Grillo_Parlante
Contributor
I just wanted to chime in and say that as far as tactical combat goes, shadow rift is way more interesting than artful dodge, defy gravity, or leap. Not only can you use it to force a creature through, but you can use it defensively, such as in the just referenced ambush viper scenario.
Its also a better variance reducer than either artful dodge or defy gravity, and thats actually materal in the types of decks those cards show up in, which are trying to balance spell count with creature count.
The heroic strategies over here have not really been about speed so much as they have been about burst damage and building a resilent board state, so i'm not sure it will really be an issue of speed with the slow strategies. The aggro decks as a whole look slower but powerful.
Your instincts are right about cards like flame slash being taken by aggro decks, and I doubt roast or mizzium mortars will change that. Both look to be well worth the extra mana for an aggro deck to run, mizzium mortars in particular looks fantastic for them.
What I've found has worked really well in red is just running those pyroclasm effects. Its generally a pretty bad plan to be running cards that kill your own guys in a red creature deck. If someone wants to go red control, they typically go about it by grabing the red sweepers + card draw and than mixing that with whatever spot removal they can get. Usually, they'll have a shot at some burn, and suppliment it via removal from the secondary (or tertiary) color.
Since so much of your aggro is based around vertical growth, the red burn spells are going to be of somewhat limited utility against an aggro deck anways. This is worth noting, as you don't seem to be supporting horizontal aggro at this time, which is where those pyroclasm effects really shine (X mana scaling sweepers like star storm and its ilk are going to be much worse for you than me, as you have no bouncelands in the list as of now), and opens up the door to some broader issues regarding red identity.
Since you are running so many vertical aggro pieces, I would encourage running a reasonable number of edict effects (chainer's seems excellent) as that pressures the vertical aggro decks on one of their weak points, and forces them to be a bit more strategic in draft and deckbuilding, as well as tactical with how they deploy their creatures. Maybe 2-3 total in a 360? I don't think you have to run too many, just enough to make them worry about a blow out.
Its also a better variance reducer than either artful dodge or defy gravity, and thats actually materal in the types of decks those cards show up in, which are trying to balance spell count with creature count.
The heroic strategies over here have not really been about speed so much as they have been about burst damage and building a resilent board state, so i'm not sure it will really be an issue of speed with the slow strategies. The aggro decks as a whole look slower but powerful.
Your instincts are right about cards like flame slash being taken by aggro decks, and I doubt roast or mizzium mortars will change that. Both look to be well worth the extra mana for an aggro deck to run, mizzium mortars in particular looks fantastic for them.
What I've found has worked really well in red is just running those pyroclasm effects. Its generally a pretty bad plan to be running cards that kill your own guys in a red creature deck. If someone wants to go red control, they typically go about it by grabing the red sweepers + card draw and than mixing that with whatever spot removal they can get. Usually, they'll have a shot at some burn, and suppliment it via removal from the secondary (or tertiary) color.
Since so much of your aggro is based around vertical growth, the red burn spells are going to be of somewhat limited utility against an aggro deck anways. This is worth noting, as you don't seem to be supporting horizontal aggro at this time, which is where those pyroclasm effects really shine (X mana scaling sweepers like star storm and its ilk are going to be much worse for you than me, as you have no bouncelands in the list as of now), and opens up the door to some broader issues regarding red identity.
Since you are running so many vertical aggro pieces, I would encourage running a reasonable number of edict effects (chainer's seems excellent) as that pressures the vertical aggro decks on one of their weak points, and forces them to be a bit more strategic in draft and deckbuilding, as well as tactical with how they deploy their creatures. Maybe 2-3 total in a 360? I don't think you have to run too many, just enough to make them worry about a blow out.