Red is one of the three colors I rarely play on its own. So, most of the red cards I've collected over the years have been outstanding support cards like Wheel of Fortune and Stranglehold.
That's not going to cut it.
My objective is to build a representative cube for Commander deckbuilding, and that means I need enough red cards to build a good, mono-colored deck with a strong theme, but with enough range to play nicely with the other colors.
Let's take a look at the red cards I recently added to the cube:
Inferno Titan
Ah, the Titans. With a green brother so good he got himself banned, Inferno Titan is no slouch either. As a 6/6 for 6 mana with firebreathing this guy comes to town and does some work. He also has a handy lightning bolt effect when he shows up and it's reusable (and free) for something I want to do anyway: attack!
Forgotten Cave
This completes the cycle of one-mana cycling lands for my cube. See what I did there?
Dictate of the Twin Gods
I want red to have a double-up flavor in this cube. Attack twice, double damage, double strike, double trouble. That sort of thing. Since you can flash this thing into play after your opponents declare blockers and simply wreck people, it makes for a surprisingly powerful surprise for only 5 mana.
Twinflame
You know what's better than attacking with my best creature? Attacking with two of them. It's two measly mana to cast at a minimum and has the flexibility to make two, three, four, or even more copies with enough mana. The icing on the cake is that it puts the copy onto the battlefield, so it will trigger "enters the battlefield" effects.
Hammer of Purphoros
It gives all my creatures haste. This can be pretty scary after a board wipe when you can smash into open players with almost no resistance. It can also be used to create an army of golems if you have extra lands to throw around, or to make a chump blocker on demand.
Outpost Siege
Like with green, it took the designers a while to figure out how red is supposed to get access to more cards without drawing them the way blue does. This card is a great support enchantment that has two modes for extra flexibility. The first mode, Khans, gives you access to an additional card each turn, but with a flavorful restriction. Red wants to do stuff right now! Use it or lose it.
Urabrask the Hidden
This guy can swing a creature battle into your favor pretty quick. Giving your own creatures haste means you can get a turn of use out of them often before anyone can react to it. But tapping down your opponents' creatures? Oh yeah. He's so fast that it's like he has superhaste.
Wrecking Orge
He has double strike. Which is awesome. Put some equipment on this guy and good lord you better hope you have a blocker or he will wreck you. His bloodrush ability can also be used strategically to turn the tide of combat or even after he is unblocked to really push the damage through.
Dragon-Style Twins
These guys also have double strike. Prowess is good for a few extra damage here or there. You could build around it and really push the numbers up, but in my cube it's all about the double strike.
Markov Blademaster
Speaking of double strike, check this guy out. With a little planning and a lot of luck, this guy can quickly grow to epic proportions. Double strike means that the creature deals first strike damage and regular damage, so the first unblocked attack is for 1+2 damage, leaving the blademaster with two +1/+1 counters. The next unblocked attack is for 3+4 damage, leaving the blademaster with four +1/+1 counters. Do you see where this is going?
Hound of Griselbrand
If I can't play with Griselbrand, at least I can play with his dog. More double strike. Plus, you get this guy back bigger and better after a board wipe. God help them if you have something out that gives him haste.
Ogre Battledriver
He dishes out an extra two power and haste to your creatures. If you are building a deck that attacks for the win, this guy is a great addition to the team. If you are building a token deck, this can get out of hand quickly. Throwing down a small handful of tokens results in a sudden and massive attack.
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