First off, after tinkering around a bit and gaining some experience with Koth over the last few weeks, I have to say that despite how much I enjoy playing red decks (Chandra was my default QB PW previously, and Deadguy-era Sligh was an old favorite way back when in paper MtG), his power level is absurd right now (arguably even more than Chandra with her first ability at 3 loyalty); for anyone who hasn’t purchased Koth yet, a nerf at some point could be virtually inevitable, so it might be better to hold off on buying him for now to see if and when he gets changed, unless runes are overflowing and he can be maxed (or close to it) immediately (in which case it’s never too soon to jump on the OP bandwagon, assuming a decent selection of strong red cards to work with).
Anyway, on to the deck itself; unsurprisingly, the core of my Koth QB deck is essentially similar to other examples posted so far (namely Mirrorpool + large creatures), and a lot of great points have been addressed already, so instead of rehashing those I’ll try to focus on the differences from other lists and explain some of the deckbuilding process that led to this version. I wanted to err on the side of inclusion for those who might be less familiar with Koth and interested in a detailed example of his playstyle, but in light of some of the lengthy descriptions to follow, each section is collapsible for convenience, and much of the exposition can safely be skipped for those who already have some experience with level 60 Koth and are mostly just interested in the decklist itself.
Theory: [spoiler]The most unique feature of this deck is probably the high number of creatures despite only having 3 board slots available to make use of them; initially, it might seem like a waste to have to exile or replace creatures multiple times over the course of a game, but there are a few factors that eventually proved to be more important while testing various Koth decks:
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- Mirrorpool - With other versions, Mirrorpool ironically tended to decrease the win rate despite how powerful the card can be, and it took a while to realize that the reason for this was winding up in too many situations with multiple fully charged spells and/or supports in hand, but no threats and too few answers. While other PWs (e.g. Kiora, Sarkhan, Ob Nixilis, etc.) can often address this issue with card draw and filtering, red’s options for card advantage are limited, so the better solution seemed to be adding more creatures instead, in order to minimize the frequency of having dead Mirrorpools in hand.
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- Koth’s 2nd and 3rd abilities - Both of these are weak with 1 creature on the board, good with 2, and strong with 3; while tokens (e.g. from Omnath, Hangarback Walker, or Akoum Stonewaker) are another way to fill as many slots as possible as often as possible, they don’t synergize as well with Mirrorpool, so increasing the creature card count seemed like a more reliable way to accomplish the same goal. (To be fair, I don’t have either of the mythic token generators mentioned, but I wouldn’t be likely to add them even if they were to drop tomorrow, because of how crucial Mirrorpool is to maximizing the speed of this deck.)
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- Number of cards used in a typical game - This probably should have been the most obvious element from general experience with MtGPQ, but it wasn’t until trying to figure out why Mirrorpool wasn’t working that I thought enough about it to realize what was happening. In most games, the worst 1-3 cards in hand at any given time would never be played, so it didn’t matter whether they were creatures 4-6, situational spells, or backup supports. On the other hand, extra creatures would increase the odds of having active threats available in the opening hand and recovering quickly from board wipes, and would address points 1 and 2 in the process. This was what finally convinced me that playing with 6+ creatures could potentially be viable in a consistent QB deck, as I was reluctant to seriously consider the idea at first.
[/spoiler]Card Choices: [spoiler]Most of these are just the usual suspects (Embermaw, Scab-Clan Berserker, Jori En, etc.), but there are a few cards worth mentioning specifically:
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Reckless Bushwhacker - This is probably the most unusual card in the deck; while Akoum Stonewaker, Chasm Guide, Lavastep Raider, and Valakut Invoker aren’t necessarily bad alternatives for this slot among the lower rarities (most rarer creatures are too expensive to be comparable), the combination of haste and increasing efficiency with multiple creatures (especially if they’re played on the same turn) makes Bushwhacker ideally suited for this deck.
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Akoum Hellkite - This is probably the MVP next to Mirrorpool; it can be dropped in 1 turn off of any red match, flies over the dreaded Undergrowth Champion in many cases, and sometimes complements the relatively sparse removal when enemy flyers or other annoying creatures start to become a problem.
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Abbot of Keral Keep - It’s still playable even without the card draw, but would be the first creature I’d replace if something better came along. Most of the time, Volcanic Rambler is more efficient now, even if Abbot is occasionally more resilient against removal or defenders.
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Ravaging Blaze - There’s probably a viable case for favoring Devour in Flames in this slot instead, or potentially Brutal Expulsion for the sole purpose of removing Undergrowth Champion. Other spells (e.g. Scour from Existence, Turn Against, Rolling Thunder, and maybe a few more) seem like a step down, since they’re a bit too reactive in a deck that aims to win by turn 4-6 if all goes according to plan.
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Notable Omissions - Mina and Denn, Goblin Dark-Dwellers, and Shrine of the Forsaken Gods proved to be a bit lackluster or slow for this version after some testing; they’re not bad cards in the abstract, but they usually don’t gain full value until a few turns into the game, and by that time Koth will often be on the verge of winning already. The same principle applies to other mana generators and supports like Oath of Chandra.
Leaving out Demolish might seem risky, and can admittedly lead to awkward situations every once in a while (one game in particular was very difficult to win when Hixus stacked 3 times in the bottom corner by turn 2 or 3 and remained lodged there the entire game), but on balance, only a handful of opponents use supports that are worth destroying, and even fewer will wind up playing those supports early enough to matter, so it seems more valuable to have all 10 cards in the deck dedicated to situations that arise in almost every game (this is the same rationale behind omitting specific answers to stacked Undergrowth Champions with Mantle of Webs, which red generally handles poorly).
