One of the Standard deck archetypes that somewhat got a major change with the recent set rotation in the format was Mono Red Aggro. The deck almost lost half of its components but the good thing is Zendikar Rising provided the replacement cards.

22 LANDS (24)
4 Castle Embereth
18 Mountain

26 CREATURES
4 Akoum Hellhound
4 Anax, Hardened in the Forge
4 Bonecrusher Giant
4 Fervent Champion
4 Kargan Intimidator
4 Robber of the Rich
2 Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

8 INSTANTS and SORC.
2 Roil Eruption
4 Shock
2 Spikefield Hazard

4 OTHER SPELLS
4 Embercleave

The nonland cards that were retained from the old build are Anax, Bonecrusher Giant, Fervent Champion, Torban, Robber of the Rich, Shock and Embercleave. Curve-wise, these are already on the line but then we need more of the spots that were left out specifically on the one-drop critters.

Let us check the Zendikar Rising cards. Akoum Hellhound is Red’s version of Steppe Lynx and is a good one-drop if done on turn one. That is triggering as many Landfall as possible, though the issue is the lack of fetchlands in the set and in the deck.

Kargan Intimidator does its intimidating nature and can bypass a blocker because of its ability and for a two-drop is also good by itself as a semi-mana sink in the late game.

Roil Eruption is an upgraded Volcanic Hammer and though the deck included only two copies, I would want at least one more for a total of three copies. That makes a higher chance of drawing it the late game where you’d have enough mana for the kicker cost.

Spikefield Hazard looks unusual as it only deals one damage but has the effect that can exile creatures that dies this turn. This maybe is intentionally versus Uro decks. It also acts as a mana source for dire situations.

Overall, the deck update in Zendikar Rising looks decent and has been producing results in several Magic Arena tournaments and on MTGO Standard Challenge events.

That is a wrap for now, until the next blog post.

Reference: https://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=27448&d=418022&f=ST