Never Get Mana Screwed Again! – 1 Drop Deck – Red

Welcome to the second installment of “Never Get Mana Screwed Again!” Today we’re dipping into the amazing mana efficient goodness that red has to offer. With tons of efficient removal and creatures, red stands out as the best low cost to damage ratio of any color by far. With staples in formats as strong as Legacy, you know that the cards are some of the best you could possibly play in a game of Magic. Say goodbye to mulligans and being mana screwed, and hello to blasting your opponents face with the power of fire!

Let’s start to dig into the card selections that I’ve made for this deck. As a reminder, this deck was made entirely out of cards that I already owned. There are better selections to make this deck even stronger, but this list is still strong enough to compete with most casual Magic decks given the limitations.

Lands 13 Mountain Creatures 4 Vexing Devil 4 Mogg Fanatic 4 Goblin Guide 4 Scorched Rusalka 4 Goblin Fireslinger 2 Spark Elemental 1 Goblin Bushwhacker 1 Figure of Destiny 1 Grim Lavamancer Other Spells 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Shock 3 Firebolt 2 Flame Slash 2 Cursed Scroll 1 Firestorm 1 Reckless Abandon 1 Seal of Fire 1 Forked Bolt 1 Magma Spray 1 Chain Lightning 1 Burst Lightning

First off, we’ll begin with the burn suite. When I think red, I think Lightning Bolt. It’s pretty much the best red one mana spell ever printed. It’s so versatile that it would be blasphemy to not be a four-of in this deck. Another very strong burn spell in this deck is Flame Slash. It has that extra reach for killing those pesky creatures that Lightning Bolt can’t quite kill. Another card that isn’t a direct burn spell, but is still super strong burn in a red deck is Cursed Scroll. Though it costs three mana to activate, you’ll often have three or four lands in play and one card in hand which essentially makes it a Shock on a stick! And speaking of Shock, that’s another four-of inclusion in the deck. Other Shock-esque cards in the deck are Firebolt, Forked Bolt, Magma Spray, Seal of Fire, and Burst Lightning. The only reason that Burst Lightning isn’t a four-of over Shock is because my other Burst Lightning‘s are in other decks. 😛 To round out the burn suite we have Reckless Abandon, Chain Lightning and Firestorm. Firestorm is probably one of my favorite cards in the deck. If you think about it, you can change your Shock‘s and Mountain‘s in hand into Lightning Bolt‘s or even Flame Javelin‘s all at the cost of only one mana and at instant speed! Talk about a good investment.

Now red isn’t all burn to the face to win the game. Wait…it kind of is….but red has some really good creatures to get that same job done too! Goblin Guide has held a dear place in my heart since its release. He’s just such a good creature. He usually hits for four damage before he can be dealt with. Sure, the opponent can draw a few extra lands, but they have to do it with a couple bash marks on their face from the Goblin Guide. Another amazing Goblin card is Mogg Fanatic. Even though damage no longer stacks, Mogg Fanatic is still awesome because it gives you that little bit of extra reach when trying to kill a creature or player. The other Goblins that round out the Goblin party are a set of Goblin Fireslinger‘s and a lonely Goblin Bushwhacker. Goblin Fireslinger might as well be an unblockable Goblin for one mana with pseudo vigilance. He get’s the job done. Another creature that gets the job done is Scorched Rusalka. This is probably one of the best cards in the deck. It turns every creature that you play into a Flame Jab. It’s not uncommon to finish a game off by sacrificing all of your creatures for that extra little bit of burn to the dome. Grim Lavamancer may not have been invited to the Goblin party, but he’s definitely gonna f*** sh** up and put his dick in the mashed potatoes. He’s an extra Cursed Scroll with an even cheaper activation cost. Beast mode. Figure of Destiny is also a super strong inclusion in this deck. Even though the deck is low on lands, it’s not uncommon to make him a 4/4 or even occasionally an 8/8! Seems fair for a one drop creature.

Now I have to get to a creature in the deck that’s unreleased as of now but is seemingly being printed for the sole purpose of going into this deck. Vexing Devil. Holy sh**. This guy might as well say, “Your opponent hates you much more now but it doesn’t matter because you’re probably going to win the game.” This guy is such a house. Nobody wants to let you stick a Vexing Devil. The idea of facing down a turn one devil will make almost any player take the 4 damage so they don’t have to deal with this monster. Understandably, there are board states that make this card slightly less powerful, say, if an opponent has removal or a big enough blocker to deal with him, but having the down side of what’s generally going to be a one mana, four damage spell be a 4/3 creature is friggin absurd. I had to proxy up a set of this guy as soon as I saw they were going to print him and he hasn’t disappointed.

Well that pretty much rounds out the one drop red deck. It’s very versatile, fun and never lets you be completely mana screwed. The deck has a surprising amount of interactivity and gives you the right to laugh at your opponents that get mana screwed with their high mana or multi colored spells. When they’re stuck on two lands just point at them and say, “Puny Planeswalker! You dared face the wrath of the deck that can never be mana screwed?! Now you will suffer the consequences!!!!!!…..Ping you with Goblin Fireslinger at the end of your turn.” _