1.0 Red Deck Wins – Introduction to Canadian Highlander
Red Deck Wins is viable in most competitive formats. Canadian Highlander (a.k.a. Canlander) is no exception. This article will explore the fundamental similarities and differences in RDW between Canlander and other formats to help players transition to the format.
You can sign up for our free Canlander tournament on UOL if you want to try out the format. (Make sure to join our Discord first!)
1.1 What is Canadian Highlander?
Canadian Highlander is a 100 card singleton format. Unlike EDH, players start at 20 life and decks are not restricted by color identity. Players do not have sideboards (no companions/wishes).
Canadian Highlander has a points list as opposed to a traditional ban list. Players are given 10 points to spend on broken cards, which each have an assigned cost. For instance Black Lotus costs 7 points. Only the most overpowered cards are on the points list.
In my experience, nut draws can be comparable to Vintage in power level while average opening hands are noticeably weaker than Legacy. Canlander has been described as “cube constructed” and is one of the most underappreciated formats alongside Premodern and Old School.
I won the ONE Canlander season (decklist below), going 6-0 in top cut after finishing second in the BRO season, and have top cut every UOL Canlander league. Instead of going over my entire list (which is still a work in progress) I will highlight key ideas to help players build personalized Red aggro decks.
2.0 What Stays the Same
While the rules, meta, and precise RDW configurations are visibly different between Canlander and Modern/Legacy/Pauper/Pioneer, the core strategy is unchanged: deal 20 damage before your opponent can execute their strategy. As always, creatures and burn spells are Red’s best way to deal damage.
2.1.0 Similarities – Creatures
Goblin Guide and Monastery Swiftspear are the best aggro creatures. In other formats you can jam 4 of each. In 100 card singleton, it is necessary to understand what makes aggressive creatures effective. In order of importance you want:
1) Strength
2) Speed
3) Evasion
4) Value
Strength refers to raw damage. The most important attribute is power. 2 power for 1-drops and 3 for 2-drops is a reasonable bar. Abilities like Swiftspear’s prowess can also increase raw damage. The more damage a creature deals per turn, the fewer turns you need to win. Even premium 1-drops are easy to kill or block, shortening your effective window to deal combat damage. You want to maximize damage in early turns. If you have to trade burn for opposing creatures it is best to follow up with a big attack.
Speed means how quickly a creature impacts the game. Haste is ideal but an ETB (Viashino Pyromancer) or static ability (Eidolon of the Great Revel) also works. If all your creatures make an immediate impact you can win a full turn faster. Of course, due to Red’s poor card advantage 1:1 trades (e.g. removal for a creature) are unfavorable. Forcing your opponent to trade with creatures that already dealt damage negates this weakness.
Evasion (Flying, Menace, Trample) widens the window where a creature is effective and pinging face (Grim Lavamancer) is even better. Strength and speed help maximize pressure before your opponent stabilizes. However, by giving yourself more turns to deal damage you can close out games even after typical stabilization. At worst, evasion forces opponents to cast removal spells instead of setting up proactive blockers.
Value mostly means drawing cards but scrying, making tokens, or any tangible secondary benefit also counts. In most decks drawing cards is the strongest thing you can do. Since RDW wants to trade resources for damage, the first 3 criteria are a more direct means of gaining advantage. That said, you can never go wrong with drawing cards.
The best creatures cover multiple criteria. I made a tier list (tiers are sorted alphabetically) for select 1-drops.
Tier 1 – Auto include. Assuming no budget constraints, run all tier 1 creatures.
Tier 2 – Usually include. Don’t have to run all of these, but when it comes to filling out your list you should mostly pull from here.
Tier 3 – Sometimes include. If you have exhausted tier 1 and 2 options you can run these. Alternatively, if any have unique synergies they could outperform tier 2 options.
Tier 4 – Rarely include. In very specific lists or metas these can be good.
Tier 5
Believing the second Death Star to be inoperable due to its incomplete state the rebel fleet launched an all out assault in Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi. This may have seemed to be a brilliant plan to top strategists like Princess Leia and Han Solo. In reality the Death Star was fully operational. It would have shredded the rebel alliance if not for Admiral Ackbar’s timely observation. Hint: don’t play these cards.
2.1.1 The Tiers of Creatures
Tier 1: Goblin Guide, Grim Lavamancer, Monastery Swiftspear, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Tier 2: Bomat Courier, Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Embereth Veteran, Falkenrath Gorger, Falkenrath Pit Fighter, Figure of Destiny, Kumano Faces Kakkazan, Rakdos Cackler, Soul-Scar Mage, Zurgo Bellstriker
Tier 3: Firedrinker Satyr, Ghitu Lavarunner, Goblin Bushwhacker, Jackal Pup, Legion Loyalist, Phoenix Chick, Scorch Spitter, Stromkirk Noble
Tier 4: Blistercoil Weird, Fanatical Firebrand, Fervent Champion, Icehide Golem, Mogg Fanatic, Rabbit Battery, Spikeshot Elder, Tattermung Maniac, Village Messenger, Voldaren Epicure
IT’S A TRAP: Reinforced Ronin, Vexing Devil, Wayward Guide Beast
2.1.2 Go Fast or Go Big?
Your creatures can go in 2 directions:
1) Stay low to the ground with 1s and 2s to cheese early damage. Use a high density of burn spells to close out games.
