not have anything else it can come in handy.
Maelstrom Pulse : This thing will kill almost everything in skred. From PW's to Blood Moon to creatures this will do the trick!
Abrupt Decay : Most run in abzan and jund, this instant spell can save you from a Blood Moon . By floating the black and green mana in response to the Blood Moon you can abrupt decay the problem before the next phase.
Remand : Skred does not like remand! Remand slows down skred and makes it feel bad!
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon : Ugin is the man! In tron decks this guy is bonkers! When played against skred he is very scary. Skred will generally try to prevent this via a Blood Moon .
Oblivion Ring : Skred has no way to deal with enchantments. When you o-ring something it will stay exiled with the exception of Eternal Scourge .
Selfless Spirit : This card can prove awkward for a Skred player as it makes a sweeper effect useless.
Brave the Elements : Naming red this will protect your creatures from one sweeper effect.
Freyalise's Radiance : If you really want to hate on your local skred player this one will do some work.
ANY indestructible creature will make skred very sad. As well any creatures that are ahead of the curve with high toughness such as Tarmogoyf , Tasigur, the Golden Fang , Gurmag Angler , Siege Rhino or Loxodon Smiter to name a few. These guys are difficult to kill as they do not die to sweepers, bolt or an early game skred. Some skred decks will have Roast to deal with this. Lastly, skred does not do too well against flying creatures. If you can swarm with flyers skred may have a difficult time. Lastly, Skred HATES Tron decks. You might think MB Blood Moon is good but skred generally can not race in game 1 and the fact that tron runs a ton of lands mean it can just hard cast Wurmcoil Engine or Ugin, the Spirit Dragon off of mountains.
With all of this being said each skred deck will be built differently as there is not yet a "best way to build Skred" so it is difficult to come up with a guaranteed solution.
4x Koth of the Hammer and some other finishers like Stormbreath Dragon or Batterskull . Batterskull is a very popular addition to most decks but it must be noted that it does not perform well against Kolaghan's Command .
3-5 so sweeper effects like Anger of the Gods , Pyroclasm , Volcanic Fallout , Slagstorm etc.
2 card advantage engines such as Outpost Siege , Chandra, Torch of Defiance etc.
4x Lightning Bolt : Modern red deck staple. In this particular red deck your bolts will tend to be hitting creatures instead of going upstairs.
4x Skred : The namesake of the deck. This card gets better as the game progresses. The largest skred I've ever cast was for 16 damage on one of my Boros Reckoner s. It was a good feeling...
Some combination of Relic of Progenitus and Pyrite Spellbomb . In metas where affinity or infect is popular spellbomb is a strong choice because it can kill an Etched Champion and early infect creatures. In metas where graveyards are important relic is a strong choice. These two cards also serve as card draw as they can both cantrip.
3-4 Blood Moon : This just wins some games in game 1. Decent vs burn, jund, infect, affinity, ad nauseam, naya, bant and many other decks.
Creatures
0-4 Boros Reckoner : From the original skred builds where you throw a large Skred at this guy and he redirects it at your opponents face. He also serves other purpose. He is able to trade with 6 toughness creatures and can have first strike. On your curve this, your sweepers and blood moon are your 3 drops. This is generally played in place of scourge.
0-4 Eternal Scourge : INCREDIBLE against spot removal and he is also controls worst nightmare. When paired with Relic of Progenitus this is effectively an infinite creature. He can also be cast after an Anger of the Gods . On your curve this, your sweepers and blood moon are your 3 drops. This is generally payed in place of reckoner. The general rule at the moment is run 2 of these guys or 4. I am considering moving them to the core cards.
0-2 Bedlam Reveler : This is one I have been play testing with for awhile. It is not very good in relic of progenitus builds but in other builds it seems like it wants to be in the deck. I am unsure of how good it is as of yet in this deck. If my current build ran no relics and a couple more instants or sorceries I would be running 1-2 of these guys. The potential power level of this card in the deck is pretty darn strong if done properly. It can be a 3 mana draw 3 with a 3/4 prowess body that is immune to our sweepers and grows each time we cast a non creature spell.
0-3 Pia and Kiran Nalaar : This card goes wide and helps to slow the board down if it is getting out of control. It is considered by many to now be a staple card.
