Whole Lotta Red - Birgi Wheel Combo

Casual Burn Combo Flashback Mono-Red Wheels

PinnedPhoenix

Ramp (20)

• 4x Desperate Ritual
• 4x Lotus Petal
• 4x Pyretic Ritual
• 4x Reverberate
• 4x Seething Song

Endgame (10)

• 4x Birgi, God of Storytelling  ^Flip
• 3x Crackle with Power
• 3x Past in Flames

Lands (18)

• 18x Mountain

Setup (12)

• 4x Faithless Looting
• 4x Gamble
• 4x Wheel of Fortune

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Sideboard

Other (16)

• 4x Bedlam Reveler
• 4x Mana Geyser
• 4x Mountain
• 4x Reforge the Soul

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if you've ever wanted to build the kind of deck you show off to your casual playgroup once or twice, but mostly never use on account of how busted it is, this might be what you're looking for.

the idea here is to combine the mana economy boost from Birgi, God of Storytelling  with Wheel of Fortune's sheer power as a card draw engine to cycle quickly through your deck by turn 3 or 4, generating enough mana to nuke an entire table using Crackle with Power along the way. it's a really fun deck to build and play, and it'll get some appreciative nods from playgroups who enjoy the technical side of MTG. but it's not an easy decklist to run, and it's an actively frustrating deck to play against.

obviously I don't own four Wheel of Fortunes, but you can get proxies of both it and Gamble on Etsy for ~5$ a pop. if you want to run a less playgroup-hostile (and Modern legal!) version of this build, substitute Reforge the Soul, Bedlam Reveler, mountains and Mana Geyser for Wheel of Fortune, Gamble, Lotus Petal and Seething Song. I've included these in the sideboard.

read a detailed breakdown of the build below!

Setup

Gamble

Gamble - if not your ace in the hole, certainly your king of diamonds. I love Gamble and consider it the best designed of all tutors. It'll get you the card you need for one mana--but at a risk and a price. it's iconically mono-red, and it's a blast to run a set of these in a 60-card deck.

if you draw into Gamble but not Birgi on turn one, it's almost always a good idea to tutor for her. there's a 1/6 shot that you'll throw her away, but 1/6 isn't that bad, and you need her for the combo to go off. if you do throw her away, that's why we're running four of both Gamble and Birgi! you'll almost certainly get her on the board by other means.

Once you've got Birgi played, Gamble still finds its uses. Wheel of Fortune's an essential piece in terms of getting this deck snowballing, so that's often worth grabbing. Otherwise, Past in Flames is a necessary piece you might well want to tutor up--and won't feel bad about throwing away! ditto for Crackle with Power. it's pretty rare that you'll draw Gamble and not want to use it, especially since, with Birgi, it effectively pays for itself. this deck takes a YOLO approach to Gamble and discard in general, so go for it!

Faithless Looting

Faithless Looting - works really well here. since there's so much graveyard play, and since we've got such an abundance of mana to work with, this card's mostly a consequence-free tempo piece. the built-in flashback is a nice tool in a pinch.

Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune - maybe my favorite card design ever. takes advantage of red's furious tempo and ability to play out of the graveyard via Past in Flames to build your resources at breakneck speed. as soon as you've used up everything useful in your hand, you'll want to wheel, and you'll be hoping you draw into another. nothing bad to say about this card. it's the iconic "symmetrical but not really since you're the only one playing fast enough to enjoy it" draw engine.

Ramp

Standard Ramp

Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, Seething Song - all three of these cards do the same three things.

1). they ramp your mana and let you get your pieces moving faster 2). they sit in your graveyard, making Bedlam Reveller cheaper if you're running the Modern legal deck 3). when you're ready to go off, they get used a second time via Past in Flames

nothing else to it. worth noting that they all become that much more efficient with Birgi on the board, allowing for some breakneck mana generation once the stars align. Reverberate will also often be used to copy these cards to get the mana you need!

Lotus Petal

Lotus Petal - one of the few ways to get something for nothing, manawise. that it also procs Birgi's mana boost makes it a great card here, both to help it get off the ground in the early game and to help your mana pool take off in the late game. good enough that I decided to cut my land base from 22 to 18 to accommodate it!

Reverberate

Reverberate - I put this card in the ramp section because that's often what it does, but it's a ludicrously versatile spell and really deserves a section to itself.

first of all, it's a great ramp piece. it duplicates Desperate and Pyretic ritual perfectly; if used to duplicate Seething Song, it's actually the best ramp in the deck, producing three surplus mana. it's never a bad idea to use it like this, and the ability to do so is what makes me comfortable running a full set of them.

but that's not all it can do. in a pinch, it can duplicate Faithless Looting to allow you to quickly move through your deck and find the pieces you need. it can also protect your endgame; it's an especially effective counter to counterspells. lastly, if your opponent ever does something you would also like to do with an instant and sorcery spell, having one of these available can make it happen for you. in short, it's about as versatile a single all-purpose toolbox spell can be. it's really good to keep the mana open for it when you can.

