Magic: the Gathering

Deck Guide

Pauper: Mono Red Madness - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

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Madness swapped the splash for black for a faster and more consistent Mono Red variant, combining Guttersnipe and Lava Dart to finish off games quickly!

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translated by Romeu

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revised by Tabata Marques

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Mono Red Madness stands out as one of the most mechanically interesting decks in Pauper today.

Unlike a linear Burn strategy or a conventional aggro deck, this archetype transforms the familiar Madness engines into card advantage within a monocolored shell, forgoing the Magic Symbol B splash for more speed and consistency, and enables "combos" between pingers like Guttersnipe and cards with Flashback like Lava Dart.

The Decklist

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The Mono Red Madness strategy revolves around the synergy between two distinct lines. The first is the damage engine built around Kessig Flamebreather and Guttersnipe, where every cheap spell becomes direct damage that adds up.

The second is the Madness package, which turns discards from cards like Faithless Looting and Highway Robbery into mana efficiency and card advantage with Sneaky Snacker, Fiery Temper, and Lava Dart — the latter serving as the glue that binds the two strategies together.

Maindeck

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Voldaren Epicure is an excellent one-drop that deals damage on ETB and, more importantly, creates a Blood token as an enabler for Sneaky Snacker or our Madness spells.

Sneaky Snacker offers resilience by returning to the battlefield whenever we draw our third card each turn, allowing it to dodge traditional removal while feeding synergies with Highway Robbery and Faithless Looting.

Kessig Flamebreather and Guttersnipe are damage engines that increase the reach of all our spells. Their effects stack easily in Mono Red Madness thanks to the interaction with Lava Dart, which can deal between four and six damage with two casts.

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Faithless Looting is essential for fueling Sneaky Snacker and enabling Madness. Having Flashback also provides card advantage and recursion, letting us return Snacker more frequently.

Highway Robbery and Grab the Prize complement the discard plan with individual benefits: Robbery can be saved for a later turn where we can cast Guttersnipe and start an explosive sequence, while Grab the Prize acts as a Shock that also filters our hand.

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Lightning Bolt remains the best Burn spell in the format for lists that don't rely on artifact synergy to play Galvanic Blast. Fiery Temper, with its Madness cost, complements the package of three damage for one mana.

Lava Dart is one of the main reasons to take the Mono Red route over Rakdos. Its flashback cost allows us to trigger Flamebreather or Guttersnipe twice with a single spell, enabling more explosive sequences.

Fireblast often serves as a game-ender, and with our pingers, it can deal up to six damage for the negligible cost of two Mountains.

Sideboard

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Relic of Progenitus is flexible graveyard hate, essential against Mono Blue Terror and Spy Combo.

Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast are universal answers against blue, crucial in matchups against Terror, Faeries, and Caw-Gates, while still being useful against Familiars and other archetypes with many spells of that color.

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End the Festivities is a cheap sweeper that performs well against Elves and Mono Red Rally, dealing with multiple creatures at once for a single mana.

Searing Blaze is premium removal against creature decks like Mono White Aggro and Madness Burn, dealing damage to both a creature and the opponent simultaneously, fitting perfectly with our game plan.

Sideboard Guide

Mono Blue Terror

IN

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OUT

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Faeries

IN

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OUT

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Elves

IN

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OUT

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Spy Combo

IN

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OUT

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Caw-Gates

IN

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OUT

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Bogles

IN

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OUT

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Mono White Aggro

IN

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OUT

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Wrapping Up

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!