By: Shin Tomizawa
Translated by: Daniel Pham

John Rolf broke out onto the scene after top 4ing Pro Tour Ixalan at the start of the season. He was able to run through the 2017-2018 season and put up consistently good results with 10-6 finishes in both Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan and Pro Tour Dominaria, as well as a 9-4-1 (team finish) at Pro Tour Magic 25th Anniversary.

Having attained Platinum level status, missing the title of Constructed Master by only 2 points, there is no questioning his skill. In standard he continues to use either Mono Red or RB Aggro consistently.

Since Red aggro decks are what have been driving him through the year, for the World Championships his deck of choice is unsurprisingly RB Aggro.

You don’t get many opportunities to speak to someone who has been consistently winning with Red decks.

He graciously gave us the time before the start of his match to conduct this interview.

How to Deal with Mirror Matches

— “As someone who has been consistently and continuously playing red decks that got you to the World Championships, what is important in order to play Red decks well? For example, is there anything to be aware of in RB Aggro mirror matches?”

John: “I tested the RB mirror match a lot. It’s the most popular deck that a lot of people are playing now, so the mirror match is inevitable.”

— “I see, so what conclusions did you come to?”

John: “Well it’s what everyone is doing but, the important thing is to change your plan depending on the game. For me, in Game 1 if possible I’d like to be the Aggro. Basically play it like a Burn deck. In game 2, while this main seem pretty mainstream, you want to be adding more expensive cards like plainswalkers and turn into a midrange or control deck. The 3rd game will become trickier to decide which playstyle is better. If you can outthink your opponent you’ll definitely be advantaged.”

–“So this means it’s possible for you to turn back into the Aggro deck then?”

John: “It’s possible to do that once you are convinced that your opponent has made their deck much slower with a lot of the sideboard cards they brought in. This is even more the case if you are on the play.”

Keep or Mulligan?

— “How are the Red decks in terms of mulliganing? Here’s a question that fellow Hareruya Pros’ Kenta Harane posted on Twitter, what would you do?”

Your opening hand against an unknown opponent. I’m on the play.

Your opening hand against an unknown opponent:

I’m on the play

— Kenta Harane (@jsp_magic) 2018年9月5日

The questionnaire results
80% Keep
20% Mulligan

John: “Hmmm… That’s a pretty annoying hand. And you don’t know what your opponent’s deck is? I would mulligan. You can’t ignore the possibility that the game might be over before you can play 《Glorybringer》, and it’s unlikely that you’re going to be able to empty your hand for 《Hazoret the Fervent》 so it seems like a dead card.”

John: “So they agree then. That makes me happy. In my opinion, if all the 4+ mana cards were all “Rekindling Phoenix” then I would keep. In the case of 《Hazoret the Fervent》 and 《Glorybringer》, even if you can draw 2 more lands, they still won’t be effective. You can’t accept having 2 dead cards, but that might not be the case if they were 《Rekindling Phoenix》.”

The Differences in Fine Tuning

— “With the speed at which information becomes available to us, is there really anything against simply net decking? For example, if you were to copy the exact 75 of great decks like “Mono Red” and “BR Aggro,” and your opponent was expecting it and was very prepared for it. Do you think it’s better to customize it and add your own twist to it?”

Image Copyright: Wizards of the Coast

John: “Since the Standard Metagame is changing every week, I don’t really straight net deck and play it that way. It’s more my style to make changes and adjustments depending on what I expect the Metagame to be. In the current environment with regards to RB Aggro, depending on your opponents, you have 5-10 flex slots that give you room to change. For this tournament, I assumed that there would be a lot of mirror matches, so I decided to start a copy of “Magma Spray” in the main.”

So what do you think?

This has been John Rolf, the Red Aggro Monster that has made it to the highest level of tournament Magic in the world.

I was very fortunate to be able to get some of the thoughts of a player who continues to win with decks at the top of the Metagame.