About:
Mono red pain utilizing universal pain effects and the increased damage to opponents to ping players down quickly. By using low damage board wipes
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
can stay active while still wiping the board of all small creatures and annoyances. The primary goal of the deck is to greatly accelerate the game and help to prevent some of the long drawn out games that commander can have. Keep in mind this is not a strict burn deck, you don't need to over commit to playing fast. It is usually better to avoid having Torbran removed too many times as you will often be below 7 mana for much of the game.
If you or your playgroup prioritizes playing long games and enjoys them it is unlikely that this deck will be good for the group. Additionally it is not geared towards playing against hyper aggressive decks and you will likely want to run many more control cards to deal with those scenarios.
Card Specifics:
Ruination
is a very powerful card in this deck, however playing it in the deck is likely to be heavily disliked by the playgroup. Outside of
Ruination
, major effects to dig for are
Manabarbs
,
Pyrostatic Pillar
, and
Sulfuric Vortex
. Against lands decks or ramp
Zo-Zu the Punisher
has incredible value as well.
Control cards ping opponents while also dealing with creatures on the board while control only cards deal only with controlling the board state. Running cards which control the board while also chipping away at opponents life totals is greatly preferred.
Repercussion
functions as a high power finisher against decks that go wide and can instantly end a game when casting extremely high damage spells such as blasphemous act. Even one damage to all creatures can be extreme since it will deal 3 to each creature and 5 to its controller per creature.
If you run
Snow-Covered Mountain
for your basic lands, including
Scrying Sheets
can help you draw additional lands and
Extraplanar Lens
has a greater chance to not benefit your opponents. Neither of these are particularly budget cards and if you are not running them basic mountains are fine to save money on lands.
If your not concerned about the budget of the deck, running the more expensive cards ramp cards in the maybeboard can greatly increase the speed of the deck. Adding a
Great Furnace
can help get
Mox Opal
online but it will increase the damage you take from
Price of Progress
and
Ancient Runes
.
Iterations:
The most recent iteration to the deck has added many cards which help draw through the deck and it has made it much more consistent. Much of the damage output in the deck will come from enchantments so finding them is key to succeeding. Many insants and sorceries which simply end up in the yard with no draw or major board swings have been cut in order to have greater staying power.
Eidolon of the Great Revel
,
Spellshock
, and
Pyrostatic Pillar
are all very solid cards for damaging opponents but are also quick scary for the deck in the current iteration. Be careful when playing them because they will contribute a large amount of the damage you take.
Glint-Horn Buccaneer
is another new addition which can get a large amount of value out of cycling cards. He can also function as a mana sink and cycle away multiple cards in one combat to push extra damage and find a finisher.
Tech Choices
Harsh Mentor
and
Immolation Shaman
are great cards against players which use a lot of activated abilities. In my opinion they can be swapped in even with only one of these players in the pod. They will often not be targeted by anyone other than those players and can accrue a large amount of damage.
Meekstone
and
Ensnaring Bridge
can be excellent control against decks that go big or create a lot of larger threats. If you are running them, I would recommend running no higher power minions like
Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion
to avoid punishing yourself. You only need two cards in hand to attack under
Ensnaring Bridge
and its very feasible that you can play those cards after combat to limit other players attacks.
Hazoret the Fervent
can still be an excellent play in with these cards because of his discard ability, but can be cut if you chose.
If you need more removal,
Electrickery
and
Anger of the Gods
are great includes. The latter can help deal with reanimation of cards with up to 5 toughness less very frequently.
Red Elemental Blast
and
Pyroblast
are excellent additions to the deck and will find targets almost every game. However if you are somehow lucky enough to not have to deal with counter spells or blue decks in your pods they should be cut first.
Arcbond
is a bit unpredictable as an addition. It has potential to deal wild amounts of damage, control a board state, or destroy life totals particularly in conjunction with
Repercussion
. However, since it is somewhat conditional it has not been included in the current main board.
Another conditional card is
AEther Flash
. It can make it impossible for you to play
Zo-Zu the Punisher
,
Eidolon of the Great Revel
, or
Scab-Clan Berserker
, but it can be a game winner if you have already setup your board. It controls the board state well and it can be a powerful card to counter Ninja decks.
Things to watch out for:
Bane of Progress
is a monster of a card against this deck and can end the game for you almost instantly. If you know your opponents are running the card be very cautious of it. There are not many practical ways to counter play it and you will often find yourself hating the card.
Cards with continuous life gain can be scary if you cant find removal or prevent the life gain.
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
and similar commander decks can be a problem if not contained. However, You can occasionally inspire other players that they are the highest threat when they remain close to 40 life while the rest of the table is close to 20.
Instant speed removal(primarily low cost ones) such as
Pongify
and
Swords to Plowshares
can be very detrimental to keeping
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
on the battlefield. Additionally the can be used before damage to nullify his effect. This can vastly swing the amount of damage you deal to opponents or allow them to make advantageous trades. Often times this can cause you to miss lethal and potentially die on a crack back.
