5 Easy Ways To Power Up Your Red Commander Deck | An MTG Guide

If you’d like to see a deck that puts this into practice, then consider this Neheb, the Eternal Big Mana deck that our very own Script Supervisor Kristen Gregory enjoys lighting up the stage with: scryfall.com/@...
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creativecommons...

[@bencaswell1956]

I love how when talking about "bemoaning yourself for not adding another colour" it cycled through the other colours, but not white.

[@MrMcWrath]

I feel called out with the 2x speed reference.

[@yichong777]

It's just weird not to listen to his videos in 2x speed..

[@GroundThing]

I'm not watching at 2x speed... and um... who would watch at 2.5x speed, even? Certainly not me, no sir. I don't know why you'd even bring that up...

[@luispolanco5966]

@@GroundThing Real Talk, 2x speed is so much better. I'll own it.

[@chrisnoble8677]

I've learned something very valuable today.

[@The_Murder_Party]

Yeah... though I listen to everything at 2x... so...

[@T4N7]

knollspine Dragon doesn't say "combat damage" it just says "damage". in red that's a big distinction

[@atle853]

Bought him for Rakdos, Lord of Riots EDH, quickly realized knollspine dragon was the real commander

[@GumballMachinery]

"...the gripping existential crisis that keeps us home bound every day of our lives." 2015 me: "You ok there Prof?" 2020 me: "lol! Same bro"

[@dataghost2307]

BECAUSE OF WORLD!

[@TheShineri3]

ZE WOOOORLDUH!!!!

[@TerryTags]

W O R L D

[@TheBloodGod8]

ZA WARUDO!!

[@victorperron8092]

Jojo is even here, I love this.

[@henlohenlo689]

poliwhirled

[@crossr1984]

Profe, loved the plug at the beginning for PlayEDH. I'm new to the format, and so I've ONLY ever played there, and I have to say I am super thankful to the community and to Spell Table for making my introduction into EDH an awesome experience. See you there (my name is finnagain).

[@siddharthrao6147]

SpellTable has been an absolute godsend during the past few months

[@rexis91]

Im 3 weeks old MTG player with 1 week of commander experience by playing on spelltable, and its so much fun!! And its The first time playing with random people hehe and Everybody is so kind and helpful there.

[@ammarmubeen6524]

PROF GOING “AWESOME WOW” is just the best

[@duditsgrey5148]

Yeah dude spelltable is great. Them guys who made it deserve a reward

[@Rodrigo-iw4bx]

Yeah but you need a pc that support that ;-;

[@StarDoesntUpload]

I don't know if you're the same person but read your book on C++ and it was a huge part of me getting into coding. Altough I'm pretty sure it was a Siddhartha Rao (extra a).

[@SindanezDuskwind]

Thank you prof for the video and the shoutout to play edh from your heart

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

You bet!

[@NB4fun]

13:22 I love the cheeky prequels reference, Prof :)

[@oLoRdHaZaRdo]

15:15 anyboddy else hear that and think wth!?! good vid as always

[@zachwurtzel9394]

God I love Kneeheb, the Eternal. He's such a great creature.

[@InsertCleverNameHere0]

So great to see you promoting PlayEDH! That's where I had my very first Commander game and the people on there were very welcoming to a new player. Highly recommend whether you just have a pre-con or a $1000 CEDH deck.

[@AndersonRandom]

My favorite red strategy is and will always be. Summon Big creature. Swing Big creature. Profit.

[@Nukesnipe]

ngl that sounds more green than anything

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

LOL My favorite Red Strategy is to summon a horde of Gobbo's and have a party involving mayhem, fire and death not in any particular order #LongLiveKrenko

[@gersonmoura3284]

@@Nukesnipe Etali and many other attack triggers disagree with you, although green have the biggest creatures, I believe red is the color thst reinforces combat the most

[@derkcast620]

the only caveat i would add is "give big creature trample" :)

[@m1gr3nA]

@@gersonmoura3284 sir? eldrazi would like to have a word with you about their size and attack triggers.

[@Locke19901]

Thumbs up solely for the intro. Everything else was gravy.

