What? A competitive, mono-colored deck, in Standard? WHY? Since color fixers are so strong, wouldn't any mono-colored deck benefit from a second color? It can't be done! Your deck will have some glaring weaknesses!

Well, that is true, for the most part, but mono-color decks have a few advantages over their multicolor counterparts:

• No damage from dual lands / painlands. This also makes the deck cost about $100 less than its multicolored counterparts.
• Easier to add lands like Ghost Quarter and Mikokoro, Center of the Sea.
• Multicolor hosers like Blood Moon and Dryad Sophisticate do not work against you.
• More focused strategy. With only one color, you can really focus on that color's strengths. In this case, it's a lot of burn spells.

Out of these, the first and last reasons were the biggest arguments for a mono-colored build.

So without further ado I present my mono-colored deck, one that Jaya Ballard would truly appreciate.

Burn Them All
Land 18 Mountain 3 Ghost Quarter 1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea Creatures 3 Scorched Rusalka 3 Frostling 4 Hearth Kami 4 Orcish Artillery 4 Giant Solifuge	Burn 2 Genju of the Spires 4 Seal of Fire 4 Lava Spike 4 Volcanic Hammer 4 Flames of the Blood Hand 2 Char	Sideboard 3 Hunted Dragon 3 Rakdos Pit Dragon 3 Flashfire 3 Blood Moon 3 Threaten

How this deck works and why

This deck started off as a Blue-Red burn deck with some extra card drawing with ninjas and whatnot, but I ended up cutting the Blue because it looked weak while I was testing. The plan here is to turn small red men sideways and then burn your opponent out. If that doesn't work, then you attack the manabase so your opponent stops casting spells, then turn small red men sideways, and burn them out. The funny thing is, even though this deck looks like a nine-year old kid added 20 cards to the 9th edition "World Aflame" precon, it actually wins games. It catches people off-guard and few players play very well against it. Now, I know I have a lot of explaining to do regarding my card choices, so here I go.

Lava Spike: Randomly gives you just a little bit more reach. This could probably be Shock, but more often than not (especially with this deck), you will just be throwing it at your opponent's face, and you're not going to have a whole lot of mana available, anyway. I got my last three damage in more than a few times off of Lava Spike.

Flames of the Blood Hand: Negates lifegain for a turn, which is highly relevant versus opposing Loxodon Hierarchs. Also, just like the Spike, if this were Char, more often than not you would just be throwing it at your opponent's face. Might as well not take 2 damage while doing it. Also, it has a nice "damage can't be prevented" clause on it -- something that players with a Story Circle will really appreciate.

Orcish Artillery: These were cards 56-60 in this deck, and went in because they are the ONLY 3-casting cost Red creature which could deal a respectable amount of damage to an opponent with a Paladin en-Vec on the table. They ended up being all-stars, getting blockers out of the way for no mana so I could crash in with the Solifuge or a Genju. They're serious card advantage and tempo for a serious life loss. Kind of like a red Dark Confidant with a fatter backside. People used to laugh at my Orcish Artillery, now they fear them.

Hunted Dragon: My anti-White tech, along with Flashfires. If my opponents have Plains, between games 1 and 2 they can't possibly grab their playsets of Ivory Mask any faster. This guy will occasionally bash for the last 6 or eat a Simic Sky Swallower anyway, but if my opponent is wearing the Mask, the dragon's triggered ability puts no tokens into play.

Mikokoro, Center of the Sea: In case I run out of gas. This deck really doesn't care how many extra cards its opponents draw. It wins on tempo.

Ghost Quarter: For problem lands like Vitu-Ghazi. Actually, Vitu-Ghazi was the only reason I put this in the deck, bacuase it keeps putting blockers in the way. I don't like blockers. In testing and in tournaments, Ghost Quarter has been great. It's actually a Strip Mine vs. Zoo or Tron, plus it can be used to get a Faith's Fetters off of your Genju. Just destroy your own mountain, put a new mountain into play and the Genju comes back to your hand, ready to smash face again. And I shouldn't even need to mention its usefulness against Karoo lands.

How this deck plays against other decks in the current Standard metagame

Magnivore: Good matchup for you. Since Vore runs almost no creatures, feel free to point all burn directly at your opponent's dome. Mana denial strategies don't work well against decks that really only want three to four lands on the table. Although Wildfire could really hurt, just keep the pressure up so they won't have the time to cast it. After game one, expect Pyroclasm, but if your opponent actually resolves Magnivore, just Threaten it for the win.
Sideboard plan - IN: 3 Threaten. OUT: 3 Orcish Artillery.