2) Run premium 3s, 4s, and 5s instead of excess burn to deliver late game reach. Gives the deck a higher punch at the cost of slower openings.
I don’t think there is a “best” approach. I went low to the ground, prioritizing mana advantage against control and racing against combo. A higher curve lets you go over other aggro decks and beat down midrange. The important thing is figuring out a strategy and building a list that suits it.
2.2 Similarities – Burn
Burn spells remain one of Red’s key strengths. Being able to control the board by targeting creatures or end games by going upstairs gives unrivaled speed and consistency. I’m not going to make a tier list as your choice of burn is heavily dependent on your creature suite.
The more important your creatures are, the more important it is to have burn that effectively deals with your opponents creatures. This may seem counter-intuitive, but in creature heavy decks controlling the board maximizes combat damage. Ways to hit big creatures (Unholy Heat) or accrue resource advantage (Firebolt) are optimal.
If your creatures are just there to get “easy” damage your burn should go face as efficiently as possible. Fireblast is spectacularly bad for removing creatures because of how resource intensive it is but it’s insanely good for removing players. Ultimately the choice between Flame Slash and Flame Rift comes down to how you value your creatures.
3.0 What Changes for Canadian Highlander
Since Canlander does not have sideboards you have to run hate pieces in your main deck. This is the easiest change to grasp.
To see another change, let’s compare to Modern. Modern Boros Burn runs about 30 burn spells or 50% of the deck. Even spell heavy Canlander decks are only 30% burn. Moreover, in a singleton format you are forced to run Lightning Strikes and Shocks instead of bolts. Putting this together, you have fewer burn spells and the ones you do have are on average less effective.
This is offset by a higher density of creatures. Lands are still about 30% of the deck, so creatures fill the remaining slots. This results in a roughly even split between spells, creatures, and lands. However, the average creature is weaker than Goblin Guide/Monastery Swiftspear.
Of course, when your average non-land is weaker than in Legacy you need more turns to win. This increases flooding. Flooding can be offset by utility lands and card draw.
With weaker spells, your creatures must connect in combat more. If a creature averages less damage per turn than Goblin Guide, it needs more turns to attack. While a Legacy deck can burn out an opponent from 20 life due to 4x Price of Progress and 4x Fireblast, in Canlander your burn can only close out games from a low life total. To combat this, take control of the board.
In RDW, top decking land is clearly bad in the late game. It is perhaps less obvious that creatures can be dud late draws. Once your opponent has blockers/removal your creatures will never get in. Since creatures form a higher proportion of the list, Canlander decks have materially less reach. Creatures that are useful top decks and card selection address this.
In summary, the 4 major differences are that Canlander RDW decks:
1) Need to main deck hate pieces
2) Flood out more frequently
3) Must control the board for a longer period
4) Have less effective top decks
3.1 Changes – Main-decking Hate
With sideboards, you can pick the best tools for the most specific tasks. Against artifacts, Smash to Smithereens is the best card you can draw. However, without a sideboard you need flexible cards. I’ll use artifact hate as an example. The same principle applies to other strategies you want to hedge against.
I run cards like Abrade, Embereth Shieldbreaker, and Goblin Cratermaker. If your opponent doesn’t have artifacts, Shieldbreaker and Cratermaker can still attack and Abrade can still answer creatures.
Graveyards: Kumano Faces Kakkazan, Ash Zealot, Cemetery Gatekeeper
Lifegain: Roiling Vortex, Skullcrack, Stigma Lasher, Rampaging Ferocodin, Sulfuric Vortex
Control: Sudden Shock, Vexing Shusher, Exquisite Firecraft, Volcanic Torrent, Twinshot Sniper, Banefire
3.2 Changes – Mitigating Mana Flood
As always, you can reduce mana flooding by having lands that do stuff other than just tap for mana. Anything that enters untapped and produces Red is worth considering. Barbarian Ring notably answers protection from Red creatures.
Tier 1: Barbarian Ring, Fetchlands, Fiery Islet, Ramunap Ruins, Sokenzan Crucible of Defiance, Sunbaked Canyon
Tier 2: Castle Embereth, Den of the Bugbear, Shatterskull Smashing, Shinka the Bloodsoaked Keep
Tier 3: Dwarven Mine, Hammerheim, Spikefield Hazard
Some colorless lands are worth considering. Unlike Red lands, there are diminishing returns when adding additional colorless sources. A colorless land will be worse than a basic mountain more often. There are 4 standouts: Wasteland, Strip Mine, Mutavault, and Mishra’s Factory.
Color screwing your opponent with Wasteland/Strip Mine can steal games. Against combo decks, simply denying mana can buy a much needed turn. If you are expecting greedy mana bases and fast combos, these are the best colorless options.
