Land denial is undoubtedly one of the most frustrating strategies to play against. Whether you’re getting your mana blown up or locked out of your colors via Blood Moon, it can feel demoralizing not being able to execute your gameplan at all. Still, there’s no denying how effective land destruction decks can be in the right metagame.
Interestingly, the current state of the Pauper metagame has helped a sweet Mono-Red Land Destruction brew emerge. This shell that just 5-0d a Pauper League is built to prolong games with tons of disruption, all while generating card advantage with one of Magic’s most broken competitive mechanics.
Interaction Galore
To help keep the opponent off-balance in all facets of the game, this shell features a healthy mix of land destruction, creature removal, and artifact removal. In the land destruction department, playsets of both Molten Rain and Pillage make an appearance. Bounce and Tron lands are quite popular in Pauper, making these even more punishing than usual. Many of the best decks in Pauper otherwise have a very low land count and thus can struggle versus a wave of land destruction spells as well.
In order to take full advantage of these spells, you need plenty of ways to keep opposing creatures off the board so you don’t take tons of damage. Luckily, cheap removal spells like Lightning Bolt do a good job keeping your head above water. Against go-wide decks, Fiery Cannonade is your strongest tool since it can take care of a bunch of creatures at once.
Notably, Suplex and Cast into Fire are capable of removing indestructible lands that your other land destruction cannot. Since these double as kill spells, you’ll rarely run into a matchup where these cards won’t find a crucial use.
Pulling Ahead
As you continue to decimate your opponent’s side of the board, your goal is to, eventually, land a copy of Crimson Fleet Commodore. The Monarchy is an absurdly strong mechanic in a one-versus-one setting, since there’s no risk of getting ganged up on by multiple players. So, as long as you can keep your opponent’s side of the board clear, the card advantage will bury your opponent over time. Commodore also presents a fast clock if left unchecked. As a Pirate, it doesn’t even die to Fiery Cannonade.
In order to maximize Commodore even further, this deck features a bunch of mana acceleration. Simian Spirit Guide, Rite of Flame, and Sandstone Needle all appear as a 4-of. This makes it much more likely you can land Commodore a turn or two early before your opponent has had a chance to develop their board.
In the event your opponent ever becomes the Monarch, Stormshriek Feral can snatch it right back the turn it comes down. This Dragon’s activated ability also makes it easier to turn the corner when you’ve cemented your advantage. Of course, casting the Omen side of the card to dig for specific answers in the early game is a totally fine option.
Polarizing Matchups
As cool as Mono-Red Land Destruction is, it definitely has a lot of polarizing matchups. Decks like Grixis Affinity and Jund Wildfire, which don’t apply lots of early pressure and instead rely on their ability to grind, can struggle to get off the ground at all against your land denial. Simultaneously, these decks aren’t designed to fight over the Monarch.
Mono-Red Land Destruction also lines up well against synergistic creature decks that don’t feature an array of counter magic. Elves has little recourse against a well-timed Fiery Cannonade, and all of your single-target removal spells ensure that Elf payoffs like Timberwatch Elf won’t stick around.
The problem is that the Burn and Mono-Blue Terror matchups are extremely difficult. Your slew of efficient kill spells doesn’t stop you from getting burnt out, nor are they capable of removing a creature as large as Tolarian Terror. Given this deck’s inability to apply early pressure itself, there’s a good chance that you’ll succumb to burn spells or huge threats eventually.
All hope isn’t lost in these matchups, but you will need a lot of help from the sideboard. You’ll find a full eight red “Blast” effects for Terror decks, as well as some copies of Campfire to keep your life total high against burn. The Blast effects significantly improve your position against Mono-Blue Faeries and High Tide combo, too.
Depending on what decks you expect to play against the most, Mono-Red Land Destruction could prove to be a decent choice for your next tournament. Even if we don’t expect this deck to breakout and become a tier one deck anytime soon, many players simply aren’t prepared to fight against it. If you enjoy messing with your opponent from all angles, this is the deck for you.
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