Orzhov / Ghost Husk: I'm not going to lie, this isn't good for you at all. Paladin en-Vec can stop your horde single-handedly. They pack too many creatures to get in the way, and Umezawa's Jitte could spell certain doom. In this matchup, Orcish Artillery are your friends, because Orzhov guys are small. Keep 2 mana for Hearth Kami open at all times after they hit 4 mana, in case of Jitte. After sideboarding, things aren't much better, but at least Paladin doesn't shut you down, and if you can get a big dumb dragon through just once, you could win the game with extra reach and a little luck.
Sideboard plan - IN: 3 Hunted Dragon, 3 Rakdos Pit Dragon, 3 Flashfires. OUT: 2 Genju of the Spires, 4 Giant Solifuge, 3 Lava Spike.

Zoo: A good matchup, but a little hard on the nerves. They come out fast, but you pack three Strip Mines maindeck and they will put themselves in burn range with their manabase. Again, the Orcs really shine against their low-toughness men. As with Orzhov, watch the Jitte - it can steal a game from you. After game 1, Blood Moon can win you the game on turn 3. If you see some bigger guys like Burning-tree Shaman or Loxodon Hierarch, than bring in the Threatens accordingly.
Sideboard plan - IN: 3 Blood Moon. OUT: 3 Lava Spike.

Solar Flare: Easy win. Solar Flare is way too slow to deal with your initial salvo of flesh-searing burn. Play as quyickly as possible, because they use Persecute. As with Vore, point all burn spells at their skull and you should be in Game 2 with a win before turn 5. Post-sideboard, you have Threaten, should they actually get around to reanimating something. Remember to sacrifice anything you steal with Scorched Rusalka. Also, a turn 3 Blood Moon can shut their entire deck down - if you use your Hearth Kamis to keep the signets off the board.
Sideboard plan - IN: 3 Threaten, 3 Blood Moon. OUT: 4 Orcish Artillery, 2 Volcanic Hammer.

Izzetron: A toss-up. Their stuff is hard to deal with and it comes out quickly, but you can work over that manabase like no tomorrow. Use Hearth Kamis on signets as soon as possible. Use your Strip Mines as soon as possible, and you got a real good shot at burning them out before you get Demonfired to death. Blood Moon can seal games two and three, but they can still cast stuff with signets. Izzetron's strength is in its mana, and you can crush that pretty easily.
Sideboard plan - IN: 3 Blood Moon. OUT: 3 Orcish Artillery.

Control: OK matchup. They play a lot of creatures, but not quite enough to really be annoying, like the Orzhov decks. At least you can be safe sending burn to their face, considering that burn spells aren't going to kill Simic Sky Swallower or most of the other finishers. On the bright side, the lack of instant-speed removal means that your dragons will rule the skies, doing at least as much damage as Triple-S would, and hitting play 2 turns sooner.
Sideboard plan - IN: 3 Rakdos Pit Dragon, 3 Hunted Dargon. OUT: 2 Orcish Artillery, 4 Giant Solifuge.

Beach House Control: Same as above, except that they have instant-speed removal, and you can guarantee that it will be used against your dragons. Your best bet is to use your opponent's dragons against him or her.
Sideboard Plan - IN: 3 Threaten. OUT: 3 Volcanic Hammer.

Snakes (on a Plane!): Good matchup for you. You would think it's bad because of the amount of creatures Snakes generates, but if you can keep a lot of pressure on them, they can't afford to block. Instead, they have to pray to get Coat of Arms or Seshiro the Anointed. Until then, they have a bunch of 1/1 creatures and you have Frostling, Seal of Fire, and Orcish Artillery. It isn't hard to kill snakes.
Sideboard plan - Make no changes.

Other considerations: There are no Pithing Needles in the sideboard, because they are expensive and I'm having a difficult time locating them. If you have them, they help out the poor Orzhov matchup a bunch. Post-Coldsnap Standard has good artifact creatures to deal with Orzhov, plus Martyr of Ashes for Snakes and Zoo. And Mouth of Ronom can kill that unkillable, untargetable Paladin en-Vec. The best bet against the Paladin is to put the Dragons in from the side. They do a LOT of damage and one hit will probably put your opponent into burn range.

So, if you like melting face or pretending to be Jaya Ballard, I would highly recommend this deck. It is inexpensive to construct (I built it online for about 30 tickets), and it is quite literally a blast to play.

-Guerilla