Pauper: The History of Mono-Red in the Format

Practically all formats have space for at least one version of Mono-Red, as this color represents aggro decks in Magic: The Gathering. Red gives you access to cards like Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, which deal damage directly, and, as such, are great in aggressive strategies.

This card is one of the most iconic and famous cards in Magic: The Gathering, and, without a question, it is one of the most important cards in Pauper. To this day, it is incredibly popular, specially in red decks, where it has a permanent home.

Classic Burn might be the most well-known version of Mono-Red in the history of this format; it also appeared in other formats throughout the history of the game. This red version, however, focuses on using spells that deal damage to your opponent directly so you can set their life total to 0 as fast as possible. It also has a few clear weaknesses that, with time, became more impactful as the metagame evolved and new cards came along.

Its first weakness is massive lifegain, which has been available in Pauper for some time now thanks to cards like Weather the Storm. Its second weakness is long games. Burn never performed well in long matches, particularly when you also had to deal with massive lifegain or multiple counters.

Another red list we can consider a pillar in the history of this archetype is Red Deck Wins (or even its Goblin-focused version, Mono-Red Goblins). This version focused a lot more on building a board presence with low-cost creatures that put pressure on the opponent very quickly. It could finish games incredibly fast.

Though it could still put pressure on later turns, its greatest issue was board control, that is, board wipes. Cards like Fiery Cannonade, Krark-Clan Shaman and many others that came after them became so popular that decks focusing on land bound creatures, like Classic Red Goblins, lost space.

With time, the official Red Aggro version became Burn, and soon, even this version started losing space in the format when new sets powercrept them and forced the metagame to adapt.

The Swiftspear Effect

In 2022, Double Masters introduced Monastery Swiftspear to Pauper, and it soon became a staple in red decks.

Burn already used cards like Voldaren Epicure. One particular version became popular during Pauper's Turbo Initiative era, when it was dominated by Initiative decks. To beat that, some players popularized a Red Aggro list that brought back Kuldotha Rebirth thanks to cards like Voldaren and Experimental Synthesizer. Alongside Great Furnace, they formed an aggro base fast enough to beat those powerful Initiative combos.

Monastery Swiftspear fused Burn decks with this aggressive base into a new list that soon started performing really well.

Another list that was very successful at this time was Mono-Red Prowess, more popularly known as Hot Dogs, which was centered around Swiftspear. This version, unlike the others, was more like a combo than a simple Aggro deck, as you needed a specific set of cards to win through massive combat damage.

By itself, Monastery Swiftspear managed to change the Pauper metagame so much that soon half of a few sideboards focused entirely on beating Mono-Red. Even the powerful Affinity, which had been the big bad guy of the format since MH2, was overshadowed by red decks.

Swiftspear comes in swinging and the longer it stays on the board, the more aggressive it is. Your opponent will have to deal with it or face dire consequences.

Another important card in this story is Kessig Flamebreather. Kessig is a sort of upgraded Thermo Alchemist, as it will throw damage at your opponent whenever you cast a noncreature spell. It is also incredibly efficient as a blocker, and can attack if you need to.

Alongside Swiftspear, Kuldotha, Bushwhacker, and the artifact/burn base, this card formed the most popular Mono-Red version for a long time. It performed really well in several competitions.

The Return of Mono-Red Goblins

In 2023, when the new Ixalan was released, Goblin Tomb Raider came to Pauper and once again Mono-Red got some powerful support. Most lists already used Wrenn's Resolve, which made Reckless Impulse, an incredibly vital part of the deck, even better. This way, Mono-Red became more consistent and fast, and could beat other powerful card advantage engines in the format. It even beat decks that previous Red lists always considered bad matches.

This new Goblin, alongside Swiftspear, brought this deck to a level it had never seen before, and turned Kuldotha Red into a well-oiled machine. This deck was fast, easy to pilot and to understand, and incredibly efficient in nearly all situations.

At this point, the discussion about banning Swiftspear had become so polarized and controversial that the community spent most days arguing. Members of the PFP, the committee that discussed the health of the format and possible bans, faced a lot of pressure on social media.

In 2023, still, Pauper got another incredibly relevant red card. Unfinity added _____ Goblin to this format; its main issue wasn't only its ability, which is extremely broken, but also its introduction to Magic Online, which took a long time to happen and was heavily criticized by the community as well.

To overcome a few programming challenges created by the complex workings of this and other cards from this set, the Magic Online dev team decided to make this card work a bit differently than its IRL version. This made it even stronger, and it was soon a key card in many decks, including Mono-Red Kuldotha.

Soon Magic Online's Pauper was even more dominated by various Mono-Red builds, and, in big tabletop competitions, this deck was still performing really well. Finally, PFP decided to take action, and, on December 4th, 2023, Monastery Swiftspear was banned in Pauper. A bit afterward, _____ Goblin was banned too. This ban got mixed reviews, but, as we realized later on, it didn't do much to stop Mono-Red.

In 2024, besides bans, Mono-Red also got new additions, so we didn't even have time to miss Swiftspear. Reckless Lackey was another Goblin that creates extra value for this deck, but, by far, the best recent addition was Clockwork Percussionist. This creature, just like the excellent Voldaren Epicure, deals damage when it enters and can create an advantage in its own way. It also makes key cards, like Kuldotha Rebirth and Galvanic Blast, better, as it is an artifact.

Honorable Mention: Rakdos Burn

Rakdos Burn, or Rakdos Madness, was born from Black Burn and Mono-Red Burn. It combined the best these two decks had to offer and the Madness mechanic, included in cards like Kitchen Imp and Fiery Temper. Soon, this deck got an identity of its own, and today focuses more on Burn than combat like Kuldotha. So, it deserves an honorable mention.

Mono-Red has shown up in Pauper many times, different each time, but, when we go through the history of this archetype, we can see, quite clearly, that the Kuldotha version is more efficient, even though it has its weaknesses. Another interesting detail about this deck is how important it is today to regulate the metagame. Mono-Red is basically a sheriff in Pauper: it suppresses certain strategies that, without a natural predator, could become invasive. Some examples of that are Grixis Affinity or combo decks like Glee, which are weak against Kuldotha.

What did you think of these red versions? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!