[@kylecarlson1159]

I love you so much professor 😂😂 you've been helping keep this whole year feel just a little more light hearted for me. Keep it up!

[@Kranxxe_o7]

That hamilton reference was very well timed prof.

[@crossr1984]

Missed it! Where?

[@nicholasvandonkersgoed3758]

Do you have a clue what happens now?

[@jacksonrichards4787]

Right after I heard it I had to deck if anyone called it out

[@EvanPlaysPc]

To add to here Deflecting swat has quickly become one of the best cards in edh imo, it is an insane catch all that deals with any situation and can straight up win games

[@johnbuscher]

Between Fierce Guardianship and Deflecting Swat, those are insane protections for 0 mana if your commander is out. I also like Bolt Bend but you do need a 4 power or greater creature to keep it effective.

[@peterkrygersrensen1283]

just tried listening to it in 2x speed ... Love it

[@danamaniac66]

"A pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural" is that a Star Wars reference I hear? In a TCC video?! Wonderful!

[@brentgould958]

A straight face at the intro made it all the better. Thanks for staying hip prof!

[@charyou3167]

Out of all the magic content I’ve consumed in over a decade, this is genuinely my favorite introduction. I watched it twice.

[@bennyc365]

Final Fortune with Nheb and a few burn spells wins games. Having 40 mana with Nheb is super fun just like you said! Thanks for the great content as always sir!

[@cookies23z]

what a sweet intro :) ty prof (luckily, I live near a few friends and we can play mtg in person, as we dont work anywhere where wed get covid) also sounds like a cool discord, good way to get games in when friends cant meet up

[@noahmccormack2685]

Can’t wait to see more! Once you said 2x speed I immediately turned the video to that.

[@pvtpain66k]

You're talking about how expensive Dockside Extortionist is then I cackled at 5:05 . Those Lunar New Year 2018 Treasure tokens are $50.

[@toctheyounger]

Red has the single most fun commander from the last year in Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded. Ridiculously fun, cannot recommend enough. Lots of Prof's choices here fit nicely, and it's just a blast to play.

[@riccardogalizzi3047]

He' s fun but maybe too strong for certain playgroups . He tends to win games really quickly , and so game experience is not the best in my opinion .

[@toctheyounger]

@@riccardogalizzi3047 I mean thats solid advice for any deck right? One ought not take out Tymna Thrasios at a mid level table. Similarly Purphoros can stomp battle cruiser decks. At the same time though hes very much a glass cannon. There literally is no curve so if you can't keep him in play you're dead in the water. Either way in general for the games I play, whether we have rule 0 conversation or not I try to match the vibe at the table as best I can call it, so if Purph doesn't fit he doesn't come out to play.

[@rileypowell5354]

Red elemental blast, pyroblast, faithless looting, lightning bolt, shattering spree. You never know how much you need them until you play them

[@PaulOkon1981]

Damn, I've cycled nearly all these cards mentioned in and out of my Feldon deck over the years! It's quite a feeling when people team up and tap out to blow up most of your board and you draw into Mana Geyser to just bring it all back.

[@T4N7]

loved the call out on listening to vids with the speed turned up. except for 1 friend of mine that does the same, all my other friends get a head ache listening to me watch a video but I can't even follow people's train of thought at normal speed anymore

[@PurpleTentacle17]

Great video Prof, thank you for your work on this. Currently working on improving my Torbran deck and this video came at the right time!

[@m1gr3nA]

favourite red synergy: Repercussion + Blasphemous Act Goblin Bombardment might be helpful unless you are aiming for a draw.

[@rjjm88]

Repercussion gang! I have a mono red burn deck that shuts down tables with Repercussion, Aether Flash, and damage boosting enchantments.

[@m1gr3nA]

@@rjjm88 try Repercussions with Chandra's Incinerator. :) i use Repercussions with Pyrohemia or Pestilence in my battlecruiser builds to punish decks going wide. even without damage amplifiers a few activations deals astounding amouts of damage to opponents.

