The Red Aggro Ascension on Standard & Pioneer

The red decks have been around for almost three decades in Magic. Originally born out of the need to respond to the infamous Black Summer, a time when Necropotence took over tournaments, the idea of ​​combining low-cost creatures and spells to deal the most damage in the least number of turns has become an inherent trait of the game.

Whether with Ironclaw Orcs, Goblin Guide, Burning-Tree Emissary, Hazoret, the Fervent, Anax, Hardened in the Forge or Monastery Swiftspear, this archetype has consolidated itself in the competitive scene, being ubiquitous in some way in all formats - each with its own respective traits.

Since the last Banned and Restricted update and the release of Bloomburrow, however, red decks continue to win in all formats. Many of them have become the best, or one of the best, strategies in the Metagame, and in this article we explore how red has evolved in Magic and what has driven its growth recently.

Prowess is one of the most powerful mechanics ever released in Magic, basically because of how easy it is to trigger by simply playing the game. Did you use a cantrip? Your creature grew. A removal on your opponent's threat? It grew again. It's a simple ability to understand and easy to take advantage of.

Like other cards with similar effects, Prowess benefits from something that red and Aggro decks naturally want to do: make the most of their resources every turn. A one-mana spell that draws a card means one more power, the same effect for three mana for two cards is still one more power, so you probably will opt for the one-mana spell because it allows you to sequence other effects on your turn, even if it costs one less resource.

Monastery Swiftspear is proof of the potential that Prowess has for Magic. Since its release in Khans of Tarkir, it became a staple of every competitive format for years until power creep pushed it away from Modern and Legacy - still, it is one of the pillars of Pioneer's Aggro and, today, it is also the most important one-drop in Bloomburrow Standard.

Over time, however, just having Prowess was not enough and creatures have been pushed to always have an extra benefit, and that's how we got to Emberheart Challenger.

Emberheart Challenger has all the attributes a red two-drop could want: it has immediate impact, grows with your spells, and even offers card advantage if you target it. Any one-mana effect becomes a cantrip with it, and it's difficult to remove it with damage because combat tricks also interact well with Prowess.

This brings us to the other element that contributed to the rise of red decks in Standard and Pioneer.

Valiant isn't much different from Theros' Heroic. In fact, one is basically a fixed version of the other, but it opens up other interactions that would be broken if there were no limitations. For example, have you ever imagined exiling a card every time you cast a spell on Emberheart Challenger?

But the mechanic brings a lot of value. Heartfire Hero has a very dangerous death trigger as the game goes on and basically turned Callous Sell-Sword into an Atog + Fling combo, and the same result can be done with several other creatures, including the one responsible for reinvigorating this type of strategy.

Kiln Fiend? Too strong. Festival Crasher? Too weak. Slickshot Show-Off is the middle ground between the two, but with several extra layers of complexity.

First, it has built-in evasion and impact on the board the moment it comes into play. You don't have to wait a turn, the risk of playing it is lower, and it can "steal" games from your opponent if it comes in the topdeck with a handful of pumps. Second, its Plot ability is very threatening. With it, we can do turn-based setups where we play three or more spells and blow up the game's Tempo, or play Show-Off with two spells and mana to protect it, among other options.

Now, add this to any spell commonly played in red Aggro today, and you realize that even a Might of the Meek becomes threatening with it, replicating the effect of another staple.

Monstrous Rage is a mix between Rancor and Titan's Strength. The pump is not permanent, but it is enough to turn any creature into a means of winning the game against blockers and the Trample is permanent, including a toughness increase that takes these creatures out of the Shock or Play with Fire zone in the mirror, or from commonly unfavorable blocks in the early game.

The combination between Monstrous Rage and Slickshot Show-Off wins many games in a few turns, being as efficient as Embercleave - which required a larger setup - was with Anax, Hardened in the Forge.

You can only go so far with Mono Red. This color is not known for having good protection spells and good enough attrition tools, and the moments where a monocolored version shines in the Metagame require a more specific combination of factors. For example, Ramunap Red combined the aggressiveness of a go-wide deck with a lot of range and potential to extend the game with Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Hazoret the Fervent, or when a card is strong enough to dictate the Metagame like Goblin Chainwhirler did.

In today's case, by adopting Mono Red in both Standard and Pioneer, you give up plenty of things without any benefit, besides possible budget restrictions and/or wildcards in MTGArena. Standard's mana base has never been so good for two-color decks in years, and Pioneer gained several additions like Fast Lands and Pain Lands allied to more aggressive strategies.

Splash is essential to cover Mono Red's gaps. Need to deal with enchantments? Green guarantees Pick Your Poison. Need more resilience against removal? Claim // Fame can bring back your Slickshot Show-Off or Emberheart Challenger and still guarantee that it attacks for five in the same turn. Need more interaction against combos? Thoughtseize in the Sideboard fills that gap, and if you want to diversify your plan in Games 2 and 3, the splash helps you not to restrict your options as much.

