After Standard received record bans in June, Mono-Red Aggro seemed to be a thing of the past. Considering that two key cards were banned from the archetype, this makes a lot of sense. These bans seriously weakened the deck’s aggressive potential and were undeniably needed, given that the banned cards weren’t rotating.
For better or worse, it seems Mono-Red Aggro isn’t done in Standard just yet. The deck just had a strong result in an MTGO Standard Challenge using some Standard legal cards we haven’t seen in quite some time.
Standard Mono-Red Aggro Returns
Claiming 3rd place with a 6-2 result, MTGO user MJ_23 just proved that Mono-Red is still a real deck in Standard. The deck looks and plays a lot more like traditional Mono-Red strategies, leaning a lot less into Mouse synergies. While it runs Emberheart Challenger and Rockface Village, the rest of the deck steers clear of Mice.
Instead of the old Mouse package, this Mono-Red list does use a lot of staples from before the bans. The new additions, however, are perhaps the most interesting to talk about. Fugitive Codebreaker is the odd creature of the bunch, seeing virtually no play before June’s bans occurred.
Fugitive Codebreaker does have a lot going for it, as Prowess and Haste mean it can deal scaling damage quickly. This is certainly below rate compared to the old Bloomburrow Mice, but it’s not a bad replacement. When you factor in Codebreaker’s Disguise ability, this card is more than just a humble ‘it’ll do’ replacement.
This ability gives Red a way to draw deeper into the game if things are going rather late. While this ability is very expensive, if you can reduce the Disguise cost to one or two mana, it can be a great way to draw a few extra cards to deal those last few points of damage.
To help push damage and make Fugitive Codebreaker easier to flip, this Mono-Red deck plays full playsets of Burst Lighting and Shock. Burst Lightning was common before the ban, but Shock was seldom seen. Considering that the archetype lost eight cards and Manifold Mouse is no longer supported enough to see play, this seems like a satisfactory replacement.
A full playset of Opera Love Song is also seeing play, which synergizes quite well with a Mono-Red strategy equipped with ways to go deeper into the game. Opera Love Song can both Impulse Draw and deal explosive damage, allowing Red to match the pace of the game.
Changes in Function
Overall, this Mono-Red deck plays a lot more like traditional burn. Instead of being able to push lethal at any point with a set combination of cards, you need to get your damage in when you can. Almost every card in this deck pushes fast damage or has reach in the form of direct burn. This means that this Red deck has the more traditional problems associated with the archetype. Lifegain is difficult to combat, and you may be relying on the top of your deck to win games more than you like.
Similar to other aggressive strategies in the current metagame, Mono-Red certainly gets a few points for catching most decks unaware. Urabrask’s Forge in the sideboard is a major indicator of this. While a very popular sideboard card for a majority of its time in Standard, Urabrask’s Forge stopped being played once Authority of the Consuls became a commonly sideboarded card.
By making the tokens from Urabrask’s Forge enter tapped, Consuls completely shuts down this once formidable value engine. Given that Forge is now back in the sideboard, this shows that most decks aren’t expecting to face it anymore. Ideally, this will allow Mono-Red decks to steamroll their opponents in game two by leaning into aggro even more.
Mono-Red’s recent performance is likely the best case scenario for the recent bannings. This result proves that Mono-Red is viable, but certainly not overpowered in any way. If you catch a tournament unaware, you could do great with this archetype.
Mostly Rotation Proof
While Mono-Red reappearing in Standard may be exciting, or scary, depending on your opinion, it may not matter. Rotation literally happens next week, which should have a major impact on the current format. Good news for red fanatics is that the majority of this deck is rotation-proof.
To be specific, the only cards this deck loses are Monastery Swiftspear, Obliterating Bolt, and a few sideboard cards. These are usually aimed at playing a longer game, like Urabrask’s Forge and Koth, Fire of Resistance, or those that otherwise play specific roles that may not be needed. Monastery Swiftspear certainly hurts, but other than that, the deck can easily function without the rest of the cards leaving.
So, Mono-Red certainly has a chance of being viable in Edge of Eternities Standard, although the upcoming set doesn’t have a lot of support for the archetype. Kavaron Harrier could be an interesting one-drop for longer games, but it’s situational at best. The same is true for Plasma Bolt which only really works if you can trigger Void.
Even if Mono-Red itself isn’t viable, there will likely be some sort of red-colored aggro deck that’s viable. Rakdos Leyline, or Boros Aggro with Lightning Helix and Boros Charm, seem like interesting ideas worth pursuing for aggressive players. It will be interesting to see how Red adapts to the upcoming Standard rotation.
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