Dies to Removal

I like to come into G1 burn/sweeps until I get Koth/Sarkhan/Dragon.

Bumping with a recentish list that made top eight in Italy :http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=8056&d=246443&f=MO

What stands out is the maindeck Blasphemous Acts and Shrine of Burning Rage. While I have been very critical of Magus of the Moon's viability, I think it might have a place as a stall tactic. To improve its efficacy, a couple of swords--your meta choice--could probably work out well. I might give that a shot, removing the Blasphemous Acts for a couple of swords. Pithing Needle looks great in the side, especially for the Tron MU. Shut off their Oblivion Stone, which is a fine compliment to Blood Moon/Sowing Salt mana base disruption.

EDIT: Magi efficacy as a speedbump isn't work it. I would rather have had Molten Rain.

Well said, Warchief. Thanks. I've put in a preorder for 2 Sarkhans. I'll get 2 more once the set is released.

[deck]Dragonspeaker[/deck]

I don't quite think so. Stormbreath, at the very least, can't be removed with Path. I still plan to work in a single copy, as I love the aspects of red that the new Sarkhan embodies: dragons, spot-burn, and risk. I have raised this in the Blood Moon thread, but I'm wondering how feasible Blood Moon will be after the new fetches enter the format. Theoretically, it gives multicolor decks the luxury of relying less on shocks. This could be problematic for us, so I am considering swapping the Moons for Stone Rains. Warchief, what do you think of Moltensteel Dragon. Too vulnerable to be worth it in Modern, or a better substitute for Boros Reckoner? Moltensteel doesn't get hit by Abrupt Decay, and it has more evasion thanks to flying. I'm not sure if paying 4 life is too much of a liability. I ask because I used 4 of Moltensteel in my Dragon Stompy, and it was really good there.

I'm on Dust of Dreams right now.

Here is my current Skred, which incorporates some of the ideas I mentioned earlier. It aims to play a far more controlling game.

[DECK]
Lands
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
20 Snow-Covered Mountain

Removal
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Skred
4 Anger of the Gods

Disruption
4 Blood Moon
4 Molten Rain

Card Draw
3 Magma Jet
2 Tezzeret's Gambit
1 Chandra, Pyromaster

Win Conditions
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Koth of the Hammer
4 Stormbreath Dragon[/DECK]

I'm enjoying [card]Tezzeret's Gambit[/card]. More gas and Koth pushed to his ultimate. Also synergizes with Chandra, Pyromaster. I've also scrapped Scrying Sheets for Valakut and Boseiju, Who Shelters All, to push through Molten Rain.

Do you suppose KDL in place of Bob would make the deck a bit too top-heavy?

Inspired by Ham's dissection of the Red mid range strategy, I present a Modernized version of an old classic, Dos Rakis:

[deck]Dos Rakis[/deck]

It was hard for me to ditch Anger of the Gods and Boros Reckoner, but I think this deck might be a bit better for having lost those cards. Guide is something I had to try, despite my belief that he might not be the best in this deck.

[deck]Big Skred[/deck]

This is a snow-oriented build that incorporates Figure, giving me something to do early in the game.

A deck that relies exclusively on its sweepers would require you to be careful about how you use Figure. Your point about bolt in response to becoming 4/4, I know that this can happen in response to something like Kargan Dragonlord since Level Up is sorcery speed. This is my friend's take on the deck. It is a bit more $$$ due to the fetches:

[deck]Skred Red 3.0[/deck]

You can imagine his deck stood out from the countless others due to his lack of Reckoners. I can kind of see where he was coming from. With Figure, you're putting out a body that
has to be dealt with. I think this is also what you're essentially doing with Reckoner (barring Skred tricks or Blasphemous Act). Plus, letting your opponent build up a field while doing things with Figure/Lavamancer makes your Anger (or sweeper of choice) more potent. One issue he has dealt with is mana flooding. To that end, I think he could use a singleton Mouth of Ronom, or maybe scaling back to 23 lands for a couple of mana rocks of some kind. Coldsteel Heart or Mind Stone, whichever. I would lean toward Heart just for the colored mana and snow count.

I also came across an older Skred deck from late 2012/early 2013 that may be of interest:

[deck]Skred 0.0[/deck]

This was taken from an older Modern daily. A
progenitor of this build, Disintegrate Deck Wins, skipped Zealot and Magus in favor of 4 Simian Spirit Guide and a fourth Dragonlord. It also utilized Molten Rain in the mainboard. I'm not as big a fan of this one because KDL requires a greater investment than Figure, and I'd rather drop Stormbreath for its protection or something that kind of punishes discard, like Demigod.

I'm thinking of losing my Reckoners for Figure of Destiny. It passes the Bolt Test whereas Reckoner fails. Yes, you get Reckoner's damage effect, but you're still losing a body in a deck with precious few. Losing Reckoner could constitute a major loss of tempo. Molten Rain seems powerful in this deck. How's it been in testing?

I'm planning on taking this to a local FNM this week. Thankfully, no one in my area has Kiki-Jiki.

[deck]Big Red 1.0[/deck]


[deck]Big Red 2.0[/deck]

My SB is shaping up to include Eidolon of the Great Revel, Relic of Progenitus, Combust and Torpor Orb. If, for some reason, I find the Moon effects extraneous, I'd swap Moons for Eidolons. You want to get 4
damage at instant speed for a single red mana. A non-snow build might use Tectonic Edge in place of Scrying Sheets, Flame Slash in place of Skred. I think snow might be the best way to go. While the Reckoner combo is fun, it isn't something I'd recommend you rely on as a win condition. I wasn't quite sure which build to stick with, so I thought I'd post both and let everyone make suggestions etc. Another interesting addition to the deck is a Godo engine with Godo, Bandit Warlord, Batterskull and perhaps one of the Scars of Mirrodin swords.