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Red and Blue are probably two of the strangest colors to put together, if you think about Magic in a flavor-y, Vorthos-y type of way. Blue is the element of the mind, conscious thought, planning, and thinking. Red, on the other hand, is all about the here and the now , the “me me me” and “get out of my way if you think you’re going to stop me from doing what I want, right now!” I suppose that’s why they made the two colors enemies. Regardless of the flavor, Red and Blue have made some of the greatest decks in Magic’s history. One Standard season ago, players were using them along with Urza’s lands to make enough mana to cast an uncounterable Demonfire, and have counterspells along the way to make sure that their opponent couldn’t ever resolve a useful spell. Versions of Trix (a tournament deck that Donates an Illusions of Grandeur to its opponent) play Red for cards like Fire//Ice. Today, I’d like to channel the power and the purpose of Blue and Red, and do some things that will make your next casual match a little more fun.
WRONG. Smokebraider is positively ridiculous. She makes two mana of any color to spend on any Elemental spell you want. That’s pretty good, when you consider the amount of good Elementals that have ever been printed; Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer, Guile, and Hostility are just a few that grace the list. Along with the good rares, there are quite a few Elementals that are common and uncommon that do the trick; Inner-Flame Igniter and Mulldrifter come to mind for Red and Blue. If you’re playing an Elemental spell, Smokebraider accelerates your plays by two turns. That means you can realistically play Mulldrifter or Shriekmaw on turn three (without evoking them), and play something like Faultgrinder on turn five. Smokebraider is glorious, and she’s the engine for today’s first deck. Another common Elemental that I have a strange fondness for is Soulbright Flamekin. Its ability isn’t anything special, but you have the chance to make eight Red mana with six mana of any color. It’s not a bad deal, but six mana is still quite a bit, and you can only play Red spells with it. That stream of consciousness leads me to wonder, what would happen if I could make eight mana with only three mana of any color? What would happen if I lowered activation costs by one mana? In comes Heartstone. Heartstone is an uncommon in Stronghold, and it allows you to play non-mana activated abilities for one mana less than normal. This is a huge deal. Now I could play Heartstone on turn three, and have eight Red mana on turn four. And what do you do with that eight mana? Why, play Bogardan Hellkite, of course! Let’s take a look at this week’s first deck.
The idea for the deck is fairly simple; use your Elementals to make mana, and then use that mana to do silly things. If you get Soulbright Flamekin’s ability to work the third time, you can spend the mana you’ll get out of it on Bogardan Hellkite or Platinum Angel, multiple activations of Inner-Flame Igniter, or on regular creatures. Heartstone makes the combo work much quicker, and makes it easier for you to activate Inner-Flame Igniter’s ability. Heartstone also allows you to play Bogardan Hellkite as early as turn four – not really something to scoff at. Flamekin Harbinger helps find the Elemental pieces you need to pull off your combo; likewise, if you can’t find a Heartstone, Fabricate will help you make the elusive artifact much more accessible. These cards are the bread and butter of this deck, and in order to make sure you get the most bang out of it, make sure you have four of each of the cards. Instead of adding token card drawing spells like Compulsive Research and the like, I thought it would work for the theme of the deck if Mulldrifter was added instead. It draws two cards, and with Smokebraider on turn two, Mulldrifter is a great turn three play. If you get in a bind and need the cards, Mulldrifter’s evoke can also be useful.
1) Use Elemental Abilities before combat to get Ceaseless Searblades’ bonus. It’s fairly obvious, but Smokebraider’s ability will trigger Ceaseless Searblades. Evoking a creature, like Mulldrifter, will not, because you’re actually playing the Mulldrifter with an alternate cost. 2) Don’t forget that you need nine mana total to get first strike out of Inner-Flame Igniter. You’ll need one more mana to make his ability work out without a Heartstone in play if you’re using Soulbright Flamekin. Don’t make that eight mana if you can’t use it. 3) If necessary, you can choose not to make the eight Red mana with Soulbright Flamekin. This is rather random, but if you don’t need the mana, and want to trample through a little extra damage, you don’t need to make the mana. It’s an optional ability, so don’t feel like you’re stuck with it (although I don’t know why you’d not want to make the extra mana). Card Suggestions
Adding more colors and lands may be an interesting way to go, since you can play creatures like Shriekmaw or Briarhorn. Other Elemental creatures are out there, and they all warrant a look. Check them out and see if you find anything interesting. If you do, add cards like Chromatic Star and Ravnica Block’s bounce lands to even out your mana. On the other hand, you could go for an aggressive route and cut Soulbright Flamekin completely, and add in copies of Inner-Flame Acolyte and Nova Chaser. These cards are great for an aggressive Elemental deck. Horde of Notions is also a great card, but if you want to play it, you’ll need mana fixing. Use cards like Signets and City of Brass to come up with a mana solution for you. By swapping out some of your more combo-oriented cards like Heartstone, you can easily have an aggressive deck. Think about more aggressively-oriented Elementals for a potential sideboard. One of the coolest things about Red and Blue is that you can do some pretty crazy things with their gold cards. Electrolyze, for instance, is one of my favorite burn spells, because it potentially can get you a three-for-one card trade. Fire//Ice is another amazing multicolor spell, and still manages to show up in Legacy and other Vintage decks every once in a while. And honestly, who doesn’t like casting Curiosity on Niv-Mizzet? That’s just plain fun. However, some Red and Blue cards are not so well known. If I asked you what Cerebral Vortex was, you might not know that it is an interesting way to deal three damage, or to draw a couple cards in a pinch. And if I mentioned Quicksilver Dagger, you might be in the dark as to what it did.
