Zhao, the Seething Flame

Gameplan

Lead a hyper-aggressive mono-red curve, deploy threats early and swing with Zhao's evasive Menace to chip away at the table while burn and direct damage finish the job. You want to apply pressure every turn, sandbag a haymaker, and convert damage into lethal before slower decks stabilize.

Key Cards

• Fervor — Grants haste so Zhao and your beaters attack the turn they land, maximizing tempo.
• Embercleave — Cheap with a wide board and turns the evasive Zhao into a one-shot threat.
• Rabbit Battery — Cheap, recurring haste enabler that also pumps your attacker.
• Hellkite Charger — Extra combat steps with an evasive commander snowball quickly into lethal.
• Dolmen Gate — Lets you attack with everything freely, protecting your aggressive board from blocks.
• Sunforger — Toolbox of burn and protection that fits red's instant-speed plan and survives combat.

Upgrade Path

Add fast mana (Jeska's Will, Ragavan, Mana rituals) and consistent haste enablers to start swinging on turn three or four. Lean into a Voltron package—Embercleave, Sunforger, swords—and extra-combat payoffs (Aggravated Assault, Combat Celebration) to spike kills out of nowhere. Round it out with impulse-draw and Treasure engines like Reckless Impulse, Wheel of Misfortune, and Dockside Extortionist to refill and explode ahead of the table.