[@SorcerySpeedConcede]

Prof, you forgot the new Tuktuk Rubble Fort! Red's exclusive Crashing Drawbridge that doesn't let your defenses down. And Volcanic Offering is evil; I run it in Wort, the Raidmother for double the destruction. XD

[@tonydola3232]

I’m a big fan of these videos. They help ALOT!! Thanks professor! Looking forward to more.

[@rans55555]

Thank you so much for telling me about the server, I joined today and already had two games and they where both great :)

[@KoiBoiRoi]

I've been itching to make a mono R deck and found these tips very useful! Thanks!

[@wazzledog1007]

You got me. I listen to all mtg content at 2x speed. Excellent call out.

[@JosephEMercado]

I’m definitely gonna have to get a proxy of that gauntlet of might lol

[@ashshopsmart8347]

WORLD! Great intro, great content. You and MTG Mox Man brighten my day!

[@dylansturm8065]

Mycosynth lattice with treasure nabber 😂 love that combo

[@Brownieman32]

I haven't thought about a few of these cards! Thanks for the tips Prof 🤩

[@Lord_Toastado]

The small detail that I really liked in this video was when all of the colors were shown in response to "regretting not adding another color" except white. Poor Boros.

[@Loaf-sama]

I consider myself a mono-red conniseur, but this video was still rather insightful. Underworld breach with a wheel effect sounds like a plan! Also I'm happy my boy Inferno Titan got his own spotlight in the video!

[@Crazymachin3gun]

Prof u awesome thx for the non sponsored ad!!!!!

[@KnightsofGaming2016]

Not running a red deck right now, but definitely will remember to watch this vid when I do. Can't wait to see a video for green and white.

[@code_squishy2887]

Discord joined ty prof! Hopefully you're doing well during these hard times. I'm immunocompromised and on quarantine 3 so this is going to make it way better. Have a webcam on express shipping here!

[@jwaffles9269]

Love the little “awesome! Wow!” Prof’s got some Hamilton references!

[@ChronoBolt]

oh man, I just love Knee-heb the Eternal. it's my favorite creature from the Aye-mon-keet block lol just kidding, Prof. I love your work

[@TheSmartCinema]

I'm in the PlayEDH Discord Server and have been in for a while, and just a fair warning ; many members, especially some staff members, are super sassy in text chat rooms... Like, SUPER sassy. Other than that, it's a very nice place to find POGs :D

[@Sir_Francis]

I hadn't seen/thought of the Underworld Breach / Wheel / Geyser combo before, that's solid!

[@matthewbeard7841]

I personally LOVE hiding Knollspine Dragon under Spinerock Knoll because it means that if you can activate the Spinerock Knoll to cast Knollspine Dragon, you're going to be drawing at least 7 cards for the low low price of one red mana.

[@Gortexman]

Prof, I personally look for deck tech videos on commanders of certain colours and sometimes in those videos the content creator will call out certain niche cards or staple cards of the color. I like this video series, i just find it more useful to put the cards into context of how to use them. Keep up the great work

[@ringoderbar1522]

04:07 OH MY GOD! As a huge One Piece fans, I can't thank you enough for the Going Merry. Made my day!

[@princeodd]

Very much appreciate recommendation of the playedh discord channel and spelltable. Recommended cards are great, though Neheb the Eternal is a bit out of reach at $15+.

[@fiddlestyxify]

At 1:42 Left out white as that second color option in the visual. I see what you did there, Prof. :D

[@Wufgang]

This was (coincidentally) the first of your vids in a while that I didn't listen to on two times speed lol.

[@tjburnett1191]

I have an Ilharg, the Raze Boar deck and it’s super fun to play! His ability to cheat out crazy creatures has the potential to get out massive damage really early in the game. Ramp up to Ilharg and cheat out Angraths Marauders, Avatar of Slaughter, or Terror of mount Velus and you can take full advantage of commander damage. Or if you need to control an opponent’s board state use Balefire dragon, tyrant of discord, or meteor golem. The mana curve in the deck is more of a mana line but it works because playing creatures for free over and over again is super effective

[@dogehkiindogeborn5339]

Favourite monored synergy? Zada, Hedron Grinder and Fists of Flame, they are couple goals

[@denisdionigidelgrande7961]

Love that you're mentioning more competitive strategies

[@apock2474]

Yay more color specific videos!