0-2 Hangarback Walker : While this is definitely not good against Path to Exile or your own Anger of the Gods it can be pretty lethal. Playing a large one of these then blocking or even getting hit from spot removal is not a bad option.
0-1 Wurmcoil Engine : Solid in metas without Path to Exile heavy games. This can also be run in a wide skred build as when it does die its explodes into two tokens. It can hit the board pretty early thanks to ramp from Koth of the Hammer and Chandra, Torch of Defiance .
0-4 Simian Spirit Guide depending on how fast you want to drop your Blood Moon . It is also a mandatory playset in the "free win" skred builds. There is much debate about whether or not to run spirit guides, mind stone or coldsteel heart. My opinion on this is spirit guide is better at the moment. My logic behind this is a turn 2 blood moon, a turn 2 anger of the gods or even a turn 3 pia and kiran followed up by a PW is incredibly powerful and it gives us a huge edge.
0-3 Stormbreath Dragon : Played in dragon heavy builds and in metas where Path to Exile is dominant. The monstrous ability comes into play more often than you would think.
0-4 Thundermaw Hellkite : This was used as a finisher in some of the original skred deck lists. Its obvious advantage is against spirit tokens and flying blocker. However, the pro white from Stormbreath Dragon makes thundermaw hellkite a less popular choice now.
0-4 Demigod of Revenge : VERY weak in builds with relic but it can provide an instant kill if you have 3 in the graveyard.
0-3 solemn siumlacrum: This guy was played in some of the original Skred builds. Hey still sees ome play in the high cost skred decks.
0-4 Inferno Titan : Titan was one of the original win cons of Skred Red decks. Its ETB bolt and attack step bolt in addition to be a 6/6 with fire breathing is very powerful if left unchecked.
0-4 Thunderbreak Regent : Great in dragon heavy builds. Not so great by himself if the opponent it at a manageable life total.
0-3 Magus of the Moon : Increase the number of Blood Moons in the deck.
0-3 Stuffy Doll : This card is played in the classic skred variants. It acts as an indestructible Boros Reckoner .
0-2 Goblin Dark-Dwellers : Not very good in a relic build but he is very good in non relic builds.
Instants
0-4 Desperate Ritual : Played in the "free win" skred builds as a way to slam dock a "lock piece" very early on.
0-4 Pyretic Ritual : Played in the "free win" skred builds as a way to slam dock a "lock piece" very early on.
0-2 Lightning Axe : Surprisingly good as in most game 1's there will be some dead cards. Extra Blood moons, extra lands etc.
0-2 Magma Jet : Kills early creatures and sets up your draws.
0-2 Commune with Lava : Filters through LOTs of cards.
0-2 Kozilek's Return : The advantage to this over Volcanic Fallout is that it requires one less red to cast so you can run more scrying sheets, AND it can deal damage to pro red creatures. This is not a very big deal in the MB except for Etched Champion .
Sorceries
0-2 Roast : Kills Tasigur, siege rhino, goyf and other things that can have more toughness than you can skred early on. The downside to this spell is that it is sorcery speed.
0-2 Flame Slash : Same thing as roast but one less mana and 1 less damage. The downside to this spell is that it is sorcery speed.
0-2 Mizzium Mortars : Same thing as flame slash but one more mana and the ability to overload in the late game.
0-1 Blasphemous Act : Fun trick against decks that do VERY wide. Especially fun with a Boros Reckoner in play.
0-2 Faithless Looting : Filters through cards.
0-2 Tormenting Voice : Filters through cards. Some people will opt to play Cathartic Reunion in its place.
Enchantments
More info to come!
Planeswalkers
0-2 Chandra, Pyromaster : She has generally been replaced by the new Chandra, Torch of Defiance . However, she is still decent vs lingering souls.
0-2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker : Sarkhan is run in some lists in place of Stormbreath Dragon because he does not die to bolts and terminates. However he does die to path. He shines in a dragon heavy skred build.
0-1 Chandra, Flamecaller : She is a very strong finisher but she comes at a high mana cost for the deck which is why she is generally only seen as a 1 of.
Artifacts
0-2 Batterskull : A popular control option. However, it has been recently put into check by Kolaghan's Command .
0-4 MindStone depending on how many 5 drops you have.