Mutavault and Mishra’s Factory are excellent against control decks, serving as uncounterable damage sources. Against creatures they effectively turn all your Burn spells into Searing Blazes. Only costing 1 mana means you can cast your draw for the turn (e.g. bolting a creature) and still activate these to pressure life totals.
Honorable mentions: Blast Zone, Urza’s Saga
Another way to mitigate flooding is with card draw. Aggro decks usually cannot afford to tap mana without dealing damage. However, damage sources that give card advantage and cheap card draw spells remain useful. Skullclamp is a bomb in creature heavy builds, while cheap impulsive draw is always solid.
Creatures: Abbot of Keral Keep, Bomat Courier, Earthshaker Khenra, Robber of the Rich, Laelia, the Blade Reforged
Spells: Light Up the Stage, Reckless Impulse, Skullclamp, Wrenn’s Resolve
3.3 Changes – Controlling the Board
You are relying on your creatures to deal the bulk of your damage and they can only do this if you can clear away blockers. Due to mono Red’s poor card draw, trading burn for blockers is only a winning play if you have a significant board. In order to win games where you don’t have an overwhelming advantage, you need to be able to answer creatures profitably.
Any low CMC card that can simultaneously answer a threat and pressure life totals (deal damage, leave a body behind, generate card advantage) is worth considering. The best is Searing Blaze.
End the Festivities is an excellent answer to mana-dorks. In the late game it can open full swings. Opponent’s will often line up “perfect” blocks (3/3 in front of a 2/2). End the Festivities can finish off wounded blockers leaving both players with minimal boards. There, a Red deck will usually find lethal burn before opponents can re-develop.
Firebolt is a classic, with sorcery speed keeping it from tier 1.
Tier 1: Bonecrusher Giant, Grim Lavamancer, Searing Blaze
Tier 2: Arc Trail, End the Festivities, Firebolt, Forked Bolt, Searing Blood
Tier 3: Dire Fleet Daredevil, Dreadhorde Arcanist, Flametongue Yearling, Goblin Chainwhirler, Lava Dart, Satyr Firedancer, Twinshot Sniper
3.4 Changes – Smoothing out Top Decks
The deck’s decreased ability to top deck lethal burn can be mitigated by having creatures that are capable of putting on early pressure while still being useful late draws. Being able to ping damage or get a redraw can be clutch. I lost game 5 of the BRO finals by 1 damage after top decking Zurgo Bellstriker while my opponent had blockers.
1-drops: Bomat Courier, Kumano Faces Kakkazan, Voldaren Epicure, Fanatical Firebrand
2-drops: Abbot of Keral Keep, Bloodthirsty Adversary, Feldon Ronom Excavator, Viashino Pyromancer
Alternatively, card selection can smooth out your draws:
Dragon’s Rage Channeler, Magma Jet, Play With Fire
4.0 Closing Thoughts – The Best Card in the Deck
There is 1 card that does everything. As anyone who has drafted vintage cube can attest, Sulfuric Vortex is an absolute bomb. Being a repeatable source of face damage simultaneously prevents flooding and bad top decks. The anti-life gain clause also allows it to function as main deck hate. Roiling Vortex is the next best thing. The 5 damage clause is more relevant in Legacy and 1 damage per turn does give midrange piles and combo decks a decent window to win.
I’d rank the top 5 cards in the deck as follows:
2) Mox Ruby
3) Fireblast
5) Goblin Guide/Grim Lavamancer/Monastery Swiftspear/Ragavan
Honorable mentions: Barbarian Ring, Bonecrusher Giant, Lightning Bolt, Price of Progress, Young Pyromancer
Mox Ruby would be number 1, but 3 points is a significant cost. Fireblast is the best finisher. Eidolon answers combos while still being effective in other matchups. The deck needs 1-drop creatures and Guide/Grim/Swifty/Ragavan are the best. However, there are other good 1-drops.
5.0 FAQ
Why not X card? It seems awesome in RDW!
This article isn’t meant as an ending point. Rather my list and thoughts are intended to be a starting point for players to build their own lists from. Note that even in 100 card singleton you don’t have room for everything.
PS: I previously assumed Skullclamp was pointed. If I had known it wasn’t, I would’ve ran it.
Why only 16 1-drops?
16 1-drops only gives a 72% (hypergeometric distribution) chance of having 1 or more in your opening hand. However, with 3 Moxen some hands can turbo out a 2-drop on turn 1. For 2-drops I prioritized 1R over RR to leverage off-color moxen.
Why so many mana sources (31 lands + 3 Mox)?
In all formats my RDW lists are land heavy. I usually run the full 20 lands in Boros Burn and Legacy Burn. My personal preference is to have the most aggressive starts possible which requires hitting your early lands. If you prefer to avoid flooding you can run fewer lands.
What if I can’t afford Moxes?
Canadian Highlander is not officially sanctioned so it is proxy friendly. I don’t advise proxying an entire deck but you can proxy expensive cards. If you’re playing in our Canlander League on our Discord server, all matches are played through Untap.in so you don’t need to buy cards for it at all.
