A week back Josh Utter-Leyton made 9th place at the MOCS (Magic Online Championship Series) with a different take on Atarka Red. This started me thinking.
Here’s his list:
[deck]
[creatures]
4 Abbot of Keral Keep
4 Monastery Swiftspear
3 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
3 Zurgo Bellstriker
[/creatures]
[spells]
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Atarka’s Command
4 Fiery Impulse
3 Outnumber
[/spells]
[lands]
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Cinder Glade
1 Forest
11 Mountain
1 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
[/lands]
[sideboard]
1 Cinder Glade
3 Windswept Heath
2 Arc Lightning
3 Den Protector
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
2 Yasova Dragonclaw
[/sideboard]
[/deck]
The thing is, I like the transformative sideboard much more, so the first version of the mainboard would look like this:
[deck]
[creatures]
4 Abbot of Keral Keep
3 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
3 Den Protector
[/creatures]
[spells]
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Atarka’s Command
4 Fiery Impulse
1 Outnumber
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
[/spells]
[lands]
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Cinder Glade
1 Forest
9 Mountain
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
[/lands]
[/deck]
The problem is that around where I play, both [scryfall]Virulent Plague[/scryfall] and [scryfall]Hallowed Moonlight[/scryfall] are very prevalent sideboard options, so this approach might not work out that well, which would mean the deck requires a transformational sideboard of its own, but also I’d like to try out a few cards in the main.
Since its seems tokens are going to be a thing, being able to run them over is going to be important. One way to do that is trample. So, perhaps [scryfall]Kolaghan Forerunners[/scryfall]. One of those might be a good idea. You can’t really play too many of them. So, maybe one. Maybe even splash for black to bring in mama herself, [scryfall]Kolaghan, the Storm’s Fury[/scryfall], so perhaps try out this:
[deck]
[creatures]
4 Abbot of Keral Keep
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
3 Den Protector
1 Kolaghan’s Forerunners
2 Kolaghan, the Storm’s Fury
[/creatures]
[spells]
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Atarka’s Command
4 Fiery Impulse
3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
[/spells]
[lands]
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Cinder Glade
1 Forest
2 Smoldering Marsh
4 Mountain
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Hissing Quagmire
[/lands]
[/deck]
… but maybe not, even if I do like her majesty very much.
Still, I would need a the sideboard for the first version. The problem is that there might be too many cards you need to take out. After all, the sideboard can only handle 15 cards. But, hey, we can try something.
[deck]
[out]
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Atarka’s Command
1 Outnumber
2 Reckless Bushwhacker
[/out]
[in]
4 Thunderbreak Regent
4 Draconic Roar
2 Yasova Dragonclaw
2 Sarkhan, Dragonspeaker
2 Vaultbreaker
1 Tormenting Voice
[/in]
[/deck]
The point of the [scryfall]Vaultbreaker[/scryfall]s and the [scryfall]Tormenting Voice[/scryfall] is to get rid of the cards you can’t side out.
I don’t think this is going to be good, but its something I would like to try out.