~Total deck cost (including sideboard, excluding basic lands): $97 (TCGPlayer) as of 29 March 2020~
Getting into Modern these days seems almost impossible, mainly due to the price of staples and the mana base. This series of decks aims to showcase decks that can definitely steal matches at FNM given the right field, while providing a clear upgrade path to a more tiered deck if applicable, in order to show that Modern can be played for around the same price as a tiered Standard or Pioneer deck.
This is Mono-Red Prowess, the current best option within the Mono-Red Aggro set of decks. This is a fast aggro deck that aims to play prowess creatures like Monastery Swiftspear and Soul-Scar Mage to kill the opponent with growing threats and extensive amounts of burn spells. Mono-Red Prowess is extremely explosive, boasting the possibility to obtain Turn 3 kills quite consistently. That being said, it can grind better than expected due to the number of cantrips and Bedlam Reveler, which allow the deck to dig for that last burn spell to finish the opponent off.
If you want to win for the least amount of money, or you like playing Mono-Red Aggro in Standard, this is the deck for you: Mono-Red Prowess is currently one of the top decks in Modern. It has good matchups against slow decks: if your LGS meta is full of control and big mana decks, Mono-Red Prowess will mop the floor with them. Interactive decks are the bane of Prowess' existence: it doesn't stand a chance when trying to outgrind midrange engines, and their plethora of interactive spells can make it difficult for you to present threats that can outpace these engines.
Future upgrades:
A full-power Mono-Red Prowess deck costs about $180 (TCGPlayer) as of 29 March 2020, so if your budget is slightly bigger and you like the deck, just grab these upgrades:
-
Manamorphose: This card is effectively a free cantrip that fixes mana and adds a spell cast to your prowess creatures. Though this has recently been reprinted in Mystery Boosters, it is still an expensive common. All full-power Prowess decks run 4 of these mainboard for a reason, and is pretty much the only nonland upgrade you need to make.
-
Fiery Islet and Sunbaked Canyon: The Horizon lands are a godsend for aggressive decks because they fix the age-old issue of flooding. With these lands you have the option of trading it in for another card, which could be the difference between winning or losing. The life loss from tapping the lands for color is a very small price to pay for this advantage.
-
Blood Moon: The age-old bane of greedy manabases and big mana decks. Despite the multitude of alternatives, the original is still the best version for punishing greedy manabases. Do note that this does turn off your own nonbasics as well.