[@ZRose8]

My favorite red strategy as of late has been Torbran, Thane of Red Fell. An early pinger/slugger or painful stax effect creatures like Harsh mentor, followed by a sulfuric vortex, then Torbran can really speed up the clock and put pressure on all opponents.(and sometimes yourself). Enchanter's bane has been putting in serious work as people tend to want to pay the life to keep their important enchantments (and we can potentially get rid of one that could take us out of the game). Worth a try if you're looking for something new!

[@adamstilber8382]

Runaway Steamkin is a pretty decent value card. Whenever you play a red spell, you add a +1/+1 counter on it up to three counters. Once you have three counters, you can remove the three counters to add three red mana. Which you use to spend on a spell which adds another counter to Runaway Steamkin.

[@ElDocBruh]

This video described my process for building my Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded almost exactly :P

[@keskasidvar]

To add on to Underworld Breach. The combo with Grinding Station is one of the most powerful interactions in my Daretti deck as it can loop with a significant portion of my artifacts. Gambling for Underworld Breach is also really powerful and you can Escape Gamble with Breach to find the rest of a combo.

[@empty5013]

Love the shoutout to my boy Hellkite Igniter, i still remember the first time i slammed him onto a table while mycosynth lattice was out and instantly deleted some poor player. Absolute hero card. Mana Geyser has also always been a great card in every deck I run it in. It's a little finicky to use, but 80% of commander games there will be a turn where you get to cast it and go nuts for a turn. It's not a matter of if the right opportunity will arise, but when, so it's nearly never a dead card.

[@satchelthurston3219]

The Prof tweets that he hasn't watched starwars then proceed sto quote "leads to many powers some would consider unnatural'

[@True_Lycan]

Somewhere i was actually very happy to see a lot of the cards run in my own Neheb, the Eternal list shown in this vid. Sure, i didn't find any new, overlooked cards (luckily, i'm out of spots in my neheb list!!), but did make me feel all successful like in deckbuilding :3 I'd say we did miss Etali, primal storm in here as a notible mention. Why worry about your lack of card draw and ramp if you can just dinosaur it away from others? Even better with multiple attack steps. Ha, imagine only having one combat phase, so cute!

[@workyoutube7798]

Volcanic Offering doesn't give the choice to the player you are targeting, it reads "an opponent" which means you pick the opponent(s) that make the selections, so you and another player can gang up on someone(s) else

[@crazycrazywelch7252]

my all time fave mechanism in mtg has to be devour. :) threatened bodily harm bringing it to the table. especially when i bring out the broodmother.

[@devilliersduplessis7904]

Thanks, prof! you're a legend!!!

[@jonshort2314]

Kranko plus prospector is one of my favorite plays. Make a lots of goblins and sacrifice them for mana or a big spell. Goblins are just as strong as artifacts in red when you know how to use them. They also have 2 great tutors.

[@sarahbrooks4016]

That intro hit me hard man

[@DejMills]

Love these videos prof! Amazing and informative

[@theotherguy4478]

Fervor is a great card to add. It costs less than $3. Heck, for 2R cmc, it is good in any creature base deck running red.

[@anapaula45691]

I NEVER watch the Professor's video at 2x speed. I savor every second of his videos.

[@forger343]

Vessel of Volatility is one of my favorite Red game pieces, along with Spawn of Thraxes

[@JP-mg5hy]

I'd love to see a series about Utility Themes for each of the colors. Like red group slug creatures, black aristocrat creatures, artifact +1/+1 counter creatures, etc.

[@SorcerySpeedConcede]

Prof, don't forget some of red's most underrated value engines! Feldon of the Third Path and Kikki Jikki, Mirror Breaker are great value engines, letting you use and abuse your etb and ltb abilities to grind with the best of them.

