Check out my deck that I'm currently, its pretty similar. deck:blazing-back-into-the-game

upvote on the name alone.

You NEED Searing Spear and Pillar of Flame . And Brimstone Volley is highly recommended.

Searing Spear may be better than Mizzium Mortars maindeck, but this deck wants to tap out so much I never really have the mana open to use the Instant end of it. It would be nice to throw 3 to the face from time to time, but card:Devil's Play is better at that anyway.

I do have Pillar of Flame . It's fine to maindeck, but I don't think it is essential, it's only really good against Zombies and G/W Humans. I know these are both pretty big at the moment, so maybe it's worth the consideration.

I'm trying to go a bit bigger than Brimstone Volley , from past experience it's best in decks with access to less mana, as a finisher. By the time you are throwing five at the face with volley, I can throw 5 twice with Devil's Play. It can be pretty silly with Hellrider , and I would definitely play it with Falkenrath Aristocrat . Searing Spear would probably be better in this deck.

I actually quite like Annihilating Fire , but it never got on anyone's radar. All things considered it's very versatile.

Thanks for starting a discussion.

I would drop the Pyreheart Wolf s for either Brimstone Volley , Pillar of Flame , or Searing Spear or any combo thereof. You NEED some instant speed damage or you will be at a major disadvantage to control and aggro alike. Other than that, good deck!

P.S. Some Vexing Devil s wouldn't hurt either ;P

With card:Devil's Play you'd need to tap at least 4 mana to deal 3 damage. 6 if you flash back it. Devil's Play is also a sorcery where Searing Spear is an instant. I can't tell you the number of times I'd have, say, 4 mana, and no Hellrider in my hand. With Devil's Play, all I could do with that would be to deal 3 damage to my opponent or creature. With Spear, I can play two 1 drops, or a 2 drop, and still have leftover mana to deal with enemy creatures on both my turn and the opponents.

Also, say you only have two mana, and a creature on the field (essentially any turn 2 for RDW) Devil's Play is entirely useless unless you want to deal 1 damage, but Spear can easily counter enemy two drops (Which if you go second can happen often depending on the deck you're facting.)

Sure, flashback is decent. But you're pay at minimum 4 mana to do 1 damage, and by that point you should have much better options available. (Such as Hellrider, Archwing or Hound). Devil's play needs mana to be effective, and no card in RDW should be that way. For what you're pay from damage in Devil's Play could very easily be a more aggressive and, in the long run, damaging option.

I'm telling you, Searing Spear is mandatory. It may not be Lightning Bolt but it's the best you've got. You can still keep Mizzium maindecked, I had that when I first started RDW a while back, but Spear is far too good to pass up. Prehaps consider Stonewright for leftover mana? I've found him great because I can use him every turn to convert every single leftover mana into damage. Devil's Play isn't bad, it's just sideboard material to me, for when you need more burn. Even then, I consider Bonfire of the Damned infinitely superior (But that's moreso my opinion, you can easily argue the two cards).

Pillar of Flame is a bit more optional, but still a good card. Turn two you can exile an enemy creature and play another one drop for easy field advantage. The amount of times I've done so is staggering. Then again, this one is kind of your choice.

Brimstone Volley is a bit of a tossup. If you don't wanna run it, it's your decision, but the amount of times I've burned 5 for 3 mana on turn 3 has warrented me to use it.

How can you throw 5 twice with Devil's play? Because if you're referring to flashback, if you're able to flashback Devil's Play for 5 (8 mana) and the game's not over yet then you're playing RDW wrong, and your opponent probably has setup on you.

Annihilating Fire is usually side decked to better deal with Thragtusk and zombie decks, but with Hound of Griselbrand you shouldn't need it, as he counters those on his own. Also, dealing 3 damage for 3 mana is lack-luster in red deck.

Pyreheart Wolf is possibly the best card for this archetype at the moment. The effect is so much stronger than it looks.

The only thing I would want Searing Spear for would be Hellrider in the mirror. You don't need it against control, the creatures are 4 toughness and greater or Thragtusk .

Vexing Devil does stone nothing in this deck. It is not a RDW card, its a Burn card. I've tested it before, and against a strong opponent it doesn't do want you want it too. It looks really silly opposite a Thragtusk too.

Dealing 1 with card:Devil's Play can be very useful. The main reason why I like it is the card advantage and phenomenal reach. Sure, you can kill one of my creatures at instant speed, but I can get rid of two of yours. Who wins when that game goes long? It's one of the few outs red has to big fat butts aswell.

Bonfire of the Damned is only good if you miracle it and at like 7 mana. I prefer not to leave things to chance. It can be very bad against Blood Artist .

I will acknowledge I may be underestimating Searing Spear , then main reason why I would want it would be Vampire Nighthawk and Call of the Conclave . I haven't tested the full 4 Devil's Play yet, so it may be incorrect.

I'm a sucker for a good Fireball .

You may be able to kill 2 creatures with card:Devil's Play, but that's seperated by a distance of -at minimum- 4 turns. Even then, by turn 4 I'd much rather play a Hellrider than burn all my mana to kill a 1/1 on field or deal 1 burn damage. And -even then-, how man small creatures do you think will be on the field by that time? So it seems its use is limited.

Flashback, in my opinion, is completely wasted in RDW, because 95% of the time the mana will always be better spent on something in your hand.

Also, to me, Bonfire of the Damned is entirely superior to Devil's Play. As you can pay 2 mana to deal 1 damage to a creature, or (without miracle) I can pay just 1 more mana to deal 1 to all my opponent's creatures and my opponent themselves.

Ha, I'm more than happy to fight card:Devil's Play's corner. We could get stuck here for a while!

Flashback is fantastic in RDW, because after you've spent all your mana and cards in hand, what do you want to be doing with 8 lands in play? I would never flashback instead of applying pressure, I completely agree the mana is better spent on something in your hand.

I like being able to play control, and the extra late game definitely helps there. It's where I want to be playing (at least) 25 land, and I will concede that the static burn spells are better if you are doing Sligh and playing like 22 lands.

True, the flash back does seem to apply better when you run more lands. I'm glad you've at least got Hellion Crucible s in there to account for it. The problem I have is I don't think RDW is effective unless it's run in a sligh format, simply because being a pure aggro deck it wants to win as early as possible. If running against anything midrange or control, it's very difficult to win once the opponent has any ounce of setup. (At least not without a commendable lead)

If you were running all lower cost creatures, I could see throwing in a couple Devil's Plays. But, in my opinion, you have enough finishers to not warrent it. Getting the opponent low with Hellrider, Hound or Archwing might not leave them low enough for the kill with Devil's Play, while a static burn could do the job.

Granted, you are running a slightly more controlled version of RDW, so prehaps Devil's Play works better in your build than others. Even so, I don't see that enough reason to completely remove Spears, Pillars, and (possibly) Brimstone's from the equation, as their usefulness in nearly all situations is nearly unrivaled.

Needs more Thundermaw Hellkite s.

Yeah, I know right? I'd be running four honestly, but they are like gold dust, availability and price...

Mono Red is definitely a thing without them though.