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Nahiri’s Warcrafting in the Mono-Red MAIN DECK

May 19th, 2023 | Deck Lists, Decks, Magic, Red Decks, Standard, Videos

Nahiri's Warcrafting

Nahiri’s Warcrafting from March of the Machine

  • Card Name: Nahiri’s Warcrafting
  • Mana Cost: 1RR
  • Card Type: Sorcery
  • Rules Text: Nahiri’s Warcrafting deals 5 damage to target creature, planeswalker, or battle. Look at the top X cards of your library, where X is the excess damage dealt this way. You may exile one of those cards. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. You may play the exiled card this turn.
  • Flavor Text: “Zendikar must be broken before it can be saved.”
  • Illustrated by: Zara Alfonso

Nahiri’s Warcrafting: The 2×4 Update

Recently we talked about a Red Deck “two-by-four” which includes both Invasion of Regatha and Stoke the Flames in the main. Having “two” cards that deal “four” damage each (eight cards, really) gives such a Red Deck a unique potential game plan, beyond straightforward beatdown.

The 2×4’s creatures have to work less hard. It can reliably kill from greater distance. Moreover, it can exploit an online metagame that is short on Cut Downs and shorter on Graveyard Trespassers. Awesome, right?

What many players pointed out is that Rending Flame — as good as it is at killing Sheoldred, the Apocalypse — makes very little sense in such a deck’s starting sixty. If we’re going for big burn finishes, how much sense does it make to play a “burn” card that can only hit creatures?

Enter Nahiri’s Warcrafting:

This version makes two relatively subtle changes to the starting 2×4:

  1. First, it swaps out Rending Flame for Nahiri’s Warcrafting. Neither card can burn an opponent’s face, but the new March of the Machine sorcery can at least interact with our own copies of Invasion of Regatha. In the late game, the Warcrafting can also prove a source of card advantage.
  2. I cut stupid Squee, Dubious Monarch for Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. Fable is widely considered the strongest card in Standard. It’s strong in a Red Deck, too… But plays a different role here. We value Fable for its offensive output in a Red Deck! Take two, opponent! Heck of an end game, too.

Red Deck Game Play

Today we’re doing some best-of-three play on the Ladder.

I post a lot of best-of-one Events (as you probably know if you’re reading this). And I very much enjoy best-of-one Events. They’re breezy; I don’t need to devote a lot of wildcards to sideboard slots. They make for great a “narrative” when you’re making a video.

… But for Ladder-grinding I much prefer best-of-three. There are two reasons for this.

First, I’m an A+ sideboard player. This is a skill I have far in excess of the average Mythic Arena player, so not exploiting it is just leaving potential value on the table.

Second, it just makes mathematical sense! If you go 2-1 in best-of-one, you’ll go up by one pip. If you go 2-1 in best-of-three you’ll go up two (because that’s “a match”). Math!

Here goes:

The updated 2×4 is my favorite deck to play on the Ladder right now. I hope you enjoy the matches as we barbecue some poor, unsuspecting, Sheoldred Mythic opponents.

LOVE
MIKE

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