At a glance
- Format: Brawl (100-card)
- Commander: Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- Colors: Red (R)
- Archetype: Mono-Red aggro-tempo
- Power tier: competitive
- Competitive Brawl: ⚠️ Not legal — banned/illegal: Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer (casual/regular play only)
Not Competitive Brawl-legal
This deck can’t be played in Competitive Brawl — it contains a banned/illegal card: Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. It’s fine for casual/regular play.
Strategy
Tier-1 mono-red aggro-tempo built around Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. Curve out one-drops into Ragavan turn 1 (or after a swing into an open board) to start manufacturing Treasures and stealing the opponent’s top card, then snowball with cheap hasty threats and a dense efficient burn package. Treasure tokens (Ragavan, Plundering Pirate, Riveteers Requisitioner, Flamekin Gildweaver, Reckless Ransacking, Big Score, Seize the Spoils, Goldvein Pick/Beamtown Beatstick on hit) double as ramp to deploy multiple spells per turn and as fixing-free acceleration. Equipment (Swiftfoot Boots protects Ragavan and grants haste; Twin Blades/Goldvein/Beamtown push damage and evasion) keeps the aggression flowing. A dedicated evasion package makes sure Ragavan actually connects to fire its Treasure/dash trigger instead of dying to a chump: Goblin Tunneler taps to make Ragavan (power 2) unblockable every turn, Mechanical Glider straps permanent flying onto him, and Breeches, Eager Pillager turns every Pirate attack (Ragavan included) into can’t-block / extra Treasure / impulse draw — on top of Frenzied Goblin and Ty Lee. Burn doubles as removal for blockers and reach to close — Screaming Nemesis is the marquee threat that punishes any blocking or removal and shuts off lifegain (huge vs midrange/control). Ogre Battledriver and Krenko/Goblin token producers provide a wide finish; Rekindling Phoenix is a resilient recurring flyer. Plan: be ahead on board by turn 3, protect the engine, and burn them out from ~10.
Upgrade path
MYTHIC CRAFTS: Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer x1 (commander). That is the ONLY new mythic craft in this deck — running mythic-craft count for this deck = 1. All other mythics used are already OWNED (own>=1) and cost no wildcards: Screaming Nemesis (own1), Rekindling Phoenix (own1). ZERO new rare crafts of any kind — every rare in the 99 is owned (Searslicer Goblin own2, Molten-Core Maestro own1, Howlsquad Heavy own1, Vaan, Street Thief own1, Scytheclaw Raptor is uncommon, Ogre Battledriver own2, Krenko, Mob Boss own1, Chandra’s Incinerator own1, Breeches, Eager Pillager own1, Firebending Student own4, Brimstone Volley is uncommon, Fire Nation Palace own2 land, Sunken Citadel own1 land, Soulstone Sanctuary own3 land, Secret/other rare lands NOT added). All nonbasic lands are owned (own>=1) or basics. FUTURE UPGRADES once Mik has more rare wildcards: add premium rare burn/threats not currently craftable — e.g. Sunspine Lynx (rare, lifegain-hate + reach), Urabrask // The Great Work, Goblin Chieftain/Goblin Bushwhacker-style anthems, and a rare manland or two (Den of the Bugbear / Sokenzan) to upgrade the manabase; also Skullclamp-style card draw if it enters the pool. None added now to respect the rare lock.
