Chris invited us all to try Oathbreaker this Wednesday for Magic Wednesdays at Laughing Monk Brewing. It's my first time trying the format and I've avoided reading any other deck design notes to see what I can come up with on my own.
When I played more standard, I loved to play "Red Deck Wins" decks. I was inspired by my wife Lexi's favorites strategy in Ticket to Ride: Build all the long routes and end the game before anyone else's plans can be completed. It's brutally efficient. The best decks can be beaten if you never let them take hold. This is a strategy that doesn't really work in commander and I miss playing it.
I know Oathbreaker is a multiplayer format and that burn won't work well in that setting, but I couldn't resist putting together a singleton red aggro deck for 1v1 play.
Commander: Chandra, Fire Artisan
This Chandra made it into my red deck wins decks immediately after she came out. That new pseudo card draw mechanic for red where you exile a card you can play until end of turn is perfect for this archetype. I would always fear finding my card draw in time to keep the aggro engine rolling, but now, it's in my command zone. Even if they kill Chandra, they're taking 5 damage, unless they can exile her.
Signature Spell: Goblin Grenade
Ok, this one is mostly cause I love this spell. One red mana and you take 5 damage and I lose one measly goblin is just such a goblin way to win. I had considered some other uncounterable burn spells for my signature spell, but had to go with this for flair and because I can just keep casting it as it's so cheap I don't mind the extra 2 I pay. This is such a great finisher and it's cheap cost might let me get both Chandra and a Goblin Grenade out in the same turn.
Goblins!
I also miss my Krenko deck, which became my Korvold deck which I love, but still there's something so YOLO about mono red goblins. I love the idea of the relentless, reckless hordes tearing apart complex strategies before they can even get started. Like with all goblin decks, I'm looking for hasty and cheap. Here are some star players:
Forget cheap, how about free goblins? Warren instigator does so much work for this deck. It can bring out two goblins if it's unblocked. It also doubles the benefits of the anthems we have in this deck.
I have a bunch of goblins that give haste, but bushwhacker is one of my favorites. Not only does it give haste, but also anthems everyone. The combined effect can close out a lot of games with our go wide strategy as we have a ton of cheap goblins.
One of my favorite oldies but goodies. Nice sweeper for their chump blocker and very likely a hit on them and their planeswalker. Hard to pass up. Also hard to block from the first strike.
Fire! Fire! Fire!
If Chandra's in charge, someone's gonna get burned. I looked for the most efficient, cheap burn spells. Two mana, do three damage is the minimum efficiency I'm looking for as most of my draw spells require me to cast it the turn I draw it.
Lightning bolt has a brother. The downside to this is not a worry at all for an aggro red deck. They'll likely not have the mana to copy it and if they do, who cares? You are the aggro deck and shouldn't be at a life total that you'd worry about that. Also, in a pinch, we can chain lightning our Chandra, to do 3 damage to them, then copy it to do 3 more for two red mana. I'm in!
We will likely have a lot of Goblins out early with 6 one cost and 5 two cost goblins in the deck. This could be a ton of damage for one red and is exactly why my Chandra is goblin tribal.
Another classic. Rarely cast for 3 mana. Mostly for one because if the opponents not taking damage from several cards a turn from me, then things aren't going well. The beauty of a YOLO strategy is that win or lose, it's gonna be quick.
Gas! Gas! Gas!
We're going to be burning through cards fast and we need to get more fast and cheap. Our commander gives us some but we'll need more than that. Here's where we get them:
Peanut Butter and Jelly, Batman and Robin, Chandra Fire Artisan and Experimental Frenzy. Famous pairs that work so much better together. I loved this combo in standard. Frenzy let's you play the top card of your deck. Usually you'll do so until you hit a second land. Then Chandra pulls it out of the way and you continue the onslaught. Absolutely brutal when it works.
Another classic. Two cards that I can play over two turns for one mana? Yes please. Also works well with Experimental Frenzy.
I love watching my opponents face when I give them the option of damage or cards. The right move is to take the damage as the extra cards always add up to more. But giving them the choice is demoralizing. Got a Risk Factor in here to do the same thing.
This deck isn't cheap or especially good, but it is one that I'm going to have fun with. Deck building isn't always about winning. It's about winning in a way that says something about you as a person. And this deck says I don't give a #!@% about your fancy plans and carefully planned synnergies. They'll still be in your hand when this beats you down.
I'll share my other oathbreaker deck after Magic Wednesdays as that's the one I really intend to play multiplayer. Need a little bit of an edge as I didn't read anything other than the rules for building an oathbreaker deck.
I encourage you to approach deckbuilding the same way. Stop looking up examples. Just go out and build. Yes it will likely be less effective, but it will be more you. No one cares if you paint like Pollock. Pollock already painted that style. Forging your own style is more challenging and way more rewarding.