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Price of Glory #24 – Twofer, Part 2

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For those of you who missed out on Part 1, I've put myself to the challenge of building two decks within the price limit I usually impose on just one. Today, I'll be presenting the second of these. If you're looking for a deck that can be built with very little investment, this might be the one for you.

Red Deck Wins has always been a great choice for budget players, and with the deck's recent fall in popularity, it's easier than ever to assemble a decent list at little cost. Here's what I put together:

The Creatures

Stromkirk Noble is the best red 1-drop in Standard, and it's proved that many times during the months since its release. The ability to sneak past Humans is more relevant than ever with creatures like Delver of Secrets, Snapcaster Mage, and Champion of the Parish dominating the top tables. If you can keep your opponent from blocking for just two or three turns, this can become a huge threat that's not easily dealt with.

Spikeshot Elder's 1/1 stats are not all that impressive, but the ability to shoot down small opposing creatures is very valuable—especially in a format filled with so many 1-toughness guys. It can also force through a bit of damage when you need it to and trade with slightly larger creatures if necessary.

Goblin Fireslinger only deals 1 damage, but it accomplishes that task every turn without fail regardless of what your opponent might have on his side of the field. It ensures that Stormblood Berserker will never be lacking +1/+1 counters, and over the course of a few turns, those points of damage can really start to add up.

Stormblood Berserker will almost always be a 3/3 in this deck, with eleven 1-drops as well as a play set of Gut Shots that you can use in a pinch. The fact that it can't be blocked by just one creature is hugely relevant with so many decks playing Lingering Souls. It throws any plans of chump-blocking right out the window, and it often forces your opponent to block with three or four tokens, putting you in a position to blow him out with Gut Shot or Galvanic Blast if he's not careful.

Porcelain Legionnaire is a great aggressive creature that can make life very difficult for your opponent. With so many small creatures in the format, the first strike on this guy is amazing. Unfortunately, he's rather vulnerable to spells like Vapor Snag and Gut Shot, but for such an efficient creature, it's a small price to pay.

The Burn

Shrine of Burning Rage gives this deck a huge amount of reach, threatening to kill your opponent in a single blow after a few turns of building counters. With the amount of burn in this deck, you can often take out an opponent with more than half his life left in just one turn.

Volt Charge is a great way to deal with an annoying creature, putting extra counters on any Stromkirk Nobles, Stormblood Berserkers, or copies of Shrine of Burning Rage you might have. Even if there aren't any creatures to kill, this can often hit your opponent for what is effectively 5 damage after proliferating a pair of attacking creatures.

Brimstone Volley is another spell that gives you great reach, turning into a 3-mana Lava Axe whenever a creature dies. This card can easily put your opponent into a no-win situation. If he blocks your creature with his larger one, you'll be able to kill him with a 5-damage Brimstone Volley. If he doesn't, the creature will knock him down enough for a normal Brimstone Volley to finish him off.

Gut Shot is a great removal spell for the early game, killing Delver of Secrets and Champion of the Parish before they can become threats and dealing with creatures like Birds of Paradise before they start pumping out threats ahead of schedule.

Although Galvanic Blast is often a Gut Shot that you have to pay the mana for, it can also take down slightly larger creatures like Huntmaster of the Fells and Insectile Aberration. It can be extremely valuable for its ability to cheaply deal with these more threatening creatures before they turn the tides of the game.

The Sideboard

Arc Trail is great at dealing with tokens and other small creatures, single-handedly taking care of combinations like Insectile Aberration and Snapcaster Mage, Birds of Paradise and Huntmaster of the Fells, or Diregraf Captain and Gravecrawler.

Dismember is a concession to Phyrexian Obliterator, which is admittedly a huge problem for this deck. Fortunately, Dismember is a great way to kill the irritating 4-drop without having to sacrifice any permanents.

Torch Fiend is a critical tool for dealing with Sword of War and Peace. As long as this is on the field, opponents simply can't play a Sword. Although it will probably die eventually, it buys you a lot of extra time to kill your opponent.