Put another way, there are a variety of great sideboard options or tier 1.5 cards that didn’t quite seem versatile or proactive enough to make the cut for the main deck, but which might turn out to be more useful as the meta continues to evolve and new cards and PWs are released in the future.
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Potential Improvements - With access to all cards, Akoum Firebird and Tyrant of Valakut would be the first ones I’d look to add to the deck; Omnath, Locus of Rage, Desolation Twin, and Zendikar Incarnate might also be worth considering, but I’m not sure they’d turn out to be better than anything in the current list. Avaricious Dragon seems like a trap, since it’s a liability against other red PWs, which are generally among the most difficult matchups anyway.
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Budget Alternatives - Among the lower rarities, Breaker of Armies, Iroas’s Champion, Akoum Stonewaker, and Devour in Flames would be among the first cards I’d consider to fill in for any missing rares or Mirrorpool. Without Mirrorpool, the creature count could be dropped safely to 4-6 in order to add in more removal or mana fixers, as the deck would lose some of its early explosiveness and could utilize middle game cards more effectively.
[/spoiler]How to Play: [spoiler]In an ideal world, Akoum Hellkite, Embermaw Hellion, and Scab-Clan Berserker are usually the 3 best creatures to have on the board (in that order), all else being equal, so these are the creatures to prioritize first if there are empty slots or if another creature needs to be replaced. Generally, the basic game plan is relatively straightforward (drop Mirrorpool, stack a creature, give it haste if needed with Bushwhacker, then ride removal and Koth’s 2nd ability to victory), but there are some nuances that might not be obvious when first starting out with the deck:
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Don’t be afraid to rotate creatures - Most of the time, Volcanic Rambler or Abbot will be the best creatures to drop first, as they have the potential to cascade into the ones after them; by the time all 3 slots are filled, it’s usually time to replace one or both with better options, especially if Bushwhacker will be able to give other creatures haste in the process. Likewise, once Bushwhacker has been used, it can often be replaced by Scab-Clan Berserker (sometimes even on the same turn), and drawing Mirrorpool is often enough to justify replacing any unstacked creature on the board (with the arguable exception of Embermaw) with any other creature in hand if the game is likely to last at least 2 more turns.
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When something goes wrong, don’t panic - Most of the (non-bugged) games I’ve lost with this deck were winnable, but barely so, and by the time I realized what I could have done, the opportunity had passed and the loss was inevitable. It might seem a little strange to have to play patiently with a hyperaggressive deck, but usually even in a desperate game there will be some window to use a combination of burn spells, Koth’s 2nd ability, and any 1-2 other creatures with Bushwhacker to push through just enough damage to win. There are lots of little tricks that become apparent after playing the deck for a while, but one of the most crucial and easiest to miss is keeping track of exactly how many red gems are on the board at all times underneath animations and popups, so as to time Ravaging Blaze correctly in tough situations.
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Balancing PW mana and Koth’s abilities - Usually, if the first ability is charged, it’s worth using as often as possible until all 3 creature slots are filled and 1-3 cards in hand are charged, since it helps to replace red gems over the course of the game even if it doesn’t generate any instant matches. The 2nd ability tends to be relevant once or twice per game; it’s almost never worth activating without at least 2 creatures on the board, and often better to save for a turn or two even once all 3 slots are filled, to leave more options for when the opponent eventually drops a creature. The 3rd ability is rarely useful with this deck; using the 2nd is generally more efficient even with 20+ PW mana available, unless the opponent has a large first-striker in play or 2+ red matches are likely to occur by next turn.
[/spoiler]Results: [spoiler]Naturally, all the theory in the world means nothing if the deck can’t actually function well in practice. To that end, here are some of the highlights ever since I began keeping closer track of its performance (once I started to realize that overall it was leaps and bounds beyond any other QB deck I’ve ever tried up to this point, including 3-loyalty Chandra):
W-L - 614-6 (~99% win rate; I’ve been fortunate enough not to run into any serious bugs during this span, so the depicted records are an accurate reflection, i.e. 3131-143 to 3745-149 while using this deck exclusively and tracking its progress)
Speed - 3-4 minutes per win (including 120 points in 61 minutes at one point; 80-100 per hour is more typical)
Longest winning streak - 297
Longest losing streak - 2
Fastest win (turn) - Turn 4 (multiple occasions)
Fastest win (time) - ~2 minutes (multiple occasions)
Potion Efficiency - I have yet to encounter an instance where I’ve had to switch PWs, even when playing continuously for 2-3 hours at maximum (or nearly maximum) speed. Most of the time fatigue is the limiting factor more than potions, as there are constant minor calculations that start to take a mental toll and lead to mistakes during longer play sessions. I haven’t tracked the average use rate carefully, but would tentatively estimate one potion every 30-45 minutes as a typical benchmark after learning to play the deck optimally (others might be faster at this, but it took me a while to get a feel for how to handle tricky situations, so initially the deck required more frequent potion use to continue playing).[/spoiler]
Anyway, thanks to all who have posted their decks and thoughts so far (lots of great insights in this thread for all kinds of different approaches), and good luck to everyone still working on their Koth decks (or any other PWs for that matter).
