Posted in: Card Games, eSports, Games, Magic: The Gathering, Tabletop, Wizards of the Coast | Tagged: card games, eSports, Limited, magic, Magic: The Gathering, MTG, MTG Arena, MTGIKO, Tabletop, wizards of the coast, WotC

Magic: The Gathering Ikoria Limited Top Ten Picks For Red

Here at Bleeding Cool, we have compiled our rankings for the top ten best red cards in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths for Limited. Yesterday we went over black cards after having gone over white and blue not even two weeks prior, and now it's time for us to turn up the heat!

#10. Raking Claws

Raking Claws is a strong contender for the top underdog in the set. You will lose to this card out of nowhere pretty quickly if you don't have some way to provide yourself with a control aspect like countermagic or buff enough creatures. Even in the case of the latter, though, be prepared to lose that creature. Double Strike is no joke! On top of that, Raking Claws has cycling, which, if you've read our earlier articles reviewing Ikoria Limited, you'll know is a powerhouse of value.

#9. Ferocious Tigorilla

A long time ago, Ferocious Tigorilla would have been placed at a much higher rarity than it presently is. We think it would probably have been a rare instead of a common for its versatility and strength, and it would have likely seen play with enough cards supporting an archetype like Big Red or Red Deck Wins. However, this card is a Common due to the power creep of the game as a whole – that does not mean, however, that it is by any means a bad card. It's not! It is #9 on our list because it is outclassed by other strong Limited cards.

#8. Shredded Sails

Shredded Sails, like Light of Hope in white's cache of cards for Limited, is a small card that does a lot – if you'll let it. Despite looking as though it only has two modes, it actually has three: Cycling counts as a mode and then some, as the card draw is difficult to counter and only costs generic mana. And that's speaking nothing of the other two modes, which are either good artifact removal or slightly-situational flying removal, neither of which are bad in red by a long shot.

#7. Weaponize the Monsters

We here at Bleeding Cool love ourselves a good sacrifice outlet in Magic: The Gathering. Witch's Oven is a card that is a good example of a heavily utilized sacrifice outlet from recent days that we love, and Weaponize the Monsters is truly no different. Sure, it may cost a bit of mana to get working as well as a creature to sacrifice, but that's the point of running a card like this in your deck. This card can break stalled games little by little if you let it!

#6. Blisterspit Gremlin

Speaking of stall-breaking cards, here we have one of our two "Tim" creatures in the set: Blisterspit Gremlin is excellent at fighting off stalemates little by little to victorious ends. Outside of Limited, decks that run cards like Torbran, Thane of Red Fell have fallen in love with this little chump, and for good reason!

#5. Flame Spill

Super-Duper Death Ray is back and in black-border no less! Trample had evaded the world of black-bordered Magic for quite some time now but Flame Spill introduces the technology that was experimented on (quite literally) in Unstable. Power-wise, this card is great. Being able to destroy creatures and deal excess damage to opponents is major, and could turn the tides of many a tough matchup for red players in Limited.

#4. Porcuparrot

Don't let this card's silly name fool you – this card is very powerful. Porcuparrot can break any sort of parity caused by a red mirror-match whenever possible, simply by mutating it once or twice. That's quite formidable! Our best advice is to wait until after your opponent's combat phase is over to activate it – that way you've kept up a blocker and still get that damage in!

#3. Momentum Rumbler

Double Strike is a rather tough ability to see natively on a creature in Limited. Momentum Rumbler takes a little bit of work to get there, but once there it quite literally cannot stop going! This is basically a 6/3 for four mana in uncommon rarity. That's major!

#2. Fire Prophecy

In Ikoria Limited, value engines are sort of scarce outside of Cloudpiercer and rares. That's why Fire Prophecy makes a showing in our #2 spot for top red cards. If you are new to drafting or playing in Sealed pods, you might not immediately understand why this card is so good. Surely Ferocious Tigorilla deserves a higher spot than this, right?

The reason Fire Prophecy is so good is that not only is it card value, but it also removes creatures, which is a hugely powerful thing to see for just two mana. Lessons learned!

#1. Footfall Crater

As situational as Footfall Crater is while in play, it lies neatly in a good support spot for decks that want your creatures to have Trample. Furthermore, it provides speed where necessary with regards to freshly-summoned creatures. Finally, this card has cycling, which makes it never a dead card! There are a lot of things to be said for this card, but "bad" is not one of them and that's why it's our #1 pick for red cards in Ikoria Limited.

Wrapping Up This Top Ten List

What do you think of our picks? Are they good? Or do they leave something to be desired here? Voice your opinions in the comments below!

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!