Even when Tom Ross isn’t in the Top Eight of an Invitational, his presence is almost always felt. Boss Sligh has fallen out of favor as of late, but last weekend was the perfect time for a comeback.
While Josh’s deck isn’t full-on Boss Sligh, he still has the option of going wide with Akroan Crusader. Dragon Mantle is out, but Hammerhand and Coordinated Assault are more than enough. Those are especially effective if you’re facing off against Courser of Kruphix. For the most part, this deck is excellent at removing blockers or powering through them.
With such a low mana curve, Abbot of Keral Keep is amazing in this deck. It’s worth noting that Coordinated Assault on an Abbot makes blocking with Courser of Kruphix a liability, and any other spell on top of that will allow you to plow through a Siege Rhino… no easy task for red decks.
The full amount of Firedrinker Satyrs would have been a risky move two weeks ago, but that time has long since passed. Firedrinkers aside, this deck doesn’t look great in the Mono-Red mirror, but hopefully that won’t happen!
Josh’s deck looks excellent for the current Standard metagame. If you want to beat up people, Boss Sligh is a great place to be. His third-place finish in the Season Three Invitational is impressive, and we might have a new champion if the Top Eight of the tournament was Standard instead of Legacy.
Creatures (20)
- 3 Akroan Crusader
- 4 Firedrinker Satyr
- 4 Monastery Swiftspear
- 2 Goblin Heelcutter
- 3 Zurgo Bellstriker
- 4 Abbot of Keral Keep
Lands (20)
- 20 Mountain
Spells (20)
- 4 Titan's Strength
- 2 Coordinated Assault
- 4 Stoke the Flames
- 3 Hammerhand
- 4 Wild Slash
- 3 Exquisite Firecraft
Sideboard
