Mono Red Grenadin Super Aggro

I love thematic decks, and this one was my most successful creation - I was able to reach Gold 3 with minor tweaking along the way. As a new player with a small pool of cards to choose from, I wanted a cheap - but also fun - deck to run. I was able to finally break into Gold from Silver after swapping out all my legendaries for Ixtun Merchant at the suggestion of a helpful individual who happened to be watching me steam. I was one win away from reaching Diamond rank (~90/100), however, I’ve since fallen down to Gold 2. Recently, I’ve been struggling against most opponents because their decks have been able to either stall or counter my damage output. A notable addition that greatly increased my success rate when climbing from Gold 2 to Gold 3 was Phoenix Stone.

For my initial draw, it has helped to make sure I have mostly 1-2 drops and at least 2 power cards so I can start building tempo immediately - I’ve won many matches by aggressively re-drawing, however, RNG is not always favorable.

My top 3 most consistent win conditions have been:

1. Building the board with enough units to set up Rally. I usually go for exactly lethal damage, however, having extra units to balance any enemy fast spells can be a good idea. Most of the time, I won this way because my opponent had committed all of their units (exhausted) and underestimated my side of the board. Works best when Rally is only used for the kill and if the enemy hasn’t peeked it in your hand. The majority of my wins have been from using this method.

2. Obliterate helped immensely in climbing the ranks once I added it to my market (and Ixtun Merchant to my deck). Best to pull it out of the market when the opponent is close to lethal and if you have enough mana to play on your next/current turn. Be advised, I’ve lost many times for pulling this card out too early. I would say at least 25% of my wins are thanks to Obliterate.

3. Phoenix Stone spam has earned me many wins when the opponent can’t deal with the aggressive flier (and also has no relic removal cards). This card is not essential, as it only contributed to about 10% of my wins.

The deck has its share of flaws, most importantly:

1. Any decent mid-range deck can become a challenge, especially if we draw poorly because this deck is meant to win long before your opponent reaches mana 10. Mid-range and beyond, the Grenadin are not equipped to take on bigger bodies, so try to work around them if possible. If we are constantly trading units (and spells), we are likely to lose the longer the match drags on.

2. Stall/control decks are a problem if the opponent is running Aegis because it will render Torch, Conflagrate, and Into the Furnace useless for board removal. Enemy control can impair our ability to set up a Rally-enhanced attack burst. Trying to work around shielded bodies is our best bet - we may have to use Torch on face instead of on enemy units (unless Aegis is also on the enemy Avatar).

3. Lifesteal can mess up our tempo if we cannot outdamage the opponent’s life gain. I had an Ankle Cutter in market before because I was encountering a lot of Vara decks.

4. Flying is problematic because this deck has no answers to fliers besides Conflag and Torch. We could try holding our units back until a Rally (or two) has been set up. Consider adding silence cards to help take down blockers.

Some suggestions for card swaps:

Initially, I ran Kaleb's Favor for more face damage, but I swapped them out for Conflag and Signal Flare because I would often have excess mana. Piercing Shot helped target face and units, however, I found Conflag's +1 damage and Amplify potential to be more effective.

Factory Quota can be very helpful against life steal decks since that can be a hard counter to ours - our low-cost units prevent us from taking too much damage on our turn.

If you are worried about enemy attachments, Grenarender is a useful addition.

Since we are often hitting face for small damage, Frontier Bard builds up strength quickly. He is also a good unit to bait out enemy spells so that our other cards are more likely to stay on the field.

Manufacture is great at giving you cards to trade to the market - I usually try to switch the Grenadin I get from Granite Waystone.

Siege Breaker is the newest change to this deck - I swapped it with Cloud of Ash so I could deal with relics and have a good threat to play on curve. Breaker can be risky, however, if the opponent removes it and is able to play another relic. I took out Cloud of Ash because once I got into ~Gold 2 I noticed it stopped being a win condition (being overshadowed by Rally). I was running 2 Cloud's, so removing them gave me room to experiment with other cards.

Of course, Bore is a preferred upgrade over Ruin, so I suggest adding it if you own the campaign (unless you want to use the fast spell to bait out attackers and stay out of lethal).

In Silver rank I common win condition for me was Bad News, but I have found Rally to be more consistent (and cheaper). Flamestoker also helped, but I removed it due to cost (and to try to keep the deck theme more aligned with Grenadin). Claw of the First Dragon helps with aggro, but is very expensive. Finally, Kaleb, Uncrowned Prince was a win condition for me in the early tiers of Silver whenever my board was full - again, the cost drove me to eventually remove it. If you want to try adding high-cost cards, I suggest keeping them in your market so they aren't sitting in your hand taking up space.

For bodies, Recogulator can be great for setting up Rally. Sparkbot is also good because you will most likely be able to proc the spark effect, and it is bulky enough to stay alive for Scrap Hound to eat.

Suggestions for playing the deck:

Establishing tempo in the beginning is critical - I would rather redraw fewer cards and have a bunch of 1-2 drops, than lots of mana and no units to play. Ideally, you want to only block with your units if trading up (ex: mana rampers, battle skills, ultimate). Turn 1, I personally favor Grenadin Drone over Ticking Grenadin, however, Ticking is useful for baiting out spells because we want to protect our better cards.

Combustion Cell and Rusty Grenamotive are great mana ramping cards - I have been using Rusty's berserk more for the +2 mana than for the 4 damage potential. Combined with Scrap Heap, I can rush out Rusty and ideally get another 3-cost unit out to set up for Rally. If you have the mana, activate Scrap Heap to increase your board presence and/or have extra blockers to avoid lethal.

Obliterate I almost always save for face because if the opponent drops a beefy unit (especially a legendary), odds are they will have a full stack and I will have to play around them anyway. For avatars that are protected by aegis, Ticking and Dissassembler are good ways of removing it before dropping Obliterate.

One of the greatest strengths of this deck is being underestimated, so using Conflag and Into the Furnace (ideally, after you have a Grenadin in your discard to proc the double damage) to remove units is best because you can hold back Torch until absolutely necessary. Like Rally, if the opponent doesn't realize you have Torch, they will be more likely to commit attackers instead of saving blockers. I found that - especially in Gold and against Diamonds - enemies will more aggressively target my units once I've used a Torch and/or Rally.

To finish off enemies with Rally, make sure to activate it during attack phase (ideally, after no blockers have been declared or if they are all exhausted). Activating Rally before blockers are declared can cause you to miss lethal because the opponent will most likely just reassign and kill your units.

Hope this helps - I have a lot of fun playing this deck and am happy with being able to reach at least Gold 1, but I think I may need a new one to continue laddering. Feel free to message me here or in-game any questions, comments, or feedback.

Cheers,
DJSF =)