Emberheart Challenger and Heartfire Hero were game-changers in the Standard and Pioneer Metagame, favored respectively by circumstances.

Gruul Prowess was one of the first decks to stand out in Standard after rotation, and it took a few weeks for it to start losing traction as Midranges emerged and adapted. With their rise, Control strategies like Boros Tokens began to take over with longer turns and more long-term value - Gruul Prowess resurfaced from this point on.

The new version mixes combo elements with Manifold Mouse (on the right turn and with Might of the Meek or Monstrous Rage, it is almost as good as Embercleave) and Innkeeper’s Talent as a means of generating value and increasing the board’s potential in the long term. It was an adaptation of the “All-In” plan to a proposal that is just as fast, but with some flexibility.

This change was probably caused by the behavior of Rakdos Lizards and Boros Mice in the format, two Aggro decks that also stand out in the Metagame and had weeks with better results than Gruul because their board position is more resilient - a lesson learned by the archetype's players, and which rewarded them with the current best deck in the format.

Pioneer was a different case. Amalia Benavides Aguirre and her combo, in addition to the possibility of playing Vein Ripper for three mana with Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord invalidated entire Aggro archetypes in the format. With their ban, we finally had the space for the format's clock to be adjusted by fairer strategies - the result, however, was beyond expectations.

While players focused on Humans and Boros Convoke, others found in Gruul Prowess the necessary elements to create another archetype - one capable of winning games consistently on turn four: Rakdos Prowess.

This version is a remnant of what we saw years before with Zoo or the more aggressive variants of Death’s Shadow: the archetype’s ease in establishing and maintaining a very aggressive posture unbalances any slower strategy, with the bonus of being very flexible against targeted hate - and if before Death’s Shadow had Temur Battle Rage to threaten the combo-kill, here we have Callous Sell-Sword with the same purpose.

It remains to be seen how Pioneer will adapt. Players have been using Selesnya Angels for this purpose, but while it is good against Aggro, it is very poor in Control or Midrange matchups, as Control has a hard time handling the excess threats and discard interactions that Rakdos offers. Izzet Phoenix is ​​still a viable option and should remain at the top of the Metagame, while Jund Sacrifice can hold the match for a few turns until it can close its combo with Ygra, Eater of All.

It depends on what each player or Wizards wants from a format. The advantage of having an Aggro at the top is that they are easy to learn, but difficult to master. Games are fast, but can last a long time, and the strategies that need to adapt are those that aim to play “on top”.

In addition, by dictating the tempo, these archetypes prevent overly greedy decks from dominating a format. Strategies like Domain Ramp or Niv to Light can be more frustrating when they take too long to win the game and/or add an absurd amount of value too early, and the combination of efficient clock and resilience guarantees a more diverse Metagame.

However, there are situations where being too fast is a problem. It's been a long time since Standard or Pioneer had bans targeting an Aggro (Smuggler's Copter in Pioneer, Ramunap Ruins and Rampaging Ferocidon in Standard), but Pauper had to ban Monastery Swiftspear because it sped up games too much to the point where there was no possibility of efficient answers.

There is, indeed, the possibility of Slickshot Show-Off doing the same in both formats. There is also the possibility of the combo between Heartfire Hero and Callous Sell-Sword being a bit too absurd for Pioneer due to how easy it is to go for lethal, but these are still unknown circumstances - Pioneer has been through bans and there is still a lot to adapt to, so it's natural for Aggro to rush into an undefined environment.

In Standard, there are still many sets to complete this year's lineup, and Bloomburrow was just the first of the 2024/2025 cycle. Perhaps Duskmourn will already make a difference in the format's equation, and if it doesn't, Foundations could favor other strategies and/or anticipate threats and answers to the pace of red Aggro decks - Llanowar Elves and Day of Judgment are two confirmed reprints - and, thus, rebalance the Metagame's diversity.

Situations where Aggro need to adapt to Midranges are very common in Standard and other formats, and it's good to see a rare occasion where the opposite happens, where games are faster and that demonstrate that despite being seemingly easier, it also requires a lot of skill to use cheap creatures, pumps and direct damage in the most efficient way possible.

Gruul Prowess and Rakdos Prowess may be the strongest decks in Standard and Pioneer today, but they are still passive to every release and change in their respective formats, and perhaps their rise is merely a symptom of environments that are still too new, whether with a more limited pool or with the results of bans. But until there is a complete adaptation of the Metagame, it appears that the best option for every player today is to cast Slickshot Show-Off and Emberheart Challenger and threaten a free win every turn they are in play.

Thanks for reading!