It’s Week 1 of a new Standard format, and it was won by a red deck again. Overall, that’s not surprising. However, when Battle for Zendikar was released, the red deck that won #SCGINDY defined how red decks looked for the next months. It’s possible that Korey McDuffie just did the same thing.
His deck has some similarities to Brian DeMars’s initial version, but the Temur Battle Rages are no longer in the deck. Instead of going tall, Korey focuses on going wide with #MTGOGW standout Reckless Bushwhacker and various tokens. Goblins are the old standby, but Pia and Kiran Nalaar out of the sideboard can make Bushwhackers even better.
Some Become Immenses are hiding out in the decklist, but that’s only because it’s a powerful source of damage, similar to Titan’s Strength. Even though the deck isn’t interested in Temur Battle Rage, the pump spells are still good enough to continue playing.
The sideboard is probably where Korey got most of his edge. Against decks with sweepers, he can gas back up with Painful Truths and Den Protector. If his opponent was trying to stabilize behind a bunch of Siege Rhinos, Self-Inflicted Wound could ruin their day. That did leave him without any good answers to Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. Regardless, that didn’t stop him from taking down the entire tournament!
Creatures (14)
Lands (22)
Spells (24)