Endgame

Birgi

Birgi, God of Storytelling  - indisputably the keystone piece. getting an extra mana back whenever you cast a spell is obviously a huge boon. you'll wanna dump the extra mana generated into Crackle with Power as soon as possible to win the game.

if you draw into more than one Birgi, or if you're badly in need of card manipulation, Harnfell, Horn of Bountywill set you up. being able to discard into two spells is incredibly handy, and can easily make the difference between the combo happening or not happening.

Past in Flames

Past in Flames - lets you do everything you've already done over again, or everything you didn't get to do because you discarded cards before you could play them. an essential piece, worth gambling for in the right situation. that it has flashback means you won't feel too bad when you have to throw it away.

Crackle with Power

Crackle with Power - dead weight until you've got the mana and pieces you need, at which point it'll end the game for you on its own. if you enjoy the stunned silence after blowing up an entire multiplayer table with a single spell, Crackle with Power is probably already among your personal favorites.

Tips For Playing Well

this deck is the most technical 60-card build I've done, and I can get confused running it. here are some tips to help less experienced players along!

1). prioritize getting Birgi on the board over everything. not sure if I've made this 100% clear but the build isn't half as good without her. haven't included them here since it'd suck to Wheel them away when you need them most, but it might even be worth running a few Shunts just to keep her safe. she's the most important card you've got.

2). don't be afraid to throw even very good spells away. unintuitive for newer players, but in a Past in Flames based combo deck, your graveyard isn't a graveyard so much as a second hand. dumping two Crackles with Faithless Looting is an actively good move in this build.

3). when you can, save a Reverberate. countering a counterspell with it can win you the game. in general, avoid racking up mana unless you are either about to wheel ramp spells away regardless or unless you're sure you've got a shot at ending the game.

Weaknesses

this deck has a few key weaknesses. let's take a look at them!

1). counterspells. a well-timed counterspell can ruin this thing. true of most combo decks, worth noting all the same. 2). really effective aggro. it doesn't have answers for that. in general, it's better in multiplayer than singleplayer, so hopefully you're not the one getting rushed. 3). spot removal. if you play Birgi and she goes down, it's not necessarily a death sentence, but you might find yourself in jail for a bit, especially if you're playing the Modern-legal version and don't have Seething Songs to pile up via Past in Flames in the lategame. 4). graveyard removal. if your graveyard gets removed it's often gg, and there's no meaningful way for mono-red to prevent it. hopefully that doesn't happen! 5). mill. this deck does so much of the work for your opponent on that front. a well-made mill deck might be able to knock it out in short order. 6). speedy lifegain. if an opponent can push themselves past 25 hp by turn four, they might get out of the damage range of Crackle with Power, and then we're SOL. 7). it's no fun to play against. no one likes having the game end on turn three with 20 damage to the face.

aside from these three, though, it's really very good! take it out at your next game night to show off for a round or two, then put it away or make the modern-legal sideboard substitutions below, which will only let you end the game on like turn 6 or 7 instead, and will probably draw less hate!

The Modern Legal Version

once you're done showing off, this is the version of the deck you'll probably actually want to play with your friends.

it's still very good and fun! the lack of Gamble and Wheel of Fortune make it quite a bit slower; Seething Song has been banned since 2013 on account of when Storm decks took the Modern meta by, well, storm, and could become unbanned any day now, since it's not really that powerful.

Reforge the Soul and Bedlam Reveller are pretty obvious as substitutions. they're worse wheels, though one will give you a solid creature and the other occasionally is actually a slightly better wheel, if you're lucky enough to draw into it with nothing to lose in your hand.

Mana Geyser, on the other hand, can feel like dead weight unless it's the midgame and you're playing multiplayer. in general, this deck is better in a multiplayer setting!

the combo in the modern-legal version is slightly less speedy. but once it lands, it lands in just the same way: with a big old explosion of game ending damage. it's not as good, but it can be--I've tested it and combo'd out on turn 4--and meanwhile, your friends should hate you slightly less for running it!

so that's it! just about the most insane mono-red combo deck you could ask for. the kind of build that'll get people wondering why red's often considered among the worst of the five colors. give it a +1 if you like it!

Date added	1 year
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Casual legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 16 - 8 Rares 4 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 4 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.05