This little gem is a great card, and it really goes a long way if you have creatures that can untap multiple times in a turn. Spells like Arcane Teachings also go the distance with creatures that can untap themselves. Enter one of my favorite Blue cards, recently returned to Standard in 10th Edition: Horseshoe Crab. Along with Brass Man (who you can only untap in your upkeep), these cards provide the basis of a powerful deck. Let’s take a look at what happens when your Auras get a little crabby.
The premise is fairly simple; get out a Brass Man or Horseshoe Crab, and then go to town with Acrane Teachings and Quicksilver Dagger. Other tapping creatures such as Kamahl, Pit Fighter (also back in 10th Edition) and Merfolk Looter have been added to the deck to interact with Aphetto Alchemist, who untaps a creature for you (which can be handy from time to time). Incinerate and Rift Bolt do additional damage to your opponent or clear out hard-to-kill creatures. One of the biggest things to remember with this deck is that you don’t have to ping your opponent to death; Arcane Teachings is a great Aura that gives a boost of power and toughness to creatures; and with Kamahl on the board, or a few pingers, you can have things taken care of in no time. Things to Remember 1) Attack with your Horseshoe Crab (with Arcane Teachings attached) and untap it after combat. You’ll probably get more damage in this way, and you’ll still get to ping your opponent after the attack. 2) Incinerate is for creatures mostly. Don’t waste your burn spells on your opponent right away; if you can hold them for a few turns, do so, and see what pops up. It’s no fun when you use up your only burn spell on your opponent’s head and the turn after he plays something like Shadowmage Infiltrator. 3) Take advantage of your opponent’s End of Turn step. Your tapping creatures like Merfolk Looter can be used more effectively if used at the end of your opponent’s turn. This way, you miss out on getting hit with cards like Dream Leash or Glimmerdust Nap. Card Suggestions Merfolk Looter isn’t necessarily your best option for this deck. Other pingers like Viashino Fangtail or Vulshok Sorcerer are also good choices. Something else to consider is including creatures that have bonuses when tapped. Fallowsage is a prime example here, although Veteran of the Depths is also easily splashed with a few copies of Azorius Signet and Azorius Chancery (instead of your normal Izzet Signet and Izzet Boilerworks) in your deck. Use what cards you have, and experiment. This deck can be much more, and much different than I've made it. Shivan Reef and Steam Vents are both great lands. You’d be doing well to buy a set while prices are still lower than normal. That’s all I’ve got this time around. I hope you enjoyed my foray into Red and Blue; until next time, this is Death_By_Beebles, saying adios! ~Death_By_Beebles Alex Hoffman has been parading around with the pseudonym of Death_By_Beebles for three years now. He’s a writer for Magic Deck Vortex, and can often be found tinkering with his latest decks while writing or designing games. He is the author of Raiding the Dollar Bins and Going Blind series at MDV, and the recent startup series Pauper Chronicles. Alex likes kittens, reading, and generally enjoying life. He doesn’t like Brussels sprouts. You can send him deck ideas, combos and suggestions at deathbybeebles[at]yahoo.com.
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One
of my favorite cards to come out of Lorwyn is the innocuous Smokebraider. She’s
not that dangerous, is she? The card’s only a 1/1 after all, right?
Brave
the Elements. 
Things
to Remember
The
main engine for the deck is Soulbright Flamekin, a creature that makes eight
mana, so other eight-cost Red creatures like Akroma, Angel of Fury or Scourge of
Kher Ridges are all good choices. Your favorite red Dragons or other fatties can
be put into either the Platinum Angel or Bogardan Hellkite slots. A good
Elemental that costs eight Red mana is Living Inferno; he can be played on turn
four with Soulbright Flamekin and Heartstone, or powered out early by
Smokebraider.