0-4 Coldsteel Heart : The advantage of this mana drop over a mindstone is that this one is a snow artifact so it will help to boost your skred. Also, it serves as mana fixing in two color skred decks. The downside is that it enters tapped and does not cantrip.
0-4 Trinisphere : These are generally only played in the "free win" style of skred. This variant attempts to slam down a trinnisphere, Ensnaring Bridge or Blood Moon on the first or second turn via the use of Simian spirt guide, Pyretic Ritual , Desperate Ritual etc. The logic behind the free win skred variants is that some decks simply fold to a game 1 blood moon, bridge or trinisphere.
0-4 Ensnaring Bridge : These are generally only played in the "free win" style of skred. This variant attempts to slam down a trinnisphere, Ensnaring Bridge or Blood Moon on the first or second turn via the use of Simian spirt guide, Pyretic Ritual , Desperate Ritual etc. The logic behind the free win skred variants is that some decks simply fold to a game 1 blood moon, bridge or trinisphere.
0-2 Hammer of Purphoros : This one is an interesting pick in the deck. It makes your extra lands into creatures and gives all of your creatures haste. But its cost is steep, 3 mana, tap and sacrifice a land for a 3/3 golem.
Snow-Covered Mountain : If you are not running these you are doing it wrong.
Scrying Sheets : 1-2 in the mono red skred decks is the general guidelines because it adds utility to the main deck.
Mouth of Ronom : An incredibly expensive ability to activate but in a pinch it does its job. Kills most man lands.
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle : Some builds will opt to include this is a 1 of as an alternate win con. It is obviously ineffective under your own blood moons which is why many do not run it. But it does have its merits... against decks with tons of answers to your Blood Moon s this will make your mountains very lethal.
Popular Choices
Spellskite : Modern SB staple. Useful against a ton of things. Turn 2 this into a turn 3 blood moon and your jund opponents will cry.
A mono red version of Skred suffers against enchantments. One of the VERY few decent options available to us is Ratchet Bomb . Surprisingly useful it can be used against Leyline of Sanctity , PW's, chalice of the void etc.
Ricochet Trap : Nothing like ricochet trapping an ancestral visions! Also effective vs counterspells.
Ensnaring Bridge : Some people run this in creature heavy metas. I would recommend removing your 5 drops if you bring this in. The advantages to this card are you can sit behind it and ultimate koth to your hearts desire.
Shattering Spree : Replicate gets around Chalice of the Void and it is also good at wiping an affinity board.
Goblin Rabblemaster : Good vs combo as he puts a ton of pressure on VERY quickly. Him followed up by koth is nuts on an empty board. Rabblemaster will kill in 3 turns if left unchecked so he presents a very solid clock. If he is followed up by any of your other threats you have not put your opponent on a very quick clock. This card is also particularly strong in decks running Simian Spirit Guide as you can turn 2 him to put some huge pressure on board.
Shatterstorm : Kills artifacts dead. VERY effective against affinity.
Chalice of the Void : We do not have very many 2 drops but we have a ton of 1 drops. If we play this in the SB we need to be careful as it also hits us.
Dragon's Claw : This one is in almost all SB's. I would consider it an auto include as a 2-4 of. Necessary against burn and helps in the mirror.
Pithing Needle : Stops PW's, Man lands, Lightning Storm and the such.
Molten Rain : Good to kill the basic lands that make it through a blood moon. Also useful to destroy key lands in tron, man lands, valakut etc.
Rending Volley : Solid vs Azorius control and bant. It will also kill Loxodon Smiter which is a problematic creature. If you are running reckoner it can also target him to finish the game.
Grafdigger's Cage : Generally brought in against abzan coco combo, dredge and other graveyard based decks or decks that rely heavily on coco or chord.
Janky Options
Trinisphere : If you have spirit guides this can come down a turn early or even on turn 1. Some builds will play this main deck with pyretic rituals and the such and attempt to play it turn 1.
Outpost Siege : Sometimes this is included in the MB. Other times it is a SB card. Bring it in against control. In a creature heavy meta this is generally a better option in your MB as your card advantage engine in your main deck as it will stick longer.
Chandra, Pyromaster : For the most part she is outclasses by Outpost Siege ... in creature heavy metas anyways. The new chandra seems to be a much better option.
Defense Grid : Counterspells suck! This helps our pw's stick. It is not very good in the late game but early on it does a ton of work if it resolves.
