Mark Rosewater, Please Read This Article: Red in the Late Game

[This series consists of articles about the future of Magic.  Because they are intended partly as feedback for R&D, they contain no original designs.]

"Red.  Red never changes."

Unfair, you might cry!  Red has changed a lot over the years.  But sometimes, casting Stromkirk Noble into Hellrider feels a lot like casting Goblin Guide into Hell's Thunder.

Or Figure of Destiny into Boggart Ram-Gang.
Or Goblin Sledder into Blistering Firecat.
Or Goblin Cadets into Viashino Cutthroat.
Or Jackal Pup into Ball Lightning.

Aggressive 1-drops, hasty creatures, and efficient burn spells are among red's signature effects.  This combination often means that the best red deck is the one that wins as quickly as possible.  But what does that leave for red players who want to play the long game?  What about big fireballs, huge dragons, and cataclysmic power?  And what about multiplayer formats? I firmly believe that every color should have faster and slower styles of play available to it.  For much of its history, red has been pigeonholed too strictly into the fast end.  Anyone who's tried to build a mono-red Commander deck knows exactly what I'm talking about.

What does red need to escape from this?  Other colors use their own tools to rule the late game: efficient card draw or life gain, for example.  But obviously, one can't print a red Baneslayer Angel or Consecrated Sphinx and call it a day.

Many players have lobbied for red's slice of the color pie to be expanded. While that may or may not be necessary for the general health of the game, I claim that red already has a wide enough range to print cards for slower decks.  The design space is there, waiting to be utilized.  And this can all be accomplished with red style and red emotions.

"I don't have pet peeves like some people.  
I have whole kennels of irritation." 

-Whoopi Goldberg

Red, more than anyone else, gets annoyed by Steppe Lynxes or Llanowar Elves pecking away at its life total.  Surviving to the late game usually means clearing out the initial rush of pesky creatures.  Red has often had good tools for irritable smackdowns, including recent hits like Slagstorm and Whipflare.  Keep 'em coming!

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." 

-Dylan Thomas

There is nothing redder than flying into a rage and blowing everything to smithereens.  Conveniently, this sort of reset button is also a great way for a deck to gain card advantage.  Unfortunately, red has not always been strong in this area.  There have been occasional gems like Wildfire, but these are few and far between.

"Energy and persistence conquer all things."
 -Benjamin Franklin

Passionate determination is well within red's emotional wheelhouse.  Recurring threats make fantastic finishers in decks that want to win the long game.  Demigod of Revenge filled this role well.  There have also been a handful of good phoenixes, but many underwhelming ones as well.

"Impatience is the mark of independence, not of bondage."

 -Marianne Moore

Who wants to wait a whole turn to get some value out of a big creature?  Not red.  And not any smart player, given the prevalence of cheap removal spells.  That's why threats that have an immediate effect on the board are of utmost importance.  Cards like Siege-Gang Commander, Inferno Titan, and Bogardan Hellkite give red some real staying power.

"I'm just generally hugely frustrated, I'm a very, very frustrated man. 

I'm just a ball of pent-up frustration."

 -Allan Carr 

Rising frustration that leads to violent outbursts?  Definitely red.  Cards that embody this concept are threats that start out mild, but get downright terrifying if you leave them alone to stew.  Creatures like Dragonmaster Outcast and Krenko, Mob Boss give red an emotionally appropriate way to accumulate value over the course of several turns.  Red planeswalkers can and should fill this role as well.


In short, R&D already has the ability to print more red cards that are worth casting on turn ten.  Card advantage is the soul of the late game, and red has plenty of built-in ways to accrue value!  It just needs sweepers, both large and small, and threats that are persistent, yield immediate advantage, or have the potential to get bananas.  (And really, isn't getting bananas what red is all about?)

What do you think, readers?  Do you agree that red needs some help in the late game?  What kind of cards would best propel red out of its fast, aggressive corner?