Cards
Decklist
Paste straight into MTG Arena (or Moxfield/Archidekt):
Commander
1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Deck
1 Fanatical Firebrand
1 Frenzied Goblin
1 Clockwork Percussionist
1 Tin Street Cadet
1 Nest Robber
1 Heartfire Immolator
1 Searslicer Goblin
1 Molten-Core Maestro
1 Riveteers Requisitioner
1 Casey Jones, Jury-Rig Justiciar
1 Mai, Jaded Edge
1 Firebending Student
1 Brazen Collector
1 Plundering Pirate
1 Screaming Nemesis
1 Howlsquad Heavy
1 Vaan, Street Thief
1 Crime Novelist
1 Ty Lee, Artful Acrobat
1 Scytheclaw Raptor
1 Adrenaline Jockey
1 Flamekin Gildweaver
1 Rekindling Phoenix
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Goblin Gang Leader
1 Quaketusk Boar
1 Slash, Reptile Rampager
1 Chandra's Incinerator
1 Wingnut, Bat on the Belfry
1 Pugnacious Pugilist
1 Burst Lightning
1 Lightning Strike
1 Torch the Tower
1 Abrade
1 Scorching Dragonfire
1 Brimstone Volley
1 Goblin Tunneler
1 Skewer the Critics
1 Plasma Bolt
1 Cinder Strike
1 Fiery Annihilation
1 Feed the Flames
1 Mechanical Glider
1 Tweeze
1 Thunder Magic
1 Fire Magic
1 Monstrous Rage
1 Reckless Ransacking
1 Breeches, Eager Pillager
1 Seize the Spoils
1 Big Score
1 Laughing Mad
1 Grab the Prize
1 Dragon Fodder
1 Arcane Signet
1 Goldvein Pick
1 Beamtown Beatstick
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Twin Blades
1 Command Tower
1 Rockface Village
1 Fire Nation Palace
1 Rumble Arena
1 Sunken Citadel
1 Soulstone Sanctuary
1 The Autonomous Furnace
1 Rocky Roads
1 Sandstorm Verge
1 Evolving Wilds
23 Mountain
1 Goblin Trashmaster
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Goblin Chieftain
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Experimental Synthesizer
1 Voldaren Epicure
Ideal build (upgrade target)
Ideal upgrades the owned aggro-tempo core into a premium mono-red curve: best-in-class one-drops (Monastery Swiftspear, Emberheart Challenger, Manifold Mouse, Slickshot Show-Off, Phoenix Chick) and engines Ragavan wants (Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, Urabrask’s Forge, Ojer Axonil) with Embercleave/Shadowspear as reach finishers and Lightning Bolt/Play with Fire sharpening the burn. Manabase swaps taplands for untapped red utility manlands (Den of the Bugbear, Sokenzan, Castle Embereth, Mishra’s Foundry, Ramunap Ruins). Top craft priorities: Embercleave (mythic), Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might (mythic), Fable of the Mirror-Breaker (rare), Den of the Bugbear (rare), Lightning Bolt (common but format-defining).
Crafts to reach the ideal: 29 (5 mythic, 14 rare, 8 uncommon, 2 common)
- Mythic: Bloodthirsty Adversary, Embercleave, Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might // Temple of Power, Robber of the Rich, Urabrask // The Great Work
- Rare: Castle Embereth, Charming Scoundrel, Emberheart Challenger, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki, Feldon, Ronom Excavator, Fugitive Codebreaker, Manifold Mouse, Mishra’s Foundry, Shadowspear, Slickshot Show-Off, Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance, Squee, Dubious Monarch, Sunspine Lynx, Urabrask’s Forge
- Uncommon: Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano, Monastery Swiftspear, Phoenix Chick, Play with Fire, Rabbit Battery, Ramunap Ruins, Reckless Bushwhacker, Witchstalker Frenzy
- Common: Bitter Reunion, Wrenn’s Resolve
Full ideal list (paste into Arena):
Commander
1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Deck
1 Monastery Swiftspear
1 Kumano Faces Kakkazan
1 Emberheart Challenger
1 Manifold Mouse
1 Slickshot Show-Off
1 Frenzied Goblin
1 Fanatical Firebrand
1 Goblin Tunneler
1 Phoenix Chick
1 Voldaren Epicure
1 Rabbit Battery
1 Robber of the Rich
1 Heartfire Immolator
1 Screaming Nemesis
1 Bloodthirsty Adversary
1 Fugitive Codebreaker
1 Squee, Dubious Monarch
1 Feldon, Ronom Excavator
1 Charming Scoundrel
1 Rekindling Phoenix
1 Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might
1 Goblin Chieftain
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Ogre Battledriver
1 Sunspine Lynx
1 Breeches, Eager Pillager
1 Reckless Bushwhacker
1 Plundering Pirate
1 Riveteers Requisitioner
1 Urabrask
1 Molten-Core Maestro
1 Clockwork Percussionist
1 Nest Robber
1 Tin Street Cadet
1 Howlsquad Heavy
1 Chandra's Incinerator
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
1 Urabrask's Forge
1 Experimental Synthesizer
1 Bitter Reunion
1 Goldvein Pick
1 Embercleave
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Shadowspear
1 Mechanical Glider
1 Reckless Ransacking
1 Big Score
1 Seize the Spoils
1 Wrenn's Resolve
1 Goblin Gang Leader
1 Dragon Fodder
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Play with Fire
1 Shock
1 Burst Lightning
1 Lightning Strike
1 Skewer the Critics
1 Torch the Tower
1 Abrade
1 Scorching Dragonfire
1 Witchstalker Frenzy
1 Monstrous Rage
1 Fiery Annihilation
1 Brimstone Volley
1 Command Tower
1 Den of the Bugbear
1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
1 Castle Embereth
1 Rockface Village
1 Mishra's Foundry
1 Ramunap Ruins
1 Fire Nation Palace
1 Rumble Arena
25 Mountain
Card images & data via Scryfall.