Roast : Sometimes this is a SB card and can be brought in against Loxodon Smiter , Tasigur, the Golden Fang , Siege Rhino , Tarmogoyf , Gurmag Angler etc. It is in the jank section because it is not normally a SB option.
Sudden Shock : A definite answer to infect. Not a very popular choice as we have 8 1 mana removal spells and 3-5 sweepers but if you find infect difficult this will do the trick. While this is a solid card in the SB I have put it in the jank section because our game 1 vs infect is just so good we generally do not need to dedicate hate solely to infect.
Crumble to Dust : Eats non basic lands. I have included this in the jank section because it is generally too slow to be very effective. You want to be doing the LD on turn 2 or turn 3. Molten Rain outclasses this for the most part.
Skred Variants
Blue splash: A blue splash gives you access to counterspells, Snapcaster Mage and most notably Keranos, God of Storms as an alt win con. The skred decks that splash blue run a very similar game plan to a Blue Moon deck but they run snow covered basics. In addition to keranos in the MB you get an expanded sideboard when compared to a standard red Skred deck.
Here is an example of an izzet skred list:
Blue Harvest
Modern*
SCORE: 3 | 3 COMMENTS | 680 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER
White splash: A white splash gives you access to Path to Exile , Soulfire Grand Master , Chained to the Rocks , Lightning Helix , Nahiri, the Harbinger , Ajani Vengeant and many other useful white spells. This splash is the most popular as it opens up the best possible sideboard cards in modern, aka white cards ( Rest in Peace , Wear / Tear etc.) As well, a white splash gives you access to Assemble the Legion as an alt win con in the MB.
Here is an example of a white / red skred deck:
Nahiri's Skred
Modern*
271 VIEWS
Green splash: A green splash gives you access to a larger sideboard card selection. Specifically you are able to interact with enchantments now thanks to the green splash. As well, a green splash gives you the option of MB Tarmogoyf .
Here is an example of a green / red skred build:
Goyf Skred
Modern*
89 VIEWS
Black splash: A black splash gives you access to Terminate , a more consistent Demigod of Revenge , Inquisition of Kozilek and many others. Black also gives you access to Slaughter Games in the SB.
Here is an example of a Black Red Skred build:
Black Skred
Modern*
272 VIEWS
Here is an example of a dragon Skred build:
Dragon Skred
Modern*
252 VIEWS
Here is an example of a wide skred build:
Wide Skred
Modern*
SCORE: 1 | 142 VIEWS
Here is an example of a classic skred build:
Icy Hot
Modern*
SCORE: 4 | 6 COMMENTS | 677 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS
Here is an example of a skred land hate deck:
Land Hate Skred
Modern*
164 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER
Here is an example of a free win skred list:
Skred Red Evolution
Modern*
SCORE: 4 | 3 COMMENTS | 626 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS
Swans Skred is a fun skred variant that aims to abuse Swans of Bryn Argoll . This build wants runs similar to most other skred decks but it does not tend to have Koth of the Hammer or Blood Moon . A swans deck can be built in so many different ways from a 2 color red / blue or red / white to a 3 color jeskai build. At its heart a swans deck wants to profit hard off of Swans of Bryn Argoll . This is done via Skred , Anger of the Gods , Lightning Bolt , Lightning Helix etc. Due to having access to blue and white Snapcaster Mage , Remand , Mana Leak , Electrolyze and soulfire grandmaster are popular choices in this type of deck. As well, it must be noted that because you are in white you also have access to Nahiri, the Harbinger . Due to swans' ability benefiting both you and your opponent it is not the most popular skred variant out there but it is a fun one that you may see around.
Here is an example of a swans list
Swans Skred
Modern*
144 VIEWS
Thank you for having a look at my primer! If you have any comments / feedback to help me improve this I would love to hear them! And as always if you liked the post enough to put it in your folder or if you found this primer helpful, +1's are a great way to show it! :-)
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| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 7 years |
| Last updated | 4 years |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 6 - 0 Mythic Rares 20 - 5 Rares 3 - 10 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.43 |
| Tokens | Emblem Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Goblin 1/1 R, Thopter 1/1 C |
| Folders | Decks I Like, Primers, SKEDred, Primer Time, Important, Modern Decks, Modern Decks, Primers - All of them, Decks to Watch, Modern Stuff |
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