Mainboard (60)
Sideboard (15)
Mono-Red Madness is an aggressive burn deck that wins through Guttersnipe and Kessig Flamebreather damage combined with cheap spells and madness payoffs like Fiery Temper; your goal is to survive long enough to deploy a Cryptic Serpent or Tolarian Terror and win through a single threat. Bring in all eight red-hate instants — Blue Elemental Blast and Hydroblast answer Fireblast, Lightning Bolt, and Fiery Temper for a single blue mana, and can also counter Guttersnipe or Kessig Flamebreather on the stack. Gut Shot provides free removal for Voldaren Epicure and Sneaky Snacker before they start triggering your opponents' payoffs, which is critical since you're tapping out for threats. Trim Deem Inferior as it is too slow against their aggressive curve and does nothing against burn spells going to your face. Shave Counterspell and some Thought Scour to make room — Counterspell is often too clunky at two mana when you need to hold up Hydroblast or keep cards churning through Mental Note and Ponder to hit your threats fast.
Grixis Affinity wins by flooding the board with artifact creatures and generating card advantage through Ichor Wellspring, Thoughtcast, and Reckoner's Bargain, then closing with Myr Enforcer or Galvanic Blast. Annul is the key sideboard piece here, countering their artifact spells, Wellspring, Nihil Spellbomb, and Blood Fountain before they can generate value. Gut Shot handles Refurbished Familiar efficiently at no mana cost, disrupting their primary artifact-recycling engine without tapping out. Sleep of the Dead and Deep Analysis are too slow for this aggressive matchup, and Deem Inferior is trimmed since your priority is disrupting their artifact synergies rather than bouncing creatures. Keep Counterspell and Cryptic Serpent as your win conditions — a resolved Tolarian Terror or Cryptic Serpent is difficult for them to answer without Red Elemental Blast.
This is a near-mirror match where both decks are trying to fuel Cryptic Serpent and Tolarian Terror through the graveyard while contesting the board with cheap threats. Their deck leans heavier on black removal (Snuff Out, Cast Down) and Sneaky Snacker as a persistent threat, so Gut Shot gives you a free answer to Sneaky Snacker that doesn't cost mana or cards when you're trying to develop your own threats. Sleep of the Dead is too slow and reactive in a race where both sides are filling graveyards fast, and trimming one Deem Inferior is fine since their threats are largely the same size as yours. The game is won by resolving a large threat first and protecting it — prioritize your countermag to protect your Serpent or Terror rather than trading one-for-one on removal.