Red aggro decks are nothing new to Standard. Even with all the new toys that Tarkir: Dragonstorm is bringing to the table, you’d better be prepared to play against red aggro if you’re interested in testing out a sweet brew.
In fact, it appears as though red aggro has only gotten better since the release of Tarkir: Dragonstorm. A unique take on red aggro splashing black for Callous Sell-Sword and a new one-mana pump spell/card advantage spell hybrid won a recent Magic Online Standard Challenge. This black addition gives a lot of grinding power to a blazing fast archetype, making the deck extremely scary to play against.
The Role of Desperate Measures
The black inclusion we’re discussing is none other than Desperate Measures. Desperate Measures is a bit of a weird card. As a pump spell, the card is pretty weak. As a removal spell, it’s quite narrow. It’s ok as a card advantage spell but takes some work to maximize. However, when you add up all the pieces, Desperate Measures becomes an elite card for the deck.
By far the strongest interaction available involves Desperate Measures, Leyline of Resonance, and Heartfire Hero. With Leyline in play, casting Desperate Measures targeting Heartfire Hero allows you to copy Desperate Measures, and you’ll want to target Heartfire Hero again.
Assuming you initially target Heartfire Hero as a 1/1, valiant will trigger bumping it to a 2/2. Once the copy of Desperate Measures resolves, you’ll be left with a 3/1. Then, the other copy of Desperate Measures will resolve, and your Heartfire Hero will die. Your opponent will take four damage, and you’ll draw four cards on the exchange!
According to the pilot of the Challenge wining decklist, Desperate Measures was able to draw four cards a bunch of times during the tournament. This is obviously strong, but it isn’t the only use for Desperate Measures.
Often, you’ll simply want to respond to an opposing removal spell with Desperate Measures. Even without Leyline of Resonance in the picture, converting Desperate Measures into two cards is decent, especially if you’re triggering valiant. When combined with Callous Sell-Sword’s adventure, you can sometimes send a ton of damage to your opponent and still end up ahead on resources.
Desperate Measures can also be used defensively to kill opposing copies of Heartfire Hero or Optimistic Scavenger on turn one, which is especially useful on the draw. Having access to a pseudo-removal spell that naturally pairs well with Leyline of Resonance is really nice.
After all, you need access to a lot of spells that can target your own creatures for value, so you don’t really have room for Burst Lightning effects. The versatility of Desperate Measures helps the card pull its weight in a variety of situations.
Traditional Red Leyline Support
While Desperate Measures is certainly the most exciting piece of the puzzle, the deck is fully equipped to win the game without it. Leyline of Resonance is a very scary card to play against. Whether you’re doubling up on Monstrous Rage, Turn Inside Out, or Might of the Meek, Leyline enables incredible nut draws.
Of course, in some games, you won’t have the luxury of starting the game with Leyline in play. Fortunately, this deck is capable of having plenty of draws that put immense pressure on the opponent regardless.
Both Heartfire Hero and Cacophony Scamp, while not threatening by themselves, only take a couple of pump spells before they can deal some serious damage. Monstrous Rage is particularly excellent, as it ensures that the opponent can’t chump block their way out of a big attack.
Then, in your second main phase, you can cast Burn Together to fling one of these creatures at the opponent. Not only will the opponent take damage from Burn Together, but they’ll also take damage from the creature’s death trigger. After resolving a couple of pump spells, this line of play becomes lethal in most circumstances.
Besides Burn Together, you can also get a ton of extra damage across with Heartfire Hero or Emberheart Challenger if you can give them double strike via Manifold Mouse. Manifold Mouse triggers valiant every turn. It won’t take long before Manifold Mouse breaks a board stall wide open.
The Value of the Black Splash
Overall, while adding the black splash does make it tougher to play extra utility lands like Soulstone Sanctuary, the black cards make up for this by making it much easier to play through removal spells. One major weakness that can plague the Leyline versions of red aggro is that due to the high density of pump spells you need to abuse Leyline, cheap kill spells from the opponent can be problematic.
Desperate Measures consistently pulls you ahead on cards in these situations. In games two and three, you can sideboard in Duress to better play around Temporary Lockdown or Path of Peril.
Choosing to go down the Leyline route in the first place and playing less creatures can definitely still hurt versus white or black midrange shells. However, according to the deck’s pilot, Leyline gives you an edge versus more traditional red aggro decks. The explosiveness Leyline gives you makes it easier to steal games on the draw.
The sudden success of Rakdos aggro with Leyline and Desperate Measures in the mix just goes to show how valuable even a single uncommon can be in improving an archetype. There may be a ton of top-end bombs in Tarkir: Dragonstorm, but sometimes the efficient, low rarity additions prove to be just as important.