Traitorous Blood is a great tool against large creatures such as Titans. In general, your opponent's life total will be fairly low by the time he can play one, and stealing it from him for a turn will usually win you the game on the spot.

Playtesting

U/B Control – Game 1

I won the roll and kept a hand of two Mountains, two Galvanic Blasts, Spikeshot Elder, Porcelain Legionnaire, and Stormblood Berserker. I started things off with a Mountain and the Spikeshot Elder, and my opponent played Darkslick Shores before passing the turn.

I drew Goblin Fireslinger, attacked for 1 with Spikeshot Elder, and cast a 3/3 Stormblood Berserker before passing the turn. My opponent played a second Darkslick Shores and passed the turn. I drew Shrine of Burning Rage, attacked for 4 with my creatures, and paid 2 life for a Porcelain Legionnaire. I ended my turn.

My opponent played a Swamp and cast Black Sun's Zenith for 1, killing my Legionnaire and Elder and shrinking my Berserker down to 2/2. He passed the turn. I drew Stromkirk Noble, attacked for 2 with Stormblood Berserker, and cast my Shrine of Burning Rage before passing the turn. My opponent played an Island and cast Liliana of the Veil, removing 2 counters to force me to sacrifice my Berserker. He ended his turn.

I put a counter on my Shrine and drew a Spikeshot Elder. I cast Stromkirk Noble and Goblin Fireslinger, putting two more counters on the Shrine, and I passed the turn. My opponent played Curse of Death's Hold, killing off my creatures. He then used Liliana's +1. He discarded an Island, and I discarded my Spikeshot Elder.

I put another counter on my Shrine of Burning Rage and drew a Mountain. I passed the turn. My opponent played an Island and ended his turn. I put another counter on my Shrine, played another Mountain, and passed the turn.

My opponent cast Forbidden Alchemy during my end step, ditching two lands and a Go for the Throat. He then cast Sorin Markov and used his −3 to set my life total to 10. He passed the turn, and I cast both Galvanic Blasts targeting him during his end step. He dropped to 9, and my Shrine received two more counters. I put another counter on Shrine of Burning Rage during my upkeep, and I drew a Spikeshot Elder. I cast the Elder, and then sacrificed the Shrine to deal the final 9 damage.

Sideboarding:

−4 Gut Shot

+4 Traitorous Blood

U/B Control – Game 2

I kept a hand of three Mountains, two Brimstone Volleys, a Goblin Fireslinger, and a Stromkirk Noble. My opponent opened with a Drowned Catacomb, and I drew a Porcelain Legionnaire for my turn. I played a Mountain and cast Stromkirk Noble before passing. My opponent played a Swamp and passed the turn. I drew Shrine of Burning Rage, played my land, and attacked with my Noble. It ticked up a counter, and I paid 2 life to cast Porcelain Legionnaire before ending my turn.

My opponent cast Think Twice during my end step, then untapped, played an Island, and passed the turn. I drew a Mountain and attacked for 5 with my creatures, putting another counter on Stromkirk Noble. I then cast Goblin Fireslinger, played the Mountain, and passed the turn.

My opponent flashed back Think Twice during my end step, then played Darkslick Shores and passed the turn. I drew a Goblin Fireslinger and attacked with Stromkirk Noble and Porcelain Legionnaire. My opponent dropped to 8, and I put another counter on the Noble. I then played my Mountain and cast the second Goblin Fireslinger before ending my turn.

My opponent cast another Think Twice at the end of my turn. He untapped, played a Swamp, and cast Curse of Death's Hold. I pinged him with Goblin Fireslinger in response, and everything but my Stromkirk Noble died. I dropped him to 2 with a Brimstone Volley, and he conceded.

This deck has a massive amount of reach thanks to Shrine of Burning Rage and Brimstone Volley, and that can make life very difficult for your opponent. You can often win out of nowhere after he thinks he's stopped you cold. If you're looking for a fast deck that's hard to shut down, this might be a great choice for you.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, you can find me on the forums under Twinblaze, on Twitter under@Twinblaze2, or simply leave a comment below.

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