[@primeshifter6665]

I like that intro give me a good smile this morning have a good day Prof

[@777CrimsonChaos]

With the new Leyline Tyrant coming out, I was actually just thinking about building my first mono-color deck with Neheb the Eternal at the helm, so this is a good list of things to consider. Speaking of new ZNR cards for red, Valakut Awakening seems really good for red too, especially because it can also be a land if need be.

[@harrison1735]

Treasonous Ogre is one of my favorite underrated red cards. Life for mana feels like it should be a black ability, and it's so powerful. I've had games where dropping him early and turning my 40 life into 13 mana won the game on the spot.

[@karolkurzawa3246]

I created EDH mono red chandra tribal fun deck two months ago (I would rate it power level as 5/10). And now no blue player wants to play against it :D Pity you didn't mentioned "most powerful color in magic" hate cards ;) It seams that they like to counter other players spells, bounce their permanents and doesn't allow you to untap. When somebody do it to themselves it isn't fun for them. And most of the games there are 1-2 players with blue colour commander at the table. Including 1-2 cards like this is quite fun. It force blue player to keep counter spells and allow you to play more open game.

[@trav3rsy]

Cause... the world! 😂 Thanks for the info again prof!

[@D4rthridiculous]

Thanks Prof!

[@tonnie901]

haha not showing White as an option when bemoaning your decision to play mono Red🤣 !!! i love it

[@davidpeters9645]

..... "end up faffing around with your tinder box bemoaning your decision....." Best mtg joke ever heard. Laughed for long

[@Venoseth]

I had JUST turned the speed up. How did you know? Next level'd

[@jaggededge11]

Faithless Looting is still my go to for any red deck. For 1 mana (And Flashback) it offers so much power it both the early and late game.

[@EffinChat]

Don't think I didn't notice that Hamilton reference, Prof

[@dondjanggo960]

Damn, at the beginning I thought he was talking about Pauper Commander but then I realize he said Paper Commander, I hope one day, someone will talk about this beautiful format...

[@casketbase7750]

How many common Legends are there? I can’t imagine that card pool is very deep.

[@leress]

@@casketbase7750 You use any uncommon creature as your commander. And currently there are 13 common rarity legendary creatures the newest being Prismatic Piper.

[@jacobsmith6205]

The new Leyline Tyrant plus Braid of Fire is pretty sweet. Although it made Braid double in price the last couple of weeks. Braid is still cool for instants and abilities to activate in upkeep as well

[@williamrodenbough5518]

Thanks Professor

[@RedCometNurse]

My playgroup has been using Cockatrice and Battle.net to play Commander. It is pretty effective. Not the same as in-person and paper cards not required, but it gets the job done.

[@Bouv10]

I made an Eron the Relentless as a mono red deck. Add in some cheap card draw effects (like crash through), some steal creature cards partnered with cards like fling. Then I got to thinking. I added in World Slayer and Soul of Phyrexia. I’m still waiting to pull off that combo and become the most hated player alive!

[@markjg76]

THANK YOU PROFESSOR Mono Red For The Win!

[@lukelee9140]

6:09 Is that the rats birthday mixtape in the background?

[@VeznansDeadbeatDad]

Profs humor has been keeping me alive

[@dudemcfurgusson7179]

Not mentioning Incendiary Command when talking wheels is a goddamned crime. Wheeling while hitting a land, nuking someone's tokens, or knocking out a planeswalker is so good.

[@gysahlgemuse7208]

The craziest mono red interaction I pulled off was with Ghired's Belligerence and Dualcaster Mage in my Feldon deck. There was a Mikaeus, the Unhollowed on the other side and a Whisperwood Elemental delayed trigger. Cast Belligerence, hold priority, make a token with Feldon of the mage, copy the spell, populate the mage, copy Belligerence.... it got so complicated with all the triggers that I gave up mid resolution.

[@zettaslowable]

Audio hiccup at 15:14 QUICK PROF! RE-UPLOAD BEFORE ALL THE COMMENTS ARE JUST PEOPLE MENTIONING IT!

[@RappingRain]

I play Mono-R with Diaochan, Artful Beauty as my commander. I never feel behind or like I'm struggling to keep up on cards.