Modern Budget Builds: Mono-Red Infantry Aggro
Friday Night Magic with your friends can be fun, but also incredibly grueling if you play long games every round. It can also be pretty expensive to have a competitive deck. If you want to enjoy your evening with your friends but not deal with either of these drawbacks, then Mono-red infantry aggro is the deck for you!
This aggro deck is only $80 dollars and can absolutely compete in your local game store.
How does this deck work?
Infantry aggro is focused around getting out a creature early, one that benefits from spells being cast, and then using tons of cheap and efficient spells to do damage to the opponent and grow the creature which then slams in and kills the opponent quickly.
Threats:
4 Monastery Swiftspear & 4 Soul-Scar Mage
These two threats both cost one mana and have Prowess. This means you often can get them in play turn 1 to then grow them to get very big on turns 2 and 3. With this deck there often is no turn 4.
4 Electrostatic Infantry
Electrostatic Infantry is different from the other threats as when you cast instants and sorceries it grows permanently. This means Mishra's Bauble does nothing, but every other spell in the deck grows Electrostatic Infantry for the rest of the game. Infantry is slower but can often become such a big problem that it must be dealt with or else the opponent loses 6+ life from this alone each turn
Kiln Fiend is very explosive but by far the worst threat. It is slow but grows very quickly for one turn. It will often be sideboarded out for hate pieces. Kiln Fiend serves the use of a sheer amount of threat density, since you want at least one threat in each opening hand of 7 cards.
Spells
4 Lightning Bolt & 4 Lava Dart
These are your 8 burn spells. Bolt is Lightning Bolt, its the iconic creature and player removal spell in the game. Lava Dart is 1 damage but the “free” flashback is fantastic and game winning. Lava Dart with Prowess creatures can often mean an extra 5-6 damage. Sacrificing a Mountain often has no real cost because the game is over anyway.
4 Light Up the Stage & 4 Ancestral Anger
Light Up the Stage draws you 2 cards for 1 mana if your opponent has lost life this turn and Ancestral anger replaces itself, grows your creature by increasing amounts, and gives trample. Trample is especially relevant as Kiln Fiend does not have it and often can just get blocked by the opponent to stop all your work. (Crash Through is another great option for this slot if you have a very creature heavy meta.)
“Free” Spells
4 Manamorphose, 4 Mishra's Bauble & 4 Mutagenic Growth
Mishra's Bauble and Manamorphose are effectively free spells, but with Prowess they represent 1 or more damage for no cost. Manamorphose will replace the mana spent and replace the card spent, while Bauble costs nothing in the first place but also draws a card and triggers prowess. Plus it will give you information on your opponents next draw. (Tip: Targeting yourself is tempting but unless you have a way to affect that top card you should always target your opponent. You are going to see that card at the next upkeep anyway.)
Mutagenic Growth is free at the cost of 2 life and it grows your creature(s). Trading 2 life for even more of your opponents is absolutely worth it in this deck as you are looking to win as fast as possible.
Sideboard:
Jegantha: Jegantha is a free 8th card in hand. This deck can play a companion at no cost and an 8 mana 5/5 (3 to put in hand with the companion ability and 5 to cast) in hand every game is worth more than a 15th sideboard slot. Remember every game to declare Jegantha as your companion!
4 Tormod's Crypt: This is 0 mana to interrupt your graveyard based opponents. It adds additional damage and often can slow your opponent enough to allow you to win. This card goes in against decks like Dredge and the much more popular deck Living End.
3 Pyrite Spellbomb: This may seem like a bad card, but is in fact a key card to killing many pro-red cards that often can lock you out of a game. Kor Firewalker has protection from red and gains life when a player casts a red spell. You can't kill this card in your deck except with the spellbomb. (If you want to ball out then buy Boogie Bombs, the Fortnite secret lair version, to kill your opponents and Kor Firewalkers in style.)
2 Shattering Spree & 2 Smash to Smithereens: These 4 cards take out key artifacts with extreme efficiency, and in the case of Smash to Smithereens deal real chunks of damage. Shattering Spree can be good early game or absolutely devastating late game spending 4 mana to destroy 4 of your opponents cards.
3 Cleansing Wildfire: Many match ups have opponents with powerful Lands. Cleansing Wildfire solves this problem and draws you a card. It doesn't get rid of your opponent having tron forever but it can often slow them down. Slowing down is all you need to be able to kill your opponent.
Mono-Red infantry aggro is a great budget deck to have as your first intro to Modern, a second deck to mix up the monotony of FNM, or just an option to jam some fast games with friends!
If you have questions, feedback or thoughts let me know in the comments!
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